by Thomas Davis
Jake dug the mechanical fingers on his left hand into the bluish green rock-face to slow his descent. He carved a path of ruin down the cliff side as sparks burst from around his digits. His mind was running the numbers like always. What are the variables? No weapon, No backup, and very little chance of survival. His opponent was definitely armed to the teeth. Also, Arez are physically superior to humans in many aspects’ strength, vision, stamina, and speed. Jake had his work cut out for him and the odds were not in his favor. An outcropping branch appeared in his path. Jake collided with it and tumbled down the remaining 10 feet of the cliff.
He met the ground with a hard thud and expelled all of the remaining oxygen he had in his lungs. He writhed in pain for a few moments. An intermittent clanging sound reignited his awareness. The sound was getting closer. He watched as David’s severed robotic head bounced off the cliff rocks and onto the ground next to him before rolling away.
“Pick me up and run lazy ass! She’s right behind me!” David yelled.
“Void!” Jake scrambled to his feet as he scooped up David’s head and ran for the exotic tree line. They were less like trees and more like a forest of gargantuan vines that were growing from the ground reaching skyward. The surface of Titan was mostly flatland littered by small pockets of this bizarre vegetation. “What do you got for me?” Jake barked as he ran with David’s head cradled in his arm like a football.
“It was hard to see anything as my head bounced down the cliff genius!”
“Think damn it!”
“Okay. Okay… Her pistol was on her right hip which means she’s probably right handed.”
“Anything else I can use?”
“Umm… She’s a seasoned infiltrator. If she could sneak up on me, the Arez definitely sent their best to kill us. I don’t know about you but I got the warm fuzzies.”
“She’s overconfident.”
“How do you figure?”
“She should’ve shot me once you went down but she went with the sword slash instead.”
“She jeopardized her mission for an up close and personal kill.”
“She’s after more than just my head,” Jake stopped to catch his breath. “This is personal for her. I can work with that.” A minuscule change in the atmosphere caused Jake to ukemi out of the path of a laser blast. He rolled back to his feet.
The Arez warrior woman’s blade grazed Jake’s right cheek leaving a scar. She spoke in her native tongue, “I know you can understand my words Terran.” Jake jumped back and she didn’t pursue. “I want you to know why you are going to die here Ja-cob Ta-ke-da. I am Meteka of the Webiga!” She reached to the back of her helmet then unfastened a clip to remove it. She spoke as she ripped the helmet off of her head, “You killed my sister on Ganymede. I have waited years for this.” Her eyes went wide in shock as she watched as Jake was already in the process of escaping into the foliage. “You have no honor Terran!”
“Light’er up!” Jake yelled as he rushed away. The Arez was blinded by intense light that momentarily stopped her in her tracks. If she had kept her helmet on the light that shone from David’s eyes wouldn’t have affected her. “Good job.” Jake got to a safe distance away before stopping to catch his breath once more.
“She says we killed her sister on Ganymede?” David asked.
“No. She said I killed her sister on Ganymede.”
“Is this gonna be a thing?”
“We don’t have the time for it to be a thing. If I did kill her sister it had to be on the battlefield.”
“Siblings huh? Arez culture is strange.”
“In our ancient culture, before the colonies, Terrans had multiple children too.”
“That sounds gross.”
“The male siblings were called brothers.”
“Well duh.”
“Yeah. I always kind of felt like we were brothers.”
“Really? I used to bully you.”
“After that dumb ass. When I got to know you.”
“Brothers huh? I like the sound of that. But we’re cooler than those ancient losers. We’re not brothers by some accident.”
“We choose to be brothers.”
“So, what now? We can’t just let this alien ass-hat school us. We’re supposed to be the ones who dish out all of the education around here.”
Jake looked down at the components he had snatched from the ground before jumping off the cliff, and then pulled the puzzle sphere from his pocket. “You’re right. I have an idea.”
