“Well, it’s not like your brother left a user’s manual,” offered Lucas as a feeble joke. Suddenly he spun as his Live Steel armor exploded in blue sparks around him. A blinding flash later and the incoming grenade round had been redirected, but it exploded a split second later collapsing the entrance way.
“Well, we didn’t want to go out that way anyway,” offered Edward as his own feeble attempt at mirth. “Okay I think you were right: too many friendlies, not enough shielding. We split up.”
Lucas nodded and the other half of the group parted off with him and he hurried them to the far end of the room towards the lower access tunnels.
Edward quickly surveyed his charges: Gillian, Rebecca, Tatiana and Zoë. Well, at least it was family. With a short burst of pain, Edward folded a submachine gun out of his Live Steel and tossed it to Zoë. Without missing a beat, she extended the butt stock and cocked the action.
“Where to?” asked Gillian as calmly as she could.
“Nathan brought a small army, and they are ridiculously well equipped. My guess they are next going to try and drop the building…”
“The far arches in the mezzanine are cut from live stone. They should offer protection if the roof comes down,” interjected Rebecca.
Edward was a little surprised at Rebecca’s observation but took it to heart, “Excellent observation. Everyone to the mezzanine. I’m front, Tazo bring up the rear.”
“Rebecca is not fast on her feet, I’ll carry her,” stated Tazo plainly. He didn’t wait for any further discussion on the matter but rather just scooped up Rebecca in his arms.
Edward nodded as the motley group ran up the long isles of the concert hall toward the mezzanine in the back. His fears were soon realized as mortar rounds started falling on the roof. At least they were blowing up on the surface of the roof rather than penetrating and then detonating. Edwards’ senses were strained as they ran; random bits of the ceiling started falling on them and he lashed out at the debris with his Live Steel armor deflecting them away from the group.
As they entered the mezzanine, the roof finally gave way and after a small pause, more powerful thermobaric rounds started falling through the gaping holes. Edward spotted the polished granite arches that framed both sides and he quickly hurried them to their makeshift cover.
They reached it not a moment too soon, as the structure of the building started collapsing around them. The stonework held its own and offered a great deal of protection. It was the flying debris blown sideways that Edward kept having to deflect. The massive bursts of overpressure from the rounds became ever oppressive, but his armor held fast. Edward tried to be patient, bide his time, the debris was well within his capability to handle. Given time, the 1212th would be falling in on the area like angry hornets. Well… three meter tall, 180kg, gun toting hornets. But how much time had actually passed?
“Ninety seconds down. Seven hundred and twenty to go,” murmured Tazo.
Edward flashed Tazo a snarl.
“Well, it did seem to be the question,” apologized Tazo.
“The rounds have stopped, but is the ground shaking, or is it just me?” asked Tatiana.
Edward nodded, “Powered exoskeletons. Good for moving through the debris. Where is a good 20mm sniper rifle when you need one?”
“That was rhetorical, correct?” asked Tazo as he shouldered his grenade launcher.
Edward smirked, “Okay 50mm grenades; that should do well.”
“I should hope so, but there are a lot of them.”
“I feel short,” smirked Edward as he climbed Tazo’s back to look over the debris. His smirk soon fell to the wayside as he drank in what exactly was threading through the remains of the concert hall. Fifteen or so heavy armored mechs along with easily a hundred more people in traditional scout powered armor. In the distance he could barely make out the signature profile of a series of Kedar grav tanks.
“I am confused. Where does a lawyer with political ambitions get such equipment?”
Edward’s fur stood on end as he recognized the sigil of the Viceroy of Ramidar on the grav tank. “This isn’t just about Nathan, this is about revenge on a larger scale.”
“Ramidar livery. That was the planet where Ambassador Helen Winteroak was killed, was it not?”
“Yes, that was them.” Edward’s voice was distant.
“I believe they are after you, Edward. Your family, your clan, your people, your…” droned Tazo.
“Shut up!” screamed Zoë. “He has the idea, damnit!”
