Broken Stars Read online

  My command had me talk to a navy chaplain and went into that office thinking he would have all the answers. When I told him I loved my kid he fed me bullshit about men not being capable of loving a fetus and that I loved the idea of it. That I had tricked myself into loving the potential of what we could be.

  I played along because he was fucking stupid and didn’t know the first thing about what I felt. I told him what he wanted to hear, because my friends, my Marine family, needed me. And they were people I could help, but not if I were sent home.

  So I was too lost in thought and misery to notice the men on my side of the truck stand up from hiding. I didn’t see one of them fire an RPG, rocket propelled grenade, or the other two fire their rifles.

  I saw the lead Humvee explode. And I saw the blood splatter on the windshield of my truck when the driver took a round to the shoulder.

  What I did next earned me a medal I didn’t deserve. I grabbed the wheel and stomped on the brake. I must have thrown the truck in park, but I don’t remember doing it. I remember the blood on my hands from the wheel. I remember getting out of the truck and rushing the fucks who were in a zone that was supposed to be safe. I remember the rifle bucking against my shoulder as I ran and fired. I remember using my rifle like a club and screaming and I beat their corpses until I was pulled off.

  ***

  Something hit my back almost pitching me over the railing. I blinked a couple time to regain my sense of where and when.

  “Tom!” Bridget’s horse voice shouted into my ear.

  “I’m here, Bridget,” I said in a horse whisper.

  “Are you okay? We lost you there for a minute.” Her tone was frantic making me think she must have been shouting for me and not getting a response. Hell of a time to stroll down memory’s pothole laden street.

  “I’m good, Bridget. I got this, give me a minute to take care of these fucks.”

  I took a deep breath to ground myself. Then I turned around and faced three Death Knights in bulky black armor. I noticed the one in the middle had a bit more bulk and some gold trim. The alliance troops either died or fled leaving just me, the guy who let my personal issues get Marine’s killed and the guy who probably just let those same issues get Alliance soldiers killed.

  Use it! I thought.

  The rifle came away from my chest with a light tug. I snapped it up to my shoulder and sent round after round at the trio. The left front Death Knight held up a shield bar and activated it. The silver needle like projectiles flattened and fell to the ground as the golden hexagons activated. I shifted my aim to the floor and a couple needles bounced up but lacked the speed needed to penetrate. The Death Knight lowered the shield blocking my shots. Trying a different tactic I held the trigger down and let the rounds impact the same spot. To my surprise the rate of fire increased the longer I held the trigger. In a few seconds I was spent.

  I threw the now useless weapon at the shield and charged. I jumped, kicked off the machine to my right then the one to the left and was swatted to the ground like a fly. I landed hard on my back and felt the first blow dealt by my enemies since my upgrade. The air was forced from my lungs and my teeth rattled.

  A large black gauntlet slammed down onto my chest and lifted me up then slammed me back down. Air I didn’t know I still retained forcefully departed my lungs. The knight picked me up again and flung me to the same spot the Alliance men fell to their deaths. Reflexes kicked in and my hand shot out grabbing the railing. With a mighty heave I changed direction and flew back at the fucker.

  My fists smashed into armor and lots of cracking noise resulted from the collision. My human hand broke many bones. The mechanical fist shattered the armor. Mind over matter and right then I didn't mind the pain so it didn’t matter.

  My left fist smashed into the opening and through a bunch of soft bits. I made like a blender and shook the shit out of my hand shredding all the juicy stuff into a nice pulp. The body slid off my arm to never rise again.

  “Which one of you bitches is next?” I asked.

  The next knight in all black stepped forward. Two blades slowly descended from his forearms and started to glow. I dashed forward like Mega man and smashed my left fist into his faceplate shattering it and the face beneath.

  “I already saw that trick,” I said as that knight fell dead. “It’s just you and me now. Any last words?”

  “Now you die,” the death knight said in a deep and raspy voice.

