CHAPTER 32 - RESTLESS

DATE POINT: MAY 8th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD AAV “CONTACT ONE”

LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST

Two weeks. Two grueling weeks we've been getting our asses kicked. This is going to be the time we get this bastard!

Paul thought as he blocked the cudgel strike from the wolf skin clad warrior. A quick kick to the man’s chest and a stab with his shortened spear put an end to him. The clop of hooves alerted Paul to an incoming charge of some cavalry.

THREAT DETECTED: HUMAN, QUANTITY: TWELVE HORSEMEN, THREAT LEVEL: LOW

Always upping the difficulty on us...

“Looks like ET modified the fight again! Rangers, leap over those horsemen and shoot them from behind. Hamilton and I will break their charge. Ariana, finish off that last one.”

Paul yanked the last surviving swordsman from the first wave right off the ground mid-charge and tossed him towards Ariana’s position. He then pivoted to face the incoming cavalry. Hamilton joined him with his spear dripping blood.

“You ready for this?” Paul asked.

“Like you even gotta ask bruh.” Hamilton replied. “Now watch this shit!” He leaned back and tossed his spear straight into the leading horseman’s chest, sending him flying straight off his mount. Paul and Hamilton then charged together straight into the advancing line.

“Archers! Give them no time to breathe! Together we will slay these giants!” The leading horseman shouted as he charged with his mace pointing towards them.

“Y’all ain’t ready for this!” Hamilton shouted back as he recalled his spear to his hand and raised his shield to block the incoming arrows.

Moments later, their Rangers began peppering the horsemen from the rear, starting with the archers at the flanks. Paul smirked and formed a powerful TK field which dismounted one of the warriors and threw him straight into his leader. He dropped them directly in the path of their own horses, who trampled over them before abandoning the charge. With their line in disarray, Paul leapt the remaining distance into the gap and gored the nearest warrior right off his mount. The rest were forced to ride past and turn wide face the threat in their midst.

Hamilton landed beside Paul a moment later and together they stabbed at the closest horsemen as they struggled to wheel around and slow their mounts in time to adjust. One by one they fell either to the improved accuracy of their team’s Rangers, or to the spears of the Guardians. The basic design of the ancient bit-less bridles and the lack of stirrups made control of their enemies mounts more difficult, especially when fighting at such close range. This was a fact that Paul and Hamilton capitalized upon mercilessly.

“Come on out sky father! I can kill your children all day! Face me you coward!!” Paul yelled, grateful that the opportunity to get even with Dyeus Pahter seemed finally to be at hand.

Paul’s spear buried itself into the stretched hide shield of the last warrior brave enough to challenge him without fleeing. He twisted his spear and ripped the man straight off the back of his mount and slammed him into the ground with a painful crunch. Paul tore his trident from the shield and raised his spear overhead only for the sky to darken with swirling clouds.

“Oh shiii….” A bright flash of lightning split the air in front of Paul and knocked him off his feet with his ears ringing.

ELECTRIC SHOCK DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 70% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING

THREAT DETECTED, NEPHAELI’IM HUMAN HYBRID; SKY FATHER ARCHETYPE, QUANTITY: ONE,

THREAT LEVEL: DANGEROUS, AVERAGE PARTY INTEGRATION LEVEL LOW; EXTREME CAUTION RECOMMENDED

Paul scrambled to his feet and retrieved his spear as the armored form of Dyeus Pahter emerged from the clouds.

“Haughty words, mortal. Do you not know that such pride proceeds your downfall? Such a lesson you may learn but once. We shall see them spoken at your funerary rights as a warning to remind the race of men of their proper place. You have doomed yourselves today!”

Jenkins and Salazar opened fire and managed to hit him with their first shots before Dyeus charged their position and threw his double edged hammer, forcing them to dodge.

“Hey, pick on someone your own size old man!” Hamilton roared as he threw his spear right into the back of the god-king. Dyeus pivoted mid-air and dodged the spear before he reached his hand out and grabbed his returning hammer. He then pointed it towards Hamilton and charged in a dive like that of an eagle. Hamilton leapt out of the way of his swing and landed with a roll before he held his hand out and recalled his spear into it.

