Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance

by Joshua Anderle

  Jaxon nodded, priming his beam rifle. “Cameron, Flynn, go on top of that smaller building down the street.” The Tsuna pointed to a structure a block down. “The three of us will stay in front of them and use the buildings as cover.”

  “I’m going to take a guess that this wave will be mostly cracked security bots,” Kaiden reasoned. “I’ll use a couple of shock grenades to thin the crowd and keep a couple for whatever happens next.”

  Jaxon nodded. “Sounds good.”

  The five soldiers made their way quickly down the six stories of the building. When they reached the street, Jaxon remained beside the building while Kaiden and Silas ran across the street, hunkering down behind the opposite structure, Silas behind Kaiden.

  “So am I your meat shield now or something?” Kaiden asked the raider over comms.

  “Your gun has less range than mine. You gotta be closer.”

  “You are in heavier armor than I am, and my gun has pretty good range, even without using ballistic rounds,” Kaiden argued.

  Silas scoffed, “What? After everything you’ve dealt with up till now, a swarm of system damaged bots with lasers is your secret weakness?”

  Kaiden added a single ballistic round to his auxiliary compartment. “No, but considering that I’m always the one who seems to be chosen to be in front or to go on the suicide missions, I’m starting to feel like I’m being picked on.”

  Silas chuckled. “Hey, you’re an ace, buddy. Welcome to the life.”

  Kaiden shut the auxiliary compartment. “How I lived without the love and encouragement it brings to me from my peers, I’ll never know.”

  Cameron and Flynn ran over to their designated building, entering and making their way up the stairs in the back.

  “This would be easier with the grappling hook.” Flynn huffed the observation while taking the stairs two at a time.

  “Which I would be using if you didn’t destroy my magnet,” Cameron reminded him.

  “And once again, I am incredibly sorry about that.” They reached the fifth level and roof exit.

  “Just remember to bring your own next time.” Cameron kicked open the door to the roof and walked out. “Don’t need you thinking I’m your personal zip line.”

  “I might just have to.” Flynn activated his stealth generator. “They are quite useful.”

  “Is everybody in position?” Jaxon asked as he crouched down behind a wall connected to the entrance stairs of his building.

  “Check,” Silas said over the comms as he looked down the sights of his gun.

  “Roger,” Kaiden acknowledged, switching his rifle to auxiliary rounds.

  “Snipers at the ready,” Flynn announced.

  “Good, be prepared,” Jaxon warned. “They are here.”

  He’d no sooner made that declaration when a siren blared through the city.

  Chapter Seven

  “What the hell is that siren?” Cameron yelled.

  Kaiden looked back at the rooftop snipers, shrugging. “My guess is not good for us.”

  “Incoming,” Jaxon declared.

  Kaiden looked back to see dozens of droids coming their way—more cracked security droids than junkers, as he had guessed. Electricity and laser fire tore through the sky, the five-member team returning fire.

  “No terrorists this time, at least,” Flynn noted as he reloaded.

  “I would think those are preferable,” Silas argued, falling behind the pillar to vent his machine gun, “In that they are squishier. Not…you know…in general.”

  “Throwing a shock,” Kaiden called, hurling a sphere that began to glow with blue light into the incoming droids. It exploded in a large discharge of electricity, causing some of the droids to fall immediately to the floor or explode. Others who were further from the blast still seemed to be damaged, shaking in place. For many, their firing slowed or stopped altogether.

  “Certainly makes for easier targets.” Flynn chuckled, taking out four of the malfunctioning droids in quick succession.

  “How many more of those do you have?” Silas asked as he began to fire at the horde once more.

  Kaiden withdrew another shock grenade. “After this, I got two left.” He lobbed it over before sliding back around his wall.

  That blast went off, decimating another group of droids and stunning a few more. Flynn laughed over the comms. “This certainly is more my speed. Taking out these mechanical gits while they spaz around is much more enjoyable than having to deal with them in a cramped corridor.”

  “Glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Cameron muttered, taking two quick shots before ducking below the ledge to avoid returning fire.

