“Is that how she did Barret?” Tayshaun asked, catching Sibylla off guard.
Sibylla looked up at him in confusion. “Who’s Barret?”
“Lana Barret?” he answered. “You know, the woman from the stream? I learned her name when I handed her off to one of the the M.P.’s. She was twenty-one from what I understood.”
Sibylla paused as an unexpected sadness washed over her. Not knowing the woman’s name had made things easier. But now that she knew it, she felt as if the final piece of the woman’s death had been set in place, giving a bigger picture of who sh was, that strangely brought no closure to Sibylla.
“No,” Sibylla said. “It was worse.”
“I bet.” Yumiko reached for another piece of chicken and tore into it with her teeth. “We’re going to need to be perfect if we want to beat Varya. She’s probably been planning to be Commander since she was a little girl.”
“Who hasn’t?” Anais added in a serious tone, to which the entire table of recruits began nodding in agreement.
Sibylla couldn’t understand how this was so important to them, how attaining so much responsibility could mean so much. It strangled the air around her and she had to take another sip of her juice to keep from grimacing.
“What’s the matter?” Yumiko asked. “Not hungry anymore?”
“No, it’s not that,” Sibylla said. “I was just thinking about stuff.”
“Your family?” Tayshaun asked.
Sibylla looked at him.
“It’s okay,” Anais assured. “Everyone does at first.”
Sibylla rested her juice on the table and reached for her napkin. She didn’t like talking about her family, especially after what had happened to her father. But she decided to get it out of the way as painless as possible. “My dad died a while ago.”
“Were you close to him?” Tayshaun asked.
Anais shot him a look as she gave him a shove.
“What?” he asked. “I was just wondering.”
“We were,” Sibylla said, remembering how she and her father had spent most of their time together, reading books, playing outside. They were nearly inseparable during her childhood. That was until the war.
“What about your mom?” Yumiko asked.
Sibylla gave her a shrug. She didn’t like talking about her mother either. The thought was nearly as painful. Sighing, she could only say, “She’s dead.”
Yumiko nodded. “You’re lucky. My mom’s a bitch. Come to think of it, so’s my dad.”
Tayshaun scoffed and shook his head. “How many times do I have to tell you, man? Language. Language!”
Yumiko tossed her dirty napkin at his face. He brushed it off with a smile.
“Don’t worry,” Yumiko said, with a grin. “After a while, you’re going to love it here.”
Sibylla frowned as she felt the tip of a boot caressing the inside of her calf. Looking up, she found the soldier gazing at her intently.
“I think I’m done here,” Sibylla said, shooting up from her seat and nearly tripping in the process. Taking her tray, she turned to the other side of the cafeteria and set off.
“You sure?” Yumiko asked. “You barely touched your food.”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Sibylla had barely made it a couple of steps when she heard Yumiko calling out to her again.
“Make sure you get some sleep tonight. You’re gonna need it for the morning.”
Sibylla halted in her tracks, turning around to face the soldier. “What are you talking about?”
“The first battle,” Yumiko said, ripping a piece of bread with her teeth and chewing it. “It’s tomorrow.”
15
The Duelist
Sibylla clutched the straps of her safety harness as the drop pod rumbled through the sky, its thick titanium walls shaking like a cardboard box against the violent wind.
Inside, the pod was small—an octagon-shaped room with a cockpit in the center that controlled the descent of the pod through exterior thrusters. Sibylla, Yumiko, Tayshaun and Koda stood with their backs against the walls, gripping nervously to the safety harnesses strapped across their chests, while Anais, who was not even strapped in, managed the controls of the cockpit with a grin across her face.
This were her Drop-squad now: a five-soldier unit consisting of one pilot, and four infantrymen—all shoved into a single pod. Outside, another two pods were falling nearby, making it a total of fifteen soldiers, which constituted as a single Eagle platoon.
They’d dropped just short of orbit, cutting loose from the Transport Salamander that had lifted them up in the first place. Shuttle launches were too expensive to use on recruits and fuel was limited. This was the best simulation that the government could provide.
