by J. A. Scorch
"They did it," Hensley said. "I can't believe this."
All around Teve flames and smoke from the Dragonettes' autocannons had destroyed a countless number of Stiltz and defense systems. The path ahead lay covered in smoldering debris and dead aliens. The remaining Zeal would be too scattered to take on the several hundred UEF soldiers now approaching the tower.
"That brother of yours is a maniac," Mish said as she slapped Teve on the back.
Teve smiled toward the base. "Yeah, I'm starting to see that. No wonder he managed to kill an entire Zeal carrier."
"Our turn now," Mish said. "Let's mop up the rest of these assholes," she shouted. The dozens of UEF soldiers around her cheered as they all headed toward the base.
Teve kept his eyes alert and ready for anything that might still be expecting them. He had no idea how many alien soldiers remained in the city or how many hybrids were still waiting for the perfect time to attack.
After twenty minutes without harassment, the UEF force arrived at the base and approached one of the main walls. The many gates that the Zeal used to come and go had been sealed shut. A few of Hensley's grunts had explosives on them in the form of D-block. They had enough to make a new entry into the Zeal base and set up a wide ingress.
"Care to do the honors?" Hensley asked Teve as he held out the D-block trigger.
"No thank you, Lieutenant," Teve said, waving him off. "I think your soldiers will appreciate it more coming from you."
"Thank you, Master Sergeant," Hensley said. There was a slight smile forming on his lips. Hensley proceeded to order the grunts around to take a step back and prepare to rush the tower.
"Fire in the hole," he shouted before detonating the D-block. The walls of the base ripped apart and created an opening for the UEF to storm through.
"Masks on," one of the soldiers yelled down the line. The UEF all carried the necessary gear to avoid getting contaminated by the nanites that existed within a Zeal base. All it took was direct contact with the skin for a soldier to become infected like Mish and Teve. Despite knowing about the abilities the two soldiers possessed, not many of the grunts ever wanted Zeal technology flowing through their bodies.
The soldiers all pulled on their masks and assessed their gloves and shoes before they attacked the base to kill any Stiltz left inside. Teve had seen the cleansing moment enough times now to let the soldiers of each city go into the base first. It was their right after fighting with the Zeal for more than four years without budging an inch.
Without the networked power the Zeal carriers provided, the Zeal bases weren't as efficient at defending themselves from attack. The SF soldiers and MAF birds added the needed ingredients for a successful assault.
Teve stood back with Mish as the UEF charged inside and blasted the place apart. There were no human prisoners left alive, so the soldiers didn't have to take care with their approach. The fight didn't last more than ten minutes as the last Stilt was put down before Teve and Mish could come inside and complete the final task of the attack.
"Ready?" Teve asked Mish.
"Damn straight. I want these voices out of my head. Being this close is setting them off again. Maybe they'll all vanish when the Orb goes down?"
"Maybe," Teve said as he approached the entry to the center of the tower. He knew in his heart that the Orb's destruction wouldn't make a difference. X had infiltrated them both at the cost of the base. What Teve failed to understand was why the hybrid was willing to lose so much just to get inside their heads.
The pair arrived at the Orb room where they had been not so long ago. The glowing, purple object stood defiantly out from its hiding place the way each one had done in the past when a Zeal base met its end. It was like the Orb was alive and knew its fate.
None of the regular soldiers could be this close to the Orb without dropping to their knees in sheer agony. Mish strolled in with her rifle raised and a grenade loaded up in its launcher. Teve readied his single grenade round and waited for her to signal her readiness.
"Set. Let's take this bitch out."
Teve gave her a nod a fired his grenade with a pop. Mish followed suit and shot a moment later. The sequential blasts shattered and destroyed the Orb in a split second, shutting down the base's ominous purple glow with the blink of an eye. The alien building was nothing but a dead collection of metal. Any remaining Stiltz, drones, or Zeal defenses in the city would be simultaneously shut down as the Orb's influence died.
The powerful object linking the aliens together within the area was no more. The city was now in the hands of the UEF.
Cheers erupted throughout the base as Mish paced around the middle section. Teve took a seat on one of the collapsed arms that still held a dead human prisoner against the wall of the round room. He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. It had been a long day, so he shut his eyes for a moment.
He didn't mean to drift off to sleep, but the fatigue that was normally fought off by the nanites seemed to take over and pull him down into a slumber where he sat.
Visions of hybrids and melting Stiltz clouded his head, flooding his mind with doubt. Everything over the past four years attacked every sense at once until one thing blocked them all out: X.
"Hello, T," X said inside his head. His eyes popped open as he felt a wave of panic pull him from his unconscious state. Once his breathing had begun to stabilize and calm down, he stood from the arm and went up to Mish who was facing away from him.
"I just had the craziest dream," he said as he approached her. Before he had a chance to say another word, Mish spun around with two eyes full of tears as she held her head tight.
"They're still here, Teve. The voices won't stop."
