Symphonies of Valor

by C. S. Harte

  He let out a scream with all the air in his lungs. Not words, but an eruption of sound from deep within the molten core of his fury. Somebody needed to pay. Violence was all he wanted. The fate of humanity be damned.

  “Tsk, tsk.” Raven decloaked next to Whisper’s body. “So emotional. That’s the main defect with humans — emotional, irrational, illogical, unstable, and pathetic.”

  There he was. A target for Jonas to unleash his frenzy. Without hesitation, Jonas unloaded his weapon at his enemy. Raven was the man who tortured him, the man who kidnapped and experimented on Nume — twice — and the man who killed Whisper. His nemesis. Jonas roared as he squeezed the trigger of his hand cannon, continuing even after every ammo was spent.

  Raven stood still, returning a dispassionate expression. The projectiles from Jonas’ weapon went straight through him with no evidence of harm. “Are you done?” He vanished from sight.

  “Where are you?” Jonas screamed, frantically searching for a target to shoot. “FACE ME!” He reloaded his hand cannon.

  “This is why humans are on the verge of extinction,” Raven said nonchalantly. “Tens of thousands of years of evolution and you still think with that squishy, blood-pumping thing in your chest. You let emotions dictate your actions.” He reappeared in the opposite corner of the room.

  Jonas immediately fired at him. Only two shots this time.

  “We’ve been hundreds of steps ahead of you,” said Raven’s disembodied voice. “We know everything about your little plan to save humanity. You’ve been fighting a hopeless fight. Your foolish pride won’t let you see it. How helpless you must feel...” He materialized a meter in front of Jonas. “... to not see the truth staring at you.”

  With his strength neuromod active, Jonas launched himself at Raven. Like the projectiles from his gun, Jonas went through Raven and slammed himself into the med bay walls. He wavered before falling to the ground. Starbursts of colors flared behind his eyes. Dizziness followed.

  “In case this needs explaining, your species has ended.” Raven stood over Jonas as he picked himself up. “Do you know when exactly you lost this war?”

  “Shut! Up!” Jonas swung at Raven’s head.

  Raven disappeared before the punch landed and reappeared to Jonas’ side. He immediately delivered a devastating blow to Jona’s ribs, the force of which drove Jonas down to one knee. “Curious, why was she so important to you?” Raven laughed. “You probably thought she loved you? Do you think Whisper was capable of loving such an imperfect creature like yourself? She was more like me than you. A hybrid. Unlike your species, we were designed with perfection in mind.”

  “She was nothing like you!” Jonas jumped to his feet as he tried to deliver an uppercut punch. The attempt, like all other attacks before it, went through his opponent as if he were a ghost.

  Suddenly, three Ravens appeared. They took turns flashing into view just long enough to deliver a blow then blinked out after the punch landed.

  “What are you?” Jonas shouted as he tried to use his arms to shield his torso from the onslaught. His Obscura suit flashed warning after warning until his visor finally shattered. Jonas took off his helmet and spat a mouthful of blood and saliva onto the floor. The air was thin but breathable. It carried a distinct iron smell. Whisper’s blood. He glanced at his fallen teammate.

  “Whisper was a clone, like me,” Raven said, following Jonas’ eyes. “They designed her to infiltrate and kill. And she was good at her job. A simple reprogramming of her primary objectives and she would have been a greater enemy to you than you could ever imagine.”

  “Stop…” Jonas feigned a punch, expecting Raven to blink to his side. When he did, Jonas connected on a solid punch to Raven’s face who faltered for a moment. Seeing the opening, Jonas pounced on Raven, throwing his adversary to the ground. As Jonas readied a strength neuromod enhanced punch, Raven blinked away. Jonas’ fist broke through the floor.

  “You can’t win against…” Raven said from behind Jonas.

  Again, Jonas anticipated Raven appearing somewhere close to him. He swept Raven’s legs, knocking him to the ground. Quickly, Jonas pulled out his combat knife and tried to stab his enemy in the neck.

  Raven shifted away as the knife came down. The blade landed in his shoulder. He blinked behind Jonas to a standing position on the other side of the room. “I don’t feel pain like you do.” His good arm slowly pulled out the knife. Blood flowed down the edge of the blade. “You should have run when you had the chance.” Six clones of Raven flashed into existence, each a perfect replica of the original.

