In the distance you could hear the hum of the massive war ship as its form blotted out the moon and covered the sky in a sheet of steel. Jax looked up from behind a ruined building, waiting for Conrad's signal. He also observed the soldiers as they carried out their orders like autonomous drones. Most of them were dressed in the standard Ogre chassis as he was. Carried the same weapons and armor and probably got the same training as him, the classic 7 day hell as they called it. “Jackso- Jax. are you in position?”
“Yes, you?”
“I am, the area is clear for the most part except for three major threats on your horizon.”
“Lay it on me.”
“There are 2 hunters scouting the perimeter of the tower, and an autonomous vehicle. Looks to be an artillery platform-”
“A DHL mobile artillery platform. I’ve used these before. If we attack, those things need to die.”
“My thoughts exactly. I can engage the hunters and their support vehicle but that leaves you alone to assault the main gate. Do you think you can handle it?”
“Depends, does the sun rise in the morning?” Jax said, bracing his makeshift hullcracker as his heart raced.
“Good. I’ll radio you once they're out. Begin.” As Conrad gave the order, in the distance three explosions went off, sending a few barely standing buildings crumbling to the floor. The patrolling force in Jax’s view were momentarily distracted, a window just big enough for Jax to slam the thruster, boosting him sideways as his chassis slid across the floor. Lining up a shot with his makeshift hullcracker for a second before firing. The slag round slammed into a target, the heat from which detonated the ERA of one Argonaut and sent it crashing to the floor. The other two spun around and aimed their rifles. But Jax was quicker on the reload, firing another round into the chest of one of the Argonauts. The explosion from the ERA knocked the other off their balance. Closing the distance now Jax fired the final shot into the remaining Argonaut, same result as the last two. As the first victim of Jax’s assault finally recovered, Jax was already there, plunging a knife into its now vulnerable armor. The Argonaut flailed for a bit before shaking Jax off. The two other Argonauts backed up their ally and fired their weapons. The bullets slamming into Jax’s rear chassis. “ARH FUCK!” Jax screamed out as he felt the armor plating shred. He swung around and tossed the empty hullcracker at them, the collision distracting the two allowing Jax to dive forward with his knife and tore the head off one, slicing the joints in its neck, and dove behind the other for cover as more shots were fired at him. His momentary cover spun around to try and grapple him but Jax was faster on counter attack, as the second it spun around he plunged the knife into its chest, making sure to get deep enough to reach the cockpit, which it did. As the second he twisted the knife the Argonaut went limp. Jax then charged forward, taking his victim’s rifle and tossing the Argonaut aside to magically dump the final Argonaut. The shots pierced its armor and ripped through the already compromised chest armor. The Argonaut froze before falling to the ground. “Targets eliminated…” Jax said, holstering his knife. The scene around him finally falling quiet. “Good, gather what you need and give me a signal when you’re ready to advance the plan.”
“Do it now, I already got what I need” Jax said, picking up a spare drum mag from the nearest corpse.
“Understood. Disabling shields…now!” Then Jax heard a split second flits occur as the hum from the tower in front of him stopped and alarms blared through the dead city. “Calling in the extraction, Jax, go” Jax gave a grunt of acknowledgement as he ran at full speed towards the front door. Smashing through the panel. Sending shards of shrapnel flying into the room. Inside crates and other shipments were being loaded from the elevator in the centre of the room by autonomous drones. Alongside them however were two guard Argonauts. They already had their weapons at the ready and quickly opened fire. With no cover in sight Jax took round after round, fired from their SMG like weapons. With no time to waste Jax sprinted full force towards a pillar just off to the side of the room. After getting to mild safety he inspected the shredded plating on his torso. No longer offering protection, Jax tore it off, revealing the under structure of his frame. In the distance he heard the two argonauts sprinting towards his position. Frantically, he searched for any possible advantage before he laid his eyes on the pillar. Taking the shredded armor, he slammed it into the pillar, and after two hits, and as the two guards rounded on either side of him, it shattered the debris came clattering down, then using the slight smoke screen provided by the destruction he lunged at one of the Argonauts and stabbed it in the chest and ripped it open in one fell swoop, taking full advantage of its lighter armor. The other quickly caught on and fired a hail of bullets at Jax's approximate position. Once again Jax dove behind a crate of supplies and returned fire with his more high power rifle. He heard a couple shots connect from the other followed by another stream which Jax took cover from. Waiting for the shots to stop for a reload. The second they stopped Jax sprung up, the Argonaut had taken cover behind a box but was in close proximity to a pillar. Jax opened fire as the, already unstable roof from his previous trick, crumbled onto his target crushing it under mountains of debris and crates. Jax didn’t wait to admire his victory as he sprinted towards the lift, dragging one of the vehicles in with him. ‘Conrad, I'm in the lift. Get this thing working.”
