Invasion (Animus Book 10)

by Joshua Anderle

  “You’re an engineer, right? Can you see the safety mods on the guns?” he asked. “If you disengage them, they are normal guns. They might not be the best quality but are better than nothing. We’ll try to share the leftovers from in here but we’ll need all the help we can to get into the security facility.”

  “Security?” Jaxon asked. “What are you looking for there?”

  “Codes to the armory,” he stated. He threw the remaining weapons into a pack and placed it on his back. Amber and Chiyo scrambled out to give him room as he ascended again. “Wolfson told me that’s where he keeps my shock pistol stored since I don’t walk around with it—dumbass that I’m feeling right about now.”

  “Won’t the security forces be able to open it for us?” Amber asked.

  “Maybe, if there are any nearby. But my guess is that most if not all of them are out there being security.” He tossed an extra bag to Jaxon, who nodded and helped Genos pack the remaining weapons as the mechanist had carefully slid the safety mods out and placed them on a small tray he had found from one of the tables Kaiden flipped over.

  “I assume by the name that’s where all the guns are kept?” Cameron asked.

  “Most of them.” The ace nodded and tossed him a container of net grenades. “There are stashes of guns all over the island, this being a military academy and all. But that’s where all the good ones are. I believe in my fellow comrades and all that—”

  “But you’d believe in them more if they had real firepower?” Flynn finished and received a nod in confirmation.

  “I…can’t join you,” Amber muttered almost in a whisper.

  “What’s up Amber?” Marlo asked.

  Flynn looked at her with concern. “Medbay?” he asked. and she nodded as she activated her sub-machine gun. “Her mother—we have to check on her.”

  Kaiden nodded. “Right, Dr. Soni…and everyone.” He listened to the fighting outside. “I’m worried about all of them too. Do what you need to do and get everyone you can to safety.”

  The marksman nodded and glanced quickly at Marlo, who placed a shotgun on his back. “We’ll go with her and will join up with you again when we’re done.”

  The ace looked at Chief. “Can you keep a line up?”

  “I’ve been tinkerin’,” the EI stated. “I can keep one channel open efficiently. But there is something screwy going on, partner. Whatever is taking hold of the tech on the island isn’t only a virus or simple hackery.”

  “I’m sure Laurie is all over that,” he replied and selected a pistol—slim, rapid-fire, and with a good core, it still felt light compared to Debonair. He grimaced. All his gear was with Julio and he couldn’t get a call out. Part of him hoped the barkeep would find a way to bring his gear and loads of other presents to him, but with that big bastard in the sky, it would be suicide.

  He placed the pistol in his jacket pocket, clipped a container of shocks and a container of thermals on his belt, and picked up a machine gun. “Chief will stay in contact with you, Flynn. Y’all be safe.”

  “Same to you, mate,” Flynn replied and he, Amber, and Marlo headed to the door. Jaxon handed them the pack of training weapons to give to the others as he and Genos walked over to Kaiden.

  “So our plan is to head to security, then?” the Tsuna ace asked as he chose a machine gun and rifle for himself.

  “Will Officer Wolfson be present?” Genos asked, picked up a small box of gadgets, and rummaged through it.

  “I’ve yet to reach him,” Kaiden said and glanced at Chief, who merely shook from side to side. “We may run into him, but I won’t rely on chance. We need to get into his office. He’ll have the current access code to the armory in his desk.”

  “Will we simply blast our way in?” Cameron asked as he twirled a shotgun.

  “I have a spare key,” the ace said and held a blue access card up. “He hides it in the bear figurine next to the door and I snagged it on the way in.”

  “The head officer has really grown to trust you over the years, hasn’t he?” Chiyo asked.

  He looked at the key before he slid it into his pants pocket and ruffled his hair. “I guess so. It’s a good thing too considering the circumstance.”

  “How will we alert the other students about the available weapons with the comms down?” Jaxon asked.

