by Marc Landau
“Beep. Good luck.”
“You too.” I hit more buttons and powered up big-time. “Let’s frak these fraking fraks!”
The thrusters rumbled as they roared to life. I put one hand on the navigation controls, the other on the weapons system just like I’d done a thousands times before. It fit like a glove, just like the game. But this was better than the most advanced RLEGS (real-life-experience game-stream). This was real fraking life.
Chapter Thirty-Five
A real life Krin warrior appeared from thin air. Already in motion, its wings bent into the shape of a blade. My piloting was going to end before it even began.
Frak, these Krin are sneaky!
There was no time to do anything except watch the dragon blade wing slice me in half. But instead, I saw the Krin’s armor flicker off and a spear squish through its neck. It made a horrible static screech and fell to the ground, oozing black goo.
Kat stood behind it looking like a warrior goddess. She wiped a bit of goo from her forehead. “That wasn’t so bad.”
“I’m sure there’s more to come.”
“Don’t worry. We’re ready for them.”
They’d attacked first. Now it was time for us to finish things. I slammed on the thrusters and triple checked the weapons. The ship took off with a thunderous roar and blasted straight into the heart of the Krin army.
Shields, dummy, the little voice reminded me.
“Right. Thanks.” I hit the shields praying they’d be strong enough to protect us from the bulk of the Krin's weapons. A dark beam of black light shot directly at us from one of the largest ships. We were about to find out.
It hit us directly, and the ship bucked but quickly settled down. That was one of the biggest ships, and the shields did fine. We should be okay.
That’s when at least twenty of the giant cubes appeared and lit up with black laser pulses.
Oh, shat!
I careened to the right and most of the dark pulsars missed. A few got through and hit the rear of the ship, bucking it, making us spin in space. But the shield and the hull were still holding up pretty well. If enough of them hit us, it would do some serious damage. I couldn’t just run straight at them firing like a maniac and hoping to win.
I used the spin of the ship to come up under three of the giant porcupine cubes that had blasted us. It was my turn now. They were going to know what it was like to be in a real dog fight (sorry for the negative reference about dogs). I went with the big guns and shot off a quick succession of mega-pulses. Four of them hit their targets and immediately incinerated the Krin vessels.
Take that, Krin shatholes.
It turned out they were testing our defenses. I should’ve known better. That’s always what good fighters do first. See what they’re dealing with. And now they knew. I bet they were relieved the Ultra hadn’t wiped them out with a blink. I’m sure that’s why they held back at first.
But the Ultra wasn’t all-powerful. It was a Clavian Star Destroyer symbiotically attached to an auxiliary sub-private and a woman who saved dolphins.
Suddenly, what looked like a million smaller ships spit out of one of the large black porcupines. Then a million more ejected from another porcupine. Then again from another, and another. Trillions of Krin insects. A swarm came at us, engulfing the ship. Eating away at its shielding.
Very clever.
I tried shocking them off the shielding, figuring the electrostatics had worked on their armor, but it had little, if any effect. I could hear the Krin bugs buzzing like a hive outside. A high-pitched, staticky sound that made my ears feel as if they were going to erupt. I felt something wet dripping from my ear and touched it. Blood. Great, screeching Krin insects were literally making my ears bleed. I tried to focus but the buzzing was so loud and piercing I couldn’t think.
That’s when twenty Krin dragon soldiers popped onto the ship in front of me.
Kat lifted her metal pipe spears high, then let out a Viking battle cry and attacked. The bot let out a Viking battle beep and followed suit, along with its mini-minion of soldiers. The two Pokas let out battle barks and began racing around like lunatics.
It reminded me of ancient wars on Prime and of a vid called Braveheart. Men with only swords, spears and shields running, screaming, slamming, and stabbing. A medieval battle was taking place on a Clavian Star Destroyer with two hyper-advanced alien species. War is war, no matter how advanced you are.
Black goo splattered the walls as Kat shocked and stabbed one Krin after the other. It was as if she had morphed into a super warrior from…oh, shat, the Ultra must have taken fighting knowledge from my memory of the game-stream. Kat was fighting exactly like Krukon, the super-soldier turned assassin turned Protector of the Innocent.
Smooth move, Ultra. That’s hot.
The bot and his minions beeped and bleeped violently, shocking and stabbing a few of the Krin. I couldn’t say they looked like skilled fighters, but they were doing a decent job keeping them occupied until Kat could come over and finish them off.
Sadly, a few of the mini-bots got squashed and splattered across the room. Even the walrus took a dragon wing to its midsection and let out a bleeeeeep of pain. Luckily it wasn’t a serious hit but I could see the shock on its face appendage. I don’t think it had ever experienced injury or robo-pain before.
I hit the comms system and tried sending different noise frequencies to the exterior of the ship, hoping it would rattle the trillions of bugs eating away at our shields but it didn’t do any good.
More of their big cubes surrounded us slowly, like a pack of Gilj wolves waiting to move in for the kill. I moved the ship back, but they were behind us, blocking our exit.
The buzzing of the hive was working its way deep into my brain. I could barely hear anything anymore. A wave of nausea came up into my throat as my head spun with vertigo. I was about to throw up and pass out, yet again. I had to get these things off the fraking shields, now!
