AMP Armageddon (18 page)

I jumped upwards and touched the ceiling six meters over my head. "The suit has a gravity assist mode built in as well. There is a thin electronic membrane lining the inside of the suit that offers an assist to the muscles in our bodies. Even though I have prosthetics, it looks like it will assist them as well."

John then walked up to me with a syringe. "If you would care to lean your head to the left, Mr. Grange, I have a new bio-implant with a QE device that will connect you directly to our network here on Earth. You will be able to communicate to any other Human, or other species, who has a similar implant. If you would like, we can remove the chip in your neck as well."

As I leaned my head to the left, I replied, "No, I think I’ll keep the chip. It gives me a secure comm interface to my friend over there, as well as an interface to our ship. Thank you for the offer, though."

Frig spoke. "I believe the bio-implant to be superior, Sir. However, I would have to agree that we should keep the QE comm that only passes communications between us. It would seem a viable alternative should these facilities be compromised. It would also provide private communications, as any time a message is relayed by an intermediary, you run the risk of interception."

When the injection was complete, John spoke. "The bio-implant will take several days to set before it becomes usable."

I raised my hand. "If that is so, then how is Ashley supposed to communicate with you, with the AMP fleet?"

John smiled. "Her implant was injected during the accelerated conversion process; it has been online since the procedure’s completion."

The shoptalk continued as we were taken down to the lobby and asked to board our ship. We would be joining the other AMP ships on a mega-transport for a jump back to the Saw Blade galaxy. Our fight with the Duke was about to begin.

When we arrived in the Saw Blade galaxy, the transports unloaded a third of the AMP fleet near the planet where our Grid-1 brethren were encamped, another third parked near the planet that held our own people, and the remainder of the transport ships began the jumps needed to move to the Tadpole galaxy. With the mega-transports, that journey would only take minutes.

A single ship was diverted back to the Grid to wait for a signal from the bot we had left hidden at the complex. Our final coordinates would be relayed to the bot for a wormhole to be opened for our invasion. Ashley, John, Frig, and I sat in a conference room on the
Rogers
.

I spoke. "In two hours’ time, we should have contact from our bot on the Duke’s complex. We need to have a team ready to get in there to open up an avenue for us to take control. We need that complex if we are going to bring back the memory of our people.

"We get in there, we shut down that sodium skin, and then we isolate and take out the Duke."

Ashley replied, "To be clear, we are not destroying the Duke’s control room?"

I nodded. "We can’t. We need that room to send our people back through, and we need this whole complex because it has the knowledge stored of what each of our people needs for restoration. If we can get the Duke to leave his control room, we will then attempt to kill him at the complex and on his fleet at the same time."

Frig spoke. "What of the million android fighters that he has in the area surrounding the control room? Are we prepared to deal with them?"

I pointed to Ashley. "When we bring down that skin, I want you to bring in as many of the BGS Marine clones as we can. Fighting is the one thing they know best, so we should make the best use of them."

Ashley laughed. "I have nearly a billion troops at my disposal, Mr. Grange. Are you saying we will need them all?"

I shook my head. "That would seem excessive, but we don’t know what the Duke has in store for us. There may be fifty million androids in there for all we know. And I am guessing that they will be hard to kill this time. They have the same sodium skin as we do."

Frig spoke. "There is a difference, Sir, in the suits. They cannot detect ours, but we can detect theirs. That should offer us a significant advantage."

As our new fleet reached the Duke’s brown dwarf complex in the Tadpole galaxy, Ashley commanded her troops to be at the ready.

When the bot we had left aboard the complex came to life, we soon had a portal open to our position. I was first through, followed close behind by York and Frost.

I spoke. "Start spreading out to the surrounding portal buildings. I want as many portals opened to our coordinates as possible. Just keep expanding and sending Marines through. Make sure to defend your positions with Marines as they come in behind you. We want these portals open as long as we can have them."

I turned to York and Frost. "You two come with me!"

We powered out of the portal building on a trek to the southernmost point of the complex.

As we flew along, I spoke. "When we get in there, we are taking down that sodium skin. There is no way we can open enough portals to get the people in here that we will need."

Word then came from Megiddo. Our forces on the ground were under attack.

Ashley spoke. "Time to send in our new friends. Earth force at Megiddo, you have the green light to proceed with Operation Defender."

In a single timed jump, thirty-five thousand Earth ships moved to the vicinity of the planet named Megiddo. In a similar move, another thirty-three thousand ships jumped to the planet where our Grid-1 brethren were also under attack.

