Bombardier - The Complete Trilogy

by SD Tanner

  Signaling to his droid, he randomly selected one of the protruding boxes. It was the same color as the surface and about five foot by five foot. “Break it open.”

  “Break. To destroy strength, firmness or consistency. Open. To allow access or passage.”

  “You can just do stuff. The commentary isn’t necessary.”

  The BattleDroid appeared to pause and then stomped across the metallic surface towards the protruding box. If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought it was offended. Using the laser built into its shoulder packs, it began cutting across the base on the box. The heat from the laser beam only added to the already stifling conditions on top of the platform.

  “Stand ready.”

  “For what?” Cardiff asked, sounding confused.

  “For whatever might come out of that box. In case you haven’t noticed we’ve not been lucky that way.”

  While his droid maintained a steady beam, five Bombardiers and two BattleDroids aimed their weapons at the box. Eventually it cut across the entire base, leaving a line of wet metal. Placing both large and gloved hands against the surface, the droid pushed against the box. It slid off the base, tipping onto its side. When nothing appeared, he cautiously stepped towards the hole they’d created. Nothing happened, so he took another step until he could peer into the hole. Poking his Bomhammer inside first, he followed it with his head. His visor could see a little further now, but there was only a tunnel.

  “I think we have to go inside.”

  “All of us?” Mex asked, sounding hopeful.

  There didn’t appear to be anything outside of the city. Two BattleDroids and two Bombardiers could take care of their ships. If they needed to leave then one of the Bombardiers could remotely control the third Scorpion while the BattleDroids provided cover.

  “Two of us need to stay here with two droids. Bug out if the ships are at risk.”

  Lace sighed. “I’ll stay topside.”

  “If you’re staying then I’m staying,” Mex replied.

  “Fine, you can both stay. Don’t let anything happen to the ships. We need them.”

  Peering down the tunnel, he had no idea how to get inside safely, or what he would meet at the other end. Pulling his gun across his chest, he stepped into the hole. “Boms away.”

  At first he barely fit inside of the hole, but the further he fell the wider it became. Once it was over ten feet wide, he was no longer being held upright. Tipping head over heel, he resisted the urge to reach for the walls. He was freefalling down a tube heading somewhere he didn’t know. His vision was limited to the walls, so he didn’t even know what was behind them. The end of his flight came suddenly. Landing on a hard floor shoulder first, he rolled aside. Cardiff was next to land and then Samson.

  “Oww!”

  His BattleDroid was the only one who didn’t complain as it hit the hard surface, merely rolling onto its feet and standing. Ignoring the cursing behind him, he looked around the circular chamber hoping to find a way out. On his left was a grill and he stomped across to it, hearing his boots echoing up the tunnel.

  “What is that?” Cardiff asked, appearing by his side.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Let’s break it.”

  “No wonder nobody ever invites us back,” Samson observed dourly.

  He didn’t care. There was something beyond the wall, but he couldn’t work out what it was. Nothing appeared to be moving, so he hammered his left shoulder into the grill, feeling it pop from position. Stepping out of the tunnel, he was in an enormous room. The ceiling was thirty feet high with six-foot tall shelving along one of the walls. Against another wall was a row of twelve-foot tall rectangular boxes in a now familiar bronze color. Samson was running his gloved hands across another wall. Suddenly his hand slipped, disappearing into the wall.

  “I think this is an exit.”

  Walking across to where he was standing, he pushed his own hand through the wall. After a slight resistance, it slipped through as if the wall wasn’t there.

  “Weird.”

  “I suppose one of us should stick their head through it,” Samson said.

  “Or we could send my droid.”

  “You’re getting cautious in your old age.”

  He was learning not to take anything for granted. Turning, he waved his droid over. “Droid, walk through this wall and then come back.”

