CHAPTER 47 – NECESSITY
DATE POINT: MAY 12th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, INSIDE ANOMALOUS STRUCTURE
LIEUTENANT BRANDON “LOCUST” HERRERA
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Brandon cursed his options in firing lines, finding none that wouldn’t also endanger Jenkins. He floated there impotently as his foe mocked him openly. One half of the giant’s body was still covered by that blasted shield of scrap null matter, the other was blocked by Jenkins as he writhed between them.
“Forget about me… and kill Anubis… BEFORE... they send more!” Jenkins struggled out.
“Dammit I’m not abandoning you to die at his hands!” Brandon spat.
“You… may not have a choice!” Jenkins shot back,
Like hell I don’t! Brandon thought as he racked his brains for a solution.
“NOBODY ELSE DIES TODAY!” Brandon shouted and pulled Jenkins downward and out of the way.
In the split second he opened up, he exploited by firing into the now-cleared space. Anubis’ photonic shield flashed yellow before the giant’s mace stopped glowing and he hunched down and leapt at them.
With little time to react, Brandon was forced to break off the attack and pulled Jenkins back towards himself. Time seemed to slow as Anubis reactivated the gravity hammer, pulling Jenkins back towards his raised his null matter blade.
Brandon hastily wrapped the ensign in a null barrier right as the blade reached the apex of the swing. Satisfied that Jenkins was safe for the moment, Brandon unleashed everything he had including the last of his missiles from his left shoulder launcher. Anubis’ strike bounced back from the surface of the shield around Jenkins, knocking them back away from one another. In the final second before his missiles arrived, Anubis raised a barrier.
The explosion knocked both barriers away from one another. Jenkins' barrier skid across the ground after being forcibly expelled from the influence radius of his TK field. Brandon dispelled it then formed another to chase the runaway barrier before it skid frictionless away from him towards an inevitable crash once outside generation range.
A hit on his motion tracker alerted him that Anubis had recovered. Brandon opened fire on the incoming giant. Anubis was forced to slow its chase by redirecting itself into evasive maneuvers. The tip of Anubis’ mace glowed, and Brandon felt his suit get hijacked off-course into a violent curve as he was thrown into the deck below. He had one foci to fly, one to float Jenkins, and two fueling his barrier… he was running out of options as he moved the center of his TK field to best counterbalance the pull of the graviton beam coming from the hammer. He needed more power for flight...
Shit!
He switched power from one of the two foci supporting the barrier on Jenkins into a TK field as emergency alerts blared. His suit hit the deck to the sound of scraping metal as his neck whiplashed and he fought to keep conscious.
Anubis wasted no time and dove into an attack with his scythe raised high overhead. Brandon used a foci to hijack Anubis’ TK generation field to pull him into the course of his railgun and his rifle which he began to fire. Bullets whizzed past and bounced off the giant’s photonic shield, which now glowed a gratifying orange. Anubis twisted his strike at the last moment to try and compensate, and the scythe bit into the deck just to the right of his arm in a shower of bright particles.
Brandon felt the familiar tug of a TK field as his suit came into range of the one that pulled at Jenkins’ barrier. Together in the same field at last, Brandon juiced up the power and flew them upwards and away. Anubis pulled the scythe from the deck and slashed at his retreating form, but was expertly aborted as Anubis pivoted, leapt after him and slashed sideways as the gap closed between them. The first slash Brandon had dodged but the follow up lopped his rifle in half at the barrel nut. Frustrated, he threw the now-slagged rifle receiver at Anubis with a snarl before he ordered his railguns to fire to cover their retreat as he dumped all available power into their flight.
“You alright back there?” Brandon asked, grateful to see that Jenkins’ medstat icon was no longer in the red.
“I’ll be alright, I’ve got myself wedged in here now with your mangled gun arm. The nanobots stopped the bleeding and have me on the mend… thanks for saving me. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Nonsense, I wasn’t just gonna leave you to die.”
Now if I can just keep us both alive… He thought as he glanced over to his suit status display.
