Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (37 page)

∞

Evening neared when Terra was
about to give up hope. She must have walked miles, but her
shieldwatch was still within jamming range. The roar of a gunship
engine sounded overhead and Terra instinctively took cover. When the
gunship passed, Terra made her way to an overlook to get her
bearings. She gazed out onto the area, cast in a glowing orange hue
from the setting sun. Her eyes went wide.

The enemy camp sprawled out
before her. Row upon row of tents stood clustered around a river with
a large tower at its center. Lights bathed the camp in an orange hue
while watchtowers with searchlights stood at the edge. Terra's gaze
narrowed on a Saturnian, saucer shaped timeship near the center of
the camp. A large scorch mark marred its hull.

“Minerva,” Terra said.
“Would it be possible to fly that timeship out of here?”

“Yes,” came Minerva’s
voice from Terra's shieldwatch. “It would be if it wasn't disabled,
which our enemy would have thought to do.”

Terra bit her lower lip.
Minerva was probably right. “Could I send a message to Saturn City
from it?”

“Um...” Minerva said after
a long delay. “I think.”

“You think?”

“I do not have access to my
full processing power so I possess only a small fraction of my normal
knowledge. I do know that most Saturnian timeships have escape pods.
One could be ejected into the Edge where it would bypass the jamming.
I think. I am not sure though. Consider this an educated guess.”

Terra sighed. “Well I guess
it's better than nothing.”

She made her choice. Terra
would try to sneak into the camp to contact the Legion. It was the
only plan she could think of. Her fatigue made it hard to focus.
These soldiers seemed to track her wherever she went. She couldn't
rest for long before they would appear and hunt her again. Running
wasn't an option any longer as she neared the edge of her endurance.

Terra waited for darkness to
settle before making the attempt to approach the camp. With soft and
careful footsteps she approached the nearest tower. After a gap
appeared in the searchlight sweeps, Terra Slowed gravity and jumped
over the fence before stumbling to the other side.

“What was that?” a tower
guard said. He jogged a few paces away from Terra and searched the
area with a flashlight.

“You are wasting time,” a
soldier called who looked down from the guard tower. “No one is
going to be stupid enough to break into our camp.”

The guard continued to scan
the area with a flashlight while Terra hid behind a nearby tent,
tense. After a moment he lowered the flashlight. “This is the Aeon
Legion. Bunch of Kali cursed commandos. You can't be too careful.”

“They are just recruits,”
called the other guard.

The guard holstered his
flashlight. “It would be easier if we didn't have these relics. No
wonder the old Kalians lost the war with this antiquated equipment. I
just want to get out of here and back to Kavacha.”

Terra exhaled and waited a
moment longer before proceeding. She had memorized enough landmarks
to navigate through the camp as she passed by a dozen tents and a few
wheeled vehicles. Soldiers were everywhere, some without their masks.
Most had dark hair and deep tanned skin though she did not get a
close look at their facial features.

Terra drew close to the
timeship. She waited for two soldiers to walk past. Once they were
clear she moved, swift and silent, towards the damaged timeship. Just
as she was about to run up the ramp, she stopped and felt her heart
jump as a figure in black ran past. She could just make out a small
red light on the figure's forearm like the glow of a shieldwatch.
Terra paused as the figure jumped high into the dark sky before
vanishing into the night.

She listened for a moment
longer before moving aboard the Timeship. Terra searched for the
controls. The interior was dark. Terra touched her shieldwatch face
and drew out a holographic directional light to search the controls.

“Okay, Minerva, where is
it?” Terra asked in a quiet voice.

As her eyes adjusted to the
dark she noticed a figure in the shadows. Terra paused when she
looked towards the back of the timeship. The figure stood and took a
step towards her.

“I thought no one would make
it this far,” he said in a voice distorted with a mechanical buzz.
He stepped into the light cast from Terra's shieldwatch.

He wore the black vest with
orange edges like the other soldiers, though his uniform had a lot of
patches and medals. He also wore a mask painted with a graphic of a
pair of orange stylized wings. Terra couldn't see any weapons, but
the man's confidence made her stand on edge. It seemed unnatural
compared to the other soldiers she had faced who were either overly
cautious or reckless.

Terra assumed a defensive hand
to hand stance while once again wishing she had an aeon edge. “Going
to call for reinforcements?”

“I don't need them,” the
masked man said.

Terra tensed, her muscles
pulling tight. Her instincts told her to run from this man even
though he was unarmed and without a shieldwatch.

The man gestured behind him.
“The jamming device is there. All you have to do is get past me.”

Terra's eyes narrowed. So
close. She had a shieldwatch. This man was unarmed. How tough could
he be?

The man assumed his own
defensive stance. “I see you have chosen to fight. Good. Show me
what passes for an Aeon Legion recruit these days.”

Terra took no chances. She
Sped her reflexes, maneuvering around the man. Then to her surprise
he countered her attack, blocking her blow to his neck before
twisting her arm around and throwing her to the floor.

Terra grunted and stood. He
was fast even without a shieldwatch.

“Shieldwatch users,” the
man scoffed. “So predictable.”

Terra attacked again. This
time she tried to strike under his chin while Speeding her movements.
When she drew close to attack, he tripped her with a simple leg sweep
which she had failed to notice on her approach.

