CHAPTER 62 – LONESOME

DATE: JUNE 10th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, OUTER ASTEROID BELT,

UNKNOWN FACILITY, CODENAME: FIREPIT

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER VICTOR FRANKLIN

Sounds like they won that round... The gunfire had mostly died off as Victor finally linked back up with the main corridor. He took one last look back towards Gabriel's body to be sure they were really dead. Once he was satisfied he wasn't about to get flanked, he looked to his right toward the fading noise down a cover-less hundred-meter dash where the intruders stood. At the end of the corridor, Michael dissipated a tall pitch-black shield and reformed it facing Victor as his wingless companion stepped forward and shouted.

“You shall NOT interfere with our holy mission, heretic!”

Is he holding a MINIGUN?! Victor thought in alarm as he scrambled to pivot his fully exposed body back towards the relative safety of the hallway.

VACUUM DETECTED; SWITCHING TO RESERVE ATMOSPHERE.

TIMER SET; TWO HOURS REMAINING

Far too slow, he put his hand out to avoid a tumbling crash as the first barrel flashed and the assembly started to spin. Finally, his boots gained purchase and he was back in motion as the first bullets arrived as his photonic shield pulsed and deflected them away.

KINETIC STRIKES DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…

76% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING…

Victor twisted his upper torso and lined up his wrist to fire a laser as the gunner’s head. They reeled back and pulled their fire wide, allowing a moment’s blessed reprieve against the onslaught.

KINETIC STRIKES DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED…

36% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING…

Time slowed to a crawl as Michael formed a pure black lance overhead and pulled back into a throw. Victor turned to watch the lance grow larger as it homed in on him mid-flight. Desperate, Victor dove low as it missed by a mere hair and buried itself into the floor behind him. He landed in an awkward roll as the black lance burst from the deck and curved back around for another attack pass.

Victor rolled to the left and to the right to dodge strikes before he used his legs to swing himself back up to his feet. He ran with all his might as incoming fire peppered away the rest of his shield capacity and the depletion warning blared in his helmet. He dove through the last bit of ground to get back into cover. His flight was deflected as a series of impacts threw him backwards into a painful crash.

WARNING! SUIT BREACH DETECTED! SEALING HELMET;

THIRTY MINUTE RESERVE ACTIVATED …

ARMOR SELF REPAIR SYSTEM ACTIVATED… MEDSTAT WARNING; GUNSHOT WOUNDS DETECTED; DEPLOYING SURGICAL NANOBOTS;

DYNAMIC PAIN BLOCKING IN EFFECT; SEALING ENTRY AND EXIT WOUNDS;

SCANNING FOR SHRAPNEL…. BULLETS PASSED THROUGH CLEANLY;

NO ORGAN DAMAGE DETECTED; NO STRUCTURAL DAMAGE DETECTED ASSESSMENT; COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS REDUCED DURING EXPEDITED HEALING PROCESS;

ESTIMATED 10 MINUTES FOR RETURN OF MINIMUM FUNCTIONALITY;

SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDEVAC AND PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL CARE…

Fucking… OW… Victor grunted as he forced himself back to his feet. Trickles of blood droplets streamed from his left shoulder as he recalled his tech spear into his right hand and broke into a run. Every thump of his heavy boots brought a sharp stab of agony that cut straight through the pain blocker.

I’m not gonna kill them with these wounds… or with this thing… Victor thought glumly as he stared at the throwing spear.

I need something with some more firepower if I’m gonna fight back… If only I had my Breacher right now…

A frustrating memory of his slagged breacher welled up fresh within him until a spark of inspiration snapped him from the growing fog.

I wonder…. Victor thought as he hustled back to the end of the corridor as his heart pounded in suspense.

It survived! Victor thought happily as he retrieved the sword which had been blown from Gabriel's grasp. Let’s see…. Wireless power required, check, no biometric lock… How do we work this thing?

