by Wid Bastian
“What was that?” the Major said, watching the camera feed. Everything happened so quickly it was impossible to identify the attackers or the survivors, or if there were any survivors.
“Play it all back, slowly. Start with Thompson and Reed, the two trailing,” the Major ordered.
General Larsen and the other officers watched in disbelief and horror as they saw two assailants kill six of their finest Marines in less than twenty seconds. They knew one of the attackers was Cassia. The other combatant looked more amphibian than human and appeared to be remarkably strong.
After reviewing the videos the Major said, “General, what are your orders?”
Larsen could feel Kano’s hand grip the back of his neck. What did Kano want him to say? He felt like he should be warning them, but the only thing Larsen could think to say was, “I need to confer with the Command Center. Keep the seal to the lift closed until further notice. Is there a room nearby where I can use a com in privacy?”
The Major pointed to a room a few meters down the hall. Larsen walked in, Kano’s hand still firmly on the General’s throat. Once inside, Kano closed the door.
“Look, its Sergeant Kano, right?” General Larsen asked.
“Yes, I guess so. I don’t feel like a Sergeant anymore.”
“Just kill me and be done with it. I’m not going to help you and your allies do whatever it is you think you can do in this situation. Go on, kill me and make your escape.”
“It’s not that easy, General. Use your com, channel thirty seven.”
“Why should I do that?”
“You have something better to do?” Kano started to choke Larsen, increasing the pressure gradually. When Larsen eked out something that sounded like ‘okay’ Kano released his grip.
After a coughing fit, the General removed his com device from his belt and set it to channel thirty seven. This channel was rarely used or monitored; it was reserved for maintenance and system checks - only a Western Alliance soldier would know that.
“This is General Larsen.”
“Glad to see you’re still breathing, General. This is Cassia.”
“I knew it was you, on the video feed.”
“Yes, I am very much alive. I assume Kano is taking good care of you.”
“What do you want? There is nothing I can possibly do to help you.”
“I have a large quantity of nanites in my possession. You got sloppy, General. They should never have been left in the lab on this level. Would you like visual confirmation?”
Larsen was aware that the nanites were in the lab to which Cassia was referring. He and the other Generals feared she would find them and use them as a threat. “Yes, send me visual confirmation.” A second later, a holographic image of Cassia standing next to the nanites in the vat was sent to Larsen via his com link. She was standing next to the vat in a provocative way, smiling for the camera.
“Okay, I believe you. Now what?” Larsen said as Kano chuckled in the background.
“We leave, peacefully. No one else needs to die. The nanites go with us to the surface. Once we are safely away, we will switch off the detonator. Then you can safely remove the explosives. That’s the deal.”
“And if we don’t agree to your terms?”
“We leave anyway and take the nanites with us. You lose more soldiers. We release them in the world and let them do whatever it is you people are so afraid of.”
“Are you insane? You must be. You’ll never get off this base alive. High Command would kill all of us before they’d let you go. They are prepared to use nukes, do you realize that? I don’t care how improved and fast or strong you and your friends are, you cannot defeat an entire army.”
“We can easily release the nanites on your level, General. They would quickly be absorbed by everyone up there. In fact, for all you know, we may have already done so. Feeling a bit tingly, General?”
“I cannot help you. Tell your man to kill me now and get it over with.”
“Your orders are to prevent the release of the nanites above all else and, in that respect, you have already failed. You better order the nuke strike and sacrifice yourself along with every solider standing post because if you do not comply with my demands nothing else will stop me. It should be an easy decision for you. You people are big on mass killing and sacrifice, aren’t you?”
“You’re bluffing. You would be killed too and you obviously desperately want to live.”
“I don’t bluff, General. I don’t have to. Watch the video feed.”
Carter had a small container in his hands. He was in a maintenance shaft just below Level One. He opened the container into a vent and a stream of silver colored nanites poured out and flew up the shaft.
“Check the time stamp on the video feed, General.”
The video was not live; it had been shot twenty minutes earlier. Cassia had released the nanites and by now they had no doubt infected a large number of people.
General Larsen frantically moved from channel thirty seven to the command channel. He said, “Condition one, repeat condition one. I have confirmed that the fire has been lit. The fire is not contained; repeat the fire is not contained.”
Larsen was asked to enter his command codes and to confirm his orders by providing a retinal scan. After he had complied he heard over his com link, “Option number one has been implemented. Twenty minutes to detonation.”
“Well, that’s it. No one will be allowed to leave this base. Air cover will retreat only seconds before the nukes are dropped. You and your friends are -.”
