Chapter 19: Grey Phoenix
Chapter 19
Grey Phoenix
Orlando, Florida
“Oh, holy mother of Jericho, why does this place smell so bad!?”
Cera looked like she was going to vomit. All four of the Wolverines deeply regretted stepping out of their truck, and they were seriously thinking about driving away. But it was too late. While Cera, Lawrence, Piper, and Jay retched and held their noses, the driver’s side door opened and Emanuel Espinosa stepped out. The professor held a wet cloth to his nose as he joined the Wolverines.
“I told you these people were going to smell bad.” Emanuel said.
“THAT BAD!?” Cera gagged. “It’s like a mountain of corpses stacked on top of a landfill!”
All five Humans turned to look at their destination. They had arrived at the front entrance of a gated community on the outskirts of Orlando, one of three ADVENT-Era Megacities on the Florida peninsula. Some fifteen million people called this city home, and it was a bastion of the Old United States. The star-spangled banner flew proudly from almost every building, in defiance of the fact that the UN Army was less than fifty miles away. In fact, the American flag was flying from a flagpole in front of this gated community, despite the Professor’s claim that zero Americans actually lived here.
“When we get inside,” Professor Espinosa said. “You need to have some decorum. These people don’t have the same kind of olfactory senses as you and I.”
“Do they have any sense of smell at all?” Lawrence asked.
“Yes.” Emanuel replied. “And they think we smell repulsive, but they’re polite about it.”
“Polite?” Repeated Jay. “How polite can these aliens be?”
“They’ll pump oxygen into the sanctuary so we can breathe.” Emanuel said. “I call that pretty gracious.”
Emanuel stepped towards the opaque metal gate and wrapped his knuckles against it. At once, a hatchway opened up and a small robotic eye attached to a metal arm descended to take a closer look at the five Humans.
“You are in the wrong place, Earth-men.” Said a computerized voice. “This is the Orlando Andromedon Sanctuary.”
“You are wrong.” Emanuel said in a strong voice. “Tell your Overseer that Professor Espinosa, UN Science Directorate, wants to make a deal.”
Jay, Piper, Lawrence, and Cera had to admit they were surprised when the gate opened. Despite being on the run, Emanuel’s name still carried some weight outside the UN. The robotic voice said:
“Please stand in the airlock while we configure the atmosphere to support your visit.”
Emanuel and the Wolverines stepped inside of the airlock chamber and closed the door behind them. Through the walls, they could hear the blaring of a siren and the stamping of many feet. Cera shook nervously.
“I’ve never met an Andromedon.” She said. “Weren’t they part of the Invasion of Earth seventy years ago?”
“Yup.” Lawrence said. “They can’t survive in our atmosphere, so whenever they leave their sanctuaries, they have to wear pressurized environment suits. That’s why we’re waiting. The Andromedons are flooding the place with oxygen and putting their suits on.”
Piper let out a low whistle.
“Well, that is polite.” She said. “Are all Andromedons like this?”
“Not by a long shot.” Emanuel answered. “They’re as alien as you can possibly get. There are only two Andromedons on the planet who can speak a Human language, and one of them lives here.”
The airlock door opened, and the group stepped into the Andromedon Sanctuary. The Wolverines looked around excitedly, hoping to see some of these alien creatures, but they were disappointed. The Andromedon populace had retreated into their homes, which looked like they were designed to be airtight and bore a slight resemblance to Old-World diving bells. Jay gasped as he looked up and noticed for the first time that a roof had been constructed over the entire community, sealing the neighborhood into a private and controllable environment.
Instead of Andromedons, the streets and sidewalks were being used by androids. Lawrence quickly realized that these were no ordinary androids, but retired MEC Troopers from the ADVENT Army, which disbanded over fifty years ago. Now the former military androids were being used as laborers. They carried packages, repaired the street, and did maintenance on all of the infrastructure Andromedons needed to survive. One android, a bright red Heavy MEC, approached the group and introduced itself.
“Welcome to the Orlando Sanctuary, visitors.” It said. “Please follow me to the Community Center.”
Keeping close behind their robotic guide, the Wolverines and Emanuel were escorted to a large building in the middle of town. Inside the lobby, someone was waiting for them. When they laid eyes on their host, all four of the Wolverines were taken aback.
“What the hell?” Lawrence breathed.
“Whoa.” Piper gasped. “That’s a Big Daddy, like from the Ken Levine stories.”
“You read too many Old World books.” Emanuel chastised her. “That… is an Andromedon.”
