Worldkiller, p.35
Worldkiller, page 35
part #7 of Variant Series
I glanced around the table and knew that his words can only, really, have been for me. The rest were far too hardened to lose their cool, no matter how crazy it got out there.
"We have some time before we set off," Harkin finished, after a short pause. "We have targets we want to hit, and have developed a number of contingencies, depending on what happens out there. But, there's no point in going through all of that now. I want your minds clear, and focused. Let the other commanders take care of the unnecessary noise. For now, just try to relax, hard as that may be."
He looked around the table again, searching our faces, before standing.
"Good," he said, his movement signalling an end to the briefing. "If you think of anything, or have any questions or concerns, come to me immediately. I'll be in the command tent if anyone needs me." He glanced around at us. "Would you like me to leave the map, or..."
His eyes found Becs, who had opened out a double page in her notepad, and was now drawing a basic picture of the map and expected troop movements.
"I see," said Harkin. "I'll leave it with you, then."
He smiled at her and then stepped away, once more leaving us to return to our preparations. Cash and Murtagh quickly fell into a quiet, heartfelt, conversation, moving across the room to find some privacy. The two had grown closer as the weeks had gone on, their long friendship seeming to have evolved into something more. If they had anything to say to one another, now seemed to be the time. This wasn't a time to hold anything back.
The rest of us, however, didn't part into our pairs, but stayed there are the table, quietly getting on with our business, to the backdrop of Becca's scribbling pen. We fell into light conversation, Blair telling the odd joke, or entering into some light verbal jousting with Ford. Becs rolled her eyes, looking at them like a rebuking parent. I sat mostly quiet, fiddling with my armour, watching on with a vague smile on my face.
And sitting there, I mused on all we'd been through together, the adventures we'd shared over the last few months. I'd started on this journey only knowing Becca, my family unit consisting of her and my mother only. Now, that family had grown beyond my wildest expectations.
Right here, in this tent, I had Ford, the man I would one day marry. I had Blair, annoying sister. Murtagh, older, wiser sister. Cash, kindly older brother. And Becs, favourite sister.
I still had my mother, who was becoming the mother I'd always hoped she'd be, and my father had somehow returned from the abyss. I had Harkin, grandfather to more than just Blair, and Scissors, the precocious younger brother I'd always wanted, even if I didn't realise it. And, of course, there was Kira, my mentor, Amber, the coolest girl in school, and Columbus, about the most interesting man I'd ever met.
I counted them all as family too.
And then, the wider circle. The others I'd met and felt a connection to, people I could now rely on. Friends and extended family from all over the world, who I hoped and prayed I'd get to know better in the months and years to come.
Oh, we were about to step out there tonight, and face the fight of our lives, but already I felt like I'd won. I truly thought that I'd die in Southbank some day, my life amounting to nothing, my existence just another stat. An anonymous drone, packing ration boxes in a warehouse. A lobotomised girl living in a lobotomised world.
Yet in the months since my enlightenment, my escape from that grey, dreary world, I'd lived more than I ever imagined I would. It was enough to fill a lifetime, and yet, I hoped there was so much more to come. I had spoken to Kira and Amber before, of living a simple life when this was done. I knew, now, that wasn't my path. I knew I had a lot more to give.
If I should live through this, I promised myself, I will live everyday trying to make the world a better place.
It was an idealistic promise, and probably unachievable, but I made it to myself anyway. A promise to myself. A promise to those I loved. A promise to the world, to use my gifts for good.
And, in doing so, make up for the actions of my ancestor, in some small way.
36
I stood at the northwestern edge of the encampment, my father by my side, looking out into the gloomy mists ahead. Above, the skies were now dark, clogged with heavy, black clouds, the rains still coming down, if a little lighter than before.