The Duke broadcast a general hail within his complex.

I answered. "Not what you were expecting, was it, Duke? Your little Durian fleet is about to get wiped from that galaxy on both fronts!"

The Duke laughed. "Do you think I am not prepared for your every move, Mr. Grange?"

Word quickly came that the Durian fleets as well as the combative species on the ground at Megiddo and the other planet had vanished.

Frig spoke. "Sir, since your incursion onto the complex, I have been monitoring the power signals coming from those portal buildings. The only surges I have detected have come from our own efforts. I am afraid that whatever move the Duke just made, he did so from elsewhere. This complex was not used for the transfers that just took place."

I pulled to a stop. "Please don’t tell me he has another complex!"

Frig replied, "That is the only viable conclusion I am able to draw, Sir. He must have another brown dwarf complex."

I shook my head. "This is just great. How do we know he doesn’t have ten more of these complexes? There may be a dozen Dukes all wired together."

Frig looked over several display screens as he spoke. "Sir, I believe the Duke would limit himself to two such complexes. Remember, he does not want more androids out there that he has to fight or compete with. With every replica of himself there is, there is one more chance of him losing contact with it and it becoming its own android, like the ones we just killed off for him."

I replied, "If he only has one more of these complexes, where or how would we find it? It could be in any galaxy. Maybe a billion light-years away from here!"

Frig stopped on a display screen. "Or, it could be right in the Milky Way. Sir, I scanned the known star charts in all the surrounding galaxies for brown dwarfs. I am showing six that no longer exist on our latest scans. One of those is a remnant, and three are the complexes we recently destroyed."

I replied, "That leaves two. One is this one, and the other you are saying is in the Milky Way?"

Frig continued to analyze the data in front of him. "I performed a scan of all of the galaxies with a distance of no greater than here to the Milky Way, 420 million light-years’ distance, Sir. I compared our readings from our recent visit, to what we are seeing from here, and there is a single brown dwarf star missing from our data from the Milky Way."

As I continued to fly towards my southernmost destination, I replied, "How could the two scans be different?"

Frig transferred the data to my HUD. "Our scan of the Milky Way from this distance is showing results from 420 million years ago, Sir, the time it took for the light and energy waves to arrive here. A scan from our recent visit to Earth shows the absence of a brown dwarf that is only 120 light-years from Earth. It shows clearly on our scan from here."

Frig continued, "I have a scan of the Milky Way from the Saw Blade as well as from the Triangulum galaxy. Both scans show a brown dwarf in the same location, with the data showing light and energy waves from only a few million years ago. That dwarf’s disappearance is recent, Sir. I believe it to be our target."

I replied, "Well, let’s get control of this one, and we can then see about taking out that one."

As I approached the southern tip of the complex, my HUD tactical display was suddenly in chaos. My passive sensors were detecting the active skin emissions of nearly fifty thousand of the Duke’s android fighters.

I opened a comm to York and Frost. "OK, we can see them, but they can’t see us. I want you two to brake right here. I’m going to drift in there and shut down that shield. You two will remain out here to cause a diversion. That should allow me to hit it and to run without having to fight."

York replied, "Roger that, Sir. We will wait here for your signal."

I spoke to Ashley. "I’m going in! We should have the sodium shield offline in about three minutes. I want to flood that place with Marines."

As I drifted into the southern structures, the Duke’s troops were waiting at the ready. I floated past without incident. As I neared the room with the switch, I sent the signal to York and Frost. Seconds later, I took notice of a large number of the androids moving in York’s direction.

Once within the wall that surrounded the control room, I flipped my hand backwards and used the BHD to bring my momentum to a crawl. I aligned my path to bring me right to the power switch we had found before. I floated slowly through the inner wall and prepared for my moment in the sun. When I reached the switch, I blinked in, dropped to the floor in front of the switch, and flipped it to off. As I blinked out, a tungsten round found its mark. I opened up on the surrounding room.

I spoke. "Ashley! It’s done! Move our people in!"

Moments later, a hundred million BGS Marines entered the complex from our warships parked just outside. As they entered the structure, the Duke’s androids came out to meet them.

I opened a comm channel to Frig. "Frig, make a portal and sweep me from here to the Duke’s main control room. No sense in me wasting time flying there."

Several seconds later, a portal swept over my location, leaving me floating in the Duke’s room. The room was crowded with androids. I looked at the pedestal and smiled as I noticed the Duke’s core was not there.

