Titan Fleet: The Invictus

by Jason J Black

  “A good question. We have trucks and some small ships to get us to the Titan ship and there will be plenty of room on the ship for everyone, sick included. Let me just say this, I know I have had a position of power for many years, but I have always tried to be fair, and the reason why my town was attacked was because I did not agree with most of the things that were going on. I think that you can ask my towns people what they think about trust here and as far as I’m concerned, I am just a man trying to help others with what I can. I want you all to live first; we can worry about who is in charge later, that’s not important. Yes, you there in the green hat.”

  A man shouts his question from behind hundreds of people. “The Thorn Guard, though few in number, came to our town and killed most of us. How can we fight them when we are not fighters?” Nodding in agreement, the governor replies once again, in a respectful tone.

  “We use our skills against them. We all know about the fortune mines; they lead right under White Crest. We can use them to travel in unseen and once we take control of the tunnel leading to the dead zone, we will block the end so the troops at White Crest cannot get through, which then will buy us time to attack the ship. There is some distance between the tunnel and the mountains and the Titan ship. We can scavenge a few things and pose as a supply convoy, the oldest trick in the book and then let them have it. We need miners with maps, engineers, explosive experts, scavengers, medics, drivers, pilots and even cooks. Whatever your skill, we will need you on our journey.” No more hands are seen, some people have put them down as the question they were going to ask had been answered, and for a few moments there is silence.

  “I am with you” a man shouts and another shouts, “Let’s do it for our families.” More and more people begin to shout out inspiring words.

  The governor raises his fist in the air and shouts, “For each other.” Everyone shouts the words and the people are united for one purpose and begin to ready for what lies ahead of them.

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Pace’s legs are growing tired. When they reach White Crest two guards hold up their weapons as Cassy stops for them to check things over.

  “Name and state your business.” One guard approaches as one stands back a little way near a container. Stepping off her bike, her heels digging in the dust, Cassy removes her helmet and places it over the handlebars and walks over to Pace, looking all the while at the guard. She was wearing tight leather trousers and a cropped leather bra top, showing her stomach and cleavage. She wore this for such an occasion. She walked like a model and caught the guards’ attention.

  “Tess Pringly is my name and I’m a slaver on my way to deliver this thing for Eve’s experiments. I should get a fair sum for this one.” She yanks on the chains and Pace falls to the floor. “So what are you doing all the way out here, big boy?” The guard is memorised and looking at Cassy’s chest, then asks his other question.

  “I see, papers please.” Cassy reaches into her bra and pulls out some forged papers. She had used them many times before and never had any problems, and in fact she enjoyed the role-play. The guard begins to concentrate on the papers a bit too much for Cassy’s liking, so she moves to phase two of her act.

  “All good, I trust. Say, we are both alone out here in the dunes, how about we spend some of my earnings tonight and have our own private party, just me and you?” To the guard, this is music to his ears and he hands the papers back to Cassy. She pops it back in her bra exposing a little bit more chest and flicks her long black hair over her shoulders.

  “You can pat me down now, if you like, or do you want to save that for later, big boy?” She moves closer to the guard and runs her hand up his leg. He stops her and, getting hot, decides to let them through.

  “Oh yeah, it will be a pleasure I’m sure. I’m off duty in two hours; I’ll meet you at the beer tent then.” As Cassy turns, the guard slaps her butt as she walks away. She turns and smiles and tries to walk away swinging as much hip as she can. Once through the guard gates, the two of them go unnoticed in the town of White Crest. There are people laughing and drinking and eating, as well as people working, loading supplies on to trucks. They get to the rear gate and stop a moment to scan around and record the area. The small spy camera on Cassy’s top has recorded a lot of things, such as number of troops, fuel dumps and supplies and vehicles, all useful information for the attack. There were several weak spots she had noticed, which she had highlighted and she had sent her report to Greyfields to aid their plans. The rear gates opened and more dusty land stood before them. They began to travel to the large opening in the mountains, which was more visible now to the both of them.

