“Oh, n-no. I’m fine. It’s just... I was thinking I don’t even have my sidearm,” Lucas said excitedly, taking another step back.
“He knows you’re nervous Lucas, so calm down. He can detect your heart rate and recognize the muscles in your face when they project fear, even when you attempt to hide it. Besides, a sidearm wouldn’t help you anyway,” Keith said.
Lucas frantically searched both directions of the corridor. “Once I get him out, you can’t outrun him either.” Keith smiled. “He’ll run you down like a cheetah on a wounded gazelle. Relax.”
“You coulda told me that earlier,” Lucas said, wiping his forehead.
The pod’s blacked-out glass shield rose automatically, but Saven took over. Clattering his long, spiny, metallic claws under the panel, he flipped the 160-pound lid open like a paperweight, rocking the pod back and forth from the force. The impact echoed down the corridor as Lucas gulped.
The dark green light inside the pod now illuminated his exposed body, instantly. “Oh shit.” Lucas gushed with his eyes wide. What had started with Michael’s legs was now a complete transformation. What remained of his body was fused together with jagged armored panels manifesting as a green and black exoskeleton.
“Saven, no hostiles detected. We’re friendlies here,” Keith said in a comforting tone.
Saven slowly extended one leg outside the pod. But to Lucas’ surprise, it was no foot. A long, eagle-like metallic talon scraped the concrete ground as he peered left and right down the hall, ignoring Keith and Lucas. Saven reminded Keith of a captive animal being released back into the wild. Saven hunkered low, displaying a layer of caution mixed with excitement, ready to dart into the wilderness at a moment’s notice.
His new form appeared long and lean, yet powerful and agile. The long, serrated, metallic wings on his back were folded in like two giant curved blades, highlighting a wicked, demonic form.
“We’re still g-good, right? He’s acting normal?” Lucas whispered.
“Yep, we’re fine.”
Between Saven’s solar absorbing wings was a battery encased inside a vented housing. This kept him cool while simultaneously protecting his main power source, a battery that was powerful and rarely needed recharging.
The solar battery was special; only two were found in all the wreckage. SolarSystems’ scientists couldn’t figure out how to replicate its compact structure, so the battery was the actual unit extracted from the craft, minus the cleanup and protective housing.
Both were found on alien fighter jets that were possibly docked inside the massive starship during the crash. They provided incredible power with a ridiculously low input from solar rays.
Saven glanced at Keith, but focused back on Lucas. It seemed Saven understood Lucas wasn’t an enemy, but he hadn’t seen him before. Not to mention, the fear emitting from Lucas appeared to be exhilarating. Saven exited the pod, walking by Keith.
Saven’s human posture had evolved also. He didn’t stand completely upright, but always crouched down low, prepared for an explosive movement like a stalking cat. Suddenly, Saven took three quick steps, stopping inches in front of Lucas’ face.
“Whoa, Lucas! Just don’t move! It’s fine, just a gesture of curiosity. He doesn’t know you,” Keith said. Lucas froze, dropping his arms to the side, unlocking his knees. Saven dipped his head around Lucas’, attempting to sniff his fear, and basking in it for a moment.
Lucas’ training kicked in, his heart rate spiked, but then began to stabilize. He shut his eyes, breathing in and out slowly. Lucas had narrowly escaped death before in battle, but he’d never looked into death’s eyes until now. He was the very definition of pragmatic, yet here—Lucas was rattled.
“All right, that’s enough, Saven. Sorry to wake you, but the exercise starts in a few hours. I thought I’d give you a chance to get in position and look at your surroundings,” Keith said, examining the prototype for anything unusual. Saven’s head snapped away from Lucas, walking slowly towards the exit, but he stopped parallel to Keith.
“Whew. Ah shit…He...it doesn’t speak?” Lucas whispered.
“Nope. He receives orders and we monitor his systems constantly. If there’s a problem, we’ll know. He doesn’t use verbal communication with us.”