The pod lowered steadily as Anais manned the controls. But anything could go wrong, Sibylla knew. If the pod’s hull was breached, they’d be ripped from their harnesses and tossed into the sky. If a bird flew into one of the base thrusters, which was highly flammable, the entire hull would alight with flames and they’d be burnt to a crisp. If a base thruster malfunctioned, or a steering gear got caught, the pod would spin out of control, crashing them to the earth, where they’d be flattened like a pancake. The scenarios were endless.
“Shouldn’t we be engaging thrusters by now?” Yumiko yelled, her voice competing against the grating wind tearing at the pod’s ceramic walls. With her visor lifted, Sibylla could see the edges of her bleached bangs and sloe eyes.
“Hell no!” Anais yelled, her thin arms shaking against the turbulent control stick. “If we waste fuel now, we won’t have enough power to stick the landing. In fact, at this rate, I’d be surprised if we had enough fuel to slow down!”
Oh God, Sibylla thought. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath, trying to calm the fear bubbling inside of her.
Coordinates of the drop site uploaded to their helmet displays, and Sibylla saw holographic images floating in the periphery of her visor, giving her view to where they were landing. She saw a field of dried grass, a snowy mountain, a calm lake.
“How much longer?” Yumiko yelled out.
Anais checked her controls. “About two thousand feet!”
Sibylla’s eyes widened. Two thousand feet? Already? It’d been less than a minute since they’d dropped. At this rate, they’d hit the ground in seconds!
“Okay!” Anais yelled. “Brace for impact!”
Sibylla’s heart pounded, as she shut her eyes. This was it!
The pod shook as fire burst from its underbelly, and Sibylla’s ears nearly popped from the sound of it. It was like the roar of a dragon; bellowing and unrelenting. Sibylla felt the rods of her exo-suit bend at the sudden force, and she thought that they were going to snap at any second.
Finally, the pod steadied, and Anais leaned back on the controls, allowing the thrusters to take the brunt of the descent.
The landing was hard. Sibylla winced as her knees buckled, and she felt her back nearly snap from the force of it. Then, all at once, the thrusters died, and the overhead warning light began to blink, bathing the room in a flashing red. Automated programs kicked in, running system checks on all the pod’s modules and relaying the data through Sibylla’s vector display. Damage appeared minimal. Light abrasion along the outer hull. A few transistor systems rebooted by the shock. Overall, they were good.
Sibylla and the others rushed to unstrap themselves from their harnesses. Everyone except for Koda. He appeared to have passed out from the drop, drooping over the straps of his harness like someone who was drunk.
“Somebody wake his ass up!” Yumiko ordered, brandishing the rifle from her back.
Their weapons had been modified for their safety. But that still didn’t mean that they were safe. On the contrary. Bullets and projectiles had been replaced with a type of gooey shell that emitted an electrical shock.
According to Williams, one shot could cause paralysis, while a second could cause cardiac arrest. It was something that Sibylla wanted to avoid at all cost.
“Go, go, go!” Tayshaun yelled, waving them forward.
Sibylla staggered out in a daze, her visor struggling to adjust to the bright light and vast horizon of trees staring back at her. Squinting at the field, she spotted a Warhawk jet a hundred feet to her left and a Spider tank squatting amongst the grass to her right. They were the vehicles that the Eagles had issued to them.
“Okay,” Yumiko said, “who here knows how to drive a tank?”
Koda raised a hand. He was wide-eyed now, ready to participate. “Before prison, I was a tech engineer.”
“It’s all yours.” Yumiko turned to Anais. “You’re good with jets, right?”
Anais frowned at her in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”
“Whatever, just go.”
Over the forest, more drop pods were landing. Painted blue and black they were a stark contrast to the red and white pods that Sibylla and her unit had landed in. It was the enemy, Sibylla realized. They were coming.
“Any word from the other two squads?” Sibylla asked. Her gaze lifted to the sky, hoping to see them appear.
Tayshaun logged into the com. “Prime 2 and 3. This is Prime 1. Are you inbound?” When no one replied, he met Yumiko’s gaze and shook his head.
“They must’ve veered off course,” Yumiko decided.
