Echo Effect

by Robert D. Armstrong

  Icepick focused in on a set of footprints in the snow just ahead. It was difficult to assess exactly what the footprints were from because snow had covered over them somewhat. Icepick scanned, setting a course to follow. He tracked them up a slight incline then down into a valley with hills on both sides.

  Suddenly, everyone in the Marine control room froze. Icepick had pointed his twin cannons ahead, scoping in on something in the distance.

  Shoof Shoof Shoof Shoof

  “Icepick is firing. Icepick is firing!” A corporal yelled as muffled electronic pulsing sounds rattled out, echoing off the landscape.

  “What do we have people?!” Belmont yelled. Both him and Garza rushed over to the display to observe the action.

  “Oh. Already?” Casser evaluated his cameras.

  “What do you see? Any visual?” Belmont questioned. Casser noticed Belmont’s fingers on the desk as he hunched over the operator’s shoulder. It appeared as if he was clawing the desk in anticipation.

  “Staff Sergeant Garza, over here,” Belmont ordered her to his display. “See the top of this ridge way out in the distance? It’s as if something is masking an electronic signature up there. It’s definitely not natural. I’m sending two additional brutes to this position ASAP.”

  “Agreed. That’s definitely odd. We need to get closer though,” Garza said.

  Belmont pulled up a holographic map of his brute drones, tapping the interface to redirect his forces.

  “I see their drones! But, Saven’s just…staring at them! Why?” Keith said, biting his nails.

  “Hold on.” Lucas replied.

  “All operators, I’m sending two additional brutes to Icepick’s position to investigate an electronic signal masking. Icepick, stand by before you proceed. How copy, over?” Belmont instructed over the comms.

  Drones B2 and B3 quickly converged on Icepick’s position. To save time, the drones intercepted Icepick’s exact route to avoid deciphering environmental hazards themselves, as Icepick’s route was already confirmed safe.

  “ETA seven minutes on backup. Sit tight, Icepick,” Garza said.

  Keith and Lucas could only speculate what was happening. They would glance across the hall at the Marines as if they were up to something. Their body language had changed. They were more hurried and excited for some reason. Lucas got out of his chair, peering out through the misty glass panels.

  “Any ideas?” Keith asked.

  “Seems like they’ve found a blood trail over there,” Lucas assessed, raising his eyebrows.

  “Terrible choice of words, Lucas.”

  “Yeah. Sorry ‘bout that. To be clear he’s not injured from what I can tell.” Lucas said. Keith snapped his head around at him. “Thanks.”

  Agent Casser chuckled. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen Keith this worried. He should be used to losing Crucibles by now.”

  “Alright, drones B2 and B3 have reached Icepick. Proceed to the anomaly?” Garza questioned.

  Belmont took one last look at his digital map. “Yes. We have numbers on our side. Operators, glue your eyes to that screen. Move forward in formation. Just like we’ve trained, people. Remember CCS.”

  The Constant Cycle of Sensors was the phrase used to remind Marines to continually toggle across all camera modes and sensors to obtain the most dynamic assessment. No one form of intelligence trumped them all.

  Icepick pushed forward, leading out in front of the other two drones by about twenty meters, creating a “V” formation. Sitting in the snowstorm had nearly buried Icepick’s tracks. The operator increased the throttle to maximum just to dig through the heap.

  “Snow’s picking up!” Garza yelled across the room.

  The snow had changed directions too. It came directly toward the drones now, dotting the operator’s camera feed.

  “Can’t see much, but we’re getting close to the signal,” Garza said. “B2, move ahead of Icepick fifteen meters and switch to automated, motion-sensing guns.”

  “Left forty-eight degrees, B2. What’s that?” Garza zoomed in on something up about sixty meters high on a mountain.

  “Everyone, fix in on that position. There’s definitely something up there,” Belmont ordered. “Move a little closer, B2. We can’t get a visual with all this damn snow.”

  Garza took over B2’s camera, zooming in on the object. It was protruding out from the hillside in an unusual manner. She switched from IR scope to sonar, and then back to normal.

