Raid (Animus Book 9)

by Joshua Anderle

  “I say bring it!” Mack shouted and pounded his chest. “I’m looking for more action. It’s been too quiet for me over the last couple of months.”

  “Same here,” Marlo agreed with a nod. “In fact, the mission Amber, Flynn, and I have will take us all the way to the east coast. We’re going after…”

  Kaiden smiled as the table began to talk excitedly amongst themselves, discussing their missions, their plans for the final year, what they hoped to accomplish afterward, and where they hoped to go. It made him almost wistful as he recalled the early days and had to admit he was a salty bastard back then.

  He thought about the upcoming raid. When he’d got everything in order, he’d felt ready and prepared, but now? There was some hesitation, he had to admit. He wouldn’t back down, not a chance in hell, but he had only thought about getting his pound of flesh from these Arbiter bastards. But he realized now that even with all his preparation, he couldn’t have a real idea of what to expect or how it would go. He could only see the win. If he wanted to have another moment like this, he would have to focus not only on winning but actually plan for it as well.

  A gentle tug on his jacket drew his attention from his thoughts to Chiyo. Either she had similar thoughts or could read his mind. She inclined her head to the edge of the island that overlooked the lake. He nodded and excused himself. Chief disappeared as she followed. There were a few playful catcalls from Izzy, Cameron, and a couple of others but he merely smirked and they ignored their friends.

  They leaned on the railing beside one another and gazed at the moonlit waters. “I saw your eyes. Are you worried, Kaiden?”

  “I’m only putting things into perspective,” he admitted. “I had a message from Wolfson. We’ll meet tomorrow. I have the gang leaders’ contacts and they’ll join us via holoscreen.”

  “That will help to put things into further perspective.” It sounded like an attempt at a joke, albeit half-hearted. “I suppose… No, do not worry. I am prepared.”

  “You don’t need to worry about being a little cautious,” he reasoned and leaned forward, his hands tight on the railing. “This is the first real mission we’ve gone on where there are so many factors we can’t possibly see them all. And not everything will be under our control, either.”

  “Who do you think will lead the charge?” she asked.

  Kaiden shrugged. “I want to, but I don’t have the leadership skills of Sasha or Wolfson. Hell, maybe even the gang leaders would beat me in that area when it comes to a big force like that. But I’ll lead the literal charge, in any case.”

  “I see.” She nodded. “Be careful, okay?”

  He chuckled. “You should have known what you signed up for when—” He broke off when he noticed her faraway stare and despondent expression. His smile faded and he reached a hand out to turn her head gently and rest his forehead against her own. “We’ll make it out of this, all right? I promise.”

  “I know,” she agreed but avoided his gaze slightly.

  “Promise me the same,” he stated.

  She looked at him, surprised at first, but determination filled her eyes. “I promise.”

  They remained close to one another in companionable silence under the stars and shared a last moment of peace and serenity before they set off to battle.

  Chapter Twenty

  When the sun rose on the morning after the feast, there were already many master students on the grounds, most rushing to the carrier station to head into town. Some had ships waiting in the docks, either rented or gifts from well-to-do parents of aspiring pilots. Kaiden, along with Genos and Chiyo, was among the throngs, but they were not setting out. They came to say farewell and wish their friends luck. Cameron, Raul, Luke, Flynn, Marlo, and Amber were all leaving early.

  “I’m surprised you’re not heading out already,” Kaiden whispered to Jaxon as they watched the six board the carriers into town.

  “I could say the same to you,” the Tsuna responded and clasped both behind his back. “It’s a rather large mission you’ve undertaken, correct?”

  “Do you think I would go small at this point?” He chuckled. “I think they’d dock me points if that was the case.”

  “Same with me.” Jaxon glanced at Genos, who had moved closer to the windows of the carrier to watch his friends leave. “He is going with you?”

  He nodded and watched with amusement when Genos leapt up to wave to the team on the upper deck. “He insisted.”

