Nuclear Knights E-Book

Jesse Wilson

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

After the end of modern civilization, the world hangs in a dreadful balance.

Humanity, giant beasts and aliens live together, all fighting to survive a wasteland littered with scars of the apocalypse. The Nuclear Knights - humanity’s last defenders - disappeared five years ago to parts unknown.

Now, the last remaining piece of human society on a space station plots to reclaim the Earth for themselves. Seeking help from the reclusive heroes to survive the coming war, the last survivors of mankind soon face a deadly last stand that will forever change the future of their world.

Leseprobe

Nuclear Knights

Jesse Wilson

Copyright (C) 2018 Jesse Wilson

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2019 by Next Chapter

Published 2019 by Next Chapter

Cover art by Cover Mint

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.

Chapter One

The dust blew across the land, the same as it had done for ages. Ryan sighed as he watched the deep yellow sun just start to break the horizon through the small opening in his wall he called a window. Another day in the wasteland, another day trying to live. Ryan rubbed an old injury on his arm, long since healed but that phantom pain still persisted. He did his best to ignore it.

He walked through his house that looked like it was going to fall over at any minute to his clothes of which he didn't have many. An old black shirt, jeans and a worn-out pair of shoes that had seen better days. It only took a few minutes to get dressed and a bit longer to fasten his gun belt.

The shack was nothing more than rusty sheet metal attached together in the shape of living quarters. The walls were much the same. Brown, rusted metal separating him from the outside. On the shelves were cans of food and bottles of water and he moved to the equally excuse he had for a door to his shack.

He shut the patchwork door behind him, turned and tied it shut with his frayed rope. Security around here was all for show, the only thing of value he owned was the blaster in the old leather holster on his hip. He took a breath of fresh air, at least as fresh as it got. There was always a slight metallic scent on the air. It was the best way Ryan could ever describe it. In a life of constant change and potential for it, this was one thing that never changed. It comforted him, he almost smiled.

Ryan walked down the path to the side of his shack, this early in the morning was the best time to be out and about. The heat didn't get bad for a few more hours and he needed to do his part to refill the town's water supply. It was a job, everyone had one if they wanted to live anywhere. Thankfully he happened to like his after about five years of doing it.

He walked to the side of his house and picked up the end of a net that was filled with gallon buckets. With a grunt he dragged the end of the net on to a metal trailer and quickly fastened the ends down on the side with the same old cable he'd been using for a couple of years now.

Then he walked to the front, picked up the dust covered cable and hooked it around the hitch on the back of his small hoverbike. It only took a few seconds to make sure it was secure before getting on the bike. He flipped a switch and the old machine hummed to life, lifted off the ground. Ryan put on his goggles and eased the thing away from his stitched together shelter.

There were other people here in town and most of them didn't bother getting up before the sun came up. Ryan didn't care if the hum of his bike was going to wake anyone up or not. He got to the wall in just a few minutes and slowed to a stop at the gates.

“Why are you going on a water run this early?” a man on the wall asked him. He was wearing brown pants and a white shirt, both covered in dust and frayed around the edges. “I don't know, I just want to beat the crowd is all I suppose,” Ryan replied and there was a second of silence. “We haven't had a report of a beast in weeks, so I guess it's okay to go out,” the man said, put his tattered glove around the metal switch and pulled it. Ryan nodded at the information.

“You don't say? I haven't seen one of those things in almost a year now, and D-class don't count,” he replied. No one counted the D-class as a threat. Matt just laughed in response as the gates slowly started to open.

The lights on the metal gate flashed green then swung open with a slow squeak. “Hey, if you find a box of Twinkies in the city, can you bring one back?” Matt asked and Ryan sighed. “I'm not going to the city, the place has been picked clean, you know this,” he replied and Matt laughed.

“I know, I just had a dream about them last night is all,” Matt replied and Ryan tilted his head. As far as he was aware, the only time either of them had ever seen a Twinkie, was in an ancient advertisement that a trader caravan brought on the rare occasions. He shook his head and got to the task at hand and the realization of what Matt just said.

“You're on the night watch, you're not supposed to be dreaming about anything,” Ryan said as the gate finished opening. Matt just nodded, smiled and motioned him to go through. “Yeah, yeah, just come back in one piece and if you meet one of those things out there, please don't lead it back here, please,” Matt said and Ryan shook his head. “I live here, so yeah, not a problem,” he replied sarcastically and moved through the gate into the desert beyond.

He pushed his hoverbike down the dirt path and into the desert towards the river. Ryan heard tales of the before time. The older people often told tales of green lands, water and paradise that were passed down to them from generations past. Ryan couldn't imagine that much green could ever exist in one place, or water, or anything else like it.

He was born in this wasteland and this was all he knew. The quiet was always relaxing. The way the old timers described the world in the before days always sounded like noise and constant chaos. Ryan liked this world, it was his world. Dangerous, but fair, usually.