“Keith, it doesn’t move like any machine I’ve ever seen. It’s organic and fluid,” Lucas examined.
Saven’s head swiveled and snapped around like a bird of prey. His motion detection picked up on the rats scurrying about in the pitch-black corridor. Saven’s numerous motion and heat sensors were perfectly synchronized with his heightened predatory instincts, providing him with a slew of target acquisition options.
“No, he doesn’t really lean on his human instincts for movement anymore. That’s all part of the UNIMEL system you’re seeing. I’ll explain it later. I was under a non-disclosure agreement until we got here, so I couldn’t discuss its intricacies yet,” Keith said.
Lucas nodded. There were always surprises with these tests, which was one of the perks of being able to witness them in the flesh.
“All right, Saven, your initial location is—that way.” Keith paused then pointed down the hall. “I’ll link the orders to your Heads-Up Display. You should be able to see the starting location zone...now,” Keith said.
A location indicator popped up on Saven’s map, giving him distance and route options.
Saven immediately lowered his body even farther. His shoulder blades bobbed up and down as he stalked like a cat through the damp hall on all fours slowly. Every several steps, he would raise up on his two legs, peering into the distance before dropping back down. Sometimes he would take a few steps on two legs, but it all transitioned smoothly, naturally.
“That’s just bizarre, it’s like blending a cat and man,” Lucas said.
“And a bird. I guess I’m used to it, but I remember seeing it the first time as well.”
Keith watched him disappear into the darkness. Eight months of training and billions of dollars’ worth of research and development were on the line, but that wasn’t it. To Keith, Saven was more than just a drone. He was part of Keith’s recovery. Saven was a time sink that pulled him away from the demons of the past.
All of that was coming to an end though. This drill was the final stamp of approval for Saven before he was considered an active status unit. Keith thought about what he would do after the drill. More than likely, he’d have a lot of free time. So much of Saven’s training had consumed his life, and it was a bit frightening to think about facing the past again.
“All right…ready to head back up?” Keith said.
“Yeah.” Lucas replied casually.
“No need to pretend that you’re not excited to get out of here.”
“Great. I’ll never hear the end of this one I’m sure.” Lucas said, rolling his eyes. Keith walked over to the pod, closing the lid. “Oh shit!”
“What?!” Lucas asked.
“Oh… nothing… I just… the smell of the antibacterial gel hit me right in the face.” Keith said, observing an image of a female face scratched into the interior of the pod. It was poorly drawn, almost a scribble. Keith stared at it for a few moments, glaring out towards Saven with his mouth open.
“Man, I would think you’d be used to that smell by now? I just held my breath,” Lucas said.
“Yeah, I usually do, but sometimes I forget to.”
“Right.”
As they walked back topside, Lucas questioned Keith about the UNIMEL system and its inner workings. “He’s more animal now, I’d guess, judging by his behavior?” Lucas asked.
“Ah, yeah. Ah, let’s see here…” Keith replied, scratching his head.
“You ok? That smell got you, didn’t it?
“Yeah. It can give you a headache… Ok… The way it works is pretty unique. UNIMEL technology is how we can attach certain animal instincts to Saven. One of the primary instincts is stalking, from the jaguar genes. As he moves, he automatically does things t
hat people and drones don’t,” Keith said.
“Like what? Just movements or...” Lucas asked.
“I’ll give you a small example. He can feel out the ground for things that could alert prey while stalking, like breaking a small branch. He would only apply a small amount of pressure first, gauging with his foot to see if it might make a noise. Then he would take the step, just like a jaguar. Small things like that can add up to a huge difference on the battlefield, as you know, especially against drones that have acute detections systems,” Keith said.
Lucas listened attentively. It seemed as if he was associating the movements he had witnessed earlier to what he was hearing about Saven. His eyes lit up like a light bulb.
“Ah. I get it. It makes a lot of sense to me. Many of the guys in SEAL training were athletic, smart, and capable, but they still needed extensive training on how to be quiet. Even then, some of them were never really great at it. So yeah, that’s a huge deal,” Lucas gathered.
