“That goes for us too, if you'll have us?” asked Sergeant Cerone.
Corpsmen rushed to triage the waiting wounded. Those remaining vertical covered the dead, a last battlefield rite before they were boxed for burial. Shouts for recovery to the casualty collection point as well as crossloading of equipment were shouted up and down the street.
Mara took an emergency action message from the Redemption. “Troops inside Objective Timber are requesting armor to push forward of Phase Line Charlie. We have four CR-1141s and two CR-335s ready on your go – Laurea”
Staring at the message floating in her HUD, Mara gathered up spare energy mags from the fallen. Tossing a mag over to Corvin to reload his rifle, Mara's posture slid back a bit, assuming a shooter's unsupported stance.
“Message that bad, Force Commander?” Corvin asked.
“Nah. TFL is getting requests from the AO about pushing armor up. They got four crabs and some Vindicators.”
“Hells yes! Why didn't we have them before.” Corvin asked.
“Because I told her not to deploy them, yet. Didn't that kid have a gaping head wound?” Mara asked, pointing to one of the Marines awaiting evac.
Without warning, the young marine jumped up, pulling his sidearm and aimed it at Mara.
Corvin circled the young marine, readying his freshly fed rifle. “That's new. You in control or are they?”
“They are, but I have a grip on it. Getting harder, though. Don't know how long I can stop it.”
He raised the pistol under his chin, closing his eyes tight enough to strangle out the whispers. He was fighting against the shadow trying to suffocate his free will, drowning him in a sea of pain.
“No!” Mara screamed. “That's not how we fight here, Marine! Put the gun on me!”
As if a heavy burden had been lifted, the kid's eyes fluttered open. He was aiming at her again, struggling not to pull the trigger. Blood was seeping from his nose. One of the corpsman ran a scan through his body armor and confirmed what they’d all already guessed.
“Marshal! He's infested with the Swarm-tech. That stuff is putting pressure into his sinus every time he disobeys. Pain levels are going through the roof!”
“Friend of mine showed me how to do this,” Mara grimaced as she drew in power through the Way. “It's going to suck and if at any time the pain gets to be too much, dump that pistol mag on me. I can take it.”
She stretched out her hand, waiting for Corvin and the marines to get behind cover. When they were clear, she could see it just like Lasher had described. It was a parasite creeping all throughout the body with a strand outside. Something similar to an antenna linking them to each other in the grand scheme of their existence. Something she could pull. She poured the white hot fire of the Crucible into the strand, solidifying it, lengthening it, allowing her to pull.
The private screamed, a torturous wail that went on for as long as his body shuddered. He placed repeated bolts into the marshal, only to have them curve around her into the ruins of the domed city. A bloody ooze dripped from his ears, nose, and mouth as he thunderously convulsed. There was a spasm, and he dropped the pistol, his odd blue eyes assuming their natural brown again. He dropped to the floor, heaving against the unrelenting pain as though he had just been dipped in actual fire.
Mara touched her plasma sword to the puddle, turning it to ash. “Now you know why I didn't want that armor down here. Remember Striker Main?"
Corvin stuck his head above cover. “Trying to forget it!”
The TACOM and Battle-Net both came to angry life, one fighting to be heard over the other. Marines and lancers were dying in droves with no explanation for their ends.
“LaGarron! SITREP!”
“That back building just dumped a battalion plus worth of blues on us. We’re not going to –”
The line went dead, although LaGarron's vitals were still strong. Mara put her plasma sword in a high guard. “Get that kid out of here. All of you, out of here now!”
Haro and Corvin jumped over the rubble, grabbing the young marine. They buddy carried him back to their makeshift hide, looking for the lead element of the other company behind them. Corvin felt relief when he saw fresh faced marines running at breakneck speed toward them.
“Need you over here!” Haro shouted at two carrying a litter.
They positioned him so as to be easy to carry, one of them snapping a pneumatic injector into his thigh, causing him to visibly relax. They reached over for his weapon.
