by Luis Robles
He quickly raised his hand and opened it. The door in front of them opened and Jordan sent the explosive sliding down the floor to the middle of the room. He was able to see the group of soldiers standing around until they saw him. Arnold closed his hand, signaling for the door to close, and it did almost instantaneously. They then stepped away from the door and backed towards the opposite end of the room. Some odd 20 seconds later, there was a loud bang on the metal door, making the building reverberate.
“I can inform you that your plan was successful. However, you must hurry, as the three soldiers next door over felt the blast, now calling in for permission to check. I’m blocking their calls, but it won’t be long before they make their way over there,” Veridiam said.
“Are you guys in this? You don’t have to do it, I can go by myself,” Arnold said.
“I’m coming with you. There’s no way you can carry all of these by yourself. I intend to deliver these where it really hurt the most,” Kenya said with a slight smile on her face.
“I’m in,” Jordan said as he fixed his bag of explosives.
“Yeah, man... I am in, too. Let’s take these to them,” Clint said.
“When she opens the doors, we can’t stop running. You got that? We will try to sprint there and back. We need to be in and out and back inside Deimos,” Arnold instructed.
Arnold held his hand up, getting ready to give Veridiam the signal to open the doors. He looked at each one of his comrades, and then looked back at the door, trying to focus. He opened his hand, and all doors opened with it.
“Let’s go!” Arnold yelled as they began sprinting.
They passed through the first room without looking around too much at the damage the explosive had done. But at a glance, one thing was imminent: none of the twelve soldiers had survived. They passed at every entrance after that, looking for signs of hostiles, but to their advantage there weren’t any.
They got through the third, the fourth, the fifth, and through the seventh room without hesitation. But before entering the eighth room, the room where the explosives would be set, they stopped in the middle of the seventh room, as they encountered a Hackaram waiting for them, blocking the entrance to the eighth.
This Hackaram looked much like Veridiam, but with a different appearance. Her white hair was different, less kept than Veridiam’s. She had some kind of armored skin, her facial features looked angry, and she was half crouching, ready for a fight. Most of all, she was holding a large blade in one of her hands.
“Going somewhere? I really did not think that there will be anything left alive inside the thing. But I’m happy there is, as I’ll finish the job I started with my own hands. I won’t be leaving any loose ends,” the Hackaram soldier said.
The group grew angry to see one of them in the flesh, and dazed that they were able to understand her so clearly; they thought it was a computer trick when Veridiam was talking to them in their language.
“You… You started?” Arnold managed to ask, trying to hold back any impulses.
“I knew that there were some of you wandering the desert... There is no reason why those wretched worms would be moving that much. I looked for you, but somehow you evaded me. Anyway, that is not important now,” the Hackaram soldier said as she took one step forward and tightened the grip on her blade. “I am Shairra Bilahen, and I am the one responsible for destroying your homes, those so-called Havens of yours. I thought you should know.”
Jordan and Clint were getting ready to attack her, but Arnold put one hand up and held them back.
“Stay calm... concentrate on the task at hand. We have to deliver this,” Arnold said in a low voice.
Kenya handed her bag to Clint and grabbed Arnold’s arm, pushing it down slowly. Arnold looked at Kenya; she nodded slowly, and he knew what that meant. She took a few steps forward and so did the Hackaram. In that moment, Kenya felt a surge of energy, and calmness run throughout her body. Humans are not as weak as Shairra wanted to believe, no; the human spirit is resilient and strong, and when you take everything away a human might be scared to lose, combine it with anger and years upon years of heart break, you are left with one dangerous weapon.
“You greatly underestimate me. Even with the four of you, you won’t have a chance against me. What makes you think that one of you will?” Shairra said, getting even closer.
“Because I have to,” Kenya said as she launched at Shairra.
Shairra swung her blade, while Kenya ducked and gave her an uppercut as hard as she could. Shairra stumbled back, and Kenya then kicked the blade out of her hand.
