by Trevor Gregg
“Okay Skotty, what are your limitations at this moment?”
“I am fully functional, but I am limited. I have no sensors with which to perceive, and no “body” with which to interact with the world.”
“How about I give you both?”
“I would bear a gratitude quotient for you.”
“Great, so you’ll do something for me if I get you back into a body?” he asked, anxiety burning in his belly.
“Indeed I will, whatever is in my capacity, anyway,” Skotty replied, sounding pleased.
“Alright, I need you to take control of this station. I’ll get you access, then you take over all of the systems, okay?”
He began to program, aligning symbols and setting paths. He knew they had little time, but this part couldn’t be hurried. As he had done before, when hacking his way into the greater Azorian network, he had to craft the perfect packet, recognizable by the system but bearing his foreign code. Carefully, he built his program, then hit execute the second he felt it was complete.
“Skotty, let me know when you see the channel open,” he instructed.
“Indeed.”
Several tense moments went by, then the screen flashed and a whole new array of symbols presented themselves.
“We’re in!” Kyren exclaimed. “Go ahead, Skotty, take over. Please target the communication systems first. Let me know when you’ve got it and open a channel to all shipboard intercoms. Then hit security, navigation, and anything else you need to warp the station to a new location. Lastly we’ll need the main weapon on line.”
“Affirmative!”
Moments later, an audible alarm came from the terminal and Skotty said, “You now have an open channel to the entire station.”
“Azorians, you must all flee. You have five minutes to exit the station, before I decompress it,” Kyren said fiercely, hoping he sounded convincing enough.
“Skotty, close channel,” Kyren ordered.
“I do not detect any shuttles being activated, Kyren,” Skotty replied after several minutes.
“Okay, sound the decompression alarm,” he instructed.
“You aren’t really going to kill them all, are you?” Leicara said, obviously horrified.
“No, that’s not my intention. But we’ve got to get them to leave the base.”
He noted Leicara didn’t look reassured.
“Skotty, how ‘bout security? Do we have it yet?” he continued.
“Almost, I will notify you as soon as it is under my control.”
Several more moments went by before Skotty responded, “Security bots are now under my control. What is your instruction?”
“Chase them,” Kyren said, feeling a little smugly satisfied. “Just don’t hurt them, no weapons, okay?”
“Affirmative. Engaging bots now.”
Video images sprang to life on the massive holoscreen, and Kyren watched security bots charging down the corridor after fleeing Azorians.
“I have detected a shuttle coming on line,” Skotty informed him.
“Good, they’ve bought the ruse. Keep sounding the decompression alarm every ten seconds, let’s hurry them up.”
A few minutes later, the data on the screen showed all shuttles had detached.
“Navigation yet, Skotty?” Kyren questioned
“Affirmative.”
“Warp us to Azoria, immediately,” Kyren urged.
“We have arrived at Azoria,” Skotty replied after a couple of seconds, and a bout of dizzying confusion. “I am working on taking over the main weapon, as instructed.”
“Great, now Leicara, help me into the harness,” he said, moving to the rig and climbing in.
She helped him get all the control gear on, and realized there was going to be a problem. He needed a control system for the Gaidan. If the control rig was aboard Skotty station, and Skotty station was destroyed in his own past future, then he would have to take as much of it as he could and hope Alis and Benjam could adapt it.
“Skotty dispatch sensor drones to the capitol. I need eyes on site. The Gaidan was blinded during my fight with the Halifax.”
“Drones dispatched. Seventeen minutes to arrival.”
Kyren used some of the time to program the giant robot. He had no idea what it would take to defeat the creature, but it had to be possible. This bot was the only way. Elarra’s vision had shown him that much. If the robot was used to fight the Kirugi in his own time, then that meant it defeated the one in this time.
Benjam and Alis arrived just as Skotty announced, “Drones coming on line.”
