by Marcus Sloss
Under the gate, I noticed activity. What the? Squibbles flooded out of the north portal.
“Huh, what the hell are they doing here?” a random voice cracked over our command net.
“Ignore the lurrol! Get the squibbles,” I ordered.
The crack of weapons and tank rounds was drowned out by the roar of Lilith. She grabbed a tree, yanked it out of the ground, and leaped over our formation. She spun around to the north portal in three quick bounds.
“Ceasefire, return to the lurrol. Fire!” I shouted, praying our troops didn’t shoot the reckless divine-ape.
Lilith went into battle against the squibbles armed with only a tree. Their shields crashed from her power swings. Their weapons washed over her armored thick hide. The wise squibbles fled, the dumb ones ending up dead in a matter of moments. The main battle had not slowed or paused to watch the unfolding fight. The lurrol were spewing lava as they exited the Xgate. Their hatred of the divine-apes was evident by their battle roars and sneers.
Out they poured, an unending tide of rocky giants with balled bottoms. They carried no weapons besides the lava they spewed out of their hands. Our only saving grace was that they were unable to leave the portal more than one at a time. I had frozen on the bike watching the combat unfold. My hips nudged Daphne off before dropping the bike to run for the RV. I yanked the door open, hopped up the stairs, and bolted for the back room. The drone operators had their weapons against the RV sidewall. I snagged a .308 with an ACOG. Exactly why we standardized weapons. I went to the first drone operator’s vest and started looting spare magazines. My hands were swatted at.
“Damnit. It’s Cap, toss your ammo on the bed. I will be back.”
I pocketed two magazines, used the back ladder, and was on the roof. The dead were piling up, giving cover for the new arrivals. The Xgate drifted ever so slowly, forcing new arrivals to be exposed. I sighted a lurrol trying to peel off the main pack. Snap, snap. The body tumbled as it crashed in a roll. We were hammering the enemy, our position unassailable. Yet the lurrol were reckless.
I fired at a target exiting the blue shimmer, my round caught the rocky nose at the bridge. The round deflected into the eye. I realized I had limited ammo after the magazine gave a chink noise. While loading a fresh magazine I decided to wait for targets to get by before shooting. Daphne poked her head up.
I looked at her and mouthed “ammo.”
She nodded.
I wondered what the lurrol were up to. The suicide thing did not seem logical, sure to secure a— Then I saw it. A smaller bird alien slapped the button. A lurrol carrying a massive metal shield plunked in front of the button pusher. Finally, strategy was being employed. I was not sure I liked what I saw when the Xgate froze.
The lurrol that had condensed behind fallen brethren were throwing bodies to protect the Xgate entryway. A shield generator was brought out that was exactly the width of the portal. The machine was easily fifty feet tall. Pink static electricity sparkled around the power source. The gravity sled completed its transition and in an instant the battlefield dynamics were altered. A dome over 400 feet tall and 200 feet wide erupted into existence.
The shield held steady against the incoming volleys. The rounds that crashed into the pink shield were not causing it to flicker or falter. Even the tank round went flat against the edge with little more than a loud bang. The noise of the battlefield died down when our side halted firing. The enemy lurrol continued to gain a foothold. I now realized the first wave was meant to die. They were there to be a wall to get the shield generator on the field. The cost was crazy to me.
There was no hesitation from Madam when the battle entered a lull. She charged. The organized line broke with her at the forefront. She gave an odd belly purr that was akin to laughter. The distance was closed in an instant. Madam slowed before the portal line and walked through. A soldier in her army leaped ahead to shield her once she was exposed. The lurrol poured concentrated fire onto the guard. The melting metal it held was flung into the smaller lurrol. The guard knew his duty, understood his sacrifice. It stepped forward into the spewing lava with staggering steps. A roar of pain and anguish tugged at my heart as the death cries reached my ears. His distraction was not in vain—a squad of divine-apes snatched the shield generator up before running off with it.
Um… I was in shock, but not frozen. I had used the time to insert a fresh magazine.
