“The good news is the nearest team’s EMP device was destroyed!” Another tech said, “There’s just one left in the arena, and that’s with the team who are still in Towers. They’d have to double back in order to get it, we’re safe for the moment.”
“They’re never getting down here, we’re fine.” Zachariah said, “But they’re not going to leave this place alive after trying to humiliate us live on air either, those trespassers are all dead! Reactivate the scorpion tank and tell it to wipe them out!”
“Sir, people are confused and a lot of them are complaining on the socials we’ve gone too far from the original mandate of the game.” One of the techs said, “You know, contestants killing contestants. The mercenaries, the mechs, it’s getting confusing, I’m not sure-,”
“Do it! Reboot the fucking scoptank! Wipe them out!” Zachariah yelled.
xXx
Digger, Layla Jackson, Tommy and Cho loaded their weaponry with what they had left following the fight with the mechs. Fried pieces of their pack mule and supplies were scattered around their feet. Homer watched them dumbly in his oversized helmet. The boy was a liability, Digger thought. Virtually useless to them now since he was out of his shots. The mech, last to go down, was frozen down the block from them with its interior coated in red, jammy gore.
“What now?” Tommy said.
“We’ve got to go back and get the other EMP, fuck, what other choice do we have?” Layla said, “Way things are going, we’re so delayed there’ll be no one left to save.”
Digger was still carrying the M32 grenade launcher with a few armour-piercing rounds loaded in its drum. His UMP45 and knife were strapped to his chest. Digger took Homer by the shoulder. The five started back in the direction they’d originally come, wary about what the game could throw at them even at this late stage.
“She’ll be right, mate.” Digger said, “If need be, we’ll leave you with the others and you can take it easy until this is all said and done.”
Suddenly, a thunderous blast and a searing flash of light came from behind the group. An enormous laser scythed through a nearby building. Heat washed over the five. The beam of reddish light disintegrated everything in its path, carving a perfect semi-circle out of the top floor of the building and a whole row of stores behind it.
“Scramble!” Layla said.
The five of them ran for cover, finding various hiding places scattered around the street. Digger practically picked up Homer and carried him. The overhanging rooftop of the damaged building behind them collapsed, crushing the shopfront below it. Digger, Layla and Cho whipped around with their weaponry, not sure what the threat even was. The blast was like a shot from an orbital laser but had come at them from far too low of an angle. Beyond the first few buildings, the laser had taken the roof off another structure and then hit the wall of the arena section, carving a perfect hole in the looming concrete.
Laser cannon smoking, the scorptank scuttled sideways into the road. Its jagged footpads tore up dusty asphalt. Shaped like a giant scorpion, the array of sensor equipment under its hood glowing, the tank was incredibly menacing. The gaping muzzle of the cutting laser it had just fired was mounted in the middle of its three-pronged claw. The missile launcher attached to its right arm was slung low and ready to fire. In place of a stinger, the hulking minigun attached to the end of its segmented tail arched over the tank’s back. Zeroing in on the remaining team, the scorptank opened fire, all barrels erupting.
Anti-aircraft bullets drilled into the cover the five had hidden behind. Concrete dust and glass shards exploded through the air. Digger covered his head, holding the M32 grenade launcher but unable to do anything with it.
“What the fuck is that?” Digger said.
Back in the control room, Zachariah was watching the attack unfold. The main screen showed them the view through the scorpion tank’s eyes. Muzzle flashes crackled around the edges of the screen and targeting systems bounced around and zeroed in on the mercenaries and contestants.
“It needs to get around them, cut them off from the exit!” Zachariah said, “Make sure it wipes out those mercenaries before it kills the contestants.”
On the surface, the scorptank stopped its assault and scuttled sideways. Barrels of the minigun on its tail were smoking. Emerging from their hiding places, Digger, Layla and Cho kept their weapons raised and covered the others. Bullet holes were punched into the walls and sidewalks surrounding them.
“Where is it?” Cho said.
“It’s circling around us! Run for the exit, it won’t make it through those tunnels!” Layla said.
