Space Cadets (9 page)

Broken
Beast

To my utter astonishment, the Beast came into view at the end of the road. It was going very fast. Even from so far away, I could see the damage it had sustained. The windshield was cracked and the body was punctured over every square inch.

There was a busted up police cruiser trying its best to keep up.

As they came closer, the Presidents men came into view, running behind them. They were all suited in armor, but there were only four of them left. I don’t know much about how this works, but from what I’ve read, usually the President is surrounded by dozens of men and women willing to lay down their lives for him. Four remaining men did not bode well.

One of the men exploded like a water balloon. The boom rocked the car I was hiding behind.

Then we saw its source. There were at least a hundred men and women on foot, giving chase and there were three armored vehicles fitted with turrets and such. The men and women looked insane as they ran and fired from the hip.

I’ve never been so afraid. There was a succession of booms behind us. When I turned my head to see what caused them, I almost cried. There must’ve been another hundred crazed men and women at that end of the street. We were boxed in. This was going to be a slaughter. The Beast sped up but a Popper was fired at its front bumper and the explosion killed the engine, and probably the driver too. It veered to the right and hit a storefront. One of the remaining three Presidential guards fell down hard. Blood oozed out from beneath his body.

The police cruiser was hit with an exploding projectile and did a little hop in the air. No one inside survived.

This was a kill-box and I was in it. The terrorists were about to get a two-for-the-price-of-one deal; the President and me.

But just as all hope was lost, a shadow fell over us and then the sound of an aircraft engine trailed off in the distance. I looked up and saw tiny specks falling quickly to the ground. It was the airborne Rangers. I counted a dozen or so of them. I was beyond happy when I spotted a mech amongst them. A mech skin would come in handy but I was still worried it wasn’t enough. There were at least two hundred terrorists here.

Help From Above

The mech used its thrusters to get to the ground first. It wasted no time. Whoever’s consciousness was running it had clearly modified the thing. It had two shoulder cannons and a spinning head turret. It also had two Dannon Cannons in each hand. It landed just a few feet from me, looked right at me and then bolted towards the President’s limo. It was firing all weapons at the approaching terrorists as it ran.

By the time the airborne rangers hit the ground, there were already a lot fewer terrorists to contend with. They hadn’t used chutes but instead used quick thruster bursts to slow down their descent. Most of them ran at the terrorists to the rear, with just three of them going to help the A.C.E. (Automated Combat Equipment) unit.

The larger group split up. A Ranger ran over to a shop front and attached what looked like a long bar. I saw another Ranger at the other side of the street do the same thing.

With that done, and bullets hitting them left and right, a third Ranger chucked a little orb down the street, towards the approaching terrorists. Then each of the Rangers at opposite sides of the street pressed a button on their rod-like devices and an opaque orange force field went up between them.

I heard an aircraft engine screech towards us and then the other side of the force field lit up like the sun.

I felt none of the blast; no shrapnel and no heat. When the smoke cleared, not a single terrorist was left standing. The three armored vehicles were in smoldering chunks. I’ve read a bit about earthbound military ordinances and I think that bomb was a
Meteor Impact
, so called because of the devastation it wreaks and the crater it leaves behind. The little orb that the Ranger had thrown was a homing beacon of some kind.

The aircraft whooshed over my head like a bolt of lightning.

I turned my attentions to the President’s limo. The mech had the entire limo hoisted over its head and was carrying it down the street towards me.

Last Stand

I looked over at Arthur but he was gone. I scanned the crowd behind the mech and saw Arthur’s back. He was blasting away like this was the most fun he’d ever had.

But then, I saw blood run down his back and he fell over, dead. I didn’t have time to grieve for him though.

The Rangers behind me ran past. The weight of their armored uniforms cracked the tarmac beneath their feet as they went. They joined the fight up ahead now too.

I stood up, ready to join in with the rest of them, when the mech stomped over and put the limo down beside me. It said in a female voice, “Hi again Jack.”

“Is that you Peggy?”

“It sure is. I need you to get the President to safety. We’ll hold those bastards off.”

I nodded even though I wasn’t really sure what she expected of me. I wasn’t trained to protect a fucking President.

Peggy was a friend of my hero, Rick Pringle. She was his equal in every way except that she was probably smarter and less reckless than he was.

She yanked the door to the Beast clean off and ducked her head inside.

She pulled her head back out and said, “He’s got a wound on his neck. I’ll get you a med-kit.” Then she dashed off. I approached the open doorway and sure enough, the President was holding a gushing wound on his throat. Everyone else inside was already dead.

I heard Peggy’s voice yell, “Heads up,” and I turned just in time to see her launch a backpack my way. I caught it and fished around for wrap. I unraveled a roll and got inside the limo. It stunk of sweat and feces but I put it from my thoughts and forced the President to remove his hands. I wrapped his neck up as tight as I dared and then sat back to view my work, but also to try and figure out what I was supposed to do now.

There was a loud thump overhead. I got out and was surprised to get shot right in the face by a guy standing on the limo. I pulled my weapon and perforated him.

Just then I saw more terrorists rappelling down from the rooftops of the shops, and some of them had armor on.

I’d never used a Sizzler in atmosphere before so I didn’t know what kind of sound it would make. It’s an energy weapon and it’s terrifying but I decided the situation demanded I use it. I turned it on and waited the second and a half it takes to power up. Then I ran a line of amplified energy across the storefronts on the other side of the limo. The Sizzler cut through a couple of the descending terrorists and it made a few of the lucky ones explode from the super-heating of the blood and organs. Two torsos let go of their ropes and fell to their deaths.

