by C. S. Harte
Meomi had never been to Mars, having spent most of her life in space on asteroids or ships. She expected grand architecture, beautiful gardens, and pristine streets being the closest planet to Earth. Instead, she witnessed dilapidated buildings against a backdrop of grime and concrete. Trash lined every centimeter of pavement. The skyline was mostly shades of dark gray with the occasional flashing neon light polluting the sky.
Patrols of security droids hovered over the city, shining down powerful spotlights. Small, furry vermin scooted away as Meomi walked off the shuttle ramp. Faint yellow gases rose from the open sewers.
“Be thankful you have your helmet on,” Ori said. “You don’t want to breathe in the smell of the place. If you’re not used to it, it’ll singe your nose hairs.”
“Why is everything so…” Meomi paused to search for a tactful word.
“Dirty?” Ori finished for her. “Grungy? Crummy? Gross? Run-down? It’s OK. I don’t think Martians care. They know where they live. I’ve known people born here. Those that had the resources escaped to a different planet. Those that didn’t are probably dead.”
“Mars is a couple centuries behind Earth in development,” Whisper said, joining the conversation. “The government does not have the credits nor resources to build better infrastructure. At best, they can only hope to maintain law and order. This makes Mars a perfect place to hide someone or an entire militant organization.”
Jonas pulled up in a hovercraft. Roni was sprawled unconscious in the back. Drool flowed from her mouth from the apparent sedation. “Let’s go,” he said to Whisper.
“Where did you get a hovercraft?” Ori asked.
“Bought with credits from my gladiator arena days.” Jonas smirked. “If we lose the war against Mimics, I’m not going to need the credits, anyway.”
“We’ll meet you back at the shuttle in three sol-hours,” Whisper said, entering the passenger side. “Send us an alert if you need us. Otherwise, try not to use comms.”
Jonas sped away, leaving Meomi with Ori.
“I have a bad feeling.” Meomi sighed.
“What are you talking about?” Ori smiled. “I don’t fail missions. You don’t want to get a reputation as a failure in the merc business.”
“There are other things besides credits that are important right now.” Meomi groaned. “We should get moving. Where are we heading?”
“Mattix Square,” Nume said from behind Meomi startling her.
“They don’t call them Obscura suits for nothing.” Ori smiled. He held out his elbow for Nume to take as if going out for a casual stroll.
Nume smiled and accepted the arm.
“You’re worse than Rayfin,” Meomi said.
“Really?” Ori said. “From what I heard, he sounds like a great guy. I bet he’ll make a great wingman.”
“I weep for the women in those bars,” Meomi retorted.
“We are three kilometers away,” Nume said. “I would like to be there a little early. If you two are done bantering…”
“Banter?” Meomi scoffed.
“My pleasure, Nume,” Ori said.
Mattix Square was marked on Meomi’s mini-map, north by north-east from their position. They kept to the side streets to minimize the potential of being seen.
“This way,” Ori pointed to a narrow pedestrian-only road housing a bazaar. Merchants lined both sides of the street selling a wide range of commodities from clothing to weapons. Hooded men brandishing rifles and hand cannons kept their eyes glued on Nume as if they’ve never seen an Entrent before.
“Keep her close,” Meomi said to Ori.
“I see them,” he said. “They won’t do anything.” His free hand stayed close to his gun.
A lingering feeling of dread followed Meomi ever since they exited the shuttle. She knew from first-hand experience how quickly a mission could turn. In the corner of her eye, Meomi saw a small figure running toward them. “Stop!” She pulled out her weapon.
The child fell backward.
“It’s just a beggar,” Ori said, pushing Meomi’s gun down. He helped the dirty-faced boy stand and patted him on the head. “Here’s a protein ration.”
The little boy ran away with the food without saying a word.
“Jumpy aren’t we?” Ori smirked.
