“I find it to be a combination of actual skill and reckless abandon,” Chief reported. “Found you a couple of guns to look over. Got a rifle and a machine gun. Both fire marbles using electromagnetic lining in the guns, making them near silent.”
“Marbles? Won’t they simply shatter?” Kaiden asked
“They are made out of the same stuff that Flynn’s spikes are. They are small and more compact, so you get way more rounds per clip. It’ll take a few shots to get through armor with the machine gun, but a good shot with the rifle can crack medium armor and pierce right through the visor of any helmet. If you got the skills.”
“Trying to bait me?” Kaiden sneered.
“Always gotta make sure you’re not getting too big for your armor-plated britches, especially now,” Chief retorted.
“Don’t worry your bulbous self about that. I’ll be good,” Kaiden asserted. He made a quick selection to trade out his frag grenades for shocks, then decided to ditch his stealth generator as well—a recommendation that Flynn made before his last training mission, warning that the armor he wore made too much noise for it to be any use. Quickly, he traded this for a portable barrier. “Give me the rifle and leave me Debonair. Chiyo’s got herself an ark pistol so I’ll use hers if need be.”
“And what if I need it?” she asked, giving him a questioning look.
“If we get into a firefight and you wanna use it instead of me, that’s certainly your prerogative,” he responded. “But I’m basically your bodyguard for this mission, so keep that in mind. Besides, you have the sub-machine gun.”
Chiyo took out the sub-machine gun and looked it over. It was a Nexus typhoon model that fired plasma shots in a whirling cone pattern, allowing for both focused fire and a wider spray for large groups. “You don’t want this instead?”
“We may not fire a shot if everything goes well. Besides, I’m not much for machine guns if I can help it. I don’t pray all that often, so spraying and praying won’t make it much easier.”
Chiyo clipped the sub-machine gun back on her waist. She unclipped the ark pistol and handed it over to Kaiden. “Go ahead and take it.”
Kaiden looked down at the pistol before glancing up at her. “I wasn’t trying to guilt you into giving it to me.”
“You are my bodyguard, as you said. In light of what’s best for the mission, it would be wise for you to have as many options as possible.”
He reached over and took the ark pistol from her hand, clipping it to the opposite end of his waist from Debonair. “More toys for me, then. You spoil me.”
“Just don’t look for reasons to use it unnecessarily,” she warned.
“I promise to try not to,” he smirked, holding two fingers up in a scout’s honor gesture.
As she grimaced, the glow strips began to flash, and the hologram of the building disappeared, replaced by a screen with options. “What’s going on?”
“We are nearly at the building. We have three options for where we can depart.”
Kaiden leaned forward, trying to look at the screen. “What are they?”
Chiyo read through the options. “The carrier can drop us off a full mile from the building, allowing us a safer exit but leaving us in the woods to make our own way to the target. The second option is to leave us just outside of the back of the building. We should be undetected, but we’d still have to make our way inside ourselves. The third option is right beneath the building.”
“Underground? How would we even get out?” he asked.
“There’s a cave underneath the building. My guess is that it was for testing purposes or to smuggle wares and chemicals discreetly. We would be dropped off in the middle of the cave. From there, we can make our way through the system until we find an entrance into the basement and make our way up. However, the risks are that we have no map of the cave system and that we could run into guards. If a firefight broke out, we would not only give away our position but could trigger a collapse and fail the mission before truly beginning.”
Kaiden frowned over the dilemma, sketching directions into his palm with a finger. “Not having a map shouldn’t be a problem. They probably have a light trail or directions for their flunkies in the cave itself. As for the guards… Well, that will be a problem no matter where we get dropped off. At least we can use the walls and tunnels of the cave to our advantage rather than running out in the open.”
“So we should choose the cave, then?” Chiyo asked.
“That has my vote.”
She looked back down at the options. “We only have thirty-two seconds to choose… I’ll follow your lead for this one,” she agreed and pressed the third option. The screen disappeared, and Kaiden saw a countdown appear in the front of the carrier, starting from sixty seconds.
Handles descended from the ceiling. He unbuckled himself and grabbed one of them. “You ready, Chiyo?” he asked as his rifle and gadgets appeared on his armor.
She stood and latched on to another handle. “Of course.”
He gave her a reassuring nod before looking back at the timer. He could feel the carrier rumble around him as they began to ascend and breach into the cave.
“How fast do you think we can get this done?” he asked, yelling as the rumble grew louder.
“We get a time bonus if we finish within an hour and a half,” she replied.
Kaiden drew his rifle with his free hand. “They are either really generous with that bonus, or they are seriously underestimating us.”
The carrier pushed through the last bit of earth. Kaiden raised himself as the vehicle shuddered to a halt, and for a moment, everything was still. The glow strips dimmed and a door at the front opened. Kaiden peeked around the entrance to see if they had alerted any guards. Confirming that they were in the clear, he leaped out the door and into the cave. “Come on,” he ordered, raising his rifle to his shoulder. “Let’s do this fast and make it look good.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kaiden and Chiyo moved cautiously through the tunnels leading from the cave, following a line of glow strips they found embedded into the wall.
