The Empress

Twenty-Two

The Skaintz made planetfall a day after they’d swept aside the human fleet. The Twilighters on the ground were in a panic, calling up their personal armies and preparing to defend their own estates.

The nife spent the last hours in deep, tactical thought. By the time the Gladius slid into high orbit over the planet, he’d hammered out the final details. Nothing he could come up with was better than the most direct approach available. In the end, the Imperium battle plan was typical of its kind. It would be swift, direct and brutal.

The enemy had only one detectable spaceport with surprisingly little traffic. The port was in the middle of one of the two largest population centers, making it doubly valuable as a prize of conquest. If nothing else, the Empress would be extremely pleased due to the plentiful number of flavorful food-creatures.

The nife took the plan to her for final approval. As she listened, she became wild to taste fresh meats.

“An entire city of meat-creatures roaming around at will?” she asked. Her maw slavered at the description. “I’ve been eating dust and scraps for months. I will have a grand tasting on the very first day. I insist that you launch now. Our assault vessels have sufficient range, I know that they do.”

“Patience, Empress! The ship will soon be in stationary orbit. When the big engines stop, we shall launch the assault ships.”

“Do you wish to see me starve and wither away? I demand that you launch them now! ”

The nife rankled. He could see now why the original Parent had nearly been spaced. The Empress was impossible to deal with. He felt an urge to relinquish command. If she wanted to give the orders herself-so be it. The monarch’s powerful musk prevented him from such behavior, however. He dipped his stalks and closed his cusps over his orbs in defeat.

“I had planned a barrage of suppressing fire, but I shall press the attack immediately.”

The Empress hesitated. “Is there risk involved in this course of action?”

“There is risk in all warfare, madam. We face a determined enemy. They fooled us with their long-range firepower on initial contact, and they may have more surprises in store.”

“Are you suggesting my person might be violated?”

The nife’s stalks rose, as he now sensed an opening. The Empress feared the humans. He had little regard for their military capacities, but he now realized that if he could enhance the danger they posed in his reports, his job would be made easier. The Empress would both allow him to follow his own plans, while at the same time becoming more forgiving of any failures. The more he thought about the plan growing in his mind, the happier he became. Within seconds, he was strutting around the Empress’ nest, being watched by a dozen of her pod-like eyes.

“We face a foe that has beaten Imperial forces in the recent past. We’ve seen them in action now, and they were nearly successful in stopping us as we entered their system. They are highly dangerous, and more importantly, deceitful!”

The Empress flapped her drooping lung-sacs. “Very well, we shall follow your original plan. Destroy their batteries at range, and send down the assault ships when they lie supine.”

“Excellent choice, Empress,” the nife said, maneuvering behind her, into the region where she had the fewest eye-clusters. He found her form inviting. Just looking at her organs was stimulating. Her bulging hindquarters were similar to those of a Parent, but much more grand.

“May I personally thank you for giving me the honor of commanding this assault?” he asked as he ogled her. “After its successful conclusion, your name will be forever-”

“What are you doing back there?” interrupted the Empress.

“Pacing, my great lady-it helps me think.”

“That’s quite enough prattle for now. Get out. You are to launch your invasion as soon as possible.”

The nife hastened for the exit.

When Aldo received news of the Nexus fleet’s defeat, he mounted and rode swiftly to where Nina marshaled her forces. They were one ridge away from the enemy lines, and scouts had reported seeing mech activity along the rim of a huge, steaming crater. Nina wanted to align all her forces for a single, sweeping charge. The enemy had chosen their ground very poorly.

“Nina!” Aldo called.

The Baroness wheeled her mount and scowled. “I prefer that you use my proper title when I’m standing before my own troops.”

“Sorry, Baroness. But there is an emergency. The aliens have arrived. The Nexus fleet has met them in the skies overhead.”

“Excellent! Let those pompous tax-collectors earn their keep, for once.”

“That is not all, milady. The battle has already been waged.”

The Baroness finally turned her full attention to him. “Well?”

“We have suffered a grave defeat. Gladius has been significantly modified into a mothership, apparently. They launched scores of sleek fighter craft and destroyed the Nexus fleet in its entirety.”

