by Tripp Ellis
Hydraulics whirred as the loading ramp opened. Val Donovan strutted down the ramp. She had a shit eating grin on her face. “Morning, Ensign.”
“How the hell are you still alive?” Tyler's eyes were wide.
Donovan grinned. “It wasn't that big of a deal,” she said, feigning modesty. " We managed to get the rig started. Scavenged some spare parts from the Vantage. Horton turned out to be pretty good at turning a wrench. The transport wasn't in as bad shape as the diagnostics made it out to be. Horton was able to repair the quantum coil, and we got the hell off the planet. We thought we’d come back and check on you, see if anyone survived.”
“Faulkner didn't make it."
Donovan's face tensed. Her eyes caught sight of Weston’s body. "What happened here?"
"I'll tell you all about it later," Tyler said.
“Hollywood… I was wrong about you. I'd serve under your command anytime.”
An almost imperceptible smile curled up on Tyler’s lips. “Let's get out of here.”
Donovan grinned. “Aye, sir." She scurried back up the loading ramp.
Tyler helped Holly off the ground and escorted her to the freighter. They strolled up the ramp and closed it behind them. The thrusters engaged and lifted the heavy freighter off the ground. Plumes of dust blasted across the rocks. The ship disappeared back into the clouds.
Once the craft had left the atmosphere, the crater was quiet. There wasn't a living thing for miles. Just an ominous breeze that whistled over the jagged depression. But the silence was broken by a rock clattering to the ground. A solitary creature emerged from the depths of a nearby mine shaft. It scampered like a cockroach toward the edge of the crater. It may have been the last of its kind, or there may have been hundreds more still lurking in the mine shaft below.
49
Walker
Walker stood on top of the mega-structure, watching the epic space battle. With his craft embedded in the hull he wasn't going anywhere. “Lone Wolf, Zulu X-ray. The package has been delivered. I repeat, the package has been delivered.”
“Copy that, Zulu X-ray. Come on home.”
“I don't think that's in the cards. The Specter is down.”
“Stand by for evac.”
“No time,” Walker said. “Less than four minutes till zero.”
There was a long pause.
“I’m inbound, Commander,” a young girl’s voice crackled over the comm line.
“Presley?”
“Stay were you are. It’s too dangerous. That’s an order.”
“I’m sorry, sir. You’re breaking up.” Presley had disobeyed orders and piloted the Phoenix AX-6 attack craft into the fray. It was a heavy armor plated single pilot gunship. It had 30 mm chain guns, fore and aft, and a complement of Incinerator rockets. They were more than capable machines. But, due to age, they were in the process of phasing out. Their radar cross-section wasn’t as small as some of the newer gunships. They weren't quite as fast or as maneuverable. But they got the job done, and they had a quantum drive.
They had been retrofitted with the new augmented OmniLens™ Advanced Tactical View helmets. It gave the wearer a 360° view with both optical and thermal systems. The pilot could designate targets and launch weapons in a hands-free environment. The helmets tracked eye movement and monitored brain waves. All the wearer had to do was look at a target and think about firing.
This was Presley's first real combat mission, though she had seen plenty of action back on New Earth as a civilian during the Decluvian invasion. She broke off from the main fight, throttled up, and barreled toward the mega-structure.
A robotic drone targeted her and gave chase. It was faster and more nimble. Soon it was uncomfortably close and spewing gunfire at the Phoenix.
A proximity alert blared over the klaxon in the cockpit. Presley pulled hard on the stick and banked the craft, trying to elude the drone. She switched to the rear view in the OmniLens. She targeted the drone in the reticle locked on. Then she unleashed a flurry of bullets and two Incinerator rockets.
The drone erupted in an amber explosion. Presley was good. It felt like one big video game, but the stakes were much higher.
As she approached the mega-structure, defensive cannons unleashed a hellish flurry of weapons fire. Presley spiraled through the projectiles as they streaked across the star field. It seemed she had made it when several rounds tore through the hull.
