Shattered Truth

by Michael Anderle

  The terrorist laughed. “Oh, that’s why you’re being so arrogant? Because no one’s dead? You stupid cops. We had our orders. Kill cops, wound civilians. Show them that their protectors are nothing, that only our kind and our superiors can heal this twisted society. But you’re right. We’ve suffered great losses and our leader is dead, so it’s up to us to carry out her vision. I think more dead civilians would send a stronger message.”

  “I’m through trying to convince you the nice way,” Jia snapped. “You’ve got ten seconds to surrender, or we’re finishing you off. Ten, nine, eight, se—”

  The terrorist cackled hysterically. His rifle clattered to the floor, and he emerged from behind the barrier, his hands up.

  The detectives kept their guns aimed at him, looking both for grenades and other types of explosives. The man’s manic smile didn’t inspire confidence, but at least he dropped his gun.

  “Glad you decided to buy a clue,” Jia offered. “Turn around and get on your knees. It’s over.”

  “It’s over for you.” The terrorist shoved his hand in his pocket.

  Jia and Erik fired simultaneously. The terrorist jerked, blood spurting from the new holes in his chest. He slumped forward and pulled his hand out of his pocket, holding some sort of small black rod. He held it up and ran his thumb along the side. “Try to escape,” he wheezed. “You can fight it, but you can’t win against it.”

  His arm dropped, and the device rolled onto the floor.

  Jia’s and Erik’s eyes flew to each other.

  What did they do now?

  Chapter Forty-Six

  “Get down!” Erik shouted, throwing himself to the floor.

  He didn’t recognize the explosive device, but the terrorist obviously thought it was powerful enough to take them both out.

  Their vests wouldn’t do anything to protect them from an explosion.

  Jia dropped her rifle, slumped to the floor, and covered her head with her hands. After a few seconds, she cleared her throat, her voice muffled. “You’re more of an expert than I am, but shouldn’t something have exploded by now?” She lifted her head, a confused look on her face.

  Erik peeked around the corner. The terrorist’s device lay by his body.

  “A dud. Huh. Okay. I’ll take it.” He stood and slung his rifle over his shoulder, blowing out a breath. He walked over and leaned down, peering at the device. “I don’t think this is an explosive.”

  “Then what was that all about?” Jia asked, staying on the ground.

  “Don’t know. He probably just wanted us to be scared before he died.” Erik surveyed the dead terrorists. He moved to the body and pulled up the bloodied shirt. “They may have crappier tactics, but they learned their lesson from Florida about not being sure they were going to win.”

  Jia blew a bit hair out of her eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not seeing any PNIUs, but they have to have some sort of communicators.” He pushed the man’s head to the side. “There we go. It looks like they were using ear units. Emma, can you hack those via my PNIU?”

  “I’m attempting that now,” Emma responded. “I didn’t want to distract you during the fight, but I borrowed another drone to check out the cargo flitter. It’s currently sitting there, still backed up against your floor, and the men I saw before are all gone. I’m presuming they are the ones you killed.”

  Erik looked through the hole in the wall at the darkened cargo trailer. The room’s emergency lighting only illuminated the first few meters, but he couldn’t make out anyone in the deep blackness.

  There might be someone hiding at the far end, but it made no sense to hold back men when the rest of their forces were dying. A few might be cowering and afraid to confront the detectives, but as long as they weren’t trying to run, he saw no reason to charge into a darkened cargo container.

  Jia stood, a frown on her face. “What happened at the other sites? Anyone hurt? Are they getting reinforced?”

  “They were several minor battles, but the terrorists attempted to flee far sooner,” Emma explained, sounding unimpressed. “And almost all have all been captured or killed. There were only minor injuries at the other sites. Reinforcements are now on their way here, including TPST.”

  Jia sighed. “I wish we could say that. I don’t know if we could have reacted any quicker than we did, but that doesn’t make me feel better about the people who were shot.”

