War Across The Horizon

Chapter 15: War Across the Horizon

The din of revving motors ripped across the deserted landscape as huge vessels burst through the cloud bank. Sleek, metallic hulls glinted in the pale light of the sun, casting long shadows that danced between the students who had gathered below them. The ships were emblazoned with the insignia of the United Earth Federation and floated there, hissing as their engines cooled in readiness for boarding.

His voice thundered across comms devices throughout the remaining students, saying: "Let he who so wishes to withdraw step forward. For you all have faced the test and, as that itself is testament of courage enough, the FED thanks you for the try-as certain as I am that all will be admitted to some kind of military university or another.".

In a second, there was a surge of students toward the ships: some relieved, others filled with guilt. For most of them, it had been good enough to make it through that week-long test. The promise of safety, the promise of living another day, was way sweeter than some promise of glory. Caden watched in silence as the crowd thinned until his eyes narrowed to one particular figure still remaining on the beach-Ryan.

"Guess he's got something to prove too, Can't he just leave me alone" Caden grumbled.

Mira crossed her arms. "Maybe he just wants to keep up with you."

Ava shrugged, her psychic senses tingling in the form of lightning in the air. "Whatever his reasons, it's going to get messy soon."

Those who wanted to leave first stepped onto the ships, and as the last one disappeared into the metal interior, the ramps drew in, the vessels roared back into the sky, and disappeared into the atmosphere. The remaining students were silent.

His voice came back, sterner and firmer. "For those of you remaining, I salute you. You will now be briefed on your role within the war effort. This is no longer a test. This is a battle for the survival of our race. Prepare yourselves."

Caden's team fell in with the rest of the students into ranks, 110,000 of them now-a small fraction of the original million. The grim odds were there, but a spark of determination, defiance, and perhaps a touch of madness seemed to hang in the air: these were the ones who would risk it all.

Drones rained from the sky, each loaded with supplies: arms, armor, and rations. Autonomic voices began to divide the students into squads and regions, holographic mappings of the surrounding terrain dancing alive from holographs projected out by the drones. Caden huddled in close to study their map, his assigned zone east toward some sort of jarringly strange forest where activity of Proximar origin had been tracked.

"Great," Mira said, heavy on the sarcasm. "Nothing like fighting alien bugs in the middle of a creepy forest."

"At least it's not a swamp," Ava offered with a faint smile. "I'm sure there is no swamp on the planet" Darius said as he hooked his head and Ava shrugged "If a forest can exist her then I guess a swamp can appear here too"

Ryan stood a few feet away with his own team and shot Caden a challenging look. "Hope you're ready, Caden. This isn't a game anymore."

Caden smirked, unphased. "Was it ever a game?"

Before Ryan could reply, the voice of the commander cut in. "All squads, move out. The Proximars will not wait for us to be ready. Show them the strength of humanity."

Soon the students started walking towards their respective lots, with grounds shaking from the movement. His group surged forward-strapped weapons tightly, unmoving resolutions. "Be prepared," Caden said in his deadliest seriousness. "This is but the start of a long fight."

As they drew closer to the forest, the air thickened and chilled with a preternatural bite. A soft, buzzing hum whispered across the plain. Before them, the thick trees stood like sentinels, gnarled limbs grasping in mocking benedictions. It was that sort of place which gives even the bravest of people pause.

Ava stopped and threw up a hand. "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Mira asked, her fingers clenching tighter on her rifle.

Ava's eyes darted around. "They're close; I can feel their presence just ahead."

Cadens nodded, clenching his weapon a little tighter into his grasp. "Good; let them come to us. Though it would surprise me, you can finally feel their presence." Ava looked to Caden with a grin still plastered on her face. "You are not the only one who improves; we improve too." And Cadens shrugged, but didn't reply.

The team fanned out and moved cautiously, each step seemingly echoing within the eerie silence. Mira paused for a moment to readjust her gravity field so she floated an inch off the ground, to make sure she would trigger no traps.

"Wait… did that tree just move?" Darius said suddenly.

All eyes went toward it, but the tree in question appeared perfectly stationary.

