Battlenaut Crucible

Chapter 4

4Scott didn't say a word as Perseid led him out of the lab building. He was too busy trying to wrap his head around what was happening.

Not to mention, he was irritated. After all the interrogation, all the worrying, and all the crap he'd taken since Rollins' death, CORE had had hard evidence that proved his story all along. Not only had they held it back during the investigation so far, but they had no intention of releasing it anytime soon.

As far as the Marines were concerned, there was still a cloud over him. He might even be found guilty of an infraction or worse. And now, he was being pulled into some other cluster-flux all together.

Things felt like they were flying out of control fast.

"This way, Corporal." Perseid marched over the gray, dusty ground toward the next building over, another half-cylindrical metal structure, completely nondescript. How many times had Scott been past here since Chelong III without realizing what lay inside?

This time, when Perseid led him through the front door, Scott found himself in a sparsely-furnished conference room instead of a cluttered lab. A long green plastic table dominated the space, surrounded by a dozen folding metal chairs.

Only one of those chairs was occupied, and not for long. A woman in a black CORE uniform jumped to her feet instantly and saluted. Her appearance was striking: she had short red hair, a blazing bright smile, and emerald eyes that sparkled and flashed from all the way across the room.

Scott's heart beat faster as she walked toward them.

"Major Perseid." Her voice was high-pitched and strong, with a firm and friendly tone. "All ready for you, sir."

"Thank you, Captain." He nodded at Scott. "This is the guy."

When she looked at him, Scott was sure her smile got bigger. "Good to meet you, Corporal Scott. I'm Captain Cyan Rexis." She extended her hand.

Scott smiled and shook it. "Good to meet you, too, Captain." For the first time since Perseid had approached him in the canteen, he felt completely at ease...almost. The feel of her soft hand in his rattled him in other ways, all of them good.

"Shall we begin?" Rexis looked to Perseid, and he nodded. "Fantastic." Releasing Scott's hand, she crossed the room and grabbed a rectangular remote control from the table. When she pressed a spot on its control surface, the room lights dimmed and the far wall brightened, becoming a screen. "Please, take a seat."

Perseid sat near the middle of the table on one side, and Scott sat across from him. Rexis watched with a smile as they settled in, then turned to the screen.

"The Red Battlenaut." She worked the remote, and a computer-generated image of a Red Battlenaut appeared on the wall-screen. It didn't look much like the one Scott had fought, other than the fact that it was a Battlenaut and it was colored red. "You're the first to report having seen one, Corporal Scott. But we don't think you're the first to encounter one."

Intrigued, Scott leaned forward and folded his arms on the table.

"We think Red Battlenauts have been very active in the current conflict," said Rexis.

"Active but unseen," added Perseid. "An unknown third party intervening in the course of the war."

Rexis pressed a button, and the screen changed to show graphs and columns of data. "During the past month, reports of unexplained damage and loss of life among Commonwealth forces under battlefield conditions have increased significantly. Even accounting for inaccurate reporting and statistical error, our algorithmic analyses reveal a sharp upward trend." She pointed the remote at the screen, and a plotted line on a graph lit up yellow, highlighting a sudden rise. "In some cases, no one was left alive to testify about what happened. In other cases, surviving witnesses reported inexplicable assaults conducted by what could only have been an invisible opponent."

"Invisible to telemetry as well as the naked eye," said Perseid.

Rexis pressed another button, and the screen showed a photo of metallic debris on a background of red dirt. "Examination of remains in all cases was inconclusive. Investigators found evidence of scoring by ultra-high energy lasers...and nothing more." She flashed a look in Scott's direction. "Just like in your case."

Scott nodded. "So I'm not the first."

A map of the space sector appeared on-screen, with the systems of the Commonwealth on the right side, colored bright blue, and the Rightful systems--far fewer in number--in yellow on the left. Between them ran a jagged red border, the front line of the civil war. Blinking red dots were scattered along the length of the line, and in some cases well over the line in Commonwealth or Rightful space.

