Sol Survivors Chapter 5: Processed

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Chapter 5: Processed 

A sharp metallic hiss. The unmistakable whine of a rocket motor igniting. It cuts through the ringing in Rand’s ears just long enough for instinct to take over. He grabs Lila by her tank top and yanks her sideways. He throws them both against the interior hull as the personnel door they just closed erupts outward in a storm of shrapnel and fire. 

The blast wave slams into them. Rand curls over Lila. He shields her head with his arms and shoulders. Metal screams. Heat washes over his back like an open furnace. Something heavy clips his calf. Pain flares white-hot. He doesn’t let go. The world narrows to the girl under him. The ringing in his skull. The smell of burning clothing and insulation. 

He can’t hear her scream. He feels it though. The vibration against his chest. The way her body jerks and tenses. 

When the initial roar fades to crackling flames, Rand forces himself up on one elbow. His ears are full of high-pitched static. Blood trickles from one nostril. He tastes copper. 

Lila is alive. Eyes wide. Pupils blown. Mouth open in a silent yell. Her hands claw at his arms. Not fighting him. Just needing something solid. He hauls her to her feet. She sways, legs buckling. He hooks an arm around her waist and half-carries her. Looking around, there is no sign of Toku. 

The hub around them is an inferno. Flames lick the ruined doorframe. Through the smoke and heat haze the Warden’s voice booms over external speakers. Amplified. Calm. Almost mocking. 

“…am Warden Magne Pilae. There will be no escape. All prisoners will be apprehended and processed accordingly.” 

The word lands like cold steel. Processed. The same word they used when they shoved Rand into cryo. Most likely the same word for the pods drifting outside. 

Another rocket flares to life from the docking bay toward them in the central hub. 

Rand doesn’t think. He drags Lila sideways. He stumbles along the wall toward the massive bay doors that lead back into the docking bay. The rocket streaks past them through the cavity in the bulkhead that used to be the personnel door. It flies close enough that he feels the rocket’s heat on his scorched back. It slams into a stack of cargo crates eight meters in. The impact is a thunderclap. Secondary explosions ripple outward as fuel cells and munitions cook off. A wall of fire and debris blooms behind them. 

They hit the deck hard. Rand twists mid-fall. He takes the brunt so Lila lands on top of him instead of the other way around. His ribs scream. Something in his shoulder pops. He grits his teeth and rolls them both toward the bay doors. 

The personnel door to the cargo bay is gone along with much of the wall, a cavity blown clean in the bulkhead so close to the outer hull. Warden Magne Pilae seemingly uncaring about a breach as he tears his way through the rest of the opening and looks around for his prey through the thick black smoke. Rand assumes that if he can see Pilae’s glowing optics, then the warden can see him. There is nowhere to run in the blaze of the open chamber, but if they can get back into the docking bay through the larger cargo doors, they have a straight line to the shuttle now that the warden is in the main hub and not in their way. They’d have to act quickly and rely on an act of a long-dead god to get away from the warden and to the ship. Where is Toku? Toku hasn’t bailed on us and left in it on his own, has he? But Rand couldn’t think like that. Toku could very well just be dead. Their way forward was through the battered main bay cargo doors. One problem at a time. The doors themselves are still there. Buckled and scorched. Cracked open just enough. A vertical slit maybe thirty centimeters wide. Enough for a man to squeeze through if he’s desperate. 

And Rand is desperate. 

The thumping sounds of the warden get louder as the reinforced metal feet of the warden’s mech stomp through the choking smoke. Rand sees the glowing optics approach. He shoves Lila toward the gap. “Go. Now.” 

She freezes for half a second. Eyes glassy. Shock locking her joints. Then she scrambles forward on hands and knees. Rand follows. Sucking in his gut. Scraping jagged metal across his back and shoulders. The gap tears at his jumpsuit. Skin rips. He doesn’t care. They spill into the docking bay on the other side. 

