Excerpt 1 - Opening chapter
>>>>>>>THETA BASE - SURFACE PRISON COMPLEX<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>SURVEILLANCE CENTER<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>12:21 AM<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>WARNING: HOSTILE PRESENCE CONFIRMED<<<<<<<
With the remaining A.T.X.D. personnel on-site having either evacuated or rendered K.I.A., the scene had been cleared for the Klaris’ official shuttle to land on the tarmac. Now standing in the prison’s primary security tower, Jaxaar gazed with wary interest at the computer systems, which monitored every room, every cell, and every nook and cranny a fugitive would try to hide in.
Tempting. Perhaps if we get close enough to take at least a chunk of this planet, we might just use Theta Base as the next prison for criminals and opposers of the new Empire. Jaxaar added a frustrated grimace though as he also considered briefly, Assuming my officials have remained committed in my absence, that is; considering that there has been such rank-and-file disorganization among the bureaucracy as of late.
The Klaris then heard footsteps coming up the stairs behind him, but froze briefly when he picked up a peculiar sound in the footfalls. With his back still turned, Jaxaar took a moment to analyze the sound - Kronosian footsteps on the metal floor he stood on would’ve had a firm, almost slapping or pounding sound. And while he did pick that up, another pair of steps sounded equivalent to thick rubber striking the metal floor like smooth rocks. And when he finally turned around, Jaxaar widened his eyes with shock, fright, and a measurable amount of anger.
Before him stood a female A.T.X.D. operative, her hands by her side, her feet placed firmly together, and a brown ponytail of moderate length extending beneath her helmet. Ashley Miller: one of the two most notorious rebel insurgents Jaxaar had loathed all of these years for destroying the Kronosian Empire—his empire—now stood before him.
But her expression—if there was any—was what really sent chills down Jaxaar's rigid spine. Ashley’s brow was creased downward with fury—moderately expected considering their history—but she had the black vein-like patterns of Kronosian Krawleira hormones fanning from her eyelids to the edges of her sockets. Her eyes were blank; filled with that disturbing fog-like screen that blurred out the color of her pupils. Stilatro stood next to her, patiently keeping his hands behind his back and looking firmly at Jaxaar, and the Kronosian Emperor could sense some pride in his advisor.
“Stilatro, what is the meaning of this?” Jaxaar inquired, not necessarily satisfied on seeing Ashley before him.
“I brought you a gift, my lord,” Stilatro replied. Before Jaxaar could inquire further, Stilatro replied. “The rebel we chased for lightyears across every possible quadrant of the galaxy, one of our most popular gladiators that we’ve thrust into our arena, and the one responsible for practically everything of negative consequence to our kind, now stands before you. Though I assure you, she no longer remembers any of that.”
“So congratulations, you’ve infected her,” Jaxaar mocked with angry dissatisfaction. “And you didn’t kill her, why?”
Stilatro began to pace around the stationary Lieutenant humanoid, explaining as Ashley breathed slowly with deep, raspy sounds. “Because, while once a threat, my lordship, she is now an asset. I’ve been experimenting with some of Taurlius’ Krawleira specimens, whilst adding a few extra genetic concoctions I obtained from the Harbinger colony here at Theta Base with the help of our Luminara friends. The humanoid you see before you is not just one of the expendable humans Taurlius has relied upon, but a more lethal beast on a leash: just waiting to be let loose on her prey.”
“You tampered with my work?” Taurlius abruptly demanded, coming into the room.
“Only slightly, Taurlius,” Stilatro assured with authority. “Consider that she is the new and improved version of your Krawleira experiments. She’s fast, she’s aggressive, and she’s strong.” Stilatro briefly pressed a muscular finger against Ashley’s upper right arm, causing a fist to ball up reactively. “Her hormones have now increased her cardio and muscular power to ten times that of a regular human, without modifying the size or shape of the muscles.”
“For blasted sake, speak either English or Kronosian, Stilatro,” Jaxaar demanded with an irritable glance towards the ceiling.
“She can lift things nearly five times her size. She can run twice as fast. And a single punch could rupture an organ or two, depending on where it hits. But also, my lordship, she’s programmable.”
“And what the flarok does that mean?” Taurlius inquired, irritated and still furious that Stilatro had meddled with his experiments without permission.
“If I be permitted, my lordship,” Stilatro requested, to which Jaxaar responded with a quiet nod. The Kronosian General stood next to Ashley and began to coerce her while pacing around in a slow circle.
“You were once an operative with the A.T.X.D. But then, you took a critical wound. You could’ve been saved, but your comrades turned on you; left you to die before the enemy.” At this, the Humanoid Ashley gritted her teeth and let out a hurt, angered snarl, clutching her hands into those rock hard fists before relaxing again. The black vein patterns on her eyes also darkened to a haunting level as her blood pressure seemingly raised in tandem with this expression. “But I found you and saved you from being slaughtered like an animal. I knew you deserved a better life as not a gladiator, not a soldier, but something better: an assassin. One of our most elite warriors, in human form, now perfected among the rest. You are better than you once were.”