Kano twisted the General’s head three hundred and sixty degrees, cracking his spine like a potato chip. Larsen dropped dead in a heap to the floor. Cassia communicated with Kano telepathically as she did with her other nano soldiers.
“Proceed to the air field. You know what to do,” Cassia ordered.
Kano opened the door with force, not sure if he would find that a soldier was standing guard. A soldier was indeed standing in front of the door, but he was sent tumbling when Kano burst through.
“We’re halfway home, Carter,” Cassia said. Then she misted the still breathing Marines. She and Carter gathered all of their weapons and gear and headed back to Alandreian and the rest of the Supersoldiers who were waiting for them in the complex.
Chapter Sixteen
“They will be armed when they return. Follow my lead and play along. I want to secure those weapons, or as many as we can, before we engage. Mason, Lancet and I will take on Cassia. The three of us, working together, may be able to put her down. The rest of you focus on Carter and Parsons. Remember, they have been further enhanced. Do not confront Carter or Parsons on your own. We must work as a team.”
“General,” Colonel Lancet asked Alandreian, “what about Kano? None of us can track him. How do we fight something we cannot see?”
“We won’t have to. Cassia did not detail all of her plans to me, but she did tell me Kano will be on the surface securing an aircraft for our escape.”
“What about government troops? Where are they? Why have they not begun the assault?” Halverson asked.
“My best guess is Cassia has done something to delay them. I only hope we can accomplish our objective before they do.”
“Which is to kill Cassia, Carter and Parsons. I guess Kano has become High Command’s problem,” Lancet reasoned.
“We deal with what’s in front of us. Cassia is target number one. With her death we can at least give humanity a fighting chance. Is everybody clear on your orders?” All nine of them nodded. Alandreian was fully confident of his teams loyalty and willingness to the cause.
“I hear clicks in the passageway, General,” Halverson said.
“I doubt they will enter the complex. We need weapons to take them down,” Alandreian said. “Positions! Cassia cannot be far behind.”
When the clicking sounds ended Cassia and Carter appeared, weapons and gear in hand. Parsons followed right on their heels.
“General,
report,” Cassia said.
Bristling at being treated like one of Cassia’s subordinates, Alandreian hid his emotions and said, “No sign of troops. We have coordinated our defensive posture and are prepared to defend and hold this complex to the last man.”
Evidently satisfied that Alandreian was genuinely on her side, Cassia tossed five Light Rifles to the men and invited them to select from the assortment of side arms and other weapons she had procured. Parsons loaded up, but Cassia and Carter wanted no weapons.
“When can we expect the assault?” Alandreian asked.
“There will be no assault. They have sealed this level, or so they mistakenly believe, and they are preparing for the end. A nuclear strike has been ordered. I’ll bet the cowards do not have courage to tell their own -.”
“They are going to obliterate Forged Bay? That could only…”
“Yes, General. I released the nanites onto the first level. We have plenty more to take with us,” Cassia said, tapping a container strapped on her back. “Kano is securing an aircraft for us at this very moment.”
“How can we escape? Even if we do make it to the surface, and I don’t see how that’s possible, they will destroy us before we leave the base.”
“Lancet, you’re such a pessimist. Quit thinking like a human being and use your new abilities. Humans are easily fooled.”
“So we do not need to defend the complex,” Alandreian said as he checked to be sure his Light Rifle and sidearm were loaded and ready to fire, safeties off.
“What we are going to do is climb out of here. Timing is crucial. Kano is securing the only aircraft scheduled for departure. Everyone at Forged Bay will be atomized except for, of course, the commanding generals and their top aides. They are scheduled to be flown to a backup facility in Argentina where a secure compound and lab have been set up. If they are infected with nanites, then they will be isolated and treated. High Command only terminates the expendables, like you and me.”
“Your orders?” Alandreian said, hoping his tone was matter of fact enough.
“My servants will provide a diversion for us. They will mount an assault on the west end lift. They will be destroyed, but not before they penetrate the first level and occupy the attention of the troops above. While this is happening we make our way through the reactor exhaust portal and -.”
“The radiation levels in the portal will kill us in minutes,” Halverson said, interrupting.
“Commander,” Cassia said, as she walked towards him, “do not ever interrupt me while I am issuing orders. This is not the Western Alliance. Next time you do I will drop you where you stand.”
Glancing at Alandreian first, Halverson then responded “Yes sir.”
“The radiation levels would kill a human being, but we are no longer human beings. All of us can tolerate ten times the amount of radiation that would kill a normal person. The reactor has been powered down so the radiation levels are dropping by the second.”
