The Milky Way Saga: Cities to Embers (Book 1 of 3)

Chapter 09: Home Field Disadvantage

0212 hours, January 27th, 2160

aboard Incolma ship, Earth stratosphere

I ejected myself from the cockpit of the ship. I jumped down and checked the room with my visor's Heat Scanner. Nothing was alive. The impact killed everything? Then I was hit in the chest and launched from the room through the open window. 

"ISAAC!" Bret yelled after me, but there was no point, his screams of worry couldn't put me back there again. Then I remembered what came with my new Mark III Custom EVA Suit. Jetpacks. I wonder if it works the same as my  comm channel does? JETPACKS ACTIVATE! I thought it as hard as I could. Nothing. I just need to go forward, seventy feet, maybe eighty!  I started moving forward, with thrust fuel bursting from my back. It works! I kept going until I had travelled the distance I had thought. I had only twelve, maybe thirteen feet left to go. twelve and one half feet North. I travelled the distance and landed pack into the room where the dust had cleared. I heard loud footsteps running towards me and I braced myself. 

I got hit by a brown brick wall, over 6'8", 400 Lbs, Bret. "Oh my god, man, I thought I'd lost you, how'd you get back?"

"Jumppacks." I said as i turned a few degrees, pointing at the devices on my back, "What happened in here? did they all suffocate to death?"

"Some of them did, some of them found these nozzles that the put on their faces. One got one and got away, the one you talked to on the moniter earlier?Got into a smaller ship and launched himself into space, heading in some off direction very fast."

"What about our orbital stations? Why didn't they protect the Earth? Why do we have to be here, doing this?" As soon as I said that I heard something that sounded like a large cannon firing and echoing out into the air around us. "The hell was that?" We looked out, through the window and saw a cannon MNC round leaving one of the stations going towards the escape pod. It's going to hit him! Bret looked on with me as we saw the round catch up to the pod and explode. It hit! He's dead! "Yes!" Bret and I high fived and looked back up. What was that going out towards the Northeastern corner of the plume of smoke. The escape pod? It didn't blow? It just got hit with the same payload as fifty nukes and it's still flying! "How the hell is that possible!?" Bret was getting angry in a hurry. We looked a little closer and noticed a shimmer of light that started to fade away." It has some type of energy shield system. Damn. I thought we'd gotten him." We stood there in awe for a few seconds. But the quiet didn't last.

Bang, BANG, BANG! There they were again. twenty Denizens. All wearing those nozzles and they started screeching at us, no words, Latin or otherwise, just screeches, as if to intimidate us. We jumped behind control pannels and they didn't shoot. Too smart, they don't want to damage their only way home. I found two of the laser rifles and a big gun with eight slots in the front of it. Shotgun? I threw the laser shotgun to Bret and kept the rifle. Ihe looked at me and I motioned 'on' by droping my fist slowly, and '3' by holding up three fingers. My notification light pinged and I started. One finger. Two fingers. Three.

We jumped up from behind the counters and charged them, aiming for the heads which, besides the small nozzle connected to their noses, were completely vulnerable. Three down, ten. Twelve and we started to think that we were going to make it the the door. Then they started to drop their weapons and charge us. Not good, these things stood over a foot taller than Bret, let alone me. I thought to myself Brace and I was locked to the floor. I bent back as far as I could and had three of the launch into space, twirlling towards the Earth. They'll burn up in the atmosphere before they come anywhere near the ground. I watched as Bret did it a little different. He used the ability to stick to the ground offensively by plunging his gloved fist into the nozzles of these freaks. His hand went straight through the first creatures head. It looked kind of funny, actually. like the thing tried to eat him, but tried to swallow his food whole. Brets extended are also broke the nozzle on the second Incolma and his eyes popped in a matter of about seven seconds. '7.43 seconds' What the hell was that? "Hey, Bret!" I was shouting, not even thinking about the Comms. he reminded me.

"Yeah," he said, much quieter than I through the Comms. 

"Do these new suits have their own AI's?"

"No, bro. That's still in concept." I didn't even realize that there wasn't anymore of the Incolma. "Do we search the rest of the ship?" 

"No," I called back, "Lets get it down to the dirt and we'll gas the damned thing. Come on lets try to figure this out." We walked over to the control panels and looked at the hundreds of buttons and reads. "I don't know what any of this." I couldn't see his face, but I know what Bret looks like when he's confused. 

I looked at the the top level of text. Latin. I read it outloud and translated it in my head as I did so.

"Tactus panel, slide ad dexteram decem gradibus, usque sex gradus. Narro vestri destinatum (Si est planeta latus, dicere 'Planet latus')." 

"What does it mean?"

"It translates to, 'Touch panel, slide to the right ten degrees, up six degrees. Speak your destination (If it is planet side, say "Planet side of")'. I think this is how you do it." I touched it and got an immediate head rush and fell to the ground.

"Whoa, there, man, you alright?" He stuck his hand out for me.

"I'm fine, man, yeah. That was weird." I got back up and said, "Planet latus Terrae." Planet side Earth. Then we finally got a call from the others who fell back to the Free.

"This is Cory Phillips, does anyone copy?"

"This is Isaac Free, that you Blue 2?"

"Yes sir, we've been trying to get through to you, but the message just keeps coming back at us, like it couldn't get through the ship you're in or something."

"I take it you made it back alright?"

"Yes sir. How are you doing?"

"Just fine, this thing should start moving any-" and just like that the engines fired back up and started pushing us towards the planet.

"Blue 2, do us a favor."

"Yes sir?"

"Make sure any who needs to know that we're coming down to the planet does so we don't get shot at, will ya?"

"Yes sir, Vice Admiral, Sir." The comms. closed and we Waited as we got closer to the planet.

"You might want to take a seat," Bret was already strapped in, "We don't know how hard this thing is going to land."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I took a seat in the highest pedestal, and touched the panel that was about the same size as my hand, and this time, the Head rush put me out.