0306 hours March 2nd, 2160
Outside of the Dawn-Jackson Armory and Base, Nevada, Earth, Sol System
I just got shot in the arm by a laser that packs three times the punch as a .50 caliber sniper round. I didn't feel it. I looked down at the ground and saw my arm. It was clear cut off at about two inches above the elbow. Clean cut, except for the wires and metal tubing that started to slide around inside of it when it was trying to move. What The fuck? Is this real? Did this just happen? Maybe I'm in shock, maybe that's why I couldn't feel it. But, there are wires moving. I don't believe it. This can't be happening... Can it? No. This isn't true. I remember looking up, and seeing the other aliens running towards me, shooting at me as they came. Ping! my helmet flew off, Bowng! I was getting hit again and again. I finally fell to the ground.
Blackness. Darkness. Utter nothingness. It was strange. I think time was still, either that, or my mind was processing things at a much faster rate than ever before... Or was this the first time? The time I killed The Wise One, that was another time this had happened, for sure. I can't remember another time before that. My vision then filled with nothing but green. Everything was green, like I was wearing a big green lens over my eyes. Then things started to pop up: Vitals, system notes, tons of information. Then an outline of a person came up in the upper left hand corner. A majority of it was yellow, except for the left leg, which was flashing red, and the right arm, which was outlined in red, but was filled in black. Gone, my right arm is gone. I blinked and it all went away. No more green, like I had imagined it all.
I tried to stand, but I just fell over at first. I tried to think harder, to concentrate on standing. I did, and I felt like I was fine for a moment. Then I looked back at my arm, or at least the nub that was left as a reminder of what once was. I looked out and saw the Incolma walking away, only a few left now, no more than nine. I yelled, and it was metallic. I tried to say something, and all that came out was a metallic, static-y buzz-hum. I yelled again, the same sound. I will not be ignored by these things. I hit the back of my neck as hard as I could, and felt something rattle, then snap.
"HEY!" I yelled, at last. The incolma still wouldn't turn. "HEY!" That time I lifted one of their laser rifles from one of the ones I'd killed earlier. I fired a shot, it hit one of them in the back of the head. It was the one in the front of the pack, the rest turned around and screamed that awful scream. one or two of them started to run towards me, as the others scattered. I took down the first one fine, but I couldn't reload fast enough with only one arm. It tackled me and tried to smack me with it's giant hand. "You, Humana, will pay for killing one of our Holy Lords."
"Get the fuck off of my planet." I spat in it's eye, and it swung at me, hitting my right shoulder. Still no pain, just big red letters that came up in my line of sight telling me that I was taking substantial damage. I laughed at the warning. The Incolma looked down after it got the spit out of it's eye, to look at it's kill. Only to see sparks and metal. "What are you?" It began to tremble.
"Me? I am Humanities secret weapon. I am Vice Admiral Isaac Free." I threw my fist up as hard as I could, punching straight threw it's skull.
I got back up after rolling the dead alien off my body. I looked around for the other Destroyers. Gone, cowards. I looked around at my base. Ransacked and torn apart. I could see the bodies of all of the ones who tried to save it, most of them were unarmed because of the strict no weapons any where other than the ranges policy. They would all try to protest. "What if this or that comes down here and tears us to shit?" We always answered with "It will never happen." What are we to say now?
I spotted a ship, not a Micro, but a Select, a size larger, and ten times as strong. I started to walk over to it, then thought of Bret. I need to call him to get me. What if he freaks out? Why haven't I freaked out? I guess we'll have to play this one by ear. I looked down at my left arm and hit the call touch button with my tongue. "Call Bret Waard IV" it took a few seconds, then I heard [call connected] from my wrist. Or was it my head?
"This is Captain Bret Waard, is that you Isaac?"
"Yes it is, I need you for immediate evac, I am wounded and don't think I'm capable of flying any vehicle."
"Negative, Isaac, Things are getting hot up here and I don't think we can spare the ship."
"We?"
"We have thirty ships up here, trying to combat this threat. That, plus the Behemoth."
