Legion of Steel

by Lucian Knight

  "Hey, what’s wrong? We need to kill the queen and get up there. Earth won’t wait for us."

  "As if I care," she murmured. "I don’t ever want to go back there. There are too many shitty memories for me to even want to point in that direction."

  "So, what are you saying? We should up and leave?"

  "Exactly. Who needs this shitty planet, and why bother with the Queen?"

  "Why? Because I said so! We need the ore and materials to upgrade the ships!"

  I tried to pull her around, but she wouldn’t let me. Very well then, if she wanted to be like that, then I’d let her. This was the perfect chance to send these two back to base and out of harm's way. I’d handle this queen myself.

  "Can we—?"

  "No. We can’t. You’re both dismissed. Go back to base and await your orders there. I can’t concentrate on the battle ahead, having someone talk back to me or disregard my orders."

  I could feel Gremory shift her weight from foot to foot, but she remained quiet.

  "But I didn’t do anything to—"

  "Come on, he’s given us an order," Gremory said, breaking her off.

  I felt my heart break, but I couldn’t do this anymore, not like this. I loved the women with not just my heart, but with my soul, and her getting hurt wasn’t on the menu, not anymore. I was the alpha now, not the beta. If she didn’t want me, there’s Kris who is a much less complicated person and actually follows orders without question.

  Gremory’s wings unfurled as she whispered something, but I couldn’t distinguish what it was. Whatever, I thought. If it was that important, she could have said it to me. I was sick of it all now that I finally had a semblance of control over my life. Nothing was going to change that.

  "Have you finally come to terms with who we are? We are the devil! Stop humiliating me and let me do what I do best!"

  I remained silent, and so did Khepri. She and I both knew he was right, or at least partially. But having it shoved down your throat like that, pardon the pun, was a bit more than I was willing to take.

  "Conqueror? Will we attack?" Orange asked after I stood there in silence for a while. I shook myself awake and turned to the big guy.

  "Yes, Orange, we will. Give me a moment to transform and I’m ready." For some strange reason, I didn’t even care about my memories anymore, not pain, or the hurt that would come along with it, not my feelings. I was going to kill this queen, get Khavvrin his parasite, and make a move on the doc. Now that sure sounded like a plan.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  There was barely any resistance left as we plowed through the enemy lines. For some reason, there were many more yellows now. I knew that the reinforcements had been steadily pouring in, but from what the newcomers told us, the fighting was still strong outside. I decided to breach the topic before we reached the queen, so I knew what we were dealing with.

  "Orange, what’s with the troops? There weren’t that many of you earlier. Are those the reinforcements?"

  The brute of a Gebradim replied with a strange looking smile.

  "We call reinforcement while you do the thing with that other Human. There were a lot of Gebradim soldiers on the surface, but still fighting at entrance to cave. More and more Gebradim loyal to the Queen are arriving. There are also special officer troops on their way here."

  "Can your people hold them off until we kill the Queen? And how much further in is she?"

  "I think we can hold maybe one Earth hour, but if we do a good job, much longer. It depends on how many of my own race takes up arms for our cause."

  "Good, I think we can work with an hour," I replied. I didn’t see any reason why we would need longer to kill one creature, even if she were the size of a planet.

  My words got lost as we stumbled into a massive, cavernous area, easily the size of two or three stadiums from back on Earth. It was almost as brightly lit as if we were standing outside under the scorching sun. Enormous, and probably ancient stalactites hung from the ceiling, looming over us like a stalking death. A crunching sound hit my ears as I stepped on a patch of blackish soil. I looked down to see what it was, but I had no idea. The closest it resembled, was burnt wood, tiny chips that cracked under our feet.

  At the center stood a gigantic blob of a creature which I assumed was the queen. She was massive, no, humongous, easily dwarfing any living thing I’d ever seen. The queen had no real shape, just a gelatinous mass that wobbled, most similar to an octopus with hundreds of tentacles and appendages that danced around a round center.

  "Devil, how big is she?" I asked, interested in the exact measures.

