I made a note of the distance between myself and the gunfire. Factoring in for sound warping and the change in medium because of that closed door, I’d wager whoever was outside was no more than 100-150 meters, at best.

 

Examining my surroundings yielded little hope. A pistol cabinet nearby, medical supplies on a nearby table, a maintenance hatch for the electronics feeding in and out of the room, three data pads, two beds, several containers harbouring likely more medical supplies and an air duct.

 

The gunfire halted.

 

My vision was still blurry, and while the pain was bearable, it still affected my movements. Putting pressure on both legs I hopped up and nearly stumbled over, and would have, if not for the nearby cabinet to lend me its strength. Three distinct human screams helped me refocus; if nothing else, their lives were a good motivator for the adrenaline now running through my veins.

 

The average human can run at 12 to 15 mph. Factoring that in, combined with the distance of the not-so-successful defence team and I had anywhere from 13 to 28 seconds to come up with a plan. The air duct was too high, off the tables unless I could get more time, maybe if they passed by without checking? But what were the odds of that? Medical supplies are great, but useless for my current situation. That left my pistol and the maintenance hatch.

 

I weighed my options. If at least three soldiers carrying magnetic accelerated portable rifles, with a bullet capacity of 22.3mm, didn’t do the job, what the hell was a 9mm pistol going to do? Right, so self-defence was off the table which left the maintenance hatch. Fuck!

 

I moved towards the hatch as fast as I could, while simultaneously trying not to make noise. For someone whose athletic ability extends to that of a walk around the ship once a week, I thought I did pretty well. The hatch was made out of thrice folded steel and seared at the edges. Hopefully, that’d isolate any noise while I was inside. After some force the latch to the hatch gave way and it raised to allow me entry. I snuck inside, though rather clumsily.

 

Inside was cool, but the air was stale which did not bode well. 10 seconds had passed. Which meant I didn’t have time to get out and try a different plan. What was the saying? In for a penny, in for a pound? I laughed at my dry humour and quickly remembered this was a life-or-death situation, chastised myself and moved on.

 

Inside there was no opposing latch, which presented its risks. I could try and close the hatch by force, but strength was another thing to add to the short list of stuff I wasn’t good at. At the sound of the door AI asking for authentication my mind was made up, the hatch came down and I did something I hadn’t done for a long time. I prayed.

 

The door to the room was forcefully removed and crashed against the floor with a clang. Interestingly, whatever had followed lacked any footsteps. While I wasn’t afforded clear sight into the room, I could make out a few shadows from the ducts in the floors. Whatever was inside clearly wasn’t human. It moved around the room but seemed to struggle with the confined space. The shadows danced wildly and objects were moved about cautiously, in a manner that was far more delicate than what I’d expect from the monstrosity. Time passed and I held my breath for what felt like an eternity. It was then that panic started to grip me. I wasn’t holding my breath; I couldn’t breathe!

 

I tried to control myself, trying to stop the fear from affecting my movements, from darting out directly into that creature’s grasp. At first, I was successful, but as time progressed and I became further starved for oxygen, my rational thought exponentially depleted.

 

I was trapped. In here I would die for certain. I couldn’t take it anymore. My survival instincts took over and I began clawing at the hatch, desperate to find some leverage that would open it.

 

As if a sign from the maker gunfire erupted from the outside hallway. The alien darted outside to meet its foe which left me an empty room to escape to. The latch lifted and I fell back into the room, gulping in any oxygen that would grace my body. It took only moments for my rational thought to return and a few seconds later I was back on my feet, though I was still shaking.

 

Two options. Stay and hope they move on. Or escape. Three minutes later I was up and in the air ducts.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the air ducts didn’t feed to one central chamber. Instead, they darted around the ship connecting to sub-chambers, which in turn themselves fed to a central chamber. The distinction was minor but it made navigating very difficult without my interface.

