by J. A. Scorch
"Red, Bean. You call that running?" Ward shouted at their heels. "Pick up the pace before I shove my Taser up your ass. Move it."
The two caught up to the group as Romeo led them through a section of narrow passages, swooping by several open doors. Teve had no idea what this facility used to be or why it was so far underground. All he could imagine was a doomsday government building when he pictured the place in its heyday.
After what seemed like half an hour, Ward brought the group to a stop, shouting out for Romeo to slow down. They all came to a halt. None of them were puffing frantically for air. Only slightly above average breathing caused any of them the need to rest for a few seconds.
Teve felt energized from the run as if he could do it all again and not taste the pain usually associated with such an effort. The Zeal virus had done wonders to his system while at the same time ruining his life. He thought about the Phoenix base and Mish. How he longed to be on a bunk with her, taking in some downtime. As he pictured her eyes, the purple haze of her tainted skin only sent confusion down to his core. Why wasn't Mish here training alongside him? She had shown signs of the virus taking hold. Had Hoang decided to kill her off, deeming her unworthy of the power?
"Tower. Did I not make myself clear when I said to drop and give me 100? Just for that, you can all double that number."
A groan escaped the group's lips at once as Teve dropped to the cold concrete and began firing off some push-ups, counting them out loud for his CO.
"Louder," Ward shouted. His shock stick came blaring out, sparking away under the pressure of his itchy trigger finger.
"Now you people might think you're unique because you can run for extended periods of time and handle dangerous obstacle courses, but I know you're all a bunch of ungrateful assholes coasting through this war."
Teve had counted twenty push-ups in the time it took Ward to give his latest speech. More than anything he wanted to question the man's fitness levels and his reason for not wearing a gas mask. Only one possibility stood out to him.
"Don't for a minute think that just because you all took the Zeal virus well that you’re anything other than a piece of shit on the ground."
Red groaned out loud. "This is bullshit, sir. What would you know about the virus?"
Ward dropped down and got up in Red's face, breathing the same air as him. He finally took off his sunglasses. "Look into my eyes, Private. What do you see?"
Red strained his neck up and stared into the CO's eyes. "They're purple. They're purple like Tower's."
"You're goddamn right they are. Don't for a second think that you're special. There are plenty of soldiers just like you infected by the Zeal who are far better deserving of the capabilities the disease brings. You all might have completed the field test, but that doesn't qualify you for the most important battle of human history."
"Sir?" Teve asked. "What battle?"
Ward jumped up on his feet and squatted down to Teve's level. "The campaign to rid our planet of the Zeal once and for all."
A shiver ran down Teve's back as the lieutenant slowly rose from the ground.
"Now shut the hell up and add another 100 to your counts. I want to see you worthless bastards bleed."
Teve got stuck into his count, more determined than ever to find out about the battle.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As Porter retook control of the light transport ship, the Mayall swallowed the view from the cockpit. He asked for permission to dock with the one operational deck the battle carrier still had and received word a moment later to proceed with caution.
The sight of the carrier up close revealed large sections of isolated damage. Massive, twisting holes through the decking revealed the vastness of space. Several gaps existed in the hull littered with floating debris fields and the small transporters the Zeal utilized to penetrate the ship's defenses. Data on the attack suggested that the Zeal broke through by overwhelming each battle carrier’s defenses with ship after ship crammed full of Stiltz. The aliens probably lost several thousand fighters but gained significant ground in the process.
"What an eyesore," Briggs said.
"No kidding. The Zeal really did this one by the book. It looks like only this single deck was spared. The main engine is offline, too. They're running on auxiliary."
"How long can they keep that up?"
"We'll find out, I guess."
Smith let out a whistle as he made his up to the cockpit. "What a mess." He grabbed a small seat reserved for emergencies and strapped in. "That could have been the Andromeda."
"Yes, Cadet," Briggs said. "We got lucky."
