Starkindler (MechaVerse Series Book 1)

by Jeremy Cunkle

  Vera appeared as a video started automatically, the sound of her voice still managing to sooth him from over thirty four million miles away. “We know this will be hard for you, it certainly was for all of us. But we wanted to show you some of the things going on back here while you are away.” Videos showed them on the SkySail, their old home; and at the base in Alice Springs, Australia. He watched as they fabricated replacement parts, munitions, and upgrades the likes of which he had never before seen. He was astonished by how much they managed to accomplish in the time he had been away, they surpassed every one of his expectations.

  The group had evidently continued their own research based off their parents’ designs, in this his time of need, because time and again he briefly caught a glimpse of completed parts entirely unknown to him. The intimacy of holding his friends in his arms as he lay on the bed comforted him. Without their support in this his time of need, he would have utterly failed. Tears dripped unabashedly, falling down onto the screen of the slate unimpeded as he continued watching recorded videos of his friends, remembering fond memories all the while. He remembered each of them for who they were and what they stood for.

  Hours passed, unnoticed. He slept some, with the slate clutched tightly in his arms, wrapped tightly against his bare chest. At some point a gentle knock rapped quietly against the door. He cued the external door camera, seeing his silent guard step aside from a plate of food she set down in front of the door before resuming her stoic post next to the door. Guarded by her somber presence, he remained undisturbed, left alone with his memories. The plate of food went cold, untouched, unneeded.

  Each of his friends back on Earth spoke to him at length in individually recorded videos about what they were working on in detail. Aurora had been sending detailed battle footage and data back to Earth for Kurtis and the new AI they developed based off Aurora’s source code to analyze, which they incorporated into the new designs they were working on. Each of them promised to send him another message in a few months.

  Their farewells were brief, different for each one. The nature of their relationship with him rendered each goodbye void of meaningless cliché statements of how much they missed him. Instead, they focused on keeping up their end of the mission while he was away from them continuing his own, promising to help in any way possible. He had the option of replying to them, but chose not to. He would not burden them with his stories of destruction, slaughter and near death experiences. He would carry the burden of their expectations for him to win the fight he set out to accomplish until such a time as he could return to them triumphant.

  Moments of selfishness over, he dried his tears, showered, changed into a fresh uniform, and then ordered a full meal that was quickly delivered to his door as if someone anticipated that he would finally be ready. He ate ravenously, tempted to ordered a second meal before deciding to head out. Refreshed, he headed back out to Starkindler. His family were waiting for him, they would have to wait a little longer.

  As twilight falls, the land turns the color of blood.

  The soldiers’ shadows lengthen as they walk.

  I wish their lives would lengthen like the shadows.

  But their lives are short.

  All that waits is eternal night.

  -- Argvollen

  Chapter 14 – Deception

  “Hell, there are no rules – we’re trying to accomplish something.”

  --Thomas A Edison

  “Dr. Hesken, wake him up. We need his help.” The horrible reality of the situation occurring was clearly present on Commander Ultor’s worn, haggard face. He burst into the medical ward without any warning at all, scaring her and her staff, begging to see Mikkhael who was kept in an isolated section of the medical bay until he recovered from his latest mission.

  The good Dr. hesitated only for a moment, knowing that Ultor would not have appeared unless an extreme emergency was taking place, weighing the physical state of her patient versus the need the situation demanded. While he stammered to explain himself, she escorted him back to the isolation area that only she had access. Grudgingly making her decision, she quickly prepared a needle, filling the vial with its life-inducing solution. With practiced precision she inserted the contents of the needle into the saline content of the IV bag, moving with methodical swiftness as she coaxed the depleted husk lying on the table in front of them embodying the only hope they actually had back into forced reanimation.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Commander Ultor whispered, terrified as he watched in morbid fascination, helpless to contribute in any meaningful way.

