“I think that given our present situation, the best course of action is to ram it down their throat,” Jezzy said.
“Warm and fuzzy like always, Jezz,” I said, catching her smile in a reflection on the cockpit glass.
Our mech’s razor legs picked up speed. I could feel every piston, every synthetic ligament holding the craft together firing all at once. We were literally a well-oiled machine, moving so quickly that it seemed like we were sailing through the air.
The other two mechs were only three-hundred feet in front of us, visible only with the aid of the enhancements on the viewscreen.
Their outlines were barely visible in the smoke and shadows.
I couldn’t believe they hadn’t spotted us yet and chalked it up to the poor visibility and confusion caused by the raging fires and the ocean of lava that was pouring down the side of the volcano.
Then I saw Simeon raise both of his mech’s mechanical arms.
“What the hell is he doing?!”
Simeon fired a flurry of rockets.
Straight up into the air.
I slammed on the mech’s brakes as the machine gouged the soft, volcanic soil. We were only ten or twelve feet from the other mechs. Our turret rotated, and now I could see the rockets Simeon fired had spiraled up into the sunless sky and were dropping back down toward us.
“RUN!” Jezzy shouted, but it was too late.
The rockets detonated in a semi-circle around our mech, creating a massive fissure in the ground. I could feel a rumbling shudder under the mech.
“What the hell’s going on?!” I shouted.
“I’m pretty sure we’re in the middle of an earthquake!” Jezzy replied.
Before I could respond, the ground opened up under us and we fell straight down.
33
We plunged down into a chasm that was as black as the bottom of the ocean and then—
WHAM!
We came to a bone-shuddering stop.
I flipped on our exterior lights which lashed across the area in front of us, giving us the lay of the land.
We’d fallen into the chasm, a fissure in the earth that was eight feet wide and seemingly without a bottom. Shrugging off the shock of falling into the trench, I peered into my viewscreen and zoomed down on the imagery to see that the chasm did indeed have a floor. It was a little over a hundred feet beneath us and consisted of a bubbling ocean of red-orange molten lava that was slowly rising. The only thing that was keeping us from falling into the lava was that we’d somehow miraculously landed on a narrow ledge, thirteen feet below the rim of the chasm.
The other operators had also fallen in and were precariously positioned on the same ledge, twenty feet away from us.
The fury of the erupting volcano shook the ground, and the fiery debris continued to fall through the sky, bouncing off the top of the turret.
“We’ve nine minutes, maybe less, before that lava bubbles up,” Jezzy said.
I manipulated our arms, but the movement nearly caused us to fall from the ledge.
“The ledge isn’t gonna hold!” Jezzy shouted.
Something moved in the semi-darkness. The mech with Ren and Sato was inching down toward us. I didn’t know whether they were going to help us or hurt us, so I did the only thing I could think to do. I lowered the mech into a crouch and then I activated the jump-jets that were under the mech’s feet and—
WHUMP-BOOM!
The burst of energy from the electrically-charged nitrogen gas rocketed us into the air where—
WHACK!
I snapped out one of our mech arms, groping for purchase, the metal fingers spearing into the rocky soil. We were only a few feet below the chasm’s rim now, but the soil was giving way under the weight of our machine.
“EIGHT MINUTES!” Jezzy screamed.
I thumbed the controls and threw a fist at the other mechanical arm, punching through the soil. Then I withdrew the other fist and stabbed it into the soil and in this way, began pulling the mech up toward the hole’s rim when—
The soil broke apart, and we fell down again.
Our screams echoed in the cockpit as I punched the controls and managed to telescope our mechanical arms, stopping our descent, seven feet down from the rim’s edge.
We were now wedged between the narrowest walls of the chasm, the other two mechs directly below us.
“SEVEN MINUTES!” Jezzy shouted.
