The End Result... (Chapter 14 – The Great Battle of Blood and Ice (Part I))

[dragondream]

The End Result

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Chapter 14 – The Great Battle of Blood and Ice (Part I)

Saria sat in her chair, satisfied with the delicious breakfast Cantalle had prepared for her. Her eyes droopily began to close and Robert sat watching her slowly begin to fall asleep. He thought about how long he had know her for and that he had never known anyone he had more emotion and love for. Soon Saria was fast asleep and Robert leaned over and gently stroked Saria’s hand, thinking about how to get her back to the Savior safely with a such huge battle on hand. Just then, Keldak entered the room.

“The army has been assembled,” he spoke. “It’s time.”

“What shall we do now?” Robert asked.

“The leader of the army has prepared a battle strategy. We will go to him now and will then begin the march.”

Robert left Saria and went with Keldak to the colony. They walked past many houses, though the centre of the colony and eventually came to a building much bigger than the others. It was a metal structure that stretched out far into the sky, with open windows at the top to allow the natural light to seep in.

“This is the Great Hall,” Keldak said. “The warriors are inside and so are the battle plans.”

Keldak and Robert walked through the massive doorway and into the Great Hall, where, indeed, hundreds of warriors and soldiers had gathered. At the back of the hall, was a platform where the leader of the soldiers, Galrek, had already begun instructing the tactics and strategy that were going to be used.

“There will be five stages of the battle,” he told them. “First, we will begin the march into the snow in the direction of the trench. We will march in triangular formation, with the more heavily equipped soldiers at the back and the lighter armed soldiers near the front. Second, there will no doubt be hostiles along the way and we should deal with them swiftly so as not to pre-warn the other enemy troops.

Eventually, we will reach the entrance to the trench, where no doubt plenty soldiers will be placed to stop anything from going in or out. Heavy infantry will stay behind at this point to deal with this threat, whilst the light infantry enter the trench clearing a path through the enemy. Robert will be leading the light infantry deep into the trench and Keldak will be directing the heavy infantry to attack the enemies at the entrance. The final stage will be to rescue the Terran team and bring them back safely – that is, if they are still alive...

Ok, troops dismissed. Arm yourselves as best as possible and remember, we are facing artificial creatures, not organic ones. So they will be harder to kill and will be in much greater numbers. We will begin marching when everyone is ready.”

As soon as Garlek had finished speaking, the entire army of warriors had left the Great Hall quicker than a Xenon Carrier can eject its fighters out into space. Keldak pulled Robert to one side before he could leave through the entrance and spoke to him in a soft, secretive tone.

“Listen to me, the chances of winning this battle is almost impossible. I have fought this particular AGI once before, they have a secret weapon that I found only by accident. When I killed one, I found the next day it had disappeared. In its place, were two separate sets of tracks leading away from where there was only one.”

Robert rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “So you are telling me, that when you kill one, it replicates itself into two of them?”

“Yes,” Keldak answered. “I do not know how they have achieved this, although I cannot say that it has never been done before. The Machines we created eventually produced this exact same ability.”

“The Xenon have always been able to replicate themselves,” Robert said. “But certainly not like this.”

“That is not the worst part. They are rapidly becoming quicker and better at this replicating ability. By now, they should be able to do it in almost seconds.”

“Why have you not told Garlek and the rest about this?” Robert questioned.

Keldak sighed heavily. “I cannot tell them, or surely they will lose all hopes of winning. Our mission today is not to win the battle, but to rescue your friends so they can escape.”

“Why would you risk so many of your people’s lives, only to save my friends?”

“Because, I have come to realise that you and your friends are our only hope of ever ridding the galaxy completely from AGI forever. My nation lost that opportunity many millennia ago. You are the only other biological race in existence, and thus the only ones capable of AGI’s complete destruction.”

Robert leaned against the wall and shut his eyes, completely understanding the enormous pressure that had been put upon him. “What if,” he said nervously. “What if I... we do not succeed? What if we do not win and we all die in the end?”

“Then there is nothing to worry about,” Keldak said putting his hand on Robert’s shoulder. “Because we shall all be dead, thus being forever free from an everlasting nightmare.”

“That is a pretty grim picture if you think about it,” Robert said in disgust.

“But the only other choice you have, Robert.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“Terry?”

“Yes, Mr. Smith,” Terry replied insolently and aggressively.

“Ok, two things. One, don’t talk to me like that,” Harry added, pointing threateningly at Terry. “And two, how much more time is it going to take to get all the crystals we need?”

“We need to collect as much as possible,” answered Terry, leaning against the side of the cave. “Another opportunity to mine as many crystals as these may be too far off. Besides, with all the homicidal robots just outside this tunnel, I don’t think I’m in a particular rush to meet them again.”

Harold pulled out his water flask and thirstily drank the last few drops from it. He scowled in dissatisfaction and looked up at Terry.

“Got any more water in your flask?”

Terry shook his head. “Got nothing, finished it up about an hour ago.”

