Gamma Nine (Book One) (18 page)

“How did you
create the asteroid field?”

“What a silly
question, human. I destroyed a planet. That is the only way to
create one you know.” It turned on its base, tilting forward
slightly as it faced the others around it, as if it was teaching a
child a lesson.

“You destroyed
Nox?”

“It did take an
awfully long time to die. But my master left me enough to get the
job done. That reminds me, which one of you is QC0021-13?”

Christian froze
as the thing uttered his operator number. He stepped closer as
well, lowering his Kicker as he did. “I am,” he said, trying to not
sound worried.

“Hello!” it
said with more enthusiasm. “You are indeed the ones I have been
waiting for.” It twisted on its axis again, looking at everyone on
the bridge in turn. “Shall we begin then?”

The Titans and
the Lancers raised their weapons, aiming directly at the child-like
machine.

“Silly, I
wouldn’t do that if I were you. Better to not waste your bullets on
me, you will need every single one very soon.” The thing giggled
after it spoke, emphasizing its enjoyment of the current situation.
“I would start running right about now,” it added in a deeper
voice.

The lights on
the body of the machine started flickering faster, and the thing
vibrated slightly as it went silent.

“Movement
Captain!” Rivers called out, his scanner beeping feverishly. “It’s
either big or a shit load of bodies pressed up against one another,
coming straight for us from the corridor.”

The Wolves and
the Lancers turned to face the open door of the bridge. The Lancers
found cover behind consoles nearby, still keeping their weapons
trained on the open portal.

The Titans
however, stood firm and raised their weapons, Rivers dropped to his
knee to remove Roger from his back. He activated the tiny robot and
resumed his stance, his shotgun clicked as he pulled the slide
back, chambering a round. Roger beeped and ran behind a display to
the left of the open doorway, whistling as it pulled at wires and
cabling.

Pyoter was in
the middle, his heavy gun pointing down the corridor, flanked by
Locke and Nathan on either side. Xander was next to Rivers, he was
fiddling with some grenades he had sneaked on-board against Locke’s
orders.

Christian was
the closest to the ancient intelligence. The hair on the back of
his neck stood up as the thing giggled again.

Pyoter was the
first to open fire, the rest of the squad following suit moments
after. Their bullets hit flesh, barely holding back the tide of
monstrosities streaming into the corridor towards them.

The trap was
now definitely sprung.

Volley after
volley hit the rushing Beast horde. The AIE had stopped giggling;
instead it masterfully worked the mechanisms of the trap it had set
up. Somehow the enemy had found its way onto the Fateful Moment, no
doubt by the hands of the AIE’s master. It manipulated the route
the Beast would take through the vessel’s corridors. A cargo hold
deep within the giant vessel’s bowels had been used to store the
deadly enemies, unleashed the moment the AIE decided it was time to
begin proceedings. Thousands of murderous animals, that were once
human, burst from the metal prison they were kept in, seeking only
to silence their insatiable hunger.

One stream of
horrors was directed towards the bridge, the other to Sabian and
the Maiden of Flame’s position in the docking bays. This
effectively cut off the Titans from their escape route, and if the
docking bay could not be held, ending all chances of escape.

With every
monster that fell, two more where there to replace it. Pyoter’s
heavy gun was glowing from the heat of sustained fire. If the heat
did not cause the weapon to melt, then the depleting ammo would
cause the weapon to stop firing soon.

Whichever came
first, the rest of the squad’s weapons would not be enough to hold
back the tide.

Pyoter was
yelling over the gunfire, constantly reporting his weapon status.
“Less than five hundred left!” Pyoter yelled, the barrel of his
weapon red hot, the heat causing sparks with every bullet that left
the weapons. It would not last much longer, the barrel would warp
and their bullet battering ram would cease its relentless
firing.

“Rivers!
Report!” Nathan asked with clear strain in his voice. He was the
closest to the door, and he had already switched from ranged to
melee, choosing to use his shield to batter the beasts into the
hail of bullets streaming into the corridor.

