“What…an outline of a translucent you and your ten million muscles and veins..? No, it wasn’t a good look.”
It’s Akita. I should have known.
“You’ll never change…”
“Why change a good thing?”
I cut into their little back and forth “Okay guys, let’s get synced. Maria, do your thing.”
With a jolt and a zillion images flashing past my Dees, we all merge in computerized minds and bodies. The Neural Link on these machines is similar to what I am accustomed to but larger and of more depth. How this is possible, I have no idea, but it goes beyond feeling the rest of the team…I am the team.
“Hey Maria..?”
“Yes Dachshund...?”
“…Ever owned a dog…a real dog?”
Everyone laughs with that last part and we all wait for the answer that will determine Maria’s call sign.
“…not on Rouna, but on Earth when I was a little girl, we had a Great Dane…”
“Fellas…”
It’s Hound again
“…Maria, new call sign, Great Dane, welcome to Iron five. Owwooooo..!”
The howling erupts across the comms and I join in. I hear Maria laughing in the background and then she attempts to add to the noise.
“You guys are crazy…”
I answer “That we are…”
“Alpha..?” Bull’s voice comes plainly to me. “…when do we get our ammo?”
“Dane..?”
I wait for her response. The name works perfectly.
“The holding slots across from us. We stand in place there and select our arsenal, but one thing at a time. Let’s see how well you Earthfront boys do with Galactic Nine technology.”
We all scoff at this. Instinctively, I stand from my sitting position and feel the Mecha lift itself from the floor. I am thirty five feet above ground according to my Dees and as I look to the left, unlike my Earthfront MAV, I see a robotic arm moving with my own as I flex, push and pull it physically. The mechanized arm is like its counterpart, extending from a metal elbow with forearms in the form of heavy hitting Tricada Vulcan Auto-cannons. Tricada, according to the info on my Dees, is the leading weapons development company under the Galactic Nine; The GN’s equivalent to the Tex’s Auto-cannon.
I take a few steps. They are clumsy at first but I quickly develop a rhythm. Whatever I do with my body and mind, the machine copies it. It’s like wearing mechanized body armor.
I love it.
********
It has been an hour now since my first step in my new Mecha but now, we are all standing in our flight suits, outside of the DAWGs once again. The last half hour has been spent weaponizing and programing and syncing, so much so, that even though this mission of ours is of utmost importance, I am as tired as any day in physical training. “Side effects of the digital to mental connection” is what Maria had said. “We won’t ever feel it while connected to our Mecha but once we leave them…”
I pop another piece of chocolate into my mouth and savor its stimulation as my strength and focus return more and more. Maria had broken out a few boxes of nutrient bars and rejuvenation cocktails and to our delight, there were more than enough to stock up on.
“Okay, the Mecha are good to go…”
I admire the sleek design of my DAWG again.
Maria answers “Let’s hope that there’s a ship in the next hangar or we’ll be sleeping in these machines and no more.”
“Well there’s only one way to find out now isn’t there?”
Akita leads the way across the floor and into the only other hangar in sight. In it, a lone starship stands no less than fifty feet above us and it is definitely large enough to do the job.
“She’s not the most beautiful thing in the galaxy, but she’ll do.”
Maria slaps Akita across the back of his head for his comment
“She is the Cala and she is a beautiful ship.”
Rubbing the sting out of his skull and keeping a safe distance between them, Akita replies with mock Spanish accent “The question now is…does She still work?”
But I answer before things get out of hand “Let’s find out.”
********
The engines on the lone Starship rumble the Airdock with tremendous force. Everything seems to be in perfect working order and after a few mechanical fixes and the shifting around of a few things; Maria has managed to get the five DAWGs on board. Our Starship however, has no defense mechanisms, not even an auto-cannon, so Vacuum warfare is an absolute no-no. But I seriously doubt the possibility of meeting any hostiles in vacuum…at least I hope so.
“Okay let’s go over this one more time. Maria, where are we going?”