  "The ship’s sensors show her as three hundred yards across and a hundred in height. Approximately, of course. Why?"

  "Oh, nothing. I mean, she’s only the size of a planet compared to me, so it’s no big deal."

  "No worries, master. She can’t move because of the size. You have an advantage," Khepri said. "And your left arm should do well against the creature."

  I looked down on my tapper and noticed the reload time at thirty seconds.

  "Why isn’t it fifteen anymore?" I asked curiously.

  "Because it needs longer to compress the energy used for destroying living matter. Actually, it would be better if you saw it for yourself. Have a look," Khepri offered.

  "Sure, show me."

  "I’ve tried to show you as easily as possible. The reload is different, depending on how we need to compress the materials or energy. The first two ammo types are created from the surrounding sand, rock, metal, and other nearby materials. The Hellfire ammo, which I hope you’ll like the name as I’ve come up with it myself," Khepri chuckled, "Is created from the plasma stored in your chest. We can’t extract it too quickly, and too often, or your energy loss will be catastrophic."

  "So what you’re saying is that if I use the Hellfire too often, no matter how much energy I produce, it won’t restore?"

  "Yes, exactly," Khepri replied.

  "Why didn’t you say so right away? It’s much easier than trying to explain through your cryptic wording."

  "Pardon me for your being intellectually challenged."

  I stood there, annoyed by Khepri’s change of attitude. She sure had picked up some nasty habits from Devil.

  "Say, are you two dating or something?"

  "Wait, what?" Khepri blurted out. "What do you mean?"

  "Hah! Your snarky comments gave it away, sister."

  "You really think I’d date someone as nasty as her? Think again!" Devil growled.

  "Oh, you! How dare you talk to me like that! You can go enjoy your time on your own again from now on, you Devil!" Khepri screamed.

  "Shh, I had to! Or he’d annoy the shit out of us!" he pleaded.

  "Whatever, I got no time for your lover’s quarrel," I groaned and did my best to shut their voices away into the back of my mind.

  "Conqueror? Is everything alright?" Orange asked as he towered over me.

  "Yeah, sorry. I was talking to someone from up there," I replied, pointing at the ceiling. "From up in space."

  "I see, very well. But Conqueror, she is ready. Her troops will fire any moment now. I would recommend you first speak to her, as is custom so we can start fighting."

  "You are the Queen?" I asked as I took a couple of steps toward the blob.

  "Yes, Human, welcome to my planet," a deafening voice filled the room. It was as if the ceiling, walls, and floor all spoke in unison. "I was told you would be here soon. But I expected—more from you. You are so tiny, and you look so weak."

  "Are you sure you have the luxury to talk down to me, your majesty? Speaking of which, what are you the queen of? A beta planet? A penal colony? A hive of useless dark Gebradim?"

  Her whole body shifted by ninety degrees until a swarm of eyes and tentacles faced me. And God was she ugly, no she was the definition of hideousness.

  "I am the sister of our alpha Queen! The one which dominates all Gebradim Alpha and trillions of Gebradim warriors! Thousands of sta
rships like the ones you destroyed over our world!"

  "But you’re not her. He told you to obey me, didn’t he?" I provoked.

  She stopped flailing her tentacles around and stared at me, not a single eye blinking.

  "I don’t like you at all. You stink like a primate who just mated. You come to me so arrogantly? The deal is off. I’ll kill both of you, and the mind of this body once I’m done with you."

  "Mind? Of that body? Orange, what is she talking about?"

  "Conqueror, that’s not the real queen. Well, she is, but she’s not the real-real Queen. That’s just the extension of our true Queen on Alpha. She controls our Beta queen, who is half Gebradim and half Human. Oh, Conqueror, she is the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on, you must save her!"

  "This just became much more interesting," I whispered. "Orange, have your people kill all the defenders, and if there’s no one else to shoot at, put the hurt on that ugly bitch!"

  "You heard the Conqueror! Kill them all!"