  Striding with its mechanical gait, it didn’t hesitate at the entrance, disappearing into the wall. Reappearing a few seconds later, it didn’t seem any worse for wear. Tapping into its screens, he analyzed the images. There was only another enormous room on the other side. Similar to theirs, this one had the same rectangular and square boxes with a tall ledge facing them.

  Shrugging, he walked through the wall. As he passed through it, he felt a slight tugging as if it didn’t want to let him go. “Come through.”

  There were more rooms just like the first, each empty and utilitarian. After their initial optimism, he was fast becoming bored with what had looked like a spectacular site. It was only after their tenth room that he found a corridor. Unlike the previous rooms, it was ornately carved in a similar pattern to the outside wall.

  Following it to the end, it opened into an enormous chamber. The ceiling was fifty-foot high, carved with an even more elaborate design. Huge bronze pillars stood in rows, but he doubted they were holding up the ceiling. At one end was an enormous altar with two carved figures on either side behind it. The floor was a dark red, not made of metal, but something spongy. The room had an air of luxury and opulence. Whoever had built this city was powerful.

  The two statues behind the altar were over twenty foot tall. Surrounding the figures was an uneven outline seeming to suggest they were meant to be glowing or have an aura. The bodies inside of the outline were humanoid. Two legs stood one in front of the other and their arms reached upward stretching the genderless torso. Their heads were tilted backwards as if they were looking at the stars.

  On top of the altar was another bronze box, three by three foot. Unlike the other boxes, this one was elaborately carved with the same design as the wall, only there was a miniature version of the figurines on each corner. At the far end of the room was a line in the wall reaching from the base to the ceiling, which he suspected was another invisible door. They were in the heart of the city, he was sure of it. Whatever was in the box on top of the altar was probably very important to the species.

  Walking across the floor, feeling it moving oddly under his feet, he stopped in front of the altar. Shouldering his gun, he placed a hand on each of the figurines at the front intending to lift them. That was as far as he got before the altar moved. Like an elaborate puzzle box, pieces of the altar shifted forward, twisting and then stopping while another part did the same. Piece by piece, it reconfigured the altar until it was in two parts with a wide gap down the middle. The four figurines that had been at the top of the box were now at the far corners of the space between the two halves of the altar.

  “What was that all about?” Samson asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  Still curious about the figurines, he stepped into the gap and fell. It was another hidden door just like the others. His back slammed into something hard, but he kept sliding. Falling downward, his head smacked into something behind him. Grabbing for anything to slow his fall, he continued bumping downward until he finally came to a stop. Before he had a chance to look around, something hammered into his head, skidding him forward on his butt. Always eager to have his six, Cardiff had followed him through the hidden door.

  Behind him were steps, each far apart and tall. The glory of the upper chamber was gone, replaced with rows of floor to ceiling glass tubes. Beyond the tubes were walls also made of glass. The ceiling above his head was brightly lit, making the room look like a laboratory.

  Finding his feet, he ignored Samson and his droid when they clattered down the wide and deep stairs. What was in the tubes had caught his attenti
on more than Samson’s cursing. Each glass tube was ten feet in circumference. Suspended in the fluid were different types of critters.

  Circling the tube, he studied the critter curled inside. It was a spider type with its many legs folded into its body, giving it a fetal appearance. The long, wide room was filled with seemingly endless tubes just like the one he was looking at.

  “Is this how critters are made?” Cardiff asked, sounding awed.

  “Not according to Tank. He said over fifty percent of the human population transformed into them. I don’t know what these are.”

  “Are they still…active?” Samson asked.

  Raising his gloved hand, he tapped the glass. The fetal critter sprang to life, slashing at the glass with it claws. Hoping to break through, it rammed its head towards him, mashing its molded eyes against the glass. A wide mouth opened showing rows of shark-like teeth. Becoming frustrated it continued scrabbling at the glass desperate to tear into him.

  “Looks kinda active.”

  In a voice heavy with contempt, Cardiff muttered, “Disgusting.”

