Battle Lost, Soul Saved

Maria

"Del, I think you'd better take a look at this," Altas said, his flat, precise voice seeming to fill the darkened Ops chamber. Del glanced at him, trying to will her headache away so she could face the painful brightness of the console he indicated.

She had struck her head during a recent quake, and though Xenogears assured her there was no significant damage it sure hurt like hell.

One look at the screen, though, and she immediately forgot about the headache.

The screen showed a shot from the security camera at the entrance to the colony. A chain of boxy transport vehicles, dozens of them, were making their way northward along the base of the scarp. The first was just at the colony entrance, and was stopping.

"Where'd they come from?" Del demanded, striking the comm button with her next breath. "All Ghosts, report to the main entrance at once," she said, her voice ringing over the comm system and patching into every speaker in the colony.

"I don't know. They must have some decent sensor masking. Only the motion sensor detected them, when they got to within half a kilometer. The Cybrid shook his head. "Judging by the power signatures, they are standard TDF troop transports, but then they could easily be civilian, as one would use armored transports anyway with the current situation on Mercury..."

Del grabbed her weapons belt and went for the door. "Stay here. And lock the Colony down if you don't hear from me in five."

-----

Del, Icey, Xenogears, Razorback, Ko'ah, Tycho, and the newest Ghost, Jehrico, stood in front of airlock to the main entrance tunnel. Xenogears watched a security camera image on her portable. "They seem to be TDF troops. Armed but weapons not drawn. The leader is a woman, rank of Commander, and is currently studying the opposite airlock's main entrance."

"Think she'll find the control?" Icey muttered. The Fantasma Colony's doors all contained hidden control plates, embedded in the rock. Only the familiar pattern of five splayed fingers on a human hand would open the door. Contact with anything else-- such as a Cybrid manipulator arm-- would trigger a rather vicious booby trap, usually involving a blast from a fusion cannon from the ceiling above the door.

"I think we should open it before they kill themselves," Del said, and accessed the controls to the airlock in front of her. Under her control, the exterior airlock opened.

"The leader and a group of twelve troops are entering the airlock," Xeno reported. "The airlock is cycling. They are entering the second stretch of tunnel now."

There was a pause, then Xenogears looked up. "They have reached the airlock in front of us." Del nodded, and pressed the control to open the exterior door of the airlock. "They are entering. The lock is cycling."

With the faintest hissing sound, the inner airlock opened and the Ghosts stood face-to-face with the TDF officers. Del stepped forward. "Welcome to Fantasma Colony," she said quietly. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

The woman in charge of the TDF force flipped her faceplate open, revealing a calm, friendly smile. "Business, I'm afraid. Whom do I have the honor of addressing?"

"Delithita of Fantasma Colony," Del said. "Ghosts of the Antipode."

The woman frowned slightly. "Commander Kym Mee, Terran Defense Force Intelligence. Ghosts of the Antipode?"

Del nodded shortly. "Fantasma Colony's defense unit."

"Ah. Well, who is in charge of Fantasma Colony?"

Del glanced at her fellow Ghosts. "Our leader is currently indisposed," she said, throwing a warning glance at Ko'ah as he seemed ready to burst out laughing. "In the interim, the Ghosts are in command here."

"Ah." The woman produced a small computer and typed a quick command on it. She handed it to Del. "I am here under authority of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Petresun. I am to take command of this facility."

A red haze filled Del's vision and it wasn't the headache. Icey took her arm before she did something extremely stupid.

"Permission denied," Razorback said coldly. "We have defended this colony against the Cybrids for three years at the risk of our lives. You have done nothing for us. Get out."

Icey stepped in front of Razorback, carefully, aware that he was as volatile as Del. "Sorry, ma'am, but that's not gonna happen."

The woman gazed at them for a moment, then made a quick gesture over her shoulder.

Her troops leveled their weapons. "Ah, so we bleed and die to keep the Cybrids off our backs, and then the TDF attacks us?" Xenogears stepped forward, her eyes flashing with cold fury. "If you wish a fight you shall have one!"

In one fluid motion, she drew a pair of slicestars from her belt and hurled them. In midair they struck each other with a metallic clang, arced off, and struck two of the troops directly in their gun arms. They dropped their weapons, reflexively, even as their comrades fired.

Six beams crossed the point previously occupied by Xeno's chest, striking nothing but the wall behind the Ghosts. Xeno had another pair of stars in her hands, and Del had grabbed hold of the leader and threw her like a doll into the airlock.