  “Next time you can be the one in chains doing all the walking, ok. Does your husband know about your fetish with the leather, because I could not believe that was my little sister back there?”

  Cassy laughs, “I’m a big girl now and how do you think I wowed my husband in the first place? I obviously used my charm, not that it is any of your business, that’s my private life.” Cassy is slightly cheesed off with Pace and increases the speed of the bike and then pretends she can’t hear his moans and groans. They notice a large metal door swung back, one side silver and one side covered in rock. No wonder no one has never noticed it before, it blended in so well, thought Pace. There were a few guards outside, but upon reaching the entrance, they were just waved through behind another truck with supplies on the back of it.

  They pass from the blistering heat and sunshine on their backs, to a lovely cool breeze with dampness in the air which moistened Paces mouth. Dim oval lights ran the length of the tunnel and extractor air fans span frantically, trying to provide the much needed air to breathe under this billon tons of rock. Cats eyes lights shone on the concrete road, which had two lanes per side. The traffic was slow moving due to people both walking and driving. It was a bit hectic and not well organised at all and would be great to hide all their troops in for the attack. They travelled slowly to the end of the tunnel, which must have been a fair few miles long, until they reached the opening. The warmth of the sun and light hitting them once more, was now a good feeling, because they had become cold walking in the tunnel. After leaving the tunnel, people spread out a bit more. They noticed many camps had been formed, not to sleep in, but to store things in. Each camp was something different; food or water, or components, or fuel, or parts, and loaders were going to each camp and loading it into their specific bays, so people did not have to sort it once on the ship. The steam rose from the tarp that covered Pace, as it had collected water from the tunnel which was now evaporating in the sun, and there was a funny rubber smell in the air.

  Cassy approached a camp and stopped a young man operating a loader. She once again threw her charm at the man, who was quite a shy person, making him feel embarrassed to the point that he began to look in the air instead of at Cassy.

  “So, I was wondering could you help a girl out of a jam and direct me to the camp for alien cargo, so I can ditch this thing and get a bit of free time to enjoy myself, if you know what I mean?” The young man, who had been looking at the sky instead of at Cassy’s half open top, pointed to the rear or the Titan ship.

  “Red sector.” He replied huskily and he then hurried away, not knowing what to say or where to look.

  This was the first time they had really noticed the ship. Before this moment they had been concerned by guards and people, and getting caught. It was a monster of a ship. It was so big that they could only see the rear of the ship; the front was out of sight. There before them stood five massive engines. You could fit a city in them, Pace thought. It had many large blaster turrets to guard the back from attack and looked an amazing ship indeed. It was grey in colour and had white lettering - The Fahrenheit - and this would make a great home and escape ship. The ship would make a big dent on the planet when it left on take-off, but they did not suppose Eve would care any.

  There seemed to be a skeleton crew of Thorn Guards around, so Cassy and Pace gues
sed that the main force was still out causing havoc with Eve somewhere on a poor village. As they approached, they noticed several ramps busy with loaders in and out, and a few people working, organising the smooth running of things. They did not batter an eye-lid when Cassy drove her jet bike on board at red sector and dismounted once again. In fact, they went unhindered, allowing them to take a close look around and when they noticed a room off the corridor from the loading bay, they took the chance and shut themselves in, and began to access the computer at a desk.

  In no time at all, Cassy was in the main frame and surfing the net. There was so much information to copy and so many codes to get, that this would take a while, so Cassy wired a small control box to the underside of the terminal to continue its spy work, which she could always access later from her gauntlet.

  “Where did you learn all this, squirt? You’re a genius. I would not have known where to start.” Pace is rubbing his chained hands.

  “Never you mind. I just have a unique set of skills, if you know what I mean. I had to survive somehow out there. Come on, down here.” Cassy tugs gently on the chains and they are off out of the room, down another corridor with several doors either side, and picking the one with the guard posted seemed a good idea. It meant he was guarding something important or dangerous.

