by J. A. Scorch
"What are you doing here?" Pocket asked them both.
"Couldn't leave you two behind. Is he okay?"
"He'll live. We just need to pull that bullet out of him before he heals up." Pocket pulled out a knife and her medkit. "Sorry, Tower. This is going to hurt."
"Do what you gotta do. I'm just happy to see you all again." He smiled at each of them as Pocket prepared to cut the slug out of Teve's chest. He had no idea if she was trained for this kind of situation. It was the last thought he remembered thinking before passing out from a shot of morphine.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Porter, Briggs, and Jones all stared at one another. No one had any suggestions on what to do with their discovery. Hundreds of meters below them were thousands of aliens in pods, all suspended above a glowing purple sphere that seemed to be the center of the ship. The Zeal kept a close yet safe distance from the object as if the orb was the most powerful thing in the galaxy. It was at that moment that Porter realized something was off about the Cyclone.
"Where is everyone?"
"What do you mean?" Briggs asked.
"Look around us. Apart from the weird inactive army down there, I can't see a single alien running this ship."
Briggs spun around and took in the area. There was nothing else to see beyond the all-encompassing room. The only other section he knew of was the lower deck filled with Tritons.
"This is so crazy," Jones said. "Who controls the ship?"
"Not who," Porter said. "What. That thing down there must be at the center of everything. I'm willing to bet it's like the brains of the carrier."
"Yeah, I guess so," Briggs said. "But why would they leave it so exposed? Seems a bit—"
"Arrogant? Sounds like the Zeal I know. I mean, think about it. They could have wiped us out on Mars when they first attacked. If anything, they got lazy and decided to focus on Earth when the MAF was the bigger threat."
"So, what are you saying we should do? Kill the brain?"
Porter nodded. "Could be worth a shot."
"It could also be the thing that causes the ship to explode," Jones said.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take. This thing is about to leave the solar system if we don't disable it. Either we get the hell off the Cyclone now, or we do this."
Briggs shook his head. "You made it sound like I had a choice. Let's shoot some Zeal brain."
"Jones? You in?" Porter asked.
Sergeant Jones stared down at the sphere and then back to Porter. "These bastards have killed so many of my friends that I can't keep track. I'm in." He raised his laser rifle up.
"All right. Now the only issue we have is how to kill it. These laser rifles might not do the trick from this distance. I think we need to go down there and all fire at the same time until it stops working. Sound good?"
"Yeah, Captain," Jones said. "Just one problem to deal with first."
"What?"
Jones pointed behind Porter's back at a wandering Sergeant Zina.
"What in the hell?" Briggs said as Jones rushed over to her.
"Zina? Are you okay?" Jones asked. She stared at him with two bewildered eyes as if she had seen a ghost. He turned back to Porter with a shrug. "I don't understand what's wrong with her. Could be—"
His words were snuffed out by Zina's laser rifle shooting him through the faceplate of his helmet. The single, close-range shot from the powerful weapon dropped Jones to the ground in a heap. Briggs reacted in time to fire a few shots off at her as she trained the gun on Porter. Zina fell to the floor after the fifth direct hit.
"What the fuck just happened?" Porter yelled. He charged over and checked the back of the Jones' suit. His life signs displayed a flat line. The man was dead. He made sure to check Zina's display and found the same outcome.
Briggs came over and knelt beside Porter. "Why did she force me to do that?"
"I don't know, but something tells me this place isn't safe to stay in. It screwed with her mind."
Briggs' eyes grew wide. "You're right. As soon as I saw that thing down there, I almost wanted to go to it as if it was calling me."
Porter shivered. "I had the same feeling. It made me see things I shouldn't be able to see. I can't remove the thought from my head."
Briggs placed both hands on the back of his helmet as he continued to stare at Zina's body.
"This is not your fault. She would have killed us all."
"Yeah, I know, but ... " He trailed off into a mumble.