 

I came upon an exit. Where did it lead? I had no idea. But I couldn’t keep crawling around in the dark. I took my chances; attempted to open the grate silently and failed as it thudded against the ground. I had barely moved an inch before gunfire lit up the now vacant spot. I screamed. “Stop shooting! Stop shooting! I’m human!”

 

The gunfire stopped.

 

I poked my hand out tentatively figuring that it was better to lose that than my head. Thankfully, neither came to pass and a few seconds later I was down and greeted by somewhat friendly faces.

 

Amongst their ranks numbered; 3 privates, 1 corporal, 1 sergeant, and a naval officer.

 

“Zeitha!”

 

I barely had time to brace myself before Lucia had thrown her full body weight into me. I crashed against the wall which did my ever-present headache-no favours. Despite this, for that one singular moment, all the pain in my body evaporated and I hugged Lucia with a force that no creature, man or alien could have broken.

 

“Ma’am. Ma’am!” I opened my eyes to see the sergeant addressing me. I put Lucia aside and redirected my full attention his way. “Ma’am, your orders. What do we do?”

 

I looked at him and then at the officer cowering in the corner. “Why don’t you ask him? I’m just a science officer.”

 

“He’s in shock ma’am, something about watching all his friends getting dragged away by vines.”

 

Some people just weren’t made to lead. Right, so if he’s not functional that did put me in charge. Oh, the poor poor fools. “I need a data pad!” I commanded. The sergeant provided one and I checked our position. We were close to the centre of the ship, held in an old storage room. That put us 15 minutes away from my lab and 10 minutes away from the communications centre. There were no notices of boarding nearby our current location which gave us a very needed brief respite.

 

“Prepare to- What the fuck?”

 

A thick green miasma started to penetrate its way into the room. It rose slowly, affording us plenty of time to grab some nearby ventilators. Lucia, the saint that she is, tried to place a mask on the cowering officer; She misjudged his temperament and as she went down to help him was quickly pinned against the wall as he went into a blind fury. He wasn’t the only one. I grabbed the sidearm from the sergeant next to me and levelled it at the officer. I shot once, directly next to his head, hoping he’d get the message; he didn’t. Before I could shoot a second time, he was forcefully removed by two of the privates. He clawed like a wild animal, knocking over the 3 of them, but not before removing one of their masks. Then, he went motionless.

 

The private quickly stood up searching for their mask, fear plastered across his face. He got another couple of steps in before falling to the floor, eyes glazed and his movements sluggish; then, he crumpled on the ground and joined the officer. I examined both bodies and was relieved to find they were still alive, their breathing slow and rhymical. “Sleeping gas most likely,” Lucia mused from behind me.

 

“That’s going to make things difficult. Still; the gas should be opaque enough to obscure us. We can use this to move, everyone ready?” A few nods later and we were out of the door turning left, our party consisting of 6. I was thankful for the private we left behind, but dead weight is dead weight, his fate was no longer in my hands.

 

The hallways were not safe. Within a minute we had come across the remains of a small skirmish. 2 MABs lay on the floor ripped in half, their pilots nowhere to be seen. Bullet casings and guns were scattered about, and they too were missing their owners. Everywhere we went was the same; signs of a skirmish, but no bodies. What type of freak takes the bodies of the fallen! We made it another 4 minutes before we found out.

 

I didn’t see it coming. A vine shot out from the fog before me, pinning the sergeant to the wall. He started to panic but just as quickly stopped as a vial was injected into his neck and he went limp. The corporal barely got her gun up in time, before she too was pinned to the wall and went limp. The four of us took a panicked left turn. I had thought maybe that was the end of it, but one of the privates screamed. As I turned, I briefly caught her body being pulled back into the mist before she faded from my sight, her screams overcome by sounds of sobbing and pleading before she too went deathly silent. The party was now down to 3.

 

Turning the third corner I ran into a familiar face. Ironbound was accompanied by a small force of military personnel and 3 MABs. They nearly shot us on sight. I’m glad they didn’t.

