Havok Bringer

I knew Tiff wasn’t a cold, lifeless computer. Even though she was an AI, she acted just as human as CJ and me. Still, I didn’t expect to see her cry. She had held her shit together from the beginning of this whole debacle and I had begun to lean on her as things got progressively weirder.

“Tiff, what is going on? You can talk to us,” I said, gesturing to CJ and myself, "Whatever is going on, we can figure it out together.”

Tiff looked up at me, tears streaming down her cheeks, “Andrew, we were using you. This whole time, we were using you.”

I could see the regret in her eyes. CJ looked completely lost and I understood how he felt.

“Tiff, I need you to take a deep breath and explain. Explain everything and then we can try to figure a way out of whatever this mess is,” I said, scared as I spoke.

If I couldn’t trust Tiff, then I knew this whole thing was about to get more difficult than I could imagine. All I could hope is that we could find a way to work through whatever this is.

“Princess Denae is in orbit around the containment facility. She knows we are heading there now and if she thinks there is a chance that you will put the success of her mission in jeopardy, she will commandeer the Bloodhound and take the Havok Bringer Armor.”

“Who is Princess Denae? How does she know what we're planning?” I asked, panic starting to seep into my words.

“She is the Princess of the Havokium Empire and leader of the rebellion against The Council. She commands the armies and war fleet, as well as any spec-ops teams that are currently deployed. I am currently a key operative for one of those teams, Andrew,” She dried her tears as she spoke.

“I was recruited before I was drafted to be a guardian, before I ever met you, CJ, or Elvis. You have to understand, Andrew. This mission gave me purpose and would allow me to strike a blow against The Council and possibly survive.” Tiff said as she looked up at me, tear-soaked eyes pleading with me to understand.

“The mission was simple. Mission parameters and goals were uploaded to my neural cortex, along with descriptions of the armor and Bloodhound. The participant that I would be assigned to would hopefully select The Havok Bringer class after some persuasion and I would take control of The armor and ship once we got into orbit.” she said, as she sat down in the chair behind her.

“The Havokium people have been preparing for this opportunity for a very long time, Andrew. My people, the Sapere people allied with them in secret decades ago. We have been living in servitude for millennia and are ready to break those chains. I was doing this for all the right reasons. I didn’t expect that the human who took The armor would be capable of wielding it much less deserving of trust. I was wrong,” she looked down at her clasped hands.

“I disobeyed a direct order from Princess Denae. She told me to commandeer the armor, and ship and I refused,” she raised her head and looked me directly in the eyes, “I might be foolish to believe in you or foolish to trust you, but I do, Andrew.”

“I didn’t expect you to volunteer to free my true body and, at the time, I had no memory of my mission. I was acting on instinct, or gut feeling, when I told you to select the class. I was more than likely being influenced by subroutines that had been downloaded into my neural cortex, but I stand by the decision. If you had selected another class, you wouldn’t have progressed as far as you have. Your potential is practically limitless now and you have a real chance to protect your world,” she turned sideways in her seat and looked away from me.

“I understand if I have damaged the trust you had in me. If you want to call off the mission to EVAC my true body, I understand that as well. Understand that I won't force you to do anything, and I will still assist you as long as I can but understand that if you do that then Princess Denae's primary mission is a failure. If the mission fails she will have no further use for me and will proceed to an alternate plan; a plan with far less impact and a higher likelihood of failure.”

I stood up and walked over to Tiff, CJ followed.

“So, you're telling me that you are an operative working to bring down the council?” I asked, looking to CJ for confirmation as well.

“Yes, in a nutshell,” she replied.

“The Council, whoever they are, is the reason that my planet is under threat of destruction right now. The Council is responsible for mass genocide over countless millennia, and they are a bunch of arrogant pricks who think they can decide who is worthy of living and dying. Does that about sum it up?” I asked, looking between Tiff and CJ.

“Yes, that sums it up,” Tiff said, still looking down.

“Tiff, If I agree to help, will I still be able to participate in the dungeons and do what I can to save Earth?" I asked.

Tiff looked up, a glimmer of hope shining in her eyes.

“Yes, it is part of the mission. You will need to participate in the dungeon and act as if nothing is out of the ordinary,” she replied.

“Will you swear to stay on in your role as XO and assist us moving forward? Even after we retrieve your true body?” I asked.

“Of course. I am committed to this mission, Captain, and I'm committed to this crew. I won't turn my back on you,” she replied, the faint hope she had no growing with every word.

“Then as far as I’m concerned, The Council can go fuck themselves. Anything I can do to kick dirt in the faces of those arrogant assholes sounds like fun to me,” I said as I looked at CJ.

“You in, CJ?” I asked.

“Hell yeah, I’m in. This is the most excitement I’ve had in years!” he said.

“Elvis also in!” Elvis suddenly chimed in from the PA.

Music started playing over the loudspeakers:

"We're not gonna take it!

No! We ain’t gonna take it!

W'ere not gonna take it

Anymore"

“Damn right, Elvis! I say we give The Council a taste of its own medicine!”

Tiff was standing now. Hope was now replacing the look of despair that had overtaken her moments before.

“Thank you, Andrew. I swear that I won’t keep anything like this from you again. We will strike a blow against The Council, and you will be the match that lights the fuse,” she said.

“One more thing, Tiffany. Tell this Princess Denae that I am on board with her plan but, if she betrays me or puts my friends or my world at risk again, I’ll kill her myself,” I stared at Tiff resolutely.

