Blood on the Horizon
- Chapter 10 -[]
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Whispers from long lost love ones[]
Two-thirds of the way to the coordinates between the Federated Suns and the Taurian Concordat
"We need you, Mark," my wife's voice whispered into my ears. "The kids need a father. Come home."
"I can't," I whispered back as I swallowed and a few tears floated up from my eyes. "There is no way home."
"There is one way."
"No," I shook my head. "I'm not doing it. There is always a way to improve your situation."
"You don't believe that anymore," a weight settled onto my shoulders. "You're just going through the motions."
"You're right," the tension left my body. "I am just going through the motions. But better a shallow existence now that can be improved later than death."
"It would be so easy though, and you wouldn't feel anything."
I was hyperventilating, I knew that there wasn't anything there on some levels, but everything was real. I could hear the voice of my wife. I could feel something touching me.
"I can't do what you're asking of me," I whispered. "I won't do it, I won't do it….."
The lonely journey among dead worlds[]
"Jump target is set," I muttered. "Dead world number thirty-five, yay!" I pumped my fist into the air with a halfhearted grunt. "Now to go run more maintenance."
"No," I shook my head as I reached one of the cargo bays. "I'm doing something different today."
I floated over to the crate that I had identified with a data core earlier and attached it to my tether.
"We're going to see what you have on you," I hit the jets and began moving to the Grav Deck. "I might as well figure out if there's anything else interesting here."
There was silence in response, I was still alone. There was no Friday to my Robinson Crusoe, no parrots, no goats. I remained the only living thing on the ship, and there was no substitute for companionship.
"Whelp, this drive is useful, but ultimately not something that's likely to get me killed," I glanced over the data. "Lots of stuff here on Hegemony water purifiers and the like. But I'm not seeing a lot of military hardware here. Basic myomer structures, how to build exoskeletons. Oh, now this is interesting."
Tiring from the endless Simulated Battles[]
"So, what's the play here?" I asked myself as I climbed into the simulator once more. "Got any ideas for me before I run out and get shot, Betty?"
The computer remained silent, the power up cycle seemingly taking longer than normal before the familiar layout of a Warhammer appeared in front of me.
"An island chain," I looked at the tactical map. "Wonder what I'll get hit with this time."
{{"Mech power up detected!"}} Betty announced as she displayed a Locust in my sensors.
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Locust Light 'Mech
"Whelp, that does it, I'm screwed," I squeezed the trigger, one of my PPCs narrowly missing the 20 ton mech before it dodge right into the SRMs that I had led it into, one of the actuators on its leg shattering and sending the mech down into a slide.
Pouring some lasers in to the mech, I watched as the mech vanished from my sensor screen before turning and surveying the area around me.
"Come on," I twisted my Warhammer's torso, trying to see where the surprise was going to come from. "I know there's something here."
As I flipped through the vision modes, I eventually saw something on the horizon, a sigh leaving my mouth as I sagged against the straps.
I looked up at the sky and began running for the trees, the LRMs briefly blotted out the sun as I avoided as many as I could.
"I don't have the range to take those on yet," I moved out of the line of sight, parts of the wire diagram of my mech shining yellow signifying the loss of armor. "They've got to have a spotter somewhere around here."
Then the artillery shells started dropping onto the forest, the simulator turning up the heat to show that some of them had been incendiary shells, the forest around me going up in a blaze as the artillery rounds set them on fire.
"I surrender," I ran through the power down sequence that showed a surrender. "I'm not fighting that today. I just can't."
The simulator shut down shortly afterward, my mech having been thrown to the ground and taken out by some precision arty rounds.
"I'm so tired," I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. "Why can't I just get a win? Just once I would like to have something that is going well for me."
I undid the straps and slid out of the simulator, following my normal routine of showering and then climbing into bed. "Maybe things will be better in the morning."
Feeling ill[]
Things were not better in the morning. I felt miserable, a chill set into me and my bones ached. My left knee throbbed as if I had reinjured it and my entire body screamed for me to simply lay still.
"I think, I'm going to do nothing today," I drank some water before rolling over and closing my eyes, slipping off into the soft world of sleep.