by M E Wise
“Beginning phase shift.” Gi’Ger called over the COM. His image on the monitor was not shaken in any way. “Good luck.” He spoke softly as their ship was taking heavy fire.
“Remember Gi’Ger, absorb as little punishment as you can and get out of there!” I screamed.
He signaled with a nod. “It’s a new season for all.” Gi’Ger sat cold and unmoving. Flashes of damage trailed behind him in the holo view. I stood concerned but my mission was ahead. As we expected, Gorgon’s vessel and some smaller craft were making a run for it. A single Cruiser maneuvered to block their escape and trailed slowly as the battleships and other cruiser focused on the Ku’Gel. “Catch him!” I again shouted. A sizeable distance was between us and the action between the titans behind us.
Space distorted as two umbrellas of mass force became an hourglass focused on a central ellipse. The distortion encompassed the remaining fleet fighting the Ku’Gel like moths on a flame. In a flash rivaling the sun breaking the horizon, they were gone. “I bet Pri just shit his pants!” Ben rattled out the profanity laced cheer. “Enjoy the wrong side of Pluto’s Belt bitches!”
The smaller vessels broke formation and changed course to intercept the Castor but our speed was too much for them. They were left behind quickly as we closed in on the Hammer. “He’s headed for reinforcements!” Faith called out. “We have a SPEAR Cruiser ahead and one trailing.” We anticipated this. “Catch him Ben!” Ben was carefully accelerating because we could easily over-shoot the target at top speed. “Focus! Focus.” I challenged my bridge crew. “Hermes?”
“Primed.” Hermes blurted one beautiful word. “Brace yourselves!”
We phase jumped at a speed dangerously close to impossible! The Castor was rotating like a top. “Regain control!” I demanded but Ben was still woozy. “Sal’Din!” I bellowed for the matrix to take control but the perspective connection must have been rebooted. I took the controls and fired docking thrusters to slow our spin. Ben took a second or two but finished the sequences. “Is everyone fine?” I questioned all on the bridge. Ben gave a thumbs up. Faith was rattled and bleeding above the eye but she also signaled healthy.
“Report!” I cried over the COM. “Report!”
“Bruised but intact.” Brigs chimed from the lower deck. “All good here.” I paused for a moment to look ahead at the Hammer floating inert ahead in the multi-colored Kyrios system. Half of the SPEAR Cruiser was all that made the shift. “Your gamble paid off Ben!” I congratulated him on his half-the-sub idea. A metaphor for sandwiches he made exhaustedly. “Half the sub!” He moaned. “Report!” I called again to the mid-ship and the crow’s nests.
“Wan-Sah and I are good Reign!” Troy was shaken but holding it together. “One casualty though.”
“Who?” I returned the message. “Terra, the scout. She’s new.”
“One among many Reign!” Brigs chimed in. “Focus on the mission Sir.”
The Cruiser ahead still had bite if it needed. Being unprepared for a shift though would leave many of the assigned crew dead or badly battered. “Avoid their attention if at all possible.” I noted to Ben. Ben reestablished full systems as Sal’Din returned to form. “Minimal damage to exterior starboard section lateral forward.” The matrix reported.
“Good to have you back Sal!” I was relieved. “Ease us forward.”
The smaller fighters and orbital craft were broken into pieces. The force of being thrown out of control at such speed completely rendered their crafts useless. I felt for the men who died but I could not dwell on that. Gorgon Pri was somewhere on the Hammer waiting for us to come and collect on a much long overdue debt. “Assault squad: below.” I called across the COM.
Faith caught my arm on the way out. “Please come back.” She stared hard at me with that new attitude. “We will.” I assured her. “Ben take care of my baby!” I told the joke blankly. Ben sighed and gave me a long cool look. Ben extended his hand and we clasped forearms. “Stop him-right here, today!” He gnashed his teeth. The tension was electric. I moved quickly for the elevator as Hermes joined me. “Let’s do this!” The collective sounded off oddly.