Smoke is less thick in the docking bay, but it’s still choking. Thick gray-black curtains roll across the floor, lit by flickering orange strobes and the distant green glow of the Solvo’s airlock. Rand pulls Lila behind the nearest cover—an autoloader forklift the guards had been crouched behind earlier. Its forks bent, its body riddled with scorch marks and bullet holes. One tire shredded. The chassis is heavy enough to stop small-arms fire. Maybe even plasma if they’re lucky, though the evidence shows the warden’s minigun tore right through it. 
 
Rand risks a quick glance over the top. Smoke swallows the bay floor. He can’t see the LegionaryX that the guards were fighting at all. Just shifting walls of gray, the green light of the Solvo’s airlock pulses through the haze like a beacon, far off and unsteady. No way to tell if the robots are still active, powered down, or waiting in the haze. One wrong move and those targeting lasers could cut through the smoke. He ducks back. Keeps his breathing shallow. If those things are still out there, they’re hidden. And that makes them more dangerous. 

Lila curls against the metal of the autoloader. Breathing in short ragged gasps. Rand looks between the hole in the corner of the far wall and the crack in the docking bay doors they just squeezed through. Trying to see which way the warden will return. Overhead heavy cargo crates hang from thick straps and chains. Some sway slightly from the explosions. Their looming, swaying bulk overhead unnerving Rand’s already low confidence for safety. 

The shadow of the Warden’s mech suit fills the tall gap in the ruined cargo doorway, blocking the glow of fire from the area beyond. The glow of his optics scanning the bay. Hulking. Deliberate. Red optics sweep the smoke. He doesn’t rush. He steps forward slowly. Boots ringing on the deck. Crushing debris underfoot. Relishing it. Showing off. Then he stops, massive mechanical hands grip the inner edges of the main bay doors. One gauntlet on each side starts to pull. Metal groans. Sparks shower. The doors screech apart another meter. Then another. The mech’s actuators whine under the strain, but the doors give and buckle. The Warden forces the gap wide enough for his bulk. Then steps through. 

He pauses just inside the bay. 

The Warden’s head tilts. Optics sweep the bay again. Slow. Methodical. 

He speaks again. Voice calm. Almost amused. 

“Perhaps there is room for you in the collective. Whoever you are.” 

Rand ducks back behind the forklift. His heart hammers against his ribs. Eight rounds. Useless SMGs. No Toku. No real plan. 

But the warden hasn’t seen them yet. 

The LegionaryX robots haven’t fired at them yet again. 

And the Solvo is still docked. Green light on the airlock. 

They just have to reach it. 

Rand looks at Lila. She’s shaking. Eyes locked on nothing. He puts a hand on her shoulder. Firm. Not gentle. 

“Hey. Look at me.” 

She blinks. Focuses. 

“We’re getting to that ship. You and me. Understand?” 

She nods once. Small. Terrified. 

But she does nod and Rand continues to lie to her. “I need you to get to the ship first and get it ready. I’ll be coming in hot. Just get it ready to go.” 

Rand checks the AK2K. Checks the docking bay behind them. 

No Toku. 

He swallows the knot in his throat. 

Rand watches Lila move. She stays low. Hugs the side of the autoloader. Boots scrape softly against the deck. She darts from cover to cover. Shadow to shadow. Every few steps she glances back. He gives her the smallest nod. Go. Keep going. 

She disappears behind a stack of scorched cargo pallets. 

Rand exhales once. Then he stands up. 

He steps out from behind the forklift into the open. AK2K raised, sighted on Warden Magne Pilae. Barrel steady despite the blood dripping down his forearm. 

The Warden’s optics snap to him instantly. Red lenses flare brighter. 

Rand speaks first, voice rough from smoke and pain. “Hell of a leadership plan. Lining up your own men and mowing them down. That what they teach you in warden school?” 

The Warden tilts his head. The mech suit’s posture is almost curious. 

“Order requires sacrifice. The weak endanger the whole.” Pilae’s optics flash over Rand like he was scanning a bar code. “Ahhh. You should understand. You were military once prisoner A2-451-F-076-ANDERSON-R.” 

Rand snorts. Blood flecks his lip. 

“I was. Until the brass started letting machines make the calls. Guess you took it a step further.” 

He squeezes the trigger. 