Christian had
moved up to the other side of the door, mimicking his brother’s
moves, funnelling the monsters into the lines of fire. The two
worked together to not let any of the creatures break free, but it
was a losing battle.

The Titans were
already being pushed back, the bodies of the dead infected piled up
around the portal of leading into the bridge. More and more were
scrambling over the pulped dead, making the floor of the bridge run
red with infected blood.

If they
survived the trap, they would have to put the dead bodies to flame,
before the spores from the infection spread throughout the vessel.
Everyone was trained to avoid the deadly spores released by the
infected dead, all of the normal soldiers already using sealed
respirator units inside their helmets.

“Roger can’t do
much more,” Rivers replied while he fired at the brutes rushing at
him, he and Xander were crouched next to each other, firing their
short range shotguns into the press of bodies. Pyoter’s bullets
missed the top of their heads by mere inches, but it did not bother
them, they had used this formation many times on previous
operations. “He can close the door, but it won’t close all the way,
they will still get through.”

Locke was on
top of a console next to Pyoter, firing down at an angle at the
monsters scurrying over their dead. There was no camaraderie
between the nightmares, their clawed and bladed limbs ripping into
each other, alive or dead, as they clambered over one another to
reach the fresh meat first. “Xander can plug the hole with his
grenades. Close the doors!”

“It will take a
few more minutes,” Rivers replied, reloading his shotgun.

“Aren’t you
glad I brought them Captain?” Xander added, his shotgun booming
with every trigger pull, peppering the monsters with molten
lead.

Locke did not
reply. He risked a glance at the Lancers behind nearby consoles; he
was not surprised to see that their nerves were holding. The
Lancers were all firing at the creatures Nathan and Christian were
funnelling into the kill zone, helping the shield-bearing Titans to
keep the flanks from breaking.

Locke was about
to turn his head back to the portal when the sound of Pyoter’s
weapon clicking dry caused an eerie moment of silence.

The real fight
was about to begin, and with it the death toll would rise, on both
sides.

Pyoter
discarded his weapon, something that pained him immensely, but his
favoured heavy weapon was ruined beyond repair. Its barrel melted
into slag moments after its ammo reserves ran out. Ammo counts for
the rest of the Wolves made a bad situation even worse.

Xander was out
of shells, his pistol was all he had left, and he held that in
reserve for when it was most needed. River’s weapon was also dry.
Locke and the brothers were the only ones left with a few clips for
their Kickers.

In the absence
of weapons constant firing a battle silence had settled over the
bridge, the age-old sound of flesh falling on blades. Nathan and
Christian were tied up in melee struggles with the enemy, holding
the doors as best they could, the mass of bodies clogging the
corridor giving the Wolves some respite. The corridor’s width and
the sheer size of the bridge doors had made it easier for the Beast
to move forward and trample over their own dead, now it was
littered with infected bodies, slowly filling the corridor with
dead flesh. Rivers had moved to help Roger, trying to help the
little automaton get the door closed, he could be heard cursing in
his drawl over the inter-squad radio. Xander had joined the melee
with his double blades, holding one in each hand, slashing at
anything that came near. His strength helped disembowel a monster
rushing at him through the door, the sound of its insides hitting
the floor drowned out by the clash of Titan against Beast.

Locke was still
on the console, desperately trying to contact Sabian, the Maiden or
even the Hyperion. Static interfered with all external channels;
the AIE’s signal jamming making communication almost impossible.
But the machine could only control the digital systems, and knew
nothing about the backup analogue channels military personnel used.
These channels were created specifically to combat against AIE
jamming during the war centuries ago. Locke hoped Sabian, or
anyone, would be listening on the old channels.

“Sabian? Gunn?
We are cut off on the bridge, heavy resistance blocking our path
back to the Maiden. Report if you can hear me!” Locke asked over
the old analogue channels. He was more than just relieved to hear
the voice of commander Sabian reply to his call.

“Locke?
Vessel’s hull thickness is causing interference,” Sabian said.
Sabian could be heard yelling at his radio operator to try and
clean up the signal. The channel cleared up seconds later.