Baroness Droad appeared confused. “All of them?”

“Yes. They fought well, taking many of the enemy craft with them. But in the end, they were overwhelmed.”

Nina rode forward, moving uphill to meet Aldo. Around her, a dozen officers murmured and exclaimed. No one could believe it. Alone among the group, Aldo was unsurprised. He’d met this enemy before and seen them fight.

Nina sidled her mount closer to Aldo and spoke so the others could not hear. “Aldo, you were right.”

He nodded. “It gives me no pleasure, milady. I wish nothing more than the defeat of this enemy.”

Nina stared up at the dark skies. Her face was troubled, and the stars reflected from her frosted goggles. “Will they come here, Aldo?” she asked. “Will they land in Twilight?”

“Definitely.”

“How much time do we have?”

“Less than a day.”

Baroness Droad turned her mount and faced her commanders. “We must finish this matter now, in that case. It should only take a few hours to push the mechs into the abyss they’ve put to their backs. Come now, we attack immediately!”

Aldo hissed through his teeth. He’d made the announcement of the imminent invasion of her world as dramatically as possible, but Nina would still not see reason and turn from her path. He shook his head, knowing he had few remaining options. The men did not want to follow him. He was many things, but he wasn’t a charismatic leader of armies. He fought best alone with a blade against a single opponent. If he called to the officers to mutiny against the Baroness, he would be laughed at best-shot from behind at worst.

So, he rode after her. Thousands of mounted troops soon roared in unison and sped up the ridge to the crest. On the far side they increased their pace to its maximum, charging down toward the huge, steaming crater.

Less than half an hour later, Nina’s army found itself milling over the icy rocks in confusion.

“Where did they go?” Nina demanded, beating her saddle with the pommel of her sword.

Aldo glided to the rim and gazed downward, into the cloudy abyss. Sometimes, the rising vapors cleared enough to allow him to see snatches of the terrain. He saw nothing but distant jagged cliffs and tumbled stone.

“They must have found a way down,” he said. “A path of some kind. But I’ll be damned if I can find it.”

Nine panted and cursed with vexation. She rode along the rim this way and that. Finally, she found a spot that was marginally less steep than the rest of it. “This must be it,” she said. “Throw me a line, Aldo.”

“Perhaps Old Hans would be the better man to hold it.”

Nina shook her head. “He would try to stop me.”

Aldo frowned. “You’ll lose your mount.”

“I must try.”

Aldo nodded, knowing she was going to do this no matter what. He attached a filament from her saddle to his. He prayed she would not fall too far and pull him down with her. Revving his vehicle, he pulled away from the edge and waited for the line to go taut. Nina saluted him, and he saluted her. He did not bother to try to talk her out of this. She’d come too far to give up now without at least injuring herself.

She rode her mount outward, into the billowing steam. At first, it seemed she was revving her engines at maximum, maintaining altitude. Aldo frowned as she glided farther out and was now partially obscured by vapor. How high could these vehicles fly? He’d been under the impression they could not cruise at more than a few feet above a given surface.

Nina disappeared entirely then. To Aldo, it appeared she had dropped out of sight. He gripped the line and grimaced, waiting for a vicious tug. He hoped the girl had the wit to let the mount fall away and hang onto the line for rescue.

But the expected yank on the filament did not come. Instead, it paid out farther, without haste. Aldo frowned at the line, not knowing what to make of it.

Suddenly, it slackened. Aldo urged his mount fractionally closer to the rim. “Nina?” he called.

A figure loomed closer. He could not make it out, but urged his mount to slide backward.

“It’s only me,” Nina said.

She explained the situation at length, and gathered her officers. They were all incredulous, but when they dismounted and walked on the invisible plane of force, they accepted the truth.

“The mechs are here, hiding in the middle of this crater,” Nina said with certainty. She stared at the shifting wall of dense vapor intently. “They came right here. How did they know of this place?”

“More importantly,” Aldo said, “how does it work?”

“There’s nothing for it,” Nina said at last. “We’ll have ride in there and find them.”

