2288: The Skotadian Experiment Read online

  (3)

  Mad Dawg and his Marines (those with combat experience—Lenkov wouldn’t allow those without it to accompany him) were the first to leave the Hammer of Doom. Their mission was very simple: eliminate Captain Dawson before he becomes a major thorn in their sides. Lenkov had the Marines dressed up in a Skotadian uniform. Once they were on the ground, they had to wait for the heavy transports to pick up and ferry all military vehicles that Mad Dawg would need from one part of Golden Hyperion to them. Lenkov also provided him with air support and a Dragon Clone unit.

  “Hey Chief Warrant Officer, what’s your name?” Mad Dawg asked the Dragon Clone. He learned from earlier that this particular Dragon Clone was the one who infiltrated his ship on Colonel Blackburn’s orders. Lenkov had shown him the report from the Dragon Clone, and Omori told him that he would be accompanying him. They were on a dropship heading down to Golden Hyperion.

  “Why do you want to know my name for?” The Dragon Clone asked him.

  “In all honesty, I really don’t care. Especially since you were the one who infiltrated my ship and killed my crew.”

  “Then in all honesty, sir, I don’t care, knowing that Colonel Blackburn is dead and that we are on a mission to eliminate Captain Dawson.”

  “Isn’t that treason?”

  “Treason to whom? To Skotadi, no. To Dark Core, yes. For Dark Core is the one who has betrayed Skotadi, and as you should know, treason to Skotadi is treason to the founder. And that is something that I will never do.”

  “So what is the difference in committing treason between the two?”

  “I should be asking, what’s the difference in committing treason against Congress as opposed to committing treason against America.”

  “You still didn’t tell me your name,” said Mad Dawg.

  “Jaguar 42R,” the Dragon Clone responded.

  “You don’t mind me calling you Junior, do you? Since the first letter in your name is ‘J’ and the last letter is ‘R’?” Mad Dawg asked him. It was his way of belittling him, but in a purely respectful manner.

  “Ask me again when our mission is over and we are standing over the lifeless body of Captain Dawson.”

  The landing was uneventful on that cool morning, and they didn’t have to wait that long for the rest of the heavy transports to arrive with the APCs. Those transports then left to pick up and ferry the tanks to them. In the meantime they passed the time away as best as they could as more dropships landed carrying their friends.

  “Alright listen up,” Mad Dawg was ordering his Marines over the radio. “I know that you can’t wait to kick some Skotadian scum ass . . . no offense to those with us, but try to remember that on our way there you are to act like them.”

  “Hey Private Esterline . . . he means don’t get too trigger happy, and don’t listen to that damn crappy music of yours,” a Marine blurted out over the radio.

  “Shut up!” Private Esterline responded.

  “Hey, I outrank you. You bastard,” the Marine responded.

  “Sorry sir. I meant to say, shut up sir!” Private Esterline responded, which caused some of the Marines and a few Skotadians to laugh.

  “That’s better. You piece of shit,” the officer responded.

  During their trip to the base where Captain Dawson was at, Colonel McIntyre and Task Force ZH-3C was heading down to Golden Hyperion to begin their mission. Much to the detriment of Task Force ZH-3C’s pride, they were the last to come down. But what none of them could understand is that, according to Lenkov and Omori, their mission was equally as important as the other two.

  (4)

  “How did it go between the two of you?” Omori asked Maria. Maria was in the lobby. It was starting to become a habit of hers to go there when she was in deep thought over Ramirez.

  “He’s holding back on something.”

  “Your love for him shows through the fact that you care enough not to read the psychological report on him. Perhaps you should.”

  “Could you do that with Joseph?”

  “Of course. We already did that a long time ago,” Omori said with a smile.

  “Intellectual curiosity?”

  “Yes. You got it.”

  “And what did it reveal?”

  “The same thing that it revealed between the two of you.”

  “So what shall I do?”

  “What does your heart state?”

  “Be patient, for he will come around.”

  “Then why can’t you?” Omori asked her. Maria couldn’t respond, for she didn’t know what to say.

