by Trevor Gregg
Dammit, how had it anticipated? It was as if it already knew that trick. Could it have the knowledge, the experiences of the other one he had already fought? That was going to make things difficult, he realized.
The bot dropped back into a fighting stance again and launched several swift punches, testing the Kirugi’s defenses. It dodged and weaved, bending and twisting to avoid the strikes. He quickly reversed momentum and spun into an elbow strike, which connected with the beast’s head. It staggered to the side and crashed into a building, the remains toppling over it as it struggled to stand.
Yeah, take that you bastard, I’ve still got some original moves! He thought as he pondered what to do next. Quickly programming in some new routines, he kicked them off just as the Kirugi stood.
The bot leaped forward, thrusters accelerating it rapidly. Driving it’s knee into the Kirugi’s gut, it bashed it backward into more buildings. The Kirugi roared, the sound rolling over the city like thunder.
It charged and leaped on the Gaidan, not giving him any time to react. Biting down, it clamped onto the bot’s shoulder, shaking and tearing armor and structure. Wrenching away it took much of the bot’s shoulder armor with it. Kyren bellowed in pain as the neural feedback kicked in, sending burning, lancing pain through his own shoulder. The Gaidan staggered back, dropping into a fighting stance, but the left arm seemed to be having difficulty raising very high.
Dammit, he needed to finish this, and finish it fast. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the first egg launching skyward.
“Alis, your first incoming,” Kyren warned her.
“Thanks,” she responded over the comm.
Kicking off another attack, the bot launched a flurry of blows at the Kirugi, punctuated by blasts from the barrel of the plasma emitter on the bot’s forearm. Completing the assault with a vicious front kick, the Kirugi sailed back into the backdrop of shattered buildings, bringing down a shower of debris.
The Kirugi launched itself at the bot, emerging from the debris cloud and pouncing on it. Staggering back, the Gaidan attempted to maintain control. Kyren uploaded a command and the wrist blade ignited. He slashed upward, aiming for the segmented leg, the joint between the plates.
The Kirugi bellowed, shaking the very buildings, as its severed leg fell to the streets below. Ichor dripped from the stump as it leapt back out of range.
“That’s right, you bastard! Now let’s finish this,” he cried, but was cut short by the Kirugi’s response.
The short, spiked tail rocketed out, punching into the Gaidan’s armored chest plate. He fell to his knees as the pain blossomed, taking his breath away. He grit his teeth and returned to his feet, swiping commands on the holopanel in front of him.
Kyren quickly programmed some moves, and the Gaidan grabbed the tail and heaved, pulling the Kirugi off balance. The tail spike jerked free of the bot’s chest, pulling a large piece of armor with it.
Damn! The Gaidan was taking a beating. He wasn’t sure how many more hits the armor could take before the creature found a vital spot. Kyren put the Gaidan on the defensive as the Kirugi began to press the attack, striking with its tail, then dodging back.
The Gaidan blocked and dodged, but each time, armor was damaged or destroyed. Pain flared at each corresponding location on his body as it struck the bot. It truly would not be long before it indeed found something vital. He knew he had to act, so he put the Gaidan back on offense. Taking direct control he began a flurry of moves, following one of the forms Dralok had taught him. But the creature dodged or blocked every blow.
But now it was out of position, on the defensive. Springing into motion, the bot charged the Kirugi. Its tail rocketed out again, the spike on the end whistling past the Gaidan’s head as it dodged. Mimicking Kyren, the Gaidan delivered a kick to the Kirugi’s midsection driving it to the side. Weaving, he reached out with one hand and grabbed the back of the Kirugi’s neck, winding back with the arm wielding the energy blade.
Wrenching the Kirugi’s head around as they whirled, Kyren commanded the bot to drive the energy blade into the skull, just between the armor plates. The bot thrust its arm down, the point of the energy blade shooting for the Kirugi’s weak spot.
