Galactic Defenders- Endurance

by Michael Mishoe

  ​“Kon kar cho?” Jack turned around to see an alien that had the body of those he had seen scattered around the alien ship, but this alien was different than the others. Its body appeared to be comprised of red light, and words and symbols from their alien language moved along its body, constantly shifting into different words and forms. Jack guessed that the alien was most likely some sort of physical manifestation of the alien’s computer.

  ​“Par tu cho. Ko zepar.” The alien lifted his left hand, and a red beam emitted from it, moved over Jack’s body, most likely scanning him and attempting to determine what he was. Before Jack could stop the alien from scanning him, it suddenly stopped and lowered his hand.

  ​“Lak to grjar! Lak to grjar! Sep un tu qwar!” At the alien’s four-fingered right hand, a mass of energy extended outwards, until it stopped when it was twenty-feet long. The energy morphed into a sword. The sword was comprised of two blades, which both curved outwards from the handle, before curving into each other to form a single tip.

  ​“Sep un tu qwar!!!” The alien swung his sword at him, missing only by inches.

  ​“Captain Rickman, if you can hear me, initiate the Omega Virus now! I don’t believe I can hold him off for long!” Jack leapt backwards, dodging another sword strike. As he flipped through the air, he deployed both his V-guns, one on each arm, and began firing at the alien as he landed back on the ground. The alien was knocked back slightly from the attack, but it did little to injure it.

  ​Captain Rickman spoke, “We hear you Jack. We’re watching what’s happening through the computer connection between you and the Atlanta. Stand by for the first wave of viruses. We are deploying the Omega Virus now, but it will take a few minutes to fully download. We’ll need you to buy as much time as you can give us.” Jack continued to fire at the alien as it slowly made its way towards him. Twirling the sword in his hand, the alien then threw it at Jack. He jumped to the side to step out of the swords path, but before he could turn back towards the computer, it knocked him to the ground, having rapidly advanced towards him. Keeping Jack pinned on the ground by placing his foot on his back, the alien raised his right arm upwards, another sword quickly materializing in its hand, and he positioned the sword downwards to plunge it through him and finish him off.

  ​“Sep un tu qwar!” It started to swing the sword down, but the alien suddenly erupted in flames. Jack took advantage of the moment, wresting free from under the alien, and fired his V-gun at maximum power at the alien. Instead of the motor cycle revving he had heard at its lower setting, a sound similar to the booming during a thunderstorm sound, and massive blast shot at the alien. The blast rocked the alien backwards several feet, but the alien managed to maintain contact with the ground. The alien righted itself, and the fire over its body was suddenly extinguished.

  ​“Captain Rickman, that fire on the alien, was that the Omega Virus?” Jack asked, slightly concerned. If that fire had been the Omega Virus, then their only hope of taking control of the alien computer had just been easily overpowered.

  ​“No, Jack. That was the effect of one of the viruses the crew had sent. You may see more random events like that as more viruses eat away at it.” Rick paused briefly, possibly examining one of the displays or talking with one of the bridge crew. “Jack, our computer reports that the Omega Virus is thirty percent downloaded. Have you seen any sign of it?” Jack looked around, trying to find it before the computer started to attack it. Finally, Jack saw a small blue light about a dozen feet away from Jack and the alien. At first he couldn’t make out what it was, and then he realized it was a small butterfly. The small insect was made of blue light, and words and information were rapidly moved over its body, like on the alien’s body. On the butterflies’ back, he could barely make out an Omega symbol ( Ω ) imprinted on it.

  ​“Jack, that has to be the Omega Virus. We’ve got the download going as fast as it can, but it is still going to be a few minutes. We had to triple the potency of the program if we had any chance of taking over this computer, which is slowing the download. We are sending your reinforcements now.” Suddenly, dozens of thick vines appeared around the alien throughout the area, moving over the area and constraining him.

  ​“Ka! Olar co trifur.” The alien swung his sword, quickly shredding through some of the vines restricting him. Jack continued firing his V-guns at the alien, but it did little to slow the alien down.