“Get ready to fire!” I bellowed. “The button pusher is the priority—”
A tank round found an opening beside the button pusher. The fragmented explosion caused the bird creature to release its hold. That was the final straw for the lurrol. They had rolled into a warzone more deadly than they wanted. I expected a reprieve of the fighting. Nope. The lurrol were hounded with the divine-apes bounding forward.
“I am going with. You decide, Aspen. Dedric, into the breach,” I said.
“Why?”
“If we do not defeat the lurrol they will come back. For the community,” I said.
My forces joined the queue to get into the gate. Lilith approached our six-vehicle convoy.
“We are not going to the lurrol world,” Lilith said with a flick of her snakelike tongue. “We have some things to discuss soon. With that said, the crixxi were found wanting. They failed where you succeeded. You have shown you can convert them into warriors. So, you will get more warriors.”
I gulped. I think I understood. I held up a finger wanting to ask many questions.
“Your deluxe duke is on his way with your army. You are getting a squad of divine-apes to guide you to victory. The battle on the lurrol world will be intense and long. They do not understand the power we now hold since our last engagement. Few of the gate worshippers improve themselves or their technology. We do.”
My Gpad illuminated. Thousands more divine-apes were marching out of Denver. I think the gravity of the situation was dawning on me. We were locked in a battle far beyond what I could ever have imagined.
The divine-apes had spoken, and in their wisdom, so it shall be.
CHAPTER 15
“There are many ways for factions to justify our imposed quarantine. So many that I could write the list for over a year. When these factions reach their conclusions, they tend to form common thinking groups. There are even more than a few who call themselves the ‘Alliance.’ The scope of how vast the contained Xgate isolationverse is—it boggles even my inquisitive mind. There are a few distinct camps, though. Those outraged with the quarantine, furious at their rights being stripped, and eager for vengeance. Those who support the aliens, god, or AI who isolate us. Some take it a step further and become grateful for the constant conflict. They justify their behavior by worshiping the powers containing us as god figures. And finally, the undecided who will debate you for hours, days, weeks. Some will say they are trying to survive, uncaring of the greater battles that loom overhead. The last of the undecided group adds in the just plain stupid. Like the pigri I found in Denver. Deemed capable of space with enough time, never able to advance their cognitive abilities because of the portals.
“You may wonder, so what? Well, let me be honest. We know we are not gods. We deem ourselves god-tier. The translators do not know how to calculate us besides a ten. We may not be spacefaring currently, but we do not need to be. All the keys to our revenge rest in these monoliths. What I am sharing is that there are many active rebellions to free our worlds of the Xgates and become free-ranging species capable of living out our lives as we see fit.
“While we plot and scheme, we go to war. We are against the Xgate creators. That is the very basis of our belief. The nonviolence justification is not only stupid, but it is also irrational. We pass the time waiting for the pink gates of dysfunction to spawn by killing the worshippers of the Xgate creators. The lurrol are a great example, but thousands and thousands believe the Xgate creators are divine. We resent that way of thinking. You do too. You seek vengeance. Most species do at first. Our guiding actions during th
is portal series will see that your desire for retribution continues.
“Aspen and Mansion are one unit in our minds. The humanity of Earth. It has been determined we can rely on you to cross that shimmering portal if it does go pink. We hypothesize pink portals are how the ship portals operate. Let me let you in on a tiny secret. We are huge massive monsters even in a universe filled with a myriad of aliens. We predict we will not be able to board the alien vessels that control the Xgates. You will. So when we find smaller species capable of war, who want vengeance and will never view the gates as devices of an all-powerful, frightening god, then we help them improve. Hence why we are going to Crixonia to get you more soldiers.” - Lilith
I raised a hand, and she raised a scaled light red eyebrow in return. I pointed at the Gpad and mimicked writing.
“Ah, the Xgates hear everything. Maybe they absorb all radio waves, but we know from the interior grand market mind reader that they can hear everything. That is a fact. Also, realize this: you never actually go to the grand market. The only way to prevent violence is to make constructs out of those attending. Think of the grand market as a digital video game. You are in a virtual reality with limiters. Trust me, you can’t kill a lurrol if you bump into one. We figured out, while the stuff entering and leaving the golden portals was real, the stuff inside the grand market was a simulation.” - Lilith
I typed furiously on my Gpad.
