by Michael Kan
The dead machine then drifted away like powder.
Target down, she said.
Over her shoulder were Alysdeon and the downed starfighter. The ship had crashed into a hallway, only to skid and bulldoze through several layers of wall. The Valkyrie was now nearly buried under rubble. The protective shielding had effectively turned it into a wrecking ball. Alysdeon stepped off the ship, feeling the gravity weigh down her boots. Outer space was far behind them, but up ahead was only more gloom. The hallway in front of them tunneled a path, both barren and cold.
She breathed in the oxygen from her environmental mask and then looked at the leftover bits of broken combat drone on the floor. Alysdeon activated her defense systems. The cybernetic armor hardened.
All around them were darkness and machine metal long stretches of it, seemingly endless. Alysdeon felt the mechanical wires and tubes under her feet. To better see, she let her eyes bathe in the neon scans.
Arendi was also analyzing. Her machine vision was processing the known data. They were near the mother ship’s central lair. The starfighter had overshot its landing and soared past the initial meeting point.
Comms are down, she said, hearing nothing. I don’t like this.
Arendi stared at her surroundings, trying to pinpoint their exact location. The hallway they stood in was both vast and monotonous. For a moment, it felt like a dungeon: the premises were confined and foreboding. Air was almost nonexistent. Only machines and whatever wretchedness could subsist here.
In the corner of her eye, Arendi saw a hint. At the end of the hallway shone something small and glowing. It was faint, like a silver needle awash in night. Then it flew, stabbing through the corridor. The beam weapon struck, nearly invisible. The shot a salvo of ultrafast particles flew wildly down the darkened path.
The surrounding walls, once solid and entrenched, crumbled under the assault. The whole hallway exploded. It roared, resulting in a furious fire of debris.
Arendi felt her entire side burst. She fell over Alysdeon, wanting to protect her. The impact sent them both skidding across the floor. Then the ground itself collapsed.
They tumbled to the deck below another dark and confined area. Ash drizzled over Arendi’s hair and eyes. Her artificial heartbeat raced. Alarms shrieked through her mind.
Damage: significant. Movement compromised. Compensating
Her armor and shielding had both blunted most of the blow, but not all of it. Her right arm had been blown clean off by the kinetic blast. The cybernetic suit was ripped at her shoulder. Trying to stand, she nearly stumbled. Instinctively, she grabbed her right side.
The armor was already working to seal the wound. The nanofabrics at the torn-off fringes interlaced over the break and began to weave. Physically, Arendi felt no pain, only a sense of shock. She had no time for pain.
A whole throng of enemy ground-based drones was closing in. They sought to attack and pursue. Arendi ignored the damage to her body and focused. Her scans and the motion trackers outlined the threat. She counted them: eight, twenty. Maybe more, cloaked. The mechanized fighters came, humanoid but faceless in form.
As the enemy approached, dropping down from the hallway above, Alysdeon crouched. The protective force field around her cybernetic suit was still active. The visor across her eyes tuned to register and adapt to stealth movements. She then pulled the swords from her back and ignited them. The two vibrating blades, which throbbed in beams of white, were there to counter. She held the weaponry across her face and leaped.
The armor over her limbs enhanced all her strength. The blades swung and slayed the first of the enemy drones. She saw the apparition. At this range, the cloak failed to fully conceal over the machine. The intense vibrating force then sawed through at the atomic level, cracking away shielding and machine armor, only to spin and strike again. The two swords sliced through the mechanical vein and bone, sending it all toppling down.
One. Two. Then three. The tank like robots broke down, defeated. Alysdeon was moving fast. Faster than the first wave of foes. Her age-old experience, along with the targeting reticles in her sight, were guiding her. She decapitated the fourth drone and then sent another blow into its chest. The machine corpse fell to its knees, headless.
Alysdeon kicked the remains away and glanced at Arendi.
Arendi gritted her teeth, too angry to speak. Yes, she thought, watching as the next drone dropped from above. The attacker lunged, firing its main cannon. The hot plasma was about to eject. Arendi dodged and swung with all her machine strength. She kicked the enemy’s head into the wall. She pressed her boot against her foe’s face and flattened it with a forceful stamp. Both the circuitry inside and the aborted plasma shot died down in a fizzle.
I can fight, Arendi said as the dead machine slumped over and hit the floor. She spat out the words angrily.
The scans in Arendi’s mind only fueled her ire. More enemy drones were starting to appear by the moment.
Thirty. Forty. Maybe fifty. A whole squadron had come to annihilate them.
Even from here, hunkered down in this deck below, Arendi could guess the enemy’s strategy. The first wave was to scout and analyze. The second was to bombard. Fusion bombs and grenades might be next. Then the third wave would arrive to finish off and kill. Arendi imagined it and all the death that would result.
No, she thought. Not anymore.
Arendi made a fist with her remaining left hand and squeezed. The armband and the spatial weaponry at her command rose in power. Her machine systems were beginning to calculate. Targets acquired, they declared.
She then removed the safety precautions around the device and let it cascade; the cuff at her wrist crackled and shook.