“I figured you would understand the importance better than most,” Keith said.
“Yeah. You guys have dumped some serious man hours into this project. I mean, this is borderline insanity. I’m not sure how anyone would have the time to do... something like this,” Lucas said.
“I wasn’t finished...”
“Oh, excuse me, by all means, sorry to interrupt Doctor,” Lucas said in a sarcastic tone. Keith rolled his eyes and smirked.
“The golden eagle is the other model we used. You probably observed much of it in his head movement.”
“Yeah, he was looking all over the place. I didn’t put it together that it was from a bird of prey, but now that you mention it…”
“Exactly, we wanted him alert to the smallest details. We combined that element of hyperawareness along with enhanced optics for picking up on targets at a distance. He’s also likely to attack with those talons on his feet in close proximity, just like an eagle; keeping his vitals far away from reach. Also, he has a plasma saber on his wrist,” Keith said.
“I thought you might use the bald eagle considering that’s a symbol of the nation? Since you SolarSystems guys are raving patriots.”
Keith rolled his eyes. “Funny. Well, we actually started to use the bald eagle, but studies showed the golden eagle was an aggressive solo predator, whereas the bald eagle was more of a scavenger.”
“Really? Hmm. I would have never thought that. I used to wear an eagle on my chest every day. Never thought it was closer to a buzzard.”
“Ha, well, I wouldn’t go that far. I just think the golden eagle was the better choice for DNA instinct implementation.”
“If you say so. Nothing screams warrior like eating food someone else killed,” Lucas joked.
“Very effective tactic actually, just not for us. Anyway, those are just small examples of why we used the UNIMEL. The idea is that we can train people or drones to do those things. But having those attributes as they occur in nature is more efficient, and easier to integrate into a system with organic components. You’re less likely to stray from your instincts,” Keith concluded.
“Amazing engineering… I noticed the glowing compartment on his left forearm. That’s the plasma saber’s storage? That’s from our findings?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah, we’ve made it a lot smaller for his application, but yes, the plasma saber, that’s what we call it. It’s a more compact version of the alien plasma weaponry for close quarters combat. It’s about three feet long when extended. It cuts through titanium metal like butter,” Keith said, shaking his head. “So imagine flesh and bone.”
“That’s disabled for the drill, right?” Lucas said.
“Oh my god, yes. There’s no way we would allow him to use that even against the Marine drones. I just wouldn’t want to risk it.”
“The armor was our work too, right? The carbon fiber-like material?”
“More advanced as you know, but yes. The exoskeleton was designed from a military prototype we were working on, but we combined those alien materials you recovered from the Star Rust expeditions. We’ve used it more for lightweight strength in Saven’s case. He’s stronger than any man by far, but geared for speed first and foremost.”
“Well, then, I can see why you only brought one,” Lucas said, looking back down the long hall where Saven disappeared.
“I think we engineered from the absolute best human technology has to offer, along with enough alien technology to set him apart from anything ever seen before. There’s more, but I’ll get to that later,” Keith said.
“I can’t lie, you’ve sparked my interest, this is just baffling to me,” Lucas said, scratching his head.
“I’m sure you’ve seen things out on your expeditions that would make me ooze with curiosity.”
“I cannot confirm or deny, yada yada, all of that,” Lucas smiled.
“Uh huh,” Keith replied.
“So, now we’re just waiting on the Washington suits to arrive?” Lucas questioned.
“They should be arriving anytime now.”
The next phase of the Crucible was the arrival of the evaluators. Agents and their supporting elements were arriving from Washington, DC from an unknown intelligence agency. Their job was twofold: assess the prototype’s performance and mediate between Keith as a representative of SolarSystems and the US Marines.
They arrived with their own security: thirty-two guards, six observers, and four pilots for both transports that stayed onsite. They were the only people on base allowed to carry live ammunition.
