“Gun!” screamed Teresa.
Using all the energy she had left, Teresa took a dozen steps until she was at the left of the black machine. Bodies floated about it as Biomech and marine fought in hand-to-hand combat. One Biomech got in her way, only to be knocked back by a Vanguard that continued after it. She moved even closer until she could touch the machine’s flank. She reached down once more to her leg and grabbed her last thermite charge. It was the size of her fist, and with a firm pull, it released from its pouch. Two button presses activated the device that she then tossed up to the torso. It spun lazily and fixed itself to what would have been the abdomen of the machine.
“Marines, fall back!” shouted Teresa, but rather than follow her own orders, she moved toward where Gun had fallen. Over a dozen Biomechs blocked her path, and they continued to flail at what must have been her fallen friend. She made to lift her carbine, realizing she’d lost it in the fight. Without waiting, Teresa pulled her side arm and lurched forward, firing as she went. She made it half way when three of the creatures staggered back. A blood-covered metal figure lifted up, his armour cracked, burned, and damaged on almost every section. Teresa threw herself at him as the thermite charge detonated. Most of the power burst inward, but the heat fused anything within two meters in any direction. She felt pain in her leg as it damaged her armor when she crashed into Gun. The two drifted along, crashing into a heap of shattered Biomechs and Vanguard marines.
“Thanks,” muttered Gun with as much humor as he could muster.
Teresa shook her head, the pain now wringing through her body. She looked back at the stationary shape of the great metal beast. It stood upright, its feet still clamped firmly down, and a great hole the size of a man burned through its torso. Gunfire continued to ripple through the open space, but the last few Biomechs were trying to escape, and not one stood its ground to fight. Teresa climbed to her feet and steadied herself on her mag sealed feet. The sensor package on her suit was still picking up trace elements from the machine. She reached down but could find no weapon.
“Wait,” said Gun as she watched the great machine.
“It is still alive,” he said with amusement.
Teresa allowed herself a grim smile and connected to ANS Victory.
“General, the ship is secure. It is ours.”
“Good work, Major, I will have medical teams over in thirty minutes. This is a great victory.”
“Thank you, Sir, there is something else.”
There was a pause as if Daniels expected something terrible.
“Their leader, the machine that defended this ship. It lives. We have one of their leaders as our prisoner.”
The voice changed to that of Admiral Anderson.
“Outstanding work, Major, outstanding. The 17th should be proud. Emissaries from the Helions are already en route to meet us after this little episode. Interesting that they suddenly want to meet us. Get back here for your debriefing. I suspect we are going to be very busy.”
Teresa looked to Gun, and though he was in pain, she could see through the small visor on his armor that the old warrior couldn’t have been happier.
“So, what do you think of the Corps?”
Gun beamed.
“It’s just like old times! All we need to do now is fine where the hell Spartan got to.”
Teresa expression changed in an instant as thoughts of him returned. She looked to Gun, doing her best to stay focused.
“Yes, we have their leader and we are at the heart of all of this now. Let’s hope Helios has the answers, like we were promised.”
* * *
Spartan shook his head for what felt like the hundredth time in one day. His body ached, yet he was unable to move his torso. He looked to his right where the red machine looked at him with cold, artificial eyes. Around him moved two similar companions, each a marvel of engineering and the size of a Biomech. The red machine moved closer and looked down at his face.
“Spartan, human...warrior.”
He swallowed, his mouth dry and aching, and then spat out whatever fluid still remained in his choked throat.
“You bastards, what do you want?”
The machine moved closer still, ignoring the spittle on its armored head. It looked at Spartan with unusual interest. The other machines continued moving around him and connecting up a series of tubes and equipment. Spartan tried to get up, but none of his muscles above the shoulders responded. For a second he feared he’d been permanently paralyzed, but he remembered the needles in his arms and the straps holding him down. The machine was now just a meter away, and the plates around its head and chest started to move. The sound of servos, motors, and gears whined as the plates pulled apart to reveal the pilot inside. Spartan expected to see some great beast, but it was humanoid, no bigger than him though withered and weather. The form was contained in a flexible suit almost like a soft eggshell that lay suspended in a gyroscopic assembly. The face looked ancient, not much different to what he would expect to see as a corpse. It looked at him with its empty eye sockets and a toothless mouth.
“Your extinction.”
The metal plating closed up around its fragile cargo until it was fully sealed. The metal monster stood upright and looked to its comrades. The doors hissed open and in walked another of the red machines, this one with even more battered looking metal armor. It looked to the other machine as if speaking, yet there was no sound. It eventually stopped and looked to Spartan.
“Spartan, the Rift...” A voice whispered in his mind.
He looked over to the newly arrived machine, but it remained stationary, like a statue, nothing more. The shape of a great, coiled demon, the very essence of Echidna herself appeared behind his eyes, and he cried out at the sight of the thing. In the background, moved legions of ships, none of which he recognized. All of them moved like a single shoal of fish toward a large black disc floating in space.
“The Rift,” he whispered to himself and to the machines.
The image changed to one more familiar. It showed Terra Nova, capital of the Alliance and the most vibrant and cosmopolitan planet he’d ever seen. Great columns of black smoke arose from its shattered cities. Hundreds of ships tore down from the skies and discharged great creatures from hell itself onto the surface.
“Save your world.”
The image changed to one final place, a world he’d never seen before, and one that moved around an alien sun. The black shape of the Rift appeared as if just a few million miles away.
“Helios...or annihilation!”
Spartan opened his eyes and found he was staring into the bloody face of Khan. His old friend was still in his chains and looked even worse for wear. He grinned with obvious pain at Spartan.
“So, you live.”
“Just about. I know what they want.”
Khan raised an eyebrow.
“Well?”
“Helios. They want to control Helios and something else, something they kept repeating, over and over.”
“What do they want?”
“A rift, they call it the Black Rift.”
THE END
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
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Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) Page 27
