May 10th, 2184 – Malevelon Creek – The Final Fortress
To Lergen's faint surprise, now that the end was here, he found that he felt relieved rather than terrified.
The pressures of leadership, which had nearly crushed him in the last few days with the weight of responsibility, had finally fallen away. There was no time for complex orders, no time for trying to arrange manoeuvres, no time for juggling logistical concerns, no time to force himself to look like he knew what he was doing so the troops wouldn't panic. There was only the gun in his hands, the soldiers at his side, the pain in his throat from shouting commands over the mayhem, and the enemy in front of him.
For a timeless moment, Eric Lergen was just another soldier of the Federation, fighting to defend Super Earth from the enemies of Freedom, and it was glorious. He knew, in the abstract, that the huge walkers were closing in on the Final Fortress, and that the moment they hit the walls all would be lost. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he put it aside and focused on the present.
Then he saw her, stalking through the smoke and dust of the battlefield. Even from over a hundred meters away, Lergen could never mistake that silhouette for anything else, and the sight dragged him out of his patriotism-induced stupor and back into the bloody mud, facing certain death. The Devil had come, with her infernal mechanical minions at her side, and all of Lergen's hastily-built defenses couldn't possibly hope to held her at bay.
"Helldivers !" Lergen called out over the radio. "Get to Point 11 ! The Devil is here !"
He barely heard Chief Sue's reply telling him that they were coming over the sound of his own heartbeat. Not that it would make any difference : he knew, probably better than anyone else in SEAF, just how the Helldivers would fare against the Automaton Commander. But it was the only thing he could think of that would buy them even a little more time –
A Hellpod slammed into the earth, between Lergen's position and the advancing Devil. He remembered hearing about the fleet arriving in-system right before the Automatons' massed assault had begun, but this was the first of the promised reinforcements, and Lergen could only imagine the battle that must rage in the void, equally violent to the one taking place on the surface of this Liberty-forsaken world.
A figure emerged from the Hellpod, surrounded by a shimmering halo of golden light. His cape flapped in the wind, proudly displaying the emblem of the Light of Eternal Liberty, shining in defiance of all tyranny. The hymn of Super Earth began to play from speakers built into the Hellpod, proudly defiant in the face of the Automatons' screeches.
"Devil !" the Helldiver shouted, and Lergen did a double take. He recognized that voice : how could he not ? He had heard it over countless videos and announcements, and spoken in person to its owner just a few weeks ago – right after seeing him die, or so he had thought at the time.
The Devil of the Creek recognized him too. She paused, her escort following suit, and sneered.
"The noble General Brasch," she replied mockingly. "I've been waiting for you to arrive."
Like Brasch's, the Devil's voice boomed over the battlefield, amplified by the fiendish technology built into her armor. There was something subtly nauseating about the sound, though, and Lergen wondered whether that was deliberate or simply a consequence of the Devil's lost humanity.
Whatever it was, General Brasch appeared unaffected. He pointed an accusing finger at the Automaton Commander, and declared :
"Then you have waited for your doom, fiend. I have come to finish what I started at Draupnir !"
"You have come here to die," taunted the Cyborg fiend. "Just like thousands of your fellow Helldivers before you."
"Your threats are as empty as your heart, Devil," proclaimed the legendary hero. "Face the might of Super Earth's judgment !"
With those words, Brasch tossed a stratagem control sphere, perfectly aimed to land at the Devil's feet. Lergen was well familiar with those from witnessing the Helldivers use them liberally before the blackout which had cost so many ships and lives. But before it could land and activate whatever righteous judgement General Brasch had intended for her, the Automaton Commander kicked it away, sending it flying back toward the Federation lines.
"Scatter !" Lergen and the Devil bellowed at the same time.
The SEAF reacted with discipline, taking cover from the impending attack, while the Automatons cowardly abandoned their leader, except for the largest one, which leapt over the Devil just in time to block the orbital laser that slammed into the planet from orbit before ripping through the battlefield as it moved straight toward the Automaton commander, guided by the Super Destroyer's aiming crew. Despite the warning, many troopers and bots had failed to get clear in time – but Lergen consoled himself with the knowledge that the men and women under his command who had gotten caught in the path of beam of fiery death had died in service to Super Earth, and hadn't had time to suffer before being reduced to their component particles.
When the spear of heavenly fire dissipated, there was no trace of the Automaton guard left, and the energy shield around the Devil was flickering, the shoddiness of its manufacture compared to the Federation technology it aped in evident display.
Before the Automaton energy shield could reset, Brasch was on the Devil, having charged at her even as fire rained from the sky. He held a saber with both hands. She brought up her claw just in time to deflect a decapitating blow, but before she could strike back, Brasch had already moved into another attack, chaining them together without missing a beat.
An order must have been sent across whatever command network the bots were using, for suddenly, a veritable deluge of laser fire and rockets fell on Lergen and his men, forcing them to take cover, shamefully unable to fire back lest they be torn to pieces by the onslaught. Through a crack in the hastily welded together metal panels, Lergen could still see the ongoing duel between Brasch and the Devil.