The doors of the elevator opened to Troy being outfitted in the presence of Brigs and Ja’Tivi looking like dark knights made for moments like this. Brigs abandoned Ja’Tivi to fit me. “One group in each opal craft.” He called bullet points as he dressed me. “Ja’Tivi, myself and Troy in one. Reign, you and Hermes in another as planned.” The new gear weighed next to nothing. I chose a Mor’h rifle over the military issued rifles Brigs generally carried. “It’s a tradition!” He grinned as he lodged his classic scatter gun into place on his back. He then fixed a shoulder crest from his old armor on his left arm. The Tri-Utopian crest was crudely etched into the metal.
“Times they are a changing.” Brigs went stone-faced.
“That they are.” I stood as ready as I could be in front of the waiting opal craft hatch.
I looked closely at the seven green lights on my vacuum suit sleeve and the lone red dot for our unfortunate new crew member. “Let’s make this a memory.” I crawled into the opal craft with Hermes following his drones pre-loaded into the craft. Brig’s appeared in a corner monitor, “We are go.” The craft jettisoned with a jolt. I looked out into the nebula ahead and the Hammer flashing with intermittent light. Wan Sah came into view and so did Faith as they stood in silent portholes watching as we launched. The silence was deafening.
“Stay in cover at all times. Let the drones handle the crowds for as long as they can. Hermes you know your role.” Brigman was expressing his form, trained and experienced. “Defend the flesh.” Hermes cycled his lights like he was completely under control. “Boys and collective girls this is what we’re here for!”
One centrifugal gravity ring was still in motion. The backup systems seemed to be the only working stability the vessel had. The Hammer was floating at the mercy of a system far, far away from its territorial pissing ground. We took a slow fly by first, to look for any signs of life. Debris in the tighter passage ways lined the sides of the craft. Some bodies could be seen, bodies of common infantry and regular crewman. These weren’t the super soldiers we had seen in the videos like Brigs. “The big guns are sturdier than these poor whelps.” Brigs shared over the COM.
A less obvious section of the rear craft was an ovule node with an open area inside. “There! Pri will be there.” I called confidently over the COM. Flags could be seen hanging long with columns of windows lining the space. “A cathedral to an emperor.” I added. I followed Brigs lead as he brought his craft in tight under the last gravity ring. “We can enter there!” He signaled as we held our craft in paralleled positions. Our opal crafts locked onto the shell and we prepared for spacewalk.
Reign Eternal Chapter 11
Gods and Their Ilk
We toured the upper craft for a brief while. “Thank you Ben.” Brigs released the small mapping probes made from vacuum suit wrist devices he had created using reverse engineering of the larger probes from To’Lumo to a smaller scale. They buzzed into a filtration vent and began creating a nice picture of the inside of the Hammer’s unique design. “The layout is all wrong?” Brigs seemed confused. “It’s not like a fighting vessel at all. It’s one big chariot! What an asshole!” He mocked the guile of Gorgon Pri.
“Pri has waited his entire life to be as big as his ego.” I watched the map building on my wrist pad. “Even jailed on the Stonewall he pounded his fists and spewed vitriol in defiance. There was a strict code of order from disorder in his mind. He is a true sociopath.” I felt my face wrinkled in distaste. Gorgon Pri had a way to motivate someone through hatred. An uncomfortable sensation given our mission. I am many years removed from that man they beat and broke on the Stonewall. I felt a strange tingle in my blood and in my nerves.
Blips were forming in the map identifying SPEAR troopers and dangerous items. I felt the sensation again. A blip formed underneath us. “Fucking Halfer?” I said quie
tly. Troy looked at me with shock. “That’s what he said when he smashed me in the face. The soldier below. I marked his mind a long time ago.” I laughed coldly. Brigs grinned widely. “Care to knock Sir?” He motioned toward a closed airlock. “Let’s.” I replied.
Our new headgear fit snug to our heads like scuba gear and the geometrical halos surrounded them nicely, they glowed in the shadows too well. “Hope there’s atmosphere inside.” Brigs pointed this out. Hermes stood fixed to the hull, his lights cycled through his armor. The twin probes were ominously hanging near him half his size. “Probes first.” Brigs said quietly. He then tossed a flashing light into space to signal Ben to have drones attack the opposite side and at random.
