The Esoteric Design: Disbanding Hope

by A. R. Crebs

  “What the hell is that?” Troy stammered.

  A few more quakes arrived and from the same hole popped a series of armored vehicles, all with skids and drills. The convoy sped around the desert, circling the massive android. Clarke gave a quiet chuckle and moved forward toward the swarm.

  “James!” Aria trotted after him; Troy followed not far behind.

  “Don’t worry, Aria. These are friendlies.” Clarke moved his arms out to the side, giving a hearty laugh as one of the lead vehicles’ doors shot open.

  Troy kept his eyes locked on the mechanical giant. “Why couldn’t we have one of those?”

  “I hope we are not too late to the party,” a foreign voice called out.

  From the vehicle stepped a man covered in armor that revealed the mysterious military’s origins. He wore split-toed boots, an armored chest piece that attached to what looked like a waist skirt, and massive shoulder armor. A frightening mask covered the man’s face, topped with an ornate helmet that horned out at the sides. He was a samurai.

  “General Yoshitaka! I am so pleased you received my message!” Clarke announced, eagerly shaking the man’s hand.

  “Holy shit! I thought Dai-Ni-Tokyo was wiped out!” Troy garbled.

  As the samurai removed his mask, the pieces separated and disappeared into his helmet. Yoshitaka gave Troy a firm look. He appeared to be Clarke’s age and purely of Japanese heritage with dark hair, brown eyes, and neatly trimmed facial hair. “We nearly were. The rest of our people are taking refuge in our underground tunnels. The city below has held up the past few weeks, but I do not know how much longer we can last. Many districts have been completely annihilated. Believe me, it was a hard decision to leave my people, but I do owe Mr. James Clarke a favor.” Giving a crooked smirk, he moved his attention to the President. “Being a man of honor, I am reporting for duty.”

  “Understand that you have my utmost gratitude right now. Your fleet is a priceless asset. I know your people are currently defenseless with you here, but if we can end this battle today, humanity will be safe,” James said.

  “I certainly hope you are correct,” Yoshitaka spoke with uncertainty.

  Another figure eagerly approached the group, his garb designed quite differently with thin, sleek armor painted a midnight-black. A filtering mask covered the lower half of his face, and a hood covered his head. Aria eyed the newcomers. There seemed to be two different militaries among them. Judging by the robotic enhancements the second army had on their bodies, Aria guessed they were from one of the more rebellious factions.

  Pointing at one particular soldier with bladed hands and optical goggles, Troy leaned toward Aria and giddily whispered, “Freakin’ ninjas! How cool is that?”

  Yoshitaka twisted, holding an arm out to the approaching man. “Let me introduce you to Hattori, head of the Iga clan.”

  “Iga?” Clarke asked, perplexed. “This is certainly a surprise.”

  Yoshitaka gave a wry smile, looking toward Hattori. “It took much persuading, but Hattori eventually agreed to lend a helping hand. In this time, it is better to make enemies your ally as greater threats are at hand. During this war, it is humanity against…monsters. To fight amongst ourselves would leave us weak and open to attack. Now is the time to pull together. If we cannot help each other, then we are all doomed.”

  “Couldn’t agree with you more,” Clarke said. Holding his hand out, he introduced Aria and Troy to the Japanese men. The two militants raised the faceplates of their helmets and gave a respectful nod to each of the foreign men.

  “Owarimashita ka?” Hattori belted out in a harsh voice. One of his eyes was nearly all black, the other a silvery color which had a pupil that dilated and constricted as he looked toward the others of the group. It was an optical reader of some sort.

  Yoshitaka frowned as Clarke gave the ninja a strange look.

  “You must forgive Hattori. His clan insists on sticking to old customs. They prefer to speak in ancient ways.” Yoshitaka glared at the other leader. “And he is being rude.”

  “Only as rude as necessary…” Hattori spoke in English this time; his accent was thick. “We waste daylight speaking in grandiose ways. Should we not be looking for the enemy?” His voice was gruff and had a rumbling to it as he snarled.

  “Perhaps you are correct, Hattori. Why don’t you get our men lined up with the others? And if you have any grandiose speeches to make, maybe you should spend those words trying to unify them,” Yoshitaka spat out, matching Hattori’s callous tone.