  “That’s definitely not right. That anomaly is blurring between visual modes,” Garza said.

  “That? What the hell?” Belmont pointed over Garza’s shoulder at the holographic interface.

  Suddenly, a set of green eyes flashed and the blurred object vanished over the hill. The explosive movement caused B2’s motion guns to open fire, chasing the hazed figure into the white mist. Icepick and B3 joined in on B2’s solo performance, scorching the mountainside with a symphony of laser fire.

  “Yeah, kill it!” B2’s operator chanted as the rest of the room gasped.

  “Maybe this drill is over before it even started?” Belmont said, panning across the room and smirking.

  Steam trailed into the horizon from the vaporized snow, followed by the sound of rumbling. It sounded like a distant downpour.

  “Wait… oh, no...” Belmont’s eyes widened. “Retreat! Back ‘em up, back ‘em up! Go! Go! Go!”

  His voice thundered across the hall as Keith and Lucas snapped over at the commotion. Both jumped up.

  “Look!” Keith yelled. Steam was venting into Saven’s face as the ground shook beneath him.

  Suddenly, a tidal wave of snow cascaded downward. Giant chunks of ice and rocks stampeded toward the drones as they attempted to escape. Icepick darted under a small chasm as drones B2 and B3 turned and churned in retreat.

  B3 was lagging behind. Its Marine operator could only watch as it was tattered. The camera feed tumbled, flickered, and then blacked out as they were buried under the tsunami of snow.

  Saven leaped onto the largest chunk of ice, sinking his talons into it. He rode down the avalanche, projecting his wings across himself like a protective shell, shielding his vital systems as he descended.

  “What?! I can’t watch. This isn’t happening.” Keith said with a pale face.

  Lucas watched as the ground rapidly approached, but at the last second, Saven sprung off the boulder. He fanned out his shards into a winged formation, gliding above drone B2 like a bird of prey looming over a rodent.

  As Saven sailed closer, he tucked his wings in tight around his frame, dipping head first to increase speed. Just before impact, he rolled feet first, daggering his claws toward the fleeing drone. Sparks ejected into the air on contact as he plunged his talons into the brute’s dome-like head. He twisted his body around in mid-flight, pulling the drone’s head off and flinging it across the ice. The head was attached to a spine-like array of connectors and wires, now strewn across the ice chaotically.

  “What happened?! It can fly?!” Belmont shouted.

  Saven landed on a knee a dozen meters ahead of the drone, his metallic wings draped over him, sprawling across the snow. The downed drone was crumpled upside down behind him, its engine hummed while the tank-like tracks spun aimlessly in the air.

  “One down!” Lucas yelled. Keith peeked through his fingers. “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  Gunfire erupted near Saven’s position, but he instinctively dove into the snow. “No! I was hoping the avalanche got the other two.” Keith said with his hands atop his head.

  “Something’s off about this one though. Look.” Lucas pointed at the drone’s upper torso as it jolted about erratically, searching for a target. Keith squinted his eyes, “damaged, good, that’ll help us.”

  Saven peeked his head up like a lurking snow leopard. He cautiously reached out for a fragment of debris, cupping it in his hand. Saven observed the drone as it scanned back and forth, then tossed the debris over it. The drone’s guns tr
acked the object, opening fire and destroying it.

  “Oh, ok. I think that drone’s basically blind other than motion sensors.” Keith observed. Saven burrowed through the snow, stalking as low as possible.

  Surprisingly, Saven moved back toward the flipped over drone, B2. As he approached, Lucas and Keith could hear its tracks spinning loudly in the air.

  “Why is he going back? He’s already taken out that drone?” Keith asked.

  “I uh, I think he has an idea.” Lucas smirked. Saven overturned B2 right side up. It’s spinning tracks dug in, immediately launching it in the direction of B3’s motion sensors.

  Saven flanked around wide, opposite of B3’s firing line. B3 began firing on his comrade, ripping the remainder of the drone apart until it exploded. Keith flashed a full smile, nodding his head with pride.