"I understand, I'm on my way."
"Isaac, if you don't make it up here... It's been an honor serving with you. And a privilege to be your brother."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." I didn't know if it was even fair of me to accept that, I'm not Isaac, not the original anyways. What happened to him. I started back towards the ship.
I walked past body after body, smelling the dead corpses, and looking at the laser holes in their flesh. Poor souls. I got to the ship and settled in, I figured I'd be in there for a while. The computer came on. "Hello, VICE ADMIRAL ISAAC FREE, How are you today?"
"Shipboard AI, shutdown."
"Shipboard AI shutting down." I hesitated to try what I was sure wasn't going to work. I tried it anyway. I reached down to one of the computer hook ups, and grab hold of it.
I became the ship. I saw only what the ship saw, like having six directions of view. I could see all around me. I felt myself in the system, and was halted by the AI. "What are you? Your Program/OS?"
"I am Isaac Free."
"Isaac Free is a human, you are not."
"I don't know who I am, I am not self aware yet, I guess."
"I see, very uninformed speech patterns."
"Are you patronizing me?"
"Yes."
"Okay, well here then, this is for you. AI Override serial Code JF-0001239"
"Unaccepted, Joesph Douglas Ford died at 0214 hours on March 5th, 2160." Goddamn it.
"Override code IF-0789124"
"Override accepted. Shutting down." It was quiet, and I made myself let go of the ship, back into my body. Lets just do this the normal way. I typed in my codes, cordinance, and kicked off of the ground, headed into space.
I watched as three of our ships were just destroyed, in an instant. The ship responsible was a giant, about the size of the Behemoth, maybe a little smaller. I watched as the canon it had just used cooled down. The Behemoth did the same to it, and it's shield dropped. I got a message from Bret [Go in there and make them regret coming here.] I looked over at the Behemoth and smiled at him, through the glass, He waved back at me.
I jetted towards the ships hangar, open and totally vulnerable. I let my ship slid into the bay, not worried about my own safety at all, if I was going to die, it was going to be on this ship, the main threat to the Homeworld. I bolted out of the ship, landing hard on the smooth metallic flooring, only startle a few of the Incolma. Brilliant. I shot for the door, but not without being pushed back by one of the largest ones I've seen. This thing was twelve feet tall, easily. It was about as wide as an eighteen wheeler. He looked pissed, too.
It swung his giant hand at me, barley missing my left arm. I jumped back and found a weapon rack. I reached for one of their rifles and dove, missing another big swing. I leveled my gun at him, and he was indifferent towards it. I shot, hitting him in the chest. He staggered a bit, but kept coming. I shot again, hitting it in the head, putting it down. Great shot, Isaac. I looked around at the others. They were either staring at my missing arm, or staring in awe at the fact that I had probably killed their greatest warrior in only half a minute. A dying race, indeed. The all flinched when I started running towards what I figured was going to be the control room.
I reached the room marked "Controlat cubiculum" Literally control chamber in English. I busted through the door, and the room was empty. No controls, no aliens, nothing. A dead end, a falsely marked hallway, at best.
I turned around and was assaulted with round after round. It was hitting my skin, penetrating it, and then rebounding off of my reinforced metal body, killing several, but missing a lot as well. I lifted the gun in my hand amongst the fire and held my trigger finger down as long as I could. All of them were dead, and I felt... Odd. I started to stagger over back down the hallway, and passed a mirror, only to be frightened by my reflection. No longer was I Isaac Free, in mind, or in body, but a poorly made copy. The skin on the right side of my head and all of my left are was gone. I could see the blue metal with red blood running down it. It was strange to see it. I had a large socket where my eye rested, a real organ, most likely artificially made to look my Isaac's. I had no hair save for a few strands on that side of my head. I was hideous, and there was no way that Bret was going to see me like this.
I ran down the hall, my legs still both working. I reached another hall that was marked the same, but in older letters. That must be the right way. I walked slowly, rifle in hand, and turned the corner. I was imediately over taken by the Incolma. They hit me in the head with one of their big hands, and I went black again.