The Veil Rising

by Brandon Ellis

  Daf didn't move. Was she even alive? Crystal pressed on Daf's neck, checking for a pulse. She was very much alive. “Get up, you worthless piece of ebb!”

  Nothing.

  Crystal rolled her eyes and quickly pulled Daf across the floor, down an aisle of desks where she picked one and hid them both behind it. The light coming through the windows had changed. This was good, thought Crystal. She'd be more hidden as darkness settled over Lumus…but the sun never dipped entirely below the horizon this time of year.

  A blast occurred near the office door, throwing paper and splintered wood into the air. Why didn't they construct the inside of the office with ebb? She glanced up, seeing that the door and a large portion of the wall were missing.

  Crystal covered Daf with her body. A loud footstep came into the office, making Crystal suddenly realize something. Gravity! With the Mech Bay door blown open, and now the office door and a large portion of the wall destroyed, the artificial gravity would have been sucked outside, leaving them to the mercy of Lumus' gravity problem. Within minutes, her body would die, either from heart or lung issues, or maybe even brain dysfunction, none of which she cared to choose or experience. She had two minutes at most, to get inside of a Mech where pressure would equalize the heavy gravity, making it sustainable for both she and Daf.

  Another step sounded in the office and Crystal peeked over the desk, seeing the very large humanoid hunched forward, doing it's best not to hit its head on the ceiling. It was clearly searching for her, snooping under desks, pushing them out of the way and toppling them over in the process.

  Crystal also saw that it carried a spear-like weapon in its hand, with an orange-red colored tip that glowed. Crystal wondered if it had the ability to shoot. If it did, she and Daf were goners.

  No more thinking. She had to go. The humanoid moved another step forward, pushing aside the desk she had been hiding behind only a minute ago. She had one attempt and one attempt only.

  Taking several more steps forward, the humanoid peered into another room, crouching to move through the doorway and then it disappeared into the room.

  This was it. She had to move.

  Crystal grabbed Daf by the wrists and dragged her through the disarrayed desks, through the blasted hole in the office wall and into the Mech Bay.

  Crystal looked over her shoulder, peering at the standing Mechs lining the warehouse wall. There were about twenty or so Mechs, although only one with the hatch already open, plus it already had a portable staircase pressed against the cockpit.

  With ten more yards to reach the Mech, she turned her head back around, eying the office and gasped. There it was, the humanoid, running toward her, taking long, athletic strides.

  Adrenaline pumping and biceps burning, Crystal dragged Daf to the Mech and started pulling her up the staircase, straining and squinting, her eyes in pain and feeling her muscles weaken under the strain. A sharp beam of orange-reddish light zipped past her head and hit the Mech. A singe of heat smelled from behind her. Looking back, she saw a wisp of smoke rising from a small indentation in the Mech’s armor. Her eyes narrowed, determined all the more as adrenaline surged through her body. She checked over her shoulder and saw that the humanoid was much closer now, holding the spear outward as it ran, pointing it directly at her.

  As fast as she could, she moved up the ladder step by step, surprised by her sudden strength and speed. At the top step, she shoved Daf up and over the hatch, hearing Daf’s body thud against the bottom of the standing cockpit. She jumped up and over the opening, seeing another flash of orange-reddish light zip past the open hatch, barely missing her. Landing on the cockpit floor, she grabbed the handle of the hatch and pulled it shut, pressing the lock button. She scrambled into the straps that secured her body into the standing position of the cockpit, clicking the belt tightly. “Oh my Guild, oh my Guild, oh my Guild!” Shaking her head breathlessly, she stood on the foot pads that instantly calibrated her body type to fit the Mech's operational output, then stared at the HDC in front of her.

  “On!” she yelled.

  The Mech came to life, lights flashing, steam rising and creating gravity to normal levels. Immediately, her heart slowed down and she stabilized. She’d made it!

  Then a pound slammed against the Mech, jolting it. Crystal looked down at Daf sprawled on the floor next to her foot pads. Blood was dripping from her mouth and the side of her head and Crystal wondered if Daf was even alive.

