Eric seemed to freeze for a second. He had been about to go for his weapon, on instinct before Torsten’s order had reminded him that he wasn’t supposed to be killing these men. He left the rifle slung over his shoulder, locked in place. The men rushing towards him didn’t seem to see him until Ed looked directly at him. Something moved within his mechanical eye.
“There!” The sergeant shouted, pointing directly at Eric. Despite his camouflage still being active it was as if all four of the men suddenly saw him. No doubt some scanner in the eye given to Ed by Anhur. Modi might like to take a look at that when Ed was subdued. If he was subdued, Eric reminded himself as the angry warriors approached.
Blades came to hand as the four men ascended the pile of rubble towards Eric. They moved fast for men, but not fast enough to keep pace with him in his armor. He leapt backwards, easily moving out of the way of Pier’s great axe. Armor or not, it seemed a good idea to avoid that. Warning signs flaring across his vision confirmed his suspicion, highlighting the axe and the other hand held weapons carried by the four men. An extra warning highlighted the heat lance carried by Styg, reinforcing the impression of danger the weapon caused.
Eric sidestepped a vertical swing of Pier’s axe and lightly punched him in the solar plexus. His knuckles sank in deep and the breath flew from Pier’s lungs as the man doubled over and fell to his knees struggling to breathe. The next upon him was Ragnald, blade swinging furiously at the warped-air shape he could barely see.
Eric slapped the flat of the blade, knocking it off course then struck with the knife edge of his other hand. He landed a blow solidly below Ragnald’s ear and he crumpled to the ground. Warning signs flared telling him that his suit had adjusted the force of the blow so as to keep in line with the non-lethal force order from the command unit. Eric dismissed them and looked to the next men.
Torsten had arrived and held the last remaining man, wrapping Ed’s own arm around his neck and holding the wrist behind his head. Torsten’s other forearm pressed into Ed’s chest and neck, immobilizing him.
“Sorry about this. It’s going to hurt when you wake up.” Torsten spoke out loud, his voice suffering no distortion for the presence of his helmet. Ed’s remaining human eye widened with surprise at the voice and then rolled back into his head as Torsten shifted his hands and delivered an incapacitating electrical shock to the back of the man’s neck.
Styg lay unconscious a few feet behind them. Eric looked over the men as Pier still struggled to rise to his feet. Torsten strode to the man and casually delivered another electrical shock to the back of his neck, causing Pier to collapse face first into the ground.
“How’d you do that?” Eric asked, using their internal communications system.
Torsten turned to Eric and retracted the face plate on his helmet, allowing Eric to see the look of disbelief on the other man’s face.
“You didn’t read the instructions, did you?” Torsten asked in response.
Eric began to blush. He was glad the helmet obscured the view of his face. He shook his head. He had skimmed through the basic functions but hadn’t bothered to look at the data stream in any depth. A suggested data stream popped into the back of his mind, sent by Torsten. Bold letters and all caps.
MILITARY SECURITY ARMOR, MARK III, USER’S MANUAL
Eric read through the data stream, pausing for a few seconds as he did so.
“Always read the instructions first.” Torsten said as he lifted the unconscious form of Pier to his shoulder with one hand. He walked to the nearest other man, Ragnald and shouldered him the same way. Eric did the same with the two remaining men and then began walking away as Modi remotely disabled the signaling beacon.
THE descent from the World’s Spine Mountains took much less time than the ascent into them had taken. Aside from the obvious advantage of moving downwards with the assistance of gravity instead of upwards against it, Torsten’s crew now had the benefit of strength amplifying exoskeletons. If only they’d been heading back east, going home, Torsten thought as he looked out at the foothills stretching before him.
But then, there was no home to return to.
They had all been wide awake, cresting the highest point in their path through The World’s Spine, when they saw it. Something streaking across the sky. One at first, and then joined by others. Each split into smaller pieces that sped towards the eastern horizon and disappeared. A few minutes later the sky was lit as though the sun had decided to rise several hours ahead of schedule. Static overcame their communications and they were forced to speak directly to one another like civilized men.
Data streams from computers onboard their suits suggested that they had just seen the delivery of several orbital strike missiles, each carrying multiple warheads. Most likely nuclear, as would be suggested by the light they had seen and the electronic interference they were experiencing.
They spoke of what it could mean and none reached a conclusion that carried anything good in it.
As the electromagnetic interference died down, they stood there on the trail in the dead of the moonless night. They had received a transmission from Modi, carried by what remained of the military communications satellites in orbit. It was urgent and consisted of her voice and a short data stream.
“I’m sorry. There was nothing we could do.” That was all she said. Torsten opened the data stream. Surveillance from an orbital satellite showed an on-high view of several coastal cities situated near one another. An overlaid map confirmed what Torsten suspected. That he was looking at the heart cities of The Kingdom.
A streak of light descended towards them at an odd angle, multiplying until finally the cities vanished in a series of rippling explosions, consumed by balls of light so bright that it was like looking into the sun. The data stream fast-forwarded until the point in the recording where the observation satellite had recovered from the blast. Hardened against EM, it continued operating.