Paul launched himself into the air and charged after Dyeus. The god swatted away each of his spear thrusts using his hammer with a strength that even now still far surpassed his own. Without warning, Dyeus pivoted and charged, swinging at Paul with a lightning imbued strike. Paul raised his shield just in time to block, which rattled his arm to the bone and sent him flying back to the ground.

KINETIC STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 50% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING

Right as Dyeus flew down to land another strike on Paul’s still recovering form, Hamilton hit him with a mighty tackle from a perfectly timed leap. The pair wrestled together for a moment until Hamilton was overpowered and thrown several meters off to the side. Several more photonic arrows landed as Dyeus returned to his feet, all of which were deflected by his photonic shield.

“What’s the matter, old man, getting tired already?” Hamilton taunted.

“You dare mock your betters!? This fight has just begun, and already your strength has proven insufficient. Your words ring hollow, your chances at survival exist naught but in your mind.”

"Hamilton, on me. We attack together this time!" Paul shouted into his mic.

Paul and Hamilton charged Dyeus from different angles, trying to keep him distracted and on the ground. Dyeus seemed able to parry their strikes effortlessly, showing his superior strength and speed. He flowed in between them with practiced ease, though he seemed mostly unable to go on the offensive beyond a few easily defended feints. Paul’s mass senses detected a cloaked figure approaching; he had to do something to distract the deity even more.

“You’re pathetic, and your time is done old man! Humankind will be the masters of their own destiny!” Paul shouted as he grabbed at Dyeus with his full strength telekinesis.

This time, with the boost to his power, he was able to easily lift the bulky god and pull him towards his waiting spear. Dyeus was forced to use his free hand to attempt to counteract the TK field and to regain control of his change in momentum. While he succeeded in stopping himself from being thrown, he failed to address the incoming ambush as Ariana buried her dagger into his back and unleashed her full capacitor charge. His shield failed in a spectacular pop, and she proceeded to dig her blade into the gap in his shoulder and neck armor only for it to fail to penetrate his reinforced skin. Dyeus roared in frustration and hit Ariana with a vicious strike, sending her flying backwards with her shield taking the brunt of the attack.

“Hell yes! Hit him with everything you’ve got! Now, while he’s vulnerable!” Paul ordered as he redoubled his efforts to land a significant blow.

Photonic arrows began to land in earnest. While most were harmlessly deflected off Dyeus’ armor, several did impact and penetrate into the skin. The smell of cooking flesh began to permeate the battlefield as Dyeus accumulated multiple smoking wounds. Paul swung his spear, just for it to get knocked away once more. In that moment, Hamilton managed to stab him in the shoulder and even discharged a small capacitor shock, stunning Dyeus temporarily. Paul, brought his spear back up with a roar and prepared to strike.

Dyeus recovered far too quickly and snapped the spear shaft off its embedded head before he took to the sky. To cover his retreat, he struck the ground between them with a lightning imbued strike which knocked both Paul and Hamilton backwards. Dyeus caught his hammer several meters away, already in the air once more.

ELECTRIC SHOCK DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 30% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING

“Hell no! You're not getting away that easily! Hamilton, on me. We're flying after him!” Paul recovered his spear from the ground and Hamilton drew his sword. Paul then lifted them into the air in hot pursuit.

Dyeus landed between Jenkins and Estefani with a downward strike to the ground between them. The ground shook and dirt and rocks were sent flying, staggering the Ranger duo. He followed up with a one handed lightning imbued strike that destroyed Estefani’s shield and sent her flying. He then turned smoothly with a follow up blow which barely missed Jenkins, who burned a jump charge to retreat. Dyeus smirked and grabbed Jenkins midair then threw him into Estefani, who was just barely getting to her feet.

Dyeus then turned and threw his mace at Paul who was now too close to effectively dodge. The weapon struck Paul’s chest dead center, which winded him and broke his TK concentration which caused both Paul and Hamilton to crash into the ground and skid apart from each other.

KINETIC STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 10% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING

“Ow, fuck….” Paul fought to get back to his feet and regain his bearings.

Dyeus held his arm aloft as his hammer flew back towards his outstretched hand. A photonic arrow embedded itself in his armpit, knocking his hand back. Ariana then slung her bow and grabbed at his hammer with all of her considerable telekinetic power. With Dyeus distracted and injured, she succeeded in pulling it away from him for just a moment before he redoubled his efforts in retaking it from her telekinetic grip. Paul saw his chance and leapt at Dyeus with a TK assisted jump, stabbing him in his throat and dumping his whole capacitor charge into Dyeus.

