by M. R. Forbes
“Colonel Caleb Card. Space Force Marines.”
“Sergeant Ryan Bennett, sir. But you aren’t a Centurion.”
Caleb opened his mouth to explain at the same time his eyes tracked to the displays. He could see they were approaching a city overrun with xaxkluth. A tank sat at one end of the street near a half-destroyed wall. An APC was moving west-to-east toward a group of aliens, and a small group of cars were firing machine guns at incoming enemies.
“What the hell is going on?” Caleb said.
“Sanisco,” Bennett replied as if that explained the entire situation.
In a way, it did. Sanisco was Sheriff Duke’s home settlement, and Vyte’s request was to kill Sheriff Duke along with General Stacker and everyone else opposing him. It spoke volumes to Caleb that the Axon didn’t think this group of xaxkluth was sufficient to complete the task.
But what did Sheriff Duke have that Vyte feared? What did any of them have?
It was something he’d had no time to think about, and judging by the looks of things below...he still wouldn’t. The scene below was chaos, an apparent rescue effort gone very, very wrong. Their forces were split up and surrounded, fighting in small pockets that had no chance of surviving individually.
We should take the ship and leave.
The idea tempted the part of Caleb that had merged with the Advocate. The fight on the ground appeared lost, and if they tried to help they would wind up dead too. But he hadn’t denied both Nyarlath and Vyte’s overtures to turn around and abandon Sheriff Duke, General Stacker and their people. These were the kind of warriors he needed if he was going to quell the coming storm.
You can’t help them.
He had to help them. Whatever it took.
“Colonel, are you with me?” Bennett asked. He wasn’t looking at Caleb anymore. His focus returned to his upcoming strafing run.
“Bennett, how much power does the dropship have?” Caleb asked.
“Reactors are at thirty-five percent.”
“How much power does it take to get from here to Proxima?”
Bennett snapped his head toward him. “Depends. Why?”
You’ll drain the ship’s batteries too far. It won’t be able to fly out of the city, never mind off the planet.
Caleb bit his lip, shaking his head. “Nevermind.” He glanced up at the displays again. If he could siphon some of the dropship’s power to his Intellect Skin, he could do a lot more to help fight this threat.
His eyes scanned the displays when he noticed a blue flash out of the corner of his eye. It drew his attention instantly, and he took a few steps further onto the bridge to get a closer look. “Is that—?”
It appears to be.
An Axon Intellect. It was standing close to Sheriff Duke, helping him fight the largest xaxkluth he had ever seen.
A fight that wasn’t going well. He watched as a colossal tentacle snapped out at Sheriff Duke, catching him in the chest and throwing him five meters back into a wall. Two more tentacles reached for the Intellect, only to shrink back when a globe of blue energy flared out from it, severing the end of the limbs.
“It’s helping him,” Caleb said, surprised and confused.
It has a strong power supply. Enough to recharge the dropship.
Which meant he could drain it somewhat. “Bennett, pull up and prepare to come back around. Give me sixty seconds.”
Sheriff Duke might not live another sixty seconds.
“Colonel, what are you thinking?”
“Sixty seconds,” Caleb repeated. “Just do it. That’s an order.”
Bennett smirked. It was an odd reaction, but Caleb had no time to question it. “Yes, sir.”
Caleb left the bridge, rushing back to where he had left Walt. Bending down beside the removed panel, he reached into the crevice for his Intellect Skin and the microspear. He sprinted forward, past the bridge and the jump seats and down the steps into the hold. He broke to the left, to the machine that managed Stacker’s powered armor.
He looked behind it, finding the power cord for the machine. Instead of the usual setup of a plug fitting into a wall socket, this one worked in reverse. The cord emanated from the wall and plugged into the machine, connecting it to the ship’s main power. He dropped the Skin on the deck and yanked out the plug, dropping it on the Skin, which automatically sensed the charge available through the plug. The nanocell material restructured to wrap itself around the plug and begin pulling in the energy.