I shift in my seat at the communications console to get a better view of her as she turns toward me.
“We’re going to find Artac Nine. As long as it’s still there, I can get us to K1 undetected and without any problems.”
“Artac Nine…how long?”
“Not sure but if it’s where I think it’ll be, then give or take three hours…”
Artac Nine is a Galactic Nine System Gate. Unlike Starports, System Gates have no docking facilities and are entirely run by computers. Used by major planetary organizations or corporations, Jump Gates like Artac Nine are often hidden in various Solar Systems with their locations and codes accessible only by ships affiliated with their owners.
Through my visor, I look at Maria as she prepares us for lift off. In an instant, I see Terri sitting there instead and wonder what our current predicament would had he not betrayed us. But the blast of rain that hits the windshield as the hangar doors slide open breaks my train of thought. Maria guides us out of the dock and the thick, moving mud currents below, steal my breath away. To fall into it would be a one way ticket to the great beyond but she leaves the deck easily and takes us out of the large structure, over the tumultuous sea of absolute death and into the dense, raining air of Adula.
The ship tilts, accelerates and begins its climb. Through my window, a Starship, a Colossus Class Hauler judging by the size of it, is also beginning its lift off sequence. The tera-ton Eversteel Beast is all lights and uneven grooves that trace blinking lines along its impressive rectangular hull. The insignia across the stern is a sun and moon, the flag of New Zion; a System of wealthy worlds over twenty thousand light years from Sol. But in another few moments, the behemoth vanishes amidst the rain and fog and so does Adula’s mud ocean, replaced now by dense clouds that flash with wild lightning. The ship buckles in the turmoil but Maria holds the controls steady and after ten or so minutes of shaking and battering, this too fades away. The glare of bright sunlight in the blue sky hits my visor as we break through the cloud cover. Then we rocket skyward, until dimness sets in, haze now, then darkness and the fuzzy looking orb behind grows distant as black space embraces us.
What happened to you Terri? Why did you betray us? Did I do something wrong?
My mind is overloaded with too many questions as a few tears spill from my eyes. I am still saddened by the loss of my friend. But he left us to die at the hands of a Cyclone, yet he came to our rescue. Did he have a change of heart? Was his sacrifice a repentant one…a clearing of his conscience? I would never know. I don’t know what my emotions are. They are foreign to me. I miss my buddy, but I am hurt at the same time. I worry about his parents but I think them better off for not having to be fooled by his charades.
I wonder what awaits us on Keden.
I need to focus on what’s important now. I must force myself to remember. After we get there, we will have about thirty five hours before Earth’s forces arrive.
Is Mirana still alive? Has she been captured? Can I get to her? Am I leading my team on a suicide mission? But I push newer thoughts into my head and ignore the negatives. What if she is still alive? What if we can get in, get her and get out?
And while I ponder these things, the scene outside the windscreen stretches and blurs as we go t
o Hyper Light speed.
CHAPTER 11 - KILLERS
Twenty Two and a half hours before Iron Five leaves Adula
System: K1
Location: Keden, Dune Desert
Time: 0330 Hours Local
Base commander Mirana O’Canon hit the Eversteel floor hard and it felt like it had hit her back. Another explosion rocked the domed complex and brought more glass and evercrete crashing down around her. What she had seen was madness and if it had not been by her own eyes, she might not have chosen to believe it.
Six of the strange looking Mecha, bearing Earthfront insignias surrounded the base while a seventh cut a deadly path through the outer and inner hangars, devastating everything in its sights. Nothing in Mirana’s arsenal could have held their ground. Every MAV that had engaged the unknown was cut down and the armored Tanks never even had the chance to fire a single shot. What puzzled her was that while the machines carried the Earthfront logo, the foot soldiers bore the red and black insignia of the Raiku Dynasty. The implication of this was mind blowing.
