by Robert Lyons
“I’m fine!” Steeljaws braced the rod in front of him, letting the weapon take the brunt of the charge initiated by the second Bifol. “I can handle this!”
After initiating a shove that produced a small gale, Steeljaws spun the rod over his head a couple of times, then slid his grip all the way to the bottom, extending the maximum range of the weapon. Executing a single overhead strike, Steeljaws leveled the remaining monster by smashing the rod into its head.
The concussive blast exerted by the rod buried the harpoon beast knee deep into the ground. The rest of the body was compressed, broken bones poking out through the crumpled valley of flesh.
“Whoo-hee!”
Steeljaws gripped the Heavy Ordinance Rod in his hands with excitement.
“Don’t get carried away! Dis is our chance to corner de poorpil bastard!”
A sinister voice came from behind Jim’s ear. “Now … now…”
THWACK!
Jim fell face first into the wet earth.
His arms didn’t come up to protect his face as he made his descent. He was already unconscious before he started to fall.
Fortunately, Zoe and Steeljaws were able to react when they saw Jim go down. Both HAWK fighters were facing a purple-eyed Chroma. A wave of anger flooded over Zoe as she stood afar off from her only standing ally. She felt isolated as the leer from the purple eye was sending chills down her spine.
Despite her pride of being a proficient Chroma slayer, Zoe couldn’t deny the overwhelming portentous atmosphere projected on her.
“Two more purple-eyed Chroma spotted! Total of three targets!” Evan screeched over the comms. The situation transitioned from disorder and slammed straight into absolute chaos.
The three beastly humanoids boldly stood around the front entrance. The troops, who had never seen a Chroma with their own eyes, were frozen in place. They could feel the dangerous aura bleeding off their powerful bodies.
“John! If we fire, we might hit our—!” Evan cautioned.
“Don’t you think I know that?!” John grunted, the stress putting more strain on his already damaged body.
How did they evade the sensors? How unpredictable are these things becoming? John gritted his teeth. “They’ve played us for the stubborn mules that we are.”
“Can’t we push the ground troops forward to attack?” Sandy spoke over John’s shoulder, observing the scene after finishing up what first aid she could provide.
“It took the whole squad to take down two of those harpoon beasts that bolted for the woods. They wouldn’t make a dent. They’re Chroma fodder if they get any closer,” John growled.
“Greetings!” a calm voice with a thick accent hopped on the comm network. “Down here! I’m waving my arm!”
The purple eye that wasn’t preoccupied with keeping Zoe and Steeljaws at a distance had snatched Jim’s headset off of his head, using it to communicate with the choppers.
“I’m happy to see that our Bifol provided you entertainment. Just so that there is no misunderstanding, we were going to leave you all to kill for another day. There’s one problem. You have something that’s dangerous if we let it out of our reach,” Lume spoke with charisma in her voice. “I’m asking that you give us the girl who was present when we were here earlier, or you can even kill her so that she doesn’t die by our hand, but it would have to be done it in front of us. We can’t accept hollow promises.”
John turned to look at Sandy. She was staring at Lume with horror-stricken eyes. The medical officer’s body was shaking as her dread was getting the best of her.
John thought for a moment.
The Chroma could be calling a bluff.
This might have been their plan from the very beginning. He let out a sigh, feeling the crushing weight of the stalemate.
“Hmm? No answer? I’m not sure you HAWKs can afford silence.” Lume nodded, reaching behind her and producing a small, metallic box with ports dotting along the sides of it.
John needed only one glance to confirm that the object in the purple eye’s hand was the very same data drive he was sent to retrieve.
“This object holds almost all of the data collected in the past thirty-six hours.” Lume began to pry the box apart, exposing the sensitive electronics to the rain. “It’s too bad … How many died for this object?”
Lume’s arms flexed as she compacted the box, crushing it into a ball of aluminum with a thousand pieces of broken semi-conductor material trapped on the inside.
“Tch!” John clicked his tongue loudly.
