by Luis Robles
“The path will be lighted in blue,” said Iris, as a path lit up right away.
Avenn gathered whatever strength he had left and ran towards the medical room. When he got there, relief washed over him as he saw Arnold sitting down talking to the others.
“How is it? How are you?” Avenn asked, standing on the door entrance.
“Well, hurts like hell... I’ll tell you that much. But I’m glad I am alive. It looks like I’m going to be out for a while. The bullet is still in there,” Arnold said, squinting with pain as he tried to move his arm.
Kenya shot a glaring look towards Avenn as if it was his fault that Arnold had gotten shot. Arnold noticed.
“Did you bring Clint in? Where is he now?” Arnold asked on purpose, knowing full well he had, as that was one of the things that Kenya told him the moment he woke up.
“He’s in a storage compartment on the second deck. He’s still out cold... I’m guessing it’s still going to be a while from now before he even tries to get up,” Avenn said.
There was another thump across the hull, this time a bit louder.
“So, what are we going to do next?” Jordan asked.
“What are we going to do? Well, I’m just going to stay here and rest, while you guys go get us out of here. Plus, I don’t think I’ll be of any help. I don’t think I’m even half as good as I used to be before,” Arnold said.
“I’m not leaving you here by yourself... somebody has to be taking care of you,” Kenya reasoned.
“I can very well monitor him. If he should need anything, I will let you know. While there is only one pilot required to engage Deimos, the drones can be operated manually, and it is recommended to take stress off the pilot. The more people piloting the drones, the better the results,” Iris said.
“Go with them. They need you... I can take care of myself,” Arnold said.
“I have already said that I’m not leaving you alone,” Kenya said sternly.
“Kenya, now is not the time to be stubborn. Go with them. That’s an order. I’ll join you as soon as I can,” Arnold said.
“Can you show us the way to the cockpit?” Avenn asked, looking up.
“Deimos’ drones are controlled by cockpits; however, Deimos himself is controlled by a Central Sensory Receptor Control Bay or Control Bay for short. To which of these are you referring to?” Iris asked.
“The one that is going to get us out of here,” Avenn said.
“That will be the Control Bay. After you’ve chosen the pilot, the rest can go and activate the drones. The way to the Control Bay will be lit up first. Please follow the orange path,” Iris said.
“Don’t worry about me. Just do the best you can, I’ll meet you in a little while. We have to get out of here fast,” Arnold said as he lay back down on the medical bed.
The group left running, but Kenya yelled, “I’ll be right back.”
It took them a few minutes to get to the Control Bay, with two more thumps along the hull that reminded them they weren’t alone. Once they got inside the Control Bay, they hesitated to move as they were overwhelmed by the complexity of things.
“This is going to be a lot harder than we thought,” Jordan said, feeling overwhelmed.
“Well, whatever it is we have to hurry,” Kenya said.
The Central Sensory Receptor Control Bay was large; it had screens all around. The screens covered almost everything from floor to ceiling. But at the center of it all was a hanging network of sensors and hydraulic control mechanisms that would make operating Deimos possible.
“Turning on Deimos’ operating system now. The process will not take long. You can find the suit located just behind the central network. Remember, only one of you will be able to integrate with Deimos. Once you choose the pilot, it cannot be undone,” Iris said.
The suit stood hanging, with the front half open, waiting for its pilot. Hundreds of sensory plates ran across the suit, along with thousands of ports it would connect to. The helmet was mostly open, a headband with various inputs and outputs and some sort of antennas protruding from the large headphones. As they got near it, hundreds of words started appearing on the screens in rapid succession; it stopped with a blinking cursor at the end, awaiting the command.
διαδικασία ολοκλήρωσης είναι έτοιμη
“What does that say?” Kenya asked.
Both Kenya and Jordan looked at Avenn. In that moment, it dawned on them—the only one that will be remotely qualified to pilot Deimos would be Avenn. They remembered what he had done with the worms, the condors in the desert, and how he took down Clint with relative ease. They began to think of Avenn as someone special, possibly the only one of them that was truly meant to be there.