Sweat glazed my back and forehead. I searched for a way out, but nothing looked promising. Screw capturing the flag, I thought to myself. I had no idea whether we could be hurt in this training operation, but I didn’t want to find out. My number one goal was making sure we didn’t fall down into the lava.
I could see the other mechs on the ledge beneath us, the ground slowly giving way under their machines. Then it hit me. If I could reach down and grab one of the other machines, I might be able to swing it back up toward the surface and then it could, in turn, reach down and pull us up. It was a risky move, but we were out of options. I turned and explained the situation to Jezzy.
“So, let me see if I understand this. You want to save them?” she asked. I nodded. “The mechs?” Another nod from me. “The ones who were literally trying to kick the crap out of us a few minutes ago.”
“It’s the right to do,” I said.
“Since when did you ever do the right thing?”
“Since I’ve turned over a new leaf,” I replied.
She grumbled, and I cued the mech’s commlink. Static echoed, then I could hear the sound of people breathing hard on the other end.
“It’s everyone’s favorite wannabe mech operator,” I said. “If you guys can hear me, I’ve got a plan. I’ve got a way to save you.”
“We don’t need your help,” Simeon replied.
White hot rage bubbled up inside me. “Listen up, asshole,” I said. “We’ve got about a hundred and twenty seconds before we become Kentucky Fried mechs. Now either you shut the hell up and follow my lead, or I’ll leave you down here.”
Simeon cursed under his breath, but didn’t respond and so I continued. “Both of you need to swing your mechs’ arms up in the air. Now.”
They did. Then I slammed my left fist into the chasm’s rock wall and lowered my right down. The metal fingers at the end of my arm latched onto the fingers of the mech operated by Ren and Sato.
“You sure this is gonna work, Danny?”
“Hell no, I’m not,” I said.
I stabilized the mech, and then the machine’s metal fingers curled around Ren’s and Sato’s mech. Then I pulled the other mech down and off the ledge and bit back a scream. The sheer weight of the other mech nearly pulled us all down, but I was able to right the ship. Our mech’s legs dug into the rock, and then I swung the other mech down and torqued up into the air with as much power as I could.
The other mech shot up, stopping a few feet from the rim’s edge, its arms shot out, hammering into the rock. I then reached down and reluctantly grabbed Simeon’s mech’s hand as the ledge fell away under him. I could see Simeon’s eyes through our cockpit. He looked frightened like he’d just realized I had the power over whether he lived or died. I could either haul him up to safety or let him fall down into the lava.
I turned back to Ren and Sato and saw them climb up over the rim. Jezzy and I held our breath for several seconds, realizing the two could easily run off to snag the flag. I was overjoyed to see them look back down at us. They distended their mech’s hand and grabbed our hand and pulled us and Simeon’s mech up out of the chasm.
Jezzy cheered when we hit solid ground, but I was too busy scanning the viewscreen. We had less than two minutes to travel more than a mile to the flag. Without looking back, I thumped the mech’s controls, and we commenced a sprint across the base of the volcano.
Our machine long-jumped pools of lava and slashed through plumes of steam as flaming boulders and debris continued to slam down to our left and right like missiles falling from the skies.
&nb
sp; The timer was spinning down, and I could see Simeon’s mech closing on us like a linebacker.
Glancing up, I spotted the flag, whipping in the wind caused by the volcano’s eruption. We were a few hundred yards away when—
CRACK-BOOM!
A boulder the size of a small sedan crashed down on our turret.
The impact caved the metal in and sent our machine pinwheeling forward—
Sliding across the volcanic stone to within mere feet of the flag.
I tapped my controls, and our mechanical arm reached out. I was so close the flag. I was gonna do it … and then everything began to dematerialize.
“NOOOOOOOO!” I screamed.
We’d run out of time!
We hadn’t reached the flag!
Our mech’s fingers kissed the edge of the flag which turned to dust and fell away along with the volcano and everything else. I looked back and could literally see through Jezzy’s face and then—
Everything disappeared under us, and we were falling through space and time. There was a burst of blue light that momentarily blinded me and then slipped into unconsciousness.
