Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
TARAX
I felt completely helpless as I watched the enemy warship orbiting Earth like a satellite of doom, encroaching on territory that didn't belong to them — also looming intimidatingly in the skies. It was clear that the robots riding on this spacecraft were ready to infect innocent lives with a mixture of torture and fright.
One by one, the warship launched what looked like an entire android army that skyrocketed in a downward spiral toward Earth's atmosphere. It was horrifying to watch these androids on an obscene mission, just knowing already the chaos and destruction they were capable of achieving. They continued barreling down to Earth en-masse.
There was so much foreboding involved. I wasn't even down on the surface of Earth, but my heart thundered anxiously about the impeding attack.
"Their goal is to strike, capture or kill anyone unfortunate enough to cross their paths," Garlin warned us, speaking to us from the receiver of our communicator helmets. "They have an entire fleet of androids that are being catapulted from the bottom of the warship. Those androids are crashing toward Earth as we speak — undoubtedly to wreak all kinds of chaotic havoc."
Garlin continued to hand down a much needed explanation of what was happening, and he gave some instructions as well.
"I'm sending a crew to help you," Garlin said. "A mixture of Knights, humans, and robo Knights are already on their way to your location in the solar system space lanes. I want to make sure you have the best team possible — a real elite group that is going to give you the backup you desperately need right now."
"Thank you," Merrix said with some relief. "Just please make sure they hurry." He sounded nervous and rattled.
"They have been briefed on the situation and I assure you that they are coming prepared," Garlin promised. "So far it's five cities across the Earth that have been hit," he added.
Merrix blew out an anxious breath. "Five cities already? That's quite a lot."
I exchanged a wary glance with my brother while we both cautiously waited for further instruction. We were hovering near Earth's orbit — careful not to get too close until our back up arrived.
"Five major cities," Garlin explained. "So far. I fear other cities will fall victim soon enough."
"Did he get word of that intelligence through the transmission signals?" I asked Merrix.
He nodded and blinked at me solemnly. "Must have."
"We're watching it all unfold right now," I added, speaking directly to Garlin. "It's horrifying, especially when we can't do anything right now but watch from a cautious distance."
"I am sending two separate teams in your direction," Garlin advised. "But the only one the three of you need to worry about is the crew coming to assist you. "
"What will our crew need to do first?" Norin asked.
"I'm assigning your team to Earth. You are going to lead up the Chicago crew. "I'll send the navigation coordinates to your space bikes in the next few minutes."
"Got it," I said and tossed a confirming nod to Merrix and Norin.
Norin looked a little pale as if he wasn't sure he was going to have the guts to join this force — but we had no other choice. We were going to be pushed into this situation whether we wanted to or not. Me, on the other hand — well I was almost excited about the challenge.
"I can't wait to kick some android ass," I said.
Merrix laughed and gave me an apprehensive glance. "Be careful what you wish for."
"I'll send other groups made up mostly of robo Knights to the other cities. Those humans are going to need all the help they can get."
I nodded, sighing hard. "Those poor, innocent people aren't even going to know what hit them."
" Literally, " Norin added.
"I'm also going to send a team to attack the warship," Garlin advised.
"Who is coordinating the attacks on Earth?" Norin asked.
Garlin paused before answering. "At this time, we believe that an artificial intelligence, or an A.I. is inside the warship and is ultimately the one responsible for this spring of attacks. If we can get a unit of Knights, robo Knights, and human's inside to deactivate it, we might be able to stop even more androids from leaping out of the fleet and barreling toward Earth."
"They are programmed to destroy," Merrix said with a tone of regret.
"Those robots are programmed to take out as many lives as they can," I agreed grimly.
"Or capture them to become slaves," Norin said.
At that moment, the landmarks, and the satellite coordinates for where we were advised to land in Chicago came through on the navigation feed screen part of our space bikes.
Merrix glanced between me and Norin. "Have you received the coordinates?"
"I'm looking at them right now," I confirmed.
"Me too," Norin said. "It's a bigger city than I expected."
I briefly glanced at my twin. He seemed slightly daunted.
"Don't let the buildings intimidate you," Merrix said.
I cranked the throttle on my space bike. "If anything, the buildings will just get in the way."
" Or make it harder for the robots to find an escape route when we start chasing them down," Merrix said.
"There are going to be a lot of people to try and save," Norin said with a bleak expression.
"We are just going to have to do the best we can, brother," I told him stoically.
He glanced at me through his oxygen helmet and nodded, but he still had a dreary look on his face as if he wanted to believe me but couldn't.
"We have to be in this together," Merrix said, his eyes darting cautiously between us. He must have noticed some hesitation on both of our parts.
"I'm with you all the way," I said as spiritedly as I could.
Norin licked his lips nervously, but judging by his expression of resolve, he was on board. "I'm with you as well."
"Do you have the map I sent through the wire?" Garlin asked, his voice crackling, and cutting in and out.
"All three of us got it," Merrix verified.
"Good luck," Garlin said. "I'm counting on you all. I'll be out there in the thick of it as well."
Merrix smiled. "I never doubted for a second that you wouldn't be."
"It looks like the robo Knights assigned to you are only about thirty more seconds away. They'll be reaching you momentarily," Garlin declared.
"We need all the help we can get if we are to save the humans," I said, glancing between Merrix and Norin. I drew in a sharp breath. I needed a moment to prepare myself, but as long as the robo Knights were on the way, we were in better shape than we would have been trying to fight out the war alone.
