by Luis Robles
Avenn tried to move the apparatus, but only managed to have mild success. He cussed in between his teeth at the frustration; he wanted to point the War Beast directly at the alien that was talking.
“Full power will be restored in less than one minute,” Iris said to Avenn’s ears only, as she noticed his frustration.
“I betrayed my kind, my father, and our mothership, to try and help Earth survive. I have tried to help you and everyone in your team to get here. My group and I are the ones that completed the last of the War Beast map in the Haven’s archives. We’ve known about your approach to our settlement and did everything in our power to blind our military so that you could have the best chance at success. I’ve helped you and your comrades much as I could to reclaim what’s rightfully yours,” Rendeleor said with passion in his voice.
Avenn looked at him, and he knew he was not lying; Rendeleor meant every word he had just said. Confusion washed over him, as his desire to kill the alien creature had lessen.
“I come to you now at a request... no, not a request, a plea. I have helped you and your kind in every way I possibly could, risking my own life at every turn, a life I would gladly give to save this planet. Now is time for you to help me, help these thousands of lives escape from the evil ideology of my kin,” Rendeleor said as the camera zoomed out to show Avenn a huge clan of Hackaram standing behind him, some with young offspring. “Right now, Neveran, a Hackaram loyalist is leaving Earth at a large Explorer ship, the same ship we came in. He was also the one responsible for destroying the nearby Havens. He intends to contact our mothership as soon as he comes within range in deep space. If that happens, this planet will be doomed no matter how many War Beasts you can throw at our mothership.”
“Full power is now restored back to normal,” Iris said.
As soon as Avenn heard those words, he stood up with Deimos to turn his attention to the sky. Parts of the alien building collapsed as he moved. He saw two ships taking off: a small one not too far off the ground, and a larger one already in high-altitude and gaining speed.
“Destroy that ship before it’s too late. If you let him go, he will only bring more destruction upon Earth,” Rendeleor said.
“Take your people and never come back to Earth,” Avenn said as he closed Rendeleor’s screen. “Iris, hail that ship. I want to contact him... want to see the face of the one who murdered my people.”
“Communication has been established. You can now speak with the pilot of the ship leaving Earth,” Iris said as a wounded figure with a bloodied eye appeared on screen.
“So, the War Beast finally has the guts to contact me, the great Neveran Dalnec?” Neveran said, almost maniacally.
“I just have one question for you. Was it you?” Avenn asked, trying to stay calm and trying not to let his anger show.
“It was me... me and no one else. It has always been me. It’s because of me that we came here in the first place. If it wasn’t for me, that old fool would still be searching for planets. And it will still be me who will bring back the rest of the Hackaram. And we will finish what I started—we will eradicate humanity once and for all!” Neveran said, fuming.
“No, you won’t... Not if I am alive,” Avenn said as he closed the communication with Neveran.
The Explorer class ship was massive even as Avenn looked at it from afar; it looked like a daunting task to stop Neveran’s ship from leaving Earth.
“Iris, talk to me… What are my options?” Avenn asked aloud.
“The God Cannons are fully recharged, and other options have become available. If my calculations are correct, the blast from the cannons should be enough to take down the Hackaram’s large ship,” Iris said as she made the available options appear on Avenn’s screen.
God Cannons Phase I
God Cannons Phase II
God Cannons Phase III
Without any hesitation, Avenn chose the God Cannons Phase III, and Deimos began to transform.
“Phase III multiplies the energy of the cannons by a factor of six. Are you sure you want to continue?” Iris asked.
“I’m not backing down. Let’s blow that thing off the sky,” Avenn said as Deimos continued to brace for the cannon’s power.
Deimos’ feet locked on the floor, and the turbines began to wind up and expand to almost double their size as the God Cannons aimed at the Explorer class ship. The God Cannons extended double their length towards the front and one time towards the back. Each cannon broke into four pieces at the swell of the muzzle, expanding further than before. Vents began to appear all around the cannons. Everything around the cannons was changing and reinforcing itself as it thundered to life.
The cannons fired with the power of hundreds of megatons of raw power aimed at the Explorer ship. The turbines spitted an inferno out the other end, as it attempted to push Deimos forward. Avenn felt the massive forces pushing him back, and it took all of his strength to hold his position. The ground underneath his feet broke into a thousand pieces as the powerful beam pushed back.
The two beams fired from the cannons combined into one as they gained distance away from Deimos. The giant Explorer ship broke in two as the beam destroyed everything in its path. Seconds later, the ship exploded in midair as the super-headed wave of energy reached it.
“Can we fire again?” Avenn asked.
“If we divert some of Deimos’ power to the cannons, we will be able to fire Phase I in less than one minute,” Iris replied.
“Do it.”
With the God Cannons still smoking, Deimos then turned to the second alien ship in the sky. The cannons began to charge once again, and he got himself in position to fire.
But the second alien ship did not linger in Earth atmosphere any longer than necessary, leaving immediately for good.
Avenn had spared them. It was a big decision for Avenn to make on his own. But it was a decision that he had to make. He did not want to become genocidal, or commit a horrible act of war. Killing thousands of perhaps innocent souls wouldn’t have done any good, not for Earth, and not for him. The visitors had just witnessed the sheer terror of what human ingenuity could accomplish. He hoped that they would relay the message that Earth wasn’t for the taking any longer, that Earth would put up a fight—for he knew that he had now become Earth’s first line of defense.
Epilogue
After the Hackaram left the planet and the dust had settled, Kenya, Jordan, and Avenn gathered to mourn the loss of the Havens and the loss of their friends. But the loss of their friends’ lives had not been in vain, as they had successfully reclaimed Earth, so that humanity would have another chance.