It wasn't long before he made his final turn and saw the bright green river flowed in front of him. the rays of the sun glinting across its water. This river might have had a name once, but now everyone just called it the river. No one he knew had ever seen where it started, or where it ended. All anyone knew was that it was constant and if it ever went away, they would too.

He pulled up to the muddy shore and turned his bike off, it slowly moved down to the sand and he got off the bike. He walked to the back, untied the net to bring his plastic jugs to the water. He looked up and down the shore. Sometimes predators liked to hang out in the early morning hours like this and being too careful was never a bad idea.

Today, nothing. Maybe they had a good night eating, he didn't worry about them and he hoped they didn't want to eat him. It worked out fine so far. He started to pull the jugs out of the net and started to kneel near the edge of the river when suddenly he heard a deep noise but he felt it in his chest. The ground beneath him shifted a little.

“No,” he whispered to himself and stood up. This was the telltale sign of a beast. Every kid was taught that from the beginning. Shaking earth, silence and the smell of ozone. That last one wasn't always reliable. The earth shifted again, this time he was sure something was close, but he still didn't see anything.

Then in the middle of the river, the green water bulged up. “Oh,” he said and backed off. The thing rose out of the river and stared blankly ahead. It had long floppy ears, a brown shell on its back. Its skin was dark green and it stood on two stocky legs, its arms were just long enough to be useful. They ended in long claws. The thing stood one hundred feet tall. Ryan sighed with relief and a smile.

“You're just a D class,” he said and knew he was relatively safe. D class beasts were big doofs, harmless mostly. It took a special kind of stupid to get killed by a D class. “You must be my good luck charm for today,” he said to the beast in the middle of the river. He was sure it saw him, too, but neither one was a threat to another.

Ryan kept an eye on the beast as he continued to unload his plastic jugs on the shore when the thing turned its head in his direction and its pale green eyes went wide. Ryan wasn't sure what he did to anger the nameless thing, but a second past and it was easy to realize that it wasn't looking at him at all, but past him, towards where he lived. With a high pitched bark of fright, the D class beast wasted no time in diving into river in a panic.

“No,” Ryan said in a hurry and ran to his hover bike as the large wave of water created by the sudden diving thing threatened to destroy the second most valuable thing he had. He turned it on as the wall of water was getting closer. The machine came to life, the second it lifted from the ground Ryan spun the bike around. He floored it seconds before the water washed over the shore line.

He sped away and didn't care about the jugs, they could be replaced. Something spooked that thing and the only thing capable of doing that, was a higher-class beast. He sped down the dirt path and stopped after that last turn. The sight he was seeing, it didn't make any sense. Mere minutes ago, the place was fine. Now a three hundred foot beast was wading through the center of town. He could hear the alarms still blaring in the distance.

The thing had dark purple skin and like most of the beasts wandered blindly ahead on two, thick and powerful legs. It had one row of black spines running down its back. Its arms were long, thick and powerful, but they were bent with its hands hanging limp. Ryan looked up at the thing's dinosaur head. The first thing he noticed were the eyes, they were closed.

“What in the hell?” he asked himself. He'd never seen anything like it, but then again, the last time he was in an attack, he didn't have time to study the monster from a distance either. These days monster attacks like this rarely happened, not since the knights took down the last walking nightmare five years ago.

Ryan looked ahead of the beast and he could see the crowd of people fleeing from the monster as it slowly lumbered through the village with no effort at all. Then he looked to his left and on a hill, in the increasing light, he saw a someone dressed in silver and it looked as if they were holding a strange device in his hands. There was no way the two events weren't connected. He spun his hoverbike around in the stranger's direction and rode as fast as he could.

He didn't really think about what he was doing rather than thinking that this was something that had to be done. If someone was somehow using the monster to attack where he lived. He needed to figure out how, why. So many questions and things that didn't make any sense.

The stranger lowered the device as Ryan sped in his direction and looked right at him. Ryan knew there was no running, he was going to find out who this was. Then the silver figure disappeared right before his eyes in a flash of green light before he was close enough to see anything else about them. “Damn it,” he said and stopped the bike. Just another thing that didn't make sense. He'd never seen anyone disappear before.

Ryan turned around and watched. The beast in the middle of town stopped in its tracks. It shook its head as if it was just waking up from a dream. Not only from a dream but the eyes opened, it looked around at where it was. The beast was clearly confused, maybe even nervous. The expression changed at once and it turned around as slowly as it could, as if to not do any more damage than it already had and began to walk away.

He'd never seen a beast do that before, usually they were, well, much more vicious. Then he looked to the opposite end and thankfully there was a crowd of people evacuating town. He accelerated the bike in their direction kicking up a trail of dust behind him.