Ten minutes later, we had our crew and our robo Knights — ready to give us the vital assistance we needed or else we weren't going to get very far with this battle mission. We were now hurtling toward Earth on our space bikes, defying the laws of gravity one sky bounding inch at a time.
We were traveling fast and breaking the sound barrier, but we weren't quite flying at the speed of light.
We had to be careful about reaching that kind of monumental speed, especially when entering a planet's unforgiving and protective atmosphere.
These bikes had more yield than I expected. Merrix had done a fantastic job of constructing them, but it was important not to forget their incredible power. If I wasn't careful, I would spin out and I might not be able to get my bearings balanced back out.
The last thing we wanted to do was burn up into dust on the journey downward. We usually only traveled at the speed of light in the space lanes — traveling for longer distances in between the planets. Keeping this trip slower helped us see and navigate our surroundings much easier.
Clouds whipped past me. The ground began to spin and whirl in front of me. City lights blurred in front of my vision. The air felt thin at first, and then as it became denser and the lights grew brighter, I knew we were close to hitting solid ground. My body involuntarily stiffened, preparing for impact.
"We need to slow down," Merrix enforced. "Our altitude is declining rapidly."
Norin and I took Merrix's guidance to heart. We weren't playing around with Earth's gravity today — or any day. If we struck that concrete too fast, we'd be knocked unconscious at the very least — if not killed immediately on impact.
We lowered the throttle of our bikes and slowly hovered above the ground several feet, assessing the already exponential damage.
Down on Earth's solid ground, we landed. A horrific scene unfolded in front of us. Wild frantic disarray was going on everywhere . People were in the streets, clustered together with their arms roped defensively over their chests and their eyes wide with fear of the unknown and paramount shock.
Cars had been overturned, their engines steaming, their steel doors bent inwards. People were running, scattering in different direction like rats leaving a flood.
Little fires were spread out everywhere. The asphalt of the streets was morphed and cracking from the impact of the androids' travel vessels crashing into it. The humans raced past me — undoubtedly searching for somewhere safe to run and hide. Each one that I saw had perplexed expressions on their faces and panic in their eyes.
Sirens blared close by, and in the distance, wailed hauntingly with dread. No one was prepared for an attack of this magnitude. The worst case scenario was actually happening, and the streets of Earth felt eerie and invaded.
I exchanged a worried glance with Norin. "It's worse than we thought," he said, his eyes panning the hectic streets with unease.
"We have plenty of backup now with our robo Knights," I reminded him. "Garlin sent us here to do a job, and that's exactly what we're going to do. We aren't leaving until it's finished."
I lifted a blaster from the weapons holster on my space suit and cocked it, preparing it — along with myself — for war, or any enemy android who dared to fuck around with me.
Merrix shuffled toward us, having to dodge humans as they continued to flee in every direction.
"The first thing we need to do is intercept and attack the robots that have already landed," Merrix advised.
I fondly patted my gun and grinned aggressively. "Let me at the fuckers, then. I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
Honestly, I couldn't wait. I hated these enemy androids with every shred of my being. They were going down no matter what.
Merrix and I snuck up on a few of the androids who were closest to us. They had human arms and legs but were metallic gray in color. They had black slits for eyes and pursed, pencil thin lips. I had to hand it to these morose androids. They could fight, but we were better because we were made of flesh and bone — not wires and casing.
"They sure are fucking fast," Merrix said, struggling with one.
I came up behind the android who was trying to strangle Merrix. It had its long, slender fingers coiled around Merrix's neck and wouldn't let go.
I fired a bullet straight into the little asshole's brain. Wires and a milky substance, undoubtedly robot juice and grease, sprayed out from the now gaping hole in the android's head. The robot collapsed into a heap on the sidewalk. I kicked it for good measure, but it was as dead as could be.
"That's what I thought," I roared at it, ready to take down another one. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, making me feel bionic myself, untouchable.
I spun around in a circle, ready to fend off any others that lurked nearby, and when I glanced to my right, I noticed a firefighter crew. They were diligently trying to pick up and assist the injured, bringing them around the backside of their fire trucks.
The firefighters were fervently trying to remain calm as the wounded screamed and cried, bloody and dirty in their arms. They were moving with fortitude, quickly through the streets, scrambling to help and rescue as many as they could from the rubble.
I could tell they were overwhelmed, out of their element — but they were doing their best under these impossible circumstances. The heavy gear they had to wear couldn't have made it any easier to lift and drag those who couldn't walk themselves.
I raced up behind Norin and lightly pushed on his shoulder. "Let's go help them." I pointed to the firefighter crew who looked like they were in desperate need of support.
Norin and I rounded up a few of our robo Knights, who were easy to spot and separate from the enemy because ours were built to look just like us with dark, bronze skin.
Upon orders, our robo Knights rushed to the aid of the firefighters, forming a protective barrier around them and their fire trucks as the fire fighter crew worked tirelessly to bring the injured assistance. They were scrambling back and forth like terrified people without a direction.
"Instruct our other team of robots in case we get separated," I shouted to my brother.
He looked overwhelmed too but nodded and set straight to work in doing what I asked. In the disturbance happening all around us, I couldn't get eyes on where Merrix was at the moment, but hopefully he'd surface soon and rise among the ashes of destroyed property all around us.
I'd gotten distracted by trying to assist the firefighter crew because they looked so frazzled and helpless. Hopefully, even though we came to Earth prepared — we ultimately wouldn't get separated.