“Go! I'll get his gear!” LaGarron shouted.
The new arrival pushed the lancer over a small pile of rubble, snatching up the rifle and dropping it onto the kid's chest. He shot up, as he had before, pointing the rifle at Mara's back. Then all the marines surrounding them raised their rifles, pointing them at the Marshals Templar. She was frozen in place, daring not to move with so many fingers poised over triggers set to end her life at a moment's notice.
LaGarron looked to Haro, tapping his helmet where his ear would be. There was no more sounds of combat. Fires still crackled over their ruined structures. Small stones falling amid pieces of wreckage were tumbling here and there against the thrumming hum of Truveau's plasma sword dominating the soundscape.
Mara watched as a comely man in an armored flight suit, walked through the throng of blues and marines. They all made way for him, parting to let him pass, then recovering as though they were grass waving in the breeze. He removed a set of glasses, to show her his eyes. They were green, either signaling he was some sort of controlling intellect or, quite possibly, that his eyes were just that color.
“Marshal Mara Truveau. My name is Stavros Kenner. Pleased to make your acquaintance and accept your surrender.”
Thirty
“What'd I miss.” Kat said, breathing hard after her run through the tramway.
“You cleared all that distance and barely broke a sweat?” Kel asked.
“I'm built to perform.”
Kel rolled his eyes. “Is now really the time for innuendo?”
“It wasn't!”
“Uh huh. Merlin, Savoya, and Morpheus were just finishing putting the hurt into this lab system, but we need you to unlock the security proto-walls.”
“Protocols,” said the three working the console.
“Whatever.”
Kat unfolded the book, entering the virtual environment. Chen was already waiting for her.
“So that's it?” The criminal queen mocked. “Breech the Crypt, find my cypher, and destroy it?” she said. “No. You're too smart for that. You have a murder worm, don’t you?”
“You know what's great about this? I also have a giant mute button.” Kat said.
Chen disappeared. Kat was in the interface alone. Raising her arms, a giant black dial with strange glowing symbols raced toward her. It came to abrupt stop as though reaching the end of a leash. Kat waved her hands again, changing the glyphs into something she could read. Realigning the pattern, the symbols changed from a fiery glow to a soft luminescent green. No sooner had the light changed, the interface flew away as quickly as it had come. The former Exile cyborg closed the book, turning to her friends. “System is unlocked but Chen knows we're here. She's upstairs with Kenner directing combat operations against the task force.”
“They're both here?” Kel exclaimed.
“They are. It looks like they’ve been building an army of Swarmers. They’ve captured the task force.”
Kel brought up outpost maps and diagrams in his HUD. “The entire task force?”
“No. Just the ground units directed at the dome,” Kat explained. “There are two companies centered on the wreckage of the Forest along with some armor elements acting as perimeter security. Task force fighter bombers have splashed down Chen’s fighters and are holding the sky with support from the Valiant and the Resolute. The task force holds everything outside the dome and Chen holds everything inside.”
“Orin?” Kel watched Orin take his mask off, a sure sign the air was
easier to breathe here. His eyes were fixed on the horizon in a room with defined borders. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I'm good. I just – I can sense Mara. They’re holding her hostage.”
“Along with about twenty assorted lancers and marines,” Kat added.
“Did they kill the rest of them?” Justice asked.
Kat co-opted Kel's maps, generating them as a hologram above the work station. “No. About thirty dead. The rest of them were assumed by the Swarm. The real scary part is that some of the freshly dead are being brought back by the nanites. ”
“That interface is amazing, Katarina. You learned all of this in the few short seconds you were there,” Merlin said.
“Not so amazing. Something's different this time. She was waiting for me. Plus, it felt like I was being watched. Regardless, Chen knows we’re here.”
“She knew that already,” The Doom Cat stated.
“No, Fluff. She knows we’ve taken the labs.”
“She coming to visit? I can put coffee on.” Fluff offered.
