COLONY SHIP 02, UR: GALACTIC SAVINGS & LOAN PARKING LOT
“Lee Okada. I never expected to find you in a place like this.”
The Caseal speaking to him was tall, blonde, with emerald-green eyes and a look of bitter animosity on her face. In her hands she was holding a Red Rod, a Force’s weapon. Lee didn’t recognize her. She seemed vaguely familiar, but as far as he knew they’d never met. So then where…?
A lightbulb went off in his head. Of course! The video footage from the raid on the ARKS Command tower. She was one of the infiltrators who put a stop to Colonel Aki01. In that case, she must be one of the Colonel’s sisters—Zero Three, if he recalled correctly. Which also meant Alpha was Aki’s brother. Lee cursed to himself. Of all the despicable luck!
“Lee Okada!” the Caseal called out again. “I know who you are. A world-class criminal, murderer, and the reason my sister is currently lying on an operating table fighting for life. I am hereby placing you under citizen’s arrest until I can transfer you into the custody of the ARKS.”
Lee didn’t move. He could feel the stares of the children boring into him, eyes full of questions, but he didn’t care. They meant nothing to him. His only concern was getting out of the current predicament safely. He needed to escape and get to his shuttle. Sooner, preferably, than later. Outrunning the Caseal wasn’t an option. Fighting her seemed risky. Outsmarting her… well, that was a possibility. All he had to do was wait for an opportunity to present itself.
New plan: stall for time. “You must be mistaken. I’m merely a simple businessman. My name is Lesker Overman. I have the documentation to prove it if you don’t believe me.”
The CAST woman wasn’t swayed in the least. She shook her head adamantly, her long hair swishing from side to side. “You’re lying—something you’ve made a lucrative career of, I suspect. But I assure you, it won’t do you any good here. My visual and audio sensors indicate a ninety-nine percent match with Okada. The margin of error is small enough to be negligible.”
Lee could’ve kept trying to convince her, to keep up the charade a bit longer, but he decided it was pointless. CASTs were all the same—ruled by logic and probability. Trying to get one to abandon its nature was like trying to move a mountain with your bare hands. Instead he merely shrugged and said, “Alright, have it your way. Maybe I
am Lee Okada. Maybe I am a—how did you put it—‘world-class criminal.’” He let a darker, more ominous tone creep into his voice. “I’m sure you’ll be quite the hero when you bring me in. An overnight media sensation! A pity, of course, that you won’t be able to save your poor sister, the Colonel.”
That got a reaction. Not much of one, just a narrowing of the CAST’s eyes and a hardening of her expression, but it was enough to know: Lee had her right where he wanted her.
Now, time to reel her in. The King of KAI-OS went on: “We worked together quite closely, she and I. A real ‘dynamic duo.’ You might even call us partners in crime! I wonder if the news reporters will see it that way when the story finally breaks.”
“We’ll make sure they know the truth,” Aki replied coldly. “My sister was the victim here, a slave to the virus
you installed. She can’t be held accountable for those actions.”
“True, the word ‘partner’ might’ve been a stretch. It was a rather one-sided relationship, after all. She spent most of her time down on one knee begging to serve me. She was quite eager to kill off your entire family when she thought it would please me. A good little puppet to the very end.”
There was fire in the Caseal’s eyes now. “I’ve heard quite enough of your filth for one day. Surrender yourself peacefully… or else.”
Lee smiled shrewdly. “Or else…?”
“Or we do it the less peaceful way. I should mention, I am not averse to that particular outcome. In fact, given everything you’ve put my family through, I might even prefer it. But I leave the choice up to you.”
“What about a third option?” the man offered. His smile never wavered.
“There is no third option. This is not a negotiation.”
“Oh, but it is. Unless, of course, you have no intention of saving the dear, sweet Colonel.”
Aki tightened the grip on her weapon. She clearly wanted to use it, but Lee knew she would never give in to that kind of violence. Not against a defenseless opponent. And despite her anger, he also knew she was curious to hear him out.
In fact, he was counting on it. “You haven’t been able to remove my virus from her systems, have you?”
