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  Copyright © 2016 by Luis Robles

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  Railgun:

  Earth under Siege

  Written by Luis Robles

  Table of Contents

  Prelude

  Awakening

  Arrival

  Uncertain Hope

  Beginning

  Family

  Only One Way

  Ready

  The Miriu

  Enter

  Judgment

  Nine Lives

  Confrontation

  The Collision

  Escape

  Five Years Later

  Afterword

  Sky Gate Tale Book Preview

  Prelude

  Earth was dying

  Xīwàng meant ‘hope’ in Chinese, and at the time it was the only hope the world had, to save itself. We only had one contract, but trust me, that single contract was more than enough to keep everyone busy; the contract was called Great Dragons.

  The world at that time was utterly doomed. Corporations and entire the nation poured all their money and resources into one single company with the hope of saving the world. The global climate was unbearable; the world was boiling into one big ugly soup. The constant burning of fossil fuels and human pollution, such as plastics and toxic waste, painted a less than pretty picture across the globe. Soon, after the point of no return, when all the scientists and big leaders across the world finally agreed that things were unsustainable, they eventually decided to outlaw any harm against the earth. New laws were made to help protect the earth, to try and control the change, although little could be done. Massive recycling efforts were made; companies where keeping track of the materials they sold and expected the people who bought them to recycle them properly. For instance, when a container of any product became empty, a person may throw it away in a special recycler that was capable of reading an engraving on the object. Once the recycler read the engraving, then one had basically done his part in trying to save the world. When a person had more than a couple of unread labels from the items previously purchased, he would be fined heavily. More so, everything one ever bought or owned was registered in amounts of pollution; the less pollution you caused, the better citizen you were. Things were that grave. The government was desperate. However, it did not matter how much a person recycled or the amount of efforts made towards a cleaner, reduced living; scientists knew that the world was doomed. We needed to undo what we have done.

  The first Dragon was turned on in the year 2140, in East China Sea, in between Taiwan and China. The Dragon was a massive fan-like structure. As far as I remembered, it ascended a mile and half above the surface of the earth, and that was just the height. I could not clearly remember the exact measurements, but it was massive and powerful. The humankind looked at it in awe and called it the new wonder of the world. To everyone’s sheer surprise, the Dragon did its job, and it did good. It inhaled all the toxic air around and exhaled a somewhat cleaner and enriched air to breathe. The fan was slowly making it easier to live on earth, dropping the overwhelming temperatures down. By the year 2170, the world had ten more Dragons functioning round-the-clock, and for a time it brought the climate back down to its normal temperature. The world became livable once again, and people could even predict the next sand storm or lightning storm. Kids played in the streets once more, and everything was close to being normal, to say the least.

  But time passed, and humans as we are, there are many instances when we just don’t seem to learn and inadvertently make the same mistakes over again. Until the Dragons slowly lost its vigor…and so was the world. Eventually, there was sudden and extreme change of temperatures and made it difficult to live outside in the open, once more. Scientists tried to manipulate the World Fans to try to control the climate but to no luck this time around; the planet did whatever it wanted. And it was angry. There were storms, earthquakes, tornados, electric discharges all across the globe and most were unpredictable no matter how hard they tried. As absurd as it may sound, but it was an indisputable fact—the earth was tired of humans living on it.

  There was chaos, and it was becoming out of anyone’s control. Humans fretted, for earth was the only world known to us to harbor life. And just when we thought we have witnessed the worst, things became more horrendous when the space travelers arrived, attracted by our dying planet. This time, the apocalypse did not bother to knock on the door.

  Awakening

  The Year 2186, Railgun

  My optical sensors adjusted for optimal performance in the dim lighting conditions. I woke up slowly, my eyes blurry and my body cold; at least that was the description my cerebral computer told me at the time of my awakening. I made out the wrinkled features of a man with the white coat standing before me. My cerebral computer instantly recognized him as my father. He was looking at me with hope as well as fear, and I did not understand. Emotions flooded through him that I had yet to properly identify and categorize. From a start-up scan, I was able to read that his heart was racing, and that he was in great distress. As a reflex, my mechanical body began to alert itself, hundreds of once dormant sensors came to life. I became more aware of my surroundings with each second that passed by.

  “RA2197! RA2197, are you alive? Can you understand me?” his voice wobbled. I turned my unblinking eyes back to him after scanning the room. It was a laboratory, and images of my humanoid form plastered the walls. Models of what seemed to be my heart-core and GEL system concept rest on tables, along with the prototypes before me. My cerebral computer was so fast and clear that I was able to notice a small collection of achievements belonging to a Dr. Liu in detail. I processed this information through my cerebral computer located in the hardened steel casing behind my visor.

  “Yes,” I pronounced categorically, “I can understand you clearly.”

  He looked as though his tear ducts were irritated by something present in the air, but I sensed nothing. Looking back at it, I can say that I was feeling confusion, but I was at a loss then as to what I was experiencing.