I spoke over the general comm. "The Duke is on the move, people! Let’s track him down! Frig, sweep me out of here!"

A portal swept over me, leaving me floating just above the bridge of the
Rogers
. I blinked in and gently dropped to my feet. I moved to the captain’s chair and sat with a holo-display of the action in front of me.

Ashley spoke. "Our fighters are superior to the androids, Don. We are winning this fight and winning in a big way."

I replied, "It’s not a win unless we kill the Duke. Do we have any idea of where his fleet is?"

Frig spoke. "Sir! We have a report of the Duke. A small fleet just jumped to a location on the other side of this complex!"

Ashley pressed several buttons on a tactical holo-display in front of her. "Diverting ships to there now."

Frig continued, "The Duke has turned towards the ships, Sir. He is trying to run."

The chase lasted all of thirty seconds before Ashley’s ships ripped the Duke’s small fleet to shreds. With his escape cut off, the android turned back towards his pursuers. A short battle ensued as his remaining android fighter circled around his position.

Word then came over the comm. "This is Major Barringsford. The Duke’s android has been destroyed!"

A general hail then came over my comm. "Bravo, Mr. Grange! You have bested me and captured my complex!"

I replied, "Well, obviously it was a minor victory, Duke. You are still out there. But, don’t worry yourself over it; we will find you."

The Duke laughed. "I do love your fighting spirit, Mr. Grange! And for this reason, I have not killed your species. I tell you, I have not had this much of a challenge for many millennia. You just keep coming and coming. It is such a refreshing change from the stale and senseless battles with the other clones. I cannot wait for you to reveal your next strategy. Each one seems to be unique, with an ever-increasing boldness!"

I shook my head. "Get your affairs in order, Duke. Your time is limited!"

The Duke replied, "Ah, Mr. Grange. I have only—"

I cut off the comm channel as I spoke to Frig and Ashley. "Maybe I can’t kill him, but I can at least piss him off."

The massive battle for the complex quickly fell off as the now Duke-less androids went inactive. Our clone counterparts changed their tactics from an all-out assault to a sweep of the entire complex for any remaining androids. When the last was found and terminated, I had Frig sweep me into the control room.

I spoke. "I can’t believe we took this room without doing any damage. Frig, tell me what I need to do here."

Frig replied, "Sir, we need to interface with the connections the Duke had to that pedestal. I am transporting a box that I prepared for this exact scenario. Plug it into those sockets, and I will attempt to take over the controls."

Seconds later, a small cube appeared on the floor in front of me. I picked it up, twisted it around until the connectors aligned, and set it down into the socket the Duke had been connected to.

I spoke. "OK, you are in!"

Frig typed away on his console as he swiped one screen after another on his holo-display.

Several minutes passed before I spoke. "How’s it going?"

Frig replied, "I am running into issues with the complex computers accepting my interface, Sir."

Before I could reply, the small connection box turned red hot and ejected. After bouncing across the floor, the small box came to a stop and then melted.

Ashley spoke with a frantic voice. "The Duke has just taken our people again! Both sets, Grid-4 and Grid-1!"

I clenched my fist as I bared my teeth. "I am so going to enjoying killing that ass! Frig? Any idea of where he might have taken them?"

Frig replied, "They did not come through this complex, Sir. If the Duke indeed has another complex, which it appears he does, they could be anywhere in the known universe, Sir. We should begin plans for an assault of the suspected complex in the Milky Way."

I replied, "I have one last thing to try. Sweep me into the hold of the
Swift
."

Several seconds later, I was standing in the hold of my ship. I stepped to the table and disconnected Quan from his power supply, speaker, and microphone.

I spoke. "Frig, sweep me back to the control room."

After the portal moved over me, I stepped up to the pedestal.

Frig spoke. "Sir, may I ask what it is that you are doing?"

I replied, "I’m going to drop Quan into this interface. He should be able to connect in, and we have control of his command queue. I’m counting on those inhibitor circuits not being a problem for this complex. That is the only difference between him and the actual Duke."

Frig swiped several screens. "Sir, I am sending over a comm interface that you can plug into his audio port. It will allow me to communicate directly with him."

When the comm interface appeared, I attached it to Quan’s audio circuit and then set the android core down on the complex interface socket. Seconds later, the panel screens that lined the room blinked off and on one by one as Quan took control of the complex.

I spoke. "Open your channel, Frig. Quan is now in control."

Frig swiped several screens on his holo-display. "Sir, it appears to have worked. We have complete control of this complex."