The Andromedon stood almost seven and a half feet all, and was encased from head to foot in a massive, bulky robotic suit. The enviro-suit featured a domed head with a large class canopy that allowed lots of visibility, but it was nearly impossible to see inside, as the “helmet” was filled with a swirling green gas that obscured the interior. The Andromedon itself was barely visible. The Wolverines could just make out an elongated head with deeply sunken eyes.
“Ist eine Freude dich zu treffen.” The Andromedon’s voice came out of a speaker below the helmet. “Was möchtest du mir sagen?”
“Uh… what?” Lawrence said. “Prof, I thought you said this thing could speak English.”
“I said it can speak a Human language.” Emanuel reminded him. “I guess German isn’t very common in America. Anyway…”
Emanuel engaged the Andromedon in conversation, peaking fluent German the whole way. None of the Wolverines knew what was being said; they stayed back and tried to remain poker-faced. At one point, the Andromedon pointed to an Android and seemed to go off on either a tangent or a tirade. Its mannerisms were so strange and alien that Jay, Lawrence, Piper, and Cera really could not understand the point it was trying to get across. After some five or six minutes, Lawrence noticed a change in Professor Espinosa’s tone. He almost sounded conciliatory, as though he was making some kind of concession.
Finally, an agreement was struck. Emanuel smiled and clapped his hands together. The Andromedon did not reciprocate. Instead, it turned towards the android and issued a series of orders in its own language.
“Let’s not stay.” He said. “They would like to be able to breathe their own air now.”
As Emanuel and the Wolverines headed for the exit, he hastily explained what had just happened:
“The Andromedons living on Earth don’t really comprehend Human politics. The way their society is structured is so alien it can’t really be reconciled with ours, but there is one thing they can agree on us with, is that the Andromedons can’t survive on Earth and they want to leave.”
“So what’s the problem?” Jay asked.
“Well, when the Andromedons were enslaved by ADVENT, the Elders forced their entire species to start living inside of those enviro-suits you saw. Now, the Andromedons have developed a dependency on the suits, more specifically, they are dependent on the Artificial Intelligence that governs them. Its safe to say whatever remains of Andromedon society is now being ruled by an AI rather than a member of their own species.”
“Oh, I get it!” Lawrence said. “So the Andromedons are kinda slowly turning into the same situation as the Micore, where the robots do all the work while the people stay cooped up in their homes.”
“Exactly.” Emanuel replied. “Trouble is, for the past two years or so, something’s gone wrong with the Andromedon AI.”
A former ADVENT MEC escorted the group into the airlock. Jay looked from Emanuel to the robot and just before the door closed, he put his foot in the doorway and said to the MEC trooper:
“Run self test.”
The MEC Trooper paused for a moment, its hand on the door. Then the machine tilted its eyeless head and said:
“Self-test complete. No faults detected.”
Jay raised an eyebrow and stepped away from the airlock door.
“These MECs are half a century old.” He said. “The fact they’re working at all is impressive, so what could be wrong with them?”
“That’s part of the deal I made.” Emanuel said. “The Andromedons will help us break into Cape Canaveral on the condition that I investigate a mysterious signal their AI is receiving.”
“A signal?” Lawrence repeated. “Who the hell wants to broadcast a coded signal to some Andromedon refugees?”
“Hopefully I can find out.” Emanuel said. “I don’t have access to my old lab in Bannack anymore, you know. So who’s next?”
The team clambered into their electric truck while Piper drew her smartphone and displayed a map of the Orlando area.
“We’re off to meet some friends of mine.”
…
The next stop was deep in the Megacity of Orlando. About half a mile to the north of Clear Lake was a scrapyard of immense scale. Laid out in a rectangle measuring two miles by half a mile, nearly two hundred starships of varying size and scale were parked in neat rows. None of these vessels were capable of flying, as they were all in some level of disassembly. Humans and aliens alike were using heavy tools and machinery to cut the starships into small pieces before carting them off to be recycled.
As they drove onto the scrapyard, Jay and Lawrence looked around in awe at the vessels around them.
“These are all from the Second Hyperspace War!” Jay said. “Look, that’s one of the Niagara’s sisterships over there!”
There was, in fact, a Battlemaster-class Gunship nearby. If Jay had not recognized the battered old spaceplane, no one ever would have guessed that this old hunk of junk used to be the Hermione, the only French ship to survive the War in Heaven. At the moment, two large aliens were underneath the Hermione, using metal snips to cut away chunks of the warbird’s armor plating. Piper saw these aliens and said:
“Aha! Those are my friends, let’s go!”
She opened the passenger door and jumped out of the truck while it was still moving, much to the surprise of everyone inside, but luckily, Emanuel was driving very slowly in the scrapyard. He brought the truck to a stop and everyone else disembarked and ran to catch up with Piper.
“Magra!” Piper shouted waving her arms. “Karfu! It’s me!”