  “I am aware. Take care of him. I’ll be sure we finish our mission quickly so we can all come back and celebrate.”

  “We’ll meet you back here.” He offered a hand and the two friends shook. “I look forward to it.”

  He nodded and called Silas and Izzy to join him before they walked to the Animus Center for a little more training before they headed off on their mission.

  Genos and Chiyo wandered over and the ace checked his HUD. “It looks like they’re ready,” he said and his friends nodded in return. “Let’s join them.”

  The trio walked into Laurie’s office. The professor was there, obviously, along with Wolfson and Sasha. Kaiden smiled when Magellan, in his wide-brimmed hat and dark armored jacket, greeted him with a wave.

  “It’s good to see you again, Kaiden.” He stood and walked over to clap him heartily on the back. “It’s been a while.”

  “It really has.” He returned the back-slapping gesture. “It’s good to see you in one piece still, but I guess that’s why you earned those three stars, huh?”

  “It’ll probably be four stars soon.” He laughed and removed his hat to reveal a bandanna beneath, then spun the hat in his hand. “I’d ask what you’ve been up to but the commander has filled me in and…well, I guess with all of us here, it’s fairly obvious now.”

  “I guess so.” The ace looked around. “But we still have some details to hammer out.”

  “Indeed.” Laurie nodded and placed an EI pad on the floor between the group. “We’re ready to begin. If you can get the leaders on the line, I’ll try to get Cyra—oh, never mind.”

  The door behind them opened and the infiltrator entered. “Sorry, I was delayed helping some of the guys in security.”

  “It’s all good,” Kaiden said and brought up the contacts on his tablet. “We still need to get the others on the line. I sent them a message last night, so they should be ready.”

  It took only a few minutes for Zena, Desmond, Janis, Fritz, and Kit to appear on Laurie’s holoscreens. They all looked around the room and the leaders of the Riders and Kings seemed surprised to see the leaders of the Halos as the hacker gang was to see almost everybody.

  “Is that Alexander Laurie?” Janis asked.

  “I prefer Professor Laurie but I suppose you aren’t a student.” He chortled. “And I can give you a pass. After all, you are helping tremendously.”

  “Yes, of course,” the man said with a small bow.

  “You should have told us you were working with him in the first place, Kaiden.” Fritz chuckled. “Janis is a huge fanboy of Laurie.”

  The Halos leader looked like he wanted to tell his teammate to shut up but simply shrugged.

  “Not to mention Commanders Sasha Chevalier and Baioh Wolfson,” Desmond said with open admiration. “I guess this isn’t some foolhardy plan by some simple merc, huh?”

  “Is that what you thought it was?” Kaiden sighed and looked at the men who had been mentioned. “If I had known you had such big fan clubs, I would have parlayed with that.”

  “You did quite well without relying on our names,” the commander stated. “That deserves its own praise.”

  “We should get to it, then,” Magellan interjected. The gang leaders immediately recognized him.

  “Is that—” Desmond began before he was cut off by Wolfson.

  “Enough with the prattle. We can share stories and take selfies later after the battle,” he snarked and folded his arms. “Laurie will fill you in on what we know. We need to make a plan and get goin
g as quickly as we can. So you need to know that there are no stupid questions and listen closely.”

  Laurie, Wolfson, and Sasha filled the leaders in on the current layout of the fortress. Kaiden considered all the details as they explained the layout and what kind of forces they could expect to face. The other side undoubtedly had significant numbers. Kit explained that they had a force of about two hundred and twenty droids—no doubt more than they planned to provide before they knew everyone involved, but Kaiden wouldn’t complain. If them being starstruck meant they would go all out, that was a bonus.

  The fortress, however, according to the information on the device, mustered forces of about three hundred and fifty droids and a hundred security personnel. No doubt that had strengthened in the months since. The best-case scenario was that the droids had doubled and the security force remained relatively the same. Still, it was better to plan to face one thousand—an over-estimate was preferable to an under-estimate.