 

“Zeitha!” he called out. “I thought we had lost you when the med-bay had been breached, glad to see you’re still kicking.”

 

Part of me felt the same way, though I wasn’t going to admit that. Not to his face anyway. “What’s the situation?” I queried.

 

“Hostile boarding on all levels. I managed to get out of the bridge before it was too late. We need to get a warning to Terra and stop them from accessing the central ventilation system to give people time to escape.” How Ironbound phrased it made it very clear there was no room for debate.

 

“If I can get to my lab, I can activate all the dormant suits, that should give you and your team more time.”

 

“Do it. We’ll make sure no one follows you.”

 

I nodded in response and took off. The private had stayed behind with the larger group which left Lucia and me. Our party of 6 was now 2.

 

We made it to the lab without issue. To my surprise, no one had broken in. I hadn’t completely discounted that this could have been a trap. It was hard to believe that they would leave a theoretical weapons lab untouched; maybe they hadn’t realised its value? I looked towards the end of the hallway. I couldn’t see it, but I knew there was a shuttle bay there. I could ignore my mission, grab Lucia and escape; leaving everyone else to their fate. It would be so easy.

 

My fear must have leaked because Lucia moved her hand near mine and entwined it in her own. The comfort helped. Without saying anything I already knew what she was thinking. This was the right thing to do, and regardless of what we faced, we’d be in it together. I pressed my hand against the scanner and the door opened with a whoosh.

 

 

 

 

 

“And that should do it.”

 

It had proven difficult to regain access to the M.A.B.S network; not helped by the increasingly taunting interface that I still couldn’t access. This meant I had to use a datapad and navigate through the various backdoors I had left open in case the military had decided to, for one a better term, replace me. Regardless. The M.A.B.S network defence was still made by me, which is to say, it was very tightly woven.

 

I opened the file containing the MABS directory.

 

Zeitha@rootaccess        >>           Recall_Num_M.A.B.S
Terminal@response       >>           Total_M.A.B.S_Found==236
Zeitha@rootaccess        >>           Monitor_Active
Terminal@response       >>           Active_M.A.B.S_Found==23
Zeitha@rootaccess        >>           Monitor_Dormant
Terminal@response       >>           Dormant_M.A.B.S_Found==134
Terminal@response       >>           Activate?
Zeitha@rootaccess        >>           Affirmative
Terminal@response       >>           Submit_Password
Zeitha@rootaccess        >>           **********
Terminal@response       >>           Password_Accepted
Terminal@response       >>           Activating_Dormant_M.A.B.S
Terminal@response       >>           119_Activated_Successfully

 

It was just over half of the total suits we had at our disposal. It would have to do. “C, any news on Ironhound and his team?”

 

“None Zei, there are no logs off them making it to the ventilation system, nor the communication room.” She said with remorse.

 

“Shit! We did our job. Time to leave, everyone else will just have to have to figure it out for themselves.”

 

I moved towards the door and was surprised to see Lucia block my exit; her hands stretched wide.

 

“We’re not cowards Zei.” She said timidly. “We might not make it, but we owe it to everyone else on Terra to try and send a message. You and I both know they’re not prepared!” I could see she had convinced herself. Her eyes were dancing defiantly and her posture had gotten more righteous and firmer.

 

I could feel anger building inside me. “They wouldn’t do the same for us!” I yelled at the wall, refusing to make eye contact.

 

“Zei. Look at me.” I refused. “Zeitha. Look at me,” she repeated in a calmer manner. This time I did. “We have to try.”

 

“You understand what you’re asking C. Literal monsters are roaming those halls. Our entire fleet was bested in 30 minutes and have you seen a single communication on that receiver come through that isn’t someone begging for help?”

 

Her posture lessened slightly, but the fierce rebellious gaze she gave was unfaltering. “I’m going out there, with or without you.” It wasn’t a threat. I knew full well she meant it.