“EAT THIS!” Paul growled.

The god flailed about, and smoke rose from his charring flesh before Paul landed with both feet and drove Dyeus’ body to the ground with the full weight of his momentum. With a roar, Paul followed through with the strike and put his whole body into it as he twisted his spear and lifted it up. Something crunched and gave way, sending the head of his hated enemy flying.

ENEMY DEFEATED; SIMULATION TERMINATED INTEGRATION LEVEL STATUS REPORT

SHIELD BLOCK INTEGRATION LEVEL… 18%

SPEAR FIGHTING INTEGRATION LEVEL… 25%

SWORD FIGHTING INTEGRATION LEVEL… 16%

RESPIROCYTE INTEGRATION LEVEL… 23%

ELECTRO-MUSCLE INTEGRATION LEVEL… 22%

“That’s fucking… right!” Paul said as he started kicking the body. “Eat… shit…”

“Paul.” Hamilton said gently.

“And…. die!” He continued stomping at the body. “You piece… of fucking… shit!” Paul continued to stomp, ignoring him.

“Paul!” Hamilton hissed as the room began to revert to sterile grey once more and the body dissipated into motes of light.

“Sorry, got carried away; this was personal.” Paul replied.

“Look, I get it man, but you gotta remember it’s just a simulation. Do I gotta be worried about you, sir?” Hamilton replied as he knelt down to pick up his spearhead so he could re-attach to its shaft.

“No, I got it out of my system. It just feels so damn good to finally win one of these boss encounters. Two weeks of repetitive skills training with the occasional bout of getting our asses handed to us by the god-kings is enough to get under anyone’s skin. Let’s go check on the team.” Paul replied, waiving him off.

“Yeah, we beat Dyeus finally, but what about Hathor and Sekhmet? We still haven’t beaten them both in the same battle yet. Hell, they’ve kicked our asses the last three times in a row now. Once they start picking us off with those damn plasma beams, we lose.” Hamilton said.

“We have another whole week of training to go. We can challenge Dyeus at least once or twice more. We can hopefully use that time to defeat him with greater ease and gain some extra integration levels. We will have at least one or two more attempts at the raid battle with the twin goddesses. I’m sure with a few more levels under our belt we can manage it. Have a little faith in the process. They intentionally designed these fights to be hard.” Paul replied.

“You’re right, sir. I wont question it again. What’s going on here?” Hamilton asked as they walked over to the rest of their team. Jenkins was sitting down next to Estefani and Ariana. Estefani was laying down on the ground doubled over in pain. Her teeth were chattering, and she seemed generally non-responsive.

“Paul, we've got a problem.” Ariana said. “I think she broke a rib when Jenkins was thrown into her after her photonic shield was broken.”

“Oh god, it’s my fault, I crashed into her so hard… I didn’t mean to…” Jenkins said. Ariana smacked him on the shoulder.

“Preston! Quit it, you were thrown into her! It’s not your fault, you couldn’t control this or stop it from happening." Ariana's tone softened. "Hey… look at me. It’s not your fault.”

“Those lying motherfuckers! I thought we couldn’t get seriously injured in here!" Hamilton shouted.

"If I had to guess, that feature only works when the simulator is the one landing the blow. This was good old fashioned physics at play.” Paul replied.

“Shit… she don’t look too good; we're gonna need a medic in here now!” Hamilton said.

“You’re right about that. Now how the hell do I stop the time field and declare a medical emergency?” Paul asked.

MEDICAL EMERGENCY DECLARED, SUMMONING ASSISTANCE. PLEASE STAND BY

Oh, that’s how.

Moments later, Roh Thaad’at appeared beside them in a bright flash of light along with two larger Alderei.

“Lieutenant, you called for assistance?” the Commandant asked.

“Corporal Salazar needs to be seen by a doctor immediately. We have a probable broken rib, possible internal bleeding, she’s definitely in shock.” Paul said, fighting back his alarm.

“Her internal medical suite is more than capable of preventing internal bleeding and accelerating the healing of most fractures. A true broken bone can be extremely troublesome without a doctor to set the bone first and stabilize it in place for her internal accelerated healing processes to take over. If you will allow us, we can take care of this on board right away with minimally invasive medical intervention and we can promise near-complete physical recovery within hours for most bone injuries using a time dilation field to accelerate post-surgical healing. Do we have your permission to operate?”