  “Please be honest with me as you would with Joseph. What’s the likelihood that he will return from this mission?”

  “His love for you will return him to you as mine would return me to Joseph.”

  “Arigatou[17].”

  “Doitashimashite[18],” Omori responded and then she left.

  Maria Sadowayj spent enough time with Lenkov and Omori to see them for what they truly were—rock stars. There was something about the two of them that could easily turn a person into a fan. But their loyalty to Skotadi was tantamount to their loyalty to one another. As for Dark Core—as Jaguar 42R put it, loyalty to Congress would equal what? The two of them scared the living daylights out of Dark Core. They were just too famous. Is that why Dark Core wanted to get rid of them? If that was the case, then in all likelihood they were just being jealous. Didn’t Dark Core know or care that Lenkov and Omori is deeply loyal to Skotadi? Yes, they knew, but they didn’t care. They no longer cared about who was or wasn’t loyal to Skotadi.

  (5)

  “So we’re nothing more than a bunch of losers,” Kaminski said out loud as they were heading towards Golden Hyperion.

  “Apparently,” Mendoza responded.

  “We were at the bottom of the list that the AI chose for our original mission,” Trivelli added. He, like some of the others, was feeling dejected.

  “And when was the last time that any AI ever became as smart as a human?” Cole asked everyone. Nobody was going to respond since they knew the answer—never.

  “Maybe we should prove to everyone that we’re no loser group,” Nguyen mentioned. It got everyone in the dropship to think.

  “You know, Binh is right,” Kaminski mentioned.

  Each one of them wanted to prove that their team was no loser group, no matter what the price. Being called a loser group by Project 21 was the biggest insult to the members. All of them were hurt to some degree or another. Their decision would have major ramifications for that world.

  (6)

  It took several hours for Mad Dawg and his Marines to arrive at Captain Dawson’s base. (They could have arrived a few hours earlier, but the Hammer of Doom would not have been able to use the TIA starbase to block the communications of Dawson’s base, since the ship has to remain in geosynchronous orbit.) Once there, they moved into position so that they would be ready for the firefight that would surely come. It would have been more than absurd to think for a brief moment in time, that Dawson would be victorious upon that cold and dreadful day. The heaviness that could be felt in the air, and all knew that this was the moment of life versus death. For their success would guarantee that the greatest threat would have been neutralized, whereas their failure would mean more would perish. The Marines could feel that something was not right.

  “Captain Dawson?” Mad Dawg asked him when he got to the office.

  “Yes?” the captain responded.

  “I have a message from Fleet Captain Lenkov,” Mad Dawg stated. He then pulled out his gun and shot him dead.

  “And I have a message from Dark Core!” a voice echoed over the loud speakers. It was obvious that it was the real Captain Dawson. He stated over the radio, “We have hostiles within the base! Your SIN have been updated! Kill them all!”

  The radio chatter said it all. Captain Dawson was somewhere within the base. The Marines were having a kill-fest, and reinforcements were coming to provide assistance for Captain Dawson’s force
s. Both sides walked into each other’s trap, where only the superior tactic will win out. After four or five minutes, it was all over.

  “Sir! We found a tunnel that Captain Dawson must have used to leave the base! We also shut down his forces’ access to the radio! Your orders!” Sergeant Major Bishop informed Mad Dawg with urgency.

  “Do not pursue Dawson! His reinforcements are coming! Their ETA is roughly twenty-five minutes! Get back up here on the double! Good job Marine,” Mad Dawg responded. He then went about to quickly create a strong defensive perimeter of the base. He knew, and dreaded, that he would be in the fight of his life with only Lenkov to back him up. With the Skotadian military, they were trained to think like a leader. What would a good officer do who was two ranks above you? It’s no wonder why the Skotadian military is the most feared army ever! And for Mad Dawg . . . that army was coming for him.

  “What are you doing Junior?” Mad Dawg asked Jaguar 42R. Jaguar was standing over the corpse of a Skotadian that he’d killed.

  “I’m having trouble in processing something.”

  “And what could that be?”