He thumbed a recessed button and the sword glowed blue in an electric arc for a moment before the effect died. Two more attempts each produced failures.

It doesn’t seem damaged… Victor thought as he inspected the blade. Why isn’t it working for me?

SUIT BREACHES REPAIRED; PERFORMING PRESSURIZATION TEST… COMPLETE.

RELEASING HELMET PRESSURIZATION SEAL. RESUMING INTERNAL RECIRCULATING AIR SUPPLY.

ONE HUNDRED AND SIX MINUTES ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING.

Victor rolled his bull neck in relief as the thick padding seal on his helmet relaxed away. He then then looked back down at the sword with a growing chuckle as the atmospheric reminder faded from his HUD.

Of course! No atmosphere, nothing to ionize for the plasma effect. There goes that idea… Victor thought as he retrieved the charred scabbard from around Gabriel’s waist and stowed them together in his pack.

Well, this is a fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into… I’ll never get close enough for a kill with all that concentrated firepower they have… What’s worse is the bastards are heading to Lance and I can’t even warn him without giving him away…

Victor slumped back against the wall and looked back over at the grotesque scene of Lucas’s last moments. With nothing left to distract him, he let his emotional state roll over him as he slammed his fist into the deck as he screamed impotently into the airless void. Victor took a deep breath and reasserted control over himself as he considered his options.

Now, let’s see; I’ve got the explosives, and a tech sword that I can’t use, otherwise I’m bringing a spear to a gunfight…. The hell am I supposed to do now, Lucas? Wait a minute…

He got back to his feet and activated his flashlight and re-entered the control room. I know it’s in here somewhere…

His light shone around the room, and he set his teeth as he passed Lucas’ torso.

I won’t let your death be in vain buddy. He thought in a black mood as he reached out and pulled his friend’s dog tags and wrapped them around his left fist.

All I need is your help one last time… Now where the hell is it? Victor’s head swirled about in the darkness until as last, his light glinted off what he was looking for. With a growing smile, he reached up and grabbed Lucas’ discarded rifle along with several spare mags. He then slung his spear, shouldered his pack, and ran out the door as he struggled to make up for lost time.

I’m coming Lance, just hold on a little longer!

Victor thought as he fought against unbidden images of Lance’s death, the destruction of the bomb, and the release of Rah. Despite being burdened as he was in both mind and body, he simply tightened his straps, ignored the pain in his shoulder and increased his pace. He slowed and shouldered his rifle then quickly pied the corner he had previously been shot in. The Gatling gun floated by, abandoned next to where it had been fired, but otherwise there was no sign of his quarry.

Wary of an ambush, Victor moved up slowly and carefully until he was able to poke his head into the grand gallery. He scanned the room for any movement or anything that seemed out of place, as he once again cursed the lack of atmosphere. Without it, he had neither sound nor motion tracker, which forced him to rely on his eyes alone to help watch for threats. After taking a quick scan of the room with several EM filters, he moved to a doorway at the back, satisfied that nothing remained alive.

Corner by corner, Victor moved up through a series of hallways blending caution with haste. Finally, at the end of a particularly long one, he found himself at a T intersection.

Dammit… which way did they go? Where the hell are you Lance?!? He thought, cursing his predicament once more.

Resigning himself to not knowing, Victor activated his infrared filter. To his left, several faint heat sources were evidently moving about one another. On the right, one constant large heat source was evident, but little else...

So one way probably leads to a battle… and the other some kind of power source? If I was Lance, where would I be?

Victor squeezed the grip on his rifle as he made his choice and hoped it was the right one.

Here goes nothing…

MEANWHILE…

DATE: JUNE 10th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, OUTER ASTEROID BELT,

UNKNOWN FACILITY, CODENAME: FIREPIT

LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER LANCE BLACKFORD

“This is O’Brien… friendly forces in range, unknown enemies… boarded the facility… eyes on them now. Air integrity and radio silence… longer a priority! … if you’re still alive… converge on my position… evac survivors! … suppressing fire now!”