“We’re almost there,” Nume said, pointing down the road to an imposing, five-meter tall statue of Ardent Mattix. In the statue’s hand was her trademark Mattix light machine gun. Mattix was one of the leaders in the Destiny’s Edge revolution, which sparked social change for the lower class on Mars. The Commonwealth Infantry Corps stole her patents in the name of national security, which further drove a wedge between Mars and Earth. The Mattix-style, rapid-fire light machine guns inspired many of the weapons used by the Infantry Corp today.
“How do we get in touch with Kalick?” Meomi asked. “To let him know we’re here.”
“I am telepathic,” Nume replied dryly.
“Oh, that’s right.” She blushed. “I forget that sometimes.”
Ori snickered. “Katoks are three meters tall. I’m sure he’ll be easy to spot.”
“I don’t sense him nearby,” Nume said with her lips pressed together.
“Isn’t this a public place?” Ori said. “Shouldn’t more people be walking around?” He unlatched the holsters on his thigh.
“Maybe we should head back,” Meomi suggested. She tugged at Nume to move backward.
“I don’t understand,” Nume said.
“Do you sense him now?” Meomi scanned the concrete square. “Kalick?”
“No…” Nume scrunched her face. “There are thoughts here I cannot understand.”
“We need to go, NOW!” Ori yelled.
Meomi jumped. She had never heard Ori’s raised voice before.
They turned around and sprinted back the way they came before three dark figures stopped them. Each enemy stood a meter and a half tall, completely blocking their escape. More came out from corners and alleyways on all sides of the Square. Dozens of red dots populated Meomi’s mini-map.
Ori aimed his hand cannons at the ones in front. “We’re trapped!”
“Protect Nume at all costs!” Meomi yelled. “Nothing else matters!”
14
The new hostiles were unlike anything Meomi had ever seen before. They were humanoid — two arms, two legs, torso, and a head — but had oversized, glowing exo suits making them appear as tall as Katoks. There was an otherworldly quality to them. Their movements were stuttered, jerky, like a stop-motion movie. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Now and then they seemed to skip a few frames as if jumping forward in time, existing in this world and another.
The glowing of the exo suits didn’t come from the exterior, but rather from within, as if the creature inside were the source of the illumination. Whenever these monsters moved, light escaped through the seams of their charcoal black armor. Like the negative of a film coming to life. Where their faces should be, was only an intense white light.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Meomi directed her question at the middle soldier blocking her escape.
They responded with a high-pitched, shrieking sound which caused Meomi’s suit to automatically shut off the external mics.
“That doesn’t sound like they’re lost and looking for directions,” Ori said.
“We are in danger.” Nume tapped Meomi’s arm. “We must escape.”
Meomi watched her mini-map update in real-time. Red dots kept appearing from all sides, converging on her location. “That might be a challenge.” She took a step forward, putting her between the soldiers and Nume.
The hostiles responded by closing their hands into fists and pointing it at Meomi. Their hands glowed as brightly as their visors.
“Am I being naïve to think they’re just looking for a fist bump?” Ori asked.
“So much anguish and anger,” Nume whispered into the suit comms. “It overpowers every other thought coming from them.”
; “Voids!” Ori shouted.
“What?” Meomi jumped.
“I hate playing the hero.” He sighed. “When you hear lasers firing, you get Nume out of here any way you can. Do you understand me?”
“What about you?” Meomi’s mouth slackened.
“Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time I’ve been cornered by an imposing group of enemies. Just promise me one thing?”
“I promise to protect Nume like the fate of humanity depended on it.” Meomi stared at Ori as she spoke.
“No, that’s a given. I want you to promise me a date if I make it out alive.” Ori grinned. “I will need some extra motivation if I’m to make it out of here.”
Meomi groaned.
“That’s a yes? I will take that as a yes.” Ori winked. “Get ready to run.”
“Wait, what are you going to…”
Ori blinked out of existence and appeared behind the middle soldier blocking the group. He fired a point-blank shot into the back of its neck. The hostile stood its ground, not even flinching as the projectile bounced off his suit.
“Well, I haven’t seen that before.” Ori switched the settings on his hand cannons to maximum power.
All three soldiers turned around unnaturally — with their upper body first and then the legs as if their waists were a swivel. Laser fire pulsed from their fists.