Icey drew his laser pistol and dropped to a crouch, ready to pick someone off. Fortunately, it was not necessary: Ko'ah stepped forward, tossed Xeno aside, and slammed the airlock door by main force.

Xeno picked up her portable from where she had dropped it to draw her weapons. "They are leveling heavy weaponry at the airlock door!"

Del slammed her fist into her communicator. "Del to Ops! Altas, seal it! Ghosts, back!" She threw herself backward as the massive Level Two main door slid downward from the ceiling. Tycho and Jehrico were already under the door and just stepped back. Ko'ah kicked off the airlock and rolled backward. Icey ducked under it. Razor, half-way under the door, noticed Xeno was off-balance and wasn't going to make it through in time. So, with frantic haste, he reached his arm around, popped the door to the suit locker next to the door track, and wrenched a pile of spacesuits out. He pulled back quickly, just as the door sealed.

"Damnit!" Del leveled a kick at the door. "Del to all residents: we are under attack by a TDF ground force. Prepare for possible atmospheric loss." She ran to the nearest door and opened it. "Let's get in here. The idiots'll blow all the pressure on Level Two."

The Ghosts entered the small room, which, conveniently, was loaded with spare spacesuits, utility packs, and weapons belts.

A muffled boom sounded, and the door creaked as the air outside it rushed out into space. "Del to Altas, report."

A moment later, the Cybrid reported: "Breach on Two. Someone misplaced a seal somewhere and One and the corridors on Three are in vacuum."

Del said something very rude but certainly had enough justification. "The bastards! How many unlucky fools were wandering the halls on Three? Thank God it's the middle of the night! Del to all residents. The invading forces have caused an atmosphere breach and the corridors are in vacuum. Probably several dozen people have been slaughtered." She allowed the raw fury and hatred she felt to fill her voice. "Access your consoles now, and input either Y or N to the Ops poll system: Do you believe we should stop fighting and allow these people to take over our home?"

A moment later Altas's voice came through. He sounded amused. "The votes are coming through. Of the first hundred, two said yes."

"That's good enough for me," Tycho said, and picked up a nice, heavy shotgun. He snapped his faceplate shut and levered an oxy-explosive cartridge into the chamber.

"Surprised you actually asked," Icey said, checking the charge on his pistol.

Del nodded shortly, pressed the door control. "Verify suit integrity," she said.

"Tycho. Sealed."

"Ko'ah, sealed."

"Icey. Yep."

"Jehrico... yeah..."

Del slammed the door sideways. Air gushed out of the small chamber. "Go!"

The Ghosts came out firing. Tycho's shotgun spit clouds of fast-moving projectiles among Icey's quick laser bursts. Ko'ah, a member of the use-a-sword-at-sword-range school, leapt into the midst of the TDF forces and began slashing viciously at whatever moved.

Del used only a knife, cutting suits open. Images of innocent residents being sucked screaming into space filled her mind, mixing with the headache to cause a red haze that blinded her completely.

The TDF were taken by surprise by the sheer speed and ferocity of the attack, and were unable to even fire before a dozen of them lay dead or wounded on the stone floor. After the initial attack, most of the first group were out of commission, besides the commander, who had drawn a light sword and was dueling quite ably with Ko'ah. Apparently she had much the same idea as he regarding close combat: A sword beats a gun, but only a sword can beat another sword. Ko'ah's broadsword smashed the lighter katana aside, but Mee was quick and skilled enough to parry the heavy sword and get in a few quick strikes of her own. Ko'ah, for his part, knew enough to block with the base of the sword rather than the tip, and years of practice allowed him to weave a web of steel to match Mee's.

Without waiting to see the outcome of that, Icey leapt back and dealt the commander a kick to the hip that sent her flying to crash into a nearby wall. She rolled, came up on her feet, and made a quick gesture to the next wave of troops.

The second group of TDF raised their weapons, and fired.

Within two seconds of each other, the Ghosts each felt a sharp pain in their chest or torso, and collapsed into blackness.

-----

Del's headache was noteworthy. She assumed that a troop transport driving over her head would cause less discomfort. She turned over as her stomach churned with nausea, and threw up, retching violently.

Her hand on her stomach came away bloody. She had been shot. And, judging by the particular sensation the injury brought, she had been shot with a tranquilizer.

She leapt to her feet, banging on the door with her fists. "Next time you shoot me you'd better shoot to kill," she shouted, her enraged scream echoing in the small chamber and adding another piece to the puzzle that was The Ultimate Headache.