Oh, thank God, he made it to them in time… Wait… unknown enemies? Evac survivors?! What the hell is going on out there!? Lance thought.

Should I blow radio silence for this? O’Brien had said those words specifically to update me.

The question loomed heavy over the moment.

No… the mission comes first. I’m just gonna have to trust them.

His thought was interrupted by the speakers in his helmet crackling to life.

“Janessa, RUN! O’Brien; fall back… escape through… air shield! … I’ll hold them off!” Victor ordered in a stern tone over comms.

“We won’t forget… done for us today.” Janessa said in a distressed tone.

Lance performed a mental headcount. No, no… Vic, what the hell are you doing, buddy? You’ve gotta get the hell out of here too!

“This is HT One, stand clear of the bay doors, I’m making a hole!”

Dammit, what is going on?! Why weren’t they able to provide support!? Lance cursed under his breath.

“O’Brien reporting, … linked up with Janessa… moving… minimum safe distance!”

So that’s the code to confirm I’m setting off the nuke… Why didn’t he say anything about Victor… or Lucas?

Lance looked down at the timer and once again cursed at the need for strict operational security. Without IFF medstat tags, or the ability to use the radio, he was blind.

If they’re playing big damn hero to come and save me… Shit. I need a new plan for the bomb.

Lance keyed himself back into the nuke’s system and shut down the timer. At least that’ll buy me a little more time…

He looked at the golden doors in front of him with a terrible sense of foreboding before he hefted the bomb and fell back towards the generator room.

I need to make sure this bomb goes off still. I need to get more information on the situation, too, but how do I relay it? Then what do I do about the guys refusal to evacuate or to at least sound off…

The implications, if not grim, were foreboding.

Dammit… guys, of all the times to not follow orders to the letter…

VACUUM DETECTED; SWITCHING TO RESERVE ATMOSPHERE.

TIMER SET; TWO HOURS REMAINING

Lance looked around the room for any fresh ideas before his eyes settled on the thick cables connected to the generator. He set the nuke down and began to dig through his pack until he found the multi meter.

Most of the cables were similar sized and carried live current off in different directions. Eventually, he isolated two cables which were slightly thicker than the others, and which tested without charge.

Bingo… Can’t prove it, but I bet those go to Rah’s chamber.

With a sigh, he keyed himself back into the bomb and set two new trigger parameters. He then prepped a metering wire to clamp onto the thick conduit he’d identified. Satisfied, he ripped the adhesive strips off the back of the nuke and placed it high up the wall out of immediate view then set it to explode if that conduit was to receive a flow of current. He then activated the remote trigger setting and pushed off the wall back to the deck.

Okay… so O’Brien and Janessa got out, HT One would have fallen back with Ghost to protect them… Still no word from Vic or Lucas... Without atmosphere I can’t hear anything, definitely can’t risk using comms… They could be bleeding out right now just as easily as they could be on their way here after winning… Fuck… I need more information! Lance thought while he paced the room.

Looks like there’s only one way I’m going to be able to make this work.

He stared at the remote trigger icon in the bottom of his HUD to open its settings menu. He hesitated for a moment then blinked to activate the biometric dead man switch option. Resigned once more to his likely fate, Lance grabbed three signal extenders, networked them together, and placed them at the top of his pack as he prepared to leave. With a grunt, he hefted his bag and then shouldered his rifle.

He looked at his disabled motion and heartbeat trackers and cursed the lack of atmosphere to carry the vibrations that fed information to the systems.

Looks like I’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way. At least I’ve got visual filters to help...

He leaned against the doorframe and took a moment for a quick scan with his thermal overlay. There was clear evidence of a flurry of activity within the throne room, though nothing seemed to be heading his way, yet.