Chapter Thirty-Five
When Porter touched down, Miller was waiting for him with crossed arms. There would be no way out of the difficulty he'd put himself into despite the positive results his actions netted.
"Holy crap, the general looks pissed," Clay said.
"Don't worry, Clay. I'll take the wrap. I'll tell him you were following my orders. The other pilots, too."
"Sir, you don't have to do—"
Porter cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Trust me; I've got this. The brig isn't so bad."
The lieutenant smiled and said no more. He simply offered to shake the captain's hand instead.
Accepting the gesture, Porter shook Clay's hand and disconnected himself from the Dragonette. It would probably be the last bird he flew on Earth or in space when Miller was through exercising his powers. There was only so much crap one pilot could pull before Command lost their composure.
Porter stepped off the ship and faced Miller's stern brows as they stabbed into his eyes. "Captain, a word, please," Miller said.
"Yes, sir."
Miller came on board and tapped the comm channel to get Clay's attention. He called the lieutenant to the cargo hold, no doubt wanting to berate them both with the same words.
"Sir, before you begin," Porter said.
"Shut it, Captain. I don't want you to speak. Just listen to me."
Clay settled into position next to Porter and stood tall. He seemed ready to take on any foul that came toward his fellow pilot no matter how many warnings he received.
"That stunt you both pulled might have won the day, but I can tell you confidentially in all my years of fighting these goddamn aliens, I've never seen so much reckless behavior from two officers in the space of one day. Do you two have any idea how much fucking damage you could have done?"
"Sir," Clay said, "we took the base with minimal loss of—"
"Cut the bullshit, Lieutenant. You MAF pukes got lucky. Nothing else to it."
Porter gave Clay a quick sideways glance to tell him to let it go, but the pilot had become as stubborn as him. His insubordination had worn off on the man.
Miller stepped forward up into the Dragonette, never once taking his eyes off Porter. The captain held his gaze and didn't allow the general the satisfaction of intimida
tion. Porter had given them a good result after a disastrous campaign. If Miller was going to take him down, he had no idea what reaction it might summon.
"You and Lieutenant Clay are to report to Central for immediate transport."
"Central?" Porter asked. There weren't many reasons to report to Central other than to be expedited through the justice process. Miller wanted blood. He couldn't hold back. "Are you seriously—"
Miller cut him off with the palm of his hand. "I'm not having you arrested, Captain, although, I easily could, given your goddamn behavior today. Unfortunately, the reason is something far worse than facing a UEF committee."
Clay inched forward. "What is it, sir?"
Miller shifted his focus between the pair. "You're being recalled to space. The new Zeal fleet has been detected at the edge of the system. The MAF's new long-range scanners picked up the signal of a fleet over three times the size of the first one that hit Earth and Mars. Every asshole that can hold a stick between their legs is being sent to Mars to begin the defense of Sol. You are no longer needed on Earth."
Porter felt the blood drain from his body. He knew this day was coming. He never pictured it would coincide with him being reunited with Teve, especially after receiving word about his pending death.
Miller turned around and went to leave. Porter stopped him with a single breath.
"Sir, I have a few questions."
"Forget it, Captain."
"But, sir, what about my brother? What about the dying Special Forces soldiers?"
Clay gave Porter a sideways glance with a twisted brow.
Miller spun around with the question. Had he forgotten his confession to Porter?
"He'll be going up there, too. The retaking of Earth's cities has been put on hold for this. You and Teve will have the honor of dying in space fighting an enemy that won't stop. Command has been pulling the UESF out from the front line all day. They never told me why until now."
Porter felt his tongue jumbled up in his head. Miller had just unloaded a bombshell the size of the entire war on him. There was nothing he could say or do to change that. He let Miller slowly leave without another word. As soon as that fleet arrived, they'd all be dead.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Teve half dragged Mish away from the Zeal tower. He left the sight of the ugly alien construction behind them as they trudged toward home. A few Dragonettes were present in the air, returning with a full tank of fuel to pick up soldiers and return them to base. Teve planned to put Mish on the first bird that touched the ground.
"How are you doing?" he asked her, noticing the tight grip she had on his battle armor beginning to fade.
"Better now that we're out of the tower."
"And how about the voices? Are they still yelling in your head?"
Mish stared up into his eyes. "They're starting to quiet down. But I don't understand. We destroyed the Orb; that should sever the connection to our nanites. Plus, the next Zeal base is over 400 klicks from here."
"I know," Teve said as he focused his attention forward. X's face continued to flash into his mind. He realized this was not the Orb playing its tricks. X had infected them with something new. Whatever it was, Teve wasn't going to let it define them. He glanced down at Mish and pulled her in tighter before kissing her soft forehead.
"So what happens now?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
She lifted her head up and began to walk on her own. "Command now knows that we can't attack any bases without losing every human prisoner. Is there even any point in attacking them? We might as well get some Martian destroyers to level the cities from space and start over."
"It's not a bad idea," Teve said as he stared up into the sky. "But I doubt Mars would commit to that. The UEF would be too proud to take the smart route. They'd rather see us die fighting these bastards than to give the MAF the satisfaction. I'm surprised we ever got the air support."