Both aliens looked around and spotted Piper. Jay and Cera jumped backwards in surprise.
“Whoa! Wait a second!” Cera yelled. “Those are Mutons!”
Mutons, like Andromedons, were a race of aliens enslaved by the ADVENT Coalition and their so-called “Elders.” They are gigantic hulking humanoids who stood about eight feet tall and weighted a quarter-ton. Mutons had tiny black eyes and weirdly-shaped mouths that were extremely off-putting to look at. But Piper clearly did not care about the intimidating size and shape of the Mutons, because she ran straight toward them as they opened their arms in greeting.
“It’s the little hellfighter!” Boomed one of the Mutons. “We’ve missed you!”
Piper took a running start and jumped at one of the Mutons, wrapping her arms around his torso in an attempted hug that left her hanging about one foot off the ground. Piper had to wrap her legs around the Muton’s torso and lock her ankles together to stop herself falling three feet to the ground. The two Mutons embraced Piper in a group hug that left Emanuel wondering if she would be crushed to death between them.
“Back off, you two.” Piper gasped from somewhere in the mass of alien. “I can’t breathe!”
The Mutons released her, and once she dropped to the ground, Piper was finally able to introduce the Wolverines to her friends:
“Guys, this is Crew Chief Magra and Shipbreaker Karfu. They’re my best friends, and more importantly, they can help us get into Cape Canaveral. They’re with Grey Phoenix.”
…
Emanuel and the Wolverines all knew about Grey Phoenix.
It was a very loose organization of scavengers who sold spaceships and spaceship parts… and most of the time these items were stolen. Unsurprisingly, the majority of Grey Phoenix members belonged to the Muton species. In their own culture, Mutons believed any and all spacecraft were religious objects; and that starships, especially crewed ones, were worthy of spiritual devotion and veneration.
When Piper explained that her friends had come seeking their help, Crew Chief Magra and Shipbreaker Karfu asked the Wolverines to follow. As the sun started to set, the Humans followed the Mutons to the very center of the scrapyard, where a single starship was resting in what appeared to be a place of honor.
“Hey, does that ship look familiar?” Cera said.
“Yeah, it does.” Lawrence replied. “I think I’ve seen it in a history book somewhere.”
As the got closer, the Humans finally did recognize the vessel. It was hard to tell at first because the frigate was surrounded by scaffolding. Clearly the Mutons of Grey Phoenix were trying to re-build this vessel rather than take it apart, but some features were visible. It had the signature green and orange paint job of a warship from the Partogan-Levakian Commonwealth, a cloaking sail that stuck out from the top of the ship like a shark fin, a jury-rigged set of torpedo tubes, and a series of battle scars adorned the visible portions of hull. Near the bow, by one of the torpedo tubes, the vessel’s name could be seen in tall gold letters.
“Oh my goodness!” Lawrence said, his voice filling with excitement. “Piper, is that, you know… Kakama… the Kakama? The one from the Battle of Aoraki?”
“It is so much more than that.” Said Crew Chief Magra. “The Kakama is a sacred voidcraft with a divine history.”
“Kakama is the ship that carried Jericho on her journey across the Galaxy in the final year of the Second Hyperspace War. The vessel is a holy artefact that must be honored.” Shipbreaker Karfu explained.
Emanuel and the Wolverines were all lost for words as they were escorted inside of the Kakama. The interior of the vessel was almost fully restored, looking just as it did during the Second Hyperspace War when Jericho was aboard. Scattered throughout the ship were gold plaques that served as historical markers. Jericho spoke with Queen Mami Tamihana in this room, Jericho learned the Partogan language in this galley, and Jericho used her godlike power to save her ship from the Beast.
“This is impressive.” Emanuel said. “I’m sure if she was here, I’m sure Jericho would be flattered.”
“It is our sworn duty to protect the true history of this sacred vessel.” Shipbreaker Karfu explained. “We are not like the species who engage in historical revisionism. We do not corrupt Jericho’s story to suit our needs, we preserve the memory of the truth.”
“Wait a minute,” Cera asked. “What have other species been saying about Jericho?”
“Lots of aliens have been co-opting Jericho and adding her to their mythology.” Piper replied. “The Taiidani and the Vaygr are saying Jericho is the ‘Holy Daughter of Sajuuk the Creator God.’ The Kelt are saying she’s the ‘Divine Personification of the Holy World.’ And other stuff like that.”
“Really?” Emanuel said. “And I thought the way she was being treated on Earth was excessive.”
Piper laughed.
“Oh, that’s nothing. My favorite is this one, I’ve got a picture of it in my phone, it’s from the Hiigarans. Look!”
