Promethean Files 2: The Prometheus Gambit

by Andrew Dobell

  The man inclined his head and pulled aside a section of fence. ‘You stay here,’ he said to Karla before beckoning Frankie and her team through. ‘Only those going on the mission, please,’ he said. Dion walked over to Karla and waited with her. Frankie noticed as she waited for her team to step through the fence.

  The soldier looked over at Frankie. ‘You know what you getting yourself into?’

  ‘Yes,’ Frankie said.

  ‘Hmmm. See you later, Karla,’ the man said and walked towards the tunnel without waiting for an answer. ‘Follow me,’ he said to Frankie.

  The man led them over to the tunnel entrance. It was wide with pillars to separate some of the lines. The man led them to the far side, closer to enemy territory before he turned back to Frankie.

  ‘Once you’re at the end of that tunnel, you’re in Chinese occupied land and you will be shot at,’ he said.

  Frankie looked up at him. She felt he was talking down to her like he was addressing a child, but Frankie didn’t rise to it. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. She just stood there, her face neutral, taking the insult.

  ‘Any questions?’ he asked.

  ‘I know from my map that we have a small gravel sandpit on the far side of that tunnel with industrial units to either side. Do you have any idea where the Chinese forces are camped out around there? I’m guessing in the buildings?’

  ‘That’s right. They’ve been monitoring the tunnel fairly closely, so you can expect to be taking fire from both flanks,’ he said, his expression changing from one of bored contempt to appraisal.

  ‘What can you light them up with?’

  ‘Small arms, grenades, RPGs. We can cover you, but you’re going to be in the shit out there, so you better hustle. A nighttime intrusion would be better.’

  ‘Yes, it would, but time is of the essence here. I’ll link with you so I can give you the signal,’ she said. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘You’ll see me listed as McKinnen,’ he answered.

  She scanned the area and picked out his port and sent him a message, which he accepted and the link was created. ‘Thank you. Now, we don’t have time to waste; let’s get a move on,’ she said, walking towards the tunnel. ‘Your boys better be ready for us,’ she called back to the soldier.

  ‘They are,’ he said.

  She looked back to see him watching them walk into the darkness, but she paid him no more mind and focused her attention forward. She raised her gun and led her team to the end of the concrete tunnel. To her left, as the tunnel wall stopped, a berm of earth sloped down from the edge of the highway above, giving them cover as they edged out into the daylight.

  Frankie peered over the earthen mound and looked about her. She saw the sandpit flanked on either side by large factory units that would obviously have endless places that the occupying forces could use for cover and as sniper positions.

  ‘This does not look good. I’d love to be able to wait for darkness,’ she said to Gibson just behind her. ‘We have no cover out there.’

  She watched Gibson take a look before he ducked back down. ‘It’s going to be a crap shoot if those boys on the road above us don’t pull their weight,’ Gibson said.

  ‘Tell me about it,’ she agreed as she moved up to a tree and some bushes towards the bottom of the earthen slope, her team taking up positions behind her. The fence that had been at the back of the sandpit had been ripped down, so, at least, they wouldn’t have to deal with that. There were a few vehicles close by, sitting unused as they slowly rusted. If they could make it through the vehicles, keeping to the left side of the sandpit, they would then be able to use a building to their left for some cover, using the mounds of sand on their right to keep hidden from the enemy forces from that direction, too. After that, there were more cars lined up beyond the building on the left that would give them something to use for cover until they reached the road a little over two hundred meters away.

  Frankie opened a channel that included all her team and the soldier they had just been speaking to, so she could talk to all and any of them without having to change channels.

  ‘I’m moving up,’ she said. In a slight crouch, but with her gun at the ready, she moved out of cover and ran towards the first vehicle, a small burnt out car. She reached it without trouble or gunfire.

  ‘Hmm, that was easy,’ Gibson said.

  Frankie pressed her lips together at Gibson’s comment and edged herself around the vehicle when the sudden rapid clear sounds of gunfire rang out, and the earth around her began to explode.

