by Jake Bible
“Yeah, there isn’t another way of looking at it,” Nordanski said. “That’s pretty much the one and only way.”
He saw the look on Kay’s face and shook his head.
“Nope, no time to get bummed,” Nordanski said. “We’re getting out of here. Focus on that. We’ll worry about our ride after that, got it?”
“Fine, whatever,” Kay said, waving him off. “Keep going.”
Nordanski didn’t hesitate. He took off jogging again, his eyes scanning the walls, looking for the tell-tale shimmers of holos. Kay was right behind him.
They turned another corner and kept jogging then Nordanski skidded to a halt. He crouched down and cocked his head.
“There, see it?” Nordanski asked. “Six meters down on the left. That’s a holo.”
Kay crouched with him, but shook her head.
“Your helmet is catching it,” Kay said. “It looks like a wall to me.”
“You’ll have to trust me,” Nordanski said as he stood up and started forward again. “It’s a holo. That’s got to be the airlock.”
They were almost to the spot Nordanski was focused on when six sentries came around the opposite corner. Everyone froze.
Then everyone opened fire.
***
The warped Marines eased through the ventilation port and dropped down into the massive hangar. All around them were Skrang fighters, so many that the warped Marines’ presence was not detected by the Skrang flight crew that milled about the hangar. By the Skrang’s nonchalant attitude, they must not have been too worried about the damaged Romper.
The warped Marines planned on making them worry.
One by one, they spread out, working their way along the walls so they could surround the hangar. They’d left all of the cutting equipment outside the ship, so all they carried were their weapons. They moved fast and easy despite their size. Quiet killers moving into place before the strike.
When each was set, they opened fire. It was like they were one organism. Their precision was perfect. The Skrang flight crew panicked and didn’t know which way to turn. Every direction they tried to flee, they met only death by plasma.
Once the flight crew was down, the warped Marines made a beeline for the closest fighters. None of them had any illusions that they could take on an entire warship filled with Skrang warriors. But they didn’t need to when they had all the firepower they could want at their fingertips.
One warped Marine set about locking down the hangar by frying the door controls at each entrance. Then he set up a few timed plasma grenades in case the Skrang cut their way through before the others were ready.
“Jipa geff geff!” one of the warped Marines shouted. “Weq tra!”
“Weq tra!” the others replied as they all climbed up into their own fighter.
The controls were designed for Skrang pilots specifically. The Skrang weren’t stupid and knew their own equipment could be used against them so they put in a few failsafes. The main one was the controls only activated when Skrang DNA was present. Without a Skrang hand at the controls, the fighters were only massive paperweights.
Good thing the warped Marines had plenty of Skrang hands available. They were no longer attached as the warped Marine that had sealed the doors went about slicing them off and tossing them up into open cockpits, but attached wasn’t a prerequisite.
The second failsafe was verbal confirmation of operational codes. The codes changed daily, and Skrang pilots were expected to memorize a new twelve-digit code each and every morning. There was no way the warped Marines were getting around that protocol.
But they didn’t have to. One thing Skrang could be counted on was to assume that if anyone made it as far as the fighter hangar then that must have meant the rest of the ship was occupied and overtaken. Skrang were not a race that gave up willingly. They always preferred to take their enemies with them than become prisoners of war.
So all the warped Marines had to do was keep punching incorrect codes into the fighters’ control systems and ignore the repeated warnings to stop or suffer destruction. Self-destruction. Twenty failed code attempts was the threshold before the fighters began to blare warning klaxons.
The warped Marines cheered and climbed down out of the fighters then made their way to a central spot in the hangar and took a seat. They started laughing and joking as they each mentally counted down from thirty. When they reached twenty-eight they stopped talking, stood, and saluted.
Then their world went bright white.
***
“Oh dear!” Teffurg exclaimed as one of the Skrang warships exploded.
The entire middle of the ship ripped wide open and massive flames shot out into space. The lack of air extinguished the flames almost before they happened, but the plentiful amount of air inside the ship kept new explosions rippling along the warship’s hull until all that was left was a huge cloud of smoking debris dotted with the frozen and floating figures of hundreds of Skrang.
“They did it,” Rosch said. “Those crazy idiots did it.”
“They died doing it,” Teffurg said. “They sacrificed themselves for us.”
“Yes, they did,” Rosch said. “I don’t know why. After what we did to get ourselves in this spot, I can’t say we deserve it.”
“Marines are Marines,” Teffurg said.
He stood and saluted the quickly spreading cloud of debris. Rosch joined him.
After a couple of seconds, they both sat and Rosch began to power up the Romper.
“Let’s check and see what we got to work with here,” she said.
“Is that a good idea?” Teffurg asked. “The other ship is still active.”
“They’re busy trying to figure out what happened to their friends,” Rosch said. “It’ll take them a few minutes to get themselves together before they turn on us. I want to make sure I know what the Romper can do before they begin to rip this baby apart.”
“So many parts of that sentence are troubling that I do not know where to begin,” Teffurg said.