  “We can’t give them time to rally all their troops to attack us as one,” Sasha stated. “We need to keep the pressure on and find a way to reduce numbers quickly.”

  “We can handle that,” Desmond vowed. “We’re the Skyway Kings. I told Kaiden that this division has more ground forces than usual, but we still have the rep for our aerial combatants. On top of that, we have our own fleet of fighters. They’ve been gathering dust for the most part, but I had our engineers make them clean and shiny again for the last mission before he approached us. That means we can hammer them from above—they don’t have much of an air force, right?”

  “Not from what we’ve discovered, but they do have a considerable number of anti-air missiles and cannons,” Laurie pointed out.

  “Those should be the first things we target, then,” Zena stated firmly. “We need to eliminate those, cover our backs when they send in the waves of droids, and once we clear out a good number of them, Desmond and his boys can do their thing.”

  “Our hackers can probably remotely disable a good number as well,” Kit added. “Our engineers are also outfitted with nano grenades. They’ve been working on a batch since Kaiden paid us a visit.”

  “I’m glad to inspire when I can.” He chuckled and jerked his thumb toward Genos. “Although those were his nanos.”

  “We were able to engineer a few using nanos scattered around the cannons,” Fritz explained.

  “Some must have been fried from the residual electricity of the cannons,” Genos muttered and tapped his infuser. “I need to make a note of that.”

  “Kaiden said the hackers will focus on trying to take the system over,” Janis recalled. “For that, we need to get into the heart of the base. As Kit said, I’m sure there are things we can do remotely, but this battle will last much longer and be far bloodier if we can’t get in.”

  “You’ll be with Chiyo and Cyra,” Kaiden said and pointed at the women. “They are the best infiltrators in the academy, and that’s not hyperbole.”

  “We’ll give you your opening,” Wolfson promised. “As much as we’d like to simply drop you on the roof and let you make your way in, that seems like it would lead to some—”

  “Is that an option?” Chiyo asked. Everyone turned to look at her. “Not all of us, obviously, but a small force. We can go through and take over interior defenses. It would make it easier for the main force to enter when the time comes.”

  “That’s…not a bad idea there, lass,” the head officer said and stroked his chin thoughtfully as he looked at Sasha. “It might also split the defense force. As long as the infiltrators keep to hit-and-run tactics, they won’t have to worry about being overwhelmed.”

  Sasha thought it over and asked Janis, “How many hackers do you have who are comfortable in the field?”

  “I would say about twelve, but that’s Kit’s division.”

  She nodded and took out a tablet. “While I would agree that we have twelve field operatives for an attack like that, I would say eight would be better, along with myself. I can also bring some droids and a few engineers to help if that’s all right with you, Fritz.”

  “Take them,” he agreed quickly.

  “I’ll send some of my raiders to back you up,” Zena offered. “They handle heavy weapons but they are quick and they’ll be helpful if you get caught.”

  “I’ll join you,” Magellan stated and placed a fist across his chest. “I’ll help you get inside and if things go peachy, I’ll have a perch to snipe from as well.”

  Sasha nodded. “Then Chiyo, Cyra, Kit, and Magellan will be the leads on that front. Keep us informed as you make progress.” He looked around the room. “The rest of us will be on the ground. I take it everyone is stocked?”

  “Of course!” Desmond boasted. “You can’t run a proper gang without the proper equipment.”

  “I’m actually going to see Julio again,” Kaiden advised them. “He said he might have something for us.”

  “Knowing him, it’ll be top quality and that will be an even bigger help.” The commander addressed Zena and Desmond. “We won’t have enough for everyone, I’m sure, so send me a list of your best people and their specialties. I’ll distribute the weapons and gear once Kaiden gives me the list.”

  “Understood,” Zena agreed.

  “Got it, sir,” Desmond replied.

  “Transport,” Laurie said. “Is everyone good on that front as well?”

  “It’ll be tight but we should be good,” Fritz confirmed.