His lower left railgun arm was non-responsive and flashing red, damaged by the crash no doubt, and his heat sinks were near two thirds full. His railgun hoppers were worryingly low, too.
No rifle… no missiles, and just three working railguns… How the hell am I gonna pull this off?
His Q-comm crackled to life as if to answer as he fought to out-maneuver Anubis in their aerial duel.
“Locust, this is mission control, didn’t want to distract you with everything going to hell like this but we couldn’t avoid it. With HT one’s crew KIA and your suit status, Captain wants you to disengage and fall back with Jenkins. Reinforcements are inbound, ETA five minutes. Three full marine squads with tanks.”
“Negative, mission control, that would be inadvisable.” Brandon replied as they twisted through the air.
“Excuse me?! May I ask why the hell not?”
“Because if they get sent in to fight Anubis without heavier support they’re going to get themselves slaughtered.” Brandon said.
Anubis pivoted and accelerated hard to cut off Brandon as he curved to avoid the side wall. He felt himself jerk in his harness as he was forced to change course abruptly, costing him precious momentum. Anubis took advantage and pulled him off course with his mace right into a horizontal swipe of his null matter blade.
SHIT SHIT SHIT!
Brandon activated his barrier with his last two foci he breathed in relief as the surface deformed inwards slightly as it deflected the attack. He redirected one of the barrier foci towards strengthening the TK field to overpower the graviton hammer’s effect. As he started pulling away again, the inside of the barrier began to ripple, and light began to peak through it in brief patches.
What the hell? Brandon thought as he checked the system status looking for any signs of malfunction.
“He’s trying to seize control of the barrier!” Jenkins yelled over comms. Brandon’s eyes shot open in alarm, and he killed the barrier as fast as he could. His Q-comm pinged again as the barrier shredded itself apart into numerous sword-like shapes that curved through the air and then back to slash at him. He dumped all of his power and focus into flight to attempt to gain a lead on them.
“Locust, mission control, captain says to fall back and to lead Anubis into an ambush at the bottom set of doors of the outer corridor. New ETA is two minutes, they've stepped up their acceleration levels.”
“Kinda… busy!” Brandon replied as he desperately twisted his way through the air to dodge. His heat gauge climbed, and he started sweating profusely as he fought off a migraine from the mental strain.
“That’s an order, Locust. Fall back now!”
The speakers overhead once more barked out some unintelligible string of xeno gibberish as Brandon pushed all three foci into his TK field. Anubis seemed momentarily distracted before the assault was renewed. One of the flying null matter blades shot forward like a spear as the rest dissipated or fed themselves into it as it passed.
“We’re out of time! The last two times I heard that announcement we had reinforcements incoming!” Jenkins shouted.
“Alright! I’m getting us out of here! We have reinforcements inbound anyway.” Brandon replied over the Q-Comm.
The null matter spear gained on him as Brandon flew backwards to the doors of the chamber. At the back of the room a bright light flashed before it grew into a large chaotic ball of black energy. Brandon opened fire with his last remaining railgun ammo in a desperate attempt to save himself. Anubis’ shields began to flare as the rounds impacted, first yellow and then into orange. Anubis seemed intent to ignore the threat as he poured his focus into the null matter spear and the chase.
Brandon’s heart pounded as the spear closed in on him, matching his motions left and right as he tried dodging in vain.
He passed through the doors and banked hard to avoid a crash right as the spear arrived on target. The flattened pitch-black head bored through his chest armor into his cockpit and everything went white with pain. His suit barreled down the hallway and bounced and scraped against the wall as multiple alarms blared. Brandon fought back against the encroaching blackness as he felt the pain focus and localize onto his outer thigh.
“LOCUST! Talk to me!”
“Fuck that burns!” Brandon managed to get out as the painkillers flowed into his system. He winced as an inbuilt tourniquet tightened around his upper thigh.
“You scared me there bro, damn near squashed me too. Can you get us out of here?”
