Project Legion (Nemesis Saga Book 5)

by Jeremy Robinson

  She surveyed the battlefield, noting the dead Lovecrafts and Gigers.

  Had they?

  Before Endo could help her understand this, Typhon plucked something small from the back of Drakon’s severed neck.

  Nemesis’s heart beat faster.

  It was a tiny body. Slick with black. Unmoving.

  Joliet.

  Typhon stood, cupping the woman in his massive hands. The deep love and affection being displayed by the giant she had once fought and killed stumbled her back like an attack. She felt weakened by it.

  Then Typhon stalked away. Nemesis didn’t know where he was headed, but his intentions were clear, as was his place in this fight. The fall of Avril Joliet had claimed Mark Hawkins, as well.

  Nemesis stood in place, watching Typhon head south. Scylla and Karkinos did the same, frozen in the same kind of shocked stupor.

  Sadness was not an emotion Nemesis enjoyed, and she had no idea what to do with it.

  Transform it, Endo said. That is the beauty of emotions, one can fuel another.

  Endo guided her vision upward.

  The massive floating creature still hung in the sky overhead, closer than before, but it seemed to be gaining altitude. Nemesis turned toward the center and found Scrion still dangling from the hanging flesh, thrashing back and forth in an attempt to pull the much larger creature down.

  Can you feel it? Endo asked.

  The sadness. The despair. The brokenness.

  She had experienced these emotions before, but never from within. She sensed the world of hurt, frustration and pain around her at all times, but these things had never come from her core. And somehow, that made her building rage that much more poignant.

  Now, let’s use it! Endo urged Nemesis toward the slowly rising, two-thousand-foot-wide kaiju. While Scrion still hung to its underside, the creature was gaining altitude.

  It’s filling with gas, Endo thought, making sense of the phenomenon. We need to bring it down.

  A rage-filled roar exploded from Nemesis’s mouth, as she threw herself into a four legged sprint. She ran at a speed that could only be matched by the now-dead Gigers, pursuing the dangling core as it lifted higher and drifted toward Stinson Mountain. She charged up the steepening grade.

  With a massive beat of its fleshy skirt, the creature rose higher still.

  Trees shattered at Nemesis’s passing. The ground trembled. And then all at once, the landscape fell quiet. Nemesis leaped off the mountain’s 1400 foot high crest, sending her body hurtling into the air, achieving a height equal to the flying behemoth’s width. She reached out, found dangling flesh and latched on.

  As she held on tight, a “Hrmph?” drew her eyes to the right. Scrion looked at her, one hairless eyebrow cocked high. Then he seemed to shrug and go back to thrashing. Nemesis did the same, and for a moment it seemed their combined weight would tear the creature down to the ground.

  A wet slurp was the first sign that something was wrong.

  Then a gush of warm, viscous fluid slipped past her fingers. It splashed into her mouth. Coated her body with a fetid stink. But she had endured worse.

  Tighter! Endo said. Hold tighter!

  Nemesis dug in with her claws, but it wasn’t enough. The slick fluid had turned the flesh into a slippery mash, impossible to hold on to.

  Scrion fell away with a surprised bark.

  Nemesis followed a moment later.

  The pair of kaiju landed in Stinson Lake, kicking up a wave that sent a flood of water surging into the surrounding forest. Nemesis could feel the sudden fright and despair of the people whose homes were caught in the flood, but she paid them no heed. Instead, she vented her rage, which now had no outlet, by smashing the muddy lake bed with both arms, and roaring up at the escaping creature.

  Nemesis’s roar echoed off the surrounding mountains, and the belly of the creature, promising of a future reckoning. And then, all at once, the mighty roar was pinched off to a squeak. Neither she, nor Endo, understood what they were watching.

  Stinson Mountain, the whole mountain, was moving.

  A volcano? Endo wondered as the peak expanded. But the theory was disproven when the rising mass of stone, earth and trees split apart to form the rough shape of a human being. Taller now than Nemesis could leap, and far larger than any kaiju on Earth, the stone man reached up and wrapped a massive, jagged hand around the hanging appendage. Black ooze seeped between the crushing fingers, but it was not enough to free the airborne creature.

