The Resistance- The Complete Series

by Nathan Hystad

  The android stood beside him, and Flint wrapped an arm around the metal man. He was worse for wear with his dented frame, but so was Flint. His face and ribs still throbbed from the fights on Europa.

  It took Charles a moment, but he hugged Flint back. It was an odd moment at first, but Flint didn’t care. “You’re a good friend,” he said.

  “It was my privilege to fight with you,” Charles said as they broke apart.

  Flint grinned. “I’m going to check on Wren. Would you mind getting our passengers aboard our saving grace, the Eureka?”

  “Consider it done.” Charles stopped at the corridor entrance, his eyes on the floor. “I am glad you’re okay, and that this is all over.”

  Flint just nodded, watching the android go. He ran a hand over his old ship’s console and sprinted toward the bedroom.

  Ace

  Ace could hear the cheering from a kilometer away, and at first he thought it was the tortured screams of the residents of the metropolis. As he neared the perimeter, he knew otherwise. There was a city-wide party happening, and he was coming at the right time.

  The city was different than he was used to in Old Chicago. This one was placed in a square, not getting progressively taller as you neared the center; rather, the entire city was full of high-rises the entire way around. Ace walked through a landing pad where a few landers and transport vessels sat unused, and ended up stepping in between a glass structure that went up fifty stories or so, one with a metal façade that soared even taller into the crisp blue sky.

  He heard the crowd before he spotted it. Voices carried over one another, and he sensed the joy in the sound. Ace stepped around the glass structure and saw them piled into the streets. They were all ages: young, old, children sat on fathers’ backs and necks, cheering as one. They moved deeper into the city, and Ace ran to catch up to the rear of the progression.

  “What’s happened?” he asked a girl, no more than twelve years old.

  “Have you been under a rock?” She glanced to see his jumpsuit hanging from his waist. “We won. The aliens tried to take Earth, but we beat them! The Earth Fleet did it! When I grow up, I want to join the Fleet!”

  Ace smiled at her and said thanks. It was all over? So soon? He found himself getting swept up in the crowd’s excitement, and he began chanting with them, unable to keep the goofy smile off his face. “We did it!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

  It was so strange to be among normal people on the planet. Ace moved through the crowd, his lithe frame letting him sneak past people and quickly get further into the horde. He saw their end goal, and it was full of tens of thousands of people, with more coming every second.

  They were all watching a massive billboard, showing a live feed of a news report.

  The man’s excited voice boomed out through large speakers bookending the screen. He was wearing a silver tie with a black suit, his dark hair slicked sideways. “We have done it! The war is over, according to our sources within the Earth Fleet. The last of these alien invaders were destroyed a half hour ago, and we’re the first to cover the news.”

  A strain lifted off Ace’s chest, and he found he was able to breathe easier, even among the dense crowd of people. It was hot, and everyone was sweating around him, but no one seemed to care. It was a moment for celebrating their lives.

  Ace watched as footage from Earth of the battles was played. Slightly grainy images of the destructive fight were shown, and Ace cringed when he saw how many Fleet and presumably Shadow ships were destroyed in the process. He didn’t see the Eureka in the shot, and hoped with everything he had that they were okay. At least Flint hadn’t been back yet, so they’d be safe. Ace needed to bring a ship to go retrieve them.

  The booming voice was in the air, drawing his attention. “We lost a lot of lives today, and each of those special sparks of humanity will be forever remembered. With the Earth Fleet’s bases almost all destroyed, we will rebuild. New London has taken the most damage of the major cities, and the Council is already talking about plans to repair as soon as possible. While the battle is fresh in our minds, and our wounds are being licked clean, we have to keep in mind just how much the Fleet has done for us over the years. Without them, we wouldn’t be here today.”

  Ace watched the feed and saw the man was standing on a transporter ship, a large viewing window behind him showcasing the image of the moon gloriously reflecting light from the sun. It was an amazing shot, and one that was going to be remembered for a long time.