  ​“Car tu kritur!!!” The alien finished freeing himself from the vines, and when he turned to face Jack, it was then that the computer discovered the Omega Virus, fluttering softly a distance away. Acting quickly, Jack launched Recon from his arm, and sent it to retrieve the Omega Virus before the computer could destroy it. Recon reached the virus, deploying four, small crane-like arms on the bottom of its body to grab it, and escorted it a safe distance from the fight.

  ​“Con fer to cara!” The computer again threw his sword at Jack, and he though he dodged out of the way, the sword sliced through his right V-Gun, completely incapacitating the device.

  ​“Captain, how far is the Omega Virus downloaded? I really can’t hold this thing off much longer!” Jack deployed his Laser Cannon and fired it at a continual blast. The alien shielded himself with his arms, but the force of the weapon held him back. The alien again erupted into flames as another virus attacked it, but the fire almost instantly evaporated into steam. It appeared that the computer was gaining immunity from the viruses as they attacked them, rendering those viruses harmless against it.

  ​“The download is at seventy-two percent. Just hold off another minute!”

  ​The alien slowly adapted to the force of his Laser Cannon, and he again slowly approached him. “Sep un tu qwar!” Another sword materialized in the computer’s left hand, and he sliced through the Laser Cannon. Blasting the alien with his left V-Gun to slow him down, he deployed his final weapon system. On his back, two large metal plates lifted upwards, and moved onto the middle of his back. Two small energy-based machine guns lifted out form their storage spaces, moved by a mechanical arm attached to the devices, and the weapons attached to the sides of Jack’s arms. He let loose with these weapons, but the alien was slowed little by them and the V-Gun. The alien suddenly rushed forward and managed to slam Jack on his back to the ground.

  ​“Jack!” Captain Rickman spoke excitedly through the comm, “The Omega Virus has been downloaded! You need to find a way to connect it to the alien, fast!” The alien lunged his sword downward, but Jack managed to catch it with his hands. Using all his strength to hold it back, he quickly summoned Recon to return to him. Recon returned to him quickly, and when he was close, and the Omega Virus flew free off the drone’s arms. But instead of going to the alien, the butterfly quickly fluttered to Jack, and in a flash, it turned into pure light, and flew inside him, and he immediately felt a sudden rush of energy as the Omega Virus integrated with his systems. The Omega symbol appeared on his chest, shining like a bright star. He suddenly knew that he had to maintain contact with the alien, and as he held the sword inches away from his chest, he was in exactly the position he needed to be in.

  ​“Your species may have come to take control of this planet, but we are stronger than you think we are.” Veins of blue energy quickly spread from the Omega symbol, traveled up his arms, and began to traverse the computer’s sword. The alien tried to pull his weapon away from Jack, but he tightened his grip, and wouldn’t let it go.

  ​“Lak ye tradar!” The veins rushed up the sword and began spreading from the alien’s right arm. The computer let go of his sword to get away from Jack, but he grabbed its leg, spreading the Virus in that area, and would not allow him to escape from his grasp.

  ​“We will not lose our home without a fight, and it will take more than a computer to stop us from protecting our planet.” The Virus continued spreading over the computer’s body, looking similar to a complex root of a plant, and now almost completely covered it completely.

  ​“You will obey
my command!!! Yield to us!!!” Jack noticed a cluster of blue veins on the alien’s chest forming together to form the Omega symbol, and now the veins completely covered the aliens body, altering its red surface to blue. The alien stood rigidly still for several moments, when the computer kneeled before Jack, it’s sword vanishing in a burst of light.

  ​“Fon to conar. Kal don tor.” Jack wasn’t sure what his next action should be, when he heard the captain proclaim, “Jack! It worked! We have full access to the computer files! It looks like the computer system is under our control!” Before Jack could congratulate the crew on their efforts, his vison suddenly darkened, and he was quickly engulfed in a world of darkness. then lost all sight around him. As the world faded away, he heard his name being called several times in the darkness, but he couldn’t find its source through the thick darkness that surrounded him.