Chapter Two

Ryan slowed down as he got to the crowd. The thunderous footsteps of the beast fading as it left town. He saw Matt towards the back making sure people were alright. “What in the hell happened here?” Ryan asked him and Matt shook his head. “I don't know, it, well, it just came out of nowhere. I swear one minute everything was fine and then it just was right there,” Matt said and that didn't make any sense to Ryan.

“How could it sneak up on you. It wasn't a ground dweller C-class or something. It was a B class beast. You can't exactly just not see it, you know?” Ryan asked again and Matt shrugged. “I am telling you, it just appeared out of the dark,” Matt replied and as much sense as it didn't make, it was just another thing on the list of things that didn't make sense today.

“Well, it's gone now, we got lucky. I need to check to see if the water purification center is smashed or not. If it is we'll need to spend a few days in Hadoth until we can get it fixed,” Ryan replied and Matt looked into the wreckage of the city. “It's smashed, I don't need to go in there to check to know that. I think the thing just stepped on it,” Matt replied and Ryan was about to agree when another voice began to speak over the crowd and the various voices quieted. Matt and Ryan turned to pay attention as well.

“Well, that's one hell of a wakeup call,” the man said and the crowd had a slight laugh. He was wearing a tan shirt with faded green pants. He stood at the front of the crowd.

“Alright, me and a couple of others are going to go to Hadoth to get a new water unit. The rest of you are going to stay here. The damage is contained and I don't see too much fire, most of it can be repaired by what we have on hand. We have two days' worth of clean water saved up, three if you ration it out,” he said and tossed a ring of keys to a man beside him who caught it.

The man looked over the crowd and saw Ryan who still had a bike, and the man responsible for not warning them in advance right next to him. He knew that they'd eventually blame him Matt for this so it was right then he decided who was coming with him. “Ryan, Matt, you're coming with me,” he said to them. This attracted the attention of the others. Matt was on part of the night watch and the beast walked from his direction. The pieces were starting to come together.

“You're lucky he picked you, these people might get mad and kill you once the shock passes,” Ryan said and continued. “Get on my trailer and I'll get you away from the crowd,” Ryan said under his breath and Matt didn't have to think twice about that. People were already starting to look in their direction. Matt quickly jumped on and Ryan took off towards the leader of the village.

“Thanks,” Matt said the second they pulled up to him. “Don't thank me. I'm just saving you from being hanged. If I find out you were sleeping on the job, well, you won't be so lucky,” Joppo said and Matt looked at the crowd, then at the destruction behind them.

“Joppo, man, you've got to believe me. I swear. It just appeared out of nowhere. There is no way it could have snuck up on me. Or anyone, the thing was a B-class, they aren't known for their stealth,” Matt said but Joppo wasn't interested in stories.

“Don't worry. The cameras will let me know what's up. You two wait here. I'm going to get my pack and we'll start going to Hadoth in twenty minutes,” Joppo said and Ryan nodded. “I need to get mine too, if it's not crushed,” Ryan said and shut the bike off, it settled to the ground.

“You stay here with my bike, I need to get mine too. If yours isn't flattened I'll pick it up. If it is, you're going without. I'm pretty sure you were sleeping on the job,” Ryan finished and he got off the bike and started to walk back to the village.

“Thanks,” Matt said and sat down on the trailer, the crowd began to leave and Joppo and Ryan disappeared into it. Matt crossed his arms and looked around. Something about being out here alone was making him nervous. If that thing could appear out of nowhere, nothing was stopping it from happening again. The sun was barely up this morning, but it was already getting hot. Right now, all he really wanted to do was go home and go to sleep. He wasn't even sure if he had a home left.

Chapter Three

“Joppo, I saw something strange during the attack,” Ryan said as they walked behind the crowd. “What?” Joppo asked. “Someone in silver, it, well, it looked like it was controlling the monster. I tried to chase them down but whoever it was disappeared,” Ryan said and Joppo shrugged.

“I've got no idea what that could be, I've never heard of anything like that. Maybe the Hadoth people will know something,” he replied and continued. “Why would you run after someone like that?” Joppo asked. Ryan wasn't sure and didn't have an answer.

“Well, if you see any more weird people in silver, maybe it's best to just steer clear of them for now,” Joppo added as they walked. Ryan wasn't okay with that, but figured it was the best course of action, at least for now.

They got into the village and the place was a mess the farther they walked. The crowd ahead of them started to wail. Houses were smashed into rubble and smoke rose up into the sky. Thankfully no major fires had broken out yet.

The beast's stroll through town could have been worse, Joppo supposed. He had a sigh of relief and thanked the universe for small favors. His hut was intact besides a large wooden beam sticking through the side of the wall.

“Alright, I'll meet you out at your bike in twenty minutes. I need to talk to Lisa while I'm gone. I hope your place is still standing, good luck,” Joppo said and walked towards his house. Ryan could only hope for the best at this point.

