by Christi Smit
fourth blow silenced the monster’s screams. Artemis kept hitting the beast, not relenting as more bones cracked and more blood leaked from the creature. It was still alive and still able to fight, but it was severely disorientated from Artemis’ blows. It swung one of its thick arms at Artemis wildly. Artemis dodged it easily and stepped back from his enemy, finally letting go of his weapon of opportunity.
The mutant stepped back as well, clutching at the wound in its side. It would never be able to remove the jagged piece of metal, it had lodged into its body as it scraped and broke ribs. It held on to its side to stop its organs from spilling out, but it would not be able to fight to its full potential with its focus split between anger and pain.
It lunged at Artemis, but its movement was slower and Artemis saw the attack coming easily. He stepped to his right and kicked the monster in its side, sending it flying into a bank of consoles nearby. It landed face down in a pile of broken consoles.
Artemis did not give it a chance to rise, leaping onto the creature, holding it down with his left knee and left hand. He used his right metal fist to strike the mutant in the back of its head, crushing its face into the Argent’s hard metal decking. Blow after blow struck the creature, but it still drew breath below Artemis.
Artemis grabbed a piece of pipe that had fed wires and cables into the destroyed consoles. He used it as a spear to pin the creature to the decking, piercing its body between its shoulder blades, ripping through its infected heart.
But it still lived. Artemis was surprised and shocked at the amount of damage the infected could take. Some of them were weaker, but he calculated that at least one out of every thousand was like this one. They were alpha beasts, leaders of the pack or the monsters with the biggest appetite and the most violent mutations. These creatures were the primary targets, without these alphas the rest of the infected were mindless and irrational, charging in to die without any sense of self preservation.
Artemis stood, tower over the prone creature pinned to the decking. He raised his right leg and stomped down on the monster’s head. It finally died as its head was reduced to infected blood and sludge. Bone splinters and infected tissue stuck to the bottom of Artemis’ metal foot.
He scrapped his foot on the decking beside the creature, clearing the beast’s brain matter from his pristine suit, shrugging of the battle as if it had been nothing more than routine murder.
“Objective secure,” Artemis paused, looking down at the monster, “sir.”
Artemis now understood the savage nature of these infected creatures. He had briefly dealt with them on-board the Fateful Moment. But he had only seen them fight the Wolves and die before he could accurately asses them. His previous master had kept him separate from the monsters, he saw why now. If he had known what these things truly were, he would have refused to be on the same vessel as these savages. They were a threat to all humankind, and the lies his previous master had told him about them and the Wolves were far from the horrible truth.
All of them needed to die, the infection needed to be wiped out, and it had to happen quickly or everything in the universe would be doomed.
“Your mission is complete Artemis. The Maiden of Flame is docking in the Argent’s main docking hanger. Targets on route to the docking hanger are to be dealt with swiftly. You have ten minutes to evacuate the Argent Divided before the captain of the Hyperion blows it apart. Grey out.” The great one cut the link and said nothing more.
Artemis did not hesitate; he checked the schematic of the Argent in his memory bank and set off for the Argent’s docking hanger.
His metal feet shook the decking beneath him as he ran through the Argent’s dark corridors. He did not stop for anything, killing stray mutants without missing a stride.
He secretly hoped to himself that his mission was a success and that he had proven himself to the great one.
All he wanted now was to fight for the humans, and save as many as he possibly could.
He just hoped his new body and his new power was enough.
Locke switched off the monitor. He folded his arms in silence, giving the Titan next to him a sideways glance.
“Bugger...” Rivers said next to Locke. He was clearly uncomfortable.
“What do you think? I want to hear from all of you. Speak your minds.” Locke turned around as he spoke.
Xander shifted in his seat, he was out of his Titan suit like the rest of the Wolves. “I am just happy he is on our side.”
“Is he on our side?” Nathan asked from the doorway. He had been leaning against the open door frame. Unlike the other Wolves, he still wore his under suit, as he always did.
“I hope so,” Rivers answered. “If it is not, then we have a big problem.”
Nathan nodded. He felt the same way.
“Not to worry Big Bear. The Tin Man can be trusted,” Pyoter added from his place beside Xander. The chair he was seated in groaned as he turned his head to look at Nathan.
“Tin man?” Xander asked.
“Da. That will be his name if he joins us.” Pyoter was proud of his naming conventions, grinning mostly to himself and at his endless wit.
“What about you Corporal?” Locke asked Jay.
Jay was standing behind the two seated Titans. He was still nervous being in the Wolves’ company. He swallowed loudly before he spoke. “Christian, I mean Corporal Quinn seems to trust him. My vote is yes.”
“It has to be unanimous. Yes or no? Locke asked all of his Wolves.
Locke received immediate answers from Xander, Pyoter and Jay, all of them saying yes. Rivers hesitated but agreed with a nod of his head. Nathan took even longer. The second in command of the Wolves looked at Locke for a moment, searching his leaders face for any doubt. He nodded as well, reluctantly saying yes. “Then it is decided. My answer is yes. Corporal Jay speaks for Christian.”
Jay smiled at Locke’s words, but it made him even more nervous. He would have to go see Christian after the meeting. It pained him to see his friend in so much pain. Christian would recover, but no-one knew how long it would take. The Nano machines could only do so much; the rest was up to the young Titan’s will to live. Jay shook his head as his focused returned to the present. He did not want to dwell on the future. It seemed to look bleak no matter which angle you viewed it from.
“It is decided then. Artemis will be a Wolf.” Locke pressed the radio stud in his ear. “Gunn? Bring him back,” he said without waiting for a reply. “Willis?”
“Yes Gabriel?” Gray answered. He was patiently waiting the decision of the Wolves regarding the AIE. He had no feeling about it anymore. He was numb after what happened to New Horizon, deciding to rather pour all of his emotion and strength at avenging those that had suffered and died.
“Blow that nightmarish ship into oblivion. Artemis will fight with us, as one of us,” Locke replied.
“Firing as soon as the Maiden is clear,” Gray said. He watched as the Maiden exited the hanger of the Argent, giving it enough time to get clear of the blast. “Fire all lances! Bring us about when the Maiden docks then destroy that demon ship with everything we have.”
Voices from around him acknowledged his orders as the Hyperion reached out with its deadly weapons, engulfing the Argent Divided in hellfire.
The Argent Divided took hit after hit and slowly it was torn apart by the Hyperion’s bombardment. It cracked and bled its cargo and infected crew into the void, sucking the life from the lungs of the ship and the monsters that were still alive. Its reactor went critical when its aft section was hit by the Hyperion’s main fusion lance. Sickening bright, blue light consumed the remnants of the Argent Divided, blasting the dead vessel back to Hades.
The Hyperion waited and watched the Argent Divided vanish from the universe, making sure that everything was dead before it decided to leave.
Nothing remained of the Argent and it was time for the Hyperion and the Wolves to get back to their mission.
The Hyperion’s BEAM drive activated and hurl
ed itself to a distant secret location. It vanished into the darkness of the void, leaving only silence behind.