The Marines and Saven’s weaponry were replaced with stun rounds that sent a signal to command. If Saven was struck once, that was it. For testing, Saven’s weapons automatically switched to stun when he reached a certain proximity to the Marines or pointed his weapon at a human.
The Washington element arrived in two of the same Wraith-style jets as the Marines. They were all black instead of gray and had a partial cloaking device enabled. Their engines generated about half the decibels too. They got the bulk of the tax dollars compared to the Marines.
The 0700 meeting the next morning was too early for everyone, even the Marines. Each party was given a rude awakening when the cold morning air hit them. It seemed the heating system gave out at around 0400 and kept most people awake and freezing.
The Marines slowly filed out into the courtyard with Keith and Lucas intermingled between them. They met up on the opposite side of the courtyard in formation. Keith saw one of the Marines from the previous Crucible he’d somehow missed earlier.
“Hey, Sergeant Martin. How’d you sneak in here?” Keith joked, shaking his hand.
“Ah, well, you know how it is. I was probably doing some of the bitch work and you must have missed me.” Martin smiled.
“Ha! It’s good to see you again.” Keith nodded and clapped his shoulder. About that time, Belmont turned around, glancing at both Martin and Keith. He cut his eyes away in disapproval.
“Associating with the enemy, huh?” Lucas leaned in.
“Yeah.” Keith rolled his eyes, smiling. He didn’t have a problem with Martin. He’d met him last year during the Crucible. He seemed like a troubled, but solid individual. Keith had the feeling Belmont had it out for him, but he never asked why.
Keith could see the agents ahead. They seemed to be assessing the situation, despite the drill not having started yet. Keith checked his watch with a small holographic display, revealing Saven had reached his position and was on standby.
Good. All right, we’re ready. Breathe.
Keith took in a big breath as two government agents strutted out to the front of the group along with six armed guards. They looked across the Marine ranks and paused for a brief moment.
“Marines and the parties from SolarSystems. Welcome to the Crucible. I am Agent Casser, and this is my associate, Agent Niven.” He gestured towards his younger partner with a smile.
Casser was an average looking fellow, short with thinning hair on top and a huge burn scar acros
s the left side of his face. He seemed intelligent and highly skeptical, if not overly critical. That was part of the reason he was in his position.
His associate, Niven, was younger. Tall and thin with dark skin and a typical agent’s clean-cut look. Unlike Casser, his eyes were wide and his grin seemed forced. He crossed his arms in front of him while tapping his index finger on his gloves erratically.
The Marines immediately began to mock the agents under their breath, low enough in volume so that several of the others could hear it but the agents couldn’t.
“Haha. Look at this guy’s hair.”
“Right? Hey, bro, no shame in wearing a cap in this weather,” a Marine joked from the back of the ranks.
Unfortunately, Captain Belmont was one of those Marines that heard the joke. He turned around to address it while the agent spoke. “Do we have a problem, Marines?” Belmont demanded, daring any Marine to snicker again.
Casser paused politely and smirked. He held his crossed arms in front of his chest, allowing Belmont time to control his men before continuing on.
“Everything okay? Great... All right, first things first. This objective-based war game is designed to test cohesion of our Marine tactical units and our newest prototype. First and foremost, we are all on the same side,” Casser said, pausing for a moment to scan across the faces and send that point home.
Lucas, Keith, and his technicians stood opposite of the Marines in the courtyard with a modest spacing of about ten paces between them. There wasn’t any worry of physical aggression, but there was definitely tension, reputation, and billions of dollars of research on the line.
“Okay, let me see… Captain Belmont?” Casser called out.
“Yes, sir,” Belmont rogered up in a low but deep voice, raising his hand. It wasn’t difficult to spot him in the crowd.
“Right. Uh, phase one will be perimeter engagements, as you know. For the ones who don’t, listen up. The SolarSystems prototype will be pitted against the Marines’ arsenal of drones and sensors. Lethal force is permitted here on both sides, drones against the prototype. Obviously, no persons will be involved in this portion of the drill.”
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