She was alone, in what apparently was a storage closet in a residence. She flipped on her suit light, and blinked. Not only was she in a closet, she was in her own closet.

She kicked the door, and it gave slightly. Another kick, and it burst open. Her familiar quarters, slightly rearranged by the hurricane of escaping air, lay before her. She went to the door and found it quite well-locked, and no trick she knew was able to open it.

The computer was down. The familiar login screen was replaced by blackness. Voice prompts were similarly useless.

"Fantasma Colony, this is Commander Mee," the hated voice came from the machine. Apparently the incoming comm functions were still enabled. And, since the TDF probably had no idea how any of Maria's Fantasma mainframe protocols worked, probably the machine could be restored to working order. She filed that tidbit away for future reference.

"Your Ghosts have all been captured and placed under arrest for treason. I am prepared to grant them a sentence of house arrest-- as opposed to execution-- if you would cease this useless fighting and surrender to the inevitable."

Del snarled an oath. She would have screamed defiance and demanded they kill her, if anyone had been present to scream at. As it was, she could only pray that the residents would do as asked, to prevent further deaths.

The battle was uneven, viciously so. And she had no desire to see her people die.

She glared at the console, went to it, and began to tinker with the casing. It did not appear to be damaged: most of the device had only been wiped clean with an EMP burst. She grinned, went to the closet, and picked a small datacube from a drawer. "Drivers," she said to the air, and plugged the cube into the computer.

The device lit up with a basic black-yellow text interface, the standard appearance of a non-formatted computer system. Unfortunately, the yellow text was Cybrid: most of Fantasma's computers were salvaged from destroyed Cybrid vehicles.

She pressed a few of the characters she had committed to memory, and the datacube whirred. A moment later, the text shifted to standard English.

She activated the commport protocols, installed the drivers for the commlinks, and grinned as [GHOSTS LOGIN] and [RESIDENT LOGIN] popped up on the screen.

She heard a noise at the door, flicked the emergency-off switch and backed away from the screen.

"Delithita," Commander Mee said pleasantly. "You are looking well."

"Spare me," Del snarled. "What do you want with our colony?"

"Delithita. Adriana. I knew your father. A good man, before he became a traitor."

"You dare dishonor his memory! I declare Vengeance!" Del snarled. "If you have any respect for the laws of the Empire, a shred of honor, give me a sword and I will cut you to ribbons!"

"That will have to wait," Mee said. "I want your cooperation. Order the colony to stop fighting. Then we'll worry about such niceties as vengeance oaths."

"They'll fight as they please. We're free people."

"That's too bad. Because we have as many troops as you have people, and most of yours are non-combatants. We are not packing tranquilizer guns now."

Del spit in her face.

Mee's eyes narrowed with anger, then she wiped the offending material away with her sleeve. "Just like your father..."

"Yes, and you're just like the Knights who murdered him. And my mother."

Mee raised an eyebrow, as if Del's statement surprised her. "I think I'll have to check those records," she said. "In the meantime, I'll just go try this conversation with the other Ghosts. Certainly one of them will cooperate."

"Don't bet on it."

Mee turned to go. "You'd better hope they do." She opened the door to leave.

"A sword, honorless coward!" Del snarled. Mee barely paused as she walked out the door.

-----

Mee closed her eyes and leaned back against the stone wall. This operation was not going as planned. The residents of the colony had barricaded themselves in their quarters. The bottom level to the colony was sealed off: some smart aleck had poured molten rock down the lift shaft, and as far as her engineers could discover, there was no other way to it besides to dig through three hundred meters of solid rock.

She wasn't interested in calling Petresun and saying "Sorry, but we've hit a snag. Can you send us some heavy-duty portable excavators?"

She also wasn't interested in forcing the doors to the residences, entering, and executing those she found inside.

She couldn't even control the doors: the control center, which they still had not been able to locate, had ordered all the doors sealed and they would not respond to any commands. Trying to hack into the consoles was impossible, too: they had recently grown a remote-verification system. Whoever was at the control center simply verified every attempted access himself, and if he did not approve, the console just shut down. He wouldn't even approve the various residents she had "convinced" to log in for her.

The Ghosts they had first captured, the woman Xena and the man whose name she never caught, also refused to respond to her efforts to sway them. When Mee had entered and stated her purpose, the woman had placed herself into some kind of trance. You couldn't interrogate someone who was unaware of the outside world. Even giving her a light jab with a knife had not so much as made her twitch.