  Beyond him at the door, three figures approached with the force of what humans would call raging bull.

  Although like me, they were shaped similarly to a human, they were not. They were larger than a human norm, with a body that was wrapped in dark metal suits. This made further physical features indefinable. They had different life signals than would have been functional for one. I did not know what their intentions were. I do not know what I would have done at the time if I had recognized them.

  Dr. Liu took my face between his hands and looked deep into my optic center. Was he aware of the figures approaching? Shouldn’t he try evacuating the room? What did he build me for? My primary functions were still booting; I was still learning as my algorithm unfolded itself and expanded in my cerebral computer.

  “Please, protect Jaika. Protect my granddaughter. Let no harm come to her. Please fulfill this one task I give you. Fulfill this task above everything else. Please—”

  He choked out the last word as the figures reached his back. One took a step closer to him as it pressed the tips of its fingers into his back and out to the skin on his belly in one quick movement. Withdrawing its hand, its arm was covered in an almost black red plasma.

  The other two had stood one on either side of the first. When the job was done, they
glanced over at me. Detecting no life and seeing that I did not act, they hurriedly turned away. They went to look for her.

  My father's hands sank from my face, but his eyes did not turn to look at those who had taken his life. Instead, his eyes continued to look upon me, even as his blood pooled in his mouth and his eyes lost its light. I felt a sharp pang in my chest, a pang that I was yet to understand, though I was able to recognize that things were not right.

  Along with life, he had left me another gift—a purpose, the only purpose I would ever know, the only purpose I would live for. Although I did not understand such concepts at the time, I felt it within me. It was a compulsion, a must, a complete absolute. I needed to find her. Jaika. I knew that she was only two rooms away and knew exactly how she looked like. I did not question it; instead, I saw that the non-humans with strange and liquid-like gait moved towards her direction. They were threats, and they became my target.

  I moved past my father's death place. Pistons and bolts slid seamlessly with my metallic panels as my mechanical body roared to life. Artificial muscles pulled and pushed with tremendous power as my core burned with the power of a god.

  I pursued those hunting my charge, calculating my advantage over the creatures. It was as though I was designed to be a hunter and them my prey. Unfortunately, they had a head-start. I ran up the stairs into the home above, bashing into cabinets and chairs as I learned the restrictions and limits of this new form in the physical space.

  My knowledge of Jaika seemed inherent; I knew her. I felt her heart rate and heard her voice above any other sounds. She was calling for help. She was calling for me.

  I caught up to them as they bashed their hands and used strange staves against the defensive force field emanating from her room. It seemed that Dr. Liu had planned for this contingency. He was no fool. If he was going to protect his granddaughter, he would surely take every step necessary to do so. As I approached them, I spotted the young woman inside—Jaika.

  As I did not slow for a second when the creatures saw me, they looked at each other and stopped trying to break the force field. I pressed on, reaching the creature farthest back in the group. I grabbed the helmet of its armored suit and flung it against a wall with a loud crash. Hung-up pictures fell and glass shattered against the impact on the floor. Yet, the creature rose again. I moved my hand into it the same way I had seen life ended before, but its body armor prevented harm. My hand bounced back, and it moved to restrain me, tripping my awkward body and pinning me to the floor. The other two turned at this sudden development. It seemed clear they did not expect me to be activated, much less to be of any danger to them.

  Suddenly, my body burned with movement, and I felt that they would not last in my presence. Grabbing them by the same hand they used to hold me down, I banged them to the floor. Of course they got up right away, but so did I. Without wasting any time, I launched the most brutal attacks that my cerebral computer was able to process. Their body armor quickly began to detach as every one of my hits went deeper and deeper into their bodies.

  Jaika stepped forward at their distraction. Her eyebrows furrowed and fists clenched. Perhaps she sensed an opportunity as they retreated away from me to the other corner of the room.

  “RAILGUN!” she screamed out, pressing her fists against the force field. “FIRE!”

  She was my trigger. I leapt back, acting to her command. My two arms came together and interlocked, extending into a cannon-shaped weapon two meters before me and one behind. A rail was formed with a row of light, signaling the charge of the shot as it began to light up from red to green with static electricity all around it. Particles of electricity danced all around me and once I had them locked on, I fired...

  Arrival

  The Year 2176 – 10 years Before, Dr. Liu

  Ever since I was a little boy, I dreamed of invention, I dreamed of changing the world. Now, I couldn’t care less. The way I saw it, we’re doomed regardless. I flipped through the channels on the display projecting on the wall. Only the same things played over and over. The same footage was put on repeat. All of it was just about the spacecraft which had landed in Russia. It seemed that the first contact protocol to make diplomatic negotiations with the extraterrestrial beings had been completely ruined. Now it was my old company, Xiwang, which had taken prominence in the mediations.

