The Overlord: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (9 page)

My purple conduit returned to its normal colorization, identifying with Squad Lime. None of us could really quite comprehend it, but we had all been successfully linked to the strange technology of the Blood Tech. After our suits were synced, we had to do the same with our weapons and so on. Everything we were to be using on Fever Island was made from the Blood Tech and our own bodies were now a part of the arsenal.

"Connections acquired," stated the synthetic intelligence. "System live and ready."

"Thank you, Far Stranger." Turning his attention back to the legion, the Overlord explained, "Now that we're all connected, we're going to enter a weave to access a place we wouldn't otherwise be able to go. To get to Fever Island, we need to bypass the Spider's Shield that surrounds the complex. At a finite level, our matter will separate and our data will be weaved faster than the speed of light. At our destination, we will all be reassembled to our complete forms."

The whole legion stood silent. I can't speak for what was going on in anyone else's head, but I, myself, was terrified beyond a doubt. I truly believed that Dr. Deadstock could take my body apart and put it back together, but what about my mind? My soul? Would I still be all there after it was all said and done?

The Overlord continued, "I've weaved many times before, but only with my own matter. Though I've never weaved anyone else, please, do not be afraid. As long as my concentration holds, you'll be safe. However, once we make contact on solid ground, you'll be on your own. This process will strain me. My body can only weave so much until my strength wears out. I'll try my best to keep weaving until every last one of us has stepped foot on that island. That's about all I've got to say. Happy flying."

Deadstock took his leave from the front and Zero stepped in and complimented the Overlord on the briefing, "That was some good oil, there, Doctor. Thank you." Turning to us he added, "Right. The observation team has informed me that the Spider's Shield is a honeycomb of pulse beams. Our Space Wizard, the determined Doctor, is going to try and get us past it, but if for some reason, any of you happen to cross paths with one of those beams, you'll be racked off and done for. The Spider's Shield is a defense unit that shuts down any energy that comes in contact with it. Get hit by the Shield's web and you won't have a chance at landing safely. Your suit will turn off and it won't come back on until long after you're dead. Furthermore, your jet pack will be scrap and useless too. All in all, you'll fall splat dead. So don't get hit!"

A few gulps formed in our throats as we fearfully pondered Zero's warning. Then, Dr. Deadstock returned to the railing. He had one last statement to give, "Fever Island represents something different for each of us. For some, it'll be an island for learning, an island for growing. For others, it'll be an island in time, a countdown from this life into the next. I'll save who I can and when I can, but we'll all have our own battles to fight down there. We'll all have our own Fever Island."

Far Stranger interjected, "Approaching island air space."

"Do we have a visual on a landing zone?" inquired Zero.

"Negative," responded the artificial intelligence.

Up on the holographic screen, Far Stranger brought up a graphical scan of the area. It displayed a heavy hot zone. Interlaced pulse beams were arched over the entirety of the island's airspace. It was a death trap if ever I saw one.

"The sky is going to be way too hot for an accurate visual," added Deadstock, concerned.

"I can see that, Doctor," Zero remarked.

The Overlord maintained, "We won't be able to see a thing."

"Why exactly do you think I brought you along, old friend? I certainly didn't bring you for your advice." A sly grin then stretched across Zero's jaw. "Just get us onto that island and the rest will take care of itself."

It was then that I overheard Deadstock whisper privately to the Commander, "Let's hope you're right. This is going to be more difficult than what you led me to believe. You told me about the Spider's Shield, but you didn't tell me it was a complete labyrinth of webs. If I can't see the landing zone, then I'll have no way of knowing where I'm transporting the legion. I can't get all of them down there alive, Zero. I don't even know if I can get myself through that wretched maze. If we go through with this, there will be heavy fatalities."

The Commander looked down at us all on the deck below him. When he passed over me, we traded a momentary glance. I think he knew I was listening in on their little talk. When Zero turned back to the Overlord, he quietly said, "I suggest you keep that kind of information to yourself, Doctor."

