by Tex Leiko
* * * *
“He’s coming back home,” said Ghast, sounding annoyed and relieved at the same time.
“Father? Why is he coming back to Ilyeion?” asked Sarah.
“Not your father, Zarfa.”
“This is good news. He should be easy to take into captivity then.”
“How do you propose? The plan was to get him at Alexandria when he was by himself. He is on a train headed back right now. The intelligence came in too late to deploy an interception team. Our only chance will be to pick him up at the train station. After that, he will be reunited with his troublesome army and we have had little success taking any of them in any other way than corpses.”
“True, they seem to fight like the berserkers of ancient Norse mythology. They don’t care if they die. In fact, they’d rather die than be taken alive. He seems to fight better than all of them and even worse, he is always surrounded by his elite guard when they face us on the field of battle.”
“So as I said, our only chance is at the train station, right when he gets off the train. It will be tricky. In fact, we should call it a massacre and take whoever is in the station, kill those who put up too much resistance, and try to minimize losses by using…them.”
Sarah thought about it for a while. She stared at Ghast, trying to figure out if he was serious. “They are ready? I thought it hadn’t been perfected yet.”
“It’s close; we have some early prototypes that respond well to commands. They aren’t optimal. In all reality, they are somewhat failed experiments so we need to dispose of them anyway. Any that we lose will help us with that.”
“Are they able to execute a capture command or are they too unruly still?”
“Ugh… How did I know you were going to ask that? It is about a twenty-eighty split. Twenty percent of the time they go insane and do whatever they please. Eighty percent of the time they execute their commands exactly. The genetic coding needs to be refined a little bit better to make them more subservient. However, they are the best soldiers we currently have. They are strong and fast. Their eyesight is unmatched; the tentacles have progressed nicely on this round of creation and escaping their grasp would be near impossible. Even for him. Also, they are able to blind with their ink.”
“How many do we have to send?”
“We created thirty from this last round of raiding. As I said, almost completely submissive. We still don’t know what is causing the twenty percent to enrage and turn on the handlers, or anyone within their field of vision for that matter.”
“How many handlers do we currently have available?”
“Handlers aren’t an issue. You forget we are preparing for a war that we expect to end quickly. Currently, we have far more handlers than we do these monsters.”
Sarah thought long and hard. She envisioned how it might go. She realized that there was a chance he would be killed by a renegade solider. She also came to the conclusion that this was their best opportunity. If she waited for another raid, he might be killed there too.
They had been unsuccessful at capturing him because he never backed down. He never surrendered. Once, when they had him encircled by thirteen men and they thought they had him, he managed to kill six on his own before his reinforcements had arrived.
It was coming to be the final hour. They had to capture him as she wanted or do away with him completely. She regretted not telling him the plan the day they took her. She knew it was a pickup, that she would go peacefully, but he would never want anything to do with Father’s plan.
As far as he knew, Mother and Father were both dead. That was only the half-truth, but still, she knew if he had any inkling of what was really going on, who was behind the Faraza, he would probably fight it with the same or even more viciousness than he currently displayed.
He was a danger to the cause. Even if she did take him alive, the treatments would change him so much that he would no longer be himself. Her selfishness and her desire to have her older protectorate brother back in her life had clouded her vision for many years. Finally, she saw that and she saw that he had to be dealt with, one way or another.
“Okay then, send all thirty of the Ilithids along with thirty handlers. I want one on each one. If we can take him alive, do so. If not, kill him.” Her voice was stern and cold.
* * * *
“So we let him go? Just like that?” asked Zax.
“We really have no other option. We can’t make him join us, he doesn’t seek us destroyed, and for now, we have a common enemy,” Badger replied.
He was annoyed at how the events of their meeting had played out. He didn’t like hearing no as an answer. Especially since he had at his every beck and call a large army of psychics, ever loyal and always connected to the network of his mind. They always carried out his orders, never said no, even the ones he had left with a degree of free will.
But he knew, sooner or later, he would have control over Zarfa. The signals he transmitted weren’t strong enough yet to be linked to the network. But he had only had one treatment. He knew in a matter of weeks, he would complete the injections from the bots. At that moment, Zarfa would be vulnerable, open to his manipulations, and then he would have what he wanted.
“We will have him in due time, but for now, we should send Surge to keep an eye on him,” Badger stated, looking dismissively at Surge.
The escort crew had recently left with Zarfa to take him downtown. He knew that anyone who had honed their psychic abilities as well as the three of them could at least pick up a faint signal at the radius of two miles or so and be able to follow him.
“You got it, boss. Shall I take my axe?” Surge questioned.
“Yeah…we don’t know how this will all work out; don’t go unprotected. Also, be discreet. As we know, the Faraza have infiltrated Alexarien, but Ilyeion is their base camp. You are going to be deep into enemy territory, so be sure to not draw undue attention to yourself. They would love to get their hands on you.”
“Understood. You can trust me. Plus, the three of us know that I am the best fighter in this army. They won’t kill or capture me, you can be sure of that.”
“Don’t get cocky, you idiot,” Zax said, annoyed and speaking out of turn.