  ​“JJJAACCCKKKKK…”

  ​“Jack…”

  ​“Jack!!!”

  ​Jack opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself back in the engineering center aboard the alien ship. Throughout the engineering center, the Recon Drones continued to hum softly as they continued to feed their power to the consoles, dimly lighting the room from the orange light the consoles produced.

  ​“Jack! Can you hear me? Jack!!!” Commander Hayley yelled into the comm, but from the volume, it was like she was shouting in his ear right beside him.

  ​“I’m here, Commander Hayley. I’m sorry for my delay in responding to you. I was disconnecting from the computer, and I was unable to respond while that process was ongoing.”

  ​“You’ve been doing that all this time? Jack, we gained access to the computer five hours ago. That’s why I was shouting so hard. I thought we lost you.”

  ​“That is… unexpected. Connecting to the computer system must have affected my systems. I am initiating a diagnostic scan now to determine if any of my systems were corrupted.”

  ​“That’s a good idea, considering how intense the process must have been for you. Who knows what your connection to the computer has done to your internal systems. But Jack, you should know that while you were unresponsive, we’ve been able to convert the alien computer to the English language. We found an entire collection of Earth’s languages in the computer! They have ”

  ​“Why would the aliens have our languages in their computer?”

  ​“We haven’t determined that yet. We have only been able to skim through a small percentage of the database so far. But now that we have control of the alien ship’s computer, we can guide you through the repairs on the ship and get the power core operational again. We have already found what you need to do to get it working again, and I am sending instructions of what you need to do now.” Moments later, Jack received detailed schematics of the engineering center’s components, and other structures in the ship that needed to be repaired to restore functionality to the ship, along with instructions on how to repair them.

  ​“I have received the information. I will begin my repairs to the core right away, and I will notify you when I have completed my work. Vade, out.”

  Chapter 14

  Date: July 9, 2132.

  Location: Aboard the U.S.S. Ocean-Walker, on the border of the Atlantic Ocean.

  ​Olo cleared his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly. A moment before, there had been a squadron of Ribiyar fighters soaring towards the Ocean-Walker, and then there had been a roaring flash of light, and now all that was left of the ships were debris falling into the ocean below. Olo grabbed Captain Whitefield’s right hand and helped him to his feet.

  ​“Lieutenant, do you know where that flash came from? It looks like it came from a Laser Array, but it couldn’t have been from the Ocean-Walker. Our weapons are still offline.” Off the deck of the Ocean-Walker, a huge waterblast suddenly shot up into the sky as a vessel flew out of the ocean. When the water fell back into the ocean, a ship was hovering close to the port side of the Ocean-Walker. The ship was fairly small, about big enough for four levels on the inside of the ship, and shaped like a triangle, with metallic, bird-like wings folded out along its sides. Length-wise, the ship was about a third the size of the Ocean-Walker, and there was an oval-shaped engine, spouting blue flames that kept the ship in the air, on the front and back of the side of the ship under the bird wings, and two additional engines were planted on top of the upper surface of the ship, giving the ship an additional source of speed to rely upon. The ship leveled down to the Ocean-Walker’s main deck, and a boarding ramp deployed from the side of the ship and lowered onto the Ocean-Walker’s deck. Olo reached for his gun, but Captain Whitefield stopped him.

  ​“Easy, Lieutenant. I don’t believe that they are our enemies. They did shoot down the Ribiyar after all. But be on your guard, just in case. We can never be too cautious these days.” A gust of steam shot out of the ship, startling Olo as the vapor quickly formed a cloud around the ramp and the surrounding area. Through the steam, Olo could see people boarding the Ocean-Walker, hurrying into a defensive position. When the steam dissipated, Olo could see fifteen officers spread near the ramp, all of them with their guns drawn at them. Then, three more officers stepped out of the ship; the lead officer, a muscular man with a Mediterranean tan and crew cut red hair, and the other two officers stood on each side of him, stopping ten feet away from Olo and Whitefield. Several moments passed as both groups silently observed the other.

