Titan Fleet: The Robur

by Jason J Black

  “Come on, let’s get them there, we have no supplies now and we are all weak.” Megan feels tired too, her wounds were healed, but still very sore, but she finds the strength to lead on.

  The crew walk on for some time. There are ruins everywhere, statues covered in vines and faces looking down on them made of stone, watching them it seems as they walk by.

  “Ok, there is an area coming up, the drone can see part of a tower and a crashed ship of some kind, lets tread carefully here. I will go on ahead and check it out, wait here.” Talia holds up her fist to stop the crew and moves off silently.

  Chapter Eleven

  Fizz, fizz, beep. Lights still flicker on the little crushed robot, left behind by his friends. Titch may be broken, but his self-preservation mode is very much alive and computing options. A small panel on the top of his head opens slowly, as it is dented and the hydraulics are damaged. Two small grey tubular cables float on the air, and the small wires that were hanging down from one of his hands begin to come to life. The wires plant themselves into the ground, like roots of a tree, they bury themselves deep in the ground. The grey cables hesitate for a moment, waiting for the other wires to do their job, then they attach to the golden tower of energy. In an instant, power is surging through the small robot. It smoulders and vibrates, almost taking off before he gains control of his new energy, and with the new power he begins to do a self-diagnostic. His eyes wander the forest looking for his companions, but they had gone. His left eye was damaged and beyond saving, and his legs were unable to move at all, not that there was much of them to salvage anyway. He had partial use of his arms, although one was now wielded like steel to the ground. He began to pulse out a robot distress beacon for any robots in the area to be able to repair him. This was a routine pulse when a robot was damaged, so that robots could look after robots, and this would not bother humans with their busy lives. There was little hope that someone would come.

  Chapter Twelve

  Talia creeps through the woods to the outskirts of the clearing. There was clear wreckage which looked like a human fighter that had crashed. It had wiped out the monument tower, so that would not be any good now. After checking the drones camera and sensors, Talia confidently walks into the clearing, knowing there was nothing around that could harm her. It was indeed a crashed fighter, the escape pod had detached, so someone had gotten out just in time, she thought as she ran her hand along the upside-down ship. The ship had taken a fair beating; there were holes in the hull everywhere. As Talia walked around the other side of the ship to see the damage on that side, she saw two blue ball ships lay in pieces, metal everywhere. It was obvious that the pilot had taken them down before bugging out.

  Talia smiles, “Good for you, Pink Wing!” she says aloud, as she reads the Pink Wing insignia on the nose of the fighter. Looking up, she sees her companions’ faces, and she walks over slowly, clambering over the sharp twisted metal minefield.

  “Why did you not stay put?” asks Talia, slightly disappointed.

  “Because we care about you, and you were gone a while,” replies Megan, walking over to take a look at the fighter for herself. She suddenly stops dead and stands motionless, as if she had just seen a ghost. Her mouth falls open slightly in shock. The name Pink Wing brings back the horror of horrors, and her mind again begins to fall back to the evil happenings of that day.

  Chapter Thirteen

  She lay melted and burned, crying out in agony when the medics reached her under the lift that day. All she could hear was the laughter of the Pink Wings as they ran off, echoing in her mind, playing over and over like a broken record. She had suffered ninety percent burns on her body and was close to death, when she was taken by the smartly dressed government officials. She remembered them rolling her down corridors on her med bed and into a brightly lit room, where the Prime Lady stood, peering down at her.

  “You will die if we don’t intervene, but we must get your consent for our trial project.” Eve Thorn had told her.

  Megan replies, “Yes, just end the pain, anything.” Then there are flashbacks of memory and pain, something she does not want in her mind. The agony was such that she was grateful when they peeled off her skin and tossed it away like rubbish.

  When Megan awoke, her skin seemed new and younger and her pain had gone. She was wondering who the new skin had once belonged to. Was it someone who had unfortunately passed away, or was it an unwanted prisoners skin? She would never know. She was sat up in bed and the Prime Lady, Eve Thorn was standing next to her, checking her litepad details. She had agreed to join Eve’s program of bio-engineered humans, and then became part of her team, enhancing and engineering humans who were badly wounded or convicts.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Megan! Snap out of it, will you!” Shaking Megan violently, Talia is shouting in Megan’s face. Megan snaps back to reality and shrugs off Talia’s grip.

