Star Crusades Nexus: Book 09 - The Black Rift (41 page)

Spartan ran across the open ground, ignoring the gunfire that seemed to come from every direction. Khan chased after him, as well as a handful of marines. Three were cut apart before they reached the curved black ramp that wound all around the sculpture. Decurions rushed down to meet them, but Spartan hacked and smashed his way through them as if they were nothing. Not even Khan could match his pace or ferocity.

"Slow down, Spartan!" he yelled.

Down below, the lowest levels had turned into a scene from hell itself. Bodies from both sides littered the floor while the great machines battled it out. On'Sarax had already lost an arm, yet still she fought on against her hated enemies. Most of the ground troops from both sides had now pulled back, doing their best to avoid the bloodbath around the titanic creatures. On they went while Spartan, Khan, and two marines reached the top of the ramp. Waiting before them were the last two ancient machines. They waited, shoulder-to-shoulder with the face of the demonic entity directly behind them. Spartan lifted an arm and blasted the face, but as before, nothing happened.

"You cannot win, traitor!"

One of the machines emitted a hissing sound, and from several hidden access points came Thegns. These were the new models, each with the thick hide and reflective blades. The first five were easily blasted, but the numbers kept on coming. A marine was butchered before Spartan's eyes, and even as he killed the Thegn, two more took its place. Khan took a step back and opened fire with his gun taken from a fallen Vanguard. Dozens of the creatures fell, and then came the Decurions. Three fell from the ceiling, directly onto Khan. One stabbed at his damaged shoulder; the other wrenched the firearm from his very hands.

"This is the end, for both of you!" said the machine with a cackle.

Spartan was knocked back, and Khan pinned to the wall with two blades from the machines. More rushed in to surround them and then began to move down the ramp, heading for the battling machines on the ground. A dozen more Ghost Warriors entered and formed up in a line behind their master.

"Our Tomb Ships are here, and so are our legions. You have no more reinforcements. It is over."

It lifted its arm and pointed to Spartan.

“You have done well, my friend. Now kneel and ready yourself. We promised you immortality.”

Khan forced his way from where the Decurions had pinned him, cast one aside, and then swung at the enemy commander. His blades curved perfectly and made it to within a meter when Spartan lifted his own weapon arm and parried the blow. He stepped out in front of his friend and waved him off.

“No, not today.”

More Decurions advanced around Khan and forced him back to the wall. He lifted his arms to strike, but multiple weapons from the Ghost Warriors turned to point right at his head.

“Good,” said Spartan.

He then turned back around to face the machines and without hesitation, dropped to one knee.

“The plan was costly, the sacrifice of the Ancients was a heavy price to pay. I am sorry it took longer than expected. Now you have all of their greatest warriors and the entire Allied fleet in one place. You can end this war.”

“Yes,” said the machine with a groaning sigh.

“We are the custodians of the Core. We were never its masters. My kin have already transferred into its heart. You have done all that we asked of you, Spartan. You destroyed the traitor, devastated their fleet, and then brought their survivors here for their execution. You truly are our greatest creation, Spartan, warlord of our people.”

The machine moved close to Spartan and looked down at the kneeling Ghost Warrior armor.

“It is time for you to carry out your last orders, and then we will move you to join us, for eternity, as promised.”

The machine extended its arm and pointed at Khan.

“You’re right,” said Spartan in a cool, calm voice.

The machine let out a long, slow hiss, but Spartan continued talking.

“They are sending troops to the rear decks. They want the Core. Their last troops are looking for it.”

The machine let out a clicking sound.

“Good, then they will die like the rest. Even if they find it, they will have to fight past three hundred of our most experienced Ghost Warriors. Excellent work, Spartan.”

Spartan’s eyes flickered inside his armor as he watched the new orders being sent throughout the ships. Legions of warriors were moving about to protect various subsystems. It was the newly activated group of three hundred that caught his eye. They had been given a single location, and it was nowhere near where he would have expected. He sent the signal and waited for the acknowledgement. It took nearly ten seconds, but the ID codes matched Admiral Anderson.

“Thank you.” He said quietly. “This is over…for you.”

He lifted himself to his feet so that he was upright and tall before the enemy machine. The Biomech machine took a step back in surprise.

“Z’Kanthu lives, and you never controlled me, not once. We played you, and like arrogant fools, you fell for it, just as we knew you would."

"It's over," said Spartan, almost repeating their words, "End the battle and surrender, or suffer obliteration."

One of the machines emitted a noise, and the Decurions nearby slowed and then stopped, though they kept their limbs poised to continue the fight right alongside the Ghost Warriors. Gunfire continued elsewhere in the ship, but for now, this one section was free of violence. The machine looked around, as though stunned it had been surrounded so quickly. The second machine appeared less patient. It began moving, and the first tried to stop it. With a shake and a cut with its blade, it pushed away to face Spartan.

"No, you are lost. Our souls live on forever."

The machine hissed and then swung at him. They were evenly matched in height and mass, crashing into each other like a pair of wrestlers. Both swung their reflective blades and cut chunks of armor off with each strike. Khan tried to help, but the Decurions kept him pinned down.

"No, leave him be."

The machine swung low and embedded its arm deep into Spartan's flank. The blade penetrated the armor but missed his flesh by millimeters. He placed both of his arms against its torso and opened fire at point blank range. The first two shots burned through carapace, but the next six turned its innards into melted goo. It dropped to the ground, a messy ruin.

"Another one down."