  “When it comes to your Marines . . . I can still hear the sounds of their screams inside my head. But when it comes to them . . .” Jaguar 42R responded. He look at Mad Dawg but could not finish what he was saying.

  “Never mind about that. We’re going to be in the fight of our lives. Victory or defeat now rest upon our quick decisions. Now get your act together and assist us.” Mad Dawg basically ordered him. Mad Dawg was starting to show a greater degree of respect toward him. Jaguar was not a killer, but someone who was following orders.

  “Yes sir,” Jaguar 42R responded. Mad Dawg liked to hear that.

  “Here they come!” Private First Class Entwistle shouted when she saw that Dawson’s reinforcements were coming in full force. She nearly had a bowl movement when she saw them. The strange thing was that her brother was Skotadian and was currently serving on the Hammer of Doom.

  “Let them have it! Now!” Warrant Officer Viper 33X nearly yelled through the radio. He is a Dragon Clone and is very close to Jaguar 42R since both of them are the oldest. And with his words, all hell broke loose.

  The gunships came in to do an attack run with some of them being nearly suicidal but hard to shoot down. It was Lieutenant Commander Siviero who saved the day when he recognized the tactic—buy time for the ground forces to arrive, then fall back. He had his hands full dealing with Marines who were never trained like his people. But at least they had the saying of, “When it comes to the Skotadian military, if you blink, then they will be behind you.” Maybe he could work with that, he’d hope. And sure enough it happened. The ground forces were already there.

  “This is Second Lieutenant Keane coming to elevate you. Have heart,” she stated to Mad Dawg and his Marines.

  The sky lit up with the blind fury of heaven and hell, as the gunships on both sides tried to gain the upper hand. The skill of those pilots, their bravery, and their fearlessness shook the Marines to the very core of their soul. Even Mad Dawg was shaken up. And what of the ground forces? Only the Skotadian forces were trying to shoot down those birds. The Marines didn’t want to because of the fear of friendly fire. It was as though the Skotadian military was more than happy to engage in a kill-fest of their own people. It was not based upon a callous reaction to those who they perceived as their enemy, but rather it was based upon the notion of being the best and the desire to have your name written in stone as you take down your rival in order to prove that you are indeed the best.

  After two hours of fighting in the sky, all gunships had been shot down. The causalities were standing at fifty percent, with not one who could escape without injuries. Keane sacrificed her life when after she was shot down, and despite her injuries, she rallied the down pilots near her and they stood their ground, engaging the enemy until the Marines came out of their “mothering hole” (as Keane put it) and did a counter attack.

  “Take ‘em down,” Keane shouted out to the Marines who came to her rescue. Despite her injuries, she would not give ground until the wounded were evacuated. She ordered the Marines to take the critically wounded back to base.

  “We’ll stay with you!” Sergeant Major Bishop informed Keane.

  “I can’t guarantee your safety!” Keane responded. She almost was killed when an RPG landed near her, right after she said that.

  “We’re all in this together ma’am!” Bishop responded.

  Five minutes into the firefight, a tank shell came and killed both Keane and Bishop. It took another fifteen minutes before Dawson’s forces realized that there was no way that they were going to retake the base. And thus, they retreated; due in part to the fact that the Skotadian military was never trained to be suicidal. Later in the day, the rest of Dawson’s forces, realizing that they didn’t stand a chance against Lenkov, surrendered. In some small way, the Marines felt that they’d had their vengeance upon those who had wronged them. But there was just one small problem for them—Captain Dawson. Who knows what horrors he would unleash upon that world. But somehow in some way, they knew they must figure out a way to stop him before it was too late.

  (7)

  “This is Captain Dawson. I need you to consider all Skotadian forces not under my chain of command to be an enemy. Please contact Dark Serpent if you need confirmation. Over and out,” he informed the officers at the nearest security station.

