by Isaac Hooke
He realized that the enemy flyers were zig-zagging, while the Modlenth flyers had formed a study line up ahead. At the base of the dome there was a silver ring, seemingly the source of the energy field. From that ring many turrets protruded, and they were launching bolts of energy, lightning, and electricity at the enemy fliers. There were also a few laser turrets among them, though of course Jason couldn’t see the beams they produced, as the photons were not of the visible spectrum.
“The Brome,” Jhagan said.
“I think he means dome,” Lori said.
Jason hurried forward across the plains, toward that dome. There was an arched entrance within the silver ring at the base of the dome; several Modlenth mechs waited there. They stood in dual lines, one on either side of the entrance.
The attacks continued, but dwindled the closer the team got to the dome.
Aria led the way past those ranks of Modlenth, and toward the arched opening. Beyond was a rectangular passage.
She hurried inside, and Jason followed. The passage was just tall enough to fit his mech, with a width that could hold three of them abreast. In moments the entirety of the War Forgers had entered, and the team formed three columns. The Rex Wolves also fit, and resided just behind Jason and the main group.
“There isn’t room for your entire army,” Jhagan said. “Especially the larger robot variants at your rear. But we will ensure their safety while they remain outside.”
Jason turned around to regard the plains beyond the opening. The attacks had essentially ceased, with Bokerov’s tanks only occasionally launching a shell into the air and the Cataphracts not firing at all. Meanwhile, the defense turrets continued pounding the fleeing enemy forces.
“Bokerov, you’ll have to wait outside,” Jason said.
“Ah, as usual,” Bokerov said. “I do the brunt of the work, and I’m not even invited into the house for dinner.”
The tanks came to a halt near the line of Modlenth mechs outside, and as Jason watched, the entrance irised closed, sealing the War Forgers and their clones within the compartment.
9
Jason kept an eye on his overhead map, and confirmed that Bokerov and his troops weren’t under attack—their data signals were able to pass through the sealed gate. At least for now.
Jason was near the forefront of the column of War Forgers and their clones; he turned around until he was facing a ramp that led to a pair of big, metal double doors beside him. The roof sloped upward to match that ramp, so he wouldn’t have to duck when he climbed the latter.
Beside the doors, there was a smaller alcove, which opened now, revealing another Modlenth mech. Like the others, it was half the size of Jason’s mech, and humanoid in shape, excepting the four grasping arms.
It spoke with the voice of Jhagan over the comm band.
“Only a few of you may stand in the presence of the Central,” Jhagan said. “Please select no more than nine members.”
“What about the dogs?” Tara said.
Jhagan glanced at the Rex Wolves, which were growling at him. “Even if they were allowed, they wouldn’t be able to breathe the air.”
“I don’t suppose I can have my Explorer lead the way?” Jason nodded toward the scout that hovered in front of him.
“No,” Jhagan said. “Unauthorized flyers will be shot down.”
“Too bad.” Jason recalled the Explorer and docked it in his storage compartment. “All right, War Forgers. All Originals, with me. Cheyanne, Iris, and Maeran, you come, too. Clones, stay here. If you don’t hear from us in two hours, cut your way forcibly out of here, and take the army as far away as you can. John, you’ll be in charge if we don’t return.”
“You’ll be back,” John insisted.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jason said. “But if not, you’re in charge, got it?”
“I do,” John said.
“Good. You might as well activate your repair drones in the meantime.” Jason activated his own, and the drones began repairing the damage he’d taken outside. He stepped toward Jhagan.
“You will have to turn those off in the presence of the Central,” Jhagan said. “Repairs are considered rude. And although they hover close to your mechs, they might be considered unauthorized flyers, and shot down.”
“Tell me when we’re almost there,” Jason said. At first, he wondered how Jhagan even knew what they were, but he realized Bokerov had probably shared a few mech designs with these aliens, including the location and blueprints of their repair drones.
The Modlenth mech walked up the ramp, toward the pair of double doors. When Jhagan reached them, the doors parted, and he passed through into the golden light beyond.
Jason assumed it was an airlock of some kind, because of the comment Jhagan had made about the Rex Wolves not being able to breathe the air beyond. He glanced at Lori and Tara on either side of him, then over his shoulder at the others. “Well, I guess it’s time. Taras 2 and 3, restrain the dogs, if you will.”
The respective Taras came forward and grabbed onto the Rex Wolves by their napes, and spoke soothing words to the animals.
Meanwhile, Jason passed through the opening, and realized it wasn’t an airlock after all—he had entered the city proper. And the atmospheric content had already changed: the air was clearer here, not tinged with yellow mist. Looking back, he saw some sort of atmospheric membrane lining the doorway—obviously the Tyrnari equivalent of an airlock, meant to keep the outer gases at bay.
“The atmosphere has changed,” Aria confirmed when she entered behind him.
Jason continued forward, giving room for the other core members of his War Forgers to step through.
