by Eden Blue
“They see 4 guards, armed and holding position,” Vickers said softly.
“Can you see anything else?”
“They are in front of a set of main doors. My drones are accessing the doors……. It’s the main chamber. They see two titans…in stasis. Another titan is in the middle of the large chamber, opened up from what they see, most likely being dissected.”
“Pris, can you open those doors?”
“I can,” Pris said over coms.
Evan sighed, “We have to take out those guards.”
Vickers smiled, “Already working on it. You see, I made sure the drones could manufacture a sedative each. They are already climbing onto the guards. It may take a minute, but they are injecting them by the thousands.”
Evan shook his head, “You can be really scary sometimes.”
Vickers kept his smile, “I like to think I’m fun. As exciting as this is, I would rather be in a med bay healing the sick and injured. After this is all said and done, I just may do that.”
The three companions waited for a long minute before Vickers stood up and opened the door. The three stepped out into the corridor and walked toward the guards. Bodies lay slumped to the floor and one lay over his work station.
“I am turning off sensor and vid feeds in the area. You should be able to enter now. The network AI is distracted with the sentry attack. Several sentries are left and continuing to fight. Once they are destroyed, the AI will resume investigating my presence. We only have about seven minutes before we are discovered,” Pris stated.
The group picked up the pace, dashing to the guard station and moving bodies out of view. Evan looked down at the strange side arm the guards were carrying. It was shaped like a smooth pistol but was a design he’d never seen before.
Vickers noticed as the engineer looked at it, “It’s a neural disruptor. It stops the flow of information in your nervous system. They are often used to incapacitate anything with a nervous system.”
“Why would they need something like that here?”
Vickers stood up, “You can’t interrogate someone who’s dead.”
A chill filled the Engineer as he helped pull the last guard off the guard station, took a neural disruptor, placed it in his E-pack for further study and sat him up with his fellow soldiers.
“They should be sedated for twenty minutes. Should be long enough for us to get the crystal and get out of here,” Vickers said as he moved to the main doors.
The main doors opened sideways. The three players stepped in, their eyes taking in the sight before them. A vast chamber stretched out. The walls were carved with symbols the size of tanks. Walking in, they each looked to their right and left as massive alcoves were set deep in stone, strange symbols surrounding the massive things within.
Evan walked forward, his heart caught in his throat, to the right and left of the massive chamber stood a titan on each side. Vickers let out a whistle while Lydia walked along Evan’s side. One had the shape of a hunched over reptile. Its eyes were closed as a long, thick horn rose up from its snout. It was roughly humanoid in shape, a brownish gray skin covering its body. The hide was thick and wrinkled with thorny scales.
Eyes moved to the left side of the chamber. A crab like shell stood ominously. Two giant pincers lay folded into its body, but its legs were the stuff of nightmares. Instead of segmented legs similar to a Terran crab, a dozen tentacles held the crab-like titan up. Each tentacle was barbered, thorny and thick. An image of being crushed by one sent a shiver up Evan’s spine.
The giant monsters stood, eyes closed and equipment strapped to the mouths with a long tube trailing down to working machines. Mist curled around the edges of the titan’s mouths as they stood silent in the massive chamber.
Evan still could not believe the size of each one. The engineer could see that the reason they were eight levels down was because these monsters were that tall. Information poured into Evan’s HUD, detecting and measuring the height and width. The titans were roughly 700 feet tall, but the crab like one was three times that size sideways.
Lydia walked along, looking at the humanoid lizard one. Her eyes drifted down to the base of its feet where a sign stood with the word “Grimvore”.
“This one is called Grimvore,” Lydia said as she walked.
Vickers nodded as he looked to the one lying on its back in the middle of the chamber, “They’re all given a designation. It makes them easier to identify.”
Evan looked over the dead titan on the floor to the crab one in the alcove, a sign barely visible, “That one is called Ravager.”
“Scary name for a scary monster,” Lydia said with a faint smile.
