Through the Abyss

by Daniel Litchfield

  Three minutes later, using a direct link to the second team leader’s helmet, Emperor Indus watched Team Two exit their Transport and enter the now cleared bay. The Team Leader began shouting orders, “Start spreading out. Make sure you have….”

  BOOM!

  The left side of Indus’s visor sprang to life for a millisecond as a quick flash of blindingly bright light stung his corneas and then left him in darkness. Despite being a considerable distance from the bay, the blast nearly threw him off balance and caught his attention immediately. “Cat, give me a status report! NOW!”

  The RAI’s youthful face popped up, her distressed expression explaining the situation before a word was uttered. “Team Two is down,” The saddened yet still seductive in nature voice replied. “As is its Transport. Explosion origin unknown at this time.” The brief explanation meant one thing, someone messed up and Cat knew more than she was letting on.

  Balling his hands into fists as the fury swelled within, Indus punched the solid steed wall with all of his might when the pressure could no longer be contained; leaving a sizable dent. His euphoric high from punishing something unsatisfied, Indus stepped out of the stairwell looking for something with a heartbeat. Someone who could truly feel his anger.

  Without any equipment to assess the damage inside the bay, Emperor Lesos was left sitting blind in excruciating uncertainty. “Any idea how we did?” he asked, half sarcastically half nervously.

  GR GR K GR GR K GRK

  Harsh metallic grinding suddenly emitted from the Bridge’s door, sending the volunteer crew members scattering for cover. “Negative Sir. Even if we had the available power, the sensors are long gone. You’ll have to ask whoever is trying to break into the Bridge whether or not the explosion worked as intended,” GD32 replied.

  With noticeable sarcasm, “Don’t think they’d like that question very much,” Lesos responded.

  Knowing the time had come, Emperor Lesos boldly moved to the center of the Bridge. Gathering all the strength and courage he dared reach for, the humbled Emperor addressed the brave yet suicidal volunteers.

  “All right everyone, listen up. Words cannot express my gratitude to all of you for not letting me face this challenge alone. Yours is the spirit that will drive the Natron Empire to victory. But on that day, will we be remembered as martyrs and victims? Or will our courage here today be the rally cry for generations to come?!”

  “HERRA!” Every crew member shouted in unison.

  Continuing, “I need not remind you WHAT we are fighting for. I need only to remind you of WHO we are fighting,” Lesos paused for emphasis before resuming with twice the vigor. “Fear is outside those doors! Hatred is outside those doors! DEATH is outside those doors! And I don’t know about you, BUT I DON’T FEAR DEATH! AND I WILL NOT BOW DOWN TO THE EVIL WITH WHICH IT FINDS COMPANY!”

  “HERRA!”

  The crew hunkered down after their final battle cry, everyone determined to drag the demons trying to get inside into the void right along with them. GD32 stood next to the Emperor, hearing the words barely escaping his tongue; “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve each and every one of you,” Lesos whispered as tears rolled down his cheeks.

  The only one to notice the heartfelt comment, GD32 decided to use his final moments of existence to bolster a man he now truly admired. “Thank you Sir,” he whispered in reply, “Thank you for being a genuine human being. Thank you for keeping THAT at bay for as long as you did,” GD32 said while directing toward the door. “You will always be remembered as one of the greats, if not the greatest. I hope your kind is blessed with many more like you before your species comes to an end.”

  The RAI’s figure slowly faded away as the Emperor responded, “I hope so too. So long my friend. Until next time.”

  “I tracked down the possibilities of an intentional improvised implosion of the core. It’s possible that the blast could’ve been used to generate a power surge to send out a message. However, the available power generated by the implosion would’ve only been able to produce an insignificant amount of information before the pathway sealed. They got maybe a word or two out at best,” Cat explained.

  Satisfied, “If that’s the only reason, then it’s nothing to worry about.”

  While appreciative of the relative good news, Indus’s words still hissed with anger from the loss of his entire team. Stepping off to the side after exiting the stairwell, the Emperor nodded to the team leader.