  Kaiden retrieved his tablet from his other pocket. “The emergency channel is still running,” he stated.

  “If we can access the security console, we can change the message and get it out to all the students,” Chiyo summarized.

  He put the tablet away and readied his rifle. “Assuming this problem with the tech doesn’t get worse. Let’s get going before it does, yeah?”

  The group looked at each other and nodded, all ready to return to the chaos but this time, prepared to fight rather than run.

  Durand was in bad shape. His breathing was labored, his head was bleeding, and the left side of his chest had been burned by laser fire. His hands shook as he pulled himself behind the desk. He readied his pistol when he heard metallic steps at the doorway. Another of the droids stepped inside and scanned the room while the chancellor held the trigger down to charge the blast. It must have sensed the increasing energy of the pistol as it surged forward and knocked the desk aside. He rolled over and fired the blast directly into its chest. It staggered and he produced his plasma blade and stabbed it into the blast point to slice through and into its core.

  The Arbiter droid revealed its own blade and lashed out at the chancellor. He fell back but the weapon cut deep into his chest and he lurched into the wall behind him and slid down. His blade fell from the robot’s chest, having apparently cut deep enough as the lights in its eyes dulled and darkened and it toppled.

  Unfortunately, three more moved into the room.

  He drew a deep, ragged breath as he vented his pistol and closed his eyes. One of the droids held its arm cannon up, ready to fire. He heard three shots, felt nothing, and opened his eyes to gape at the holes in the chests of the three mechanicals. They sputtered for a moment before they fell and a figure in a black jacket stepped over them.

  Despite the pain and blurred vision, he recognized his rescuer immediately. “Sasha…” he whispered in a croaking voice.

  “Chancellor, I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” the commander stated, slung his rifle over his back, and knelt at his side.

  “I should feel sorry for the fact that I could only handle nine of those bastards.” Durand sighed and held his head. “My secretary, Teresa, was a double agent. Can you believe it?”

  “As were board members Victoria and Vincent,” Sasha told. “The rest of the board is dead, sir.”

  “Son of a bitch.” He hissed in pain as the commander helped him to lean up. When he coughed, small specks of blood appeared in his hand that both men saw.

  “Sasha, hand me your tablet,” he stated. He did so and Durand retrieved his own which had been only slightly damaged in the fight. “Franklin, give Sasha Chevalier chancellor status.”

  “Durand?” the commander questioned but the man ignored him.

  “This is obviously an emergency situation, but I still need the code, sir,” the chancellor’s EI stated.

  Durand nodded. “Code 01350, chancellor authorization password: Magenta Skies.” He chuckled as the EI began to transfer all the authority of the chancellorship to Sasha. “Magenta Skies was where I planned to retire in a few years. I only changed the password a few months ago.”

  “Sir, I have some medical supplies I can—”

  “If I remove this arm across my chest, I’ll bleed out before you can apply the gel,” he muttered, his voice a little weaker. “Sasha, do what needs to be done to keep these students safe, understand?”

  The commander pursed his lips and nodded. “I do, sir. I will make sure that this is not the end of the Academy.”

  “Such commitment.” Durand laughed as he looked down to confirm that the transfer had completed. “Coming from someone…who w
as hesitant to join…in the first place.”

  Sasha steadied him to stop him sliding to the side. “I’m glad I came, and it didn’t take long for me to feel this way.”

  The chancellor rolled his head back against the wall and released a long breath. “Make sure to remember that…as you take the Academy back,” he said, his voice faint. “Feeling like that…those bonds and memories…” His words faltered and he took short, minute breaths. “That’s what…keeps the fire…going.”

  The commander nodded, took the other man’s tablet, and stood. He saluted the fallen chancellor before he turned to assume his new responsibilities.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “One…two…three!” Mack and Luke heaved against the door to the engineers’ bay but were only knocked back by their effort and almost tumbled into Raul.