  She better not be dead!

  Another pound and a jolt shuddered through her Mech. “You shit! You wanna fight?!” She turned her torso and swung her arms around, the Mech mimicking her movement, hitting the humanoid hard across its chest. It fell backwards, flinging its arms about wildly as it hit the ground hard, its spear twirling across the floor.

  Crystal walked forward and stepped the Mech's foot down on the humanoid's chest. The humanoid grabbed the foot, wrapping its enormous hands around the sides of it, doing its best to get it off its chest. When it was unable to move the Mech even an inch, it finally let go and dropped its arms out wide, like a bird giving up by spreading its wings on the ground. Crystal used the two ton Mech foot to crush the humanoid, hopefully ending its life.

  After a short pause of feeling victorious over her enemy, Crystal bounded forward, moving as quickly as the Mech was able, heading for the blown out Mech Bay door. Dim light poured through it and she dared not look behind, just in case...

  “What's...happening?” Still lying on the floor of the cockpit, Daf had suddenly spoken. She rubbed her temple and winced. Then she looked at her fingers that had gotten wet with blood by touching her temple. “Why...” she coughed, “am I bleeding?”

  Crystal looked at her HDC. “Can't talk right now—we've got unidentified craft heading our way.”

  “Huh?” Daf tried to stand, but fell back down when Crystal leaped her Mech out of the warehouse and slid down a small embankment, landing skillfully in stride. Crystal then turned her Mech and raced toward a large mountain in the distance, checking the heat gauge as she ran, making sure that her Mech wouldn’t overheat.

  “Stay down, Daf, and hold onto something!”

  Daf pressed the ridge of her nose. “I think it's broken.”

  “I said, hold on to something!”

  “Huh? Where are we?” She pinched her nostrils shut with her thumb and index finger, doing her best to stop the bleeding.

  “I'll explain later, hold on to the HDC column!”

  Daf slid over and wrapped one arm around the column, using her other hand to maintain pressure on her nose.

  Crystal leaped her Mech high into the air to jump over a huge boulder, reaching the Mech's peak jumping capacity at twenty two feet. Crystal watched as the ground rose quickly toward her as she automatically pressed an air compression function on her HDC, causing air to blow out of two metal hoses attached to each side of the Mech's ankles, slowing them down as the Mech descended, making the impact soft and easy.

  Sweat started dripping from Crystal's skin as she continued the Mech's fast pace. Another look at the HDC told her that the unidentified craft were looming closer, although they were still miles away.

  “Where are we going, Chief?”

  Crystal peered down at her friend who was still holding her nostrils, blood having trickled down from her nose to her forearm.

  “To the mountain.” She pointed, forgetting to turn the parrot switch off, noticing her Mech pointing as well. Daf stood up and peered through Crystal's window.

  “I see it, but why are we going there? Take us back to the warehouse.”

  “I know some hiding places at the base of the mountain.”

  Crystal pounded the Mech forward, hoping to get there before the incoming enemy found them.

  “Hiding places?” asked Daf, still clearly confused by what was going on.

  Crystal shot her a look, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. “In case you forgot, Mechie, we're under attack! For all I know, we're the only survivors!”<
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  Daf's mouth dropped open. “Wha...” She dropped her arm from the column, suddenly remembering the events just before she had blacked out. So it wasn’t just a nightmare. It was real. “I thought you were dead when I picked your Mech up and dragged it to the warehouse.”

  “The universe isn't that lucky, Daf.” Crystal glared at the HDC. The enemy craft were now only several miles away, though coming from the other side of the mountain, consequently blocking Crystal and Daf's Mech from their view. She didn't know, though, if the enemy used heat sensors to find their targets. If they did, Daf and Crystal were probably going to be at the bad end of a strafing run, and very soon.

  She sprang her Mech over another boulder, landing skillfully in stride. She took another glimpse at the HDC. “How much time until I'm to Mount Gabriel?”