I woke to the sensation of Jezzy smacking my cheeks. I was dazed and disoriented, my ears hummed, and it felt like I’d peed inside of my exosuit.
“Wha – what happened?” I asked.
She pointed, and I looked through the cockpit. We were back at the bottom of the hangar at The Hermitage. My head sank because I knew we’d lost. I gaped at Jezzy who looked heartbroken.
“I’m so sorry, Danny,” she whispered.
We sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. I was embarrassed, ashamed, and overcome with guilt. I felt like I’d let everyone down again.
Eventually, we climbed down from the mech to see the other operators standing alongside their machines. Everyone was sweat-slicked and exhausted. My gaze wandered to the right where Vidmark appeared from his glass enclosure along with a series of men and women dressed in lab smocks or suits. Some of them I’d seen before, but others were strangers. I assumed they were representatives of the government or maybe the military.
Vidmark cruised forward in his self-balancing scooter.
He stopped between the other operators and us.
The liquid-like screens on either side of us hummed to life as Vidmark dismounted the scooter. The screens flashed images of what we’d just experienced, our battles with the Germanic tribes, Romans, and aliens. Vidmark watched the screens for several seconds and then moved toward Jezzy and me, his prosthetic limbs clicking and clacking. Vidmark smiled and began clapping his hands. So, did the others behind him in the smocks and suits.
“Congratulations,” Vidmark said.
“For what?” I asked.
“For winning.”
I just stared at him. “But we didn’t reach the … we lost, Mister Vidmark.”
Vidmark shook his head. “It was never about reaching the flag, Danny.”
“But what you said before about the—”
Vidmark waved a hand. “To play’s the thing if you’ll allow me to paraphrase Shakespeare.”
“I don’t understand, sir.”
“Selfishness is unacceptable,” Vidmark replied. “It’s fatal in our line of work. What mattered during the protocol is that you and Jezmyn were willing to pay the ultimate price. You were willing to give yourself up for the others … to put the team first.”
My eyes swung to Jezzy, then back to Vidmark. “So, what you’re saying is—”
“You passed the audition, Mister Deus.”
I breathed deeply and reached out and squeezed Jezzy’s hand. The other operators were smiling as if they’d been in on the whole thing, everyone but Simeon who still glared at me. Vidmark approached Jezzy and me and placed his hands on our shoulders.
“You’re part of something much larger than yourselves now. We’re going to give people back something that’s been in short supply for a very long time. Hope,” Vidmark said. “We’re going to give them back their heroes. Welcome to the Icarus Project.”
I was overjoyed.
I was overcome with emotion.
I was shocked to see a section of the roof break off and crash to the ground.
The building swayed.
Additional sections of the ceiling tumbled to the ground. I could hear the deafening rattle of explosions and what might be small arms fire somewhere overhead.
The people in the smocks and suits dashed for cover. Vidmark didn’t move, however. He didn’t budge an inch or even react.
“What’s happening, Mister Vidmark?” I asked.
“Another test,” Vidmark replied. “This time it’s one that’s all too real.”
I watched the other mech operators move toward their machines. Vidmark climbed back onto his scooter as Jezzy and I ran toward our mech. I spotted Simeon, climbing into his battle machine. He looked back over his shoulder at me. His eyes were hard, and they seemed to bore right through me. “Welcome to the team, Deus,” he said. “Welcome to the new world disorder.”
We entered our mechs and made ready to head back up and defend The Hermitage from whatever was attacking. Our mech walked onto the lift, and we were carried up into the hangar. There was pandemonium, people scurrying in every direction, readying weapons, waving their hands. The other operators were already being rearmed and heading for the exits on the hangar, eager to get outside. I glanced back at Jezzy.
“You ready to do this for real?”
She smiled and nodded. “Somebody’s got to save the world.”