The pack of Krin wolf cubes moved slowly closer, closing any holes in its defensive ring. I checked the screens. More wolves were coming at us from above and below. Soon there would be no way out. They’d have us completely encircled.
I had to get rid of those things on our shields but I couldn’t think. I was seconds away from blacking out from the noise. Kat, the bot, the Pokas and the Krin, didn’t seem to be affected at all.
Maybe the Pokas were. They were running around like maniacs, smashing into Krin. Luckily they were low to the ground and easily dodging the sharp dragon blades. In fact, it looked like they enjoyed it. Like it was a game with a stick.
I saw Poka-clone duck out of the way as a black razor blade whizzed past her ear, then she snapped down a Krin’s arm and pulled. Original-Poka got into the game too, grabbing the same arm and yanking. As strong as the Krin was, it was no match for two Pokas playing the pull dragon arm. They might’ve even been able to pull it off, but the bot sneak-hovered behind it, gave it a shock, then stabbed it in the belly.
The bugs were all over the shield, covering the ship entirely. I wished the game had a weapon for this situation, but none of the levels ever included dealing with billions of hive-like Krin bugs eating away at the shields.
An idea came to mind. As usual, it wasn’t a good one. Also, if it didn't work the battle would be over for us. But what other choice did I have?
There was still time before the cubes closed their blockade. I searched for the widest opening and spotted a small gap above us. I prepped the ship’s thrusters for speed. Then put my finger on the button to shut down the shields.
Don’t shut off the shields! You’ll let those things in. Are you crazy? the little voice said.
“There’s no other choice. Trust me.”
Gulp. Okay.
I pressed the button, shutting off the shield and immediately billions of Krin bugs fell towards the hull of the ship. I slammed on the thrusters and took the ship up and through the giant cloud of the horde, before they could cling to t
he hull.
Once above them, I reversed position and targeted the black mass. I set a mile wide-array pulse and blasted the entire hive, decimating them all in one blinding green flash.
We’d escaped the Krin bugs and were now sitting high above the dome of Krin cubes, so I repeated the process on the larger ships, but with more pinpoint pulses. I laid down a series of staccato pulsar blasts. I turned the ship into a gigantic machine pulse rifle on full auto-mode. Cube after cube exploding like a series of firecrackers going off, one after the other. I was still firing manically after all of the Krin ships had been destroyed.
“Wil.”
I fired over and over and over again.
“Wil!” Kat yelled, snapping me out of my maniacal gun rampage.
I stopped, but still couldn’t take my hands off the triggers. I was looking for more Krin to kill. I didn’t trust these guys. Not for a second.
“Wil, it’s over,” Kat said softly. She took my hands from the weapons system.
“It’s over?” I asked.
She nodded.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
I practically collapsed onto the floor. I think we all almost did. The battle had taken a toll on everyone, even the Ultra. It wasn’t some God. It was a being, and like all living things it got tired and worn out and could die. It was just like the rest of us. I wasn’t sure it could’ve fought much more, or powered the ship for much longer, even if it wanted to. It needed rest. We all did.
I forced myself out of the command chair, hugged Kat and surveyed the command pod. It was covered in pieces of dead Krin. Black globs oozed everywhere. I never wanted to see ooze of any sort again, ever.
The bot was a bloody black mess full of bits of Krin, Its metal exterior covered with scrapes and scratches. It was missing a few appendages but nothing that couldn’t be replaced or cleaned up.
I couldn’t believe what I did next, but I’m man enough to admit it. I hugged the walrus.
“Great job.”
“Please release me.”
“Sorry. I got a little carried away.”
“Confirmed. May I clean the bio-waste from the systems please? Immediately, please.”
The bot hated bio-waste more than the Krin or more than hugs. “Sure. Go ahead.” I smiled.
It immediately high speed hovered out of the room, and into what I was sure would be another full body decontamination bath.
The Pokas were black bloody messes. Luckily, I didn’t spot any red blood mixed in. Amazingly, they’d made it through completely unharmed and were wagging their tails and tongues with big smiles, like they’d just played the best game ever. They loved being covered in black Krin goo and seemed to also enjoy licking it off of each other’s bodies.
“Gross. No, Poka! And Poka! No!”
They immediately stopped and came over. I petted them both, even though I almost threw up from the sticky, smelly goop dripping from their fur. “These guys need a serious hose down.”
“I’ll do it,” Kat said. “It’s been too long since I gave the Pokes a bath. And now I get to give it to two of them!” She grabbed both of their faces and kissed them, oblivious to all the snotty black goo dripping from their faces.
Kat did love giving Poka baths, and Poka loved chasing water. So it was a win-win for everyone. As an added bonus after the bath she always went running through the quarters at a million miles an hour, slamming into walls and doors. She loved it. Too bad there was no actual water on the ship. Just ion-baths and they suck.
There’s water in the rations the fleet sent over, the little voice said.
“Kat. I think there’s still water from that cargo dump. Why don’t we use that instead of an ion bath?”
“They’ll love that.”