“Savoya. This one’s yours. You poison the well, we have a window to take out the woman hunting you. Your choice but do it quick. The rest of us are going to plant her in the dirt. I really don’t want to see her get back up again,” Lasher said, grabbing his mask.
Lasher reached into his pack, producing a cell-com that was bigger than the standard. He placed it on the console near Savoya. Chang’e, the Advanced Intelligence from the Tienshan Forest, stepped from a holographic door that appeared in the wall. Her azure robes waved around her as she walked, hiding or exposing her figure according to some ethereal design.
“You’ve kept your word, Orin Lashra.”
“He’s known for that,” Fluff told the AI.
“You saved my life and that of your friend. Truly impressive. I take it I’ve been woken to repay you for the kindness.”
“If I forced you to pay for it, then it wouldn’t be a kindness,” Lasher offered. “I woke you to ask for your help.”
“Curious. Normally, humans demand. I don’t know if I’ve ever been asked before.”
“You’re not slaved to the ship anymore, so you have a choice. That’s what I’m asking of you. There are thousands of Swarm-tech enhanced people above us. The AI Chen is using to control them has taken their freedom from them. I just want you to give it back.”
Chang’e cocked her head, her eyes searching something only she could see. “Let them decide their fate.”
Lasher crossed the room to stand in front of the stately AI. “Yes, but I won’t force you. Either way, once we’re done here, you let us know where you want to go and we’ll bring you.”
Chang’e looked about the room. Various models of bots stood among living beings, all working toward a common cause. She saw the holographic representations of the Card Arkana, casting hopeful glances toward her. How is it that bots were affecting that particular emotion? What could the humans be doing that would give a bot hope?
She made her decision. “I’ll need Morpheus to help me. If their command module is set up like it was on the Forest, they’ll have a clone of my architecture supported by four assistant AIs. Morpheus will have to capture and eliminate the clone, allowing me to take command. I will then have to assert control over the lesser AIs to change their protocols, freeing the controlled Swarm.”
“If the code is similar to your construction on the Forest, it will be very difficult for me to secure the clone.” Morpheus declared.
“We’ll work together,” Chang’e gave a regal flourish as she spoke. “Once secured, I will have to battle the four generals for their influence over the Swarm. It will have to be done one at a time. Once the first batch becomes aware, there could be violence.”
“About time!” Fluff said, stalking from the room.
“Where are you going?” Kat asked.
“You said it yourself. Chen’s on the way. Most likely they’re going to pinch us. Send more Swarm up the rail head. Then send some down the elevator. I’m going to ruin the tram shaft so they can’t use it. That’s the larger way in. They’ll have to crawl down the elevator at us right into the choke point of the lab. C’mon, Jester. Bring some of your best punchlines and follow me.”
“How will we get out?” Savoya asked.
“Hopefully Madame Swirly robes and the professor will have the whole Swarm thing worked out so all we have to do is repair the elevator and ride out.” Fluff said.
Savoya pointed toward the elevator. “But the lift isn't broken.”
“That’s our cue,” Lasher said, tapping Kel and Kat on the shoulder.
“Right now your little pet is trying to slice into the network to kill a friend of mine. Extremely rude, if you ask me.” Kenner walked through the Swarm, coming face to face with the grime-encrusted marshal. They were surrounded by dozens of mannequins wrapped in either armored blue jumpsuits or arctic camo, aiming rifles at the group of uninfected.
“Why weren’t we taken?” Mara asked.
“You, my dear, are immune.” Kenner said with a flourish. “Something about strong connections to the Second Sight hinders the mental guidance program. You'd be very hard to control and then would have the added strengths of our specialized Swarm-tech. Couldn’t have that.”
“What are you planning to do with all these people?”
Kenner laughed. It was deep and hearty, the kind of belly jiggling chuckle that made a person warm all over. “I’ve done it. Me standing here, in front of you without that sword in my chest. That’s what I needed. I also wanted you to see this. Marine. Is that your superior officer?”
The young previously possessed and repossessed marine nodded.
“Shoot her.”