"All these are the locations of suspect incidents." Rexis waved the remote at the screen, and the red dots blinked brighter. There were dozens of them. "As you can see, we have identified quite a few."

"Wow." Scott stared at the screen and shook his head. "All that in one month?"

"There have to be more than one of them," said Rexis. "There's no other possible way they could make this much activity happen over these distances in this time frame."

"Though, until now, we had no idea what 'they' were," said Perseid. "You're the first to provide an actual description of the weapon."

"And survive an attack by one," said Rexis.

"And bring back a piece of one," added Perseid. "You've given us a description and physical evidence in one fell swoop. Now if we could just figure out how the hell you did it when no one else could."

Scott shrugged. "You haven't figured it out?"

Rexis changed the image on the screen to a set of graphs and tables and medical data. "We've gone over the results of the physical exam you were given after the battle, compared them to your baseline, and compared all that to the data from other personnel involved in Red Battlenaut non-sightings. We've gone over it all a hundred times, from every conceivable approach, and we've got nothing." She spread her arms wide. "Whatever it is that lets you see the Red Battlenaut, we haven't found it yet."

"And that's our priority," said Perseid. "Finding your secret and putting it to use so we can fight these things." He cleared his throat and looked at Rexis. "Though we have another priority, too."

"Tracking the source of the evidence you've obtained." Rexis pressed a button on the remote, and the screen switched back to the map of the sector with the blinking red dots along the front line. "We want to locate the source of the Red Battlenauts."

"And destroy them before they fulfill their agenda," said Perseid. "Whatever that might be."

Scott looked at Perseid, then Rexis, then Perseid again. "Isn't it obvious? The Reds are the Rightfuls' secret weapon. They want to defeat the Commonwealth, right?"

"Negative." Perseid got up and walked to the screen. "According to intelligence, the Reds may be attacking Rightful troops as well as Commonwealth forces. At least seventy percent of these incidents involve unexplained losses on both sides." He ran his finger down along the jagged front line on the map. "Whoever's controlling the Red Battlenauts, it isn't the Commonwealth or the Rightfuls."

Scott sat back in his chair, stunned by what he'd heard. If the Red Battlenauts weren't working for either side in the civil war, who were they working for? And what did their controllers want?

"So now you're seeing the big picture, aren't you?" Perseid stepped away from the screen and sat on the corner of the table. "You understand why we kept the evidence under wraps, even though it could have cleared your name."

Scott nodded. "You didn't want the word to get out that you have a piece of a Red Battlenaut."

"Whoever's behind this, we don't want to tip them off that we're coming," said Perseid. "Though we assume they're more than ready for us. Who knows how many invisible and undetectable Reds they have at their disposal?" He shook his head at Rexis. "It's a suicide mission, isn't it, Captain?"

Rexis smiled at Scott. "Not if we have someone along who can see the bastards."

"So now you know why you've been detailed to our CORE unit," said Perseid. "Because you're indispensable to the success of this mission. Because we need to figure out why you're able to see the Red Battlenauts, and we need you to see them for us when we fight them."

"We can't do it without you," said Rexis.

"Welcome to the team." Perseid walked over and extended a hand.

Scott stared at it for a moment. He'd been given his orders; he was going on the mission. The handshake was only a friendly gesture.

But he still hesitated. He'd never minded taking difficult roads in his life, but this one had so many unknowns, he wondered if he could survive it.

The odds seemed to be against him. He'd had a hard enough time fighting one Red Battlenaut; how could he handle more?

But the fact remained: he seemed to be the only one who could make a difference in this fight.

Even with the odds as steep as they were, he knew one thing with absolute confidence in his heart: if he hadn't been ordered to join the mission, he would have volunteered.

"Thank you, sir." Scott rose from his seat and shook Perseid's hand firmly. "Thanks for having me."

"Good." Perseid smiled and nodded. "Round up your gear and report to Hangar C-17 by oh-three hundred hours tonight. We leave promptly at oh-six hundred."