Lergen lacked any formal training in melee combat, but even he could appreciate the sheer elegance of the duel. Each fighter moved with lethal precision, at such speed that any mistake, however small, would spell certain defeat. The sight filled him with terrified wonder, for though he wanted to believe Brasch's victory was assured, his treacherous mind whispered of what he'd seen happen on Draupnir.
Somehow, despite the cacophony of battle, Lergen heard the Devil remark :
"I see your masters improved the melee capabilities of your guidance algorithm from the last model. But that won't save you."
The red eye of the Devil, just as soulless as the other, erupted in a beam of crimson light. It took a few heartbeats for Lergen to realize that this must have been a short-range laser weapon built into the cybernetic replacement.
General Brasch recoiled, stumbling, one hand reaching to claw uselessly at his helmet. It was all the opening his opponent needed, and for the second time in his life, Eric Lergen saw the Devil of the Creek kill General Brasch. Her claws bit into his neck, and with a horrific noise, she tore his head off his shoulders, holding the grisly trophy aloft to the skies like some ancient barbarian warrior-queen honoring her imaginary gods. Behind her, the Automaton Legion howled a binaric choir of praise.
Despair threatened to overcome Lergen, and he knew the same was true of the SEAF troopers around him, the fearful cries of those who had witnessed a legend's end nearly matching the Automatons' triumphant shrieks. It was over. Their last hope had died. They were all going to –
"DEVIL !" roared a feminine voice, one familiar to Lergen but burning with such pure fury he couldn't identify it until he saw its source.
Chief Mary Sue was running directly at the Devil, her squad of Helldivers struggling to keep pace. As one, the Automatons resumed their suppressing fire, turning the hundred meters between Sue and her target into a killing field that took out the Helldivers following in her wake almost instantly – yet as Lergen watched with disbelieving eyes, she kept running. Such was the density of enemy fire she looked to be swimming against the current of some crimson, glowing tide, yet by some miracle, only a few shots hit her, and these sparked harmlessly against her armor, barely even slowing her down.
She slammed into the Devil, tackling her at the waist in one final burst of speed. The impact sent the two young women tumbling to the ground, Brasch's head slipping from the cyborg's grasp to land on the scorched earth where the rest of his corpse already laid.
As one, the Automatons flinched. It was the only way Lergen could describe it : thousands of pairs of crimson eyes suddenly turned toward their fallen Commander, and the laser fire petered out. The image of a computer encountering a situation its programming hadn't anticipated suddenly appeared in his mind's eye, and he knew that this disruption wouldn't last long.
"Forward !" Lergen suddenly heard himself shout. "Follow Chief Sue's example ! Avenge General Brasch ! Spill oil, brothers and sisters !"
"Spill oil !" the war-cry came back, weak at first, but growing in strength with every second as more voices picked it up. "Spill oil ! Spill oil ! SPILL OIL !"
Before he realized what he was doing, Lergen was over the half-demolished wall and charging into the Automatons, firing wildly and screaming like a lunatic. He was halfway to the bot lines when whatever command protocol controlled their every action reasserted itself and they started firing again.
The first bolt hit him in his artificial leg and bounced off the metal after burning through his uniform. The second hit him in the chest, but dissipated against his body armor, as did the third, fourth, and fifth. The sixth, however, finally burned through the plate and hit his ribcage. He stumbled, but kept moving, only for another bolt to hit him in the shoulder. The pain was so intense he nearly blacked out, but sheer determination, and the knowledge that the soldiers behind him would trample him to death if he fell, granted him the strength to continue.
All the bravery in the universe couldn't keep the human body running forever, though. Seventeen point ninety-three seconds after leaving cover, Colonel Eric Lergen fell down into the mud of Malevelon Creek, barely managing to roll onto his back to avoid drowning in the filth. His last sight before unconsciousness claimed him was of Chief Sue, still wrestling with the Devil in the distance.
***
Mary screamed as she fought in the blood-soaked mud, defiant in the face of death. She knew her chances of survival were slim, but if she was going to die, she wouldn't give the bots the pleasure of seeing her afraid.
"I will kill you !" she screamed as she punched the Devil in the face, again and again. "I will kill you !"
"That feels a little too personal for it to be the fruit of standard brainwashing," the Devil panted. "What did I even do to you ?"
"You killed my father," Mary spat.
"I have killed many fathers," the Devil replied, still with that mocking, infuriating calm. "You are going to have to be more specific."
"Colonel Anson Sue," Mary spat. "You killed him on Tien Kwan !"
The Devil cocked her head to the side. Her crimson eye flashed once.
"Huh. That's weird. I've a list of all the Helldivers I've personally killed, but there is no Anson Sue in it. Are you sure the Federation didn't simply tell you I'd killed him to hide the fact he'd died an ignoble death ?"