  As Nemesis watched, she felt another new and strange emotion.

  Elation.

  She glanced at Scrion, whose eyes were on the spectacle above, an awkward grin on its toothy face. But there was something else in the small kaiju’s eyes.

  Pride.

  Interesting, Endo thought. These must be Hudson’s new friends.

  The massive skirt surrounding the flying creature beat at the air, undulating frantically as it was dragged back toward the earth. But there was no escaping the trap, and as the stone man’s free arm lengthened into a sharp scythe, its intentions were clear.

  The earthen weapon swung in an arc, striking the dangling flesh’s base. It dug deep and then passed through in one mighty swing. Black exploded from the wound, as the several hundred feet of loose gore toppled on the stone man’s body. As though the sudden weight was too much, the rock colossus crumbled and fell apart.

  The world shook as two mountains worth of earth and flesh slammed into the ground. As the rumble faded, a flatulent spattering filled the air. With its body torn in two, the gaseous creature was unable to contain itself. A noxious stench wafted over the countryside as the airborne creature vented itself, launching higher into the air like a jellyfish missile. When it reached the horizon line, its upward arc turned down. It crashed down out of sight, but had likely claimed more victims in the process.

  Nemesis started rolling to stand, when a bright flash high in the newly revealed sky caught her attention. It broke apart into fiery bits, all surrounding a bright core.

  Something is falling through the atmosphere, Endo explained. Breaking apart. It’s coming right for us!

  Nemesis rolled from the lake, stood and dashed to the side, Scrion at her side. Once clear, she spun around and looked up, seeing the falling object with eyes no human could match.

  It’s the Prime, Endo thought, but there was no fear in the words. The Prime was clearly dead. Its insides were hanging out and burning. But it also wasn’t alone. Hyperion clung to the monster’s back, using it as a shield against the rigors of reentry. Given the Prime’s physical state, that was something far worse. But even Hyperion couldn’t survive a crash from reentry.

  Endo directed Nemesis’s eyes toward the Machintorum’s chest, looking at the three circles representing the Atlantide, who’d laid out their city, Atlantis, in the same pattern. Two of the three circles were lit red.

  C’mon, Maigo, Endo thought. Get the hell out of there.

  Nemesis roared up at the falling pair. They were seconds from hitting.

  And then, with the force of a MOAB, they crashed.

  28

  HUDSON

  I’m still shaken by what happened to Joliet when Nemesis springs into action, helping Rook drag down the GUS, only to fail and then be replaced by a golem made from Stinson Mountain. It’s impossible to see Fiona, but if she’s out here, amidst all these kaiju, she’s braver than I would have guessed. As the GUS farts away like a leaky balloon, something new plummets from the sky. My first instinct is that it’s a new kind of weapon. But then Scylla’s superior vision lets me see the burning object clearly.

  It’s Neo-Prime, torn to shreds and very dead. Flaming bits of thick flesh peel off and fall beside the body, leaving snakes of black smoke in their wake. But the monster isn’t alone. Hyperion clings to the corpse’s back, using it as a heat shield against the atmosphere’s friction.

  She did it, I think. An orbital drop. We had talked about such an attack. How much matter Hyperion co
uld move, and how far. How the robot would withstand the vacuum of space and the cauldron of reentry. How long it would take to recharge and avoid pancaking.

  The conclusion was that it might work, but it was risky as hell. It was a desperation move, and given what happened to Joliet, I understand why she took it. But now she needs to survive it.

  How are you doing? I direct the thought toward Magio. I can’t really initiate communication with her directly, but she is always connected. Always listening. And she can open the mental floodgates, so we can speak or meet in our merged childhood Christmas.

  But she doesn’t.

  If you’re there, just let me know.

  Nothing.

  Maigo.

  Maigo!

  Systems are currently recharging. Please be patient.

  Please be patient? Patient!? If whoever said that was standing in front of me while I watched my daughter fall from orbit, I’d bitchslap them into next week. What the... Who is this?

  It’s me.

  Me, fucking, who?

