Fallen Empire

chapter 21

VI. 

Ryland Stands with his back to the giant door of the transport dock. Bizmark continues to fire at the onslaught of Sentinels bearing down on them. Ryland reaches inside a pouch on his belt and pulls out a Temporal Disk. He places it on the door and it magnetically attaches.

A heartbeat later the door vanishes. Ryland grabs Bizmark by his collar and flings him through the door following quickly behind. The two fugitives run down a fenced in passageway where the transport, with Ryland’s Temporal Gauntlet, is steadily pulling away.

The transport reaches the perimeter gate first as Bizmark aims at the guard towers without breaking his stride. He takes out the Sentinels on two of four guard towers. The remaining two guard towers open fire hitting only Ryland, having no effect.

Ryland strides past Bizmark to catch up to the transport. Ryland reaches for his dagger and makes a mighty leap for the transport, stabbing his dagger into the titanium hull. He holds his hand out for Bizmark who has to run faster for the transport as it steadily gains speed. Their hands clasp together and Ryland swings Bizmark to the top of the transport.

Bizmark lands on the top of the transport narrowly avoiding the laser blasts from one of the two remaining guard towers. Bizmark returns their miss with a direct hit. The last guard tower fires at Ryland who is using both daggers to climb up the side of the transport. The transport itself exits the perimeter gate and helicopters are already looking for the fugitives. The helicopters fire and hit Ryland several times.

Ryland’s armor protects him but these laser bolts knock him down just as he reaches the top of the transport.

“It doesn’t look like you can’t take much more of those.” Bizmark observes.

“How do we get inside?” Ryland says regaining his footing

“That dagger of yours is the only thing I have seen able to penetrate these things.” Bizmark says, “Would it take long to cut your way in?”

Ryland looks up at the helicopter recharging its guns, “Much too long.”

 Bizmark thinks for a moment then says, “Then we need them to break out.”

“How do ya’ mean?”

“These transports have Sentinels piloting them; we need to get their attention. They will break out to get us.”

“An’ this is a good thing?” Ryland asks as the helicopters fire another round this time at Bizmark.

Ryland jumps in the way to shield Bizmark from the attack. He deflects the shot but both men topple off the roof, Bizmark starts to slide off but Ryland catches him.

Bizmark, hanging on for dear life, says, “It’s not a great plan but if you know of a faster way of getting in I’m all for it.”

Ryland steadies Bizmark then both men walk to the front of the transport. Ryland kneels and magnetizes his knees to the roof. He leans forward in front of a tinted reflection off the windshield and waves a friendly upside down ‘hello’ to the decaying-Cyborg inside the vehicle.

 A fraction of a second passes with no response, and then a cybernetic arm smashes the passenger side window to grab Ryland by the throat.

Bizmark grabs the edge of the transport and swings down through the (now broken) windshield and fires his weapon at the Sentinel holding Ryland. The driver of the transport swings a punch at Bizmark catching him in the face.

Bizmark shakes it off and aims his g*n at the driver. He fires a barrage of lasers into the Sentinel killing it instantly.

Bizmark ‘hangs his weapon on his back’ then tries to free Ryland from the dead passenger’s grip. A Helicopter fires several shots at the transport each time getting closer and closer to Ryland.

Ryland pulls out a dagger and in one sweeping motion cuts the Sentinel’s hand off. This causes Ryland to fall briefly, as this is happening he uses his free hand to grab the still extended severed arm, using the momentum of his fall to swing into the passenger seat narrowly escaping the laser-blasts from the helicopters.

Promptly Ryland moves the Sentinel’s remains over to seat himself.  Bizmark shoves the other Sentinel’s remains out of the way to climb in the driver’s seat and speeds the lumbering transport as fast as it will go. Ryland pries off the hand that is still chocking him, freeing himself and tosses the hand out the broken windshield.

 Both men exhale a sigh of relief until they see the danger on the horizon.

Five patrol cars make a barricade on the highway. Bizmark holds his foot steady on the throttle and Ryland says,

“I hope you know what you are doing...”

Bizmark shakes his head and says “Yea, me too.”

Ryland gets out of his seat and climbs to the back of the transport to search through the containers looking for his Temporal Gauntlet before it is too late.

The transport is propelled forward, faster than it was ever designed to go. The transport smashes through three patrol cars as Sentinels fire at it. The two unscathed patrol cars quickly enter pursuit. Helicopters overhead continue firing but can do no real damage to the transport other than create potholes to slow the ‘speeding’ vessel.

 The patrol cars catch up to the transport quickly, being much faster vehicles. They pull up one on each side firing as they approach, attempting to end the chase.