  Seconds later, GO! GO! GO!” The command shot through everyone’s helmets with an excited sense of urgency.

  CRACK! POP! POP! CRACK!

  Concussion grenades ripped through the Bridge and intense gun fire erupted as the apparitions slipped into the Bridge and made quick work of its remaining crew. As the noise died down, Emperor Indus strode into the room, a mighty conqueror about to claim his prize.

  Assuming the only person brave enough to step on an Emperor was responsible for the pounding headache, “Hello Emperor Indus, a bit of an overkill don’t you think?” Emperor Lesos stated with controlled hostility as the armored boot pressed down on his skull.

  CLICK. CLICK. SSHHRRIISSHH

  The visor on the aggressor’s helmet unsealed and opened, revealing Indus’s menacing smile. “Don’t you mean goodbye?”

  CRACK!

  Chapter 2:

  The Test

  Ozark’s three moons, each with a thousand different personalities, glistened above as the Huron Capital Planet’s white dwarf star blazed high in the sky. Even during the day, the moons added to the planet’s luster. Like diamonds caught in orbit, each satellite threw scarlet, ivory, and golden rays from their appointed positions in the heavens. During sunrise, the star’s beams of energy collided with the color spectrum pouring down from the moons, creating a display of swirling neon lights dancing in the sky for all the spectators across the Galactic Group. It almost seemed that Ozark’s beauty should be its most important feature rather than the fact that it housed the Galactic Group’s richest and most advanced Empire’s government.

  Just as impressive as their light shows however, were the moons’s man made defense features to protect the crown jewel, Ozark. As the last line of defense, should all else fail to keep the enemy at bay out in deep space, it was critical that the planet could still defend itself effectively without Fleet Vessels to protect it. Each of the planet’s satellites housed intricate defense systems with prepositioned cannons and turrets littering their surfaces; all to ensure nothing got past them without first putting up one helluva fight. Known as the Web, the entire planetary system of Ozark was designed to work in unison, meaning Ozark’s planetary defense networks could coordinate their firing, regardless of their position in orbit, with deadly accuracy and horrific damage.

  The primary cannons on each of Ozark’s satellites were securely planted two miles deep into the ground in order to provide a sturdy enough foundation around the blast chambers. They were capable of firing rounds in excess of three tons with a top sustained speed of 3,500 miles per second. However, because of Ozark’s atmosphere turning every slug into plasma from the unimaginable friction caused by dense air particles, the planet itself had no dug in defense platforms. It therefore had to rely on its moons to provide the heavy punches. While disgustingly deadly when hitting a Fleet Vessel, should one of the cannon rounds accidentally hit Ozark or one of the other moons, it would be catastrophic on an unparalleled level.

  Defending against the enormous rounds was every Ship Captain’s worst nightmare. Designed to break into sections just as dense as the original slug when struck with enough force, the planetary defense projectiles could easily overwhelm a Fleet Vessel’s ability to track and destroy all of the shards of death. An enemy’s only way to Ozark’s surface was to abandon the safety of their large Fleet Vessels and use smaller fighters, like infantry, to take out the moons’s defenses. At that point, the surface turrets and missile ports on the moons took over to keep the smaller Ships and fighters at bay.
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br />   Ozark was the pride of its Empire and one of the most dangerous places for an enemy anywhere in the Galactic Group. It was the perfect target for someone with everything and absolutely nothing to lose. That someone was Euphretes. While he was endowed with a unique combination of vulnerability and confidence, he was not one to avoid a challenge. The more impossible that challenge seemed to be, the more determined Euphretes became.

  “Hey! Watch it!” A businessman on lunch break cried after nearly getting bull dozed by a tank in the guise of a human. The heavily armored figure who nearly tore the man’s head off stood in stark contrast to the attire of the city’s financial district.

  “Sorry about that!” Goliath’s voice shouted back as it ran for its life.