  The HDC computed and blinked 11 seconds.

  “How much time until the unidentified craft reach Mount Gabriel?”

  13 seconds blinked on the HDC.

  Crystal took a deep breath. You have to get this right, Crystal. You have to be perfect. No screw ups. Keep the Mech upright.

  Since the enemy was coming from the opposite side of the mountain, Crystal figured that if she could get to the base of it before the enemy craft, they could hide and shut down the Mech just in case the enemy did indeed use heat sensors.

  “Hurry up, Mech. Go!” Crystal leaned forward with rapt intention, focusing on every movement. She jumped again, leaping over another boulder. She glanced at the HDC.

  3 seconds.

  She gasped out loud.

  Coming up to the base of the mountain, she spotted the hiding spot she had known about for years—a thick ebb formation with two large rocks jutting upward, with a huge rock slab sitting horizontally on top of the two, acting like a roof. It had been a place to rest when a rare storm came, a safe place where she parked her Mech to watch the rain and lightning crash down from the sky.

  One second.

  She reached the rock formation and hid under it, immediately shutting down her Mech and hoping it would cool down sooner than later.

  Daf pointed to the sky. “Whoa!”

  Singly, the enemy craft zipped overhead as Crystal sucked in oxygen, not daring to let it out. There were so many. Where'd they come from? Why were they here? Crystal turned the parrot switch off and wiped the sweat from her brow. “I need some water.”

  ∞

  “Matrona jumped! I repeat, Matrona jumped!”

  Admiral Byrd leaped out of his command chair and rushed over to Brigger's HDC. “Where are they?”

  Brigger pointed to an area between Brigantia and the pyramid star ships.

  Before Admiral Byrd could react, two red dots beeped on the HDC. "What are those, Brigger? Zoom in.”

  The screen zoomed in, showing two large, blue orbs approaching Matrona. They had bluish-white tails and looked like comets.

  “Those are torpedoes, sir!”

  The Admiral shook his head, having known what they were the moment he saw them. “Launch countermeasures!”

  Brigger leaned back, whispering into the admiral's ear with fright in his voice. “They won't get there in time.”

  “Don't question, Brigger—just do it!” Admiral Byrd backed up and walked around to sit in his chair, fidgeting with his shirt and then slamming his fist against the arm rest. “Launch them!”

  “Launched...” Brigger turned his head and looked at the admiral, noting the fidgeting. “Launched, sir.”

  “Open com link to Eden,” ordered Admiral Byrd.

  “Open, sir.”

  A crackle came over Eden's com link. It was Admiral Byrd. “Eden, we have inbound countermeasures.”

  She glanced at her HDC, knowing full well why they were launched. She'd seen the torpedoes on her HDC screen the exact moment they became inbound. She shifted her Thunderbird, heading toward them. “The countermeasures won't make it in time, admiral.”

  “We have no choice,” he replied. “Get the Thunderbirds out of there. If Starbase Matrona is destroyed, all nearby craft will be hit. Take your teams to our landing bays.”

  “Yes, sir.” Eden clicked on all open lines. “Attention all birds, shake your attackers, finish your targets and immediately head to Brigantia's landing bay.”

  Eden pushed the throttle forward, speeding her Thunderbird faster toward the torpedoes as she watched them draw closer and closer to Matrona. She sighed. She had to do this. She eyed her HDC, clicking on her weapons and waiting for the lock.

  Weapons off line, blinked across her screen.

  “What the hell?” she clicked on her weapons again.

  Nothing changed. Still off line. It was like a bad vid. This couldn't be happening now. Did she melt her cannons somehow?

  “Eden,” said Admiral Byrd. “Turn around and head to Brigantia. There's nothing you can do to help from this point forward.”

  Eden pushed on the throttle even more, hurtling even faster through space, watching Matrona coming closer, wanting to position herself between the starbase and the torpedoes. She trembled and squeezed her muscles tightly, forcing herself to remain on course. This wasn’t just a risk. This was a death sentence.

