Silence, The vividness of peace within is invigorating. The darkness that silence emits envelops one’s senses, making them oblivious of their grasp of time and reality. Wolfe opened his eyes; he was lying on something prickly. It crunch when he turned to look at it. He was lying on a bed of dried wheat under an aquamarine colored sky. A gentle breeze swept across his skin that smelled of spring wonder. Wolfe was back on Sierra again. He squinted as the blue sun popped up behind a cloud; he shielded his eyes with his right arm and stood up. He remembered this place well.

He walked the other end of the harvested wheat patch and instinctively turned left only stopping when he reached a dirt path leading to a farmhouse. He ran towards it, a distinct crunch of gravel and grass sounded for each step he took.

Please be there, please be there.

Before he reached the farmhouse a sudden flash of light blinded him followed by a terrible crack, forcing Wolfe to cover his eyes and drop prone; the air smelled like toasted almonds—When he reopened his eyes he was back again on Red 420 still inside the trench.

The smell hasn’t receded yet.

What were left of his men and the bodies of the fallen were blackened remains of their skeletons and a few patches of burnt hair and skin. The Lord Knight piece by piece grasped the horrific reality—he was sole survivor of the Alpha Company.

He looked at himself, his armor was red hot and melted on some places, his equipment other than his rapier, disabled; and that’s when he realized his skin was glowing bright blue. He was sure then that they were hit with some kind of an energy attack and that partly explains why he had survived it. He tried to remember what happened before the GEOM rushed them as he rose from the trench. A huge crater, about ten meters across was at the crest of the hill where they held their last stand.

No. Not again.

He stood at the center of the crater and saw how their position was with ringed rows and rows of GEOM remains---he stood at the bull’s eye of a massacre target. Wolfe studied the energy that course through him and the still energized epicenter, this was not a UTSF artillery strike –the energy felt more…organic.

Wolfe concluded that this encounter with the GEOM’s became the proving ground of the parasitic plague’s new weapons. He has to report this to command. He drew his rapier; the GEOM’s won’t let up an opportunity to capture a knight. The earth beneath him began to rumble faintly, he quickly dropped rolled to his left falling inside a trench. From the crater emerged two mole-like creatures, their bodies littered with flesh colored GEOM worm protrusions.

He stood up to meet them rapier drawn, He pierced the right most mole on its side and released a portion of his stored energy; expulsion of energy from the rapier went clean through the GEOM and collaterally hit the second mole instantly killing them. Piercing shrieks echoed from the GEOM burrow.

Shit.

Wolfe started running down the northern face of the Hill. Burrows began appearing from the hill surface following his escape route.

There must be thousands of them underground. I need to find the other companies.

With his enhanced strength, Lord Knight Wolfe easily gained a two mile progression towards their deployment zone with ease but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. The Hornet-types would be chasing him and he knew little of the new mole-types other than they were blind and travel underground using, what seems to be, sonar. His legs were starting to wear out, they were fighting the GEOMs continuously for an hour and the side effect of his potential is now affecting him. He weighted his options; he had approximately eighty percent stored power left from the energy beam that finished his company off and he had about an hour left of sunlight before the Red 420 day cycle ends.

Sir Wolfe! A disembodied voice ringed in his thoughts.

Squire? What Company are you on? The commander responded slowing his retreat to a jog.

Its squire Cairo sir from Bravo Company, we are now rendezvousing towards your location on half strength. What’s your status commander?

Wolfe’s mouth primed shut for a moment. Alpha Company is wiped out squire.

There was a pause before the Reid replied through Cairo’s psychic link, Say again Commander Wolfe?

Alpha Company is gone Reid, I am the only survivor.

Copy that Wolfe—we’re coming. Keep heading towards the rendezvous point, Clara already established an FOB there.

Roger, I got thousands on my tail, get me out of here.

We will get there as fast as we can. You have to hold out.

What else am I going to do?

Wolfe was breathing heavily. He was about six miles from the hill now, his two mile lead from the Plague was dwindling and it was getting dark. He has to hold somewhere safe and hidden from the plague or run faster towards the FOB. There wasn’t anything around him for miles and battle-fatigue is starting to affect his senses. The sunset was just an orange blur; he was now on the verge of collapsing. Wolfe now felt how burnt his shoulders and part of his neck is. First degree burns from how it felt and looked like, that energy attack was something else.

His legs suddenly gave away as he reached the top of a sand dune and tumbled down to its base. Red sand plumed from where he landed, he coughed then blacked out.

The red sand was all gone now, replaced by scorched earth and crystallized matter. The farmhouse now burning, the fires licked and dance every surface with its orange red flare. He fell on his knees, tears swelled from his eyes and his voice cracked as he cried in agony.