“It is not your place, Zax!” Badger snapped. “But he is right, don’t get cocky. It would be a shame for us to lose our best fighter before the war begins.”
Surge smiled and looked at the other two with a glimpse of defiance. “You know how I operate. I’ll take my best weapon, but in case I run into a spot where I can’t use it, I’ll carry a plasma long sword as well as a dagger…perhaps a gauss pistol too just to be on the safe side. Satisfied?”
“Take two of our top ranking soldiers as well. It isn’t much, but if the event arises where it is safer to flee than to fight, leave them. Better to lose some subservient than to lose you. You know I left both you and Zax with free will not only because you are my friends, but also because you are generals. In the event of our separation from the psychic network, or in the event of my demise, you both have authority to command the army when the war starts. Let’s hope that never happens, but if it does, I trust you equally.”
“They will probably slow me down, but if it makes you feel safer, then I’ll take them. I wouldn’t want you losing any sleep, boss,” Surge said with a tone of sarcasm.
At that, Surge stood, bowed his head, and dismissed himself. He knew he would have to act quickly to pick his companions and prepare his weaponry without losing the signal of Zarfa.
“Now we have the matter of our little thorn, Crimson. Zax, I shall leave it in your care to crush her and that little doctor she recruited to her side. I want them both dead. I am still uncertain of what she is planning. The fact she was trying to recruit Legion Nine tells me that she has a serious plan and could prove to be a hindrance later. Like a cancer, she should be dealt with before she has time to spread.”
“Agreed, she is crafty, dangerous, adept… How would you like this hand
led?”
“I shall leave that to your discretion. You are quite capable; but understand I don’t want failure by any means. Take her out, annihilate her; do it so maliciously that anyone she may already have on her side will fear us so much that they don’t dare try to continue her revolution.”
“Understood, it will be done.”
* * * *
The train was uncomfortable and bumpy. Zarfa had purchased the cheapest ticket, which only provided a seat barely large enough for him to sit in. The recliner button on the arm rest was broken and his legs were in such a cramped position that it was causing him severe annoyance. He leaned his head back and tried to sleep, but was unsuccessful.
Two days on this thing like this? Crap.
He unzipped his backpack that was resting on his lap. He had grabbed some crummy tasting meals from his home. The most common type claimed to have some sort of flavor such as “turkey dinner” or “salmon and potatoes,” but they were really synthesized protein mixed with vitamins and minerals to keep one alive and healthy. He shook his head in disbelief. None of these “meals” tasted anything like what they claimed.
He rummaged around under the bars and found one of the vials containing another treatment of the Psyker Scream nanobots. He held it up to the light and looked at them all. They appeared to be liquid they were so small, rolling around on top of each other in the jar.
I wish I had known. I would have found another way. But now, I’m stuck. I don’t want to finish the treatments, but my men deserve justice as much as I do. As their leader, shouldn’t I sacrifice myself so they can have their day? I don’t know. I’ll let them have their say. This is no time to be selfish.
Zarfa shoved the vial into the pack and leaned his head back onto the seat. He was as uncomfortable as ever, but he folded his arms in his lap and rested them on his backpack. He closed his eyes and he hummed a little tune he remembered learning as a child.
Oh well, two days of this. I’ve suffered worse. I can’t wait to stretch my legs back in Ilyeion.
* * * *
“They’re grotesque!” Sarah exclaimed as she entered the room that housed the Ilithids.
Each one was in its own cage with a bed and a toilet. The cages were small, but not too cramped. The beds were adequate, but still, she could tell by the way they paced as she passed by, they weren’t happy being in there.
“Obviously, by looking at their heads, they can’t speak our language, but can they hear us? Do they understand me?” she questioned.
“Of course they can. How else would they follow orders? They understand but are incapable of complex abstract thoughts. Too much of the canine DNA that we used to provide the submissive quality scrambled their brains too heavily. Not to mention the teuthida DNA. They are barely human any longer. But as you can see, they are still bipedal. The mutations provided a simple ear hole rather than them having an aural appendage,” Ghast said.
The Ilithids ranged in size, some as short as five foot, four inches up to about six foot, eight inches. They had giant squid-looking eyes and their heads were cone-shaped. Instead of mouths with lips, they had a series of twelve tendrils all about a foot long that could each move independently draping over their chin.
Under the tendrils was a large beak, roughly eight inches in size, most certainly a deadly weapon. Their arms looked as normal humans, but instead of hands with five fingers, there was a dual tentacle appendage that split in the shape of the letter Y. Each of the tentacles that branched from the wrist was roughly fourteen inches and covered in suction cups.
Each of them looked more muscular than any average human; their skin was an almost translucent off-white. It appeared slimy, as if covered in a thin mucosal membrane. They smelled awful and distinct. Their torsos looked the same as any human, but the skin was that same translucent off-white. They stood upright on two legs and moved almost identical to humans.
“They look awful, they smell gross, and they appear to be incredibly slimy. Couldn’t we bring out a little more of that canine DNA and cover them in hair?” she questioned.
