The Mortal Burden
Book I
Chapter I
Part II: This Mortal Burden
At first, the alarm resounded faintly through Clayden’s dream, but then in a second it became more intense; he was awake.
“…battalion. Alert is red,” the hurried voice of his general sprang to his ears. “This is a full alert. Suit up and stand ready for deployment. Full details will be given at that time.”
“Dammit, I just went to sleep three hours ago,” Clayden said to himself, half-awake with sleep clouding his eyes.
The barracks were ablaze with activity as the soldiers suited themselves into their heavily plated battle armor. Thousands of heavy, trodden footsteps resounded throughout the stadium-sized barracks of the 10th Assault Battalion.
Clayden pushed himself up slowly, clearing his eyes of more heavy sleep.
“Sir, you’re not setting a good example for the rest of us,” Carter, his communications officer, badgered as he fastened the last of his heavy armor onto his body.
“Shut up,” Jacob Clayden replied, suddenly reflecting on his sortie five hours earlier into one of the Alien Titans’ territories. *What was the objective anyway?* he asked himself. *It was suicide in the first place. Why did I volunteer? Titan armies have more powerful weapons. Not only that, they’re also insane. Just the other day one of my men was mauled by the augmented teeth of a Titan soldier, only after his legs and one arm had been severed by my lance. Why did we go?*
He quickly shrugged it off and suited up in his shiny metallic assault armor, powered by chemical reactions within its Bio-furnace, fueled by the blood of its wearer—stolen technology from the Titans being used for the sake of humanity.
Not many cities were left standing, but the ones that had survived became mega-metropolises, defended heavily by their inhabitants. One of these sprawls was defended by a human warlord known only as Lord Seth. In fact, all remaining human cities were either controlled by warlords or by military orders.
Lord Seth’s army was over three million strong, with at least one million in reserve, which were rotated into civilian and army life to keep essential city services in line.
Humanity, although overpowered by Titans and gods, still enjoyed fighting among itself, and warlords clashed with each other with such a ferocity that it could be deemed there was no threat to humanity’s survival. Humanity’s greatest gift, from whoever spawned these creatures, was the lust for war and the craving for domination. But Seth was different. At first, to gain power, he killed and maimed his way up the ranks; once he got his power, he began to network with the other Orders and Warlords in order to save humanity. They all could see that he was justified, for humanity had one last battle before it was destroyed.
And within the vast ranks of the Army of Seth, Jacob Clayden waited for his orders. Would they be to defend or to attack? Did it even matter to him anymore?
Lord Seth, an awesomely built man, stood at a height of seven feet; strength rippled through his mighty body like thunder. His long brown hair was gathered in a ponytail while he coldly coordinated his defense against his foe. Rumors of his supernatural intelligence abounded around him as legend. Some said that he battled against Necrem in his realm after the disappearance of the Warmaster, whose name has been lost through the ages, and through force attained supernatural strength, intelligence, and near immortality. But those were just rumors. What the humans lacked in force was almost made up for by strategic and tactical supremacy against their foes.
Seth was the master among these strategists, but his city would fall if he did not stop this gathering. He knew that they had run out of options.
“The Titan gathering has just entered the defensive perimeter, Sir,” one of Seth’s stalwart commanders relayed to him.
“I want the Zigrams launched now. Have them drop-load the 10th, 14th, 15th, 17th, and 25th assault platoons in tree cover before they intercept,” Seth feverishly ordered. “How far are the 5th, 6th, and 8th light mechanized divisions from the front?”
“Ten minutes to defensive position.”
“Good,” Seth smiled. “Have them deploy the infantry as soon as they reach their positions. Bombard them, now!”
Loud thuds and the thrusts of rockets rebounded throughout the city as the cannons shot their ordnance, like a rain of molten death upon their unseen Titan enemy. Missiles streaked off into the early dawn to destroy their unknowing enemy.
“I want the interceptors to flank the enemy on the left and drive them to the mountain. I want them cornered.”
His commanders quickly and coldly ordered their troops, knowing that each syllable brought death upon them.
“Are the 1st and 4th heavy mechanized battalions ready for deployment?”
“In five more minutes; the last of the heavy tanks are being fitted with the new hurricane missiles.”
“Good,” he paused. “When they’re ready, have the Hell’s Angels flank the left. The 4th can go straight up the middle to cover the infantry’s spearhead.”
“Yes, Sir.”
*Who are you again? I remember, you’re the Titan Ramses, fashioning yourself after an eldritch earthen warlord emperor. You’re as big as a pyramid in your colossal battle armor, but you have not the gall to destroy my city. You will be routed, as I have routed so many of my enemies.
**Written ~ 1997. © Jacob A. Pickard 2025. All rights reserved. This work is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced, republished, excerpted, or used for academic, commercial, or derivative purposes without written permission.**
Ecoheretic 