Raine VS The End of the World (55 page)

“And right you are! This is the true face of Commodore Leela Kernani! It is the face of destruction! Leave, and I will hunt you! Challenge me, and I’ll consider sparing your life! For that’s what you value most, isn’t it? Why die for a Queen to whom loyalty means nothing?”

Macleod smiled. “I should have known: the bombshell from Bombay. Your cold nature only intensifies your beauty. However, I’m afraid I can’t offer you a chance to avenge your homeland. My life is already forfeit. The consequences for my family should I disobey orders far outweigh any point in living. Don’t keep me waiting all day, love.”

So he and I are fighting for the same reasons. Too bad he’s on the wrong side.

“I warned you, Macleod!”

Furious, Leandra cut off the call and gripped her seat tightly. The
Valkyrie
was still seventeen klicks out from its drop point, and if the
Freyja
didn’t keep close to the
Charon
, there was no telling whether Macleod would dare to nuke them.

“Make chase! Full throttle!” she commanded, with a little difficulty.

They were losing ships at an alarming rate, but the job was far from over. Lily was dangerously behind schedule.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?” – Mark 8:36

“Sky Admiral on the deck!” Lt. Gen. Joaquin announced as Lily wheeled Raine into the
Valkyrie’s
massive hold.

Four divisions, nearly eighty thousand in all, fell into formation and snapped into saluting the two ladies.

Raine was astonished to see video feeds of even more warriors, presumably from other ships. Hundreds of thousands of human soldiers and androids gazed up at the Sky Admiral and her companion intently. Lily took the podium, standing on a soapbox.

“At ease, everyone! Attention all free men, women, and androids of planet Earth! Before anything else, I’d like for you to show your support for Captain Raine, who almost singlehandedly shut down the
Metaverse!”

A roaring of applause followed, amplified by the refracting metal walls of the hull. Raine’s stomach sank at being put in the spotlight, but she waved and smiled like a beauty queen to show her support. The emotions enveloping her were overwhelming.

It’s a lie
, Raine thought.
I was being egged along the whole way. But I can’t be the one to tell them that. Not now.

“Without the Captain, none of this would be possible,” Lily continued. “This sixteen-year-old girl bravely plunged into the belly of the beast itself! She fought tooth and nail to bring us this advantage! If she can fight, then so can you! I expect only the best from you all!”

More cheers ensued, but Lily cut them off prematurely.

“Today is the day we put an end to the oppression of our fellow people! Today we free our friends from an endless cycle of bondage! Today, we defeat the forces that have enslaved humankind with fear and falsities for over two hundred years!”

This was met with loud cheers and the chanting of Lily’s name.

“All right, guys. That’s it. Sorry if you were expecting more. I’m keeping this short and sweet, so Jojo here can have a few minutes to fill you in on the details.”

Taking off his comm. visor, Gabriel Joaquin gave her a pained look.

“Oh, sorry,” she whispered, a touch too loudly, “was that nickname just between us?”

Joaquin hid his face, to much laughter from the troops. Lily crossed her arms; the outfit needed a little humor, now more than ever. She was glad to have been able to put them at ease.

“Seriously, though. Take it easy on the guy, I’ve put him through a lot lately,” she said. “All right, here’s the brief. Intel indicates our ground team is very close to their destination. The Overseer should be down shortly after we make landfall, thus eliminating our enemy’s advantage in numbers. Protect the freedom fighters. Safeguard the innocent. End the influence of the oppressors. And above all, do your best to limit human casualties. Section Leaders, our presence is expected, so keep flanks tight and take out the Network towers first and foremost. I wish you all the best, and Godspeed. Oh, and Jojo, you ready to assume operational command of this vessel?”

The Lieutenant General saluted. “I’m ready to relieve you, ma’am!”

“Then I am relieved. Take care of our baby.”

After raising her fist up in salute and leading the crowd into a call-and-response chant, Lily gave up the podium to Joaquin, who cleared his throat and glared at the men like a reprimanding headmaster, lest anyone even think to refer to him as ‘Jojo’.

“All right, you maggots! I’m not going to repeat myself, so listen up!” he blared, preparing both his listeners and himself for an update to the new and improved battle plan.

