by Jyr, Aer-ki
That said, he still didn’t think they’d get very far.
“On my back and stay close,” Sean said as the other two got up to him and pulled their shields across one side of their back, with both looping an arm around Sean’s waist so they could pull close and maximize their defense while being able to feel where each other were. That way they could still walk without creating unnecessary gaps for the stingers to get through, though their heads were still open to ceiling shots or grenades. It wasn’t a good situation all around, but it was better than going in solo. Even on the run, all it would take was one lucky shot to Sean’s back and he’d be down and unconscious, leaving his teammates to find a way past this last roadblock.
“Just probe,” Sarah said as they began to walk forward around the last corner in the hallway. “We’ll handle the rest.”
The trio of trainees came into view with Sean peeking around the corner of his shield. A window in the damn thing would have been nice, but they weren’t designed that way. He caught a glimpse of the Black Knight ahead, but it looked like he hadn’t moved yet.
“Nothing behind us. Clear walls.”
“Black Knight is just standing there.”
“I don’t like this,” Sean told the others, but they all kept moving forward.
“If we make it halfway we split.”
“Agreed.”
Step by small step they moved forward, with not a sight nor sound evident in the empty room save for their own footsteps and breathing, which thoroughly unnerved Sean even though he knew more or less what was going on. They got all the way out to mid room and still no response, which was when the trio blew apart, running in opposite directions that left Sean heading straight for the Black Knight.
Still nothing happened.
Sean didn’t intend to actually fight him with only a shield, for he’d left his pistol with one of the others so it wouldn’t be lost when he got stunned, but he wanted to at least provoke a reaction before he ran like crazy, half expecting the big guy to track him down despite the heavy armor he wore. When he got within five meters of him Sean juked to the right and made a dash for the low wall ahead, while the other two likewise rushed it, intending to try and get over and to the finish so long as no one was going to stop them.
That called the bluff, for even as the Black Knight raced to his right to catch Chad-939245 a series of panels on the wall pushed out alarmingly fast and brandished stinger turrets that peppered the area ahead of the trainees with shots. Sean resisted the urge to try and stop them, but knew he couldn’t delay either, else the Black Knight would circle back to him within a few seconds. If he was going to make for the wall then this was the moment, else he would have to run back to the others and probably get gunned down in the process.
Tucking his shield against his right side, which was the slightly closer wall, he dove in a skid on his right knee, sliding a meter before popping up and jumping into the air to do a shallow flip, all the while his shield was getting peppered with hits. He was hoping to disrupt the targeting with the extra movement long enough to gain some distance, but as he went midair his right ankle got hit, numbing it so much that when he got his feet on the ground his right leg collapsed for lack of muscle control.
That sent him tumbling to the ground where he landed smack on his face, with his shield hitting him on the head as it laid over him. He expected to get covered in stinger shots momentarily, but the sounds of the increasing weaponsfire didn’t result in any more loss of function. He twisted his neck slightly, playing dead as he guessed they thought he already was, and saw the others running out into the room and attacking the turrets on the walls, neutralizing them one by one as even more revealed themselves and flooded the room with paint.
Bodies were dropping every second, but so were the turrets…and then there was the Black Knight moving amongst them, whacking them down with his sword or fists.
Sean mentally ignored his right leg, pulling himself up to a crawl and hobbling away from his shield towards the wall that was three meters in front of him. A turret on the left wall turned to shoot him, but it got hit with a trio of sniper shots and deactivated, giving Sean enough time to stand up on one leg and hop up to get his hands on the wall edge. He pulled himself up enough that he could see over it and the finish pedestal beyond…then suddenly a giant hand grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him back into the room.
He cracked his head on the somewhat soft floor when he landed, then there were a blur of bodies passing over top of him. He could see several of his fellow trainees hunkered up inside a shield turtle that blocked enough of the stinger shots for them to get up close to the Black Knight, then they broke ranks and rushed him, shooting him at pointblank range with pistols, chucking grenades in his face, and then finishing him off with a series of stun sticks as they were taken down by the surrounding turrets.
Sean reached out for the pistol laying near him, finding it a few inches short of his fingers and cursing himself for having to hold back. He crawled up onto his shoulder and got to it, miraculously not attracting the attention of one of the remaining turrets. Rather than shoot at one of them on the walls or ceiling, he took the pistol and shot the downed Black Knight, knowing that his armor would suck up the stun quickly and he’d be back to bashing them in no time.
Sean might not be able to run or fight, but he could keep the bastard down while the others did the hard work…that was, until the pistol eventually ran out of rounds. He tried to climb to his feet and hop forward, but was caught by the armpit on the way up and dragged forward by Sarah. She got him to the wall along with the others, then got underneath his feet and stood up, pushing him up and over where he unceremoniously fell to the ground.
The crawl over to the finish line was short, and the most blissfully rewarding few meters he’d ever crossed. He got there after a large group of the others, entering a blue-lit hallway that gleamed with what appeared to be dragon scales covering it on floor, walls, and ceiling. As soon as he touched those he officially became an Archon…then he turned back to look for the others who were still piling over the wall.
