Gamma Nine (Book One) (24 page)

Remy smiled a
little and started compiling her plan so Rivers could understand
it.

Gray took a
deep breath, leaning against the giant display. “Open a channel to
Sabian and Gunn. I need to talk to them right now.”

Gray felt it,
it was a small emotion, but he could feel it hiding at the back of
his mind. The unexpected change in the situation had given him
hope; even if the chance of survival was small.

“
The Beast is humanity
freed from the chains of morality. It acts on pure instinct, taking
what it wants, whenever it wants, and it’s impossible to cage. The
only thing we could do to counter it was to create beasts of our
own, just as powerful and just as dangerous. But our armoured
beasts can be controlled - to some degree at least.”
- Chief Scientist Thomas Wexler, Recorded in the Birth of Titans -
By Thomas Wexler, Deceased

Remy had
informed everyone that needed to know about her plan. Miraculously
Sabian and most of his men were still alive, fighting for their
lives to keep the Maiden of Flame safe from the Beast’s bloody
claws. Their heavy weapons had kept the monsters away from the
docking bay where the vulnerable Maiden sat, waiting to escape.

Gunn made sure
that her Maiden was ready to take off as soon as the word was
given. Being that close to the mutated creatures of the Beast made
Gunn extremely agitated; her home was in the air or in the void,
far away from sharp things that could hurt her. Her obvious
reaction to the situation was to blame Jinx, she was pretty sure he
was the reason they were in bad luck once again.

The Wolves and
the three remaining Lancers had exited the ducts and were making
good speed towards the reactors. They met resistance every step of
the way, but it never slowed them down.

The Lancers
trailed behind the Wolves fighting at the front of the column,
Rivers and Locke covered the rear, cutting down any stragglers the
other four leading Titans missed or left partially alive. Rivers
had to stay at the back, he half worked on the plan Remy had
suggested, double checking her work and his own role in the absurd
idea, only stopping to fire his shotgun if Locke missed something,
which only happened twice so far. The Lancers covered Rivers from
time to time as the squad crossed intersections or passed bulkhead
doors that stood wide open for some unknown reason. It gave the
Fateful Moment’s corridors an eerie echo as the Titans weapons
split open mutant bodies and bashed bestial skulls.

Pyoter was at
the front, hacking away at anything in his path. The others
struggled to keep up with the giant Titan and his rage. He swept
his blade in deadly arcs in front of him as he moved forward,
switching from one-handed to two-handed grips, shifting his weight
with every step. His muscles burned from the fighting, but he felt
more alive than ever, reaping the lives of the nightmarish monsters
was what he was born for. His berserker heritage fuelled his
beating heart and growing fury, hearing nothing beyond the sound of
his sword’s lethal edge as it separated flesh and bone. All he knew
was that the monsters had to die, so he kept fighting and following
the highlighted path on his visor as best he could.

Everyone else
knew not to speak to Pyoter when he fought at his current level,
only keeping him in check if he strayed from the current path.

Xander followed
the berserker Wolf, using his pistol and one hand blade to kill as
many of the beasts that escaped the reach of Pyoter’s sword. He
gave his giant squad mate a big lead, allowing the giant the
freedom to free his anger. Xander’s explosives rattled against his
armour as he plunged his blade into the head of a mutant, shooting
another in the face that tried to pounce on him. He paused for less
than a second to check for the others behind him before he broke
into a jog again, keeping Pyoter in his sight range.

Christian and
Nathan fought like twins, knowing each other’s style without any
practice and complimenting each other’s every move. The brothers
stormed forward with their shields raised, bashing apart anything
still left alive or flattening the monsters that tried to enter the
corridor from above or below. Christian was slightly ahead of his
older brother, using his shield to flip smaller creatures into the
rushing shield of Nathan. Nathan would follow up with his combat
blade, slicing off limbs and severing heads from already mutilated
bodies.

