E-Day III: Dark Moon (E-Day Trilogy Book 3), page 35
He was sitting up, his upper armor off, and a hand on the bandage around his waist. He glanced up as Jackson entered with Frost and Ghost.
They explained what was happening.
“We have to get that thing away from the campus.” Akira stood and took his hand off his side. “Let’s end this.”
***
“Hold your positions!” shouted Ortiz.
A distant explosion shook the undersurface shelter. The drilling machines were getting closer.
It was E-Day all over again…
Pulse still racing, Ronin stood behind a Juggernaut mech suit, waiting for the machines with his rifle mounted against one of the mech’s legs. One hundred twenty-two other troopers hunkered down behind crates or shield turrets. Their weapons were aimed at the three hatches across the chamber, and the ceiling, where the grinding drill inched closer.
Almost twenty-four hours had passed since the machines were first spotted leaving Earth. They had been slowed down since their arrival by the explosives that brought down other tunnels and bunkers above this one.
But that only prolonged the inevitable.
Kepler Station was all but lost.
For now, the shelter still had air and artificial gravity, but Ronin wasn’t sure how long that would last. Soon the Canebrakes would break though the hatches, tearing inside and slaughtering everyone like they had on E-Day.
No, there’s still a chance…
“I want two more troopers over there!” Ortiz shouted.
Grabbing a young man from behind a crate, she pointed at a hatch with only five troopers in firing positions.
Ortiz was the highest-ranked officer left down here. It seemed the top of the command chain had been decimated.
Ronin turned to look at the hatch War Commander Thacker had fled through hours earlier. Maybe he was on his way to Mesopotamia, or maybe he was at some other bunker even deeper underground. Seeing the commander leave had nearly shattered what little morale remained.
The voices around Ronin were laced with fear.
“We have to get out of here,” someone said. “We won’t survive another hour.”
“We will if we stay together!”
The voice came from behind Ronin. He turned to see Bradley. His friend was next to Micky and two other troopers Ronin had trained with.
“Focus!” Ortiz shouted.
She looked in his direction but didn’t seem to recognize Ronin in his stolen armor.
So far, no one had made him, and Ronin wasn’t about to reveal his identity.
He wasn’t sure if Ortiz would try and put him under arrest, or if she would care at this point. Either way, he thought it was better to keep a low profile.
Not that it would matter either way.
Ronin wanted to believe there was a chance they still might be victorious and his family would be safe at Mesopotamia. The only thing keeping him from a complete panic attack was holding onto the hope that somehow the machines wouldn’t find Mesopotamia. Or, if they did, the LDC had some trick up their sleeves to protect everyone.
Another explosion boomed somewhere far above them. Dust sprinkled down like light snow.
Ronin blinked away the sweat from his brow.
Keep it together. You have to stay strong.
He took a drink of water from the straw in his helmet, trying to ignore the whine of the drills chiseling through the base and the moonrock, growing closer by the second.
Sobbing broke out.
“We’re gonna die. We’re all gonna die.”
Ronin looked toward a trooper sitting with his back to a crate.
“Pick up your rifle and get your ass up!” someone shouted.
Two troopers reached down and yanked the man to his feet. Ortiz strode over, scooped up the soldier’s rifle, and slammed it against his chest.
“Hold your fucking post, trooper,” she said. “Do not move from this position.”
“But—” the man started.
“Look, you’re right. We’re all gonna die if everyone loses their shit like you. If you want to live, follow orders and get ready to fight.”
Ronin focused back on his hatch when the lights suddenly flickered. A moment later, they went off completely, bathing the chamber in darkness.
Automatic helmet lights fired across the black before the backup lights switched on.
“Are they coming?” someone shouted.
“This place is going to be our tomb!” another said.
Someone else yelled, “We need to get out of here!”
Ortiz ran past Ronin, yelling, “Stay put. Do not move!”
A quake shook under his boots. The tremors seemed to be coming from behind the hatch he was aiming at.
Three concussive blasts went off, each sending a shockwave rippling through the chamber.
Ronin moved his finger to the trigger as the hatch opened.
“Hold your fire!” someone shouted.
Three troopers rushed inside, covered in moon dust. One had severe burns across his armor.
They staggered into the bunker, the burned man falling to his knee pads. Ortiz ran over and knelt next to him. Ronin was close enough he could hear their conversation.
“Catch your breath, and tell me what’s happening out there,” she said.
“The machines are almost here,” he wheezed. “We blew the last of the tunnels.”
Ortiz stiffened and looked down the passage.
“Move everything we have in front of the hatches,” she ordered.
All around the room, troopers started to gather gear to create barricades.
“You!” Ortiz yelled, pointing at Ronin. “You know how to use one of these?”
She pointed at the Juggernaut mech.
“Yes,” he replied deep as he could to mask his voice.
Ortiz studied him a moment as if she couldn’t quite place that voice.
“Then get in it, and help move some crates,” she said.
He climbed up into the cockpit. Truthfully, he had only spent three training hours in a Juggernaut since arriving at Kepler Station. But he had watched videos back on Earth, and it wasn’t all that different than some of the virtual reality games.