Aldo was incredulous. “Blind? On a surface we know nothing about? If they control it, they will simply switch it off and cast us all down to our deaths.”

Nina cursed. “I can’t give up. They are right here. So close!”

“We have no choice. We have been eluded.”

“We can spread out and press in from every side. It is not so great an area. They should be as blind as we are. It will not be a pleasant struggle, but-”

“Nina, listen to reason. Your world is threatened by a greater enemy. You can’t risk this army on your own vendetta. That is the mark of an amateur.”

This last comment stung, and made her turn her full, glaring attention upon him. But soon, she sighed and nodded. “You are right, Aldo. I would not take such remarks from many men. But you journeyed across the black sea between your star and mine to help us. You are as much a madman on a vendetta as I am. I respect you for that, and understand you. Most importantly, your enemy appears more dangerous than mine.”

“Very well,” Aldo said in relief. “I’m glad you are willing to listen to reason. We must ride hard now, and take these forces back to Twilight.”

“Not me. You take them.”

Aldo looked at her in surprise.

“I’m going in,” Nina said, lifting her chin high and proud. “I will die here, or he will.”

As Aldo watched in disbelief, she turned her mount and glided into the billowing clouds of vapor.

He waved his hand dismissively after her and snorted. The woman was barking mad.

Nina rode into nothingness for some time. She rode slowly, nosing her mount into the shifting clouds. She soon lost track of how far she’d traveled, and only her mount’s compass kept her on a straight heading. Frequently she slowed, thinking she’d heard an intelligible voice or seen a shape in the shifting void ahead. Always, however, it turned out to be only a trick of the murmuring mists.

After several minutes however, she did hear the unmistakable sounds of servos whining. Something metal and large moved nearby. She halted, listening. She did not want to meet up with a patrol of enemy mechs. They would most likely tear her apart mindlessly. There was one among them, their leader, who was different. It was he she sought, the mech who aped a man.

There were several close encounters with enemy machines as she glided quietly deeper into the mists, toward what she assumed was a central region of the crater. On each occasion, she managed to sit quietly and avoid them. She wondered briefly how far down the sinkhole below her reached now that she was near the center of it. Did it truly yawn like a mouth? An abyss that ended in planetary magma? She did not know, and finding such ideas disturbing, she tried to push them out of her head.

At long last, she did hear voices. This time it was not just a snatch of half-heard words. It was more than that, and there were two voices having a conversation. She turned her mount in that direction and glided slowly closer. The mists began to thin, and she halted, listening.

“Like the eye of a hurricane. But why here?” asked one voice, male from the sound of it.

“It’s beautiful!” said a second voice, this one sounding younger and female.

“This is the place I’ve sought,” another voice said. This one sounded odd, almost distorted. “You need only to open this hatch.”

“I will not until you tell me why we’re here,” said the older, male voice. “And there is no use grunting and tugging. Your skinny arms aren’t up to the task.”

Nina listened, and while she did so, she built up her courage. Why had she come here, if she was only going to sulk in shadow now? She had to act. These were clearly mechs of a different stripe. The way they spoke amongst themselves-it was eerily human.

She goaded her mount forward until she came out into an open area where only threads of mist swirled. This place was different than any other region she’d found in the crater. It had a solid floor of dark metal. How it had come to be here, she had no clue.

There were many mechs in evidence, at least two score of them. Nina’s heart sank as they swung their orbs toward her. She’d thought perhaps there had only been three, and that she might possibly slay the leader and flee. All such fantasies evaporated when she saw their numbers. Still, she rode forward confidently, as if they were all her servants.

Among them, three figures stood apart. One was a mech that carried a skin sack on its back. The second was a thin human who stood tugging on a hatch in the middle of the region, which was made of solid dark metal. The third was the one that captivated her entirely once she’d spotted him. This was the one-the mech who commanded the others. He was the one who’d presided over a group when they’d slayed her beloved Leon. He still wore a wide-brimmed hat, a fluttering blue scarf and a cloak that trailed behind him.

“I request to parlay with you, the rebel leader!” Nina shouted.