“You’re sure we are going the right way?” she asked.
“Well, following these lights means there are only two ways to go. Worst case scenario is that we went in the opposite direction and will probably end up at the entrance to the cave and will have to double back. But for now, let’s have ourselves a nice leisurely walk through the tunnels that are possibly crawling with enemy mercs who would like to riddle our bodies with laser fire.”
They continued in relative silence, the wind occasionally howling as it funneled through the narrow space. Small droplets of water fell from the stalactites. As they rounded a corner, they could see a light emitting from further ahead. Kaiden held Chiyo back as he raised his rifle and looked down the scope.
“There are two guards that I can see. They’re at the base of a ramp.” He lowered his rifle. “Looks like we found our entrance into the building…or the entrance to something. As long as it doesn’t lead us into a room with a pit of spikes, I’d say it’s better than sticking around here.”
Chiyo brought the hologram of the building out, now much smaller than it was in the carrier. “Once we’re inside, I’ll be able to map our position. Then we’ll simply have to make our way to the first server room, and we can begin.”
“How do you want to play this?”
She shut off the hologram. “Take them out.”
Kaiden was taken aback for a moment. “Just like that?”
“We haven’t seen too many hostiles down here, but I don’t want to risk them finding our carrier and alerting the others to intruders. Once you dispose of them, I can set up a signal loop in case anyone checks in. It’s the easiest solution.”
“I’m starting to like the way you think.” Kaiden aimed his rifle. “I mean, I guess I always have, but now there’s an edge I find… Oh, hell.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Two more guards are coming
down the ramp. I can’t tell if it’s a shift change or if they are joining the other two… I guess I can take them all out without a fuss if I make my shots right.”
“Hold for a moment.”
He looked back at her. “Problems?”
“If it is a change, then the other two will probably report to someone for a new post or before they retire. That could complicate things.”
Kaiden sighed and looked back at the mercs for a moment. They chatted amongst themselves. “Maybe Chief can lend a hand?”
“Doing what, exactly?” the EI inquired. “There aren’t a lot of options around here. You want me to take over a glow strip and change the colors? Maybe distract them with a dance party?”
“You’ve been talking all that good shit for the last few weeks…can’t you get into their helmets so we can hear what’s going on? I increased your casting range for a reason.”
“Not without an open link, dumbass. They are closed off. If one of them opens a link I can sneak in, but unless one of you can—”
“Miss Chiyo, might I make a recommendation?” Kaitō requested.
Though he didn’t say anything, Kaiden could hear Chief babbling angrily to himself.
“Yes, Kaitō?”
“Though we cannot fashion a false signal to get them to open their comms, if you could perhaps create a malfunction or distraction they would report it, and then Chief could enter the link that way?”
“And how pray tell, dear fox, would you recommend we do—”
“On it,” Kaiden said cheerfully, aiming at a small generator and firing a single shot into the bottom of the machine. The generator popped and powered down, causing a few of the lights to go out. The mercs jumped at the noise and looked at the machine. One walked over to it and examined it for a moment before pointing to one of the other mercs and motioning him to make a call.
“When he opens his comms, get in there, Chief,” he ordered.
“I just want it on record that this was somehow my idea,” Chief grumbled. Kaiden saw one of the guards tap the side of his helmet and Chief’s avatar disappeared from his visor.
“How did you know that would work?” Chiyo asked.
“That’s a basic Ironhead portable generator. They have the problem of short-circuiting and popping a gasket after too much use. We used them on a few gigs back when I was with the Dead-Eyes. Damn things were useless half the time, but they were cheap and plentiful,” Kaiden explained. “Figured they would call in for repairs or to make a report if one blew but had to make sure it didn’t look too obvious. That’s why I popped the bottom—to make it look like a blowout.”
“What’s the problem, twenty-seven?” a nasal voice sneered over the comms. Kaiden held a hand up to Chiyo as he listened in.
“Another one of the damn generators blew. Can we get some real equipment down here? Or at least a generator that doesn’t pop on us every week?”
“I’ll make a note to send another down there. Is everything still working?”
“We’ve got a backup generator here, but it’s going to be the same damn problem in another week. Get us a real generator.”
“You’re just bitchin’ because you have nothing else to do. Start the backup generator and I’ll put in a request to the boss, but good luck getting him to care. Why bother giving you jokers in the cave the good stuff when all you do is stand around with your dick in your hands all day?”
“Whatever. When is the shift change? I wanna get out of this dump.”
“You still got two hours. Find some tunnel worms to shoot or something to keep yourself looking busy.”
The guard grunted and signed out, cursing the operator after he finished.
“We’re good. Change isn’t for two more hours,” Kaiden confirmed.
“All right, then we’re in the clear. Take them out, and we’ll head in,” Chiyo acknowledged.
He nodded, placed the rifle on his back, and took out the arc pistol. “Chief, while you’re in there, could you create a distraction?”
“Causing grief does seem to be my forte,” Chief chirped. “Just tell me when.”
Kaiden crouched down and began to move forward, keeping low to stay out of sight as the guards reconvened back on the ramp. He held the trigger of the arc pistol down, beginning its charge. “Make sure the channel is closed and then do it.”