“What?” Shairra shouted, not believing her eyes, feeling the sting on her hand from Kenya’s boot.
“Go, I’ll catch up!” Kenya shouted as she stood in front of Shairra unfazed.
Something inside them told them that she would be okay; Shairra should be the one to worry. So, they went on to the next room without hesitation. Shairra attempted to grab them, but Kenya was already there.
On the next room, the last wall was just as Veridiam had said. The group now hurriedly emptied the contents of the bags and began to arm the explosives, leaning them against the wall.
Meanwhile, Shairra and Kenya were locked in a fierce battle. Shairra was bigger, stronger, and trained in combat, but Kenya was determined and faster. Kenya was not just landing blows at the alien soldier; she was also looking for her weak spot.
It took several hits from Kenya, and several punches from Shairra on Kenya, to discover it. As Kenya’s arm became stuck in one of Shairra’s armor plates, she knew what she had to do when Shairra screamed at the top of her lungs. Shairra’s intricate body armor was plated to her skin, and Kenya knew exactly what to do with it. Kenya launched for the armored skin, trying to separate it at every chance she got. The pain was excessive for the Hackaram soldier, causing her to faint, giving Kenya an absolute upper hand.
Moments later, Kenya walked in the last room victorious, only to turn back around as the group was already getting ready to leave.
“We got 15 seconds!” Arnold shouted as they hurried outside.
As Veridiam said, the door closed behind them. They broke into a run back towards Deimos. Arnold was falling way behind, but Clint decided to help him without wavering.
They were not halfway into the sixth room with they heard the bang behind them. It was louder than they thought. The bang prompted them to run even faster than they already were.
They had one more room to go, when they saw them. Two more soldier Hackaram were blocking their way. But this time, they were armed.
“Keep going, don’t slow down!” Arnold yelled. He then looked at Clint to ask, in a voice that only he would be able to hear, “Are you with me?”
Clint nodded and separated from Arnold as each charged one of the Hackaram soldiers. The soldiers fired at the imminent threat. But that did not stop them; somehow, they kept moving towards the soldiers, determined to give Jordan and Kenya a real chance at escaping.
Kenya tried to stop at the middle of the room to go back and get Arnold, but she was yanked by Jordan.
“Go... keep going!” Arnold screamed with a bloody mouth.
“Don’t make this be for nothing! There isn’t many of us left to be wasting,” Clint yelled.
As much as it hurt Kenya, she knew they were right. They had to keep going; it was too late for them. She just wished that she had gotten the idea to tackle the soldiers first. As soon as they stepped in to the next room, Arnold gave Kenya a meaningful look before he closed his eyes, raised his hand and clenched it in to a fist; he gave Veridiam the sign to close the door.
Kenya yelled at the top of her lungs, with pain for leaving them behind. Jordan kept pulling Kenya towards Deimos. Reluctantly, they got inside Deimos once again. Kenya pounded on the floor while Jordan attempted to close the door by any means possible. His muscles and his body gave up a few inches away from fully closing it. Seconds later, they heard the blast of the chain reaction. Fire and debris from t
he blast got inside the exit door, triggering the fire alarm and sprinklers inside Deimos.
But they couldn’t care less. They had just lost two comrades on top of everything they had lost throughout their lives.
Clint had demonstrated the true nature of a human heart, as he gladly surrendered his life to protect his friends. Arnold had demonstrated an admirable conduct as the last hope for Havens and as a human being: he had refused several times to give up the fight no matter the odds.
17
A Choice
“Leave us,” he said to the engineers and then turned to Dolam. “Release this traitor from his chains... he will need both hands to operate the beam. I expect you to do something funny, something unexpected. By all means, do it. I’ve always wondered how hard it would be to cut off your head,” Neveran said, placing his spear on Rendeleor’s neck. “You will call them.”
“Then do it already. What are you waiting for? You already know that I will do no such thing.”