  Walking over to the wall, initially all he saw was a white room. Tapping at the glass, something unfurled from the ceiling, dropping to the floor. It was tall and thin with long limbs. Its head shared the same rubbery molded appearance of the spider critters. The mouth opened revealing rows of teeth and it threw itself against the glass. Bouncing away, it raised a long thin arm, slashing downward at the glass. While it became increasingly agitated, he studied it coldly.

  “I don’t think this is their nest.”

  “Why’s that?” Cardiff asked.

  “I think these are prisoners.”

  “Then where are the creatures that caught them?” Samson asked.

  It was a very good question. Other than the critters there didn’t seem to be anything left alive on the planet. They were such an advanced civilization it was hard to believe they hadn’t conquered space travel.

  “Maybe they left.”

  “To go where?”

  “Maybe the critters drove them away,” Cardiff suggested.

  He shook his head. “That wouldn’t make sense.” Flicking his hand across the room, he added, “They captured all of these critters. I’m guessing they were using them for something.”

  “Ok, so where did they go? Why did they go?” Samson asked.

  They were good questions, but he could only guess at their reasoning. What he did know was they must have had a way of defeating the critters. Somewhere inside of the city was a solution to their problem. For the first time since traveling through the wormhole, there was a chance he wasn’t wasting his time.

  “We need to go topside and get the rest of the squad,” he said. “I want to search the city for anything we can use.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN:

  Blown Away

  (Tank)

  The whining sound of the ship’s alarm jolted him from his sleep. Moving before he was fully awake, Casey tumbled from his chest. They’d packed up Tracha, forming a fleet of fifty BattleRigs with a thousand Scorpions. Rather than send the Bombardiers and ships to Earth using the wormhole, they were escorting a thousand Trachans and the last hundred Navigators home. Tracha was abandoned, leaving the nanobytes to maintain the surface and cities.

  “Sitrep!”

  Bombardier Four-Two’s voice sounded in his earpiece. “There’s a wall thirty light-years from our position.”

  “Convoy halt. Rigs retreat. All crews to Scorpions. Remaining personnel Hack up.”

  Casey was pulling on her sensor layer, preparing to dress in her Navigator gear. “Do you think that’s a good idea, Tank? Look what happened to Bom One-oh-One when she tried that tactic.”

  “We’re not going to attack it. I want as many targets as possible for it to chase. If we can force it to split up then its man on critter.”

  Snapping the last clip on his armor, he tugged on his helmet, slamming down the faceplate. Casey was taking longer to gear up and he walked through the door. “Meet me in the docking bay.”

  Marching along the corridor, soldiers were running to the supply areas. Some were already in full armor and others were still hastily tugging on their helmets.

  “Battle rattle, people. Fast and steady.”

  The frantic movement around him slowed and his troops began pacing themselves. Providing they kept it under control, adrenalin during battle was a powerful fuel. Still marching along the corridor making his way towards the docking bay, he was flicking through images from the visibility pods. The wall looked the same as the one Bombardier One-Zero-One had run into.

  “Bom One-oh-One, do you copy?”

  “I’m on the grid.”

  “Do you see it?”

  “Yep.”

  “Same one?”

  “Yep.”

  “All Battalion Commanders. We need to break up that wall. Keep the rigs safe. Spread your Scorpions wide. Only eject HackSuits and Lifepods if a rig is lost. I want a safe zone set up at three-seven-foxtrot-delta-seven-six. All squads. Clear the battlefield and rendezvous there. Good luck.”

  “Good speed, Battle.”

  Smiling at her use of his old name, Bombardier One-Zero-One’s sentiment echoed across the grid as each Battalion Commander signed off to deal with their squads. He would now act as Central Command.

  Casey caught up with him. “Where do you want me?”

  “Take control of the lead BattleRig. Guide the others to the rendezvous point. If there’s a problem there then find another location and inform the fleet.”

  “That’s behind the lines.”

  “I know, but if anything happens to me then the army is yours until Ark gets back.”