Behind us, Ford and Kira stood in conversation with the other scouting team. Our job was simple - to move ahead of the main troop, led by Ares, and scan for any lookouts and patrols who might call in our approach. Perses and Kaiser Konig's forces had scouts of their own, performing the same role. It wasn't a critical part of the mission, but might turn out to be helpful. The less prepared the enemy were for our sudden attack, the better.
"Did you say goodbye to your mother?" my father asked, looking out. He was dressed in his dark, more stealthy attire, given his role. The rest of the Neoroman troops - unless also performing scouting duties - would be wearing their rather more spectacular silver and red.
I nodded slowly in answer to my father's question.
"How was it?" he asked.
"Brief," I said. "She was busy. I just popped in, said I'd be back soon. I don't think she wanted a long goodbye any more than I did."
"I suppose it's not a goodbye at all, really," he said. "We'll all be back together by morning, I'm sure."
I cringed.
"What?" he asked.
"I...I don't know. That just sounded way too much like tempting fate, dad."
"So, you'd prefer it if I didn't show such certainty?" He lifted a half smile. "OK, let me try again." He cleared his throat. "We may all be back together by morning, perhaps." He looked down at me. "How was that?"
"Sarcastic," I said. "But better. Now fate might not coming hunting us down."
"Oh, that isn't fair, darling. You make fate sound like such an awful entity. Perhaps fate is on our side?"
"If you listen to Harkin, it is," I said. "He loves talking about fate. Have you noticed?"
He chuckled. "Hard to miss, really, isn' it? But it's something I knew about already. He made many an impassioned speech, back during the war here, that involved the word 'fate'. He professes to not be a mystical man, but I'm beginning to have my doubts."
"I know. It's kinda incongruent, isn't it? He's so practical and pragmatic most of the time, but there's a part of him that really...believes, you know." I looked back, to where Harkin was gathered with Ares and his forces. "I guess you have to have faith, when you spend so long fighting against the odds. If you were purely practical, you'd have given up long ago. You need something...more, I suppose."
"And that's exactly what has gotten us to this point. Without Victor's faith we wouldn't be here. That unerring belief has paved this path on which we tread. He is the great architect of our impending victory."
I looked at him sharply, a deep frown over my eyes. "Dad! What did I say about tempting fate?"
He grinned. "Sorry. An honest slip of the tongue. Does it count if you do it on purpose, though? You know, with a sense of irony?"
I considered it. "I...I'm not sure. I don't think there's an actual set of guidelines."
We laughed lightly, our time together so easy, so relaxed, despite what we were about to face. I'd spent too little time with him, over the last week. That was one of the many things I wanted to rectify, going forward.
From behind, Kira and Ford stepped in to join us, completing our little team.
"Ready?" my father asked.
"Just about," said Kira. "We've discussed our routes to the city, so I think we're good to go. Thanks for joining in, though, Max. I mean, it's not like you're a Commander of the Imperial Guard or anything, and senior to all of us. No, we didn't need your input at all."
He smiled at her. "I'm sure you had it covered, Kira," he said. "And anyway, of the eight of us in these two scouting parties, I'd say I'm the least proficient. My senses aren't quite up to the standards of the rest of you. I am but a lowly soldier at this point."
"Yeah, until the action starts," said Kira. "Then we'll see the beast set free."
I felt a flutter of morbid anticipation at the thought. I still hadn't really seen my father in action. The same was true of many of the other legendary warriors converging on the Bends tonight.
The other team stepped over, as we briefly faced off, as though preparing to enter some sort of contest with one another. I wondered for a moment who would win if that was the case. Kira and Marcus would be well matched. So would Ford and Cash. I supposed that I'd have a decent contest with Blair. That would leave my father to deal with Columbus. Skilful as Columbus was, I suspected there was only one winner there in a straight-out fight.
I shook the thought away, wondering just why my mind was taking me to such places, as Marcus spoke. "Commander, we're going to set off and veer west along our planned course," he said. "We'll be close, should you spot trouble you need help with."
