Suddenly, the mech died. A hologram flickered to life above the controls in front of Klou. The head and shoulders of the head producer, Zachariah Hawthorne, appeared in glowing blue and green.
“Dr Klou, good to see you back in the game.” Zachariah said.
“I am most certainly not back in the game, you small and stupid man.” The German doctor said, “I am getting out of here.”
“You really think we didn’t install remote shutdown switches in all the mechs before sending them out in the arena? Please.” Zachariah said, “If I wanted to, I could lock you in there until you fry like an infant in a hot car. However, I think there might be a way to satisfy both of us. You want your freedom, totally understandable. Three of those mercenaries are nearby along with several contestants, including your former partner, Echo Three. Kill them all and you are free to go, I’ll even throw in the robot.”
“Is that all?” Klou said, “Das geht, fine, consider it done.”
xXx
The other half of the mercenaries and freed contestants, Ridley, Miller and Ellis covering for Echo, DFN and Bolt, moved toward a parking structure. Office towers stretched over them under a nuke-stained sky, filled with burning dust. Empty vehicles and concrete pillars littered the structure, creating a maze for the mercs and contestants to hide in.
“It’ll be good to have a roof over our heads and some cover in case they get desperate and send another attack drone after us.” Ridley said.
The sniper, DFN, was dragging her injured leg. The mercenaries fanned out so as not to create too concentrated of a target. Behind the group, their pack mule was following faithfully with scissoring legs.
“This is bullshit, I didn’t sign up to be a babysitter.” Ellis said, “I want to be in the central section when they set off that EMP, where the action is!”
“You know, Ellis, part of me thinks you didn’t even sign up for the money.” Miller said, “You just wanted a chance at your fifteen minutes of fame, like some of the more psycho contestants. You want to keep your face in front of Tommy Nguyen’s cameras as long as possible.”
“If I really wanted to give the audience what they wanted, we wouldn’t be saving these prisoners we’d just wipe them out. That’s what they tune in for.” Ellis said.
“Hey, I can hear you, asshole!” DFN said, “Why don’t you try it?”
“Shut up, all of you!” Ridley gestured at them to get back, “Something’s coming!”
The group had ascended the concrete ramp into the parking structure and fanned out along one of the outer walls. Another set of thudding footsteps were making their way toward them. Weapons were raised in the direction of the noise. Cut off from the others, who had already run into the first two mechs and their civilian pilots, Ridley and the others had no idea what was coming their way.
The man-shaped mech was ten foot tall with a minigun attached to the right arm and a slightly more exotic weapon on the left side, which the mercenaries recognised as a magnetically powered railgun. It had a reinforced glass canopy for a head where the head and shoulders of the human pilot could be seen. As they got closer, raising the mech’s arms experimentally, the mercs and contestants could see that the pilot was none other than Dr Klou, the one they had let get away.
“Guten Tag, friends!” Klou’s electronically boosted voice said, “I am afraid I have some bad news.”
“Klou, where the hell did he get that mech suit?” Ridley said.
“Maybe he found one of the weapon drops?” Bolt said, “I told you we should have checked out more of those imagine how something like that would’ve helped!”
“Here is one piece of shit we can definitely kill.” Ellis said, “Son of a bitch killed Blomkamp!”
In spite of Ellis’ sudden enthusiasm, even with his black mask covering his face he looked uncertain. His head darted around as if looking for an easy exit. Their guns wouldn’t scratch the war machine. There were only a few grenades with the pack mule. One EMP grenade, but even then the mech’s armour would have to be compromised in some way for it to work. Mechs were much more heavily reinforced than simple security droids. Klou’s mech moved at an easy jogging pace but covered ground much faster than a human could run. He aimed the minigun vaguely at the group.
“We can still make a deal, Klou!” Ridley said, “We can get you out of here.”
“I am afraid I have been given a better offer.” Klou said, “All I need to do is to exterminate all of you and I can go free, just as it should be.”
