Warriors at the Gates- Trojan Wars

by Rick Royster

"Wait. I don't get it. They spent a lot of resources hunting it down," Tressa said.

  "Think about what the Cube does – it allows someone to steal both body and mind," Cayden said.

  "Yes. We all know that already," Tressa said.

  "So, we can be certain it would work the same way on our computers and Air Station Alpha," Cayden said. "The heart of our military operations."

  "You think it's supposed to be used as a mere computer virus?" Tressa asked.

  Cayden held it in his hand and stared at it. "I think it operates the same way it would on the human body. I think it would give them complete control of Air Station Alpha, once it's within close proximity of the station and all of our bases and vehicles. Anything on our military network, the Global Union would be able to take it over immediately, remotely."

  "Would have been a nightmare if we’d taken it back to Air Station Alpha."

  "Oh, the Global Union was never concerned about spies? We'd have given them the war on a platter. They wouldn't have had to wipe us out. They wouldn't even have to attack us. They could just deploy our own machines and weapons against us." Tressa’s eyes lit up. "Now it all makes sense."

  "No matter, they still need your daughter to make the Cube work. She's the real key to this entire thing," Cayden said.

  Matrix looked at Cayden. "Have us fight to bring home the very thing that is going to destroy us. That is genius."

  "Well, now we have a surprise in store for them. A surprise they are sure not to like," Cayden said.

  Tressa put a hand on Cayden's shoulder. "My daughter – what about my daughter?"

  "I keep my promises; after we get Winter, we'll help her. But for now, it's best she stays hidden. She's in self-imposed exile, and if she's managed to stay alive this long, I'm sure she knows how to get in contact with us when she feels the time is right," Cayden said.

  Sateria stared at the large video screen. Cayden was gone, his image replaced by white static before the security camera's images re-emerged of downtown Region Twelve.

  Her mind began to race. She thought she was over him, but now the idea of him being in love with someone else enraged her. How dare he. She lived every day with the thought of him in her mind. She thought she wanted to kill him.

  The thought burned at her. But no matter, Cayden was on the way, and she would have the Cube. He and his blonde witch would die in this place, but she had another problem to deal with; she didn't trust Saigo or the Global Union to just cut her loose either. She needed to remove the tracker they’d put in her blood.

  Tiberius walked into the control room. The technicians in the room stopped their work. They were afraid to breathe, much less look at him. "Saigo commands you to make preparations for his arrival. He's on his way here," Tiberius said.

  Sateria thought of the ramifications of Saigo's visit. The blood feud between them would finally come to an end. "I'll be right there."

  Tiberius nodded and left.

  Sateria stood in the control room, her every thought fixated on Cayden which kindled a new anger within her. She then forced her thoughts to her grandparents. Her grandmom was a former U.S. Senator and grandfather a congressman who had turned to the Global Union long before the war started. The truth was rather obvious to her at a young age. Her grandparents had sold out their nation. Since the age of seven, they had her trained to be a spy. While other school kids were playing video games, she was learning how to jump out of jets, the inner workings of politics and the art of killing a dozen men in a room in a fitted dress and high heels.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  I wish to avenge myself against the one who rules above.

  ― Karl Marx

  Several Global Union Centurions and Saigo's personal Praetorian guard stood in perfect posture in the General's command quarters. The Praetorians' uniforms were distinguished by their white upper body armor and crimson pants as opposed to the all-crimson attire of the Centurions.

  The room was a drab gray, monitors, and holograms of citizen activity from all over the world on display.

  Saigo stood with his hands crossed behind his back, and his eyes closed. Finally, he would meet Cayden again in battle, and this time he'd make sure he didn't leave his former best friend alive. This would be the ultimate challenge, one that Saigo had looked forward to for quite some time. He'd had visions and dreams of this day for years. They would meet on a nondescript rooftop in Region Twelve. There he would impale Cayden, killing him once and for all.

