The Alliance (AI Empire Book 2)

by Isaac Hooke

  Jason led the War Forgers and their clones across the barren plain. The atmosphere on this world was composed mostly of methane, with trace amounts of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Gravity was a little heavier than Earth, but Jason and the others had simply amped their servomotor outputs to compensate. Atmospheric pressure was equivalent to the top of Everest. Not that it mattered to machines of their ilk.

  Their mission was to destroy the remaining rift generators responsible for sending continued bioweapons to Earth. His team had landed about a kilometer away from the outskirts of the local shield that guarded the site, and they proceeded inward on foot.

  “Hey Jason,” Lori said.

  “What’s up?” Jason asked.

  “What are you doing later?” she replied.

  “Do you have to flirt with him now, of all times?” Maeran said in exasperation.

  Lori remained quiet, sufficiently chastened.

  Jason glanced at Maeran’s Grazer mech. Her three drones orbited her body protectively. He was still troubled by what she had told him earlier, about how she was leaving when this was through, but he knew he had to let her go.

  He dreaded this mission, yes, and all the missions involving the Link, but he dreaded even more what would happen when the Link was finally defeated.

  Sophie and Lori had already declared their intention to stay, but he wasn’t sure what the other women would decide when this was all over. His mountain cabin might become very quiet in the future. He was going to miss them.

  He forced himself to clear his mind. First world problems.

  As he approached, the sappers the fleet had launched ahead of their landing appeared on his overhead map. They had lined up just outside the shield perimeter. Red dots indicated where alien units had gathered on the other side—they were waiting for the sappers to penetrate.

  “The sappers already have company,” Aria said.

  “Yes,” Jason said. “Laser drills on truck beds are pretty hard to miss.”

  The War Forgers continued forward, moving across those plains of black shale. In the distance to the north and south, rocky crags mirrored their advance, providing parallel walls that seemed to hem in the team. The sky overhead was overcast, covered in a permanent layer of dull green clouds. The last time he had been here, it had been pitch black—assuming this was the same staging world. At the time, he’d leaped through an enemy rift with two other Cataphracts, and they’d destroyed the generators responsible for one of those rifts, the same one supplying bioweapons to the world killer the Link had been constructing on Earth.

  Jason could see the five truck beds ahead, positioned in a circle close to the area shield. The military vehicles had lifted those beds, raising the drills along with them, so that the lasers were pointed directly into the ground. Their combined drills formed a single hole that was big enough to fit each of the War Forgers mechs.

  On the other side, bioweapons had gathered to block their path.

  “Looks like a friendly bunch,” Sophie commented.

  “If you call bioweapons that are all claws and teeth friendly,” Xin said.

  “Sarcasm, Xin,” Sophie said.

  “How do you know I wasn’t being sarcastic myself?” Xin added.

  Jason stared past them, at the quonsets that lined the shale, and the many rifts. Behind each rift were five small, cylindrical generators.

  “There sure are a lot of them,” Iris commented. “The Loris have their work cut out for them.”

  Each Lori carried a series of specially designed charges to be placed next to each generator. When detonated, those charges were supposed to pack enough destructive power to defeat the local shields around those generates, as well as the generating devices within.

  The other War Forgers carried back up charges, and the Loris were supposed to return to them when they ran out of charges to fetch more. Given the number of rifts and their generators out there, that would be often: each Lori could only carry ten of the devices in their storage compartments, and that was after everything else was emptied, including repair drones. That was only enough for two rifts at a time. There were at least fifty, by Jason’s count. There were probably more hidden by the quonsets.

  Jason also spotted shield generators scattered at random locations along the perimeter, but as expected, those were heavily defended. Triceratops robots had gathered around them, joining existing defense turrets. The shield generators weren’t the priorities of the Loris, though. In fact, Jason had told them to forget about the shields entirely, mostly because he was worried the War Forgers wouldn’t have enough charges to eliminate all of the rifts.

  The War Forgers and their clones reached the sappers, and took up a defensive position next to the hole. They aimed some of their weapons down into the hole but kept the majority of them pointed at the bioweapons beyond the shield, just in case the Link decided to play some shenanigans and momentarily lower that force field to allow the bioweapons through.

  As the hole deepened, the truck beds shifted, directing the drills at a steeper angle. Eventually, when the hole was deep enough, the drills themselves descended into the pit, moving along bendable tracks that existed in the truck bed. Soon Jason couldn’t see the cylinders that represented the laser drills at all, as they had vanished into the hole they were creating.

  On the other side, there was a commotion amid the bioweapons that had gathered next to the shield. Xin hadn’t been kidding when she’d said they were all claws and teeth. Their bodies were covered in sharp serrations that protruded along every square centimeter, and their appendages were steeped in claws. Down the middle of their roughly humanoid bodies were long, vertical mouths that could open to reveal even more teeth, these ones sideways-oriented. They had long tails tipped with a series of scythe-like saw blades.

  “Razor Claws,” Lori said. “I’m calling them Razor Claws.”

  The bioweapons stepped away from the area of ground that had begun to collapse in front of them as the drills bored through. The Razor Claws waited patiently, some instinct warning them that although they could not see anything, death awaited any that should attempt to enter that hole before it was complete.

