“You just made it angrier!” Lana yelled.
Nori’s eyes hardened. She shot the Disruptor, again and again. Blue rays of destructive force hit the giant, burrowing smoking craters all over his body, but the monster ignored the damage and charged.
Nori shot three more times, hitting the Warped’s thick armored leg, causing it to go limp, but that barely slowed it down. At the last possible second, she hit the door’s control, closing it in the monster’s face. Loud metallic bangs sounded as the Warped pounded on the shuttle’s hull.
“Bulco’s still out there!” Lana yelled. “He’s going to die,”
Nori looked at the weapon in her hand helplessly. “I hit it at least ten times, but it didn’t go down. Maybe if I--”
The shuttle suddenly jerked upward, sending everyone hurtling to their backs. It then dropped and a loud crunching noise ran through the interior.
“Ugh, my back,” Nori groaned. She stumbled to her feet and looked around the shuttle. A flight-console hovered in the air above Nathan’s prone body. Nori looked at the young man as he struggled to stand up. “What did you do?”
Nathan ignored the question and grimaced as he slowly stood up.
“What was that crunching noise?” Lana asked, obviously shaken.
“Probably my spine,” Nori grunted. “Hey, you, guy, you alright?”
The man they had rescued looked disoriented. “What happened?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Nori said, looking pointedly at the young man.
Nathan gave her an apologetic look, then turned to Lana.
The woman’s eyes widened. “You dropped the shuttle on top of the Warped?”
Nathan nodded shyly and pointed at one of the screens. It showed the shuttle’s exterior, where the Warped’s crushed leg and head were the only things protruding from under it.
“Well, it could have been smoother, but overall, not bad,,” Nori said approvingly.
“What’s going on? Who are you people?” The man they rescued seemed to be getting his bearings. “Are you aliens? Did you come to abduct us?”
On the monitor, a tentacle started quivering on the ground.
“We’re humans, like you,” Nori said. “But explanations will have to wait.” She limped to the door and pounded on its control. Bulco was standing several meters away, looking at the ground below her apprehensively. “Nice move, kid, but it’s not dead yet.”
“It’s about to be.” She circled the shuttle and aimed the Disruptor at the Warped’s head. Its eyes suddenly flew open and it started to thrash and bite the air. Unflinching, Nori aimed carefully and shot. The beam bore a small hole, revealing a metal skull. The monster kept flailing wildly, trying to escape. Nori clenched her jaw and kept on shooting. Beam after beam burrowed into the monster’s skull until the fifth one punched through the other side, and finally, the creature stopped moving.
Nori shot it one more time for good measure. “About fucking time you die. You better stay dead if you know what’s good for you.”
Bulco chuckled. “Damn, girl, and they say I have a temper. Nice job.”
“Is it safe to come out now?” Lana asked from the shuttle’s doorway.
She got out, followed by Nathan and the man they had rescued.
Martin, Human, Level 0
“What’s going on? Who are you people?”
“Martin, right?” Bulco crossed his arms. “I think you know me.”
The man’s eyes bulged. “You’re that gang-- I mean, you’re Bulco, right?”
The big black man nodded in satisfaction. “That’s right. These kids and I got ourselves an alien spaceship, and we were just taking it out for a test ride when we saw the Warped attacking your walls. Wanna fill us in on what’s been going on?”
Martin shook his head. “An alien spaceship … that’s unbelievable. Thank you for saving my life.”
“Why were you out in the first place?” Lana frowned. “Didn’t you know the monster was there?”
“Of course he knew.” Nori sighed at the girl’s naivety. “The people inside realized they couldn’t get rid of it, so I’m guessing Martin’s job was to lure it away, am I right?”