The screen displayed several aerial views of the capitol city, much of it completely devastated by the Kirugi’s impact from orbit. There was a still-smoking crater at the center of the city, its bottom too deep to see, shrouded in afternoon shadow.
A massive shape began to emerge from the crater. Four long spindly limbs reached up and grasped the edge. The beast hauled itself from the crater and stood upright. It was as tall as the Gaidan, one hundred stories, at least. It towered over the puny one and two story buildings that remained around the periphery of the destruction.
The creature was six-limbed, it seemed to be able to use them as either legs or arms. They were tipped with clawed, three fingered hands. It’s skin was a dark, earthy brown, its hide leathery and rough.
Its torso was long and flexible, and ended with a short tail with a pointed spike on the end. The head was broad, the snout short. It somewhat resembled a pit-bull, he thought, like one of the dogs that had been used for fighting back in Magar City, so many lifetimes ago. The maw was filled with jagged looking teeth.
Suddenly, the Kirugi shuddered and he spotted something falling from its underside. Kyren commanded the drone to zoom in, and he could see rows upon rows of sickly-pink sacs of some form. The eggs, maybe? Many were detaching and falling to the ground, disappearing amongst the rubble.
“Okay, here it goes,” he said, kicking the robot’s thrusters on.
Breaking into a run, the Gaidan leapt into the air, carried along by the force of its thrusters. He ignited both wrist blades and drew back for a strike as he bore down on the Kirugi from above.
65
Access
“Don’t waste any more time. Get through that wall,” Kyren grunted to them as he furiously worked the controls.
Alis understood his plan now. If they could hack their way in, they could install the brain scanner, and leave the data core for themselves to find later on. Then they could simply return to the compound, back to the planet, and into the pods for a nice long nap.
All Kyren had to do was beat the Kirugi with the Gaidan. It was pretty awesome, the bot was. But she had to admit, the creature was intimidating. Kyren launched the Gaidan into a thruster-assisted leap, coming down at a steep angle, energy blades raised.
At the last second, the Kirugi spun and swatted him aside with its stumpy tail. But not before Kyren manage to land a blow with one energy blade. It bit into the creature’s shoulder, furrowing down its back nearly halfway. She expected to see the creature cut nearly in half, instead, it seemed unharmed.
There was some sort of carapace, some armor, beneath the leathery flesh. She could see bony plating protruding from beneath the tattered flesh. Kyren commanded the Gaidan and it scrambled to its feet. She forced herself to tear away and concentrate on the task at hand.
Transforming her wrench into a scanner, she began to pan it back and forth across the walls. There! She found a section of wall with an access panel, and the scanner seemed to indicate a possible void, just the other side of the bulkhead.
“Okay, I think this is the spot,” she informed them, as Benjam squiggled over to assist.
She opened the access panel and examined her job. She’d need to remove half the wall to make enough room to cut. Then they’d have to be lucky enough that the void was an access tunnel or ventilation shaft. Hopefully it was not an ionic exhaust port or vacuum conduit.
Glancing over at the scr
een, she watched Kyren grappling with the beast. It didn’t look like it was going well for him, the robot had several holes punched in its armor, presumably by the tail spike.
Getting to work, she removed the wall facing and began extracting components until she had a person-sized cavity. Leaning in, she aimed her wrench, now a laser cutter, and pulled the trigger. The beam lanced out and began cutting through the metal, albeit slowly.
She craned her neck back and watched Kyren. The bot was firing pulses of energy from barrels that had emerged from the side of its forearms. The beams were cooking the flesh but seemed to have no effect on the bony carapace. It was resisting all attempts to pierce it.
Kyren had broken off firing and was charging the beast again. He was going to run right into the tail spike again, she could tell. Blast it, she had to look back to the torch as she felt her aim slipping.
When she looked again, he had somehow managed to catch the beast by its tail. Spinning like a hammer thrower, he launched the beast into the air. Leaping, the Gaidan followed after, thrusters igniting and rocketing the bot forward. The bot landed on the Kirugi as it impacted with the ground.
