Codex entry No. 11: Code Red
Code Red refers to a faction within the One Earth Government which arose from the ashes of the shattered United Nations after the Intelligence War. The faction gained momentum as Mars was blamed for the wanton destruction that had broken Earth’s industrial base. The nationalism infused in the faction was a kind of redirected rage that helped pull the Grand Old World out of despair and back into parity with Mars.
Led by a trio of women who’d fought relentlessly to rebuild their influence after the war, Code Red represented some of the best and worst of Earth’s heritage as pre-war troubles were set aside and civilization was reformed from a world of nations to a single, unified planet like Mars or Venus.
Code Red launched it’s attack on Titan almost twenty-years after the Intelligence war. The unprovoked move was one of several which were taken against Mars. While the attack on Mars was a colossal failure thanks to the robust Martian Defense Grid and the seasoned military personnel available from the last war, the attack on Titan was touted as a huge triumph on Earth.
Media outlets reported for months how Martian treasures and secrets would soon uplift the lives of the people and bring about the greatness that Mars had plucked from Earth’s grasp. Of course, these were mostly words. Studies have shown no real standards of living were changed by seized Martian assets, and only marginal improvements were made in military technology as Earth’s production facilities could not replicate the work of Mars without incurring great expense.
While it has been argued that historians today are still too biassed on the subject of this group due to the relatively recent place it occupies in history, there are some early conclusions which have been arrived at. Code Red did little to uplift Earth and its people. Inevitably Code Red’s actions led to a likely permanent mistrust of the Earth people within the solar system.
----------------------------------------
Chapter 12: “What Slept in the Dark”
“There has never been a more ill conceived plan in human history than the Intipedes. That said, I’m not handing them over, Governor,” James Arthur Maine to Governor Theodore Goode on Venus.
----------------------------------------
No, no, no, I thought to myself as I pivoted on my heel to face the doors of the halted elevator and dig my gloved fingers into the groove between the doors to start forcing the metal panels open.
You know what these are? Zeus asked as I shoved the doors apart as the hiss of acidic spit on metal flooring hissed behind me.
Bugs, I replied shortly, the answer Venus came up with to fight you. Sadly for them, their experiments turned out to be a little addicted to human flesh. I thought they were a ghost story my uncles and aunts told us until now.
The elevator, I discovered, had stopped so that only the bottom half of the doors were clear of the door frame. That was all I needed though, and I dove through the portal head first, skidding across the floor on my belly for an inch or two with the screech of metal on metal before I scrambled to my feet and took off down the hall I’d dove into at a full sprint.
Zeus was focused on other things though, asking, How did I not know the Venusians had a program like this?
Because Venusians are shady little bastards who have more genetics labs and money than sense, I replied, only half-kidding as I slowed my pace and turned around to make sure I wasn’t being followed. I didn’t see anything, so I allowed myself to walk through the halls and started looking along the walls for one of the security boxes that were placed through the vault in case of a sudden intrusion by enemy forces… Or apparently also an invasion of genetically enhanced super-bugs with acid spit, bullet resistant shells, and a taste for human flesh. I’ll be honest, looking back on that event I think the latter case is probably more a reason than the sudden intrusion from the outside.
Zeus, never one to let something go, grumbled, Apparently I have some reading to catch up on next time I am on Mars. Are these things common knowledge?
More like an urban myth, I explained, at last finding one of the guitar-length boxes and placing my hand on the scanner to open it, think more big-foot or the Loch Ness Monster.
My heart was hammering in my chest as the latch clicked open on the security box. A breath of relief escaped my lips when I saw the contents, two rifles and two side arms with six magazines for each, were untouched.
Taking one of each weapon, I pocketed all of the ammo and tried not to think about how old the weapons were or when the last time they were serviced was. I didn’t have time to strip either weapon down, nor a safe location even if I wanted to.
Activating my thermal vision again, I saw red-orange pinpricks getting closer as they scuttled along the floor, telling me that I was being hunted.
Okay… What did Aunt Anna say these things were weak to? Er, cold? Extreme cold, blast them in between the plates, don’t let them get on or near you, and definitely have superior numbers, I tried to recall, struggling as I never was one for scary stories as a kid.
We could always just run, Zeus proposed.
They’ll just follow us, and if the others are in a safe location or hidden we don’t need to bring these things to their door. First we deal with these two bugs, then you are free to cheer me on while I do some very vigorous cardio down the many flights of stairs between us and the residential levels. I decided as I quickly ran a quick check as best I could over my borrowed weapon.
The box, in theory, should have kept the weapon in good order. However, as with any institution, when bureaucracy was involved there were a lot of things that didn’t quite support the theoretical notion of how things should have gone.
Checking around me I verified that I wasn’t being flanked before retreating a few steps from the corner and taking an angle more favourable to fire at the bugs as they rounded the corner.