Stand back, Arendi said as she approached Alysdeon.
The force lifted from her hand, invisible but ready to stretch and bend. The surrounding space began to warp, becoming a zone of destruction. The full might of her spatial shielding then took effect.
Arendi held up her wrist and directed the force into a wide field. It flew toward the machine attackers and consumed them in one rumbling surge. The expanding field peeled it all away and reduced it to gas. Nothing from the combat drones to the hallway walls was spared. Atomic bonds broke apart, undoing the enemy squad right there.
Arendi hollowed it all out and counted. Fifty. Twelve. And then none. The throng of enemy contacts broke down and vanished. A giant hole had taken its place. She then deactivated the weapon and let the field dissipate. The fabric of space contorted and settled back into its normal bounds.
Clear, she said, pulling her arm down. Arendi then opened her left hand and exhaled a breathless sigh.
Alysdeon went ahead, trying to confirm. She was checking the site, initiating every scan. She crossed into the now-open area. There was almost nothing left but a cavernous crater, steeped in colorless smoke.
Alysdeon ran to the edge of the blast site and leaped. She landed and stepped over what was once a hallway. She flashed her two swords, about to strike.
The war machine was there at the precipice. The giant drone, a tall contraption three meters tall, had been effectively cut down, partially vaporized. It fidgeted, half-dead and shaking, on the floor. The whole front surface was maimed beyond recognition. Its armor, along with an arm and leg, had been shredded.
Arendi joined Alysdeon and studied the drone. The mechanical organs sat open and attempted to self-repair. The attacker’s main weapon a two-ton particle beam cannon had fallen to the side. The heavy barrel lay on the floor. The war machine reached for it. The enemy sought to land one more blow. To continue the war, slavishly. The contraption’s remaining hand scrambled to find that instrument of destruction.
Not today, Ar
endi said solemnly.
Alysdeon then sent her sword into the machine and sliced.
Chapter 45
They fought toe-to-toe across the new battlefield. Clashes erupted throughout the mother ship; the Destroyer stabbed, while the Enforcer countered and evaded. From hallway to room even to the computing infrastructure the two forces fought, relentless.
The brawls were tight and intense, like urban warfare, but inside the belly of a ten-mile craft. The Destroyer’s army advanced, toiling through close-quarters combat in ambush after ambush. Drone killed drone as dozens and then hundreds of machine fighters died, trying to secure the vital points. It felt pyrrhic and inefficient, but the Destroyer was glad to expend. The enemy was falling back. He was winning. His armies on the ground outnumbered the foe and overran through the Enforcer’s vessel, taking it over piece by piece.
I’m close, he said, reestablishing the communication link. Reading you now.
The Destroyer met with Arendi and Alysdeon. He found them, not long after their initial descent. His scans had isolated their location inside a trench. A squadron of his machine troopers now marched through the area, on course to invade the vessel’s inner lair.
His holographic self materialized as the repair bots hurriedly went to work. The clutter of machines hovered, blitzing to complete the impromptu transplant.
Arendi flinched, trying to ignore the procedure. She concentrated on their priorities.
What’s our status? she asked.
The fighting around them had subsided, but the ground beneath them still shook, as though a round of explosions were going off in the distance.
We’ve begun securing access, the Destroyer said. But enemy resistance remains an issue.
He looked at Arendi and saw her wounds. Her right arm was among the casualties. The repair bots, however, sought to provide a new one. A mechanical limb came into place and attached. The gears at the bicep sank into Arendi’s shoulder. Alysdeon stood next to her, watching as the surgery neared completion. She held on to the two swords in her hands, still alert and on guard.
she said.
The sporadic combat continued to escalate. The trench around them trembled again. At this rate, enemy tactics involving scorched earth and any type of obliteration might be next.
Not to worry, the Destroyer said with a crooked smirk. For once, I’m here to try to save something.
He crossed his arms, glancing at the darkened chambers around them. There may have been little to see, but his forces were fighting to salvage and protect the vessel. Of course, he had been forced to blow a giant hole into the mother ship first.
Main power is almost ours, he reported. But the Enforcer still has control over the auxiliaries. He’s begun sectioning off the ship, trying to fortify himself. He isn’t ready to abandon his vessel yet.
In the face of their siege, the enemy was retreating deeper into the mother ship’s interiors. Whatever combat drones the Enforcer had left were setting up blockades and choke points to prevent any intrusion. Arendi knew what that meant.
Then we’ll just have to break through, she said.
The mechanical arm installed. Arendi’s mind began the sync. She gazed down at the new limb at her command. It was undeniably robotic, without any human skin. The fingers, tendons, and muscles were all constructed of cold metal. And the size was off nearly four times the mass of the old one. Arendi opened the sharpened fingers and gripped. The heavy fist felt ready to bludgeon and claw. She pounded the hand into her smaller left palm.
Excellent, the Destroyer said.
The neighboring area remained airless, but the Destroyer chuckled a deep laugh through the comm. He was keen on keeping up the pace. His forces were already preparing to attack the mother ship’s central computing core. The intention was to seize drone command. The key to controlling the Enforcer’s ground troops and space-based ships would be there. Indeed, he was close. One of his strike teams was in another section of the vessel, almost at the target site.