Caleb ran to the ramp controls, tapping the pad to open the back of the ship before returning to the Skin and quickly stripped off his uniform. Naked, he yanked up the Skin and pulled it on, sealing the material and pulling the cowl over his head.
The system was already up and running, diagnostics showing the Skin was charged to fifty percent.
He ran back to the ramp. “Bennett. Time?”
“Ten seconds,” Bennett replied through the comm. “What the hell did you do, Colonel? I went from thirty-five to fifteen percent in twenty seconds.”
“Consider it a loan,” Caleb replied, activating the Skin’s complete weapon systems. He moved to the edge of the ramp and looked down. The city was zooming past nearly a kilometer beneath him.
He shifted his grip on the microspear, waiting until the giant xaxkluth was in sight. It was still locked in combat with the Intellect, trying to reach Sheriff Duke but unable to get close. Hayden remained motionless and likely unconscious.
Or worse.
I can taste the fear that fills this place. We may have chosen the wrong side.
“No, we haven’t,” Caleb spat out.
Then he jumped.
27
Nathan
Nathan heard the groaning, shouting, and shooting like a bad score to an even worse movie. His head pounded, his flesh burned as if it were on fire and he was thirsty. So damn thirsty.
His vision was blurry. His mind still rattled from whatever it was that had happened to him. It took a few seconds to back up to a place he could remember. Sanisco. The xaxkluth. Bad times.
He blinked a few times, trying to soothe his racing heart. He had blacked out, but he was still alive.
“General,” Hicks said, his voice muffled through the damaged speaker inside Nathan’s helmet. “General, are you with us?”
His node on the ATCS would have turned green the moment he regained consciousness, assuming he wasn’t severely injured. If Hicks was asking him if he was alert, it was a good sign.
“Roger,” Nathan muttered, still regaining his faculties. “What’s the situation?”
“Worse than when you got hit,” Hicks replied. “We’re overrun. The survivors have scattered. And there’s a massive xaxkluth sitting between them and us.”
“Shoot it.”
“Wish I could. We’re out of shells, General.”
“Machine guns?”
“Out of ammo.”
“Damn it. What about the Axon?”
“Got away.”
“Shit.” Nothing was going according to plan.
Nathan groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. His armor was functional, though the battery was nearly drained. It had probably saved his life. He found his rifle resting on the turret, the magnetic grip stuck to the metal. He picked it up, checking the weapon’s status. The feed was broken, which meant he only had the thirty or so rounds between the chamber and the break.
He didn’t think it could get worse, but it had.
Nathan’s eyes started to clear. They went right to the network list, darting across the names connected to the system. The Centurions were still alive for now, though Rico and Ike were both orange. Where were they?
He found them on the situation grid, and then he looked up and out into reality, freezing when he saw the xaxkluth ahead. Hicks said it was big, but he wasn’t expecting anything as large as what he saw.
He also wasn’t expecting the black humanoid that was standing in front of it, ten meters from Rico and Ike’s position. He raised
his rifle instinctively, taking aim on the Axon, activating the helmet’s zoom to ensure he made a good shot. He couldn’t afford to waste a single round.
The magnification showed the Intellect wasn’t attacking them. It was facing the other direction, its hands extended into sharp blades, a blue glow like a shield surrounding it. He remembered his first encounter with Caleb Card. He had called the matte black material an Intellect Skin. Was that Caleb out there?
Someone was on the ground inside the perimeter of the shield. Nathan focused on the body, recognizing the metal augment despite the scorches and scratches in it.
Hayden.
Nathan started forward without thinking, climbing toward the front of the tank. He searched for the APC on the grid. Could they get to Sheriff Duke to pull him out?
He found it resting in an alley behind the large xaxkluth, already confronting four smaller creatures. It was forming the front line of a last line of defense with the two remaining modboxes behind it, along with a handful of armed survivors. The moment the APC ran out of ammunition, everyone near it was going to die.
“Hicks, we need to get into the fight,” Nathan said.