"Come on," Porter said as he slapped his wingman on the arm. "We have to keep moving. This ship needs to be shut down before we turn on each other."
Briggs looked him in the eye and gave him a firm nod. "Lead the way."
For the next ten minutes, the pair attempted to find a way down the open space to move closer to the purple, glowing sphere. At long range, the laser rifles each pilot claimed from the Marines might miss the target and set off some a security protocol. For all Porter knew, the large object was indestructible and would deflect the lasers.
"Over here," Briggs called out. "Could be a way down." He pointed to a section of the cylindric hole that contained a recess resembling an inbuilt ladder. It almost seemed like it was part of the ship's design, allowing the pair to travel at least halfway down.
"Good find, Briggs. After you."
"Such a gentleman."
"You are the better shot between the two of us," Porter said with arms raised in defense.
"Using my ego to get what you want. Nice one, Captain."
"I'm serious. We can't screw this up. I'd rather give you the best chance to do this right. If we don't shut this ship down, game over."
Not wasting another second, Briggs headed down the ladder. He kept his rifle over his shoulder for easy access. Porter did the same. When they got to the end of the ladder, they each dropped down to a small ledge and grabbed their weapons.
"All right. It's now or never. Line up your shot. When you're ready, let me know. We shoot on three."
"Got it," Briggs replied. He rotated his neck back and forth and changed a few settings on the laser rifle. The weapon fired a high-powered beam that was capable of penetrating the armor of the Marines' suits at close range. Compared to the weaker pistol variant, the gun was deadly in almost anyone's hand.
"I'm set," Briggs said.
"Me too. On three. One, two, three." Both pilots fired a single shot out at the sphere. At around 100 meters, the giant orb was an easy target. The red streaks of their shots got absorbed by the Zeal ball, causing its glow to wane and blink out for a few moments. A wail emitted throughout the area as every alien in the Cyclone squealed.
"Again," Porter shouted. They fired another shot to a similar result. "Keep shooting." They continued to squeeze their triggers. The laser rifles ran on high-energy batteries that would fire around 200 shots before a new pack was required. Porter had a few spare batteries scrounged from Zina, but something told him the sphere was about to be silenced forever.
"It's working," Briggs yelled. "That thing is dying. Look at them." All around the space, the Zeal writhed and shrieked in pain. Some tried to crawl into their armor suits but ended up falling into the hole to their deaths.
Overhead, the light from the glowing walls and ceiling began to fade, casting a dark shadow over the area. Porter kept firing the rifle. Every shot was another dagger into the heart of the Zeal ship.
Finally, after the fiftieth shot from Porter, the sphere shattered and splintered into a million pieces and rained down to the floor as if it were made of glass. Every light in the carrier blanked off along with the noise of the wailing Zeal.
Porter activated the flashlight on his suit a second after Briggs. They stared out at the broken brain of the ship as they felt gravity's pull vanish. The ship's artificial systems and every other function on board had been disabled.
"We did it," Briggs yelled. "Take that, you piece of shit. You're dead."
Porter enabled his magboots and began to climb back up to
ward the top. He encouraged Briggs to do the same once he finished celebrating.
As Porter climbed back up to the only way out he knew in the ship, he tried his radio and got a hold of Murphy. "It's over, Captain. Call Garcia and tell her to send her people over here. The ship is ours."
"Excellent news, Captain," Murphy said.
Porter sighed. "One other thing: we lost Jones and Zina. They’re dead. Porter out."
Murphy radioed back his understanding and didn’t ask any follow-up questions. Porter figured the task at hand was still incomplete, so the Captain wouldn’t allow himself to slow down. They would all count their dead once the dust had settled.
Once the two pilots reached the top of the carrier, Briggs stopped Porter before he floated himself into the access tunnel. "What's wrong? We defeated the Cyclone. You should be thrilled about that."