  After several rounds with Raven, it was clear to Jonas the clones were some sort of holographic projection. He needed to identify the original from the fakes.

  “No one is coming to save you.” Raven’s clones blinked in and out of view as they all moved toward Jonas, creating a mesmerizing strobe effect. The closer they got to Jonas, the faster they blinked.

  To his credit, Jonas planted his feet into the ground. He had no intention of running away from this fight. Getting revenge on the person who killed Whisper was all he wanted, his only mission in life.

  Raven and his clones blinked faster than Jonas could keep up.

  Each attempt at a punch left Jonas exposed for a direct hit to his body or face. After a few rounds, Jonas dropped to the ground, battered and beaten. Blood flowed from several cuts on his head. Both eyes were swollen. The world appeared to him as tiny slivers. Jonas crawled to Whisper’s body and lay on top of her.

  For the first time, Raven’s lips curled into a smile. “Very well, you may die next to her. But make no mistake, you will die here.” He picked up Jonas by his throat.

  With his reserves spent, Jonas offered little resistance. Raven was speaking to him, but his focus was on Whisper. Then his eyes shifted to his weapon on the floor. Jonas had one ace left to play. He dropped the anti-grav spheres he took from Whisper's belt earlier. Both he and Raven lifted off the ground.

  “What…” Raven released his hold on Jonas as his body shifted horizontally.

  Jonas’ gun also floated into the air. He tried reaching for it, but his arms refused to move or stretch.

  “Looking for this?” Raven said as he claimed the hand cannon first.

  The anti-grav spheres only lasted a few seconds before gravity reclaimed its hold, forcing both combatants to land on the ground with a thud.

  Every molecule of air left Jonas’ lungs as he landed. It was over for him. His body had given up, refusing to respond.

  Raven stood over Jonas. His weapon was trained on Jonas’ face. Without so much as a goodbye, Raven pulled the trigger.

  The distinctive, high-pitched zap of a hand cannon registered in Jonas’ head. At that moment, Jonas expected to die. But he didn’t fear death, not for a long time now. He had spent too many days watching the countdown clock to his execution at Wynter Prison Station. At least he would die next to someone he cared about. At least Whisper would not die alone. He kept his eyes on her, willing her face to be the last thing he would see before entering the eternal void.

  A second passed.

  Then another.

  Finally, a third.

  Jonas turned his head. Blood and sweat streamed down his face, pooling around his eyes and blurring what little vision he had. There was a third presence in the room. Not one of Raven’s clones. It had a womanly figure. She was a dark silhouette with eyes that glowed a bright white.

  Suddenly, Raven lifted into the air. His body propelled itself into the med bay wall, forcibly enough to create a human-sized dent. His suit made a screeching sound as it slid to the floor.

  “It’s OK, Jonas,” the woman said. She waved her hands over his face. His injuries began to heal instantly.

  The blurriness faded from Jonas’ eyes with each blink. He looked up to see someone who looked like Meomi, but there was a strange light behind her eyes. She was wearing a Fleet-issued, blue and white flight suit. It couldn’t be Captain Hana. She was surroun
ded by Kels the last time he saw her. There was no way for her to survive. Whoever this being was, it was not Meomi. “Who… What are you?”

  26

  Feeling strength returning to his limbs, Jonas pushed himself up. His eyes followed Meomi as she glided to Nume, hovering a few centimeters off the ground. “Can you heal her too?” Jonas turned his head toward Whisper.

  “The life force… is gone,” Meomi said. “Her vessel is empty. Unlike you… she cannot be salvaged.”

  With a wave of her hand, Meomi opened the seal of the Entrent Rejuvenation Chamber.

  “What are you going to do with Nume?” Jonas knelt beside Whisper’s body as he spoke. His hand lifted her head into his lap, ignoring the cooling, sticky blood underneath her remains.

  “This one is unwell.” Meomi placed a hand on Nume’s chest. An orange light traveled through her arm and into Nume, spreading across the Entrent’s chest.

  “What’s wrong with Nume?” Jonas kissed Whisper on her forehead. “Can you heal her?”

  “She is lost.” Meomi placed a second hand on Nume’s chest. The orange glow intensified, spreading throughout both their bodies.

  “What… What do you mean lost?” Jonas finally lifted his head from Whisper. “As in dead? What happened to you, Captain Hana?”