  Frankie ducked back, unhurt and looked over at Gibson. ‘You had to say it, didn’t you,’ she sent through the link.

  ‘Sorry,’ Gibson said.

  ‘Anyone get eyes on them?’ Frankie asked.

  ‘No,’ everyone chorused back to her from her team.

  ‘My boys are looking for them now,’ McKinnon said over the link.

  ‘I’ll be wanting covering fire from them soon. Tell them to be ready,’ she said.

  ‘You do your job, and I’ll do mine,’ he answered her.

  ‘Copy that,’ she replied, feeling suitably chastised. ‘Guys, I’m going to run for that truck. Watch and fire back if you spot them,’ she said. Frankie turned and readied herself, and then sprinted for the truck. The gunfire started up again, tracking her but just not keeping up with her.’

  ‘Got ‘em,’ said Veronica, who began to fire.

  ‘Where?’ Gibson yelled.

  ‘Left side,’ she said, but Frankie had already made cover and the gunfire stopped.

  ‘Guys, we gotta go. The enemy knows we’re here now. Cover each other and get a move on,’ she said when suddenly bullets started to slam into the truck beside her as someone shot from the other side of the sandpit.

  ‘Covering fire!’ Frankie yelled through the link as she ducked and ran deeper into the sandpit.

  Chaos erupted as the noise of small arms fire suddenly multiplied several times over. Frankie hoped that the DU forces were now helping them, but she didn’t have a chance to check. Instead, she ran for better cover. Disused machinery stood close to the building on her left up ahead. She sprinted for it and skidded into cover, kicking up dust and sand while sporadic gunfire peppered the ground around her.

  Looking back now, she could see DU forces on the highway popping up and shooting down on the enemy forces. She nodded to herself. At least McKinnon was keeping his side of the deal.

  Gibson, Veronica, and Cole appeared around the edge of the truck, running and shooting at the same time. Frankie leant out from cover and fired at the small bits of movement she could see on top of the buildings to their north on the other side of the sandpit.

  ‘Run, keep going,’ Frankie shouted at her teammates.

  Once they were past her, she followed on with them, keeping low, running from car, to mound of sand, to derelict machinery, covering each other as they went. It all seemed so incredibly chaotic, but she noticed them soon settling into a rhythm of running for cover and then covering their teammates.

  As Frankie ran out from the end of the building, she caught a couple of Chinese soldiers breaking cover to her left to fire at Gibson. They didn’t see her in time, though, and she was able to take them out with some carefully placed shooting. Running along the line of cars towards the road they seemed to be past the worst of it, but they didn’t stop until they finally reached concrete and the cover of a couple of derelict cars that they ducked behind.

  ‘Holy shit,’ Gibson said. ‘That was intense!’

  ‘I can’t believe we made it through that,’ Veronica said. ‘Reminds me of my time in the forces,’ she said.

  ‘You served?’ Cole asked her.

  ‘For a few years, sure. I was a sharpshooter.’

  ‘A sniper?’ Cole asked.

  ‘Yeah. But, it wasn’t me, and I needed to do something different. I was much happier as a police officer,’ Veronica said.

  ‘Sorry to ruin that for you,’ Frankie sai
d, looking around her, wondering what her next move should be.

  ‘I ruined that for myself, but I think I'll be happy with the A.C.T.,’ she said. ‘Even if I have to do some more of that,’ she said, indicating the run through enemy fire they had just done.

  ‘Um, guys, we’re not out of the shit yet,’ Frankie said, motioning for them to look down the highway.

  They all followed her gaze and watched a large mech step out into the road and turn towards them. It looked like a cross between some kind of armoured dinosaur and chicken with its two long legs with their backwards knee joints and bird-like feet. Atop its legs sat a smallish angular body with an array of guns, which it now angled towards them.

  ‘Run,’ Frankie yelled and darted over the road towards the entrance of a wreckers yard, filled with disused cars that lined a central pathway down to the end of the property.

