CHAPTER 24

2237

Rogue Planet Exoginos

Riley stood with his right hand soaked in blood, growling through his teeth between breaths. His eyes were wide, staring intensely at Isaac, who stood mere feet from him. All Riley could see were people he had never met before, trying to con him and steal the only thing he knew with certainty belonged to him. Riley had tried to be friendly, but the old man with the mustache had crossed the line by barking orders at him. As he stared from one person to another, he questioned why he should stop at one. He could end their threat permanently. The others were frozen in place, trying to process what had just happened. Riley turned his gaze back to Isaac.

Isaac’s heart was racing. His instincts were screaming at him to run, but his body wouldn’t move. It was one thing to watch the vilis die. From their perspective, they were monsters. This wasn’t a vilis. This was Captain Anderson. It gradually dawned on Isaac that he was the nearest person to Riley. He finally forced himself to step back, slowly retreating toward Bethany.

A twisted grimace formed on Riley’s face as he began marching toward Isaac. He had barely started walking when he heard a sound behind him, like a strong wind. He turned and saw a bright blue orb of light floating down to the ground. The light exploded into a blinding glow that forced everyone to shield their eyes. It faded away and, in its place, a humanoid being hovered four feet above the ground. Its entire body was covered in extremely fine metallic armor, which seemed almost skintight.

Once the light had faded, Riley lowered his arm away from his face. He frowned at the sight of the being, studying it from head to toe. The armor’s face was blank, suggesting no facial features. Riley took a step back then ran at the being, roaring. The armored being slowly placed its feet on the ground. When Riley was almost within range, the being raised its hand. Riley stopped abruptly with one foot in the air. He tried to move but it was useless. Some unseen force was applying pressure to every inch of his body, holding him in place. A thick yellow gel spread over his body until he was completely covered. The gel solidified and encased him in something resembling glass. Riley snarled, trying to break free, but the glass would not yield. The metallic figure turned to face Isaac and Bethany.

Bethany felt terrible unease as she looked at the armor’s blank face. She wanted to run, but the stranger had helped them by incapacitating Riley. Perhaps it was benevolent after all. She timidly stepped behind Ethan, followed by Isaac. Ethan stepped forward, his finger near the trigger of his gun.

“Who are you?” Ethan asked with a cautious look.

The armored figure didn’t move or make a sound. It was impossible to know where it was looking, if it was looking at all. It started walking toward them.

“Stop!” Ethan ordered, his gun aimed at the armored being.

The others also raised their guns, ready to open fire at Ethan’s command. With Captain Anderson gone, everyone recognized Ethan as the obvious leader, not only for his superior rank but also for his assuredness and combat experience.

“Stop or I will shoot,” Ethan warned, but his words fell on deaf ears. The being continued toward them, with no sign of slowing down.

Ethan took a few steps back. He felt sure that his gun was unlikely to even scratch the armor; it had just survived passing through a breach. He knew he had to try something regardless, and bluffing seemed like his only option.

“This is your final warning!” Ethan barked. “This ammunition is armor-piercing, and we have enough to punch a thousand holes in that suit.”

None of Ethan’s words deterred the armored being. He took a deep breath and fired the first shot. When the others heard Ethan’s gun, they all opened fire on the armor. Despite the onslaught of projectiles, the armored figure remained unfazed and continued toward them, the bullets bouncing off the armor without as much as a scratch. Ethan and the others backed away as they fired, but the armored being was advancing faster than they were retreating. It reached Ethan and flung him out of the way with a wave of its hand. The others continued shooting, but it ignored them. It reached out for Isaac and was about to grab his clothes when a bolt of lightning tore down from the sky. It struck the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked everyone off their feet, other than the armored being.

The armored figure stopped. It turned toward the explosion and saw a spiraling wave of energy expanding a few feet above the ground, where the lightning had struck it. The energy turned different colors as it spun. It continued expanding until it was about ten feet across. Then, from within the spiral of energy, a huge foot stepped out, followed by an equally enormous body. A seven-foot-tall man with muscles like granite and veins as thick as a hose stood before the breach. He was wearing camo pants with metal boots that had red lights. He was shirtless, with a metal spine grafted deep into his skin, running from his belt to the back of his head. The left side of his face was organic while the right half, including his eyes, was robotic. He scanned the area with his eyes, assessing the situation he had walked into. His eyes stopped on the armored figure and a wide grin formed on his face. He brushed his long hair away from his face with his mechanical arm and pointed at the armored being.

“Goliath got you,” he mumbled and took a huge gun from his back. He pulled a lever on the gun and walked toward the armored being.