“I believe that’s Greek, and it says integration process ready... Iris, can you change the language of Deimos?” Avenn asked.
“To what language would you want to have it changed?” Iris asked.
“Change it to English,” Avenn said.
The message in the screen changed in the blink of an eye.
“Okay, so which one of us is going to pilot this thing? I think it should be you, Jordan. You’re the one that knows the most about how things work,” Avenn said.
“No, I’m pretty much out of my league when it comes to this. It should be you, Avenn, the one piloting Deimos... not Arnold, not me, not Kenya, and especially not Clint. And I can’t think of anybody back in the Haven to do it either. It has to be you,” Jordan said, placing a hand on Avenn’s shoulder.
“I agree. If we have a chance of getting out of here, it will be you. I’m sorry at how I reacted earlier,” Kenya said.
“Me?” Avenn asked.
“The drone’s bays have been breached. If there is no action soon, we stand to lose nearly half of Deimos’ drones,” Iris interrupted.
Both Kenya and Jordan just simply nodded and gestured to the hanging suit. Avenn nodded back and went inside the suit through the front. The suit began to light up, adjusting to Avenn’s body from neck to toes. The apparatus in which the suit was hanging began to turn counterclockwise to face the central network. The upper part from where the suit was hanging broke apart and slid over with Avenn towards the central network, where it began attaching to thousands of cables and hydraulics.
“Are you ready to begin?” Iris asked and Avenn nodded. “This might hurt a bit,” Iris said as she began the integration process.
Avenn screamed in agonizing pain as all his nerve receptors were becoming one with the War Beast. Deimos roared to life as his humming core accelerated. The plethora of seamless screens surrounding him began to show images of the outside; suddenly, they were able to see everything. Kenya and Jordan thought they were hearing things when they heard the War Beast scream.
“Avenn!” Kenya yelled.
“Although painful, the process is not lethal. Deimos is analyzing each one of Avenn’s pain receptors to synch with him. Once the process is done, both Avenn and Deimos will become one,” Iris explained.
But that did not stop Kenya and Jordan from taking a step forward into the central network pad. The pad had a clear yellow line around it that extended three meters around Avenn’s location.
“Please, do not step in the circle marked on the floor. This is Avenn’s sense of awareness. It is now being calibrated,” Iris said.
Soon after, the screaming stopped and Avenn was there, standing up straight, unmoving, with his eyes closed. The display on the screen also changed.
Integration process complete.
Integration process successful.
Ready to begin.
“I can feel it... I can feel what Deimos feels. I feel the strength, I feel the power... and I can feel that we can win again.”
Avenn opened his eyes and looked towards Kenya and Jordan, almost knocking them out of balance as the whole control room shifted to the right. The images of the outside on the blanketing screen moved as well. They could see everything that the War Beast saw.
“Begi
nning the process of awakening the drones,” Iris said.
Avenn turned back to face forward, then he looked up, at which point the control room tilted up, sending Kenya and Jordan towards the entrance. The central network that Avenn was attached to stayed in place, as it would only move when his body moved. Realizing this, Avenn moved his head slowly down and faced forward once again.
“I think it’s best if you guys go to the drone cockpits. I don’t think it would be very safe for you guys here,” Avenn said without looking at them. “Don’t worry, I’ll get us out of here safe.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Jordan said as he got up.
“The path to the drone’ cockpits will be lit up. Please, follow the orange lights,” Iris said. As they went out of the control room, the door closed behind them.
“Okay, Iris, open the hangar door of this place. I am ready to go outside,” Avenn said as he looked up, assuming that there was a hangar door somewhere on the ceiling of the place.
“Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a hangar door. The War Beast was so massive that doors were never made for them. They were only made to deploy once from each facility. Constructing a hangar door for a machine that can theoretically shape the face of a mountain seemed a little counterproductive for the engineers of the Great War,” Iris explained.