Meteka stalked the vine forest like a jungle cat. She had picked up Takeda’s trail. He wasn’t far. She entered a clearing filled with tall grass. She was surprised to see Takeda waiting there for her.
“My Arez is kind of boot. Wait… Boot? Rusty.” Jake struggled to speak in her tongue. “My Arez is kind of rusty but you should understand me.”
“What are you playing at Terran scum?” She pointed her sword at him. “Whatever trap you laid will not work on me. I am…”
“SHUT THE VOID UP!” Jake could feel how angry that made her. “You are already in my trap sandwich!”
Meteka took an aggressive step forward. Jake matched her aggression and stomped to his left. There was a strange glowing round device in his right hand. A strange weapon that Meteka was unfamiliar with? She assumed he wouldn’t be foolish enough to face her head on like this without an ace in the hole. She also considered what manner of traps he had laid.
“I remember your sister Meteka.” Jake stood up straight and extended out his hand holding the sphere. “She begged for her life before I killed her. She died like a coward crying for help!”
Meteka’s powerful legs carried her forward without her order. “RAAAAGHHHH!!!!” She fired her laser pistol as she closed in on Jake. He moved erratically to make himself a hard target, juking and rolling. He kept his distance, which was wise. He was well aware that he couldn’t match her speed or react to her attacks up close.
Meteka watched as he twisted a section of the orb he held. The lights on its surface changed patterns. He plunged forward with the sphere. Meteka still didn’t know what the round glowing object was so she dodged his attack. She was on the verge of a counter attack when she noticed she was about to stomp down onto a glowing object in the tall grass. She tossed her body over the trap and onto her side then tumbled back up into a crouched stance.
Before Meteka could gather her thoughts, the glowing sphere was hurtling towards her face. The lights were all white now and glowing intensely. She had lost sight of Takeda but that was the least of her worries. She had to deal with this mysterious weapon he had thrown at her. She pressed the stock-like hilt of the Charge-Blade to her shoulder. She flicked a switch on its side then pulled the trigger. The blade detached from the hilt as it shot out and sliced the orb in two. Nothing happened save for the halves harmlessly falling into the grass.
With that distraction at an end she felt her feet leave to ground. Takeda had got in close, tackled her around the waist, and now she was falling. But where was she falling to? She realized that he had positioned her to fall onto his glowing trap from earlier. She reacted swiftly. Meteka kicked her right leg in a circular motion as she fell. The momentum spun Jake and her changing their positions. His own trap will kill him. How poetic, she thought.
Takeda’s back collided with the mysterious device on the ground. Meteka had weathered the crescendo and awaited the climax but nothing happened. She was overcome with confusion. She felt an intense heat in her abdomen then again and again. All of her strength began to leave her. She finally discerned what had just occurred. She collapsed down on top of Jake after being shot several times with her own pistol. It was all an elaborate ruse. The orb, the glowing trap, these were just distractions so he could get close enough to steal her gun.
Jake mustered all if his remaining strength and used it to roll the heavy alien woman off of him. He sat up and awkwardly brushed the faux trap from his upper back. It was cobbled together from the components he snatched
from the ground before going over the cliff side. “Thanks Dave,” he pulled a small device from his ear. “Without your bird’s eye view I wouldn’t have lasted five seconds.” Resting on a shelf of vines above the fray, David’s head sat with a perfect view of the scene.
“I aim to please,” David joked.
Jake looked to Meteka who lay dying on the ground next to him. “I do not remember your sister.” He said in Arez. He was tempted to place his hand on her shoulder to comfort her but he stopped himself. “There is no dishonor in this defeat.”
Meketa stared up at him.
“The Arez believe in an afterlife, right? I hope. I hope you get to see your sister there.”
A tear rolled down Meteka’s cheek as she let out her last breath. Jake collected David’s head before retrieving the two pieces of her sword. He hiked back towards the based. He felt no thrill from his victory or his close call with death. He felt sadness. David spoke up from the crook of Jake’s right arm. “You lied.”