“Nathan’s plans are trashed, so he hires out to some big guns that have an ax to grind,” murmured Gillian.
“Get them out of here, I’m the target,” murmured Edward.
“Unlikely. They are probably contractually after Rebecca. They then are likely to go for a clean sweep since it has already been determined that the two girls are socially attached to you as well.”
Edward stared at the ground, “What have I done? I’ve brought them upon us all. If I had just gone home, they would have never followed us here.”
“If you hadn’t come here, then Nathan would still have Rebecca locked away two shades away from a vegetable. The bombings would have continued against Tatiana, and my father’s messed up cult would probably have blown up half this city!” bellowed Zoë. “You came here and made a positive difference. You have only brought one brand of idiots after you; we had a bumper crop of idiots already here trying to trash our whole world.” Zoë was on fire and her teeth were flashing bright in the light. The feral beast within was clawing its way out. “Now stop your pathetic self-righteous whining and go kick their ass. My child needs a father!”
“Metaphor or literal?” asked Tazo evenly.
“Literal,” murmured Tatiana. “We’ve known she was pregnant for a few days, we were just waiting for a good time to tell everyone.”
“Crap for timing,” observed Gillian.
Edward’s breathing slowed as he drank in the world.
“Five and a half minutes will not be enough time, Edward,” coached Tazo.
“Wasn’t planning on Swifting, Tazo. Put half your ammo down range against the heavies. Save the rest for point defense of the group. I’m going out hunting. Cloudy skies, rain on the ground, their sensors will be picking up a lot of glare and reflections…” His fur rippled in color as he stripped off most of his clothing and slipped into the shadows. He was gone in the blink of an eye.
Tazo wasted no time and quickly sent thirty rounds down range at a high arc. The rounds tore into the heavy mechs, five quickly were destroyed as well as another fifteen or so lightly armored troopers. It was unclear how damaged the other mechs were, but the rounds had struck close to home so it was a given they had to have taken some wear and tear.
Edward threaded his way through the slippery, rain-soaked debris. Shattered concrete and twisted steel was the ground cover of choice. He afforded himself a quick smile as the rain started to really pick up. All the better to confuse the sensors and mask his movements.
He soon found himself staring at a pair of heavy infantry in their scout powered armor. 15mm thick titanium nitride composite at the front, but the back was thinner. Edward leaped from an outcropping that had, ten minutes ago, been part of the HVAC system on the roof and landed smoothly behind the pair. In a quick flash he folded in a long Live Steel sword blade and effortlessly struck down the pair with two quick strokes. Two down, a hundred and how many to go?
Edward dashed back into the shadows. He had to take them down and lead them away at the same time. That meant they had to know where they were being attacked from. Well, not precisely, of course. Edward’s nose wrinkled from the smell from the engine of a heavy infantry mech. Standing four meters tall, they were half intimidation, half war machine. Edward was used to Shukurae—they were intimidating. These were just jerks in a metal suit. Edward’s blade erupted in sparks as it metamorphosed into a long pole ax. With one long motion, he cut off one of the legs of the mech, sending it cras
hing to the ground. This brought the pilot down to Edward’s level. Waiting just long enough to achieve eye contact, Edward then thrust his weapon through the visor of the once great fighting machine and expunged its pilot.
It was working. They had noticed the heavy mech going down and were diverting in his direction! Edward launched into a protracted game of cat-and-mouse. He wasn’t trying to take them all out; he knew he couldn’t. He just needed to lead them away and give the 1212th time. They could take out these punks. The greatest fun about playing cat-and-mouse is when the parties don’t know their roles are reversed; Edward made for a mouse with very sharp teeth. Time and time again, they would try to close on him. Each time he either deftly escaped, or took them out.
Edward caught his breath as he glared through the gloomy rain. Time was on his side. Stealth was on his side. Things were working. It was hard work, but Edward was in shape and well up for it. His opponents, having expected a straight up fight, were becoming more and more restless at the fight.