Both Zoe’s and Steeljaws’ shoulders heaved as their hands quivered. The weapons were locked into striking positions. Lifelong friends were mutilated and devoured alive to obtain the drive that was demolished in the blink of an eye.
Another lightning bolt struck overhead. Rolling, booming thunder followed soon after. Zoe knew better than to rush in without a plan.
One, her opponent was a purple-eyed Chroma. Two, her weapon’s combat style wasn’t advantageous for this scenario. There was no way to execute a frontal attack fast enough to kill a purple eye. If she moved forward, the whip would brush back from the momentum, dragging behind her instead of being in front where she needed it to be effective. She would have to draw the enemy to her, but the purple eye that stared her down was firmly holding his ground. He wasn’t going to budge an inch unless she made the first move.
“Still no answer?” Lume sighed. “I was tired of the violence. It can be absolutely exhausting, slaughtering and eating humans—!”
Lume interrupted herself to unleash a cruel cackle.
“Ha! A joke! Truth is—I seek out every opportunity to consume you pests! Something about the taste of a person who is fighting is far more appetizing than a person who is completely helpless!”
The more Lume spoke, the less Zoe seemed to be able to hold herself back. Weapon rattling in her hand, Zoe was still forced to stand down from the stalemate. To make matters worse, the female Chroma was egging the Hellcat on by gleefully describing her recent campaign of human bloodshed.
Zoe was tipping over the edge as she gradually released the hold on her delicate emotional balance.
“Don’t let her get into your head, Zoe!” Steeljaws tapped directly into Zoe’s headset.
Zoe’s eyes narrowed as she stared down the Chroma that was blocking her path. That monster was the only thing holding her back from advancing to the boastful Chroma female that was using Jim as a stepstool. If looks could kill, the Chroma in front of Zoe would have been vaporized, regardless of the robust makeup of the purple eyed body.
“Zoe, if you make a move on your own, we’re all going to die! The Chroma have the advantage!”
“Our window of opportunity is closing!” Zoe clenched her teeth.
“For the record,” Lume paused, cracking her knuckles, the joints in her fingers popping like firecrackers. “This has been most entertaining of an experience.”
Without warning, Lume slammed her naked foot on top of Jim’s back, digging her toes into the vest. Her playful, twisted behavior suddenly changed to that of a wild animal, fierce and merciless. “If you continue to ignore our demand, I’m going to pull this pest’s spine right out of his body! Don’t test me!”
The loud stomp from Zoe’s boot made the purple-eyed Chroma blocking her path flinch. The snake-like body of the whip writhed in a more turbulent manner than before. It was as if the weapon had synchronized to its user’s tumultuous emotions.
“John! Give the order!” Steeljaws’ back flexed as he readied himself with anticipation of the battle that was about to come.
The captain’s hands trembled for a moment.
The current predicament spelled out checkmate for the HAWK in the short-run. No matter how he sliced it, Jim’s life was in immediate danger. Whether John blanketed the area with the mini-gun or chose to do nothing, the Chroma would see to it that the stalemate would be broken.
Bending to the Chroma’s demands and giving up the only source o
f information left of the events in the underground facility seemed to be the less violent option when weighing out the price of a dozen human lives over one life.
“Captain.” Sandy stood next to John, her body upright but awkwardly stiff. “I’m going down there. I don’t want any more people to die!”
“Sandy!” John lashed out. “If you go, then all of those men and women who gave up their lives to get you out will have died for nothing! I will not spit on their graves!” His body ached with every heave of air he forced through his lungs.
If only I was in a condition to fight…
“Yes, sir.” Sandy nodded, biting her lip anxiously.
That female purple-eyed Chroma figuratively had the HAWK team by the balls. The glowing eye in her head was sending John one clear message with the menacing stare. She was driving the captain to make an irreversible choice.
John’s decisions, whether it would yield a favorable or unfavorable ending, would be a decision he would have to live with. Ever since he stepped into the boots the past Force Captains wore, he became acclimated to shouldering the immense responsibility. Contrariwise, was it possible that he merely became numb to all of the accruing guilt after so many years of exposure?