“Begin by trying to hail the drop ship, will ya?” Rosch ordered. “I want to know how close Nordanski and those others are to getting the last of the parts together. Even if we do survive this shit, we ain’t going nowhere without those parts.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Teffurg said and brought up the comm. “Nordanski? Nordanski, come in. Romper to Nordanski.”
“Hey, the comm works! How you doing up there?” Nordanski replied over the comm. “Are the Skrang gone? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.”
“Yes, well, the situation has changed,” Teffurg said. “The other Marines were able to destroy one of the Skrang warships.”
“Right on!” Nordanski replied. “Hold up a second, will ya?”
Teffurg cringed as the loud sound of plasma fire filled the comm.
“Uh, Nordanski, are you in a fire fight?” Teffurg asked.
Rosch turned to Teffurg, her eyes wide. Teffurg shrugged.
“Nordanski?” Teffurg asked.
“Just a minute,” Nordanski replied.
The sound of plasma fire went on for a while. Nordanski’s breathing was heavy and ragged like he was running.
“Okay, I’ve got a second,” Nordanski said. “So, one warship down. What’s the status of the other one?”
“Still active,” Teffurg said.
“That’s gonna be a problem,” Nordanski said. “Here, take this other pistol. I’ve six grenades we can use if we have to.”
“I’m sorry?” Teffurg asked. “What did you say?”
“Sorry, I was talking to Kay,” Nordanski said. “We’re in a tight spot right now. Can we make this short?”
“Yes, yes, all I need to know is how soon until you have the drop ship loaded and you are heading back up here,” Teffurg said. “Wait. Hold on. You have Kay with you?”
“Yep, that’s right,” Nordanski said. “We’re running from AI sentries. Heavily armed AI sentries, I might add.”
“Nordanski, where are y
ou? You are supposed to be at the shipyard,” Teffurg said.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Rosch snarled. “Did Nordanski lose the drop ship? Did it crash?”
“About the drop ship,” Nordanski said. “It’s fine. Shick has it and he’s getting the parts. I took a detour along the way to find the others. All I’ve got is Kay. Manheim and Chann are dead.”
“Oh, that is bad,” Teffurg said. “I am very sorry to hear that.”
“Hey, Teff? I’m gonna have to talk to you later,” Nordanski said. “Rest time is over. Gotta run.”
The comm went dead and Teffurg sat still for a while.
“Don’t even tell me,” Rosch said. “I don’t want to know.”
“Okay,” Teffurg said. “Best we focus on the Skrang warship that is swiveling broadside.”
“Son of a bitch!” Rosch shouted.
4
Chann overshot the corner and his chair kept rolling, cutting at an angle until it slammed into the opposite corner. He grunted, a heavy understatement to the severe discomfort he was in. His body felt like he’d been dropped from space without a velocity suit on.
Slowly, he pulled himself back around the corner so he was facing the corridor he’d meant to turn in to. Once pointed in the right direction, he took a couple deep breaths and continued on his way, his feet scuffing at the floor to propel the chair. No clue where he needed to go, but at least constant movement kept him from feeling helpless.
He was halfway down the corridor when he heard the footfalls. Heavy footfalls followed by a couple of plasma blasts.
“Shit,” he muttered as he spun about in the chair, searching for a place to hide.
He never got the chance as two figures came running around the corner. One was firing a pistol over her shoulder while the other was trying to run backwards while busily emptying an H16 at whatever was pursuing them.
The woman skidded to a stop and stared at Chann. The pistol dropped from her grip and she began to run again, sprinting as fast as she could towards him.
“Hold on, hold on, hold on!” Chann tried to warn Kay just before they collided, sending him, chair, and her crashing to the floor. “Ow.”
“You’re alive!” Kay cried. “Oh, my Eight Million Gods! You’re alive!”
Then she pushed up off him and jumped to her feet. Her claws came out and she glared down at him.
“Is it you?” she snarled.
“It’s me, Kay, it’s me,” Chann said.
“How do I know?” Kay asked.
“You dropped this,” Nordanski said as he caught up and handed Kay her pistol. “Hey, Chann, heard you were dead. Guess not. No time for questions. Don’t care about answers. Get up. We need to run.”
He turned and fired down the corridor, and the sentries that had come around the corner dove back the other way.
“No, seriously, get your ass up,” Nordanski said.
“I can’t,” Chann said. “My body is fucked. I feel like I got hit by a heavy roller.” He looked at Kay. “I don’t know what happened after you left, but I think I died.”
“I figured you had,” Kay said. “But here you are.”
“No, really,” Chann said. “I died. No idea how I came back, but I can’t stand, let alone run.” He nodded at the chair. “That’s why I have that.”
“Then let’s get you in it,” Nordanski snarled as he fired again, keeping the sentries back for the time being. “No time for a damn discussion! Kay, get his ass in that chair and start pushing!”
Kay righted the chair then grabbed Chann under the arms and lifted him up into it.
“Give him the H16,” Kay said to Nordanski.
“What? Why?” Nordanski replied.
“Trust me,” Kay said as she undid her belt and looped it around the back of the chair. “I’m going to run, he’s going to shoot.”
“Oh, good idea,” Nordanski said and tossed Chann the rifle. “Give me the pistol.”
