The ground seemed to almost split, the walls shaking and pieces of concrete coming crashing down.
The soldiers and militia scattered, the lights of the facility flickering with a blinding intention. The Captain swore under his breath before running outside, John followed hot at his tail, bursting through the steel doors, Xen ignored the cries from his lieutenant, and several cadets to halt and was thrown onto the street when the pressure doors finally became ajar. The smooth paved roads were lined with frightened citizens as outside the town great walls was an armada of the likes never seen before, it was a violent array of collective robotic ships, to the point where the skyline was dotted with rows upon rows of transports, the clouds had become alive with mechanical beings, they stood, legions upon legions of robots, hovering above the town and the surrounding area. The army was so potently massive you could see tears line the faces of a few soldiers, and the sound of the humm of engines cascaded through the air, so many it seemed the entire sky had come alive, the humm the sound of its deathly breath. A hive swarmed overhead, sweeping down upon the masses with unrelenting fury.
The exterior forces of the Archius were not fleeing inside, their hearts were pure, the anti-air guns and machine gun encampments being furiously manned. Unaware of what was going on, Xen swore under his breath and looked up into the sky.
The streets were in complete chaos despite the fact only one laser beam which knocked out the settlement’s communications array had been fired. Xen barked orders to his loyalists and soon order was put to the town, civilians ushered inside and guns trained on the aviated enemy while they awaited a decisive course of action. Ellis and Shaw hobbled outside, each carrying blasters in their hands.
“Our weapons, where are they!” Ellis cried.
“In that gatehouse” Julain responded pointing to the concrete enforced reception house located next to the steel blast doors.
The three rushed forward and leapt over the sidewalk to bang on the door. The door was quickly opened by a fresh-faced cadet who recognized them from before. Too scared or intimidated to question their actions he thrust their weapons upon them while keeping a watchful eye upon the sky.
Arming themselves with their famed blades and guns, the three returned to Xen, who was standing in the middle of the street, an awestruck glance filling his view.
“I’ve never seen so many, so many troops, there must be hundreds if not thousands of ships, their surrounding us, regiments, an entire army” he muttered
“How can this be? could you not pick this up on radar?” Ellis asked.
“I have no idea, they must have been cloaked, but even then our technology would have picked it up for sure” he responded.
“Well you are mistaken,” Ellis said while cocking a rifle
.” What do you think they want? John asked.
“You,” the three said simultaneously.
John gulped down a strong feeling of regret as he saw the grand visage of ships piled in the fluffy white clouds, this could mean the end. Swallowing his pride he stalked forward and glanced at the communication array, no help would be coming anytime soon.
From the swirling fleet of death which circled them above, three ships broke off and plummeted towards the from of the gate.
Once their steel landing legs hit the golden sand, a silent hiss could be heard. Behind him, John saw a squad of thirty Archius soldiers take to the streets their guns trained on the gigantic door as the rest manned the anti-air cannons and stood upon the thick wall.
Xen waved his hand vigorously and the gate closed, three meters of thick tempered steel sealing them from invading ground forces. Unable to see the landing party approach, they walked inside the gatekeeper’s shed and scanned his camera’s which visualized a group of sixty drone soldiers with two T-451 Enforcers.
This was a military rassemblement that was strong almost enough to take out the entire town itself. The sheer size of the army in front can be seen by the fact that only three of the thousand ships were enough to take out its foe. It was overkill, a single and plain fact that tactically the settlement and its inhabitants would and could not possibly win.
Xen starred in horror at the enemy he faced and waited until the landing troop had become a meter away from the steel gate before he approached the wall. His troops had formed a barricade behind the entrance, guns trained at the opening while shielding themselves with the cover of sideways speeders and APCs.
On the electronic screen a T-451 could be seen to raise its gigantic metal hand to knock on the door three times, each time the sound rang with increasing pressure and precision, the terrifying echo parading through the hearts of those who were inside. Metal bent and sparks flew but the gate held.
Xen ordered his men to stay in the barricade before he himself approached the gate, his bulky and elegant armour was dwarfed by the immense size of the enforcers and it was dubious as to whether or not a single punch from the robots iron claw would not tear like paper through the steel layers. Pressing a button on the intercom located a few meters away he shouted into the microphone.
“This is Julian Xen, Captain of this settlement, please state the nature of this attack”
There was a moment of crippling silence before a hazy robotic voice made a reply, its voice was strange, not as reserved as the former droids who were lower to baser functions but had an underlying residue of snide cruelty.
“Your settlement proves insufficient in repelling even our slightest attack, hand over the human named John Taylor to us untouched within three minutes and we will spare your lives and your town, if not we will take this settlement by force and leave none to tell the tale”
Julian looked shocked, his face confused, his eyes lit up with a hounding emotion of fear.
John shuffled towards the screen as he saw a series of pictures the robots had patched in with the sound; they were photographs of him, a lifeless blob of jelly floating in a mess of preservatives.
“There is no human named John Taylor among our society I am sorry” Xen replied, a brave action, but a foolish one.