∞

“Clear a path!”

Lily breathlessly wheeled her charge down to the hangar, past rows of heavily reinforced, building-sized giant robot suits and in between hundreds of soldiers and pilots scurrying to and fro, stealing glances in their direction. They were approaching the drop zone. Raine had ten minutes to get into her personal Exo Knight, and Lily needed five to prep her gear.

“Ugh, that was terrible.”

“The speech, you mean? It was totally wicked. Short and sweet, too,” she replied, and meant it. Raine had never thought a woman capable of a voice so loud. “You’re way too hard on yourself.”

“You don’t need to flatter me,” Lily said with a nervous laugh. “I know it sucked. Apparently, I’ve done this a few times in previous world lines. It’s too bad that experience doesn’t stack up.”

“Come on, you were great,” insisted Raine, speaking directly to Lily’s now-gentle eyes. “Seriously. Those men looked like they would follow you to the ends of the Earth.”

The Sky Admiral turned away. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“What’s up with that chant, though?”

“An ancient Chinese battle cry, Captain,” an Asian man interjected, saluting the Sky Admiral. “Remember the homeland.”

“And I always do, even if it isn’t mine to remember. Raine, this is Colonel Victor Aquino. He’ll suit you up into your
Galahad
and run the recall module. Simulator-wise, you’re already an ace Exo Knight pilot; the memory just needs a synaptic snap to activate. It should be a breeze; you helped us design these things, after all,” Lily explained before turning to her subordinate. “How’s the remote system?”

Aquino’s expression sank. “I’m afraid it’s down for all the Knights.”

Lily bit her lip. “Tell me that’s a bad joke.”

“Sensors are acting up. The Overseer’s jamming all aerial-to-ground comms. We can’t isolate the signals or safeguard against interference. She’ll have to take the plunge.”

“I see. Sorry, Raine, but it’s not going to work out.”

“No! Strap me in,” she pleaded to both the Sky Admiral and the Colonel. “Lily, I’m going with you.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not risking your---”

“Let me fight, damn it!”

Lily clenched her fists.
We don’t have time for this.

“Gah! Fine! But don’t you die out there! Vic, give her a quick go-over, will ya?”

“Certainly, ma’am,” the man nodded, placing Raine’s right hand in the biometric scanner to begin the synchronization process.

As Lily retreated, she caught Raine’s lost eyes trying to make contact. Realizing she forgot something, Lily returned to hug her one last time. Their hearts hid nothing: both girls shook with anticipation.

“Be strong, Lily,” Raine said suddenly.

Lily looked her best friend over.

“Come on, Ray. I’m the older one here. Shouldn’t I be telling you that?”

I can’t help it. The last time I saw you, you were in the body of a twelve year-old.

Joaquin’s concerned voice on Lily’s comm. interrupted Raine’s attempt at a reply. The Captain could just barely make out the message.

“Ma’am, the
Eden
Armada is returning.
Freyja
is making chase.”

“What?” Lily pulled up her holo-map. It was true. Macleod had turned tail. Their far right flank was already under attack from above, and the rest of the blockade was closing, fast.

She held Raine’s shoulder reassuringly before clapping to catch the room’s attention. “All right, people. Full speed ahead! Tear open that throttle! We need to deploy ASAP and get our ships out of range, and someone
please
get me my damn Ptero suit!”

↔

Four miles away, Yossa lobbed another salvaged grenade back out the window of the fortified complex he and Hector’s divisions had taken refuge in, guided by the last vestiges of the
Eden
underground, a scant few kids now cowering from the advancing guard.

The screeching of metal slicing metal cut through the chaos as another platoon of killer ‘bots violently exploded. The men in the lower bunkers took care of the rest with well-aimed firebombs.

The rebels fought hard and destroyed many androids, but the
Eden
lines continued to advance. The situation was even more nightmarish than Yossa could have imagined sitting in his lair underneath Circuitron, preaching, prophesying, and pondering. If he’d known what violent horrors awaited him outside the
‘Verse
, needless to say, he would have prepared more, would have had his men trained for urban warfare, survival tactics, and endurance.

If it were just the androids, however, this would have been an easy battle. Androids can be cut down without thought or mercy.