Once he was inside, he turned it on and slipped his limbs into the slings that controlled the unit. He moved his legs, also moving the mech’s legs that mirrored his movements. Then he lifted his arms that controlled the mechanical limbs.
He lowered them to scoop the closest stack of crates that three troopers had been using as cover. Flakes of dust continued spiraling down from the ceiling as he picked them up. When he looked up, he noticed a fissure suddenly split the ceiling with an audible crack. More fractures spread from the original rift.
“Watch out!” Ronin shouted. He dropped the crates and pointed up with a mechanical arm. “They are breaking—”
Chunks of ceiling plummeted right toward a pair of troopers in front of Ronin. He jumped into the flood of debris, protecting the men as hunks hammered the cockpit.
The sheer force knocked the Juggernaut to the ground. He looked up through the cracked cockpit lid as more of the ceiling gave way, crashing around him in a deadly hailstorm.
Pinned down by the rubble, he noticed the hatch he was supposed to be blocking off began to glow around the edges. Energy blades penetrated the alloy, slowly sawing through the hatch.
Ronin pushed at the ground, trying to shake off the rubble. At the same time, multiple blades finished cutting through the hatch, beginning to meet at the bottom.
All around, panicked voices called out.
“Hold your fire!” Ortiz shouted. “Wait ’til they’re inside!”
The blades seared together in the hatch.
Ronin tried to stand again, but there was still too much weight on the mech unit. He screamed as the unit fell back to the ground.
After taking a breath, he pushed up as hard as he could. The largest pieces fell off, and he managed to turn the mech sideways. He reached out to open the cracked lid, but it was jammed.
Freeing his legs, he then kicked it open.
Ronin jumped out and rolled on the ground just as more of the ceiling gave way. Giant pieces of rock crashed into the suit, crushing it.
The hatch gave way next, skidding across the floor.
“Fire!” Ortiz shouted.
The first Canebrake emerging from the tunnel was immediately shredded by the hundreds of bolts slamming into its body.
For a fleeting second, there was silence.
Even the drill had stopped above.
But then Ronin heard it.
A scratching, crunching, and metallic cacophony of machines—machines fighting to be the first to the slaughter.
Over the noise came high-pitched screams.
Ronin looked up as a long metal neck protruded out of the opening in the ceiling. A knobbed snakelike head with a mane of bulbs twisted toward the troopers.
He froze when he realized the bulbs were the deformed faces of people.
All screaming in agony.
“What in God’s name…” he whispered.
“Up there!” Ortiz shouted. “Shoot them!”
As soon as the troopers turned their weapons upward, the Canebrakes from the tunnel exploded into the chamber.
A wave of bolts ripped into the five men standing guard. They collapsed without returning a single shot, their armor sizzling and broken.
Ronin dove for cover behind a stack of crates. The metal snake fell from the ceiling with a heavy thump. He brought himself back up to his knees and aimed at the horrible human faces on the creature. The bolts pounded the grotesque features, blasting them into pulp.
Two more of the snakes dropped down, landing with thundering bangs. One of them slithered toward a trooper. The eyes on the human faces bulged as the heads peeled back like flower petals to reveal a maw filled with fangs. It snatched the soldier, swallowing half of his body.
Ronin stared in horror at the kicking legs that vanished. The mouth closed, the human heads again releasing an unholy chorus of shrieks.
A bolt tore past his helmet, freeing him from the shock.
He skidded behind a crate and then got up, mounting his rifle and firing at the snakes in the center of the chamber. Behind them, dozens of Canebrakes charged with their segmented arms whipping at troopers caught in the open.
Ortiz was one of them but she stood her ground, firing calculated shots into the machines storming toward her position.
“Lieutenant!” Zlaner shouted. “Get out of there!”
She ran behind another stack of crates, popped up, fired, and then bolted for the next cover.
Ronin did his best to cover her and the other retreating troopers. One man was almost to their location when a bolt hit him in the back. He flew forward, slamming into the ground in front of the crate Ronin was hunched behind.
Rounds forced him down again.
“Retreat!” someone yelled. “RUN!”
When Ronin turned, he noticed Micky and Bradley fighting from behind a shield turret about one hundred feet away. Behind them dozens of soldiers were already at a hatch and dismantling the barricade.
“Come back!” Zlaner shouted. “We have to hold this position!”
Ronin got up and aimed at a snake that had wrapped around a trooper. He pelted the metal hide with bolts in an effort to save the man.
Guttural crunching confirmed Ronin was too late.
The beast released the crushed body.
Ronin turned his fire to help the last of the troopers cut off across the space, routed by the snakes. Despite his efforts, three of the men were torn apart under the Canebrake fire, leaving only Ortiz and two soldiers hiding behind some shields in the center of the room.
A snake slammed into the shields, forcing the soldiers from their cover.
“Run!” Ronin shouted.
He fired bursts as the three soldiers got up and sprinted toward the walls of crates.
Ortiz turned to shoot at a pair of Canebrakes leaping into the air. They both extended their arms, wrapping around the two soldiers flanking Ortiz.