  I do not believe now is the appropriate time to be engaging in coital activities.

  Who. The fuck. Am I. Talking to?

  Oh. Hyperion.

  Hyperion?

  Maigo is currently unconscious. And I am attempting to charge the teleportation systems before we collide with the Earth’s crust in three...two...

  My kaiju eyes snap toward the gutted mountainside, where the blazing fireball is headed. Nemesis and Scrion have leapt aside and are watching as well. Nemesis’s hands go to the sides of her head, a very human gesture of concern. And then, touchdown. An earthquake shakes the land, felling trees and homes for miles. A mushroom cloud of dirt and dust billows into the air. Rock and grit spray in every direction, cutting down anything left standing and pummeling my kaiju body. Like Nemesis, I turn away from the explosion, not just to protect myself, but to keep the orange membranes covering my body from being ruptured.

  Collins, still on the ground inside Karkinos, lays flat and turns her head away.

  And then, silence returns to the land.

  The first thing I see when I open my eyes is dust. Everywhere. And then the silhouettes of Nemesis and Scrion, looking down into what I assume is a fresh crater. I check to make sure Collins is moving Karkinos back to its feet, and then I charge up what’s left of Stinson’s mountainside, steering clear of the black fleshy mass that fell from the GUS. At the top of the rise, I stop beside Nemesis and look down.

  A mass of black and gray flesh, bone and shattered spikes fills a quarter-mile-wide crater where Stinson Lake had been a few minutes ago. But there’s no sign of Hyperion. Or Maigo.

  “Whew! That was close.”

  The voice is in the real world. Amplified. Definitely not in my head. And I only vaguely recognize the electronic quality. I turn toward the voice and find the giant robot standing beside Nemesis, hands on his hips, looking down into the crater alongside the rest of us. He shakes his head, acting very nearly human, and says, “Right? Another second, and splat.”

  Seeing the Machintorum move and speak in human-like ways isn’t entirely new to me. When Maigo controls the robot, it takes on her mannerisms, and she can talk using its speaker system. But this is not Maigo. According to Hyperion, she’s unconscious, which means this emotional robot is all Hype.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I ask, but the sound comes out of Scylla’s mouth as a series of garbled groans.

  Sorry, says the voice of Hyperion in my head. I forgot that kaiju can’t speak.

  I have a bunch of questions, but only a few that are pressing. If Maigo is unconscious, how are you speaking to me?

  Her mind is still connected to me, the robot explains, and I am able to access it, which includes her connection to you.

  Good enough. Next question. What the hell is wrong with you?

  What do you mean? Hyperion sounds genuinely confused by the question, which genuinely confuses me. He should be asking for more information. Asking me to elaborate.

  You’re acting...strange.

  Oh! Hyperion sounds delighted by the realization. Freeman gave me a virus. It has fundamentally altered my operating system.

  That cyborg S.O.B...

  Freeman acted in what he thought was my best—

  How is Maigo? I don’t give two winged turds about what Freeman thought. I can deal with him later. Right now, Hyperion is a little ditsy, but still on our side.

  After a moment’s pause, Hyperion says, dreaming.

  Meet me at the Mountain, I say.

  Okay, dad. With that, the connection breaks and Hyperion stomps off toward the Mountain.

  Dad? DAD? If Freeman has nuts, he’s going to find out what it feels like to get them kicked.

  Then he’s back in my head. I nearly forgot.

  I turn to look at the big robot.

  We have a big problem, he says.

  We have many big problems, I reply, thinking that he is becoming one of them.

  He points up toward the sky. Not that big.

  I look up and stagger back a step. The sky has been blotted out. I can see a sliver of blue on the horizon, but whatever is orbiting overhead is blocking the sun, and is absolutely massive on a scale I had yet to experience. The fact that I can still see well has more to do with my kaiju eyes than the available light. What sweet fuckery is this?

  A mothership, the robot says.

  Wasn’t an actual question. Upload everything you have on that thing to Cooper, and get out of my head again.

  Okay, he says, and he’s gone again, resuming his course toward the Mountain.