Suddenly there was a shift. Five of the heavy mechs and a mob of armored scouts broke from the group and started heading back in the original direction, toward Tazo and the girls. Edward’s fur bristled at the change of plans. Attack the middle of the heavy mechs, from behind!
Edward ran as fast as he could, risking getting seen in the open, but relying on the cover, rain and gloom to protect him as he closed on the central rank. One of the heavies spun and opened up with a 20mm auto canon in his direction. Edward concentrated on dodging where he could and invoking his Live Steel armor as little as he could as he ran up to the mech and cut its legs off, sending it rolling to the ground. Suddenly the other mechs near by let loose canister rounds, much like the shotgun blast used by the gunship to destroy the incoming missile. But this time, Edward was the target. They weren’t accurate shots, but they didn’t have to be— they covered a wide arc and there were a lot of them.
Edward was bowled over in pain and sheer mass as his armor soaked the rounds. How do you deflect things when they are coming from all directions? Seeing that they were making headway, the mob relentlessly pressed the attack against Edward. Automatic fire soon flooded the air as he desperately fought for cover and to try and reclaim the initiative. He had gotten their attention maybe a little too well!
The staccato burst of grenade fire caught several of the mechs in the open. Tazo had opened fire again. That meant either he was out of position, or they had gotten too close to the girls. Edward rushed to the side only to have a heavy mech hit him with its outstretched arm. Edward went tumbling to the ground. His armor had soaked it and surely saved him from a massive number of broken ribs, but he was in pain none the less. He lashed out with his Live Steel and quickly brought the mech to the ground. One more quick thrust and that one wouldn’t be getting back up.
Edward scrambled into taller piles of debris as he fought for his breath. He was tired and in pain and his breathing was shallow, doing little good. He could feel color start to fade from his eyes and the world slowly started to become just shades of grey. He was about ready to Swift whether he wanted to or not. He needed more air… more time…
Edward all but jumped out of his fur as his niece Dawn landed on the ground next to him. She quickly tucked her wings and they disappeared in a blue flash of sparks, just like Live Steel. “The portal is open if you can get back there. Gavin is already here and Dad is on the way!”
Edward fought for the air to talk but he couldn’t find it, so he took his cue from Lucas and Growled at Dawn. Everything he knew about the situation, the locations of the mechs, the timing of the Shukurae and the location of the girls, all was passed in a single brutal growl.
Dawn held her head and rubbed her ears, in obvious pain at the rapid sharing of information but she rebounded quickly. “Then let’s hold the line where the others are. Come on, let’s go!”
Just as they started to move, a heavy mech came around the corner. Without waiting a single breath, a pair of Live Steel blades sprang into being in Dawn’s hands. She closed on the mech, cutting down its legs and bisecting the cab in a perfectly graceful flurry of moves. It was more of a dance than a sword fight, but it was perfect nonetheless. Edward looked on with shock and amazement—his fourteen year old niece had just cut down a heavy mech! His brother had taught her well.
“Oh, that is sick and gross!” scowled Dawn. She looked like she was ready to throw up. “I thought those things were robots. I didn’t know there were people inside of them!” There were some things a young girl should not have to do, and that was one of them. Edward felt like such a heel for having let a child do such a vicious task, but it was a little late now.
Edward shepherded Dawn back toward the girls. Dawn was very dexterous on her feet and it was Edward that was slowing down the pair. Dawn’s dress was cut and torn as they reached the group, but she was a practical enough girl not to dwell on it.
“That was excellent work, Lady Dawn,” remarked Tazo.
“I’ll have nightmares of that for weeks,” she replied more than a little put out.
“Okay, Dawn has the gate open. Gavin is out there somewhere and Llewellyn is en route with no real ETA. Where do we stand with the 1212th?” asked Edward.
“They were delayed by mechanical failures and have fought to regain the clock,” Tazo advised.
“Data is data even if I don’t like it,” groused Edward.