“You need to work on your
offense,” he said, circling Terra.

Terra coughed as she pushed
herself up to face the attacker.

“Shieldwatch power
critically low,” came Minerva’s voice from her shieldwatch.

“Shutting down non-essential
functions,” Terra said along with Minerva.

“It's just as well,” the
masked man said. “You wouldn't have gotten far if you ran.”

Terra glared at the masked
man. She didn't want to admit it, but he was toying with her.

“Well I believe that is
enough,” he said as his stance changed from defensive to offensive.

Terra barely had time to
blink. The man attacked with incredible speed for someone without a
shieldwatch. He struck her in the stomach, throat, and sides before
putting her in a hold. He pressed part of his forearm and bicep
against Terra's throat, cutting off the blood flow to her head.
Terra's struggle lasted seconds before darkness took her.

Each tiro has a special
test made just for them. This test is designed to exploit their
weaknesses both mental and physical. We have to know if they will
break here. If they break, they are worthless to us. If they don't,
they will have taken their first real step towards joining the Aeon
Legion. There is no extreme I will not risk. After all, would our
enemies hold back should we find ourselves at their mercy?

-From the personal logs of
Praetor Lycus Cerberus

T
erra
awoke
to darkness and struggled to breath. She realized that there
was a bag over her head and found her hands and feet tied. Terra
forced herself calm so she wouldn't suffocate. Before she could
focus, she heard muffled footsteps followed by a hard kick to her
side.

Terra gasped and convulsed as
someone struck her over and over. She almost passed out, but they
stopped and began dragging her. Several moments passed before they
halted and undid her bonds. She was then restrained to a chair.

Someone ripped the bag from
Terra's head and she gasped. The bright room forced her eyes shut as
her limp head flopped forward.

Someone grabbed her hair. He
forced open her eyelid, shining a small light in one of her eyes
before shifting to the other.

“She's fine. The shock
should wear off soon and we can begin,” he said behind the strange
smooth mask that obscured all his features save for his eyes. The
design was different from the soldiers who had tracked her earlier.
He and the other soldier left the room.

Alone, Terra studied her
surroundings. The well lit metal room had a steel table, two seats,
and a large metal chair in the center that she was tied to. Terra's
eyes widened and her heart pounded when she saw the large array of
sharp torture tools laid out on the table. Metal restraints held her
hands and feet, but they had not taken her sonic cipher translators
out of her ears and her shieldwatch lay on a table nearby.

Outside the room, someone
screamed. The screaming continued for several minutes only pausing
for muffled conversation. Terra could just make out the sobbing and
begging. Sounds of torture made Terra's heart pound and she sweated
even as she shivered. Seconds drew out as her heart jumped each time
someone walked by the door. Then the screaming ended with a gurgling
noise followed by silence.

Terra let out a long breath
and collected herself. They had discussed this. Shani had given
detailed instructions on how to resist interrogations and Nikias had
them practice escaping bonds.

Terra tested the restrains.
They gave a quiet, metallic clink when she moved. She stopped as
voices and footsteps neared the door.

A guard walked in. “This one
here, Doctor,” he said.

The guard was followed by
another man who wore a blood stained doctor's smock and a smooth
mask. A skull emblem was painted on his mask. “I thought the Legion
picked tough recruits. This seems a weak batch. That last one died
quickly. I didn't even have time to ask a question.”

Another soldier entered the
room. Terra recognized him upon seeing the wing emblem on his mask.
The guard saluted him.

“Ah, Captain,” the Doctor
said. “I was just about to begin.”

“We shouldn't torture this
one,” the Captain said in a blunt tone.

“Oh?” the Doctor asked.
“Are you becoming altruistic now, Captain? We need access to Saturn
City now if our plan is to work or have you forgotten what they did
to your family, Captain? Have you forgotten what they did to our
world?”

The Captain spoke in a low
tone. “I will never forget. But I have read her psych profile. She
won't break. I think I can convince her to gi–”

“I have jurisdiction here,
Captain,” the Doctor interrupted in a low voice. “The prisoners
are mine to do with as I please while you handle the military affairs
of our operation. That was our agreement. You are a man of honor, so
honor it. We both want the same thing after all.”

The Captain started at the
Doctor for a long moment. “Sometimes I wonder. Very well, but keep
a close eye on this one. She is tougher than she appears.”

The Doctor chuckled from
behind his mask. “Let's hope so. I hate it when they don't last.”

As the Doctor selected his
first tool, Terra hoped for a last minute rescue. Maybe Alya would
burst in at the last moment, or Zaid would lead a daring raid on the
prison. At this point she would be overjoyed to see Vand. No rescue
came, much like the questions that the torturer was suppose to ask.

∞

Terra found question-less
interrogations easy to resist. This bitter thought was of little
comfort when they slung the bag over her head and dumped her back
into a cell before kicking her again for good measure.

She lost track of time again
as the seconds drew out. The slightest sound made Terra's heart jump.
A jolt of panic hit her again when someone entered her cell and
grabbed her. They dragged her a ways before taking the bag off her
head. She now stood outdoors, much to her surprise. After undoing her
bonds they told her to walk before taking out the sonic ciphers, the
translation devices, out of her ears. When Terra looked around she
understood.