It was warm and clammy, excessively so. He imagined it must be the environment that the Morohta thrive in, but it felt stifling to him. Sweat was dripping from his brow, but he couldn't tell if that was the heat or the fear. He stood proud and tall and showed no fear. He even tried to tell himself he didn't feel any, but he knew that was a lie.
Taylor drew his Assegai. Its tip flashed before he lowered it to his side, ready but in a casual and confident way.
A deep laugh reverberated around the room, and he noticed movement either side of him. He looked back and forth to see a Morotha Prince closing slowly either side of him. It was impossible to not feel overcome by the terrors he faced, but still he hid it from them and stood his ground. Bolormaa held all the cards now, but he wasn't going to beg for anything.
The Princes looks just like Sarnai. One wielded a pole weapon with scythe like blades either end, the other a two-metre long sword that glistened as though it were made of diamonds. He felt a sharp pain from where Sarnai's blade had penetrated his body. He couldn't tell if it were the old wound or such a vivid memory that his mind was reliving. It caused him to wince just slightly.
"You feel it, don't you?" Bolormaa asked.
Taylor looked up at her glowing eyes. The only part of her he could see.
"The bite of an Ertnii blade. The few who survive it never forget."
He wanted to believe that she was just trying to intimidate him, but the pain he was feeling gave her words the ring of truth. He wanted to ask more but didn't want to sound desperate or weak. He looked to the Princes either side of him. Their helmets were withdrawn back, and he could see their faces. They wanted to rip him apart, and he had no doubt they were capable of doing so. He wasn't able to stand against just one of them before. He needed Alita, and Jones, and all those he depended on. He turned his attention back to Bolormaa. He was tempted to make a run for her, but she was too far away. The other two would reach him before he could stand a chance of taking her life. The room was silent as if they expected him to make the next move. It was a bizarre situation, as he had fully expected them to kill him.
"Do you only ever let others fight your battles for you?" he asked her.
The eyes grew brighter as if that angered their great leader, but still no response.
"They say you are a god. Can a man kill a god? What do you have to worry about?"
"Do your leaders fight with their own hands?" she asked.
He shook his head and smiled. "No, but I do. So what do you say? Have you got the balls to come and face me?"
A grunt came from her direction as if she was considering it, and that just made him smile further. He had accepted his fate now, just as he had done in the darkest days he had been through before. He resolved to at least make Bolormaa bleed. To his amazement, she stepped out of the shadows and into plain sight. She was not what he was expecting at all.
He was taken aback; for he had expected her to look like the Princes he had encountered before and now flanked him. But she was bipedal. She was proportioned much like a human but stood three metres tall. She was clad in close fitting armour that changed colour from shades of purple to green, as the light reflected off different angles. The armour looked like it was made of thousands of interlocking plates of steel. She looked like what he could only imagine people on Earth might imagine a god, but not a pious and humble god, a despotic and violent one.
Taylor took in a breath to calm his breathing as best he could. This was the moment he knew was coming from the first time he heard her name, but it didn't make it any easier to tolerate. Bolormaa's hands were empty, as if she perceived no threat from him at all. Every part of her body was covered in armour, to the degree that if you hadn't seen her move, one might be forgiven for thinking she was a machine. Her eyes still glowed through a vision slit on her helmet.
"You have questions?" she asked in a polite way.
It was almost as if she were trying to be his friend, but he knew he could not let his guard down. He smiled as he responded.
"You're not exactly what I was expecting, Bolo."
"No, few things are ever what they seem or what you expect them to be."
"Ain't that the truth," Taylor muttered.
She just stood watching him. He was curious as to what she looked like underneath that armour, but a part of him didn't want to know. Maybe it was a horror that he would not be able to un-see.
"So what do you want from me?" he finally asked.
"Want?"
"You called me here."
She breathed in as if she wasn't even sure and was trying to find an answer, and that made Taylor angry. He couldn't believe that she couldn't at least have a good reason for doing so.
"Mmm, I haven't yet decided," she added slowly.
"What? Do you even know why you are fighting this war?"
"Do you?"
"Damn right I do, survival," he snapped.
She groaned once again as if considering his point. He couldn't tell if she was all-powerful and just a little simple, or intelligent and highly aloof. Her expression and tone reminded him in a way of the Aranui people, and that was frustrating at the best of times.
"You want to survive...why?"
Taylor shook his head in astonishment at that question.
"Isn't that what every fucking living thing in the universe wants?"
She didn't seem convinced, as if it wasn't a philosophy she lived by. That struck Taylor as strange. It was a terrifying thought to realise that the enemy didn't care for life at all, even their own.
"What would you do to live?"
"Anything...everything," he shouted.
She hummed as if curious by his response. He couldn’t understand what her intentions were.
"And you? Why do you want to destroy everything around you?"
She said nothing and continued to look down on him as if he wasn't worthy of an answer.
I wonder if she has even asked herself the question why.
"You know we never meant to disturb you? We never meant for this war. We never asked for it, and we never wanted it."