THREATS DETECTED; TYPE UNKNOWN, QUANTITY: TWO. LOCATING SIGNAL SOURCE;

DECRYPTION ALGORITHM ACTIVATED. ANALYSIS COMPLETE. AUTO TRANSLATOR ACTIVATED.

LANGUAGE FAMILY IDENTIFIED; NORTHWESTERN SEMITIC;

ANALYZING… LANGUAGE INTEGRATION COMPLETE

“…must use your helmet communicator, young one. Focus your thoughts on activating your communicator and then speak.”

“General, can you hear me? I just heard you, so I know I can’t be losing my hearing. What happened to all the noises? Why can I hear my breathing, but not my walking or the horrid barking of those strange weapons.”

Lance’s attention was drawn by a marker on his HUD towards the corridor that connected the two halves of the facility. His pulse rate spiked as he saw two faint thermal signatures moving at a steady pace toward him. He flattened himself against the wall and tightened his grip on his rifle as he watched their approach.

“There is much knowledge that the LORD in all his wisdom has deemed to grant to you. There is also much forbidden and advanced knowledge you are not yet ready for. Someday you will be given the right to read the Book of Creation and you will understand the truth of the workings of the universe at even its smallest levels. One such secret is the very breath of life that sustains you also carries sound. When our enemy escaped, the air and sound escaped with them..”

“I see, so that is why this warning keeps coming back about vacuum and internal oxygen reserves. Does that mean we won’t be able to breathe if that time runs out?!” The second speaker replied in an increasingly panicked tone.

“That is correct, which is why we must be in such a hurry now that those foolish Adamu let the oxygen escape.”

The sound of deep throated laughter over comms snapped Lance’s attention back towards the throne room.

“I SEE THAT YAH’WEH STILL KEEPS THE FRUIT OF KNOWLEDGE OUT OF THE HANDS OF EVEN THOSE HE CLAIMS TO TRUST. SUCH A SHAME HE NEVER LEARNS THE ERRORS OF HIS WAYS. OUR FUTURE LIES IN ELEVATING THE ADAMU, EMPOWERING THEM, ILLUMINATING THEM, NOT IN FORCING THEM TO LIVE DESPERATE LIVES OF IGNORANCE AND SERVITUDE. WOULDN’T YOU AGREE, METATRON? OR SHOULD I CALL YOU ENOCH?” A third, silky smooth voice spoke over the comms channel.

“You will hold your wicked tongue, serpent-seed, or it shall be cut from your mouth! Pay no heed to the words of the father of lies, Metatron. His honeyed words mask the deviousness of his manipulations!”

“Yes, General! The LORD is my shepherd, I trust in the wisdom of his ways. With his guidance I shall never falter from the path he has laid before me.” Metatron said.

“YOU SPEAK CONFIDENTLY, BUT WITH THE MEMORIZED WORDS OF A TRUSTING FOOL. I AM HE WHO SHINES THE PIERCING LIGHT OF TRUTH INTO THE ABYSS OF YOUR DOUBTS. TRUST IN YOURSELF AND YOUR OWN INSTINCTS AND YOU WILL SEE WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN LED ASTRAY.”

“The LORD has presented him with as much information as he needs to know at this stage. The deeper secrets will be revealed in time when the fullness of his plans are revealed.” Michael fired back.

“KNOWLEDGE BRINGS POWER, ENFORCED IGNORANCE BREEDS SLAVERY, NEVER FORGET THAT, ENOCH. WHAT OF YOU, OH MICHAEL? HAS THE USURPER REVEALED TO YOU HIS GRAND PLAN TO LEAD YOU LIKE A LAMB TO SLAUGHTER? HOW HE WOULD IMPLANT YOUR ASPECT, YOUR VERY LIVING MEMORIES MADE FLESH, ONLY TO FORSAKE YOU IN THE PRIME OF YOUR MANHOOD TO THE HANDS OF YOUR ENEMIES LIKE SOME COMMON BLOOD MAGIC SACRIFICE?!” Aten asked with steadily building contempt.

