GDA Shuttle - En Route to Mars
The shuttle hummed when we broke orbit, the blue curve of Earth faded out quickly behind us.
Inside, the mood was pretty tense. Shapesmith was trying not to curl into a ball in his seat, muttering apologies as The Immortal stared daggers at him.
Black Samson and Bulletproof were observant and cynical of the success of the mission situation, but kept to themselves.
Robot was focused on making adjustments to the disruption pulse, while Monster Girl piloted the ship.
And Eve was a mountain of emotions being bottled up. I could tell she had a lot on her mind and nobody to confide in while I was away.
The atmosphere on the shuttle would continue on like this if something wasn't done.
"So," I said, looking around the room to break the tension. "I was gone for a month. Fill me in. Samson, you're looking... charged."
Black Samson grinned, flexing a hand. Arcs of electricity danced between his fingers. "Omnipotus hit me with a blast that should have killed me. Instead, it jump-started my cells. I'm back in the game, kid. Stronger than before."
"And you?" I looked at the guy in the orange and yellow suit. "Bulletproof, right?"
"That's the name," he said confidently. "GDA brought me in when you vanished. Someone had to do the heavy lifting."
"Get a load of this guy," I pointed a thumb at him.
I looked at Eve. She was quiet, looking out the viewport.
"How are things with you?" I whispered.
"Fine," she said, forcing a smile. "Just... busy. College. Hero work. Trying to keep my parents from freaking out. The usual."
"Wanna grab lunch and talk about it?" I asked.
A genuine smile appeared on her face and she nodded.
"Cool, then we can catch up properly."
"Approaching the Martian fleet," Robot announced.
Mars Orbit - The Martian Warship
The ship loomed ahead. It was massive, organic, and pulsating with activity.
"They're hailing us," Robot said. "They're—"
BOOM.
Multiple missile projectiles began to clip our port wing. The shuttle shuddered violently, throwing Shapesmith out of his seat.
"They aren't hailing!" Immortal shouted, grabbing a handhold. "They're firing! Evasive maneuvers!"
Another volley of missiles hammered the shuttle's built in shields.
"Shields are at 40%!" Robot exclaimed. "We can't get near the docking bay! The flak is too heavy!"
"Forget the docking bay!" I ordered, unbuckling my harness. "Get to the side! We'll breach it there!"
"Are you insane?" The Immortal roared. "We'll be crushed before we get there!"
"We have Atom Eve!" I countered. "Besides, If we stay out here like this, we're dead. We'll punch a hole and get inside!"
Monster Girl looked at me, then at the disintegrating shield. Then, she made a choice and slammed the throttle forward.
"Brace for impact!"
The carrier turned into a missile. We weaved through the grid of defensive fire, taking heavy hits. The starboard engine exploded, sending us into a spin, but momentum carried us forward.
"Everyone, get close to me! Now!" Eve shouted, her hands glowing pink.
A massive forcefield wrapped around everyone just as the shuttle shattered from the impact of slamming into the organic hull of the Martian warship.
BOOM!
Cargo started to get sucked out of the outer wall of the Martian vessel.
"Eve you gotta seal the hull!" I exclaimed, while we were still in her forcefield.
She instantly moved towards the opening and began reconstructing the damage.
When she finished, she nearly collapsed from the energy drainage, but I managed to catch her.
"Sound off!" Immortal barked. "Is everyone okay?"
"We're good!" Samson said, trying to regain his breathing.
"Then we should start moving to a safer location before things start to get chaotic," I said, helping Eve regain her balance.
We made our way out of the massive cargo area, and attempted to find a quick way to the host sequid.
"You!" a booming voice echoed.
We turned. The Martian Emperor stood on a walkway above us, surrounded by a dozen royal guards who were fighting off a small cluster of Sequid drones. He looked ragged, furious, and cornered.
He pointed a trembling finger at our group. Specifically, at Shapesmith.
"Earthlings!" he bellowed. "You dare invade my ship? And you bring the traitor! The one who doomed my people!"
Shapesmith whimpered, hiding behind Black Samson's massive frame.