Ryan broke away from the crowd and made his way back to his house, thankfully the creature didn't get this far into the town. His simple place was just like he left it. He walked to the door and unlocked it, stepped inside.

“Sorry about this, but I had to test out my theory,” a voice said in the dark and Ryan pulled his blaster immediately in the direction of the voice. A woman walked out of the dark, dressed in the silver clothes as before. He noticed right away that her eyes were dark purple.

“I, well, I have some questions,” he said and she crossed her arms. “No one has ever seen me work before. I just wanted to meet the person who did before I killed you,” she said with a smile and lifted a strange looking weapon in his direction. Ryan fired and the green blaster beam hit her silver clothes and dissolved harmlessly into green sparks.

She pulled the trigger on her weapon and a blue beam hit Ryan in the stomach and knocked him straight back through the door, tearing it off its weak hinges in the process. Ryan landed on the ground and his wound sizzled. He heard footsteps coming towards him. “I know you're not dead, also I know you're not willing to talk but I need to know. Did you happen to tell anyone else you saw me? Because that would be really inconvenient,” she asked him.

Ryan opened his eyes. “I'm not going to—” she pointed her weapon at his head. “You tell me who you told or I'll bring my pet back and kill everyone. No one is going to miss this garbage fire of a village, but I'd rather not attract any unneeded attention until the time is right. One more time, who did you tell?” she asked again and narrowed her purple eyes at him.

“Joppo, Matt. That's all. I swear, that's all,” Ryan said between breaths. She smiled, nodded and sighed. “I have no idea who they are. You're going to have to show them to me,” she said knelt down, pulled a syringe filled with bright red liquid and injected him with it. Ryan's pain faded just a few seconds after she pulled the needle out.

“What in the hell did you do to me?” he asked and sat up. “First aid kit, you wouldn't understand and you're not going to live long enough to care anyway,” she said and put the syringe back where she got it. Then she tossed him two tiny metal spheres and they landed on his chest. “Put one on each of the people you told and don't tell anyone. Remember, everything you see here is one monster attack away from obliteration,” she said to him with a smile.

“How did you even find me?” Ryan asked as he sat up. “You're going to be dead in ten minutes. Who cares,” she replied and disappeared before his eyes. Ryan looked around and was really surprised no one was around to see any of this. “Damn it,” he said to himself and had no idea what to do next. He supposed he was being watched, too. He picked himself up and was still sore from the experience but glad to be breathing, at least for now.

He walked back to his now damaged place and went inside. Then he found his travel pack. In a world like this you had to always keep a thing like this on hand. He picked it up and put the strap over his shoulder. None of this seemed real, but the fading pain was a good reminder that he needed to think of something to prevent the disaster that was coming.

There was no reason to trust the stranger. If she really could control the beasts, nothing was stopping her from unleashing the monster on the town again even if he did what she wanted. Ryan looked at the trackers in his hands and knew what he had to do. There was no choice and it was worth the risk. He squeezed the metal orbs in his hand and walked away from his house and started to make his way back to his hoverbike.

Chapter Four

“What did you do?” he asked just after he appeared behind her. “Lam, I have it under control. These peasants are idiots,” she replied. Lam crossed his arms and stepped beside her. They were overlooking the wrecked village. “You call sending in a B-class beast to a small town smart? This was stupid. I assume that you didn't finish the job because the device failed?” Lam asked her and she shook her head. “No, one of the locals saw me, then he told two of his buddies. I'm just waiting for him to place the trackers on them so I can kill the three of them,” she said and smiled.

“That's the dumbest plan I've ever heard. No one is going to believe them, even if they believe him and, wait, trackers?” Lam asked and he didn't like where this was going. “Yeah, I did the old teleport into his house bit and threatened him with a shot to the stomach,” she replied and smiled.

“First, how did you know what house was his, secondly, why would you do that?” Lam asked her and he was annoyed. All of this was just getting worse. “She isn't going to like this, and you know I have to report this, right?” he asked and she sighed. “Yeah, I know,” she replied and he shook his head. “Nyogyth, listen. I know you think this plan is going to work, but you need stop rushing it. Controlling the monsters is genius, but you need to slow down,” Lam said to her and she grunted, crossed her arms.

“What's the point of going slow. There isn't going to be anything left of the world at this rate. These people can't fix anything. All of humanity is hanging by a thread. I mean look at this dump. People call this home,” Nyogyth said in frustration. Lam shook his head. “It's been like this for over a hundred and fifty years. I am sure the world will be fine for a little while longer,” he replied and continued.

“Go home, give me the tracker frequencies and I'll follow your mistakes and see what happens. I'm sure it'll be fine. You're not in the right mind for this right now,” Lam said and Nyogyth shook her head. “Fine, the trackers are on the beta frequency, good luck,” she said, pushed a button on her wrist and disappeared in green light.