“Yeah…. I can make it. Managed to dodge a kill shot at the last moment. Got hit… in the leg though.” Brandon dismissed the medical updates and the damage report. He tried his best to dismiss the idea of weeks of bed rest and physical therapy as he struggled to stay focused and objective.
Lost another foci too. Shit. He thought as he powered up the TK field generator and the two embedded within the upper railgun arms. He released the breath he had been holding when they were lifted off the ground into a hover.
“Oh good, the generator is still working. Now let’s get the hell out of here.” He said.
“Did we get him?” Jenkins asked.
“Doubt it, sure as shit ain’t gonna waste our head start to find out….” Brandon replied as he flew them down the corridor while doing his best to ignore the pain in his thigh.
As they rounded the corner, a contact on his motion sensor shattered the small sense of hope that he had left. Brandon punched up the acceleration as much as he dared while keeping a close eye on the field stability reading and his heat sink gauge. His heart began pounding even faster when a second contact followed close behind the first.
“Locust, mission control. Looks like you’ve been wounded, what’s your status?. Did you manage to disengage? Marine squads have arrived and are setting up the ambush now. The inner doors are open and ready for you.”
“I’ll live, we’re evacuating now. We’ve got a head start on them, but there’s another contact following behind Anubis. Haven’t been able to see them to make a positive ID. We’re out of ammo, so the best we can do is play live bait.”
“Your orders are to lead them into the trap and then to immediately disengage and return to the Dirge of the Fallen for repairs and for medical attention.”
“Yes ma’am. Tell the marines… tell them to keep their distance at all costs and to focus fire on Anubis first. He’s got layered shields, but enough concentrated fire will break through. Also… he’s got some kind of ability to manipulate null barriers and to weaponize them. Bastard tore my barrier into shreds and shaped them into weapons and attacked me with them. That’s how I took this wound, I got hit by one shaped like a spear. Cut right through my armor too.”
The Q-Comm app crackled to life and snapped him out of it.
“What a nightmare… Alright, I’ll pass the word along. Looks like one of the gunships has a perfect bead drawn on the outer airlock doors. They’ll be ready. Oh, and the bottom doors have been rigged to open wirelessly now so just holler over comms and it will open for you.”
I hope it will be enough… At the bottom of the welling pit of despair he flew past the scene of Gardner’s last stand.
“Damn, Gardner took quite a few of them out with her, didn’t she? Makes you feel a guilty kinda lucky to be alive I guess… Hooray! We’re barely alive and we're on the run!” Jenkins ramped up quickly into a cheer.
“Yeah, we might have them thinking that they’ve won, but they’re running into a gunship ambush. Our people will get the justice they deserve, and those bastards will never know what hit them.”
“For Gardner then… and everyone else who died on this god forsaken op! Now you actually got me wishing we could stick around just to see them get pulped by the ambush party. Think they can pull it off?” Jenkins asked.
No. Brandon thought, before he decided to reply with more nuance.
“Let’s hope so, because I’m about tapped out on ammo and need repairs, so we’d be of no help. If we win someone will leak the vids and we’ll get to see it anyway. If they win, we wouldn’t want to be anywhere near ground zero for the response that I’d send if I were Captain.” Brandon replied.
He watched the giants slowly gain on them and accelerated harder in reply. He exhaled fully, finally, as he hit the last corner and began to slow down as he saw the open airlock. He rushed over to settle onto the deck in front of the airlock.
“I’m here! Pop the doors!”
The inner door shut, and the outer door opened to reveal a scene of efficient chaos. Marines worked hard to set up mobile cover panels and machine gun nests. Further back, three tanks worked to finalize their placements with regard to cover and angles of fire. All the way back, a gleam was visible off the pitch-black hull of a gunship which floated silently in the void outside.
Thank the lord for superior firepower!
Visions of the death of HT one’s crew hit his mind unbidden as he watched one of the hover tanks settle into position.
We’ve got a few moments… might as well use them to hopefully save some lives…
“All right, marines, let me tell you a few things about your enemy!” Brandon smirked as he began to speak.