The guard Chief had infiltrated cried out as the EI let loose a blast of high-pitched noise in his helmet. The others looked at him in confusion as Kaiden ran up and pointed the pistol at the one at the back of the group. He released the trigger and a blast of electricity jumped at the guard, causing him to sputter and jolt before the electricity jumped to the guard beside him.
Kaiden used the confusion to holster the arc pistol and draw Debonair. He took out the remaining guard with a shot in the head before blasting the two stunned guards. As they fell, he leaped over the railing of the ramp and pumped his fist, activating the shock gauntlet, and pummeled the last man into the ground.
He stood over the fallen defenders for a moment, checking them for movement. When he was satisfied that they wouldn’t get back up, he put his pistol away, deactivated the gauntlet, and motioned for Chiyo to join him. “Good work, Chief.”
“That’s the only kind I do,” the EI bragged, his avatar reappearing in Kaiden’s visor.
Kaiden walked up the ramp and to the door. He pressed a button on top of the latch and popped it open as Chiyo came up behind him. “After you,” he directed, sweeping a hand forward.
“Well done,” she complimented as she walked by him. He followed quickly and shut the door behind them.
“Weren’t you going to do that signal thing?” he asked
“Signal loop, and Kaitō already did it for me.” She showed him her console and a line that read, “Signal loop uploaded and activated.”
“That little weasel thinks he’s so great…I did all the real work.” Chief growled his annoyance.
“Settle down, your majesty. Not becoming of a god to get all spiteful.”
“Depends on the god…I can be quite wrathful,” Chief retorted.
Kaiden chuckled as he glanced back at Chiyo, who was looking at her console. “You got a better idea of where we are and where we need to go?”
“I do. We are in the basement, and we need to go there.” She pointed over to the far wall and a stack of boxes.
“Is there something in the boxes we need? Did they stick the servers in there?” he snarked.
Chiyo walked over and moved a couple of boxes from the top of the pile, revealing a large grate behind them. “We’ll climb the vents. I don’t know where they will take us exactly, but it’s safer than walking up the stairs and through the hallways.”
Kaiden sighed as he moved over to help her move some of the boxes. “I just wanna take this moment to say I’m not exactly partial to vents. I merely happen to use them often. I don’t want ‘vent climber’ to be on my list of things I’m known for.”
“I’ve found them to be quite helpful in my work. Some corporations and companies are smart enough to add defenses in the vents, but they are easily shut down, and they make convenient routes,” she asserted as she took out a small device and pressed a switch, causing a drill to pop out.
“You have an omnitool?” Kaiden asked.
“It takes the place of my melee weapon. It’s much more useful with my skill set,” she explained as she worked at the screws holding the grate in place.
“Not as fun as mine.” He admired his shock gauntlet with a satisfied smile.
“Perhaps in your view. I find it far more satisfying to complete a mission without the enemy or target ever knowing I was there. Truth be told, I’ve probably seen more violence in my time working with you than I have in all my other training combined.”
“Well, that’s the Kaiden Jericho guarantee. One I proudly endorse.” He cracked his knuckles for emphasis. “Although you only mentioned training. Does that indicate you’re used to a bit of violence yo
urself?”
Chiyo pried the grate off the wall. “I am familiar with it, unfortunately.” She placed the grate carefully to the side and climbed into the narrow space. “Let’s go. I’ll take the lead until we get to the server.”
Kaiden decided to let her words lie and climbed in after her. Inch by inch, they crawled their way slowly through the building.
“We’re clear,” Chiyo stated, opening the small vent and dropping to the floor of the windowless room. She moved aside and waited for Kaiden to climb down. “Are you coming?” she asked after she heard him jostle around for a bit.
“Give me a minute… Hold this, would ya?” He dropped his rifle from the vent. She caught it and stepped back a little further as his legs lowered from the ceiling before he fell completely through the aperture, landing a little less gracefully than she had.
She handed him his rifle as he staggered to his feet and rolled his shoulders. “Before you judge me, you should note I’m wearing way more guns and armor than you and I’m not exactly built for shimmying,” he lamented as he took his rifle back from her.
“I’ll make a note of it.” She looked back at her console. “Give me a moment to establish our position, then we can find the server.”
Kaiden nodded and crept towards the door. He reached for the handle and turned it slowly, peering through the crack to check for mercs, then frowned as he looked outside. The place was built more like a warehouse than a conventional building. The hall was massive, and he noticed various mercs loitering all around. He couldn’t see how they could sneak around with this many adversaries present.
“I’ve found it. The server room is about one hundred yards to our left. How does it look out there?”
“Not great,” he grumbled. “It’s a large open space. Can’t speak for whatever is above, but we don’t exactly have a lot of hiding options out there.”
“We could always go back into the vents. A server has to be kept cool, so there is probably a passage directly to the room.”
Kaiden shut the door softly and turned to face her. “I don’t have a grappling hook, so I’m gonna have to climb my heavy ass back into that vent. I don’t think I’ll be the quietest little mouse while scrabbling to get back in there. I’d rather not have the mercs charging in here and shooting me in the ass while I do it.”
Animus series Boxed Set Page 59