“Do not tempt me,” Neveran said, pressing the spear consistent enough to cause a bleed. “What is it that you gain from this? What is it that you gain from your defiance? There’s nothing for you. What would happen if you win? Have you ever thought about that? Where will you and your people go and live? Do you just want to go die in space? Is that your dream? I’ve always had a hard time trying to understand. Chances are that I never will. But it’s too late for all of that... It is too late for all of these. You will do as I say.”
“Your tiny mind will never understand what is the right thing to do. We destroyed our own world... we have no right to destroy somebody else’s!” Rendeleor struggled as he felt the spear cut his throat.
Dolam did as Neveran asked. But right at the moment that he took off the chains, an explosion followed from behind a wall. A few seconds later, the beam began to smoke and flickered off. Everyone except Rendeleor was caught off-guard. He then turned to face Neveran with chain in hand. Neveran gripped his spear tight, pointing it towards Rendeleor.
“Imbecile! What have you done? I half expected something like this to happen. Now, I have more reason to end your life!” Neveran said furiously through gritted teeth.
Neveran launched an attacked on Rendeleor with his spear, but he was able to block it with the chain he had in his hand. Rendeleor stepped closer to Neveran, making it hard for him to use his spear. With his hand wrapped around the chain, he punched the spear as hard as he could, making it fly away. Then, he punched Neveran square in the chest, sending him sliding across the floor.
Dolam was hesitating to step in as he knew that his leader might interpret his intervention any which way he so desired. But when Dolam finally decided to step in, it was already too late; Rendeleor was already upon him. Dolam took two hits to the head before he was knocked out.
Before Neveran was able to get up, the end of Rendeleor’s chain hit him in the head once again, right across the face, giving him a big gouge that blinded his one eye. He screamed in pain, but that did not stop Rendeleor from approaching him.
But before he was able to take another step towards Neveran, another explosion occurred underneath the beam, sending them both flying towards the walls, causing them to bounce down to the floor.
“You think... You think that this beam is the only form of communication with our mothership? You are so wrong. I will bring them to this planet no matter what, even if I have to go get them myself!” Neveran yelled at the top of his lungs from across the room as he held one hand to his eye.
Rendeleor was barely able to hear and couldn’t say anything; he was still gathering himself from the blast. He saw Neveran leave the room in a hurry, and he knew he had to do the same.
Outside, Rendeleor saw only chaos with his kin. They were hurting each other—Hackaram vs Hackaram. He then heard the engines from the Explorer ship beginning to wind up.
“Veridiam, can you hear me?” he yelled in the middle of the crowd. But she wasn’t there. Still dazed from the shock, trying to gather himself together, he got closer to a building and yelled even louder. “Veridiam, can you hear me?”
This time, a flickering light appeared not too far from him. He approached the light knowing it was her. As he got close, the screen appeared.
“What happened to you? We weren’t able to see anything after the explosion. Are you ok? I’ll send help your way,” Veridiam said worriedly.
“No, no, there’s more important things to do right now than to care about my health. Can you amplify me so that everybody can hear me?” Rendeleor said.
“Hold on... Ok, it’s done. Now, everybody in the settlement will be able to hear you,” Veridiam said.
Rendeleor took a few seconds to gather his thought and then began to speak so that everyone could hear. Other insurgents gathered around him as they recognized it was him.
“Our kin set out into the stars to find a new home, not to take someone else’s home and make it our own. This was the mistake my father made, as he became desperate in the darkness of space. Neveran had chosen to take the same path as my father did, a path of selfishness, evil, and destruction. I have long ago chosen not to take that path. I have chosen to return this world to its original inhabitants and go and look for our own amongst the stars...” Rendeleor paused to catch his breath, and he saw that mostly everyone was listening. “Today, I present you with a choice, a choice that will define your life and the life of your offspring, and their offspring after that. Surrender this planet and leave with me on the Carrier ship to find our place in the universe, or keep fighting and die here alone, as your leader is currently leaving you onboard the Explorer. Come with me, and I promise you that we will find a place we can call our own, without taking from someone else.”