Klou opened up, minigun screaming to life. The mercenaries and contestants took cover behind the low outer wall of the parking structure. Bullets ripped holes in the concrete and sailed over their heads, drilling through the wrecks of several surrounding vehicles. Pieces of metal, glass and plastic fragmented and exploded off cars and vans.
As soon as they saw an opening, Ridley, Miller and Ellis all straightened and fired back. Their weapons sawed through the air, narrowing in on Klou’s mech with long bursts. As expected, the rounds bounced harmlessly off the mech’s armoured torso and limbs, and the reinforced glass canopy that Klou was grinning fiercely behind. Klou raised the left arm of his mech. It ended in a long, X-shaped barrel. The mech fired its secondary, unique weapon with a bright, white flash and a quiet zipping noise. The projectile the weapon fired, however, created a thunderclap and a rippling shockwave as it split the air. The size of a railroad spike, the railgun projectile set the air on fire before it punched through the concrete wall of the parking structure like it wasn’t even there, narrowing missing Ridley. The merc leader was battered with rubble as the spike left a hole the size of a basketball in the foot-thick wall. Not stopping, the spike then ripped through a nearby van, the impact tilting it sideways, and then continued across the parking garage as if barely slowed, leaving more havoc in its wake. The blastwave rung in all of the group’s ears.
“So that is what that does.” Klou said.
“Fall back!” Ridley said, “Cover the contestants!”
The three mercenaries fell back in a single line, firing as they shielded the contestants. Echo, DFN and Bolt all limped to get out of their way and away from the power mad Klou. Ricochets sparked off Klou’s mech as he walked up the ramp into the parking structure. A black and yellow striped bar hung off chains at the entry to the garage which Klou had to duck under, and the mech had to squat slightly to fit beneath the low ceiling. Klou kept firing the minigun as the railgun warmed up for a second shot, bullets hailing across the building, springing off the concrete floors and pillars, burying themselves in forgotten cars. A holographic targeting system had sprung up across the canopy in front of Klou. It reflected off the German doctor’s grinning face as he squeezed the controls for the minigun.
“Hopp, hopp, hopp! Pferdchen, lauf Galopp!” Klou sang to himself, “Über Stock und über Steine, aber brich dir nicht die Beine! Hopp, hopp, hopp hopp, hopp! Pferdchen, lauf Galopp!”
Ridley and Miller staggered back, running for some kind of cover behind the vehicles and pillars that supported the roof. Miller hit the ground, the medic scrabbling across the concrete. Ellis and the contestants disappeared into the parking garage in front of them. Ridley ducked behind one of the concrete pillars, which was about three foot square and perfect cover.
“We’re in some real pretty shit now!” Ridley said.
Ridley was breathing hard. Layla had put him in charge but he didn’t have the manpower or weaponry to deal with this. They could have handled more security or rogue contestants but they’d been given no intel on mech suits. Minigun rounds chipped away at the far side of Ridley’s pillar but could do little real damage. The mech kept coming though, slowed down by the low ceiling but making its way toward them step by step.
One of Klou’s targeting systems zeroed in on the pillar where Ridley was hiding. The railgun lifted and fired, its magnetic propulsion quiet but the rolling shockwave it created splitting the air. It carved a perfect hole through the concrete pillar, travelling so fast i
t punched through Ridley’s chest before he even knew he’d been hit. The spike kept screaming across the parking garage, setting the air on fire with sheer friction, and smashed through the rear wall of the garage.
“Ridley!” Miller yelled.
Ridley reached down, feeling the hole in his chest that had blasted through his body armour before sinking to the ground. Blood streamed through the hole. Ridley’s facemask retracted into his helmet but all he could do was gasp, the effort causing more blood to spray out of his mouth and his ruined chest. Concrete dust drifted from the tunnel in the pillar he’d been using for cover.
Miller ran to Ridley’s side but it was obvious there was nothing she could do for the man. His ribcage had exploded open, baring his shredded organs, and his spinal cord was completely severed. After a few moments he expired, before Miller had even touched him. The mechanised whirring from the mech kept coming from across the garage and Miller knew she had to move.