  “Don’t blame yourself, Detective Lin,” Emma responded. “All other sites were attacked by small groups of terrorists, mostly pairs. From what I gather, several of these teams also lacked the heavy weaponry that you encountered.”

  Erik and Jia exchanged looks.

  “Does that strike you as suspicious?” Jia asked. “There’s being unlucky, and there’s the universe slapping you in the face and telling you to notice something.”

  Erik snorted. “Yeah. It sounds like our Evolved Six still wanted a piece of me. They learned enough from the hotel to get that two idiots with pistols weren’t going to take us down.” He looked back at the carnage. “I’d be flattered if they hadn’t shot innocent people along the way.”

  “Maybe they changed their tactics for that reason.” Jia set her rifle on her shoulder, her brow creased in concern. “Yes, that might explain it.”

  He looked over. “Explain what?” He asked.

  “The terrorist earlier suggested they were trying to prove something about the efficacy of the police, but if they just started gunning everyone down indiscriminately only here, especially inside, there was a higher chance the department would route units here immediately.”

  “Makes sense. Go on.”

  Jia nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. “They had to push everywhere at once, but they also wanted to finish the job while inflicting terrorism on the greatest metroplex on Earth. It makes sense. After their losses in CFM, if they wanted to have any chance of continuing, they’d need the help of their benefactor, and if that person or organization wants you dead?” She paused for a moment, taking in the number of dead bodies, her nose wrinkling at the smell. “It’s worth it to use a lot of resources in the short term to benefit the long term.”

  Erik sighed. “You’re saying these bastards hurt all these people to get at me?”

  Jia shook her head. “I think they would have done it anyway, but doing it here at least meant they could benefit a bit more.” She shrugged. “Cold, but it makes sense.”

  “Detectives,” Emma interrupted, her voice tense. “I’ve been able to isolate a particular encrypted signal used by the terrorists’ communicators. That device is some sort of transmitter, and it’s pinging something short-range.”

  Jia looked at Erik, who queried. “Homing beacon for a missile?”

  “Not that I can tell. I decided the lack of drone destruction meant I could take a closer look,” Emma replied. “Now that I can deploy the MX 60’s sensors more directly, I’m disturbed. There’s a power surge in the front of the cargo trailer. The correlation leads to obvious conclusions.”

  Jia pulled her rifle back off her shoulder as Erik aimed his into the darkened trailer. “A bomb, after all? Did he need time to prime it?”

  Shooting it wouldn’t help, but if they could find it, maybe they could throw it shortly before it exploded. The area was already mostly clear.

  “I don’t think so, based on the energy signature,” Emma answered, “but I do suggest you leave the area immediately to be sure.”

  Erik set his rifle to automatic. “If it’s not a bomb, we shouldn’t leave. We can’t let them do whatever it is they were planning. But I do have an idea what it might be. I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.”

  “What?” Jia asked. The butt of her rifle was snug against her shoulder.

  “Something good at chasing people.”

  “Oh,” Jia hissed. “I see.”

  Erik gave her a knowing nod. The look on her face told him she understood all too well what they were about to face.

 
A metallic clang sounded from the back of the trailer.

  “Well, this bites,” she admitted. “So much for sleep.”

  A loud, resounding thud followed, then another. Something large was coming.

  Jia ran back behind her earlier barrier and aimed her gun at the opening. “I think I have a good idea of what it is.”

  “How’s that?”

  “I’ve been studying, given some of our recent cases. I was hoping such knowledge wouldn’t be necessary, but it never hurts to be overprepared, only underprepared,” she told him, blowing the hair back out of her face. She reached up and used the sweat of her brow to paste it down.

  “I don’t know if I agree, but I’m not going to complain in this case.” Erik backed up slowly to the closest barrier, not firing, but his finger lingering near the trigger. “I’d also prefer I had something heavier than what we’ve got to take it on.” He held his breath as his heart pounded.

  Going into battle against a monster was always worse than fighting a person.

