The H-craft chugs along the coastlines of Britain and the Baltic sea in order to avoid easy and direct observability from the radar centers. Of course, it’ll not hide them completely but not crossing into any actual airspace allows them to skirt any Lookie Lous easier. Archie has just set up the necessary data analysis toolkits for Georgia to look through and now he has time to hang out with Kalopsia some more.
He finds her on the ship chilling in one of the cargo bays where all the weapons and backup armors are along with their backup power supplies. She’s fidgeting with her Bull SMG, cleaning it after Eurus taught her. She’s sitting on one of the grenade crates while another is used as a makeshift gunsmith table. She’s spread one of the white albeit a little smudged linens she found in the tents and brought along for some reason as a visual contrast for the black bits and pieces she’s polishing and brushing.
“Wow,” Archie says while leaning on the threhshold, “They look sparkling enough for me.”
“Yeah, I know,” she says with a sigh, “Just something for me to do while we get to the Himalayan base you know. The Cells are quite something, huh.”
“Sounds like you admire them,” Archie says.
“Well they’re perfect specimens of genetic engineering of technology long lost,” she says, “And it’s not admiration per say, it’s more that their dedication and commitment to getting anything done is something to aspire to in my opinion.”
“True that,” Archie says, “But can one really hope to keep up with them? Like ‘Oh, the entrance to the massive base is collapsed? We’ll just blast through the rubble!’ or ‘Oh, the facility doesn’t have power? We’ll just jerryrig our suits’ power supplies to some power converters and run the entire thing from there!’ like really, bro?”
“Haha, yeah,” she says, “I get it - I sound ridiculous.”
“Not at all,” Archie says, “Just it’s hard not to feel inferior in my own case.”
“You’re not,” Kalopsia says, “They’ve spent time with me and consoled me throughout this entire endeavor to make me relaxed. I don’t think it’s because they really care about me, it’s more that I need to be mentally stable and happy for everything to run smoothly. Even when they’re being palpably human, they’re doing it for some higher cause…”
“And?” Archie says.
“Why are you doing that?” she asks while starting to reassemble the gun.
“What am I doing?” Archie asks.
She puts the barrel in the front handle of the gun. Archie sits beside her on the crate, watching her work on the gun.
“You’re being supportive, too,” she says.
“Yeah, well… I…,” Archie tries to respond.
“I think you’re cool. I like you,” Kalopsia says.
“I like you too, Kalopsia,” Archie says.
In the cockpit Boreas, and Eurus have the Himalayan mountain range in their sights. Eurus says:
“Look – heat signatures, 30 degrees.”
“Hikers?” Boreas asks when suddenly the dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree with warnings of a radar lock.
“Scouting party!” Eurus says and takes the loudspeaker’s microphone from its holster and says to the ship’s intercom: “Brace for evasive maneuvers!”
They see in the distance a small puff of smoke and a rocket surge above the treeline, barreling straight for them. Boreas banks the ship down towards the trees and changes direction to have the rocket’s path become perpendicular with the H-Craft’s. As it nears, he then banks left hard and the rocket whizzes by, missing the H-Craft. But two more launches occur with two new puffs of smoke from other parts in the forest below. Boreas tries his best to evade and to deploy chaff but one of the rockets makes contact, rupturing the ship’s left rear leg of the H. The dashboard is now sounding alerts about structural damage and losing altitude. Eurus says into the intercom:
“Detaching compartments. Kalopsia, hold on and hide – We’ll come for you. Astraeus, protect Georgia!” And he punches a button on the controls with the words “DEFENSIVE DETACHMENT PROTOCOL” and the craft buckles and rumbles as the parts of the H-Craft all come apart. Kalopsia managed to assemble her gun and to don her armor as her compartment uses its engine to provide a somewhat stable landing.
