“General, there is an incoming call from the leader.”
Nolan nodded. “Put it onscreen.”
A holoscreen appeared to the side of his chair. Merrick’s face appeared in the display and his bemused grin caught the general off guard. He couldn’t tell what the leader was thinking—was he pleased?
“General,” Merrick said.
“Sir,” he replied.
“Well done so far, but I must press you a little—or perhaps I should say Lena. The world council will be dealt with soon enough, but we need to deal with the issue of the embassy. That depends on you.”
“Right, sir.” He nodded and reached to the side of the screen. “I’ll get Lena on the line.”
It took several rings but the tech finally answered. Her artificial eye dimmed as she appeared on a separate screen. “I’m about ready— Sir!” She yelped in surprise as she registered that Merrick was also on the call.
“Evening, Lena,” he said smoothly. “I wanted to check your progress. The general was kind enough to get you the EI. Is it ready yet?”
She nodded hastily. “Yes, sir. I’ve actually finally put everything in place and was about to finish the reconstruction.”
“Ah, fortunate timing then,” he responded. “Oliver has told me that he’s heard whispers of the embassy preparing their response, and quite soon, I believe. I’m sure you’d rather take time to test your new toy, Lena, but we’ll need it sooner rather than later.”
“Of course, sir,” she said and glanced at Nolan. “Do you still have the device?”
He nodded and produced the round drive from his chest pocket. “I’ll have one of my technicians install it at once.”
Merrick’s smile became a little more apparent and widened slowly. “Very good. That should give the EI access to the embassy’s systems once it is within range.”
The general looked at the Nexus map. “We’re only mopping up at this point, sir. I don’t believe leaving will swing this in their favor. Would you like me to depart immediately?”
“Do you have the students?”
He looked at the current total. “Approximately fifty-two percent of the student body has been captured, but only forty-three percent are on board. I can return after this task is complete.”
“See that you do, General. You shouldn’t leave your troops behind,” the leader said, his tone almost playful. “And there are still secrets that need to be unearthed. Speaking of which, when you have the opportunity, instruct the EI to locate a file on the embassy marked AS_000. We’ll need that for our future army.”
“Of course, sir. I assume it’s connected to the Animus?” Nolan enquired.
Merrick looked away, lost briefly in a memory. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “It’s older than the Animus project,” he revealed. “It would have been the future of humanity—a future I played a part in and one I died for.”
Chapter Forty-Two
“Everyone, get to a ship!” Haldt ordered as he and Eckles raced into the hangar. The pilots they had escorted had already dashed toward the remaining craft. “There is no time to dawdle.”
“No kidding. I’m down to the last two cannons.” The officer at the console sighed when one of the screens went black. “Shit, make that last one.”
“To every member of the security team,” a deep, accented voice said in the officer’s comms.
“It’s Wolfson!” Eckles stated. “Is he broadcasting to everyone?”
“It sounds like it. Listen up,” Haldt ordered.
“I’m issuing a full retreat order with immediate effect,” the head officer said, frustration evident in his voice. “You are still to do your job while you make your way out of the base, however. Help anyone you can on your way out. Group together and stay safe. We’ll need you to take our island back.”
“Retreat?” Eckles sounded indignant. “I know it’s the obvious choice right now, but it’s strange to hear it come from Wolfson.”
“Ever since the first volley of bots, this has been merely a game of time.” Haldt sighed, tapped the shoulder of the officer at the console, and pointed to one of the ships. She nodded and made her way to it after she set the final cannon to auto. “You can tell he obviously wasn’t pleased about it.”
“No kidding.” The other man sighed and stepped beside the security captain. “We still have our part to play so let’s rescue whoever else we can. The ship above hasn’t made a move yet and let’s hope it stays that way for a while longer.”
His companion nodded, but as he turned to look at the console for one last look at the grounds before he boarded his shuttle, he noticed that the sky had begun to brighten and the twilight became clearer. It took a moment before he realized that the reason was because the ship had begun to move from above the island.
He sucked in a surprised breath. “What the hell?”
“What the hell is it doing?” Sasha asked and peered out of the window to watch as the colossus began to fly away from the island. Not only fly away, he realized. In fact, it ascended to break above the clouds.
“I don’t feel very triumphant,” Cameron with a disgruntled look at the others. “Is it getting help?”
“Do you think it needs help right now?” Luke asked. “Good God, I hope not.”
“It looks like the thrusters are about to activate and go full force,” Chiyo pointed out. “Is it heading into space?”
“Sasha? Sasha?” a frantic voice called out over the comm.
“Laurie?” the commander answered. “I’m here. What’s wrong?”
“Oh, thank goodness. I’ve tried to reach you ever since we made it off the island.”
“I’ve had to keep my comms off until recently,” he explained. “You’re seeing the colossus leave, correct?”
“It’s hard to miss,” the professor stated dryly. “But I don’t know where it could be headed. They should still be hobbled by my hacking attempt. They’ve either resorted to controlling everything manually, had a spare EI installed and cleaned up the systems…or…”
“Or what, Laurie?”