The train tunnel-sized exit back to the Towers section was still open. They could hear the giant, insect-shaped tank clanking and rumbling on the other side of the nearest block. The five of them ran for the tunnel, Digger and Homer at the back. Missiles sailed and slammed into the wall above the exit, and into some surrounding buildings. Explosions tore through the air. Layla, Tommy and Cho were thrown backwards by the shockwaves. Rubble sprayed from the buildings.
The scorptank scuttled out from one adjacent street, its missile launcher raised. Its tail gun fired again, not directly at the mercenaries but cutting them off. Bullets ripped through the road and chipped at the tunnel entrance. Layla, Tommy and Cho picked themselves up and were forced to double back, rejoining Digger and Homer.
“Move between the buildings!” Layla said, “Any of the narrow alleys it can’t follow!”
Minigun and missile launcher blazing, the scorptank circled around on the five as they fled for their lives. More huge chunks were blown off nearby buildings, deafening the group. The tank’s other claw was still open, laser cannon recharging.
The walking tank must have weighed over one hundred tonnes. It threw itself against the mouth of the alley the five of them had sprinted into. One of the buildings it hit collapsed inward, a cloud of dust spewing into the air. The scorptank batted the rubble aside easily with its three-pointed claw. The scorptank’s size was its only disadvantage, it couldn’t follow them down the narrow passage. With Layla in the lead, they zigzagged through the maze of ruins. Still, the tank seemed to sense where they were headed. It reversed and then continued to follow them via the adjacent streets, huge, pointed legs scuttling.
“I can blind it!” Digger held up the M32 grenade launcher.
Reaching a section of open space, the group realised they would have to cross it, exposed. Most of the marketplace had been blown away by Layla’s FatBoy mini-nuke. All that was left was blasted wasteland, scattered with rubble. Not far away was the spot where the scorpion tank had originally been placed, the wrecks of normal tanks it had been surrounded by reduced to heaps of scrap metal but one of the only recognisable landmarks left in that area. Digger had been pushing Homer in front of him, taking up the rear. He shouldered the M32 and swept it around, searching for where the scorptank was going to emerge.
“Stay close to the wall, we’ve got to keep moving where there are buildings!” Layla said.
The five of them sprinted into open space. The lead three, Layla, Tommy and Cho, stood out in their hard-shelled white armour. Homer and Digger followed behind them. The scorptank scuttled around the nearest corner, far faster than anything that size should have been able to move. Its six rapidly moving legs caused the ground to shake. Its scarred armour and weapons gleamed.
Digger wheeled around, focusing on the array of cameras and sensor equipment that created a visor under the shadowy overhang of the scorptank’s armour. Even the armour-piercing grenades would do little against the automated tank. It would have backup systems for the forward-facing sensors but one well-placed grenade could at least disorientate the machine for a few minutes. As the other four ran for shelter, Digger drew the scorptank away so it would face him front-on.
“Come on, you bastard! Eat this!” Digger yelled.
Digger pumped out a single grenade from the M32 launcher. It hissed into the face of the scorpion tank as it charged him. At the last second
, however, a blast shield snapped across the sensory equipment like a pair of scissors being snipped shut. The grenade hit the blast shield and exploded, a fireball covering the scorptank’s head. As the smoke cleared, the shield was battered but in one piece, leaving the more delicate cameras and sensors unharmed.
“Fair go!” Digger said, “That’s cheating!”
Digger cycled through the rest of the grenade launcher’s drum, punching out several more explosive rounds. They struck and blasted the front of the scorptank and one of its arms. As predicted though, the grenades did no significant damage to the heavily armoured machine.
Having exhausted the ammunition drum, Digger tossed the empty M32 aside. The scorptank’s minigun tail swivelled into place and opened up wildly. Fortunately, with its blast shield still in place, the scorptank was partially blinded. Digger threw himself sideways, hitting the ground and rolling back to his feet then running as anti-aircraft bullets caused chunks of rubble the size of cinderblocks to explode into shrapnel. The scorptank lashed out with its massive claw as well, snapping shut on empty air where Digger had been standing moments ago. Digger kept running, moving toward the gap between buildings where the others had vanished. The scorptank’s blast shield opened and its minigun bore down on his heels. Digger caught up with the others in the crooked alleyway.