We’ll put a stop to this Gateway project, he said. I’ll be more than happy to destroy it again.
He made the vow, knowing it could be done. At every chance, the blond-haired man and his combat drones had been hacking into the Enforcer’s networks, trying to uncover files that might shed light on the technology’s progress. Much of the information was encrypted, and it was more like a fog of esoteric coding. He had to squint hard to find anything; his virtual vision was trolling through every crevice and corner, no matter how insignificant it might appear.
I did notice this, he revealed.
Although it wasn’t their real priority, the Destroyer realized it was still important. The blonde-haired man and his human eyes glanced at Arendi. With a flick of his finger, the neon hologram rose. It appeared at his side and showed a graphical view of the mother ship and its various sections. The Destroyer then pointed to one spot in particular.
Farcia, he said. I think she’s here.
The map showed the anomaly. The enemy vessel harbored a single organic life sign within its inner lair.
This is the only area of the ship that contains some environmental support, he explained.
Arendi’s eyes darted to the image; she studied it quickly. The location was not far only a little over a mile away. Apparently, it was a control center of some sort and built with access to the rest of the ship.
Do we know her condition? she asked.
The Destroyer shook his face. His hacks had failed to penetrate the Enforcer’s firewalls. Alysdeon also had little to report. Since their arrival, she had been trying to sense Farcia and where she might be.
she said.
Arendi then waved off the repair bots around her and stretched her shoulder. The new piece of machine muscle flexed, stout and impervious. Her face, however, quietly softened. She chewed her lip, thinking.
Do what you have to, the Destroyer said. Save her if you can.
It wasn’t his first choice, but he knew Arendi and what was at stake. Perhaps not everything had to be destroyed; maybe the white-haired woman still had some importance. She might very well possess the power to end this conflict quickly.
My forces are at your disposal, he added. His visage then disappeared as the machine projecting the hologram stepped forth.
A new squad of drones came. The seven-foot infiltrator droids were armed to the teeth. They carried blaster cannons and force-field emitters, and their robotic hands were shaped as giant blades. There were over a dozen mechanical soldiers. Their phase guns glowed red.
Arendi saw the light, only to feel her body sway. She planted her boots and looked off into the darkness. The ground beneath her feet continued to rumble. The source: unknown.
What is that? she asked.
The lead combat drone spoke. The Destroyer and his voice remained in her ear.
The Enforcer, he said. Our enemy must be planning something.
The other combat drones then took off. Despite their size, the machines sprinted at a superhuman pace and began scouting out the path ahead.
You best move and focus on Farcia, he advised. I’ll maintain contact and be with you all the way. As for the Enforcer, he added. I’ll deal with him.
Understood, she replied.
Arendi and Alysdeon then joined the drones and cut through the gloom. Arendi swung her new hand down to her waist. The mechanical arm then pumped up, nearly weightless. The two women ran fast and were quickly out of sight. The lead combat drone, however, lingered behind. The Destroyer and his virtual mind were still there, inside the trench. As the surrounding hull continued to rattle, he thought of the other battles taking place. The mother ship teemed with them. His rival, the Enforcer, was there to stubbornly resist blow after blow, dodge after dodge. It would only be a matter of time before t
he enemy might attempt the desperate, or the unthinkable.
The Destroyer knew this and paused.
It’s time we talk, he thought. Face-to-face.
***
He ventured deeper into the vessel and came to the select area, seeking to cement his presence. The mother ship’s computing core was here in this section; the means to ending this conflict was within his grasp.
The fighting, however, had taken its toll. The perimeter around the area was littered with over a hundred dead mechanical bodies. The corpses were disfigured in every way. Many were torn apart by precision-guided blades and severed at the limbs or head. Others had been charred or melted down; the plates of armor gushed a sap like substance.
The Destroyer surveyed the damage. His lone combat drone entered the premises. To him, it was a bone yard in the middle of this soul-less crypt. He stepped over the broken machine matter, only to rise. The heap of demolished circuitry, chips, and machinery had paved a trail into the computing core.
For a moment, he assumed no one was left. The room ahead where the core was located was dark and devoid of much light. He initially only detected minute energy readings, these from the computing infrastructure itself. In another few steps, he would be able to place his finger against the main terminal and begin the hack.
He was not alone, however. His enemy a rival combat drone leaped down from above. The Enforcer, in the form of his proxy, threw off his cloaking field and slashed. His elongated mechanical arm curved into a sharpened glaive. The Destroyer was hardly surprised. He raised his own machine hand, and blade met blade.
The two arms cracked with the impact. The sworded limbs crossed. Each edge pressed and gnawed; perhaps they would have screeched and whined, if only there had been air. The Enforcer then took another swipe. He lunged with his other hand. It turned into a lance and spun as though it were about to drill. The Destroyer jumped to the side but reciprocated in his own way. He fired a phase bolt from his own drone’s shoulder cannon. It sprayed his foe with a shotgun of energy beams.