Adapt or die.
John examined the mess below him. One man down, and two were being held up by three purple eyes. Above all, there was an insufficient means for the HAWK to launch an effective counterattack. Hopeless as the situation presented itself, the mission had to succeed, even if it came down to the last man.
John recoiled at the thought of what had to be done, but he was at a crossroad. A path had to be chosen. Either way was going to yield someone’s death.
“We’re not going to surrender the medic to you. We will fight!” John called over the radio. Jim—I don’t deserve your devotion!
“Well, well.” Lume chuckled. “Willing to throw your friends to us to achieve your goals? Did you know that emulating our style is far from flattering?”
“John! What are you doing?!” Steeljaws yelled over the radio. The urgency in his voice was irritating the captain, but John had no other choice but to proceed on this course.
“They played their hand, and now we have to show our cards!” John shouted over the headset, no longer caring about who could hear him.
Lume laughed heartily, bending down and extending her sickly, white hand. The alabaster fingers wrapped around the back of Jim’s neck. She planted a good grip on the vertebrae, right below the cerebellum.
Steeljaws let out a battle cry, swinging his weapon.
The sudden movement scattered raindrops directly above away from him as the staff created an overhead, concussive air blast. Cora snarled, not backing down from the wordless challenge.
“STOP!” Zoe screamed at the top of her lungs. Her breathing became ragged as her whole body sagged forward. “Please … stop.”
6.
Lume was still holding on to Jim’s neck, but her gaze was directed at Zoe’s helmet. She had an ugly expression on her face, one that portrayed the disgust she reserved for some lowlife that had the audacity to interrupt the program. Nevertheless, Lume stopped moving, and that was the status quo that Zoe strived to grasp in desperation.
Lume narrowed her eyes. “You have quite the mouth for someone who isn’t in a position to speak.”
“Please, I’m begging you.” Zoe dropped to her knees, her neck relaxing as her head drooped forward. “Don’t kill him.”
Steeljaws nearly dropped his weapon from the shock.
He was beyond distraught at the sight unfolding before his eyes. Zoe was nearly prostrating herself and pleading to a Chroma, no less! Gunnar speared the ground, leaning against the weapon. He nearly lost his balance from the shock.
Zoe—what are you doing?!
“What’s this? Asking me to spare his life?” Lume nodded approvingly.
“You want me to be genuine?” Zoe’s voice was choked up. “I’m down on my knees in the mud! I’m pleading!”
“John!” Steeljaws yelled into his microphone. “Give me the fucking order!”
Silence followed the young man’s outburst.
“Can’t sit or fetch without your master’s command?” Cora mocked.
Steeljaws’ white-knuckle grip on the Heavy Ordinance started to generate a creaking sound. The rod’s metal construction resisted the crushing force of his hand.
Zoe is breaking down! With Drew and everything, she has to be at her limit! She’s going to get everyone killed!
“Zoe! Get back on your feet!” Steeljaws thundered. “Is this what Drew died for?! So that his widow would be on her knees, begging mercy from the very same enemy who slaughtered him?!”
Zoe cast her Heavy Ordnance to the side after removing the cyan power source. The once-fierce truncheon that sprouted a flame serpent, capable of devouring any foe, reverted back to a simple metal baton. The power source of the weapon was disconnected, forcing the weapon to return to its dormant state.
“Captain!” Steeljaws yelled, swinging the weapon up over his head, readying for another overhead strike.
“Stand down!” John barked out. “That’s your order!”
His entire body shook with pent-up rage that was threatening to boil over.
Has John lost his mind?!
Regardless, an order was an order. No matter how much it tore away at his soul to stand by and watch two people he regarded as family members fall prey to the Chroma’s despicable ploys, he was conditioned to obey, no matter the circumstance.
“That’s a good dog,” Cora mocked the Heavy Ordnance user.
“You throw away your only means to kill me? I can’t tell what level of crazy you are, but you have my ear once you dispose of that thing.”