“If we were to do that, we would lose the suction cups. We are working within tight parameters with the DNA as it is. We really only isolated one strand of the canine genus that we call the ‘loyalty’ gene. It is what causes those creatures to be so companion driven in nature. Thus the old adage for centuries of ‘man’s best friend.’ You can kick a dog and treat it awful, yet for some reason it always goes back to its master when called. Though they may get apprehensive, it was always a rare day that the more docile breeds such as Labradors would turn on their master or owner. It is only this gene that we used. Otherwise they would lose their suction cups and the ability to shoot ink.”
“They shoot ink? Really, and where from? I mean, real squids shoot it from the bottom of themselves. I don’t see that being an advantage seeing as they are bipedal.”
“We made modifications to how DNA would form the cells and cause the mutations within the human genome. Through careful manipulation, we were able to cause the ink sacs and the orifice to develop directly under the eyes. Look carefully and you can see them.”
“Very clever. How is their strength?”
“Roughly twice that of the average human. The mutations did provide a slight increase in muscle mass, as well as density of tissue. However, their bones are no longer rigid and hard as ours are; they are now more cartilaginous. This provides both an advantage and a disadvantage. If struck hard, but not hard enough, they will prove to be quite resilient. However, if hit with the proper force, they will crumple like rags. As I said, they have their advantages as well as disadvantages. Over all, they are stronger than average humans and faster due to the fact that cartilage is lighter than osseous tissue. Their eyesight is unmatched; it is so sensitive they are able to see in almost complete darkness, but with the combination of human DNA, their irises are able to adapt to both daylight and total darkness.
“Their unique tentacle hands provide unmatched gripping power. They are able to fight well unarmed, as well as with plasma blades. They, however, cannot grasp guns or ranged weapons of that nature. They are masters of close combat, which should be perfect for taking down your brother.
“Also, the tendrils on their face, each is able to move independently and grasp objects, drawing in their victims to their large, brutal beaks. Also, the ink glands and orifices being under their eyes allow them to shoot a very thick, oily ink about twenty feet. It doesn’t smell good and is capable of blinding their enemy temporarily.”
“I see, what of the issue of them going berserk? What is the cause of this?”
“That, we still don’t know, but you need to keep in mind we are dealing with a very intricate and delicate system. By manipulating the DNA, we are fortunate that we are even able to do this. If one chromosome matches up wrong, we would wind up either killing the specimen or altering it into something unusable. These monsters have their place in combat, but are by no means the end all. Certainly a good shock troop to cause heavy damage and frighten the enemy, wouldn’t you agree?”
Sarah nodded her head. “Hell, I am even scared of them.”
Chapter Ten
He Who Draws First Blood
“What are you working on?” Crimson asked, sitting next to Max who was drawing up the schematic for something he would have the assembly line put together.
It was the morning after Max’s last “incident” in the lab. Not only had he caused a lot of damage to himself, but he had also damaged some things in the lab. He also used a large amount of valuable resources that Crimson had planned to use for her projects. It would be a few days before they would be replaced, so her projects for Max were on hold. Meanwhile, Max decided he would create some more things for himself.
“My eye…well, it will be anyway, once I’m done with it.”
“Your eye?”
“Yep.”
“Why are you making eyes?”
“Eye. Singular. You see this one,” he s
aid, pointing to the one he had damaged pretty badly while bashing his head on the pharmaceutical locker, “it’s pretty busted. Not just the damage I did to it; it’s weak…flesh.”
“Right… Mine are flesh too. Care to enlighten me?”
“You are agile and know how to fight; it’s your job…when you aren’t amassing an army, that is. I don’t know how to fight. I plan to support you on the battlefield. These arms I made are perfect for it; they don’t shake; I could crush a tank with them; they have an electro-nervous system that gives me tactile sensation so that I know how hard I am grabbing, squeezing, hitting, you know, etcetera, but they feel no pain. They are amazing, if I do say so myself, so I plan to use them at range as the perfect hands to be holding a sniper rifle to support you at a long range. If someone sneaks up on me or gets near me, I should be able to defend myself by melee or martial arts of some sort. Also, if someone manages to shoot one off or even slice through it with a plasma blade, well, it won’t hurt any. There is, however, one vital flaw, one thing that prevents me from supporting you in practice rather than only in theory.”
“You don’t say?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow playfully.
“My eyes! They suck, I have no targeting skill. At this point, I would be incapable of hitting anything more than five yards out. So… Well, it’s really cool actually. I am making a new biotic prosthetic. I will replace the eye that doesn’t have my interface chip installed in it. The busted one,”—he pointed to it again—”that one has got to go. It will be replaced by my Max two point zero eye. It’s going to be great, targeting guidance linked from my eye to my arms. I will be able to tell exact distances and velocity of whatever I am looking at. With this information, the auto logic processor will calculate for me precisely where I should aim to hit my mark, as well as move my arms on its own. It is a feature that I will be capable of switching on and off, of course. With this eye, they’ll call me ‘Deadeye Max.’ Sounds cool, huh?”
“Very, did you come up with it yourself…Deadeye?”