The drones began stunning different sections of the ship toward the hammer-like end. A group of SPEAR and crew moved toward the end with haste. Several held their ground. “Good little sentries!” Brigs said. “Looks like forty by my count. Ten here; the mobs too thick on the map near forward at the drone distraction to really tell for certain.” The big theatre was through a few blips on two distinct paths there. Toward the end being attacked by drones was the bridge and a maze of rooms with two levels full of mess shaken free by the jump.
Brigs gripped the round-arm that held the airlock closed. “One-two.” And on three he cranked it to open. A blip underneath us moved very little in response. We made our way into a tight room one at a time. The port beneath opened by sliding away instead of opening down. Brigs gave me the go ahead for the long awaited payback. He cranked and the door slid open to the soldier’s surprise. He looked upward and froze. “You remember.” I said as we made eye contact then fired my rifle into his chest. “That was cold, real cold.” Brigs said surprised and somewhat stunned. “One among many.” I said.
“Release the drones.” I ordered Hermes as the port opened wider. They whizzed through the hole and we monitored them as they made for the forecastle. “Zero gravity will make their work easy.” Hermes made deck first. “Movement!” I called out as seven SPEAR made their way from the aft section we needed to push through. Hermes took several shots easily before returning fire. His stun rounds dropped two coming troopers but they still crawled to stand again. I dove down behind the Hermes unit for cover and slid into a space between columns. “Reign!” Brigs barked. Troy covered his head and screamed loudly unable to move in the airlock above! I readied my Mor’h rifle and closed my eyes. I could sense their positions. I also felt Ja’Tivi link with me to see the field more clearly too. We followed each other’s lead.
I broke cover and fired several blind shots moving forward to gain ground. Ja’Tivi dropped from the hole in the ceiling and used suppressive fire to gain my old position. Hermes continued to absorb round after round. Brigs fired some rounds from the ceiling at an awkward angle. “I can’t hit what I can’t see!” He complained.
I felt Ja’Tivi link with Brigs. The clever Lo’Mor’h was great in a pinch. Brigs dropped using Hermes for a shield and quickly used the fallen trooper I killed as cover in the prone. Brigs fired down the corridor and made a clean kill. “That’s better!” He bragged.
Ja’Tivi took the next trooper in a spray of continuous bullets. He returned to cover as the troopers fired back. “We can’t stay here!” I screamed out. The SPEAR had bunkered in at the end of the corridor. Hermes armor was dangling in parts and the frame was leaning hard to his left. “Hermes hug a wall.” I ordered and he robotically followed suit. I looked to the map on my wrist. This corridor lead straight to the theatre hall where a lone blip sat waiting. “I’m here Pri!” I cried out.
“Don’t lose your shit Reign!” Brigs shouted back. “The mission over ego.”
“Come get me Pri!” I again challenged. I fired a couple of shots from the Mor’h rifle through cover killing a trooper behind it. I could feel my link spoiling and closed off my mind. “That’s three down Pri!” Brigs was completely unglued. “Fine!” He howled. And fired wildly down the lane killing another. He was surprised by this somehow. I moved forward another beam. Ja’Tivi took my position. Hermes held tight. “Four down.” I said with less vigor.
The blips on my wrist were down to three ahead and they were firing with less frequency. “Drone destroyed.” Hermes announced. Troy was still firmly glued in the airlock above. “What now?” I asked Brigs. “DOTS.” He laughed heartily. I was frustrated but we were alive and our target was somewhere ahead. “We have to seal that area behind us.” I pointed to a locking lever for emergency sealing off an area in case of fire or breach. “Good thinking!” Brigs rolled to his back. “Troy you need to get it together man. We need you to pump that seal closed.”
Troy shook in his spot. “I can’t move!” He bellowed sobbing. “Yes you can, just do it!” Brigs argued. Troy moved hesitantly but ever so slowly toward the hatch down. I fired more rounds down into the corridor ahead. There was a good fifty or sixty feet to go. The Troopers were stalling. “They’re waiting on the others to get here. We can’t let them contain us in the middle.” I was tired of waiting. Ja’Tivi was also not content to sit here either. “Poorly rooted.” He spat.