The leader raised his gripper, and the others lowered their weapons. Nina knew he’d sent out a radio signal on their local subnet, ordering them not to slay her. Her stomach unknotted-but only slightly.

“Who wishes to parlay with me?” asked the leader.

“I’m Baroness Nina Droad.”

The mech moved forward several clanking steps when he heard this. His broad feet rang as they struck the dark metal platform they stood upon.

“I am called Sixty-Two,” he said gravely. “Why is it you’ve come here?”

“I’ve come to slay you, and I’ve brought an army to do it with. Surely, you must have noticed.”

The mech turned its head slightly to one side, as if thinking. It was an oddly human gesture, and Nina found it slightly disgusting to see him perform it.

“What gives you the right to slay us?” he asked.

Nina blinked in surprise, but the question seemed to be in earnest. “Because you are rebels who have resisted your rightful masters and in some cases slain them.”

“Our ‘rightful masters’,” Sixty-Two echoed thoughtfully. “And what gives one man the right to be the master of another?”

Nina made a sound of exasperation. “You are not men! Look at yourselves! I will admit, you are a singular case, Sixty-Two. You are different than the rest. Something clearly went wrong in your processing. But that doesn’t change things.”

“I believe that it does. I am a human with a metal body of your people’s design. I want to know why this has been done to me.”

“Because you are a criminal. You are all criminals. You were rightfully convicted and sentenced to this fate.”

“What then, was my crime? For I do not remember it.”

Nina decided to take this opportunity to get closer to her target. She thought it may be the only chance she ever got-and besides, she was curious. Who was this mysterious mech, who’d become a warlord and caused so much damage?

She dismounted and approached until she was close enough to peer at his chestplate. She tapped the serial number on the mech into her computer scroll and did a search. She wasn’t able to access the net from this maelstrom of geological activity, but all such public data had been stored locally on her computer in any case.

She studied the results, frowning. “Hmm, the serial number is listed as unregistered. It is listed as unused, and isn’t in the database. Did you alter it?”

“No,” Sixty-Two said. “I suspect my processing was never finished, and the ID was never logged. I’ve done the same search myself with the same results.”

“I see, yes, the processing must have been interrupted. That would explain a lot. But in short, I do not know who you are-who you were.”

“And you see no crime in that, Baroness? Your people have erased me, and cannot even tell me what it was I supposedly did to earn my fate.”

Nina looked troubled, but only for a moment. “The situation is self-evident. You are a mech, therefore you were previously a criminal. Only the most heinous of crimes earn people such a fate.”

“Really? Then let us indulge ourselves with a second test. Here is a girl named Lizett. Research her number, please.”

Nina stepped up to the towering mech female and scanned her breastplate. She waited a moment, then frowned at the results.

“Well?” demanded Sixty-Two.

Nina straightened her spine to stand as tall as possible among the towering mechs that surrounded her. If she were to die, it would not be in the posture of a sniveling liar. She read the report as it was written on her device. “Lizett Germaine. Age twelve. Daughter of shopkeepers Otto and Gisele Germaine, from Alsace fief. Family evicted for non-payment of lease and convicted as debtors.”

“Lizett Germaine,” Lizett said, pronouncing her last name carefully. “Do I have any brothers or sisters?”

Nina frowned. “It doesn’t say here.”

“Let me see if I understand the situation,” Sixty-Two said gravely. “She was a child of debtors, and the entire family was processed for non-payment? You call this justice?”

“You knew who she was before you had me look it up.”

“That changes nothing. Would you call this justice?”

Nina looked at the female mech and shook her head. “It would not seem to be a fair sentence.”

“Look at the date on the record, Baroness. When was the act performed?”

“Uh-sixteen years ago.”

“So,” Sixty-Two boomed, turning up the volume of his speakers. “Your people ripped her brain from her body as a child. Deprived of hormonal influences, memories, and until recently emotions, she did not develop. She still has the mind of a child and most likely forever will.”

“I concede her grounds for a grievance. Perhaps she can plead her case and receive restitution.”