Silence. The only response he received was her continued glare, which to him was confirmation enough. “I thought not. Nasty little bugger, that one. Designed by my top programmers—and I only hire the best. If you’re harboring any illusions that you and your friends can save her, abandon them now. You won’t. You can’t… But
I can. I can give you a copy of the anti-virus, the cure that will free her mind from its exquisite prison.”
“I don’t believe you,” the Caseal declared. “You wouldn’t devote time and resources developing a cure to your own virus. Even if you did, you would never offer to help her. You’re far too selfish for that.”
Lee chuckled darkly. “I won’t argue with that last assertion. But you’re mistaken about one crucial detail. I’m not offering to
help, I’m offering to
trade. Get me to my shuttle and let me go free. In return, I’ll save your sister.”
Aki gritted her teeth. Her gaze flicked away for a moment. Lee could almost see the internal struggle raging within her, a struggle between familial love and personal ethics.
She’ll make the sensible decision in the end, he thought to himself.
All these goody-goody types are the same—boring and predictable. Though, in this case, that works to my advantage.
But in the end, she surprised him. “No deal,” she replied at last. “I know my sister, and I know she would never want her freedom to come at the expense of justice. If there really is an anti-virus, the ARKS will coax it out of you in prison. I’ll do it personally if it comes to that. Now, come along peacefully or I will be forced to subdue you.”
It was Lee’s turn to feel flustered. He couldn’t let things end this way. He wouldn’t! Prison? No, no, no. That wouldn’t do at all. He would rather die than be at the mercy of those ARKS trash. But what could he do to avoid it? How would he escape such an ignominious fate?
Ba-thoom. Ba-thoom. Ba-thoom.
That familiar sound, the sound of approaching death. Typhon’s thunderous footfalls.
The noise startled Aki03 and she looked away. It was only for a second, but it was enough. By the time the CAST returned her attention to Lee, the man had a small holdout pistol aimed squarely at her chest. “Drop it,” he growled, motioning to her rod.
The CAST hesitated. Probably calculating the odds of avoiding a fatal shot, Lee figured. He didn’t want to give her too much time to think about it. “By the count of three, if you want to live. One… two…”
“Alright.” Slowly, gently, the woman bent down and laid the weapon at her feet. Without being prompted, she lightly kicked it away. The Red Rod bounced and rolled over the hard pavement, eventually coming to a stop halfway between them.
Lee smirked in triumph. “Good girl.”
“I can escort you to your shuttle if that’s what you want,” Aki offered desperately. “I will keep you safe, I promise. Just, please, leave the children out of it.”
He pretended to mull it over, keeping her in suspense a few extra seconds. Not because he had to, but because he felt like it. Torturing her expectations. “No deal,” Lee answered abruptly. He adjusted his gun arm slightly down and to the left.
Then he fired.
* * * * * * * * *
UR, ARKS COMMAND TOWER
“They’ve arrived, General.”
Lieutenant Arkon was referring to the survivors of Operation Heaven’s Lance. After a hectic battle aboard
Terra Nova, the ARKS had finally returned to
Ur. Or what was left of them. Of the roughly one thousand soldiers who embarked, only a third of them made it home.
It was a harsh reality, made harsher by the fact that their fight wasn’t over yet. With the Darkers laying siege to downtown
Ur, the soldiers were desperately needed to rescue their beleaguered city. And so, with a heavy heart and heavier conscience, General Rayn Valias had no choice but send them into battle once again.
“Are the gunships ready?” he asked from the center of the operations room.
“Fueled, checked, and primed for launch. The pilots are standing by, waiting for your order.”
Valias shook his head. “No need to wait. When they’re done loading the soldiers, tell them to take off right away. We can’t afford to waste a single minute here. The longer that monster—Typhon—is allowed to run loose in our city, the more collateral damage there’s going to be.”
“Understood, sir.”
The general stifled a sigh. All this death and destruction was making him weary. He wasn’t an old man by any means, but at that moment he felt like he’d already lived three lifetimes. Maybe, when this dreadful Typhon business was finally over with, he would take a nice, long rest. Someplace relaxing, like the beaches of Vopar.
