by Jacob Holo
Four Federacy gunships moved in and showered the target building with gunfire and rockets.
Lunarians launched portable missiles from surrounding rooftops and windows. One of the gunships took two direct hits, lost one of its air turbines and plowed into the side of a building. Three other missiles looped over the city and came down hard on the missile battery. Plumes of gray rock blasted out from the impact points. Several red dots winked out.
Naomi’s bright green dot switched off. He’d lost all tactical feeds from her suit.
“Naomi!” Ryu shouted. It was a pointless calling to her. His words couldn’t reach her without a TangleNet link.
The missile battery had survived and launched another salvo of six.
Ryu zoomed in on the area. Grayish clouds and scattering Federacy regulars made a mess of the whole area. He found the pumping station and the water mains Naomi had hid behind. The mains were thick enough to obscure someone standing on the other side. Ryu found no trace of her, but that didn’t mean her body wasn’t sprawled out where he couldn’t see, unconscious or worse.
“Orders?” Toshi asked.
More Lunar missiles pounded into the slope. One of them hit a water main and broke it open. Water gushed out, running down the slope. Steam rose from the impact point.
“Come on, Naomi,” Ryu said, searching. “Damn it, where are you?”
“Boss?”
“We’re heading up to look for her,” Ryu said, switching off the zoom and raising his rifle.
“There’s no signal,” Cat said. “That means she’s probably ...”
“Doesn’t matter,” Ryu said. “We’re going to make sure.”
“After you, boss,” Toshi said.
Ryu broke from cover and sprinted up the slope. He reached a perpendicular bend in the water main and took cover next to it, a third of the way to Naomi and the missile battery. Toshi and Cat crouched behind him.
“That smoke is going to be difficult to cross,” Toshi said. “At least we have the pipes for cover.”
The missile battery fired again. This time only a single Lunar missile struck the slope beneath the battery, fooled at the last moment by Federacy countermeasures.
A green locator dot appeared on Ryu’s overlay. It came from twenty meters beneath the pumping station.
“Naomi!” Ryu said.
“Shit, that was close,” Naomi said. “The shock from the explosions crashed my TangleNet link. I had to reboot it.”
Ryu brought up Naomi’s status. Medical was all green, though the explosions had damaged her smartsuit.
“Looks like you have smartskin tears in two places,” Ryu said.
“I know, mother. Why do you think I ducked into the utility maze? I’ll patch it up and come out of the maze near the House of Parliament.”
Toshi chuckled. “She called you mo—”
“All right! Back on mission.”
Ryu led the dragons down the slope and resumed their course around the city perimeter. Naomi followed through the underground tunnel network.
“You’re falling behind, Naomi,” Ryu said, ten minutes later. Bigger Ben towered over the surrounding buildings. The three dragons rounded a corner and came into direct view of the House of Parliament.
“It can’t be helped,” Naomi said. “These tunnels twist around too much. Looks like I can’t join you inside.”
“Understood,” Ryu said. “Make your way around the back and get ready to support us when we exit.”
“On it.”
“Ryu, there’s been a sharp spike in SolarNet traffic,” Cat said. “I think you’ll want to see this.”
“One moment,” Ryu said. A missile hit the House of Parliament, but only blew stone fascia off the armored walls. Perhaps an accidental hit? No shots answered from the gothic structure, either from the roof or the windows. Lunarians fought from the surrounding buildings, but the House of Parliament looked abandoned.
A yellow beacon marked the ambassador’s position near the center of the House of Parliament, first floor.
“I don’t see any Lunar troops inside or on the roof,” Ryu said. “It’s a fortified building. Why aren’t they using it?”
Ryu heard the unmistakable drone of M18 Gatling guns. At least two squads of crusaders had reached the front lines.
“Ryu?” Cat said.
“What do you have?”
“That spike in SolarNet traffic? The crusaders have just uploaded a message to the SolarNet. I think you should take a look.”