  Hattori gave a loud scoff and rushed away, yelling in Japanese at his troops.

  “Having trouble with the kids?” Aria asked.

  “Hattori and I may have come to an understanding. However, our men are not as enthusiastic about the idea and have been fighting amongst themselves since we’ve come into contact.”

  Yoshitaka eyed his men, twisting his face into a look of dissatisfaction as one of his soldiers was lined up beside a member of the Iga clan. There was an exchange of Japanese mixed with broken English, and the two began fighting. Hattori barked an order, and the men straightened up right away. Once Hattori turned away, the Iga soldier slammed his clawed fist into the other soldier’s back. Hattori spun at the sound of the samurai’s cry of pain. Growling an order, Hattori grabbed his own soldier’s head and shoved him facedown into the dirt. He then looked toward Yoshitaka and gave a rumbling chuckle while he muttered in Japanese.

  Yoshitaka slowly ran a hand over his face. “Let’s get this war over with,” he sighed.

  They all agreed and made their way to the front line except for Troy, who remained in his place gawking at the giant mech. “Question,” he blurted.

  Yoshitaka paused, looked to Troy, and then up at the robot. “I forgot this may be the first time you had seen something like this.”

  “What is it?” Troy asked. “Besides every teenage boy’s wet dream?”

  General Yoshitaka gestured to the machine. “That is a Feline Intelligence Firmware Integration. We call her FIFI.”

  “FIFI!” Troy exclaimed, slapping his hands joyously together. “Wait…feline? You mean that is a robotic cat?”

  Yoshitaka smiled. “That is a tiger.”

  FIFI twisted, giving a hearty roar at the soldiers beside her feet. Troy kept his head crooked to look upward at the machine’s open jaws and bent back ears. It even had whiskers. “Bitchin’,” he whispered.

  Aria stared in awe. “You mean to tell me that you integrated a tiger’s brainwaves into a giant mech?”

  “We did. FIFI has the brain of a tiger.” The samurai nodded.

  “But tigers are extinct.” Aria watched FIFI as it swiped its tail back and forth, creating a dust cloud around a small grouping of soldiers.

  “Not when you clone one,” he explained.

  “You cloned a tiger’s brain and placed it inside a giant mech. Isn’t that against the terms of war?” she asked.

  Yoshitaka quietly chuckled. “The reason why you’ve never seen her before.”

  “Illegal or not, that thing is badass!” Troy exclaimed, gesturing toward the mech.

  “I figured she would come in handy,” Yoshitaka nodded.

  “As long as she doesn’t eat our soldiers,” Aria groaned.

  “FIFI is very friendly,” Yoshitaka stated, feigning a hurt expression.

  FIFI snarled. Crawling on all fours, her massive hand swiped at a group of ninja soldiers.

  “Now, I can’t say that she will be peaceful among the Iga clan,” he added.

  “Hmm,” she hummed, watching the mechanical beast. “I’m interested to see how she does in combat. I know there will be a use for her. Sapphire’s got a monster roughly that size.”

  “We have not seen one that big,” Yoshitaka gasped.

  “You’re lucky. We only caught a glimpse. In a matter of seconds, it destroyed the entire hydro complex at the Amazonian Desert and nearly annihilated our forces in one strike.” Her relaxed attitude slightly unnerved the Jap
anese man.

  Aria climbed atop the hood of a transport vehicle beside Team Phoenix. Yoshitaka’s expression suddenly turned into a look of dread. He glanced over at his men and then took in the sight of Aria’s militia. It was the largest he had ever seen. In fact, there were so many men; he couldn’t see the end of the line on either side. With all the leftovers of the United Americas, Britainia, Saray, and what was to come from Cherno, the number was a staggering two hundred and eighty-seven million soldiers. It was unheard of, yet she and the generals were left with mixed feelings.

  Feeling a bit anxious, Aria brought her attention to her team. “Why aren’t you guys in position yet?” she muttered, flipping through data on her DNAIS.

  “I tried to get him to move, but he won’t listen to me!” Nerd whined.