Christian’s
blade sang in the air above his shield, those creatures too big or
too fast to flip over his shield met their end swiftly. His blade
rapidly striking at the monsters in front of his protection,
burying his blade in mutated flesh as he stepped over the dead
piled up throughout the corridor.

The squad kept
the pace until they reached their destination. Pyoter had cleared
everything around the opening into the reactor section of the
Fateful Moment. Xander arrived soon after the big Titan, helping
the giant to clear the last of the beast still alive to pose a
threat. The brothers and the rest of the squad arrived exactly when
the last monster died.

Pyoter shook
the remains of the creature from his blade and nodded at the rest
of the squad. Pyoter finally acknowledged their presence since they
had left the ducts.

No-one spoke as
Locke walked to the open portal descending into the reactor
chambers in the belly of the cargo vessel. Locke held up his hand
to halt everyone in place, he closed his fist to order his squad to
hold and cover him.

Everyone took
positions around the portal to cover their leader, weapons pointing
down the dark staircase leading to the reactors.

Locke
shouldered his Kicker and took the first step down the staircase,
but as soon as his armoured boot touched the first step a
bloodcurdling scream assailed the Wolves and Lancers from the
darkness below.

The scream was
born from pure anguish, unleashed from lungs that were never human
to begin with. It was deep and hungry, almost powerful enough to
tear sanity from reality, leaving nothing but the husk of human
flesh behind. It reverberated up from the staircase and punished
the senses as it passed over the rag-tag squad. The Lancers were
visibly shaken by the time the scream ended.

Locke froze and
instantly re-evaluated his tactic. He crossed his arms in front of
him to form an X, and the pointed at Christian and Nathan.

Christian knew
what it meant, moving to lead the squad down the staircase. He
placed his hand on Jay’s shoulder and shook the Lancer, helping to
steady the Lancer’s mind.

Jay looked up
at the Titan and slapped Borstil who was whimpering beside him, the
slap helped the chubby Lancer to regain some focus. Stevens was
beside Borstil, gripping his rifle as if it was a child.

Nathan and
Christian descended to lead the squad down the staircase. Whatever
was down there in the darkness was purposefully placed there to
stop anything from coming near the reactors.

Locke admired
the planning orchestrated by the AIE and its master, and he made a
mental note to put a few extra bullets into both once the Wolves
were free of this trap.

Two colossal
plasma reactors filled the space of the reactor room, cylindrically
shaped like twin gun barrels from an ancient hunting shotgun. They
stood a tank-width apart, held in place by hulking clamps attached
to the deck, large enough to hold small starships in their metal
embrace.

Cables as thick
as a human ran from the walls into the reactors at each end, giving
onlookers the impression that the reactors were held up by the
cables instead of the clamps. But the true purpose of the cables
was to pump thousands of gallons of coolant around the reactors,
cooling the outer shells of the plasma core inside the reactor. The
coolant never stopped flowing, even if all ship systems were
disabled backup after backup system would ensure that the reactors
were always cooled.

The constant
movement inside the reactors electrostatically charged the entire
reactor room. Bright white electricity arced between reactor and
metal all around the room, running up and down cables, dissipating
as the charges lost their potency. A storm of arcing, deadly
electricity went off between the colossal reactors, creating an
instantaneous death trap for any organic creature, human or not.
Anything that stepped or found itself in the middle of the reactor
storm would be burnt to cinders.

A raised
platform watched over the reactors, it housed all of the consoles
needed to maintain the reactors and the sub-systems. Between the
platform and the reactors a two-foot thick, armoured glass shield
protected crew from the chaotic storms around the reactors. It also
served to nullify the electrical charges, protecting the consoles
from overload or damage.

If a person
stood at the centre console and looked out over the two reactors,
it would give that person the sense of seeing two new-born suns,
safely tucked into their metal cots.

The stairs the
Titans and the three Lancers descended led directly onto the raised
platform, giving the squad a clear view of what was waiting for
them the moment they stepped foot on the platform.