Vickers walked along, staring at the partially dissected titan, “You both haven’t seen one of these up close. These monsters are truly astonishing. They have internal organs like all races, but their size and abilities defy logic. Their skin and armor are so thick, they can resist damage even from battleships. All three here are category 4’s and are considered monsters among titans. They regenerate at an alarming rate and they sometimes have parasites that will come to their defense.”
“I knew that,” Lydia smiled and shot Evan a wink.
Vickers continued, “They sometimes hibernate on planets, but there have been a few occasions where they are upright and walking. They destroy anything humanoid or anything created by humanoids. Colonists have been wiped out if they terraform a planet and wake one of these monsters up.”
“The crystals are in a vault at the end of the chamber,” Pris said over coms.
“We should move it along, we don’t have much time left,” Evan said and picked up the pace.
Vickers stared in awe as he tried to keep up, “The masks connected to the titan’s mouths must be some high-powered sedative. They probably didn’t want to risk waking any of them up.”
“What about those symbols? This place looks like a temple. Do titans often hibernate in temples?”
Vickers glanced at the cyborg, “There have been instances where explorers have come across the remains of an ancient civilization on planets, but never a case of a titan found in one. There may have been a race here long ago that worshipped them as gods.”
“Guys, this is fascinating, but we need to get that Tempest Crystal and get out of here.”
Evan turned his double time into a flat out run. Lydia and Vickers followed. The three crossed the massive chamber until they reached the other side. Large vault doors greeted them as they stepped closer. At first, Evan felt elated until he took a good look at the controls and the design of the vault. Heart sinking, he stepped closer, running his hand over the cold metal.
"This is a shielded fortress vault, state of the art. It has a shield running between metal plates. The metal is nano constructed, dense and strong, not even nano-drones can slip through.”
Lydia looked at the vault, “How do you know?”
“I helped construct one on Azure Station. You need a constant plasma stream from a battleship to cut through this.”
Evan kept his eyes on the vault as he spoke, “Pris, can you use the code Jamie gave us to open the vault?”
The line was silent for a long moment, “Sentries have fallen. Network AI will begin searching for me shortly. I will attempt to open the vault and begin making my way to you. I must disconnect.”
The Engineer felt Pris disconnect from his com. An eerie silence fell over Evan as he stared at the vault doors, waiting for them to open. Seconds turned into minutes and nothing happened. Worry crawled into the engineer’s heart as he tried to come up with alternatives. He started to think about using his auto cannon with Lydia boosting it, but the power consumption was too much. They would barely make a dent. Looking back, he checked if he could tap into the base’s power grid, but the surge would alert the security AI of their location. They simply wouldn’t have enough time to cut through, never mind the auto cannon would burn out long before they burned a hole. Hope began to slip away when something beeped a
nd lights flashed.
Evan turned to the door to see it sliding into the walls, an inner shield fading from view. The Engineer gave a silent thanks to Pris as he stepped forward. The doctor and Lydia stayed close as they stepped in.
The chamber was small and bare except for four transparent canisters lined against the back wall. Red and blue crystals glowed with pulsating light from the canisters, filling the vault with a warming light. Evan had seen Tempest Crystals before, but it still sent shivers down his spine. A quarter of a crystal was enough to power a battleship for a decade and a city for four years. A full one had the awesome power to fuel terraforming machines, enough to change an entire planet from dead to bursting with life. Before them was the stuff that fueled four civilizations and allowed them to fly among the stars. They were worth billions of credits and if a guild was strong enough to take down a titan, the credits would be enough to create or buy a small fleet of ships.
Evan could feel the touch of greed. He was instructed to take just one, but leaving three behind felt like a massive waste. If he could get Bruiser down here, he could take them all and rebuild the Azure guild from the ground up, still having enough to buy a fleet of ships and a small moon. Glancing to Lydia, she would never have to worry for anything. Thinking of his brother, he could clear his name and they could make themselves great again. The imagery was tantalizing to say the least and the weakness of greed pulled at the young Engineer like a siren to a sailor lost at sea.