“We have recognized his genetic signature in your area, he is within your very walls, it was unwise to lie to us”
Suddenly several of the hovering vessels sprayed out a torrential wave of repeated attacks, scarring the buildings and blowing unleashing violent carnage towards the masses of innocent citizens of the town. Once the dust and smoke had cleared the mutilated remains and dishevelled buildings cascaded upon the dirty path. Fire swept through the ruins of three houses, their charred remnants basking in the bright star’s glow. John wiped the sweat off of his brow and looked at the bloodied remains of three buildings as his stomach churned and tore with anguish.
He had caused this, his actions taking the lives of all of those people, he saw their chewed up faces, their blood sprawled across the pavement and looked up into the sky to see his enemy, to see the power it had amassed, and he shook with grief, there was no hope, no golden way, an army of this size would pick the desert clean before letting him escape, and the carnage, the piles upon piles of dead, would haunt him for the very few seconds he saw the light of day.
A robotic voice pipped up from the intercom as the soldiers scurried to quench the flames, the anti-air guns were waiting for Xen’s command, patient and ever trusting to be able to see an enemy lash out with such ferocity and still hold their ground.
“That was just a short blast from one of our weakest frigates, its power was enough to kill twelve of your people, and decimate three vehicles, release John Taylor alive or you too will suffer the same fate”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
He knew they weren’t bluffing, knew the cold heartless robotic reptilian eyes of the swine who piloted the craft would decimate all who dared to stand in their way. They could take the town, sweep in and sweep out sparing the citizens, but lives don't matter to them, only the lives of collective citizens counted and although the garbage planet is held in the core of their own society, its people are but the rats on the marble streets.
The vermin of a high ideology which would like to cleanse its glorious blood and its ways of any connection to poverty. When a collective child looks up into the sky, from its beautiful garden or elegant mansion when its slender eye crosses sight of the garbage planet, it stands back in disgust, it scoffs at the sight and wishes the planet would simply disappear, not help the people, not turn its wastes to a grand society embellished with honour, dignity and peace, but simply fade into the vast emptiness of space.
Taylor let his boost smush into the dust as he silently drew his pistol, switching to the stun setting he shot the three guards, Qwen and Ellis, so fast, if you blinked you would have recalled in puzzlement, the four paralyzed humanoids crumpled to the ground in milliseconds.The last thing they saw before they were immobile, the swirl of John’s gun among his thin finger, but he didn't have long, he knew if a fight was to happen, they would need their strength.
The two guards on the street looked at him with horror, unseasoned soldiers who were already half scared to death by the measly display the enemy had so graciously provided. The rest of the soldiers in the blockade looked at him as if he was a crazed maniac and were about to blow his head off faster than if he were a roach crawling out of a ventilation duct when John cried out a single sentence.
“I am John Taylor”
The men and women of Archius understood, they saw the people paralyzed on the ground were unhurt and they could comprehend what would happen next, his friends only paralyzed from the mouth down watched in horror, as the guards let him pass, you could tell from their vacant emotions they screamed for him to stop, beckoned for him to come back and find an alternate, find a way to escape the situation, but they knew, you could tell beneath the layers of emotion, they could fully grasp the parameters.
The Archius guard looked at John with a final judge of respect before they stood still and straight raising their armoured hands in a firm salute, John could even see a tear sliver down a young Sargent’s eye.
We lucky few, are we who die in battle and can know our sacrifice was with reason, know our final actions, our final draw of breath was with valour and that from it our valiant hearts will inspire others from legend to come. The gatehouse guard saluted John as he left, and John saluted back, Xen was squirming on the ground, the short blast startling to wear off,
“NO, STOP HIM, STOP HIM, HE WILL DIE, HE WILL DIE YOU HEAR ME, HE WILL DIE” he screamed.
“I was destined to die Xen, don't you understand, once we reached Archius this was going to happen, the only difference is now I have no choice, I was a dead man walking, a corpse out of balance, fate caught up with me, and now, it doesn’t matter if I didn't save as many, or if I live as happy a life, or if I ever see the beautiful sun or open my own eyes again after this day, I saved lives, I saved you all, and I did one way or another what you wanted me to do” John breathed.
“John no, noooooo” Ellis roared.
His loyal soldiers cast a sad glance upon their commander but continued to stay in a saluted form their eyes now fixated on John, all twenty-four had decided at the exact time they would disobey orders, for they saw the truth, death would ride upon their people with a blazing hell fury unless a single man was left to perish. John approached the intercom and placed his hand upon the dirt red button. The AI was counting down, it had almost reached three when Taylor’s calm voice penetrated the speech.
“I am John Taylor”
There was a moment of silence before the computer responded, it was beaming, its cynical voice teaming with a visage of glee.
“Voice recognition complete, personnel identified John Taylor, human age 24, blood type A, serial code 2918218381038561.