There was no hesitation. The trigger locked back, sending an energy pulse into the priming chamber, hyper charging stray particulates, giving mass to a bolt of energy sailing from the barrel. The round sailed toward the Lieutenant’s chest, circling around her like a grav-car going around a traffic rotary. The bolt changed direction in flight, blasting Kenner in the upper shoulder, knocking him to the ground.
Another laugh. “Bravo, Marshal! I'll have to edit that part where I get shot instead of the intended target. At least the Lieutenant gets to live another few minutes.”
“Why are you doing this?” Mara growled.
Kenner casually leaned back against part of the rubble. “Because much like you, I don't have a choice.”
“Did you see the look on Savoya's face when she hit that kill code on the Crypt?” Fluff asked.
“Seemed like a satisfied customer to me,” Kel said.
“That's kid's been using a bulkhead for a pillow after she lost everything. Sometimes a little revenge goes a long way.” Kat said.
“Spoken like someone looking to get a little of her own.”
“Some day, Kel. Some day.”
“Can we stop focusing on the hormones making you stick figures all emotional and concentrate on her face? I've been people-watching a lot.”
“You've watched them die a lot, Fluff.” Kel said.
“Same thing. I would've expected something more after she lays down the whammy on her mortal enemy. We got some water works but no, 'oh my gods, it's over!' What do you think, Tarot?”
The entrance hall for the labs was an open space that started out wide near the lifts, tapering toward two side passages near a massive stone reception desk. Kel, Kat, and Tarot were behind it with Fluff and Lasher each taking a hallway behind storage lockers they'd stacked for cover. Fluff stuck his head out, eager to hear the mercenary's response. A shuddering quake rattled through the room, dropping dust from the ceiling.
“Something must have hit the trip sensor for Jester's explosives. Tram tunnel is closed. If we live through this next part, I'll tell you my view on what the girl went through.” Tarot said through the digital grit of her speakers.
An explosion rocked the elevator in front of them. The heavy prosteel doors bent outward, leaving the barest of gaps fo
r them to exhale a dark inky smoke. At the bottom of the crease, blood flowed onto the floor.
“Yeah, I'm not taking that lift anywhere until they get someone in there to mop things up. Nice placement on the charges, by the way, Fluff.”
“Why thank you, Kel. Very kind of you to say.”
“All credit where it's due, old chap.”
“Are they like this all the time?” Tarot asked.
“Cute, ain't it. And to think – they're all mine.” Kat responded.
Secondary explosions reverberated from the walls, sending spiderweb cracks racing toward the ceiling.
“Determined little buggers trying to get in through the air vents like that.” Fluff observed. “I bet that's going to take a minute to recover from. Big boom in a confined space like that.”
“Am I going to get to pull the trigger today?” Kel asked.
“Not at the rate they keep setting off my traps. The clean up alone is going to take forever! Speaking of cleaning up, do you think we can trust that blue moon lady?” Fluff asked.
“If she deviates from the plan, Morpheus has instructions to terminate her,” Tarot said matter-of-factly.
Kel checked his HUD for unexploded ordinance. “Can he do that? Didn't she trap him on the other ship?”
“Is that what happened?” Tarot asked, sarcastically.
“Oh, you are so sneaky.” Fluff said.
Tarot pinged a location in everyone's display. “Heads up. We have enemy coming through the wire.”
The structure on the lift door buckled, further bending under the pressure of nanite-enhanced strength. A pair of hands gripped both sides of the split, spreading them apart with a heavy creaking sound.
Kel pulled a metallic cylinder from his belt. He twisted the top of it until it made a heavy click. He counted out loud, one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, then lobbing the odd looking grenade into the space. To everyone's surprise, the person in the lift caught it in flight. He was just about to throw it back when it exploded into a shower of sparks and molten metal. The torturous screams were made worse as the blue jumpsuit dragged his ruined arm back into the lift with the oozing grenade attached. The outer door buckled again from the intense heat of a Vulcan grenade melting everything in its path.
The Revenant: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Hunter's Moon Book 2) Page 38