“I know my place in the LORD’s seven thousand year plan, and I embrace it! It is you who reject your place for the sake of your own power and glorification! You were one of the Elohim! You bear the memories and aspect of Enki the Elder and have the benefit of his great wisdom and foresight. Yet you squander your inheritance in pointless rebellion against the very universal order that gave you everything! You have no honor, and even less shame, and you have stood in our way for the last time, Lucifer! Focus on the guards, Metatron, I shall slay this fork-tongued traitor!” Michael shouted in righteous fury as Lance saw their residual thermal signatures charge into the throne room.

Now’s my chance… What they’re saying though… Egypt’s heretic god Aten is Lucifer? Not to mention all this talk about seven thousand year plans and blood magic. If any of this is true… The Captain’s gonna need to hear this. Lance collapsed back against the wall as his brain exploded in thought.

He fought for control of his breathing with his eyes squeezed shut. A torrent of conflicting emotions warred with his reason as the scaffolding of his religious worldview came crumbling down.

The bomb… Nii’Baruu… Lucas and Vic… Gotta stay focused, I can’t unpack this right now…

The mission… that’s what matters now. I’ve got to set off the bomb and get this recording to the Captain.

The rest could wait.

Lance’s eyes snapped back open as a new clarity of purpose brought with it a sense numbed acceptance of his strange new reality. With one last deep breath, he bolted out of the room towards the exit.

“YAH’WEH MAY HAVE EMPTIED HIS WAR BODY STORAGE TO COMBAT ME, BUT YOU STILL ARRIVE AT A DISATVANTAGE. WE HOLD ALL OF THE HIGH TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING THE LAST OF THE TECH ARMOR.”

“Our faith is more than strong enough to overcome your armor and trinkets!” Metatron shouted.

“HOW ADMIRABLE YOUR FAITH IS. TELL ME, ENOCH, WHAT DID YOUR LORD TELL YOU ABOUT THE STATES OF ATOMIC MATTER? OF SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, GASES, WHAT ABOUT PLASMA FIRE? NOTHING? ALLOW ME TO… ILLUMINATE YOU.”

Lance stopped for a moment to stick a signal extender high up on the wall before he proceeded.

“Metatron! You shall pay for that, traitor! Michael roared.

Lance burst around the next corner with his rifle slung and the next signal repeater ready in his hand. He eyed the signal level as he looked for an ideal spot to place it.

“ITS JUST YOU AND ME NOW, MICHAEL. JUST LIKE IT WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE.”

There. He placed the signal extender and jumped back down to the deck. A flicker of movement caught his eye as he raised his rifle up and he burst into motion. He switched to thermals for a moment to confirm.

Single target, giant sized, hiding behind that corner.

Lance flipped the selector on his rifle to fire and he moved up steadily. A change in the thermals indicated motion and a thought switched Lance back to visible light as he thumbed the spotlight on his rifle to blind them as they rounded the corner.

Victor?! Lance’s finger fell away from the trigger as the tension visibly drained from Vic as well.

He looks like hell… Whose blood is that!? Lance thought as he studied his friend. Where’s Lucas..?

Lance followed Victor’s slumped shoulders down to a pair of metal tags clenched tightly in his fist.

Oh. Lance clamped down on his emotions as Vic nodded slowly and sighed visibly even through his armor. Thoughts and memories of his friend swirled through Lance’s mind in spite of his best attempts to keep his mind under control.

“Is that the best you can manage, Lightbringer?!” Michael’s mocking voice snapped him out of his funk and reminded him of the stakes.

“HARDLY, AS YOU CAN SEE, I STILL HAVE A FEW TRICKS LEFT.”

Wasting no more time, Lucas clapped Victor on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow close behind. He the activated his comm system and dialed the transmission power back to its minimum setting,

“How did it happen?” Lance asked as they got moving.