The man nodded. “Everyone was afraid. We had Warped attacking the stadium before, but they were mostly level two or three. A few gunshots were usually enough to send them running. In the last week, the sightings became scarcer, but the Warped we did spot seemed bigger and stronger. We had a level four one who almost scaled the walls. We wasted most of our ammo trying to keep it from the top. It eventually gave up and left on its own. But that thing …” he looked with apprehension at the crushed monster, “was different. We’ve emptied a shotgun magazine straight to its face through the hole and it just spat out the slugs. I’ve never seen anything like it. When we realized it was about to breach the wall, I decided to try and lure it away. I never thought it would catch up to me so fast. If it weren’t for you guys, we’d all be dead by now.”
“That’s why we’re here. To help out,” Lana declared proudly. “Now take us to your leader.” She smirked. “I always wanted to say that.”
“You’re looking at him,” Bulco grunted.
Martin nodded. “That’s why I volunteered to go outside. I am responsible for everyone’s lives.”
“Oh,” Lana deflated. “So I guess … hello?”
“So you’re that Martin,” Nori said, looking him up and down in interest. ”We’re here to help.”
“That would be great. Can you get us weapons like your gun? With a few of those, we could keep the shelter safe.”
Nori shook her head. “I only have this one, but it wouldn’t help you, either way, as you have to be level five to use it. No, we’re going to teach you how to take care of yourselves.”
“Level five?” the man exclaimed. “How on earth did you manage that?”
“Like this,” the woman said and kicked the Warped corpse. Pale light emerged from the dead monster and streamed over the five people.
Tec extraction commencing.
Extracted 0.6 Tec (10% success rate).
piTec: 700
“Holy crap!” the man’s jaw dropped. “Says here I gained twelve Tec as a first-time bonus. I’m level four!”
“Looks like the creature has more Tec for his level than the dead pilot,” Nori said. “I only got point six this time. I’m still level three, damnit.” She kicked the corpse again.
“Me too,” Bulco said.
“I’m eh …” Lana coughed embarrassedly. “I got point nine and made it to level four as well.” She glanced at Nathan who nodded at her. “Nathan too.”
Nori looked at Martin who stood vacant-eyed, staring at something only he could see. “You might want to select the Level Suppression racial trait. It’s not as good as the others, but it’ll allow you to use weapons that--”
“I’m done,” Martin said and looked at her with a smile.
Nori blinked in surprise. “Already?”
He shrugged. “It’s just like creating a computer game character. I used to be a gamer, so it wasn’t hard. I took the Tec Infusion boost, that should help me level faster.”
Nori sighed. “But you won’t be able to use any alien weapons. I guess we can continue looking for something with lower level requirements, but I don’t know if we can do it fast enough to protect your shelter.”
“Can I see that?” Martin pointed at the Disruptor at her belt.
Nori shrugged and handed him the gun. To her surprise, the man grabbed the weapon like a trained professional. He drew back a latch she never knew existed and examined it carefully. Then he aimed at a tree, thirty meters away, and fired. The blue energy hit the tree and bore a finger-wide hole through it.
Nori gaped at him. “How the hell did you do that?”
The man grinned at her. “I selected a Justicar as my Path. It allows me to use all personal firearms and security systems. The Disruptor’s prerequisite was only a score of five.”
“What?”
Nori's face fell. “My score is 10, but I had to reach level five to use it.”
“That’s weird.” The man frowned.
“No, not really,” she sighed ruefully. “My path allows me to drive everything, even alien ships, but it wasn’t really meant to handle firearms.”
“What Path did you take?”
“Navigator.”
Martin nodded slowly. “It makes sense. You had to reach the secondary set of requirements - the one that is determined by pure level - instead of a Path’s score.”
Nori looked disappointed. “You sure know a lot for someone who just leveled up.”
Martin chuckled. “Told you already, used to be a gamer. Don’t be down. You came flying in this ship. If I tried it, I probably wouldn’t even be able to turn on the coffee machine.”
Nori’s lips curved at that. “I guess you’re right.”
“By the way, did you know the gun only has only twenty more shots left in it?”
Nori frowned. “No.”
The man nodded. “Says so right here on my HUD. Twenty out of eighty remaining. You better use it sparingly, unless you have more power cells.”