One round. Center mass on the Warden’s augmented face. The bullet sparks against an invisible field. Blue-white energy ripples outward from the impact point. The shield holds. 

Seven left. 

A green beam lances out immediately. It strikes Rand’s right shoulder. Clean burn through fabric and muscle. Pain flares hot and bright. He grits his teeth but keeps the rifle up. 

The Warden laughs. Low mechanical rasp through the speakers. 

“Predictable. But you’re not wrong. The collective does not waste upgrades on everyone. Only those fit to lead. The rest…” He gestures at the bodies. “The rest can keep their fragile meat. As long as they obey.” 

Rand’s jaw tightens. He feels the pieces click. 

“So that’s the game. Chrome for the ‘worthy.’ Everyone else stays sheep. And you’re one of the shepherds now.” 

He fires twice. Quick. Aimed at the knees this time. Both rounds spark off the shield. The energy field flickers but holds. 

Five left. 

The Warden steps forward. Slow. Deliberate. 

“Sheep are useful. Shepherds are necessary. You could have been one. Instead, you chose treason. And now you burn for it.” 

Another green beam. This one hits Rand’s left shoulder. Flesh sizzles. Pain explodes white behind his eyes. 

He staggers. Drops to one knee. But he doesn’t fall. 

“Missed the vitals on purpose?” Rand grits out. 

“Merely… educating you.” 

Rand forces himself up. Raises the rifle again. “You talk like the brass I used to hate. Same song. Different hardware. Still ends the same way. You keep upgrading the wrong people. Petty sadistic assholes that fail upwards.” 

He fires three more. Rapid. Aimed higher. Not at the Warden but at the strap of a large metal crate straining against its tethers above. The crate drops solidly on the warden. Blue-white flashes. The field stutters a bit. A faint crackle of overload. 

Two rounds left. 

The Warden recovers his footing quickly and fully stands. His mech suit still functional, but sparking at joints. Its shield sputtering. Then he fires again. Another precise green beam. This one burns across Rand’s ribs. Skin chars. Muscle sears. He stumbles backward. Back hits a crate. He stays upright. 

Rand laughs. Short. Painful. “See? That’s the part they don’t upgrade out of you. The cruelty. The pettiness. You could have ended this three shots ago. But you want to play.” 

The Warden’s optics narrow. “Playtime is a luxury. One I rarely indulge.” 

Rand raises the rifle again. Aims center forehead. 

One last shot. A double tap. The shield flares violently. Sparks shower from the emitter nodes around the helmet. A high-pitched warning tone sounds from the suit. 

Bolt open. Empty magazine. 

Warden Magne Pilae hesitates. The hint of shock on his face quickly vanishes as he realizes that the remnants of his shield held just long enough to stop the kill shot. 

Rand drops the AK2K. It clatters on the deck which he follows with a pained sigh. He swings the M12 submachine gun from its sling, polymer flechettes loaded. Full magazine. Thirty rounds. 

He raises it one-handed. 

The Warden sighs through the speakers. 

“Fun while it lasted.” 

Rand flick the fire select to Fuck-You and squeezes the trigger. Flechettes spray in a tight shower. They hammer the Warden’s faceplate. Flesh tears. Blood sprays. Metal gleams underneath. The optics flicker. One lens shatters. 

The Warden staggers back. Just one step. Putting his hands up as if blocking the irritation of a garden hose, 

Then a whine of a massive electric engine with the grind of metal on metal. 

The damaged autoloader forklift surges forward. Twisted forks raised. Hydraulic whine screaming. Lila’s silhouette is visible in the cab. Teeth bared. Eyes wild. Illuminated by the glow of bare overloading circuits. 

The forklift slams into the Warden at full speed. One fork punches through the abdomen plating. Metal screams. Hydraulic fluid sprays like arterial blood. The Warden is slammed backward into the bulkhead. Arms flailing. 

Rand empties the rest of the M12 into Pilae’s ruined face. Flechettes shred what flesh remains. Expose his gleaming alloy skull. The remaining optic explodes in a shower of sparks. 

