This Crusade burns with the fires of inadequacy, and I fear that I shall burn with it. I find myself contemplating retreat from a supposedly inferior enemy. That said, I know that continuing to force a war of attrition against these heretics will be the downfall of us and our Gods. The Great Enemy still stands and brings to bear more forces each day and has begun to press its way into our systems. I must throw myself upon the mercy of the Gods and beg their forgiveness and understanding. For what I am about to do may be considered treason, but I do it for the good of all.

UTHLANGA – FORMER HUMAN COLONY – CONTESTED TERRITORY

Dan was visited once again. It was the same alien, he was sure of it. Others did come, but they did not speak. They only administered medicines and collected data from the machine they had hooked up to him. The alien did not speak for a long time, choosing instead to stand in silent contemplation this time around. That was fine by Dan, its mere presence removed many of the discomforts that the aliens regularly inflicted upon him.

It had long since revealed its form and name to him. As far as he knew, the Avalon hadn’t assigned a proper name to this species. He hadn’t heard any briefings about them before he was deployed either. So either they weren’t common or were only recently seeing deployment, perhaps both. Either way, the tall, ridiculously muscled humanoid before him was very real and very threatening in appearance. Its body and limbs were nearly identical to that of humans, except that it had scales instead of human skin. And its head resembled that of a spider if a spider was covered in leathery scales instead of bristles. If Dan was pressed to put forth a single word to describe this species, it would be nightmarish.

This particular specimen was named Krekilesh. He was apparently in command of the forces on Uthlanga and had taken a special interest in breaking Dan. Dan could only guess that he was using it as a form of stress relief, as it seemed that Krekilesh was eternally unsatisfied with his orders and the performance of the armies sent to him.

It was strange, though, as he rarely seemed to place blame upon the rank and file. Choosing instead to speak on the inadequacies of the Slugs whom he referred to as ‘Gods.’ Though without the reverence a human might place upon that term when referring to their own deities. Perhaps that was because Krekilesh’s deities were very real and very prone to being flawed.

As the days passed, Dan felt as if Krekilesh was less trying to break him and more using him as a means to vent. Not that he didn’t torture him, but he had stayed true to his word, and when he was not present, Dan was subject to all sorts of uncomfortable scents, sights, and sounds. All at random times too. It seemed that whenever he actually managed to find rest, it was immediately interrupted by loud sounds or bright flashing lights.

Dan did recognize that this was all likely a ploy to make Krekilesh seem more sympathetic and like someone, he could talk to. It was clever, but he kept his mouth shut. He could feel his mind starting to slip, though. If anything, what was really getting to him was the lack of anything to do. Being strapped down and unable to move for days on end was the real torture. He wondered when and how the current state of affairs would end.

His thoughts came to an end as Krekilesh gave a very human sigh. “This is our last encounter Dan. I have done things that cannot be undone. Set into motion events that will shape the future of this section of the Galaxy. May the Gods forgive me and may your people understand.” With that, the nightmarish alien strode from the room, leaving Dan in darkness to question what just happened.

***

Some time later, Dan was awoken from the first good sleep he’d had in some time by thunder and flame-filled air. He choked on the smoke that began to fill his prison. Alien shouting and rapid footsteps came from beyond the now broken door that had previously contained him. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he could assume that wherever he was being held was being assaulted by Avalon forces. If they prevailed, then he would be able to go free, provided they didn’t kill him on accident with a wayward explosion.

As he thought that, his cell rocked again, and he screamed in pain as the explosion ripped him from his restraints and slammed him into a wall. He whimpered in agony as he curled into a ball in the corner he’d found himself in. He had slammed into it face first, and he was pretty sure that his nose was broken and, from the feel of it, a few of his ribs too.

With considerable effort, Dan shoved the pain aside and pulled himself to his feet. His limbs at least seemed to be functional. He knew that the aliens had spent some time putting him back together after he’d taken his tumble down the mountainside. They’d wanted him intact as a vessel for one of their gods, after all.

That being said, days of being unable to move had left him weak and his limbs unresponsive. He fell to the ground again. It would seem that in spite of the immediate danger, he would have to take his time. He stood up again, much more slowly, and used the wall as a support. He was unsteady, but he managed. A few basic stretches and a little bit of walking, and he felt ready to go.