But that would come later. Until then, he had a war to run, soldiers to command, and a colony ship to save. He only hoped they weren’t too late…
* * * * * * * * *
UR, GALACTIC SAVINGS & LOAN PARKING LOT
Aki03 saw the muzzle flash as Lee Okada pulled the trigger of his weapon. Heard a crack like thunder as the photon bullet left the chamber. She waited for the inevitable impact, the sharp pain of the projectile tearing through her metal chassis, but it never came.
Instead, the left side of Alpha’s chest erupted in a shower of sparks and debris. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion. Aki watched in paralyzing horror as the shot burst out the back of him, the sheer force of it spinning him halfway around. The boy stood there clutching his ruined chest plate like he didn’t believe what just happened. Then he staggered two steps in Aki’s direction and collapsed to the ground, motionless.
A moment of stunned silence, followed by a single agonized scream:
“Alpha!!!”
Aki rushed to her fallen brother. She didn’t care that Lee was still there pointing his gun at her. She also didn’t care when he turned tail and ran in the opposite direction, his black-suited form disappearing among the rows of parked cars. All she cared about was saving the limp boy in front of her. She dropped to her knees and rolled Alpha onto his back. His eyes were still open, still moving. They gazed up at her.
“I have sustained considerable damage,” he told her, his voice weak.
“I know. But you’re going to be alright.” Despite her fear, Aki gave him a reassuring smile. She could see the damage with her own eyes. She understood the severity of the situation.
Be strong for him.
“I made friends today, just like Irene wanted.”
“Yes, I can see that. They’re here too, and they won’t leave you.” Aki glanced over at Marten and Charmie. The boy and bird were trembling in fear, or shock, or both, but Aki didn’t have time to comfort them. “I am sure Irene would be proud of you.”
Alpha turned his head slightly. He was staring out at the empty parking lot, at nothing in particular. “Today I came to a realization. For many years, my existence has been without purpose. I helped those in need because that is how I was programmed and what I was taught. I believed that doing so would give me a sense of fulfillment. For a time, I thought it did. But now I know... compassion without attachment is ultimately hollow. It is those we cherish who give our lives meaning.”
Aki gazed down at her brother in slight disbelief. In all the time she’d known him, he had rarely, if ever, spoken about his feelings. Expressing himself was one of his greatest difficulties. Yet here he was, confiding in her a personal revelation. It was both surprising and heartwarming.
“Something else occurs to me as well,” he continued. “Something I fear I have realized too late. Sister, I... I do not wish to die.”
A single tear rolled down Aki’s cheek. She pulled Alpha close and lifted his head onto her lap. Gently, she cupped his face with her hands. “Listen to me. You are not going to die, not today. I promise.”
That’s what she said, but she wasn’t sure it was a promise she could keep. His condition was deteriorating quickly. Lee’s bullet had crippled some of his vital functions and he was leaking coolant. The closest hospital was a considerable distance away, assuming it was open at all, and Aki didn’t have a vehicle for transportation. She could carry the boy, but feared doing so would damage him even further. So what could she do?
As she contemplated her options, a sporty green sedan came roaring into view. It sped straight towards them as if it meant to ram them, then abruptly came to a screeching halt a safe distance away. Both front doors opened simultaneously. From the driver’s side emerged Delfoy, a look of relief and worry on his face. From the passenger’s side emerged Selena. She looked twice as relieved but also twice as worried. Both of them hurried over to Aki03 and the children.
“Thank the stars you’re alright!” Selena exclaimed. The green-haired Newearl dropped to her knees and threw her arms around Marten and Charmie. She was on the verge of tears.
“Sorry we’re late,” Delfoy said to Aki. “We got your message. Came as soon as we could.”
Aki frowned, obviously confused. “I didn’t send any message. I received a distress signal from Alpha and rushed straight here.”
Now it was Delfoy’s turn to be confused. “We got a text message saying to meet you and the kids here, outside this bank. If it wasn’t you... who sent the message?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter right now. My brother has been shot. We must get him to Dr. Rauth for immediate care.”
“Right.” Delfoy motioned to Selena, who ushered Marten and Charmie over to the car. Aki scooped Alpha into her arms and followed them.