Lam took the scanner off his belt and adjusted it to track the beta frequency. Sure, enough there were three trackers and they were all still in the same place. “Damn it, woman. Everything was going so nice too,” Lam said and hated being on this monster infested, burned out planet. Lam thought about just going back home and he almost did it too. For now, he would wait for the three of them to be a little more isolated.

Joppo made it to his house. It wasn't much more impressive than any other in this village. “Lisa, are you in there?” he asked and for a second, there wasn't an answer. He walked to the door and went inside. “Hey, I need to go to Hadoth, where are you at?” he asked, the silence was starting to make him feel uncomfortable.

“Yeah, I'm out back, I can barely hear you,” she yelled from outside and all of his tension went away. She sounded fine at least. He walked through the house and through the back door. She was just getting finished moving debris off the hoverbike in the back. “It's not broke is it?” he asked. “Nah, just buried a little. Not a problem,” she replied.

“Good, and thanks. I need to go do Hadoth and report the damage, and we need a new water purification unit,” he said and she nodded. “Yeah, I know. I heard you tell everyone. I know what to do. Don't worry about this place. I'm sure the monster won't come back,” she said, he had no idea how she could be so sure about that.

“Well, keep the people busy, you know what to do. I just wanted to say goodbye before I left. We should only be gone a couple of days,” he said and she smiled. “Yeah, you know I hate it when you go, but just be careful, okay?” she said and he nodded. “Of course, you know I will,” he replied and looked at his bike. “The last thing I wanted to do today was take a road trip, I really hate road trips,” he said.

“I got the pack ready, it's behind you. You can leave at any time,” she said and smiled and he nodded. “The sooner I leave the faster I get to come back,” Joppo said as he turned around, walked to his pack and picked it up. He looked at it the way he always did, a brown leather bag that was always the only line of defense against death outside of the walls of this place. He hated it as much as he needed it. “Well, Lisa, thanks a lot, again. I love you and I'll see you soon,” he said and she smiled.

“Love you too, now get out of there. I'll have this place as good as new by the time you get back,” she replied and he walked towards the bike, as he did, she grabbed him and kissed him as he walked by, surprising him. He returned it and did it the same as he did every time, like it was the last time. Neither of them ever talked about it, but they and everyone else knew that every day out here in the wasteland could be their last, today almost was.

He drew back with a smile. “I can't wait to get back home,” he said and she let him go. “Me either,” she replied and looked at the mess. Realizing other people had it so much worse right now.

With that Joppo moved to his bike, got on it. He was hoping it wouldn't start, he didn't really want to go anywhere but as he flipped the switch the thing hummed to life and lifted off the ground. “Good, it still works,” he said with a heavy amount of sarcasm.

She laughed and watched as he slowly started to go down the path and quickly disappear around a corner. Lisa knew each time he disappeared like this, might be the last time she, or anyone else ever saw him again.

Chapter Five

Joppo made his way out of town and back to where he expected the others to be. Matt was sleeping on the trailer and Ryan was leaning against his bike. “No pack for Matt?” Joppo asked him. In all the things that just happened, he forgot all about it. “Uh, no, but we have a problem,” Ryan replied, held out his hand and showed the trackers. “What are those?” Joppo asked, these metal things didn't mean anything to him.

“Trackers, remember that person I told you about, they found me. Joppo, we're going to die out here,” Ryan said and had panic in his eyes. Joppo rubbed his chin and thought about it for a few seconds. “Here, I have an idea,” he said and continued. “Throw them on the ground,” he said and Ryan looked at him like he was crazy.

“You don't know these people, I don't know these people, but this lady, she shot me, then made me better with something,” Ryan said and was beginning to panic, he wasn't listening to Joppo as the panic inside him rose. “Ryan, put the trackers on the ground,” Joppo said again calmly. Ryan shook his head and dropped the two orbs onto the sand. Joppo took his blaster off of his side, pointed, and pulled the trigger. His green beam hit the metal and melted them instantly. Ryan jumped back in surprise.

“There, problem solved,” Joppo said and put his blaster back. Ryan looked around, he expected an assassin to jump out at any moment to kill them all. Nothing happened, however, Ryan didn't feel like he was safe at all, less than usual. “Come on, let's get going. Once we get to the city we get what need we can get back. This is just a milk run if anything. Let's not over complicate it,” Joppo said and Ryan was confused.

“You don't seem too worried about the crazy invincible assassin. If I didn't mention it, I shot her and nothing happened. Your blaster is about the same as mine and it did nothing,” Ryan said and Joppo just shrugged. “I guess if she shows up we'll have to go low tech, then. If blasters don't work, I'm sure this will,” he said and moved his vest just enough to reveal a black pistol in a holster under it. Ryan didn't know he had one of them. He'd heard stories but never saw one before.