Porter received orders to head into the only functioning landing bay with an electromagnetic plate. He set down the transporter and locked it in place. There would be no electrodynamic gravity on board the ship or a stable supply of oxygen. Porter had ordered them to suit up on the trip over, anticipating such a problem.
"Are we all ready?"
Briggs and Smith both gave him the thumbs up, trying to reserve speaking over the comm when possible.
"Okay, on me. We need to meet with the Specialist still operating the deck. He's got a skeleton crew of four people on board."
Briggs shook his head. Porter could see him forcing himself not to say more. Typically, he would break out into a line of speech, giving his opinion on the matter.
Porter floated out of the transporter and shot out a puff of air from his suit to force himself down to the floor. His magboots engaged the instant they touched the deck. Briggs and Smith landed a bit behind him. Smith was a little unbalanced on his feet.
"Careful, Smith. We should tread lightly. Who knows how badly the ship has been damaged in the fight? Avoid any unplanned movements and follow my lead."
"Wilco," the cadet said over the comm.
Moving ahead, Porter began stepping along the deck toward its control room a good two hundred meters away. The slow journey was unavoidable given the damage. The transporter had to land in the safest, closest position Porter could manage. After a long and sluggish trip, the three arrived at the control room and spotted the deck crew using portable systems around a half-exploded space. Porter switched his comm channel over to the ship's general line.
"Specialist Ryder. Thank you for allowing us on board."
"Not a problem, Captain," the man said with a slight Martian drawl. "As you can see, the ship's known better days. Damn Zeal knew what they were doing. I'm now the last engineer and the most senior crew member on board to survive. We lost a lot of our people. I'm in the process now of prepping the ship for self-destruction."
"Sorry to hear it, Ryder. We were lucky enough to survive ourselves. Damn things are hard to kill."
"You actually killed some Zeal?"
"A few dozen," Briggs said. "We had to get creative, but they do hold some weaknesses."
"Well, I'll be. Nice to know not all of us just gave up."
"That's why we're here. Word has it you have an X90S on board. In particular, one with an intact delivery unit still attached."
"Yes, sir. Fully operational. Just one problem."
Problem. The word hung in the air, slapping Porter in the face. "What is it?"
"The X90S is on the other side of the ship on a deck far worse than this one. According to our most recent scan, the craft stayed strapped down and suffered no damage."
Porter's brows raised at the mention of the second X90S still being intact. The initial report said otherwise. Ryder continued.
"A pocket of that floor was left untouched. The issue we have is accessing that section. The central deck is all twisted into slag. Damn Zeal found the primary coolant line and seized it up. Totally screwed up the system. That area overheated and exploded. Sent a chain reaction down the line."
"Shit," Porter said over the comm. "Sorry, Specialist. Not what I wanted to hear. We are short on time and need that ship. It's top priority."
Ryder stepped back a little. "Well, I'm sorry, Captain, but I've also g
ot some priorities to deal with. Mainly the destruction of this carrier. I was supposed to pull the trigger an hour ago. I got a hail from the commodore on your MBC saying otherwise, but I'm also getting pressure from a general on another ship to blow this bastard up. So, which is it?"
Porter shuffled closer to the Specialist, allowing their eyes to meet. "We need the X90S more than this carrier needs to be destroyed. That can wait. Our acquisition of the stealth ship and its delivery unit might very well be the thing that disables the Cyclone sitting defiantly in the distance."
"Not my problem, Captain. I'll take my orders from anyone other than an officer on the Andromeda. I heard some things about the people on that ship."
Porter scrunched his eyes closed. He pictured himself punching the Specialist in the face for his comment, but recent times called for a more diplomatic approach.
"I don't know where you're getting your information from, Ryder, but last time I checked, we were not the enemy. Don't drag ship rivalry into the equation."
Ryder stared back at Porter as if he were anticipating some sort of psychical reaction from the captain. No fists were exchanged.