MEANWHILE…
DATE POINT: MAY 12th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, INSIDE ANOMALOUS STRUCTURE
TECHNICAL SERGEANT VANESSA GARDNER
Stolen story; please report.
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Vanessa took one last look at the stalemate as Locust fought a tug of war with Anubis over Jenkins’ body. She took a deep breath and turned back over to look at Osiris.
“Very well, then I accept your offer, though I cannot promise I can get my people to agree to the alliance. I should be able to get them to at least consider your terms and to offer counter proposals.”
“We certainly understand the difficulty of the task we ask of you, and you will have all the help you will need. Your new body has been retrieved from temporal storage and is ready for you. Take heed to protect it and to treat it well, that body is… irreplaceable. We may have lost her personality aspect with the damaged servers, but her backup still exists aboard Nii’Baruu. Should it ever come to pass that she needs her body back, a replacement of some likely lesser form will be made available for you.”
“Wait… whose body am I being giv-“ Gardner began to say before her visuals blacked out and she found herself instead staring at a digital representation of a screen prompt.
BODILY CONNECTION ESTABLISHED…
BEGINNING KA UPLOAD… UPDATING DIGITAL ADVISOR… SCANNING EXISTING MEMORIES…
MEMORY SEQUESTRATION AND ENCRYPTION COMPLETE… KA UPLOAD COMPLETE… BEGINNING PERSONALITY ASPECT INTEGRATION… BEGINNING FULL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS… INITIALIZING IN 3… 2… 1
Vanessa’s eyes snapped open amidst an inferno of pain that roared from her spine to her fingertips.
NERVOUS SYSTEM INTEGRATION COMPLETE…
The pain slowly faded into pins and needles as she looked around and realized she was floating inside what appeared to be a null barrier, or perhaps some other type of highly distorted black energy field.
ARMOR DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE…
CYBERNETIC IMPLANT DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE…
NEURAL COMPUTATIONAL ASSISTANT DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE...
INTERNAL MEDICAL SUITE DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE… ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL… DISABLING SUSPENSION FIELD….
The chaotic black energy field surrounding her dissipated and she dropped the last few meters back to the ground. Instincts took over as she corrected herself midair into a perfect superhero landing.
“Heh. That was awesome.” She said as she began to inspect herself. All across her body she wore thick metallic armor decorated with precious gems and stones. In spite of the full armor set, she felt completely unencumbered as she tested it range of motion. She stretched her arms out as the last of the tingling in her muscles faded away. A pair of great gilded metallic wings stretched out alongside her arms causing her to do a double take.
“What the hell?” She asked as she tried looking over her shoulder. Her view was partially blocked by the bulky headdress built into the top of her hauberk.
That’s gonna take some getting used to. Later. Where the hell did they go? She thought as the reality of the quiet room settled in upon her.
No, no no! I’m not too late, I can’t be!
She immediately sprung into motion and began to run faster and with greater ease than ever before in her previous life. The maze of experimentation tanks loomed all around her. A quick look at one of the failed hybrids within with its odd proportions and cancerous growths nearly turned her stomach. It was some kind of godawful humanoid hybrid with plated chitinous armor and a stinger tail. She turned a different corner just to see more of the chaotic aftermath of the battle that had torn through the room.
Desperation filled her as she ran through a pile of dead hybrid beasts and did her best to ignore the horrid stench. In front of her was a melted and scorched table surrounded by a dead end circle of tanks, many of which were ruined or seemingly crushed nearest to her position. The gleam of a spear caught her attention. She looked down at her own weapons at her waist, a pair of sickle-swords, and promptly decided to recover the spear.
This must be Paul’s spear. Hopefully it will come in handy…. This must have been one of the places they fought the Hydra… no… the Naga I think Osiris called it.
She picked her way into the battlespace past the half-eaten bones of a massive severed neck towards the spear and alert for any danger. Right as she grasped the weapon in her hands, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled up. Taking no chances, she swirled around with the spear raised and a snarl on her face. Anubis hovered silently in the air over her several meters back with his arms folded over his chest and his weapons hanging on his belt.
