by Christi Smit
Christian guessed that his forefathers mated with gods at one point in the past, it was the only explanation why Xander could be so strong. He was straining against Xander’s mighty muscles, his Greek wrestler’s bloodline overpowering him slowly.
He had to end it now, before he was crushed in Xander’s grip. Christian let go of him, instead he struggled to bring his rifle into the fight. It was lodged tight between them, pointing down to their legs. Xander tried to wrench the rifle away from him, but the rifle stayed put, its barrel aiming at Xander’s thigh, he reached for it but his hand was knocked aside, the distraction of switching focus between him and his rifle giving Christian the time to pull the trigger.
A shot went off, echoing between the two Titans.
Xander relaxed almost instantly. “Well done Little Bear, I am marked.”
Christian remained tense, worrying if he had shot his fellow squad member in a vital area, taking a step back to scan the other Titan. He was relieved to see no blood leaking from Xander.
Xander reached down to just below his most vital area, wiping a bullet ricochet mark away from his armoured groin. “Shit kid, almost took away something important, Pyoter would have had a field day with it.”
“How are you so strong?” Christian asked, breathless from the wrestling match.
“No time to gossip. Better get going, before they find you.”
Christian nodded, gripping his rifle tighter; he took off in a random direction, hoping to have a few moments to recover before another predator pounced.
Her tears could not be stopped, flowing down her cheeks, dripping into her hands, hands that felt cold and meaningless now. She sat on her bed in her lavish apartment, an apartment given to her because of her work with the Titan Project. Others were dying out there in the galaxy and she received everything on a silver platter. She hated this place more and more every day, and now that very project had taken the most important thing away from her.
She thought about how lucky she had been, she could have searched the cosmos for aeons before finding someone like him, but she had found him so early in her life, lucky was an understatement. Now he was ripped from her life, for the sake of everyone’s safety. She felt ashamed at being so selfish, he had a job to do and she had helped him to prepare for it. That made her feel even worse, by doing her job to the best of her abilities she had helped him leave. Shit, she thought.
More tears welled up in her beautiful brown eyes, her battle to hold them back beyond lost now.
Her sky-blue hair cascaded down the sides of her face, noticing how dirty it was. She had isolated herself from everyone and everything since he left; neglecting the little things, the potted plant in the corner of her apartment needed water, her pet needed food, and she needed him.
She told herself that he would be ok, and she will see him again, hopefully.
Jessica Saxe wiped the tears from her cheeks with her cold hands, finally scraping together enough courage to do something. She needed to keep busy, sitting in her apartment alone and pathetic helped no-one. Immersing herself in her work would help pass the time, how much time she did not know, but at least it was something.
With a deep breath she stood and started to pull the dirty, smelly clothes from her body, showering would help revitalize her. But before she could move to get in her glass shower the radio on her desk started beeping, the words incoming transmission scrolling across its receiver.
A sigh escaped her lips, she grabbed the closest piece of semi-clean clothing littered throughout her apartment’s floor, and sat down in front of the radio on her desk.
Jessica hesitated before pressing the receiver button, closing her eyes and focusing on keeping her voice from showing signs of the pain she felt.
The button clicked and the person on the other side spoke without a greeting.
“Doctor Saxe, we need you in Gamma Facility now, there has been a development,” the voice said with great urgency.
“I am on my way.” Jessica replied. Looks like the shower would have to wait. People would just have to deal with the smell, not that anyone smelled like flowers these days, more like shit and roses. “Have you seen my sister today? She hasn’t been home in days.”
“No. We haven’t seen her either. See you soon Doctor.”
“Thank you, Ben.” The radio went dead, her hand still lingering on the receiver button.
She bit the nail of her thumb, wondering where the little runt could be. Jessica Saxe grabbed her favourite leather jacket draped over her desk chair, making her way to her front door. She paused before leaving, for just a moment, gathering up an already depleted reservoir of courage, looking at the apartment over her shoulder as she walked out and closed the door behind her.
The idea never crossed her mind that it would be the last time she ever saw her hated living quarters.
“Alright my pretty,” Gray said to himself. His eyes scanning the rest of the bridge, the crew were busying themselves with final preparations.
“Are you talking to me sir? Or are you talking to your ship again?” Remy asked over the noise of the bridge, still standing next to the Captain’s command chair, never leaving his side unless ordered to do so.
“A little bit of both, you know how I feel about the both of you.”
A slight hint of blush flushed over Remy’s cheeks. She said nothing. She could not say anything with so many of the crew within earshot. All she could do was blush and smile.
“All power to main engines Remy, ready the BEAM.” Gray sat upright, raising his voice over the hustle and bustle of the bridge. “All crew, sound off!”
The crew of the Hyperion, on the bridge and elsewhere, all stiffened the moment they heard Gray’s voice, his voice booming over the inter-radio to all ship sections.
“Navigation ready,” an officer on the bridge called out.
“Communications ready sir,” another officer confirmed.
“Engineering reports green across the board Captain,” Remy said at his shoulder.