"Fine. I'll help you out. But you've got one hour to move that thing off the ship. After that, I'm back over here setting the charges."
Porter offered the man his hand to shake on it. The specialist reluctantly accepted. Through thick gloves, the two shook hands and nodded in agreement.
He turned away from the man for a moment and switched comm channels so only Briggs could receive him. "Radio Garcia. Tell her this is going to take a little longer than expected. Don't get into further detail."
"Yes, sir," Briggs said.
Porter turned back to Ryder, switched comms, and gave him a forced smile. "So, how are we going to do this?"
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Teve continued training for another ten hours, carrying him and the four other privates through to the next morning. Ward utilized all kinds of creative drills in the underground space in ways only a CO's mind could manage. The building had several elevator shafts that dropped down deeper into the earth. No cars were operational in these shafts, so the CO used them to push Special Forces soldiers to their limit.
Ward paced up and down in front of a sealed-off door.
"This elevator shaft drops down twenty levels to an array of emergency shelters. As you can probably tell, that area is no longer operational, nor is the elevator car that was designed to rush the cowards that developed this place into safety."
"Sir?" Bean asked, raising a hand.
"Go ahead, Private."
"What was this place? I mean, isn't this area already safe and underground?"
"This facility was built fifty years before the war. The records from then are spotty at best."
"Spotty?"
"You heard me, Private Bean. I think twenty push-ups will help clear up your ears."
Bean dropped down without protest and fired off his twenty push-ups. The group had figured out by now not to groan or complain about anything. It only made things a lot worse.
"Now, if Private Curious is quite done with the history lesson, we can get back to why I'm showing you this." Ward stepped over to the sealed door and winded it open using a manual hand crank on the wall. Teve figured the idea was for the elevator to operate without electricity.
A blast of stale air escaped from the shaft and brushed past the group as the doors opened. "This elevator was designed to be completely self-reliant. No electricity was required to operate the car. Just good old fashioned elbow grease. Of course, the shelters never saw any action when the facility was shut down ten years after completion. We've since removed the car for one magnificent reason."
Ward stepped over to the edge of the deep drop. Teve and the others all crept up close to get a decent look. He wondered if anyone else in the group was tempted to give the CO a gentle shove to his death.
"So long, Privates," Ward said a second before he jumped down the hole.
"Oh, shit," Bean said as the lieutenant disappeared without a scream. They all crowded around the drop and stared down into a black void.
"What the hell happened?" Pocket asked. "Did he just kill himself?"
Teve looked at Romeo. She was always one step ahead of the group, but her open mouth suggested even she had no clue as to what just happened.
Several long moments passed by before a clinking sound emitted from below. They all stared down into the black as the noise grew louder. Ward emerged from the depths, charging vertically up the wall. He reached the top a few moments later and stayed glued to the shaft with his open palms.
"Out of the way, Privates," he said before leaping across to the edge drop. After landing on solid ground, he brushed himself off and resumed his natural CO stance: arms behind a straight back, chest out.
"Ah, sir?" Bean asked, raising an unsteady hand.
"I suppose you'll want to know how I'm still alive."
"Yes, please, sir."
"Lower your hand, Bean. This isn't kindergarten."
Bean slapped his hand by his side, his mouth still half open.
Ward held up his palm and showed it to the group. "This device is the reason I didn't plunge to my death. Sorry to disappoint, Privates."
"What is it, sir?" Teve asked without thinking.
"These are what we call Drop Dampeners. The system is placed over my palms and wired into a discrete power pack I'm wearing under my fatigues. They allow the wearer to slow down their descent using some technology I don't care to understand. All that matters to me is it works."
"And how did you climb back up so fast, sir?" Teve asked.
Ward half smiled. "An excellent question, Private. Most soldiers are too confused at this point to ask such a thing. They also aid the wearer to grip onto various magnetic surfaces. With the right training, a soldier could drop down from a grand height and climb a tall building with ease. Say an alien base that was consuming our city."