"Darius," Mira breathed, "not now. We've been through all kinds of dangerous situations; don't lose it because we're about to go into war. "

But before anyone could laugh it off, a shrill screech tore through the air, and suddenly the forest came alive with motion as Proximars burst from the shadows, their bodies a grotesque mix of organic and metallic features.

"Here we go!" Caden shouted, the smirk still on his face as he raised his katana. First wave came fast: dozens of Proximars swarmed from underbrush, their claws slashing, mandibles snapping. Mira's eyes were aglow faintly with the turning on of her gravity control, holding a bunch of Proximars flying in mid-air. The psychic energy from Ava flared into being-a shield that deflected an incoming radiation attack.

Darius had surged forward, being compelled with his body through the ranks of enemies as a living human ram, his gun going off in every direction and releasing streams of lead into whatever remained upright.

Caden wove in with ease, his senses heightening further still as he continued to pick off foes in flair while he danced through chaos. He cut through the din with trademark sarcasm: "I hope they brought more than this. I was just starting to enjoy myself!"

Ryan's team wasn't behind in the level of intensity either. Above the din and clatter, Ryan's voice rang out loud, "Don't get cocky, Caden! Stay on target!" "Thanks for the advice, Captain Obvious!" yelled Caden back to Ryan as he cut down a Proximar with a precise strike.

Students battled on their feet, their will to be soldiers. For every Proximar dropped, others substituted its place.

"How many of these things is there?" Mira exclaimed, her voice strained, as she sent another Proximar crashing into a tree.

"Enough to make us regret staying," Ava replied, her psychic shield shaking with the continued assault.

"We can take them!" Darius bellowed, slamming another Proximar to the ground. "Don't lose focus!"

The more they fought, the thinner the trees became until there were almost none. Insistent, even when hopeless, the team pushed on. When they seemed to be getting somewhere indeed, a deafening roar shook the earth.

A huge Proximar emerged from the darkness, looming over its fellows. Some sort of glowing liquid seeped from its mandibles, and its multiple eyes shone with an otherworldly intelligence.

"Guess the boss showed up," Caden grumbled, clenching his grip on his gun.

Mira stepped back; her usually silent reserve betrayed a lot of concern. "Caden… what's the plan?"

Caden cast an eye over his team, a smirk spreading across his face even as danger loomed. "We do what we do best. We live to make it regret the day it ever crossed us."

That huge Proximar let out a roar once again, its minions milling around it like a screen of protection. The team readied themselves for whatever may come, their weariness forgotten in a flush of adrenaline.

"Let's end this," he said, stepping forward.

A mighty thundering, the roar of Proximar made the earth shudder beneath his treads; smaller trees shook and the fall of debris from their branches joined the din as he charged forward-this huge creature was nimble for its size. The claws ripped into the ground, tearing great swaths through the forest floor.

"Spread out!" Caden ordered, his eyes scanning the battlefield for weaknesses in the way the creature moved. "Don't let it pin us down in a single position for long!"

The team quickly got into position. Mira jumped into the air, her manipulation of gravity sending her hovering above the chaos. From her vantage point, she spotted smaller Proximars coordinating their attacks. "They're guarding it! We'll never get close unless we deal with them first!"

"On it!" Darius snarled, and the huge weapon roared to life in his hand. Charging among the swarm of smaller Proximars, he swung with a strong, brutish force within his fist: "You want a piece of me? Well, come on!"

Narrowing her eyes, Ava funneled all her psychic energy into action, casting her shield outwards to expand and give the team some reprieve for a few moments, while sending a wave of energy toward the minions, sending flying a couple across to create them a path for the time being. "Go now, Caden!" Ava screamed out, dripping with sweat from the effort.

In one second, he flashed through the gap Ava was forcing open; flashing his katana, he cut down anything Proximar got in the way of. Now that his enhanced senses were zeroed in on the big beast's movements, he scanned for an opening.

He heard Ryan yelling from somewhere behind him, "Caden, no! Don't be stupid! The thing will tear you to pieces!"

"Appreciate the concern, Ryan," Caden called back with a grin, "but I got this!"

The giant Proximar focused on Caden now, hissing another guttural roar as it swung a great claw down toward him. Caden could barely dodge its attack, the blow's force carving cleanly through a tree behind him.