The compartment touches ground with a rumble and a thud. She quickly dons her power armor and weapons and she and Archie exit the compartment. They hear others touch ground too further away from them and gunfighting in the distance as the scouting parties surround the others and they fight their ways out. She can hear the soldiers shouting orders at each other further away trying to get to her as well. She says to Archie:
“Let’s move! Towards the mountains where Eurus and Boreas landed! We keep moving or we die!” she hands him the sidearm revolver as well for a last line of defense.
She crouches a little and Archie does too, as she starts to hightail it out of there. Moving through the forest she listens to the sounds around her, paying attention to the possibility of ambushes and other parties finding her and Archie. She hears a rustling further away so she runs across their path before they have a chance to lay eyes on her. She can hear the fighting of Eurus and Boreas grow louder as they approach. Her heart is pounding in her chest as she runs through the real world Onslaught Evasion scenario. Suddenly she comes across a dirt road, cutting the forest in half.
From the bushes she can see a group of False Cells running up the road and veer off into the forest towards Eurus and Boreas as well. She follows their path, staying very incognito. She figures that they’ll take her right to them. But right away she doesn’t see two camouflaged False Cells hiding in a bush near her and just as she’s about to run even further. But at the last possible moment she notices them from the corner of her eye, taking Archie from his shoulders and barrelling towards the ground as they open fire at her.
The bullets whiz past them, hitting the thick foliage around them, exploding the moss and branches as they hit. She tells Archie to crawl behind a tree as she rolls over her sides quickly changing her position onto the flanks of the unsuspecting False Cells who still are approaching her last seen location. She quietly unholsters her power machete from its secure spot, and listens to their radio calls:
“Suspected sighting of Precious Cargo #1, need extraction!”
Quietly a voice says in their speakers:
“Affirmative, sending more boots your way. Do you have eyes on target?”
“Negative, the target remains evasive, but we’re nearing the hiding spot last seen.”
Right as they have their backs turned, Kalopsia shoots up from behind the tree-bush she’d slided behind and runs towards them, machete in hand. They’re about to turn around but she manages to slice one in the neck and right as the other opens fire, she somersaults closer to him, busting the machete straight through his jaw and skull.
But the commotion and the call for help result in the forest around them now growing thick with sounds of the False Cells and soldiers looking for them. Judging from the directions, they’re surrounded. She crouchingly sneaks back to Archie, who looks a little terrified to put it in the mildest terms. She pats him on the shoulder and motions with an index finger on her mouth to be quiet and to follow her. She doesn’t allow him to fully stand up, keeping him crouched. She slowly continues her way to the last place they heard Eurus and Boreas fighting, but soon she can see the False Cells silhouettes approaching.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
She stands sideways towards the Cells behind one of the thicker trees and slowly inches herself around them as they pass, not noticing her and Archie does the same. But then Archie grunts loudly and drops out from his hiding spot. He’s holding his stomach from the side, which is bleeding as one the False Cells from further away managed to spot him and open fire. Kalopsia immediately opens returning fire from her SMG, bullets ripping into the False Cell’s power armor, but not piercing it completely, only injuring him a little. He fires back and around her tree bark and ground starts exploding as all the other False Cells who passed them open fire on their location as well. She somersaults towards Archie, who is bleeding a lot but seems to be hanging in there. She takes his revolver and fires at the False Cell again who is approaching them, and the bullet immediately punches through his armor. She dual wields the SMG and the revolver, opening fire with it at the human soldiers while dispatching the False Cells with the revolver. But the numbers around her are growing overwhelming, and she can do nothing but hide behind one of the trees.
Right as the False Cells seem upon them, they change direction of their fire. Eurus, Boreas and Astraeus have arrived and leap into combat. The soldiers hoping for a quick ambush or at least to quickly kill Kalopsia now find themselves in a fight for their lives. A few tuck tails and turn around to flee but Astraeus uses his jump pack to leap towards them, cutting their paths away with clean headshots.