  “Excuse me? Am I in the right place? I have to drop this off and not sure where to take him, it’s such a big ship.” Cassy walks up to the guard, hips swaying as she walks to distract him, which brings a smile to the guards face.

  “You are in the right place, go through this door and this ID code on your gauntlet will guide you to an empty cell.” The guard holds on to Cassy’s arm and types a code in and Cassy just looks at him, licking her lips slightly and smiling at him.

  “But what if a monster gets free and attacks me? Will you come to the rescue, because I would like that?” The guard is hooked and can smell Cassy’s sweet perfume wafting under his nose.

  “I would rescue you, have no fear, and then I’d show you what a man is all about, but there are auto-guns in there and without a code you would be blasted to bits, so you are perfectly safe. Put this collar on that and I will activate its chip once you put him in the cell, then if it were to escape, the collars code would activate the guns too. Anything that does not have your code would die.” Making small talk with the guard was a good plan, thought Cassy.

  “So what did you do before this then, sweetheart?” Cassy takes her arm back but stays close.

  “Believe it or not, I was in a cell. Funny, eh, how life works out? I lived in one for over ten years, and now guard one.”

  Cassy smiles at the guard once again. “So you are a naughty boy, eh? I like that in a man, it’s right up my street. Maybe we could hook up later and talk about big guns and things.” The guard knows he is being flirted with and takes a moment to look around at the security camera, and then he turns away and then grabs Cassy, pulling her in close and kissing her, while groping her at the same time. He then lets go and stands guard once more.

  “Cameras you see, ha-ha.” Cassy has one more trick up her sleeve; the small control box has just gained access to the ships security cameras and other systems. She enters the room with Pace and the door closes behind them. She taps her gauntlet and immediately the security cameras are on a playback loop, the control operators unaware of any change. It means that they can now rest a while and assess the situation.

  “Joseph, I have control over all security systems on the ship. I can set up turret guns to target Thorn Guard when we want; we just need to get to the bridge, which will be the hard part.”

  Pace is impressed. “Who needs an army, eh?” Pace coughs at the floor and a splat of blue gunge falls to the floor. “Before you say anything, I’m fine, just fine.” There are many cells in this large room, hundreds in fact. The cells have clear plastic walls several inches thick, with inch high circular holes at the top for ventilation and grilled floors. They are surrounded by force fields and then guarded by the giant guns on the ceiling. The two of them wander around, looking at all the strange creatures trying to get free. Some of these ferocious monsters they have seen before, but many of them are fearsome creatures that could only be imagined in nightmares. Some of them claw at the walls, and some of them ooze strange coloured liquids and vent gasses from their grotesque bodies.

  What did all of these creatures have in common, Pace thought. They all wanted to be free, just like humans. They wanted to do what they were happy to do. They did not want to be caged up in a cell. Pace began to feel sorry for them. I could have been one of them, trying to get out. I am no different to any of them. I have changed into something else, although I’m still human, but at first glance I would be classed the same as the imprisoned.

  “We need to set them all free.” Pace is looking at a monster of a creature in one of the cells. It had given up trying to escape and had been beaten, the look on its face was felt in Pace’s chest as sorrow.

  “You’re kidding me right. Why? They are beasts.” Pace turns to Cassy who is looking at another creature and Pace feels their pain.

  “Is that how you see me, sister, as a beast? Open your eyes and see around you. How do you define a beast? Would you not claw at the walls if you were trapped? Would you not fight for your family and home and way of life? Look at the Gulmeds, they look a bit freaky, but they seem ok.

  Cassy runs over to Pace. “Oh Joseph, I’m sorry, I did not mean to upset you and I have seen past your blue skin and to be honest you are just my brother, but I did not think of them in that way.”