There was a slight hesitation, but nonetheless, Zoe smashed the cyan cell with the steel-reinforced knuckles of her glove. The outer casing was broken open, unleashing a terrifying high-pitched screech. Zoe suddenly raised her head, pain in her eyes. She lifted her fist from the ground, shaking her hand back and forth violently until she succeeded in tearing off the armor piece.
The damaged power cell oozed a bright-blue, liquid substance. Once it touched the outer surface of the metal plating on the backside of Zoe’s glove, a reaction of sorts began to take place. Considering the robustness of the metal plating, the power cell liquid ate through it as though the armor was paper-thin.
“Now that you can’t use that anymore, I’m more than ready to hear your appeal.” Lume smiled, leaning her head to the side in curiosity.
“Nothing has been set in stone. We can all walk away from this,” Zoe pleaded her case, crossing her hands in front of her chest, as though she was earnestly seeking out forgiveness.
Lume giggled, licking her index finger. “This was the reason you went as far as making your weapon useless? I’m disappointed. Try pleading again.”
“Fine. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. I want Jim to stay alive, and you said the only thing you want is the evidence of your presence at the facility wiped clean. Right?” Zoe lowered her arms in a non-threatening way.
“Eh? Okay … keep talking.” Lume hinted at giving a small bow, to show her appreciation that there was someone on the same page as her.
“I’ll gladly kill the medical officer, if that’s what it will take to make you leave.” Zoe’s voice lowered, a certain darkness filling her voice.
“Someone was listening to me!” Lume raised her arms. “Despite what humans believe, we are reasonable.”
Zoe stood up slowly, inputting a command into her armor.
As she did, Steeljaws immediately recognized the act and was about to spring forward. Cora was more than eager to immobilize the young warrior from the moment they crossed paths. When Steeljaws advanced, the Chroma slammed the HAWK fighter to the ground with enough force to shatter his ribs. The armor surrounding Steeljaws’ body was his only saving grace.
“The most obedient dog will suffer because of his master’s idio
cy.” Cora laughed, standing over the downed fighter, pinning the young man.
The cams in Zoe’s helmet whirled up, sliding the faceplate back and revealing the reddened eyes and puffy cheeks. She reached up, tearing the helmet off of her head. The shoulder-length, raven-black hair clung to her scalp as the rain soaked her to the bone.
“Well, well…” Lume let out a low whistle, impressed with the fair appearance of the female warrior before her. “I promise to release both of your friends once you complete your obligation. Even among enemies, our words are absolute.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Zoe said in a quiet voice, turning to trudge toward the helicopter. Before she turned around completely, Zoe caught a glimpse of Jim. He had regained consciousness as she departed.
“I’m sorry, Jim, we have finally reached this point.” Zoe gave a small smile, walking toward the choppers.
Another lightning bolt struck nearby. The night sky lit up brighter than day for a brief moment from the colossal discharge of static electricity. Just as Zoe was about to cross out of Jim’s limited peripheral vision, the lighting gave off enough of a glint for Jim to spot it on Zoe’s back.
He began to struggle, shouting, trying to get Zoe to stand still.
“Oh, you finally decided to wake up!” Lume chuckled, bending down and grabbing a handful of Jim’s red hair, pulling him up and forcing him to watch Zoe depart from the battlefield. “Just in time … She is the reason why you are going to stay alive!”
Why is Zoe walkin’ around ‘ithout her helmet? I can see de weapon she stole from de armory … but why de chopper? Jim struggled to grasp the situation.
Did the Chroma somehow coerce Zoe into doing their dirty work? Although Jim was unaware of the surrounding details, he knew this going to be the beginning of a terrible chain of events.
“Zoe! Stop!” Jim bellowed before being silenced. The brute strength that Lume was crushing Jim’s spine with, as punishment for speaking up, was enough to stifle his ability to speak.
“Speaking without permission is impolite.” Lume shook her head slowly, clicking her tongue in dissatisfaction.