By Opposing, End Them

Chapter IX

     We stormed out of the hangar and sprinted to the carrier. As we boarded, I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was coming. No one was, yet. I knew that it could not last much longer. I boarded last, shutting the hatch behind me. I ran up to the cabin with the instructions as Andronicus gunned the engine. I handed the instructions to Andronicus. He looked at it and turned us appropriately. The carrier sprang forward, punching another hole in the fencing.

     We charged forward at maximum speed. An hour in, an alert sounded in the cabin. The screens showed a pair of jets coming in on us. They opened fire, letting loose blue bolts of energy. They missed, but they left terrifying holes in the ground. They peeled off to make another run when Aurelia flipped a switch. A joystick emerged at her side of the cabin and a crosshair appeared on the screen directly in front of her. She focused the crosshair and squeezed the trigger. We let loose a bolt of our own, melting the nose of one of the jets and bringing it down. The other jet opened fire. This time it scored a hit. The carrier lurched and the lights flickered alarmingly. However, the carrier maintained course. Aurelia pounded her fist on the screen in aggravation.

     "Main gun disabled!" she shouted.

     "Use the rockets!" Andronicus told her. Aurelia flipped another switch. The crosshairs refocused on the jet and Aurelia pressed a button. I could see a round of rockets closing in on the jet. The jet banked away, but the rockets sheared off both wings. The fuselage fell to earth. We let out a cheer of victory as the jet crashed. But there was no time to hang around. There would certainly be more on the way. Andronicus gunned the engine again and we flew forward.

     Eventually another airfield appeared in the distance. As we got closer, we realized that the place had been attacked. Most of the buildings had been destroyed, and there were ruined aircraft surrounding us. None of it was fresh, though. I realized that the wreckage was left over from the conquests. We charged forward, bursting through the fence much like we had before. We could see the ruins in great detail. Most of the hangars were destroyed, except one: Hangar B. I could tell that it had been fired upon many times, but it had stood up to whatever assailed it. We charged towards it.

     The hangar was larger than its counterpart in Area 51. The main doors were shut securely. We swerved around the corner, looking for a way in. There were no service doors here. We swerved around the back and saw that the rear hangar doors were forced open slightly- just wide enough to let a person through. Andronicus stopped the carrier with a squeal. Demetrius threw open the hatch and herded everyone into the hangar. I followed them quickly.

     Inside was a scene of utter devastation. Equipment was strewn all over the place. Windows were shattered. Ashes blew about lazily. I looked at the floor and noticed the faint outlines where bodies had been. The Omnimundi soldiers had somehow forced their way inside and slaughtered everyone here all those centuries ago. I noticed a piece of yellowed paper fluttering in the breeze. I picked it up. All it said, scrawled hastily in faded marker, was "OTC DOWN". It was the last frantic words of some poor employee here. I had no idea what OTC meant, but I had a hunch about "down". I searched for a door. I found one on the wall to our left. I motioned for the others to follow.

     It was a solid, heavy door, much like that of a bank vault. There was a password lock on it, however. I took out the information sheet and looked at it. I saw that Isabel had thoughtfully provided us with the password: 655VG#DE. I punched the keys and the door clicked open. Inside was another staircase, but this one lit as the door opened. We rushed down the stairs. At the bottom was another heavy door. I punched in the same password, and it let us through.

     We opened the door to find that we were in an underground hangar. As the lights came on, a black plane was revealed. It was a very odd plane. It did not have wings as such, and its body was shaped in a narrow triangle with sharp tail fins on the back end. There were small viewports on the front and huge square engines on the bottom. All in all the plane was about fifty feet long. I could see its designation printed in white on its side: OTC-1. As we looked at it, a hatch opened on the underside. A staircase led into the interior. We filed into the strange plane.  There were seats lining the wall where people could sit. Andronicus and I went into the cockpit. There was a dizzying array of switches, dials, and buttons, even more so than the carrier. I noticed a slot labeled "Autopilot". I took the chip from my pocket and pressed it into the slot. The plane sprang into life.

     "Destination: Vault Base, Svalbard," a voice said. I could hear a rumble as the engines started up. These were immensely powerful engines. The ceiling ahead of us began to descend into an exit ramp. Daylight poured into the hangar. The engines grew to a deafening roar. We taxied up the ramp and onto the runway. Without warning the plane shot forward and took off.

     We seemed to be going impossibly fast, but we kept going faster and higher. I could see more military jets closing in, but we left them quickly behind. I heard a large boom as the jet broke the sound barrier, but still we accelerated. I could see the base shrink rapidly as we ascended. Soon we were well above where any normal plane would fly. I looked ahead and saw that the blue sky was beginning to turn black.

     We were flying into orbit.

     I realized then what OTC stood for: Orbital Troop Carrier. It made perfect sense. What enemy could resist a nation that could get its troops anywhere on the globe in ninety minutes or less?

     Soon we broke the sixty-four mile mark. The sky had turned pitch black. We were at the edge of space. We continued to climb, but our angle was slowly decreasing. We leveled out at one hundred miles up. We were now traveling at more than eighteen thousand miles per hour. Andronicus looked around in awe. We were the first humans to break the space barrier in centuries. I could see the whole of North America, and soon I could see the northern extremities of Russia.

     We coasted silently towards our target.