“General, we’re dry,” Hicks replied. “No shells. No bullets.”
“The enemy might not know that, and we can still distract them.”
“Roger. Hold on.”
The tank lurched forward, gaining speed as it rumbled down the street. The primary xaxkluth lifted three of its tentacles in their direction, the eyes at the end of each limb spotting them. Three more tentacles curled around the other side of it from the back, all six ready to take them on.
Thirty rounds. Every single one had to count.
“It sees us, General,” Hicks said.
“It sees everything. Drake, topside with your rifle. Now.”
“Roger,” Drake replied.
The top hatch of the tank opened a moment later, and the former Centurion climbed up, fixing his rifle on the xaxkluth.
“Hicks, break left at the next block, help the APC.”
“What about this monster?”
“I’m on it.”
The tank turned as it reached the next street. Nathan released the magnetic clamps on his boots, letting momentum carry him forward as he leaped from the tank. Activating his jump thrusters for a few seconds, he landed smoothly a dozen meters away. His armor had ten percent power remaining. Thirty minutes of action at most, by the end of which he would either have salvaged a small victory or would be dead.
He continued running toward the xaxkluth. The six tentacles were facing him, writhing as they waited for him to get within striking distance. Thirty rounds wasn’t enough to shoot them all off. If he were to do anything, he needed to get around those damn tentacles.
He checked his HUD, watching the tank circle the block behind the APC. If nothing else, the armor offered extra cover to survivors defending themselves, and potential hiding places when they failed at that. The xaxkluth could attack the armor, but it would take them time to get through.
At this point, he wasn’t sure that was a good thing. The mission had turned into a disaster, with little left to salvage.
He heard the sound of the dropship approaching overhead, looking up in time to see it approaching the large xaxkluth. He smiled, coming to a stop and getting his weapon into firing position. He would shoot wherever the Parabellum’s plasma did the most damage, and hope his rounds could finish the job.
Only the Parabellum didn’t shoot. He watched it pass its attack vector, streaking overhead too high and too fast. What the hell?
“Bennett?” he said.
“Incoming, General,” Bennett replied.
Nathan didn’t understand at first. The Parabellum had expended her rockets two days ago. And it didn’t carry any bombs.
So what was the dark ball rolling off the back ramp and falling in a direct trajectory toward the xaxkluth’s central mass?
Nathan zoomed in on it, quickly identifying the form as another Skin. It had to be Caleb. But if that were true, who was wearing the other Skin?
Could it possibly be an Axon?
Nathan couldn’t guess what the hell was happening. For the moment, he concerned himself with Caleb as he landed in front of the xaxkluth. He had something black in his hand, the length of a small knife, clutching it like a spear..
What the hell could he do with that? It didn’t look lethal enough to pierce the thing’s skin, much less put it down.
The Axon, if that’s what it was, drew Nathan’s attention again. It seemed to notice Caleb at the same time he had. The thing took three running steps and leaped toward the xaxkluth’s central mass. Tentacles whipped toward it, and it used its blade-like arms to slash through them. It was doing its best to reach the main body of the creature.
No. That wasn’t what it was doing. It was trying to distract the xaxkluth.
Nathan started running again, squeezing off a round that bypassed the tentacles and hit the xaxkluth near one of its primary eyes. Two of the tentacles bent to protect its face, while its others snapped out toward Nathan. But only one of them was long enough to reach him. Nathan gripped his rifle like a club and slammed it into the end of the limb before flipping the weapon back over and firing a single shot, piercing the creature’s side.
He found Caleb again in midair. He had unrolled himself into a graceful dive, and his Skin’s hands were glowing, the spear in his right hand appearing white-hot. Another few seconds, and he would be on the creature, which still hadn’t noticed him.
Or had it? A single tentacle suddenly launched upwards, seeking to grab Caleb.
Nathan was faster. He sprayed the rest of his ammunition across the middle of the tentacle, severing it before it could grab the falling Marine. Caleb vanished behind the swirling limbs, landing on the central mass and throwing the spear down into the creature.