The blade was nearly there, almost impacting with the beast’s head, when it twisted, and the blade drove past the head, not finding its mark. As the Kirugi’s head followed, it reached out and bit down on the bot’s forearm.
As the Kirugi bit down, a tremendous explosion detonated in its mouth. The energy blade went out. Kyren gasped and grabbed his arm, pain flaring.
“No!” he cried, realizing he had just lost the only weapon he had capable of killing the Kirugi.
84
Eggs
The first egg approached, and Alis readied herself. She knew this was the start of a race, one she hoped she could win. At least she had some Consortium help, though. The heavy cruiser Gold Rush was very well armed, and would be able to contribute a great amount of firepower, which offset the ship’s poor mobility.
“Gold Rush, are you tracking the inbound?” she radioed.
“Yessir, we are,” the sensor tech on the other end of the comm replied.
“Good, just don’t get me by accident, okay?” Alis instructed.
“Yessir, I’ve added you to the target avoidance data bank.”
The Gold Rush’s cannons opened up, unleashing a torrent of laser fire into the first egg. It sizzled and smoked, but seemed undeterred. More of the warship’s weapons were unleashed on the egg, but neither the white-hot bursts of plasma nor the armor piercing railgun rounds seemed to have any effect either.
As if in frustration, every single weapons turret facing the egg opened fire. Bursts of light, streaks of plasma, streams of heated metal projectiles all converged on the egg. Torpedoes streaked from launchers as rockets and missiles trailing smoke streaked out their respective batteries.
Detonations blinded her viewscreens momentarily, but when she could see, she let out a whoop. The egg was there, falling back to the surface, sundered in half, a viscous orange goo dispersing into the air.
She heard cheering in the background on the comm as the channel was opened, “Come in Ashari, come in. We have destroyed the threat.”
Suddenly, Alis’ screen lit up with incoming targets. There were hundreds of eggs streaming out of the atmosphere, heading for orbit and beyond. She had no idea how they were going to take out this many.
“Building trajectory solution matrix,” Benjam squeaked, his face bearing the most intense look Alis had ever seen on him.
Benjam finished his furious tapping at the controls and swiped a final command. A destination trajectory arrow appeared on the viewscreen.
“If we follow this path, it should provide an optimum route through the eggs. We should be able to destroy enough that the Gold Rush can do its work. I’ve uploaded similar instruction to them as well,” Benjam informed her.
“Let’s see if the Ashari’s guns will do any better,” Alis snarled with conviction.
She hit the throttle and began following the indicators on the display. The eggs grew nearer and nearer, but she didn’t stray from Benjam’s predefined course. And then she was in it, twisting and spinning, banking and corkscrewing, all while Benjam wailed away at the gunnery controls.
“Pew! Pew-pew-pew! Pew!” Benjam cried as he squeezed the triggers, as if he were playing a video game.
The Ashari’s main cannon fired, the bright crackling red beam slamming into the first egg, burning a hole clear through. Benjam launched torpedoes and they detonated spectacularly, but the eggs continued on. At least they had one weapon that would work. And the Gold Rush, if it focused its fire, could take some out. Maybe they would be okay.
“Alis, there’s too many, my matrix is being overwhelmed,” wailed Benjam in despair after a short time.
Teeth clenched in concentration, Alis could only grunt. Suddenly, dozens of warp portals opened in the sky above her, gleaming white Consortium ships
emerging, burning at full thrust, right into the cloud of launching eggs. They opened fire, combining their power with that of the Gold Rush and the Ashari.
Eggs began to fall back to the surface, sundered and burned by the concentrated fire from the fleet, the 47th according to her readouts. It was her family! She knew that her father had somehow managed to convince the fleet to intervene.
85
Uh-oh
Kyren let out a despondent cry, fear sticking in his throat. He had just lost his only way of defeating the beast. Without the energy blade, he had no weapon capable of piercing the Kirugi’s thick exo-skeleton. The damn thing had anticipated his moves, it had know to take out the weapon threatening it. Dammit this thing was smarter than he had given it credit for. And it had cost them, perhaps all.