“LADY ISIS? NO…. YOU MUST BE THAT ADAMU WHOSE KA WE CAPTURED…. WE HAVE ROUTED ONE OF YOUR WAR MACHINES AFTER DESTROYING THE OTHER. IT BROUGHT NO PLEASURE TO OUR HEART, BUT IT WAS NECESSARY ONCE IT BECAME OBVIOUS THEY WERE TOO GREAT A COMBINED THREAT. AN IMPORTANT FACT TO REMEMBER SHOULD YOU WISH TO PROVE… TROUBLESOME LIKE THEM.”
A horrid combination of relief and fear surged through her as the giant slowly lowered itself down from the sky, blocking off her only path of retreat.
So, they managed to escape after all… Good.
“NOW SPEAK, WHY DID MY FATHER SEND YOU BACK? WHY WOULD HE GRANT AN ADAMU THE HONOR OF INHABITING THE WAR BODY OF THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN HERSELF?”
Anubis settled gently back onto his legs and placed his hands on the hilts of his weapons.
“Uh… You must be Anubis.” She began before she kicked herself internally.
He can’t speak English. I can understand him, so the language memories should still exist. Now how the hell would I access them?
DYNAMIC MEMORY INTEGRATION IN PROGRESS…
RETRIEVING RELEVANT MEMORIES… ESCALATING INTEGRATION PRIORITY…
A mild spike of pain hit her brain as she felt a rush of memories and knowledge flow through her in a discordant jumble. Her eyes snapped open mere moments later as understanding flowed through her.
“You must be Anubis. I have been sent to make peace between our people and to help negotiate the terms of an alliance. We have mutual enemies and combined interests. Lord Osiris wishes to combine forces to defeat Set and eventually, Zeus and the Olympians.” The words seemed to come without trouble, though her pronunciation was probably horrific.
Even aided as she now was by access to memory, she struggled to wrap her head around a language without vowels. Likely would be for the near future, too. She maintained her hold on her spear as she stared him down. Instinct screamed at her from within that she must not break the silence, so she waited through the agony of uncertainty.
Always been great with practical things, technology… never so much with language… or conversing… or peopling in general…and now I need to somehow negotiate an alliance! I don’t think I can do it.
Ah, but if you only knew the depths of your knowledge and talents and truly believed in your words when you spoke them, the world could be yours to command.
… Who are you? A shiver went down her spine as she fought to keep her face neutral.
Never forget; you have been gifted the accumulated wisdom of a goddess who has lived many thousands of years atop all the fruits of your own experience.
O.. Osiris?!
Very Close! Clever girl. This program is a simulacrum, one which my dearest Isis had the techno-priests create to converse with when she departed our life together in the palace of the Duat to attend to her duties in the mortal world. The true Lord Osiris and Lord Thoth have updated my algorithms to be of service to you now.
What kind of updates? Gardner asked.
For one, the prior algorithm was rather… amorous in its speech patterns, tuned to her liking.
Oh.
I have also been updated with knowledge of the current severity of our situation and I am ready to provide support at a mere thought. You will never be forced to struggle through the burden of this mission alone.
A huge rush of relief surged through her.
Osiris seemed like he had kept all of his promises well. So far.
A sudden shift in Anubis’ posture snapped her attention back to the other conversation she was having. She watched as he slowly relaxed his hands away from his weapons.
“THIS IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE SCOPE OF OUR ORIGINAL ORDERS, THOUGH ITS LOGIC BEARS THE HALLMARKS OF THE WAY LORD OSIRIS THINKS. THERE ARE ALSO MANY PROBLEMS BEFORE US. THE KILLING OF YOUR SOLDIERS BY MY HAND WILL CREATE ANIMOSITY AND DELUSIONS OF REVENGE. YOUR PEOPLE HAVE KILLED NAU-SHESMA, DEPLETED OUR STOCK OF FOOT SOLDIERS, AND DESTROYED WHAT REMAINED OF OUR SERVICEABLE MINING DRONES. THIS FOOLS REWARD IS HARDLY WORTH THE COST OF YOUR STRONGEST SOLDIERS NOW LYING DEAD OR DEFEATED WITH YOUR WARFIGHTING POWER CRIPPLED. WE SAW THE SCARS ON YOUR SHIP FROM YOUR BATTLE WITH HORUS, TOO. DO YOU EVEN REALIZE YOU HAVE DESTROYED THE VERY DRONES YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE REPAIRS?”
