Jessica, breathing rapidly, waited a few heartbeats for the suit to continue its explanation ...and what is that secondary outcome?
"Sorry my dear, but my mind was elsewhere. We're going to draw the attention of the fleets."
Oh... she thought for a second, Oh! You're bringing the battle here on purpose? How is that a good thing?
"You were able to spot the enemy amongst the rocks. Your fellow commanders and playing pieces will also be aided by such an advantage, the Tentacle-twelve will gain nothing. We shall even the playing field a little. Are you ready?"
The voice in her head was starting to sound almost... familiar. Wait... who are you? Besides being a 'safety suit.'
"You mean my human consciousness? As I mentioned I was a former competitor from Earth. Who I was is irrelevant; the real me died centuries ago and much of my personality was stripped and enhanced when scanned and stored for use in the games."
Well, before we both potentially die, I'd still like to know.
The suit sighed, a sound so human it gave her goose bumps. "I was a member of parliament in sixteenth-century Paris."
A member of parliament?
"As well as philosopher and professor of the law! An interesting choice for the games, wouldn't you say? My brothers, the demons, are me as well. They have my mind at least, just altered. I possess the memories of Jean Bodin, as do all of the demons. This, I suspect, is punishment for my disastrous role in the war game I was involved in.”
Jessica shrugged, I bet you did better than I did in my commander's role.
"Your knowledge of ancient warfare aided in your choice for the games, but it was not the main reason. You earned your place here due to the correct balance in your reflexes, athleticism and... emotional state."
She frowned. But I'm not an athlete.
"Nor was I, yet here we are. I shall now enter us into the game. As a condition of entry, you will have complete control of this mark fourteen safety vessel and all its faculties. Your neural pathways are now fully integrated, and you should discover more senses and options becoming available to you.
“Merely wish for a movement or a function to happen and it will, as much as I can achieve at least. You have micro-mines, magnetically-propelled grenades and slugs in plentiful supply as well as chemical propulsion that should increase our speed up to twenty times the force of our home world."
You mean twenty G’s?
"Yes, 'gravities' or G’s. Ready?"
Do it.
"RED TEAM OBSERVER HAS ENTERED THE GAME."
***
"Jessica, what are you doing?" Peter's voice was faint in her ears while she hugged desperately to the side of a car-sized asteroid. She used the suit's tiny suction cups to crawl towards the asteroid's edge and peer into the black field beyond. Her scanners searched for signs of abnormal movement. She instinctively leapt away before the scanners had registered the sound of a gauss-rifle swivelling towards her. The car-sized asteroid gained a large hole where she'd been hiding and the super-sonic crack of the passing projectile hurt her ears before the suit dampened the sound. Two more projectiles broke the sound barrier in rapid succession, each shot coming closer than the last.
The suit added graphics on her helmet display, showing her where it thought the enemy was firing from. She raised her arm and a small barrel automatically raised itself from the suit's forearm. It fired a five-second burst of tiny pellets at the larger hunter-killer. She was rewarded with the sound of several pings. "Tracer rounds are embedded, target locked," her suit told her. "Kill the bastard."
She almost asked the suit how she would go about killing something that must have been a hundred times the mass of her suit, but the thought seemed to come to her of its own accord. She raised her left arm and a larger barrel assembled itself. The suit painted several red targets across her vision, she aimed at them without hesitation. Thump-thump-thump, small grenades left her arm-barrel at high velocity.
"Watch out!" her suit said. She kicked her legs out wildly and rockets attached to her legs came to life. Her wings guided the sudden momentum in a tight arc, one of them snapped off when she hit an asteroid.
A missile streak past her, she spun out of control and hit another rock. The impact wasn't hard. She leapt off again, firing in earnest at the red dots while they moved across her vision. "Calculating trajectory," the suit told her. The red spots grew dotted lines. "Splitting vision now," it told her. Her vision blurred for a second before her left eye could see the red projections and her right saw the infrared shadows of the asteroids in her path. "Continue firing Jessica."