“What happened?” Layla yelled.
“Nothing! We can’t fight the fucking thing, its got no weak points!” Digger said, “Just keep running!”
Down in the control room, the technicians watched the group circle the central crater and through the ruins. The scorptank dogged them constantly. It was like a giant cat playing with human-sized mice. Only a second mini-nuke or an EMP device could hope to take out the war machine.
“Sir, they’re coming up on the second exit!” One of the techs said, “One of the tunnels between City Center and Shantytown!”
“Let them get within sight of it and then start to close the doors, slowly.” Zachariah said, “I want them to see that hope and then have it taken away.”
Missiles shredded through a building overhead as the remaining contestants and mercenaries sprinted another alleyway. The scorptank was firing blindly into the maze of ruins just hoping to catch them. Huge chunks of rubble and twisted sections of rebar rained down on the group. Digger shielded Homer and then kept shoving him on ahead.
“Up there! It’s another exit!” Cho said.
An open field filled with debris stood between them and the tunnel that Sunni Skyez and Alucard had used earlier. Nothing sat out there in the way of cover except for a few short walls and battered vehicles that the scorptank’s bullets would punch through like soap bubbles.
As if sensing them, doors to either side of the tunnel started to close. The blast doors were two foot thick and moved with glacial slowness. The grinding sound of progress echoed out of the tracks as the tunnel entrance started to shrink. It was the Slayerz producers, taunting them.
“We’ll never make it!” Tommy said.
“We’ll never make it back to the other side of this section either.” Cho said.
“Cover each other, and follow me.” Layla said.
Layla tucked her head and shoulders low, and sprinted into open space. The mechanics down her left leg helped power her on at incredible speed for a soldier of her size. Missiles sailed out of nowhere, aimed at her. Their white tails streaked through the sky and arced down, ripping apart the ground and several of the vehicles scattered in the ruins. Layla was thrown around violently by the shockwaves but stayed on her feet. Half a broken van spiralled through the air and crashed to earth again as Layla darted around it through the smoke and shrapnel.
“Come on! Let’s go!” Tommy said.
Loyally, Tommy followed his partner into the battlefield with Cho tagging behind him. Layla vaulted up the steps and reached the tunnel entrance as the doors continued to close. Only two to three metres of open space was left as Layla got there. Layla braced her left shoulder against one side of the doors and raised her cybernetic left arm. The constantly shifting plates of light grey armour on Layla’s mechanical arm bunched up. Her outstretched palm came into contact with the other door as the gap kept closing. Grunting in pain and effort, Layla wedged the gap open. The doors shuddered and made a grinding noise but Layla wouldn’t be able to last long. The doors were bearing down inexorably and building in pressure. Layla was also exposed as the scorptank scuttled into view.
“To your left! Move left!” Cho yelled to Tommy.
Tommy darted sideways without hesitation. A burst of minigun fire tore up the ground where Tommy had been running. Cho raised her weapon and turned as she kept moving, firing a short burst at the scorptank. Bullets did nothing to the huge machine but it would at least draw its fire while Layla was such an easy target.
Homer went to follow the other three into the chaos but Digger grabbed him by the shoulder. The oversized helmet on Homer’s head bobbled back and forth. Across the ruins, Layla was holding the doors open with her mechanical arm. The grinding sound from the doors was getting louder and angrier. Tommy sprinted for the entrance while Cho drew the tank’s fire. As far as Digger could see, they didn’t have a chance.
“Forget about it, mate, we’re on our own again.” Digger said.
Through their sacrifice, the mercenaries might create an opening for he and Homer to get away. Digger pulled Homer by the shoulder, back down the alley strewn with rubble.
“Move it!” Layla yelled.
Layla let out a howl of pain. Beneath her armour, the movement of the doors was compressing the scarred portion of her shoulder where it was attached to her artificial limb. The strain on her mechanical parts was radiating through her whole body.