The faceplate of Bolormaa's helmet split open into four and retracted around her head to reveal a humanoid head, but made from some type of metal or carbon fibre. It surely couldn't be flesh, but as she spoke, her mouth did indeed move in time.
"Without this war, you would never have come back to this life, would you?"
He groaned but finally nodded in agreement.
"You are walking among your people once again because of me. A champion of your people, a man who should not have been forgotten."
He shook his head. "No, no, no. Don't put this on me. You didn't do this for me, and my life wasn't worth all that has been lost to get to this point. I'd happily have stayed in the freezer."
"No, you wouldn't. You are too important in this universe. I see that now."
"What do you mean?"
She would not respond and turned away from him. He could see her head was now completely exposed where her helmet had retracted into her armour. He didn't even know what she was or what she was made of. But it was his chance. Perhaps the only chance he would ever have. He leapt forward with a massive turn of speed that was even too quick for the two Princes to stop. After a few paces, he leapt into the air and flew forwards with his Assegai on target to Bolormaa's neck.
He prayed it would land. He knew he would die however this ended. He just wished he could take her with him. The point was centimetres from her neck when she spun around with seemingly superhuman speed and struck the blade with her hand. The impact knocked the weapon and Taylor himself out of line. He tumbled past and rolled clumsily across the deck. He finally got control of his fall and landed on one knee.
Even before he could get back onto his feet, he found the two Princes surrounding him and ready to slay him where he stood. They were still for just a few seconds before rushing towards him. A few firm words came from Bolormaa's mouth, but not in any language he recognised. The P
rinces froze immediately. Either they were exceptionally well disciplined or controlled by the Queen herself. They backed off a few paces.
"A noble attempt," said Bolormaa, "Even now you would give your life for your people. Most of which don't know you, or don't respect you."
He got to his feet but didn't let his guard down.
"Life isn't perfect, but it's still worth fighting for," he snapped back.
"You are a curious being, Mitch Taylor. I have studied your history, and no other of your kind stands out through the pages of your people."
"Then you need to look harder."
"Curious, the trait of modesty from a warrior such as yourself. It is not a trait I would associate with strength."
Taylor smiled.
"Then you have no idea what it is to be human."
He rushed forward to attack once again. The Princes did nothing this time. Clearly, their orders still stood. He thrust forward at Bolormaa, but she nimbly stepped aside and pushed him so that he rushed on past. She drew out something small from her armour. It was nothing more than the size of a grenade. It flashed with light and expanded out into a staff as tall as she was. It appeared to have no blades or any embellishment at all, and she didn't even close her helmet down. It was clear she saw no risk of him landing a blow. That made him smile, because he knew he would. He had come too far not to, and her hubris would hurt her before he was done.
"What do you even want from me? You started this war, what will it take to end it?" he pleaded.
"I haven't yet decided."
"So that's it? No good reason? You're just doing this because you can? Because you get some kind of kick out of it?"
He could tell he hadn't found the answer yet, but she wasn't giving anything up easily.
"What is it you expect of us? Is it a fight you want, or submission? Do you want us to accept you as a god?"
Still nothing. He rushed forward angrily and swung wildly, but it was all theatrics. He would never lose his cool in such a moment. Bolormaa was slowing down as she realised she didn't need such a turn of speed after all. She was stepping from side to side, with just a small slip of her feet and parrying off his attacks with her staff. She smiled and danced around as though she were playing with him.
Big mistake, Taylor thought to himself.
He refrained from smiling, for the game would be up. He maintained a frown and grunted as though he were getting agitated and tired. He thrust at her and swung another attack brashly until finally, as she began to predict his pattern of movement and pre-empt his change of direction, he spun out to the opposite side and stepped right into her path. He stabbed forward for her head with his Assegai, and all her speed was not enough to move her bodyweight.
She lifted her left hand at the last moment, and the tip of the Assegai penetrated her palm. It passed right through on the way to her face. The tip stopped just millimetres from her left eye as the hilt buttressed up against her palm, and her strength wouldn't allow him to press any further.
Bolormaa let out a short groan in pain before striking him down with her staff. The blow struck his helmet, and he was knocked to the ground, losing the grip of his weapon. She drew it out of her hand and threw it aside. Liquid dripped from the hole, but he couldn't tell if it was blood or some fluid for whatever suit she was encased in. He saw the look of shock and surprise on her face. She couldn't hide it. That was all he wanted. He could accept death now, knowing that he had pulled off one last act of defiance.
"Are you happy now? Happy that you can finally kill me and be over with all this?" he asked as he got to his feet.
He activated his shield, drew his combat knife, and went at her once again as if he had nothing to lose. She struck the shield with a swing from her staff, and he was knocked off to one side, but managed to recover his footing just before he ploughed into one of the Princes. He ran at her once again. He passed under her staff with his shield and drove the blade upwards towards her torso. He didn't think there was a hope in hell of penetrating her armour with his utility knife, but still he tried.
The blade drew near when he felt his wrist locked in a vice like grip. He looked down to see Bolormaa's hand wrapped around his. The one he had penetrated just moments before. It was as though she felt no pain at all. And yet he had seen the momentary look of weakness in her face. She squeezed tightly until she hit the pressure point in his wrist, and the blade dropped from his hand. She followed it with a quick strike inside his shield that struck the core of the device on his arm and knocked it out completely. His shield was down, and the only weapon he had left was the pistol on his side.