Harry threw his flask against the cave wall and banged his fist onto a rock out of irritation.

“Listen here, we are short of water, food and weapons. You need to start wrapping this mining operation you have going here up and start planning our escape route.”

Terry picked up his backpack and swung it over his shoulder. Then he ordered everyone to put away their mining tools and start putting as many crystals into their bags as possible.

“Thanks pal,” Harold said smiling. “I owe you one.”

“You owe me more than that,” Terry mumbled under his breath.

* * * * * * * * * *

Robert leant on Saria’s arm to gently wake Saria from her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open and then strained to see who had awoken her. Robert drew closer and spoke to her in a low tone so as not to be heard by anyone else.

“We’re assembling the troops now to rescue the team from the Xenon. I want you to stay here. Cantalle has offered to care for you and prepare you meals until we return. That is, if we return.”

Saria gazed down at the ground and sighed deeply. “Oh Robert,” she said, smiling caringly. “You’ve always got to be the hero, don’t you?”

Robert smiled back at her. “Only when it’s required of me.”

“I know you have to go through with this to save Harold and the rest of the team, but don’t put yourself in harm’s way where it’s not necessary. After all, what good is a dead hero to me?”

“I’ll be back, and in one piece,” he promised her.

At the same moment the front door swung wide open and Keldak marched into the room. He was now fully clothed in solid metal armour and was carrying a whole arsenal of weapons round his waist. On his shoulders were metal spiked shoulder pads that would make any man think twice of coming near it. His head was padded with steel plates that were magnetized to each other so strong so as not to be ripped off with any amount of natural strength until properly demagnetized after battle. Just to top that off, his chest and back was mounted with an energy shield generator to provide a certain amount of protection during combat.

“Here’s some armour I could find that was your size,” he told Robert. “Though I find it substantial that there was any, since I have never met anyone from my nation that tiny, except for small children, who I might add, never go into battle. Oh, and, of course, plenty weapons to last you the duration of the battle and will certainly come in handy.”

Robert walked up to him and loaded the armour and weapons on to his shoulder. “Thanks friend, it means much for a complete stranger that I met only yesterday to be so willing to help me and save my friends.”

Keldak waved his hand to explain to him the insignificance of the deed. “Trust me, it is nothing more than what I am sure your people would have done for us.”

Robert seriously doubted that. “Anyway, I better go get dressed and armed for battle.”

“For war my friend,” Keldak corrected him. “The battle shall soon be over, but the war has just begun.”

Robert nodded in agreement and began placing the armour on. Keldak smiled at Saria, or at least, what could be interpreted as a smile.

“When we have returned from battle,” Keldak told Robert. “You must look after your friend here. She is something special, I hope you know that.”

Robert turned and gazed at her briefly and then looked back at Keldak. “Yes sir, I know that.”

“Good,” Keldak said. “Now, you’re all geared up?”

“Yes,” Robert said, patting his armour to check it was entirely secured to his body.

Keldak walked back to the door and opened it fully, letting the sun’s rays stream into the room. “Then let’s go get your friends.”

“Yes, but we before go, could you explain to me what this is?” asked Robert holding up a big and, judging visually, a very powerful weapon.

“That is an electronically charged Heavy Particle Accelerating (Short-Distance) Detonators, or as we call them, H-PADs. They work by accelerating a tiny amount of particles to almost light speed. This causes a chain reaction of bouncing particles through virtually any material. It comes out of that gun as a tiny stream but gradually grows bigger and bigger, the effect of which will cause anything in its path to completely disintegrate. It is best to use further away from the enemy, but begins to lose its effectiveness at about 40 metres.”

Robert’s grip loosened on the weapon after receiving the impressive description of it. “Well,” answered Robert after clearing his throat. “This thing deals a pretty strong punch to the opponent then.”

Keldak nodded his head. “Strong enough to blast any object into millions of pieces.”

After exchanging goodbyes with Cantalle and Saria, Robert and Keldak left to join the now fully armed forces that had already begun marching through the snow towards the battlefield. Since the armour that had been given to Robert was no designed for keeping its wearer warm, Robert could feel the chilling cold beginning to bite into his chest and legs again. The sun, although shining boldly in the cold red sky, seemed to offer little relief from the bitter cold air that dominated the air. Although the arctic temperatures stole away most of the enjoyment, the sight was truly magnificent. The painted blood-red sky and the magnificent sun that ruled the skies would have inspired any artist or musician beyond their natural abilities. The strong glare of the white snow and ice exaggerated the contrast between the sky and the ground, the result almost dazzling to the human eye. For a moment, Robert nearly forgot about the cold as he was distracted by the stunning view. However, although the beautiful scene seemed magnificent and gracious, it was depicting the blood of the lives that would be lost that very day. The vicious war between the Terran and Xenon had been resurrected, and mercy it certainly was not going to show to either side.

[dragondream]

I've separated the chapter into two parts. To have it as just one chapter would have been to long IMO.

[dragondream]

Next chapter posted.