Beyond Light

No Resistance.

“Things are getting interesting,” mocked Doctor Winslow. He held his TR6 tighter and tapped its butt as if he was ready to go outside to fight.

John and Derek quickly adjusted themselves in their seats to control the Ariel launchers again. Their radar interfaces became bloated in red dots behind them. The camera screens were all covered by fumed clouds of red light, swimming in a disorganized phalanx behind them.

“We can’t fight all of them. We need to get outta here or we’ll be the food of those altered fish,” Derek unleashed torpedoes and hit a target, although it was too blurry to discern, even after the systems had reduced the saturation and contrast of the live image.

The only way he knew he did was because the number of detected foes descended from 180 to 179. A long number to go. Jack Port spoke before John could. “Commander, one of those bays at the bottom of the base has opened. My scanners don’t detect enemies inside!”

“Take us there!” said John. “These shields are about to die.”

Jack stopped the evasive maneuvers of moving in circles in the perimeter around the aquatic base. He sped up the motors right to the rocky surface edging with it. Derek and John kept launching torpedo bursts at the conglomeration of absorbed, aquatic creatures about to swarm them.

The Swordfish managed to reach the subterranean bay, and its abruptly hexagonal hatch shut on itself, isolating them from the monsters outside. Jack connected his cameras to the screens on the troop bay and John’s and Derek’s terminals. They found themselves in an all-black conduct made of hexagonal tilts, where tiny red lights beeped at their center.

Judging by the angle and the illumination of the lanterns, the tunnel had a ‘U’ shape, and they were at the top of the first extreme. “Seems like we’ll be safe from now from those things,” John spoke through the com. channel. “Jack, take us to the other side. We must be close.”

“Aye aye, Commander. Try not using the torpedoes inside here or you’ll blow us all. Consider switching to the lasers.”

“Is this thing equipped with lasers?” John raised one eyebrow and looked at Derek.

“4 Hellslayer-211 Laser Systems, 2 Ariel-902 Torpedo Launchers, 6 Huygens-13 Hypersonic Machine guns, and a single Andromeda-01 Plasma Launcher of 240 units, cap,” Derek responded. “What I said was wrong. This thing is nearly a flying and swimming tank!”

“If only regular Fireflies were equipped with all of this,” John whistled.

With all that arsenal maybe they stood a chance against the fish outside, but what they had in power they lacked in defense. Their shields weren’t particularly resistant, and much less the light-medium armor of the Swordfish. They could not risk it to fight where there was nothing to win.

The multi-environment propulsors located at the bottom and thin tail of the hybrid shot blue light, and the hybrid VTOL descended slowly through the tunnel only to rise up again. John could see various creatures resembling fish wandering around, clueless of the human intrusion.

He wondered if they were natural of the moon, or were more of the Absorbed creatures Aleos had taken. To think that humans were the next on its list…

“Wait,” Jack announced. He stopped the engines for a second. “Oh, never mind. It’s a hatch. It’s opening.”

He continued raising up the Swordfish. The hexagonal hatch at the top spread like a flower bud, and dim light illuminated the dark water. The submarine VTOL rose up and left the tunnel, revealing an ample, hexahedron room inundated at its half by water. There was a little bay at the bottom serving as a dock, where a hexagonal door just like the ones at Vita Nova or Sema stood, shining in a dark, purplish tone.

“Seems like this place is indeed designed for aquatic vehicles,” said Doctor Winslow.

“Or for those monsters outside to dive and land,” responded Derek.

Jack rose up the Swordfish until it moved like a boat. He advanced there and turned off the engine. Everything went quiet except for his voice.

“Alright, the sensors that LIBRA and Doctor Weiber installed show that the generator is located at some 35 meters up. Good luck. I’ll be waiting here for when you’re ready. I’ll mark it in your HUDs.”

A blue triangle signaling their objective appeared its distance measured in high precision as they took a step back or forwards. John launched Derek a movement with his head and both left the inboard weapon controls. The soldiers unlocked their rifles, and the side door began to hiss decompressing sounds. It budged, and everyone jumped to the narrow, five meters wide platform.

“Alright,” said John “We’re going there. Someone stay and cover the entrance. We are screwed if we lose the Swordfish.”

The INA soldier with the red medal on his chest spoke, polarizing his round helmet. John read the info tags on his shoulder as Gunnery Sargeant Hans Kopp. “Perez, Days, Stay here and give us some cover. Tanaka, get inside the hybrid and ride the turret at its top.”

“Yes, Sergeant,” responded the three soldiers. The other four polarized their helmets too and stood in formation in front of the door, their rifles up.

“Commander, we may go,” said Sergeant Kopp.

“You’ve heard him,” John told Heinrich and Derek. He took a step to the panel next to the door and put his hand on it. The lilac source of light beeped, and the door unlocked.

The contents were revealed; it was a rather short tunnel not extending more than 15 meters to the bottom, where a wide platform in hexagonal form stood. What made the tunnel different was how small it was compared to the ones they found before. It was probably no taller than two meters. Someone like Derek would have to crouch if he wanted to get inside.

“Ain’t it a little too small?” said Heinrich.

“Must be because of the reduced size of this structure,” responded John. “Let’s go ahead.”

And so, they entered. The Generator was likely three or four levels above. The platform at the bottom revealed itself to be an elevator. What John didn’t find right was how many lights around shined in red instead of lilac, and they had practically found no resistance inside that place.

If things were going too good, it meant you were about to be ambushed. That was something he had to learn in a bad way. He only wondered how much luck was having the Soku and the conjoint team in Hawking-616 I and III. Their success was as vital as theirs.