Bizmark reacts to this by steering the transport into the patrol car on the left, crushing it against the guardrail.

 This compacted patrol car falls back but continues the hunt, A Sentinel on board aims at the transport’s rear tire and fires a direct hit. The tire begins to unravel rapidly making the transport difficult to control. The patrol car on the right side of the transport fires a shot at the right front tire of the transport. The tire quickly sheds and sparks fly from the metal wheel scraping the concrete.

Bizmark steers to the right, digging into the concrete the transport follows suit. This pushes the patrol car into the guardrail causing it to go up on two wheels and into the air. The patrol car behind the transport shoots out another tire making it almost impossible to steer but still moving fast. Bizmark slams on the brakes and the patrol car behind them smashes against the back of the transport. Destroying the patrol car and knocking the transport over on its side, “Hold on to something!” Bizmark screams, but Ryland is too busy searching in the back of the transport to listen.

The transport falls and Ryland is flung around in the back as the lumbering giant rolls six times. Ryland closes his eyes trying to block the sound of the metal scraping the ground. The transport grinds to a halt as helicopters fire another round. These shots tear a whole in the side of the transport, facing the sky.

Bruised and battered inside his armor Ryland opens his eyes just in time to see a missile get launched into the air.

The sky gets really bright and suddenly a helicopter comes crashing down to earth.

 “It’s the Human Brigade!” Bizmark says unbuckling his seat belt.

“You really have an army? I thought you were just being arrogant.”  

“It’ not arrogance if you can back it up.” Bizmark boasts, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Not yet.” Ryland says as he gets back on his feet to continue his search. He opens the container closest to him; a briefcase is on top of the contents. Ryland picks it up with one hand as his other hand continues rummaging.

“That’s mine!” Bizmark says about the briefcase Ryland found.

 Bizmark climbs back to get the briefcase; he takes it, opens it up and pulls out two shiny pearl-handled laser pistols.

Ryland continues his search and finds his’ Temporal Gauntlet’ at the bottom of this container. He quickly puts it back on his wrist with a sigh of relief.

For a moment he thinks about returning to Vaulkner but then realizes that the only thing he has learned about the creation of this reality; is that it took three attacks to make. He doesn’t know where or when these three attacks occurred; the option of hanging around Bizmark a little longer for information begins to take hold.

Bizmark leads Ryland out the broken windshield and into a war zone. A second helicopter comes crashing down directly on top of the transport (they just exited). Sentinels from behind a patrol car barricade are shooting, but these Sentinels are preoccupied with Bizmark’s army.

 Hundreds-of-Humans are standing their ground holding off the Cyborg Legion. Bizmark and Ryland run towards them. As the pair gets closer machine g*n fire hits Ryland.

 “Why is your army attacking me?  Ryland asks unharmed yet annoyed.

“You look like one of them.” Bizmark says pausing just long enough to fire at a Sentinel. They reach the Human-brigade and Bizmark tells them to stop shooting Ryland.

They immediately obey, and then one of the Brigade’s Brigadier Generals leads the two fugitives to a large alley with a dumpster.

Two of the Brigade’s larger men slide the dumpster to one side revealing a secret doorway inset in the ground. One of these men presses a button on a device he pulls from his pocket and the door way slides open north and south. He puts the device back into his pocket saying, “Your people are here for you Bizmark. We will divert the Sentinels, you are needed inside.”

Bizmark places his hand on this man’s shoulder, “Thank you soldier.” The two men exchange a mutual appreciation nod and Ryland follows Bizmark down through the entryway.

They both jump down into a tunnel, a ladder is on the side of the tunnel, a doorway with two armed guards is at one end.

  “Welcome back sir.” Is heard echoing through the tunnel, “It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to be back especially in this time of great strife. There is no time to waste, open the gate.” Bizmark commands.

“Did you manage to reprogram a Sentinel?” The guard asks training his weapon on Ryland.

“What? …Oh righ’, I forgot.” Ryland mutters before retracting his armor.

Bizmark quickly comes to Ryland’s defense. “He’s alright, his name is Ryland and if it wasn’t for him I would still be having tests performed on me.” 

“He’s one of them. How do we know they didn’t stage this whole thing just to find this place?”  The second guard asks while scanning Ryland with a metal detector.

Bizmark stops his subordinate by saying “You’re stooping to their level. We are supposed to be humane ones. If you do not look beyond what you see then you are no better than they are. We are about to start a war and trust me we want him as an ally.”

The guard concedes lowering the scanner and reaching for his belt. The guard presses a button on a device on his belt. The doors open to a massive underground clearing; hundreds of people of all races are crudely armed with knives, machine guns and. Tanks, Uniformed soldiers are reequipping tanks with unusual-ammunition.