Anubis returned his arms to being crossed over his chest.
“WHAT MAKES YOU THINK ANY OF US ARE IN A POSITION TO ACCOMPLISH THE AMBITIOUS GOALS OF THIS PROPOSED ALLIANCE? WE FIND IT FAR MORE LIKELY THAT THIS AFFAIR WILL END IN CHAOS AND THE NEEDLESS PERMANENT DEATHS OF EVEN MORE OF YOUR WARRIORS.”
So… he’s a little intense…
A perfect opportunity to practice convincing your own people. All you must do is see the solutions through the struggles and the pathway will become clear.
Solutions through the struggle huh? Vanessa took a deep breath and a thought occurred to her which blossomed into a plan.
“Ships can be repaired, wounds will heal, and anger will fade with enough shared sacrifice and struggle. The spare parts from one broken robot can be salvaged to repair another. Just a couple acts of goodwill between us can restore much of the damage of our conflict quickly. The rest of the mission will truly come down to courage, planning, and luck.”
Gardner lowered her spear and narrowed her eyes.
“Surely, if your king believes in the plan enough to send me, then you can believe in it too. I don’t believe your courage will fail us in the end, luck is a fickle mistress, and we can surely come up with better plans with your willing assistance. The real question is, are you in?”
The question hung on the air in the deafening silence that followed.
“OUR COURAGE WILL NOT FAIL US TODAY. WE SHALL PLAY OUR ROLE AND OFFER OUR ASSISTANCE TO YOUR CAUSE, DOOMED AS IT IS.”
A sound halfway between a huff and a snicker emanated from the metallic jackal mask.
“WE HAVE PERFORMED THE SHORT RITES FOR ONE GODDESS TODAY TO THE BEST OF OUR LIMITATIONS. WHEN THE LAST OF US FALLS, WHO WILL BE LEFT TO SPEAK FOR THEM?”
A shiver went down her spine.
“Then I guess it’s on us to live, and to make this plan happen. We can speak for ourselves when it is done.”
Anubis raised one hand overhead and Vanessa felt herself lift into the air.
“THERE MAY BE SOME HOPE IN YOU YET, WHELP.” His voice boomed as they shot down the corridor and her stomach lurched.
“NOW CLOSE YOUR HELMET, WE MUST FLY. NOT ALL SECTIONS OF THE STATION RETAIN ATMOSPHERE.”
Great! Now just how do I?
DEPLOYING HELMET
The moment she thought of it, doors popped open on the face of her armored hauberk. From inside the open headdress, pieces of a steel mask slid out and assembled themselves together in front of her face. A small choking feeling encroached upon her as the light disappeared between the closing seams. Her vision went black as the sound of pressurization hissed.
INITIALIZING VISUAL UPLINK
Suddenly, she could see once more in incredible clarity and the onrushing air no longer stung or bothered her.
Right. Intention based controls. Cool! Let’s try…
ACTIVATING VOCAL AMPLIFIERS
“ANUBIS! WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF THE BATTLE? LAST I SAW YOU WERE BOTH PULLING AT THE SURVIVOR FROM THE TANK WRECKAGE. DID YOU KILL ANYONE ELSE?” Vanessa asked.
Just how bad did things get while I was being… transferred… awoken? Arisen? What do I even call this?!
A wave of queasiness passed over her.
“THE SMALL ADAMU WAS SPARED HIS DEATH AT OUR HANDS AFTER WE FELLED THE THUNDER CHARIOT. THE WAR MACHINE FLED WITH HIM AFTER ITS OWN SOUND DEFEAT. WE FASHIONED A GREAT SPEAR OF CHAOS MATTER AND DROVE IT THROUGH ITS CHEST AS WE GAVE CHASE. IT WAS YOUR ARRIVAL AND OUR NEED TO ATTEND TO AMMIT THAT SAVED THEIR LIVES IN THE END.”