Louder, he commanded everyone, "Prepare for the weaving!"

Enthusiastically, Zero then jumped down into the ranks of the legion. Above, Deadstock was left up on the platform bridge, all by himself. The Commander came up beside me and proceeded to stand near, patting my shoulder with fake comfort. Before, I had always idolized the Commander. In my eyes he could do no wrong. He had always kept those under his command safe and cared for. Something was becoming different about him. Something was driving him to accomplish his mission at whatever cost. The seeds of possibility that my hero would fail me were being planted. Those seeds had not yet come to fruition, but the possibility was there.

I decided to practice caution in completely rejecting a man that I regarded like a father. I knew he would have my back and I, his. At least, that's how it had always been in the past.

As he stood next to me, the Commander punched in a clip of hyper ammo into his huge Brawler gun. It was a gargantuan weapon of deviant proportions, looking something more like a dismounted cannon than a handheld armament. He forced some hyper rounds into some spare magazines, taking notice of me watching him.

Zero asked, "You nervous, mate?"

I was, so I nodded. "Think it'll hurt, sir?" I had grown pretty fond of my body and wasn't taking very well to the idea of someone splitting its molecules apart and putting it back together, Space Wizard or not.

He mused, "Well, it's probably going to feel different for everyone, but for me, I expect it'll feel like being born and taking the first breath. A good pain." Zero raised his gaze up toward the Overlord. "For him, however, I imagine it feels like dying to him. Again and again."

Up on the raised platform, I could tell there was a troubling storm swirling around in each of Deadstock's purple eyes. I wondered if it was concern for us. Maybe it was concern for himself. It could have been anger too, I just don't know.

I traded a worried look with Sentria from afar as Zero playfully tussled the strands of my hair, "You shouldn't worry so much. She can take care of herself. She'll be right as apples and you'll be just fine.

I lied in response, "Yeah, you're probably right." Zero had taken me under his wing since the initial onset of my time in the Thralldom, but I was no longer sure if I could trust him.

Overhead, Dr. Deadstock inhaled a lively breath as he took a powerful stance and began to meditate deeply. His eyelids shut out the violet luminescence around his abysmal pupils. When he reopened his eyes, the brightness had intensified.

The protruding veins of his arms, neck, and face began to increasingly illuminate in an eerie glow. His eyes were growing brighter and brighter. He then closed them again in an unbreakable concentration. His body quavered violently as he did. Soon, we began to feel our suits strangely moving, morphing into something not quite palpable.

Once more, the Overlord opened his eyes. Taking another deep breath, he spread out his arms upon the exhale. His eyes had intensified even more and his winding veins were like streams of pure light. Here and there, he began to disintegrate into thousands of pixels. A weaving was being formed.

Eventually, his whole body was completely pixelated in a ghostly state. The static weave of data began to flow toward the center of his being, all vanishing somewhere in the middle. The fragments were disappearing and his form was fading away. An unrecognizable apparition, he had become a spectral countenance of his physical self.

Every one of us then found ourselves being converted into an invisible nothing as well. Looking over at the others, they were like a million little sparkles floating around like dust in a stream of sunlight. All of us were transitioning from our physical presence into an existence of suspended animation.

Together, the whole legion was dematerializing into thin air. It was kind of unexplainable, but it felt like nothing was happening at all as we were slowly turning into nothing in itself. As we entered the weave, we become the weave.

Then, a sudden burst snapped out from above. The Overlord was gone! Below the platform bridge, we all disappeared too.

Pixelating back into reality, the next thing I could feel was the breeze of a clear sky grating against my suit. My matter took form and I could see everything with clarity. I was in a state of freefall somewhere in the open air. Below, the ocean. Upon its expanse, Fever Island. We were tumbling toward it.