Meanwhile, he examined his surroundings with great interest. He resided on what could best be described as a city street. Lining it on either side were tall, triangular buildings. Their gold surfaces had lines of bright yellow light cutting across them horizontally at intervals—windows, Jason guessed. Those in the current section were about the same height as he was. Visibility was quite high, thanks to the lack of yellow mist in the atmosphere, and he could see all the way to the city center several blocks away, where the buildings were much higher, reaching toward the distant top of the energy dome that enveloped the entire city. The taller buildings clustered at different heights around one central building, which towered above them all.
The golden glow emitted by all of those buildings suffused the city, casting everything in a gentle yellow light. It was warmer than the mist of the atmosphere outside.
Overhead, egg shaped flyers moved to and fro in designated skylanes. It was similar to the air traffic that could be found in an Earth metropolis, actually.
The ground seemed to be made of some translucent material layered over a gold substrate; it couldn’t have been pure glass, because it was strong enough to hold the weight of the mechs without cracking. The surface also seemed slightly slippery, and Jason was careful to plant his feet firmly with each step.
He heard a gentle thud behind him; glancing at his rear view video feed, he realized the double doors had sealed behind Cheyanne, Iris, and Maeran, the last of the War Forgers to step through. Lori, Tara, Sophie, Aria and Xin were also present, as requested.
Jhagan continued forward, and Jason increased his pace so that he was walking at the mech’s side. It was almost like walking beside a child, or dwarf, in Jason’s eyes.
On a side street, he saw smaller, tentacled creatures sliding across the translucent surface of the roadway. If Jhagan’s mech was a child, these beings were babies compared to the War Forgers.
The main bodies were vaguely jellyfish-like—thin, bluish sacs that dimpled slightly as they moved, seemingly inflated by some sort of liquid within. The sacs were slightly translucent, allowing Jason to observe the street beyond, but otherwise he couldn’t see any sign of internal organs.
Tentacled appendages hung down to several starfish-like feet that were spread wide across the glassy ground; as the creatures advanced, those ex
tremities moved in a sweeping motion that never left the surface. The slippery nature of the material coating the ground was likely purposeful, and probably aided the locomotion of the creatures. Then again, Jason noticed thin trails of slime were left in the wake of those feet. Could the slippery quality of the surface be due to that? No, wait… the trails seemed to evaporate from the roadway after a few moments.
“Tyrnari?” Jason asked.
“Good guess,” Jhagan replied.
“So this is how they look outside their mechs,” Tara said. “That would explain why they need to live inside domes.”
“We captured one before, if you’ll recall, inside a Phaser mech” Aria said. “When I dissected it, I found nothing inside. No internal organs. No muscle fibers. No brain.”
“True,” Tara said. “This is the first time we’ve seen living Tyrnari. What did we conclude about their lack of organs?”
“Jason suggested they stored their organs in some higher dimension,” Xin said.
“That’s right,” Aria said. “Well, they must store them somewhere, if they’re sentient enough to communicate with us. Hey Jason, ask them where they keep their internal organs.”
“You do it,” Jason said.
“Er, Alien, where do you keep your internal organs?” Aria said.
“It’s best if we don’t reveal too much, at this point,” Jhagan said.
“That’s hardly fair, given what you know about humanity,” Tara said.
“We have the advantage, I admit,” Jhagan said. “But that is due to the forthcoming nature of your comrade, Bokerov. Blame him for the unfairness of your current situation.”
Jhagan continued down the main pathway toward the downtown core, which was free of the Tyrnari pedestrians who dominated the side streets. Even so, Jason kept an eye on where he stepped: it wouldn’t do to accidentally squish one of their hosts. That might piss off this Central of theirs.
“We just lost contact with the clones, and the rest of the army,” Aria said. “We’re on our own.”
So far, none of their repair drones had been shot down for being “unauthorized flyers.” Because of that, Jason considered launching his Explorer to get a bird’s eye view of the city, but decided that would be pushing it.
Soon the triangular buildings increased in height, beginning to reach into the sky. Gazing up, some almost seemed to brush the energy dome just overhead. Because of the concave nature of that dome, the height was lower here, than in the exact center of the city.
“So, Risilan, this Central, is your leader?” Jason said.
“Correct,” Jhagan said.
“Tell me about him,” Jason said.
“Her,” Jhagan corrected.
“Her, then,” Jason said.
“She would be a considered a princess among your kind,” Jhagan said. “We adore her.”
“Whoa, we’re going to meet a real life princess!” Lori said. “I’m so excited!”
“I bet you’re jealous, Sophie,” Tara said. “Seeing as how you’re a princess wannabe.”
“Not at all,” Sophie said. “Why would I be jealous? This ‘princess’ is an alien. She has a slimy body, tentacles for arms, starfish for feet. No competition whatsoever for me.”
“Teehee!” Lori said. “You’ve seen what you look like right? A human torso plastered onto a spider’s body? You’d certainly give the aliens a run for the money in the ugly department!”
“Uh, my external form doesn’t count,” Sophie said. “My avatar is the real me.”
“Maybe this Princess Risilan has an avatar form, too,” Tara said. “Compatible with our VR systems.”
“Oh, shit,” Sophie said. “I hadn’t thought of that. Then again, I can’t see why Jason would be interested in a creature like that. I mean come on, look at them. They’re all slimy and gross.”