“Flight systems ready, automatic control enabled.” A voice from the inter-radio confirmed from elsewhere on the Hyperion.
“Titans are always ready Willis,” Locke’s voice was low, but it still had that rebellious tone to it.
Gray liked the man more and more every day.
“Scanners report our wake is clear of any debris or craft.” Remy punched a button sequence on the keypad beside the command throne. The decking behind her split open, a chair with thick leather straps appeared from the newly opened gap, locking in to place just slightly behind the Captain’s command chair.
The straps were not always there, added to her chair and all other seats on the Hyperion, after Remy’s predecessor was thrown from his chair during a turbulent BEAM initiation many years ago. Gray would not risk Remy’s life like that, he always made sure she was strapped in and safe before the BEAM drive initialized. He could still remember the crack the man’s body made when it hit the metal wall behind the command throne. It had sounded like thunder popping every bone in the man’s body. A sickening feeling spread through Gray’s gut, turning his head to watch Remy strap herself into her chair, making sure she is secure before giving the next order.
Crew members afraid of the same outcome strapped themselves to whatever passed as a secure seat on the Hyperion. The BEAM drive’s initial burst of speed would be either smooth or turbulent, if it was the latter then those that were not strapped down would be flirting with death, but the crew knew the risks, and some jobs needed to be done while the BEAM drive fired.
Gray waited for Remy to look up from her hands working the leather straps around her tiny frame. She finished and looked directly at Gray, taking a deep breath. “Ready my dear?” he asked her.
She nodded before bracing her arms and head against the chair.
“Good.” Gray punched a code only he knew into the keypad on the armrest of his command chair. Above the keypad a square red button lit up. He hesitated for a moment, chec
king over the rest of the bridge before pressing the button.
“Punch it Willis.” Locke sounded excited, urging Gray on.
Gray closed his eyes and pressed the button, the light from the BEAM drive always hurt his eyes.
A white light, brighter than the closest sun, grew from the centre of the Hyperion, slowly spreading, consuming the vessel until it was totally encompassed by the light. Silence filled the ship, the cruiser hung in the orbit around New Horizon for only a few more moments before it rocketed forward at a blinding speed.
The Hyperion vanished, its BEAM drive hurling it at its destination, when in motion the vessel was unable to stop, and once it was set on its course the only way of stopping it would be to perform an emergency drive shut down. No emergency shut downs were ever successful, all ships that tried to break out of the drive’s course were utterly destroyed, broken apart by the forces outside of the protective light-bubble the BEAM drive provided. It was known as a one way ticket, in more ways than one.
The inhabitants of New Horizon saw the vessel leave its orbit, for only a few moments a new sun was born above the skies of the planet. It vanished seconds later without ceremony or sound.
The metal floor of the fighting pit shuddered slightly beneath Christian’s armoured feet. He remembered the BEAM initialization being much worse on his body when he was still a regular soldier. The Titan suit had nullified the entire experience. It was a magnificent piece of equipment, understanding the reason more and more why his squad-mates rarely removed their suits.
His concentration had slipped, something he was prone to do when his mind wandered at random times. In a pit full of Wolves, it was not the best thing he could have done.
There had been no time to do anything since he arrived on the Hyperion. He had only those few minutes back in his quarters, and he doubted he will see any free time soon, already heading for his first mission.
I should have replied to her when I had the chance, he thought. But that would have to wait until the mission was completed.
The slip in his concentration gave the next Wolf the time to sneak up on him. Christian had stopped and put his back to the closest obstacle, at least trying to remain on guard while his mind wandered.
Rivers had seized the opportunity the moment he saw the FNG stop; he had been watching him, slowly stalking him through the obstacles. He had approached the other Titan without alerting his squad mate, the vessels shuddering had masked his approach further, allowing Rivers to get within a few feet of his target. It was no small feat, being stealthy in a Titan suit, and he would make sure that his squad knew about it after the hunt.
Christian gathered his focus again, verbally chastising himself inside his helmet, but it was too late, before he could move again the barrel of Rivers’ Kicker was pointing at his visor. Rivers gave him a cheeky wave as Christian looked past the rifle at the Titan holding it.
“You shouldn’t speak to yourself like that kid.” Rivers’ drawl made every word he spoke sound hilarious. “Loving yourself is the first step to being a virile young man. Look at me, almost forty and I feel like a twenty year old.”
“Is this really the time for this?” Christian asked him.
“Always time for a joke lad, you just need to see the funny side of any situation. Now let me see your hands and step back, the game is over and it’s almost grub time.”
“I don’t think so Sergeant.”
“And why don’t you think so? If you haven’t noticed, I have you.”
“Look between your feet sir.”
Rivers liked the kid’s arrogance, so he indulged him. To his surprise he saw what the FNG was talking about, he did indeed not have him at all. “Son of a whore...”
Between his boots a small, magnetic mine was stuck to the metal floor, almost invisible to the naked eye, being only a few inches in diameter and only an inch thick. Rivers’ immediately regretted not using his tactical mode during the hunt; it would have highlighted it even if he never saw it with his own eyes.