The next enemy volley ended and time slowed as I broke free of my hiding spot and fired from the shoulder at the short barriers hiding our huge foes. I covered ground quickly and forced one from cover. Ja’Tivi leveled the exposed rogue with another volley and he moved forward to find a place directly across from me. At this range though we were easy picking. Brigs suddenly stood from his bullet ridden cover, dramatically kicking the corpse over; he drew his scatter gun. Brigman looked like a juggernaut of mayhem! The scatter gun filled the corridor with thunderous booms.
Brigs took a round in the forearm but the new armor prevented any entry, the impact still left the arm limp. He fired again from the hip and killed a sixth assailant. The seventh broke cover in a rage and charged at our positions. We all unloaded until he collapsed. “Troy get out of that fucking airlock!” Brigs growled. Troy dangled clumsily from the opening. He shuffled over to the lever and began pumping the door shut.
“Seven down!” I cried down the passageway leading to the ceremonial hall. “About a dozen blips are coming for the opposite tunnel here if that drone goes down. Seal this and take Hermes, Troy and Ja’Tivi to hold the other entry. I’m going for Pri!” Brigs hated this idea. “Not alone! No you don’t” He hovered over me.
“I can stun him. You can’t!” I pointed to my head. He knew this from experience.
“You heard the man. Troy seal the door. Hermes what’s the status on the other drone?” Brigs went into full scout mode.
The end of the corridor held eight bodies instead of seven. I fought the urge to call this out given I was moving ahead of my squad alone. There were two more blips ahead, one had to be Pri. A sniper would be my guess for the second. A small crafty little mouse who could fit in nice little places unseen and deliver nasty ways to die. Enough time in Brigs’ mind prepared me more than I had imagined. The battlefield wasn’t new to me. It felt like a reflex in some ways. There will be a time later to barter with my conscience, this moment is certainly not it. This sniper didn’t have my gifts though. His whereabouts were fuzzy but I could see him on the wrist map. I closed my eyes and brought my rifle to ready. I moved into range and I could sense his angst steeled with training. This is where I cheat! He sprang from cover in the above level like a knee jerk reaction. I fired one shot and he fell from the edge dead before he hit the floor. “That wasn’t your mistake friend.” His nervous system betrayed him with a little mental help.
“Bravo! Fucking bravo!” Came a harassing voice I could never forget. It was huskier than before though. Older.
“You sound tired Pri!” I hugged columns that supported the upper level. Gorgon Pri sat in the distance remaining seated like some medieval king of ancient earth. I made glances when I could as I advanced across the room. He fired a shot from a pistol as I gawked too long. “I don’t want to shoot you!” He sang in a horribly tone deaf way. “I only want to cradle you to death
!” He laughed loudly filling the hall with his foreboding presence.
“Still insane.” I spoke quietly letting the chamber carry my voice.
“Insane?” Gorgon repeated calmly. “Why is it that any man who goes out of his way to make something happen is called insane?” He scratched at his growing beard. “Is it his pursuits? The goal of those pursuits? The daring aspiration of the lowly to be ambitious while others would see him stay humbly tied to the ground?” I could clearly see him now as the light cut from the long vertical windows in the ships design. Pri was attached somehow to his thrown. His size wasn’t as grandiose as some of the SPEAR but he had always been large for a man.
“Not feeling well?” I again tried to mock the beast into reaction. “You seem awfully connected to something.”
Gorgon laughed fully at my efforts. “It would seem I have done some disagreeable things with my body. Tainted God’s kingdom with unnatural solutions to problems I couldn’t solve.” He had a way of drawing out words that lulled people into listening. “You wouldn’t know his kind would you? God. Something about you expresses the sort of air that giving yourself to greatness would cause it to stink.” Pri lounged deeper into his seat. He waved for me to come closer or expose myself. He sat shirtless and much more pale than I had remembered.