She fired more grenades, at least she thought it was her firing them. A lot of her concentration was on the asteroid field that she was hurtling into. It felt as if she'd been split into two people but was conscious of both halves. She punched a smaller football-sized rock with her right hand and activated the rockets on her feet to send her in a new direction to avoid a larger rock.
"RED PLAYER SECOND IN COMMAND HAS ENTERED THE GAME."
"We are coming," she heard Ammon say.
An asteroid exploded somewhere above and rained debris on her head. She kicked off in a new direction and fired more grenades at moving dots. As an afterthought, she discarded a small explosive mine from her back.
Come and get me! she thought at the hunter-killer.
"Come and get me, you coward!" her suit screamed into the darkness on her behalf. Projectiles cracked past her in response. More and more projectiles filled her aural senses until she could no longer hear.
"I have blocked all sound, many more enemy units have arrived," the suit said.
Okay, she thought before raising both arms at the projected red displays. Mines discharged from her back and pellets and grenades ruptured the enemy hunter-killer's hull.
"Enemy craft disabled." She kicked off towards the hunter-killer, intending to kill its occupant but felt a sudden sting in her left leg. "We are under fire."
Something hit her. She knew the exact amount of blood she was losing with every heartbeat.
She knew the suit was working to supply her with more oxygen and to block the blood-loss.
She knew she should have tried to dodge in another direction.
Somehow, she just didn't give a shit.
Grenades, mines and pellets filled the void between herself and the projected red dots of her new assailants while she travelled towards the disabled hunter-killer. When she crashed into the hunter-killer it hurt. She must have been travelling nearly a hundred kilometres an hour. The suit softened the blow.
Winded, she clung onto the black surface of the enemy ship like a Koala that had found its favourite tree. Almost unconsciously she ejected the last of her mines and flares and a thousand tiny needles of light sprang from her lower back.
"Target acknowledged," she heard a demon say. Moments later the space around her lit up in cascades of fire and hails of deadly rain.
Arrow-headed ships suddenly darted in and out of the asteroid field while the more rounded vessels of the Tentacle-twelve smashed the rocks to pieces. Jessica held on tightly to the alien ship and sweat stung her eyes.
"Hang on, Jess; I’m coming for you!" Peter said over the radio. Moments later, his fifty-metre-long command vessel smashed through a large asteroid and impaled itself against the hunter-killer Jessica was clinging to.
"Correct your targeting sensors for sector fifty-two!" The suit broadcast over the general channel.
"Oh fu—"
"Acknowledged, firing," Ammon cut Peter off before explosions erupted in Jessica's right view-point. Jessica fired a few pellets in the same direction and swore she saw one of her mines cripple an enemy probe. "I have successfully flanked our enemy," Ammon said.
Jessica heard a clatter of movement to her right. "BLUE COMMANDER HAS ENTERED THE GAME." She instructed the suction cups on her arms to let go of the hunter-killer before a metallic whip sliced the air where her arms had been. The 'whip' tore small chunks from the craft and almo
st ricocheted into her helmet.
"Now you're mine," she said using the suit’s synthesised voice. The voice projected throughout the asteroid field where it filtered up to the opposing fleets around them. Purple and orange fire flickered across the heavens in response.
"Challenge accepted and exceeded," the Tentacle-twelve commander said to her. It was a chilling, freezing sound.
"Move Jessica! Attack," The suit said, she leapt at the enemy commander. Her legs twisted around and her rockets fired on impulse, sending her straight at the enemy commander.
She crashed into the enemy commander and caught it in her armoured hands. Armoured tentacles wrapped around her arms and legs, but no matter how hard they strained, she would not let go of the near-perfect spherical shell. She strained as hard as she could, using the suction cups to try and pull apart the enemy commander's shell. The motors driving her suit's mechanical muscles whined in her ears.
A crack appeared in the tentacle-twelve's shell and something inside it shrieked in alarm. She ignored the alien shriek and plunged a fist into the dark sphere before it could close again. It wasn't long before the gelatinous monster inside the shell stopped writhing and the pressure on her arms and legs finally abated.
