The Legacy of the Lioness

by Robert D. Armstrong

  “Good question,” Luther said.

  He paced a couple meters, tucking his hand under his chin. “As you all know, my knights and I have been absent recently. We embarked on a secret mission that I will now reveal. Intelligence reports indicted a colony of raiders to the north. These raiders possessed a convoy of vehicles, highly dangerous. My knights and I set out on a mission to stop them, and we did. The rumored threat has been eliminated,” Luther said in a calm, reassuring voice, blending the truth with a lie.

  The woman sighed in relief and grinned.

  Luther held up his index finger. “However, one thing we learned from this mission, is that we weren’t ready. More threats will emerge in light of our victory over the Architect. We must prepare. Wanderers now have safer passage to roam without the Mave, and these wanderers can, at times, form raiding parties and acquire vehicles. My mission from here on out is to prepare us for this threat, and I aim to show you how,” he explained.

  The woman nodded and bowed her head. “Thank you, sire. This is especially good news for me as a mother to two boys. I joined your army to help protect them, but I want you to know I never doubted you. Not once,” she said, clenching her fist at her heart. “For the Legion,” she added. Luther returned the gesture as she stepped back into the crowd.

  Knight Renheart aimed up toward the map with his pointer. “This is where we are now, indicated by the gold star. We will be relocating to three temporary locations, here, here, and here. The furthest point will be six kilometers away, while the closest will be just under two kilometers. These hidden locations were confirmed by our scouts as safe and accommodating considering how long we will be there,” Renheart said.

  “How much time before we return to the Legion and when do we leave?” a soldier asked.

  “We will leave two days from now. This evacuation will start at first light. I’ve assigned a knight to lead each of the three parties to their respective locations, along with dozens of lieutenants and soldiers. They have their orders, so after this meeting you’ll find out if you’re staying here or leaving. Most of you will be leaving with the population. Some medical staff will stay here underground, along with the very sick, injured, or elderly. We will be running escort missions back and forth to ensure the population reaches their destinations safely,” Renheart explained.

  Luther stepped in front of Renheart. “We also have two vehicles capable of towing a large transport trailer, so this will make going back and forth much easier for those who cannot walk as quickly. While our objective is to do this swiftly, equally important is keeping children with their parents. Groups of single adult males and females ages nineteen to thirty-six will be split evenly between each of the three locations regardless of where their families are,” Luther said.

  I held my stare at Luther. A lightbulb went off in my head. He was playing the odds in case we were unsuccessful in shooting down the XU-97. If one of these locations wasn’t discovered by the Moderator, they would have a good mix of single males and females, giving them the chance to repopulate. This would allow future Legion generations the chance to fight against the machines. It was difficult to imagine such a scenario, but it was imperative that we plan for the worst.

  “Every soldier and knight will receive their orders by midday tomorrow. You will be given instructions on when to muster with your unit commander to start the process of filing your people to their designated areas. If there are no further questions, you are dismissed,” Luther concluded. No one said a word. The group slowly trickled out of the Great Hall, leaving myself, Neona, Luther, Xena, and Renheart.

  I glanced over my shoulder, looking at Xena. “How long?” I asked.

  “At worst case scenario, we have five days and two hours before the Moderator arrives,” she replied.

  “How likely is it that the Moderator will use the ship’s cloaking technology against us?” I questioned.

  “Unlikely. The reason is the ship will need to allocate most of its resources to operate the lasers at full power to penetrate the thick terrain above us. Even if it does use the cloaking device, it will be visible before it fires. Laser fire of this magnitude will require it to charge up, which will be impossible while cloaked,” she explained.

  Renheart sighed. “What are the chances this super android and its ship even comes to the Legion first?” he asked.

  Xena looked at Renheart. “Highly likely. The Moderator has access to my files. This includes location data, along with audio and video recordings from my time here. If it were me, and I was planning on destroying humanity, this would be the ideal place to start. Low risk, high reward,” she said, her blue eyes glowed as she stared through Renheart.