  The news on the display talked about Xiwàng—the company which had ended the global warming crisis and now dominated the energy market worldwide—as the excellent negotiator between the “newcomers”. Xiwàng was one of the last powerhouses in the world, one of the few entities with real power. They were the only ones that kept innovating after the first world crisis. After all, they have brought humanity such hope for survival before, as was their namesake.

  That made me look back at the world and all its empty promises, at all the Sci-fi movies I used to watch as a kid with all their flying cars and cool gizmos that never saw the light of day. So naïve we were all to think that in the future there would be a universal vaccine that would cure all, that in the future we would have a peaceful world, free of hunger and disease. The best we ever managed was not to wipe ourselves clean off the face of the planet. We had thoroughly destroyed our planet’s climate, and for what? For money?

  I was an old man, and I did not have the fascination with the landing like the rest of the world. In fact, it could be said that I resented it. If they were going to destroy the earth, then let them. It was not like we had the power to save it anyway. I had grown a bitter, old man. Boy, I needed my Jing. She was the only one who knew how to make me smile.

  I stopped flicking through the channels, realizing that this history-altering tale would not be ignored. I turned off the display instead. Before I had even the time to stand, I heard the doorbell.

  “Just a minute!” I called at the door, grumbling to myself. My knees ached with my back as I got up from the hard sofa and made my way to the highly secured door. With a touch of my hand, it opened and I had to tilt my head downwards to see that it was my granddaughter Jaika who had rang the doorbell. She looked up at me with the bright eyes that all seven-year-old children should have.

  “HI, Grandpa! Dad's just in the car, okay? He's talking to Mom, he'll be right here!” she told me, sounding like she had parroted off what Eric had probably instructed her to say. My stomach felt like a knot knowing that he would be traveling to Russia in the next few hours.

  “Well, that's fine. Come in, girly, I'll get you something with chocolate,” I said. By the time words left my lips, she was already inside, looking at all the achievements and family photographs on the wall.

  “Thank you, Grandpa!” she said, remembering her manners. I smiled and waved her off. She was always welcome. It was the little ones like her that reminded me things weren't always like they were now that I was old. I went to the kitchen and found an old box of sweets and brought them back to her, instructing her to pick her favorite of the variety.

  Eric came in, looking a great deal more nervous than his daughter. His wife, Katherine, had also come out from the car and called out a greeting to me but soon got distracted by Jaika going for another chocolate. She took the empty box from her and took it to the recycle unit in the corner of the kitchen. It scanned its code with the machine's blip of acknowledgement. It opened to take the waste directly to appropriate disposal.

  My son and I had a quick hug in greeting, and he patted my shoulder when he was done. It was a big day, and neither of us wanted to say what we were thinking.

  “...Traffic was bad coming here. Everyone's leaving Taipei,” Eric told me as I went to boil the kettle.

  “All this... Alien business, I imagine. I don't know why they put that stuff on television, puts everyone in a panic mode. Everyone wants to survive, but nobody has the slightest clue on what they are trying to survive from. If you go and ask anyone what they are doing, I am sure that you will get a mindless answer. People aren’t thinking right now.”

  “Ple
ase, Dad. The craft is outside Rybinsk. What else would you have them do? If this is what they think is best, then it’s okay. At the very least, they are doing something,” he said, taking a seat at the family table. Slowly, he took the pot I had made and began pouring the cups of tea for Katherine and me. She was minding Jaika for the moment in the living room.

  “Maybe they are leaving to see their families,” it left my mouth before I considered what it implied. Perhaps I was a little bitter from my age, but it was all my fault. Eric had always offered to see me frequently. I regretted saying it that very instant.

  Eric gave a long sigh. “Of course... You've always taught me the importance of family... But that's exactly why I can't pass up this mission. We have a responsibility to the world to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible. We'll learn about these extra-terrestrials, accommodate for them, consider what they came here for, and... We'll be back soon. Then, how about we all go on a vacation somewhere, together?” he suggested, trying to make things sound a little lighter.

  He was still so young, not even forty, and still had so much hope. He took so much as well from his mother. I missed my Jing then more than ever, since she passed two years ago. Having visitors like that just reminded me of how empty my house was those days.

  “Your mission sounds like a long one, Eric... but I understand. I will be sure to look after Jaika while you and Katherine continue your work. Just remember that I've been through exactly what you're going through. I wasted my life working for Xiwàng when I should have been spending more time with you and your mother. There will always be someone to do these missions. I just want you to understand that you don’t have to do it.”

  “Dad, the Yi project you led, saved billions of lives! Your inventions converted greenhouse gases into a usable power source that could be harvested, for the first time in human history. You can't tell me you regret that. If it wasn’t for you, no one of us would be standing here. Sure Xiwang would have found someone else to do your work, but what if that person would have failed where you succeeded, Dad? Let me follow my family legacy. Let me do my bit to keep the world safe. Let me try to be like you,” Eric said while looking at me with the eyes of a man who could not be dissuaded.