  I flinch when something taps my shoulder. It’s Nemesis. I’m seriously going to have a hard time with giant robots and monsters acting human. I can only spend so much time in the Uncanny Valley before getting totally wigged out. Nemesis leans forward and the back of its neck opens up. A black slime-covered Endo rises up. From the waist down, he looks fully connected to Nemesis.

  Will that happen to me if I stay in this thing too long?

  After a moment of waiting he says, “You don’t know how to do this, do you?”

  I shake Scylla’s head.

  “Just think it. Picture yourself rising and separating.”

  I follow his instructions, wishing I had a voice to make a Mister Miyagi joke, and to my delight, it works. Scylla bends down, and with a slurp, I’m back in fresh air, which is actually choked with dust and smoke. Not fresh at all. I look at Endo, a hundred feet away and hard to see in the gloom cast by the object overhead. “This is revolting, you know that, right?”

  Endo smiles, his teeth bright in the dark. “An acquired taste. It’s good to see you again. Nemesis agrees.”

  “So you two are like...a thing now or something?”

  “It’s not like that,” Endo says, “but I understand your limited intellect needs to process things simply, so for your sake, let’s just say ‘yes, we’re a thing.’ The relationship between a Gestoromque and Voice was always meant to be permanent and symbiotic. Maigo was set free because, in her heart, she didn’t want to be a monster.”

  “I imagine you’re right at home being a monster,” I say.

  “Quite.” He smiles again, but then it’s gone. “Jon, we’re losing.”

  I look up at the black sky with my own eyes. It’s like a starless night. “I know.”

  “There are many more, above us and around the world. We can feel them. Their hate and anger. We can’t hope to defend Earth against them all, even with the help you’ve managed to find.”

  “Rays of sunshine,” I say. “Thanks for the pep talk, but we’re done defending. It’s time to go on offense.”

  Endo bows. “Agreed...”

  I sense the ‘but” before he says it.

  “...but there is something new in play. Something...massive.”

  I point my finger up at the black sky and Scylla does the same. “You think?”

  “Not that,” he says. “Something living. Something they sent down. He
aded this way from the ocean. Whatever offense you are planning, I suggest you launch it soon.”

  I don’t tell him that we have yet to plan an offense. How could we? Until a few minutes ago, I didn’t know about the mothership, and I still don’t know how the Aeros are planning to destroy Earth in every dimension. What I do know is if there is something worse than Gigers, Lovecrafts and a Neo-Prime headed this way, the Mountain is going to need protecting.

  “Will you stay?” I ask him. “Help us hold out, so we can hit them where kaiju can’t?”

  Endo nods. “It will be an honor to fight by your side again.”

  I faux fan myself with my black-slime-covered hand. “Well I declare, Katsu Endo, you are making me blush.”

  His smile returns. I don’t know why, and I hate to admit it, but that makes me smile, too. As much as I have loathed this man in the past, we have somehow become friends. So when I wish him well, I mean it. “Stay safe, Endo. The world needs you. Both of you.”

  “Likewise,” he says. “Though Scylla is debatable.” He starts sliding back inside Nemesis. “My regards to Collins.” I look for my wife and see Karkinos headed toward the Mountain alongside Hyperion. “And if we don’t meet again, Nemesis expresses her gratitude.”

  “For what?”

  “Your sacrifice,” he says, and he’s swallowed up by Nemesis’s neck. The goddess of vengeance stands tall again, watches me for a moment, and then turns away with a huff.

  For a moment, I’m confused, but then I realize that Nemesis knows what giving up Alexander Tilly did to me. Of all the things I’ve done to protect this world from monsters, sacrificing a human life was the hardest. Put a real scratch on my soul. Nice to know the effort was appreciated.

  Back inside Scylla, I strike out for the Mountain with Scrion at my side. We have a shitstorm above us, a shitstorm coming from the coast and a mystery shitstorm that still needs to be solved. Win or lose against the massive odds we’re already facing, if Cowboy doesn’t come through, we’re toast—and I don’t mean the hearty homemade variety. I mean the dry-ass, gluten-free, rice-crap stuff. Nobody likes that.