  The mech immediately opened fire as the team ran for the open gate. Frankie reached it first, and ducking behind cover, fired back at the freakish walking robot.

  Her shots hit home on the comparatively slow, lumbering machine, sparking off of its armour.

  When her full team was inside, she joined them in charging down the rows of cars and ducked right, intending to use the derelict hulks as cover against the mech that was moments from joining them in here.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Gibson yelled out.

  ‘All the way to the end. Keep heading west,’ she sent back through the general link.

  ‘And what about Robo Chicken,’ Gibson asked.

  Frankie ran between the cars and came to the end of her row and had to stop dead as a huge fuel tank, maybe six meters long and one and a half in diameter, sat in the way on its side.

  Frankie turned around and spotted the mech as it turned into the wreckers yard before she returned her attention back to the fuel tank and gave it a tap with her knuckle. It was maybe half full?

  ‘I have an idea. Veronica, can you put a bullet through this tank from the back wall?’ Frankie asked.

  There was a brief pause. ‘Sure,’ she said.

  ‘Then get into position, get it into your sights, and wait for my signal,’ she said as she moved along the side track back to the edge of the main path up to the entrance where the mech was walking. Frankie leant out and opened fire. She wanted to attract its attention while attempting to knock out some of its guns.

  Her armour piercing rounds clattered against the mech’s gun emplacements, sending showers of sparks up in the air as they slammed home, creating an almighty noise.

  ‘In position,’ Veronica said through their mental link.

  Finally, she thought as the mech closed in on her position.

  Frankie turned and keeping in cover, ran back. She moved away from the mech, past the fuel dump and back behind cover, following the side road around before she took up a position behind more cover and fired at the mech again.

  Come on, she thought, come to mama. Just follow me round here, will you? She fired again, and again, doing her best to grab the things attention while also trying to keep herself from being hit by the mech’s own gunfire that it spayed at her at her teammates.

  The mech approached the T-junction.

  ‘Come on,’ she muttered to herself as it lumbered forward. ‘Take the bait, take the bait.’ She fired again, and again, pummelling the body with more gunfire that didn’t seem to do a lot.

  Frankie backed off, keeping behind cover, but popping up randomly to shoot as the mech finally pivoted and made for her, heading towards the fuel dump.

  ‘Yes!’ Frankie smiled to herself and kept up her backwards motion, keeping her distance from the mech. ‘You ready, Veronica?’

  ‘Just say the word,’ Veronica messaged back as Frankie ducked again from another burst of high calibre bullets that slammed into the cars around her.

  With the burst of gunfire from the mech finished, she sneaked a quick glance and checked its position. It was close to the fuel tank, but was now heading towards the cars themselves and as it reached them lifted its leg up high to start scaling the wrecks, moving away from the fuel tank.

  ‘Now, Veronica,’ Frankie called and ducked behind the car she was next to.

  There was the sound of Veronica’s rifle firing, followed almost immediately by an almighty explosion.

  2.08

  Fire lashed the air above Frankie’s head as the shockwave from the explosion shifted the car she hid behind. There was a sudden metallic crunch beside her, and she looked to her left, straight into the front end of the mech, which was now laying on its side atop the cars Frankie was hiding behind. She froze for a moment. The thing’s guns were pointed right at her, but as the noise and debris from the explosion faded and started to settle, it became clear that the mech was not operational anymore.

  Frankie stood up slowly, peeking over the car wrecks and noted the small area of devastation around where the fuel tank had been. Cars had been thrown about, and fires had been started here and there. She looked towards the back of the yard to see Veronica, Gibson, and Cole stood waiting for her.

  ‘Nice shot, Vi,’ Frankie sent through the link.

  ‘Thanks. That went better than I had hoped.’ She replied.

  Frankie moved to the back of the yard and leapt over the back fence, following her friends who had already scaled it.