  Hundreds of both small and large, thick and thin tentacles swarmed me as thousands of Gebradim launched grenades, shot bullets and rushed each other in melee. My mind kicked off into overdrive, reacting the best way it knew how. Using the slug thrower, I shot at the approaching tentacles, right along with a new Hellfire round. It struck the leading tentacle, the thickest of them all and exploded in a rain of napalm. Tentacles sizzled, as a stench of burnt meat filled the air. Dozens of tentacles caught fire and evaporated as the Queen thrashed her limbs around, trying to douse the fire, but it wasn’t working. The fires kept on burning until there was nothing else to burn.

  I put up the enemy rifle and charged in, firing at anything that moved. A supersonic shriek caught me in mid-stride, blowing me back and immobilizing my body momentarily. Numerous limbs struck and twisted all around my body, squeezing hard enough that I thought everything inside was going to get crushed.

  "Your limbs have gone down by 11 percent, while your chest has gone down by 9 percent. Free yourself quickly!" Khepri said hurriedly. As if I didn’t know that, I thought.

  "Activate Retaliation," I whispered, barely able to utter a word. Numerous tendrils exploded in blood and gore. The queen cried out again and withdrew momentarily. I tried to follow up with another incendiary round to the retreating limbs, but couldn’t as there wasn’t enough energy. I turned to a trench filled with dark Gebradim and released a hail of bullets, catching two in the head. The energy bar went up by half, so I kept on shooting and turned back to the Queen, releasing the Hellfire round at the last moment. She screeched like a banshee as the fire round exploded against her skin and spread all over her body.

  "Conqueror! We’re pushing the defenders back! But from what I was just told, a big group of dark Gebradim is inbound from the north!"

  I cursed at the bad news. We needed to finish this as soon as possible, but how do you go about killing something as colossal as this creature in a very short time frame? You had to chip away at her mass, so there was nothing else to do but put up a barricade to the north.

  "Push them back to the Northern entrance and hold them back no matter the cost!"

  "Yes, Conqueror!" He replied before throwing a grenade with each appendage toward the enemy line. Explosions rocked the cavern, showering us with dust and debris, body parts and blood. It took Orange only half a minute to crush the left flank and fold the line in on itself. The Queen harassed them with her tentacles and energy blasts, but they kept pushing. Now that her attention wasn’t fully directed at me, I jumped in to help the right flank, and switched to standard burst mode, lopping a projectile into a manhole and killing three of them outright.

  Black and brown Gebradim stormed me, but the orange and yellow troops formed a defensive line and held them at bay as I pushed the line together with them. An assault against their backs caught them off guard, forcing half of them to turn to Orange and his men. With the first task almost finished, I switched targets and sent a new round right at the Queen. She howled and released another wave of energy as it struck her, sending everyone, including me, to their knees.

  "Empathic attack," Khepri hissed. "She’s targeting everyone’s minds!"

  Just then I remembered what else I had at my disposal and rushed the queen, as my eyes roamed the energy bars. Everything was fully charged, including my energy blast. I came in close, almost hugging the beast, and ordered the attack. "Khepri! Energy Blast!"

  All four chambers located on my chest slid open, revealing a bright and glowing orb at the center. The air started crackling as the energy condensed right before my very eyes and shot out at the queen. She put her limbs and growths up, and in the way, trying to stop the skill from ripping her wide open.

  I looked down at my tapper and grinned, raised my left arm, and released another Hellfire. The sound was deafening from up close as the projectile exploded and opened a hole up in her side, but not before throwing me to the ground, covered with the gelatinous mass which was her body.

  "Orange! Don’t let anyone into the hole once I’m inside!" I shouted and dove inside, not waiting for a reply. The entrance slowly shrunk and disappeared along with me inside. I cursed for rushing in head first, but I was out of ideas against something this large. Then another problem surfaced. I couldn’t see shit inside and was barely able to move through whatever kind of sludge covered her insides. Worse, I couldn't get my hand up to look at the tapper.

  "Help me with the darkness," I whispered.

  "Then I need to take over again," Devil replied. "I can see in the darkness just fine."

  "Do it."

