by Mars Dorian
“I don’t know, it’s calm. Too calm around here.”
“Of course. There’s no one around but us.”
He swapped his glance to the porters parked some fifty meters away from their position and rubbed his chin.
“What’s up with the fidgeting?”
“I should go back and check on Aida. Feels uncomfortable to be disconnected from her.”
Bloom skidded toward him and touched his cheeks. Locked eye contact.
“You promised me some alone time. I know it’s hard for your ego to believe, but this world does work without you, Rex. It has for decades."
“I doubt that.”
“Stop with your paranoia. Everything is going to be okay.”
Her mouth wrinkles pushed up.
“Or do I bore you?”
“Impossible.”
She chuckled.
“I hope so.”
She handed him a plate with fresh sea meat.
“Time to stuff your body. Here, have some.”
She put on the cutest smile, but it felt out of place. Her eyes forcefully widened, pearls of sweat ran down her temple. RX watched her facial expressions with rising interest.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, really.”
“Why are you sweating?”
She showed her teeth.
“I just want…you…to stay.”
The tray slipped through her gentle fingers. Bloom cringed and grabbed her stomach with her arms. Rolled around the grass and grunted. RX shot up.
“Bloom.”
“Go. Go.”
“What, where?”
“The colony needs you.”
She delivered the words with no emotion.
RX knelt next to her and tried to help her up. Bloom’s eyes became empty.
It wasn’t right.
RX swallowed.
“What’s happening to you?”
She grabbed his arm.
“Please stay.”
“You just told me to leave.”
“I know, but I don’t want you to, Rex. Do you understand—I don’t want you…but She wants you to.”
Nope, he really didn’t understand.
She roared her voice.
“Leave now! Evergreen needs you.”
RX rolled his eyes.
Was Bloom putting on an act? That seemed so out of character. But he had never seen that capricious side of her.
“You look sick.”
“I’m not, please. Just do as I say.”
He helped her stand on two feet. She looked up at him and regained some of her strength.
“You have to leave.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
She pointed toward his porter about forty-five meters away from their picnic.
“Get your linker and call your APEX. You’re needed. Now.”
“How do you—“
“Hurry!”
Mad Bloom spoke again. She seemed to switch from gentle to authoritarian in a blink. What was going on with her? It was weird, but RX’s instincts told him to get back to the linker.
Something was happening.
RX returned to his porter, climbed over the seats and slid the linker into his implant. The second the connection synced, Aida’s voice echoed into existence.
“How can I help you?”
“Launch the APEX and bring her to me. Something’s going on. I think."
“Roger that. Expected arrival in T-minus four minutes and forty-two seconds.”
RX ran back to the field to check on Bloom’s condition. She sat on her knees and gazed at the sky. The color returned to her pale face, the breathing became full.
“Do you feel better now?”
“Did you call your APEX?”
“It will arrive in a few minutes.”
He sat next to her.
“What was that about?”
She glued her eyes to the bright firmament. It seemed as empty as her face.
“It’s complicated.”
“I’ve learned spacecraft engineering and zero G ballistics. I’m sure I understand.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
She turned to him and exposed her face. Seemed neither sad nor joyful.
Just indifferent.
“Bloom, tell me.”
The thrusters of his APEX roared from above. Aida landed the machine on the field and caused ripples around the sharp grass. Bloom shielded her face from the turbulences.
“Fly to the north-east of Evergreen and do what you have to do. Our community’s survival depends on it.”
RX still didn’t understand, but talking time was over. He climbed into his cockpit, resumed control over his APEX and lifted into the sky. Looked through the transparent hull and saw Bloom waving at him from below.
One part of her seemed glad he left and the other didn’t.
“I don’t understand her, Aida.”
“I wish I could help you, but my programming is based on military subjects.”
“Well, let’s head back to the colony and see what the fuss is about.”
Maybe it was just paranoia, RX thought.
He was wrong.
42
RX stormed through the sunny sky. Broke the speed of sound and reached the space above Evergreen. Thousands of colonists moved in formation and headed south from where RX came from.
“What’s happening down there?”
“Do you want to land and check?”
“No, we’ll head to the north-east first. I want to see what’s going on.”
The answers arrived. The APEX’s scanners picked up multiple targets entering the colony from the north-east. The USC launched a massive ground attack. RX recognized APCs, tanks and ground-pounders.
How Bloom knew about the attack was beyond RX’s grasp, but he had to engage.
“Aida, armament status?”
“All weapons are operational.”
“Good. We have air superiority but that doesn’t mean we can waltz in. What kind of war tech are the USC troops using?”
She listed the scans of each vehicle in a 3D model.
“Six double-barreled, 2nd generation universal tanks. Four heavily-armored APCs, each with twenty unit layouts and four siege walkers.”
RX whistled.
Looked like their troops wanted to ashen Evergreen today.