The Warden is still moving. Blind, but strong. With a scream of rage, he hits a switch on his rifle arm that wildly arcs across the room, spraying a long wide fan of ignited napalm in a sticky, flaming arc. Rand drags Lila by her tank top again before she’s consumed in the belching flame. He pulls her to cover under the wrecked autoloader, the smell of burning fuel choking the air. 

A shadow drops from above. 

Toku lands on the Warden’s shoulder, dreadlocks whipping, massive sword already in motion. One smooth downward arc. The oversized blade shears through neck actuators and cabling. The warden’s head comes free. Tumbles. Hits the deck with a wet clang. The optics go dark as the screaming crackles and fades. 

The mech suit collapses. Knees buckling. Torso folding forward. Hydraulic fluid pools beneath it. 

Silence. 

Toku hops off of the fallen shoulder. Breathing hard. Blood streaming down his face from a gash above his eye. He looks at Rand. Then at Lila. 

“Sorry I’m late.” His voice is calm. Almost sheepish. “I came in here after the first rocket. Cleared the LegionaryX while you… distracted the Warden.” 

Rand coughs as he leans out from his place of cover. Everything hurting. Tasting blood. “Distracted?” 

Toku looks down at the decapitated head, looking down at the neutralized warden as he continues, “And… I may have stabbed a robot in its battery pack. Got electrocuted. Knocked out. My fault. The girl woke me up.” It’s the first time they’ve seen him show anything close to insecurity. A small crack in the disciplined mask. 

Lila climbs out from under the autoloader. Legs shaking. Stopping beside Rand on the ground. She looks at Toku. Then at the dead Warden. Then at the airlock where the Solvo is docked before looking down at Rand. “You were going to stay here and die…” 

Rand pushes himself up. Ribs grinding. Shoulder burning. Thigh bleeding. He limps forward ignoring Lila’s statement. “Come on.” 

They shamble together toward the open airlock. Rand enters first but climbs the steps up to the bridge last. He drops into the captain’s chair. Lila slides into the navigator’s seat. Her Neuro-T hums. Displays light up. Her hands move over the controls like she was born to them, getting an instant lesson on how to fly with 22-year-old data that tells her how to fly this 25 year old ship. 

Clamps disengage with heavy thunks. 

Thrusters hum to life. 

The Solvo pulls away from the airlock cradle, sliding away from the docking bay. Lila turns toward open space. Data’s old. Ship’s older. But It’ll fly… right? I can fly this?  

As the ship pivots away from the hull of the station, they can see the remains of the drifting cryo-pods. The prisoners now given the death penalty despite their original sentence. Before Rand could even contemplate a plan or even decide how good or bad an idea it would be to try to recover some of the pods, the trio sees something that freezes their blood even colder. 

Among the pods are several ships. Not like the Solvo. Not like any ship or shuttle they’ve seen. Grotesque. Bloated. Organic. Entirely alien. Underneath the scaled and ribbed hulls reach out tendrils like a bony cuttlefish. Snatching pods and drawing them into sucker-like ports that envelop the pods like they were being devoured. 

Undeniable fear of the unknown freezes Rand’s spine. With no hesitation. No evaluating the combat readiness of this ship or its battered crew, he barks out an order with a crack in his voice. “Get us the fuck out of here.” When Lila doesn’t immediately react, he shouts directly at her. “NOW!!!” 

Lila snaps back to reality. The sight of the monstrous ships having stolen her attention momentarily. Something familiar… Without responding she forces the thrusters to max. The Solvo shudders and shakes, rumbling ahead at the edge of its tolerances. Its old bones straining. Tears well in Lila’s eyes as she tries to keep control of the ship as it barrels forward. Nearly grazing a comm tower from the station but unavoidably hitting several drifting pods. Sending them tumbling even faster out of Ares Station space. All the instructions in all of the manuals stored in my head are no match for not really knowing what the fuck I’m doing. But she gets their ship clear. 

Rand stares at the LiDAR/LADAR display as he watches them pull away from the station and all of the various sized dots that made up the floating pods and the alien harvesters. He sinks into the Captain’s chair. Pain begins to take him. Tunnel vision starts to swarm his vision. The last thing he sees before succumbing to unconsciousness is Toku rushing to aid him. 

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