“Sabian, what
is your status?” Locke asked the old veteran commander.

“We are
holding. My men have sealed the dock and the Maiden is safe. Doors
are welded shut, nothing is getting through. That includes you and
your Wolves.”

“Good, we will
find another way. Hold the bay at all costs, I will report back
with progress.”

“Understood,
are my men still with you?”

“All of them,
they are making you proud, old friend.”

“Good luck
Gabriel. Let the father guide you in the next moments.” Sabian’s
link clicked off after his last words.

Superstitious
bastard, Locke thought. Locke clipped his Kicker to his back and
moved to where the melee was raging on. He joined the three Titans
fighting the enemy without hesitation, punching the head of a
gangly monster clean off, roaring to himself as he felt the
adrenaline in his system flow faster.

“Almost there
captain,” Rivers said to his commander while he tapped away at his
wrist-mounted display, Roger was still beeping and whistling as
they pulled at wires and worked on the door mechanism.

Pyoter had
re-organized the Lancers into a firing line in front of the door,
and he was busy directing their fire as the other Titans fought the
monsters. Pyoter could not enter the melee, his size would limit
his fighting ability in such chaos, he needed more space to use his
double-handed combat sword locked to his back. He would be a
hindrance swinging it between his squad members, so instead he took
direct command of the Lancers and helped to keep them together. If
the beasts broke free he would enter the brawl, but until then he
fired his pistol from behind the double line of Lancers. One line
was crouching, the other standing, and their accurate fire held the
tide back streaming in through the corridor; it helped the Titans
to keep the number of monsters to a minimum inside the bridge.

Behind Pyoter
the AIE spoke. “I am impressed with your defiance. It will make the
rest of my game even more interesting.”

The Titans were
too busy to reply to the insane machine, but it did not stop the
machine from speaking again.

Its voice
changed again, changing into a deeper male voice. “Phase two will
begin shortly. I hope you enjoy what I have prepared for you.”

As soon as it
had finished a hiss escaped the floor in front of the AIE’s perch,
the deck lifted, revealing the hatch that housed the ventilation
systems of the vessel beneath the bridge.

Cold air
escaped the open ventilation system, the hatch opened on its old
hinges, and from within the darkness inhuman screams could be
heard.

Pyoter and the
Lancers were the closest to the opened hatch, and they were the
first to see the torrent of Beast flood out of the dark tunnel.

The Lancers
reacted instantly at Pyoter’s command, switching their firing line
to focus on the new threat behind them. Pyoter did not hesitate,
unclipping his giant combat sword as he strode towards the new
horrors attacking them.

He smiled
inside his helmet. He now had the room to fight unhindered.

Pyoter’s blade
was almost as tall as a normal human, stretching more than five
feet from hilt to tip. Despite its size and weight, its owner
wielded it like a true knight of old legend. Pyoter’s strength made
his movements with the giant blade effortless, unleashing attack
after attack on enemies. Whenever the blade fell, bodies were
carved in two, sometimes more than one at a time.

The giant’s
skill with the large blade was from a forgotten age, never standing
still in one place for too long, always moving forward through the
lines of the enemy. Every swing led into a follow-up move, never
swinging from the same angle twice. His stances supported every
swing, balancing him for every point of counter attack. Nothing
could touch the towering giant, everything in close proximity to
him died with gargling spurts of blood escaping their separated
bodies.

One man held a
score of monsters at bay with only his blade and his skill, the
Lancers fired at the beasts avoiding the Titan in their midst.
Their volleys cut down any stragglers trying to escape the reach of
Pyoter’s blade.

Pyoter sliced a
beast from head to groin, his blade’s momentum freeing it as it
passed through the body of the infected. He did not miss his
stride, stepping forward to impale another monster through the
chest. The blade slid through its mutated body with ease, ending
its nightmarish life. The giant lifted the monster from his feet
and used the length of the blade and the follow-up overhead swing
to throw it from his weapon. The punctured infected flew from the
blade as the top arc of the swing was reached, it disappeared
behind the crowd of beasts surrounding him.