Lydia gave her cousin a concerned look as she moved forward to a crystal. Vickers followed. Evan saw them and snapped out of his daydreaming. Shaking his head, he pushed away the calling dreams. Their mission was nearly complete. A few more steps and they would be on their way to Ryan and finally have their answers.
Evan moved up to one, lifted his hands and took hold. It barely budged; the weight too much even for his above average strength. Vickers took hold and picked it up, his arms straining.
“Are you sure you can carry it?” Evan asked.
Vickers nodded, “I can.”
Lydia held her rifle in her hands, “I can carry it.”
Vickers smiled, “You’re our armed escort and I’m sure your better with a rifle then I am.”
The doctor’s arms continued to shake until a few seconds passed. Evan raised an eyebrow as the large doctor seemed to handle the cylinder with ease.
“I had my drones increase my strength. It will only last an hour, but should be long enough for us to…” Vickers trailed off.
The rushing stampede of boots filled the giant titan chamber behind them. Evan turned to see Terran soldiers coming around the sides of the dead titan. In their hands, neural disrupters pointed at the vault. Evan, Vickers, and Lydia moved off to one side. The Cyborg stepped to the vault door edge and aimed her plasma rifle at the incoming crowd.
“DROP YOUR WEAPONS! DO IT NOW!” Soldiers commanded.
Soldiers slowed as they moved closer, aiming into the vault.
“Drop your weapons and lay face down! Do it!” the soldiers continued to shout as they halted about forty feet from the vault entrance.
Vickers and Evan stood with their backs to the wall. Lydia continued to aim, finger hovering over the trigger.
“How many?” Evan asked.
“A little over fifty,” Lydia said, barrel pointed at the soldiers.
“There is no escape! Lay face down or we will storm the vault!”
“They have the numbers to do it,” Evan said in a defeated tone.
“My nervous system is shielded by my implants. I can take a number of hits from those disrupters. If you use your auto cannon, we might be able to blast our way out,” Lydia said out of the side of her mouth.
Evan’s head tilted forward, “I can set it up, but Pris isn’t here to pull the trigger.”
“I can pull the trigger,” the doctor said as he put down the Tempest Crystal. “I can also roll out an EMP grenade. Its range should be short enough to disable their disruptors and not affect us.”
Evan stood up from the wall, his hand reaching back and a rod ejecting. The engineer took hold and brought it around. Uncertainty colored his eyes as he contemplated what they were about to do. It was one thing to fight robots, but to unleash his auto-cannon on soldiers sent a nervous twinge into his hands.
Lydia pulled back and looked to her cousin, “We have to survive and get that Tempest Crystal out of here. It’s our only option left.”
Vickers moved to Evan, “I don’t know why you’re playing the game like this, but sooner or later, you will have no choice but to pull the trigger.”
Evan looked up at the broad-shouldered doctor, “I’d rather keep that day as far away as I can.”
Vickers’s brow softened, “I take no joy in this either, but there is a harsh universe out there. If you don’t fight, it will eat you alive. Nova Sky is a game simulation, but for the people playing, this is very real. We must fight our way out or this mission is a failure.”
Evan looked to the Doctor, his jaw clenching and his brow forming a sharp V. With a mental command, rods protruded from the edges, metal sliding out and clamping down over arms, elbows and wrists. Another pair of rods protruded from the bottom of the E-pack, metal encircling thighs, knees, ankles and around the Engineer’s boots. Vickers backed up as he watched an exo-skeleton close over the engineer’s limbs and around his waist and chest. Power pumped along the metal rods and bands.
Evan reached over and took hold of the canister, lifting it up with ease. “We’re going with your plan. I’ll be moving a little slower but keep them off of me.”
Vickers smiled, “Now we’re playing!”
There was a loud “POP” and something streaked into the vault, smoke billowing from behind. Eyes turned to see small canisters hit the floor and spin, sending plumes of smoke into the vault. Two more fired in, more smoke trailing behind.