“Damn you, Klou!” Miller yelled, “We should’ve finished you by firing squad the second we had you free from your partner!”
“Should have, did not.” Klou said, “Your weakness is why I will leave here a free man and you will die.”
Miller took the assault rifle out of Ridley’s lap and took off running. Klou fired his minigun after her, holographic targeting system bouncing across the canopy in front of his face. With bullets chipping at her heels, the woman ran around the nearest corner and out of sight.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A family of four stare at their living room vidscreen. The father punches buttons on the remote over and over. The kids’ bored faces are lit by the flickering, constantly changing light of the screen.
“Four hundred channels, dozens of streaming services, and nothing on!” The father says.
“Looking for something to watch? Maybe the problem isn’t what you’re watching, but how! Now there’s a better way, magnetic tape videocassettes and recorders, or VCRs, are a brand new, rediscovered innovation that’s a vast improvement on other forms of storing and watching your favourite movies and TV shows!”
Monolithic, a huge, black rectangle made of plastic appears, black tape stretched between the rollers in two small windows.
“There’s no scrolling through loud or distracting menus, just pop the cassette into the VCR and you’re good to go! Unlike digital media which can be vulnerable to EMPs and Ozone threats, or old fashioned discs which were easily scratched and made useless, videocassette tapes are almost impossible to damage.”
Dozens of tapes in colourful cases are stacked in small towers.
“Unlike digital media, you can physically own the tapes! Build yourself a collection! And if you get tired of a movie or TV show, just remove the tab and use it to record something entirely new!”
“Be kind, to yourself, and rewind to the very best in entertainment technology.”
In the central section, the more lightly armoured mech assaulted the battered shell of a building with its minigun and lightning weapon. Crackling walls of blue electricity washed over the ruins. The pilot kept circling but after initially catching the mercs and contestants by surprise she was acting with surprising caution. With Layla gone, the other four were laying low. Tommy’s drones darted around the wreckage like angry wasps. The pack mule was with them, tottering through the middle of the ruined building.
“Might be time for that last shot of magic juice, mate.” Digger said.
Homer was crawling on the ground beside the Australian. Digger reached into the webbing on his body armour for the thick, white tube of Homer’s injector.
“We need an EMP!” Cho said.
“EMP won’t work unless that armour is compromised! I don’t know fighting but I know engineering.” Tommy said, “We’ve got an anti-armour missile on the mule that might do the trick!”
“She’ll be right!” Digger said, “Once Homer here has his spinach he can take that mech apart! Only got one left but I don’t think there’ll be a better time to use it!”
Suddenly, the wall across the room from Digger and Homer exploded. Huge pieces of rubble were hurled in all directions as the wall ruptured open. The mech punched its way through. Showered with refuse, the four of them took cover. One particularly large, jagged piece sailed across the room and hit Digger’s upper arm. His right hand automatically sprung open and the injector shot out of his grasp. It spun through the chaos, hitting the ground and whirling between the fallen rocks, ending up closer to the mech.
“Oh, yeah!” The mech pilot said.
“Bloody hell!” Digger said.
Rubble littered the floor and a fresh cloud of dust choked the air. Digger spotted the white tube lying among the ruins. It was undamaged but perilously close to the looming mech. Digger scrambled forward, holding his UMP45 in his left hand. The mech’s lightning gun swept around and Digger jerked back. With a single burst, the anti-robot weapon could blow Digger to bits just as fast as it had Haldeman, or faster given he wasn’t wearing as much armour. The mech’s minigun exploded, raking the ceiling with bullets as the pilot laughed. Lurching forward, one of the mech’s giant footpads came down on the injector Digger had been carrying for Homer, crushing it.
“For fuck’s sake!” Digger said.
Digger kept backing up and grabbed a hold of Homer, dragging him towards another exit. He wasn’t sure if a supercharged Homer could have even taken the mech but now the last injector that allowed Homer to enter that state was gone anyway. Digger doubted, somehow, there would be any more resupplies at this point in the game.