Sixty-Two snorted in disgust. “No fief judge will consider a case brought by a runaway mech. We are slaves. We are chattel. We have been gravely wronged. Can you not understand our actions now? You are a fiery knightrix, a warrior at arms. Would you tolerate such dishonorable treatment in our situation?”

Nina eyed the hulking mechs around her, seeing individuals for the first time, rather than machines. Part of her wanted to break her chivalrous code and tell them an untruth, but she could not.

“No,” she admitted at last. “I would not tolerate such treatment. I would be angry, and I would most likely rebel.”

“Excellent. Now that you have admitted your guilt, we can proceed with our own justice.”

“My guilt?”

“You have confessed to mistreating mechs, to persecuting us with armed troops when we are the ones that have been wronged. That dishonor must be punished.”

“What kind of a parlay is this?” Nina shouted.

“It is the kind your people have often given us. You are the sole available representative of your government. You are to be tried and executed for the deaths of over five hundred civilian mechs at our base in Sunside.”

Nina drew her sword and powered it. The blade flared into life and plasma rippled over its length. “Sixty-Two, or whatever your name is, I would challenge you to a duel instead!” she shouted. “As one commander to another! Let this war be decided by a single death, rather than a thousand.”

Sixty-Two was taken aback. “You challenge me? I have ten times your strength of arm.”

“I’ve slain your kind before. This blade will cut through steel struts as easily as bone.”

“How would such an act change the course of this struggle between our peoples?”

“We’ll record the duel. We will record the terms. If I win, I walk freely from here, and our army retreats. You will have been executed for your crimes, and I will pursue the rest of your mechs no longer.”

“And if I win?”

“Then you will have gotten your revenge, and I will leave taped orders for my knights to retreat all the same. Either way, your mechs will no longer be hunted by this army. I can’t guarantee others will not come looking for you, but if you stay hidden in Nightside, I doubt you will be molested further. The aliens are going arrive at any moment from the skies giving us bigger things to worry about.”

Sixty-Two appeared to think over the offer. “I accept,” he said at last.

They recorded the terms solemnly, and when they were done Sixty-Two wasted no time. He took a sword into his gripper, and lifted it over Nina’s head.

Nina lifted her blade to parry. She knew he had the power to beat down her guard, but she could hope to deflect the first stroke. If she could then slash in, possibly low, she could take off one of his legs. If the rest of the mechs didn’t intervene, she might be able to finish the fight right then, and achieve her real goal: avenging Leon’s death. They would probably kill her afterward in a fury, but it would at least be a death with purpose.

“Wait!” shouted a voice from the shifting fog around them. Every head turned, looking this way and that.

“Aldo?” Nina asked in shock. For she knew that voice, and when he swaggered out into visibility, she had to smile. He looked calm and cocky-as always.

Sixty-Two took one clanking step forward, warily approaching the small, confident female. He felt he should be able to brush her aside and easily win this duel. But he did not have a sense of complete confidence. He was not a warrior at heart. He suspected he had probably been a technician who’d failed his lord, or an accountant who’d embezzled funds, in his previous life. He’d become a war leader, but it was a role that had been thrust upon him.

Now, facing this half-mad woman with her sparkling blade held at a precise angle over her head, he felt uncertain. She did not hop forward to the attack. She just waited. He knew she was waiting for him to make a grievous error.

When the voice of a second, unseen human rang out, Sixty-Two paused. He was not sorry to see the duel delayed. He’d only accepted these terms for the benefit of his people, who hopefully would no longer be hunted whether he won or not.

“Who are you?” he asked the man.

“Aldo Moreno of Neu Schweitz,” the stranger said with a slight dip of the head.

“Neu Schweitz? Did you come on the great ship with the aliens?”

“No. I came on another sleeker ship to aid in the defense of this world.”

Sixty-Two blinked his orb-shields. “What are you doing here? What business is this conflict of yours?”

“I am here to defend Ignis Glace. I implore you both to do the same. There is grave news. The ship has now reached low orbit.”

Nina watched this interchange with a growing frown. “Aldo, you should stay out of this. I am about to achieve my vengeance.”

“I ask that you put aside such bickering for the sake of all life on this planet. The aliens are here. They will kill us all, man or machine-and those who are both.”