“Gas!” Evan said as he turned around, “Take a filter mask!”
The E-pack opened with three filter masks. Vickers took one and then Lydia. Evan reached over with one hand and pulled the last one. The players pulled them over their heads and that is when the shooting started.
Green bolts of light flashed into the room rapidly filling with smoke. It grew so thick that the players could barely see their silhouettes. Lydia threw her shoulder into the edge of the vault entrance, lifted her plasma rifle and opened fired. Bolts flashed as the cyborg returned fire.
Vickers pulled an EMP grenade from his pack and moved to Lydia’s side, “This isn’t just gas! It has particle filaments! It’s disrupting communications with my drones and sensors!”
Green bolts flashed in as the entrance was filled with their light. The smoke turned into a fog and Lydia couldn’t make out any targets. Pulling the trigger, she fired blind into the smoke, trying to hit anything that moved.
Vickers moved around her, giving his arm a mighty swing and releasing the EMP grenade. Pulling back, a disrupter bolt hit him in the shoulder. The doctor’s arm went dead as he pulled back, dropping the auto-cannon rod. There was an EMP flash and the shooting lessened but did not stop. Evan activated the auto-cannon. The rod righted itself, tripod folding out. The other end of the rod shifted into a T shape, barrel extending and power priming.
The Doctor moved to the auto-cannon as green bolts blasted in. The instant he took hold of the auto-cannon, a bolt struck him dead center of his chest. Energy arced along limbs as the doctor slumped down, body not responding. Evan put the canister down and stepped through the smoke to see Vickers on his stomach, not moving. Disruptor bolts continued to fill the entrance as Lydia returned fire.
The Engineer bent low, taking hold of the Doctor and pulling him back from the entrance. It was already going badly. When the Doctor was out of the range of fire, Evan opened his pack and pulled out another EMP grenade. Taking a deep breath, he activated it and moved to Lydia’s side. With a heave, he threw it through the smoke. A moment later there was a flash and the amount of enemy fire lessened.
The barrage continued as Evan pulled back, green bolts and plasma fire bursting along the edge of the vault entrance.
“There must be more troops!” Lydia said over her shoulder as she fired blindly.
Dread washed over the Engineer as he saw through the smoke his auto-cannon ready and waiting to be used. All he had to do was send a command and the cannon would start using suppressing fire until the enemy was neutralized or it ran out of power. Hesitation filled him as he stood, feeling the vault closing in on him as the rate of fire from the enemy increased.
Lydia pulled back. Even with the smoke, Evan was close enough that she could read his expression. A tormenting pain filled his eyes and she knew instantly what he was going through. Heart breaking, she didn’t want him to have to make that decision. Lips pressing together in determination, the Cyborg spun around and aimed out of the vault firing at an accelerated rate. Glancing up, she could see through the tendrils of smoke to the titan named Grimvore as it stood silently. Aiming, she targeted the titan’s sedative pumping mask.
Evan firmed up his resolve and was about to send the command to activate the auto-cannon when several plasma bolts struck it. The cannon bent at first before several more bolts blasted it into several pieces, hope falling away from Evan’s eyes.
The Cyborg didn’t hold back as she pulled the trigger again and again. Plasma bolts streaked upward, blasting into the thick mask covering its snout. A bolt severed the thick tub leading up to it, smoke billowing out as it fell. The mask took heavy damage before parts blasted out or exploded. The titan’s eyes were still closed with its massive snout on fire.
Lydia continued to fire. The disruptor bolts ceased as soldiers turned their heads to see plasma striking the monster again and again. A wave of controlled panic swelled. Soldiers wearing filter masks holstered their neural disruptors and unslung plasma rifles. Chaos loomed like a shadowy demon as soldiers began firing everything they had at the lone cyborg.
Lydia pulled back, but kept the angle so she could fire freely at the sleeping monster. Men shouted in the background amid the pulses of plasma bolts. Lydia could barely make out pleas for her to stop. She ignored them, firing at the horned nose monster, determination sinking its claws down into her heart.
