“Excuse me, ma’am,” I said as a red-headed woman stepped in front of me.
She put her arms around me, crying hysterically. “I don’t know where he is. M-my husband Nathan. Please, I beg you. Please find him. He worked in diesel fuel reserves found deep in the facility,” she said, dropping to her knees. She grabbed my feet, begging.
“Ma’am, all I can do is keep an eye out,” I replied respectfully. I freed myself and moved away from her. I felt a sense of guilt. I was able to go after my husband, but she wasn’t. She was forced to play the waiting game.
As we headed into the tunnel, Xena stood parallel to me. I could feel her staring at me. “Captain,” she whispered.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I just detected a network disturbance. The androids are attempting to breach one of my firewalls over Sylass. It was a sneaky intrusion designed so that I wouldn’t notice it,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at the androids now in marching formation. Their footsteps were unison.
“Are they aware that you detected this breach?” I asked.
“I don’t think so. But the problem is, I don’t have full access to all my software tools. You see, the body I usually occupy is loaded with software for a situation like this—a walking hacker. This one isn’t.”
“Are you saying they might be able to get through?” I asked.
“I think not, but I can tell you some sneaky activity is going on. They’re testing me as we speak,” she said.
“Fuck,” I muttered. I didn’t need this when we got in the thick of things. I waited for a couple of minutes until we rounded the first bend, out of sight of the Legion population.
I slowed my pace, staring at Xena. “Stop the formation,” I ordered. I heard the androids take two steps and freeze in place. Xena looked at me as I stepped toward the android ranks.
I looked across their faces as they stared past me. “You know, I thought we had an understanding, but apparently not,” I said. I turned toward Xena. “Delete an additional twenty percent of their cloning research,” I ordered, speaking up so that the androids could easily hear me. Their glowing blue eyes now looked directly at me.
“Understood,” she replied.
I scanned the first row of android troopers. “Now that I have your attention, let me be absolutely clear in case I wasn’t before. Any hacking, any snooping around the firewalls we have in place around Sylass will be seen as a security breach. I’m only deleting twenty percent out of good faith that this was a mistake, but if you cross us again, all of your cloning research will be deleted. Is that understood?” I said. I didn’t have time for this, but I also needed their help. We simply didn’t have the firepower to re-enter the Legion without them.
I stopped in the middle of their ranks, waiting for some type of response. An android stepped forward. “The intrusion you detected was an inquiry,” the trooper said.
“What kind of inquiry?” Xena asked.
“We were concerned about Sylass. We wanted to know if he had been damaged in any way, if his memories or personality traits were altered in order to allow for so many firewalls. We wanted to know if we would be able to recover him fully after this occupation has concluded,” it explained.
“You couldn’t just ask?” I said. I waited for a few seconds but didn’t get a response. I didn’t have time for this. I glanced back at Xena, then turned toward the androids.
Xena stepped beside me. “Sylass is unharmed,” she replied, speaking loud enough so the androids could hear her.
I shook my head. “And that’s not the point. They went behind our backs. My promise stands. If you operate in secret like that again, you’ll lose all your research. Don’t fucking try me again.” I stabbed my finger at the formation.
“Fall out!” I ordered, turning back toward the tunnel.
Xena walked next to me. “Captain, I heard the Architect’s name mentioned. I took the liberty of gathering some intelligence from the androids’ files so we’ll know what we’re up against. Apparently, there have been a few nomads that have crossed her path over the years and the androids collected this information. The Architect apparently has the ability to render herself invulnerable to projectiles and has superhuman strength and speed.”
I looked back at the rifle-toting androids. “Wonderful. Anything else?” I asked.
“That’s all there is in the file. If I had to guess, I’d estimate the Mave nanobots can quickly create simple shapes—sharp objects, for example. Even still, it’s quite amazing, if true, that she’s able command those micromachines to that degree,” she said.
“Terrifying is a better word,” I said. I picked up my pace and the troopers matched my speed. After several more minutes of marching, I noticed articles of clothing and fur littering the tunnel ahead.