“Understood, uploading N.E.C now.” There were brief flits in the sensor unit of the crab-like machine before it eerily froze, its sensor unit flashing various different colors before the lift doors whirled to life and slid closed with a shaky rattling noise. The lift itself then also rattled and shook before beginning to ascend with the creaking mechanical noise. “Lift is on the move.” Jax said, finally dropping his shoulders. “You sure the N.E.C can hold against counter hacks?”
“Positive. It's on the more advanced end of cogitations.”
“Right… whats the eta on that extract by the way.”
“3 minutes."
“Got it. Are you almost done on your end?”
“Yes, the loading bay is clear of hostels. Waiting on you.”
“Good. Are you sure the exact ship can withstand the ground fire that's waiting for us on the platform?”
“No. That is why we will be there. To distract. Once the ship is landed it will activate plasma shielding and load our machines.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Plasma this, plasma that. The bullets still turn to molten slag on impact. And remember, my ass is hard wired into this thing. I don’t like hot metal hitting my metal skin.”
“It is better than a bullet.”
“Debatable.” As if on cue the lift groaned to a stop and the doors opened to the main loading bay. The floor was littered with Argonaut corpses with Conrad in the centre of the room. As Jax emerged he shifted his attention to Jax and gestured to Argonaut lift. “I have just received a radio from our ship. They have a broken atmosphere. We must be there to support them.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Jax said, running to the lift, bumping shoulders with Conrad, who soon followed in suit. Jax stepped onto the single foot platform, gripping the wire, so did Conrad. The two then whizzed upwards through the final rooms of the tower before bursting on to the main platform. Once there they were greeted by the overwhelming sound of gun fire directed at the ship that was barely visible from their position. The massive ship hung meters from the central platform, seemingly defying physics, with three other smaller ships beside it, each with a collection of crates attached to their hull. Alongside Jax and Conrad were thirteen other Argonauts, all firing their weapons into the sky. “Conrad, get their ERA, now!” Before Jax was barely finishing his sentence five massive stakes flew towards the Argonauts. The sheer speed generating enough heat to detonate the ERA as well as killing those with armor not thick enough to stop the gargantuan spikes. Jax sprinted forward, opening fire on those who survived Conrad's attack. They fell shortly after the other remaining eight shifted their attention to the duo. Bullets ripping through the air. Conrad shifted his weapons in front of him to block the fire but Jax could barely dodge their fire, a few bullets making contact with his vulnerable frame. He crumbled to the floor due to the attack, his rifle sliding across it and off the ledge. Jax could barely create enough friction to not also slide off. ‘Shit!” he screamed over the comms. Clumsily he stammered to his feet and limped towards the corpse of one of Conrad's kills as he darted towards the remaining attackers. In the air, the exact ship began to become audible. A haunting hum emanating from the panels under its chassis. Jax retrieved a rifle and frantically scanned the horizon. In the distance Conrad engaged the eight Argonauts. Swinging the metal stakes with an almost telekinetic, magnetic system. But towards Conrad's rear Jax saw a stray Argonaut unholster its anti air launcher. Conrad was busy attacking the other 7 to notice and Jax was too far away to get past its ERA. His eyes scanned every surface of the platform for anything to aid him. But the platform itself was barren save for a few stray crates. But the skies weren’t as clear. Quickly he aimed his rifle at one of the smaller craft opening fire upon it, emptying his entire magazine. The bullets ripped through its weak shell and the propulsion systems exploded in a fiery explosion. The entire craft then came crashing down “Conrad move!” he shouted. Conrad peered up towards the falling hull and boosted out of its radius. The entire thing came crashing down with a thunderous boom. The floor was destroyed in an instant. Argonauts on the overhanging sides of the platform were sent flying down to the streets and the rest fell through the floor and further down the tower. Conrad joined Jax as the fiery explosion fell to the ground floor. “Very well done Jax.” Conrad said as the stakes returned to him and attached themselves to his cloak of steel. “I don’t need your approval.” Jax said. The extraction craft finally landed and the two made their grand escape.
