“Oh, Sledge, you don’t get fitness at all, do you?” she asked. “I put them on a weight training regiment when I arrived here. The younger individuals have a frighteningly fast metabolism. They’re ready for the ‘hardcore’. You’ll see when we land.”
“Now I see why we invited you on the Yamato. You know way more than I do on how to win in impossible situations.”
“I think you initially invited me yourself for an entirely different reason.” She gave him a kiss. “My Seal training was just a bonus.”
“We can’t play right now, Kat. I have work to do.”
“That was just a reminder to make you work faster. I’m too disciplined to alter your schedule now. That was for later.”
“I’ll jot that one in my database to make sure I keep on schedule,” he said. “You’re makin’ me better, I must admit.”
“A good release always makes you better. This will help your strategy because you’ve finally ‘unclogged’ your pipes so your ideas will flow with more freedom.”
“You are definitely a trainer. That was the most ‘unsexy’ sexy statement I’ve heard you say to date.”
“Hey, only the smart can catch my double entendre. You’re a smart one.”
“Thanks, I feel better with you telling me that,” he said and pulled up the Baltimore map. “As you’ve always said, time to play in the toxic mud.”
They began their work creating the best strategy through the city they could engineer.
“We’re a few hundred kilometers from our Delaware landing. What are your marksmen doing right now?” Linda asked Steve.
“I have them playing anti-pocket drop to get their trajectory skills up to par,” he said. “Knocking a ball into an anti-gravity well during a simulated tsunami wind event hones you accuracy for angling long-range contacts to your target.”
“Who are they shooting?”
“I have no idea, Maybe no one. Maybe the Program’s next surprise. The whole job of a marksman is to be ready for anything.”
“What does the Program have left? It took over all trans-continental digital communications, it lulled society by making automaton helpers which turned on everybody who owned one. Made cyborg killers purge our camp leader’s minds to get our plans and kill the rest of us, then made better ones, then that kaiju to kill many. That monster even made covert aerial surveillance drones to sus out the last survivors. Then nanite-controlled indegenous anomals to infect larger ones.”
“And we beat it every time,” he said. “The Program is a relentless pragmatic construct with an insidious intention to end us. It will never quit or give up. It wasn’t designed with a cease command. We have to stop it from completing the task it began. Yes, we have new undead cyborgs protecting it now. Once we beat them, trust me, something’s coming right around the corner. The good part is we have ingenuitive minds, a hardened Seal trainer, and Di. We won’t quit either.”
“We also have some ass-kickin’ marksmen.” She gave him a kiss. “Train your people and stay sharp.”
“Oh, I’m a razor right now, Honey, When we make landfall, I’ll show you.”
Snark massaged Purge’s shoulders as he looked over the Baltimore map in their quarters.
“If they spread in a fireworks explosion maneuver, we can get them all through the buildings and clear a path for Di,” he said. “I’ll lead Prime Alpha squad, but Mario knows the people better, so he’ll delegate Bravo and Charlie. He’ll lead Delta,”
“So, there’ll be nine riders each. When will they fan out?”
“The dead cyborgs’ positioning will activate the ventilateur war cry. That’s fan in French. I got that from Jean-Renae.”
“You still sound like you’re from Manhattan, Wally.”
“Ay-yo! Gimme a break, see? I was born there, y’know?!” he joked her with his New York accent.
She kissed him.
“Even when you act stupid on purpose, you’re still cute.”
“Time to act smart again. What’s fan in Portuguese?”
“Ventilador, Silly, but me beija means kiss me in my language. Hint, hint.”
Wally kissed her deeply.
“I have to train, Qiana. I never want this to end. You gave me a chance and I want to live up to your expectations. As much as I want to stay, I have to go.”
“Go train, Purge. I’ll be waiting.”
Wally left the room with a smile on his face.”
“You have to retrieve the rubber ball off the steak without popping it!” Jean-Renae yelled to his riders. “This will hone your control, yes?!”
“But these cyborgs are the undead ones. The Program never reanimated them for fear of us hacking them. They are way weaker without the bio-energy. These animals should just go ‘beast mode’ and tear them apart.”
“Even though they are dead, you do not want your Arctic beast biting into titanium, yes? You have to be precise in disrupting the vital fleshy joints and bones in order to disable them. Remember, you cannot swing a broken bat with any effectiveness. Your job will be to break those bats. Your beasts are devastating, but they still cannot bite or break titanium.”
Wally walked into the airplane hangar.
“Sorry I’m late, Jean-Renae. I was designing our attack strategy to clear a path for Di. What are we doing?”
“Precision attack targeting. What did you devise?”
He took out his Baltimore battlefield map.
“Mario, I need you.”
Mario dismounted and went to Wally.
“What are we doing?”
Wally pointed to the map.
“I’m team Alpha, you’re team Delta. Delegate leaders for Bravo and Charlie. We’ll each command eight riders to attack their own individual quadrants of the city to wipe the undead off the battlefield. When we take them out, Di comes through to disable Circumscriber. Can you do that?”