He carefully shoved aside the partially open door doing his best to not scream as agony shot through his ribcage. The passage outside his room seemed abandoned for now. He heard the sounds of battle coming from his left. He was in no condition to fight, so he turned right and began to walk. He would have to try and find a weapon of some sort. Preferably the equipment that had been stripped from him. Some first aid supplies wouldn’t hurt, either.

He tried opening the first few doors along the passageway as he walked past, but to no avail. Whatever mechanism locked them wasn’t visible. He imagined that it involved some sort of wireless identification system. He wasn’t well versed on the ins and outs of the technology that the aliens used. He knew the basics about their weapon systems and armour, but that was it. Things like how their doors worked weren’t really something that had been covered in his training.

He quietly continued down the corridor, continuing to check doors as he went. It was at the twelfth door that he finally found some luck. Another shudder ran through the building, and the door he’d been trying to open came loose. He smiled at the good fortune and gave thanks to his allies that were assaulting the base. He entered hoping to find something of use and was greeted by a sight he hadn’t expected to see in the slightest.

The room itself was massive, less of a room and more of a small hangar. Inside was a suit of powered armour, not entirely unlike what he was used to seeing on Kipouen, though much, much larger and clearly more advanced. He’d done the minimum necessary training to use the armour of his homeworld, but he’d never advanced further due to his aptitude for sniping being a far rarer find for the military. That being said, it wasn’t like he hadn’t been decent with armour when he’d been training with it. He wondered how it had gotten here. Presumably, the aliens had captured it somehow.

Dan inspected the machine, admiring its design as he did so. It was styled to look like an old-fashioned knight, like in some of the movies he had seen portraying medieval Earth. Though its armour shone a bright white with golden accents rather than the grey of steel. The aesthetic of the design was certainly wasteful from a certain point of view, but he imagined that seeing one of these striding into the thick of battle would boost the morale of the other ground troops. So in a way, it did serve a purpose.

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More importantly, it looked to be in working order though its onboard weaponry had quite clearly been left emptied out. The point defense laser systems seemed to be in working order, though, unless there was damage he couldn’t see. He wouldn’t know for sure until he turned it on, though, if he could at all. The model was unfamiliar to him. It was apparently a ‘Lancelot’ class based on the labeling within the cockpit embedded within its chest. He might have been more familiar with it if he’d been with the Avalon Fleet longer, but as it was, he could only hope it was similar enough to the powered armour he’d trained on.

He climbed in through the open breastplate which was itself large enough to hold him. It was far larger than the powered armour he was used to. Those smaller suits had been designed to amplify the user and provide a powerful protective shell, whereas this machine seemed to be closer to a human-shaped weapons platform. The machine was in a sitting position, but the ceiling of the room looked to be tall enough to hold it. He’d just have to hope there was enough room. He’d need to be able to maneuver at least a little bit while he found a way out.

When he settled into the chair, the shell of the suit began to close around him. A visor presented itself from the side, and Dan took it, securing it to his head. After a short bootup sequence, he was presented with a heads-up display not unlike what a typical infantry helmet provided. However, it seemed he had much more potential information at his disposal. From the full loadout of ammunition he held, which currently was none, to a variety of short-range sensors that were much more powerful than could be packed into even a specialized sniper kit.

Dan was briefly distracted as he felt relief from his pain as the armour recognized his injuries and injected him with painkillers and medical nanites. That mixture would at least keep him alive and conscious long enough to get out of this situation. Provided he could find a way out.

Dan brought his attention back to the HUD and began to examine its wealth of information again. The thing that drew his attention the most was a small display widget at the corner of his vision. He focused on it, bringing it to the fore of his attention, much like he would with any virtual rig.

Pilot Psychic Imprint Compatibility: 98%

Psychic Matrix Synchronization: 32%

Dan hadn’t heard of a Psychic Matrix before, but given the size of the mech and the significant lack of physical controls, he decided it must be how the thing was meant to be piloted. He decided to test his theory and thought about standing up. The mech was currently in a sitting position, and he figured getting it on its feet would be a good start.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. Dan frowned in frustration and tried to think about the sensation of standing up instead. This time an explosion rocking the bay distracted him. A small chunk of the ceiling fell down onto the mech, and he felt it. Not like he would if something actually hit him, more like the distant echo of the same sort of sensation.