 

I tapped my fingers on the counter. An uneasy silence slowly built up, with neither willing to back down.

 

“Just the communication room, yes? Then we get out?”

 

She nodded in response.

 

“Fuck! Fine. But we can’t go as we’re, give me a moment.”

 

I moved to a nearby wall, pressed a couple of disguised indentations and another terminal popped out. Lucia looked at me with both eyebrows raised.

 

“A girl has to have her secrets,” I said with a mock smile on my face.

 

A panel on the far wall shifted to reveal a suit, only this one was unique. It was ordained red throughout, unlike the black of the standard model and a flowery white pattern was present in some of the bulkier areas. The irony of which was not lost on me. Where the standard suits emphasised weapon variety, mine abandoned this in favour of additional manoeuvrability. The suit stood nine feet tall and four wide. On the left hand was the same chainsaw in the standard models, on the right a single barrel that connected to a tank full of fuel which I could use as a flamethrower if the need arose. Additionally, because of the suit’s larger size, it was able to have a cockpit where I resided, instead of the open frame of the mainline series.

 

I hopped into the protruding seat and felt the once familiar sensation of my muscles being tightly gripped by the many internal clamps. A wire connected to the back of my neck, linking with my neural network as my interface lit up in a familiar blue hue.

 

[Little Terran, you would have thought you’d learnt your less-]

 

[Overriding successful. Designation Ratio online]

 

[Hi Doctor Zay. It’s so very nice to meet you again]

 

Allow me to explain. The suit had a fully integrated AI that was built using a copy of my mind at the same time my implants were installed. Ratio wasn’t a true AI, but so long as she held a direct connection to me, she was as good as any Terran could get to making one. I had no way of knowing if I’d be able to mind-meld with the suit, but my fears appeared to be unfounded. As for how we communicated. Because Ratio was directly linked to my mind, any thoughts I had she would be able to detect, thus removing the need for verbal communication. I thought about what I wanted to do and the machine would do it. Efficiency in its most optimised form.

 

[This unit has a question]

 

 

[Additional AI presence has been detected on this network. Attempts to remove have proved unsuccessful. How would you like me to proceed?]

 

 

[Could you?]

 

I was stumped. Could I? The aliens had beaten us so easily. Even if we discounted the disaster that was the naval battle, a single electric surge was enough to infiltrate and compromise my neural network. Could I beat them? I didn’t know.

 

 

[Understood. Good luck Doctor]

 

I looked at Lucia who I now towered nearly 4ft above. Grab some of those purple-looking balls on the desk, but whatever you don’t press the trigger on the top. The last time I tested them I nearly put a hole in the ship and I’m fairly sure I may have made them even more volatile since then. The look of fear on her face did not go unnoticed.

 

“I don’t suppose you have a spare one of those for me?” she said half-jokingly pointing at my suit.

 

“Not in here,” I replied with a genuine laugh.

 

“What am I supposed to do then, run alongside you?”

 

“Have you ever been carried before?”

 

“Wha-“

 

She didn’t finish her sentence before my right arm picked her up in a princess pose, positioned in such a way so her body was resting against the central frame and the hand encased her, protecting her from any would-be harm.

 

We managed to make it to the communication room undetected, only, there was a strange aura about. It had been too easy, even with the mobile suits now active. I can believe that we may have missed the aliens by chance, but the likelihood of not coming into any survivors simultaneously was very unlikely.

 

The door wasn’t large enough for my frame so I cut a circular motion and then burst through one of the side walls. The inside was dark and the lights ordaining the walls were all switched off. A single thought and the lights mounted atop my suit beamed into life, illuminating large paths in front of me.

 

Aside from the piece of wall laying still on the floor and the lights being switched off, nothing looked immediately out of place. There was no sign of a battle, however; there were also no round casings, no people, and no weapons. Nothing. I put Lucia down.