"BLUE COMMANDER IS DECEASED."
"F squadron come about to sector seven, B squadron hold where you are. Ammon, cut their tail off!" Peter yelled. He started talking to himself, manually calculating trajectories and distances. Peter did not trust the sensors on his ship, the Tentacle-twelve were using too many light-emitting decoys, so he was manually guiding the fleet, using nothing but sound. His calculations were far more accurate than their enemies expected; one after another, Tentacle-twelve war craft were being shot to pieces.
Jessica heard the battle chatter but couldn’t respond. The enemy commander had severed her spinal cord. She could still move if she wanted to but the suit had administered so many pain-numbing drugs the explosions from the battle were starting to look like pretty butterflies. The Tentacle-twelve responded to the onslaught with fresh reserves that slashed through the asteroid field.
Rail guns sent slugs pounding the rock-filled battlefield and were answered by human missiles and gauss-rifle fire. Mines detonated and sonic charges shattered swathes of the local arena, scattering hundreds of tonnes of rock in all directions.
"Drink deep, Jess-ic-ha," a demon said.
The voice was much like her suit's. Her faceplate opened wide. She inhaled stale, smoky air that tasted like sulphur. A flask of vile liquid invaded her lips.
Clarity returned quickly. It seemed a sort of bodyguard had managed to surround her.
Ships pummelled each other at point-blank range. Blue and red dots emerged on her heads-up display. Both the enemy second in command and observer elected to enter the game to more directly command their forces.
Peter did his best to keep the enemy contained within the asteroid field where sensors could better detect the orb-ships of the Tentacle-twelve. Ammon and his small squad of fighter craft duelled with the opposing second in command and its bodyguard to keep them distracted from the main battle.
Let's go, she suggested to her bodyguard.
They left. Away from the battle, until the battlefield looked like fireworks instead of a local firestorm. She watched for another two hours while the conflagration receded into a pin-point of destruction before the official request was announced, "BLUE TEAM REQUESTS TRUCE."
"I suggest we acc—"
"Truce accepted," Peter said, sounding tired.
"TRUCE ACHIEVED IN ARENA FIFTEEN-A."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
They'd lost the game. The Tentacle-twelve had beaten them by a small margin. It was still a surprise; Peter’s manually calculated firing solutions had almost turned the tide. A demon was applying blue-goo to her ankle. The demon's voice, though twisted and grating, still sounded much like her suit. "You're Jean Bodin, aren't you? Or were?" she asked the demon. He seemed to ignore her question, but, as he checked on her repaired tongue, he looked directly at her eyes.
"I am not at liberty to discuss," he winked at her. Ammon looked over at them from his cross-legged position while demons attended to his wounds. He stared at Jessica's demon as it stalked off towards Hubunker, who was waiting for them near the arena's cavernous medical bay.
"Interesting fellow, isn't he?" she said.
"All pieces are tuned to their role in the games," Ammon answered while he continued to watch the demon, one hairless eyebrow raised. He looked back at her and smiled with a crooked set of teeth, "Rejoice, child. We have lost the greatest battle in known Everworld history! The Tentacle-twelve are noble adversaries, so your homecoming is assured under their protection. The Plinth cannot touch us here!"
"Ho! Friend, Ammon, I must stop you there," Hubunker called out to them, he crossed the hall of broken red demons and black machines in hops and steps while more demons doled out blue liquid and multi-coloured orbs to the wounded around him. "The Tentacled-twits will attempt to protect us within the confines of the halls of the exchange, but outside of the halls, maybe even within them, I'm afraid things have... changed."
***
The Hall of the Exchange of Points was an endless cylindrical shaft. Kilometres-wide white spindles formed the skybridges that connected the rest of the Everworld to the Exchange offices at the centre of the shaft. Each spindle was semi-translucent, with the white floors eventually disappearing as the sides curved up to form a clear ceiling. Ten separate spindles extended from the outside walls of the cylindrical hall towards the central white hub. They stood at the entrance to one of these spindles, one that was suited to oxygen-nitrogen breathers. Jessica peered upwards and suffered a sudden onset of vertigo.