She tried to dive away from another limb, but the blade pierced her back and lifted her into the air. Another arm wrapped around her neck, plucking her head off like a bottle cap.
Ronin stumbled backward, his guts twisting.
The machines stampeded toward him.
Ronin fired a few shots, but it was pointless.
Everyone was fleeing from the massacre.
He kept low as he raced away. Two more troopers were cut down by bolts blazing across the chamber. He slid to a stop next to one he recognized, ducking under the incoming rounds.
“Bradley,” he whispered.
His friend was flat on his back, clutching his chest, but his eyes were still open.
Next to them, the other soldier was on his side.
Ronin saw the nametag.
It was Micky.
Smoke drifted out of the back of his helmet from a bolt that had punched straight through his brain.
Ronin let out a curse. This is not what he wanted for his former friend.
Bradley reached up, and Ronin helped him up on wobbly legs.
“Ronin?” Bradley said. “Am I dead?”
“Not yet. But we will be if you don’t hurry and get your feet moving.”
Hunching, Ronin tried to keep him and Bradley low as they made their way toward an exit with a halo of removed crates on the floor. Other troopers were already going inside.
But that way led back into the base.
Ronin looked toward the hatch that Thacker had left through—the same hatch Ronin had entered through hours ago.
It led outside, to the rover.
If it’s still there…
He pulled Bradley in that direction, bolts hissing past them.
Two more troopers had fallen just ahead.
Ronin noticed one was still moving.
“Zlaner,” he said.
The sergeant pushed himself up, his back smoldering from a bolt. Ronin and Bradley crouched behind a wall of crates next to Zlaner.
“Is your suit compromised?” Ronin asked.
After a beat, Zlaner shook his helmet.
“How about you, Bradley?” Ronin asked.
“Yeah, but I can patch it.” Bradley pulled out a tube of adhesive they carried to seal off their suits. He squeezed the putty over the damaged plate as Zlaner leaned over.
“The hell?” he asked. “Is that you, Ronin?”
No use denying it now.
Ronin nodded. “War Commander Thacker was trying to have me executed, but I escaped. I came back to fight.”
The cries of troopers filled the chamber as the machines tore into them.
They were out of time.
Zlaner was still struggling back up to his knees.
“We have to go,” Ronin said. “Bradley, you good?”
Bradley nodded.
“Stay as low as you can,” Ronin said.
Zlaner grabbed his rifle and limped toward the hatch. Stacks of crates blocked the exit. Ronin began pulling them away, letting them crash to the ground, while Zlaner and Bradley hunched behind a pile already on the ground.
The horrific sounds of troopers being slaughtered filled Ronin with cold terror. Adrenaline rushed through his vessels, helping him to move the last parts of the barricade away. He was finally able to reach the door. It hissed open, and he shouldered his rifle, sweeping the passage with his scope.
So far, no contacts.
Together, the three troopers ran through the passage toward the next hatch. Beyond that, there was only the final airlock chamber from what Ronin could remember.
They made it through the next hatch but halted on the other side.
Separating them from the airlock chamber was a coiled snake. Humps protruded out of the hide from what had to be multiple troopers being digested. Hunks of armor and bones protruded out of piles of what appeared to be dung.
Zlaner raised his rifle, but Ronin held up his fist.
The creature remained curled up, evidently lethargic from its meal.
Ronin started to lead them toward the beast, noticing the black armor of the Royal Troopers sticking out of the mound of shit. It appeared Thacker and his entourage hadn’t gotten far when they fled.
Ronin wondered which piece was the War Commander.
One thing was certain, he died how he had lived—a piece of shit.
Looking away, Ronin focused on the snake. The human faces on the knobbed neck of the snake were all dormant, the eyes closed. He wasn’t sure if they could kill this beast with their weapons, but maybe they didn’t have to.
“Stay here,” Ronin whispered.
He ran and jumped over the snake as it lifted its head of human faces lazily. The eyelids batted over blood-shot eyes that followed him to the hatch. He opened it, but instead of closing that hatch, he hit the airlock button to open the exterior hatch that led outside.
Air whooshed out of ducts, warning lights flashing all around him. He felt his body suddenly lighten as the artificial gravity kicked off. The hatch opened to a view of the regolith.
The snake slithered a few feet toward him before coiling again, trying to protect the human faces. The bulging eyes glassed over, and the faces twisted into masks of horror.
Ronin waved for Bradley and Zlaner. They squeezed past the tube of metal and into the airlock.
Outside, the rover was right where he left it. Ronin got behind the wheel and wasted no time driving them away. He looked at Kepler Station in the distance, the towers gone. A single Praying Mantis curved over the base.
Ronin turned from the view and sped away.
As soon as they were clear, they activated the short-range comms.
“You guys okay?” Ronin asked.
“Yeah,” Zlaner said.
Bradley didn’t answer. He was rummaging through his pack. He pulled something out and handed it up. Ronin turned slightly, seeing his friend holding The Warrior Codex.
“I kept it for you,” Bradley said over the comms.
Ronin was too shocked to know what to say at first. “Thank you,” he finally choked out. “Can you hold on to it a bit longer?”