“Where will we emerge?” Alandreian asked.
“On the south end of the main building, surface level. That’s where we will undoubtedly meet heavy resistance. We will only have a few minutes from that point to board the aircraft and depart before the first nuclear device is detonated.”
“How do you know all this intel in such detail?” Colonel Lancet asked.
“I tapped into their command system. I can read their messages,” Cassia explained.
“When do we begin?” Halverson said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder.
“Be ready to go in two minutes,” Cassia barked as she walked out of the complex through two sliding doors into the hallway, no doubt to give her creature soldiers final instructions.
“General,” Lancet whispered as he leaned into Alandreian, “when do we attack?”
“We assault them when we reach the reactor portal. Pass the word.”
On the surface, the flight crew was busy preparing the aircraft for departure. The wind was blowing harder now, turning ice crystals into stinging projectiles. Soldiers were swiftly loading the personal effects of the generals and their staff on to the plane. Personnel on the flight line and in the hangers showed no signs of panic.
The passenger manifest listed twenty five souls, plus the flight crew and three crew chiefs. The ten digit grid coordinates landed them in eastern Argentina, but they did not match any known air base or government facility.
Kano was sitting in the jump seat behind the flight crew evaluating them. Mentally he ran through a checklist. Would they comply with Cassia’s orders? While three trained pilots were among the Supersoldiers, Kano was unsure if any of them would survive and be able to pilot the plane. An even more pressing concern – this flight crew had the codes and voices along with the names for which the air defense system would recognize and respond. If High Command suspected the aircraft was compromised, the plane would be obliterated.
Kano left the flight deck just as silently as he had come and made his way to the plane’s forward portside entrance. A maintenance tech was about to leave. Kano watched him enter a six digit number sequence. Since it was the identical sequence used to open the main cargo bay, Kano assumed the code was the same for all the plane’s doors.
Leaving the aircraft, Kano moved towards a service entrance on the south end of Forged Bay’s main building complex. In minutes, Cassia and the rest of her force would be coming through this door. Directly across from the door, not twenty meters away, Marines were deployed with orders to vaporize any person or thing that emerged from the building without authorization.
Scrambling toward the west lift six nano monsters crawled up the shaft towards the first level puncturing the metal walls with ease as they made their ascent. The entrance was sealed and reinforced with a titanium panel. As soon as they arrived Cassia knew.
“Move back.” Cassia issued the order and the creatures obeyed. Before he had gone outside to the aircraft, Kano had stolen some explosives from a weapons cache. He placed the charges and a remote detonator at the access door underneath a flange, just as Cassia had instructed him. This concealed the small, but very powerful, charge from view.
Using one of the com links taken from the soldiers she’d killed in the hallway, Cassia set the device to the detonator’s frequency. When she depressed the microphone button she said, “Boom.”
The explosion jettisoned the titanium panel away from the access door, instantly crushing two of the troops guarding the entrance. In a flash, the nano monsters sprang from the smoke and attacked.
Once the tumult of the initial slaughter died down, the government troops regrouped and established two defensive positions fifty meters away from the lift at both ends of the hallway. There was a ninety-degree turn at the end of the hall that prevented friendly crossfire and provided them with a tactical advantage.
The creatures approached each of the defensive positions and when they did the soldiers opened fire. The nano monsters were incredibly agile. Their build was remarkable and seemingly designed for combat. They had four long, thin appendages with a thin body, jagged in all the right places. Their elbows, knees, hands, and feet were sharp and serrated. The ‘head’ of their human host no longer resembled a human. Their mouths stretched at the edges to reveal sharp teeth. Their skin color was close to that of the titanium walls lining the hallway making them even more difficult to hit. A bright double beam of light where their eyes should have been traced the skeletal frame of their body. When they moved all that could be seen were the streamers of light left behind as the exposed nanite material shone through their translucent bodies.
The Marines blasted away, but the nano monsters kept coming.
“Did you see that?” one Marine said as he continued to fire.
“That thing grew back a leg or whatever! Aim for center mass!” another soldier yelled.
The nano monsters could grow back their severed appendages, almost instantly. Their core was covered with a hard, metallic shell that deflected Light Rifle blasts
and sent them ricocheting in every direction.
“Burn ‘em!” a Sergeant commanded. The Marines in both defensive positions unleashed flame throwers and turned each hallway into an inferno.
“How do we open the reactor exhaust port door?” Alandreian asked.
Cassia unleashed the nano material from her hand into the access panel and seconds later the door popped open. “Follow me,” Cassia said.