“Just uh, keep this to yourself, alright?” Joppo said and smiled. Ryan was impressed, he wasn't convinced it would work. Ryan got on his hover bike and switched it on. “Is he going to fall off?” Joppo asked looking at Matt passed out in the trailer. “I guess we'll find out,” Ryan said and was relieved that the trackers were gone. He felt as If he was forgetting something, however.

Joppo took one last look at the village then turned back to the open road that pushed through the hills and started to move forward. Ryan quickly did the same thing and they were on their way. Hoverbikes were the main mode of transportation, but they were slow. Ryan looked at his speedometer and it was topping out at forty-five miles an hour already. “Can you believe the stories we used to hear as kids. Things that could go hundreds of miles an hour?” Joppo said and laughed.

“Yeah, I can, we could use some of that right now,” Ryan replied. He didn't like talking and driving at the same time or going on road trips. Ryan also was still worried that at any moment now someone was going to be standing in the road ready to kill them. “What we really need is to just get to where we are going. That crazy silver woman could still come back,” he said and Joppo shook his head.

“She won't be coming back. They always pull stuff like this. The outlanders and the knights have been, say, abrasive towards one another since the fall, they'll ignore and forget about you. I promise,” Joppo said and Ryan looked at him, taking his eyes off the road.

“Joppo. The knights haven't been seen in five years. Are you telling me the silver woman was a real outsider?” Ryan asked. Joppo nodded. “Yes, they aren't just stories you know. Just not talked about a lot or seen often,” Joppo replied to him. Ryan wasn't all that surprised. He'd never seen one before but now that he thought of it, the silver people, the description matched some of the stories he's heard in the past. Those stories were always the same. People see them in the distance, shiny clothes and only for a few seconds.

Joppo smiled. “Yeah, I guess so. I mean. The elders of the villages know about it. It's kind of a secret that we all share. We don't know much more than you do, but it's the main reason we haven't all been overrun by the beasts. The knights keep them in check like they always have since the fall. The outlanders, well, they are just weird,” Joppo said as much as he knew.

Then it occurred to him that Joppo was telling him all of this without hesitation. “And keep your eyes on the road,” Joppo added. Ryan realized that he was distracted and put his eyes back in front of him. Nothing was there, however, just miles of empty desert.

“Ryan, I'm thirty six years old. I'm not going to live forever. Today's attack made me realize that someone should be ready to be in charge. You've been the water man since you were fifteen years old. You're reliable and the people depend on you. So, why not you take over when I'm gone?” Joppo asked him and Ryan's eyes went wide. “What about Lisa?” he asked quickly.

“She hates it. She hates it that I'm the leader most of the time. She says constantly that when I get stepped on or sick and die that she's giving all of the stuff up. You're what, twenty-one now. I mean I don't plan on dying anytime soon but, you know, good to be prepared and all that,” Joppo said as they took a curve on the road. “I'll think about it. No promises,” Ryan replied. Joppo smiled.

“There never are any promised things in this world, but if you could keep what I told you to yourself, that'd be good. I don't plan on checking out yet,” Joppo said to him. Ryan nodded. “I understand. I'll think about it. Right now, we should just focus on getting to the city,” Ryan replied.

The two of them drove on the lonely road. Ryan was about to say something else but as soon as he started to open his mouth, there standing in the road was a silver figure. They were standing in the distance right in the middle of it.

“Oh, damn it, look. I told you she'd show up again. How did she find us, you melted the trackers,” Ryan said and began to slow down. “No idea, maybe we can talk some sense into her. She must have put a tracker on you while you were injured,” Joppo said and slowed down with him.

Ryan put his hand into his left pocket and sure enough was a tiny orb. He pulled it out and saw a similar tracker. “Damn it, why didn't I check?” he asked himself and tossed it off to the side in a hurry, feeling really disappointed himself for not knowing better, he was sure that he'd never figure out how that got there.

“Don't worry about it, just stay calm,” Joppo said as the two of them approached the silver figure and slowed down and came to a stop just before they met with the figure. To both of their surprise it was a man. Ryan didn't know what was going on. The man in the silver suit had his hands behind his back and began to walk forward.

Chapter Six

“Hello, wasteland people. My name is Lam. I believe one of you met an associate of mine?” he said to them in a cold, almost robotic voice. Ryan's eyes shifted nervously, Lam caught it. “It must have been you. I would, well, like to apologize for any threats she might have made,” Lam said and shook his head. “She gets a little too motivated in her mission. So, if we can agree to keep that, and this little encounter a secret I think everything will work out nicely. What do you say?” Lam asked the both of them.

Joppo studied the Outlander carefully. Lam was aware of Joppo's eyes but it didn't bother him. Ryan swallowed and felt like he couldn't breathe. Everything felt like it was closing in around him. “Yeah. I can keep a secret,” he said weakly and wasn't sure if it was just in his head or not.

“Excellent, I'm glad we came to an understanding,” Lam said and leaned to the left. Matt was still sleeping in the trailer. He didn't need any more people knowing anything. “I'll expect you both to be quiet,” he said then he disappeared in a white flash of light with the noise of a small explosion.