  Captain Dawson was traveling on foot, relying upon his training in evading the enemy. He knew that they would be using game theory to narrow down his location, and that made it all the more difficult upon him. But he had an advantage that would take too long for the enemy to figure out. He knew that his advantage would leave them to chase his sweet bread crumbs, rendering their game theory near useless. For his advantage rested upon knowing that the map of the region was erroneous, but his SIN contained the correct version. What’s more, there were safe houses and secret caches (a dirty trick that Lenkov used when behind enemy lines while he was on Valkyrie) that he could use just in case.

  Dawson chuckled as he left his safe house. He was thinking about something. Oh, if he could just remember what Lenkov (or was it Omori?) called it. Fifteen minutes into a hard run, while trying to dodge the prying eyes of a drone, he finally remembered what it was. One of them called it poetic irony, a combination of poetic justice (with less emphasis upon the justice part), and irony. Almost being caught within the strafing run of an attack drone (and thanking God that Omori was right when she stated that artificial intelligence was nothing more than a fancy way to show off the complete and total stupidity of people who assume that they are far smarter than what they actually are) on several occasions, he made it to another safe house. It was at this safe house that he could send a secure signal, via underground cable, to an automatic radio transmitter that would give the impression that he was at that location.

  Resting for a few hours, he decided to get drunk. (He had liquor placed there when he learned of the possibility that Lenkov and Omori may betray Skotadi.) Had he chosen to stay sober or to continue on, he probably would have been killed. For he seriously had no clue as how smart Omori was when it came to AI technology. She may have been the most cynical, nihilistic woman when it comes to computers, but she, like Lenkov, was a realist first and foremost. Both of them embraced realism as well as living in the reality principle. So when it came to computers and AI technology, her cynicism and nihilism was based upon having a realistic view.

  Drones were the smart thing to use to look for him, but they were just too stupid. Their so called “brains” were nothing more and nothing less than a calculator. As Omori would put it: “An infinite number of variables can never be inputted into an AI in order for the AI to understand that an algorithm is not thinking, nor is thinking an algorithm. For a computer is noting more than a calculator. It always has been and probably always will be as such.” Dawson had an alcohol problem. Alcohol affects a person’s capability to think.
He has to keep on moving, he may starve, and alcohol dehydrates the body. Where will he go? Isn’t it obvious? Only if you are a human and not a machine.

  “Omori? What are you doing in here?” Maria Sadowayj asked her. Sayaka was in the bar lounge on the Hammer of Doom. She rarely came in there.

  “I could ask the same of you,” Sayaka asked. She was drunk.

  “I think you know why I chose to come here. But why are you here?”

  Omori took a long sip of her drink and stated, “Dawson got away. Drones are currently chasing him down.”

  “Well that’s good . . . isn’t it?” Maria asked. Omori only gave her that unique look of hers that stated ‘you are in the wrong,’ or, ‘how dare you,’ et cetera. With some people, it could put a chill down their spine.

  “What!?” Maria asked after Omori gave her that look of hers.

  “You should know me by now. Drones are both the smart as well as the dumb thing to use. I fear . . . that he may get away because of it,” Omori said. She took a long sip of her drink, and then Maria did as well, after the robot delivered her drink. Both of them just sat there waiting for the Intel report to come in, not talking that much, just drinking and fearing the worst that was to come.

  (8)

  Ramirez just received the message that told him in typical Skotadian ways to get to the effing Dark Id link up room. It read, “Get your arse in there and teach those SOBs that Skotadi don’t dick around.” But he knew that was the problem—the enemy was Skotadian. VERM agents that is. He learn a long time ago that the best way to fight them was to be drunk for no other reason than because a drunk fighter is too damn tough. Skotadian warriors live hard, fight hard, drink hard and die hard. Or so they say. And who they were was long forgotten. Omori put it best a long time ago on Valkyrie—“Humans are throwing a party and the whole universe is invited. To what? To watch the entire human race go extinct. And nobody will forget us, for they will see the face of the one true god! The god who is the alpha and the omega! The god of darkness who is eternal! For life chases its own extinction as well as runs from it. We embrace the darkness and thus the light of our salvation. For the longer we survive and the longer we fight and hold our ground, no one will ever forget the human race! Stand firm and fight forever! And never let anyone forget that you are number one!”