  “Get off me!” Megan steps back in shock and then regains her posture.

  “What was that all about?” asks Talia, concerned for her friend.

  “In short, the Pink Wings are not to be trusted. They tried to kill me. That is all you need to know. We should travel in the other direction.” Megan looks at the ship with hatred in her darkened eyes, her blood raging through her veins and pounding in her head, her fists clenched.

  “Hey, its ok, we will go the other way, don’t worry ok, just relax. Here look, we can go this way, see?” Talia shows Megan a new route around, which would not take much time at all, and Megan begins to settle and concentrates on the map. Megan looks up at Talia, who has calmed her down, and thinks that she is a true friend for sticking by her.

  “Sorry, Talia, thank you, it was just a hard time for me to remember, still friends?” Megan holds out her hand, waiting for a response.

  “Always!” replies Talia, hugging Megan instead. The hatred disappears and the crew rummage through the wreckage to see if there is anything of use, but nothing any good is found, so they quickly move on. Megan looks back over her shoulder and shakes her head, but then fixes her gaze on the Gulmeds.

  Steg was looking so very tired and under her clothing, things moved on her lump which must have been uncomfortable for her.

  “Do you need a hand, Drax?” whispered Megan in to his ear. Drax looks at Megan and shakes his head.

  “No, we are fine, Captain. We just need to get to the sacred grounds and fast. Steganthian is almost ready.” A very concerned look falls on Drax’s face.

  The crew trundle on through the forest on the old road, until they come across several bodies in the road and surrounding area. The bodies were of different creatures torn apart, bones and flesh lay everywhere that an eye could wander. Flesh hung from the trees and bloody drag marks lead off from the path in all directions.

  “Was this some sort of battle, Talia?” Megan asks, fearing Talia’s answer.

  “No, I don’t think so, but I do recommend we move quietly and quickly,” Talia replies, looking down on her screen, her drone acting as her eyes and ears. “We are being watched. It looks like a pack of those Gooloo creatures we saw before.”

  Drax takes Steg’s spear rod from the back of her belt and activates it, which also reminds Megan that not only does she have her make shift spear, but she also has Drax’s spear from earlier on her belt, which has been swinging there for hours going unnoticed. She smiles to herself thinking how stupid she was for forgetting. She holds her make shift spear at the ready, poised for action.

  “Keep moving slowly and we may just make it through unnoticed. Looks like they have just eaten, so we may get through,” Talia tells them.

  Drax moves slowly behind Talia and Megan brings up the rear, guarding Steg.

  “Watch out for the holes in the ground,” Talia warns as she steps over one, looking down into darkness. The animals are all silent here, fearing death, so every step the crew make seem to them like thunder claps on the ground.

  The Gooloo know that they are moving and begin to m
ove through the forest at the side of the road, making grunting noises to each other. The holes in the ground become more frequent, and even on the road now, which looks like parts of it have fallen down into underground tunnels.

  “Oh crap, they are moving beneath us too.” Megan spots a white flash of fur darting along underneath her as she steps over a hole. “Keep moving. They are trying to herd us somewhere, so stay on the path.” As Drax looks ahead he can see two Gooloo sat on the path in front of them, and now it seems they are everywhere around them.

  “They want us off this path.” Talia raises her gauntlet and ready’s her blades and drone. The two Gooloo begin to run straight at the huddled crew down the path and are gunned down with gauntlet and drone fire. Then two more dash in from the left, which are also dispatched quickly, and then three from the rear begin to run in, one of which ends up on the end of Megan’s spear. The weight of the Gooloo, as it hits the spear, sends Megan to the floor and she is left fighting it, as it is trying to claw at her with its talons, while wrapping its barbed tongue around the top of her left arm, trying to chew it off.