  She was already walking away from him, heading towards the Bridge. “You make it sound like that’s part of a good battle plan, but I know what you’re doing.”

  “Deal with it.”

  “I love you too, honey.”

  They weren’t words he’d ever said to her. He supposed he should, but they’d never come easily to him. His father had taught him sentimentality implied weakness and that was something he was never allowed to have.

  Climbing up through the hatch on his Scorpion, Bombardier Four-Two and another joined him. “What’s the plan?”

  “Front line.”

  “Where is that exactly?”

  “Same place it always is. Anywhere the enemy is causing the most trouble.”

  The Scorpion dropped from the docking bay, halting its descent before spinning sharply and zipping towards the wall. “Watch it, it’s grabby.”

  Following his warning with an example, a long tentacle flicked from the wall, snatching at the closest Scorpion. Forewarned was forearmed and the Scorpion twisted sharply, accelerating away. The upside of the wall was it was slow to move. The downside was its size and density. He doubted this was the only wall the critters had, making him wonder what would happen if more turned up. It was like a compact army. When it unpacked, there would be tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of critters.

  “Battalion Commanders. Send your best forward. Watch out for the grabby. Let’s see if we can get it to unpack its critters.”

  “Why do we want that?” Casey asked from the Bridge of the lead rig.

  “We can’t beat a wall. We don’t have the firepower for that, but we can take down a critter. We need it to fight in a way we can win.”

  “Why don’t we just leave?”

  “Because they’re not going away. These fuckers are probably heading for Earth. Fight them here or fight them there, anything we can do to thin the herd helps.”

  Scorpions were breaking formation across the entire face of the wall. Zipping towards it, they spun and twisted tempting it to make a move. Their actions appeared to confuse the packed critters, but eventually a tentacle fired outward targeting a dancing Scorpion. It was bad move. Three more Scorpions broke away firing at the middle of the tentacle. As it tore apart, fragments reformed into smaller critters. Spinning away from
the wall and damaged tentacle, one of them zeroed in on a Scorpion, latching onto its hull.

  Tapping the pilot’s communication identity on his screen, he said, “You’ve got yourself a bogey on the hull. Shake it off.”

  “Roger that,” the pilot replied and the ship began spinning rapidly.

  He didn’t see the critter fly off into space and then for no reason he understood the ship exploded. “Why? Somebody tell me why that just happened.”

  His headset filled with chatter.

  “It bit through a missile. Kaboom!”

  “Or it’s a bomb. Kaboom!”

  “No way, they’re not explosive.”

  “How do you know? Are you dating one?”

  No one knew the answer for sure, but it boiled down to two possibilities. The critter had accidentally set off an armament or the critter contained a bomb. “No, no, no,” he replied. “Critters are not ordnance.”

  “Maybe they are now,” Casey said.

  It would mean the critters had added to their lethality. Scorpions were still dancing in front of the wall, enticing it to fire tentacles at them. If critters could explode like a missile then he could lose the entire fleet.

  “All ships retreat.”

  “To where?” Casey asked in disbelief.

  “Spread wide. We’ll meet at the rendezvous point. Casey, go check the location.”

  Firing in different directions, BattleRigs and Scorpions pulled away. Silver ships winked brightly as they twisted and turned along their path, leaving an empty blackness in their wake. His fleet was breaking formation, and he could only hope they would survive the dogfights he knew were coming. Just as he expected, the wall exploded sending small chunks of black matter into space. One fired past his ship so fast it was a blur. Grabbing the footage on his screen, he replayed it in slow motion, trying to understand what the critters had become.

  He’d never seen a critter transform. Traveling at a tenth light-speed, it was shrinking in some areas while expanding in others. Mostly made up of a fat round body, it grew many long legs, shaping itself into an arrow. If it penetrated a hull then it wouldn’t take much of an explosion to blast a hole in it. Maybe it was only a small bomb, but that was all it needed to be.