The Hall of Exchange of Points had hundreds of layers of spindles, going up into an endless vertical hole. "Don't look down," Peter said next to her. He was staring down though the floor, wide-eyed. She saw why - more spindles, as many as there were above them. Beings from a thousand different worlds packed the oxygen-nitrogen spindle ahead of them, peering at the human team with many types of different eyes and other senses.
Most were there to see Team Earth.
Just as many aliens must have been trying to get a look at them from each of the other spindles, where the air was different. "Wow."
"We appear to have a crowd," Ammon said, deadpan.
"Hmm, yes. I hope our security measures will be enough," Hubunker said from in front of them. He looked regal in his red gown, flanked by demon bodyguards in red energy-suits that made them look like they were encased in red fluid. The three humans, now fully healed, walked slowly behind him in their formal red tracksuits. More demons in red fluid suits surrounded them while more of them wore mirror-like armour, hefting weapons of many different types. Dozens of Hubunker's multi-coloured orbs floated around the edges of the group and the surprise addition of several Tentacle-twelves started pushing through the crowds in front. The Tentacle-twelves were using armoured suits much like the one Jessica had fought in the last arena.
Jessica felt like the bulls-eye on a target board. She could smell the foul odours coming off the crowd around their group, like rotten eggs mixed with methane, wet-dog, decaying flowers, and mouldy cheese. She started gagging and the sounds and colours of the crowds whirled past while they pushed through. "I've got you," Peter had to shout for her to hear, he held her arm and gave her a quick smile. She smiled back to let him know she was okay. Halfway across the spindle the commander of the Tentacle-twelve raised three of its armoured limbs.
"We are being asked to stop, something is blocking us," Hubunker interpreted for them. Fluidic demons closed around the humans and their Trustee. Jessica looked through the masses of armoured aliens to where the Tentacle-twelve had raised itself up on multiple limbs. Several of its arms rapidly formed different shapes in the air, and Jessica thought she heard something growl back at it. "The Plinth are here in some numbers," Hubunker said.
With the suddenness of a leaping
snake, the Tentacle's armour changed from silver to black and cracked two of its limbs over the crowds. The crowd recoiled from the menacing gesture and slipped away to the sides. Jessica could just make out what was blocking their path. It was the Plinth, thousands of them standing rank upon rank across the width of the spindle. They were not armed or armoured but it was clear they were trying to stop the humans from reaching the central hub, locking their arms together. "Disperse or the Games Masters shall be informed," Hubunker shouted at them.
"We invoke the right of protest," said the Plinth leader. Ammon translated the Plinth's response. "You bring excessive force into this peaceful Exchange; we protest your actions." The Tentacle cracked its whip-like limbs again and more of the crowd moved away. The Plinth did not flinch.
"We respond to multiple threats and past actions; we believe our actions are lawful. Disperse!" Hubunker shouted again.
"Reduce your forces and we shall open our ranks."
"The Games Ma—"
"You know as well as we the Games Masters are engaged in conflict, a conflict you designed, Hubunker Warmonger!"
"Warmonger? Nonsense. I am a single being. How could I have started such a conflict?"
"You have done your damage Hubunker, over many years. Your human pawns we will not damage, they may pass. No one else is getting closer to the central hub. We'll have you banned from the Exchange for your crimes, and your new friends, the Tentacle-twelve, had best leave before the same happens to them."
A buzzing sound filled Jessica's ears and multicoloured orbs faded to reds and oranges. More Tentacle-twelves headed for the Plinth blockade, changing to black as they stepped over other beings in their way.
"We must leave our allies if we are to go through," Ammon said to the other two.
"Won't they hurt us?" Jessica asked.
"No. They have given their word that we will not be harmed if we leave our protectors behind. They have much to lose if they do not keep that word. Despite their prior treatment of us, they are law-abiding members of the Everworld. Their quarrel is not with us."
Wargames of the Everworld Page 7