“But, you were distracted, there is no way you could have heard or seen me.”
“That is true, but I remembered where I am, I borrowed it from Xander in case I was trapped or someone tried to flank me. I threw it down the moment the deck started grumbling, knowing one of you sly bastards would use it to try and catch me.”
“Well, now what lad? Do we just stare at each other like lovers on a first date and hope the others give us some private time? Or do we dance?”
“We dance, of course.” Christian grabbed the barrel of Rivers’ Kicker. With all of his new strength, he smashed the stock of the weapon into the other Titan’s visor, actually cracking the visor with the blow.
“I am not calling that as a mark. You are going to help me fix that.” Rivers let go of his rifle and kicked the mine away like a professional footballer from old Earth, it detonated as it hit a nearby obstacle. He pulled at the rifle to try and get the younger Titan off balance.
It didn’t work all that well, it only succeeded in ripping the rifle from Christian’s grip, the force of the pull causing the rifle to slide harmlessly away from the pair of Titans.
Rivers followed up the pull with a ferocious left hook. It connected with Christian’s helmet with the force of a speeding land-train. The left hook was followed by a right uppercut right into Christian’s stomach plating. The uppercut lifting Christian off his feet slightly, the force was astounding, yet there was no pain, only the force of the blows could be felt.
Remarkable, Christian thought as Rivers rained more blows on him. It was clear to Christian that the Sergeant was a descendant of a street brawler. The amount of fists hitting him seemed unnatural, hit after hit his armour soaked up, but slowly he was being pushed back.
Rivers was strong, but fast as lightning, the sound emanating from the fight sounded like ancient blacksmiths hammering away at a newly forged blade.
But a pattern started to emerge in Christian’s mind, Rivers would land a hook, followed by the uppercut, landing two left jabs and then ending with a right hook. Every sequence exactly the same, the speed of the attacks concealing the repetition.
Christian’s tactical sight started following every blow, the more hits that landed the more calculations it was able to make, working out exactly when to retaliate.
The moment flashed on his visor as Rivers pulled back to unleash another right hook, on the verge of ending another attack sequence. Instead of taking the hit this time Christian stepped towards the older Titan, pivoting his hips so the blow would hit his chest and not his head. Christian countered with a right hook of his own, perfectly timed to catch the Sergeant’s arm on the inside of his elbow. The two Titans locked in place, right arms interlocked like chain links.
Christian put all of his weight on his left leg, bending it slightly as his left hand gripped tight to Rivers’ struggling right arm. He lifted with his back and raised Rivers over his right shoulder, tossing the heavy Titan with one fluid movement into the obstacle he was resting against earlier.
Rivers hit the metal obstacle almost completely upside down, the hit made the giant, heavy obstacle vibrate, and the thing that was put there to never move, moved slightly.
“Mark.” Christian said to the Sergeant.
Rivers had landed on his shoulder, struggling to sit upright as his senses corrected for the unexpected move. “Agreed, good one lad, I think I am going stay here for a while, gathering my thoughts and such.” He coughed and chuckled when he finished speaking. “That one hurt a tad, more than I thought it would. I need to thank the almighty for this suit again. Good on you for beating an old man.”
Christian laughed with his squad member. “Old man my arse - hang on a second...”
Both of them broke out in maniacal laughter, Rivers grinning and baring the pain with every chuckle. The kid had finally understood the joke about his name.
Christian beat his fist to his chest plate in respect to Rivers and ran away from the collapsed Titan still
laughing. He had two more Wolves to deal with.
In the distance, Nathan and Locke stood watching on top of a square, metal obstacle overlooking most of the fighting pit.
“That was impressive.” Locke said to his second in command. “This won’t be as easy as we thought.”
“He is arrogant. We need to put him in his place.” Nathan replied without taking his eyes from the other two in the distance.
“We can’t kill him, too much paperwork.”
“No, but we can try, stamp out the arrogance now, before it gets him killed.”
“Alright, whatever you say, he is your family after all.”
“He was. The squad is my family now.”
Locked jumped off their perch spot, “As long as I am not the mom, call us whatever you want.”
Nathan watched his brother disappear into the depths of the pit before jumping off the perch as well. “Rivers is the mom,” he said as the pair of Titans continued their hunt.
“What’s the problem Ben?” Jessica had entered the lab she worked in moments before, greeted by frantic confusion by the other technicians and researchers on duty.
“Doctor,” Ben greeted her without taking his eyes off the display he was working on. “All of the data, and I do mean all of it, the research, the experiments, the data from your father, the historic data on the enemy, even the personnel files, are all gone. All of it deleted during the last shift.”
Jessica was speechless. That was not even remotely possible. “What about the backups?” she asked, a pit in her stomach started to form, filling up with terror.
“Gone, everything is gone, we have nothing. We are trying to find the cause now.”
“This can’t be, all of our advancements and all of the research, we were protected...” she drifted off as a thought occurred to her. “What about the prototypes?”
“They are safe behind the vault doors, someone tried to access the vault, Sam’s cyphers and encryption system kept everything safe inside. The OS systems are another story.”