  “But it is high risk for the Moderator now, we can shoot the ship down, right?” Renheart asked Xena.

  “Unknown, it will depend on several factors, mainly on my ability to acquire the Moderator as a target before it spots me in the AA tank,” she replied.

  Renheart stared at Luther. “Sire, with all due respect. Isn’t it possible that Victoria would have a better chance to shoot down the Moderator’s aircraft? She has experience flying that jet, she knows its ins and outs, how it moves. I just feel more confident with a human looking down the weapon’s sights,” Renheart insisted. Admittedly, it felt good to hear Renheart’s confidence in me, but I wasn’t sure I was the right choice to operate the AA tank.

  Xena looked at Renheart. “Captain Belic is a highly skilled pilot, but there’s no data or evidence that indicates she can operate the AA tank with a similar efficiency as she would an aircraft. Not only that, manning the AA tank will be extremely dangerous, especially after the Moderator is engaged. We can expect almost immediate retaliation,” Xena spoke up. She shifted her eyes toward me as everyone stared at Luther.

  “Xena is my choice. She’s already familiar with the AA tank’s weaponry, and I’ve personally seen her use it, effectivity,” Luther replied.

  “Wait, can’t Xena just control the AA remotely, there’s no need for her to be inside it?” I questioned

  Luther shook his head. “For this situation, I want her manually operating the vehicle’s weapons. I can’t take a chance if there’s some sort of glitch with the remote guidance system,” Luther said.

  “Well, what if there’s a glitch with Xena?” Renheart challenged, shrugging his shoulders.

  “I’m sorry, sire, but with everything that’s on the line, it could happen. Neona reported a recent incident were Xena shutdown suddenly. She is using an older android architecture that’s also been previously damaged, so who knows what to expect?” he explained.

  Xena glared at Renheart. “I’ve performed maintenance and all my routine checks since that incident. The odds of my system malfunctioning again during that specific moment is one in nineteen thousand,” she said.

  “So, while it’s highly unlikely, it’s not impossible,” Renheart replied.

  Xena crossed her arms, scanning Renheart up and down. “Knight Renheart, with all due respect, you’re more likely to die of a heart attack based on your age, stress levels, and body fat composition at any given moment,” Xena argued.

  “What?” Renheart mumbled, sucking in his stomach as he glanced down at it.

  Neona chuckled and Leo grinned from ear to ear as I stopped myself from laughing. I wouldn’t describe Renheart as overweight. I would say he was husky, but he appeared to be carrying a bit of extra weight around his belly.

  Luther stared at me and crossed his arms. He looked at the ground. “Knight Renheart, you bring up a good point. While the chances of something going wrong with Xena’s system is extremely unlikely, we cannot risk it considering the alternative. Xena, is there a way to climb inside the AA tank from the undercarriage?” he asked.

  Xena looked at me. “For someone like Captain Belic yes, but my shoulders are too wide,” she replied.

  Luther looked away for a moment. He sighed. “Xena, you’ll already be inside the AA tank as our first line of defense. But we do ne
ed a backup, someone else who can operate the tank’s weapons effectively. Victoria, you will be underneath the tank, underground, inside a foxhole,” he said.

  I nodded. “A foxhole,” I said.

  He looked at me. “Yes. I’ll have one built. In the rare event that Xena malfunctions at such a critical moment, you will climb up inside the tank and take command. For the time being, get acquainted with the tank’s anti-aircraft weapons. For now, I want Knight Renheart and Knight Neona to ensure unit commanders have everything they need for the population’s departure to the temporary shelters. Dismissed,” Luther said.

  “Yes, sire,” Renheart said. He and Neona walked out of the Great Hall side by side. I stepped close to Luther, looking up at him. He nodded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed Xena was still standing there, facing us.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  She glanced away. “Nothing, Captain. I’m going to perform more maintenance checks on the AA tank in preparation for the Moderator’s arrival. When is a good time so that I can familiarize you with its weapon system?” she asked.

  “I’m right behind you. Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet up with you,” I replied.