The man did not do anything that drastic, but he shut her out, ignoring her with an intensity she had never encountered before. Threats, appeals to common sense, even smacking him in the face with a club, nothing worked. The only thing that got so much as a blink from him was threatening Xena's life. He turned to her then, said simply "That would be a mistake." Then he resumed his silence and would not speak again.

The tall, muscular man with the sword had stood in the corner with his arms folded and glared at her. Since he obviously seemed attracted to her, she tried bribing him that way. He went along with it to begin with, even allowing her to put her arms around him, but then laughed and said "How stupid do you think I am, my dear?"

She had stalked out, and was thinking of what to do with the other Ghosts when the ground shook violently. "What the hell? Since when does Mercury have quakes like that?" she demanded of her second-in-command.

"That's one of the things we're supposed to find out, Kym," he said. "All kinds of weird things been going on here lately. The Emperor believes that there is a human or Cybrid agency behind it; that they are not natural phenomena."

The speakers crackled then, and music poured from them. It was a martial tune, that Mee did not recognize until her second identified it for her. "The March of the Defiant," he muttered. The music continued for a few minutes, then a calm, quiet male voice came on.

"Hello, Fantasma residents and Ghosts, honored guests," the voice said. "It has been sixteen hours since the Terran Defense Force invasion took over this colony. Unfortunately for them, the residents of this colony do not appreciate such invasions. That goes for me as well: the Ghost you didn't catch."

Mee stared at the speaker.

"You got the drop on the rest of them, Commander Mee. But even one Ghost can ruin you. I am currently injecting the colony's air supply with 1,2,5-dichloric iron oxide, with a few little modifications to its atomic structure. This will not harm you. But it will reduce the particular polymer making up standard TDF combat suit faceplates into a rather messy goo. Since the goo is rather caustic, it might be a good idea to lose the helmets or you might require some plastic surgery later. But hey, your face, your helmet, your choice."

Mee threw her helmet on the ground, cursing. Around her, her troops all did the same.

A moment later the voice returned. "You would also, if you had a good scanner handy, notice something else being added to the air, specifically a derivative of a Cybrid nerve toxin, modified to be, though harmless, quite useful as an anesthetic or tranquilizer." One of Mee's troops turned to her, waving a scanner, panicked.

"You are getting sleepy. When you awaken, in about seventy-two hours, you will find yourself in your transports, after you and they have been stripped of all weapons."

Mee tried to protest, but she was tired... so tired...

She had to lay down. Looking around her she saw that her troops were all collapsing with her.

Her eyes closed, and she felt her consciousness slipping away. At the edge of her fading awareness, she heard the infuriating voice again. "And, so you know, there is no such thing as 1,2,5-dichloric iron oxide. Good night all."

-----

Ko'ah howled with laughter. "You gotta be kidding, right?"

"Nope." Altas shrugged. "Of the one thousand nine hundred seventy surviving troops, only fifty had their helmets on. The residents overpowered them too."

Del snarled. "You should have left me the leader. We had a duel planned."

"No, it's okay. Excellent work, Altas." Icey shook his head. "And they say Cybrids don't have a sense of humor."

"So you have all two thousand of them locked up in their transports, eh?" Ko'ah said.

"Yes, minus anything I considered a possible threat. Or useful. They should be unconscious for a further three to twelve hours."

"Let's leave them a note," Ko'ah said, and grinned.

-----

Mee was steamed. Not only were all her weapons gone, her vehicle's main power conduits had been stripped down, part of the exterior armor removed, and the computer core had been drained.

She paced the interior of the small vehicle for a minute, then sighed. She had lost. Galling, but she was not so weak as to try to deny it. She had fought a good fight, but the Ghosts had fought a better one.

A piece of brown paper on the console caught her eye. Her lips thinned as she read it.

A: Pleasant dreams?
D: My sword and I await your next visit.
I: Y'all come back now, y'heah?
K: Will you go out with me?
R: Give Petresun my regards.
T: Go get your own colony.
X: Count your blessings.

Underneath the paper was a small credit cube, the type used to keep track of credits and debts between individuals. She read the small text on the lit face.

Credit: Fantasma Colony
Debtor: Commander Kym Mee
Amount: 87 lives

She set the cube down slowly, gazing out the window toward the scarp and the colony entrance. She bowed her head, unfastened the badge of rank on her collar, and dropped it to clatter hollowly on the floor.

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