I wasn't alone. Like a mad flock of gulls, there was no consistency to the way the legion had reappeared. We had all emerged in an instant surge and everybody was falling in different directions as they swayed and twisted through the sky.

Even with the help of our jet packs, stability was going to be hard to come by. The Overlord was the last of us to rematerialize. He wasn't wrestling round and round like the rest. He was just peacefully floating down. He was out cold. The immense weaving had taken its toll on him.

Zero glided on over toward him to take a closer look. "Doctor! Doctor, wake up!"

The Commander then shook the Overlord back to cognizance. Deadstock awoke and peered around in our wild freefall. Looking up, he could see the distant outline of the Spider's Shield fortifying overhead. He had successfully weaved us all inside its dome.

Zero kept his hands on Deadstock's shoulders so that they wouldn't fly apart as he spoke. "We're through the Spider's Shield. Can you get us further to ground level?"

"My focus is shot," the Overlord said, loudly over the wind. "I'm spent. I can't get a fix on anything. This is as far as I could send everyone with the lowest range of risk. We'll have to land manually."

"Copy that," Zero sadly nodded before separating into a solo flight. "All squads, form up!"

Taking the Commander's lead, the legion arranged into an ordered system behind his descent. Riding the air current, we flew down with our heads first. Rapidly picking up speed, our jet packs were pushing us with insane velocity from behind.

All seemed to be going okay for a while, until Sentria made note that all definitely wasn't alright. "Commander, we've got a problem!"

"What is it, Captain?" Zero asked without breaking speed.

"Take a look behind you!" Sentria advised.

Zero turned his helmet back ever so slightly. He then tried his best to stabilize his freefall, dipping around to get a closer look and examine the situation in question.

Above, the Spider's Shield was getting closer at a very fast rate. The dome was shrinking. The air space beneath it was getting smaller. The crisscrossing beams were coming straight for us.

He turned to the Overlord, "Doctor, please tell me you've revitalized. There's no way we can outfly that! It's nearly on us!"

"Guess we'll find out," Deadstock said as he plumed his jet pack and sped further down.

"I hope you've got a plan," said Zero as he followed after him, boosting his jet with a signal for us to follow.

As we dived through the air and the beams were about to cross over us, the Overlord found the verve to make another weave. As the webs were at our trailing feet, he weaved us just a small distance further down to keep us ahead of danger. It wasn't much, but it was all the focus he could muster at the time and we were all grateful for it.

He kept it going for as long as he could. Every time the Spider's Shield would close in, Deadstock would quickly widen the gap by sending our matter just a tiny bit away from it. Ultimately, it became too much for him. When his focus finally vanished for good, the beams came upon us and there wasn't anything that anybody could do to outfly the pulsing webs.

Sentria was at the back of the legion, at the very brink of the beams. She had taken the rear during the departure as was customary for a Squad Captain. Sadly, it meant she would be the first to go down if the Spider's Shield overcame us. Sentria was trying to dive away from the webs when someone came to stand in the way.

"Move aside," she called out. "Get out of the way!"

It was Nix. Sentria made a few attempts to fly past her. Apparently unaware, Nix was blocking each pass. Whatever side Sentria banked to, Nix obliviously maneuvered to wedge her out.

Sentria's moment of opportunity was soon over as was all of ours. The pulses of the Spider's Shield flew into us and took out many of my fellow Thralls. Suits deactivated and jet packs ceased to ignite. Still alive, they would all know a terrible death as they plunged helplessly to the island below.

Sentria was one of them. She got hit by a beam straight through her center. Not only did the web overload her conduit, but her muscles locked up and all she could do was witness her slow demise.

Like the Commander, the Overlord, and myself, many of us had timed it just right. When the Spider's Shield flew over our position, we carefully glided our way through the openings of the constantly interlacing webs. It wasn't easy and only two thirds of our legion had effectively pulled off the trick. The other third was lost, but I wasn't just going to let Sentria fall to her death.