  ​Finally, the lead officer broke the silence and said, “I believe I should be asking you for permission to come aboard, but under the circumstances, I believe I will skip the formalities and get to the matter at hand. I am Captain Jim Syvon, of the U.S.S. Thunderfox, and we are here to assist the Ocean-Walker in its attack against the Ribiyar forces in the Atlantic.” It was then Olo recognized the Thunderfox. He remembered reporting that the Thunderfox had docked at Hawaii before he been reassigned to the Ocean-Walker. The Thunderfox was a class of ship known as the Firestorm: a prototype vessel that could function as a boat, but could also submerge under water, or deploy its wings and take to the air like an oversized fighter, with a top speed of Mach eight. The Thunderfox was the only ship of its class to be constructed before the invasion began, so it was extremely valuable to the survival of Earth.

  ​“Your timing is impeccable, Captain Syvon. We wouldn’t have survived if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”

  ​“Indeed. Another Defender vessel intercepted your distress call, and reported it to Admiral Hofkins, and he sent me to try to rescue you, if the Ribiyar hadn’t finished you off already. He has sent me to deliver a new mission to you as well. Satellite images show that one of the Ribiyar prison centers is located here, deep within the Atlantic Ocean. Our orders are to meet up with several other battleships that are gathering roughly ninety miles from this location, and then travel to the prison and free the people held there, or die trying.” One of the soldiers standing by Captain Syvon cleared his throat. The soldier was a very muscular man with black hair, with a lock of hair that hung over his right eye that was dyed dark green, and had a scar that ran down his right cheek all the way to his chin.

  ​“Oh, yes. Gentlemen, this is Victor Davidson, a mercenary that has been hired to assist in the fight against the Ribiyar.” At the mentions of Davidson’s name, Olo felt a strong flow of emotions burn through him as he realized who this man was. A little over five years ago, an unknown killer murdered his parents, and during the investigation of their death, Davidson’s DNA was found at the murder scene. Victor was brought to court, but because of his team of elite lawyers, he was freed with minimal punishment. Olo had never forgotten how his parent’s killers had escaped the reach of justice, and he swore he would not stop until justice prevailed, one way, or another. Victor recognized Olo as well and sneered at him.

  ​“Well, well, well. Isn’t this a small world? How ya doing, Ollie? I apologize for not attending your parent’s funeral, but I was quite occupied with the trial. It sure is a shame about their… unti
mely demise.” Olo was about to make a dash for Victor and punch his smug face, but Captain Syvon intervened.

  ​“Victor, enough. We paid you more than what is necessary, given the circumstances. At least try to behave, will you?” Victor sneered again, but he made no other comment. “Victor has been hired because we need the most elite warriors on our side fighting the Ribiyar. We can’t afford to be fighting a war against the Ribiyar and be fighting amongst ourselves at the same time. Victor, since it doesn’t appear your services are needed out here, get back to the Thunderfox and continue your training. You need to be properly prepared for the battle up ahead.” Victor hesitated, but then made his way back in the Thunderfox.

  ​“Captain Whitefield, considering the state of your vessel, I will assign engineering crews from the Thunderfox to help you get the Ocean-Walker prepared while we travel to our rendezvous with the ships. We need to leave in three hours to make our appointed time.”

  ​“Thank you, Captain Syvon. If you can, we could also use some medical teams to help with our wounded.”

  ​“Of course. I want you to meet my first officer, Commander Zhang Wei Ton. I have assigned him to coordinate crew placement among the two ships.” The officer beside Captain Syvon, a very tall man who was bald and had notable Chinese ancestry, nodded toward the group.

  ​Captain Whitefield took a deep breath and said, “Well, we better get to work. Captain Syvon, I have some matters that need to be discussed with you. Do you have anywhere we can talk, privately?”