  In the modern era of war, Generals, much less kings or princes, didn't fight in wars. Ever. Saigo was a throwback to the days of Alexander and Ghengis khan. The Prince to this earth would do just that. He was made for it.

  A Praetorian approached him. "General Takimora, your jet is ready."

  Finally, he would have his revenge. Tonight, his patience and planning would be rewarded.

  Cayden Battle was his sworn enemy – he had to die. The sentiment he held for his former friend was like a cancer he wished to cut from its root. He had a duty to all the betrayed and fallen angels that came before him to complete this task. He would not fail them.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

  ― Matthew 10:34

  The southern providence of Region Twelve was cold and beautiful this time of year. Holiday lights gave the city an ethereal glow.

  Cayden thought back to that fateful night when he had lost Sateria. He received the message on his wrist comm at the same time as the rest of his strike team. Sateria was not to be allowed back on the Intrepid. She was to be put down immediately.

  They hated nothing more than a traitor, each member of the Coalition putting his life in the hands of the man next to him. Nothing he could say would stop one of them from killing her, and in his current state of infatuation with her, he couldn't promise himself he wouldn't retaliate against a marine doing his duty. And he was their leader and pilot; if he stayed behind, not only would he be banned from the Coalition, but also, he wasn't sure if she'd have him turned over and imprisoned or executed. He didn't have much of a choice. He had to leave her; considering the situation, that was the best he could do.

  Cayden walked the rain-slicked streets, each step he took bringing him closer to the station and way beyond insubordination. He'd deal with whatever consequences there were later. There was no way he was leaving Winter here to die.

  Cayden wondered if anyone here might be sympathetic to the Coalition. At their core, most of the people here didn't worship the Potentate out of fear; they worshipped him because he represented God as man. Under his rule, every type of moral debauchery was encouraged, not condemned.

  "Do as thou wilt, that is the whole of the law," he often said in public addresses.

  Consequently, in such a place like Region Twelve, one would never expect an attack on a prison station. The level of wealth for the average citizen was staggering.

  Crowds of citizens were littered across the plaza in which he walked, laughing, chatting, eating, and drinking. A small boy waved at him as the boy tossed a tennis ball with a girl of the same age, but other than the boy, no one noticed him. Most of the crowd talked to life-sized holograms or were on VR headsets.

  It didn't matter, as soon they all would know he was here, and the entire city would be on fire.

  Sateria was never one to use recreational psychoactives like many of those under her command, but she had a desperate urge for a simple cigarette and a fifth of vodka. She was surrounded by death. Her two Centurions wanted to kill her, and she had a bomb on her ship and little explosives swimming in her body. She couldn't just simply fly away.

  She was pursuing a skilled warrior who wouldn't be captured. The "or alive" part of her orders had no meaning for her. He left her, and he betrayed her. He'd pay for that.

  She promised she would give her life to whichever god allowed her to see Cayden again.

  Sateria watched from her comman
d center, and saw the Cobra enter Region Twelve airspace on a massive vid-screen. Ambassador Antony Clay stood in silence behind her, hands folded in front of him. He had two personal guards at his side.

  She thought of a way out. She knew the Coalition would fall if the Global Union got their hands on the Cube.

  She wanted a different life for herself – away from treachery and war. She wanted so badly to be that person she’d convinced Cayden she was a few years ago. She was becoming that person, she would have been that person, but her circumstances betrayed her… he betrayed her.

  Tiberius burst into the room and Sateria stood facing the security monitor, lost in a trance. Tiberius appeared as anxious as she'd ever seen a clone look.

  "He's here," Tiberius announced. "The Desani."

  Sateria turned back toward the screen, eyes eagerly awaiting the image.

  "Let's go claim our prize," Sateria said.

  Sateria’s emotions were again conflicted, part of her wanting to forgive and love him, the other wanting to kill him for his betrayal.