  “Hey! If you guys want this done right, then I need to have an accurate reading,” Aren retorted.

  “What’s the problem, Aren?” Aria asked.

  “We can’t go beneath the plate until I know for sure the entry point of Sapphire’s army. Beneath the plate, with all this electrical interference we’re getting from the sun, my readings can be inaccurate…and you don’t want my readings to be off.” Aren continued calibrating Franklin.

  “And what happens if they enter from beneath the plate?” Aria asked.

  Aren gave a drawn-out exasperated sigh. “Just hope that they don’t.”

  “Team Phoenix, get your asses to the mining district. I need your eyes on the portal that was drilled out four months ago. Make sure those pillars remain stabilized at all times. Aren, you remain here. Troy will wait by your side until you have your readings and Cherno arrives with the Roman soldier. You’ll take one of the buggies down to the lower level and continue on with the rest of your mission. Understood?” Aria ordered.

  “Understood!” The Team gave a quick salute and hopped atop their vehicles. With revving engines, the bikes pushed upward and hovered above the ground, blue lights twirling in circles beneath. Spoofy took the lead, making a hand signal, and they all sped off, the bikes jumping over the cliff edge into the mining district beneath Fountains.

  “Troy, stay by Aren’s side. Once the battle starts, you guys need to get your asses down there ASAP. Every minute counts in this fight,” Aria advised.

  “I’m ready. All I’ve got to do is gather the coordinates, and I can move on,” Aren replied.

  Aria nodded slowly, beginning to feel concerned. They had already been out on the line for an hour at least, and there still was no sign of Sapphire. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. What if she didn’t show? What if Sapphire wasn’t going to play by the rules? Aria always hated waiting, and with her recently enhanced senses, time seemed only to creep slower. The woman stared eagerly out onto the horizon, mentally calling out to Sapphire and her army. Her military was becoming restless, the men and women chatting amongst themselves.

  “Look at these numbers! I can’t even see the end to our army!” one man exclaimed.

  “Don’t you think it’s a bit overkill?” another asked.

  “Heh, your city-state wasn’t hit that hard. You haven’t seen what these monsters are capable of.”

  “Well, I've seen it, and with a military this size, I don’t see how they can defeat us! Together we have every piece of weaponry and technology at our fingertips! How can we lose?” a third spoke up.

  “Hell, I’m excited. I don’t know about you guys, but I think this is going to be fun!” a female voice cheered.

  Aria closed her eyes, taking a slow breath. It felt as if the air was becoming denser. Something ate away at her nerves. Yesterday she had felt hopeful and ready for anything, but as the seconds ticked by, her whole being was sinking with dread.

  “God! Let’s just get this over with!” Aria hissed through gritted teeth.

  A distortion buzzed along the horizon. The land filled with silence. Aria narrowed her eyes, watching carefully to make sure it wasn’t just her vision straining to focus. Another electric sizzle snapped along her line of sight, followed by a second. Then there was a third, and the area erupted into a mass of darkness, a thunderous sound crackling as the landscape shattered like glass. It swelled, growing larger and larger, eating away at the desert scene. The blackness was immense, something unlike Aria had ever seen. With one more groaning boom, the shade expanded into the sky and zipped back down into nothing, disappearing altogether. In its place was a hair-raising sight. Sapphire’s army stretched for kilometers along the desert. There were monsters of all shapes and sizes, androids among the group with bored expressions, the entire Roman fleet on guard, and a tall structure in the center of it all.

  Made of what appeared to be human bones, a tri-legged throne towered high above the enemy fleet. Sitting atop it was none other than Sapphire, her black eyes staring directly at Aria. The female militant jumped from her seat atop the vehicle and took a few strides out before her forces. Aria’s optical camera focused in on a flicker of yellow and purple. There was a secondary throne in the center of the structure halfway down. Sitting upon it was Ivory. The blonde sat stiffly upright, one hand tugging on the other. Aria’s breath caught in her throat. Ivory was still alive, and she was stuck in the middle of the fight. Moving her sight along the enemy line, Aria found no sign of Dovian.