Ori blinked just before the shots landed. “What are you waiting for? Run!” Ori unloaded his ammo into the pack of black-armored soldiers.
The hostiles held their ground as a force field appeared around each enemy, dissipating the potency of Ori’s gunfire.
Meomi shielded Nume with her body as they ran out of Mattix Square. She led her into a narrow alleyway filled with piles of trash and debris.
Two soldiers suddenly appeared in front of her, like apparitions revealing themselves. They fired on Nume without warning.
“Get down!” Meomi pushed Nume out of the way and used her body as a shield, taking damage to her suit. Warnings flashed on her visor, reporting a critical hit to the suit batteries. Complete power loss in less than 15 minutes.
“Are you OK?” Nume asked.
Her entire left side felt numb. “I’m fine,” she lied. “Stay down.” Meomi switched to incendiary rounds. “Let’s see how you handle fire.” She launched two blazing shells at each of the soldiers. The projectiles slammed into the chest of the hostiles, exploding on contact, engulfing them in a wave of fire. “Yes! Wait...” Her eyes opened wide.
“I don’t think fire has any effect on them…” Nume frowned.
The soldiers walked out of the flame and continued shooting at Meomi, pinning her down in a barrage of orb-like projectiles.
“We can’t stay here…” Meomi’s mini-map updated with more red dots advancing to their location.
Ori blinked behind the two soldiers blocking Meomi and implanted explosives charged on their backs. After he flashed away, the charges went off, blowing a hole through the mid-sections of the enemies. They fell forward like wooden planks. Glowing white liquid leaked from their wounds, pooling around the corpses. Within seconds, the illumination faded before settling into a black ooze similar to the death of a Reaper.
“Why are you still here?” Ori yelled. “I told you to keep running!” His eyes shifted to the scorch marks on Meomi’s Tempest suit. “Oh. That looks like it hurts.”
“Believe me, I don’t want to be here either. Thanks for the assist, Ori.” Meomi helped Nume up and glanced at her battery level indicator. Nine minutes. They sprinted toward the shuttle. With her eyes movements, Meomi injected a combat stim to dull the pain gnawing in her chest. “These things don’t go down easy, do they?”
“Those were my last two explosive charges,” Ori said. “Did I mention how I hate playing the hero?”
More hostiles appeared from behind.
“It’s like they can blink,” Meomi said.
“I know,” Ori said. “I thought I was special…” He fired his guns at the new pair of enemies.
Meomi used incendiary rounds to light the trash and debris on fire, creating a wall of flame. “That may buy us some time…”
“I’ll be surprised if it did,” Ori said.
“More are coming,” Nume said.
Just as she spoke, two more hostiles flashed in from above. One crashed down on Meomi, the other on Ori, pinning them both to the ground.
“No…” Meomi tried to fight her attackers off.
A third hostile appeared behind Nume and grabbed her waist.
Nume placed her hand on the chest of her assailant. “It’s not possible…” Her mouth gaped open. “Its mind is completely devoid of thought…”
Suit integrity warnings flooded Meomi’s HUD, mixed with critical battery alerts. Four minutes of power left. She turned her head to see Nume kicking and fighting her kidnapper. “GET OFF ME!” Meomi’s eyesight began to blur. The only thought in her head was her attacker slamming into the wall behind her. She focused on the image, willing it to be true.
When her vision returned to normal, Meomi found herself standing upright. Behind her was a massive hole in the wall and a crushed, black exo suit.
Ori emptied his entire arsenal into his opponent. Hundreds of rounds.
His attacker stood unfazed.
“A little help here?” He shouted at Meomi. “I can’t blink with this thing on top of me…”
“No time, they have Nume!” Meomi said, leaving Ori to fend for himself. She chased Nume’s kidnapper to the end of the alley where she lost them. Her eyes turned to her mini-map for a moment before the suit’s battery drained. “Voids!” She unlatched her helmet.
The alley emptied into a wide street with abandoned storefronts, hollowed out hover cars, and vagrants keeping warm next to trashcan fires.