"There he is!" The Emperor shrieked. "Hand him over, and perhaps I will not order my remaining guards to slaughter you where you stand!"
Immortal stepped forward, looking ready to argue, but I cut him off.
"Listen, your Highness," I stepped forward, kicking a piece of burning debris aside. "We aren't here to trade. We're here to clean up your mess."
"My mess?!" The Emperor raged, then he pointed at Shapesmith. "He's the one who let the parasites in!"
"And you're the one who kept them around as slaves," I countered coldly. "We're going to get rid of these guys. Once that's done, we can discuss galactic extradition laws. But right now, you can either help us, or get out of the way."
The Emperor hesitated, his many eyes focusing on me. He recognized the suit. He remembered the last time I was on Mars, tearing through his execution arena.
"Very well," he hissed, signaling his guards to stand down. "But know this... once the parasites are gone, the traitor faces justice."
"Priorities," I said, turning to the team. "Let's move before these things start formulating plans."
We pushed past the Emperor's guards and through the blast doors.
The smell hit us instantly
It smells like rotting calamari.
We stepped into the main hangar. It was a nightmare. Every surface was covered in writhing, pink biomass. The floor, the walls, even the ceiling were coated in a living carpet of Sequids.
"Hold the line!" The Immortal shouted, flying to the front, his face grim. "Samson, Bulletproof, flank left! Monster Girl, flank right! Eve, shields up! Don't let them touch you!"
The horde turned toward us as one. A thousand tiny mouths opened, vibrating through the floorplates.
"UNITY. WE ARE UNITY."
They surged forward like a tidal wave of flesh, climbing over each other to reach us.
"Defensive formation!" The Immortal barked, winding up a punch. "We need to thin their numbers!"
"No," I said, stepping past him. "We don't have time for a war of attrition. There are millions of them."
"Invincible! Get back in formation!" The Immortal yelled, his veins popping.
I ignored him. My HUD was already scanning the room, filtering out the millions of drones and looking for the signal source.
[TARGET LOCATED: PRIME HOST. BIOLOGICAL MATCH: RUS LIVINGSTON.]
He was on a raised platform at the very back of the hangar, suspended by a thick web of tentacles like a spider in a nest. He was the only humanoid shape in the room. He looked terrible.
"Robot, stay close to me!" I shouted.
"Understood," Robot whirred, hovering by my shoulder.
"Attack!" Rus screamed, his voice distorted and layered.
The wave of Sequids crashed into Eve's shields, piling up like water against a dam. Samson unleashed a lightning storm, frying the front row into calamari. Bulletproof was knocking them back like bowling pins. And Monster Girl batted them away every time they got near.
I didn't waste time fighting them. I blasted straight up, hovering above the chaos.
"Get him!" Rus shrieked.
Thick tentacles—formed from thousands of Sequids linking together—shot up from the floor, trying to grab my legs and pull me down into the mass.
I blurred.
Flying through the tentacles, tearing them apart with sheer kinetic force. I moved faster than the hive mind could process, reaching the platform in less than a second.
Rus's eyes went wide. "No! We are—"
I didn't let him finish. I brought my hands together in a thunderclap directly in front of his face.
BOOM.
The sonic shockwave was precise. It didn't kill him. If it did, I would get even more eyes on me than I already had. The shockwave scrambled his inner ear and rattled his brain against his skull.
Rus's eyes rolled back. He slumped forward, unconscious.
The Sequids in the room instantly shrieked and recoiled. The hive mind was stunned by the sudden silence of their leader.
"Now, Robot!" I yelled.
Robot flew up, landing next to me. He slapped the spherical device onto Rus's chest.
VVZZZZKKK!!
A blue pulse rippled out.
The effect was instant. Every Sequid in the room detached from the walls and the floor, flopping over, mindless and harmless. The organic ship groaned as the parasitic connection was severed.
The room went dead silent.
I caught Rus before he hit the floor, tossing him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Done," I said, turning to the stunned Guardians.
The Immortal lowered his fists, looking around at the pacified room. He looked annoyed that it was that easy, but he looked mostly confused.
Before anyone could celebrate, the blast doors at the far end hissed open.