  The large red outline appeared as a long metal leg emerged from the darkness. Then the second, third, and fourth, revealing their foe: a King-model sentry bot.

  The massive robot stood several meters tall. The top of its bulky armored body barely cleared the roof of the trailer. It pulled free into the room, its legs spreading out. A large cannon swiveled back and forth.

  “Can you hack it, Emma?” Erik asked, teeth grinding as he tried to see obvious places to shoot it.

  The King opened fire. Its first shot dented the thick barrier. Erik rolled to the side as a few other shots followed, the last ripping through the barrier.

  “It’s not linked to the main system,” Emma transmitted directly to his ear. “I’ll attempt it, but given the nature of the bot, my hacking might not occur in a timely manner.”

  “Do you know why these models aren’t used much, despite being cheaper than the other Kings?” Jia whispered over the link. Emma boosted her voice in Erik’s ear. “It’s an A-215.”

  “We didn’t see Kings much on the frontier because they’re expensive and vulnerable to EMP,” Erik replied quietly. “They have crap mobility compared to an exoskeleton, or even a corporal with a good sprinting speed.” He moved a bit to his left. “They also take too many parts you have to get from core worlds.”

  “Parts supply would be a problem.”

  He nodded, not that she was looking. “Just not worth it, even for insurgents. Too power-hungry in most cases. That must have been what they were doing—juicing it up.”

  The King took several ponderous slow steps toward Erik’s position but didn’t fire. Erik almost laughed. The rust bucket was waiting for him to run so it could gun him down from behind.

  “The cannon only has a one-hundred twenty-degree arc,” Jia continued. “The tracking AI is poor in the entire A-series line, something to do with them not calibrating the tracking algorithm properly with the armor.”

  “You say I have issues with taking work home,” he muttered. “What are you doing, reading AI military bot catalogs?”

  “It helps with the occasional bad dream. This way, I learn more to get past it,” she answered. He wasn’t sure if she understood how much she had just shared.

  But it also made sense in a macabre sort of way. “All right, what does it say to do?”

  “Get behind it and stay behind it. Then just keep pouring rounds into it.” She moved, looking at the floor near her. “It’s got weak spots under the main body and in the joints.” She picked up an empty magazine and glanced over her barrier. “We distract it, and then work to take it down. If we try to run, it’s going to cut us down before we get around the corner.”

  They paused for a moment, and she took his silence to mean he was thinking about options. “If we lead it outside, it’ll cut everyone down.”

  She was right. If they’d run earlier, the monster would have just chased them until it left the tower. The wounded civilians and medics on the platform wouldn’t have stood a chance.

  Erik gave a curt nod. It was a good analysis. Maybe Jia hesitated less when it involved machines, but her current tactical sense demanded respect. “Let’s do it.”

  He looked at her. “Try to not die.”

  “Same to you. For the first time, I wish I had a TR-7.” Jia sounded glum.

  “It has its uses,” Erik offered with a grin. “It’s not like we arrest bots.”

  “Ready?” Jia asked.

  “Yeah,” Erik replied. The last time he’d taken on a bot this big, he’d been in an exoskeleton. Decades of fighting, and he always ran into something new and mostly annoying.

  By the time he finished his personal mission, he might just end up fighting aliens.

  Jia took a deep breath, steadied her hands, and hurled the empty magazine over the barrier.

  The King opened up with a deafening shot from its cannon.

  Both cops sprinted from the locations, zigzagging as they circled the giant bot on either side. The sentry’s cannon swung and fired another round at Erik, narrowly missing.

  The round punched through the wall, blasting small pieces of debris all over. The machine turned, trying to track its target, but Erik had already moved beyond its firing arc.

  Jia had an easier time moving as she closed on the King from behind and fired at one of the joints.

  The bullet sparked and bounced off, but the bot hesitated for a moment, allowing Erik to get farther out of its firing arc. She’d had the right idea. If they killed the king’s mobility, they could win.

  Four legs might be better than two legs, but at least humans had arms.