"I am," Porter said. "I just have an empty feeling, you know? Command will come in and call this a win. They'll get to study the ship and take all the Zeal technology for themselves, but Earth's still covered in alien bases. Look how much effort it took to take out this small fleet. Imagine what it will be like on Earth."
"Hard, I'm guessing, but we've taken the first significant step and conquered their fleet. Think about this: The Zeal are now stranded on the planet they invaded. If you ask me, the rest of them will fall in no time."
Porter took in Briggs' words and turned to leave. "I hope you're right, Briggs. Because I don't think I've got another three years in me to fight the rest of this war."
The two pilots proceeded in silence and climbed back up to their X90S Stalkers. As they left, Command arrived with several official ships, all ready to present victory to the masses back home.
Chapter Forty-Eight
As Teve stirred from what seemed like an endless slumber, Pocket's face stared down at him from above.
"Hey, sleepy head. About time your lazy ass woke up."
Lifting himself up in the bed, Teve rubbed his eyes with fury. "Where the hell am I?"
"Phoenix."
"Wait, what? We have to go."
"Relax. I'll explain: After my attempted field surgery, it became apparent that you would need some additional treatment to ensure there was no infection or anything sinister."
"And?"
"You're fine. That damn Zeal stuff healed you right up. I gave you a heavy sedative so you could catch up on some sleep."
Teve let himself sink back down. "Has been a long time between naps. Still, why did you bring me here? Aren't we considered wanted criminals to the UEF?"
Pocket smiled. "Turns out half of what Doctor Hoang was up to was off the books. General Miller knew about the UESF at Pendle, but not about the hybrid activity. Hoang was supposed to use Black Forest to test and find out who among the infected had gained new abilities and send them on to Pendle for training."
"So we were never meant to be turned into those things?"
She shook her head.
A thought struck Teve's brows as he sat up a little further. "Why was I treated like a prisoner at Black Forest?"
"I'll fill you in on that one, Sergeant," General Miller said. He walked around one of the columns holding up Phoenix and strolled up to Teve with both arms behind his back. He extended an arm out. Teve grabbed on to Miller's palm and shook the man's hand.
"Good to see you, sir. If you don't mind, I have a few questions."
"I'm sure you do. From what I understand, you've been through hell and back."
"That's one way of putting it."
Teve proceeded to ask Miller one question after the other. For once, the general was giving him straight answers instead of witty comebacks to every word out of his mouth. Teve learned more in the fifteen minutes Miller spared him than he had in the last three years: The Special Forces was a very real thing. Almost fifty UESF soldiers existed in the area including Teve, Pocket, Romeo, and Red. They were stationed at another base as far back from the city as possible to prevent any regression.
The selection process among the infected was an intense one Doctor Hoang was supposed to oversee. The man had lost his way recently and had begun manipulating data and protocols by declaring a lot of potential candidates to be deceased. Not even the commander of Pendle, General Rebecca Aron, knew about Hoang's activity. The guards and lab techs at Black Forest thought they were going along with Command’s new orders. Little did they know what Hoang was up to. A select few were willing to allow the man to kill whoever he pleased, believing in the doctor’s plan. The majority, though, didn’t realize that the "dead" soldiers were being sent to Pendle after Hoang hit them with a massive dose of the Zeal virus to force a transformation into the messed-up hybrids.
"So you were never really a prisoner, Sergeant. We simply had to isolate any infected soldiers until they had been declared fit for battle as a safety precaution. The virus is not as contagious as we first thought. The only way to catch the damn thing is by being out in the field too close to the Zeal base. Still, we used caution."
Teve nodded his head absently for the twentieth time as Miller continued. Only one question sat on Teve's lips?
"Do you know what happened to Mish?"
Miller stood and moved away from the edge of Teve's cot. "See for yourself. She's a few beds down."
Teve leaped up. "Thank you, sir." He brushed past the general and checked each bed, seeing resting soldiers recovering from all kinds of wounds until he found Mish asleep in a single bed. He charged over as a pang of nerves hit his stomach.