  I felt the armor writhe as it coiled around me like a serpent, readjusting. Slowly, my surroundings lit up just enough so I could see I was in a literal shitload of problems.

  "Use Decaying Touch," I ordered. My hand didn’t move, but I could feel a deep darkness stir in my right claw and rush right into her—meat, or whatever it was. The queen shrieked and stirred around me, over and over again.

  "You filthy—Human! He told me you were a nuisance, but I—didn’t want to believe! I agree! Make it stop!"

  But I wouldn’t. If she already tried to kill me once, what was to stop her from doing so a second time? Suddenly, the pressure around me lessened. My feet touched solid ground, and I could move my arms.

  "What’s happening?" I asked, trying to look around, but whatever was going on, it hadn’t progressed very far.

  "Her ‘flesh’ or ‘substance’ is decaying rapidly. I predict that at this rate of acceleration, she will be dead in seven minutes and four seconds," Khepri informed.

  "So, I can just sit here and do nothing?"

  "No. You will die in two minutes and one second. The air here is very limited, and you have no way of getting out. The only thing you can do is try to create a large enough open space to allow for some air to enter."

  "Or he can claw his way out. Why stay inside?" Devil commented.

  "Because the effect from his Decaying Touch will disappear before she would die. He needs to do it at least one more time."

  I focused on my surroundings and saw the now-familiar life stat appear. It was at 18,824 percent and dropping steadily. It must have started out at twenty thousand, I thought. I couldn’t help but think about games as well. In there, the characters we played with had health numbers and not a percentage. Was the added sign just something to try and throw me off? It sure looked like it.

  "Shoot the gun at the furthest point and protect my front from the flames."

  "Are you a fucking idiot or what? Do you even know the output of that thing up close?" Devil growled.

  "Do it!"

  "Blergh! Whatever. It’s your life."

  "Damn sure it is! And I want to see that alien beauty, so you better keep me alive!"

  The Hellfire round struck the furthest part of the Queen’s inside and exploded. The shockwave knocked me over along with the flames, scorching my armor. But I knew if I turned my less protected back to it, the damage would be even gr
eater, so I pressed it against her flesh.

  "Fuck! This isn’t how I thought this would go!" I cursed. I was a man, a tough man, but there was something about fire and burning skin that made me squirm. It must have been Cafka’s dead son and his flamethrower that was at fault. Cafka, oh you damned bastard, I’ll get you one day if I make it out of here, that’s a promise!

  Before long, the fire died out, leaving a massive hole that lead outside, along with a weakened outer wall. Using my chance, I turned around and slammed my claw into her tough outer skin. It bounced off as if I’d hit a ball of rubber. I struck again, but it didn’t budge.

  "Don’t her cries bug the shit out of you?" Devil asked.

  "Whose cries? I don’t hear anything," I replied, trying to pry the tough skin loose.

  Devil remained silent for a moment before he started laughing.

  "You’ve gone deaf," Khepri said.

  "What do you mean, deaf? I hear the two of you just fine."

  "In your mind, yes. Try to speak and listen to your voice."

  "Shit," I cursed, but there was no sound. "Is this permanent?" I asked, my voice laced with panic. "I can’t go deaf! How the hell am I supposed to lead from the front lines?"

  The two of them remained silent, obviously at a loss for words.

  "We’ll have to take care of that later. For now, you’ve got much bigger problems," Devil said. "I’ve just scanned three floaters that landed above us. The power readings aren’t as large as yours or the queen’s, but they’re higher than any of our Armament users, except for you or Gremory."

  "Fuck, just what I needed," I hissed and moved deeper inside and away from the outer layer, raised my gun and waited before I could shoot again. Still, there was no sound, except for pain and heat in abundance. There was enough distance between me and the furthest point that there was no more extra damage, but I could still feel it all through the thinned-out armor. Then it came to me. I needed food, but only good food from which I might recover.

  Trying to do as much damage as possible, I took off my last grenade belt and activated all three grenades, threw them at the three deepest corners, and rushed out the gaping hole Hellfire just opened up moments before.