First Song

Rishaan

 

I sat at my desk in the command centre, watching all the reports coming in from different parts of the world. Casualties had been increasing and becoming more widespread ever since the invasion began. The tiny drones were so different from anything the soldiers had been trained and equipped to fight that they were struggling to find ways to defeat them.

The first hour or so hadn’t been so bad. High explosives had managed to take out a few of the hostiles, especially when they’d been clustered together, but this enemy was nothing if not adaptable. It was constantly evolving new tactics against us – eventually defeating everything that had been thought up to throw at it.

Some people had raised the possibility of using Electro-Magnetic Pulse weapons on them, but the only way to do that on a large enough scale involves the detonation of nuclear weapons high in the atmosphere. Thankfully, the argument that was currently winning was that we weren’t even sure if EMPs would work. What if we ended up crippling ourselves more than the invaders?

Erin and Casey were fast becoming heroes among the team here. Any reports that came in of ‘mysterious superhero girls’ or bizarre incidents involving their known powerset were greeted with cheers and smiles.

One video showed my best uni friend doing an amazing Iron Man impression. She’d leapt from a helicopter and smashed into the ground like in one of those movies – then she’d ripped apart a drone with nothing but a wave of her arms. The news networks hadn’t seen these video clips yet, but I doubted it would take long for it to leak to the wider world.

The storm clouds that had passed over Sweden were breaking up now, but satellite imagery was starting to see another front developing over the Baltic Sea. It was predicted that this one would be even bigger than the last. The meteorologists we’d drafted in to try to explain what was happening were struggling – this didn’t seem like natural weather phenomena anymore.

 “What is that?” I heard someone ask out loud, clearly confused.

I flicked a glance up at the guy and followed his gaze to the giant screen. It was still displaying the North American news channels and their coverage of what was happening in the New World. They’d started getting interference on their broadcasts too, but they’d managed to find a setup that works.

Primarily that involved keeping a respectable distance and using zoom lenses to see what was happening.

The display was showing an image with a city skyline in the frame and the caption underneath identified it as belonging to Calgary in Canada. There was the occasional movement in the distance where the giant robot spider passed between the high-rise buildings. We’d grown used to the clouds of dust and explosions rising up from the city, but something new was beginning to happen.

It was difficult to make out as the camera was shaking unsteadily, but they were reporting two fast-moving figures leaping between the rooftops of the office towers.

Our view panned and zoomed to try to catch what they were doing until they resolved into the tiny silhouettes of human beings.

Even as we watched, I saw one of them peer down over the edge and leap thirty or so meters onto the roof of another building. They rolled when they landed and jumped straight back up to their feet. There was only one group of people that I knew who could do that, and hope blossomed inside me.

Realising what this meant, I swore quietly and turned back to my computer. I pulled open my conversation with Ademola Sowande and began to fire off question after question at him. Hopefully, he’d know who those people on the screen were because Martin was going to expect me to tell him in about five minutes.

 

---

Erin

 

Athena led us on an indirect path towards the sounds of fighting. There was a train track and some fences in the way, so we were taking a slight diversion to find a way across.

Casey kept up alongside me, her breathing a little heavier than mine, and Sebastian wasn’t doing too badly either. I wondered if he was regretting lugging his guitar everywhere with him yet.

As we jogged along a dirt track that was hemmed in by a line of trees on each side, I cast a glance in the direction of the continuous banging sounds. The trees were sparser here, and through the gaps between their trunks, I could see the ambient red glow where several structures had been set ablaze. Billowing clouds of smoke were lifting into the dark evening sky, barely visible in the evening gloom.

It felt like it had been twilight for hours. Did the sun even set here at night? From what I could remember, Stockholm was just below the Arctic Circle meaning that the sun should set eventually but it wouldn’t get all that dark, even at midnight. The thick clouds overhead were not helping matters, either.

Also, it could just be my imagination but I thought I could feel the wind picking up again.

I spotted a bridge up ahead. It looked like a road bridge that went in the direction that we needed and Athena was already sprinting towards it. She was maintaining a pace that always kept her about five meters in front of me – just out of reach.

Honestly, I wish I knew how she even knew this place was here. Could she see things I couldn’t? Had she memorised the layout of these roads from the air?

“The answer to both of those questions is yes, now keep up!” Athena called back to me, picking up the pace. I had to start sending energy to my limbs to match her pace.

We climbed our way up the embankment, and onto the road that led to the bridge. When I neared the crest, I reached down to assist Sebastian since the poor guy looked like he’d already started to suffer from a stitch. 

It was times like these that I was thankful for being obsessed with badminton at university. The fact that Muse had ensured that I’d kept superb fitness when she gave me this body was helpful too.

Despite how very ironic taking part in the Olympics would be, I have a feeling that I’d be disqualified as the living embodiment of a literal Greek goddess.

When we’d all reached the bridge itself, I took the time to survey the area. Vehicles had been abandoned here and a few of them bore the camouflage colours of the military.

Athena turned to give me a smile, then led us onwards and across to the other side.