  Nume woke from her sleep and coughed violently.

  “Hello, young one,” Meomi said. She helped Nume stand.

  Nume immediately crumbled to a fetal position while holding her stomach. She shrieked in pain.

  “Help her!” Jonas shouted. “Do something!”

  “Hungry…” Nume said with a wretched face.

  “Food?” Jonas lowered Whisper’s body. “If she’s just hungry, we can take her back to the Valor and…”

  Meomi held up her right hand. “It is not Nume… who seeks nourishment.”

  “I don’t understand…” Jonas scratched his cheek.

  “Nume is transformed.” Meomi wrapped her hand around Nume’s face. “She is hollow.”

  “You’re not making sense...” Jonas laid Whisper’s body down gently and stood.

  “Time is ending.” Meomi startled Jonas as she turned toward him, flipping her body 180 degrees in a blink. “Return to Valor… Jonas Barick. Mars. One final stand.”

  “Wait…” Jonas backed away from Meomi. “I’m not leaving without…”

  Meomi disappeared, then reappeared immediately in front of Jonas. She pushed him hard in the chest with her palm.

  Before Jonas could stop her, he flew toward the med bay wall. Expecting a violent collision, he braced himself. Instead of pain, he felt a floating sensation. Something was pulling him through the walls of the ship. The med bay faded away, replaced by a blue and white tunnel of light. Jonas fought to free himself of whatever was moving him. He wasn’t ready to leave Whisper and Nume.

  When the surrounding tunnel disappeared, Jonas stood next to Alyana on the bridge of the Valor.

  “Oh, hey Jonas,” Alyana said then jumped backward, holding her heart. “HOW?” She reached for her weapon.

  “Alyana!” Jonas looked straight into her eyes. “It’s me.” He held his palms up.

  “No!” She emphatically shook her head. “You’re not him. I mean, you’re not you. No… It’s not possible… Not possible…” Alyana’s hands trembled as she aimed her gun. “Jonas is on the other ship. You’re a Mimic? A clone?” She covered her mouth and gasped. “A ghost? Did you die over there? Why are you haunting me!”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Jonas said gruffly and moved toward the navigation console.

  Alyana pulled the trigger, shooting him in the leg.

  Jonas howled in pain. “ALYANA! I told you, I’m Jonas!” he said through gritted teeth. A steady stream of crimson flowed from the wound.

  “You’re bleeding!” Alyana yelled. “Blood!”

  “Because you shot me,” he said through closed eyes. “I know I’ve annoyed you in the past but…”

  “Is it really you? Jonas?”

  “Yes, it’s me! That’s what I’ve been trying to say.” He injected himself with a combat stim.

  Alyana grabbed a medkit and sprayed a fast-acting coagulant on the wound. “I’m... I’m sorry...”

  “Nume and Meomi are still over there.” He pointed at the viewscreen. “Something’s happening.”

  The display showed a close-up shot of Raven’s ship glowing with an intense white light originating from inside the vessel.

  Both Jonas and Alyana covered their eyes. When they opened them again, Raven’s ship disappeared.

  “No…” Jonas interlocked his fingers behind his head. “Nume…”

  “Um, what just happened?” Alyana lowered herself into the nav station.

  “Set a course to rendezvous with the Earth Defense Force,” Jonas said. “I’ll brief you on the way. At least…” He sighed. “What I think happened... As I understand the things I witnessed...”

  “I still…” She hesitated.

  “Alyana, please… I think Nume and possibly Meomi will be waiting for us there.”

  “No!” She stomped her foot. “Our friends were on that ship! Whisper, Nume, and Meomi! We’re not leaving them behind!”

  “Whisper,” Jonas said softly to himself. A weight formed in his stomach. Just moments ago, he felt her cold, limp body on his lap along with the tackiness of her blood against his hands. She was one of the few strings left in the universe that tied Jonas to his brother. Alyana may be on the bridge with him, but loneliness, sadness, and despair seemed to be his only company.

  “Hey!” Alyana snapped her fingers. “What happened to Whisper?”

  “She…” He looked away from her as he answered. “She didn’t make it.”

  “What do you mean she didn’t make it?” Alyana covered her mouth with her hands.