  “Why so glum, Cam?” Silas chided. “If you’re bored, you can always come down here and get the blood pumping.”

  “Yeah, I could use a meat shield for a change.” Kaiden snickered.

  Cameron huffed as he peeked back over and began to pick off some of the bots that were making their way to the front of the pack. “I’m just thinking…”

  “Well, that could cause stress for ya,” Kaiden quipped.

  “Quiet dumbass, I’m thinking something else is coming.”

  Flynn looked over. “You talking about the countdown?”

  Cameron shook his head. “There is that, but this can’t be all there is.”

  “You kidding me?” Silas jeered. “I would assume that you have a better vantage point than I do, and from where I’m standing, there are goddamn plenty of these things.”

  “Sure, but they are barely firing at Flynn or me—”

  “You’re welcome,” Kaiden added sarcastically.

  “Also, I’m in stealth, so really, there’s just you up here.” Flynn chuckled at Cameron’s quick look in his direction.

  “Gee, thanks, buddy,” Cameron growled a sound of mockery and rolled his eyes. “But there’s also the fact that they aren’t exactly doing a lot of damage to the three of you down there—”

  “Because we’re that good,” Silas chirped.

  “If this is supposed to be the penultimate wave before we have a chance to get out of here, you would think it would be a bit more challenging.” The bounty hunter finished his original observation, ignoring the interruption.

  There was silence over the comms for a moment. Kaiden was the first to respond. “I…suppose I would agree with ya. But it’s easier because we’re all together right now. Not only that, but we’re not weaving through buildings, and we’ve got more fortified positions this time around.”

  “Unless they can punch through a whole building.” Silas chuckled.

  “They did blow that one up at the end of the first wave,” Jaxon reminded them.

  “Ah…right…” Silas murmured. “Let’s not let them do that.”

  The trio on the ground could hear Cameron sigh and shuffle around. “I’m going to check the m— Ah, Christ!” he shouted, and laser fire could be heard coming from the rooftop but firing away from the horde.

  “What’s going on?” Jaxon demanded.

  “Damn junkers are back,” Flynn exclaimed.

  “Why do they keep coming for us?” Cameron hissed a sharp breath as he ducked instinctively.

  “Maybe because they excel in close combat and both of you are long-range?” Silas ventured the explanation without real conviction.

  “Or maybe you just look like you taste good.” Kaiden grinned behind his mask.

  “Hilarious,” Cameron sneered. “Now, can I get some backup?”

  “We’re kinda busy down here,” Silas retorted as a laser beam shot from behind him, missing his head but searing his locks. The raider stepped back a couple paces and felt the burning ends of his dreads. “Motherfuckers!”

  Kaiden took out a fourth shock grenade. “Silas, you go help the snipers, and I’ll keep the droids off you.”

  “Those cracked bastards just fried my locks. I want some payback.”

  “To be fair, you’ve probably shot up over a hundred of their buddies,” Kaiden pointed out. “Be
sides, I have to be closer, remember?”

  There was silence for a moment before he heard Silas sigh his acquiescence. “Cameron, I’m on my way. How are you holding up?”

  Cameron used the butt of his rifle to knock one of the bots away , turning quickly as another one leaped at him. He used the side of his rifle to block the knives and moved his head out of the path of its teeth. “The sooner, the better!” he called over his comm.

  He grabbed his heavy pistol quickly out of its holster and put three shots into the attacking droid, enough for it to deactivate and give him a chance to push it off him. Three more advanced.

  “Flynn, where the hell are you?” he yelled, raising his pistol to take aim only to see holes suddenly appear in the junkers’ heads. They dropped in their tracks.

  “Behind the entrance of the roof, saving your ass,” Flynn stated cheerfully.

  More junkers began leaping over the sides of the building. “You know, if you turned off that stealth, maybe they wouldn’t all focus on me.” Cameron swung his rifle onto his back and fired his pistol at the group advancing on him.

  “Now why would you suggest something so selfish to your teammate?” Flynn asked with a sarcastic whine.