The Martian Emperor marched in, flanked by his remaining royal guards. They looked battered, covered in slime, but their weapons were raised and aimed directly at Shapesmith.
"The parasite is neutralized," the Emperor boomed, his voice echoing off the organic walls. "Now, surrender the traitor. His execution will serve as a message to all who defy Martian law."
Shapesmith squeaked, shrinking behind Black Samson's leg. "I... I didn't mean to! It was an accident!"
The Immortal stepped forward, chest puffed out. "Now listen here—"
I stepped in front of him, still holding the unconscious Rus Livingston over my shoulder. I stared the Emperor down.
"That's not happening," I said calmly.
The Emperor bristled. "You dare dictate terms on my ship, Earthling? After I allowed you to board?"
"We just saved your ship," I countered, my voice amplified enough to be heard by everyone in the room. "We saved your fleet. We saved your people. If we hadn't breached the hull, you'd still be fighting a losing war."
I gestured to the millions of unconscious Sequids carpeting the floor.
"Consider this payment for services rendered."
"He broke our laws!" The Emperor spat. "He impersonated one of your people, which could have led to the extinction of your whole race!"
"And he's going to be punished," I said, lying smoothly. "By the Global Defense Agency and our people. He's a registered hero of Earth now. If you execute him, you'll create a diplomatic incident. You want to start a war with Earth right after surviving this?"
The Emperor hesitated. He looked at me, then at the crackling energy of Black Samson, Monster Girl's transformed state, and the glowing forcefields of Atom Eve. He knew he couldn't win a fight right now.
"Then what do you propose?" he hissed.
"Exile," I said. "He is banned from Mars. Forever. If he ever sets foot in this sector again, you can execute him on sight. But as for now, we will take him back. The Global Defense Agency will handle his sentencing."
The Emperor glared at Shapesmith. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on.
Finally, the Emperor lowered his weapon.
"Very well," he growled. "He is cast out. He is no longer Martian. Take him and the host, and leave my sky. If I see any of you again, it will be an act of war."
"Pleasure doing business," I said dryly. "Also, we'll need to borrow a ship if you don't mind."
Shuttle – Approaching Earth
Time Elapsed: 6 Hours Since Mission Complete
The flight back was quiet. The adrenaline had faded, replaced by the dull hum of the engines. Shapesmith was asleep in the corner, exhausted from the stress. I sat near the back, watching Rus Livingston's unconscious form.
"That's gotta be a record," Bulletproof laughed, breaking the silence as he looked out the viewport at the approaching blue marble. "Maybe we should start charging by the hour."
"Don't get cocky," The Immortal grunted from an upper seat, though even he looked relieved as he initiated the landing sequence. "We got lucky."
Luck right, I thought, rolling my eyes.
The shuttle shook as we hit the atmosphere, burning through the re-entry heat.
GDA Headquarters – Hangar Bay 4
The landing gear locked into place with a heavy metallic clank. The engines whined down, and the hydraulic ramp hissed open.
"Home sweet home," Samson said, stretching his back as we walked down the ramp. "I could go for a burger. Who's buying?"
"I'm sure Cecil has a debrief waiting for us first," Bulletproof said, smoothing out his suit.
We reached the bottom of the ramp. There were no technicians rushing to refuel the ship. No applause for saving the world.
Just Donald standing by a transport cart, his suit pristine, but his face was pale. He held a tablet in a grip so tight his knuckles were white.
"Welcome back," Donald said. His voice was tight. Strained.
"Donald," I nodded. "Mission accomplished. Mars is secure. We brought the prisoner."
I gestured to Rus Livingston, still draped over my shoulder.
Donald didn't even look at Rus. He looked at The Immortal, then at Eve.
"We need you in the medical wing," Donald said. "Immediately."
"Medical?" Eve frowned. "We're fine, Donald. A few bumps, but—"
"It's not for you," Donald cut her off. "It's the B-Team. Kate, Rex, and Rae."
The air left the hangar.
"What happened?" The Immortal demanded, stepping forward, his chest heaving.
"The Lizard League," Donald said, leading us toward the transport. "While you were out of communication range, they seized a nuclear silo in Wyoming. We sent Kate, Rex, and Rae to intercept."