Kay tossed him the pistol then turned and began to run, towing Chann behind her. Chann settled the butt of the carbine against his shoulder and took aim, waiting for a sentry to show its face. Nordanski jogged next him, looking over his shoulder now and again.
Two sentries jumped out and opened fire, but Chann was able to put one down before either of them could get a bead on him. He kept firing until the carbine powered down.
“Hand it here,” Nordanski said as he offered the pistol.
Chann took the pistol and handed over the carbine. While Nordanski ejected the spent power cartridge, Chann opened fire with the pistol, killing another sentry and forcing the others to dive to the floor. Nordanski slapped in a fresh cartridge from his belt then switched the weapons back.
“Kill a couple more, if you get a chance,” Nordanski said.
“I’ll try,” Chann said.
His chest tightened, but he ignored it. No time for whatever was happening to his body to happen to his body. He could fall apart and die later. For the time being, he needed to suck it up and get to work. He was an Eight Million Gods damned Marine and needed to act like it.
They reached the corner Chann had just come from and he cried out, “Other way!”
“What?” Kay asked as she slid to a stop then nearly fell over when the chair collided with her. “What way?”
“Not that way,” Chann said. “That way takes us back towards the communications room. Go that way. Maybe we can circle around the sentries.”
“Good idea,” Nordanski said. A plasma bolt tagged the wall by his head. “Hey!”
Chann opened fire and took out the sentry, but he wasn’t sure how much more fighting he could do. A rah rah pep talk was one thing, his body holding out was a whole other.
“Okay, we’ll try to circle around,” Kay said. “Either of you been this way before?”
“Hell if I know,” Nordanski said. “But we don’t have much of a choice.”
They took off running and rolling again as a volley of plasma ripped up the floor where they had just been standing and sitting. But they were already gone down the other corridor, racing to find a new way of escape.
***
The AI knew that voice. It knew that presence. It knew that artificial mind.
Taman was close.
It navigated the constant stream of data and information, avoiding all contact with other consciousnesses, until it came to a conduit split. The outpost had a command room. Interesting.
The AI raced into the conduit and popped up inside a targeting system. It encountered a very startled consciousness. There was a brief struggle, but the AI overpowered the consciousness, using the other’s surprise against it.
It was far from a clean death and lines of code were smeared across the targeting system’s protocols, but the AI managed to clean up most of it before pushing forward.
And pushing forward meant suddenly coming awake inside a body. A living, breathing human body. The consciousness that had been controlling the targeting system was not stationed inside the console itself, but was part of one of the appropriated humans the AIs had been taking over for years.
The AI froze. Or the body froze as the AI tried to decide its next move. It hunted the brain—a physical brain—for any clues. Remnants of previous thoughts were fading fast, but the AI was able to glimpse a few clues. Taman had said to wait to fire on the Skrang warships. There were Skrang warships.
The AI eased out of its frozen state and reconnected with the targeting system. That put it in contact with all the systems in the command room. It became aware of the other physical beings seated within the command room. They were busy working controls while also manipulating systems with their cybernetic minds. The AI mimicked them, moving its hands around the weapons console it sat in front of.
“One of the warships has been destroyed,” someone announced.
“What? How?” Taman asked.
“Trying to parse that now,” the person said. “It appears to have been a self-destruct.”
“Why in the he
ll would a Skrang warship self-destruct?” Taman asked. “Reevaluate.”
“I have found a log of several small self-destruct alerts before the warship detonated,” the person said. “The fighters. It could have been sabotage.”
“The Marines have help up there,” Taman said. Then he laughed. “Those abominations. They managed to get off the planet. They took the drop ship and attacked the Skrang warship.”
That didn’t make sense to the AI. Why would a small drop ship attack a Skrang warship? They wouldn’t have stood a chance. The only logical conclusion would be if they were protecting others.
“Taman, we have power readings coming off the Marine transport ship,” a different person announced. “It has most of its systems back online and appears to be cycling through them.”
“Testing its limits,” Taman said. “The fools. There is still another Skrang warship standing by. If it destroys that transport, then we are stuck on this planet once more. Power up weapons systems now!”
The AI waited to see what happened next. What kind of capabilities did the outpost have when it came to weapons? Then it sensed all attention on it. The AI was not used to a physical body, and it had to concentrate to turn the body’s head and look at the others. They were staring right at it.
“Did you not hear me?” Taman barked. “Now it’s time to power up the weapons systems.”
Taman stared at the AI. The AI stared back.
“Oh, yes, me,” the AI said.
Then Taman grinned.
“Yes. You,” Taman said and moved to stand behind the AI’s body. “Hello, you. I see you have wormed your way into one of my people. How industrious. All this ability from a silly little drop ship AI. I have to say I am quite impressed with you.”
The body involuntarily gulped, and its eyes went wide with the surprise physical reaction.
“Oh, aren’t you so cute!” Taman announced. Then his hands wrapped around the AI’s body’s throat. “I don’t have time for cute.”
The body started to choke, and the AI reacted by striking out with both hands into Taman’s midsection. Then man let go of its neck and stumbled back, coughing as he doubled over. The AI stood and faced the room of angry faces. It wobbled on its new legs, but stayed upright.