However, the Queen had a far more sinister weapon at her disposal. Like phantoms from a mist of dust, rust, and blood, men, women, and children - all wearing helmets – now joined the dwindling droid ranks. Subduing these innocent, controlled people without hurting them proved to be of immense difficulty to the rebels, as the conscripted folk were exceptional at all forms of combat and did not break lines or flee from shrapnel. In an even more twisted brand of psychological warfare, dead or dying bodies in headgear walked, limped, and crawled towards the compound, providing cover for the advancing ranks.

Human meat shields. The very thought made Yossa sick. How could he possibly hurt the very people he had promised to save?

And yet, some of the more zealous freedom fighters targeted the living, shooting at their heads.

“No! Cease fire!” Yossa yelled. The answer came to him as if it were buried in his subconscious. “Do not kill anyone in a helmet! They are not in control of their own actions; there’s a central computer overriding their brains!”

“Then why don’t we shoot the helmets?” Hector posited; he dropped a dangerously close chap with a headshot aimed at the device’s processor, just above where his scalp would be. As Yossa feared would happen, the guy collapsed on the floor, motionless, like a doll. His eyes blanked out. He was dead. Hector cursed in shock and anger.

“Negative!” Yossa replied with a gruff shake of his head. “There’s a failsafe built in. Those things must activate some sort of sudden death mechanism when threatened. The dirty bastards.”

“What do we do, sir?” a kid asked, tracking multiple targets on the scope of his sniper rifle.

It seemed completely alien before, but I’m sure this isn’t my first real battle against these helmeted soldiers. This scene is all too familiar. Focus. Concentrate. Recall.

“Block them with debris. Take out those signal towers. Blow holes in the ground. Slow them down as best you can, non-lethally,” Yossa yelled sternly, fighting his gag reflex, triggered by fumes from the charred bodies. “I’m sure Lily has a plan for this.”

And she had better.
Led by the newly converted and surrendered assets, Lorelei’s army had trapped the largest faction of freedom fighters within the confines of the reinforced guard tower. Yossa downed an android and stole a glance at the men holding the entrance. They fell left and right. Hundreds of bodies scattered the ground floor, with many piled up at the gates amongst sandbags and furniture. It didn’t matter who they had been in life; in death they were little more than piles of cover to hide behind.

Far above to the East and South, hundreds of dueling airships closed the distance with opposing missile volleys. One faction were likely their friends, and the other their foes, but who to trust? There wasn’t much time left. If Lily was on her way, she needed to get there five minutes ago.

√

“Are we go for deployment, ma’am?”

“Not yet,” Lily replied through her headset from the docking bay as robotic arms calibrated her newest battle suit. She instructed the helmsman to pull the
Valkyrie
into a hairpin turn. “We’ll initiate drops at point zero-thirteen. Left flank, descend thirty degrees and hold. You’re to provide cover for the Exo Knights.”

The battle playing out in real-time on her map most closely resembled Rutger’s simulated scenario A-53. Calculations indicated the
Eden
warships’ spear formation would decimate their front lines.

Wyvern
fell, their shining battle cruiser, heading the right flank. Her late Captain dropped their payload early before the airship sealed its reactors and spun into a sharp kamikaze dive, crushing a field of Network towers.

This is a trap,
Lily thought.
Macleod expects us to flee or regroup. Painful as it is, I can’t ease up on the assault.

“Prime the cannon. Target the spear’s center. Switch to formation Epsilon-Eight. Clear the
Valkyrie’s
firing angle!”

Electromagnetic bullets took down the EDC interceptors. A second wave of unmanned hummingbird-like craft swarmed the approaching wings of
Eden
ships, slowing their approach.

“Firing angle clearing!” Colonel Feuchuk announced.

Joaquin confirmed. “Reactor ignition complete! Particle chain at full capacity! All systems go, ma’am!”

“All systems go! I read. T-minus five to clear the front.”

The Sky Admiral’s eyes went to her camera on the bridge; she grasped her DNA-locked turnkey. Lily’s hand held fast to the knob for the Particle Eliminator Cannon as the last of their forward wings split apart on the main screen.

Joaquin and Colonel Feuchuk returned her gaze, ready to turn their respective dials.