The Silver Fox's Guile: A Story of Uprising

Chapter 15

(Fourteen hours later...)

The silence that had settled throughout the forest my crew and I were hiding in was deafening. We had woken up around eight in the morning, and we spent the past fourteen hours preparing to deal with the horrors that lie ahead of us.

Since Albtraum Soldats can sense any technology around them, I had everyone shut off their commsets along with all tech attached to their helmets. However, I did allow my crew to bring whatever weapon they wanted to have with them. As a precaution, I had the combat rifle Alannah built for me slung across my back. I felt relieved knowing I had the piece of art with me.

"How will we get to the landing field though?" Boreas had inquired.

"Let's see if we can find a map of the planet," I responded, "Just make sure you don't forget the coordinates of our location. We can't use any form of technology, so we'll have to improvise."

Thankfully, I did find an old map to use, and it was accurate enough to get us over to the rendezvous point Muspelle and Matthews had set up. When we reached the landing field, I studied the ship that was landed before us: it was squat and black as the night. The back hatch of the vessel was opened, and a landing ramp was extended  from the back to allow people to board. I then spotted several soldats going to and from the ship, and the odd person could be spotted as they were loaded onto the ship.

So they caught more than one colonist, eh? I thought to myself. Since I wanted to avoid any and all risks, my crew and I had ironed out our plan before we even left: I motioned for Alannah to get her electromag rifle ready, and we waited for the point when there was only one Soldat outside the ship. My guess is that this ship won't leave until every one of those creepy-looking motherfuckers is back on board. Let's test that.

When only one was left outside, I motioned for Alannah to take her shot. She aimed for the Soldat's voice box: it was a risky shot, but a well-placed one nonetheless. The undead solider loosed a low groan as it fell to the snow-covered concrete of the landing pad, and the silence persisted.

When nothing happened, we stalked toward the unconscious soldat and gathered him up. Still when nothing came out to shoot at us, we cautiously boarded the ship with our quarry held out in front of us.

When we got on board, the boarding ramp automatically retracted back into the ship, and the back hatch sealed with a loud hiss. Without further delay, we were off.

We're actually doing this? I realized. We actually have a one-way ticket to Muspelle's hideout. Heh, for all this bastard was cracked up to be, he couldn't do one thing: create something intelligent enough to outsmart a seasoned bounty hunter. You can't program genuine intelligence. Sure, an AI can do a lot, but it has its limits. I wonder if these models are older? They sure seem like it: their AI must be older since they seem to be following a pre-scripted set of orders. They were sent to collect 'test subjects' for their master–nothing more.

Without a word, we settled down at the back of the ship. Quietly, Boreas and I set the Soldat down. I'll deal with you later. Since no one could speak, we waited patiently as the ship continued on its journey. I looked at Alannah as she knelt beside me, and I took her hand in mine. I closed my eyes and focused on controlling my breathing.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the ship stopped moving. Feeling the grimy metal floor shake below me, I snapped the Altraum Soldat's neck before feeling my hidden blade deploy. With a swift chop, I decapitated the soldat. A foul stench quickly became apparent, and I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Can't turn the filter of my helm on. It'll alert our friends. Swallowing my pride, I took the helmet off, threw the rotten head onto the ground, and stomped on it.