  The man kept talking, but Ace didn’t hear him any longer. Something was moving behind the moon. Ace’s heart hammered in his chest when he saw it was a vessel, and not one of their own. Clearly it was built by the Watchers, because it had the same clunky style, but from what Ace could tell, this thing had to be four times as large as the Eureka.

  “What is that?” Ace asked himself. A man beside him stifled a laugh, smiling ear to ear. Ace smelled liquor on his breath, and suddenly, the crowd was overwhelming. He needed to get out of there and head to the landing pad. It didn’t seem like anyone acknowledged there was a ship behind the moon.

  Ace pressed through the throngs of people, feeling violated by the smells of sweat and anxiety. He pushed through, and five minutes and a few elbows to the ribs later, he was free of the crowd. He looked back, seeing the same section of the Watcher vessel on the screen. No one else seemed to have noticed.

  Ace ran like he’d never run before. He raced down the roadway, panting as his legs began to burn. He saw the landing pad on the edge of the city and slowed down slightly. Which ship to take? He tried the first one and found the entrance was locked. The next was a stout lander, with some commercial lettering on the side. He turned the handle and felt it click open. Bingo.

  Ace was inside, and he closed the door behind him, passing the two passenger benches on his way to the front seat. He found a mask on the seat behind him, and he threw it on before strapping himself to the pilot’s seat. He tapped it to life and found there were no active codes preventing him from taking off with the empty vessel.

  Without thinking, he turned the shields on and lifted off the ground, seeing a man running toward him on the hot concrete pad. Heat lines wavered across the viewscreen, and Ace kept moving as the man gave up, hanging his head in dismay.

  “Come in, Fleet.” Ace was messing with the channels, trying to find the right one to contact someone above Earth. When he thought he had the right one, he quickly spoke into the speaker. “Earth Fleet, is the Grand Admiral there?”

  “Who’s asking, son?” a voice asked.

  “It’s Ace. Did you see behind the moon? One of them’s hiding in plain sight. They must have something blocking the radar!” Ace was shouting, and tried to slow his speech down.

  “Hold, please,” the man said.

  “Ace?” a different voice asked.

  “Who is this?”

  “It’s Adams. Serina’s with the Eureka somewhere.” Adams didn’t seem happy about it. “I’m glad you came through okay. What’s so urgent?”

  “Send a probe behind the moon. I saw a piece of a massive enemy behind it on a newsfeed, but no one there seems to see it. It must be able to block your sensors.” Ace was lifting as fast as the lander would take him. Compared the fighters he was used to, he felt like he could walk faster.

  “I’ll be…” Adams started, and the screech of an alarm rang through the speaker. Ace heard Adams spout off a series of commands, and just like that, the conflict was back on.

  Serina

  Serina opened the hangar entrance and was surprised at what she saw. Roughly three dozen people were standing there, each of them filthy, hardly covered by tattered clothing. They were so skinny, like skeletons come to life. She stopped in her tracks, unsure if she should even get any closer. Her private fighter was still sitting on the far edge of the space, dark and powered down.

  A few of them muttered her name. “It’s the Grand Admiral,” a man at the front of the group said. Serina
didn’t think he was awestruck to be meeting her.

  She scanned the crowd and realized she knew some of these people. Now her legs moved unbidden by her mind. She walked up to them, and reached a hand out to an older woman. “Lieutenant Hayes?”

  The woman’s eyes misted up, and she hugged Serina, pulling her close. “I believed in you,” she said. The words were simple, but they held so much meaning for Serina Trone.

  “Carol. How… where?” She didn’t even know what to ask.

  “I was taken with the Canopus when we tried to sneak around Pluto. Five of us lived, but I’m the only one left,” the woman said.

  “But that was ten years ago.”

  “I know. Don’t I know,” Carol said.

  Other people started coming up to Serina, and she spoke to a few, thanking all of them.