My heart drummed, and childhood fears bubbled up in me despite Zeus’ best efforts. The mental image of these things had haunted me as a child and given me a life-long fear of insects and spiders. While I had learned to confront that fear with force rather than retreat from it, I knew it brought out irrational thinking in me. Irrationality was death more often than not in engagements, and while there was nothing I could do to eliminate my fear outright I did rely on the breathing exercises I’d learned as a child to keep myself in a sound enough state of mind to fight even when panicked. Every soldier had some version of that technique, but mine was tied to breath and controlling air as it filled and left my lungs.
Overclocking is ready, should you need it, Zeus offered.
I silently accepted his statement, but kept my eyes and my attention focused on the corner where the hall from the elevator met the hall I was in then through the sight of my rifle.
Thirty-Two standard rounds, concentrate on the spots where the plates meet for maximum effect, I mentally reminded myself, and don’t be afraid to fall back.
Though I was far from tapped out, on the contrary I felt great, I had a- Well, a feeling that I shouldn’t waste too much time. I was needed elsewhere.
Zeus, can you boot up and orient the motion tracker? Maximum range, I requested.
On it, Zeus noted, then informing, there are two bugs headed towards you, but a total of thirteen that I am detecting. They are all converging on our location.
Thinking back to my run, I remembered I passed one of the fire escape doors and with a nod I advanced down the hallway and snapped around the corner as I willed the Overclocking program to engage.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Time crawled and the ping of each of the nine rounds that I sent down the hallway pinged in my ears as the firing pin struck home. The rifle, twenty years out of date, was proving itself no less lethal than when it was factory-new.
All nine rounds travelled down the hall to the point of the creature I’d chosen to strike through my scope. Its segmented, shining carapace made a kind of hood around a maw of ugly green liquid, likely the caustic spittle that had burned through the elevator. There were no signs of eyes. Just a single, large, ferocious hole set on dining on fillet o’Thomas.
My fifth round, a tracer, travelled down the hole after the first four and before the last four bullets, lighting up ever so slighting the many rows of teeth beyond what I could see through my scope. The creature recoiled, pausing ever so briefly before it continued towards me at a steady pace.
Only a few feet behind it was another of its kind, but clear on what I likely needed to do I pulled the trigger and held on tight as I began emptying the rest of my magazine down the first creature’s throat from forty yards out.
With a twitch it stopped moving, and collapsed on its many insectoid legs to the floor. Its long body halted a corpse oozing the blue gel of its innards onto the floor as its still gaping maw trickled out acid spit onto the floor and started eating through it.
I didn’t let up though, and started my advance again, heading towards the second creature as I cycled my empty magazine out for a fresh one. The moment I had my weapon back up at ready I emptied my magazine again, backing up a few steps to keep the rounds flying into the creature’s mouth. The back end of this one popped like a balloon and blue innards sprayed all over the hallway, but it too was dead and as I cut off the overclocking program I again cycled my magazine and ran towards the fire escape door.
Entering the darkened fire escape, I turned on thermal vision again and was pleased to see no other signatures. Still, I cautiously made my way down until I was on the same level as my quarters, and more importantly the armoury.
It also occurred to me that I’d left Greta and Artemis in my room. Well, it occurred to Zeus anyway who pestered me as I drew nearer to my room, Artemis is an asset we can’t risk losing! We need to check her status, we need to-
I stumbled back as my head flew back after something had impacted it. My hand shot out any way, grabbed onto a cloth lapel of a dress coat, and I used my muscles and the person’s body weight to twist my wrist to get a better grip and pull myself back upright once again before jamming the barrel of my rifle with my other arm into the person’s stomach.
Looking at me terrified was Greta, whose grip around a pipe loosened before she let it clatter to the floor.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked her before mentally asking Zeus, Why the hell was she able to hit me?
Zeus was silent and a feeling which I interpreted as embarrassment crept into my mind. I decided I’d deal with him later though and focused back on Greta.
“I- I- I woke up, and there was a voice! I have a voice in my head!” She whispered, “I’m crazy!”
I chuckled, releasing her and patted her on the shoulder as I said, “You actually are not crazy. I have one too. It's artificial intelligence. Apparently Mars has quite a few of them, they just aren’t normally for Sneaks, Jarheads, Joes, and Janes like us.”
She gave me a disbelieving look and I tried, “Ask the voice if her name is Artemis.”
Greta’s eyes widened and she nodded quickly.
“That was it- Well, she introduced herself as Artemis! She’s real?”
There was a pleading look in her eyes, but I crushed her hopes of potential returns to normalcy with, “She’s real. She used to be partnered with Dean Winters. Robert Castle paired you off with her to save her life. Don’t dwell on it now though. Why do you have a pipe as a weapon? There are security boxes all over this place.”
Greta answered, “They’ve all been empty when I’ve found them. The armoury was cleared out too… I think this place is being evacuated.”
With a frown, I wondered where everyone could’ve fallen back to and then I remembered the lowest levels, the ones with the Temporal Tracer and the old Maine assets.