Cho fired at the mech, bullets ricocheting off the glass canopy. Tommy gestured at the others, trying to yell above the din.
“Everyone out the back!” Tommy turned to his buzzing drones, “Kamikaze program, execute!”
Digger took Homer and ran with the others toward the exit furthest from the mech. With a sudden sense of purpose, all of Tommy’s ball-sized camera drones stopped circling and turned on the mech. They zipped toward the mech and punched into its canopy and upper section. As the four filed out the back of the building, all six drones exploded with a series of blinding flashes. In spite of the drones’ small size the blasts were surprisingly powerful and shockwaves rolled through the building as Digger felt heat on his back. The superheated flashes consumed the mech.
“Good trick!” Digger said.
“Thanks, but it only works once!” Tommy said.
“Look out!” Cho said.
Behind them, the mech slammed through another wall and into the street. Smoke was pouring off its upper body. Several craters dotted the mech where the outer armour had melted into slag but it was still in one piece. Behind the controls, the pilot was screaming and raving. Her hair was wild and her face flushed, eyes squeezed shut.
“You blinded me! You fucking blinded me!” The pilot said.
It was impossible to say if the effect was permanent or temporary but the pilot was clearly pissed off. Both of the mech’s weapons erupted. The pilot fired wildly into surrounding buildings with the minigun and her lightning gun created a bright, lethal barrier moving down the street and sparking off every metal surface.
xXx
Meanwhile, Layla was running hard in the other direction. She tucked her P90 down her right side, knowing bullets would be useless against the mech. Her prosthetic arm whirred as she moved. Servos down her left side and left leg, ready to brace her if need be, purred softly as well.
Another missile sailed over Layla’s helmet. She ducked, covering her head and veering sideways, and the rocket slammed into an old cinema ahead of her. The marquee above the cinema doors disintegrated, scattering oversized, plastic letters. Shielding her face, Layla felt the heat of the blast wash over her and shrapnel patter off her armour.
“I can’t believe I’m fighting the real, actual Layla ‘Southpaw’ Jackson! This is amazing! This is the greatest moment of my life!” The mech pilot said.
The heavily armoured mech piloted by the young man m
oved slower than the mech with the lightning gun. Each stride of its blocky legs covered much more ground than Layla, however. Its minigun fired, raking down one side of the street. Geysers of dust erupted off the ground to Layla’s right and off the walls of the nearest building as if herding her. On the mech’s other arm was a tri-barrelled missile launcher attached to an armoured belt of rockets, muzzles slowly rotating into place. The mech fired and another building off to Layla’s left imploded then showered her with debris.
“Forget about the money! I would have paid my life savings for this!” The pilot said, “Actually, I almost did spend it all buying boxes of Nutrition-Os and sending the tops in so I’d have the best chance to win! Do you remember last season when you took out Raptor Rawlins? You punched a hole right through his chest, it was incredible!”
“How could I forget?” The same fight had given Layla the two thin scars down the right side of her face.
“I know I’m supposed to kill you, but if I could get your autograph first I would be so grateful!” The younger man said, “Maybe if you could write something on the butt of one of your guns and drop them? I promise I’ll make it quick!”
“I’ll give you an autograph, alright.” Layla said.
Twisting in place, Layla withdrew the heavy calibre Raging Bull revolver from its holster under her right arm. Still moving backward, Layla raised the gun and fired. The handcannon boomed like bomb blasts. She emptied all five rounds in rapid succession but her mechanical arm absorbed the recoil. All five rounds hit the mech’s canopy directly in front of its pilot’s face. They ricocheted off the reinforced material, leaving only shallow impact marks in the glass. The mech wheeled back for a second, the pilot’s eyes wide, but the glass held.
“Wow! Terrific grouping!” The pilot said, “People on the fan forums said you were only good for punching things but I always said you were a true badass with way more range than that! You were totally in my top five favourite ever contestants!”
Kill Switch: Final Season Page 28