The Gaidan pummeled the Kirugi’s head with its fists, at Kyren’s direction. She desperately looked for any damage, but it seemed the beast was still unharmed. Then Kyren placed the barrel of one of his cannons against the Kirugi’s eye and unleashed a torrent of energy.
Hot plasma burst forth from the eye as the energy beam penetrated it, landing on the Gaidan’s barrel and forearm, melting them both. The energy blade on the left arm sputtered out. The beast used the moment of distraction to flip over and wriggle out from under the Gaidan.
As it stood, it let out a tremendous screeching roar of fury, its right eye a gaping socket.
“Go for the eyes, Kyren!” Benjam squeaked excitedly.
“Yeah, I can see that, thanks,” he replied, concentration placing a scowl on his face.
“There, I’m getting close,” Alis cried out. “Just another minute.”
She spotted something as the drones panned around. There, on the ground amidst the rubble. A dark brown pod built up on some sort of organic, pink latticework frame. There was a puddle of dark goo spreading from beneath the organic structure.
Then there was a flash as the goo exploded and the dark brown egg was flung skyward, streaking into the atmosphere.
“The eggs, they’re escaping!” Alis cried.
“Skotty, can you shoot them down?” Kyren said, keeping the bot circling, taking advantage of the Kirugi’s new blind spot.
“Negative, I do not have control of sufficient computational power to plot all of the trajectories. I am still in the process of infiltrating systems. However, I believe I can route manual control to your terminal, if you wish to control targeting.”
“Benjam, get on that gun. Don’t let any through or the galaxy is doomed,” Kyren ordered.
Benjam squiggled to the console as two joysticks emerged. She looked back to her work as Benjam began calculating trajectories and intercept points, and then taking shots.
“Oh no, there’s more eggs launching now,” Leicara said in horror.
Alis watched the laser burn through the last few inches of bulkhead with tremendous relief. She heaved and pushed the segment of wall in, and it dropped down into the space on the other side. She poked her head in and panned her wrench light around the space. It was an access tunnel, leading in both directions.
“We’re in, Kyren. Finish that thing!” Alis cheered.
66
Giant Bot-Fight!
Kyren circled the creature as it turned, staying on its blind side. How the hell was he supposed to stop this thing. He quickly scanned the control panel for something that might help. Then he remembered, the weapon called “finisher.” Maybe that would finish this thing off.
Trying to divide his attention between the monster and the control panel, he scrolled through the capabilities. It seemed it was a close-range beam weapon. And it only had one charge. He was going to have to make it count.
He didn’t whirl fast enough and the thing caught up to him. It reached out with one clawed hand and sunk its talons into the Gaidan’s shoulder. Kyren winced in pain as the bio-feedback hit him. Reaching up with both hands, he grabbed the Kirugi’s wrist and kicked off, immediately activating the thrusters on full burn.
Executing a somersault midair, he managed to maintain grip on the Kirugi. Twisting as he landed, the bot levered the beast over its shoulder and sent it flying. Pressing the attack, Kyren burned the thrusters again, leaping onto the Kirugi in a low arc.
He landed on it and immediately began to pummel the creature in its ugly face. He landed blow after blow but it seemed unimpressed. Suddenly, the Kirugi’s tail shot up, punching into the Gaidan’s back, just where a human’s kidney would have been. He knew, because that was where he felt it.
The control screen began to flash red as a half dozen sensors and gauges went ballistic. The damage was definitely serious, but not crippling, at least. He fired the thrusters again and leapt off the Kirugi, landing out of reach of the tail. It climbed to its feet and looked at him balefully with its remaining eye. It bellowed a challenge and charged.
He drew back his remaining energy blade, preparing a strike. It barreled towards him, yet he waited.
“C’mon you bastard, that’s it. Bring it!” Kyren bellowed.
It was within striking distance of his energy blade, yet still he waited.
“Keep coming, you ugly son of an esqualian roach!” he taunted again.