Ryu opened the file Cat linked him and played it for the squad. A piece of his visual overlay turned into a gold crucifix with a red and white checkered background. A gruff man provided the voiceover.
“This is an official statement concerning the Lunar State and its leaders,” the crusader said. “We have evidence in our possession that the Lunar State prime minister and leading members of the House of Commons have been subjected to persona-intrusion wetware. These intrusions were administered by the Europan ambassador currently trapped within the House of Parliament. Their wills are not their own. They are now thralls for the Europan quantum mind, Matriarch.
“The evidence we have in our possession is irrefutable, copies of which are attached to this message. Under authority granted to us by the Federacy admiralty board, we have been ordered to execute all Lunar State ministers and Europan citizens located in or around the House of Parliament. These harsh measures will be carried out to ensure no thralls survive.
“Already, the Lunar military remnants in New London have disavowed any ties to the thralls hiding within the House of Parliament. The crusaders, with aid from our brave Federacy allies, will now carry out the executions.”
“What the fuck!” Toshi shouted. “Persona-intrusion? That’s a load of cow shit! Matriarch would never do that!”
“Yeah, I know,” Ryu said. “It’s sad, but lies like this stick.”
Two more missiles pounded into the House of Parliament’s stone exterior, blasting it apart to reveal the pearly white armor underneath.
“They’re trying to breach the outer walls,” Toshi said. “It won’t be long before they’re inside.”
“Orders?” Cat asked.
“We’re here to get our ambassador out,” Ryu said. “And that is exactly what we’re going to do. We don’t leave our people behind.”
Toshi hefted his rifle. “Man, any crusaders that get in my way are so dead.”
“Come on. Let’s get inside,” Ryu said. The three dragons sprinted across an open plaza to a small alcove in the side of the House of Parliament. A thick armored door blocked entry. Ryu placed his hacking glove against a security panel next to the door.
Codes included with his mission update exchanged between the panel and his glove. The door snapped upward, allowing the three dragons to hurry inside before the door slammed shut with a pneumatic hiss.
Ryu ran through an abandoned security post, past a pair of wooden double doors and into a long hall three stories high. Tall, gothic windows with arched tops lined the hall. Light shone through stained glass artwork.
Ryu could make out the surrounding battle through the glass. He felt exposed with all those windows, but quickly noticed a few showed nothing but static. The “windows” were using images relayed from external cameras, and some of those cameras had been blown off. Thick diamoplast armor separated this room from the outside fight.
“At least they haven’t leveled the place,” Cat said.
“The crusaders might want the ministers’ bodies,” Ryu said. “Either because they think the bodies have proof on them or because they need to plant the proof.”
Ryu raced down the hall and turned into a wide chamber. Padded green benches lined either side of a central path that ended at a podium on a raised dais. Ornate metalwork chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Light shone through high stained glass windows, illuminating the chamber.
Ryu spotted the ambassador backing away from a crowd of fifty Lunar State ministers and what looked
like a large number of civilians, even a few kids. The ministers’ families? It didn’t matter.
Everyone was shouting at everyone else. The ambassador shouted back at the crowd. She was a tall woman with straight, raven hair halfway down her back, wearing a white business suit. She wore data glasses with oval lenses and thick black frames, though Ryu knew she had sight overlay wetware.
The ministers, about two thirds of which were men, wore somber business suits and data glasses or monocles. The civilians were clothed in a vomited puddle of clashing colors.
One of the ministers pulled a pistol out of his dark green business jacket.
Ryu dropped his illusion and rushed forward. He climbed onto the dais and stopped at the ambassador’s side, rifle aimed at the threatening minister. The man stopped, frozen in terror. A scroll of green text and diagrams slid across his data monocle, telling him exactly what was pointed at him. The crowd backed away. Near the back, a little girl started crying at the top of her lungs.
The ambassador turned and looked at Ryu, seeing him as a tall, lithe figure clad in a skintight black.
Ryu killed his sonic cancellers. “Ambassador, I’m Ryu Kusanagi from the black dragons. We’re getting you to safety.”