As Mirana dragged herself from the floor, she could still hear the two Auto-cannons of the killer in the distance. Everything and everyone was gone, save her and the frightened girl trailing behind. The men and women on her base, with their lives snuffed out in an instant, hung like a weight above her head. Guilt gripped her and Bile rose into her throat but she forced it back; she would deal with that later.
Knowing she would never have made it to the starship in time, her orders across all coms were clear…leave without her. But as she ran across one of the upper corridors after escaping the control room, a blast of expanding energy shook the walls and shattered windows. She was powerless and could only watch as the four hundred and fifty ton starship returned to the planet surface in a hail of fires and raining debris.
“Let’s go!”
She yelled it to the scared girl on the floor. Twenty years old and fresh out of communications training
“We’ve got to keep moving.”
Mirana had not long arrived on the ground floor level of the base, when she spotted the frozen cadet crouching beneath a broken table. The weight of her Tex’s Semi-automatic M71 hung heavily on her shoulder but she ignored the temptation to relieve herself of it. She had used it to end the lives of those wretched soldiers who had stormed her base just over seven hours ago, just as her father had done when she was seventeen. He died saving her that day and she had escaped because of it. The hostile takeover of her father’s base on the moon of Karin eighteen years ago served as a reminder of how desperately wicked the hearts of men were and still are. They had tried to take her but she’d fought, the way he trained her to, and for it they had marked her for life. Her scar was a permanent reminder…
Richard Gant
Why was he in her head? She knew that he’d taken a good look on more than one occasion. What did it reveal to him? She chose yet again not to care. She had worn her mark proudly ever since that day.
Mirana looked at the scared girl beside her and vowed to save her, even if it meant making the same sacrifice her father had made. She and the men and women who had stood against these new invaders had done well, but then the machines came, and now only she remained. The thought of this cramped her throat but she pushed on until reaching the debriefing room. A pang of desperation lodged itself into her gut like a large stone. Her office was only a corner away, a mere hundred feet or so.
The complex shook violently again and the girl behind her stumbled but used the commanding officer’s outstretched arm to regain her footing. The hammering had intensified. They were bringing the place down but why? She had been nothing but loyal to Earthfront, and a duty minded soldier for Earth ever since she could remember. What could have caused this? Her mind drew a picture of the only possibility it could conjure. Gant…Captain, Richard Gant and his Iron Five. She knew deep down that somehow, somewhere in all this chaos, she would find them in the midst and right now, she hated him for it.
That self-centered bastard! What right did he have to bring this on her? But what if she was wrong? What if he had nothing to do with it? Why was she even thinking of him?
She ran on feeling conflicted and to her relief, her office door appeared. The walls shook and the floor suddenly turned to jelly but Mirana launched herself inside and to the wall behind her desk. The girl, following, whimpered but her commander remained calm. She had to do this right the first time. Slowly, but deliberately, her fingers tapped out a sequence on the keypad behind her gold trimmed certificate. In a few seconds a hissing sound filled the room and a doorway, half on the floor, half on the wall opened up and she grabbed the young recruit by the hand and bolted down the still aligning staircase.
The entire building shuddered and groaned as it began to cave in and when Mirana slapped her palm against the button at the base of the steps, the doors re-sealed and the last thing she saw outside it, was her office folding in on itself and then darkness encased them. But the Commander wasted no time. She was up and moving, her Digital Eyes adjusting almost instantly.
“Come on!”
The girl snapped out of her trance and followed and they both ran on.
********
900 hours Dunan Time
Almost two days had passed since Mirana and her young escapee had fled the fallen base. They relentlessly navigated the tunnels and had eaten old tasting MRE’s from a bunker a half mile or so in. But now she was hungry again and although the young girl, Sari, according to their conversations, said nothing about it, Mirana knew that the craving was mutual.
“We’re here…”
The girl was much calmer now. Her anxiety and fear had faded into nothing after eating, talking and rest but that was ten hours ago and now, as natural light made the tunnel ahead visible, Mirana could only hope that Sari’s newfound courage would hold out.
“Is that it?”
The girl had an untainted innocence about her, in her eyes, in her voice that had no place in SysDef let alone Earthfront.