“I’m sure your medical techniques are every bit as wonderful as you say, but she probably should be seen by our own doctors, no offense. Where's Henry? He really should be making this decision, not me.”

“The captain is back on your ship. Right now, you are the ranking officer aboard. The decision is yours, ultimately. We will have to call for a shuttle to come and retrieve her, as well as move her through the ship to the hangar, if that is what you decide. Or we can simply immobilize her in a stasis field to prevent further injury and translocate her to surgery now. At least that way you would have her healed and ready to rejoin your training sooner than with more... technologically limited methods. She will be perfectly safe in our care, I assure you.” Roh Thaad’at replied.

“Damnit, fine. Take her to surgery now, but if there are complications, it will put a very black mark on our new partnership. We need her, and you were the one that personally assured us that we couldn’t get seriously injured in here.” Paul snarled.

“Her injuries were sustained by having one of your men impact her body while her shields were down. The system is designed to prevent injury or fatality from direct attacks of the hard light simulacrum, this was outside of the programming safeguards. An unforeseen variable that we can prevent easily enough moving forward. As this was an unfortunate accident that we can easily correct, there is no need for such an emotional outburst.” The commandant replied coldly.

“That’s a legalist answer if I ever heard one. This was no unfortunate accident! Dyeus threw Jenkins into her!” Paul shouted.

Settle down before you make a fool of yourself… your outburst is unbecoming… your point has been made…

“Yes, as stated, this injury was an unforeseen variable that we will correct in the programming before your teams resume your training. There are few ways in which we can make these simulations safer without compromising their effectiveness as training tools. We will return Corporal Salazar to you in perfect health by the end of the day. Do you have any other concerns you wish to address?”

“No.” Paul said with gritted teeth. “I would like to accompany the Corporal to the hospital.”

“Very well, but you will not be allowed within the operating room. I am sure your species has similar rules.” Roh Thaad’at replied.

“We do, if you have a waiting room or something of that nature I can stay there.” Paul said. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked over to see Ariana smiling approvingly. Ironic that this was the friendliest she had been with him in weeks.

“I think that’s a great idea. Do you have room for us all? We could stand to take a break from the constant grind. It would be hard to focus properly while we’re all worried about Estefani.” She said.

“Very well, there is room enough for your team and your team only. Was there anything you wished to take care of before we prepare you for translocation?”

“Yes, I need to update Lance and team two. Give me a moment and I'll contact him over the radio.” Paul said.

“Lance, Estefani was injured badly from an unlucky TK throw. Get word back to Henry that we are getting her treatment on board here. Roh Thaad’at is promising that she will be fully recovered within twenty four hours using advanced ET medicine. We are taking a break from training until then.” Paul said over radio.

“Got it, I’ll pass the word along. You sure we can trust them on this? No strange implants or funny business?” Lance replied.

“Not entirely, but we are going to be accompanying her into their hospital waiting room to make sure she’s well taken care of.” Paul said as he stared Roh Thaad’at straight in his emotionless eyes.

”Alright, if you’re sure… How did this happen? I thought we were supposed to get translocated out of the way of potentially serious injuries.” Paul smirked; they really did think a lot alike sometimes.

“Apparently it’s a programming gap when one of our own people is used as a telekinetic missile it doesn't activate the protective translocation. They’re going to update the program to prevent it from happening again. All the other times we have been thrown about didn’t result in serious injury. This time was a bit of a fluke I guess.”

Paul turned to face the Commandant afterwards.

“Okay, we’re ready.”

One by one they all disappeared in a flash and reappeared in a room full of molded benches with purple and red leaf alien plants growing from a clear hydroponic solution in the corners of the room. A large doorway was molded from one wall, though a shimmering hard light screen covered it, preventing them from seeing inside with any clarity. Another smaller doorway was opened in the opposite wall, completely uncovered.

Hamilton snorted as he looked around the room.

“Heh, funny to think that of all the strange rooms we’ve seen, this one looks the most like its recognizable human counterpart. All we are missing is a couple TV's on the wall, a magazine rack, and a window for the registration nurse.” Hamilton said.

“Well, there was the armory too, but that was really utilitarian. This is the first time I’ve seen any kind of decoration beyond those holo glyphs.” Ariana replied as she inspected one of the plants.