It was nearly on top of him when he finally reacted. But instead of striking with the wrist blade, he reached out with both hands and grabbed the creature’s head. Triggering the finisher, he watched as the chest plates sprang open, revealing the bot’s energy core.
Using all the might the bot could muster, he drove the head down toward the core and activated the weapon. A massive cylinder of crackling purple energy burst forth, bathing the Kirugi’s upper body and head in blinding energy.
When the energy passed, the entire upper torso and head were bare of flesh, shiny bone-colored carapace fully revealed now. And it showed him something, something of great importance. Something he knew he would need to know in the future. A weak point.
The skull came together in two massive plates, but there was a joint between them, a joint that could be exploited. This had to be the way to beat it. He released the head and the chest plates snapped shut. The creature reached for him. Dodging backward, he leapt out of its grasp.
Juicing the thrusters backward, he sailed easily ten of the robot’s paces away from the Kirugi. The creature roared again, this time seemingly in frustration. He stood as it glared at him with one baleful eye, preparing for the maneuver. It would require split second timing, but most of all, intuition. Kyren steeled himself, and executed the routine, part pre-programming, part manual control.
Running and leaping again, he used the thrusters to somersault over the Kirugi. At the apex, he twisted, lining up for a strike from above. He aimed, and hoped his aim was true. The Gaidan’s arm shot out, delivering a vicious jab with all the robot’s considerable might.
The vid-drone’s camera angle wasn’t perfect, after all. But it was happening so fast he didn’t have time to contemplate. So he trusted his instinct. He was rewarded. The bot’s energy blade punched into the Kirugi’s skull right at the seam between bony plates, burying itself up to the base.
He landed, extracting the blade and whirling to face the creature. It sputtered a weak roar and staggered. One step, two, three. And then the Kirugi fell.
67
Release the Serkins
Kyren ordered the spotter drones to hover closer to the Kirugi’s body, he examined it to make sure it was truly dead. As far as he could tell, it was. He panned around and took in his surroundings.
There were creatures scurrying through the ruined streets. The same six legged creatures from Elarra’s vision, that vaguely resemble
d the Kirugi. They were flooding through the ruined city, congregating around the egg towers.
To his horror, he saw a steady stream of Azorians, Dras and Yal alike, filing toward each tower in an ominous line. Upon reaching, they were shoved into an open maw beneath the egg tower. Brown goo was oozing out of the tower, creating a slick around it.
As he watched, sparks flew from beneath one of the towers. The goo ignited, and the egg contained within the tower rocketed skyward. The surrounding Azorians were obliterated in a blast of superheated plasma.
There were other eggs streaking into the atmosphere, as well. He watched Benjam’s back as he struggled to target all of the eggs. Realizing Benjam was over matched, he dashed into the city, stomping and kicking the egg towers.
With a grimace, he knew he was smashing innocent Azorians, too. But he couldn’t help it. Just one of these eggs threatened their entire future. Imagine what more than one could do, he thought.
He was turning to deliver a crushing kick, when he spotted flashes in the sky above. Panning the cameras around, he spotted a massive Azorian armada warping into the atmosphere above the city. Long, sleek cruisers, stubby rounded battleships, and a horde of triangular dragoons blinked into existence. It was the entirety of the Halifax forces.
Kyren’s display showed him the trajectory the craft were taking. They were heading straight for the station.
“Benjam, be prepared to fire on those ships if they get too close,” Kyren ordered.
“I, I can’t!” he squeaked. “There are too many eggs!”
He looked at the screen again. There were many egg towers dotting the city, but he couldn’t reach them all, he knew.
“Divide and conquer, okay Benjam,” Kyren coaxed as he hit the bot’s thrusters, leaping it into a cluster of egg towers.
Delivering kicks and firing with the remaining energy beam, he eliminated the towers, crushing the eggs beneath the Gaidan’s mighty armored heel. Several more launched into the air before he could reach them.