"Likewise, Captain," said my dad, taking control of the group, despite his previous comments. "Good luck out there. We'll be back together in no time."
Marcus nodded, as the rest of us shared some determined, 'we're in this together' looks. For Blair, that meant sticking her tongue out at me. Everyone had their special way, I supposed.
The other team set off, heading to the northwest in the direction of the city. Our path would follow much the same route, though we'd be coming in a little further to the east of them, in order to cover as much ground as possible.
"Right, what are we waiting for?" said Kira. "Chop chop." She said that with her best 'British' accent, drawing Ford along with her. The accent, I had to admit, was actually rather good.
Before we set off after them, my father hesitated, and looked down at my neck. "Are you wearing it?" he asked. "The locket?"
I reached in, and pulled my armour aside, revealing the silver chain. "Of course," I said, smiling up at him. "I wasn't about to leave without it. It's my lucky charm, you know. It'll help keep me safe out there."
He smiled, as we rushed off to join the others.
And so, I knew, would he.
The heart of Northbank was some ten miles from the camp, but the outer ruins were a great deal closer. We moved quickly toward them, spacing out as we advanced, searching through the storm for hidden lookouts and scouts.
The rains continued to come down, sheets of mist swirling in great squalls, the blustery wind blowing loudly in my ears. Visibility was poor as a consequence, even for those with extremely sensitive vision, and the din of the storm made even Kira's enhanced hearing less effective. I imagined that, if the likes of Kira and Columbus were affected by the conditions, any enemy scouts would be doubly so.
We kept to our individual strengths as we moved, Kira using the sight where she could to search for hidden enemies, Ford scanning for cameras. I turned mostly to my thermal vision, the function unaffected by the weather and, if anything, more useful than usual. That left my father in the rare position of being mostly redundant. He wasn't so suited to this sort of work as others and, frankly, that was evidence enough that he wanted to be by my side.
He kept close to me as we went, always ready should we stumble upon an enemy, and hearing any updates I gave him regarding the movement of the messenger. Under my own instructions, General Decimus had planted the tracker himself, slipping the tiny device into a glass of water, which he'd given to the man while they held their own, short negotiation.
It was the same trick I used on Brutus and seemed to have worked. Right now, he was moving up through Southbank, a few miles away, and heading northwards in the direction of the river.
His speed - he was clearly travelling in a vehicle of some kind - suggested that he'd go out of range soon, but hopefully I'd pick him up when we reached the city. Either way, it seemed clear that he was heading for Northbank to deliver the news that we were willing to arrange a meeting. It was a bluff, of course, but the enemy weren't to know that. As soon as the fighting started, they'd figure it out.
It didn't take long before we came upon a group of custodians, manning a small outpost, overlooking the lands beyond the outer ruins. Spotting them before they saw us, we quickly gathered in the cover of some nearby trees to consider our next move.
"It's a pretty good vantage," Ford said, his knowledge of the area better than ours. "We could bypass them, but it's possible that they'll spot Ares's forces coming this way."
Kira nodded. "Agreed," she said. "Let's take them out." She concentrated for a moment, using the sight. "I sense eight of them. Paige, that sound about right to you?"
I shrugged. "I can't tell from here," I said. "My thermal sight doesn't have a good enough range."
"Fine," said Kira. "Just, follow my lead. There's a route that will get us close. Come on..."
She moved off immediately, seeming disinterested in debating it further, moving through the trees and along a shallow ridge that offered some cover. We followed, stepping out into an open field, keeping low as we sped on. Kira took us on a flanking route, around the side of the outpost, stopping where the ridge flattened out and merged into the open, uncovered plains.
"OK, this is as close as we'll get," she whispered, the winds still howling, rains slashing at an angle. "The outpost is over the top, fifty metres away. Best to completely obliterate the entire thing, I suppose, to stop any message getting out. Ford, you know the comms systems around here. Thoughts?"