“We’re totally screwed,” he cried into the comm while dodging more tail strikes.
“What? Kyren, what’s wrong?” Alis asked him over the comm.
“Yeah, we’re like screwed now. Just lost the only weapon I could’ve killed it with,” he replied, unable to hide the despair in his voice.
“No, there has to be another way, Kyren. We can’t stop these eggs forever. You’ve got to stop it on the ground. You’ve got to kill that thing,” Alis pleaded.
“I can’t, the energy blade, it’s gone. I’ve got nothing left that can hurt it. I can beat on it until the bot falls apart but that’ll still never kill it,” he answered while unleashing a flurry of blows, then initiating a defensive routine.
The Kirugi barreled into the Gaidan, biting and striking with its tail. Kyren grappled with it, attempting to hold the head back, but it bit down on the Gaidan’s chest. Indicators went red and he bellowed in pain. Whirling, he smashed the beast into a half-destroyed skyscraper, eliciting a cloud of rubble. But he managed to dislodge it.
It sprang up and howled again, the sound echoing across the city. Fighting the pain that was somehow persisting, he turned to face it, but too late. The Kirugi landed on the Gaidan’s back, rearing its head back and preparing to savage the bot.
Kyren quickly ignited the thrusters, the force of the jets blasting the creature free and sending the Gaidan sailing to the other side of the void in the middle of the destroyed city. He whirled and quickly programmed in a new routine, defensive moves to hopefully give him enough time to find an alternative.
Scrolling through the commands, he desperately sought his last hope. If the bot had a self-destruct routine, maybe it would be enough. If he could force the core to go nova, maybe it would take out the beast. Maybe it would be enough.
There! The command for self-destruct. But his heart fell as he spotted the readout. The bot was nearly out of power. It didn’t have enough energy to create a significant blast, he surmised. If he activated it, the detonation would destroy the bot, but the explosion wouldn’t be powerful enough to harm the Kirugi, he knew.
Glancing at the sky, he saw a fleet of shining white Consortium ships warp in. Too little, too late, he thought.
“Alis, I’ve got no options. Self-destruct won’t even kill it,” he informed her.
“Then it’s up to me,” she said, sounding resigned.
“No, Alis, don’t. I know what you’re planning, please don’t,” Kyren pleaded, immediately realizing what she was preparing to do.
The Ashari broke off its assault on the eggs and streaked toward the great beast. The Ashari’s weapons unloaded as it streamed past, but they had little effect, merely burning the creature’s flesh but not penetrating the underlying carapace.
“If I can get close enough, maybe if the Ashari’s core goes nova, maybe that will be enough,” she said quietly.
“No, Alis, please don’t,” he cried vehemently.
“Mom, get out of there,” he heard Alis speaking over the comm.
“What? No, Alis, don’t,” Geri responded, the desperation clear in her voice.
The Ashari screeched past Kyren, heading directly for the Kirugi.
86
Altered
It was as in Elarra’s vision. She pushed through an advancing throng of fleeing civilians, jostled and nearly knocked over by the panicked people. Climbing up onto a parked car to escape the unending torrent, she stood atop it as she had in her vision. Several streets over, one of the eggs, perched atop an organic-looking rocket, launched skyward. Clouds of acrid smoke billowed down the street and around her, nearly obscuring the crowd. She began to cough as the fog of exhaust surrounded her.
Suddenly, out of the rolling fog of stinging smoke, the creatures emerged, tearing into the fleeing people. The Marines began firing hesitantly, choosing targets only when they had a clear line of sight. She watched as a creature slashed into a fleeing woman, ripping and tearing her flesh with its claws. It then picked up her body and disappeared back into the smoke.
The cloud began to disperse, blown along by a persistent wind, revealing the carnage in the street. Many people lay dead and dying, Marines included, struck down by the vicious creatures’ claws, armor rended. She watched as the remaining creatures dragged away corpses, their organic matter to somehow be converted into fuel to power the rocket eggs’ launch.