“You think they’ll be alright?” Sibylla asked.
“Don’t know,” Yumiko said. “Can’t worry ‘bout that now.”
“But what if they’re hurt?” Sibylla asked.
“It is what it is.”
Sibylla exchanged a worried glance with Tayshaun, and she felt her skin pale as the image of the pods, burnt and destroyed, flashed through her mind. Wanting not to think about it, she turned to Tayshaun. “Keep trying them. We need to make sure they’re okay.”
“No!” Yumiko barked. Tayshaun paused. “We need to focus on securing the perimeter.”
“Can’t we do both?” Sibylla asked.
“Look,” Yumiko said. “Leave the soldiering to us. You’re just a criminal.”
Sibylla watched in dismay as Yumiko stalked off in anger, motioning for Tayshaun to follow her. Angry people made for good soldiers, her father had once told her, but as a leader, someone who needed to stay calm and think of the bigger picture, it required a different type of character.
Sibylla wanted to say something, when suddenly the ground began to tremble and a strange sound lifted from the forest. Frightened, Sibylla looked up and listened.
At first, the sound was faint, like the hollow thump of a hammer fracking the ground. But then, as it grew louder, Sibylla could distinctly make out the rhythmic beat of footsteps.
“What is that?” Tayshaun asked, his fingers tightening around the barrel of his gun. His gaze shifted to the sky, and Yumiko took a step back, seeming just as worried.
Trees fell by the wayside. Birds sprang from the branches. Something very large and powerful was ripping through the forest. What that was, Sibylla didn’t know.
Finally, as it appeared, Sibylla’s jaw slipped agape as she saw a forty-foot-tall robot with one red eye looking out at the field.
“Oh my God,” Sibylla breathed.
Tayshaun cocked his rifle, while Yumiko took a step forward, her eyes seeming mesmerized by the mechanical beast. “Beautiful…” she whispered.
Sibylla didn’t know what she was looking at. She’d heard rumors about the deadly machines that the G.P.T.O. had been working on. But a giant mech? It was unbelievable.
Reaching behind its back, the robot unsheathed a giant rifle the size of a person and aimed it at the field, where poor Koda was still racing for the spider tank.
Shells flared from the humongous barrel, and a trail of torn earth lifted at the hefty soldier’s feet. But Koda was fast. He leapt onto the tank, flipped open the hatch and disappeared into the cockpit, where he quickly awoke its systems.
The spider tank reacted quickly, as it fired a salvo of missiles at the mech, splattering it with an onslaught of gooey shells that sparkled with electricity.
Shocked by the sudden surge, the mech fell to a knee, struggling against the storm of lightning blasting its circuits. Metal fingers clawed the earth, as a single-eyed head twitched in convulsion. Then, with a groan of metal and hydraulics, the giant mech tore through its electrical shackles and rose to its feet, causing Sibylla to gasp in horror. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The sound of engines roared overhead, and Sibylla looked up to see that another Warhawk had taken to the sky.
“I’ve got company,” Anais announced over the com.
Yumiko scowled. “Can you shake it off?”
“Gonna try,” Anais replied.
Sibylla watched as the lead jet arced up and around, barely avoiding the spray of gunfire that trailed at its wake. Losing engine function at that speed and altitude could spell death, Sibylla knew. She could only hope that Anais would be okay.
“We’ve got infantry!”
Sibylla spun around and saw Tayshaun pointing toward the East where a wave of troops was emerging from the forest. Hunched over with their assault rifles in hand, they marched in a widened formation, spreading across the field like a surging wave. It was a smart move. Spacing them apart made them harder targets to hit. The cleverness of it brought a chill to Sibylla’s skin, and she narrowed her eyes, trying to see who was leading them. It was then, as she looked past the troops, that she spotted a porcelain brunette without a helmet leading from behind.
“Varya,” Sibylla whispered, her heart beginning to pound. Out of everyone that they could’ve faced for the first battle it had to be her. Damnit, she thought.
Behind her, Sibylla heard the hiss and pump of hydraulics working in tandem. Spinning around, she saw Koda’s spider tank scampering across the field toward the mech. The two behemoths met in a violent clank of metal that made Sibylla shudder.