His friend uttered a pained gasp. “I’m so sorry, Aurora.”
As the colossus breached the clouds, Nolan took his seat. “Make sure the shields are focused on the front. I expect instant retaliation until we can get into range,” he ordered and took a moment to look at their new EI. Currently, it simply displayed an image of its head, which glowed a bright blue that occasionally shifted to white and dark, cloudy eyes. “Have the cannon primed as well. Should you fail, I doubt we can sufficiently destroy the station, but we should be able to cause massive damage before making our retreat.”
“Understood, General.” The EI nodded. “However, I shall not lose.”
He smiled, crossed his legs, and leaned back. “I’m glad to hear it, Aurora. Connect to the embassy’s systems as soon as we’re in range.” She nodded and the avatar disappeared as Lena walked up to the side of Nolan’s chair. “Magnificent work, Lena, and well-timed too,” he said cheerfully. “What made you keep its name?”
The hacker shrugged. “I thought it sounded pretty.”
Nolan raised an eyebrow but shrugged as one of the crewmen shouted. “Brace for boost. Activating internal gravity field.”
The internal gravity field should negate the sudden shift from the ship’s boost but Nolan still made sure to sit up straight and press himself against his chair. Lena walked to the bridge and found a spare seat as a countdown began. A blaring alarm sounded when it reached the last five seconds and when it hit zero. The view outside the ship became a blur as their speed increased massively. They broke into the stratosphere, then the mesosphere in quick succession. When they neared the line of the thermosphere, they began to slow until they approached the exosphere. From there, the colossus gradually resumed its normal speed and Nolan could see their target.
In the distance was the massive, cross-shaped station that housed the current galactic alliance. It was several times the size of e
ven his ship and was well-armed as well—and apparently, had numerous ships docked there as well. Now, many of them scrambled to meet the new arrival.
“We’re getting hailed, sir,” a crewman announced.
“Hold it for a moment, if you would,” Nolan stated and displayed a little more cockiness than he had thus far. “Bring us in closer. Is the cannon ready?”
“It is, sir,” the crewman confirmed, his tone tinged with shock. “It should have taken longer but the EI had it ready in only two minutes.”
“She’s already proving a good investment.” He chuckled.
“We’re still getting hailed sir, and the ships are mobilizing and locking in on our position.”
The general looked at Lena, who nodded and studied the graph on the screen. “Only a few more seconds,” he said
“They’re firing!” He looked up as dozens of lights streaked in his direction.
“Expanding shields, concentrating at the front of the ship,” Aurora’s monotone voice responded. As soon as the lasers impacted, ripples of light covered the colossus as the shields defended against the attacks.
“The shields won’t last under this assault, sir! We only have—”
“In position. Assuming control of embassy systems.” The blasts continued to batter the colossus, but Nolan had already felt relief as soon as Aurora spoke. “I will now retaliate.”
He smiled and gestured with a casual wave of his hand. “Please do.”
The embassy’s cannons that had previously been trained on the vessel now turned to aim at all the ships below. They fired with frightening precision and all shots struck dead-on at weak points in the various ships. The general watched them break apart as if they had been struck by a spear from the heavens. Considering the power behind those cannons, it wasn’t a farfetched idea at all.
Nolan leaned back and his grin broadened as some of the ships broke away and tried to retreat. “We might not have many pieces in this game, but we have the right ones, it seems.” He chuckled and glanced at Lena, who nodded.
“Do we still have the embassy’s hail, by chance?” he asked.
“We do, sir.”
“Go ahead a put it on now.” He was greeted by two stony faces as several embassy crew members raced around frantically behind them. “Greetings, gentleman. You wanted to talk?” he said glibly and caught their attention.
One of the men narrowed his eyes, both in fury and in confusion. “Wait—I know you. I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
“Really, now? Funny, I thought all mention of me would have been scrubbed,” he muttered and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m sure you’ve realized that the embassy is no longer under your control.”
“Are you a damn fool?” one of them yelled. “You attack the embassy? What have you accomplished? There are terrorist attacks taking place as we speak and thousands of people are dying!”
“I can assure you that we have no intention to needlessly kill those we will need for the fight,” he promised, but this only caused confusion among the two. “We shall board soon but won’t stay long. I merely need to make sure the station is ready for our leader.”
“Do you think we’ll simply let you on here?” one of them asked, a trace of laughter in his tone. “There are battalions from all races here. The Sauren alone will—”
“Ah, yes, speaking of friends—how close are our friends, Aurora?” Nolan asked the EI nonchalantly.
“They are approaching the exit gate now and will arrive in only a few moments.”
“Wonderful. Please be sure to deactivate the gates once they’ve arrived.” She nodded and vanished once more as he stood and approached the monitor. “The embassy is merely one of the accomplishments the four races of the galaxy have accomplished together and a small one at that.” He stretched his arms wide. “Think of what we can accomplish from here. I remember the opening ceremony, although I was only a teenager when it happened.” He lowered his arms and linked his hands behind his back. “I do not fear the other races, although I do expect you to put up a fight.” Nolan gestured behind the two men, where a turret dropped from the ceiling and aimed at them. “I can tell you it will be a closer fight than you believe.”