“If there are thousands of factions fighting to assert their beliefs, surely talking about them should be okay.” - Cap
“Do not speak of the pink gates or seizing alien ships when they go pink. The rest you can speak openly about. I typed so both your communities were completely informed without me bursting eardrums.” - Lilith.
Colonel Reinhardt was a young man again with a beaming smile and a raised arm. His comb-over was gone, his full cheeks leaner. The man was young again, but the long desk life had not been fully converted into muscles yet. Lilith gave him a motion.
“I appreciate any and all help. I am not set up like Cap. Colorado Springs has started sending refugees and—”
“Do not complain. Improvise or you will die. I will only say this once. Improve your situation. Work to achieve that which must get done, as a team, when time dictates it,” Lilith said with a rising growl that washed through my body with minor shakes. “Never, ever question, or complain, about an epic gift like the one you are about to receive. Major Ulander is a fine officer. Do you understand me?”
“So am I,” Jevon said as he arrived at the gathering. “You don’t happen to be able to transform into a sassy six-foot black lady, do you? We should get a drink, pineapple with something spicy.”
Lilith’s tongue flicked out, amusement dancing in her eyes. She was about to reply when Reinhardt scoffed.
I was standing about ten feet away from Reinhardt when he whispered, “Gross!”
Lilith flared with anger. Her actions immediately caught us all off guard.
A hand slammed into the ground, smashing Colonel Reinhardt into a mush. When Lilith raised her hand, bits of Reinhardt dripped down.
I gulped, gasped, and then promptly sealed my lips.
“If a single one of you raises your weapons, I will kill you all. Major Ulander, you are to defer to Captain Eric Yang during all military operations. You will run your Aspen Stronghold as its leader. You will coordinate how best to improve your combined communities starting today. One quip out of you and I will flatten you all. Tank, fire into my palm,” Lilith said. She put her hand that still dripped blood in front of the tank.
The tank commander fired. The boom left my ears ringing. The virum restored my hearing quickly while I watched Lilith place a squashed tank round at Major Ulander’s feet. There was not a single mark beside some soot on her palm.
“We understand your orders and hasten to obey,” Major Ulander said.
I let out a long breath I did not realize I was holding. What was I to do? There were ten divine-apes within a hundred feet. We would be slaughtered, our communities slaughtered. She warned Reinhardt. Years of being a hard-ass desk-pushing officer made him feel impervious. Now he was dead. I had seen death. Nothing like this. I stomached it like every other loss I ever experienced: by moving forward.
“I would love to meet our new crixxi residents and grow our army. I always wanted to expand my stronghold. Hell, I know a great lake valley about an hour northwest of my stronghold. Maybe make a third, Jevon. I happen to know a lovely lady labeled Lilith—”
“Your alliteration is amusing but there is not a chance I would live in this frigid world. It is so… green. I miss the red of home already. Multiple communities are beneficial if you can network them.” Lilith paused for a few seconds. “You sneaky humans. You got a map of the grand market for a stupid chair. Thank you for this. As you can imagine, we are normally deprived of such information. I highlighted some key things to buy when you expand. Traveling will be your biggest need. The concept of trains applied to gravity manipulation between two points resulting in near-instant travel. Get from one base to the next in moments. You can even build an exit in the middle of this roaming gate and the ones in the area. The point is, yes, expand, grow, prepare. Do not question your elders. Now, follow me. Cap, Ulander, and Jevon only.”
I gulped down my anxiety. Jevon and I walked beyond the towering brutes that guarded the Xgate, which roamed slightly. Four of the nine remaining leaped in ahead of us.
“Get your electric bikes. Hurry, Lilith becomes an asshole when she has to wait,” the father from earlier said.