“Si puedo. I just have to see who will lead Bravo and Charlie,” Mario said and turned to the riders. “Everyone! Do this drill and whoever are the two best will lead their own team!”
As Mario got back on his bear, they continued their training turned into a contest.
“I know I am the trainer, yes? But you are your people’s motivator, Perge.”
“Talk is petty, but in order for this to work, I have to get on Butch, my Timberwolf and grab some balls. They’re rubber, right?”
“They are that, yes? Delicacy is the only way to train.”
Purge smiled and got on Butch to get into some ‘delicate’ training.
Gaia walked into her and Chip’s quarters to see Chip with what seemed like all the Magrupts littering the room with him taking one apart.
“What are you doing with these useless things? The Program deactivated all the borgeys.”
“These Magrupts are going to be our next-level defease, Honey. As much as your brother thinks my job has been completed, Cole always told me to never get arrogantly overconfident. We don’t know what else we'll have to combat next, but the Program just goes to the next attacker enhancement pragmatically. I’m making these things better to meet that new threat.”
“But you don’t know what the threat will be,” Gaia said.
“The Program is just that, a program. It’s painfully logical with pragmatism. It was never designed with imagination. It will never have that human trait. Unfortunately for that cold beast, I do.”
“You’re making these things two levels higher,” she assumed.
“You work smarter, not harder, Baby. That’s Murphy’s Law tactic. Overkill your counter, so the next thing won’t surprise you.”
“Do we have a chance, Chip? This has been a devastating few years. We lost our parents, our homes, and our normal lives. I never wanted to grow up this way. Even when a beautiful light came to us to make us feel like we had a chance, he was unexpectedly murdered by the Program. Every time we get ahead, we get destr
oyed.”
“You forgot one thing,” Chip said. “Out of all the devastation, we still have Di. She’s our Program antithesis. She’s determined to stop it and knowing what she can do, we have a golden smart-bullet in our Devastator clip. When everybody does their part correctly, that’s the way we pull our trigger.” He picked up a finished Magrupt. “This takes off our safety.”
“Those dead things weren’t programmed like a borgey was. This will be a whole new battlefield.”
“We both know that just don’t tell our beast riders. They don’t need to think those dead defenders are anything but borgeys. We beat borgeys through technology. This next round will be a visceral attack. Allow our riders to keep their wipe short and simple. If they overthink it, they’ll hesitate. We need a full-on barrage.”
“You always think ‘outside the box’. What are you going to tell Steve’s marksmen when they load-out with Devastators and these Magrupts? You know they’ll think they’ll be an unnecessary weighted burden.”
“I’ll yell them nothing. All I have to do is play into Steve’s battle paranoia. Convince their leader and the rest will follow suit without question. Steve’s a smart man.”
“If only you knew how smart,” Gaia said under her breath.
“What o you mean? I’m talking about his military prowess.”
“You were with him on a mission to get my brother and you didn’t notice anything else about him? I must admit, he’s been playing his ‘tough guy’ part well.
Now, you didn’t hear this from me, but I talked to Linda and found out Steve’s a philosophy major. Don’t tell him you know because Linda would kill me if she knows I told you.”
Chip smiled.
“He was right, girls do talk.”
“What?! Steve said that?”
“He is a philosophy major y’know. He knew Linda was going to tell you and you’d tell me.”
“So, you two did talk. This is a surprise to me,” she said,
“I know it’s a big surprise to you, but guys talk about more than war and sports. Now you can complete this ‘secrecy circle’ by telling Londa I knew already.”
“Remember when Di said you were ‘getting’ me? We need to keep this circle incomplete. I don’t want to confess to Linda I told you and you already knew. I told her I wouldn’t say anything. We all know, so just leave it at that.”
“Okay, I know you don’t want to Magrupt yourself, so don’t tell her. Now guys can keep anything concealed, so I just have to tell Steve he was right if he asks me.”
“Steve will tell Linda then.” She got upset.
“We’re about to go up against the most devastating force ever put to humanity tomorrow. Do you think anyone will think of petty gossip then? Steve won’t ask, because he never thought this was an important matter anyway.”
Gaia thought about her personal situation and it was dwarfed by humanity’s main problem.
“Okay, Chip. What do you need me to do? There are about four hundred Magrupts here and I know your mind works fast, but your intricate motor skills leave big questions of efficiency. You direct and I’ll connect the dots.”
Chip felt good he had a faithful partner who trusted him. He gave her a Magrupt, the spread-spectrum frequency analyzer, and showed her how to connect it.
Once Lance finished his albatross sweep mechanism cascade apparatus, he went to Cindy’s quarters. He worked so hard to make this a flawless execution, he felt as if he has neglected her. He knocked on her door. After a few seconds, she opened it.
“Sorry I haven’t spent time with you. I just had to make this assault go as smooth as Mercury beads running off of wet metal.”
“Come in; I know you’re a workaholic. The reason I’ll never complain is I understand you.”
“You’re okay with me working at all-hours?”