“So what am I supposed to do? Climb myself out of here?” Avenn asked in disbelief.
“That is correct. I do not suggest walking out of here as that may cause some external damage to Deimos, depending on the density of the rock,” Iris said.
Avenn was able to see his surroundings clearly, just like he normally would, but this time he was eighty-two plus meters up in the air. He was surrounded by concrete walls that housed Deimos. The holes the giant worms had made through the walls were also clearly visible.
“Well, here goes nothing,” Avenn said as he raised an arm, and Deimos followed simultaneously.
Deimos dug his right hand into the wall and Avenn felt it; he felt all of it. But to Avenn’s surprise, it did not feel as if he was sinking his hand into solid concrete: it felt softer, like sand. That was confusing to Avenn, as he saw with his own eyes Deimos digging his hand in to a solid concrete wall. The force in which Deimos dug into the wall was also surprising, as it sent debris flying everywhere.
“What the...” Avenn said.
“While you will feel everything that Deimos is feeling and feel everything he touches, his body was built to last, making it much tougher and less sensitive,” Iris said.
Deimos’ left hand followed itself into the wall as high as it was able to reach. Then, he dug his right foot into the wall and began to pull his body up. Most of the wall crumbled under Deimos’ weight, but he was able to hold enough to allow him to switch hands and feet as he climbed up. When it got to the roof, he threw a punch upwards, punching a hole through it with ease. He then held onto the ledge and pushed the rest of Deimos’ body out of the hangar.
“What the heck is happening out there?” Kenya said as she felt the acceleration with every movement and held on to the nearby corridor handles.
“The drone cockpits are near. Once you’re there, Deimos’ acceleration will not be felt by your body so harshly. I suggest you hurry as a battle is imminent,” Iris said.
“A battle with who? We’re supposed to head back to the Haven now,” Jordan asked.
“It looks like the heavy movements that Deimos made while getting out the hangar has attracted a lot of attention from the giant Lumbricina. Eight more are coming this way. The other five are in imminent proximity. They will be here within a minute,” Iris said.
“What about Arnold? There is no cockpit for him there?”
“I’ve already strapped Arnold on the medicine room bed and turned the stabilizer up to a maximum. He should have no problem,” Iris answered.
There were ten drone cockpits waiting for Kenya and Jordan, with the hatch open. The cockpits were small compared to the Control Bay, but they were still comfortable for human feeling.
“Anyone of these are fine?” Jordan asked before getting into the first one.
“That is correct. Anyone of them will do,” Iris said.
Both Kenya and Jordan jumped to the nearest cockpits and strapped on. As they fastened their seat belts, the screens in front of them began to light up, with images of the outside world.
“Press the red button on the right-hand side to engage the drones,” Iris instructed.
As they pressed the button, joysticks appeared on each side of them. Each joystick had an array of buttons that made Kenya and Jordan hesitate to put their hands on them.
“Do not worry, I will deactivate most of the command buttons and will leave only the necessary ones. The red button in your thumb is to fire the drones’ twin secondary weapon; each drone is equipped with 32,000 rounds of .50 caliber belted machine gun ammo. The green button next to the red is to fire the drones’ primary weapon; each drone is equipped with 2,000 rounds of 120 mm for the main cannons. Left and right joysticks control the direction of the swarm. But when pressing the top lever of the joystick, you will be able to control the directions,” Iris explained as tens of thousands of drones, almost two meters in diameter, were ascending from the ground.
“How are we supposed to control all of these?” Jordan asked.
“Most drones will be on autopilot, following Deimos, and Avenn himself will be able to control some of them. You can choose whatever group you deem necessary to protect against the enemy. One last thing,” Iris said as they saw a giant worm approaching, “if a drone runs out of ammo, it could also be used as a type of missile, with 250 kg of explosives. You may now take control of as many drones as you like.”