I ran for the nearest bike. Jevon hopped on a spare and Major Ulander joined him on the back. We were gone, cruising for the moving gate with gusto. I slowed before entering the portal to a nice controlled speed. The teal cascaded over my sight, and I left Earth.
A trail to their earlier trail was being cleared. Divine-apes hurled trees without a care. I guess it mattered little. All this would reclaim the land over time. In the short term, getting into the deeper jungle from the Xgate would be easier. However, the crixxi here did not need to worry about that. They were about to get a double whammy of giant monsters. I was starting to rationalize something. Lilith’s father was walking with us while the others raced ahead.
“Excuse me, sir,” I said in a level tone to the divine-ape, trusting he could hear me.
“I picked Harambe for my name.” The alien laughed, causing me to frown. “I jest. Harry works. Ask your question.”
“The larger species have advantages. Is that a common thing over time?”
“Yes, at least for the smarter ones. We were not born this way. Just like the virum evolved you, we have evolved too.”
“May I know about the purple dust?”
“Lilith included it inside your task list. It is expensive. I would avoid buying it for now. There is still so much for you to learn. It is important for your scientists to catch up. There is an infinite amount of technology allowed. If it is not connected to space travel, you can learn about it. That is an oversight, but an ancient one—so maybe it is not,” Harry said with a loud exhale.
We watched in the distance as Lilith and the three others vanished beyond the horizon. They could move so fast.
Movement out my left eye caused me to whip my weapon up.
Harry stopped, placed a hand in front of my weapon, and waited.
“Come out,” Harry said impatiently. “I hear you trying to fix your radio. You are safe. Well, safe-ish. Go back to your portal with all haste.”
Mitchell ran from behind a tree carrying Destiny. Elifer was hot on his heels. His high-knee run resulted in him fading into the jungle to catch up to the Xgate. I still needed to figure out a punishment for Elifer.
We had only driven for a few minutes when bodies of lurrol were tossed into the jungle. There was no chain of divine-apes sending them to Earth. They were sent here to deprive the enemy, maybe. I dodged the root of a tree with a quick jerk of the wheel. I guess it was time to focus on the terra
in.
The clearing where the battle of the four armies had taken place was littered with the lurrol dead. Four divine-apes joined them on the ground. Massive lava damage during the melee round must have killed them.
“May I speak with my other leaders?” I asked.
“You may,” Harry replied. “It will not be long now before you will be offered contracts from Lilith. Keep driving so we can do the transfers on the spot. Makes it quickest.”
I shrugged. It worked for me.
“Major Ulander, are you okay?” I asked.
The woman was Russian looking. Maybe old Eastern Bloc. Polish was my guess. Porcelain skin, brown eyes, black hair, with soft rounded features. Not pretty but not ugly. Young, the virum had fully transformed her age, but her body was still in the process like many others.
“Reinhardt was a soulless bastard. He tricked us all to come up to Aspen because his brother worked for NASA. I lost my family in Denver. I try to rationalize why he hid the truth of our mission to the ski resort community. We could have saved so many,” Ulander said with disdain. “I still didn’t wish him dead. He was a good commander. Aspen has prospered with his tough decisions. It will be harder without him. He was snarky to a fault, though.”
“I am sorry about your family. I am still missing my parents. No idea if they made it. I have a new family now, with Jevon’s mom, the Mansion community, and my lovely ladies,” I said with a slight smile. My positive spin on the situation was not working.
“We will work more closely together. I want this stronghold-connecting device. We could shower in your coming bathhouse—”
“Why spy on us?”
“You have your drone feed up at all times showing us everything you are doing. But we did have a spy. They left in the Bronco, terrified of the virum giving them three or four more kids to deal with. You are not exactly a secretive community,” Ulander said, and I shrugged while driving around the dead bodies. “Back to what I was saying. If we balance things out better, we can house more people. The problem is that the two-hour journey each way is too much. We have dried out our wells and are now having to switch to cleaning lake water. Did you know sewage plants require maintenance? The Aspen sewage plant uses screens to block q-tips, floss, and other stuff that should never be flushed. You have to clean those. Then the grit chamber—”