  The startled and confused business suit massaged his shoulder, thankful it wasn’t dislocated.

  “What was that all about?” a voice behind him asked.

  “Who knows. But based on all that gear and how fast he was moving, something is going down.” As if on cue . . .

  OOEEEEEE! OOEEEEEE!

  Deafening alarms broke out all across the city, sending civilians scattering for cover. “Didn’t even get to finish my lunch,” The business suit grumbled as he jumped off the sidewalk just in time to see police response vehicles barreling down the streets with sirens blazing.

  Captain Euphretes found himself nearing the finish line after frantically running over seventeen miles through the heart of the city and out to a quiet suburb to reach his rendezvous point. The plan had been executed flawlessly all the way up until the final phase of the operation, where a seemingly insignificant miss translation during the planning phase came back to bite him.

  Euphrete’s mission was to personally secure one of the enemy’s retired RAIs on the wait list for Retired Expulsion. It was one with enough sensitive information to give his side the advantage they urgently needed in the War to come. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a quiet escape ended up being a full-blown disaster with everything possible going wrong for Euphretes. With all of his longer-range communication equipment down after a hard landing, he was forced to improvise a daring escape and could only hope his small home team sent someone to the tertiary pick up site. Spotting the huge abandoned motorpool shuttle bay up in the distance, now highlighted in a flashing blue outline on his helmet’s visor, Euphretes slowed his pace and approached the tertiary pick up site with caution.

  The colossal grey building was shaped like an upside-down funnel with rusted landing bay doors circling around the sides. A lone bay entrance at the very top appeared to have been recently destroyed in order to gain access, giving Euphretes a tinge of hope that he would get off the planet that was now dead set on capturing him.

  “Where is it? Where is it?” He moaned as he jogged around the exterior in search of a way in. The building’s monotone color and decrepit condition made finding anything that stood out almost impossible. He was so sick of his run of bad luck and was just about to start climbing up to the one visible opening when,

  “Door. Three o’clock. Thirty-Six paces.”

  The voice, while slightly condescending about the fact that he couldn’t see the door, brought a sense of ease and comfort back to Euphretes’s racing mind. “Did I ask you for help?” He shot back to his mind space, his tone politely saying thank you while also jokingly calling it a cheater as he ran up to the hardly noticeable entrance.

  THUNK!

  CLANK!

  THUNK!

  “Of course, it’s locked,” Euphretes exclaimed with exasperation after yanking and pushing on the door with all of his might. Because no power was running to the abandoned motorpool, the vertically opening door was just another far too unlucky situation thrown his way that day. Euphretes drew a deep breath and sized up the door.

  “It’ll give.”

  He could feel the eyes of his enemy glaring at him as he stood vulnerable out in the open, “Hope this works.” … “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” …

  KERPLACK! … THUMP!

  The voice, clearly trying to suppress laughter, mocked him with a loving tone. “The door’s structural integrity is critical now. At least you got that going for ya.”

  Euphretes rolled his eyes, and picked his body up off the ground. “You aren’t helping.” The massive impact ruptured the door’s magnetic locking mechanism and broke time’s grip from slowly welding the door to the building.

  “And you aren’t escaping.”

  The verbal kick in the groin forced the first smile out of him since jumping out of the building blindly. “Not that today has proved otherwise, but how did that not give?!” He asked aloud after seeing the destruction his body, and the full kit of armor, had done to the door. Confidently striding up to the dented and battered entrance, Euphretes kicked through the last obstacle in his way with a thunderous blow. THRACK!

  SSWWOOSSHH! What felt like years of built up moist, compressed air rushed out of the gaping hole that was successfully created in the door panel. Euphretes cautiously stepped in and stared down a hallway that looked more like a passage into the underworld than a walkway into a rotting building.