The mech fell back on its heels, as the spider tank pressed its attack, its arachnid legs digging up the earth beneath it. But the mech retaliated with a heavy fist to the spider’s spine, and the tank began to stutter backwards.
No, Sibylla thought, worried that Koda had been hurt. But when the tank scuttled in retreat and swiped at the mech’s knee, tripping it to the ground, she knew that he was fine.
“There almost here!” Tayshaun yelled.
Sibylla looked back at the field. Enemy troops were advancing toward them, firing off rounds from only yards away. Most zipped past her, but one hit her in the head, and her helmet began to frizzle. Taking it off as fast as she could, she tossed it to the ground, where it began to sizzle like a steak.
“Forget this!” Yumiko spat. She ripped off her helmet and adjusted her rifle. “They want a fight; we’ll give it to them.”
“Amen to that, sister,” Tayshaun agreed.
The two Marines hurried into position, while Sibylla dropped to a knee, lowering her head to keep from being hit. Their aims were amazing. Yumiko in particular. She called out targets like she was giving orders to a store clerk. “Second to the left.” Bang. “Third one to the right.” Pow.
Tayshaun was just as effective. Though, not as vocal. He was silent, focused. Sibylla got the sense that he didn’t like to be bothered.
When the enemy troops finally closed in around them, Yumiko and Tayshaun tossed their rifles to the side, and met the enemy with a whirlwind of strikes that left their opponents on the ground, unconscious.
Sibylla rose to her feet as she saw one of the enemy recruits, a stalky man with a thick beard racing toward her, with his rifle in hand. When he reached her, he suddenly stopped and glared as if he was frightened by her appearance. “Not you,” he said. “We’re supposed to leave you for her.”
Stunned, Sibylla could only watch as the man raced away, turning his attention to Tayshaun, who quickly put an end to him with a fist to the face. The man’s helmet cracked and he fell to his knees,
idling for a moment, before toppling over.
“You okay?” Tayshaun asked.
Unable to speak, Sibylla nodded.
“Good.”
Tayshaun returned to the fight, where he began to punish the enemy once again. Like a hero standing on a mountain, he drew fighters from all sides, barreling their faces with his fists, close lining them by the throat and snapping their knees with his feet. One woman came at him with a blade. Panicked, Sibylla warned him with a yell. He turned around, saw the woman coming, and caught her by the wrist just before she could cut him. With a knee, he struck her in the stomach, and she doubled over.
“Thanks,” he said.
Before Sibylla could reply, he was hit with a charge from behind, and his body fell to the ground in a spasm.
“No!” Yumiko yelled. Enraged by the sight of her friend, she went on a wild tear, breaking through the surrounding recruits like they were made of matches. She broke arms, collapsed diaphragms. When she was done, she was left in a panting daze, eyeing the bodies that lay beaten and motionless around her.
Across the field, Koda was still fighting the mech. He charged at it with his tank, swiping at its feet, barreling at its knees, doing whatever it could to bring it down. But it wasn’t enough. The mech was much bigger with a longer reach, and Koda was eventually drawn in by its extensive arms.
Sibylla heard the squealing of metal as both machines wrestled against the other, grappling atop the landscape like titans of old, clutching and gripping, pulling and shoving, leveraging their weights as each tried to get the upper hand. But soon, it proved to be too much. And their metal bodies began to fall apart. Joints cracked. Steam bursted. Parts began to fly everywhere. Then, the mech’s shoulder suddenly snapped, and with it, the lazy moan of electrical systems powering down. Falling head first, the mech landed onto the tank’s spine, bearing its entire weight onto the metal arachnid and leaving it motionless. Koda tried to maneuver away. But it was useless. He was stuck.
All that was left now was Varya.
Sibylla jumped to her feet as the Brunette approached. If this was going to be her end, she’d face it with a raised head. At least Dillon wasn’t here to see her die, she thought wearily, wishing that she could just see him once more. She was just about to walk out to meet her, when Yumiko suddenly stepped in front of her. “I’ve got this,” she said.
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