He latched onto that feeling, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Synchronization percentage begin to rise as he willed the mech to stand. He could feel the complex strands of artificial muscle move within the massive machine as if they were his own flesh and blood. He could feel the sensation of the mech standing, and as his Synchronization with the machine’s psychic matrix climbed, he could feel more of what his HUD was showing him. The empty ammo clips, the brimming energy within his reactors, and the sights afforded to him by his sensors. The outer walls of the facility were thick and shielded. They worked as designed and blocked many of his sensors, leaving him unable to see what was happening outside.

By contrast, he could quite easily see what was happening inside the facility, and he had already identified what looked to be a contingent of Avalon soldiers slowly working their way in. He also identified what seemed to be a squad of alien soldiers headed his way. He would have to learn how to defend himself quickly, as they were seconds away.

Dan tried to move forward but quickly found that the Lancelot had been anchored in some fashion to the floor. His plan had been to simply sweep aside the incoming alien soldiers with the mech’s oversized hands. However, that was clearly not going to work since the soldiers could just stand at the edge of the room out of his range. That meant he would have to use the point defense systems against them.

There were four half-sphere laser mounts arrayed in the area around each shoulder. They had been placed to allow coverage of the front, backside, and top of the Lancelot. They were able to aim downwards as well but could not shoot straight down due to their orientation. Dan didn’t see that as much of an issue, even in the current circumstance. If anything got that close, they would be within melee range of him anyways.

All that being said, knowing that he had lasers to work with and figuring out how to get them to work was another thing entirely. Dan watched as the aliens continued to advance closer and closer as he frantically tried to access the weapon systems.

His initial attempts did not go well. He had a hard time ‘feeling’ the weapon systems as there wasn’t really an analog from his own body to fall back onto. It took some time, but he managed to connect to the lasers though he could sense his direct control was limited. It seemed like these were mostly meant to be automated. It was, of course, at that moment that the aliens began to spill through the doors. They had no time to recognize their mistake as the beams of invisible light lanced out and erased them from existence.

Dan reached down to rip off the cabling that powered the electromagnetic clamps that held him stationary. He would be free of this prison that had caged him for too long now. He stepped forward, feeling the power in his limbs. He felt as if nothing could stop him now.

The lasers in his backfired into the wall behind him, carving into the wall. When they had completed their work he swiftly turned using the momentum to power a kick that sent the wall tumbling down along the seams he had cut into it. The light of Uthlanga’s sky shone into the building as signals began to bombard Dan’s communication array.

The computers aboard Lancelot immediately began the digital handshakes required to verify itself and join the local tactical network. As it did so, Dan strode forth into the open air. It appeared that this base had been built into the side of a mountain and that he was very high up. The wartorn land stretched as far as he could see.

The devastation that had been visibly wrought upon the land reminded him of the countless days being left on the brink of death as his senses were assailed at every opportunity. He turned to face the place that had wrought this injustice upon him and felt filled with resolve to destroy it, totally and completely.

Dan’s thoughts were interrupted when the Lancelot finished confirming its identity with the tactical network. “Lancelot pilot, we have come to retrieve that unit and all prisoners held in this base. Remove yourself from the combat zone immediately and rendezvous with a retrieval team at the following coordinates.” An unknown authoritative voice gave out the command quickly and succinctly as coordinates began blinking on a map of the local area.

Dan shoved down his desire to wreak his own vengeance and turned away from the alien base. He replied to the orders in the affirmative knowing that disobeying them wouldn’t help him. He would escape for now. There would be plenty of opportunity to make the aliens pay for what they’d done to him later.

He hadn’t really cared about this war so much before. Sure he wanted to help his fellow man, but it hadn’t meant much to him personally. He’d been just fine sniping the enemy from a distance without much thought. Now, however, it was far more to him. If this was how they treated their prisoners, then he could only imagine the gruesome deaths that had befallen so many civilians. He’d read and heard about some of it, but it had never really registered until now.

Dan loped down the mountainside at a steady pace, putting distance between himself and the alien base, and steadily made his way to the rendezvous point. He also kept an eye on the battle through his link with the tactical network and was happy to see it was progressing smoothly. The Avalon Fleet had brought in quite the force to liberate the prisoners from the base, which apparently included the Lancelot he was now piloting.

He guessed that it was some sort of advanced prototype since he’d never seen anything like it before. It would explain why The Fleet would want it back. That wasn’t his concern at this point. He just had to get it back to The Fleet. He could feel exhaustion begin to overtake him at the thought of finally being able to rest. He did his best to shake off the weariness and trudged along to his destination.