Tommy ran hard up the steps, panting, and ducked under Layla’s outstretched arm. Cho was zagging through the ruins, firing in short bursts. The scorptank tracked the mercenary, barrels of its minigun spooling. Another missile sailed past Cho and slammed into a wall behind her. Cho was only protected by her high-tech armour as the blast threw her forward. Scrambling to her feet, Cho ran for the tunnel. She looked around for Digger and Homer, expecting Digger to help cover her as she had covered for Tommy and Layla, but they were nowhere in sight.
“Cho, move!” Layla said.
Cho raced toward the tunnel but the scorptank had circled on her. The laser cannon mounted inside the tank’s tri-clawed pincer started to hum, charged up for another full blast. It swept around with its minigun tail blazing. Cho staggered sideways, shielding her face. A second long burst cut right through the mercenary. Anti-aircraft bullets literally blew Cho to pieces, one arm separating at the shoulder and the top half of her torso spinning off the bottom half. Viscera and bits of gore scattered across the ground in a spray of blood, reducing the merc to a cloud of red mist.
“Cho! Damn it!” Layla’s eyes scanned the ruins, “Where the fuck is Digger and the kid?”
The Australian had abandoned them, taking his young partner with him. As Layla was looking out for them, the scorptank turned its attention on the tunnel entrance. It raised its massive laser cannon. Layla couldn’t hold the doors any longer as it was. She twisted around and started to throw herself clear, into the tunnel, as the scorptank fired. Layla was too slow. There was another thunderous blast of blinding light. The doors were hit and absorbed the laser partially but the superheated flash roared through the gap, seemingly disintegrating Layla before she could find cover. The doors, which had been building up pressure, slammed shut on whatever was left of Layla and Tommy.
Digger had reversed back down with the alley with Homer but he had the tunnel entrance in sight. As far as he could tell, Layla Jackson had been turned to atoms in the blast, a waste of one seriously tough soldier and woman. There was no way she’d had time to get totally clear. Digger turned away and dragged Homer over some of the rubble.
“Come on, mate!” Digger said, “Let’s get the hell out of this place.”
The scorptank charged t
he blast doors where Layla and Tommy had disappeared. The doors were intact, thick iron smoking with an uneven blast mark cratered into its surface but solid. The pincers closed over the recharging laser cannon and the scorptank lashed out, punching at the doors. After a couple of blows, the automated tank lost interest. It swivelled around, searching for more targets. Digger and Homer had disappeared between the buildings again, and its programming was less interested in them than in the mercs. Tail lowered, the scorptank prowled away and started to patrol the arena section again.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Meet the KitchenMax 4000! It’s everything you could possibly need in a kitchen appliance and more, absolutely literally!”
A featureless opalescent cube hovers, turning slowly, in the middle of a clean and orderly kitchen. All other appliances, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, even the sink have been stripped out and replaced by the cube.
“It slices! It dices! It fricassées! It roasts, fries, bakes and sautés! It washes and dries! It keeps the hot things hot and cold things cold!”
Mysterious colours emanate from deep within the cube.
“It knows all your favourite recipes! It knows your nutritional needs! It plans your meals and has them ready before you even know you’re hungry! It knows you more totally, more truly and completely than any human being ever could!”
“What’s more, it does your taxes! It cleans your house! It heals all known diseases! It increases potency! It can describe with perfect clarity the very face of God!”
The surface of the KitchenMax 4000 ripples, like a heavy stone being thrown into a deep pool.
“Look at this perfect pot roast! Yum! Look at this extremely content, mentally healthy consumer! Wow! Look at this Middle East peace plan! Flawless!”
“KitchenMax 4000, the ultimate kitchen tool! Don’t bother to call and order, if you can afford one it’s already finding its way to you!”
Digger and Homer stayed low as the scorpion tank prowled the arena. Following the path of destruction, they returned the way they had come originally with Layla, Tommy and Cho. They didn’t have to sprint, avoiding bullets and missiles, now that the scorptank had lost interest. Instead, the pair moved slowly so as not to alert it again. Digger could hear it moving in some kind of preprogrammed patrol mode.
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