  “Holy shit. I knew her army was going to be big, but…goddamn that’s insane,” Troy cursed. He pressed a button on his helmet, gathering a reading. He twisted his head all the way to the left and then the right. Aria awaited his answer. “Eight hundred million,” he choked on the words, devastation saturating his voice.

  Four times the size. Sapphire’s army was four times the size of Aria’s entire fleet. Whispers and groans rippled throughout the military as the soldiers beheld the sight of their enemy. Morale just took a sudden plummet.

  Aria eyed the generals behind her. “Shall we make the first move?” she asked.

  Yoshitaka stepped forward. “No. Let her make the first move.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  He nodded, his mask shifting in pieces back over his face. “Trust me. I have another card up my sleeve.”

  Hesitantly, Aria made a noise of understanding.

  “Phoenix. Status?” she mentally called out.

  “In position. Nerd is almost finished calibrating the Electrostatic Cannon onto the drill,” Spoofy replied.

  “Great. I will send Troy and Aren down as soon as the package arrives.”

  “Roger.”

  “Well, Yoshitaka. I hope the card up your sleeve is an ace,” Aria moaned.

  “Just keep your eyes low.” Yoshitaka pointed toward Sapphire’s army.

  Aria’s sight traveled across the desert floor, over the expanse between the two armies, up to Sapphire’s glaring face.

  “ARE YOU READY TO MEET YOUR END?” Sapphire’s oscillating voice echoed throughout the land.

  Feeling a bit more determined, Aria flipped down the faceplate of her helmet. “Come at us with all you got.”

  "Feline Intelligence Firmware Integration"

  Chapter 21

  With nothing more than a flick of Sapphire’s wrist, her front line of monsters rushed forward at erratic speeds. Some beings jittered across the landscape; others moved so fast that they were merely a blur. The sound became a garbled mix of rumbling rock and monstrous shrieks and groans. The weighted footsteps vibrated across the desert, threatening to shatter the Earth in half. Aria raised her hand as she spoke through her mental chip, telling her soldiers to remain on guard and to have all projectiles ready to fire. Yoshitaka waited beside her with his sight fixed on the desert floor. As the evil army neared their position, Aria’s eyes flitted from the dangerous force to the Japanese man beside her.

  “There,” he spoke suddenly.

  Aria kept her gaze straight.

  A flicker on the dusty floor sizzled only for a split-second. With her fist still raised, Aria leaned forward, her optical viewer gathering data.

  �
�Did I just see that?” Troy asked.

  “I saw it,” Aria responded.

  Another crackle of static streaked across the land, bursting upwards. With a sudden jolt, the ground heaved upward, knocking out a large portion of Sapphire’s line. Aria made a strange noise, not quite understanding what she was seeing. It appeared that enormous rocks were darting back and forth, smacking the violent beasts. As one creature would break through the line of stones, another line would shoot upwards, blocking its path. It took a few moments to register what was going on. After Aria’s eyes had focused, she realized that what she thought were rocks were actually people.

  “That is some kickass camo.” Troy gawked at the scene.

  “Yoshitaka, who are they?” Aria asked.

  “They are of the Dilong monastery.” He turned his head to look at her. “All that’s left of Beijing.”

  “We lost communications with them weeks ago. We were left to believe there were no survivors,” Aria said quietly. “I’m glad that someone survived.”

  “We intercepted them while digging through the tunnels. They had multi-purpose vessels that allowed them to move both underwater and drill through the earth. They had nearly crashed into our fleet as they broke through the crust. It didn’t take much to convince them to come with us. Despite their beliefs, they are on a mission for revenge,” Yoshitaka said. “They have nothing left.”

  Aria solemnly watched as the monks fought effortlessly against the beastly creatures. They moved with a dance-like grace that was unseen in typical combat, using their weapons in traditional ways mixed with martial arts. It was impressive. Equipped with little armor, the monks stuck as close to tradition as possible. Outside of their optical camo, they wore yellow and orange outfits topped with slender pieces of metal to provide some form of protection. Their weapons were either a type of spear or sword, the blades buzzing with electrical currents. Piece-by-piece, the smaller monsters were torn down. As the Brutes and Spewers arrived, the monks finally appeared to have met their match.