  The invisible lasers from the drills continued to fire, widening the hole, until the laser drills finished creating a gap big enough to fit a War Forger. Then the drills retracted, the tracks climbing back up the truck beds and drawing the cylindrical lasers along with them.

  The Razor Claws were already leaping into the hole. Two at a time could squeeze through.

  “This is going to be easy,” John said. “They’re willingly entering a choke point.”

  Sure enough, Jason and the others were readily able to handle the bioweapons as they emerged two at a time. Their weapons penetrated that razor sharp flesh with ease, and none of the creatures were even able to get close to them.

  The slaughter continued for some time, with the dead bodies piling up to form a berm of sorts around the hole.

  But then the bioweapons finally got smart and decided to hang back, instead waiting on the other side of the force field for the War Forgers to come to them.

  “Lori, you think you’ll be able to sneak past them unnoticed?” Jason asked.

  “I doubt it,” Lori said. “Look at how they’re crowded around the hole. There’s no gaps for me to squeeze past.”

  “I’ll shake them up,” Cheyanne said. Her Dragonfly mech dove into the hole.

  “I can help drawn them away, too,” Sophie said. She leaped her Highlander mech into the pit after Cheyanne.

  The Dragonfly mech emerged on the other side, swords twirling. Blood and guts sprayed the surrounding Razor Claws as Cheyanne burst skyward.

  Sophie emerged a moment later, her jumpjets firing; she arced over the bioweapons.

  The two were exposed to the defense turrets and Triceratops that resided next to the shield generators along the perimeter. Energy beams came in from those groups, and Cheyanne and Sophie were forced to land quickly. They took cover behi
nd a set of nearby quonsets. Beyond those quonsets more bioweapons of all kinds flowed out from the feeder rifts of Link planets whose members were donating the creatures, and into the rifts destined for Earth.

  The distraction worked: most of the Razor Claws broke away to give chase.

  “Now there’s enough room,” Lori said.

  She and her clones became invisible, and he saw the dirt shift on the outskirts of the pit as they entered one by one.

  On the other side, the remaining bioweapons didn’t notice a similar shifting of dirt as the four Loris emerged and spread out to place their charges.

  Razor Claws began reaching Sophie and Cheyanne. Some Triceratops broke away from the defense turrets to join them. Other big robots and mechs emerged from quonsets nearby, and turned toward the intruders.

  “They’re going to be overwhelmed,” Iris said.

  Jason nodded. “Looks like we’re going to have to help them.” He glanced at the others. “War Forgers, on me!”

  He dove into the tunnel and crawled through the confines until he emerged on the other side.

  As he pulled himself up, he fired his energy cannon and laser weapon in one hand, and his rocket launcher and railgun in the other, taking down two of the closest Razor Claws. He clambered out completely, and stepped aside so that Tara could follow behind him. She emerged, sword swinging.

  One by one the War Forgers and their clones entered, pushing the bioweapons away from the hole. Beyond them, the Triceratops closed, towering over them all.

  “It’s too bad we gave up our Loris,” Aria said.

  The Loris were key pieces for the transformation into Cataphracts.

  “We can win in this form!” Jason bashed in the head of a nearby Razor Claw, firing his energy weapon at the same time, causing a gory explosion.

  He glanced up at the closest Triceratops, which was bringing its plasma turrets to bear.

  At least, I hope we can win in this form.

  9

  Eric and the Bolt Eaters were dug in before the defense turrets. They had taken cover in a trench within line of sight of two of the turrets.

  “Tread, Traps, Hicks,” Eric said. “I want you two to circle around from the left side.” He drew their route on the overhead map. “Frogger, Eagleeye, Mickey, circle around from the right side.”

  There were defense turrets on those flanks, too, according to the blueprints and the data recorded before landing. Those needed to be taken out as well before continuing.

  Eric rose, aiming his rifle past his cover, and fired a plasma beam at the defense turret. A localized energy shield activated, protecting it, and he ducked when that turret and the other three with it tracked him.

  Return beams struck the edge of the trench above him, drilling fresh holes.

  “Don’t you love it when they nest shields within shields?” Bambi asked.

  “It’s not surprising,” Dunnigan said. “Though the localized shields wouldn’t hold up to weapon intensities at a starship level.”

  “Which is why we have to keep firing at them,” Eric said. “We’re slowly wearing them down.”

  “Except as soon as we make a shot, their AIs track us…” Brontosaurus said. “Making it impossible to wear them down.”

  “They’re only five hundred meters away,” Eric said. “In these android bodies, we’re strong enough to lob grenade that distance. If five hit and detonated at the same time, it should be enough to drain the shield.”

  “They’ll just shoot them down,” Crusher said. “Like all the other grenades we tossed their way so far.”

  “We only have ten minutes until this space station unleashes its death beam,” Mickey said.

  “I know,” Eric said. It had grown brighter, and his autogating device was near its limits. If he were human, he would have been squinting in the brightness right about now.

  “They target everything that moves,” Bambi said. “Instantly. Have you noticed? One of us fires, or throws a grenade, they turn to track the same object.”