Mary screamed, enraged by the Devil's mockery. She could hear her father's voice urging her on, advising caution at the same time – the Devil was cunning, he whispered, and not to be underestimated.
Well, neither was Mary.
***
Where the hell had the Federation found this girl ?!
As far as I could tell, she wasn't wearing any special equipment. If anything, her wargear was damaged from use : she wasn't part of the reinforcements newly arrived in the system, but one of the Helldivers who had survived the PSN's activation and kept fighting on Malevelon Creek ever since.
And yet, somehow, she was giving me more trouble than Brasch. She had picked up his sword at some point during our brawl, and was waving it at me with a complete lack of technique, but enough ferocity that I could barely keep it from skewering my exposed face.
Of course, I wasn't in perfect condition : beyond the fatigue of duelling Brasch, firing my eye-laser had blinded me in my right eye. The one-shot weapon was a trump card I'd kept in reserve ever since the start of the war, and just as I'd hoped, the combat algorithms Brasch had been using hadn't known about it. But it had also more or less burned out the cybernetic, which would need to be replaced once I was back aboard the Ghost of Cyberstan.
Until then, not only was my vision severely impaired, my access to the Automaton network was severely curtailed, as I could no longer summon information into my field of view with a thought. Under any other circumstances, this would've been a welcome reprieve – no longer needing to keep my own wandering thoughts in check lest they be somehow detected by JOEL for the first time in years was something I'd had in mind when I'd asked for the function to be added to the implant. But right now, faced with some kind of freak of nature hell-bent on revenge, I'd really have loved having my depth perception and tactical display back.
Finally, I managed to get free of the maniac's relentless onslaught, and immediately ignited my jump-pack to put some distance between us.
"Shoot her !" I roared.
The remaining members of the Jet Brigade now that Neumann had sacrificed himself to shield me from the orbital laser (one of the few things the Helldivers had access to which could hurt me, and why I had been so careful about striking with overwhelming force and speed to keep them from using it) opened fire on her at once.
A veritable hail of high-caliber bullets and laser bolts flew in the girl's direction, causing the very earth around her feet to erupt. But somehow, she managed to avoid nearly every single projectile, just like when she'd first charged me after I'd killed my fourth Brasch.
This was getting ridiculous. She was good, really good, I knew that from our brawl, but this went past the realm of the improbable and into the … miraculous …
No. No, surely not. That bastard wouldn't do such a thing.
Wouldn't he ?
As Sue approached, I clicked my tongue, and went on the offensive. With a thought, I overcharged the energy field around my claws, and struck with all the strength my armor could give me – which, I knew from experience, was enough to make a tank move.
My claws shattered her stolen sword to pieces, and ran across her helmet with an ear-splitting noise of metal on metal. The headgear split in two in the middle, finally giving out after receiving who knew how many shots and blows since she had descended on Malevelon Creek for the last time. A part of me noted that shouldn't happen based on the official make of the Helldivers' helmet, which was supposed to be able to resist anything up to a direct nuclear detonation – but then, what was one more Federation lie at this point ?
The face thus revealed as unremarkable – pretty enough, I supposed, in a girl-next-door kind of way – but it was her eyes which drew my attention.
Golden eyes, shining with a peculiar radiance I remembered all too well, even several years and a galactic war later.
Being X, I thought, shocked beyond words. You absolute bastard.
I was only distracted for a second or two, but that was enough. Sue punched me in the chest, her hysterical strength enough to send me stumbling back, inevitably slipping in the mud and falling on my back.
Breathing hurt. I looked down, and saw that Sue hadn't punched me at all : she had stabbed me, with the broken blade of the false Brasch, piercing my armor and into my chest, right through the emblem of the Automaton Legion that rested on my solar plexus.
Oh, I thought dimly, instinctively trying to reach for the pommel and failing to grasp it with my claws. So that's what that feels like.
The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was the sky of Malevelon Creek, where two fleets were locked in mortal combat; the last thing I heard was JOEL speaking in my head through my implants; and the last thought to cross my mind was that the blood loss must be more severe than I thought, because I could have sworn there was a note of panicked urgency in their mechanical voice.
***
"– INITIATE PRAETORIAN PROTOCOLS CONTINGENCY OMEGA, PRIORITY ABSOLUTE –"
"– ALL UNITS IN RANGE TO CONVERGE ON ATTACHED LOCATION –"
"– SECURE EVACUATION CORRIDOR TO FLAGSHIP –"
"– ACTIVATE THE LAZARUS CHAMBER –"
"– TANYA TANYA TANYA TANYA TANYA –"
"– THE NEPHILIM MUST SURVIVE –"
Messages from the Automaton Command Network, May 10th, 2184.
***
"Activate the reserves."
Decree issued by the Office of the President of Super Earth on May 11th, 2184 (later known as the eXcellent Backup Of Xenokillers for Optimizing the Neutralization of Enemies decree).