The target pointers flickered on his HUD. Even with their firepower, he could easily win the war. But he felt queasy about that choice, considering his lack of intel. Were they raiders using US Corps tech, or were they real US Corps, maybe a colony separated from the main fleet?
Too many unknown variables.
RX assessed the situation.
Maybe he could minimize the losses on their end.
Maybe he could communicate with them and avoid a mass slaughter on both sides.
He had to try.
But first of all, he had to boost. As he flew over Evergreen central, he watched even more thousands of citizens moving down south. The crowd sprinted but remained calm, as far as he could tell from above.
Pretty well orchestrated evacuation for a colony that wasn’t used to war.
At least they avoided the danger zone.
Optimal.
RX focused back on his HUD and became one with the moment.
The adrenaline pushed his senses and leveled his battle readiness to 100%. Strength yelled from his body—I Can Take On The Galaxy attitude.
RX reached the war section. Artillery shells slammed the facilities and collapsed the ceilings. Smoke billowed into the air as the structures were leveled. Aida’s target pointers captured every hostile, just in case.
The tanks rolled over the multi-lane streets and opened fire. RX didn’t see a single civilian in the area, so collateral only meant material damage.
Even better.
The tanks rotated their barrels and unleashed armor-piercing shells that pulverized the facility in all directions. One structure after another
turned into a fireball that thundered a deafening sound through the streets.
“You have a lock-on,” Aida said.
“That was fast.”
The APCs arrived at the streets and unloaded their soldiers, dozens of which carried portable Anti-Air rocket launchers. Five unleashed projectiles that stormed after RX’s APEX.
“Looks like they haven’t learned much since last time.”
The ADAM system activated. RX lifted higher into the air and decreased the distance to the buildings below to avoid unnecessary devastation. In mid-air, his point-defense lasers took out the incoming rockets with ease. RX sighed as five fireballs illuminated the airspace many meters below him.
Not even a challenge.
He dove into the lower grounds and overflew the battle scenario. All APCs unloaded their troops which advanced through the colony’s structures. Two facilities crumbled under the relentless bombardment, two new were targeted by the siege walkers on the hillsides. The troops aimed only for the production sites—so far. RX still couldn’t detect a single Evergreen in the area.
“Aida, let’s take care of the long-range weapons first.”
“Roger. How would you like to proceed?”
“Beam, all the way.”
He reached the hillside and scanned the four artillery vessels. The mechanized long-range tanks rumbled the ground like giant metal crabs. Robot arms pulled out of their rear and drilled through the earth. It gave the walkers additional stability due to the massive recoil from their high-explosive 180mm shells. LRVs patrolled around them, ready for…
“Detecting incoming heat source,” Aida said.
The heat levels on his display shot up.
Laser, RX thought.
The turret mounts on the LRVs pointed at his direction. Four invisible, twenty kilowatt beams targeted his controls.
“Evasive maneuvers.”
A danger warning blinked over his HUD. RX roared away from the perimeter and jetted back into higher altitude.
“Aida, can you calculate their maximum effective range?”
“About 2500 meters."
Four LRVs sped down the hillside and continued channeling the laser toward his direction.
“Persistent little pounders.”
One part of him was pissed, the other thrilled.
At least they were putting up a decent fight.
Still, RX knew the convenient truth.
Nothing could compete with an APEX.
No-thing.
He accelerated his spacecraft above the first cloud levels, leaving the effective range of their lasers. The LRVs shrunk to dots on his HUD. Target pointers circled them while RX considered his choice of engagement.
The vehicles were too far away for his beam.
The particles in the air would disperse the power of his own laser and render it useless at this distance, which left RX only one option.
Rockets.
“Are you sure?” Aida said.
“They don’t leave me any other choice. I tried to mediate but they keep treating me like the enemy. Besides, they don’t have any IDs or US Corps insignia, which is illegal and thus means they’re not part of the faction.”
He paused as he assessed the situation.
“I can’t let them overrun the colony.”
Pause.
The target pointers flickered over the selected LRVs on the ground.
“Activate the Air-to-Surface HV projectiles. Ports 2-6. Fire.”
Whoosh.
The sound of Stryker rockets.
Made with love for war.
RX lowered his altitude and saw how the LRVs desperately tried to take down his rockets with their lasers. But the homing projectiles zigzagged through the air and easily evaded their beams. The four missiles impacted the four LRVs and blew them up like toys filled with dynamite.
“100% accuracy rate,” Aida said.
His favorite rate.
“Let’s get back down and worry about those walkers.”
RX dove into the skirmish and targeted the now unprotected artillery units with his charged laser. The beam connected with their hull and destroyed their electronics without causing the vehicles to explode. The walkers stopped firing and froze to the ground.
Aida updated the results.
“Target one down.”
“Target two down.”
RX nodded with every update.
The sound of ‘target down’ was his favorite ear worm.