  Erik fired a burst at a joint. The King jumped into the air with a twirl, the cannon swinging.

  “SHIT!”

  He skidded, then dove behind the debris pile from before as the massive bot crashed to the ground, shaking the floor. Its next shot ripped through the debris, narrowly missing Erik.

  Jia switched to burst fire and targeted the same joint as before, but she didn’t achieve much other than knocking a few shards of metal off. The bot turned, exposing itself to another shot from Erik.

  If the bot had terrorist or small-bot support, the battle would already be over and the two of them would be dead.

  Jia slid behind a barrier, holding down the trigger and sending a stream of bullets into the bot before clearing the barrier. Sparks and metal dropped to the floor. The King turned away from Erik to riddle Jia’s barrier with bullets.

  The determined barrage punched several new holes in her shelter.

  It was a battle of attrition. They needed to pierce the King’s armor, and it needed to take away their cover.

  Erik aimed at a joint and held his trigger down, his cybernetic arm making it easy to suppress recoil drift and help land every shot. He would have preferred armor-piercing rounds or his TR-7, but when a man was being hunted by a giant killer robot, he couldn’t quibble over the details.

  The near-constant impact fueled a fountain of sparks.

  The bot pivoted back toward Erik. There was something unsatisfying about an enemy who didn’t scream, yell, or vocalize at all.

  He rolled in time to avoid a deadly shot that cut through the debris pile.

  Jia ran past a dead terrorist and kicked his rifle into the air before snatching it with her other hand. She yelled and held the triggers on both weapons down as she headed toward another barrier. Casings cascaded to the ground in a metal waterfall as she continued to move.

  Her aim sucked, but one couldn’t fault the sheer amount of metal she was throwing at the beast.

  Her rifles ran dry. She dropped one and jumped behind a barrier before pulling a new magazine out to reload, her breathing quick and shallow.

  The King’s heavy rounds ripped through the barrier, but the machine staggered when it turned, its movements now uneven and clumsy. Sparks danced across the exposed circuitry of one of the leg joints, and the limb itself dragged along.

  They had finally breached the monst
er’s metallic hide.

  Erik put three quick bursts into the exposed structure.

  The attack blew out chunks and light green hydraulic fluid from inside. The liquid sputtered out of the joint, like a leaking wound of some speared great beast.

  The detectives’ constant attacks had gouged and blown off chunks of armor all over the mostly featureless body, leaving cracks and openings all over the core circuitry.

  To Erik’s surprise, the King didn’t turn to fire at him. Instead, it concentrated on ripping Jia’s barriers to shreds as if acknowledging her as a superior threat.

  He smirked, half-insulted and half-proud of his partner. The sound of Jia’s scurrying back and forth behind the barrier squashed any concern.

  She was pinned, but she wasn’t seriously injured.

  After a quick reload, Erik sprinted toward Emma’s barriers and vaulted behind one as he sprayed the bot. It finally turned to fire at him.

  “Damn!” He hissed as a round pierced his left arm and passed through. Blood and pieces of the cybernetic limb showered the floor.

  A warning popped up on his smart lenses, and he ducked testing his throbbing arm, never more grateful for the limited pain associated with the cybernetic limb. He could still move his arm, but it was stiff and unsteady. At least it hurt a lot less than when he had lost the original.

  Jia rolled around a corner, again with two rifles. She added another storm of bullets to the room. The wounded King pivoted and fired. Its attacks went wide, its unsteady movement disrupting targeting. Jia ran behind a new less-damaged barrier.

  Erik narrowed his eyes. The small details are what won a battle.

  “The cannon’s not rotating,” Erik observed. He hefted his weapon with his unwounded right arm, a huge smirk on his face. “We’ve beat this thing down,” he advised. “Time to finish it off.”

  “I thought that was what we were trying to do!” Jia whispered back.

  Still crouched behind a half-shredded barrier, Erik kicked the mangled remains of one of the smaller sentry bots away.