  “Says the invisible dick playing skeet shooting in the corner,” Cameron retorted, backing up to the edge of the building.

  Flynn sighed. “Fine, fine. I was running out of power anyway.”

  Cameron looked over to see Flynn reappear and take out a few bots as he materialized. He gave the bounty hunter a wave. “There. Does that make you feel bett—” The door to the roof swung open, smashing into the Australian sniper and causing him to fall back onto the concrete. From the doorway, more junkers tumbled out.

  Cameron laughed despite the situation. “Well, that certainly does—” He noticed quickly that the bots in the doorway began to move towards him, along with the ones climbing up the side of the building.

  And now, his partner was flat on his ass.

  “At least, for a moment it did,” he muttered. “Silas, where the hell are you?”

  “Busy!” the raider shouted, rapid laser fire echoing from the comms. “There’s a bunch of these rusted bastards down here.”

  “That’s not good for me.” Cameron grunted, firing at the junkers as he moved toward Flynn.

  “For you?” Silas shouted. “What about—gah!”

  “Silas?” Cameron exclaimed.

  “What’s going on?” Jaxon asked.

  “One of the junkers just pierced my leg, dammit!” Silas responded. “I blew its head off, but its claws are still in me. I won’t be moving too quickly till I rip it out.” Several loud bursts sounded, and Silas cursed again. A loud thump could be heard. “Those pop guns they got actually got a little punch to them.”

  Cameron dodged another swipe, pistol-whipping the attacking junker and returning fire at a few others, taking a few shots of his own. “No kidding. Flynn, get your ass up.”

  He saw a trio of bots drop to the floor, and two others looked quickly over to where the shots had originated from before their heads were drilled through by another two shots.

  “I was waiting for the element of surprise, mate.” Flynn grunted, lying on his back as he aimed down the sights of his rifle. “Have a little more faith.”

  “I lost that when you got slapped by a door,” The bounty hunter retorted.

  “The sneakiest of foes…” Flynn joked, taking two more shots before popping open a slot on the side of his rifle to reload his spikes.

  Cameron took out the last of the current junkers on the roof, granting them a slight moment of respite before the next batch inevitably arrived. He vented his pistol and placed a hand to the side of his helmet. “Silas, you still ball and chained?”

  Cameron could hear Silas gasping and grunting. “Rickety bastards got grip strength, I’ll give them that.”

  “Flynn and I were able to clear the junkers up here, at least briefly. We’ll make our way down—”

  “Cameron, on your six!” Flynn shouted, slamming his ammo compartment closed and taking aim quickly.

  Cameron whipped around to see a junker leaping in the air behind him, coming down hard with its four arms—accessorized with various sharp instruments—outstretched. The left side of its head was pierced by Flynn’s shot and the lights in its eyes dimmed, but it still fell onto Cameron and knocked his pistol out of his hand.

  As he struggled to get the bot off him, more emerged over the roof ledge. “That’s the street side of the building,” Cameron cried as he finally pushed the heavy robotic carcass off him and went for his rifle. “Jaxon, Kaiden you got trouble.”

  “What are you— Oh, shit. Jaxon, we’re getting flanked,” Kaiden shouted over the comms. “Junkers behind us, coming down the street and climbing up the building where the other three are.”

  “You focus on them. The security droids are almost finished, and I’ve got a full charge. Leave them to me.”

  “Roger. Hang tight, guys. I’ll clear a path down here.”

  “Because that went so well the last time…” Cameron grimaced as he and Flynn began walking backward, trying to shoot as many junkers as they could.

  “Are you clapping at me?” Silas asked. “Because—” His voice was cut off and they heard a sharp intake of breath followed by a gasp of pain.

  “Silas? What’s wrong?” Kaiden called.

  A loud burst of fire was followed by ragged, pained breathing. “I just got pincushioned. One got behind me. Got me in the chest when I turned.”

  “That sounds quite painful.” Flynn sounded concerned.