The armored figure stood still, watching Goliath approach. It glanced back toward Bethany and the others and saw them running toward the Vindex in Machina armor. It turned its attention back to the hulking man approaching it. Goliath aimed and fired his gun, launching a sparking ball of red energy at the armored being. It moved swiftly out of the way. By the time it regained its balance, another orb was near its face. It ducked, narrowly avoiding the shot. The large man was now mere feet away. Goliath turned the gun and it rearranged itself into a massive hammer. He swung the hammer at the armor’s head. The armored being saw the hammer and raised its arms to shield its face. The hammer clanged against its forearms, knocking the armored being back. Goliath laughed. He spun the hammer around and raised it. The other side of the hammer released a burst of energy to complement the force the man already had at his disposal. The armored being again blocked the attack with its forearms. The force dropped it to one knee and, for the first time, it appeared vulnerable. Goliath raised the hammer further, firing with more thrust.

Ethan led everyone behind Vindex’s left foot before watching the armored being and Goliath clashing on the mountaintop.

“Hiding behind an enormous mech might not be the best idea, sir, given our present circumstances,” Evans said.

Ethan glared at him. “Can it, Evans. We’re not hiding.”

“Then what are we doing?” Bethany asked.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What the hell are those things?” Isaac blurted.

Ethan shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine." he turned his head to Isaac "It looked like that armor was coming straight at you.”

“I saw,” Isaac wheezed. “So you think it’s armor too? There has to be someone inside there. And that huge man… he’s human!”

“He looks human,” Ethan responded. “We don’t know what it is.”

“I heard him speak,” Bethany said. “He called himself Goliath.”

Evans offered his input. “I recommend we aid the human, Goliath, against the armor, whatever it may contain.”

“We should run!” Isaac shouted.

“Run where exactly?” Ethan asked. “We know almost nothing about this place. All we can do is stay out of sight.”

Ethan looked out from behind Vindex. Goliath was standing over the armored being with his hammer, pushing down on it. With a shout, the armored figure pushed itself up and threw its arms apart, releasing an energy blast in every direction. The blast knocked Goliath back, but only slightly. He regained his balance and immediately went after the armored being again. His hammer transformed again, this time into a gigantic sword. The armored being bent back as the sword swiped in front of it, a mere inch from its face. Goliath brought the sword back in the other direction but the armored being caught it, spun behind Goliath, and landed its first blow to its adversary’s back. Goliath fell forward, stunned. He shook his head and turned to the armored being, who was again hovering above the ground, staring at Goliath. It then dashed at Goliath with improbable speed and punched him in the face. The punch sent the giant flying, but the armored being did not stop there. It pursued Goliath and landed another blow before he could hit the ground. Goliath landed hard, bounced off the surface, and flew ten feet through the air before he hit the ground again and skidded on his face. He quickly rolled up to his feet, growling like an animal. He charged at the armor and slammed his shoulder against its torso.

Riley hadn’t stopped trying to fight free since being trapped in the glass. With every move he made, pieces of the glass were chipped away, and it began cracking around his arms and legs. The more it cracked, the more room he had to struggle. The glass around his fist finally shattered, giving Riley enough space to throw a punch. Each time he moved, it felt like his skin was being grated. He didn’t care. He threw another punch and broke more of the glass, finally freeing his entire left arm.

Ethan and Isaac argued about what to do next, while Bethany silently watched Goliath and the armored being. Everybody was so distracted that none of them saw Riley come up behind them. He approached the rearmost of the group. Ethan noticed his presence, stepped in front of Isaac and raised his hands to shield them from the bullets. Riley’s gun clicked, out of ammunition. He threw the gun at Ethan and darted at him. Ethan tackled Riley, wrapping his arms around his waist, and used his momentum to throw him several feet away from Vindex. Before Riley could recover, Ethan attacked again. He kicked him, punched him, then lifted Riley and threw him at the hull of the Vindex armor. Riley bounced off the armor and struck the ground. He groaned but wouldn’t stay down. Riley got to his knees, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. He snarled and charged at Ethan, but Ethan caught him with a blow to the jaw. Riley flew back and landed hard on the ground. This time, he seemed unable to recover. Ethan put his foot on Riley’s shoulder and aimed at his bloody head. Suddenly Ethan stopped as he heard sobbing and looked back over his shoulder. Bethany had Isaac’s unmoving body in her arms. Evans knelt beside her, doing his best to patch Isaac up. Ethan turned back to Riley, gritting his teeth. He closed his eyes, his finger creeping toward the trigger. He wanted nothing more than to end Riley right there, but he hesitated. He had known Riley once, and the madman he was aiming at bore no resemblance to the selfless soldier he remembered.