He looked at her for a few seconds as his right hand moved slowly towards the grip, and he hoped she hadn't noticed. Time was up. He snapped it from its holster and rotated his wrist to quickly fire from the hip.
He managed to squeeze off a round, but he felt the gun be turned aside, as Bolormaa's staff struck the muzzle. Before he could recover, a second strike knocked it out of his hands. She was just too quick, like the Aranui, but with far greater strength. She stood causally in front of him and retracted her staff, returning it to its sheath. She was being cocky and arrogant, but then she could afford to be. She was toying with him.
"Guess you call this a fair fight," he said as he lifted his hands and gestured a fistfight to her.
"I have never had a fair fight, but I always hope to find one. I had expected more from you, a great champion of your people. You have defeated some worthy opponents, and yet you cannot give me what I want."
"So that's it? You are wandering the universe looking for a challenge?"
She wouldn't respond, and he knew there had to be more to it than that. Or he hoped at least. He couldn't believe that so many had died for such a ridiculous cause. He rushed forward and jabbed at her head. She ducked aside and drove an uppercut into his flank. Even through his armour, it was a crippling blow that caused him to keel forward. He swung around with a back fist, but she was well out of the way before it would find its target.
Taylor felt clumsy and outclassed, and he knew he was in every way.
"Come on, bitch. Let's end this now."
He rushed forward just as he had before, but at the last moment, jumped and used a little boost to lift up off the ground, descending onto her with his elbow to her collar. He landed with all his force and weight, and she dropped down onto one knee from the impact. He seized the small opportunity he had as he landed beside her and punched straight to the face. Her head snapped to once side, but it was like punching steel. Just as it looked.
A riposte quickly came in the form of a simple hook to Taylor's face. The force almost snapped his head, and he was dizzy from the impact. But he came right back at her. Another blow to the face, but it seemed to have little effect. She righted herself and grabbed him around the neck. She spun around and lifted him off his feet like a ragdoll. He flew over her head before being planted on his back with immense speed. The wind was taken out of him, and he was stunned as he hit the floor.
There seemed no strength left in him as he gasped for air, and she casually let go and paced around him. He refused to die on his back. He rolled over and got onto one knee and lifted himself up. He felt wrecked, but he lifted his hands and gestured for her to come forward. She did so and stepped under his weak jab and drove an uppercut into his chin. It launched him up into the air before crashing down to the floor once again. His face was covered in his own blood. It was a situation he was familiar with, but this was different. This hadn't been anywhere close to a fair fight. If he managed to get back up, it would be for the last time.
Taylor sighed and forced himself up despite the pain and stood defiantly before her. He had no stance. His hands were low. He looked defeated, but he wouldn't admit it.
"This isn't the end for you, Colonel," said Bolormaa.
He didn't get it and looked at her with a peculiar expression.
"Not the end? What are you gonna do, put me in a cage? Do your worst."
>
"You misunderstand me, Colonel. I am sending you back to your people."
Taylor's face turned to look of dumbfounded. It was the last thing he had expected from her.
"Why? Why would you let me go?"
Bolormaa paced around. He couldn't tell if she was trying to think of a reason, or trying to decide how much to disclose to him. He couldn't believe his luck, but he still wouldn't believe it until he was free and clear of her, and the range of her guns.
She turned her back to him and began to walk away into the shadows from where she had come, but the two Princes did not move a millimetre. They watched him like a hawk. He could see they were desperate for him to make a move that they could respond to, but he wasn't that stupid. He realised now that he had a chance to walk away from this, and suddenly his life had value once more.
"Hey, Bolo, just tell me, why do you want to let me live? I will do everything in my power to end you, and I have never failed yet."
She stopped and turned back to look at him.
"Good luck," she replied before continuing on.
Taylor couldn't believe how frustrating that was as he shook his head. He looked over to where his Assegai had been tossed and walked casually over to pick it up. The two Princes tracked his every move and stayed three metres away at all times. As he picked up his Assegai, he once again had the urge to use it but knew he couldn't. He waved the point towards the two Princes.
"Two of you down already, you ain't so tough," he said.
He knew that wasn't true, but it annoyed them in exactly the way he had intended. One made a step closer to him as if wanting to attack, but a call from Bolormaa stopped him in his tracks.
"Like a dog on a leash," added Taylor with a smile.
Bolormaa was out of sight in the shadows now as he turned and headed for his craft. As he reached the door, he heard her voice call out one last time and echo through the chamber.
"You have seven days, Colonel, and then I am coming for you."
That sent a chill down his spine, but he was glad to be rid of them. He hit the door release and watched the Princes carefully until the door was shut. He staggered over to the pilot’s seat and slumped down into it. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He still didn't understand what the hell had gone on, but he reached forward for the emergency recall autopilot and activated it. The engines fired up, and he soared out from Bolormaa's vessel.
Battle Beyond Earth Box Set Page 61