The building shook. Dust scattered from the chandeliers. Something had hit the roof.
“Oh, thank Matriarch you’re here!” the ambassador said.
“Come on. We need to leave. We’ll exit out the back and get you to your shuttle.”
Ryu grabbed her wrist, but she resisted.
“Wait!” the ambassador said. “Wait a minute!”
“We don’t have a minute!”
“We— We can’t leave without them!” the ambassador said, pointing to the ministers who were only moments ago ready to kill her. “They’ll die if we don’t get them to safety!”
“I can’t save them!” Ryu hissed quietly. “I don’t even know if I can save you!”
“You have to try!” the ambassador shouted. “Don’t you see? This is the only way we can expose the crusader lies! Do you have any idea what will happen if people start believing this?”
“I—” Ryu stopped. He knew exactly where lies like this could lead. All the nations of the solar system might unite against Europa. It could even end with a huge coalition fleet raining nuclear fire on his home. After all, something similar had happened at Bunker Zero ten years ago.
Two more explosions rocked the House of Parliament. The chandeliers swung back and forth like pendulums.
“Federacy forces have breached the southern wall,” Cat said. The ministers and ambassador couldn’t hear her. “Dozens of Feddie regulars and a squad of crusaders are entering the building.”
“What’s the call, boss?” Toshi asked.
“We’re getting the ministers out of here,” Ryu said. “Naomi, are you in position?”
“I’m at a power station behind the House of Parliament,” Naomi said. “If the ministers can reach me, they can get into the utility maze. They have a two hundred meter run across open terrain waiting for them, but I don’t think we have any choice. No Federacy forces on this side. They’re all focused on breaching the front.”
“All right. That will have to do.” Ryu turned to the ambassador. He linked Naomi’s position to her. “Get the ministers to this location then get them into the maze. A dragon will meet you there.”
“But—”
“Shut up and move!” Ryu shouted. He amplified his voice by ten decibels. “Crusaders are in the building! Follow the ambassador to safety! We’ll buy you the time you need! Now follow her and run!”
The ambassador, ministers and family members got moving and headed for the exit. Ryu could see Naomi’s location glinting in their data glasses. The ambassador must have passed the coordinates along. They exited through a pair of double doors at the rear.
Ryu engaged his smartskin illusion and sonic cancellers. He pointed to a balcony over the double-door exit.
“Toshi, Cat! Up there!”
“Right!” Toshi said.
“We’ve got about thirty seconds!” Cat said.
Toshi and Cat jumped to the second story balcony, an easy feat in Luna’s gravity. They grabbed the railing and flipped over into cover. Toshi tossed several grenades from his bandolier at the chamber seating. The grenades, each the size of a shotgun shell, stuck wherever they hit and camouflaged. He fired two from his rifle’s integral grenade launcher through the main entrance. Once through the doorway, they turned out of sight, struck nearby walls and armed themselves.
Ryu jumped over the entrance. There wasn’t a balcony to hide in, but he didn’t need one. The soles and palms of his smartsuit adapted for extra friction, allowing him to stick to the wall. He climbed directly above the entrance, ready to ambush any crusader that came through.
Ryu put his back to the ceiling and aimed his rifle down.
A group of four Federacy regulars entered the chamber and spread out. They swept the room with multitrackers that couldn’t detect the previous version of smartskin, let alone the tiny grenades Toshi had deployed.
“Two crusaders at the doorway,” Toshi said. “Looks like they smell a trap.”
“We need to draw them in,” Ryu said. “Open fire.”
“Right!” Toshi said. He and Cat rose out of cover. Cat squeezed off four quick bursts from her rifle, one for each Feddie. Shatterbacks pierced their armor and detonated within their torsos. Someone’s arm smacked against a stained glass window, still clutching his carbine.