  “These aren’t rusted, dilapidated doors, you oafs,” the tracker huffed. “Most of the academy is in lockdown so the engineering bay wouldn’t be any—”

  “She’ll get it open,” Silas called, and the trio looked at him where he walked beside a girl in an engineer’s orange jumpsuit and with her brown hair tied back. She pushed past the group and over to a terminal at the door they had attempted to break.

  “Who’s she?” Mack asked as the raider helped to pull him up.

  “An actual engineer, for one thing,” Silas explained as he moved out of the way so Raul could help Luke. “But she’s also an assistant to one of the workshop teachers. She has the emergency codes for the bay and several other rooms.”

  “Really?” Luke asked and punched a fist into his hand excitedly. “We’re finally making some progress.”

  “Silas told me you guys were looking for weapons,” the engineer added as the terminal she accessed activated and she began to punch the code in. “I said that we don’t really keep many weapons on hand here in the workshops—”

  “But you do have tools,” Raul replied. “And heavy-duty ones as well.”

  “They might not be practical or professional,” Mack admitted, and the group glanced hastily toward the entrance as a blast went off that sounded really close to the building. “But we’ll take anything, at this point.”

  “The others agreed with that,” she concurred. The terminal beeped when it accepted the code and the door opened for the group.

  “The others?” Luke asked as Silas made his way inside.

  “I found her and a few others barricaded in a room down the hall,” he explained. “When I told them what we were trying to do, a few of them decided to head to another department to get at the tools and gadgets in there.”

  “So we actually have a force ready to fight these guys?” Mack asked and his grin widened.

  “My friends are mostly engineers and techies,” the girl explained as she searched through some of the drawers in the classroom. “They can fight and know some tricks, but they won’t be able to stand toe to toe alongside you soldiers.”

  “Hmm, right now, we’re all soldiers.” Raul picked up a long staff with prongs at the end. He pressed a switch and sparks jumped from the prongs in a sudden burst. While he didn’t know what it was used for normally, he definitely had a new use for it.

  “I’m sure everyone was caught off guard and some probably still are,” Luke reasoned as he examined a large gauntlet. He recognized it as a larger version of the one he normally saw Genos wear when they were training. “Anyone able and willing to fight will be a big help.”

  “That’s why I didn’t try to stop them,” Silas admitted as he retrieved a soldering gun. He checked the inside and nodded when he saw that it had been tinkered with and the maximum output was more than a little past the safe number. Still, he would have to get quite close to use it.

  “Does anyone have a plan for when we get out of here?” Mack asked. He slid his hand into a gauntleted vice claw and tested it.

  “Round up who we can and see if we can get our hands on some real weapons,” Silas suggested.

  “We need to focus on getting off the island,” the engineer protested, and her composure seemed to slide a little. “Even if you find proper weapons, you can’t actually fight them. I’ve already seen bodies on the ground and other students being taken away—”

  “Taken?” Raul asked and all four of them looked sharply at her. “Taken where?”

  She managed to calm the moment of fear and took a deep breath. “I’m…I’m not sure, but I saw some of the students being taken in either nets or barriers.”

  “Which direction?” Silas asked.

  “Towards the north-west part of the island, I think. Although I don’t know what for.”

  Mack stroked his chin thoughtfully and glanced at Silas. “The only thing in that direction besides the logistics dorms and some of the workshops is the docks.”

  The raider nodded. “If they are trying to take their hostages somewhere, they’ll need a place to pick them up.”

  “I guess we have a destination.” Luke grunted and held his gauntlet up. “Although isn’t that where the security forces have their headquarters? Those bots will have to face the most well-armed and trained guys on the island.”

  “I’m sure many of them are spread around the Academy,” Silas countered and a concerned frown slid onto his face. “And even if a number of them make it back, there are more than enough droids they’ll have to deal with.”