The soldiers each wear grey slacks and black shirts under grey vests. One by one the soldiers turn to the open door and see Bizmark.

A unified cheer of approval for the return of their leader is echoed throughout the chasm. Bizmark waves to the crowd and walks down to join them. Ryland follows closely behind feeling rather foolish for doubting Bizmark’s army.

Bizmark shakes many hands like a pandering-politician on his way to the war-room, Ryland follows him a little impressed at how at home Bizmark seems in this element. Once everyone is in the war-room Bizmark commands the door to be closed.

 He then turns to a much smaller audience and says, “We can’t wait any longer, we must strike now!”

A soldier without a vest answers this call to arms with, “The First strike will be underway in thirty minutes. Your militia from the west is gathered in the main auditorium. I was just about to rally the troops, but they would probably respond better to you.”

“Thank you Xavier,” Bizmark says, “How many men are we still expecting?”

“None,” Xavier responds, “They are all here, they heard of your capture and we were about to launch an assault to avenge your death.”

“Instead of fighting for death let us fight for life!” Bizmark says and turns to go to the auditorium.

Ryland moves to follow and grabs Bizmark by the arm, speaking as softly as he can but being very clear “You cannae’ really defeat them you know?”

Bizmark looks sharply and Ryland “That kind of pessimism might get your throat slit around here.”

“It’s not pessimism if it’s true. You cannae’ win this war.” Ryland persists.

“Does that mean we shouldn’t try? That we should just roll over and let the Cyborg-Legion have what they will? I disagree” Bizmark states defiantly. “It’s all a matter of will; I will succeed because I want it more than they do.”

As Bizmark finishes this statement he picks up a headset with a microphone. He steps out on to a balcony overlooking thousands of armed militia.

Bizmark is displayed on a large monitor in front of them. “Greetings my brothers!” His voice reverberates off the chamber walls and is received by a massive cheer. Bizmark waits for the cheer to die down a little before continuing,

“You are the fortunate ones, you are the first strike; you will be the ones to remove the machines from the flesh. You will be the ones to see the Cyborg-legion removed from our society. For an entire century now this legion of the undead has torn down the landscape of civilized society; replaced it with the cold hand of purity.

‘This army of darkness has taken something from you, something they cannot give back, your innocence. You do not know freedom, because they have burned every word for it. Hitler doesn’t want you to know that life was better without his Third Reich. You are the lucky ones because you will rid us of the Cyborg-Legion once and for all!”     

A mighty roar sweeps over the audience and is abruptly hushed, pinned on Bizmark’s every word.

Bizmark orchestrates the cheering to amplify his speech and he knows how to play the crowd, he continues, “I have heard skeptics say we do not have the numbers to overtake the Cyborg Legion. I say numbers don’t matter! Look into history, you will find that when people fight for cause they can overcome overwhelming odds, Every culture has a story of someone who achieved the impossible.

‘I remember when I was a kid my mom telling me bedtime stories about St. Dominique and St Francis coming to life at the Battle of the Alamo. I personally don’t believe in ghost stories. I think it was not ‘ghosts’ helping my ancestors. I think it was their WILL that won them, not only that battle but the Republic of Texas as a nation! They had the WILL to look at their enemies and say ‘I don’t care how many of you there are WE WILL PREVAIL!” The crowd releases an exuberant cheer and Bizmark whips them into a frenzy, “We will outlast this army of darkness and drive them back to Hell! Cleanse the Earth of their existence! Destroy them all, don’t let up until they are no more, TO WAR!” Bizmark raises his arms in triumph.

The Army chants praises to their leader and begin to march out of the chasm. Bizmark exits the balcony and passes Ryland,

“That was a fine speech; unfortunately it is nae’ going to do any good.”

            Bizmark turns to respond, “No one is forcing you into battle my friend. I thank you for freeing me from the lab but this could be a death sentence, I need to believe our side can win. So shut up with the negativity or leave my company because I have no use for doubt.

          “Do you really want to defeat Hitler?” Ryland offers.

          Bizmark looks a little stunned by Ryland’s question but answers earnestly, “My whole life has been in vein if I fail.”

          “I know a better way.” Ryland leans in closer and asks, “How much do you recall about that Alamo battle?” 

          Failing to see the relevance Bizmark says flatly “Enough.”

         “Then take my hand, shake to Hitler’s demise.” Ryland says extending his hand to Bizmark.

Bizmark, (thinking nothing of it), reaches to shake Ryland’s hand, as their hands meet Ryland smiles, an energy storm encompasses both men taking them through the Infinity-Tunnels.