On the other
side of the armoured shield a towering avatar of murder crouched in
silence, watching the humans walk into its domain. It was at least
twice as tall as any normal human.

Christian and
Nathan stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the thing, the
lightning arcing behind it increasing the threatening aura the
creature was projecting. One by one the Titans saw the monster as
they descended the stairs, pausing as soon as the avatar looked at
every one individually.

It was
definitely not human, and probably never was. It was hunched over
like a great ape from ancient Earth, resting its broad, muscled
torso on arms of pure power. Its legs were shorter than its arms,
but were probably just as powerful. Thick alien veins ran down its
body, viscous crimson fluid surged through every vein, visible from
the other side of the shield. It had no hands, instead its arms
ended into solid muscle stumps with bone shards tearing through its
skin. Its face was the most troubling aspect of the avatar; its
face was small and in direct contrast to the rest of its body,
dominated by a snarling mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. There
were so many teeth the creature was unable to close its mouth, and
shredded its own lips as it moved its jaw. Tiny black eyes watched
its prey from behind a thick muscular brow. The creature had no
visible nose, if one had to guess then it would probably have been
on its head somewhere, but the mutation it had undergone had hidden
or removed the organ completely.

Everyone
readied themselves, reloading weapons with whatever ammo they had
left, checking suit systems internally as they formed up.

Stevens was
about to ask Locke what they should do when the avatar howled
again, this time it sounded hungrier and excited, probably
delighted that it finally had prey in its assigned territory.

The howl
signalled the start of the creature’s attack. It reared up on its
short, stubby legs and thumped its spikey stumps into its chest. It
snorted and charged at the armoured shield.

It leapt clean
over it, aiming for the middle of the platform. The Wolves and
Lancers scattered as it plummeted towards them.

The platform
shook as the avatar landed, shaking consoles apart and breaking
displays.

It turned and
picked a random target, stomping towards its first kill.

Clumsy Borstil
never had time to react before his life ended, and everyone on that
platform would remember how he died for many years after the
fight.

Sabian’s part
in Remy’s plan was simple - sweep and clear a path for the Wolves
to fall back to the docking bay once their mission was
complete.

Sabian was used
to playing second fiddle to the Titans, and he never minded it for
a second. He knew that the Wolves were his superiors, regardless of
his rank or battle experience. It never irked him to take orders
from Locke, and he always answered when they called, never
hesitating. Sabian was one of the most loyal soldiers to humankind,
his men following him every step of the way.

It was no
surprise that the Lancers on-board the Fateful Moment sprang into
action the moment the orders were passed down. Squads of elite
soldiers re-sealed bulkhead doors, Lancer engineers welding them
shut as they closed off every entrance, save one, into the docking
bay where the Maiden sat on idling engines.

The Lancers
re-positioned and set up new firing lines covering that single
point of entry, forcing the beasts still alive to bottleneck
through that single entrance, drawing the monsters out of the
surrounding docks and cargo bays, away from the Wolves. This
entrance into the dock was however not the route the Wolves would
take to get back to the Maiden. In the middle of the docking bay
engineers and the Maiden’s automatons worked frantically with
cutting torches. They were cutting and removing debris from an old
cargo elevator, an elevator the ship’s captain probably did not
even know about during his many years of service. But Remy had
found the disused and rusty piece of forgotten hardware on old ship
schematics. Her discovery had fit nicely into her plan for everyone
to get off the Fateful Moment alive.

The elevator
was the final piece to a solid plan built on a slippery slope;
everything had to succeed before the elevator could lift the Wolves
to safety.

Torches cut
through metal as automatons did all of the heavy lifting, clearing
almost all of the debris in only a handful of minutes. As the
engineers worked a squad of Lancers stood nearby, checking their
gear as Sabian issued more orders. These men, and Sabian, would
rappel down four decks, landing in what was once a cargo bay, but
it was now sealed off due to the Fateful Moment’s current mission
parameters.