“Yeah…”
Mirana had not been to Dunan in over two years. The City lay in the distance, ten miles and some, as shown on her Dees. The dusty outline of it rose in the center and reminded her of a mountain near her home back on Earth. As for Earth…she had not seen Earth for over seven years; her home and what was left of her family, an aunt, uncle and sister, was all that she had.
“How are we going to get there?” Sari’s voice brought Mirana back to reality. This was a part of the equation she had yet to come to grips with, but there was only one way and although her body rebelled against it, her mind was resolute.
“Let’s go…”
Mirana, with Sari’s help, pushed the brown-rusted metal grate until it moved, creaking, outward. Below them was nothing more than a four foot drop where harsh winds had eroded a long gone dirt pathway. Above them was dust and sand, hardened into a natural roof, held up by strands of weathered, rock-solid dirt columns. It took five minutes to get clear of these shelters which were actually the foot of the cliffs marking the edge of the Dune Desert. Then they began the long walk. A trip through the open plains of dry dust with only their station suits to keep them cool.
********
An hour and twenty eight minutes later, Mirana ignored the fact that they had just covered barely a quarter of the distance. If she were alone, the trip would have been a short one but this girl was tired and needed a reason to go on.
“Sari…”
Maybe if she got her talking, the trek might seem easier
“You said you were from Dullus?”
It took Sari a moment to acknowledge the question “Yes, I was born and raised there.”
“I’ve never been to that planet but I have heard of it. Is it nice there?”
“It’s great, if you love…”
Sari’s voice trailed off and as Mirana turned toward the growing sound, she understood why.
Across the landscape, and approaching fast
, was what looked like two MAV’s, a Booster Tank and a Transport of some kind. They were on an intercept course, and based on Mirana’s knowledge of military operations, she had no doubt that she and Sari had been spotted and were about to be picked up.
“Sari..?”
The Commander put her hand on the girl’s shoulder, making eye contact
“No matter what happens today, do not run. Let’s not give them a reason to harm us. If they pick us up, we’ll be okay and if not…”
The fear had returned to the innocent eyes but Mirana had to be real about the situation. She recalled her own fears when her father had shouted for his Aide to take her to safety. It was not the fear of losing her life, no it was not that. She had feared that she would never see him again
“If not…then tell the Galaxy that I defended my men with my life…”
There were no other words to say and Sari knew this much. Their silence was now drowned out by the small convoy slowing to a halt. Both MAV’s took up positions a few hundred feet out, between the SysDef women and the Dune Desert and what made it interesting, was the fact that the MAV’s were facing away from them. The Booster Tank however, swiveled its turret toward her. Its sleek tank frame and Fiber Steel Armor hung suspended from the ground. The Magnatech keeping the thirty ton beast afloat whined while spreading dust and dirt out and away from under it.
Mirana’s M71 hung loose enough to have it ready in a flash, not that it would make a difference but for the time being, she held on to hope.
The Transport; a long, wide, hovering, aerodynamically sleek and reinforced vessel, touched the light-brown desert with a quake. The engines remained running while more dust fluttered out and around it, adding to the thickening haze created by the Booster Tank. Two very thin slits of Everglass in front of the caterpillar-like machine showed Mirana where the pilots sat.
Did this thing have any weak points?
Mirana knew the answer and it was a disappointing one. A slot in the side of the Caterpillar opened like a large wing and five soldiers stepped out. The first noticeable thing about them was that they had no helmets, but their heads and faces were covered with the same material as their combat suits. She left her gun hanging and did not grip it or appear threatening in any way. According to Kedenian law, soldiers apprehending non hostiles are to capture and hold. At any rate, they would be taken as prisoners or sent back to Earth, but her heart hit a bump in her chest and she forced herself to take deep breaths. These were not Keden’s ordinary soldiers. By the black insignia’s on their battle suits, and Keden’s large red K behind it, these were the Kedar…Keden’s elite.
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