“We’re getting closer,” Xena said. I saw a woman face-down in the tunnel. There was a pool of black blood surrounding her.
“Xena?” I asked.
“No signs of life, Captain. I’m using a heartbeat sensor to detect them. Lucky for us, the Mave are still dependent on their human organs to function,” she replied.
“Just keep scanning,” I ordered.
“Roger.”
The farther we marched, the more Mave corpses inundated the sides of the tunnel. Before I knew it, we were forced to march in the middle of the tunnel to avoid the piles of bodies.
“Quite the battle,” I said.
“Indeed. I’m assuming the train funneled the Mave away from the middle of the tunnel, but I’m stumped as to how so many were killed like this,” she said. As I examined the carnage closer, I observed most of these Mave were either decapitated or sliced in half.
“Plasma weaponry?” Xena asked.
“Most certainly,” I replied.
We hurried past hundreds of Mave corpses, running for almost fifteen minutes nonstop. I began to feel extremely fatigued. The combination of mental and physical stress was taking its toll.
“Captain, look,” Xena said. Smoke began to fill the tunnel. Far in the distance, I could see a smoldering pile of wreckage.
“The train,” I said, panting heavily. As we approached, I frantically peered through the smoke with my helmet’s infrared optics. I observed the cabin was charred black. Both doors to the engineer’s cabin were opened and there were at least a dozen bodies strewed about inside. Some of them were chopped into pieces while others appeared to be struck with bullets.
“Can you tell if any of these bodies are human?” I asked Xena. I searched for any sign that one of them might be Luther. These corpses appeared too small to be him.
“Negative, Captain. I’m not seeing any evidence of that. The deceased show signs of the Mave infection—metal fused over bone,” she said.
I sighed in relief as we moved to the front of the train. There was a mound of Mave corpses stacked in front of it.
“They must have dismounted the train because of the fire,” Xena suggested.
“Most likely,” I replied, panning down the tunnel as I caught my breath.
“The knights must have pushed forward on foot from here, which means we’ll likely catch up to them faster now,” Xena guessed.
“If they’re still alive,” I replied.
“Captain, I’m detecting a faint heartbeat five hundred meters dead ahead,” she said. “Come on!” I started running with Xena and the android troopers in tow.
“A word of caution, Captain Belic. It could be an enemy,” she warned.
“Understood.” What worried me was that it was only one heartbeat. Had Luther’s squad been wiped out, leaving only one person behind? My mind wandered as I sorted through the possibilities. It was a helpless, empty feeling. I felt like I had arrived too late.
We passed through a guard station, running past a machine-gun turret in the middle of the track.
“Eighty meters, Captain,” she said. I could see someone face-down on the side of the track. He was wearing a knight’s overcoat. It wasn’t Luther. Hi
s frame was far too narrow.
I ignited my sword as I approached within a few paces. I held my fist in the air as Xena and the androids stopped behind me.
“That way,” a gravelly voice erupted. I saw the man pointing his finger down the tunnel.
I held my blade close to the knight’s long white hair. It was Knight Clovess. I remembered him vaguely from the day the knights met to discuss our dealings with androids of the Reclamation. Clovess struggled to turn over slowly, staring at me.
He glanced at the platoon of androids backing me up. “They offered to help us?” He coughed up blood.
“I had to twist an arm or two,” I replied, lowering my voice. He chuckled and pulled down his eyepatch, covering up the black socket that was exposed. I disengaged my sword.
“Where’s the Engineer and the rest of the knights?” I asked.
“There was no time. The knights gave chase to the Architect,” he replied.
“Luther’s alive?” I asked.
“The last I saw him, he was running straight down this tunnel. The Architect told the Engineer to kneel and forfeit his rule, but just as he was about to, Knight Renheart got word the Mave were being slaughtered at the entrance. That must have been your doing,” he said.
I looked at Xena. “Our doing,” I replied.