  “Ahh!” cries Megan as her skin gets torn and her arm begins to bleed. A second passes and Talia is on top of the Gooloo and severs its head with her blades, slicing through its skin and bone with ease. Its orange blood spews all over Megan like a volcanic eruption, covering her face and body with a gut wrenching putrid stink. Talia stands up, proudly posing and shouts in anger and then throws the severed head in the direction of an approaching Gooloo.

  Drax is now fighting three more that were trying to get to Steg and in a split second two more Gooloo grab hold of Megan, who is still led on her back with the weight of the dead Gooloo on her, trying to clear this thick blood from her eyes. They pull her swiftly away, kicking and screaming, as Talia turns to see the dead Gooloo fall to the wayside. Megan shouts as Talia begins to run in her direction.

  “No! Save the babies and the Gulmeds. Promise me!” The words stop Talia in her tracks and she nods, looking Megan in the eyes as she is dragged away. More Gooloo block her way and it is impossible to save Megan. The two Gooloo hate the noise that Megan is making and one of them begins to punch Megan in the face and body, raining blows down on her with his powerful fists. Megan begins to get angry. She does not feel the pain. Her nose explodes and blood gushes out of it, but no pain is felt. She is seeing red.

  All Talia can see is the Gooloo beating on Megan on the floor, and then watch them pick her up. Her hair is beginning to grip them in a red haze of sharp tentacles as they try to throw her down a large hole in the ground, but Megan’s hair now has firm grip on them and they all fall down the hole, screeching and screaming as they fall until no sound is heard. Talia has no time to think and runs to join Drax fight the Gooloo. She pulls Megan’s make-shift spear from the dead Gooloo and thrusts it into the head of another, who has just launched an attack from a tree branch. It falls, dead before it hits the ground.

  “That’s for Megan, you bastard!” shouts Talia in anger as she runs up the back of an unsuspecting Gooloo, punching it in the back of the head with her blades, before springing off, somersaulting and kicking a third Gooloo in the face, sending it rolling backwards away from Steg, and then blasting it in the body, which rips it in two, spraying the forest with an orange tinge. Tears roll down Talia’s face as she continues to relentlessly attack foe after foe, turning the Gooloo pack into mulch. Her drone blasts away unhindered by the Gooloo, sat up in the air, darting left and right in the sky, dealing death from above.

  “This way, Talia!” shouts Steg, who has just been injected with something by Drax and now seems to have a new lease of life. Steg beckons Talia away towards another monument tower, which looks intact. It would be a bit of a run, but they could make it. Talia looks at the tower and then begins to run just like the Gulmeds are doing. She looks back for a second. She has lost her best friend and captain. She then turns and puts all her effort into running, she had a promise to keep now. The Gooloo are hot on their heels, not giving up on their meal, and Talia’s drone kills any that get remotely close to the crew.

  Steg is the first to get to the tower and opens the door. She begins to power the defence systems, while Drax and Talia stand in the doorway with the drone above, fighting off the Gooloo, which seems to have tripled in number somehow, until Steg grabs Drax and Talia, pulling them in and the heavy blast door closes, catching a Gooloo as he tries to get follow them, its head and body exploding all over the floor inside the tower.

  They all stand silent thinking about what has just happened, as the defence system begins to destroy countless Gooloo, until they begin to retreat back into the forest, away from sight.

  “I am sorry for your loss, Talia.” Steg places her thin fingers on Talia’s shoulder, trying to comfort her, but it was not the same as a human hug where you could feel the love, and now Talia was the only human on the planet. Talia has tears rolling down her face. They make clean lines in the dirt as they drip off her chin to the floor.

  “Ok, I must do some servicing on my drone, please excuse me for a moment.” Talia checks the drone’s camera and carefully opens the door, the coast was clear and she needed to be alone for a few moments. Talia finds a tree stump and sits on it. She reaches into her pouch on her belt and pulls out the knuckle dusters that Megan had given to her for her birthday. She smiles as she tries them on and decides to wear them from that point on, in remembrance of her friend, and to dish out a bit of payback, she thought to herself, trying to make sense of everything.