  ‘Let’s move. Any troopers nearby are bound to have heard that explosion,’ Frankie said as she started to advance through the next yard beside another warehouse, heading west again. They used several abandoned truck trailers and other debris as cover, but there seemed to be no one about, and they soon reached the road outside, which ran north and south. They carefully scanned the road in both directions but saw nothing to cause any concern, so, Frankie led them over and to the left towards a T-Junction. The branch road ran west, which, according to Frankie’s internal map, would take them almost the whole way to the building where Animus was camped out.

  ‘How are you doing?’ said Karla’s voice over the link.

  ‘We’re fine,’ Frankie said as she crouched by a building on the north side of the road.

  ‘Where are you?’ Karla asked.

  ‘Approaching the prison, I believe. We’re at the end of its road, now.’

  ‘Okay, I’m back at the office, so I’ll inform Animus that you’re on your way.’

  ‘That prison,’ trooper McKinnon said over the link, ‘they’re holding some of our men there. If you have an opportunity…?’

  ‘Unlikely, we need to move quickly to our target destination.’

  ‘Understood,’ McKinnon said.

  ‘On a related point, there will be Chinese forces guarding that prison. You will need to move carefully if you’re going past it,’ Karla said.

  ‘Copy that,’ Frankie answered and looked down the road. She knew the prison was to her right on the north side of the road, but if they kept to the left, there was good cover nearly the whole way, with overgrown trees and bushes, as well as numerous derelict cars all along it.

  ‘Whats up?’ Gibson asked, crouching next to her.

  He’d no doubt noticed that she was staring down the road with a concerned look on her face.

  Frankie looked over at him with a smile. ‘Oh, the usual. Just another danger that might get us killed,’ she said.

  ‘How you holding up? You okay?’ he asked.

  ‘Yeah, I’m good. It’s kind of exhilarating, in a “holy crap I’m going to die,” kind of way,’ she said with a cheeky grin.

  Gibson smiled back at her. She liked that smile. It comforted her. He’d been one of the few constants from almost the first day of her new life. He’d been there for her the whole time, hardly ever leaving her side, and she really appreciated everything he had done for her.

  She thought back to that moment in his quarters where she had felt like he might kiss her. Did he like her as more than just a friend? She didn’t know, and then the memory that he still had his wife and child missing rushed in and squashed tho
se thoughts. Well, a wife he didn’t like and a child who hated him.

  Damn, why was life so complicated?

  ‘So, what’s the plan?’ he asked. ‘Can we make it past the prison?’

  Gibson and the others had heard the conversation between her, Karla, and McKinnon. Something that was easy to forget.

  ‘We keep to the left, use the foliage as cover, and, hopefully, we can sneak right past the soldiers,’ she said.

  ‘All right, lead the way,’ Gibson said.

  She found it kind of funny that she had ended up being the commander of the group. She had no previous experience of leading anyone, let alone a paramilitary team working for the government. But it was a role she was starting to enjoy, weirdly enough. Had someone said to her three months ago that this is what she would be doing, she would have laughed at them. And yet, here she was, doing just that and actually enjoying that aspect of it.

  She felt sure that her cyber brain implants were playing a significant role in giving her the right abilities and leadership skills that she needed to do this though.

  One at a time, while the other three provided cover by aiming their guns down the streets, they crossed the road. Once they were all on the south side of the road, they made their way to the nearest collection of bushes and crept forward in silence.

  Frankie took the lead and moved from cover to cover, keeping a close eye on the prison up ahead. It was set back from the road a bit, and she had to get closer to see around the closer buildings to its side loading entrance. As Frankie started to get a better look, she noted that there were only four Chinese soldiers outside the building - two on the ground and two on the rooftop.

  ‘We’ve got four targets at the prison, guys. Be on the lookout for anymore,’ she said as they carefully picked their way along the road.

  ‘I take it we aren’t going in there like that DU solider asked,’ Gibson asked.

  ‘McKinnon? No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.

  ‘Only four guards?’ Veronica sent through the groups neural link.

  ‘It looks like a loading dock to me, so four guys is probably enough.’ Cole said.