He nodded and coughed. “Well good. I’m glad these androids panned out, but for fuck’s sake, why did they wait until the last minute? Anyway, we took off after the Architect and were met by heavy resistance here. One of them got me. I must have gone unconscious. The knights probably thought I was dead, but they couldn’t stop pushing forward,” he said, lying in a small pool of blood.
I nodded, looking over my shoulder. “Come on. Double time. Let’s go!” I ordered the androids as I held my stare at Clovess.
“You’re not going to leave me here like this, are you? I’ll change into one of them,” Clovess said.
“No, I won’t,” I said. Xena stepped forward, aiming Sylass’s sniper rifle at his chest as he rolled over and faced us. He panted heavily, clenching his fists as he sat up.
“Captain?” she asked, looking over at me.
I nodded. “Do it,” I said. I closed my eyes just before a bright flash of blue light erupted from the weapon’s barrel. I opened my eyes upon seeing Clovess’s disintegrated upper torso. It nearly split him in half, leaving a crater in his chest the size of a dinner plate.
I turned away from his body. “Damn.”
Xena looked down at her long rifle. “Rail gun. I don’t think he felt any pain, Captain,” she said.
I stared at him for a moment and turned away, then jogged to catch up with the androids. I felt Xena trailing behind me. I didn’t have time to reflect on Clovess or anyone else that had died in this battle. I didn’t know most of them, but for some reason, the thought that they were alive when I left the Legion this morning wouldn’t go away.
I could hear shrieking sounds ahead as we approached a dock. A long, sinister laugh echoed down the tunnel. The androids held their position, aiming their weapons to the left, past the loading dock. “The Mave are the targets. Be mindful of your shot placement. There could be knights in this sector,” Xena ordered as we stepped onto the dock.
“Contact!” I yelled as several Mave barreled out of the circular ice corridor beyond the loading dock. The androids formed a firing line like a well-oiled machine. “Engage!” I shouted.
The androids immediately fired their laser weaponry, melting the Mave as they crawled on the ceilings and walls. I could hear their fused flesh and metal feet slapping against the surfaces as they scampered in all directions. They were cut down in less than five seconds by the androids’ scorching laser fire. One of them escaped the slaughter, diving toward our ranks, but Xena sniped it with her rail gun, splitting it in half as its corpse flopped the ground.
I covered my face with my arm. “Great shooting. Hurry. Let’s go down this corridor,” I ordered.
We dashed down the hall for another five minutes until we reached a fork in the path.
“Left or right?” Xena asked.
I could hear someone breathing heavily to the left. It sounded human. We rushed forward until I could see someone kneeling. I peered forward with my optics. The man was wearing a knight’s long dark coat. He turned and faced us. It was Knight Renheart.
“Are you wounded?” I shouted as we came to within a few paces of him.
“No, I-I just couldn’t keep up anymore,” he said, breathing heavily. I noticed his face was red and covered in sweat. “I gave chase until this point. They had to leave me behind,” he said. His eyes widened as he looked up at the small army of androids with me. “You did it. You brought them here,” he said.
“Where did Luther go?” I asked.
Renheart pointed to the bend in the corridor. “Not far. This hall leads to the back entrance of Legion’s medical and research facilities. It’s about t-two hundred meters on the right,” he said.
“I’m going after them. I’ll leave an android with you for protection until you recover,” I said, touching his shoulder.
“N-no. Take them all. You’ll need them,” he said with authority. I got the sense that he felt guilty for falling behind, but he was clearly incapable of going farther. I nodded at him before walking away.
As we approached the medical facility, I noticed plasma sword markings all over the walls. The metal door was sliced in half and there were several Mave corpses littered about.
I ignited my sword and entered the pitch-black lab. “Captain, there are thirty-nine lifeforms detected in a hundred-meter radius,” she said.
I pointed the fiery white blade in front of me. I had never been here before. We were in a giant room with dozens of cubicles. Inside them were microscopes. Much of the room was destroyed: there were plasma sword gashes in the equipment and shattered glass was on the floor. “Just a suggestion, Captain, but perhaps we should allow the androids to clear this area,” Xena said.