Toshi fired two needle grenades. The guided projectiles zeroed in on the crusaders. Proximity microminds counted down and triggered at the preset range. The grenades blossom into shaped cones of diamond needles, but the crusaders dodged out of the way with unnatural speed. Needles shredded the carpet just outside the doorway and blew the doors off their hinges.
Toshi and Cat pulled back into cover and moved to different positions along the balcony.
The remains of the four Feddies slumped to the ground.
“God damn it! Dragons inside!” someone shouted from beyond the doorway.
“Surprise,” Toshi whispered. He detonated the two grenades he’d set in the hallway. Diamond needles scythed through another three Feddies. Their gurgling screams carried into the chamber.
The two crusaders raked the balcony with Gatling fire. Hundreds of vari-shells detonated on contact against the wood railing and plush benches beyond. Splinters and foam padding blasted out in every direction.
Ryu watched Cat and Toshi’s indicators dash out of the way just in time.
One of the crusaders fired a grenade from his wrist launcher. The tiny cylinder exploded against the balcony and blew out the walls to either side.
“Damn it!” Toshi shouted. “Too close!”
“Four crusaders total!” Cat shouted. “They’re coming in!”
“Stay hidden,” Ryu whispered. “Wait until all of them are in the chamber.”
Two crusaders marched into the chamber, spraying the balcony. They took positions on either side of the aisle that ran down the center. Two more crusaders entered the chamber, one carrying a thermal lance. The last crusader stood a head taller than the others and wielded a Gatling gun.
“Just a little further,” Ryu whispered.
Green indicators pulsed ahead of the crusaders for each grenade. The first two crusaders moved into range.
The tall crusader turned suddenly and aimed his Gatling gun at Ryu’s position.
“Shit!”
Both Ryu and the crusader opened fire.
The crusader couldn’t have seen Ryu, could only have suspected. But that didn’t make his weapon any less lethal. Vari-shells detonated to Ryu’s right, showering him with splinters and chips of stone. He was already dodging, already running across the wall, firing.
A few of his shatterbacks struck the lead crusader, knocking him back but not penetrating his armor. The other three crusaders took aim.
“Suppress! Suppress!” Ryu shout
ed. He triggered all of Toshi’s grenades.
The sharp eruptions turned the chamber into a storm of wooden splinters, flying bits of foam, stone chips, and razor-sharp diamond needles. The benches were totally obliterated. A grenade coated one of the crusaders with needles across one side like a half-bald porcupine, staggering him but doing little damage.
Toshi and Cat opened fire on full automatic. Shatterbacks and grenades detonated within the chamber. Two crusaders swung their guns around, firing constantly and forcing Toshi and Cat back into cover. Ryu kept running across the wall. He dove for the only exit available to him, the broken double doors the crusaders had entered through.
The tall crusader took aim at him again.
Without looking, Ryu fired all three grenades from his rifle’s launcher. The tall crusader ducked out of the way moments before the grenades blasted craters in the floor.
Ryu found himself in the long, three-story hallway with the massive stained glass “windows.” Most of them displayed static now. A few Feddie bodies were splayed across the red carpeting by Toshi’s grenades. Ryu picked a direction and ran. He feverishly jammed grenades into his rifle, jettisoned his mostly spent ammo clip and slapped in a new one.
“Not that way!” Cat said. “The Feddies breached the outer walls in that direction!”
“Too late!” Ryu shouted.
The tall crusader exited the chamber and aimed down the hall. Ryu reached the end of the hall and dove through an open doorway into some sort of art gallery. Old Earth oil paintings or replicas hung from pristine white walls. Bronze statues rested on marble plinths.
A squad of ten Federacy regulars waited on the other side, as surprised to see him as he was to see them. At his current speed, even unenhanced civilians could spot him. The Feddies raised their carbines.
Still airborne from his dive, Ryu took aim and squeezed the trigger. He drew a line across the Feddies, emptying a full clip in two seconds.
Ryu struck the ground, rolled and rose into a low crouch. He ejected his spent clip, shoved in another and sprinted for the exit at the far end of the art gallery.