  Saven barreled full speed at the distracted drone and pounced on its back. He clutched the drone underneath its arms, out of range from its deadly cannons. Saven unlocked his powerful mechanical jaw, he opened wide, thrusting his massive fangs deep into the drone’s upper neck. He viciously tore into its sensors as a motorized wince shrieked out from the helpless drone.

  “This is just, brutal.” Lucas mumbled with his wide eyes.

  The drone spun around in circles erratically, attempting to toss the attacker, but Saven rodeoed the brute. With each second, he ripped deeper into its workings, crunching away mouthfuls of vital robotic wreckage until nothing remained but a heap of scrap.

  “Two down!” Keith pumped his fist.

  “That was sort of hard to watch, like those old nature documentaries where the big cat kills its struggling prey.” Lucas joked. Back in Casser’s control room, the display was met with skepticism.

  “Ok, now that was unexpected, you said Solarsystems never did anything to speak of, this is either an extraordinary piece of hardware, or they’re cheating? Maybe there’s an offsite operator?” Niven rattled, squinting his eyes.

  “Have you checked to see if having a remote operator is a violation of the rules?” Casser grinned.

  “Section 29-4 clearly states that remote operators aren’t allowed,” Niven immediately answered.

  “What about our sensors? Are you picking up any encrypted signals being broadcasted?”

  “Uhh, let’s see. No, nothing at all, actually,” Niven said, confused.

  “I can’t believe that just happened.” Lucas said under his breath.

  “We’ve never taken out a brute, those things have been impossible to kill.” Keith said.

  “We just got two of them.” Lucas replied.

  Keith sat down, rocking back and forth in his chair enthusiastically. It wasn’t a completed work of art, but it was a beautiful draft thus far. Even if the drill ended now, it was further than anyone had made it against these Marines.

  Suddenly, a loud boom erupted across the hall. Keith and Lucas glared toward the Marines’ control room.

  The reaction wasn’t quite as positive across the hall. Apparently, Belmont had kicked drone B2’s screen display, destroying it. Pieces of glass and plastic littered the floor. He exited the room, yelling and cursing.

  The Marine control room was awkwardly silent. One of the corporals had buried his face in his hands and removed his earpiece. His drone was down. In Belmont’s unit, the Marine was responsible for losing his or her drone.

  “Marines, our data tells us you lost two brute drones. Is that correct?” Agent Casser questioned over the loudspeaker.

  “Two?” Suddenly, Garza jumped over to Icepick’s station. The drone was damaged severely but operational. His detection sensors, cameras, and cannons were destroyed, but his tracks and automated navigational systems were functional.

  “Confirmed, two down, that means Icepick is operational.” Keith tilted his head at the loudspeaker.

  “I can’t help but wonder what’s going through Belmont’s mind right now. Those brutes are battlefield beasts, and your science project here just took out two of them without firing a shot.” Lucas said.

  “Science project.” Keith shook his head.

  Belmont stormed back into the control room. “Everyone at attention. NOW!”

  The Marines instantly snapped up out of their stations at full attention. Belmont circled around the room, not saying a word before he glared at each person. His uniform appeared sloppy and his forehead was sweaty. He was clearly a man with a lot to lose. His reputation was on the line.

  “Does anyone here know how many brute drones we’ve lost in combat in the last three years?” Belmont questioned.

  Garza knew the answer, but stayed quiet.

  “Two. We’ve lost two brutes in combat in the last three years. We just lost two in fourteen minutes,” Belmont said. He paused then started pacing, allowing that information to sink in.

  “I don’t know what this thing is. Don’t care. All I know is it will not make it to phase two. Is that understood?”

  “Ooh Rah!” The Marines masked their uncertainty with that ancient battle cry.

  “Everyone back on station now. What’s our status?” Belmont questioned.

  “We still have three fully operational brutes, sir, and Icepick is at least…functional,” a corporal answered.

  “Icepick won’t go down that easily.” Belmont checked the display’s status of the veteran drone. “Well, get him back here, now. The longer he’s out there, the more vulnerable he is. Basically, he’s just a set of tracks and sensors.”