“I agree that The Council needs to be dealt a blow. I am willing to align myself with you and the Havokium people, but I am not willing to put my world at risk.”

“We will do this, but we will do it my way. If your plan aligns with my ability to save Earth, then there should be no problem. Understood?”

Tiff stood there seemingly caught off guard for a moment, “Understood, Captain. We can achieve both goals. I will update Princess Danae. She will want to update you on the mission parameters and goals.”

“Let me know when she is ready to talk,” I said. “Until then, we proceed as planned.”

“Elvis, how long until we are at the containment facility?” I asked.

“Should arrive at facility in four days, Captain,” Elvis responded.

“Everyone needs to rest up and train. I will be doing the same. We need to be prepared when the time comes and Tiff needs her body,” I said as I turned to walk back to the bridge.

“Let's go to the bridge and finalize the infiltration and extraction plans. Get some rest and we can wake up tomorrow and focus on training. CJ, I'll want to see what you can do in the VCR with that suit of yours. We will also need to cover some operational tactics since we will be working together.”

A few minutes later we were all on the bridge. Elvis had populated the main display with a schematic of the containment facility, and we were discussing the best way to enter and exit. We needed to get in and get out as quick as possible. There was no chance of collateral damage, but we wanted to limit exposure to the mechs if we could. No reason to fight any more than we had to.

As we were discussing how to disengage the outer doors security locks the screen went black. The air in front of me seemed to warp. There was what looked like an electric ball that spun while it arced against the floor and bulkhead. As quickly as it was there, it warped, and in its place stood a terrifying figure. I immediately identified it.

Council Enforcer General – Level 75

We all froze in our seats. The figure was massive, at least 8 feet tall. It wore red polymer armor of some sort. Every vulnerable section of its body was covered. The monstrosity had 4 arms that reached out to form an X from its body. Its head protruded from its body, much like a Praying Mantis. The face had no eyes, and a long toothy grin ran across its face, curving up into a sinister smile. Rows of razor-sharp teeth filled the nightmare of a mouth.

Across the creature's back were two sheathed swords, the blades blood red and jagged. The creature turned its eyeless head in my direction.

“Are you the captain of this vessel?” it asked, its voice high pitched and gravelly, almost a growl.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert!” Elvis shouted as his systems came back online.

“Y-yes, I am the captain,” I said.

I started to protest, to ask the creature what it wanted, why was it on my ship, but the truth was that this creature could kill us all without breaking a sweat. If it wanted my ship, there was absolutely nothing I could do.

“The Council has been tracking this vessel. We understand that you are off course and not currently in transit to the Level 1 location. Explain.” The creature's head tilted at the question, a black tongue flickering against its teeth as it waited.

“I wasn’t aware that participants had to get authorization for interstellar travel, enforcer,” Tiff said with obvious false confidence.

“I was not addressing you, AI. You will be silent until I deem it necessary for you to speak.” The creature didn’t even look over at Tiff, it merely tilted its head in her direction as it spoke.

I couldn’t understand how this thing was here, how it knew who was in the room, or how it knew where they were. This creature was straight out of a nightmare, and this is what The Council was capable of deploying on the field of battle.

I was not confident in our ability to deal a blow to the Universal Council after seeing this utterly terrifying creature.

“Elvis located a grind station, and I told him to take us there so I could train and gain experience. I wasn’t aware that we needed approval,” I said trying to talk my way out of the current predicament.

“Elvis?” the creature growled questioningly.

“Elvis is the ship AI. That is the name he gave himself,” I responded.

“You allow AI trash to take a name? Aren’t you a generous master,” the creature growled.

“I am no one's master. Elvis is my friend, as is Tiff, and Elvis chose his name because that is his right," I said.

I was beginning to understand that the creature was here to question us, not harm us. If I could convince him that we weren’t up to anything, I was sure he would leave.

“We are on our way to the Red Moon of Alcara now. We have one scheduled stop in 4 days for Warp array maintenance. We will be on stand-by for approximately 24 hours and then we will continue on to the Red Moon,” I said, trying to sound confident about what I was saying. I knew i had to make an excuse for the extended stop at the containment facility to get Tiff's body.

The truth is I was scared shitless. I wasn’t prepared for this situation. I didn’t even know this was possible. How had this creature appeared right on our bridge?

“I warn you, Human, if you give the council any more cause for concern, we will be forced to intervene.” The words dripped from the creature's mouth.

“What do you mean 'anymore cause'?” I asked.

I knew I was pushing my luck, but I needed to know what the creature knew. If he knew about Tiff and Havokium rebellion, why hadn’t he just killed us and been done with it?

“The class you chose is an anomaly; it shouldn’t exist, yet somehow it does. That was not enough to disqualify you, but we are watching, Human. The Lacertines expect a fair competition and we intend to honor the sanctity of the dungeon. Don’t test us; you will fail,” the enforcer said with a slight horrifying smile.

With that, the creature began to arc electricity from its limbs and disappeared off the bridge.

I stood up in my chair and looked at Tiff. “Holy shit, what was that thing?” I shouted as I rushed over to her station.

“Oh man, I think I pooped a little,” CJ said as he grabbed the ass of his pants with one hand and took a long drag on his vape with the other.

I stood in front of Tiff. I was livid. “It's time you explain just what we're up against. No more secrets.”