  Indre popped the back of the pistol open and ejected the ID chip before she slid her bypass chip in and waited for the weapon to unlock. She looked toward the cafeteria, where she had taken the weapon from the side of the fallen security officer. The picture of his twisted body rose in her mind, but she put it aside when she heard a beep. Quickly, she removed the bypass chip, closed the pistol, and tossed it to Izzy before she worked on the rifle.

  The scout snatched the pistol out of the air and in almost the same motion, fired several shots at a nearby droid with low shields. It turned in her direction, but she simply focused her fire on its chest and finally felled it when its chest armor melted away. Sparks spat from the metal body as it collapsed.

  She and Indre swapped weapons when the rifle was unlocked. Close by, Otto worked on something in his holoscreen. “Can you make contact with anyone?”

  “I have my EI working on that,” he stated and remained focused on the screen. “I’m trying to get access to the plaza’s main terminal so I can get into the security functions.”

  “What for?” Izzy asked and noticed another two droids coming down the alley. She signaled Indre and both women turned and fired a volley that drove the mechanicals back. Otto continued to work unperturbed.

  “Turrets, barricades, drone deployment, emergency hatches to the tunnels—does none of that ring a bell?” he asked. “Those are some of the things that are supposed to appear in this kind of situation. They told us that every time we had a safety seminar, yet I don’t see any of them.” He looked up for a brief moment as if to remind himself of the situation before he returned his attention to the screen and continued his efforts. “There must be something wrong with the automatic detection and the connection to the main center. I had hoped that I was close enough to access it remotely, but it looks like I need to get to the node itself if I want a chance of doing anything.”

  “I think you’ll have to pocket that idea for later, Otto,” Julius said in a strained voice. The group looked over to where the medic helped a security officer over to the wall and rested him against it. Julius took out a small container, unlatched it, and opened it to reveal several small vials. “This will help with the pain and get you back on your feet,” he said, his voice calm and reassuring as he unclasped the officer's chest piece to apply the gel to the wound on his ribs. “It’s a good thing you had a divided plate. That helps defend against bladed weaponry.”

  The man nodded and winced a little as the gel was applied. “Still, that plasma blade was hotter than even the latest models. Nothing we have could stop it.”

  “The shielding didn’t do much eith
er.” The biologist looked at Indre. “Have you ever heard of plasma blades with dissonance mods?”

  “It’s not unheard of but they don’t last long. The type of material they use for plasma blades doesn’t work well with the vibrations,” she explained and vented her pistol. “Whatever they are using isn’t simply a shoddy mod job.”

  Otto sighed and closed his holoscreen. “You said I should save my idea for later, Jul?” He crouched even lower and craned his neck to look at his friend. “Does that mean you think we won’t be able to hold them off?”

  “I don’t,” Julius stated and assisted the security officer to stand. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t fight back later. For now, Officer Malcolm has told me of a hatch nearby with a manual lock. If we can reach that and open it, that’s another opportunity to help save our fellow students.”

  Izzy looked at Indre, who nodded and shut the vent of her pistol. “It’s better than simply sitting here and waiting for them to come to us.”

  “I had similar thoughts.” The biologist turned to the officer. “Are you all right?”

  “I still feel a burn but the pain isn’t crippling anymore,” the man assured him, now able to stand without support. “What brand is that?”

  “My own proprietary blend—trade secret,” he replied as he stowed the vial. “When we get out of here, I have a feeling I’ll have to make much more of it.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  A cruiser floated silently above the clouds outside Rome with a light-refracting shield activated that made it virtually invisible to anyone below. The lights pulsed and shined for brief moments along the shields before they were swallowed again by the twisting winds as the vessel hovered above the mountains.

  A figure stood on the bridge of the ship and contemplated the beautiful city below him. He dreamed of it being the place where he would set up the first official branch of the future Arbiter council. It was a fitting choice. Centuries before, this was once the greatest city on earth, a marvel of human knowledge and achievement. Maybe, once the strife was over and they succeeded in keeping mankind alive, the world would look at the city with that kind of amazement once again.