03:12, January 1st, 2135

“This seems like an…odd choice of target for the Voidborn Queen herself to be involved.” Mirana remarked as their footsteps echoed in the darkness of the habitation dome.

The small cluster of buildings around the ‘welcoming’ area of the dome quickly gave way to a wide open space around them – one that gently sloped downwards to their left into a pit mine. They’d decided to avoid the well-lit paved road leading between the airlock and the refinery tower, choosing to wind their way across the rough gravel that naturally covered the planet. It helped them to avoid detection, but slowed their progress significantly.

Every so often an explosion or a firefight would break out in the distance, highlighting the fact that the SCI was still very much in this fight. As Kayden checked his heads-up display for what felt like the millionth time, he saw with satisfaction that the majority of the transponder signals from the marines were moving in the same direction as they were – meaning that they’d have a decent number of allies to help them with their attack.

“Why do you say that?” Kayden replied finally, focusing on Mirana.

“Your initial tactical analysis.” Mirana answered. “This does not seem like a strategically important world. Why risk such an important asset on an unimportant target?”

Anna nodded slowly. “She’s right, you know. There are dozens of habitation domes on this world – ones for residential areas, commercial areas, industrial refining capabilities…why would she hit one of the ones dedicated to mining?”

Kayden shrugged in response. “Maybe she thought it was important that she take out the SCI’s mining operations? If this turns into a protracted war, that might become an issue. We fight a war without raw materials.”

“That doesn’t make sense either.” Anna replied. “This dome is brand new, and it’s not even fully set up yet. If she wanted to reduce their ability to mine, she should have gone after one of the other domes.”

“Sure, but she doesn’t know it’s not set up yet.” Kayden countered.

“Maybe.” Anna admitted. “You have to admit it’s weird though.”

“I agree with Anna.” Mirana added. “Not knowing our target’s intent could be disastrous.”

Realizing they were right, Kayden nodded. “Once we kill her we’ll stick around for a bit and do some investigating. Maybe we can figure out why she was here to begin with.”

“Shoot first, ask questions later?” Anna joked.

“Something like that.” Kayden replied with a grin.

“Humans are terrifying.” Mirana muttered under her breath.

“Alright, enough chatter.” Kayden said, levelling his rifle ahead of him. “We’re almost at the tower. Based on the transponder signals it looks like some of the marines are already there.”

They moved in silence across the barren alien landscape for several more minutes, all while keeping a careful watch for any ambushes. When they finally reached the 5-meter tall grey chain-link fence surrounding the tower, Kayden took a moment to examine their destination. The steel skeleton-framed structure extended almost 200 meters into the air, with antenna on the top floor that seemed to almost reach the top of the dome. At regular intervals there were enclosed platforms, with an open-air elevator running along one side of the building’s rectangular frame. The bottom floor seemed to be much larger than the others, with an enormous sliding door big enough to allow heavy mining vehicles to drive in.

With a final glance around to ensure there weren’t any imminent threats, Kayden switched to a radio channel that he knew the marines would monitor before speaking as he emerged beneath one of the large floodlights they’d set up around the fence. “Friendlies, coming towards you from the north side fence. Don’t shoot!”

There was a brief pause before a female voice responded over the radio. “Understood. Are you the one Davis said would be coming?”

“Kayden Reynolds, at your service. Commander Duke gave me command over your unit.” Kayden replied as he flashed the command codes wirelessly over the channel.

“Understood sir.” The voice replied. “Head 20 meters to your left – we’ll open the gate for you and meet you there.”

The three of them followed the voice’s instructions, moving cautiously towards the gates. As they swung open he noted the presence of several makeshift barricades spread throughout the compound, all of which were manned by marines wielding heavy-duty cannons mounted on tripods. Further back towards the tower he saw several more marines welding steel plates to the sides of a bulldozer, as well as yet more marines patrolling the far edge of the fence.

Good. Kayden thought. These marines seem a lot better trained than Davis’ group.

A trio of marines jogged to meet them, stopping warily about 5 meters in front of their group. Kayden couldn’t help but notice that while their weapons weren’t exactly raised at them, they weren’t completely pointing downwards either. He wasn’t given any time to think about it though, as the leader of the trio stepped forward and identified herself.

“I’m Lieutenant Dare, sir. I’m the leader of Bravo company, 12th infantry. I understand that I have you to thank for saving Davis and his squad.”

“That’s right.” Kayden responded.

She paused for a moment before continuing. “I also understand that you’re going after a high-value target.”

“The Voidborn Queen.” Kayden replied. “She’s here somewhere, and we’re going to take her out.”

“You really think you can do it? She tore through a squad of some of my best soldiers like they were nothing.”

“I can do it.” Kayden said. “I could use your help though.”

“I really hope you’ve brought more than the 3 of you. Otherwise, we’ll just be throwing more lives at that bitch.” She replied.

Shaking his head, Kayden summoned his nanobot swarm for a moment. He deployed them in a cloud around him before sending a small electrical pulse through them, causing a blue lightning bolt to race through them for a moment. Seeing the way the marines gripped their weapons slightly tighter he quickly put a stop to it, returning the nanobots to his arm.