I stopped, glancing over my shoulder at the troopers behind me. I had watched them train for this type of close-quarters situation. “Noted. Order them to clear the lab, but be cautious; there are likely Legion knights here somewhere,” I said. I could hear the sounds of war ahead as the Mave shrieked and men yelled and fired their weapons.
“Understood,” she replied.
An android trooper stepped in front of me and entered the lab. “We’ll take it from here,” he said, looking down on me. I noticed a red circle on the front of his helmet. I gathered he was in some type of leadership role. He aimed his rifle forward and made a hand signal.
The androids funneled into the room as one, like a giant centipede that snaked around corners. Their heads were on a swivel as they checked the corners and ceilings, beaming their helmet-mounted flashlights in all directions. Their glowing blue eyes shifted back and forth, peering for motion.
Xena and I followed close behind their formation. “We’ll cover the rear,” I said. It was difficult for me to allow them to take control of this situation, but I also understood it would be arrogant to assume I could lead them. I hadn’t much training in close-quarters combat with my sword, and I might be a detriment.
We pushed through two more labs. “I didn’t realize the Legion had so many research areas,” I said.
“I would gather finding a cure for the Mave nanobot virus is a priority here,” Xena replied. The farther we proceeded, I noticed more and more bodies. Most of them were Mave, but I also noticed a few corpses in lab coats. The once pristine white garments were gashed and bloody. “Captain, look,” Xena said.
Ahead, there was a Legion soldier lying face-down. His rifle was beside him and his body had been torn to shreds. I observed dozens of puncture wounds all over him. He had been mauled. There were three Mave sliced into several pieces next to him.
We were in a large room filled with operating tables. Along the walls were giant metal freezers that reflected the androids’ flashlights. Thirty paces ahead,
there was an indentation in the wall. Inside it was a broken door hanging only by the bottom hinge. Beyond the door, I could see flashes of light erupting as the deafening gunfire echoed off the walls.
“This is it,” I said.
The android commander pushed toward it, ordering his men to stack up on the right side of the wall, outside of the indentation to the door. He looked back at his troopers and made a hand signal. “Watch friendly fire,” he ordered.
All at once, the door flung open as a Legion soldier backed up, shooting into the room. Five Mave pursued him, running past our formation. The androids immediately opened fire, melting the distracted creatures with laser fire. Three of them were turned into a black goo as the other two scampered across the walls.
One of the Mave leaped onto the ceiling and scurried toward me, shrieking in anticipation. I stepped forward, holding my sword behind me like a homerun batter as it approached. I felt my heart pounding as it jumped toward me, its silver claws outstretched. For a moment, time stopped as I was able to see the creature in its full glory. Muzzle flashes from the adjacent room highlighted its gruesome transformation.
I could see the beginnings of decay. Its fur clothing gave me the impression it was recently infected. It was a woman, probably in her early twenties. Her stringy blonde hair had already begun to fall out as tacks of metal pushed out the roots.
The young pale skin on the left side of her face seamed against patches of metal cybernetics on the right. I peered into her white eyes, the red veins pulsating around the pupils as her eyelids twitched. There was nothing inside her soul but intent—a primal focus to kill.
Just as she came to within range, I swung my sword, slicing her in half. Just as the blade knifed through it, the Mave’s head exploded into a mist of black blood that spattered the ceiling behind her.
I turned to my right and saw Xena aiming Sylass’s rail gun toward the creature.
The last Mave drone dove into the middle of the android formation and tackled one of the troopers. The android’s helmet was knocked off and his gun fell as he gripped the Mave around the throat. The snarling Mave chomped its massive fangs at the android’s face, tearing away its synthetic skin as they tussled about the room. His comrades searched for a shot, but the intensity of the fight made it difficult as they bumped into desks and tables, eventually falling to the ground.
The Reclamation and the Lioness Page 12