  She waited until after the needles contents emptied before answering. “He’s exhausting himself physically and mentally in an extreme way during his constant battles against the PDF. With his last few missions occurring in rapid succession, his body simply can’t keep up with the demands he is placing upon it. Combined with the amplification provided by the drugs Aurora administers to him during their battles, the end result is this temporary comatose state while his body recovers from the over-exertion after each mission. The effort needed for his immune system to cleanse his body of the toxins shuts down many of his systems.” She paused for a moment, looking away from the Commander’s searching gaze, too ashamed to meet his eyes. “Each time he over extends himself, the recovery process is more difficult. I have no idea to what degree he will suffer by waking him up prematurely. The price of his victories is before your eyes.”

  “I had no idea.” Was all that Commander Ultor could whisper, his voice trailing off as shame overcame him.

  The doctor and Commander waited in silent vigil as color once again began to blush across Mikkhael’s pallid skin. After a few moments, his hands twitched, followed shortly by his eyes blinking restlessly as they watched his brain activity and vitals slowly return to healthy levels on the monitoring equipment set next to the bed, the only furniture occupying the stark medical white room aside from the cabinets at the far side.

  They were both startled as a coughing fit wracked Mikkhael’s depleted frame, the doctor pushing her patients deflated form onto his side while Ultor could only watch, the shame of his need overpowering any ability to contribute. The coughing fit passed, eye contact was finally made as they helped the now alert Mikkhael into an upright seated position.

  Recognition glowed in his eyes, an alertness and capability shone in them that did not translate to the rest of his body. He fought to gather his wits about him as they watched; knowing full well that it was not yet time for him to wake up, without being told he recognized their unspoken urgency. Dr. Hesken held a cup to his parched lips, first dribbling a bit of liquid onto his lips before pouring a small amount for him that she then helped force down his throat. Despite himself, Mikkhael tried to drink greedily from the cup, but she deftly anticipated his need, moving it out of his feeble, clawing reach.

  Ultor, unable to wait any longer desperately grasped Mikkhael’s limp hand between his own. “I apologize for skipping the pleasantries and waking you like this, a disaster is occurring and you are the only chance of saving them. My, my …..” The Commander’s voice trailed off, requiring a moment to recompose himself before he continued. “My daughter Eve left Olympus about sixteen hours ago without informing anyone, two mixed squadrons of MARS units under her command. They were acting independently on information they obtained on their own in order to ambush a patrol escorting a General in between postings. As it turns out, everything was a detailed and thoroughly constructed PDF trap that they fell headlong into.”

  Commander Ultor paused to compose himself, shame keeping him from meeting Mikkhael’s eyes. “Before we could adequately respond to their disappearance, signals intelligence informed us that their small task force was ambushed by an overwhelming force of unknown size. Eight of the MARS units that left have already been destroyed, the rest are being hunted down and eliminated as they flee. We know that Eve’s unit is still in working condition, although all communications are now being intercepted a
nd blocked. Please, Mikkhael, save my daughter. Save them all. You have to try, if you can.” Commander Ultor stopped talking, unable to proceed, his eyes had finally locked onto Mikkhael’s, pleading for assistance. The man’s will was completely broken at the thought of never seeing his daughter again.

  Aurora chose this moment to announce her presence through a com speaker in the wall. “Before you ask, no, I was not aware of their plans. They used the base functions we restored barely a month ago, which, after searching, I found to have been internally compromised a while ago. Commander, you have either a mole or a traitor within the base, and a very skilled one at that. This plan has been in play for a considerable amount of time now. Simultaneously, I have been under direct attack on innumerable fronts, facing everything from denial of service, viruses, and additional firewalls all directly targeting my abilities. This is a coordinated and well-planned scenario that has so far succeeded thanks to the fact that you have done the one thing they wanted all along, prematurely awakening Mikkhael so that he and Starkindler can be drawn outside into a trap that he is physically unprepared for. I assure you, if Mikkhael leaves Mount Olympus, Starkindler will be destroyed and he will certainly be killed.”