I watched her check the CD player and cue our fighting music as several hangar workers slid belts of ammunition and rockets into our mech’s cannons and pods. AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” echoed. I grinned and engaged the mech’s controls, heading for the rear door. I could see that time had indeed stretched out during the training. It was dusk outside as we scrambled through the door. There were several seconds of silence and then flares burst overhead and the screaming started.
* * *
The End Of Book One
Thanks for picking up a copy of the first book in the series. If you liked what you read, please leave a review on Amazon and check out book 2, the further adventures of Danny and the mech operators in “WORLD OF HURT,” which will be available on or about February 1, 2018.
* * *
**THE FIRST CHAPTER TO WORLD OF HURT: MECH COMMAND BOOK 2, IS INCLUDED AT THE END OF THIS BOOK!
AUTHOR NOTES
Dude, that is totally READY PLAYER ONE meets PACIFIC RIM! So said a producer friend when I pitched him the idea of this book (which references peripherally some of the events in the SYNDICATE WARS world). I’m not really sure if I agree with him 100% (mostly because he didn’t mention the classic EVANGELION anime which almost all mech books owe a debt to), but I agree in that I was envisioning the same kind of world when I was coming up with the characters and the story beats. I’d just finished writing a good chunk of the fifth and final SYNDICATE WARS book and I kept thinking about the world that would be left behind after an alien invasion.
I imagined everything would be a little like Germany post-World War Two: widespread devastation, a shellshocked population, and various outside forces jockeying for power. Only in this book, the outside forces would be other alien empires spying on the Earth, realizing it was in a weakened state and ripe to be invaded once more. What would happen to the folks back on Earth if they were faced with the specter of another invasion? Would they just throw up their hands or find a creative way to fight back? Realizing that the defeated aliens had left behind tons of cool weapons and other tech after their defeat, I imagined the latter, that the newly reconstituted government and military would use the newly found technology to pursue a kind of Manhattan Project for the defense of the planet and that mechs, mechanized fighting robots, would be the primary focus.
Since I had the basis for what I thought might be a cool story, I turned to the characters and tried to come up with a lead that wasn’t the same old
character that you always see in these kinds of books. I didn’t want somebody who looked like they’d just stepped out of a military recruiting poster, mostly because all of those upper tier soldiers/operators were targeted and killed by the aliens during the Syndicate invasion and occupation. Also, my buddy Jonathan Yanez was working on his War Wolves books featuring the awesome Marine “Riot” (and, as we all know by now, there’s only one Riot), so I needed to stay away from that. As such, I turned my focus to a lead character, Danny Deus, who was more of a survivor, a sarcastic, resourceful Han Solo-type who’s at a low point in his life in the opening pages of the book. Realizing I had a pretty good lead in Danny and the core of a decent story, I worked on coming up with the other characters, including Vidmark, a mysterious Tony Stark-type who gives Danny an amazing opportunity to literally rebuild himself as a mech operator for what Vidmark calls “The Icarus Project.” Danny’s a fish out of water when he’s initially brought aboard by Vidmark and forced to undergo a series of grueling tests to become a member of the mech team. Obviously, Book 1 ends with Danny successfully becoming a member of the mech team, but there are a number of mysteries that will be explored in the later books including, the identity of the forces attacking The Hermitage at the end of Book 1 and the reasons for the attack. Other mysteries include the nature of the strange lights Danny saw in the sky in Book 1, what precisely is The Icarus Project? And how and why did Vidmark choose Danny to become a member of the mech operations team? These are just a few of the questions (along with the whole being resurrected by a drug thing that’s hinted at in the prologue) that will be answered as the series continues and Danny takes the first steps to become one of Earth’s new defenders, taking names and kicking alien butt, while uncovering evidence of a possible conspiracy that might threaten to unravel everything. I hope you enjoyed Book 1 and will stick around for the other books in the series!
Other Books By George
NEW WORLD DISORDER: MECH COMMAND BOOK 1 Page 21