They put Deimos on standby, making a canopy with his hand to protect them from the elements as they gathered outside the new frozen land. A bonfire was lit underneath Deimos’ hand, keeping them from facing the cold on their own. And for the first time in the entirety of their lives, they were able to breathe the fresh air outside.
“So, it’s finally over? They left. Do you think they’ll ever come back?” Jordan asked.
“I’m not sure… It is over for now. And if they do come back, we still have Deimos, and we will be ready for them. But I think with what they saw from Deimos, they will think twice before coming to Earth,” Avenn replied.
“What happens now? We don’t have a home to go back to anymore,” Kenya asked, with tears in her face.
“This will be our new home. We won’t go hungry anymore, or thirsty, or will have to wear those radiation suits wherever we go. This is our home... this has always been our home,” Avenn said as he looked around.
“And the other Havens? There must be others left,” Kenya said as she looked around at the vastness of their new home.
“We will broadcast our location and tell them that Earth is finally safe. They might not be able to come to us; it is still a dangerous world out there, but we’ll be able to go to them,” Avenn said with a slight smile.
That same day, Deimos began broadcasting Avenn’s mess
age to the world.
Humanity has finally done it. We have made it through hell; the war is over. We have rid the world of the invaders, and Earth is once again ours. We are located at 80.7504° N, 72.6652° W. We have food and water. If you’re listening, find a way to broadcast your location, and we will come to get you. It is still a dangerous world out there.
They reengineered the drones to be a form of transportation to scour the globe in search for human life and the remaining Havens.
It took some time for the remaining residents of the Havens to get used to the blistering cold of their new paradise-like home. But the cold temperatures was nothing in comparison to the odyssey they had just faced.
For months, Rendeleor wandered the Galaxy, looking for any place that they would be able to call home. The rations on the Carrier ship would last them for years to come, and for now they were calling the Carrier ship home.
“Sir, we are being hailed,” Narendeo said.
“What? Who is hailing us? I thought we were in the dark? We haven’t been broadcasting our identification numbers,” Rendeleor said.
“It appears that we had just run into them, sir. They are another Hackaram Explorer class fleet. It’s the Sintiak fleet, sir.”
“Sintiak? That sounds vaguely familiar. We have no choice but to put them through. We don’t have any kind of weapons to fight back with in case something happens,” Rendeleor said.
“On-screen, sir,” Narendeo said as a Hackaram began to stand behind Rendeleor.
“This is the Hackaram Sintiak Explorer Fleet, and I am Naya Sintiak. It appears that you are using one of our ships. Identify yourself,” the Hackaram elder said as her ships began to surround Rendeleor’s.
“I am Rendeleor Palac, son of Endorem Palac and captain of this vessel. We are still on the mission of finding a home for our race.”
“Where is your father now?” Naya asked.
“He passed away when we lost our Explorer as we entered a hostile planet,” Rendeleor said, bending the truth as much as he could.
“Well then, it’s an honor to meet you, Rendeleor Palac. But it looks like you lost the majority of your fleet, not just the Explorer ship. And I find it a little odd that the sensors on the Explorer ship were not able to pick up the hostile activity of the planet,” Naya said, pausing to hear a response.
“Yes, well... the planet seemed inviting at first, but as we made landfall, giant living creatures appeared and laid waste to our fleet. We are lucky to have survived. It’s the planet’s luring mechanism. It’s very dangerous, much like the Hensia System,” Rendeleor said.
Hensia was a feared name throughout many galaxies.
“Are you certain about this? In that case, we might still be in danger. We are leaving immediately towards the mothership. I’m sure that they will find your story fascinating as I have. I’ll have my soldiers border your ship, and they will offer you any assistance you may need. Two jumper engines will attach to your ship to bend space. We’ll be there shortly.”
As the call ended, Rendeleor banged his hand against the command console.
“What will we do now?” Veridiam asked.
“I’m not sure, but for now we have to just play along. For all we know, the mothership doesn’t know anything about what happened on Earth, and let’s try to keep it that way,” Rendeleor said.
Afterword
And so, the story has ended for now. I spent a lot of time looking for a book like this but was never quite able to find it. I spent a lot of time reading similar books, but they never quite hit the mark; they never satisfied the craving I had to jump into a world where giant worms and robots or mech’s that didn’t look like toys, and had a real use to why they existed. And I wanted to do it a post-apocalyptic setting.
The problem with that, and I recognized early on, is that all giant robots or monsters are gimmicky, and I wanted to stay away from that as much as possible, and somehow rewire what you knew about the giant robots at the very least. I wanted to give you a fresh new take on why someone would build one. That’s why I created the War Beasts. It was a blast.
I spent over a year jotting down notes everywhere and anywhere I could, until I had a full story that I would enjoy, but most importantly that you, my avid readers, would enjoy. And I think that with Children of the Atom, we do just that— give you a story that you would revel.
I also want to mention that this story wouldn’t have seen the light of day if it wasn’t for my wife, Hazel Lynne Robles, who patiently bounced back ideas with me for the book. This was incredibly helpful as it also gave away any flaws or loopholes within the story. Thank you for all your patience and all you do.
I want to thank Sheina Magtuba for her hard work, editing and cleaning up my finished manuscripts. Sheina puts a great deal of work assuring that you, the reader, will have a good reading experience. Thank you for all your hard work.
Lastly, but most importantly, I want to thank you, the reader, for giving Children of the Atom a chance. If you liked the book, let us know by leaving an honest review, as this will help us a lot in finding new readers and let us know that we are bringing you quality content.
Thank you.
Sky Gate Tale Books
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