  She nodded, looking at Luther before holding her stare at me. “I’ll be just outside the south gate at the AA tank,” she said.

  “Understood,” I replied as she walked away.

  Luther put his arms around me, pulling me tight around my waist. I looked up to the platform behind him at the Elder’s podium.

  “I hope I haven’t missed anything,” he said.

  “You haven’t. Considering the time we have to prepare, and what we have to work with, it’s a solid strategy,” I said, pulling away from and looking him in the eye.

  “It needs to be better than solid,” he said.

  “Luther, we’re doing everything we can,” I replied.

  “Let me ask you something. You know the XU-97 better than anyone, you’re familiar with the layout of the Legion, what would you do if your objective was to annihilate every human that lived here?” he asked.

  I put my hands on my hips. “The weapons systems are powerful enough to cause heavy damage to the gates, and I would guess they could penetrate the first level of the Legion tunnels. Even Xena corroborated this. If I were going for sheer casualties, I would likely use the guns to bury the population underground,” I explained.

  Luther panned around the Great Hall in deep thought. “We need to make sure we see the Moderator before it identifies our AA tank. Any ideas for that? How would enemy AA tanks camouflage themselves against your squadron in the Navy?” he asked.

  I narrowed my eyes in deep thought. “Well, one tactic is we could bury the tank in soil, at least thirty centimeters deep. The XU-97 will detect heat signatures from its battery. That could be a problem,” I said.

  He held his stare at me. “Good thinking. I’ll order the men to do so.”

  “Anything else?” he probed, leaning forward.

  I shook my head. “Not yet. I’ll try to think.”

  Luther turned away from me, staring back at the map. “Thank you.”

  I cleared my throat. “I know you have a lot going on, I’m going to get to work,” I said.

  I glanced over my shoulder as I walked away. He was watching me with his arms crossed. I knew he was worried. Even without his mask, his slumped shoulders were just enough for me to notice. My knowledge and experience with the XU-97 meant I would be put in danger in order to stop it. We both knew it was the only way.

  The current situation was dire and momentous for our species, and here Luther and I were again, the tip of the spear. I thought about everything we’d been through before with the Architect, the Androids of the Reclamation, and the nomads.

  It felt like it all had led up to this moment.

  Chapter 9

  “XENA, ARE YOU IN THERE?” I asked as I approached the AA tank. I could hear some banging around inside. I knew she was in there. Behind me, was the Legion’s south entrance. There were several guards standing duty, watching me as I waited for Xena.

  Just beyond the AA tank was a steep cliff that dropped off about forty meters and leveled out into a snow plain full of rolling drifts. Beyond that there was a white haze, making it difficult to see the distant forests.

  I put on my helmet. “Xena, I’m outside.”

  The hatch popped open on top of the tank. “Apologies, Captain. I was doing some last-minute checks. Come on in, the fire is warm inside,” she said, waving me toward the tank.

  “Bad choice of words,” I replied. The last thing I wanted to think about now was being trapped inside this hunk of metal with a fire. I recalled a dream from my past in which I was piloting the XU-97 with flames all around me in the cockpit, but I was unable to eject. It was horrifying.

  “Oh. Apologies Captain. I heard or read that phrase somewhere. I was attempting to mix in some humor. Research has shown that humans tend to use humor in a time of distress. I felt this was a great opportunity considering the possibility of mass casualties, to make light of the situation,” she replied as I climbed up on the tank’s tracks.

  I chuckled and shook my head. “I appreciate the attempt, but if I’m not mistaken, that phrase was used in the old days when travelers would stumble upon hospitable strangers in the wild. They would invite them to warm up near the fire,” I recalled.

  “Hospitable strangers? In my dealings with humans, strangers seem dangerous to other humans. Maybe it’s a forgotten part of the culture. Perhaps after the android war everything changed,” she wondered.