  Silas let out a snicker. “Oh yeah, it is…you snarky jackass,” he wheezed. “Not as bad as the shank to the kidney that one of his buddies hit.”

  “How light is your armor? They shouldn’t be getting through it so easily with their butcher-knife fingers,” Cameron stated.

  “Took quite a few shots getting up here…old cubicle walls don’t offer much defense.”

  Flynn fired his last shot, rolling away from the bots to the back corner of the roof. “Where are you, we can—” He stopped as a large blade tore into his shoulder, and he screamed in pain.

  “Flynn,” Cam shouted, looking over to see a junker with a large scythe blade attached to a long, coiled arm behind the sniper. The arm extended, hoisting Flynn in the air before slamming him onto the ground and raising him into the air again.

  Cameron turned quickly and fired, sending a charged shot into the bot’s shoulder. The arm fell off, and Flynn tumbled to the floor. Cameron fired two more shots, one to the chest and another into its head, and the bot stumbled for a moment before falling off the edge.

  “Good shots, mate…”

  “You all right, Flynn?” Silas asked.

  Flynn pushed himself onto his knees before grabbing his shoulder. “I got a lot more sympathy for you right now.”

  “Got a little instant karma, huh?” Silas chuckled.

  “And it is a bitch.” Flynn winced. He looked at Cameron, who was back to dodging and firing at the bots, and struggled to his feet. He reached for his pistol but before he could draw it was tackled to the ground again. “Don’t you bastards ever go away?” he roared as he tried to buck the junker off him.

  In response, the one on his back shoved his head into the ground, and he could feel another trying to claw into his armor.

  Cameron saw his partner’s predicament and tried to finish off the bots in front of him so he could make his way over, but his rifle was blown out of his hands. He looked back only to be swarmed by junkers, ripping into him as he tried to kick and shove them off of him. “Kaiden. We are FUBAR. Where the hell are you?”

  “I’m almost in the building,” he responded, loud blasts coming over the mic. “Switching to ballistic shots. I’ll be up soon.”

  Cameron was able to grab his melee weapon—a butterfly knife with a plasma blade—and used it to sever the cords connecting one of the junkers’ heads to its body. This gave him enough r
oom to begin slashing and slicing through the bodies of the bots around him.

  Flynn had the same idea. With a flick of his wrist, a blade emerged from his gauntlet. Using his remaining strength, he flipped himself over and wriggled his arm free of the junker’s grasp, severing the metal hand with his blade and stabbing it through its eye. The bot spasmed for a moment, giving him enough time to kick it off him and into the second one clawing at him. He leaped forward and stabbed the remaining assailant in its head and several times in its chest.

  “You… Damn…” he began, growling around a shaky breath before he saw the one-eyed bot look at him, its remaining eye beginning to glow red. “Bastards.”

  As Cameron continued to hack through the junkers, he felt them tighten their grasp and freeze up. He saw the eyes of the half dozen bots around him glow red, then heard a beeping noise come from all the other junkers which remained mostly intact. His eyes went wide.

  “Hey, guys… It might be the blood loss, but I hear beeping all around me,” Silas stated wearily.

  “No… It’s not just you.” Kaiden looked at the various fallen junkers around him, hearing the quickening noise and seeing the eyes of many bots, both active and destroyed, begin to glow red. “Are they all…” Kaiden’s whispered question faded into nothing, a tinge of fear creeping into his voice.

  “The security droids as well,” Jaxon said. “The remaining ones have stopped moving. My EI is reading that their internal power level is rising and focusing on their cores.”

  Kaiden looked around him “They’ve all been rigged to explode!” He put his Raptor away and reached for his shield. “Chief, is there a way to stop them?”

  “Not without remote access to all the bots, and certainly not in time,” Chief stated.

  “You didn’t see anything that said they could do this?” Kaiden demanded.

  “I would have mentioned it if I had,” Chief retorted. “Once they were destroyed, that should have also disabled any chance of an overload explosion. They must have had redundant power units in case of destruction. I wouldn’t be able to read that unless those units were active from the beginning.”