Piper held up her smartphone and flashed an image from a website dedicated to Hiigaran history. Jay, Lawrence, and Cera grimaced as they saw a graphic image of Jericho depicted as the “lover” of Sajuuk.
“Oh, my.” Emanuel said. “I think I prefer the Cult’s interpretation of her.”
To everyone’s surprise, both of the Mutons scoffed.
“The Cult would have you believe Jericho was an innocent maiden who never made a wrong choice in her life. Blasphemy!” Magra said.
The Mutons stopped and pushed open a door. The Humans stepped into the ship’s bridge. Seven other Mutons were here, using the computer terminals around the room to do some unknown work. Magra and Karfu invited the Humans to join them in front of the Sensors Manager, where a holographic map of Florida was displayed, complete with little markers to show the battlefield some thirty miles away where UN and American soldiers were fighting.
“So, little hellfighter, why do your friends need our help?” Magra asked. “What is going on?”
“We are helping the St… uh, we’re helping some friends on a mission.” Piper explained. “They’re planning to raid Cape Canaveral.”
All nine Mutons in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at Piper. Karfu scratched her head and gave Magra nervous look.
“That place is a fortress.” Magra said. “One does not simply walk into Cape Canaveral.”
“You do know Grey Phoenix isn’t an army, right?” Karfu added. “What do you expect us to do?”
“Hear me out!” Piper said, raising her hands. “I know I can’t ask you guys to break down the front door for me, but there is something you can do to help. This man here-“
She pointed to Professor Espinosa.
“He’s got inside information about what the UN is doing on the Cape, and he knows how to soften the UN up before the action pops off. We need help with that part.”
Magra and Karfu both narrowed their tiny black eyes at Professor Espinosa. He took a nervous step forward and returned their gaze. Now that he was up close and personal, he finally realized that Shipbreaker Karfu was female. Unlike Humans, male and female Mutons were built in a nearly identical way.
“Before you make your request,” Karfu said. “You should know that we don’t have any ships that can fly in this junkyard. Not even the Kakama.”
“That’s alright.” Emanuel said. “I was actually hoping you could turn your talents for… acquiring spaceship parts… against the supply chain going into Canaveral.”
Karfu and Magra unfolded their arms. They were listening. Emanuel went on.
“The biggest part of Project Prometheus is the construction of three new spacecraft.” He said. “The Akhenaten, Confucious, and Zoroaster. All three ships are being built with parts that are not made in Florida. The components are brought in from UN territory. By ocean, by air, and by starship.”
Karfu and Magra’s eyes lit up. They seemed to have figured out what Emanuel was about to ask.
“You want us to start intercepting those shipments?” Magra asked. “To impede the construction of the UN warships, correct?”
“Yes.” Emanuel said.
“And what do we get out of this?” Karfu demanded.
The Wolverines looked nervously at Piper, so did Emanuel. She put her hands on her hips and replied coolly:
“You… that is to say, Grey Phoenix, can keep any starship components you lift from the UN.”
Emanuel, Jay, Cera, and Lawrence all tried to object.
“Piper, we cannot trust the aliens with UN ship tech!” Lawrence said.
“We don’t know what they’ll do with this stuff.” Cera added. “The might turn our own weapons against us.”
Piper shook her head.
“That’s UN propaganda.” She said. “Trust me, I know Grey Phoenix. They’ve got no quarrel with Humanity in general, just the UN.”
“Etienne’s government destroyed our Temple Ship.” Karfu grumbled, referring to a massive starship from the 2015 Invasion of Earth. “Now it will be decades before we can construct a Holy Ark worthy of taking us to our new Homeworld.”
“Doesn’t have to be decades.” Piper said. “Those ships at Canaveral are pretty advanced. All we’re asking is for you to pick off a cargo ship here, a supply mission there. Just make Etienne’s life difficult for a little while, so we can do our own prep work to actually bring Canaveral down.”
Crew Chief Magra and Shipbreaker Karfu raised their eyebrows at one another. Some unspoken understanding went between them, and then Karfu said:
“We appreciate this, little Hellfighter. When this is over, you are still going to have a seat on the Ark, and your plot of land on the new Muton Homeworld, should we find and claim it while you are still alive.”
Piper nodded and smiled.
“And a Muton husband!” She added. “I’m not taking those xeno-compatability treatments at the Gene Therapy clinics for nothing!”
Cera giggled while Lawrence and Jay rolled their eyes.
“Oh my God.” Lawrence sniggered. “I’ll bet you anything she’s actually been a member of Grey Phoenix this whole time.”
“You laugh.” Magra said. “But it’s only because she is one of ours that we grant you permission to use our base to plan your assault on Cape Canaveral. Stay here with us until the day of action comes.”
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