As Deimos crawled out the hangar, he saw one of the giant worms approaching him at full speed. The giant worm did not slow down and crashed against Deimos at full speed, creating a reverberating thump across the hull. The worm then slid passed him, as Deimos was unmovable.
Deimos turned around to face the worm head on. The drones were already attacking it but to no avail; the skin of the giant worm was just too thick for the drones’ ammo. The giant worm bellowed as Deimos grabbed it with his right hand, managing to keep the razor-sharp teeth away from him. The worm began to uncover the rest of its body from underneath the ground and started spinning it around him.
“What are my options? This thing is heavy,” Avenn said as he felt the full weight of the worm on his hand.
On the main screen to the left, listed options appeared.
Small Machine Gun 155 mm /L52 with warhead rounds. (Close-Medium Range)
Medium Gun Electromagnetic Railgun. Hyper Velocity Projectiles 7800 MPH. (Long Range)
Plasma Edge Large Sword. (Close Combat)
God Cannons. Hyper Beam Cannons. (Long – Ultra-Long Range)
“Well, those look promising. How can I use one?” Avenn asked as he struggled.
“Think of the one you want to use, and you will automatically reach for it. Deimos is intuitive with his own body.”
Avenn chose the small machine gun, and Deimos automatically reached to grab it from his back. Holding the machine gun with his left arm, he fired at the worm point blank; the rounds exploded, making some parts of the worm’s body disappear just above Deimos’ hand, splattering some of its bodily fluids on the machine. The worm became limp instantly and fell to the ground.
The other four worms that were in the vicinity were closing in fast, on ruckus. Avenn saw them clearly, as the four of them came within range. The drones were already on them and were able to distract two of them. And the other two approached him fast. At the same time, Avenn became vaguely aware of the other eight giant worms approaching at each step within his combat area.
“This is not good... this is not good,” he said to no one in particular.
As the giant worms came near him, Deimos fired the machine gun, but it was to no avail: the worms didn’t slow down whatsoever.
“What the h
ell is wrong with these things? Why won’t they die?” Avenn said as he decided to run towards the worms. “I guess you guys like it up close and personal.”
The rocky ground floor broke when Deimos’ massive weight stepped on it with fury as he ran to meet the worms. He held each worm, just like he did the first time with his right hand and fired the massive machine gun point blank. The other two worms that were no longer distracted by the drones approached Deimos, only to have the same faith as the rest. At the end of the ordeal, Deimos was covered in giant worm bodily fluids.
Without resting, he turned around to go and meet the incoming eight giant worms. The drones were already attacking them as well, but it was then when Avenn noticed something odd about the giant creatures. They were not as aggressive as the other four, not by a long shot. Their movement had slowed to a crawl, and instead of attacking the drones, they were burying themselves to the ground.
“Hold your fire!” Avenn yelled.
Kenya and Jordan heard him loud and clear down in the drone cockpits. The drones’ fire ceased and held back into formation behind Deimos. The giant worms approached Deimos slowly and went passed as if they were looking for something else.
“What the... There has to be something seriously wrong with these things,” Avenn said.
“Hey, Avenn, why aren’t they attacking anymore?” Jordan asked.
“I don’t know…” Avenn said.
“It appears as if you’re no longer considered a threat or prey to the giant Lumbricina, as you have successfully masked your smell with their own. They are not finding what they are looking for,” Iris said.
The giant worms lingered for a few minutes and slowly went away.
They landed the drones as soon as the giant worms were out of reach. Avenn put Deimos on standby and detached himself from the Central Control Bay. That also hurt like hell, as he began to feel his own body once again. Kenya and Jordan slid out of the drone cockpits, and they all met up back at the medical room where Arnold was.
Arnold didn’t look so good. He looked tired, and he was sweating.
“I’m assuming it all went well as we’re still here and we are still alive,” Arnold said, struggling to sit up straight.