“Yeah, plants… real interesting. Kinda makes you wish there was at least a TV or something. Where's a datapad when you need it? I could use the distraction.” Jenkins replied.

“Yeah… what do you think the Alderei even do for entertainment? Is that even a thing in their culture?” Hamilton asked.

“I doubt it. I kinda see them as the type to sit around debating the finer points of particle physics while comparing the size and shape of the sticks up their asses.” Jenkins replied.

“Hey, just because you thought they were gonna probe you…” Paul started with a smirk.

“Hey, asshole! We’ve been over this!” Jenkins shouted, lunging at Paul, just for Ariana to pull him backwards with a TK field.

“Settle down and hang out with me over here. Mr. immaturity is just trying to get a rise out of you. We can ignore him together.” Ariana replied.

“Awww… how cute.” Hamilton razzed.

“Bite me.” Ariana replied. Jenkins sat down next to her and shook his head.

“Now whose getting baited?” He joked, just for her to push his shoulder playfully.

“Oh, I know, it was definitely an attempt at baiting me. Hamilton is great at that, hell, I’d say he’s a master baiter.” Ariana said with a sly smirk.

Paul burst out laughing as Hamilton opened his mouth and closed it again, struggling to find a witty retort before he finally broke down laughing too.

“Damn! We just witnessed a murder!” Jenkins howled.

“All right, all right, that was good, ya got me. Just to be clear I never had a problem pulling in the ladies back on Earth. Not that you'd know it the past few months... this whole trip has been a dry spell….” Hamilton said.

“TMI bro, TMI.” Paul replied, patting him on the shoulder.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’m not helping you out of it.” Ariana replied.

“I may joke around with you girls, but I know better than that. It don't take a genius to see who you got eyes for anyway.” Hamilton replied with a smirk.

“I have no eyes for anyone, I am perfectly content living my life as my own woman. All jokes aside, I’d castrate you if you every seriously tried.” She said with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Jenkins seemed to get a painful look to his face, which he quickly hid behind a blank mask. Paul raised an eyebrow but said nothing, filing it away for later. Hamilton raised his hands up in mock surrender.

“Hey, chill. I said I know better than that, no need to get hostile on me. Just know that if I ever do flirt with you, it’s a joke. Gotta keep my practice up. We cool?” He replied.

Ariana allowed for a lengthy silence while staring him down before she spoke.

“I think we understand each other just fine, we’re cool.” She replied with a dangerous smile. Silence descended upon the room for a bit until Jenkins broke it.

“Hey, do you think Estefani is going to be alright?”

Ariana put an arm around Jenkins and gave him a quick squeeze hug.

“I think so, the Alderei seem to know what they are doing when working on humans, just look at Paul and Hamilton. I may not agree with their decisions, but I’m coming around to seeing the necessity. The point I’m trying to make is, if they can turn you all into these hulking brutes without apparent side effects, I’m sure they can heal a broken bone.”

“Thanks sis.” Paul replied, narrowing his eyes.

“Anytime bro.” She replied with a smirk.

“Ah! I hate this! I still feel guilty about all of it.” Jenkins replied miserably.

“Just fucking stop, you drama queen! It’s not your damn fault. Estefani herself will tell you the same when she gets out of surgery later, I'm sure of it. Even then, you were used as a weapon completely against your will. She is getting the best medical care we can arrange, and you uncovered a flaw in the training simulator that will be fixed. Give it a freaking rest already.” Paul snapped just a bit harsher than he really had intended.

“Dude.” Hamilton replied, looking at Paul and shaking his head. “Don’t stress it so much, bro. She will be fine, and she’ll forgive you, I’m sure of it. Estefani is a pretty awesome gal. Nobody here blames you, believe me.”

“Hamilton is right, you’re overthinking it. I know it’s hard not to waiting here like this, but you have to do your best to counter that narrative in your head rather than letting it run wild. Intrusive thoughts are dangerous like that, you have to fight back aggressively or they gain a life of their own. Trust me.” Ariana replied.

“All right… I know you’re right. I’ll make it a point to fight back like you said….” Jenkins closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. A few moments later he looked back at her with a weak smile.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. We will get through this, together.” Ariana replied with a compassionate glare.

Paul sighed and looked off to the side. This is going to be a long night.