Matt woke up at the sudden noise with a start. “What, why are you stopped, what happened?” he said trying to get his bearings. “Joppo's old bike just had a loose compressor, you know how it is,” Ryan said quickly. “I didn't know they could get that loud,” Matt said and laid back down. “Alright, let's go to Hodath,” Joppo said and started moving forward again. Ryan did the same thing. His anxiety was going away, but not much.

Matt passed out again and Ryan looked back briefly to make sure. “Does that happen a lot?” he asked and Joppo just shrugged. “Not really. They usually keep to themselves. None of the elders know where they come from or where they go. That was the first time I've ever seen one in real life. It has only been pictures up until now,” he replied. “They are much shinier than I remember the picture I saw,” he added and wasn't sure what to think.

“I guess secret keeping is part of the job when you're the leader. Besides no one is going to believe us anyway that we saw one anyway,” Ryan supposed that was true, but he didn't want to break his world to the shiny person.

Hours on the dirt road past, the two of them didn't have anything to add on to the situation. Then the road took a final right turn and revealed to them the broken city. For miles in all directions all they could see were burned out and broken skyscrapers, hundreds of years old. A scar from the past that endured. The wasteland was filled with such reminders of how the Earth used to be before the fall.

“Every time I see this place it gives me chills,” Joppo said and took it all in. He could only imagine the beasts that ruined this place and the terror people felt seeing them for the first time. They could still smell a faint whiff of smoke, nothing to do with the past, however.

The broken cities were lawless places where the sand raiders like to live. To get to Hadoth, you had to get through here. “What do you think, should we go through here or go around?” Joppo asked him and Ryan didn't know what was worse. Meeting a potential beast on the outside roads or meeting a gang of cannibals in the city.

Ryan knew this was a test. It was obvious to him that it was nothing else. “We need to get back home so we can't waste time trying to go around,” Ryan replied and Joppo nodded. “You got that right. It's only a couple days through the city but I think we can make it,” he replied and Ryan took a deep breath. The ocean of wreckage lay out endlessly before them. “Alright, let's go,” Ryan said.

Ryan and Joppo started pushing their hoverbikes down the beaten dirt path. The dirt beneath them slowly gave way to shattered and broken asphalt that had been warped with heat, radioactive fire from days gone past. The first building they passed had faded red letters on a blue sign, tilted to the right. The remaining letters only spelled out half a word Walma, it read.

“You know, I've been that by that sign a hundred times I bet and I can't figure out for the life of what a Walma could have been. The before people sure were weird,” Joppo said as they drove by. “It's too bad all this had to happen, but if it didn't, we likely wouldn't exist,” Ryan said. Joppo wondered if never existing would have been better.

The wreckage increased along the sides of the broken road as they hovered over the deep cracks in it. The signs of the Sand Raiders quickly became visible. Shattered skeletons tied to posts, half bone, half jagged metal to replace the bones that were missing, all of them painted red. Ryan wasn't sure where they got the paint, it that's what it was.

“They mostly come out at night so we should be safe. The closer we get to Hadoth the less we'll see that nonsense,” Joppo said and Ryan shook his head. “Mostly?” he asked, his eyes jumping around to every shadow now, instantly nervous about being attacked at any time. And to his realization and horror, the shadows and places to hide around here were endless.

“Look on the bright side, if we get caught we can give them the screw up back there to eat and they might us go,” Joppo said and Ryan sighed. “You do understand that it is impossible for a monster like that to sneak up on anyone, even if they are sleeping,” Ryan replied and continued. “I swear, the silver people are up to something and—” Joppo cut him off.

“Relax, I know it's impossible but you know how mobs get. I won't give anyone up to the sand people to eat if they show up, we'll all die together, screaming I'm sure,” Joppo replied to him with a smile, but wasn't sure why. He wasn't kidding about any of that.

Ryan wished Joppo would stop saying stuff like that. Then the sound of a blaster fire rang out in the distance and they stopped their bikes. “Sounds like it was close,” Ryan said and looked around. There was no telling where it might have come from, however.

“Come on, there isn't anything we can do. We have our own problems, you know how it is,” Joppo said with a hint of sadness to his voice. He was well aware that saving everyone was out of the question.

Ryan sighed and did his best to ignore it, without another word he pushed his bike forward down the broken path. Joppo followed him. “You know, many years ago when I was on this very path. Irak and I heard a blaster sound off in the distance, just like that,” Joppo said and continued. “We went to investigate like I know you want to,” Joppo continued.

“Well we found the source of the blaster, it was a teenage girl and she was surrounded by maniacs,” Joppo said and took a breath. “I'd like to tell you we ran to the rescue, but we didn't. There were twenty of them and we quickly backed away. If we tried anything, we would have died too,” Joppo said with more than a hint of regret in his voice. There was no reason to tell how that story ended.