"Mish? Are you awake? It's me. It's Teve."
She began to stir and stretch her arms above her head as she pointed her toes out straight. Once her eyes popped open, her brows tightened at the sight of Teve standing over her.
"Teve?" she asked, half confused.
"Hey, Mish, it's me. How are you—"
Teve didn't finish his sentence before Mish shot up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He hoisted her up from the bed into a full embrace, feeling her heart pound in her chest.
"I thought you died," she said. "I thought they'd taken you away forever."
"You're okay, Mish. I'm here. And to be honest, I thought you were dead, too. What happened? You had the virus."
"I still do, but I'm told I'm one of the lucky ones," she said, shaking her head. She lifted one of her sleeves to reveal the purple, alien tech embedded in her arm. Teve ran his finger over some of the hardened metal. Mish quickly covered up.
"I know, it’s ugly," she said as she folded back into herself.
"No, it's not," Teve said thinking about his purple eyes. "You're still perfect to me."
Mish tried to hide a smile as she continued. "You don't have to lie to me. I know—"
"Hey," Teve said as he grabbed her gently by the chin. "Trust me when I say this: I don't care about that. I just want to know you are okay."
She remained silent for a few moments before speaking. "A strange man put me through all kinds of tests and did things to my mind. I don't remember much of the last few weeks."
Teve grabbed her arms. "Don't worry. That son of a bitch did the same to me. He's dead now. Bastard got what was coming to him." Teve stared off to the side thinking about everything. He refocused on Mish. "He also made me believe that anyone who got the virus would either receive new abilities or slowly die. I thought you were a goner."
"Afraid not. I was a prisoner along with Harris and Moreno. They didn't have the virus, though. We left Black Forest yesterday when Miller came and shut the facility down. Our next plan was to come and find you. And here you are."
Teve smiled. "That's my fire team. You guys never give up." He kissed her again, closing his eyes as he felt the warmth of her lips fill his head with hope. The two stayed close for the next hour, chatting about everything that had happened over the last few weeks. Miller came over with Pocket after some time and interrupted without the usual yelling.
"Specialist, Sergeant. A word."
"Yes, sir," Teve and
Mish said at the same time.
Miller strolled with Pocket trailing behind. "We've just received an announcement that the Mars Armed Forces has taken control of the final Zeal carrier orbiting Earth."
"Are you serious, sir?" Teve asked.
"Yes, Sergeant. And it turns out that your very own brother was instrumental in the entire process. It looks like there's some real blood in that family of yours."
"Are you serious?"
Miller nodded.
"This is insane, sir. You have no idea how happy I am to hear about my brother. Hoang told me Bradley was alive and a part of the successful missions to take out the Zeal fleet. Up until now, I thought it was a bunch of lies."
Miller chuckled. "Far from it. Your brother went above and beyond in the last few weeks. As soon as we can establish a good enough connection with the MAF, we'll set up a vidlink so the two of you can catch-up."
"Sounds amazing, sir. Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. It could take a few weeks or more to happen. Plus, we still have the unfavorable topic of the war to discuss. With the collapse of the Zeal fleet, the bases here on Earth are finally vulnerable enough for the taking. We're putting together an attack force to take out that base once and for all. The assault will be coordinated across the globe to take out the Zeal."
Teve let out a breath of air as he remembered what Ward had told him about the coming battle. "This is really happening?"
Miller nodded. "We've been waiting on the final carrier to be disabled. Apparently, they were linked to the bases on the ground and allowed for global communication between stations. With the absence of the Zeal fleet, the Earth bases have lost their edge and are ripe for the taking."
"Where does that leave us, sir?"
Miller glanced at each of them and then back to Teve. "I want you all on the Special Forces teams, Sergeant. In three days, the assault goes down. We're throwing everything we have at them."
"I'm in, sir. I'll be glad to get back to fighting the enemy. One question, though. You keep calling me Sergeant. I thought I was back to being a private?"