"Um, sure. Obliterating works."
She smiled, green eyes lit. "Great. Max, sounds like a job for you." She looked at me and winked. "Paige, you're going to enjoy this."
I smiled at her. She was never more alive than at moments like this.
She performed a final check with the sight, as I flicked to thermal and looked out through the gloom. The shape of the outpost came into view, a simple place with a lookout tower, and basic control room. There was a custodian jeep parked outside. All the soldiers were either in the control room or lookout tower, staying out of the rain.
They would be normal men, really, not necessarily bad people. Unfortunately, however, thousands of such men were going to die tonight. There was no getting around that now. That was the nature of war, in all its tragic glory.
"Right," Kira went on. "The soldiers are inside. Best you topple the place, Max, and we can mop up after."
"No problem," my dad said. "On your mark, Empress."
She turned forward toward the shallow bank. "Three, two, one..."
And with a sudden burst, she shot off, the rest of us in hot pursuit.
I didn't have to do much, in the end. Or anything at all, really.
Shooting right toward the outpost, I got my first real taste of my father's vast telekinetic powers, a quite outlandish and magnificent thing to witness, as he tore the building down using nothing but the power of his mind.
Rushing in, he stopped about ten metres away, before drawing his arms across the building from right to left, pulling it down as he did so, as though wielding some great, invisible net. The structure cracked and splinted, before collapsing on itself, the lookout tower toppling to the sodden earth, the custodians inside having no real time to react.
Only a couple of them managed to scramble for the exit in time, as their world literally fell apart around them, though Kira quickly rushed in and picked them off, before leaping athletically around the wreckage, hunting down anyone with a heartbeat. Naturally, the weight of the structure was enough to kill most of the soldiers inside. Only the two who were up on the lookout tower, coming down on top of the wreckage, survived the fall. They had the chance to take a few more breaths before Kira was on them, putting them out of their misery.
Ford, meanwhile, just stood by my side, observing. He seemed similarly astonished by my father's powers. Telekinesis wasn't something you saw around here. And certainly not to this superhuman level of destructivity and control.
"I'm starting to see how you won the Imperial Games, Commander," Ford said, voice awed as my father casually stepped over, leaving Kira to complete the job.
"Are you saying I couldn't have won by my fighting skill alone, Ford?"
"Um. That's not really what I meant, sir."
My dad drew a smile. "I know," he said. "But, as your future father-in-law, I feel it's incumbent on me to criticise and tease you, young man."
"Whoa now, sir," Ford returned. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I mean, your daughter is great and everything, but..."
He looked at me with a grin.
"Careful now," my father said, more seriously. "I can take a joke, but my leniency only goes so far."
Ford withered a little, like a weed in winter. "Sorry, I...I didn't mean it. Paige is amazing." He looked at me. "She's the most amazing person I've ever met."
My dad's strong jaw cracked into a smile. Clearly, he was joking. "There. Isn't that better?"
"Yes, yes, so much better," came Kira's voice, as she sped gracefully to rejoin us, re-sheathing one of her swords as she came. "We all know just how wonderful Paige is. But, can we dispense with all that soft stuff for now? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we have a job to do? You know, something about winning a war and saving our species?"
"I suppose you have a point, Kira," said my father, as though he and the Empress had done this sort of thing many times before. "Well then, lead the way."
I kept back for a moment, as Kira and my father moved on, taking Ford's hand and pulling him into a short, but passionate, kiss.
"What was that for?" he asked, grinning foolishly.
"For being the most amazing person I've ever met too," I said. "And, you know, because of the aforementioned war we're about to fight. I just wanted to kiss you, while I still could."
He smiled at me handsomely, rain running down his face. And over the wind, a call reached our ears.
"Come on, lovebirds," said Kira. "You can save all that for later."
I looked once more into Ford's devilishly handsome face. That, if nothing else, was motivation enough to live through the night.
37