  CLICK

  Euphretes’s helmet automatically turned on its image enhancing programs to allow him to see his way through the thick fog. No doors on either side and the considerable length of the hallway told him that he was in the enormous building’s prisoner and VIP entrance. Magnetic strips running down the entire length would have normally enabled small vehicles to shuttle individuals into and out of the belly of the motorpool. Luckily, Euphretes had more than enough energy to spare to make the trek. After making certain he was moving in the right direction, the eager Captain quickened his pace to a fast jog as his silhouette pushed further into the darkness.

  Euphretes was known to have a habit of always expecting the worst case scenario, so he approached the rear doors with his senses on high alert. “Hotel Sierra Foxtrot One Six, this is Hotel Sierra Foxtrot Five, come in. I say again, Hotel Sierra Foxtrot One Six, this is Hotel Sierra Foxtrot Five, come in.” He stopped directly in front of what should have been the entrance to the central bay. No answer.

  “Hotel Sierra Foxtrot One Six, this is Hotel Sierra Foxtrot Five, come in. I say again, Hotel Sierra Foxtrot One Six, this is Hotel Sierra Foxtrot Five, come in.” Again, silence. The doors that he believed would allow him freedom now stood tightly closed, seemingly impenetrable. Panic began to slowly creep into Euphretes’s heart.

  He opened all of his short-range communication channels at great risk to himself, “Any Steward friendlies, this is Hotel Sierra Foxtrot Five. If you are receiving this transmission, please respond. I say again. Any Steward friendlies, this is Hotel Sierra Foxtrot Five. If you are receiving this transmission, please respond.” Silence. More panic and frustration gurgled in his core when the third time reaching out for help yielded the same results.

  “We’re still alright.”

  As if reading his mind, the calm presence within his mind space offered a more plausible, optimistic possibility for the radio silence.

  “Our coms probably aren’t pushing; must’ve finally given out from the fall. Besides, we made it to the tertiary site, and you know Stewards, they WILL come for you.”

  Instant tranquility calmed the torrent threatening to blow within Euphretes as his subconscious remembered who was comforting him. “Then we hold up here and hope for the best,” he answered his mind space. Relieved that this set of doors relied on horizontal operating systems rather than vertical, the giant armored man postured his body for maximum leverage and prepared to press.

  CLICK

  “What Now?” Euphretes grumbled when his helmet’s visor suddenly went dark. Only the tiny speck of light penetrating the fog from the entrance told him he hadn’t gone blind. Mumbling to himself while trying to manually reset the system, “Why is my visor down?” Hearing the question, the helmet displayed the visor’s current capabilities while an automated voice answered, “Night Vision. Zero Light. Ther
mal Imaging. Ultraviolet Imaging. Status: Unavailable.”

  Euphretes took a deep breath in an effort to reduce his urge to give in to the day’s frustrations. “There’s no reason for them to be unavailable. Helmet, turn them back on.” The same automated voice replied, “Night Vision. Zero Light. Thermal Imaging. Ultraviolet Imaging. Status: Unavailable.” Deciding to deal with the issue once fully inside the motorpool, he readjusted his posture to force the door open.

  “This just isn’t our day,” The voice lightly chuckled.

  “No Kidding!”

  CCCRRREEEEAAAAAKKKK!

  Much to his relief, a light press against the steel plates was all it took to unleash the gratifying noise of metal scraping against metal. “Why couldn’t the first one have been that easy?!”

  “To build character,” The motherly voice teased.

  “That was a rhetorical question,” Euphretes snorted.

  A shredded canopy covering the entrance to the interior created a miniature funnel to lead Euphretes into the gargantuan room. The two hundred and fifty acres worth of parking space was all but invisible to the giant soldier without his helmet’s artificial light enhancements. Euphretes looked all over for any sign of a Transport while carefully maneuvering through old machinery to remain silent. Spotting a well-lit area from the open bay door above his head nearly fifty yards ahead of him, he pressed on; praying that all of the broken equipment in his way was simply hiding his ride off Ozark. Pushing toward the circular area of light just ahead of him, the motorpool suddenly became completely free of the obstacles that had slowed his pace.