  She watched Tiberius exit the room, the thrill of battle running across his face.

  How am I going to get this deadly tracking device out of my bloodstream?

  She needed Cayden.

  Cayden thought for the first time how exhausted he was. Sleep hadn't been easy for him for a long time. But suddenly, if presented with a choice, he'd much rather Sateria be hunting his nightmares instead of his present reality. The chances of her not being present at this station were decent. He sent Tressa to the agreed-upon rendezvous point, and Sateria picked a remote island off the coast of Region Twelve.

  There was a good chance Sateria bought his story that he'd be there to deliver the Cube, and she went there to meet him. She'd probably want him dead even after he gave her the Cube. Now that he knew what was on it, he could never allow it to fall into Global Union hands. He needed to destroy it. He didn't trust it in Coalition hands either.

  That type of technology was frightening.

  If Sateria was here, could he hurt her to save Winter? Could he choose between the two of them? That was a scenario no amount of training could prepare him for.

  He approached the door with the full knowledge of where everything would be at his disposal. He was able to download the building's schematics and study them. Winter was probably being held on the fourth four, but once he was inside, it'd be too late for them to do anything about him. This base normally held about thirty officers, and he found it a bit odd that she wasn't at a more secure location. But most Coalition agents didn't allow themselves to get captured. And Region Twelve wasn't exactly a hotbed for war criminals.

  The Global Union tortured them relentlessly for information they didn't have. Then again, who was crazy enough to attack a security station in a Federation-friendly controlled city? It just didn't happen.

  Cayden took a deep breath, clicked the armed on his blaster, and approached the building. The glass doors, surrounded by a steel entrance, slid open. The hairs on his neck stood up, his sixth sense warning him of impending peril.

  This time, he didn't need it; walking into a building to fight through thirty armed law and authority officers implied danger.

  He stepped inside, and the doors slid shut behind him.

  A half-dozen security officers roamed the lobby and took no notice of him, a couple of cleaning clones mopping the floors with no buckets.

  He froze. Something wasn't right. He could feel...them.

  Threat assessed. First, engage sec forces, then deal with Winter and Sateria.

  There were soldiers, armed, hiding everywhere, in the hallways, crouched in the stairways, ducked off behind furniture and decorations, even on the second-floor balcony above.

  All of this flashed through Cayden's mind in a millisecond. Then the lights went off and simultaneously smoke bombs flared, and a quantum detonator attached above the door exploded.

  The very nature of the device seemed to cause the air to schism, and the front entrance walls collapsed upon themselves.

  Won't be escaping that way.

  Cayden pushed out with his awareness, felt the cold, soulless eyes on him like a pack of predators in the deep abyss. The Centurions had infrared built into their programming, but the other soldiers and officers wore night-vision goggles. In unison, they attacked.

  Like bees out of a rattled hive, they came from everywhere. From his left, four soldiers firing laser rifles sent a barrage of gold fire toward him; Cayden didn't need to see to be effective; his martial arts training growing up allowed him to fight in the darkness. His Desani powers allowed him to anticipate where every threat was coming from – though their numbers were beginning to tax even his abilities.

  His katana was out in his right hand, moving so fast-acting as a deflector shield, repealing lasers as fast as they came. In his left hand, he held his blaster, returning fire toward the soldiers. Some scattered shots got through and hit his body, but his armor muted much of the damage. He just made sure nothing hit his face.

  Sateria was above him on the balcony, of course; it was her with the well-coordinated sabotage attack. She gave them a slight tactical advantage, knew the best way to attack him.

  Cayden charged forward, fired twice and took out two guards, letting his momentum launch him off a bench to the upper balcony. He shot dead, while mid-air, the three officers who were firing at him. He fired a fourth and fifth shot, but Sateria had already rolled and thrown herself back. She was no longer there. Before he could track her, three soldiers emerged from the left, and three more appeared from the corridor on the right.