Nothing remained of the cities other than flaming ruin. Just like that, The Kingdom was mortally wounded if not dead. The majority of the population had lived in those cities as well as the entirety of the ruling class and the Royal Academy. A final portion of the data stream identified the missiles used in the strike as UN type weapons.
Anhur was responsible.
Torsten felt numb. The nation he served was all that he had left after she had died. After they had died. After burying them, he had buried his grief in his duty, carrying on a best as he could. Now if that was gone as well, what was there to keep him going? Would he still feel a sense of duty to the handful of survivors that would likely die of radiation poisoning before he could do anything for them? There would be little left for him in east, if anything.
They moved through the snow pack of a high mountain pass, introverted. Silence lingered between the men of his crew for several minutes before it was finally broken. They spoke in low tones, angry, sad, and shaken. The knowledge that they had just seen their nation die hung in the air between them like a choking gas. Friends, family, brothers in arms. All gone.
If they hadn’t already had enough reason to see Anhur dead, they did now. With a renewed sense of purpose, they continued their journey west. Further away from the remains of The Kingdom and out of the mountains. Onto the forest covered plains beyond.
Few men from the east could claim to have ever travelled this far to the west. And those who did were probably liars. Passing once through the mountains would be a fantastic feat for a normal man, but returning would be something else altogether. No doubt Mountain Men had undertaken this journey at some point, but the fact that they had not stayed spoke poorly of a man’s chances for survival here.
A great roadway of the Ancients, the remains of transcontinental 34 as suggested by a data stream complete with infrastructure maps of the area, stretched before them and beneath them into the distance. Eventually it met the horizon and they disappeared together, becoming indistinguishable. It would provide them with a convenient path to follow.<
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There was no sign of human habitation anywhere to be found. No paths cut through brush and trees or tall buildings visible at any distance. Some animals cautiously approached the group, as if they had not learned to fear men.
Each man took his turn filling canteens with water from a nearby stream flowing out of the mountains to their backs. In the distance it merged with other streams meandering towards the west. Eventually it would become a river and lead to the ocean. Torsten was glad they weren’t actually going that far.
Sensors in their suits told them the water was safe to drink. They had to check each time before they refilled their stores. About half of the water sources in this area were poisoned by the radiation from the Behemoth’s shattered and broken reactors scattered across the land as it fell from heavens above.
The men of Torsten’s crew had received a large dose of radiation during the time they had spent in the ruins of Andersonville as well. Torsten himself received what should have been a lethal dose when he pursued Kal into the ruins of the ship. Modi had been able to lead the men through a few medical procedures in the complex beneath the dead city that could compensate for most of the damage, but they would all need further treatments at a more advanced facility if they were to survive for long.
They would find such at their destination. The same place they had been travelling to before the death of The Kingdom. A military installation in the west that had survived the war mostly intact, but for some reason remained beyond the abilities of Modi and Vidar to bring online. There, they would find the medical equipment they needed, as well as a promised way to strike back at Anhur and the weapons with which to do so.
As many rations as each man could carry were taken from the installation beneath Andersonville. Food, water, and ammunition for their rifles. Until their packs were bursting. The same they had carried their supplies in when they had first come to the west.
Low-tech of baggage blending seamlessly with high-tech of armor and weapons. Torsten shrugged his right shoulder, feeling the weight of the rifle slung there as he thought on it. Such a thing would have been unthinkable only a few weeks ago, and now here he was. Lamenting that he was stuck with such a primitive design.
An assault rifle that fired 7mm caseless ammunition in a variety of types. Armor piercing sabots, explosive tipped, incendiary, the occasional smart round. More than enough to cut through anything they might face on their journey from mountain to military base. He gazed out at an empty seas of grass on either side of the road. But it would be nice to get to play with the real weapons. The advanced ones.
Torsten’s crew completed their descent from The World’s Spine and set out along the remains of the highway. They advanced at a rapid pace. Far faster than they would have been able to move on their own, even with the War God’s enhancements. Still they ran out of food before they reached their destination and were forced to return to hunting for their dinner.
In the past, Eric had found hunting to be a calming experience. Something that he enjoyed as much as for the challenge as for the peace he experienced during the silence. He found the same was no longer true as he stalked a large elk.
Optical camouflage and the lack of a scent gave him a supreme advantage over the animal and its senses. He raised his rifle to his shoulder and took aim. The distance the animal stood at was so far that it would have been ridiculous to attempt a shot with a bow. In fact, he doubted he would even have been able to see the animal at this range without the optics of his suit. He lined up his shot and paused.
Feedback systems within his suit monitored his heart rate and breathing, and provided an enhanced firing solution. It was virtually impossible to miss. Even if he moved his aim off target, the targeting aid system within his armor would attempt to correct and he would probably still hit the mark.