Lance noticed the dual bloodstains on the shoulder of his friend’s armor as well.

“They arrived right as we were about to open the door and forced us to scrub the mission. The big one’s a reaver, named Michael. He killed Lucas in a single surprise attack that cut right through his shield. What about the bomb? It’s payback time.” Vic replied with his own transmission power dialed back.

“Its set and ready to blow the second they feed power to that stasis chamber, if I die, or if this signal gets cut.” He said as he held up the last of the signal transmission boosters.

They entered the grand gallery and Lance found a spot to stick it on the far wall. He jumped back down onto the deck and walked up to Vic, who held one of the gatling guns cradled in his arms.

“Don’t we have more important concerns than grabbing new toys?” Lance asked as they began to turn towards the airlock.

“One of these chewed through my shield in a matter of seconds, and they clearly have the tooling and plans somewhere to mass produce them. Having an actual working example to reverse engineer along with half a belt of ammo is worth the effort to grab it.”

“You’re wounded, Lucifer, surrender now… spare your miserable life... recant your heresy… retake your place among the Elohim. …only chance at mercy!” Michael said.

That’s not good.

“Looks like were out of time. Move it!” Lance ordered before they broke into a run.

“WE HAVE… COME TOO FAR TO GIVE UP! EVEN IF I DIE HERE, SET WILL AVENGE ME, I’VE ALREADY SENT WORD… OF YOUR ATTACK. HE’S PROBABLY… ALREADY… ON HIS WAY… EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU’VE WON… YOU’VE STILL LOST!” Lucifer said amidst wet coughs.

“If you… won’t return to the flock, then… just sealed your fate! Killing you… never the main mission, anyway… Now where’s… control panel?”

“He’s going to make a move to revive El!” Vic shouted.

“We’ve gotta make it to minimum safe distance, now!” Lance said as he made it to the airlock.

“How the hell are we going to do that again!? Please tell me we’re not just gonna jump and hope for the best.” Victor replied.

“Unfortunately, I think that is exactly what we’re going to need to do…. Now, turn your IFF back on.” Lance said as he emerged to the outside of the facility.

Moments later, Vic made it outside as well. Together, they both coiled back on their haunches and jumped from the surface of the asteroid and into space. He looked at the oxygen timer as he tumbled off into space and the asteroid grew ever smaller. The signal strength indicator began flashing red.

“Burn the last of your thruster fuel, I don’t think we’re going to make it!” Vic said before he shot off ahead.

With one look backwards, Lance fired his maneuvering thrusters to first stabilize his tumble, then to accelerate after Victor. Mere moments later, his signal connection to the nuke died and the asteroid was consumed in a bright flash before his whole world went black. He sat there in silence, darkness, and confusion for a moment until he felt a powerful tug on his body and suddenly the stars reappeared around him.

“Looks like you boys could use a lift!” Ghost said over comms in a giddy tone. “Hah, I told them you’d find a way to make it out of there. Good thing you turned those transponders back on, or I might have missed you completely.”

“Thanks, Ghost.” Vic said in a flat tone.

“Hey, man cheer up a little, the mission seems like a success, and you managed to get out of there in one piece. Plus, you got a ride back to the Shadowhawk. Also, is that a gatling gun?!” Ghost replied.

“Yeah, one just like it damn near killed me in there.” He said as he patted the upper receiver handle. “I am happy about the victory, I just ain’t too thrilled about the cost….”

“Right. I heard about that. For what it’s worth, he was a good dude. My condolences.”

Your condolences. Lance scoffed inside his helmet as he stared at the red X on his medstat display.

Like those will bring him back, or in any way make up for his loss. We were supposed to retire on a beach somewhere, travel the world together, not abandon his body to be vaporized…. If anyone should have died back in there, it was supposed to be me…

Seeming to finally understand the mood, Ghost held his tongue and they flew the rest of the way back in blessed silence.