“There might only be 3 of us, but we’re… special. My friends can do even more than I can. Mirana here can deploy robots, and Anna can heal. Both of them are damn good in a fight too.” Kayden said.

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment before turning and waving them towards the tower. “It’ll have to be enough, I guess. She’s going to come here eventually, and there’s probably not enough time to raise a larger army anyways.”

“What do you mean she’s going to come here?” Kayden asked as they jogged to catch up with her, the two other marines falling in behind them.

“A couple months back, the miners here found something while digging. They couldn’t make heads or tails of it, so they set it aside for the eggheads over at R&D to look at while they paused mining that area. They never made it out here though – they kept claiming they were ‘too busy’ to come check it out, and then Earth got invaded, so…” She trailed off.

“I don’t get it.” Kayden said as they reached the door to the tower. “So they found something buried. How does that equate to the queen coming here?”

She opened the door to the tower and ushered them into a large open vehicle bay with bare steel walls. Off to one side there were several more bulldozers, along with an enormous mining laser mounted on the back of a trailer. On the other side there was a wall filled with tools, a workbench, and several fabrication machines. Further back there were several injured marines laying down on makeshift cots.

In the middle of the room was the device Lieutenant Dare mentioned. It was immediately obvious to Kayden why it was cordoned off by stanchions and rope – it was hovering and slowly rotating 2 meters off the ground and emitting a low hum, all while pulsing green lights traced patterns across its onyx-black pyramidal shape. He stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at it, head cocked to the side in confusion.

“It started doing that as soon as the Voidborn entered the system. The closer they get to it, the faster it spins and glows. That can’t be a coincidence. We think they’ve got some sort of tracking device that’s leading them here.”

Kayden nodded. “Any idea on what it does?”

“None. We know that the power readings it’s giving off are equivalent to a starship’s engine, but we have no idea where it’s drawing power from.”

“We should rig it to blow.” Anna suggested. “If she wants it, it can’t be for anything good.”

Dare looked at Anna. “I like the way she thinks. We tried that – it’s got the strongest energy shields I’ve ever seen on an object that small. It also seems to just…disappear whenever we tried to attack it. We were debating trying an orbital strike, but air support is in short supply right now.”

Anna nodded. “We could make that happen.”

“Here’s what I don’t get.” Kayden said, changing the subject. “If this thing is what they’re after, why aren’t they here already? They’ve been on the planet for a few hours now.”

“Our security cameras captured footage of those creatures digging near where this device was found.” Lieutenant Dare explained. “We think there might be more parts to this device and she’s digging them up now. Once she’s done though…” She trailed off.

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Kayden nodded. “She’s probably coming here. Which means we don’t have long to prepare.”

“Exactly.”

“Then we’d better get to it.” Kayden said, taking command. “Let’s give our guest a warm welcome.”

***

04:54, January 1st, 2135

“She’s almost in range.” Lieutenant Dare said tersely.

“I see her.” Anna replied, frantically inputting commands into her handheld tablet. “I’ve got the shot lined up.”

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Dare questioned.

Kayden chuckled to himself. “Anna is probably the best improvisational engineer you’ll ever meet – especially when it comes to weaponry. If anyone can make it work, it’s her.”

The 3 of them stood with Mirana at the top of an improvised platform that gave them clear sightlines over the fences. All around them, marines performed last-minute weapons checks as they huddled behind barricades. Behind them, snipers and spotters set up positions inside the tower, using the height advantage to relay tactical information to the rest of the marine company while picking specific targets.

“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Anna said, glancing up at Kayden from behind her helmet. “You just earned yourself an extra blowjob later.”

Dare coughed uncomfortably, making Anna giggle. She refocused on her tablet for a few more moments, lining a green targeting reticle up with the horde of creatures scrambling up the hill towards them. Their front ranks were made up of what must have been hundreds of human zombies, flanked by dozens more quadrupeds. Towards the back was a combination of snake and crab creatures forming a protective barrier around a purple-carapaced figure that they could only catch glimpses of.

“In range.” Dare announced, nodding.

“Firing.” Anna announced, jabbing the screen with one finger.

The enormous mining laser behind them hummed to life before shaking slightly. The tip of it glowed bright red, and from what Anna told them the laser would be hot enough to melt through meters of stone. The area around them lit up for a moment as the 2-second burst of energy flashed down the hill towards their enemies, hitting the front rank of human zombies.

The impact happened far too quickly for Kayden to watch. One moment there was a zombie shambling up the hill, and the next its entire torso had vaporized, causing its limbs to collapse to the ground. More than that though, the laser had penetrated through the front rank and performed the same feat for several creatures behind it, killing them instantly.

“Damn. Can we take this home with us?” Anna said as the glow from the tip of the laser faded.

Kayden laughed. “No. But we can build our own.”

“Promise?”

“Sure.” Kayden said. “Can you fire again?”

“Not right away.” Anna said. “We’re recharging now. It’ll take another 30 seconds, maybe a minute.”

“That’s fine.” Kayden said, turning to Dare. “Let’s get that second surprise going.”