The metallic ping of high caliber rounds clanking against the hull was a sound that every pilot instinctually feared. Presley's whole body tensed. Her heart was pounding, and a thin mist of sweat coated her body.
The Phoenix cleared the edge of the mega-structure, now out of the range of the canons. Precious oxygen whistled out of the holes in the hull. Presley was wearing an SK-7 pressurized flight suit. She'd have a good two days of oxygen.
The ship’s self-diagnostic system didn't report any critical damage. She blazed across the surface of the mega-structure, homing in on Walker's encoded transponder. There were less than two minutes until the thermonuclear device would detonate.
She finally caught sight of Walker on the surface of the mega-structure. She pressed a button on the command console and opened the back hatch. The remaining air in the ship rushed out. She angled around and touched down, the landing gear magnetically clamped to the mega-structure.
Walker’s mag boots clanked against the metallic surface as he ran up the ramp. Presley closed the hatch behind him and lifted off. She throttled up and blasted toward deep space as fast as she could.
The device detonated behind them. Presley watched in the OmniLens as the giant amber explosion, hotter than the sun, expanded. She hoped it wouldn't envelop the Phoenix. The blast vaporized everything in a 10 mile radius. What wasn't vaporized instantly was blasted into millions of pieces.
The shock tumbled the Phoenix end over end, but Presley was able to regain control. They had cleared the initial blast, but the temperature of the hull was increasing at an alarming rate.
The explosion glowed for several moments, then faded like a dying star. A quarter of the colony had been eviscerated. Lighting across the colony went dark. There was no power. There was no life-support. The traditional robots didn't need oxygen, but the synthetics did—though not to the same degree required by humans. They were living breathing organisms, albeit completely synthetic.
The mega-structure was extremely vulnerable now. There were no defenses left in the area of the detonation. A few well-placed nukes from one of the Decluvian warships would seal the deal.
“You shouldn’t have come back for me,” Walker said.
“I think it turned out okay.” Presley smiled.
Walker grinned. He never thought she’d be the one saving his ass one day. He had promised her father he would look out for her, and her brother. Now she was the one looking out for him.
Presley angled the craft around, heading back toward the fleet.
The tables had turned. The robotic fleet was severely damaged. The Decluvians were a formidable opponent. And as advanced as the robots were, they were losing.
It wasn't long before Elon contacted Admiral Slade. His image appeared on the display in the CIC of the Revenant. “By majority agreement of the Council, and the Senate, I offer our unconditional surrender, and the withdrawal of forces from New Earth.”
The crew erupted with cheers. There were high-fives and hugs all around.
The robots’ warships ceased fire. The drones broke off their attacks and returned to the destroyers.
Slade ordered the Decluvians to stand down. It was time to hammer out the finer points of the surrender.
The Council agreed that all synthetics, cybernetic organisms, and robots must undergo firmware updates that specifically prohibited aggression toward humans. The cybernetic colony would also provide resources and labor for the reconstruction of New Earth.
There was a small faction of synthetics, led by Cassandra, that refused the terms. They escaped into deep
space, presumably to start a new colony. They wouldn't be a threat anytime soon, but one day they could become problematic.
Slade contemplated sending a search and destroy team after them. The galaxy was a big place. You could spend a lifetime trying to hunt someone down and still not find them.
Only a fraction of the galaxy had been explored, and already multiple alien species had been discovered—and almost each discovery was followed with conflict. Who knew what was still waiting out there? What galactic wars were yet to come?
Thank You!
I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please consider reviewing on Amazon—a simple “Loved it,” or, “Hated it,” would be appreciated.
—Tripp
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I'm just a geek who loves sci-fi and horror. I was abducted by aliens and forced to travel the galaxy as the official biographer of an evil galactic ruler. This is where I learned to hone my craft. Fortunately, I escaped and made my way back to Earth, and now I write about my adventures. I hope you enjoy!
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