I turned around to get the guys on that side of the street but I was too late. They were already firing at me from the ground and they were furious. One of them launched a Popper my way but it exploded in the air. The shockwave alone put me on my ass. I hefted my PQ5000 up, ready to defend myself, but the barrel had been bent at some point. I was out of Poppers and the Sizzler only worked one time before it had to be recharged. What that meant was that I was fucked.

Human Shield

My head jolted around as the bullets impacted the armor. It wouldn’t hold up much longer. There were only a handful of terrorists coming at me but that was too many because I was defenseless. I stood up to block the open doorway of the limo. I was going to die, but maybe I could buy the President enough time to escape out of his door on the opposite side.

My entire body shuddered from the multiple impacts but I just gritted my teeth and stood my ground

I saw a lady with no armor turn her weapon over and hold down a button. She was going to cut through me like butter with whatever energy weapon she was using.

But then Peggy’s A.C.E. unit came into view and started taking them out one at a time. In just a few short seconds, they were all in bloody chunks at her feet.

I fell to my knees for some reason. I saw my vision swim before me. There was a flash of bright light over by the firefight at the other end of the street but the boom barely made it from my ears to my foggy mind. I saw the ground rush up at me and then everything went black.

After Life

I was standing up when I came to my senses but I was not in the middle of a battle or even on Earth. I was aboard the Conquistador and the captain was staring at me expectantly.

I realized with a start that I had had my consciousness teleported to a mech.

That could only mean one thing. I would have started to cry if my mech had any tear ducts.

The captain smiled at me at that exact moment. “Jack, do you remember me? I’m Captain Wilkomen.”

I nodded my oversized mech head sadly.

“You saved the President’s life son. They say he’s making a full recovery. They’ve awarded you a second Platinum Shield. That has never happened before. Rick Pringle is pretending to be happy for you but I think he’s a little jealous.”

“They awarded it posthumously, of course,” I said, my mech voice trembling.

“Yes son. Your wounds were mortal. The armored uniform you had on can only take so much before it gives. People are still marveling at how you kept your wits about you when you were so riddled with bullet holes.”

I hung my head so he added, “But they managed to upload your consciousness before your body gave out. They don’t do things like that for just anybody. You’re special and people are starting to realize that.”

“I’m dead sir. I no longer have a living body to go back to. Forgive me if I don’t share your enthusiasm.”

“Of course son. I’m so sorry.”

Rick Pringle's modified A.C.E. skin walked into the skin bay and he said, “Hey Jack. Welcome back man.”

I nodded his way. I should've been more respectful or at least more excited to see him. He was Rick Pringle after all; hero to mankind and a personal acquaintance.

He said, “I know you must be pissed about being dead and all, but maybe this will cheer you up,” he grabbed me under the arm and led me over to the mirror they keep in the skin bay so new arrivals can get used to their new visage.

My skin was definitely unique. It had been spray painted green and blue with little black highlights. The surface was different too which meant there were probably a shit-load of hidden weapons underneath. The boosters in my feet were twice the size of regular boosters.

Rick said, “I was modding it up for myself. It has extra shielding around all components and cables so EMP’s don’t affect it. It flies twice as fast as any other mech and it’ll take twice the damage. Wait ‘til you see the arsenal of weapons it has.”

I tried to smile but seeing my fake rubber lips in the mirror sent a chill down my spine. This was it for me. This was my new, permanent existence.

Rick said, “When I heard what happened to you, I had to give you my upgraded skin. I couldn’t believe you survived for so long in that mayhem. They had us dead to rights. On the plus side, you’ll outlive everyone on the planet now buddy.”

I was confused though. I asked, “What do you mean, they had
us
dead to rights?”

He leaned in and whispered, “I was there with you. My real name is Arthur Johnson. Don’t bellyache too much pal. I died before you did.”

So he had died and instead of taking the better skin, he’d given it to me. I didn’t have the words to express how I felt about that. I hugged him, which was difficult, given we were both bulky A.C.E. units.

He said, “Come on up to the command room. Your classmates Becky and Danny are waiting for you.”

“My spirits were already starting to rise. I asked, “How long until we reach the alien planet?”

“We’re already there.”

Ace 4 Copyright Adam Moon 2013

All rights reserved

Intro

First contact with an alien race didn’t go the way people had hoped. It sucked, really. I wasn’t even born yet when they arrived in earth’s orbit. Neither were my grandparents.

At first, they did nothing. They just circled and watched.

Then, just as our ancestors started to get really frightened, they opened up dialogue with some world leader. What they had to say was even scarier than when they just observed us silently. They told humanity that it would be evaluated over the course of the next several hundred years. They said that if we weren’t up to their standards, whatever they were, that we would be wiped out. Then somewhere between one and three million people simply vanished from the face of the earth and the alien spaceship disappeared. We’re pretty sure now that those people were abducted. We think the aliens took them to experiment on them but there’s no way to be sure.

That was over two hundred years ago.

Guess what humanity has done in that time: We prepared for their return. We militarized our space program and trained for war.

My name is Jack Peterson and I was a cadet aboard Deep Camp Eighty Seven. I’m only seventeen but I’ve done a lot in my life. I was one of the first people to ever board an alien ship. I liberated Camp Eighty Seven when terrorists took it over. I saved the President’s life. I’ve been awarded two Platinum Shields for bravery.

I also died today. That’s not an achievement though. Luckily my consciousness was uploaded to an A.C.E. skin before my body gave out. I’m wearing this Automated Combat Equipment skin onboard the warship Conquistador.

My hero Rick Pringle was waiting for me when I arrived in my mech. He modded it up for me so now it has better armor, more weapons, and faster boosters. It sucks being told you’re dead, but this badass mech is a decent consolation prize.

He also told me we were already at the alien planet. They call themselves Bleeders which is fitting because our mission is to spill as much of their blood as possible.