"Does that mean—"
"Yes. The Zeal buildings are magnetic. They are also crawling with aliens who are ready to kill you, but it doesn't change the fact that the outer coverings of Zeal infrastructure are somewhat similar to human construction."
All the recruits had smiles on their faces except Bean. He was either scared of heights or still confused.
"In the storage lockers behind you are a bunch of the DDs. Suit up. They only go on one way. And do not press any buttons on the charge pack. You got that Red?" Ward pointed his finger.
"Yes, sir. I won't touch a thing," Red said, hands raised in defense.
"Good. Now the system is only useful for about five drops and five climbs back up before needing a charge. Of course, you only need one time to fuck up and fall to your death." Ward slapped Bean on the back as he strolled past him.
"Sir?"
"Suit up, Private. Or I'll make you do the drop without the tech. Hurry."
Bean scurried along and fumbled with the nearest DD he could find.
Teve pulled his on and fed it beneath his fatigues, figuring it was best to have the system concealed and protected. Romeo and Pocket did the same while Bean and Red placed theirs over their clothing. Teve shook his head before going over to each Private to make the suggestion.
Once the group was ready, Ward stood them all in a row. Teve realized he was on the far side of the line, meaning he would either be first or last.
"Bean," Ward said.
Bean was on the opposite end of the five to him. He would be first. Not the greatest choice, but Teve felt relieved about not being the first one to screw up the drop and break both his legs down an ancient elevator shaft.
"You're too much of a sorry screw-up to go first. Let's switch this up. Tower. You're up."
Teve did what he could to contain his shock, but his eyes popped out of his head for a second. He took a deep breath and realigned his thinking. The lieutenant wouldn't go through all this if the drop could kill them. Then again, the obstacle course with real
spikes said otherwise. Command was trying to build up a team of elite soldiers. If they had to lose a few people in the process, so be it.
"Quit your daydreaming, Private and step up to the edge."
Without thinking, Teve crept over to the open space and stood by the drop. It was at that moment that he wondered why the Special Forces even needed such technology.
Ward came over and lifted Teve's shirt to fumble with the system. After a few adjustments, the lieutenant switched the pack on.
"Now, Private. It's quite simple to use. Even a dipshit like you can operate this fine piece of government madness. Observe." Ward held out his open palm. "When you want to slow down, the first thing you need to do is enable each pad. You press this button on each of your wrists. Then to run the dampeners, splay your fingers out wide. The wider they go, the more drag you'll have. You just have to point your palms down to counter gravity."
Teve nodded his head and enabled each pad by pressing the concealed green buttons found on each of his wrists. A tiny green light on his palm turned on. He slowly splayed his fingers and sensed the dampers kicking in to force his hand up and away from the ground.
"Simple, huh? Now, to climb, you press the red button below it. This will enable the pad to stick to anything magnetic. You just need to slap on and roll off like this."
Ward slapped his palm against the metal of the elevator door frame. His hand stuck to the surface like it was covered in glue. He rolled it off with ease. "Got it?"
"I think so, sir."
"Don't think, Private. Just do your job and let the gear do its magic. Time to jump."
Teve gave him a nod and stepped to the edge. He held his arms out and prepared himself to drop down into a dark elevator shaft that seemed endless. He had no idea how far down twenty levels were so he was going to brake the entire trip.
"Get a move on, Tower. We don't have all day to wait for you to grow a pair of testicles. Now jump."
Without thinking, Teve jumped from the edge. A tiny fragment of time passed by as his body felt weightless in the air before gravity pulled him down the hole, accelerating him toward the blackness below. He splayed his fingers out and realized the system wasn't working. He lifted his hands to his face and noticed the tiny red light. "Shit," he yelled out loud, his voice echoing through the shaft. He quickly enabled the dampeners and saw the green light. A half second later, he spread his downward facing fingers and felt the pads push against the freefall of gravity.