  “Not really, Xena. It was long forgotten before I was born,” I said. My eyes followed the dual cannons atop the tank. They were pointed up into the heavens. There were half-meter icicles hanging off them. I grabbed one of the cannons as I maneuvered up and stood near the tank’s hatch. The frozen steel penetrated through my gloves with a stinging cold.

  It reminded me of a time when I was in the Navy near Iceland. As Executive Officer, I remembered walking out on the bridge of our Frigate and grabbing hold of a frozen handrail as I gazed into the distant emptiness of the Arctic waters.

  I wondered where that ship was when the bombs fell during the android war. How long did the crew survive, if at all?

  I looked down the hatch as Xena ducked inside. “There’s not much room, Captain, but it should suffice,” she said as her voice was muffled inside the tank. I shimmied down inside the cramped metal quarters.

  The first thing that hit was the smell of soiled clothes. I noticed an old military jacket and pants stuffed in the corner. On the walls, there was Russian text stenciled in red here and there. I gather they were instructions.

  The focal point of the interior was the two seats that were positioned in the middle and were about a meter apart. They faced the same direction side by side. One of them had a small steering wheel with buttons on it that reminded me of a race car. On the wall behind the steering wheel was a small monitor that was powered down.

  The other seat had a pair of joysticks, one on each armrest. Above the seat was a flip down helmet of some sort. “So, this tank was designed for two occupants?” I asked.

  “Primarily yes, but a single user can drive and shoot with this seat,” she said, pointing to the seat with the twin controls and helmet. “Go ahead, get a feel for it, put on the helmet,” she said. I sat down in the seat and wiggled the joysticks around.

  I leaned my head back and flipped the goggles forward and adjusted it to my eyes. “I can’t see anything,” I said. The image was black.

  “That’s because it’s off. Here,” she said. All at once, I was staring up far into the clouds. The high-resolution image flickered before clearing up.

  “Okay, I have a visual,” I said. As clouds gave way, I could see a faint object, a star perhaps. “Looks like I’m centered on a star, what is that?” I asked. I waited a few seconds without an answer.

  “Uh, Xena, can you hear me?” I asked again. I pulled up the goggle
s to have a look. I noticed Xena’s glowing blue eyes in the dimly lit interior as she gazed through the bulkhead at nothing.

  “That’s not a star, Captain, it’s Saturn,” she finally answered.

  “Oh. Oh,” I said.

  “Probably not the best thing for me to do, delve into the past, but earlier, I used the gun’s optics to observe Saturn. I was searching for a glimpse of Titan. I wasn’t able to see much,” she said, lowering her voice as she looked away. I took in a deep breath. I estimated that Xena was experiencing something like depression.

  “Maybe when the conditions are better, you’ll be able to see it,” I assured.

  She looked away. “Perhaps, yes. Instead, I’ve been searching through my files for pictures of the people of Titan. Unfortunately, the device that powers this android is only a sliver of my former self, so I have limited access, but, it’s better than nothing I suppose,” she said.

  “I try not to think much about things like that. Not because I’m cold or heartless, but because I feel it makes me less capable,” I said.

  “Why not honor the fallen by keeping them in my memories?” she asked.

  “There’s nothing wrong with that, Xena. But for me, now, it’s more about looking forward. We have a job to do. We have another world to protect from certain annihilation. I lost mostly everyone I knew from Earth, and the Moderator was responsible. Now, it’s destroyed Titan. I don’t want to give the Moderator any more of an edge than it already has, Xena. Androids have an advantage in battle, they don’t fear, or get anxiety, sorrow, they—”

  “Then what am I experiencing now? Tell me, Captain, you know me better than anyone else that’s left. Try to explain it,” she demanded, leaning toward me as she touched her chest.

  I paused, staring into the synthetic blue orbs that gazed upon me. The question made me feel uncomfortable. Here I was in the position of trying to explain to a machine what it was feeling.

  “Xena, to be completely honest... I don’t know. But what I do know is you have a higher purpose. It’s difficult to explain it, but I feel like I was born to be in this situation, and I would not have made it if it weren’t for you. You and I are an integral piece of the human story,” I said.