“SO, YOU MAY HAVE WOUNDED THE PATRIOT MECH PILOT AND JENKINS LIVED. THAT MIGHT HELP, THE FACT THAT YOU SHOWED RESTRAINT THERE AT THE END SHOULD HELP. I HOPE.”
“YOUR SPECIES WAS CAST IN OUR IMAGE, AND THAT REPRODUCES MANY OF OUR FLAWS. NO AMOUNT OF TIME OR SOCIETAL ADVANCEMENT CAN ERASE THIS FACT. THE HEARTS OF MOST MEN WILL HOWL FOR VENGEANCE UNTIL THEIR CRIMSON HEARTS ARE SODDEN AND HEAVY, UNWORTHY AND DELICIOUS. THAT VENGEANCE WITH THE FEAR OF OUR ATTACK WILL MOTIVATE YOUR PEOPLE TO WANT TO MOVE FIRST. A CHOICE FOR THEM TO INSTEAD STRIKE WITH THE BUTT OF THE SPEAR RATHER THAN ITS TIP IS A PALTRY REPAYMENT FOR OUR OWN PRIOR RESTRAINT. OUR CHANCES FAR BETTER FAVOR SEEING THE BLADE OF THE SPEAR BY OUR ESTIMATION.”
Cast in their image!? Know what? Not touching that one right now.
“FINE, POINT TAKEN, BUT WE HAVE THE GENEVA CONVENTION! WE CAN SURRENDER WITHOUT BEING HARMED AND YOU WILL HAVE IMMEDIATE LEGAL PROTECTIONS AS A PRISONER OF WAR WHILE I WORK TO GET YOU RECOGNIZED AS AN AMBASSADOR WITH FULL DIPLOMATIC PROTECTIONS! WARM MEALS, NO TORTURE, FAIR TREATMENT. PERHAPS HUMAN NATURE HASN’T CHANGED IN OUR HEARTS, BUT THE LAW CODES SURE HAVE. WILL YOU TRUST ME AND SURRENDER YOURSELF WHEN THE TIME COMES?”
Gardner nearly clipped a wall as they screamed around yet another corner at unsafe speeds. Anubis remained mute as her question hung in the air. She didn’t dare break the silence as her anxiety boiled over and the seconds ticked along. It all hinged on this, he would need to absolutely trust her or they would blow their shot.
“THESE ARE THE TERMS. WE WILL SURRENDER NEITHER ARMS NOR ARMOR. NEGOTIATIONS WILL BE HELD HERE ON BOARD THE DUAT WITH YOUR CAPTAIN PRESENT. WE CAN NEGOTIATE THE TERMS OF ANY POSSIBLE ALLIANCE AND THE RETURN AND RESURRECTION OF ANY OTHER CAPTURED BA AND KA. ANY SIGN OF TREACHERY, WE SHIELD OURSELVES, ESCAPE, THEN DETONATE THE FACILITY.”
She shot him a look in alarm.
“WHAT KIND OF TERMS ARE THOSE?!” Vanessa spat. Then the implications of the other bomb Anubis had dropped hit her.
“ARE THERE MORE CAPTURED SOULS LIKE ME ON BOARD?”
“THEY ARE THE KIND OF TERMS THAT WILL BUY US RESPECT, MOBILITY, AND OPTIONS. THE ONLY KIND THAT WILL KEEP US ALIVE. THEY ARE THE PRICE OF OUR COOPERATION DURING NEGOTIATIONS.” He replied coolly.
“ALL RIGHT! FUCK IT, YOU HAVE A DEAL. NOW TELL ME ABOUT THE OTHER SOULS!”