One of the other trainees came over to him and injected his leg with a de-stunning serum, one of the few they had left from their ordeal in the labyrinth, and he felt his limb return to life. He stood up and ran back over to the wall, hopping up enough to look over and see where the rest of them were.
There were a dozen left, shooting the last of the turrets as the Black Knight stumbled to his feet, regaining coherence with every second. Seven trainees lay unconscious on the floor, with the others moving towards them. With his limb now back in action Sean abandoned the finish and went back over the wall, picking up one of the injured and freeing up a trainee that was still armed…who then shot the Black Knight as he came at her.
The shot didn’t take him down, but two others dove on him with stun sticks and managed to knock him away from the last few downed trainees being carried over the wall. Sean got his passenger transferred to others that were standing on top to facilitate the process, then he ducked to the side as the Knight’s stun sword whipped through where his head had just been. On instinct he ran sideways, getting a step on him as a hand reached down from up top.
Sean took it and was pivoted up and over the wall with the help of three other trainees acting as a counterweight. He didn’t care that he fell hard on the other side, more concerned that everyone made it over…for if they didn’t, they didn’t graduate. The idea of having to repeat the entire basic training was abhorrent, which was why all of the trainees were committed to getting everyone across and they wouldn’t hesitate to all go back over the wall if necessary.
Fortunately that wasn’t going to be needed, and the last man over yelled ‘all clear’ prompting Sean and the others to walk back into that beautiful hallway and out the now open door on the far side, completing the hardest 3 years of his life.
Head Trainer Wilson was there, along with a pair of Archon Acolytes, but it was the big guy that spoke. “Co
ngratulations…now on to the hard stuff. Your basic training is now complete, and you’ll soon be assigned Clans where you will begin your adept training. Next time we see each other will be under different circumstances, for now, these two will guide you through the transition process.”
“Let’s go younglings,” one of the acolytes said, waving the group of them forward down the hall. “First a badly needed shower, then some food, and then you get to see where you end up. Hope for Clan Mantle.”
The other acolyte scoffed at that but said nothing as the group moved on, leaving Wilson behind.
Sean stayed with him, drawing a curious look from Sarah and a couple other 2s, but Wilson waved them off and they left with the others. They walked down the long hall and disappeared around the corner before either of the two men spoke.
“I’m proud of you,” Wilson told him. “And not only because you didn’t slip up. I honestly didn’t think you had it in you until after that first year.”
“I wasn’t sure myself until just now,” Davis said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “That is one hell of a training program you set up. The team camaraderie is so intense it surprised me, even after all these years dealing with Archons and the trailblazers specifically.”
“You were always an outsider and the guy in charge. It looks different from this perspective, in a way that I’ll never know. I envy you that.”
“Do you want to play Director for a while? I kind of want to stay Archon.”
“You never told them?”
Davis shook his head. “And they never suspected. I didn’t think the alterations would work, but no one ever made the connection.”
“It’s the voice more than anything,” Wilson said, referencing the genetic alterations made to Davis in the pyramid so he could enter basic training anonymously. “Are you going to tell them now?”
“No, I don’t want to disrupt the transition process. They’re splitting up, correct?”
“Probably. Some could end up together depending on which Clan they land. They usually keep in touch afterwards, so they’re going to want to know what’s up with you. I wouldn’t recommend lying.”
Davis frowned. “Never. Don’t take this personally, but they’re closer to me now than you are.”
Wilson smirked. “That’s one of the main objectives of the training.”
“I knew that going in, but experiencing it is something altogether different.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
Davis nodded. “And then some. Did the trailblazers find out?”
“I had to tell Greg so he’d stop snooping around, but no one else knows. He promised he’d keep your secret.”
“I know it’s going to be difficult, but I want them all back here.”
“Very difficult. Why?”
“I’ve been living on the civilian side of Star Force so long that I know it inside and out, but now that I’ve got a foot in the Archon world I’m seeing flaws everywhere.”
“You suspected as much going in.”
Davis shook his head. “Not like this. It’s like I’ve been blind my entire life and now I’m just opening my eyes. We’re going to have to rebuild everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know for sure, that’s why I need them here, in person, so we can figure this out. Doing it by message packet isn’t going to cut it.”
“Spill old man, before I have to beat it out of you.”
Davis glanced up at Wilson, who was still several inches taller than him and who no doubt could carry through on the threat if he chose, Archon or not.
“We’ve been too soft, and I’m afraid our mindset has been centered on the lizards for far too long. The ultimate enemy is the V’kit’no’sat, and now that the ADZ is safe from the lizards we have to start tooling to fight a superior opponent, not a large numbered inferior one. That, and a lot of mistakes I’ve made with the civilian population. We have to have a segmented society rather than a single large pool.”
“Skilled based?”