  “Can you set a course for Mars first? Please!” Jonas begged. “I promise to tell you everything I saw on the way.” He spared none of the excruciating details as he retold the events of Raven’s ship to Alyana. A part of him had yet to accept Whisper’s death. Recounting the struggle did little to change that.

  Alyana threw herself into Jonas’ chest. “I can’t believe Whisper is gone…”

  “I know…” Everyone Jonas cared deeply about seemed to have a habit of disappearing. “Wait…” Jonas gasped. “Where’s Quip?”

  “Voids!” Alyana shrieked. “I completely forgot about her. She… She… You took too long.” Her body shook. “Quip took her shuttle to Raven’s ship. She was on board when it disappeared…”

  “You let her go?” A vein in his forehead throbbed. “Why didn’t you stop her?” Jonas squeezed his hands into fists.

  “I’m sorry…” Alyana took a step back. “I tried… You know her, she wouldn’t listen…”

  Jonas covered his face and laughed. “She picked a great time to stop being so selfish…” He dropped himself into the captain’s chair and stared blankly at the viewscreen.

  Not another word was exchanged until the Valor arrived on Mars to see a raging battle between the Earth Defense Force and the Mimic invasion fleet.

  “I’m reading a massive debris field.” Alyana updated the viewscreen to show a graveyard of Commonwealth ships. Jagged metal hulls littered the surrounding space, mixed in with the frozen corpses of Fleet sailors. Their faces were etched with silent screams.

  “Hail the Admiral’s ship,” Jonas ordered.

  “Initiating comms,” Alyana said.

  The Admiral appeared on the viewscreen. Most of the bridge was scorched black. There were no other officers on deck. Her camera shook every few seconds as mini-explosions sounded in the distance. A streak of red dripped down from her scalp. Sweat and grime covered her face. Locks of blonde hair fell out of her otherwise, tightly wound bun. “Captain Barick. I sincerely hope you have good news.”

  “I do, Admiral Cananach,” Jonas said. “The Guardians are on their way.”

  Alyana glanced back at Jonas with an incredulous sta
re.

  “Do you have an ETA, Captain? As you might have already surmised, there isn’t much of a defense force left for defense.”

  “Soon, Admiral.” Jonas shook his head. “I wish I could give you a precise estimate. How many ships have we lost?”

  “It would be easier to answer with how many ships we have left.” She scoffed. “Not many. Meanwhile, those bastards keep regenerating theirs. Every ship we disable repairs itself in minutes. Your Guardians better be worth the wait. Because humanity is at the end of its…”

  The viewscreen blacked out.

  “Get her back!” Jonas yelled.

  “One second…” Alyana’s eyes grew wide as she gasped. “That won’t be possible, Jonas.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Her ship is gone…”

  “No…” He slammed his fist into his armrest.

  “What do we do now?”

  “What can we do?” Jonas pulled his face down. “There’s nothing else we can do. Everything comes down to Nume and the Guardians, our last hope.”

  “I’m getting pings from hundreds, maybe thousands of distress beacons,” Alyana said, furiously tapping away on her console.

  “Survivors?”

  “I wish I could tell you. There’s so much interference from all the wreckage.” She pushed her console display to the main viewscreen. “Half the remaining ships are fleeing. Should we run too?”

  “Where would we go?” Jonas scoffed.

  “I don’t know!” Her voice shrieked. “Run and fight another day, right?”

  “No!” Jonas stood. “Our best and only chance is this moment. Right now. With the Guardians. If we run, then we’re truly lost. We need to buy Nume as much time as she needs. Believe in her as she would in you.”

  “Alright.” Alyana sighed. “You pulled the Nume card. We’ll stay. But what about the ships that are retreating?”

  “Open a Fleet-wide comm channel.”

  Alyana tapped on her console. “Done.”

  “To all the sailors…” He cleared his throat. “To anyone still alive, this is Captain Jonas Barick. I know you are all tired, scared, and losing hope. But it’s not over. I promise you. Help is on the way. We need more time. We are humanity’s last shield. If we break, then all will be lost. We cannot break. We will NOT break! Together, we must hold the line. Help is coming. We need you to keep fighting. Buy time so help can arrive. Remember your pledge when you joined Fleet. Protect the Commonwealth and its citizens above all else, even at the cost of your own life. Do this, and we save our civilization. We save our species. We save everyone we care about and love. We give them a tomorrow even if we don’t live past today.” Jonas nodded at Alyana.