Nori shook her head. “We don’t.”
“That’s too bad. It’s one hell of a weapon. Here you go.” He handed her the Disruptor back.
Nori shook her head. “You keep it. You’re obviously better suited to wield it than me and it can help protect your people.”
“I’m betting that if we get back to the freighter I can use the workbench to fashion some power cells,” Bulco said.
“Ship? You have another one of those?” Martin asked in surprise.
Lana nodded excitedly. “Yes, it's a crashed spaceship, we found a ton of alien stuff there, and this shuttle, we even--”
“That’s enough, girl,” Bulco grunted. He looked at Martin. “Think you can keep your people safe while we’re gone?”
The man smiled and tucked the gun into his belt. “With this alien ray gun? You bet. At least until it runs out of power.”
“We’ll see what we can do about that,” Nori said. “When you kill a Warped, make sure to share the Tec you extract from it with level zero people. The first time seems to grant the most Tec. Once you have several more people with Paths, surviving should become a lot easier.”
“Yeah, you could start using our old technology again,” Lana said eagerly. “Like computers, security cameras, and other stuff.”
Martin looked at her in surprise. “That would be immensely helpful. We’re lucky you decided to drop in on us. I don’t know how to repay you. Can I invite you inside? We don’t have much food left, thank god we almost don’t need to eat now, but I’d like to invite you over for a thank-you dinner.”
Nori and Bulco exchanged looks, then both shook their head.
“Another time,” she said. “There are more shelters that could probably use our help. And at the rate the Warped are getting stronger, we shouldn’t delay. We’ll try to bring you more power cells if we can get them.”
Martin nodded. “That would be great. You’ve given us hope. We thought we were done for. Thank you so much … umm … what do you call yourself?”
“Haven’t thought about that one,” Bulco grinned. “But I like having a team name. How about the A-Team?”
Nori rolled her eyes. “Please, you look nothing like Mr. T. How about Earth’s Defenders?”
“So now you think you’re in a Marvel movie?” Bulco chuckled. “I got one: Bulco’s Roughnecks.”
“Definitely no,” Lana said. “But I like Nori’s idea to have ‘Earth’ in the name. Maybe something like … hmm ... Earth Force? Sounds like Air Force, but cooler. And people will trust us.”
“I like it.” Nori smiled at her genuinely. “And you’re right—everyone loves the Air Force.”
“I don’t,” Bulco grunted. “I was a Marine. We hated those guys. The Navy was better.”
“Well, unless you can sail a spaceship through water, we’re going with Earth Force,” Lana said with surprising heat. “You got that?”
Bulco chuckled and raised his hands. “Yes, ma’am.”
A text message flashed in front of each of them.
You have joined the Earth Force faction
Martin smiled good-naturedly as they bickered. “I see the faction’s name next to your normal information now. Thanks again, guys, you’re always welcome in our shelter.”
“You’re very welcome,” Lana said brightly. “Now, everyone back to the shuttle.”
Nori suppressed a grin and followed the shorter woman back to their vessel. Once everyone was safely fastened in their harnesses, they lifted off, leaving the Old Stadium behind.
“Let’s head to the Grand Mall next,” Bulco said. “Diamond, the shelter leader, is a buddy of mine. He’s usually up to his ears, trying to keep the place from falling apart. I’m sure he could use a bit of good news.”
“Alright.” Nori nodded, then she frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Bulco asked.
“That red dot is back.”
Everyone turned to look at the flashing red dot.
Nori’s brow creased in concentration. “It’s … a signal. But I’m not sure from where.”
Sighing mutely to himself, Nathan’s finger twitched. The monitor’s display zoomed out, revealing an image of the Earth. The red dot appeared well above the atmosphere and a dotted red line stretched down from it to the planet.
“It’s … it’s a signal from space.” Nori bit her lip. “The line’s trajectory leads straight to us. I think it’s a flight course, I can follow it up.”