  The silence that followed her statement was deafening.

  A heated debate replaced the silence as each party argued the merits of their position, all the while ignoring the cause that now lay forgotten in front of them. They stopped when Mikkhael suddenly appeared standing next to them. The arguing had been of such intensity that all three of them failed to notice him quickly dress in a simple pair of pants, undershirt, and coat that had been laid out in preparation for his recovery a week from now. He was shaky, but stood on his own without support.

  He held up a hand, silencing them. “I am going, alone, prepare Starkindler.” He could not say more if he wanted to but no one called his bluff; they resigned themselves to the fact that he was assuming their burdens for them, the only entity able to do so.

  Commander Ultor left in order to personally oversee the preparations, almost running from the hospital ward, driven by shame, urgency, and need. Dr. Hesken waited to ensure the Commander was not returning before moving into action. “I’m supposed to keep you alive long enough to watch you go out on some suicide mission? That’s the kind of reward I get for all my hard work? How many kinds of stupid are you? Wait, don’t answer that. Sit down. I won’t have you dying before you leave the base on my conscience.”

  He did as she ordered and sat. Not that he could have refused if he had wanted to. He was so… tired. He half-listened as her nervous tirade continued. It was her own awkward way of showing her affection and he actually found her concern comforting; like the scolding words of a parent warning against danger that only experience could truly ever explain the truth of. She rolled up his sleeve and injected him with another needle he had not noticed her prepare. She then held a bottle under his nose, which he stared at curiously until the aroma hit him. His sneezes exploded in the small space of the isolation ward.

  She stoppered the offending bottle and passively examined him. By the time the sneezing fit concluded he felt entirely normal. “What the hell was that?” He asked, unsure if he should be offended or feel violated while rubbing the end of his nose with one finger as he stood again to put on socks and boots after rolling his sleeve back down. Strength flowed once again throughout his body, the pallor of his skin returning to healthy shades as the chemicals helped his body fight for a balance that did not exist.

  Dr. Hesken crossed her arms in the manner that women have when refusing to tell a secret. “Doesn’t matter, it worked.” She then turned and walked out of the room, pausing at the exit. “Godspeed.” With that she was gone, unwilling to further burden him with her weakness.

  He whispered “thanks” to her retreating back and then put her out of his mind, already preparing himself for the challenges ahead. He called up Aurora’s hologram on his wrist communicator and talked with her as he slowly made his way from the medical bay to the hangar where Starkindler was housed, his strength continuing to return the farther he walked. He could have called for a scooter but the walking helped restore his circulation, helping to clear the mental fog that clouded his mind. The Chief Engineer would certainly need the extra time to prepare his Mech armor after having been alerted to his plans, non-existent as they were, by Commander Ultor.

  “The situation is… challenging.” Aurora reported, using the connection set within his ear just underneath his skin that only he could hear so that no one else they passed could tell how nervous she was. “The PDF have gone to extreme measures to limit our advantages; cutting off all access, including their own, to the satellite feeds that I was reliant on for much of your battlefield intelligence. I literally have no idea what is waiting for you out there and that fact alone should scare you into waiting; it certainly scares me. The fact that they would cut off their own hands, so to speak, tells of their desperation and determination to defeat you. With that in mind, I activated one of the satellites we brought with us from Earth, but was only able to do so for a limited time. Before they jammed the signal, I was able to determine that division-sized elements have been set in place surrounding the Commander’s daughter who is currently trapped in a deep ravine far out among the Valles Marineris.

  She continued, “The PDF are toying with the rebels who still live, rebroadcasting their pleas for help and mercy in order for Mount Olympus to hear them and take action. Their real target is of course, you and Starkindler, and Eve is the bait you seem hell-bent on taking. If I am able to see that much, what I cannot see has to be equally terrifying. You should assume that there are multiple Reapers on standby, and it gets worse. Enemy SIG-INT suggests that significant numbers of Marine Mech armor as well as Special-Forces Mech units are on station throughout the region supported by Chimera transports; they will be able to respond on location the moment you appear. The regular forces will be the anvil to grind you on; the elite forces will be the hammer to crush you against that anvil.”