  “Well, look who came to greet us,” a voice said as a figure stepped through the hatch connecting the freighter to their hangar. The ship was too large to fit inside, so it was clamped to the side, connected by a containment field.

  “As I live and breathe, Flint Lancaster,” Serina said, walking past the previous prisoners and heading toward the Eureka’s pilot. She hadn’t spent much time with the man, but he sparked a lot of emotions in so many people, especially Ace and Wren. His face was bruised, and his gait had a slight limp, but otherwise, he continued in good spirits.

  “Glad to see you alive. I didn’t think we had it in us,” he said. Charles was right behind him, carrying a young woman who appeared to be injured.

  “Wren?” Serina asked. The doctor gave her a slight smile, but Serina could tell it pained her to force the movement. “What happened? How did you and Charles…”

  “It’s a long story. One we’ll need to go over later,” Flint said.

  “Come inside, and we can get you all cleaned up and get some real food into you.” Serina suddenly felt maternal. These were all her people in one way or another, and she’d let them down as their leader. At least now the Fleet could try to compensate them by taking care of every need they had.

  An alarm rang out, a red light flashing at the side of the room, directly over Wren’s head.

  “What the hell is that?” Flint asked, and didn’t get an answer.

  Serina ran to the wall and tapped the communicator on the console. “Why is there an alert?”

  “They’re back! A new ship arrived, and we couldn’t see it on the sensors. You’d better take a look at this,” Barkley’s voice said through the speaker. Serina tapped the screen and pressed a few icons, bringing the image from the bridge’s viewscreen onto the smaller console. It had to be one of the Invaders’ ships, but this one was huge, ten times the size of a warship. Her stomach clenched, and her disappearing headache emerged with a bang.

  “You have to be kidding me,” Flint said. “I met Shadow on Europa, and she told me about a secret weapon they had. I couldn’t get anything more out of her before she died.”

  “You met Shadow? The original?” Serina asked, her thoughts rushing to her brother being killed an hour ago.

  Flint nodded, not saying another word.

  “What’s it doing?” Serina asked the bridge.

  “We don’t know. It’s just sitting there over the moon,” Harry Tsang replied.

  “Get every ship together, and on alert. This isn’t over yet. They saved their best for last,” Serina said as she eyed her fighter at the opposite end of the hangar.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Flint said. “Let me take it.”

  “You’ve been through enough, soldier. It’s my responsibility.” Serina started for the fighter and glanced at the group of people. Hope was seeping from their faces quickly.

  “Get to the bridge! Tell them I’m gone,” Serina said.

  “What are you doing?” Flint called after her.

  Jish Karn had done something similar, and Serina didn’t want to tell them the fate that awaited her. It was becoming a trend for the Grand Admiral rank, but there was no choice. That black matter bomb was nothing compared to what was lining her fighter now. Serina felt her years again, a constant ache in her bones. She smiled wearily as she settled into the cockpit. Only a few minutes ago, they’d thought the war was over, and she’d let herself think about what came next for the first time in so long. She cleared all of that from her head and started the fighter. Without any hesitation, she opened the bay door and passed through the containment field, into space.

  Wren

  After a pit stop at the medic bay, Wren felt better. The bullet removal had gone smoothly, a two-minute procedure. The wound was sealed, and after the doctor administered the painkiller shot, she got to her feet and started for the door, where Charles waited for her.

  “Where do you think you’re going, Doctor Sando?” the man in the white lab coat asked.

  “To the bridge. We’re still fighting here. Thanks for the quick work.” Wren almost lost her footing as she limped over to the android, and Charles caught her. He was damaged again, and she wished a doctor could fix his dents as quickly as hers were mended.

  “Are you sure you want to do this? You should be sleeping,” Charles said.

  Wren wanted nothing more than to curl up and fall asleep, but she needed to see the outcome. The ship had looked terrifying and the task daunting, but the Fleet still outnumbered them, so she was optimistic.