The crowd was an utter uproar. Those who chose to continue to follow Neveran were only the high-ranking officers of the Hackaram, but the majority of the Hackaram in the settlement chose to go with Rendeleor on the Carrier ship. The remaining officers did not try to stop the angry mob; instead, they ran for their life, with little success at the end. The only one that remained was Neveran inside the Explorer ship, that was beginning to take flight.
18
The Final Minutes
The massive War Beast lay dormant, leaning against the alien building. Avenn was still hanging from the Central Control Bay apparatus, still attached to the thousands of receptors and mechanical levers, unconscious. The room was dark and silent despite of the chaos that was going on outside.
“What is this place? Where am I?” Avenn looked at his hand expecting to see a human hand, but instead it was Deimos’ hand. “Am I still inside Deimos? Am I Deimos? What a weird place...” he said as he looked at his other hand and saw the same robotic hand. He then looked forward and saw himself in a giant mirror; the mirror was being held in place by several tentacles larger than Deimos himself. Avenn moved slowly, and his reflection in the mirror followed, but something was off and wasn’t following movement per movement. It trailed behind. “Did we lose the fight? Is that why I am here? This place looks so weird. The others, where are they? I hope that wherever they are, they made it,” Avenn then realized he was floating in space. There was nothing around him, just a few distant stars.
He began to try and walk or move, but his movements led him nowhere. It was then when he noticed that the Deimos in front of him in the mirror wasn’t moving at all. “What the Hell?” The large mirror broke and out came the second Deimos, but this one was covered in dark armor. Behind the dark Deimos, there was a ship, a massive ship that engulfed the entirety of the background. The dark Deimos launched at Avenn with his large sword out, and the ship opened fire.
Avenn woke up, frightened from the nightmare, trying to block the attack, but his body wouldn’t move a centimeter as it was suspended in the apparatus. He tried to look around as much as his eyes allowed him, but the room was pitch black.
“Is anyone there? Iris, can you hear me?” Avenn asked with a broken voice.
A loud nois
e resounded across the hull, and the systems began to flicker back online. The screen in front of him began to show a large strange building covering the view.
“Full power will be back shortly, and Deimos will be able to move,” Iris finally spoke.
“Where are the others? Are they okay?” Avenn asked.
“It appears that they are resting near one of Deimos’ exits,” Iris responded.
“What happened? Patch me through to them after you tell me,” Avenn said.
“It appears that we’ve crashed into the alien building as we were hit by a large amount of electromagnetic pulses of alien origin, something that Deimos wasn’t prepared for on that scale. We are now resting on an alien building. Before I patch you through to the others, you have a persistent hail from one of the alien leaders. Should I put it on screen for you?”
“Put it on screen,” Avenn said, trying to get himself together.
“Can anybody inside the War Beast hear me? Is there anybody in there?” an alien being said as he appeared on the screen. The image was blurry at first but quickly sharpened and focused.
Once the alien saw a feedback on his end of the screen from within the Central Control Bay, he stiffened at the sight of the Central Control Bay and the thousands of receptors that connected to Avenn with Deimos.
“Who are you? And what do you want?” Avenn managed to ask.
“I will make no attempt in hiding who I am. I am Rendeleor Palac, son of Endorem Palac, the person who brought my kin upon your planet.”
“How dare you show your face? On second thought, I’m glad you did. I know now what you looked like before I turn you into dust,” Avenn said in between gritted teeth.
“I am sure that you mean that. And I am sure that I deserve that, that my father deserved that, that anybody that would bring harm to this planet deserves that. But I’ve decided long ago not to follow the footsteps of my father, not to follow the savage ways of the Hackaram military, and will leave this planet with every one of my kin that is willing to accept a more peaceful way of life,” Rendeleor said, meaning every word of it.