“About what?”
“You said this wasn’t going to be a thing.”
“No, I said we didn’t have time for it to be a thing. We have time now.”
“Time to beat yourself up?”
“No, I just. I just understand how she felt.”
13. Strike Team Funsies
Amarillo Outpost 02:12 hours
Chase kept up with Edith as she speed-walked to the barracks. She was being eerily silent like her mind was somewhere else. Like Chase wasn't even there. He was tempted to break the awkward silence between them but stopped himself. They made the rest of the long walk without a peep out of either of them. The sound of their anxious breathing was the only audible noise other than their footsteps. Edith stopped at the barrack door. She hesitated for a moment before impatiently jabbing at the panel on the side for the door to open it.
Inside Jake Takeda sat on his bunk as a medic attended to wounds on his cheek and upper back. An Arez Charge-Blade was stabbed into the floor in front of him. Chase could feel the wave of relief that washed over Edith at the sight of Captain Takeda being alive and safe. Chase and Edith passed Sam Hawkins who was leaning against the wall next to the door as they entered.
"It took you long enough." Sam said.
"I was busy icing an Arez Saboteur." Edith's posture relaxed and she placed her hands on her hips. "You couldn't tell me the captain was okay before I ran all the way across the bloody base?"
"You ran?" Sam smiled as Edith sneered back at her. "You cut off your com before I could get it out. You must have been really upset."
Jake grinned and chimed in from his bunk, "I'm just happy to know that somebody cares about me around here."
"Shut up Space-Case!" Edith grabbed a pillow from the nearest bed and hurled it at Jake.
"You talk to your captain like that?" Jake laughed as he dodged the pillow. The medic attending to him gave him an annoyed look and gripped his arm more tightly before returning to her work.
David piped up from the next bunk, "what am I chopped liver? He got a few scratches. Meanwhile I'm a severed freaking head over here!"
Edith crossed the room, leaned down, and kissed David on the forehead, "You know I love ya 'not so big' guy."
"I'm blushing right now Short Stack." David replied. "You can't tell but I'm definitely blushing."
"Tell us about this Saboteur," Sam asked as she approached the group.
Edith clasped her hands above her head and stretched her full length. "You want the good news or the bad news?" She said with an inappropriate grin on her face.
Sam was about to answer but Jake beat her to the punch, "good news". Jake looked to Sam then back to Edith, "I could use some good news right now."
"Alright," Edith's face lit up. She went into an overly descriptive retelling of her battle against the saboteur. She pointed her index fingers like imaginary guns during several harrowing moments of the tale. She even worked Chase like a puppet during the story. By the end of her epic yarn she was completely out of breath and holding the poor boy up parallel to the floor like a damsel with a very confused look on his face. Everyone in the audience, including the medic, had exhausted expressions on their faces.
Jake poked the bridge of his nose with his index finger and let out a huff. He looked to Sam. The tall woman already had her narrowed eyes locked on him. "Don't say I told you so right now?" Sam smiled and shook her head. "So... What's the bad news?"
Edith dropped Chase onto the floor then crossed her arms. She let out a deep breath, "Well... During the battle my sidekick here..."
Chase pointed his finger at her from the floor in protest, "I am not your sidekick!"
"Anyway... Lover-boy here couldn't get a headshot. It's not his fault. It was an extremely difficult shot to make." She looked to Chase as he stood up, "we did our best but the saboteur detonated herself. It'll take weeks to repair the damage she did to the orbital cannon."
Jake and Edith locked eyes. Chase took notice of the subtle way they both had avoided making eye contact with each other up until this point. There was energy between these two that he couldn't quite place his finger on. They were having another conversation in the silences between their words. Edith was skilled at this subterfuge but Jake was a bit clumsier at this game.
Jake got lost in Edith's eye for a moment before getting back to task. "The cannon being damaged complicates things. It's only a matter of time before the enemy realizes and alerts the Arez armada."