Nodding, Dare reached into her belt and pulled out a black handheld device with a red button on top. With a deep exhale she took one more glance at the tablet Anna held before pushing it, causing a soft click to sound. For a moment nothing happened as they waited patiently for the signal to reach its target.

Suddenly, a set of explosions roared to life in front of them. It enveloped the Voidborn attack force, consuming them with flames and flying debris. An enormous fireball blossomed upwards, scorching the top of the habitation dome as it spread. The force of the expanding shockwave was enough to shake the chain-link fences, causing them to rattle ominously.

As the smoke started to clear, the purple-carapaced figure emerged. A cloud of nanobots surrounded her as she expanded the bonelike metal protrusions from her back to their full wingspan. She stood there for a moment before leaping high into the air, landing just inside the chain-link fence and using the sharp points of her wings to impale a pair of marines, killing them instantly.

“Fuck!” Kayden shouted. “Anna, take her out with the laser!”

Anna frantically began powering up the laser again, tapping a series of commands that caused the bulky machine to pivot towards the queen. The tip began to glow red in preparation to fire as it continued to turn, doing its best to track the queen’s movements as she darted between groups of marines. After a few seconds Anna made a frustrated noise, glancing upwards just in time to see the queen shrug off a barrage of projectile rounds before killing another marine ruthlessly.

“She’s moving too fast! I can’t get a good shot!” She said.

Anna barely got the words out of her mouth before Kayden leapt off the platform and raced towards the queen, deploying his nanobots in a cloud around him. He caught her just as she used her own swarm to eat through a metal barricade, exposing a trio of terrified-looking marines beyond. They levelled their own rifles at her and fired desperately but it wasn’t enough – she plowed through the gunfire before punching holes in their armour with nanobot-created blades, killing them.

The sound of Dare’s voice was suddenly in his ear. “Contact! We’ve got more contact! Voidborn forces coming from…everywhere! All directions!”

“Keep them occupied! I’ll deal with the queen!” He shouted in reply.

Levelling his rifle Kayden emptied his magazine at the Queen, the energy rounds glancing harmlessly off her powerful shields. She turned to face him just as he switched tactics, dropping the gun and using his genetically enhanced strength to pick up a large piece of metallic debris before hurling it at her. It sailed through the air before she swatted it away with one wing, a grin forming on her face as she did.

“Finally. A challenge!” She shouted before darting towards him.

Ali. Adrenaline rush. Kayden commanded as he closed the distance.

The now familiar feeling of time slowing around them enveloped him, allowing him to get a good look at his opponent. Her eyes pulsed with purple light and the tendrils on her head writhed as she moved towards him. The pale skin on her face was contorted into a sneer, and her bladed hands were held to either side. Concerningly, she seemed to move almost as fast as him – something that spoke volumes about how fast she truly was.

I need to end this quickly. He thought to himself.

Determined to keep as much distance as possible between him and his opponent he fired a stream of nanobots towards the queen’s legs, intending to encase them and hold them steady. To his dismay she easily broke free of them, tearing through the bonds before swinging one blade towards his head and forcing him to dodge and roll away. Before he could spring to his feet, one of her wings slammed into the ground next to him, the spike at the end of it embedding itself into the ground where his face was just a moment ago.

Deciding to change tactics he grabbed onto the wing with both hands before sending a pulse of electricity through it, hoping it was made of some sort of conductive material. Fortunately for him it was, and the resulting arc of lightning hit her spine a moment later. She cried out in pain, arching her back before tearing the wing out of the ground and back towards her.

Knowing that he needed to press his advantage he pulled on the wing with all his strength, causing it to groan and buckle. He managed to send a second short pulse of electricity through the metallic frame before seeing her turn, swinging her other wing towards him and forcing him to duck and leap backwards. The strike scraped the front of his armour, gouging the metal but leaving him otherwise unharmed.

Realizing that his adrenaline rush likely wouldn’t last much longer he darted forward again, forming his nanobots into a spear and thrusting it towards her chest. As it brushed the edge of her carapace he electrified it, shocking her and leaving a scratch that matched the one on his own armour. To her credit she recovered quickly, grabbing the shaft of the spear and bringing her forearm down on it. The metal weapon snapped in two, causing Kayden to leap backwards yet again.

The two of them clashed several more times like this – darting in and out of attacks, dodging and weaving faster than human eyes could track. Around them their nanobot swarms mirrored their own movements, with individual nanobots slamming into their opposition and self-immolating, destroying both of them in a sea of lights that looked like fireflies dancing in the night.

Squaring up to his opponent, he felt his perception of time suddenly snap back to normal. He noted with dismay that all he’d managed to do is damage one of her wings and scratch up her armour in a few places. His sense of dismay worsened when her nanobot swarm surrounded the break in the wing, welding themselves around it and healing the crack.

Suddenly she darted forward faster than Kayden could track without his adrenaline rush. Her hand enclosed around his neck and she held him above the ground as she brought the spikes on her wings towards him, hovering only a hair away from his body. She smirked as she shook her head.

“I expected more from you.” She said. “You barely know how to use your powers. And now you will die having never learned the true extend of what is possible with Synthesis.”