Davis nodded. “I’ve got some ideas, but to make this work I need the trailblazers, you, and most of the senior personnel in on this. I’ve only kept up on the basics. How soon can we get all of them here?”
“If they directly recall, six months…if they want to leave their current combat assignments. Some are in pretty heavy actions along the Calavari border, last I heard.”
“We’ll make it a year then. I’ve got some research to do in the meantime.”
“After we get you fitted for your armor,” Wilson insisted. “You are an Archon now, so you need a custom set whether you plan to use it or not.”
“Lead on then.”
“Shower first.”
“Do I smell that bad?”
“You guys always do coming out of the Final Challenge.”
Davis smiled unguardedly. “It’s going to take a while to get used to that, but I like it already.”
“You earned it. I made sure of that. I’m just sorry you had to hold back. That’s not something we want the trainees to do.”
“Psionics would have been cheating, so there was no choice. Like you said, I needed to earn it.”
“Well you can kick that bad habit now, and I suggest you do. Adept rank or no, there’s no point in hiding the fact that you have them. And you’re not the first either.”
“I’m still staying Sean as far as the Archon ranks are concerned. The public isn’t going to know the Director is also an Archon, and I want it to stay that way.”
“Not a problem. Security was sound for your inclusion, so you can keep on as is with no problems so long as word doesn’t get around on its own.”
“Good.”
“You. Shower. Now. Talk later,” Wilson said, pointing down the hall. “I’ll take you to the fitting station afterwards.”
Davis bristled a bit at his tone, but brushed it off with a smile and a silent salute before jogging off down the hallway in typical Archon fashion.
5
July 19, 2812
Solar System
Earth
Davis walked into the amphitheater seeing the 100 trailblazers sitting in the first few rows almost identical to the way they had been centuries ago when he’d first met them all. The only difference was the blue stripe on their uniforms was darker and their bodies were razor fit…plus an assortment of oddly colored hair and genetic tattoos they’d been experimenting with. Those minor details aside, this was the first time in forever that they’d all been together in the same place at the same time, and as he walked up onto the stage and headed for the podium he felt a burning nostalgia that he quickly squashed.
Abandoning the podium he turned around and sat on the edge of the elevated platform, legs dangling over the edge as he looked out at them in a very Archon fashion. None of them said a word, merely waiting to see what they’d been recalled for and sensing a definitive moment coming.
“A long time ago I brought you all here, to this very room, to tell you of the V’kit’no’sat threat and how you would build and lead a Star Force military in defense of Earth. Fortunately that threat hasn’t shown itself yet, for while we’ve grown far more than I’d ever expected, we’re still no match for them. We’ve rightly focused on the lizards and Skarrons, for they were the ones knocking on our door trying to actively kill us and our allies, but during that time you all have been working towards the day when we eventually have to face our race’s past and fight the V’kit’no’sat.”
“I wish there was a possibility of that never coming to pass, but so long as we are here and they are out there a confrontation is bound to occur. Even if they don’t come searching this part of the galaxy and are consumed with interior matters I still don’t feel safe, and I don’t think any of you do either. My mistake in all this was my ignorance, for I’ve been blind to the magnitude of the threat. That sounds ironic, since I was the one to bring it to your attention, but as at least one of you knows I’ve been having s
ubordinates take over most of my duties the past few years, up until recently.”
“As of now, thanks to carefully crafted duplicity and some genetic alterations that I’ve since abandoned, I am now Sean-939221. I completed Archon basic training about a year ago, and ever since I’ve been working on a new plan now that my eyes have been opened to certain realities.”
“Whoa...wait a second,” Jason interrupted him. “You’re an adept?”
Davis smirked. “Yes I am. A level 2, actually, as of last week.”
Morgan leaned forward, eyes wide. “When did this happen?”
“I wanted to keep it a secret, and even my classmates didn’t know who I was. I needed to earn it, same as you did.”
“Psionics?” Steve asked.
Davis nodded. “I had to refrain from using them. Which wasn’t easy when the Black Knight was busting my skull…even if it wasn’t Vermaire.”
“Holy shit,” Kerrie said with a laugh. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“It was something I needed to do for myself,” Davis explained, “but also because I knew I wasn’t seeing things clearly…all the way back to when Oni came to me asking permission to relocate her Clan outside of Sol. She made her case well, but I never fully understood her reasons. Abandoning that much infrastructure to start over from scratch made no logistical sense, but as always you guys operate on a level that I do not, and vice versa, so I trusted her judgement. How would you say it’s gone thus far?”
Oni blew out a slow breath, trying to pick the right words. “Mixed results to date, but the future looks promising. We’re going to be able to do more going forward than the limited territory here would have allowed us. That said, the transitional curve isn’t any less steep than I’d imagined.”
“Her Clan’s scores have gone up noticeably,” Paul pointed out.
“Not much,” Oni countered.
“But enough that I noticed as well,” Davis added. “You don’t have nearly the same level of training facilities that you did here, but your people have gotten markedly better. Why?”