Meomi scanned for clues, hoping Nume left a trail for her to follow. Without power to her suit, every step felt like moving with a 20-kilo ankle weight. She had no way to communicate with the rest of her team. The reality of the situation was starting to crystallize for Meomi. She might have been responsible for losing humanity’s best and last hope in defeating the Mimic invasion.
“What have I done…” Her body instantly collapsed to the ground, unable to support the weight of her exo suit and her conscience. Her left arm felt dead. Breathing was a struggle, flooding her body with pain on every exhale. Using only her right hand, she slowly removed the rest of her Tempest suit.
In the corner of her eye, Meomi saw a group of shadowy figures heading her way. Her hand cannon was empty. Her resolve drained. Somehow she stood using only her right leg. “I won’t go down easy!”
“It’s me, Captain Hana!” Whisper said, walking under a streetlight.
“Whisper! Jonas!” Meomi jerked her head back. “Nume?”
“Lost something?” Jonas said with Nume and Roni in mag cuffs behind him.
“I… I don’t understand…” Meomi tried to reach Nume.
“You were taking too long,” Whisper smirked. “Thought we’d come and check on you guys.”
“It’s a good thing we did,” Jonas said.
Ori blinked in next to Meomi. “Oh, seems like I’m late to the party. Sorry, I had to get something off my suit. Good job protecting Nume!” He patted Meomi on the back, knocking her forward then catching her in his arms. “You OK there, gorgeous?”
“Thank goodness…” Meomi whispered.
“I’m happy to see you too, love.” Ori beamed a smile at Meomi.
“Those things you fought…” Whisper opened a medi-pack and applied its contents to Meomi. “They’re called Kels.”
“They’re first generation human and Mimic hybrids,” Roni said with a smug smile. “Still a work in progress, but we’re satisfied with the prototypes. You wouldn’t be alive if they were the finished versions.”
“Kels…” Meomi said in between erratic breaths.
“Save your breath, precious.” Ori picked up Meomi and carried her in his arms. “Hmm, you’re
a lot lighter than expected given what you did back there.”
“What did she do?” Roni asked.
15
Destiny’s Edge claimed to know where Kalick was hiding. In exchange for two hundred billion credits — more wealth than Meomi could hope to have in her lifetime — they offered to share his location. Jonas didn’t seem fazed by the number, mentioning the amount would not be an issue.
After returning to the Zephyr, Meomi spent the next two days in the medi-pod with Alyana tending to her many wounds. During this time, she read all she could about Destiny’s Edge. The team needed to find Kalick, or there would be no hope of controlling the Guardians. Without the Guardians, Earth was all but guaranteed to fall.
Meomi had strong misgivings about meeting with members of Destiny’s Edge. In her mind, they were a cyber-terrorist group, responsible for many atrocities. The organization may have started out as a pauper’s movement, but over the centuries morphed into an organization that preyed on others for profit.
Almost two centuries ago, Destiny’s Edge hijacked the first ever colony ship to leave the solar system, the United Nations’ Space Ship Jamestown. Its mission was to colonize Tau Ceti f and was the first joint endeavor between every nation on Earth. The ship carried cloned embryos of the most prominent scientific minds of the time along with a crew of 200 souls. Destiny’s Edge planted allies onboard the Jamestown and took control of the ship. They offered a ransom for the safe return of the vessel, but due to political in-fighting over which nation should bear the cost, the price was never met. In response, Destiny’s Edge hard-coded the ship’s navigation, flying it into the voids of space. The Jamestown was never heard from again.
Meomi sat in Zephyr's locker room, prepping her flight gear and Tempest suit for the mission to meet with Destiny’s Edge. The fight with the Kels on Nimbus replayed in her mind, especially the moment she threw her attacker through a concrete wall. Ori had thought she used her strength neuromod. Meomi neglected to mention her neuromod was removed before joining Fleet. While in the medi-pod, Meomi had Alyana check that her neuromod was indeed gone. It was. There was no logical explanation for her superhuman feat of strength. But with more pressing issues facing the crew, the mystery was ignored for the moment.