  That brought a smile to my face despite the pain in my right hand. “Bring it, biotch.”

  Even though I issued the invitation I struck first because fuck him. The knight blocked my punch and hit me in the chest with his free arm. My right hand hurt too much to move it, let alone use it, leaving me open. He hit my, but I twisted my torso and a blow that would have crushed my sternum glanced off my shoulder. I punched again as hard as I could fully expecting the knight to block. He did, but the armor broke into pieces around the knights arm with a resounding boom. The knight screamed and jumped back.

  “Think you could take that one alive?” Bridget asked.

  “I am guessing that the gold designs on its armor means its some kind of special, or elite Death Knight. Is that right?” I asked.

  “Yes, which is why it has Intel we could use,” Bridgett said.

  “Makes sense. One captive Death Knight coming up.”

  Chapter 6

  The knight raised his arm palm down and pointing at me. I expected words, but instead I saw little particles of light begin drifting toward the raised fist and swirling in front of it.

  There is a lot of down time when Marines are deployed in the field. So it is normal for us to seek out entertainment. When a bunch of Marines enjoy anime it is only natural for all who live with them to catch a movie or two. Which is how I figured the energy forming in front of that fist meant nothing but bad shit for me. Half of me expected the weapon to take a long time to charge, but the practical Marine in me knew better.

  I jumped to the side in time to dodge a purple beam a foot thick. The energy beam only lasted a second but it was enough to cause all kinds of damage. The worst of it becoming evident when I heard the rush of air and felt it pull at me. A glance over me shoulder was enough to see the glowing hole in the hull. There was an outer hull that glowed orange as if the beam heated the metal, but I saw no hole to the outside. The view through my helmet zoomed in automatically and a red circle highlight a pinprick sized hole. Red letters in that strange symbol language flashed in front of me a couple times.

  “We have a problem,” I said.

  “What is it, Tom. No, wait.” Bridget said. A second later she came back on. “Looks like there is an inner hull breach and the outer hull is compromised but still holding. Is that what you see?”

  “Yes and no. The outer hull has a small hole. We are losing air and the metal is still really hot. It’s only a matter of …” My words were cut off by the orange metal cooling rapidly and shattering.

  The force of the decompression generated wind lifted me off the deck and pulled me violently toward the hole. My hands scrambled for the railing as I flew by. My broken hands slapped down and the fingers closed around the bar. Pain exploded in my hand. There was so much agony my hand couldn’t contain it and pain shot up to my elbow. My fingers slipped, but I got my good hand on the bar in time and let go with my injured one.

  Relief from the pain and a quick death in space was short lived as I saw the Death Knight flying at me. It slammed into me causing my grip to loosen. The knight rolled over me and slammed into the outer hull. I flopped down and my waist hit the walkway hard enough for me to feel it through my armor but not to shake me loose.

  The arm Bridgett gave me lifted me up and over the railing with little effort. I turned to see what happened to the knight.

  “Bridget, the hole is plugged for now, but I didn't know for how long,” I said.

  “Oh good, I was worried, Tom. Did you get the Knight?” She asked.

  “
That is a negative. The target is not secure, at least not by me.”

  “I don’t understand,” Bridgett replied. “What do you mean not secured by you?”

  “The knight is currently playing the role of hull plug, not to be confused with a butt plug, but not a big difference in either case.”

  “Oh, that is a problem, Tom. Do you think you could pry the knight out and get her away from her armor?”

  “I don’t know, maybe. Do you … wait. Did you say she?” I asked as I moved closer to the railing and started looking for a solution to the problem at hand.

  “Yeah, all the Death Knights are women. Did I not explain that?” Bridgett asked.

  “No Bridgett, not at all.”

  “Does that bother you?”

  “Yes it does,” I replied.

  “Tom, women are not delicate flowers to be put on a shelf and that goes doubly so here. Do not let the fact that the Knights are women stop you, Tom. One delay and those women you don’t want to hurt will take your head off.”