“The gunship was having engine problems, so they are going to station with the engine retracts disabled.”
“They will break the ship apart when they hit the upper atmosphere. Are they insane?”
“No,” replied Tazo. “They are making up lost time. The pilots will eject as soon as the ship's structure has been compromised. They will probably land in the next prefecture based on the arc.”
“That is insanely dangerous!”
“It is what we do,” smiled Tazo. He cut loose two more rounds down range before returning to cover.
“Less insane than being with me,” murmured Edward. “Thank you, Tazo!”
“You are most welcome! Now quickly, if we can. Back down the side of this we may be able to loop around back to the portal.”
“Let’s do it!” Suddenly Edward’s fur stood on end, “We have company!”
A heavy mech crested the ruins and made eye contact. Tazo did his best to remind the mech that it was unwelcome. Its smoking form fell over backwards having soaked two 50mm rounds square to the torso. “Running low, little brother.”
As they ran, a second heavy mech cut the corner on them. Tazo went to shoot, but it was too close. The grenades would not have time to arm, and even if they did by accident, the explosion would catch the group in the open. Edward burst forward trying to project his Live Steel armor as far forward as he could.
Suddenly the entire mech exploded in a series of blue sparks and vanished to the ground. Well, it disappeared save for its very surprised pilot who was suddenly sprawled on the ground in plain view. The shocked look on the pilot’s face was quickly erased as Zoë fired a burst from her sub machine gun into him.
“Stay down,” she snarled.
Gavin faded into view as he smiled to the group, “Sorry it took so long, not used to urban terrains.”
Edward closed and scooped up Gavin and hugged him, “That was awesome! You Live Steel folded the mech out from under the pilot?”
Gavin was more than a little confused at the embrace but rolled with it, “Yes, sir. That seemed the best way to handle it.”
“You are an awesome kid; don’t let rumors of what I said about you earlier bother you!”
“You were upset with me?” asked Gavin more than a little confused as he casually deflected an errant rifle round.
“I was upset at myself, petty and stupid. But you are a good kid. I’m sorry I ever said bad things about you; I was being shallow.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, sir, but thank you,” he replied with an honest smile.
“S
o, Gavin is it? Can you throw a Forest Wall?”
“Yes sir, but the trees won’t stop those heavies for very long. I’m not that good.”
“It isn’t the trees, little lord, it is the electromagnetic pulse that comes along with it,” interjected Tazo.
“Whoa! He’s big!” marveled Gavin. “So just throw a Forest Wall?”
“Yes, please. I’d rather be fighting in the trees anyway,” grinned Edward.
As casually as one might walk down a street, Gavin concentrated and then just touched the ground. As his hand touched flat, the world around them exploded with life. Grass, ferns, bushes and trees sprang out from the ground and exploded radially outward, a tidal wave of greenery that caught everyone off-guard.
“I do love the smell of trees,” offered Tazo as they watched the mechs collapse and fall to the ground in the new arboreal arena. “Trees are six to eight meters tall and the shock wave seems to have gone out over a hundred meters.”
“Sorry about that,” interjected Gavin with disappointment on his face. “Llewellyn can do thirty to fifty meter tall trees and half a kilometer at least.”
“You are awesome, Gavin. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Don’t compare yourself to my brother Llewellyn. That was a stupid mistake I made all my life. Just be you. That should be more than enough for anyone,” beamed Edward.
Gavin shrugged and grinned, “Thank you, sir!”
“I’m only four years older than you; stop calling me sir!”
“Touching as this all is, there are still grumpy people out there and we are a long ways away from the portal.” Gillian was practical and to the point. She was good at that.
“Yes, Mom,” replied Edward. “You heard her, let’s move out. Gavin you have point; Tazo and I will bring up the rear.”
Tazo nodded and fell into line as he fished a copper cylinder out of his pocket. He unscrewed the top and dumped out a new comlink in several parts, each piece was carefully grounded to the shell and it took no small amount of work to reassemble a functioning comlink.
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