“MOST CAPTURE ATTEMPTS FAILED THANKS TO OLD, DAMAGED EQUIPMENT, AND THEY WILL EVENTUALLY DRIFT INWARDS TO THE RESURRECTION WELL AROUND YOUR PLANET, OR THEY MAY ENTRENCH THEMSELVES IN AND REMAIN LOCALLY. WE SUCCEEDED ONLY THRICE, ONE STAYED SILENT, ONE REPEATED LITTLE BUT ITS NAME, MILITARY RANK AND A REGISTRATION NUMBER, AND THE LAST IS YOU. ONLY YOU SPOKE WITH THOTH, AND THUS HERE YOU ARE.”
She blushed behind her helmet and found herself at a loss for words. The corridors were getting shorter now. Her attention snapped to the realization that she would soon have to face her own people and get them to quiet their guns.
“HERE I AM INDEED.” Despite the gift of power, wisdom, and near eternal life, everything still somehow felt like empty luck. Escaping death at a price just to find him there knocking at the door looking to collect when the payment came due.
Anubis set them down in front of a large, sealed blast door. She held her hand up to signal him to stop as she walked over to the electrical panel she had rigged up the override for. It looked so small to her now that she was tall enough to work the actual controls.
What in the world? She reached down towards the small cluster of devices wired into the wall.
That’s not my work… who re-wired this?
As soon as she touched it, the inner airlock door slammed shut and the outer door slid open as a rush of air blasted out into the void. She turned her head and her smart vision bloomed with dozens of outlines of new contacts and threat alerts.
THREATS DETECTED...
ACTIVATING HARD-LIGHT SHIELDS...
ACTIVATING COMBAT SYSTEMS...
Bright flashes appeared along the line and the air around her began to glow a hazy yellow. She raised both arms in alarm and began to shout.
“CEASE FIRE CEASE FIRE!“ She screamed uselessly into the soundless void as Anubis beckoned at her and her shield began to darken in color.
Why’d they have to ambush us out here!?
A tank shell landed in front of her and knocked her backwards into the door. Before she could recover, she was dragged toward Anubis as the ground around her began to explode as huge chunks were torn from the metal.
They brought a gunship into this!? She panicked as she was showered in tracers and her shield burned a fiery orange.
“WE’RE LEAVING! PERHAPS A CHASE WILL BUY US TIME FOR A NEW PLAN.” Anubis said through a radio embedded in her suit.
Moments later, they shot off through the air together after a gut-churning lurch as she changed direction and momentum.
That’s fine dude, just how do I work the radio?
A ghostly awareness of the elements of the radio system she could manipulate brought itself to her awareness. She smiled as she worked while thinking of what to say that didn’t sound bat-shit crazy.
That should work! She thought as she got the settings dialed in just right. Here goes nothing!
“Cease fire! I am Technical Sergeant Vanessa Gardner. My memories were copied as I died and have been transplanted into this empty body with a mission to seek peace! I have spoken with the station master and they wish to begin talks under a cease fire!”
The incoming fire seemed to slow and nearly stopped for a long moment. Then a tank shell exploded against her shield causing it to blare warnings in her vision about near-failure conditions.
“CEASE FIRE! STOP SHOOTING AT US PLEASE! SOMEBODY CONTACT MISSION CONTROL FOR ORDERS! WE NEED TO SPEAK WITH THE CAPTAIN!”
Vanessa shouted into the mic as they twisted and weaved about through the air to avoid the shifting streams of tracer fire.
“PERHAPS WE SHOULD THIN THE HERD A LITTLE, SEND A MESSAGE.” Anubis offered.
“Only if we wish to send the WRONG MESSAGE!” She sniped back while she wracked her brains on what to do.
Brandon. Where’s Brandon? He’d be able to help!
“Take us out of the structure altogether into space! I have a plan!”
“IT HAD BETTER BE A GOOD ONE THIS TIME.”
“It is!, I promise!”
I hope. She thought as they dodged the shrapnel from a tank shell exploding on the wall as they passed by. As they neared the colossal scar melted from the side of the facility, the last of the marines strapped themselves into their tanks and the first Rhino lifted off to chase them.