  They made their way to the bridge, and Wren found herself in a euphoric state. Her leg no longer hurt; the painkillers had done their job, maybe too well. As they walked past the bridge guard, the doors curved slightly as her vision blurred. She blinked her eyes quickly, trying to clear her drug-addled mind, and kept moving, one foot after the other.

  “What the hell is the Grand Admiral doing?” Barkley asked, and Wren felt Charles stop. Since he was supporting most of her weight, Wren stopped with him.

  “She’s got something up her sleeve, that much is clear.” Wren saw the top of Flint’s head, sitting in the pilot’s seat. Mark Foggle had been relegated to the co-pilot helm position.

  “Wren? Wren, what are you doing here?” the captain’s voice asked, and Wren slowly turned her head to the woman.

  “I need to see it. After all of this, I need to see us win,” Wren said. She noticed drool starting to seep from her lips, and she lazily wiped at it with her forearm.

  “Just take a seat. Thank you, Charles,” Captain Barkley said, and Wren soon found herself in the commander’s seat. Benson stood beside it, and Wren had the urge to shove him away from her. He was muttering something under his breath.

  “What did you say?” Wren asked.

  “I asked how the Fleet wasn’t aware that these Watchers had created such a monstrosity in our very own solar system.” Benson spat while he spoke.

  “Cut them some slack, Benson. They had a lot going on,” Flint replied from the front of the bridge.

  “If Jarden had been here, we would’ve known about it and destroyed it before this moment happened. Mark my word,” Benson snapped.

  Wren had had enough. “Listen here, you slimy son of a bitch. For all we know, you’d be on board that ship, trying to cut a deal with them. So why don’t you just shut up and let us do our jobs?”

  His face was priceless, and she turned away from his exasperated expression and watched the viewscreen. Charles was at her side, as if he might have to protect her. Wren found that she loved the android. He was probably the closest thing to a best friend she’d ever had. She set a palm on the top of his metal hand, and his glowing orange eyes looked down to meet hers.

  “Get closer,” Barkley ordered as the ship swung toward the moon. “What is it doing? Why hasn’t it attacked us yet?”

  The Fleet vessels were in formation around the region, and Wren tried to consider the situation. Her brain felt addled, her eyelids heavy.

  The immense enemy ship hovered on the viewscreen, and Wren noticed something. The tiny form of a fighter was heading toward it, a minor dot against a large gray-black backdrop. The Watc
her ship was almost like a few warships pieced together. A ring began to glow a dark green around its perimeter.

  “Is that a weapon?” Harry Tsang asked from the edge of the bridge. “We haven’t seen anything like that before.”

  Barkley was walking toward the viewscreen, her hands at her sides as she stared at the ship. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  Wren looked at the ship, then the moon. “I don’t think they’re here to fight us. They have another target in mind.”

  Ace

  Ace had only spent a few hours on the surface, but he already felt better piloting a ship out in space. It was a strange realization for him as he pushed the lander to its maximum speed. “Where is everyone?” he asked, seeing no fighters on his radar. Then he discovered two of them out there on the screen, closing in on the moon.

  “Oliv? Oliv, come in!” he shouted across the fighter channel.

  “Ace? Oh my God, you’re alive!” she shouted.

  He smiled under his mask. “You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. I thought… I’m just glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said.

  It was the truth. He’d never let himself get as close to another human in his life. What he had with Oliv was more than just a relationship or a friendship. It was like they were meant for each other. He’d only had to travel through a time-dilation Rift to crash-land on an alien colony world to find her. If that wasn’t divine intervention, Ace didn’t know what was.

  “They’re all gone,” Oliv said, and Ace didn’t have to ask who they were. The fact that only two fighters were still in the game was enough to tell him they’d lost their squadrons. The men and women they’d trained with for months were all dead, and the threat still wasn’t over.

  “How can we help?” Ace asked as he headed for their position.

  “I don’t know. The ship isn’t doing anything. Wait, a green ring is glowing around it now.” Oliv’s voice was small. “Ace, I’m scared.”