Lana's eyes widened. “You want to take us up into space?”
“Not really. It’s in the lower reaches of the thermosphere—about a hundred kilometers above us. This shuttle can make it up there in about five minutes.”
“What if those are the aliens who robbed the freighter?”
“I don’t think that’s the case. The signal carries more than navigational data, but I can’t read it.” She looked up at the shorter woman. “I think that’s your department.”
Lana looked alarmed as everyone’s eyes settled on her. “Oh right.” She manipulated her light console, frowning as she read data only she could see.
“Well, girl, what do you have?” Bulco pressed.
“It’s …” she wetted her lips nervously. “It’s a recorded message.”
Nori and Bulco exchanged puzzled looks. “Can you play it?”
Lana's fingers thrummed through the console. “I think I … yes. Playing it now.”
“Greetings, Sollings! The XR trade station congratulates you on taking the first step into the enlightened universe and would like to offer our wares and services at a bargain price. All are welcome!”
“What the hell?” Bulco grunted. “It sounds like a douche salesman ad.”
“I for one am looking forward to getting some answers,” Nori said. “I think it’s safe to assume that dot does not belong to those marauders, so I say we go check it out.”
“Sounds shady to me, girl,” Bulco said. “But if we’re ever going to change things around here, we’re gonna have to take some risks.”
“I don’t know …” Lana said hesitantly. “I didn’t sign up to go into space.”
“It’s still within Earth’s atmosphere,” Nori said. “And you can stay in the shuttle if you’d like.”
“Nathan, what do you think?” Lana looked at her friend.
The young man looked away shyly and nodded.
Lana sighed and closed her eyes. “Alright, I’m in.”
“Alright, here we go.” Nori’s fingers ran across the console.
As before, there was no sense of sudden inertia. Instead, the monitors zoomed out, showing more and more of the Earth’s curvature. In less than a minute, they passed through the clouds and kept on climbing.
Their eyes remained glued to the screens as the Earth shrunk beneath them.
“I see something!” Lana pointed at one of t
he screens with a trembling finger. Her other hand manipulated the console and the picture zoomed, revealing a long shape with a rounded blob at one end.
Bulco chuckled. “It looks like a bong. Ha! It’s a space bong.”
They continued flying, and the shape became bigger and bigger.
“My god, it’s huge,” Lana said. “It must be hundreds of meters long.”
“Its two hundred meters long,” Nori said, checking her interface. “The bulb at the end is about the size of a city block.”
Lana poured over her console. “Err … our sensor detects no propulsion systems other than basic stabilizers. This thing can’t fly on its own … err, I think.”
“Are you telling me it's a space station?” Bulco asked incredulously. “Here? Orbiting Earth? How the hell did it get here?”
Lana shrugged. “No idea. I can only tell you what the shuttle's sensor picks up. And I’m still struggling to make sense of what I see. This thing gives off a huge power signature, which stands to reason based on its size.”
“They better be able to answer our questions,” Nori said. “The course leads straight to the tube part. Looks like we can dock inside.”
Lana tensed up. “Are we sure we want to do this, guys? Meeting actual aliens, I mean. What if it's a trap?”
“That would be some trap,” Bulco grunted. “To put this huge chunk of metal here, on the off-chance we natives steal an alien ship and come to them. I say let’s give it a try. Worst case, I’ll use The Puncher and we can run back to the shuttle.”
Nori nodded. “Then it’s settled, I’m taking us in.”
Lana still looked unconvinced but didn’t try to protest again.
The shuttle adjusted course, aiming for the side of the station’s main tube. They passed dozens of extended airlocks, reaching out into space, but instead of docking, Nori flew the shuttle closer to the tube’s base. A hangar-like door opened and the shuttle flew through.
The interior was a dark and empty chamber. Luckily, their shuttle was equipped with external lights which illuminated the bleak and empty metal walls around them. They touched down gently, alone in the vast hall.
Earth Force (Relict Legacy Book 1) Page 8