“C, do what you have to do, I’ll stand guard.”

 

Before she left, she handed me the 4 prototype GPODs (Gravitational Pyrokinetic Ordnance Device). I placed them inside my lab coat pocket in case the need presented itself.

 

5 minutes passed and there was still nothing in sight. A sinking feeling started to build in the pits of my stomach.

 

[Doctor]

 

 

[We have a problem]

 

 

[Turn around]

 

I did as I was instructed and turned around only to see Lucia had been completely engulfed by vines. I didn’t know how they got in.

 

I froze. For the most part, Lucia looked unharmed. She was unconscious but the alien appeared to be handling her with care.

 

“Put her down!” I commanded.

 

“Hi, darling. It would be foolish to keep resisting. Won’t you give up nicely and be a good girl?” It asked with a slight tint to its voice, daring me to say no.

 

“I said put her down, I won’t warn you again.”

 

“Very well.”

 

The alien put Lucia down on the floor gently, without diminishing her size one bit. It was like every part of her body was a fully functional limb that could be moved independently. I looked at her, really looked at her. She was beautiful. Her face was soft and feminine but also aged while delicate. Her hair long and flowing, a combination of vines and flowers seamlessly interwoven. She had 4 arms, 2 on either side; each with four fingers. Across her body were flowers that were not quite Sakura’s of blue, yellow and pink. They danced in waves across her body as she swayed from side to side… Side to side… Her eyes did the same thing, small waves of colours that danced around, mischievous, but proud and-

 

“Darling. I could cross the distance between us faster than you could blink. I really would prefer if you gave yourself up.”

 

I blinked, shook my head and gave a silent thanks the enemy hadn’t realised I was drifting off. I dulled the protective barrier isolating most of the alien’s colour and then considered my options. I could run. I didn’t know if what she said was true, but I had propulsion jets in my suit that made me far faster than any human. Still, I couldn’t leave Lucia. My mind started working overtime and I came to a solution. It was risky, but if it could save Lucia, it was worth it.

 

“Ok, but I appear to be stuck. One of your bugs affected my neural interface and I can’t get out of this suit. Can you help with that?” I lied.

 

“Of course, dear!” She moved slowly towards me, eventually coming face to face. “I’ll have you out in just a moment.” She sang cheerily.

 

“Press the exit valve on the back, that should open my barrier and let me out.” This time I was telling the truth.

 

She did as she was instructed and sure enough, the barrier binding me released and opened.

 

“What a pretty little Terran you are. Ok now, hop on out.”

 

“Before I do, I have something I want to give you,” I said trying to sound as placid as I could.

 

I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of the GPODs and pressed the button. A slow purple circle indicated a counter started to spin, but the alien couldn’t have known that.

 

“What is it darling?” the alien asked innocently, fingering the GPOD now firmly in her hands.

 

“Oh, nothing really, you’ll see in about. Now.”

 

On cue, the GPOD sucked in the surrounding area with a gravitational force akin to that of a miniaturised black hole. The alien started to compress as they were pulled in by the force. Unfortunately, due to my proximity, so to was my arm. It was crushed under the weight and was ripped off along with the left side of my suit. I screamed, a long high-pitched scream as the pain became unbearable. This was nothing compared to the sound the alien opposite me made. Their eyes flashed red with an anger I had never seen before and they darted towards the end of the room.

 

I didn’t get time to regain my senses before the second cycle of the bomb went off. After all the force had been compressed it was shot back out in an explosive supernova. I watched as the alien howled several octaves higher and the external wall separating the communication room from the void was ripped apart. My suit engaged its automatic magnetisation clamps at the sudden change in air pressure, the alien however had no such luck. They flew outside into the depths of space, but so did Lucia.

 

I reached out with my left arm which was now an amalgamated form of exposed bone and flesh and watched as the last thing I cared about in this universe went to her death.