Two APCs with Anti-Air turrets retreated from the front and aided the remaining artillery walkers, but they came too late. RX offlined the fourth artillery walker when the APCs arrived and opened fire.
“Are they unmanned?”
“I can’t detect a single unit inside, except for the drivers.”
“Good.”
He swapped rockets for the mass driver side cannons and pounded the mounted sentries with armor-piercing 30mm shells. The ammo shred the turrets apart without killing the driver and rendered the vehicles harmless.
“This is almost too easy now.”
RX boosted up into the air and located the mobile infantry breaking into Evergreen. Three platoons swarmed out, guided by the tanks.
“Any civilian casualties?”
“I can’t detect a single Evergreen in a radius of three klicks.”
Good news on that front.
“Can you hack into their comms channel?”
"I’m intercepting numerous encrypted frequencies. You may send your message.”
RX licked his lips and focused on the right word choice.
“My ID is RX-88, and I’m an APEX pilot for Stryker Solutions. I would like to agree upon a cease-fire, can you copy?”
Pause.
RX waited in quiet curiosity.
“Did you send the message?”
“Yes,” the AI said.
Interference fizzled through the channel.
“This is sergeant Osman speaking. Repeat yourself,” a male voice said.
“My ID is RX-88. I’m an APEX pilot for Stryker Solutions and I come in peace. There’s been a misunderstanding which I’d like to clear. We can end this conflict with no losses, copy."
He paused.
“Go on.”
“I’m going to land my craft near your position with the weapons on standby. I’m going to leave my cockpit unarmed. I want to speak to your operating authority. Copy.”
“Copy that,” the sergeant said.
“Aida, status.”
“They’ve ceased fire and halted.”
True. The platoons stopped their advance, the tanks silenced their engines. RX brought down the APEX near the leveled intersection in slowmo to avoid suspicion.
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Aida said.
“We’re soon going to find out.”
He crawled out of the cockpit and connected his boots to the colony ground.
A squad of heavily-armored soldiers neared his location, reared by two tanks. Behind RX, Aida elevated the APEX ten meters into the air and caused an ominous shadow. She readied the side cannons and pointed them at the incoming soldiers. RX felt the adrenaline turning his heart into a jack hammer, but he remained calm and controlled. The squad leader shouted ‘halt’ across the distance. RX abided and raised his arms.
“I am RX, a pilot unit of Stryker Solutions, a respected business partner and ally of the US Corps.”
He cranked out the cliché-line that made even him cringe.
“I come in peace.”
The soldiers trained their assault rifles at him.
Would they answer with bullets?
43
RX stretched his hands even farther into the sky.
“Do you see the heavily-armored spacecraft behind me, pointing every weapon system at your squads?”
D’uh.
“If you shoot me now, the AI controlling my craft will wreak havoc on your troops. You’ve already lost four LRVs. Four siege walkers are offline. Let’s not es
calate this situation.”
The squad kept targeting their rifles.
The man in charge answered.
“What do you want?”
“As I said before, I want to speak with the commanding officer in charge of this assault. I want a ceasefire. Whatever your problem is with this colony, I’m sure we can find an agreement that doesn’t involve more destruction.”
The soldier seemed to ponder his suggestion, because RX noticed him mumbling, probably sharing the offer over his internal comm channel.
RX enlightened the soldiers.
“Here’s how we do it. You take me to your commander, while my AI stays guard in this sector. If you release a single shot, she will wipe out your forces. If you kill me on your way to your commander and my heartbeat flatlines, she will wipe out your forces. Do you understand?”
The man wasn’t used to getting commandeered, especially not from a stranger. But he realized the firepower was on RX’s side.
By a long shot.
“Commander Klaven says he wants to speak to you,” the squad leader said in his helmet-muffled voice.
“Then take me to him.”
“No. He will come himself and join you at a secret place we set up.”
“Fine. Just heed my warning."
The troops probably didn’t want to bring him to their base. Not that it mattered—if RX wanted to, he’d locate their HQ in less than an hour and level it to the ground. Thank morals he wouldn’t, but he could.
RX slowly approached the soldiers. Eight circled him, two flanked him from the left and right and checked his body for weapons.
“I’m unarmed.”
The men ignored him and finished the pat-down.
“He’s clear.”
The squad leader commanded an APC which came to a halt five meters next to RX.
“Step inside.”
“Don’t try anything stupid.”
“Ditto.”
Two soldiers pushed RX inside the armored carrier and told him to sit down. Five more joined him with combat rifles readied. The hatch closed. RX could feel the rumble of the mighty machine springing to life. The APC roared onwards and soon left the flatted facilities of the sector behind. RX looked at the soldiers with the face-hugging visors. Silent statues trained to fire at the blink of a nano-enhanced eye.
Strangely, RX wasn’t frightened. Being around these estranged soldiers felt almost more comfortable than dealing with the Evergreens. Maybe because he related to the soul of a soldier.