 

---

Mika

The target crested the rise ahead of us, moving on six massive metal legs that penetrated a good way into the ground as it walked. Even at this distance – and through the armoured hull of the vehicle beneath me – I could feel the tremors as it came towards us. 

I was peering at it through binoculars, with the hatch open, when I yelled the order to open fire. Our radios had been unreliable since the battle began, but even without them, we were all close enough that everyone could hear me give the command.

The air tore around me as the four guns launched their high-explosive rounds at the same time. Still peering through the binoculars, I was transfixed as I watched one of them ricochet harmlessly away from the machine – the angle of the armour was giving us problems – while the other three exploded on impact.

Immediately afterwards came a separate barrage from the east, but with similar effects as our own. It looks like no one was having luck today.

On it came, not even pausing from the hits. Nothing seemed to be able to penetrate its armour and all that was left behind was a slight discolouration and pitting effect on the exterior.

Grimacing at just how ineffective our arsenal was, I ordered a change over to kinetic shells. If we can’t explode it, then maybe we can give it some dents. I glanced down past my feet, seeing the back of the gunner’s head as he worked away to keep us on target.

Without any warning, the tank I’d been sitting in exploded in a shower of sparks and molten steel. I was thrown clear of the wreckage, piercing pain burned along my flank as a piece of shrapnel pierced my chest, and another in my thigh. The first piece had punched through my body armour and looked like it had slipped between two ribs.

I screamed in agony, flailing on the ground as my nerves were flooded with pain.

Regaining control of myself, I tried to look around to see if anyone else was injured and only saw the remains of the Stridsvagn 122 I’d been sitting in about ten meters away.

The others in the platoon had begun to disperse when it became apparent that we’d overstayed our welcome. I fought back the anguish that threatened to well up inside me as I remembered my wife at home, waiting for me. With clenched teeth, I tried to sit up and drag myself away from the burning wreckage.

One of my legs refused to work, and my other was covered in patches of deep red. My skin was exposed there, the leg of my uniform slashed open by the piece of metal embedded in my leg.

It was then that I was hit with the shockwave from another explosion. Another tank had been hit and I was thrown bodily through the air to land on the other side of the road. I struggled to catch my breath and everything faded to black.

 

My vision was blurry as I came back to consciousness. Someone was standing over me, shouting words that my addled brain refused to understand. I blinked a few times, and a man came into focus.

Illuminated by a pale blue light, I could see that he had short blond hair and was handsome in a way that I hear sent most women’s hearts fluttering. He was smiling down at me, reassuring and calm.

I could see that he was dressed like a civilian, and had a guitar slung over his shoulder. That threw me off balance but I tried to tell him that he shouldn’t be here. He ignored me, concern etched on his face as he assessed my injuries.

“Are you able to walk, miss?” he asked, placing a hand lightly against my leg.

Over his shoulder, I could see the lumbering form of the mechanical spider that we’d been ordered to stop at all costs. Small quakes could be felt through the road beneath me, and I gritted my teeth as the memory of what had happened came back in a rush.

I shook my head when I remembered his question and let out a scream as he yanked the piece of jagged metal straight out of my thigh. The torturous pain threatened to send me back into unconsciousness but then subsided after a moment, fading into a dull ache.

“How about now?” he asked again, flashing me an arrogant grin. The idiot didn’t seem bothered by the situation he found himself in at all.

I gingerly tried moving my leg, expecting to find it excruciating but was surprised to find that it felt completely fine. Better than fine, even.

An intense screeching filled my ears, and I reached up to try to block it out with my hands. I drew in a breath to scream, but the pain in my chest made me cry out instead. It must have only just missed puncturing one of my lungs.

He carefully wrapped a hand around the sliver of steel, the other pressing on my chest just beneath it, and told me to count to five. Doing my best not to hyperventilate, I began to count but he didn’t wait for me to finish. Just as I reached three he tore it out, along with a spray of deep red blood that spattered on his clothing.

I wanted to scream but just couldn’t summon the energy, and I felt myself falling forwards. My head felt faint like I was on the verge of passing out again, but he took me by the shoulder and held me steady. Starting from my chest, I felt a warmth wash over me, the pain disappearing wherever it flowed.

There was more screeching and a soft pitter-patter as the road around me erupted into small chunks of asphalt and dirt.

What on Earth was going on?

As consciousness seeped back into me, I noticed the presence of two more people nearby. They were both young women, dressed in camo, and they were both facing away from me. There was an intensity in how they were standing like they were going to intimidate it into surrendering just with powerful poses.

The shorter of the two turned to look towards us, and I had to stop myself from gawking at her – she was absolutely stunning. She opened her mouth to ask something and my brain took a moment to realise that she was speaking English.

“How’s she looking?”

“She’ll be fine in a moment,” my rescuer replied, looking over my injuries.

The bluish glow that had been illuminating everything was coming from her. She held some kind of glass screen and was using it to protect us from incoming fire. The other woman held a glowing white ball in her hands and I could feel the intense heat coming from it even from here. The first woman shifted to one side just in time for the second to propel her orb at the mechanoid. It flew so quickly through the air that it turned into a streak of light in my vision and I had to close my eyes to trying to remove the afterimage that it had burned in my retina.