Boreas is cracking the skulls of five False Cells as they struggle to lay a bullet onto his armor. A punch, a kick and three shots from his revolver executioner style as he drops them on the ground. He then leaps towards other soldiers.
Eurus meanwhile is taking on a whole platoon himself, power sword and Bullrifle in hand kicking off the trees and like a ballerina he skips through the soldiers diminishing their numbers in an ever growing brutality with each step. A slice, a one punch, and a couple of shots from the Bull Rifle sets him into an almost rhythm of murder and mayhem.
Kalopsia then shoots down a few False Cells attempting to still rush towards her as well. Aside from them, the others are too busy trying to survive but with no luck. The three Cell Circuits are too much for their almost battalion sized numbers. Soon the fighting ends as the scouting battalion gets wiped out by the Cell Circuits.
The first one who comes to Archie and Kalopsia by the tree is Eurus. He looks at Archie’s wound and says:
“This doesn’t look good,” with a stern voice, “We have a medkit in the cockpit.”
He picks up Archie onto his arms, cradling him on his strong steel muscles. He then storms off towards the cockpit. Boreas comes to Kalopsia while Astraeus goes to collect Georgia from where she’s hiding per Astraeus’s instructions. Boreas motions Kalopsia to follow him, and they get into a slight jog.
“You did good, kiddo,” Boreas says.
“Still almost got killed,” she says calmly her body completely relaxed and poised as she jogs along with him.
“Almost being the key word. It would’ve been worse if you’d almost survived,” Boreas says, “You eliminated threats, kept your friend alive, focused on finding us based on environmental cues, and I can sense you’re not even shocked anymore.”
“I don’t know… I just had the feeling that it’s now or never. I’ll act or I’ll die and maybe humanity along with me in the future,” she says.
“Welcome to the club,” Boreas says.
They catch up with Eurus and Archie soon, Eurus having removed the bullet in Archie’s belly and cauterized and sown the wound. Archie looks a little pale but he cracks a smile when he sees Kalopsia approach with Boreas. Archie says faintly:
“Watch out, Eurus… The warrior princess is here.”
“Her actions are… impressive,” Eurus says.
“How are you feeling, Archie?” Kalopsia asks while bending over to look at his face closer.
“Like I got shot,” Archie says, “But all in all a great third date haha, ow…. I shouldn’t laugh.”
“Third date?” Kalopsia says, “Well I guess you’ve earned this then for having put up with me and my crazy kids and family.”
She plants a soft kiss on his lips. They linger in the feeling and sensation for a few seconds. Kalopsia says:
“Can you walk, Archie?”
“I’ll carry him,” Eurus says, “Boreas. Can you scout ahead and sniff out the entrance to the complex based on the information Archie and Georgia collected? We’ll follow in your direction. Let us know what you find.”
“Roger that,” Boreas says, “Keeping contact.”
He leap-sprints off towards the mountain range.
Eurus picks up Archie and soon Georgia and Astraeus catch up with them too, the former panting a little from the jog. Archie says:
“Tired so soon, mom?”
“I never said I was a genius at track,” Georgia says.
They continue in following in Boreas’ general direction. Eurus says to Astraeus:
“Astraeus, take the comm device from my wrist, and patch me through to Nautilus.”
Astraeus complies and Eurus says:
“Nautilus, this is Eurus of Caste Erebus. Do you read me?”
“Loud and clear, Eurus, what is your command?” Nautilus says in his ear.
“Have you raised Terram Cells’ combat status to high readiness?” Eurus says.
“Affirmative. I was not aware of the rot in our systems, but I managed to subvert it. Our communications are clean,”
“Excellent. Take two Goliath battle tanks, ten Vulcan 5-s and rest per preference and tell the others to meet us at the Himalayas. The exact coordinates are my location as it stands because we haven’t yet found the reproduction facility.”
“Understood. Total ETA – 2 hours. Nautilus out.”