“I guess we just have to look out for us,” Ryan said bitterly as they took another turn. There was a sign there on the side of the road that was full of small holes and blaster marks. But it was still easily read. 'Hadoth forty-five miles down the path. Travel at your own risk, do not stray from the path' Ryan looked at it.

Adventure and danger lay off the path. Everyone knew that the city was filled with Sand raiders and other equally dangerous things that had evolved out there. “Come on, let's go,” Joppo said as they passed the sign.

Chapter Seven

Nyogyth paced back and forth on her quarters. Fuming about being seen and interrupted by Lam when a beep came from her speaker at the door. She stopped. “Come in,” she said and prepared herself for the worst. Her silver doors slid open silently and another woman walked in. She was wearing red and black jump suit. Taller than Nygoth with long silver hair that reflected the light. Her blue eyes pierced through Nyogyth at once, as they always had.

Nyogyth saluted her commanding officer. “At ease, and there isn't a need to be so official, but I appreciate the gesture,” she said and Nyogyth relaxed, but not much. “Lam says you've been conducting experiments on the alien lifeforms?” she asked. “Yes sir,” Nyogyth replied immediately. There was no point in lying about anything now that she had been discovered.

Commander Meria studied her and crossed her arms. She thought about scolding the science officer but decided against it. “Well, I want a full report. Right now,” Meria ordered and Nyogyth didn't know what to say.

“Sir, I just want to go home. Those aliens infested our planet since long before any of us were born. I've just been experimenting with Delta waves. It was a side hobby, a theory of mine. I've only been working on a controller for a few years now,” she replied and continued. “And the Delta waves work. I can control three of the four types of beasts but just one at a time. I think that we can use them to get our planet back,” Nyogyth said and almost smiled, but held it back.

“Attacking defenseless villages in the wasteland is how you test this out?” Meria asked her and Nyogyth didn't look away. “The dirt people are worthless to us. They are so devolved and used to the planet they'd rather die than change their ways. Don't tell me you care about the trash on the planet,” Nyogyth said and Meria tilted her head a little.

“No, not really. You're right about all of that but we can subjugate them. Even maggots are useful in the right situations,” she replied and Nyogyth was annoyed, she didn't care if she killed them all, none of them deserved to live if they wouldn't fight to reclaim their planet.

“I guess, I sent Lam down to hopefully take care of the situation a few hours ago. But in theory, how much time would you need to control more than one at a time?” Meria asked and she thought about it.

“An amplifier, and about four days to set up,” she replied and Meria thought about it. “The Knights won't approve of this. I don't think we can pull it off,” she decided and Nyogyth narrowed her eyes.

“Knights, are you kidding me? When was the last time we've heard from any of them? Five years ago? More maybe? Why do we care what they think? For all we know they are all dead by now,” Nyogyth said and Meria nodded at this.

“Yeah, I don't know if they are alive or not. We all agreed not to interfere with the world and keep the program going as long as needed,” Meria said and didn't feel comfortable breaking the treaty they have held for over a century.

“The Nuclear Knight Program has done its job. They defeated and sealed the Prime Kaiju on the planet, the lesser beasts are aimless now without their leaders. What are we waiting for? The Nanite systems of the stations won't fail but eventually we will. We need to go back home. We have the power to take our planet back, the means to do it. What's holding us back?” Nyogyth asked, pleaded with her.

Meria walked and looked out the port side window. The planet lay far below them. She could see storms raging on the surface, black patches of scarred earth from battles long past. The ocean, once blue, was now a light shade of green. The Earth had been changed so drastically that she wasn't even sure they could live on the surface anymore. The people born there were altered, on the Seran Station, they were considerably weaker. Maybe weaker wasn't the right word, she thought. No, the right word was pure. Uncorrupted. It was then Meria made her choice.

“Alright. We're going home,” Meria said and smiled. She'd always wanted to return the human race to its former glory. She was sure the rest of the humans down below were tired of living in the dust and ruins of an alien kaiju apocalypse that no one living today was alive to even see.

Nyogyth smiled, beamed her approval of the choice. “I can get started right away, I think from here we can control three or four beasts at a time with what we have,” she said and Meria nodded. “Make it so. Hadoth is one of the biggest cities left on the planet and they are doing their stupid superstitious festival there. We can give the message to their leaders that the world as they know it is over in four days,” Meria said and nodded.

“What if they resist?” Nyogyth asked. “Then we destroy everything they have until they see just how stupid they are and stop resisting, or die,” Meria said with a shrug. “Good enough for me. Hey. You should make Lam give the message to the waste people. He seems to care for them. I think he'd appreciate being the one to deliver hope to the masses,” Nyogyth said and Meria nodded.

“Agreed. Just let me know when you're ready,” she said, took one last look at the ruined Earth below before turning and walking out of the room.