The young medic took my hands and pulled me to my feet just as more screeching came our way. None of them seemed overly bothered by what was happening and I stared at them in wonder.

Was I dreaming?

Who in all the hells were these people?

 

---

Erin

While Sebastian was tending to the injured soldier, I turned back to face our enemy.  I had my earbuds out so that I could listen to the booming and clanging that it made as it moved ever nearer. Being so close to the gargantuan robot was making me feel especially tiny and insignificant, and I had to wonder how we were ever supposed to defeat it.

Even the sun-hot plasma that Casey was throwing was barely scratching the thick hull that it was encased in.

“Their armour is dense and durable. Without more of our technology, you will need to find a way to get past its exterior defences to access its internal systems,” Athena told me. She was casually standing beyond my shield, the incoming grain-sized projectiles causing the energy barrier of the Aegis to ripple. “I recommend getting in close where its defensive options are limited.”

Getting in close could only mean one thing when it came to something that big.

“I’m going to have to climb on it,” I announced to Casey, who was taken by surprise for a couple of seconds before she began to vociferously object.

“What, alone? Hell nah. If you’re gonna do something that stupid then I am coming with you.”

I turned my head to smile at her, “You need to stay here to protect Sebastian and the soldier lady.”

She stopped her plasma weaving and turned to fully face me. Her voice was low and tender when she answered, “I love you way too much to let you do that alone, babe.”

“I need to know you’re safe and you are just way too distracting for me to focus,” I replied, leaning towards her and giving her my best wink. “Besides, someone has to keep Hunter’s brother out of trouble.”

I turned to look towards him and his latest patient. The remains of several burning tanks were littered across the street, but our Swedish companion had checked them all for signs of life before fixating on the woman he was with now. She was incredibly lucky to have survived when all of those around here had been stupid enough to try to engage this thing. It looked like she’d been through hell, but Sebastian had reassured me that she’d be fine.

Reaching out a hand, Casey gently touched my cheek. More impacts battered against the translucent shield, but I ignored them, instead choosing to stare into her eyes. She broke into a smile, wrapping her arms around me and planting a soft yet firm kiss on my lips.

Just as I was about to start falling into her arms, she held back and flicked my nose. I pouted, but she brushed a lock of hair from my face, “Just a little incentive to come back to me in one piece, aight? Please be careful, babe.”

“Didn’t you hear? Careful is my middle name,” I retorted, but she just squinted at me and tilted her head in bemusement.

The machine was only a few hundred meters away, but already it towered over us. From this close-up, I could make out the little hatches in its central body from where it was firing at us. Several rotating tubes were pointed in our direction, and I guessed that those were the things that were trying to spray us down.

“They have been known to make use of high-frequency lasers such as the one used against our helicopter when we came in. I have not yet seen it deploy them against ground targets,” Athena informed me. “They are no match for the Aegis, however anyone not covered by its effects would do well to stay out of sight.”

Of course, how had I forgotten? That little reminder shook me but I relayed it to Casey anyway. We agreed that she needed to get the others to safety as quickly as possible and to stay there, just in case. If I got into trouble I’d just have to communicate that somehow.

While we were busy making preparations to move out, a hatch on the bottom of the titan opened up and small shadowy shapes fell down to the ground. They disappeared into the darkness but I fully expected that those had been more of the drones we’d faced earlier.

“Looks like it’s hella pissed off,” she smirked and reached for one last kiss. I didn’t want to let her go but she pulled back, stroking my cheek and gently touching the tip of my nose with her index finger.

She gestured for Sebastian and the soldier to follow her, gave me one last smile, then all three of them ran off back the way we’d come. The ground around them seeming to boil as their symbiotes protected them from another volley of hypersonic projectiles. My heart ached to see Casey go, but I clenched my teeth and steeled myself for what I had to do now.

I reached to put my headphones back into my ears and started my music again – it was time to get serious.

Launching myself from the road and down the embankment towards one of the machine’s legs, I surged some more energy internally to give me the nimbleness I would need.

First I had to brush aside the growing horde of drones that blocked my path to their Mother.

It took me a little while to pick my way through, crushing and slicing the razor clawed assholes as I went. Just to be safe, I’d tucked the cable inside my jacket rather than allowing it to hang loose. There was no way I wanted that to happen again.

I tried to keep the Aegis between myself and the machine that Muse had originally described as a Scout as much as possible. This was to protect me from both the hail of pellets and any other weapons it might bring to bear against me. Getting lasered in the face was not something that I needed any more.

As drew nearer, it began to struggle to get the angle to hit me with its usual armaments and I smirked at its misfortune. They obviously hadn’t planned for someone to be as dumb as I was. Checkmate aliens.

The next step was to actually get onto its hull and that would involve a thirty or so metre jump into the air... unless I could scale one of the legs. As I was contemplating that option, time slowed and I heard Muse shouting in my head.

‘Erin, move!’

Without thinking I began jumping backwards, narrowly avoiding being squished by one of its other appendages as it slammed down right where I'd been standing.

I growled in annoyance and leapt forwards to grab a handhold on an exposed support strut. I did not appreciate it trying to squash me like an insect, thank you very much