“I know what you’re doing is incredibly important and you’re a transiton. I never even thought I’d be with a transiton, but it seems like you’re more dedicated than the ‘meat-head’ stud muffins I always pursued only to be hurt. It just took me the end of the world to realize my mistake,” she told him and gave him a kiss at the doorway.
“Well. I do have a bit of time right now.”
“I know, Silly. That’s why you knocked on my door.” She pulled him in and closed it. “Transitons are so predictable, but I actually like that trait in you.”
He licked her neck.
“We’re also smart enough to know when to be unpredictable.” He picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. “I think it’s time to be ‘unpredictable’.”
It was time to relax before the onslaught. Next, it was forward onto dawn.
As the sun began to peek from the west to begin the day, Major Cavanaugh ran Neo-Khaos through her Seal urban warfare training on the dilapidated Deleware streets.
“We’re doing this initially to learn how to navigate as a unit through streets, alley-ways, and vehicle obstacles, People! Next, we’ll navigate through an open park to learn how to stay elusive! This is a war, so work with what’s given to you!”
Sledge walked behind her.
“Do you think they’re ready for this?”
“Like I just told them. I work with what I have. If they don’t go in half-cocked on uncontrolled testosterone, we just might be able to take this one.” She looked over to her troops. “Hey! Those Klaytreks are sensitive when you activate them! Set them on a solid surface!”
Those things are explosive. They’ve never dealt with anything like that before,” Sledge said.
“Stop treating them like babies. This new world ripped away that shelter from them. Can’t you see they’ve grown into a dark adulthood right before your eyes? They have to get good at guerilla tactics. They could die if they don’t.”
Sledge was their protector, so he was always cautious with them. He never even thought about showing them the ugly truth would help them live longer.
“You’re right, Kat. That’s why you were a Seal trainer.”
“You’ve ke[t most of them alive up until now. I’m just your ‘War Dog’ maker. I’ll just help you keep them living a little longer,” she said and turned to her troops. “Once you set the Klayteks, stay directly behind them and use your mental trigger to lay waste to anything within front-face visual range!”
“What if they accidentally set one off in training?” Sledge asked.
She showed him a device.
“It’s training, so they’re on mental inhibitor safety. All we’ll see on this monitor is the red light congruency simulator confirming they executed the setting correctly. I really need to show you how to train. Out of thirty-seven platoons of deadly Seals, I had no ‘friendly fire’ mishaps.”
“I’m that way,” he said. “In order to get good, learn from an expert.”
She put the Klaytrek device in his hand.
“First thing’s first. Evaluate the environment.”
“He saw what they were doing and where their destination was with the many abandoned vehicle obstacles.
“Okay, I see it.”
“Next is one of the most important aspects of training. Trust and believe your troops can and want to do it. You must expect your chess pieces to be able to stand in order to checkmate their king.”
This was the tough part of training for him.
“I just don’t want them to die.”
“I know you don’t want any of them to die, but in chess, sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn to checkmate their king. Just keep that in mind. I’ll show you how to keep all of your pieces on the board.”
“How in the world can you do that?”
She smiled at him.
“I’m an ‘expert’, remember?”
”Okay, Di, time to sweep the battlefield one last time before our assault,” Lance said.
“Where’s Chi
p?”
“He and Punky-head are distributing some Magrupts to Steve’s crew.”
“Why are they giving out Magrupts? After the Program deactivated all the borgeys, those things turned into bricks.”
“He said something about a counter. I think since I told him his job was finished, he got a wild hair and didn’t want his job to be over. I think he’s trying to impress me.”
“Why is he trying to impress you? Is that a transiton thing?”
“No, the reason he wants to impress me is he has this crazy notion we’ll be in-laws in about a year. Either he’s delusional or very confident. Punky-head is very selective.”
“He told you that, seriously? Gaia’s Chip’s first girlfriend. He hasn’t even tried other flavors yet.”
“You’ll never get the transiton culture. We live by a mental checklist. We accumulate all our desires and when we find the one who can have us check all our boxes, we don’t hesitate in making our decision. I’ve had many girlfriends who didn’t have me check every box. I know Punky-head and I think Chip feels as if she can make him check all of them. Transitons follow desire charts religiously.”
“And you’re fine with that cold mechanical method? Is Cindy having you check all your boxes?”
“She already passes two out of twenty-eight. I think she’s doing well to just be on week one.”
“It’s true then,” she said.” Transitions are weird.”
“Yes, we are. We’re weird but accurate.”
“Here, take this Magrupt.” Chip gave Steve the weapon.
“Why? What do I need this useless rock for?”
“It’s not ‘useless’. Steve,” Gaia said. “This is a next-level equalizer.”
“What is she talking about, Chip?”
“Look. Steve. We have no idea what the Program will bring when we take out its undead soldiers. Remember how ill-prepared we were when that kaiju attacked? You don’t want to be caught with your pants down again. Col and forty others died because we weren't ready. Next time it could be Linda. I know you don’t want that to happen because you thought this next-level Magrupt was a useless rock.”
The Natural Selection Retaliation Page 14