The inside of the craft had a strange smell. A mix of a chloric metal smell and a burning brimstone. The hum as it flew through space was equally as odd. A low rumbling laced with a high pitched tone so high pitched it felt like someone pushed two metal rods the size of a single hair strand into Jax’s ears. Safe to say it was unpleasant. Jax sat on the ledge of the main bay. A large room containing Conrad's Argonaut and his own, a destroyed barely functioning husk. The walkway he sat on was colored a dark steel as well as the rest of the hanger with some panels and points of interest being light, desaturated green. Conrad was sitting in his cockpit, his metal mask floating just above his body. He had been laying there for hours. Before he climbed inside he said he was going to "receive more orders” but Jax was convinced he had some kind of entertainment loaded into that thing. The rest of the ship was eerily quiet. Jax had done laps around its interior and there was no other crew in sight. It felt like Jax was a ghost. Haunting a dead ship. “You almost done there? Its fucking borning.” it took a while before Conrad answered but eventually jax heard him mutter “This ship does not provide entertainment. Make your own.”
“Clearly. Where are we headed anyways? Because just so you know I’m still not joining your gang of weirdos.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I appreciate the help getting out of there but there’s no way I’m getting a corporate contract ever again. Especially with you people.” Conrad stirred a little before lifting out of the cockpit like a corpse rising from its grave. “Jackson, I mean Jax. I hoped that what happened today was enough of a sign. But clearly I must explain more verbally.”
“No, I get what you’re grabbing at. The whole speech you gave me sort of spoiled the whole gig. So drop me off at the nearest habitable planet with an FTL rail and I'll be on my merry way.”
“Oh that is our plan. We do not intend to hold you for much longer. But Jax, I have a responsibility to you. We are two of the same, even in different ways.”
“I would say the latter more than the former.”
“My point is that the world is changing. Today may seem routine but I guarantee you that if you look into the subject matter for more than 5 minutes you will see that this was a coordinated effort.”
“Big deal. Vanguard makes coordinated efforts all the time. You people aren’t so different with your Sphere expansions, or whatever you call them.”
“It is not just the timeframe that matters. It's the target.” Jax hesitated a bit before answering. Trying to find the words in his head to make a counter argument
“You know this to be true. You have been on the side of Vanguard before and I believe that you have seen first hand how the internals of that place are shifting, morphing, changing. Contorting into something that benefits them in the upcoming final swing.”
“That happens all the time, that place is a spider web.”
“Jackson!” Conrad said, his tone raised more than usual. “You have not peered into the Judges mind, you cannot know the full extent of the world’s inner workings. You will come to understand your place in it but that truth can only come to light when you are under our gaze. Clearly years of ignorance have rotted your eyes to the truth so while I may not be allowed to share this with you, you clearly need to hear this.” Conrad then exited his cockpit, kicking off its hull towards Jax. He took a spot next to Jax as the two looked out across the hanger. ‘Jax. The reason you and I are tied together is because of one man. This man was responsible for something known as the Hercules project. He died many years ago but the consequences of his actions still ripple throughout the galaxy. We are part of that project, just a small piece. The specifics of Heracles are classified at the highest level but you and I, along with many others will soon be called to arms.” Conrad then stared off into the distance, his eyes no longer fixed to a set point, as if he could see past the ship's bulkhead and into the greater void. “When the sixth trumpet sounds, the four angles of the Great River Euphrates will bring about the end of man.” He then turned back to Jax staring him dead in the eye “When that happens, we need to be on the right side. Promise me Jax that you will make the right choice.” Jax felt another twist in his stomach. His heart burning and his brain locked in a state of subtle panic. He barely opened his lips. Taking the time to just formulate a single sentence. “I don’t want to pick a side.”
[debt remaining: 999,999,999 V]
Alright lets keep it quick. Sorry for missing the deadline last week was a hellspace of tests and essays. Luckily thanks to my foresight I have a chapter in the bank so; enjoy.
Also if you have been reading to this point please consider giving this a follow. I don’t remember if i’ve asked this before in the notes but please. It lets me know that I’m doing something good here.