“That's me”
“Welcome Mr. Taylor, please be ready to be taken into custody by the drones and escorted back to your loving home on the Orbiter, remember, due to long-standing contracts with Earth, you are our property and based on the fifth amendment and paragraph seven of the signed charter you have no rights and resistance is illegal, we look forward to working with you in the future. Here at the immortalis project, all duty is sacrifice”
John pressed his hand slowly upon the door release hatch and those behind him, raised their weapons, they were no longer paying him respect, but preparing to stare into the cool iron eyes of their peril. Then with one final look he tore his head back and stared at the flailing bodies which were his friends, they were so desperate, so powerless yet so defiant against the stun, but he could see no other option, even with the libraries of the worlds jammed into his head, even with the pistol strapped onto his side and even with the blood of comrades to aid his fight, the army which hovered not a few hundred meters above would shake the earth and crumble mountains, they would destroy, envelop and raise the ground until nothing but mud, steel and blood caressed the lands.
“Goodbye,” he whispered.
The sound of the dreadlocks jutting open and the gate raising sounded through the air. The wind lightly touched John’s hair making it flicker and rise while he stood.
As his foot touched the rim of the wall’s exit, a sharp cry was hollered from behind, he could see the regiment stand ready, they had parted to reveal a handcuff carrying drone in the lower ranks, behind a series of tanks, speeders and assault craft showed a panoramic view of the arsenal of war which had been deployed to capture one man. It was terrifying, but John was brave, he was prepared, he was prepared to die, he was prepared to be tortured, to be stuck in the maze for years, has his mind wiped of his identity, have himself killed and another with his own body take his place. He was prepared to feel pain, and he would face it for as long as he could.
“Good luck Mr. Taylor” a sergeant hollered.
“May the gods have mercy on your soul,” another said.
“May the sky bless you” a private yelled.
“Mr. Taylor, it was an honour” the last of those who spoke barked.
John spun around and looked deep into their eyes, he knew they meant the words they spoke.
Without a single word in response, he stalked forward and dragged his feet among the regiment. The drone’s horizontal visor slit that served as a pupil were all emotionless, the T-451 Enforcers which towered over him simply turning their heads to watch John, their vision uninterrupted and focus centred.
They lined up in parallel columns, at the end a single drone with a captain's insignia stood at attention, in his hand a series of shock binds. John walked up to the cruel macabre being and stared, he stared deep into the silicon mesh and iron body, stared and speculated, some could say a tear dribbled down the man’s slender cheek yet at the same time a sad smile danced upon his lips.
The robot stepped forward and did an emotionless movement breathing out a series of pre-disposed dialogue, yet this wasn’t the staticy voice of a mindless drone, this was the voice of something else, this had emotion, this had feeling, this had tension, its voice enveloped you with fear and an unbreaking tenacity, it wasn’t human, but still, it hounded at the gates of sentiency.
John had met robots like Sparky and seen the duality of their counterparts, he had seen with his own eyes how they differentiate between ones used as an iron hand and those who were unbound by inwired law. It was scary to think these inanimate objects were but a few meagre steps from being the same species as the soldier John knew and trusted. That if one was to cut the shackles, they would think on their own, be their own and fight for their own desires.
“Mr. Taylor, it is an honour, you eluded us for some time, a lot has happened since your time back at home, please come with me”
Taylor was about to place his hands into the steel handcuffs when his fingers darted for the strap which contained his gun.
The mechanica of metal was too fast and by the time his palm felt the cool pistol hilt, forty guns were trained on his head.
“That would be unwise Mr. Taylor, we can bring you back standing, or we can bring you back unconscious, the choice is yours” the lead robot responded.
With that John gave up hope, he placed his hands into the steel clasps and heard them lock shut, sealing him in their control for the time being, but what was likely to be an eternity. Once he heard the locks' vindictive click, he knew it was the end, he knew the journey had been vanquished, his hopes and dreams squashed and his only desire of freedom was to be revoked.’
The regiment then turned in perfect sync and walked, marching back towards the violent array of war ships and vehicles that had landed not a five-minute walk from them.
As John dragged his feet in the sand, hands shackled and moral tarnished, he looked back, spotting the thick walls of Ionus-Major and saw that over three hundred people lined the top, each one casting their eyes on him, their vision stung his back like daggers but as it made his hair stand on end, their final act of remembrance gave him hope, it both made his hair stand on end and kept his feet shuffling.
He could see Ellis’s face, he couldn’t make out emotion, only that it was staring at him, Captain Xen, and Qwen were also watching. Whatever horrors he faced in whatever dungy laboratory where atrocities were committed without hesitation, whatever evil or lunacy he encountered, he would prevail and a potent resilience would stand everlasting in his tormented heart. He was halfway to the furthermost tank when he decided to make his last stand, they didn't care about him anymore and with his friends watching even if they were but mere tiny blots in the distance standing on top of a towering mess of articulated steel.
Then John did the unexpected, his mind delirious from the sound of gunfire, his physique weakened by the crash, his body tired from a never-ending journey, he laughed. A long string of maniacal laughter was strewn from his parched lips to echo across the landscape, and he couldn’t, he couldn’t stop, it was hilarious, death was hilarious, and if he was going to go marching into the arms of defeat, he would do so with a smile spread across his bloodstained face.
He cackled and howled at the grand army which stood not a few feet from his position and roared at their immense weapons. He had given up, but John Taylor would not go without a fight or damned to the gates of hell he would be.