  The sadness in her voice was enough to stop him momentarily. “What would you have me do?” Mikkhael stopped in the middle of the empty corridor, a stranger would have mistaken the moment as if he were a madman, something that could be plausibly argued regardless as he stood there yelling at his wrist. “I accepted responsibility for all of their lives when I showed up at their doorstep begging for their support. I am the reason they are being targeted, killed off, because I am the one they want and this is the only way they can reach me. This situation is my fault, and a possibility I was aware of when I first made the decision to come to Mars. I accept the responsibility for the situation and their lives, and I’m ready to meet the challenge ahead. The mission is everything short of my humanity. I do this willingly regardless of the consequences.” He continued walking through the carved halls of Mount Olympus, fondly remembering past trips as he did so, ignoring Aurora’s further arguments against taking action.

  Without warning, his stoic guard joined him shortly thereafter, suddenly falling into position just behind him as he passed by an intersection of multiple tunnels. She appeared without alerting him at all. He simply felt a presence, turned to look, and there she was. The appearance of his silent escort, that he never did figure out any rhyme or reason to her sudden arrivals, proved an unexpected comfort to him as together they arrived at the Starkindler’s repository.

  Within the hangar, an impromptu honor guard presented itself, hurriedly forming ranks, consisting of many now familiar faces in every kind of uniform found within the mountain base. Mikkhael halted in mid-step, unsure of how to respond, the situation temporarily overwhelming him until with an encouraging prod in his back with the barrel of her gun, he passed between the formed up ranks of personnel, slowly continuing his march as each successive rank saluted him in turn. He halted awkwardly at the end of the column, humbled by their gesture of respect, torn between what to do. He took a few short faltering steps further and then stopped ag
ain without turning around. A battle between conflicting emotions raged within him.

  By choosing to acknowledge the base personnel and honor their gesture with a return, he would present an air of finality to everything that was about to happen, as well as the loss of what little separated him from being turned into a deity in their eyes. That was what they wanted the most, but he was unsure if he could provide that for them. On the other hand, if he ignored their gesture and failed to return; the loss of his immortality would be a bitter resentment for them to live with. They were being forced to remain behind, not allowed to accompany and fight with him, running the risk of leaving them forever guilty that they did not accompany him in his suicidal quest to rescue their friends. The effect of which would turn him into a martyr for their cause that they would later use to rally behind in order to seek out vengeance for their murdered hero.

  Mikkhael continued to hesitate, seconds that seemed to stretch into hours ticking uncomfortably by without a sound from the eagerly waiting personnel, weighing the consequences of each path in his mind before he turned sharply in an about face, heels clicking together at attention, smartly saluting the honor guard. He chose to shoulder the additional burden of the assemblies’ expectations, returning to them the trust they placed in him to take their place in retrieving one of their own from deaths grasping clutch.

  Commander Ultor personally dismissed the honor guard, allowing Chief Thorsten who walked up just then taking advantage of an opening to speak to Mikkhael. “Don’t get your small head full of big ideas lad; it’ll take a miracle for you to pull off this shit-for-brains idea of yours. With that in mind, I took the presumption of kitting out Starkindler with every bullet, missile, rocket, grenade, and spare part we literally could. If we add any more weight, the damned thing will tip over, never to rise again. She’ll be too unstable for flight until you’ve wiped out a battalion or so; which by the way, looks like the bare minimum of what will be required.” The trio continued kept walking while the engineer spoke, stopping at the feet of the incredible machine that would soon be all that stood in between the best the PDF could throw at Mikkhael and probable martyrdom. “You do understand you’re completely out of your effin’ mind, right?”