  “They are only beasts because we call them that, and only in cells because we put them there. It’s not fair. We like to think we own everything and everyone, but we don’t.” Cassy taps at her gauntlet and pulls up plans of the ship and before Pace can say any more she has found a solution.

  “This whole room, along with one more, can be ejected if needed. It was done in case the creatures escaped and the guns failed, so we can set them free at some stage, if you like?” Pace smiles and holds his hand up to the lonely looking alien. The alien looks back and also lifts its arm to signal to Pace, maybe a gesture of peace or possible friendship, but they had work to do and time was running short.

  “Ok. It looks to me like there is a corridor and then a lift from here and that will get us to there, and then it looks like a hang-kart from there to the other end of the ship. We better get moving.” Cassy shows Pace the map on her gauntlet, and then they walk back to the door. Cassy uses her gauntlet to access the computer to turn off the giant guns and then Pace hides out of view of the guard as Cassy passes through the doorway.

  “Hey, sweetheart, how about another kiss?” The guard nods and waits for the camera to change direction like before; not knowing it was not filming now, and once the camera is facing the other way, he leans in for a kiss. Cassy points to her chest and he goes for her invite. As he gets closer a puff of mist hits him in the face and he falls unconscious to the floor in an instant.

  “The oldest trick in the book,” Cassy laughs. “Now before you say anything, no, that was not how I got my husband!” Pace laughs. He was just about to comment but lost his chance. “It’s a toxin, completely harmless; he should come around in an hour or so. It’s a little device, amongst others; I keep on me for just such occasions. I love gadgets, especially ones that get me out of trouble. Give me a hand will you?” Pace helps Cassy put the guard in an empty cell between two horrid creatures that just want to eat the sleeping human. They claw and bash at their cell walls, in the vein hope of getting payback. Pace quickly undresses the guard and puts on his uniform.

  The door closes behind them and Pace now has a new role to play. He has just been made an elite special ops guard; a new breed of guard designed by Eve herself, well that’s the cover story, if anyone asks. Pace is just relieved to be out of the chains and that tarp. It was so hot under that and he now feels better and looks quite smart in the black and red armour, his metal arm shining
and most of his blue skin covered, apart from his face and his other hand with the lump in his palm, which does not feel as itchy as before. The armour has its own built in gauntlet, which was lucky as Cassy could not smuggle Paces through from the bike. They were set, and now that Pace was in a military spec armoured suit, he felt so smart and strong and able to win a fight.

  Pace hated fighting, but knew it was necessary in some cases, but he would always try to find an easy solution before he raised his fist in anger, because he had a very hot temper. They pass other guards unchallenged, along the way to the lift, and call the lift down to their floor. The door slides open and two guards are stood inside. They get out of the lift and Pace and Cassy enter and press the button to go up. Just as the door is about to close, a hand pops through and the door springs open again. Pace and Cassy remain calm as this time three guards enter. One of them notices the hard to miss blue scales on Paces face and raises his gauntlet and looks down at Paces arm that has now been noticed by the other two.

  “Who are you or what are you?” asks the guard, in an angry tough voice.

  “Was a murderer. Quite happy doing that for a while ‘til they cut off my arm, then a thief and got caught again, and then they modified me. You have heard of the spec ops core, right, just probably never seen one of us before, and I suggest you keep your traps shut or you will suffer a worse fate than me. I can tell you stories, but then they would probably take my legs for that.” The guards, now shocked to have met a spec ops soldier, go quiet and turn back around to face the door. The door opens and the guards can’t leave fast enough and disappear fast.

  “Nice work! You can be quite intimidating, even I was scared.” Cassy follows Pace out of the lift.

  “We should get to the hang-karts after this turn.” Sure enough after the turn they came across the hang-karts. They were a way of getting around cities but these ones were large enough to be able to carry several hundred people at a time, and the Titan was as large as several cities rolled into one, so this was the fastest way to travel. They got on to one and it was empty apart from them, so they had a little bit of time to relax and chat.