  They started blasting in a well-coordinated attack. Three fired at his legs and three aimed at his chest and head. He rolled toward the group to the left with such speed and quickness. He appeared to just materialize before them. They were slashed and cut down in a blink, rifles still firing while they crumbled to their deaths.

  He had turned the darkness into his advantage. Cayden was certain they'd figure that out soon. He sent his katana end over end at one of the soldiers, and he sprinted after it and slid toward the men. The katana impaled his target, while the other officers aimed where Cayden was, not where he was going. He snatched the blade out of the man's chest and spun around him and chopped down the remaining two soldiers.

  Then he felt her.

  Standing on the rail, composed, Sateria looked at him, smiling.

  Only then did he notice the slight ticking of a flash grenade attached to the column he was standing next to. It exploded with a burst of intense light and gray smoke that stunned him. Cayden used his forearm to shield his eyes.

  Sateria charged forward with perfect balance while still on the railing in a dead sprint and leaped in the air, riding the fire on her back to fly toward him. Then she kicked out and ignited her jet boots, striking him in the chest, sending him tumbling over the balcony's railing and falling down to the hard lobby floor.

  He landed flat on his back. The impact knocked the breath from his body. He gritted his teeth after painfully biting his tongue. He hit the ground hard enough that it jarred his katana from his grasp and sent it scattering across the floor.

  Cayden grabbed his blaster in his left hand and closed his eyes and steadied himself. A brewing storm gathering within him, Cayden got to one knee, a power surging in his chest. With his right hand he shoved toward the soldiers, a faint blue orb emitted, distorting the air around it and hammering two of the soldiers in the chest. As if hit by a gorilla punch, they flew off their feet and landed on their backs, dark smoke rising off their unconscious bodies.

  This power, he hadn't felt rising through him in years, and it frightened him because he had no control of it. Younger, when his skills had still been growing in training and sparring with Saigo, he had felt this energy surge within him, manifesting into a deadly power of kinetic energy and raw electricity being shot out of the palms of his hands. That first time, it almost ripped him in half, he’d almost died. He had worked
to suppress this power ever since. And now here it was again. Instinctively he raised his hand toward the security officers, and a moment later they were dead. Then he felt an overwhelming weakness, only momentarily, then seconds later he was fine.

  Sateria, powered by her jet boots, was in the air drifting away from him.

  Cayden scanned the lobby quickly. It was all he needed. His training gave him a god-like view of his surroundings. The scene etched in his brain in exquisite detail.

  Four soldiers were to his right. They were slow now, and didn't plan for this fight to last more than a few seconds. With no instructions and not knowing exactly what to do next, it made them hesitate. Cayden knew what to do, and there'd be no hesitation on his part.

  And he loved close-quarters combat.

  Cayden ran and leaped quickly toward the security officers. He saw the surprise registered on two of the soldiers' faces as he landed next to them, his sword slicing in a quick arc as he cut them both down. Then he was on the move, bearing down on the two closest troopers behind him who were trying to aim their weapons; he slashed down hard and across, cutting through his collarbone, then a sweeping cut across the other's chest. The blue-lit blade neatly cauterized everything in its path. They fell to the ground dead.

  Two more appeared behind them, had their weapons raised, standing not more than ten feet from him. One soldier fired once, twice, and Cayden - anticipating the angle and trajectory - dodged with unnatural speed by slightly turning his shoulder left, then moving his head to the right.

  Both lasers zipped by him.

  The third blast, he swung upwards with his katana, and it ricocheted into the face of the soldier to his right who aptly crumbled to the ground. Then he charged forward and sliced the muzzle off of the rifle of the soldier in front of him, then promptly crosscut and took his head.

  He looked up and took a deep breath, saw the floating Sateria with a scowl on her face. She flew in an arc in front of him, then crouched in a defensive stand ready for her attack. Then his precognitive abilities alerted him again just fast enough to notice Brutus charging behind him from the shadows.