  “Sir, you really think he has a chance of making it back?” Garza questioned, furrowing her eyebrows skeptically.

  “Nah, I don’t, but we’re not just leaving him out there either.”

  “Roger that.” She said.

  “We’re going to fill the holes that drones B2 and B3 left. The prototype will try to shoot through their radar zone gap, if it’s smart,” Belmont ordered.

  Twilight set across the frozen woodland. The wind let up as the light snow fell straight down, almost in a drizzle. The intensity in the Marine control room subsided as well, allowing everyone to collect their thoughts and relax.

  The Marines had set up a series of massive LED lights that lit up the perimeter like a football stadium. The two operators that lost their drones went out to assist by placing more sensor traps, just in case Saven’s “luck” or “bad weather” streak continued.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lucas yawned. “I’m going to hit the rack. I’ll be back up here early in the morning. You need anything?”

  “Nah, I’m good,” Keith answered, glaring at Saven’s vitals. His camera was completely black. For some reason, it wasn’t functioning properly. “Did Saven disconnect his camera?” Keith mumbled.

  “What?” Lucas asked.

  “Um, nothing, just trying to get this camera back online.”

  “Man. Heck of a day,” Lucas said before exiting.

  “Yeah, it could have been worse, right?” Keith smiled.

  As Lucas left, Keith pulled out his personal tablet and made a few notes to himself about the drill along with some remote diagnostic reminders for the next day.

  The clock rolled over to midnight, and the date changed to January 22nd. It was his ninth anniversary with his late wife, Olivia. He raised his eyebrows, surprised by the realization. He’d been working so hard on getting Saven ready that he didn’t realize their anniversary had rolled around.

  “Oh. Nine years. Gosh.”

  He had a tradition every year since she’d passed away. It wasn’t anything elaborate, but to him it was special. He uploaded a video file from his documents titled “Oli and me.”

  He opened the file, and hesitated before pressing play, but he did. The video started where Keith proposed to Olivia. He took her to their favorite vineyard in California. The same one they’d gone to on their first date. Keith had his best friend Charlie record the whole thing from afar.

  “This is it. Don’t choke, buddy,” he said, watching from a parked car. Keith kept his silly grin on the
whole time.

  The video portrayed Keith taking a knee, staring up into her green eyes. Her light blue dress blew in the breeze toward him. The file’s audio wasn’t perfect with all the wind, but Keith remembered the words, so he whispered them aloud, in sync with the video.

  “A long time ago, we came here as strangers. Now, the time has come for me to ask you to be my love, forever. I promise to protect you, love you, and care for you until the day I die. Olivia Reiner… w-will you marry me?” Keith said. His eyes watered, but he had a big smile on his face.

  “Yes… Yes, I will,” she said. A few stragglers from the vineyard started clapping as she placed her hand over her mouth.

  Keith’s bottom lip quivered. “I didn’t protect her though.” Keith shut his eyes, putting his hands over his face. He wept uncontrollably.

  When Michael showed up at SolarSystems, Keith initially saw him as just another project.

  But Michael was different. When Keith heard about his sacrifice, he identified with that. In a small way, he felt that he and Michael were a lot alike. Both were willing to do whatever it took to protect the ones they loved. Keith drew strength from the idea that if he were given the chance to sacrifice himself for his family, he would. Just like Michael did.

  To Keith, a part of himself lived on in Saven. He symbolized that drive to carry on despite tragedies in life. The tenacity to push forward. To pick yourself up, no matter what pieces remained, and fight. To Keith, Saven wasn’t a wasted life.

  Keith walked back down to the pod later, opening the lid slowly. He closed his eyes before peering inside, hoping he’d imagined what he saw previously. He opened his eyes, and there it was, the female face chiseled into the metal.

  “Dammit!” He ran his hands over it. The thing had been scratched in by Saven’s claws. He stared it at for several moments, shaking his head in confusion, “How? Maybe it’s just a flash memory, coincidence, or random? I don’t know. Never seen that before.” Keith mumbled to himself.

  “Let’s just get through the damn drill.”