I fished for my side arm and handed it to her along with the spare magazines I’d picked up.
“If you see a long, giant, black-plated centipede, shoot down its gullet and don’t let its spit get on you. It’s acidic,” I advised, turning and then adding, “and listen to your A.I. She is your friend. What happens to you happens to her.”
That last part seemed to make something click for Greta who nodded and followed me back to the stairwell.
Now, I’m not one to complain but I really wasn’t happy about having to hoof it down forty-odd stories. Stairwells are not fun places to have a firefight, and I had to look out for an unarmored, poorly equipped, frightened girl with no night vision and no ear protection.
I know it is risky, but it may be better for us to stash the girl and find help to escort her with, Zeus proposed.
The safest place she can be right now is with us. Besides, there should be another armoury about half-way down. I’ll get her some equipment there, if any is left. I suspect the further down we go the older the equipment will be, I guessed.
Zeus lifted my mood slightly when he pointed out, If so, then you may find a suit of Trinium-3 Maine Combat armour. We could likely rework it to resemble the armour that you lost during the alteration process.
That brought a small smile to my face. While my current armour was fine, I trusted Trinium-3 more and preferred the lighter weight. Comfort was another issue. My former armour was customised for me in every way. The armour I was travelling down the stairs with was just giving me a rash in all the wrong places.
My dreams of Trinium were interrupted though by the tell-tale clittering of many legs on concrete. I stopped and halted Greta with a hand before looking around and finding that on the underside of a stairwell three floors down was two bugs.
“Greta, there are two below us. They seem to be still for now, but they probably won’t stay that way. I’m going to go further down and draw their fire. I need you to stay behind me for now, and be prepared to run back up to the next level when I tell you to,” I whispered.
“Why are we going to run if there are only two of them?” Greta asked.
Without emotion I responded, “Because you don’t have any of the equipment I do and you can’t see in the dark like I can. We have to fight and we are going to give ourselves every advantage. Go halfway up the stairs. When you hear my gun fire, run up the other half and get to the nearest security box. You can join me after that and we can squash these little fuckers.”
With a nod she left me, and I crouched at the edge of the stairs. I stuck my rifle in between the bars and started lining up a shot and planning how I would manoeuvre the barrel to transition from one target to another.
Thomas, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is one behind you that closes from your six o’clock, Zeus informed.
There is a wall at my back. How could- I didn’t get to finish before I felt the floor beneath me drop out from under me and I tumbled down into the hole that had yawned open beneath me in order to swallow me up. I desperately latched my hand onto the edge of the floor and prayed it would be strong enough to hold me up for a few minutes.
The sound of sizzling made its way to my ears and I heard a bug scuttle out on the level I’d just been standing on. It did a circle around the hole, and I couldn’t help but feel everything in my body tense up.
Dangling by my fingertips I heard the bug responsible for my peril scuttle further up the stairs after Greta. Looking down below there were several centipedes waiting to shred my armour and dine on my flesh below. In a split second decision I dropped my rifle from my dangling hand and used it to gain additional grip on the ledge before hauling myself up. Once there, I drew my side-arm and bounded up the stairs as the sound of rifle fire popping off began.
I heard the sound of hissing acid on the floor and as I turned the corner I watched Greta hastily reload as the bug closed in on her location, still next to the security box from where she’d gotten her rifle.
Zeus interpreted what I wanted before I even thought it, time slowing around me as my body ran hot from the increased effort. I took two massive, quick steps and launched myself onto the bug, planting my feet and twisting my body so that I slammed its head into the wall, letting out a spray of blue blood. I didn’t let up and alternated several times between the walls with quick steps until the top half of its long body snapped off and wriggled for a minute before dying with a hiss of pooling acid on the floor.
Overclocking ended after that, and I felt more than a little drained.
I had to take us to level three, Zeus explained apologetically as I stumbled a few steps and blinked sweat from my eyes, those shells are quite strong from the outside.
Huffing and seemingly trying to suck in every drop of air I could from around me, I leaned on the walls and asked, What setting did you put level three at?
A ten minute burnout, Zeus replied, it was the best I could do. You may need a minute to recover.
Blinking sweat out of my eyes, I couldn’t believe the difference in cost between the third version of the program and just regular movement.
It’s like running a marathon, I thought as my chest heaved and Great approached me.
“How did you do that?” Greata asked, her eyes wide.
“Alterations,” I said between breaths as my intake of air started to normalise,”Think of it like a very temporary, very draining boost.”
“It’s- It’s very handy,” Greta asked, then asking, “Where did your weapon go?”
“Bug food,” I replied shortly, “the little bastards are smarter than I thought. This was a trap. They took down a section of the stairs.”
Greta shuddered a bit involuntarily at that muttering, “I don’t much like bugs.”
With a snort I could only respond, “I think that’s about to be a very common phobia on this rock.”