  “So?” Crusher said.

  “That means we can trick them,” Bambi explained. “Someone can draw their fire, while the rest of us throw grenades the instant those turrets turn to engage the bait. Some of the bombs will get through.”

  Eric considered her idea for a moment. “It might just work.” He glanced at a superstructure on the far side of the trench. “Dunnigan, you get to be the bait.”

  “Love to, mate,” Dunnigan said.

  Eric ignored the sarcasm. “Climb that superstructure and fire down at the turrets… make them all track you.”

  Dunnigan turned around without a word, and low crawled across the trench until he reached the adjacent superstructure. He positioned himself behind the section that faced away from the turrets, then stood up and fired his jumpjets. He latched on near the top and used his magnetic mounts to climb the rest of the way.

  Eric and the others retrieved energy grenades from their harnesses and prepared to throw them.

  Dunnigan low-crawled to the front edge of the superstructure.

  “I’ve got this one targeted,” Dunnigan said. On the overhead map, a turret turned bright red. “Firing in three seconds. Two. One.”

  Eric increased his time sense, and amped up his servomotor output. At his current speed, the plasma beam erupted from Dunnigan’s rifle at a crawl, slowly moving away from the weapon. Eric decreased his sense slightly, allowing his body to move at a speed that was more manageable. To his eyes he still moved in slow motion, though to any external watchers it would have appeared a blur.

  “Target the turret Dunnigan fired at,” Eric said.

  He stood up. The defense turrets were already tracking away toward the plasma rifle. Beside him, Crusher and Bambi were also standing, and hurling their grenades, along with the rest of the team.

  Then they ducked once more; Eric kept his eyes just past the edge, and he watched as the turrets began to track back toward the incoming grenades they detected. Dunnigan’s plasma beam struck, and the local energy field glowed a bright yellow. Some of the other turrets managed to target different grenades, and detonated them before they arrived. But some of the grenades got through. Four, to be precise. They all hit, and the energy shield flashed into existence each time, though less bright with each impact.

  “Again, Dunnigan,” Eric said, still in the heightened state. “The rest of you, sync rifles with mine.”

  The sync indicators turned green on his HUD.

  Dunnigan fired again, and when the turrets tracked toward the sniper’s position, Eric aimed his rifle over the edge, along with the other Bolt Eaters. He squeezed the trigger, and the weapons fired at the same time, hitting the turret whose energy shield was already weakened. Those beams drained the shield completely, and smashed into the turret beyond, melting it.

  “One turret down,” Eric said.

  They used Dunnigan’s continued distractions to launch more grenades, and proceeded to eliminate the next three turrets in a similar manner.

  The other two flanking teams used the same tactics to distract the turret pairs on the left and right in turn so that the team was soon moving forward again.

  The flanking team rejoined the main group as they continued along the central trench toward the target.

  “We have five minutes left,” Mickey said.

  “Thanks for being our countdown,” Brontosaurus said. “Where were you when I was a freshman, always late for class in college?”

  Ahead, the target vent was in sight.

  “It seems clear,” Tread said.

  “Too clear,” Eric said.

  “There’s gotta be some surprise they have lying in wait for us,” Bambi agreed.

  Eric halted to survey the area. He zoomed in on the gooseneck vent they sought.

  “So all we have to do is drop a few grenades down that vent, and the shield goes down?”

  “According to the blueprints, the bottom of the vent passes next to a key component of the shield gener
ator’s cooling system,” Eric said. “So yes, in effect, dropping some grenades down there should deactivate the shielding system. At least until the aliens get that area repaired.”

  “It’s like the Death Star’s fatal flaw!” Mickey said.

  “Gotta love fatal flaws,” Frogger commented.

  The team continued through the trench at a jog. They constantly scanned their bright surroundings, searching for signs of hidden attackers.

  Flashes began to appear around Eric’s boots as his zapper engaged. “Termites!”

  He quickly retreated, stamping his feet to shake them off.

  Eric activated his LIDAR, and zoomed in on the surface. He could barely make out the subtle forms of the micro machines. They were swarming over the surface.

  “The brightness concealed them,” Eric said. “The surface is seething with them all the way to the target.”

  “Time to use jumpjets?” Bambi asked.

  “Yes,” Jain said.

  He released his magnetic mounts and jetted forward.

  The surface came alive below him. It formed tentacles and other grabbing appendages as the micro machines swarmed together. He was forced to weave between them by unleashing lateral bursts; he increased his height, but then a plasma beam struck the side of his jumpjets—defense turrets they’d missed.

  He crashed amid the micro machines, and his body lit up with sparks.

  He clambered to his feet and swiped his hands across his body as he ran forward. His power cell was rapidly draining.

  Behind him, the other Bolt Eaters were forced to reduce their heights to avoid getting hit by the defense turrets, and they swooped low inside the trench, only to be knocked to the surface by the appendages formed by the micro machines.

  More hands formed in front of him, wrapping around his legs. Eric kicked them away. He threw an energy grenade onto the surface in front of him, and when it exploded, it cleared the micro machines from his path. He threw a few more grenades, and then deactivated his magnetic mounts, pushing off so that he glided forward.