"Okay, maybe I don't completely 'got this,'" Caden muttered, his smirk gone for a moment.

From above, Mira focused a beam of gravity downward between the creature's head. It struck true, and the Proximar fell backward, showing a vulnerability around the neck. "Caden, now! The neck, go for the neck, the core is there!"

He didn't need to be told twice. Caden launched himself forward, his katana aglow as he channeled his energy into one, precise strike. The blade bit deep through the Proximar's thick rocky skin, casting a spray of glowing red hot liquid into the air.

The huge creature let out an earsplitting screech, its body convulsing hard. Its minions faltered, momentarily disoriented by their leader's pain.

"Keep the pressure on!" Caden shouted, tugging his katana free and leaping backward out of the way as the creature thrashed about. Ava took advantage of that opening for a concentrated psychic blast that sent the Proximar reeling back; Darius and Mira then moved in, times of their blows in concert to continue the off-balance assault.

Ryan waded into the fray, adding his men's bullets to the onslaught. For once, Ryan had no smartass comment. He nodded once at Caden-a silent acknowledgment that they were on the same side in this fight.

The colossal movements of Proximar slowed, the once-thunderous roars now a mere strained growl. Finally, after one last blow from the combined teams, it fell, its glowing eyes growing dim as the life force ebbed.

A heavy silence fell in the forest, with only the sound of labored breathing in the air from the students.

"Well," said Caden as he wiped down his katana clean of the glowing liquid, "that wasn't so bad."

"Not so bad?" Mira gave him an incredulous look. "That thing almost turned you into paste!"

Ava laughed weakly, leaning against a tree for support. "At least he didn't make us carry him out this time."

Ryan approached, a serious expression upon his face. "We were lucky. When there are more of these things outside, we will have to do things differently.

Caden sheathed his katana, the wicked smile twisting on his lips once more. "Good thing I have piles of those. Just don't mind my part including 'almost' dying. Really close. For sure."

The tired faces exchanged exhausted grins, their sights finally locking over to the horizon-to-be. That was it. Just beginning was a war.

"Come on," he said, though his voice was even and strong, his limbs crawling with exhaustion. "We've got a long way to go."

Caden looked out over the battlefield, his gaze resting on the fallen leader of the Proximar. The forest was still but for the odd crackle of energy dissipating from their battle.

Mira floated down from her perch, her face pale but a resolute look in it. "What now, then, fearless leader? We simply wait for the next swarm to locate us?"

Caden just smiled and slung his katana across his shoulder. "Nay, we will take the war to their doorstep. Besides, just standing around is too much of an invitation."

Darius grunted while wiping off his arms of both sweat and Proximar residue. "Good. Anyhow, waiting is not precisely my thing.

Ava leaned against a tree, her psychic energy fluttering thinly around her. "We shall have to rest soon. That fight took much from us even though it was short, and I don't think the next one is going to be any easier.

Ryan, who hadn't spoken since the fight was over, stepped forward. His face was grim. "We should team up. We are better that way, and the Proximars aren't going to give us time to get our breath back."

Caden raised an eyebrow as the smirk slid from his face. "You suggesting we work together, Ryan? Doesn't sound like you.

Ryan held his gaze and for once didn't show any hatred; there was one of those once-in-a-blue-moon flashes of respect. "I'm suggesting we survive, Caden. Whatever issue we have becomes totally irrelevant when we are all dead."

The silence hung in the air, some sort of standoff, the uneasiness almost palpable between them. Then Caden nodded, extending his hand. "Alright, then brat, truce. But don't think this means I'll begin to take your orders."

Ryan was at a disadvantage but shook hands. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Mira and Ava exchanged a surprised look; Darius simply burst into laughter. "Look at that-the universe might just make it after all!"

The rumble of far-away explosions snapped them back to reality. The trees shook a bit, and some soft humming of Proximar activity was very well heard afar.

Caden then turned to his team, the smirk going off and replaced by this determined look on his face: "Let's move. We regroup, resupply, and then we hit them where it hurts."

So, now, with students marching up the hill, there was unity among them; the battles ahead were unimaginable in anyone's mind, but now they had their colleagues to make them feel just fine.

Enough for Caden, at least.