"We need to mobilize immediately," Sam interjected. "We need to contact Agatha and the fleet so they're prepared for an assault."
"Agatha Park?" Chase blurted out. "The best pilot in the Terran fleet, the Reaper?"
Edith slapped Chase on the back of the head, "knock it off Fan-boy! There's important work to do and we can't get it done with you drooling all over us."
"Sorry."
The medic was done treating Jake's wounds. He stood up from his bunk and addressed her, "thanks for putting up with us. I know we can be a handful."
The medic blushed, "no. No, it was an honor to help out." She modestly exited the barrack with a smile.
Jake leaned forward on his bunk and clasped his hands, “It’s no accident that their tactics changed.”
“The infiltrator was definitely one of the Crimson Death’s entourage.” Edith added.
“Same with the assassin. I could tell by the cut of her uniform. We have to assume that he’s been brought in to take command of the enemy forces.”
“They really want this moon,” Sam said. Chase remained silent but his eyes betrayed just how angry he was at hearing the Crimson Death’s name.
"Sam could you talk to the base leadership and make preparations?”
“Yes Captain,” Sam replied.
Jake looked over to Chase, “Shonen Boy?"
Chase wanted to reject that awful nickname but he was more interested in what the Captain had to say. He let it slide. "Yeah?"
"Take this sword and meet me outside." Jake grabbed his own sword and scabbard from atop his footlocker and walked out. Chase stood there for a moment unable to move. Edith slapped him on the backside with enough force to make him jump.
"What're you waiting for soldier?!" She was grinning from ear to ear. "The captain gave you an order!"
Chase shot her a look while tending to his sore posterior. He walked up to the sword and wrapped his hand around the hilt. He rested his finger outside the trigger guard. He pulled at the weapon but it wouldn't budge from its spot. It was stuck into the floor in front of Takeda's bunk. He carefully slid his finger into the trigger guard. He gradually pulled the sword’s trigger. He felt a wave of power course from the blade up through his arm and into his shoulder blade. It was overwhelming. He depressed the trigger and took a step back. Is this what the Captain feels when he wields his sword, Chase thought? He remembered his mission. Chase boldly grabbed the weapon once more. He squeezed the trigger with confidence as he pulled the sword from the floor. He held the deadly object
in front of himself.
"Aww. Our little man's all grown up now," David interrupted. "By the way, I'm still a head on a blanket, jerks!" Sam and Edith giggled. Chase released the trigger and marched out to meet Jake outside. "I like'em," David remarked.
"He's got spunk," Sam added then looked to Edith.
Edith rolled her eyes, "okay. Okay. He doesn't suck... That much." She felt Sam and David starring her down. "Alright. I'll admit it. He's a great sidekick." Sam smacked Edith's hat off and Edith looked up and shook her balled fist at the statuesque blonde woman.
***
Word of the attack on the base had gotten out. There was commotion in the corridors of Amarillo Outpost with staff and soldiers alike darting about trying to make sense of the situation. Chase realized that Takeda didn’t tell him where he was going. The eccentric captain walked out of the barracks door and vanished into the sea of people in the halls. But maybe that was the point. Chase was being tested yet again. Where would Takeda go? He wanted Chase to figure that out. Chase roamed the halls for a few minutes before he finally stopped and thought things through. The Captain took his sword with him and insisted upon Chase bringing the Arez Charge-Blade. Chase shook his head annoyed with himself for not immediately coming up with the answer. Of course, he went there. It’s the only place that makes sense, Chase thought.
After a short trek across the base Chase entered into the training grounds. Captain Jake Takeda was sitting cross-legged at the center of the field with his sheathed sword lying across his lap. “The people I care the most about are in that barrack right now,” Jake gazed down at the sword as he spoke. “I would die for them. I would kill for them,” He took a deep breath to center himself. “I won’t have them die because you can’t pull your weight.”