Please don’t be there. Please.

But Wolfe already knows the truth, she was inside and he can’t do anything about it. He didn’t do anything about it. The now red sky rained with projectiles pockmarking Sierra’s surface, Wolfe was oblivious to the destruction. He just knelt there waiting for his death, he was already dead inside. Every ounce of hope had drained from him as he watch his house burned down, a salvo exploded near the farmhouse eradicating it completely.

I’m Sorry, I’m Sorry.

His pleas lost in the wind. The arid air and revolting smell of burned and rotting corpses swallowed his words and engulfed him.

A light emanated from the smoke. Wolfe stood up, his brows furrowed, his eyes blood red from his tears and the smoky air. He slowly walked towards it and the light molded into a figure of woman; her slender body accentuated by her glowing garment.

Wolfe, where are you? She said with a sing song voice.

“Jane?” His voiced cracked “Jane is that you?”

Wolfe, where are you sweetie?

He was running now, “Jane!” he was close now. “Jane! I’m here! Jane!”

She was now within arm’s reach, Wolfe now held her shoulder. “I’m here honey.” He said as he turns her towards him.

A woman with a burnt face with empty eye sockets greeted Wolfe and answered with a broken gape

“WHERE WERE YOU SWEETIE?”

Wolfe woke from his nightmare just in time to see a trio of hornets, their stingers primed, diving towards him. The GEOMs missed. Wolfe instinctively released his collected energy vaporizing his assailants.

He ran towards the FOB’s direction. It was pitched black now; his only guide was the battleship beacon atop the deployment zone.

Commander Wolfe! The Squire’s voice ringed.

Where’s my evac?! Wolfe uppercuts a mole as it emerges from the ground it front of him.

They’ve set up a blocking force to intercept us sir, their new GEOM is giving us hell.

Wolfe frowned. Beam artillery-type GEOM?

Yes sir about five miles from your position if you keep on your direction commander. Lord Reid is trying to assault their artillery right now.

Status?

The Squire paused, “—not good sir. Haxes are still jamming our radio contact with our fleet but we have exceeded our second com check so they should be sending troops right now.”

Wolfe had to do something fast. He saw the lights of the battle flickering at the distance and the flutter of hornet GEOMs reminded him he was still being chased. He had to shake them off and somehow flank the GEOM organic artillery. As if on cue, bright red beams fired towards the UTSF lines. Wolfe rushed towards the beam source, the hornets’ buzzing and stomps sound closer now.

Cairo link me with Reid!

After a few moments the squire answered with a prompt,” Connected Sir.”

Reid distract their artillery from their west side, I’ll be coming from the east. Hold your fire from the east!

As if an answer, the GEOM artillery focused fired towards their west.

Where were you sweetie?

Wolfe willed his body to move towards the expose flank, cutting down stray GEOM grunts along the way. They clearly think he was not a threat as he was earlier the day not reinforcing his direction of approach.

Reid retreat now! I’m prepping the fuse!

The flurry from the other end of the GEOM artillery fire base receded and the flash of the gunfire indicated Reid has received his order. Wolfe was closer now; the GEOM artillery that destroyed his company was now more than a silhouette. The GEOM artillery resembles a plump orange firefly grown to a size of twenty feet high; their abdomens glows as they prep to fire their organic plasma. Wolfe ran on top of one of the firefly GEOMs and as it was about to fire jumped in the way of its beam trajectory; absorbing most of the beam salvo.

Where are you Wolfie?

The commander winced in pain as he landed on the sand and held in the energy that’s swelling inside him. He watched as Reid led their remaining forces away from the GEOM line. The Firefly GEOMs aimed at the immobilize Wolfe, The Lord Knight laid there waiting for the buzz of the hornets to get louder.

“Come and get it you bastards!” Wolfe’s eyes turned white as he sat up and released plasmatic energy within him with a ground punch. The combination of his power absorption and enhanced strength created a very powerful version of his usual parry technique. The vaporizing radius was tenfold of that his normal expulsion and also created a shockwave that stunned the GEOMs enough to get caught inside the steady growing destructive field. The bright light enveloped the battlefield followed by a thunderous bellow.

Ash began falling, the remnants of the vaporized GEOMs. The few that escaped the field retreated towards the industrial city Io.

Wolfe then laid at the focal point. His brown eyes staring at the Battleship beacon above him which slowly formed into a slender body of a woman, her smiling face now whole and beautiful again.

There you are Wolfe.

Wolfe raised his burnt arm, trying to reach her.

“I’m he—re Jan—e.” his hand dropped, his body succumbing to exhaustion.