Eurus, carrying Archie, Astraeus, Kalopsia and Georgia continue walking towards the mountain range. The forest is quiet still, with dusk approaching slowly. The thick foliage around them makes the humans’ movements a little difficult but nobody complains. Their spirits are high after the victourious battle they had. Kalopsia, further back with Georgia who tells her about what she stands to go through when they arrive. Eurus and Astraeus talk about setting up defenses while Eurus carries Archie.
“We have 30 extra Cells arriving in two hours,” Eurus says.
“Excellent. What do you have in mind?”
“Assuming the mountain is not far into the range, I wager Notus will land his armies in the forest and the valleys behind it, attempting to surround us while a crack team would infiltrate the facility. I don’t know about the extent of his army but I venture it’s considerable.”
“You’re probably right,” Astraeus says.
“We keep 10 Cells near the complex, to cut off any daring attempts. 22 others will infiltrate behind the enemy lines and start goading them towards us. We will force them to come to us where we can deal with the advance directly,” Eurus says.
“Risky,” Astraeus says, “There’s the chance we can’t guard all entrances if there are more than one.”
“The tactics may evolve as the situation progresses,” Eurus says.
“I see. In that case I approve the initial layout,” Astraeus says.
They walk a little more when Boreas contacts them:
“I think I found it, sending you the coordinates.”
“Got them,” Astraeus says, “On our way to your location.”
They pick up the pace a little, advancing the group into a jog again.
After a 4-minute jog the Sun getting lower still, they arrive at the location of Boreas. He’s in a small cottage but the lights are on there, a yellow hue shining through the windows. It has two stories and looks to be around 150 square meters in total floor area. Despite being covered in pollen dust and bird poo, the cottage looks to be in excellent condition. Its foundation is solid and the steps inside are free of erosion. The group walks inside to see Boreas standing over an open cellar door. The cottage itself is unremarkable aside from the eons of dust its gathered. It looks like some hunter’s last refuge away from the city noise with a few shotguns from old times and a kitchen with an ancient paper-filtered coffee maker. The furniture looks as unused as it looks time worn. He motions them to go down.
The concrete walls of the cellar staircase and its steps are unexpectedly arid and derived from moisture. The lower level has a completely clean tiled floor and walls, with white fluorescent lighting providing plenty of visibility. The ceilings are high enough to easily fit the Cells who are otherwise very tall. On the other side of the cellar room there’s a large metal door, seemingly fit to withstand anything that could fit through the staircase. It’s wired up to a keypad on either side.
Boreas says: “The keypads need simultaneous input. Any deviation longer than a few seconds will lock the doors and they can only be opened from the inside I assume.”
Georgia says: “I see. Have we any clue as to what the key might be?”
She walks over to a single desk there, old and wooden, but mighty in its construction with intricate carvings in its details. She sits down in the leather chair behind it and looks in the drawers to gather any clue about what the key might be.
It’s empty aside from a small box of mints in it. Georgia says:
“How many digits do the pads take?”
“Eight, it seems,” Boreas says.
“Ah, and you can’t melt it like you did back in Duxford,” Georgia asks.
“It might require back up power cells considering the alloy,” Eurus says, “We’d need to go back to the craft and get them. We can use them if we exhaust other options.”
“I see. Well it doesn’t seem there’s anything here aside from these mints and if there’s one thing I know about my great forefather is that he did nothing by chance. The use before date here is 31-12-2121. Try 21211231. If it locks then it locks.”
“Why such numbers why not try day-day month-month year-year-year-year?” Kalopsia asks.
“Because it’s still the coding standard and it would probably be the answer here.”
“Good guess,” Eurus says and stands next to one keypad while Boreas stands next to the other, “3… 2… 1… Initiate.”
They punch the numbers into the keypad and the heavy locks on the blast doors begin churning. A hum echoes through the cottage, as the gears and levers between the walls twist and turn the massive doors aside, revealing a tunnel leading towards the mountain ahead of them.