  “Yeah I hear ya,” I replied. “Just the way I was raised. Don’t worry, I will finish the mission no matter who gets in my way. I’m going to try and get the knight free. Stand by.”

  The first of the trio of knights I killed still had her, and I couldn’t believe I had killed so many women, blades out. The glow faded to a dull grey finish, but I hoped the damn things would still be enough. The first problem was getting the blades free. I grabbed one of the gauntlet covered hands and yanked. Then I fell on my ass as the gauntlet, blade and all, came right off.

  “What was that?” Bridget asked.

  “Nothing, just working over here. Will let you know how it goes in a minute,” I replied.

  The second gauntlet came away just as easy. I went back to the railing and found myself face to face with the problem from earlier. The knight was far away, but there was no doubt I could jump over to her with ease. The problem was not just falling off of her and plummeting to the lower decks. The issue turned out to be a simple one to fix.

  One of the gauntlets clattered to the floor while I jumped the chasm that separated me and my date. My chest slammed into the chest plate of her armor and my free hand latched onto her shoulder Pauldron. I reached for the gauntlet tucked under my arm and the pain in my hand spiked. I groaned as I pulled my hand close to my chest.

  “I have a problem, Bridget and I need your space brain,” I said.

  “What can I do for you, Tom?”

  “I’m hanging from the Death Knight using my cybernetic arm, but I busted up my real hand really bad. I need to use this large blade under my arm to crack the armor open. I can’t hold on and swing the blade. Any ideas from that space brain of yours?” I asked.

  “Do you trust me, Tom?”

  “Do you really have to ask? You gave me back my life, Bridget. If you told me to run into the caldera of an active volcano I would say yes ma’am and double time it. Hell yeah I trust you, girl.”

  Bridget laughed. “Not going to ask you for that, but sweet of you to say. Since I didn’t get a chance to sign your augments over to you I can do some upgrades with the credits you’ve earned. Oh wow, I forgot how much those Death Knights were worth. Tom, you have fourteen thousand credits to spend. Well, not that much after I’m done. Give me a second to make the transactions,” Bridget said.

  What the fuck? was all I could think. Earned credits from killing and purchasing upgrades? It was like playing a damn video game. The implications of gamifying war were staggering. At the same time, Tom was there to do a job and if work was also play, then hell yes he was going to play and play to win.

  “Tom, place one foot against the wall, activating your first upgrade now.”

  I did as instructed and heard a hum as my foot stuck to the wall. I placed my other foot against the wall on the opposite side of the knight and it too stuck. I lowered myself into a crouch while straddling the knight. Gradually I let my feet take over holding my weight until I could lift my hand of her shoulder.

  “Holly shit, do I have mag-boots, Bridget?” I asked with a laugh. If I weren’t such a specimen of manliness I would have squeed.

  “Yes you do and it must be working huh?”

  “That it is. That all I’m getting?” I asked.

  “Oh no, now comes the fun stuff. I need you to free up your augmented hand. Let me know when you do,” she said.

  I looked down at the black gauntlet with the long blade and already felt the lose of it. I was hoping to be able to integrate the blade into my own armor. But, I did tell Bridget that I trusted her so I lifted my arm letting the piece plummet into the darkness below. “Hand is free, I said.

  “Okay, now put it straight out to the side. I don’t want to risk you being hurt,” She replied.

  “Okay?” I asked slash consented, kind of. Trust could be a real bitch. But I relented and put my arm straight out. I was going to have a serious talk with myself about what the fuck fell out of my mouth in the future.

  The extended arm tingled and I watched at my hand elongated and changed. In the blink of an eye everything from the elbow down morphed into a serrated edge black blade with a silver edge that was twice the length of my forearm and hand. I pulled the blade around so I could get a good look. “Daaaaaaamn,”I said.

  “You like?” Bridget asked.

  “Hell yeah I like. This is freaking awesome!”

  “Good, now carefully peel that banana and get her out of it.”