“I know. They deserve it, after everything they’ve been through.”
“Me too.”
Kat came close, moved her hand to my head and pulled my hair.
“What are you doing?”
“Hold on,” she said, then pulled a huge chunk of Krin brains or lung or whatever they had off my head.
I smiled. “Thanks.”
She kissed me gently. “You’re welcome. Now, I’m gonna have some fun with the pooches.”
“I still can’t believe it’s over.”
“Wil. You can relax, it’s over.”
“You're sure?”
She nodded.
“Ask the Ultra.”
“Wil.”
“Please. Just ask.”
“Fine.” She closed her eyes and focused for a moment. Then opened them again. “It said it’s over.” But I could tell she was lying.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
A thousand Krin ships appeared through the portal.
Kat and the Ultra were too weak to fight a whole new, fresh Krin army. That was their plan all along. Wear us out, then swamp us with fresh forces.
Sneaky fraking Krin.
Suddenly, I knew what to do. I wasn’t sure if it was my idea, or if the Ultra had put it there. But it didn’t matter. It was the only thing that might work.
I grabbed the Pokas and led them into an escape pod. I quickly prepped them, shoved them inside, then jettisoned the pod with a note to Mom to take care of them. I watched as it shot out of the launch tube and spat them back to Earth. A small relief in the face of what was to come, but at least I knew Mom would take care of them. I started to choke up but shoved the emotion down hard. Still, I couldn’t help smile at the thought of Mom’s face when two Pokas showed up at her door.
I found the bot scrubbing goop from its appendages and ordered it to leave, but it chose to stay and die in battle with me. I couldn’t have that either, so with no time to argue, I flicked the switch on its neck, shut it down, and threw it in a pod. I sent another note to military command stating the bot should receive a medal of valor. The first for any robot. I hoped it would inspire others and maybe change people’s view of bots. Give them their freedom to program themselves. It might also help make the walrus less of a shathole.
Then I ran back to the command room and told Kat my plan.
“Kat. You’re too weak to fight anymore. I think I can…”
She cut me off hard.
“Wil. You can forget about it.”
“About what?”
“Don’t act dumb. I can hear you, remember? There’s no way you’re joining with the Ultra and exploding the ship into a thermonuclear Ultra blast that destroys all the Krin and closes the portal forever.”
“It’s the only option.”
“No.”
“Ask the Ultra.”
“No.”
“Please, Kat. We’re running out of time. The entire Earth’s fate is at stake. There’s billions of people down there. Please ask.”
She closed her eyes and focused again. Then opened her eyes. “It said ‘no.’”
Again, I knew she was lying.
“Kat. You have to let me do it. I’m okay with it.”
A tear rolled down her eye.
“You’re too weak. Please let me do this,” I said.
Her face went hard. “It can’t extract me, anyway.”
“Or can it do whatever it wants to do? It seems like it’s been pushing and pulling us the whole time. I think it wants me to make this choice. I think that’s the point.”
“What? It wants to know if you’d die for me? That’s stupid.”
“Maybe, but love is stupid, isn’t it? Maybe it wants to know just how stupid strong love is. Kat, I love you. Please let me do this.”
She kissed me then backed away and lifted her arms. Suddenly I was off my feet and flying through the air and down the hall. Then turning down another hall.
Where the frak is she sending me?
I slammed into the escape pod.
She’s going to close the portal by herself.
Kat was going to sacrifice herself for me. That’s what the fraking Ultra wanted to know.
>
The escape pod door slid shut before I could stop it. I slammed on the door and screamed for her to let me out. “Please, Kat, don’t do this. I can’t watch you die again!”
“I love you,” she said through the comm.
And then the pod ejected from the ship. “I love you,” I whispered, the tears streaming from my eyes.
I watched helplessly as the Outpost headed towards the portal, right into the middle of the Krin army. It exploded in a blast of blinding light and smoke. When the flash dimmed, I looked again and saw nothing there. Nothing but the blackness of space.
It was finally over.
Prime was safe.
The Krin were gone.
The Ultra was gone.
Kat was gone.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
SIX MONTHS LATER
It’s been six months since my adventure on the Outpost. What was meant to be an easy, simple, boring watchman job turned into a world-ending cataclysm. I'm happy to be back in my living quarters, in my own bed with my own virt-games.
The military did its debriefing and basically just let me go. I’d saved Earth, after all. They even asked if I wanted an actual commission, but no thanks. I respect the military and all they do, but at my core I’m a lazy bum.
I’m back to the daily routine of walking the Pokas, and of course there’s Mom. She was a little smothering when I first returned, but we’re back to our normal routine now. A normal routine. That’s all I want. If I never see space again, it will be too soon.
I miss Kat horribly, but I’m grateful for the extra time we had together. I thought she was dead long before I stepped onboard the Outpost. So the time we spent together was a bonus. I'm glad she got to see Poka and say goodbye. Now all I want is my pizza and to watch my favorite team lose another football game.
Where is that pizza, anyway? I ordered it ten minutes ago, and the droid delivery guaranteed five minutes or less, or your pizza if free. I clapped my hands together. Yum, the taste of free pizza is even better.