The humanoid Ashley simply turned and looked Stilatro eye-to-eye without blinking then turned back to Jaxaar.
“Now, you will help us hunt down those ignactos. Make them suffer for what they did to you.” Stilatro paused but kept a stony glare before raising a finger and pointing it attentively to Ashley’s blank eyes. “Especially that person who you tried to save but then left you behind instead”
Ashley made another deep and raspy snarl, but remained stationary.
“She is fully ready for battle, my lordship,” Stilatro reported as soon as his coercion was finished.
“And it seems in the nick of time,” Taurlius replied with a mix of disgusted frustration and hardened relief. He turned to face a young Kronosian scout, who bowed before Jaxaar's presence.
“My lord, generals,” the scout reported, “we’ve scanned the entire base, and there is no further sign of A.T.X.D. personnel anywhere. Their air support has been recalled, and we’ve dispatched those among them who attempted to resist us.”
“Any prisoners?” Jaxaar inquired.
“None, my lordship. But…”
“But did you think to scan the HQZ, scout?” Stilatro inquired.
“I was getting to that, General. The searches down below have come up negative so far. But we had a close call.” In response to this, Taurlius turned a worried look and Jaxaar glowered, but Stilatro remained oddly emotionless. “An activated self-destruct system was discovered in the HQZ, but our Luminara allies have managed to shut it down. Looks like the A.T.X.D. tried to bury us during their retreat, but our allies report that the system is now confirmed offline.”
“Any signs of A.T.X.D. radio contact, scout?” Taurlius inquired. The scout shook his head. “And when was last contact with our adversaries?”
“Fifteen minutes ago, sir. Last report was from you, General Stilatro.”
“That’s right.” Stilatro concurred, faking a reminiscing nod. “We cornered a group of them in one of the disabled laboratories, but they retreated like cowards as soon as they realized the odds were against them. That’s, of course, where I found her.” He gestured back to Ashley, taking sly note deep down for the lie he had just told his own emperor and a fellow general about the lab being disabled.
Taurlius looked at Stilatro with worry, however, and then turned to his Klaris before reporting, “The enemy air support retreated about thirty minutes ago, my lordship. I was helping to secure one of the prison blocks when I saw the last of the A.T.X.D. helicopters leaving the site, headed back in a southeasterly direction. Then some of the enemy combatants in my vicinity got beamed away by strange columns of light. From my knowledge, the A.T.X.D.’s aircraft do not possess the means of teleporting combat personnel on-and-off a battle site. If I’m right, it means that many of their soldiers are still within close proximity to Theta Base.”
“Wreaks of a planned retreat.” Jaxaar looked at Stilatro with frustration, silently criticizing him for letting the rest of Bravo Team slip away under the latter’s beard. But instead of going into a hateful fury, Jaxaar looked back at Taurlius and, after dismissing the scout, inquired, “How many of your forces can you divert to search for A.T.X.D. hostiles, General?”
“None, my lordship.” Taurlius then gritted his teeth with fear when Jaxaar looked at him with an expression that communicated an unwillingness to accept that, so he elaborated. “Stilatro has committed the entire Special Tactics Squad to the HQZ, and I only have enough soldiers to guard the Theta Base perimeter at furthest.”
“What about Krawleira slave soldiers? How many of those do you have left at your disposal?”
“A more valid question, my lordship,” Stilatro then interjected, facing his compatriot, “is did you forget to use the bodies of the Theta Team operatives, Taurlius? Not all of them have been contaminated with Harbinger D.N.A.”
“I’d rather see your so-called super soldier in action,” Taurlius responded sourly with folded arms, taking a moment to also glower at the consistently angry Humanoid Ashley who stood just two feet to his left. “You seem so confident of her flawlessness in battle. Why don’t you deploy her and eradicate them instead of me wasting more meat.”
“Indeed,” Jaxaar replied. “Stilatro, recall your forces from the HQZ at once and put them on the frontlines. Hide your…secret weapon among them and survey the entire Wasatch Mountain.” Jaxaar added a sarcastic roll of the hand as he commented on the Humanoid Ashley, but then approached her at locked eyes with the monster operative. “Hunt down and rip these flarin terrorists to shreds. Dismember and gut them if need be. Not a single one is to be left alive. I hope your slave here understands that.”
The Humanoid Ashley gritted her teeth once more, flared her marked-up eye sockets, and emitted a dog-like snarl, to which Stilatro confirmed, “Oh, she understands, my lordship. I have seen to that.” With that, the two advisors bowed once again and—with the Humanoid Ashley trailing behind them in an almost uniform stride—left Jaxaar's presence.
“Not a gladiator, not a soldier, but something better?” Taurlius repeated to Stilatro as they walked down a corridor. “Was that really part of the programming process, or just intended to insult my earlier mistakes in the Klaris’ presence? And what in the life of Mykropia do you mean tampering with my project to such a hideous extent? What the hell have you actually been doing down there in the HQZ?”