Goliath was on his knees, his organic eye swollen shut. He was panting for breath and trying to get up. The armored being heard Ethan’s anguish. It looked back and saw him standing over Riley. The armored being clenched its fist and released a concussive burst in every direction, knocking everyone down, including Ethan. Only Goliath remained on his knees. The armored being kicked Goliath down. It aimed its hand at him and the hand transformed into a cannon. Orange energy hummed from within. It leaned down toward Goliath.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” the armored man spoke for the first time. “The Children of the Corn.”

Goliath stared up at him for a moment, then laughed. His metallic arm hummed briefly, then released a blast of energy that spread out in a hundred meters radius. It knocked the armored man back and the cannon shut down. The armored man tried to move but his hand only jerked with a quiet clink.

Goliath wiped the blood from his nose and stood up. “You shouldn’t have held back,” he said.

Goliath held out his hand and his sword flew into it, handle first. He transformed the sword into a gun and shot it at the armored man’s leg. A magnetic ring wrapped itself around the leg with a hum. Goliath scanned the area, trying to find the spot he appeared from. He used his robotic eye and found the lightning scar. His eye glowed bright red for a moment, then turned blue. A powerful lightning bolt struck down from the sky and hit the same spot again. A breach appeared, the same breach as before. Goliath moved toward the breach, dragging the armored man behind him, still frozen. Goliath was only a couple of feet from the breach when the armored man’s fingers twitched, then his hands. He clawed at the floor, his fingers burrowing into the ground. Goliath felt the resistance and stopped to look back. The armored man froze the magnetic cuff, then shattered it like glass. Goliath immediately morphed his weapon into an ax and jumped into the air, bringing the ax down at the armored man. The armored man rolled out of the way as the ax hit the ground, then transformed his hand into a cannon and fired a blast of energy at Goliath’s face. Goliath was thrown back by the force of the blast. The robotic components of his face were shattered. He laid on the ground, twitching uncontrollably.

The armored man hovered over to Goliath and brought his face close to the cyborg. “Are you one of them?” he asked again.

Goliath could no longer see the armored man, but he could still smell him. He laughed. “We ain't done yet, traveler. It is far from over.”

The armored man grabbed Goliath’s leg and threw him into the open breach. The breach collapsed as soon as Goliath had passed through it. With Goliath gone, the armored man turned toward Vindex. Riley was standing over Ethan, ripping out his exoskeleton arm. Ethan screamed. The armored man began approaching them but suddenly stopped, unable to move. His systems were glitching, affected by his battle with Goliath.

Bethany pointed a gun at Riley. “Stop!” she cried.

Riley looked at her with a crooked smile. Bethany’s finger trembled over the trigger. She knew she had to shoot Riley before he killed Ethan, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She dropped the gun and ran at Riley, screaming. Riley grabbed her waist and threw her overhead. Bethany landed face-first and rolled onto her back. She groaned, holding her sides. She tried to stand up but could barely feel her legs.

Riley rolled Ethan over to face the ground. He grabbed the part of the exo-suit connected to the back of Ethan’s head and tore it off. Ethan screamed and immediately went into shock, spasming uncontrollably.

“No!” Bethany cried. She looked back at her gun and ran for it. When Riley saw what she was trying to do, he chased her.

The armored man tried to move his arm. He struggled for a moment, then started moving. He saw Riley running after Bethany and waited to see what would transpire. Bethany leaped at the gun, picked it up, and quickly rolled over. Riley was already on her. She squeezed the trigger, firing three shots at Riley, but none of the bullets found their target. Riley grabbed the gun and tore it out of her hand, then tossed it aside. He grabbed Bethany’s neck with one hand, staring into her eyes. Something there seemed familiar to Riley.

“Riley, it’s me!” Bethany cried. “Please…”

Riley tightened his grip around her neck. Bethany grabbed at his wrists, desperately trying to break free. Riley was too strong for her. Suddenly, he felt something gripping the back of his head. He looked behind and saw the armored man’s blank face staring down at him. The armored man lifted Riley off Bethany and threw him at Vindex. Riley bounced off the hull and landed face-first on the ground. The armored man looked down at Riley, then at Isaac’s lifeless body. He looked from Isaac to Bethany and reached out to her. Bethany cautiously raised a hand and grabbed his armored fist. He pulled her up to her feet. Black particles flowed out of his hands and spread over Bethany’s. She tried to pull her hand away but the armored man grabbed her wrist.

Bethany screamed as the black particles spread over her body, forming a silvery cocoon around her. The armored man took a long look at the shattered bodies Riley had left in his wake. He took a last look at Riley, then floated into the air, the cocoon flying alongside him.

Riley opened his eyes in time to see the armored man and the cocoon ascending into the sky. They exploded in a flash of light and disappeared without a trace.