Eric lowered the rifle, his shot unfired, and slung it. He’d brought his bow and sword with him. He could at least pretend to give the animal a sporting chance in the hunt. Over the passing days and weeks he had begun carving arrows out of good wood found along their trail. He had no real heads to speak of, but he had managed to carve a good bodkin into the tips of a few of the shafts.
He grabbed an arrow from his quiver and held it firmly in one hand, bow in the other as he moved towards the elk. He covered the distance quickly and silently. Still too easy, he thought with a small amount of displeasure. The halo system suggested that his stealth levels could be reduced by disabling his optical camouflage and sound dampers.
He did as was suggested and found himself reflecting no small amount of sunlight, making noise once more as he moved through the brush. A small rabbit that he hadn’t been aware of shot from its hiding place and disappeared amidst a clump of tall grass. It was simply too small to have registered as a threat to his armor. But he hadn’t been able to spot it when he should have been able to do so on his own. Perhaps there was something to be said for the cheating approach after all, he grinned to himself.
In a few moments he was lining up his shot, bow string pulled taut and arrow aimed at the animal’s heart. Just before he let fly the armor made a small correction to his aim. The homemade bodkin flew through the air with a small whistle, finding its mark. The elk jumped with shock and ran a few steps before it collapsed.
Eric had felt the armor correct his aim just before he had fired his arrow. It seemed that if he wanted to make any kind of sport out of hunting that he would have to do so completely naked.
The thought that he hadn’t taken the armor off except for the helmet in several weeks occurred to him. The halo suggested a data stream about maintaining personal hygiene while wearing combat armor. It was recommended that users remove their armor at least once a month. Not for matters of cleanliness, but for mental health. The suit could deal with bodily functions and maintain a high degree of sanitary conditions. However, past users had reported feeling like they were trapped in the suits if they did not remove them.
Good to know, Eric thought as he approached the body of his prey. He knelt and began the work of gutting and cleaning the kill and then carrying it back to camp to share with the others. Such a task would have required four or five trips for a normal man. But Eric was no longer normal. He carried the entire carcass back at once.
When he arrived, the others were gathered around a twinkling image of Modi. Eric couldn’t help but look upwards towards the sky. Somewhere, way up there, was the satellite projecting the data that formed her image to the ground, and the signal to their suits that allowed them to hear her as if she was standing before them.
“Good, you’re all here now.” She said as Eric dropped the carcass. “I wanted to talk to you in person about this, instead of just sending you a data stream. You’re getting close to the installation. Fort Kasper.” She called up a map display into their visors before continuing. Highlighting their position and the position of their destination.
“Unfortunately, I and Vidar can only monitor the base. Apparently there has been some damage to the infrastructure which has prevented us from remotely activating it. You will need to repair whatever it is that is damaged before we can bring the facilities online.” Schematics passed through Torsten’s mind, showing likely locations of damaged equipment and what would need to be done to repair them.
“Also… there may be some automated defenses.” Descriptions of various types of armed turrets and security check points flowed through the minds of Torsten’s crew. A few exchanged nervous glances. Some of the hardware described was more than powerful enough to reduce their armor to slag along with them inside of it.
“It shouldn’t be much of a problem, though. We have activated the IFF systems within your suits to identify you as members of Military Intelligence.” She almost sang as she spoke. Torsten looked to Ed and saw a faint blue script floating near him in his view finder. It identified him by name and rank. Both of which were wrong, but it if matched records at the Fort, then so be it. He looked at each man in his crew, seeing the same on
each of them. He hoped they were seeing it near him as well.
“Anhur seems to have gone completely into hiding.” She continued. “We’re working on tracking down his current position based on an algorithm we have constructed from his past known positions in orbit and trajectory data from his strike. When we find him we will let you know.”
“As far as his counterpart, Mordechai, is concerned, there has been unusual activity originating from his last known orbital position. We’re not sure what it means, but keep your wits about you.”
Great, Torsten thought, there might be a kinetic impact weapon aimed at him this very second. He wouldn’t be able to do anything about it though. As fast as he could run, it wouldn’t be fast enough. He would have to rely on Modi and Vidar to keep his unit hidden from prying eyes.
Modi said her farewells and her image vanished. Torsten consulted his updated maps and issued his orders to his squad. They paused long enough to cook and eat their fill from Eric’s kill then set out in the dark of the night.
It was early the next morning, before dawn, when they laid eyes on Fort Kasper. A low chain-link fence stood around the perimeter, topped with barbed wire and rusted through in several places. A few short rectangular buildings were all that showed. Data streams told Torsten that the base had been built in an iceberg style, where most of it was subterranean. That made it easier to defend as well as to contain in the case of mutiny. The buildings that he saw were access points to various areas.
Badly damaged. That was the only way to describe the buildings. It was amazing that any of them still stood. The fence had been flattened in one area directly ahead of their approach as well. Likely the result of a ground attack. Data streams suggested the attack had been launched by Coalition forces, but had been successfully repelled. Damage to the buildings had been sustained when missile strikes had made it through the failing planetary defense shields during the final days of the war.
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