"Speaking of," Mish said. "We need to take you to your brother so you two can properly catch up. I still can't believe he's here."
"Neither can I," Teve said. "Crazy guy jumped out of his bird just to find me in this mess. He's lucky to be alive."
"Hey, consider yourself lucky. Family is important. There's not too many of us around here that would have a brother willing to risk his life like that just to see you."
Teve smiled as he thought about Bradley abandoning his pilot's chair to find him. It was more than wild behavior; it was something a desperate person did. What was it that drove him to such extremes? Teve tried to push the thought out of his head for the moment. There would be plenty of time to work everything out when they got back to base.
An inbound Dragonette touched down by a group of wounded soldiers. There weren't as many as expected given the air support Bradley had scrounged together to get the UEF to the Zeal base. The platoon Teve and Mish managed to attach themselves to got through the fight with only a single soldier getting hit. The private would live to tell the tale.
Once the wounded had been loaded on the bird, Mish and Teve found a place inside the Dragonette and strapped in. The ride back home was only a short one, but Mish took the opportunity to close her eyes and lay her head back. He couldn't do the same.
The day had been long and confusing. X continued to flash into his mind, mentioning something about the truth. Whatever the hybrid clone had done to their heads, Teve knew there was nothing that could be arranged to fix it. The two soldiers were a part of a select few who were misunderstood and treated differently from the rest. Despite the extensive study performed by the screwed-up doctor from Black Forest, the UEF didn't know enough about the nanites to make a difference. All humanity had managed to do with the alien virus was to weaponize the hosts who carried the tiny half-organic, half-machine bugs.
When the bird touched down back at the UEF base, Teve needed to wake Mish up. He wanted to let her rest, but they each required a shower and a sleep in a real bed before the next task was thrown at them.
The wounded were taken off the aircraft one by one. Teve would offer to help, but he knew no one wanted him to go near them. His purple eyes told the world he was different and not to be trusted. For that reason, the SF soldiers lived away from the rest of the personnel in the base.
"Mish," he said as he nudged her awake.
She stirred from her mini nap and slowly began to unbuckle herself from the seat. Teve offered her a helping hand up. She grabbed his wrist and got pulled up to her feet in one go. A second later, she had wrapped herself around his chest.
Teve covered her body with his grip and squeezed tight. The embrace lasted longer than expected until he reminded her where they were. Command didn't love their relationship, but as long as they kept everything low-key, the COs would look the other way.
"We better go. Once I've cleaned myself up, I'm going to have a word with Miller and find out why he didn't send any SF soldiers into the city."
"Wait for me," Mish said. "I want to see him squirm as he comes up with some BS excuse."
The pair smiled as they walked toward the rear ramp. The bird was silent. Only the sound of the engines cooling themselves down could be heard over the activity of the base outside.
Teve spotted a pair of MAF boots approaching the Dragonette and realized they belonged to Bradley. Teve couldn't keep the smile from his face as he moved quicker down the ramp toward him. It wasn't until he saw his brother's face that he knew something was wrong.
"Teve," Bradley said. "We have to talk."
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Porter stared at his confused brother as he stood half in the Dragonette. It was evident by the look on Teve's face that he understood Porter was about to tell him something awful.
"What's wrong?" Teve asked as Mish settled by his side.
"Is there somewhere the three of us can talk in private?"
Teve glanced around beyond Porter's location as if he was searching for the best place. "Here is good. We can go back inside the cargo
hold and talk." Without confirmation, he began to move back into the aircraft. Mish followed. The pair sat down in the middle aisle.
Once Porter had climbed the ramp, he closed the rear of the bird with a slap of a button found on the frame of the ship. He moved in and took a seat across from the couple.
"What is it?" Teve asked as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.
"A few things. I'm officially about to make this the worst day of your life. Both of you."
"Both of us?" Mish asked.
"Yeah," Porter nodded as he directed his attention to Mish for a moment. He stared back at Teve and told him about the new Zeal fleet and Command's plans to send every pilot and every SF soldier immediately up into space for one last desperate fight. Teve took the news well. It was common knowledge that the Zeal were on their way to Sol with a new fleet. But it was generally assumed that Mars and Earth would have more time to prepare.
"I guess it was inevitable," Teve said, accepting the information. "All we can do is put up our best fight and try and take these bastards down."
Mish nodded away. "Damn straight. We're ready for them this time. They won't be able to surprise us."
Porter gave them both a weak smile. "That's not all. There's something else. I was trying to tell you about it out there, but the battle didn't give me a chance."
Teve and Mish leaned forward with raised eyebrows. Neither of them dared to breathe as they waited for Porter to speak again.
"It's about your nanites."
"What about them?" Mish asked with a twisted brow.
"There's no good way to say this. The very things that give you the ability to rapidly heal and run for hours on end without breaking a sweat are killing you slowly from within."
"What?" Teve let out.