“VR can mask a lot of imperfections…” Tara said.
“You wouldn’t be interested in an alien woman, right Jason?” Sophie said.
“That’s right,” Jason replied. He hadn’t been listening that intently. He was concentrating on the alien buildings around him, and wondering what this Central wanted from him.
“There, see?” Sophie said. “We have nothing to worry about.”
“Jhagan, can I get a hint at what Risilan wants?” Jason said.
“Sorry,” Jhagan said. “She will explain it in person, as I told you before.”
The group had reached the city center and were completely surrounded by those huge triangular skyscrapers. Jhagan continued toward the central building that towered over them all.
“It kind of makes sense that the Central would reside here,” Tara said as she gazed at that big building.
Jhagan glanced at her mech, and followed her gaze to the main skyscraper.
“Actually, she does not,” Jhagan said. He diverted toward a smaller building nestled between two skyscrapers. It was still huge, however, easily fitting at least a hundred War Forger mechs inside. This one differed from the others in that it was pyramidal in shape, rather than triangular. It was surrounded by a wall with triangular towers placed at each of its four corners—well, Jason couldn’t see the farther two corners because of the size of that pyramid, but he assumed more towers were located there. He could see small triangular outlines near the tops of those towers; he guessed they were hidden panels that contained weapon turrets.
Jhagan approached the wall. It was about the same height as the alien mech, or roughly half the size of Jason’s.
“This is where the Central lives,” Jhagan said.
A gap materialized in the wall, giving enough room for each of the mechs to enter in turn.
They did so.
Jhagan approached the towering pyramid, and a similar gap materialized, revealing a triangular corridor that could fit three War Forgers at once.
Jhagan paused. “Please deactivate your repair drones.”
Jason and the others recalled their repair units, and the drones flew into their associated storage compartments.
“Those are not allowed, either,” Jhagan said, nodding toward the three drones that orbited Maeran.
Maegan issued an instruction, and the three drones promptly landed on her shoulder regions. “Good?”
“Yes,” Jhagan said.
Jhagan entered, and Jason followed with Tara and Lori at his side.
“Why does it feel like we’re stepping past the point of no return?” Tara asked.
“Probably because we are,” Jason said. “Whatever happens in here, will define our futures forever.”
“Not just ours,” Lori said. “Humanity’s.”
10
Jason stood in a central chamber in the heart of the pyramid. Four walls, sloping at the same angle as the exterior surfaces, met at the apex far above. Thick support pillars held up those sloping walls. Standing between these pillars were other four-armed mechs like the one Jhagan operated. Their weapon turrets were on full display on the forearm sections. Currently, those weapons were pointed at the ground.
The pillars formed a path from the entrance to the far side of the big chamber, where a small dais held a lone Tyrnari, apparently seated, judging from the way those tentacles were folded underneath the body. On the floor next to the dais resided other Tyrnari, these ones standing. Several more of the aliens lined the wall behind the dais; they had metallic cylinders affixed to the midpoints of their appendages. Probably weapons.
The alien seated upon the dais was nearly identical to the others in terms of jellyfish-like shape, and those tentacles with the starfish feet. But Jason did notice an extra appendage behind the sac of its body, almost a topknot of sorts because of its bristly, hair like nature. He couldn’t tell if the topknot was some form of clothing, or a natural part of the alien.
There was also the obvious blur of an active energy field in front of that particular Tyrnari. A spherical protective enclosure of some kind. A good precaution, he supposed.
There was enough room in the cha
mber for Jason and the others to cross to that dais, but Jhagan had waved for the team to stop as soon as all of them had stepped inside. Another good precaution.
Jhagan had the War Forgers spread out along the wall behind them. Jason remained near the center, staring down between the pillars toward the dais, and the alien it contained.
“Greetings,” a woman’s voice came over the come. “I am Risilan.”
“See, no avatar!” Sophie said triumphantly.
“Sh!” Jason said. “It’s good to finally meet you, Princess.”
“Call me Central,” Risilan said. “Princess is a human term.”
“My apologies,” Jason said. He waited for her to say more, but when she wasn’t forthcoming, he added: “So. You wanted to see us.”
Still no response.
He decided to wait. He realized she was likely judging his every action, gauging his responses, trying to determine his character, and intent. He was doing the same, of course. And he refused to cave first.
Finally Risilan spoke once more. “I am the rightful queen of all Tyrnari.”
Jason was somewhat stunned by the news. Rather than voicing his surprise, he decided to wait for her to say more.
“The current royal family killed my father, the rightful king of the Tyrnari,” Risilan continued. “They slew most of my brothers and sisters, but the new king took pity on me, and instead tried to send me into exile on a colony world. My most loyal guards freed me, and I escaped here to this city, where my most loyal followers resided.”
“So wait a second, this isn’t a staging planet?” Jason said. “Meant to launch attacks against my homeworld?”
“No,” Risilan said. “This is the Tyrnari homeworld itself.”
“But the air…” Jason said. “I transported bioweapons from Earth here, with my army. They were able to breathe the atmosphere outside this energy dome, and were part of the bioweapons the original invaders sent to Earth. The Banthar. What are the chances of that?”