After retrieving Aki’s fallen rod, Delfoy jogged ahead of the others and opened the car door for them. Before anyone could get in, however, they were interrupted by an ear-shattering roar. It was the cry of a great beast, one they were already well acquainted with.
Typhon.
A block away, the twenty-story Darker stomped into view. Its hungry eyes found them almost immediately. The creature reared back its head and bellowed again, louder and angrier this time. Clearly, it wanted them dead.
Aki and the kids quickly piled into the back seat of the car. Selena and Delfoy sat up front. Delfoy started up the vehicle and mashed his foot into the pedal. The car lurched forward and took off, its engine screaming. Out of the parking lot, down the street, away from Typhon as fast as it could go.
But the beast wasn’t willing to give up its prize. It began chasing after them, each monstrous footstep rattling the car and its passengers. Aki could see its armor-plated legs in the rearview mirror. With each passing moment, they were getting closer and closer.
Aki tried not to think about that. Instead, she focused her attention on her immediate surroundings. To one side she had her injured brother propped against her. On the other, Marten and Charmie were huddled together, their eyes squeezed shut. Aki laid a reassuring hand on Marten’s shoulder. The boy looked up at her and she nodded back at him as if to say,
It will be alright.
“Hang on back there!” Delfoy shouted. He tugged hard on the steering wheel and the car skidded into a sharp left turn. Aki steadied Alpha to keep him from falling over.
The street they turned onto was deserted just like all the others. No people in sight. Hardly any vehicles. Evidently, anyone with the ability to leave had already done so. If they had any sense, Aki thought, they’d evacuated to one of the local shelters.
“What’s the plan?” asked Selena from the passenger seat.
“Losing the giant fraggin’ Darker on our tail would be a good start!” Delfoy retorted, navigating them through another intersection.
“Del! Watch your language. We’ve got kids in the car.”
He threw her a sideways look. “Is this really the time to worry about that?”
“No,” she conceded, “I suppose not.”
Once again Typhon came emerged onto the road behind them. Aki had no idea why it was so fixated on their group. Regardless, the creature was nothing if not persistent. Delfoy tried to lose it, snaking down one side street after another, but Typhon refused to give up. It plowed straight through the smaller buildings and pushed aside the larger ones. Nothing seemed to deter it.
Eventually they came to a long, open stretch of highway. Typhon was a couple blocks behind them but closing fast. Then, abruptly, it stopped. Before Aki could figure out why, the Darker hunched forward and opened its fang-filled mouth. An orange glow formed in the back of its throat. Aki had a sinking feeling she knew what was coming next. “Watch out—incoming!” she cried.
The next moment, a great beam of energy shot forth from the creature’s mouth. It was headed straight for them. Delfoy swerved at the last second and the beam struck the ground nearby. A massive explosion followed. The car was thrown forward, all four wheels leaving the ground as the highway broke apart and crumbled beneath them.
Everyone in the car held their breath—everyone except Aki, who didn’t need to breathe, and Alpha, who was too damaged to notice much of anything. The vehicle remained suspended in mid-air for what seemed like forever. In reality, it was probably only a couple of seconds. Then the highway rushed up at them and the car slammed back to
Ur with a crash and a bounce.
But instead of going forward, the car tilted
backwards. The road was slanted and the wheels couldn’t find purchase. The car fought against gravity, its engine straining, but it was a losing battle. Inevitably, the vehicle rolled down the slope. Then it stopped completely. They were caught in a shallow ditch formed by the blast wave from Typhon’s energy beam. Essentially, the highway had snapped in half like a brittle cracker. One concrete slab slipped underneath the other, creating an angled step.
Delfoy gripped the steering wheel and floored the gas pedal. No luck. He shifted into reverse and tried again. Still nothing. The vehicle’s rear wheels were caught between the two interlocked chunks of highway.
Aki knew they had do something, and quickly. Moreover, she was the only one capable of doing it. So she acted.
“Stay here,” she told the others. “I’m going to get out and move the car.”
Carefully laying Alpha down on the seat, Aki slid past her brother and exited the vehicle. She got behind the car and planted both hands firmly underneath the rear bumper. Then she lifted.
Meanwhile, an ominous sound echoed from somewhere off in the distance behind them:
Ba-thoom.