Nina shook her head. “I know they took out our fleet, but-”

“The situation has changed further. I have the evidence here on my computer scroll. The reports are flooding in from Lavender City. The aliens have destroyed the gun batteries. They have landed troops. Even now, they assault the city and slaughter the populace. Your army is here in the field, but it has been recalled. This struggle must be set aside, Baroness.”

Nina and Sixty-Two both lowered their swords. Aldo strode forward and showed them the net broadcasts that were coming over the net. A fourth figure, the tall, thin form of the skald, joined their huddle. He peered with burning eyes at the images on the scroll.

There was no sound, but there did not need to be. The skies burned with white light as ships roared down to land at either end of the valley. Trapped between two forces, the city garrison was quickly overwhelmed by bounding legions of killbeasts. Juggers charged into the mix of any organized resistance, and even when the great beasts fell, the enemy was shattered. Killbeasts rolled in to mop-up, sweeping heads from necks with precise kicks of their bladed feet.

“We must return,” Nina said. “We must save the city.”

She looked up at Sixty-Two. “I wish to set aside our duel, if you will agree.”

“I will do as you ask. You are free to go.”

Nina looked up at him, her face troubled. “I must ask for more. You are not truly a man, but there is more human in you than these beasts from the stars. Will you stand with us?”

“As equals, or as slaves?”

“As allies of necessity.”

Sixty-Two looked around the group. He realized that he wanted peace, but this was not to be. This threat from the skies was far greater than he’d understood. Most importantly, he saw this as an opportunity to raise the status of mechs everywhere on this world, forever. Finally, he nodded. “The mechs will march after your army, but apart from it. I will retain sole command over my people.”

“There must be a commander, or there will be no army.”

“I will not follow the lead of a woman who has killed five hundred innocents!”

Nina drew in a breath to shout back at him, but Aldo stepped forward, holding his hands high.

“Wait!” he said. “I have a solution to propose. I am not from here. I wish only to destroy the aliens. I’ve never enslaved a mech, nor have I been wronged by one. As a neutral party, I offer to command the joint armies.”

Both sides grumbled, but they did so with haste. Aldo left the vids running between them, so they could see what was happening to the city as they delayed and discussed command.

“Done,” Sixty-Two said at last.

At that point, Aldo looked around for the skald who’d been watching the discussion. He was nowhere to be seen. Then he noticed the large hatch on the metal island in the center of the roiling geothermal mists. It was open. Lizett stood there, and he approached her.

“Are you the one known as Lizett?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, and an odd sound emitted from her speakers.

“Are you crying?”

“Yes. I opened the hatch, and he ran away! Why would he do that?”

“Who ran away?” Aldo asked, but he had an idea who she was talking about.

“The skald. My friend. I’ve cared for him for so long. I didn’t think he’d go down the hole and not come back.”

Aldo stepped to the open hatchway. It was pitch black inside. A series of grooves rippled the walls, perhaps meant to be a ladder of sorts. The crevices were thin, however, and did not seem properly scaled for human fingers. Going down there would be treacherous. One slip, and the fall looked infinite. He could make out nothing of the bottom. There were only smooth metal walls that formed a vertical shaft, and an inky blackness below.

Lizett called down the shaft for the man, who Aldo knew as the skald Garth.

“Can you get him back out of there for me?” she asked Aldo.

Aldo sighed and stood at the rim, staring down. “We’re leaving, skald! You’ll have no food or water. Every direction is a frozen wasteland. Come up now, or forfeit your life.”

There was no answer. Lizett stared at Aldo. “That was too harsh. You’ll scare him.”

Aldo grunted unhappily. “He’s a man, not a kitten! He’s made his choice, girl. Now, you must make yours. Come along, for it is time for us to depart.”

Making odd grieving sounds with her speakers, Lizett followed them into the mists. When they reached the rim of the crater, Aldo and Nina were the first to walk out into the open, signaling for the knights to lower their weapons. After them, thousands of mechs marched out of the roiling vapor. The knights of Twilight stared at the emerging mech army in shock.