"The Lizard League?" Bulletproof scoffed. "They're a joke."
He ain't wrong.
"Not this time," Donald said grimly.
GDA Medical Wing - Observation Deck
The ride to the medical wing was silent. When the elevator doors opened, the smell of antiseptic and cauterized flesh hit us.
We walked up to the observation glass.
The room below was a flurry of activity. Surgeons were shouting orders, machines were beeping erratically.
On the first table, Rex Splode was being operated on. He was missing a hand. His chest was a ruin of shrapnel and burns, his breathing shallow and ragged.
On the second, Shrinking Rae lay unconscious. She was bruised purple and black, a ventilator tube running down her throat.
And on the third...
There was no activity. Just a sheet pulled over a small body.
"No..." The Immortal whispered.
He walked into the room and fell to his knees beside the table, pulling the sheet back. He buried his face in her chest, sobbing quietly.
Yea, I'd probably be sad too if I lost my best eater.
I stood by the observation window, looking down. My face remained neutral.
This would be really sad if she really was dead, I thought. But she's alive somewhere, just don't know where though.
But Rex and Rae... that was real.
"How?" Eve whispered, tears streaming down her face. "King Lizard... he's... he's an idiot."
"He got lucky," I said, hand on her shoulder. "And we weren't here."
"Luck had nothing to do with it."
We turned. Cecil was standing by the door. He was pristine, arms crossed, watching the surgery with the same expression he'd use to watch a weather report.
"They had the launch codes," Cecil said, his voice flat. "They were going to launch a nuke at a population center. I sent the team in. And they stopped it."
"Yea, but they shouldn't have had that big a problem against those guys," I said.
"That's just how things go sometimes. You don't always win the big game," Cecil said. "But, three soldiers versus three million civilians in Denver. It's unfortunate, but it's the call that had to be made."
Eve looked at him with horror, but I didn't flinch. I just shook my head.
Then, I looked at the unconscious form of Rus Livingston. I had dumped him on a gurney near the entrance.
"As enlightening as that sounds," I said, turning my back on the operating room. "Here's the astronaut you wanted back."
I gestured to Rus.
"I knocked him out, and the device that Robot built severed the link. But the sequids can hide from certain detections, plus he was the host for a while, so he still might show signs."
"We'll throw him in containment," Cecil said, glancing at the astronaut. "I'll have the boys run a standard workup once we're done scraping Rex off the table."
"No, not standard," I said. "He needs a deep internal scan. Stomach, lungs, intestines. Deep tissue. If there is even one single Sequid hiding inside him, this starts all over again."
Cecil narrowed his good eyes and processed the threat assessment instantly.
"You think he's a carrier?"
"I think the planet was almost lost to a hive of parasitic aliens because of an open airlock," I said matter of factly. "Let's not leave things to chance."
Cecil keyed his headset immediately and notified one of the doctors.
"Forget the debrief and prepare the isolation scanner. Level 5 bio-hazard. I want a full internal workup on the astronaut. If you find anything foreign, incinerate it. Do it now."
He cut the line and looked back at me. "Happy?"
"Giddy," I said sarcastically.
Future disaster prevented, I thought. Now I'll have more time to train.
I received a message on my HUD.
[SENDER: ART ROSENBAUM.MESSAGE: SUIT REPAIRS ARE DONE. READY FOR PICKUP.]
I looked at the grieving Immortal, then at Eve, who was weeping near a wall.
How awkward, I don't know how to leave this situation without it being seen as insensitive.
"Hey Eve, how bout I take you home?" I asked her gently. "I think you need a change of scenery."
She nodded without looking up.
Plenty of setbacks, I thought, guiding Eve out the medical wing. But I can't linger too hard on them. I need to continue to get stronger as fast as possible.
.
.
.
Author's Note: That's Chapter 15 for ya'll. To see what the Latest Chapters look like (if you don't want to wait long) or to keep up/interact with me better, or check out other stories of mine you might be interested in (Rinbanshoman, A Legion of One, etc), then Check out my Patreon at https://patreon.com/Vinneer. See ya'll for Chapter 16.