Aki didn’t have time to worry about that. She strained against the weight of the car and its occupants. Despite her CAST strength, it was still an arduous task. “Delfoy!” she called out. “Keep the wheels straight and start giving it some juice!”
Ba-thoom.
The green-haired man threw her a quick wave, a sign of his readiness. As Aki lifted the rear of the vehicle higher, its wheels began to spin. It still didn’t have enough traction to scale the slanted piece of highway—at least, not by itself. But with Aki’s help, they were making slow yet steady progress.
“It’s working! Keep it up!” exclaimed Delfoy.
BA-THOOM.
Each step was excruciating. The car was heavy and the climb was steep. Several times, Aki’s strength threatened to fail her. She half-expected to lose her footing and slide back down to square one.
I won’t let that happen, she told herself.
Not now. The images of Alpha, Selena, Delfoy, Marten, and Charmie kept flashing through her mind. She’d saved them before, each one of them, and she would do it again. A thousand times more if she had to. Because, like Alpha, she had learned to cherish the ones she loved. It was a lesson she learned long ago.
BA-THOOM!
Eventually the car reached the top of the slope. Aki gave it one last shove, pushing it up and over the apex of the ditch, and let gravity do the rest. The vehicle was finally on level ground again. That meant Aki’s work was done. She let go of the bumper and exchanged a quick thumbs-up with Selena and Delfoy.
Unfortunately, the celebration would prove to be short-lived. Fifteen seconds later, she would be dead.
The attack came suddenly and without warning. Aki was so preoccupied with the car, she failed to realize Typhon was already behind them. From the behemoth’s outstretched palm, a trio of whip-like tentacles homed in on her like laser-guided serpents. Their needle-point ends impaled her in three separate places. They shot in through her back, out through her front. One protruded from her chest, the other two from her stomach.
Aki stood there, paralyzed, unable to break free or summon any strength. Try as she might, there was nothing she could do. It was over and she knew it. A death sentence, swift and absolute.
In those last few seconds before the end, Aki03 had plenty of time to think. To ponder the curious course her life had taken, the choices she’d made. Were they right? Were they
enough? She had chosen a very different path than her sisters. While Zero One had returned to the military and Zero Two had pursued a career in robotics engineering, Zero Three never quite found her calling. She’d spent most of the last cycle in the Rift tracking down Selena and Marten, somehow rescuing Charmie along the way. After that she helped foil the KAI-OS plot to infiltrate ARKS Command.
Yet for all her accomplishments, Aki wished she could’ve done more. Experienced more. She wanted more time with her family and friends, to see how their lives—their
stories—played out. It felt like she was being dragged from a movie theater before the end credits. That, more than anything else, was the hardest pill to swallow.
It wasn’t right, or just, or fair. That she, who always put the needs of others above herself, who never asked for anything in return, should be the first to go. Yet that’s how it happened. Not a choice for her to accept or decline—it simply
was. Some might call it fate, or destiny, but Aki never believed in such things. She would have merely called it a consequence of chance. An unfortunate roll of the dice, nothing more.
And so, with mere moments left, Aki looked to the five dear people seated in the car nearby. Alpha; Selena; Delfoy; Marten; Charmie. She’d given them everything she had, her best effort. The rest was up to them. Aki mouthed a single word to Selena, one final wish from the core of her being.
Then her body burst apart from the inside out.
Her last thought before consciousness left her was,
I’m sorry, Rho. It seems I won’t be able to return this body to you after all…
* * * * * * * * *
Inside the sedan, Selena watched in shock as Aki03 exploded into a million pinpricks of light. The Caseal’s end was not one of violent destruction, but of brilliant transformation. A display as beautiful as it was horrifying.
The scene started to recede and Selena realized the car was moving. Delfoy was driving away. “What are you doing?!” she cried. “We can’t just leave her—”
“She’s gone,” Delfoy croaked, his gaze locked straight ahead. “She’s gone.”
Selena couldn’t say anything to that. Like it or not, he was right. Her best friend and savior was dead.
It wasn’t until much later that she realized what Aki had been trying to say to her at the end, that one single word.
“Live.”
CHAPTER 20: END
Author's Notes:
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Originally Posted by Zorafim
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