At first, it seemed like he hadn’t done anything. The xaxkluth continued as before, pulling itself forward and nearly catching the Axon’s Skin in its mouth. Then, without warning, it collapsed in the street and died, heavy enough to shake the ground when it hit.
Standing on top of it, Caleb pulled the spear from the corpse. Much longer now—Nathan realized. He watched it shrink back to its original size.
Caleb turned to the creatures threatening the survivors. Both he and the other Skin bounded past the dead Relyeh monster, charging into the midst of the remaining, smaller xaxkluth.
The entire atmosphere of the fight changed in an instant, and Nathan stood dumbstruck as the remaining alien army began to retreat, its numbers whittled from a hundred to a quarter of that. The number was still enough to challenge them. Probably enough to kill them. But whoever was sending the orders to the aliens had decided they’d had enough.
Nathan overcame his amazement and started running again, making his way to an unconscious Hayden. He knelt over his friend, the memory of the way Hayden had looked at him working its way into the forefront of his thoughts. Natalia was dead. He didn’t need Hayden to tell him as much to understand the man’s pain. A tear ran from his human eye as Rico came up beside him.
“He needs a doctor,” Nathan said.
“So does Isaac. So do I.” Her swollen head had a nasty cut across it. “Jesse’s a medic. There’s a hospital in the pyramid. It’s the best we can do.”
Nathan looked at the grid. The xaxkluth were retreating, but how long would they take to regroup? What if they were only waiting for reinforcements?
“It isn’t safe to stay here.”
“It isn’t safe to leave,” Rico countered. “Not if we have a chance to help him. Not if we can give him a chance to say goodbye to his family.”
“And what about the civilians?”
“We can raid the Law Office armory, arm the survivors and send them on their way.”
“Send them where?” Nathan asked. “There isn’t anywhere safe.”
“There is one place.” The Intellect approached them, the black material that com
posed its blades shrinking back and reshaping into hands. “Sheriff Duke took me there. The entry is easy to defend.”
“You mean the Pilgrim?” Nathan asked.
“That’s the name. Pilgrim. Hahaha. Haha.”
“Hicks knows where it is,” Rico said. “Maybe he can take the people there.”
Nathan lowered his head. “This city had over ten thousand people in it.”
“Not anymore,” the Axon said flatly.
“Who are you?” Nathan asked.
“I’m Sheriff Duke’s friend. I’m Max. Hahaha. Haha.”
Rico’s eyes widened when Nathan shot her an astonished glance. “Don’t look at me,” she said.
Nathan frowned. Bending, he scooped the unconscious Hayden into his arms and gently lifted him. Hayden’s head lolled back, his arms limp and dangling.
“Bennett,” Nathan said, calling up to the dropship. “Touch down on the pyramid’s observation deck.”
“Roger, General,” Bennett replied.
“Spot, Lucius,” Nathan continued. “Round up the civilians and regroup at the pyramid. We don’t have a lot of time, and I don’t want us to be here if and when those things come back.”
“Roger, General,” Spot and Lucius replied simultaneously.
“Jesse, hop on the tank. Hicks come pick us up. We have wounded to tend to.”
Both Jesse and Hicks confirmed their orders as well.
“Rico, where’s Ike?”
“Still in the van. I was afraid to move him. His leg is shattered and who knows what other injuries he’s sustained.”
Nathan looked to where the toppled van was smashed against a wall, partially buried in rubble.
“I’ll recover him,” Max said, hurrying to the van. The Intellect grabbed the vehicle’s armor plating, tearing it away to get to Ike. Then he gently unbuckled the Marine and lifted him out.
The tank arrived, rolling to a stop beside them. Max and Nathan both climbed on top of it, joining Jesse and Caleb there. Nathan laid Hayden gently down on one of the hull’s relatively flat surfaces.
“Who are you?” Max said to Caleb.
“I’m supposed to ask you that,” Caleb replied. “You’re an Axon.”