“W-who do you want to s-speak to?” one of them stammered.
“As far as I am concerned, none of you are truly the leaders here,” he retorted and with a snap of his fingers, the turret shot the two men—as well as the console, apparently, as the screen went black. “He’ll arrive shortly.”
“Incoming in gates three, five, eight, nine, and ten,” Aurora announced. Dozens of dark ships appeared in flashes of light behind the embassy and a smile crossed his lips.
“The Omega Horde has arrived.”
Chapter Forty-Three
“Are you sure you don’t want to join me?” Dario asked on the screen while Merrick finished getting dressed. “Admittedly, there isn’t exactly much time left but you could use the transporter—”
“Nolan has the embassy in his grasp and the Horde has also arrived,” the leader responded dismissively. “I have to address my future subjects.”
The assassin chuckled. “You certainly seem to be in a mood now, don’t you?”
He paid him no mind and focused on the task at hand. “When you are done, meet me at the embassy. From there, we will decide on the future of the mission.”
“And I get to be a part of it?” he asked. “I have something of a one-track mind, you know.”
Merrick buttoned his coat and glanced at the screen. “Do you think about the future much, Dario?”
“A little now and then, not much more.”
The leader didn’t respond right away and instead, studied his reflection in the mirror. “I would recommend you spend more time doing that. After all, with this, we are one step closer to actually having a future to look forward to.”
Wolfson had taken over the pilot’s seat and hoped to use the time while the colossus was gone to rescue more students. Kaiden was one of the first out of the dropship. He helped his friends out of the craft but the security team decided to stay with the head officer when he returned.
“Kaiden!” a familiar voice called. He looked around and located Laurie and Cyra, who hurried toward them.
He raised an arm to wave at them when someone ran past him. Chiyo raced over to Cyra and hugged her tightly in relief. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
“I’m glad you’re safe too,” Cyra replied and gestured at Laurie. “It was actually because of the professor that we got out at all.”
“A small victory.” He sighed. “Compared to my tragic mistake.”
“If that’s what you want to call it,” she retorted. “You haven’t really explained what happened with the ship.”
“Indeed, Laurie,” Sasha said when he appeared behind the group as Wolfson took off. “You said something about Aurora? What happened, exactly?”
“She was taken, Sasha,” the professor explained. “When we tried to take control of the ship’s EI, she offered to work the device to increase the success rate and we played right into their hands. They lost their EI but they stole Aurora.”
The commander looked at the sky, where the colossus had once been. “At the cost of sounding dispassionate, I don’t see the issue. Aurora was your personal EI, which means she’s tethered to you and your devices. Beyond that, I doubt they have a system that could effectively handle her.”
“They apparently do,” his friend muttered and folded his arms as he looked down. “If not, Aurora should have been able to break away easily and return to me. I wasn’t able to get her back. After a confrontation with their general, I had little choice but to escape at the time—”
“Their general? You saw him?” the commander asked. Kaiden and his friends gathered around.
“Only briefly. He mostly mocked me the entire time and said his name was General Nolan.”
“Nolan?” Sasha looked suddenly thoughtful and placed a finger against his commlink. “Th
at sounds familiar. Let me ask Wolfson if he—”
“Brace! We’re heading up!” the head officer shouted.
“Wolfson, what’s the matter?” Sasha yelled over the roar of the dropship’s engines over the link.
“The damn barrier went back up. Everyone is trapped inside.”
“The barrier?” Sasha and Laurie looked across the bay at a translucent white dome that had formed around the island.
Chief appeared in Kaiden’s HUD “Kaiden, I have a call from Julio.”
“Julio? Nothing’s happening in Seattle, I hope.” He stepped away from the group. “Connect us, Chief.”
“Kaiden? Are you there, Kaiden?” the man asked and his voice sounded stressed and shaky.
“I’m here, Julio.”
“Oh, thank God. Man, shit’s been crazy since that colossus showed up at the island. There have been terrorist attacks all over the world, the WC building is under attack—”
“The council? By who?” His startled question caught Chiyo and Genos’ attention.
“The same guys who attacked you—or the same droids, at least,” Julio explained. “It looks like the worst is over, though. The last report said they were close to getting into the central chamber where the head honcho was located. A few of the ships are even starting to pull away to go and hel…at oth…”
“Julio? Hey, Julio?!” Kaiden poked his commlink like that would reconnect the call any faster. “Chief, can you clean it up?”
“Something is overriding the connection and switching the call.”
“My tablet is rumbling,” Genos stated. He retrieved the device and the three friends huddled around it. On the screen was the view of a large cloud city with a multitude of ships surrounding it.
“Terra, the home of the world council,” Chiyo noted.
“Chief, who’s sending this?” the ace asked as he noticed other students and officers taking their devices out, apparently all seeing the same thing.
Invasion (Animus Book 10) Page 20