He lifted his arms up high into the air and howled, but the enemy was already on him. Thegns leapt at him while Decurions hacked at his limbs. Spartan swung his left arm, and another Thegn died. A bright blue flash cleared the Thegns around him. One Decurion lifted a limb, and two massive bursts of fire tore it apart. Spartan shook his head and looked to the doorways to the left. He expected to see more of the enemy horde, but it was Olik and a Byotai warrior, covered from head to toe in thick armor.

"Spartan, need a hand?" said Olik, laughing.

The Jötnar swung his arms and cleared the open space right in front of the two remaining Biomech commanders. The machines stepped back, but more marines moved in around them. The Ghost Warriors held back, waiting to defend their kin with their infinite machine bodies. Only one of the Biomech commanders remained, and it stepped back behind its wall of defenders. Spartan lifted his head to look at the remaining machine. It tried to step back, but the thick metal and stone of the demonic sculpture pressed into its armor. He moved closer until he was just a meter away. The machine looked almost identical, apart from the fact that Spartan's armor was shredded and covered in blood.

"The war is over," it said. “My troops have blocked off your escape, the breaches are sealed, and the Core is surrounded. Your forces will never get close to it.”

Spartan extended one of his blades and held it to the throat of the machine. The nearby Ghost Warriors all pointed their weapons at him, but he merely laughed and shook his head.

"You are wrong."

The machine hissed and said no more. The sound of fighting had died down to nothing, and Khan took the opportunity to walk to the end of the high level. He looked down to see the bodies on both sides. Machines, Thegns, and Decurions had pulled back and eyed each other cautiously.

Spartan sighed.

"You ancient fool. Z'Kanthu managed one last trick before your people erased him from your Core."

He noticed the shudder from the machine.

"Yes, you know where he was, and you know what he could do. Now, you have sixty seconds before your racial heritage is nothing but a bad memory. Right now our entire fleet has its arsenal pointing right at your Core."

He pointed to the sacred sculpture and hoped against hope that his ruse would work. "This is merely the antenna, the communication mast for your kin. Falling back here was a good ruse to draw us away from the prize while your reinforcements arrived. Now, accept my terms, or face the genocide of your race, as you have tried with mine."

The machine hissed again. It bent down and extended its arms in submission. There was no pause this time.

"What do you want?"

Spartan nodded.

"I want your unconditional surrender, and I want it now. Stop the fighting.”

Spartan's nostrils twitched as he said that last word. He wanted to strike the machine. The sculpture itself flashed and pulsed, and then a great blast of energy ripped outward, engulfing everything there. Apart from the shock, it had no effect on Spartan and his allies, but one by one the Thegns and newly arrival Biomech creatures turned to face him. Spartan approached the two Thegns waiting alongside the machine.

"Who do you serve?"

They looked to each other and then back to him; neither said a thing. He looked back to Khan and then to Major Terson who had just finished climbing the long curved ramp.

"They've all stopped. Anderson says the ships have closed their gun ports. What's going on?"

"The Biomechs have surrendered their forces on this ship."

"Why?"

Spartan looked to him.

"That was the price."

He looked back to the machine.

"My son, my wife. They have all suffered for your wars. Do you think this is over with an agreement? Can you ever be trusted?"

The machine lifted itself tall. It held its arms out to protect itself. Several of the Decurions moved close to its body, each of them watching him carefully.

"You sent the signal to all warriors on this ship? All of your forces have received their final order to lower their weapons?"

The machine replied in the affirmative.

Spartan turned back and pulled himself back into his armor. The petals of plate clamped down tightly. He took a step back and then accessed the myriad of digital channels to communicate with.

"What's he doing?" Major Terson asked.

Khan checked his weapons were active but shook his head.

"Major, I really don't know."

“The last thing Z’Kanthu did was to send me this.”

Spartan closed his eyes and recalled the information Z'Kanthu had given him in their last moments. He concentrated and then spoke the words directly to the Core.

Still be alive, you crazed fool.

He waited, desperately hoping that the mind of Z’Kanthu was still there, drifting throughout the artificial intelligence Core that housed almost infinite data.

Come on.

Deep inside the ship, the Core sent out its wail, a shockwave that severed connections between warrior and Core. One by one, the Ghost Warriors lost contact with the Core and leaned or tilted, their systems now devoid of control. It was temporary, but more than enough for Spartan to see they were offline.

“You have a thirty-second window at most, destroy it!”

* * *

Captain Darryl Wilks hid behind the line of generators and looked to the lines of machines in front of them as they continued to march off to the right. The walls to the Citadel, as his men had nicknamed the structure were impressive.

“Sir, there’s no way the charges will blow that thing,” said Corporal Sherril.

He looked back at his squad of engineers. He’d lost almost half of his number to injuries getting this far, and now they were directly between the hull of the ship and the location of the Core.

“Son, we’re not here for that. All we do it create an opening. The Admiral will do the rest.”

He watched as the unarmed SAAR robot moved into position nearly two hundred meters away and right behind a series of bulkheads.

“Captain, it’s ready,” said Tech Sergeant Gardiner.

“Good. Get in there, now!”

The entire unit climbed through the blast door and turned back to look at their handiwork. No sooner had the last marine moved through when the signal finally arrived.

“Do it!”

The SAAR robot vanished in a localized atomic blast that tore a section fifty meters in diameter through the side of the ship. Armored plating, gun turrets, and bulkheads were torn apart to expose the Citadel to the void of space. Captain Wilks hung to the nearby bulkhead with all of his strength and sent the signal he’d been waiting to send for what seemed like an eternity.