  Steg looks at Drax, who is out of breath from all the fighting. “That was close. If you had not given me that stim, we would all be dead, but you know what that means, don’t you.” Drax rubs his head in thought.

  “Yes, my queen, I do, but our race from now on will be a stronger one, one that will never be a slave to any other. We are close to the sacred grounds and the ceremony of freeing will soon be on you. I suggest we stay here for tonight in safety and rest, it should be less than a day to get there now.” Drax presses a few console buttons and several beds slowly slide out from slits in the walls and he helps Steg on to one. Steg lies down on the bed and falls fast asleep, as Drax looks on a security camera at Talia, who has her head slumped in her hands.

  An hour passes by and it begins to get very cold outside, and Talia heads inside to the warmth and light. Drax smiles at Talia as she enters the room.

  “Thought we could do with a rest. Shall we stay here for the night, Talia?”

  Talia frowns slightly. “Why are you asking me?”

  Drax replies quietly, so as to not wake Steg. “You are the leader now, we trust you.”

  Talia smiles at Drax. “No, Megan was the leader, I’m just a friend with a mission. Yes, we should all rest and then I will get you and Steg and the babies to safety, you have my word on that.” Talia takes off the heavy metal plate armour, and rolls her shoulders and rotates her head around a few times, and then climbs onto a bed and stares up at the ceiling, as Drax dims the lights for the night.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Proximity alert. Proximity alert!” The voice of the Invictus’ on-board computer shouts out the warning, waking everyone on the ship. Nova is on her feet and heading towards the bridge, as large objects begin to slam against the ships shields, echoing throughout the ship and shaking her from left to right until she opens the bridge doors and slides into her chair in her pink silk pyjamas.

  “What’s going on, Nova?” bellows Pace, as his face pops up on her computer screen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and his hair all sticking up on one side. “Who is attacking us now?”

  Nova is tapping her fingers fast on her console to open the giant bridge shutters, to see what is going on.

  “One sec, Cap, shutters opening now. Oh, it’s ok, it’s only ship debris, a lot of it. I did not realize we destroyed so much. I will try my best to get us through.” Pace sits up and rubs the skin around his shoulder, it always ached in the mornings, and checks his meta
l arm systems, and he felt good to be doing something again. Pace pulls on a black top and trousers, and keeps the comms open to Nova, as he begins to have a shave.

  “So we are not far from the planet now then, Nova. Do a full system scan and check for life signs on the planet. Ouch!”

  “Ouch what, Cap?” replies Nova, taking control of the ship and switching off the auto-pilot.

  “Ouch, I cut myself, that’s all.”

  Nova begins to jostle with the controls and the ship is thrown around a bit. Rusty falls out of bed and crashes face down on the floor. He was a heavy sleeper and shaking his head, he rolls over on to his back and looks up and yawns.

  “Rusty, reporting in.” This is shortly followed by Sam reporting in, who quickly makes his way to the bridge. Anc and Padley were already activated from their slumber and repairing sub-systems around the ship and in medbay. Pace walks onto the bridge with toilet paper on his face to stop his cut from bleeding and sits in his chair, his belt securing him in so he did not fall out.

  “I got it kid, you go and get dressed, it’s going to be a long day.” The red warning lights around the ship continue to blink an intense red, as Pace puts the ship into a barrel roll to avoid a large chunk of metal. He was sweating slightly and concentrating on avoiding collisions. The Invictus was a whole lot different to fly, now that they had the new drill laser on the front of it, but Pace slowly began to relax after ten minutes or so.

  Sam walks through the bridge door and slides into his seat at his control station and begins to analyse the area.

  “Captain, there is not much to worry about for the time being, but long range sensors did, for a second, pick up something large moving around the other side of the planet. I suggest we play it safe, Sir.” Sam taps his rough fingers on his console key pad and with great haste, he pulls up a map of the surrounding space. Nothing else moved in this ship graveyard, all life had been destroyed. Blue bodies littered space, occasionally bouncing off the Invictus, leaving their blood slim behind, like flicks of paint on an artist’s canvas.