Marines continued to fire, downing some of the creatures, but most fled with their prizes. Elarra looked around in concern and spotted Geri, hunkered down behind a parked vehicle. She felt a tingling in the back of her mind, and opened herself to the impending vision.
Another crowd of civilians and armed and armored security personnel entered the street from a side alley, streaming past the Marines, who paid them no heed. Suddenly they turned and pounced on the Marines, beating and slashing at them with makeshift weapons and firing on them with small arms. The attack caught them off guard, and many hesitated. It cost them dearly, many falling to the surprise onslaught.
The distraction allowed another group of the creatures to move in behind them, ambushing the already beleaguered Marines. By the time the wave was broken and the creatures fled with the bodies, only a handful of Marines remained. She looked in horror as she saw Geri lying dead in the street.
Snapping back to reality, she called out to Geri, “Anyone and anything that enters this street dies! Order your Marines to set up a kill zone, we are going to be ambushed by people corrupted by the Kirugi.”
“What? You want to me to order them to kill civilians?” Geri responded incredulously.
“Yes. If you wish to survive, then yes,” Elarra confirmed.
Geri, looking hesitant, barked her orders, instructing the reluctant Marines to set up a kill zone. They scrambled into new positions, preparing for the assault. The first few civilians entered the street, and true to their orders, the Marines opened fire, downing them as they began to flood into the street. Elarra felt satisfaction as they were gunned down, and then revulsion at her own bloodlust. Damn that Joraq, she thought.
Creatures scurried behind the civilians, but instead of advancing on the Marines, they grabbed bodies and fled back down the side streets. Moments later, the civilians ceased their advance, disappearing after the fleeing creatures. The street was then empty, save the many corpses not claimed. Elarra looked to Geri, spotting her holding a rifle, still whole, still intact and alive. Had she just saved her? Had she just changed the future?
She looked up as a sonic boom rolled over the city, spotting the Ashari streaking toward the center of the destruction, heading straight for where the Kirugi and Gaidan brawled. Another vision tingled in the back of her mind, so she accepted it.
She could see the hole in the cordon where the Ashari had been. She saw, several streets over, another organic rocket, bearing an egg, launch into the sky. She could tell its launch vector was leading straight through the gap where the Ashari had been. One egg was going to escape.
She snapped back to the present, realizing her forces were the only ones left to stop the escaping egg.
“Geri!” Elarra cried, jumping down from the car’s roof. “We’ve got to move, get your men and follow me. An egg i
s going to escape, we have to try to stop it.”
Alis’ voice crackled over the comm, and Elarra realized as she spoke what she was planning. Geri obviously did as well.
“Alis, no! Don’t do it! There’s got to be another way! Don’t, please, just don’t. I can’t lose you,” Geri wailed.
87
The Future
Elarra heard Kyren’s voice crackle over the comm. The desperation was clear. He had lost the only remaining weapon the bot possessed. The beast had known to take out the threat. It had anticipated, and now they were doomed. She heard Alis’ determination in the next few moments, and Geri’s lamentation. She knew there had to be a way out, there had to be a solution. If only she could find it. Closing her eyes, Elarra opened her senses to the flow of time, hoping to find the answer.
She looked ahead, and saw them fighting in the street, trying to make their way to the egg tower, the lone egg that would escape. They had to stop the one that would make it through the cordon, now that Alis had abandoned her post.
The beast was irrelevant now, its threat second to that of the escaping spawn. Even one egg would doom the galaxy. Even one egg would infest all, given time. If she didn’t stop it, all else was moot.
If Alis had to make a sacrifice, Elarra couldn’t stop her. It truly might be the only way, she knew. She knew she might have to make the very same sacrifice. As she considered the future, she opened her vision and followed along with future her. The creatures had amassed, as if anticipating the assault. She had recalled her raxi, knowing that the egg was the goal. Kyren would have to fend for himself, she realized. The egg would have to be stopped if Kyren’s sacrifice were to be justified.