  “Same here,” Zena concurred.

  “I have some spare ships I bought at auction,” Wolfson offered. “I plan to make them into security vessels, but we can spread the troops around better with extra ships.”

  Sasha nodded. “Have them ready, Wolfson.”

  “Aye, I’m on it.”

  “I guess all we need is a date, then,” Magellan said finally.

  “This Saturday. We’ll meet on the battlefield in the morning,” Sasha stated. “Can everyone be ready by then?”

  “I’ll go see Julio right after this,” Kaiden promised. “I’ll get the list and see what he’s offering.”

  “We’ll have the droids ready,” Janis assured everyone.

  “And we’ll be ready as well.” Zena looked at Desmond, who nodded.

  “I’ll send you the coordinates tomorrow,” the commander continued. “I’ll honor everything Kaiden has promised you. But know that we are doing this as much for the world as we are for ourselves.”

  “Everyone has a stake,” the Kings’ leader agreed. “We’ll turn them to dust—everything but the expensive stuff, at least.”

  “Does anyone wanna make a bet on how this will go?” Fritz asked and earned an irate glare from Janis and Kit.

  “I bet my Riders will have the highest kill count.” Zena sounded confident.

  “Hah! Not with my Kings in their domain,” Desmond retorted.

  “We have enough droids now to equal both your forces combined,” Fritz challenged.

  As the leaders argued amongst themselves, Laurie leaned over to Cyra and Wolfson to speak. Kaiden looked at Sasha to indicate that he would leave. The commander nodded and the ace Kaiden rested a hand on the shoulders of his teammates before he headed off to see Julio.

  The battle would be upon them soon.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Kaiden pushed open the doors to the Emerald Lounge and they closed behind him with a muted click. It was dark inside and quiet, too, with no customers or Julio in sight. The bar was dimly lit and he immediately grew concerned. He had told his friend he was coming, and the proprietor said he had something to show him and the door would be open. Where the hell was he?

  He took a few more steps into the room and a message flashed in his HUD

  Ready for you downstairs. In the vault.

  Julio’s secret stash was stored below so he was probably taking inventory. Which was perfect, as that was what he’d come for. He made his way past the bar to the office door in the back of the lounge. When he entered, he t
urned to the painting of Logan Lopez’s Mujer de Los Muertos and pressed a switch below the frame. A piece of the wall slid up and he descended the stairs behind it.

  When he reached the bottom, his jaw dropped. The vault was open and even from the entrance, he could see it was way more stocked than he remembered with guns, blades, explosives, medical supplies, and new racks of armor sets. The barkeep and broker had been very busy these last few days—maybe even before they set this whole thing off.

  “There you are, Kaiden.” He turned and the other man waved at him once he placed a small crate on top of a stack of six. Julio wore armor himself, seemingly breaking it in because he twisted his arms around as if they were a little stiff.

  “Should I ask how you got all this or is it in my best interest not to?” he asked with a chuckle and traced his fingers over a shotgun. He didn’t know the model and it seemed to be at least a decade old, but it shone like new.

  “Considering you and your friends will be using it all, I think that would be a worse offense than simply being privy to where they came from,” his friend retorted as he approached. He stopped a couple of feet in front of him and gestured to the suit he wore. “What do you think?”

  The armor was mostly black but some kind of red mesh-like material around the ribs, elbow, and knees resembled micro chainmail. It looked easier to move around in than heavy and medium armor and much more breathable too. “It looks good,” the ace confirmed. “Do you need protection for your next fling?”

  Julio smiled, picked up the shotgun he had looked at, and held it in both hands across his chest. “I need protection for the fight we’re heading to.”

  “We’re?” he asked and emphasized the word. “You want to come along?”

  The man’s smile dropped and was replaced by firm determination. “Of course. I’m not missing this.”

  Kaiden leaned against one of the tables. “I thought the whole reason you bought this place was to give up that kind of thing.” He looked around at the weaponry. “Well, give up doing it yourself.”