  “Yes ma’am, and it’s a space banana.”

  “Uh, okay, if you say so.”

  I found a seem along the death knight’s chest armor and pressed the tip of my blade against it. The tip slid in like a hot plasma torch through butter. I traced the seam all the way around until the hunk of black metal, or composite, or whatever, fell away. I moved down to the abdomen sliced that piece free.

  “This thing is even better than I first thought,” I said. I’m cutting this armor away like it’s nothing.”

  “I thought you might like it. Wait till you can sit down and go through the upgrades available for the blade. Heck wait till you see all the upgrades you can get. Coffee break is over, Marine. Get me my Death Knight please.”

  “You got it.”

  The head and neck proved to be a little more difficult. Rings circled the knight’s neck and connected to the bottom of the helmet. I considered trying to slice a vertical line through the rings but my angle and precarious perch didn’t make for a steady position to cut from. I decided to just cut her neck free from the torso. With some creative body positioning I got the job done. I took that same approach with her legs and arms.

  With the last bit of her left leg armor cut away The Death Knight fell forward. I reached without thinking and scooped her up with my augmented arm. The blade shrank back into a hand before I accidentally cut her in half.

  “Wow,” I said without having meaning to say it out loud.

  “What, what is it?” Bridget asked.

  “I thought I killed this woman for a second there. The blade retract on its own,” I said.

  “Your body will read your intentions and react, just like you moving your limbs without having to consciously think to move them.”

  “That’s not creepy at all,” I said in a sarcastic tone.

  “You said you trusted me,” she scolded.

  “I do. This is just going to take some getting used too.”

  “Really? Cause the vids are already spreading around the ship and it looks like you have this down. Anyway. Are you headed back?” Bridget asked.

  “Yeah, I just … oh shit!”

  “What?”

  “The armor is crumpling and being sucked into the hole!” I shouted.

  Chapter 7

  I pulled the Death Knight tight to my chest and jumped counting on the augments to read my thoughts. They did and my feet disengaged from the wall. I landed on the railing then dropped to the catwalk. I turned the way I had come from and ran.

  A loud pop s
ignaled the end of the Death Knight armor and our protection from the cold vacuum of space. I was swept off my feet and yanked back, the woman in my arms almost falling free. Her scream and her arms going tight around my ribs let me know that she was awake.

  My damaged hand shot out and grabbed the railing. I screamed and we both tumbled closer to oblivion. My left foot stomped down on the catwalk and the mag-boot feature engaged. Stepping down with my right foot secured us in place.

  The woman’s head hit the ground and her helmet came free from the bands around her neck. Long black strands of hair spilled out and whipped around in the wind. Her pale face was striking, with wide narrow eyes dark as coal and a prominent nose that made her look strong without obscuring her beauty. Black lines under skin looked like a map of her veins giving her a horror movie vibe.

  “Can’t. Breath.” The Death Knight said in a voice that was husky but feminine. She sounded completely different now which lead me to believe the helmet changed her voice.

  Shit. Bridget was going to be pissed if I let this woman die. I rose to my feet and started my first step forward with a metallic clang. The next step was just as loud and just as slow. At that pace I was getting nowhere fast.

  “Bridget,” I said as I took the next laborious step.

  “Yes?” She asked.

  Clang.

  “Can I consciously control my limbs, like if I focus on my hand and will my finger to move it does,” I asked.

  “Yes of course. Your new limbs are no different than your old as far as your nervous system is concerned.”

  “Does that work for the upgrades like the blade and mag-boots?”

  “Sure does,” Bridget said.

  “Space upgrades are awesome,” I mumbled. “Okay Bridget, here I go!”

  With my next step I focus on turning off the mag-boot as my foot left the floor. It worked. Then I had it came back on and that too worked. I did it with the next step and the next. A few more steps and I was jogging, but keeping my concentration on the mag-boots was hard so I didn’t pick up the pace. Considering I only had about twenty yards left to go that was okay.