  “Eden! Get back here! That's an order!”

  She heard his voice and heard her own breath inside of her helmet. She ignored the admiral. There was no explaining herself, nor would it matter if she did. He wouldn't hear her, he wouldn't understand her motives and would think her decision unwise, although she knew he'd do the same.

  Her lips quivered as tears welled in her eyes. She didn't want to say goodbye, and as she passed Matrona, seeing more of it as a blur versus anything else. She'd taken her Thunderbird to a speed most pilots wouldn't dare to attempt. She clenched her teeth, doing her best to keep her body functional and her mind aware. She veered off, heading directly at the torpedoes, seeing them glow a hazy bluish-white. Her HDC blinked red. Impact was in thirty one seconds. She needed to go faster, needed to put as much distance as possible between her and Matrona.

  Star Guild, what am I doing?

  By now, the admiral knew her plan and that he couldn't talk her out of it, so it was okay when nothing came over her com link. It was okay that silence filled her cockpit. She knew they were with her—the bridge of Brigantia—watching her on the vid screen. Some most likely looked at her as insane, others, such as Admiral Byrd and Captain Stripe, probably figured they would do the same if they were in Eden's place. They would think there was no other choice than to save the fleet, to save the people and families they loved.

  Star Guild, a family. My family. She smiled at the thought. In her young life, she always thought of having a partner and children, retiring as a flight commander, living the rest of her life in nice quarters snuggled up to the biosphere inside the starbase, where she could watch her children grow, then her grandchildren, and her grandchildren's children. They would play in the forests, the beautiful meadows, the rivers and hills, just like she had done while growing up. And, in a way, she knew that it had already happened. Star Guild had become that family she had been wishing for. It was always there, right in front of her. The admiral, Brigger, Captain Stripe, and the rest of the crew were always with her, either in her thoughts or in person, and like a good family, they watched each other's backs. Some had shoulders to cry on, others were the kind to slap her on the back saying wipe the crying piss out of your eyes. True brothers and sisters. Personalities, all different from each another.

  Her cockpit highlighted blue and her head drew back stiffly. The torpedoes were nearly on her. This was it, her big moment. Death. For an instant, she thought about ejecting, pushing herself far away from the explosion but it wouldn't matter. Impact was in nineteen seconds and if she exited her cockpit now, the initial impact of her Thunderbird against the torpedoes would kill her anyway. And if not, the waves that followed would.

  Seventeen seconds.

  She gunned it, putting as much force against the throttle as she could.

 
Eleven seconds.

  Two silver egg-shaped orbs, as big as her Thunderbird, appeared on each side of her. They were shining, as if they were the two most polished objects in the universe. She knew she was hallucinating, a symptom of too much stress on her body.

  Six seconds until impact.

  She let go of the control stick, placing her hands over her heart and squeezing her eyes shut. Through her eyelids, all around her became more and more blue. The torpedoes would hit at any second and she welcomed it.

  ∞

  On the vid screen, surrounding Brigantia's bridge, they saw two unknown spacecraft suddenly blip into view. They had all been watching quietly, consumed by sadness as they waited for Eden to end her own life by stopping the oncoming torpedoes when two unknown silver orbs jumped in on each side of Eden's Thunderbird.

  A blue flash filled the bridge’s vid screen a moment later, immediately causing a stir within the crew. The torpedoes had detonated, surely saving Matrona and killing their most skilled pilot. Eden was gone.

  Gasps, cries and shouts rumbled throughout the crew on the bridge as the vid screen displayed an aura of blue moving outward, a wave heading toward Starbase Matrona. Eden's Thunderbird was gone, incinerated with no trace as if it had just disappeared. The two egg shaped ships were gone as well. It was either a strange suicide mission, or they had simply jumped in at the wrong place at the wrong time.

  The admiral's gaze dropped to the floor, grief overwhelming him and causing him to forget all about the silver egg-shaped craft. He stiffened, holding in a cry and doing his best to be strong for the crew. He cleared his throat, bellowing out a muffled order.