“It’s not your project anymore, Taurlius. Didn’t you hear before we arrived?” Stilatro inquired. “Besides, you’ve mainly been using your Krawleira subjects as cannon fodder. And what good does that do other than buy us more time to simply survive? Humans can be made into proper killing machines if you give them the right form of encouragement.”
He looked again at his humanoid product. Almost in reply, the possessed Ashley emitted a faint snarl through her throat while the blackened veins thickened in color once more.
Clearly, Stilatro was toying with him, and Taurlius just couldn’t tolerate it. Gritting his teeth irritably and emitting a tensioned grunt under his breath, Taurlius abruptly grabbed Stilatro by the shoulders. He drove him against a wall, caving the plaster in by almost a foot while the Humanoid Ashley stared at them with aimless anger or impatience.
“Damn you, Stilatro,” Taurlius hissed. “Maybe the use of my project weapons is under joint control, but it is still my project. Now I don’t care if you’re a closer advisor to the Klaris than me. If you test me again with your myopic demoralizing tactics, it will be a simple matter for me to snap your neck and make it look like you were killed by these Earth-Humans. Do we understand each other?”
“Plainly,” Stilatro replied calmly. “But if you’ll dispose of the emotion, we have a mission to carry out, and an asset of ‘yours’ to put to use.”
Slowly, Taurlius released his shady comrade and implicitly authorized the group to carry on. But as his fellow General took a moment to casually brush some plaster off his shoulders, Taurlius saw no reason not to add a slow shake of the head and a sourly threatening, “You make me sick.”
Excerpt 2:
>>>>>>>THETA BASE<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>CELLBLOCK A<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>SURVEILLANCE CENTER<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>12:51 AM<<<<<<<
Klaris Jaxaar had been so thoroughly focused on the monitors—looking for any sign of the A.T.X.D. bastards who had fled and were likely planning a comeback of sorts—he was mildly startled when a small window flashed on one screen with a message informing him of an incoming IVAS message. Accepting it, Jaxaar turned around behind him as the robotic arm descended from its panel in the ceiling, opened into a four-pronged flower, and dropped a full-size, full-color image of General Stilatro.
“My lordship, I believe we’ve located where the A.T.X.D. is currently holed up.”
“About time,” Jaxaar breathed, although his tone indicated clear impatience and anger. “Where?”
“We’ve discovered a structure about two miles to the east of the Theta Base Site, on the Wasatch Plateau.” Stilatro’s image then disappeared briefly as he projected a live shot from a Hunter gunship approaching what looked like a small mountain cabin situated on a wide, u-shaped rift near an edge of the mountain. “We have located a mass of enemy signals and activity inside this complex.”
Taurlius, who had just reported in from a negative sweep of the perimeter just a couple minutes earlier, now looked at this image of the apparently small cabin. It seemed impossible that the whole A.T.X.D. battalion that was here not half-an-hour ago could have scrunched up deep in that small little structure and been able to communicate with their bosses. “There must be an underground facility in there. How else could the savages bunch together in a space so small?”
“You think?” Jaxaar inquired with sour rhetoric before Stilatro’s own image came back on.
“Although we have a gunship in the air, my lord,” Taurlius’ fellow general continued, “with your permission, I’d like to request that we use the Serpentine’s orbital assault system to completely obliterate the site. It’s the only way to be sure.”
Looking at Stilatro for about a couple of seconds, the Kronosian Emperor replied, “Then by all means….” Just then, however, a mild thump shook the room and the muffled bang of an explosion outside on the tarmac startled all those in the room. Taurlius’ comlink then beeped, and he opened it to see it was the same scout from earlier who had reported that the majority of the A.T.X.D. force was nowhere to be found.
“My lordship, the A.T.X.D. have returned to the Theta Base perimeter,” the scout informed with a trace of panic. “They’ve regrouped faster than anticipated, and our connection to the Serpentine is jammed.”
Furious with the change in events—and the apparent delay on the part of his Generals in finding the enemy before the latter party had a chance to plan and execute a counteroffensive—Jaxaar turned back to Stilatro with his face scrunched up in frustration. “Since it would seem that Theta Base is presently under attack, Stilatro, kindly recall your forces to ensure our enemy’s extermination.”
With nothing more than a quick salute, Stilatro’s image disappeared and the IVAS projector arm raised back up into its ceiling panel. But there was still one additional inconvenience to deal with.
“Why….are you STILL HERE, TAURLIUS!?” the Kronosian Emperor inquired, bellowing the last few lines angrily at the other general. Frightened by his emperor’s temper and also shocked at the fact he had allowed his mind to drift, Taurlius briefly yelped and hurried for the door. All the while, Jaxaar continued with wide-eyed fury, “Scramble your defensive elements, and get that perimeter UNDER CONTROL!”