by Chris Hechtl
"Hit the bar scene, you mean?" Nia asked, clearly amused as Jasper pulled his weapon back just in time to avoid it getting hit by incoming rounds.
"Yeah." Jasper said. "I'll need a wingman. Someone to prop me up."
"Well, if we're going to do that, we've got to take care of these guys, right? You know we could just turn our shields on and wade into that. Get in close and finish this, right?" Nia demanded.
"Yeah but we'd get chewed up in the process," Jasper said. "I've learned my lesson there."
"Price of anteing in the game," Nia said.
"Yeah, well, I'll just wait for someone to toddle along with some serious firepower," Jasper said as he wall squatted a little to fire from a different angle. Never repeat the same moves had been ingrained into them.
"Did someone say serious fire power?" Nia asked as she noted Uraj coming forward to their position.
Uraj arrived with a couple boxes of ammunition as well as the first missile reloads for Nia. “Now that's what I'm talking about,” Nia said as she held out her hands. “Come to mama,” she said with gimmy hand motions. The bear chuckled and pretended to hold them back, then give them to her.
She patted the missile box. “Now, who do we go for first? Should we do it eenie meenie?” she asked.
“Just shoot the damn thing,” Jasper growled in exasperation.
“Hey, I'm an artist here!” Nia protested as she shouldered the launcher, and then thought better of it. “Give me a lift?” she asked of Uraj before he could leave.
“Wha?” he asked looking at her.
“Down. All fours,” she said.
He grunted, then did so after a moment's hesitation. “See? So trainable. Good boy,” she cooed as she climbed onto his back and then stood so she was high up.
“What is that supposed to prove?” Jasper demanded as she leaned just far enough around the corner so her missile pack and arm were exposed. Her arm took a few hits in the tricep, but she aimed and fired.
“Oh, that,” she said pulling her arm in as the missiles raced down the corridor at ceiling level and then split at the junction. Two went straight ahead and then arrowed down into the robots and sentry guns, tearing them apart while the other two missiles went around the corner and exploded against the far wall, sending shrapnel, force, and a big scab of stone down on the defenders there.
“Okay, can you get off now?” Uraj demanded. “Before I buck you off?” he growled.
Nia jumped down, then patted him on the ass as he got one knee under him and then stood. “Good boy,” she cooed.
He growled but then took up his rifle again and sent out a series of probes ahead into the devastation. “I think that did it,” he said. He keyed his shields as Jasper reloaded, then advanced.
“Good. I'll be along in a minute,” Nia said as she looked at her right arm and the dripping blood. “Well, that kinda sucks,” she drawled as she fingered the holes in her armor with her left index finger.
<)>^<)>/
Lieutenant Zevaya groaned as she came awake with a flash. She realized she was injured; her suit was dead. She did a quick mental assessment, then tried to call out. When she didn't get a response, she tried to move her right arm, but a flash of pain made her stop. She slowly moved her right arm. It was hard in the unpowered suit, but she managed to get it up to pull her helmet off, then hit the emergency release at the back behind her head. The panel came up and then she awkwardly pulled the handle.
She felt relief when her suit opened. She pulled herself out of it, grimacing and biting her lip so hard she tasted blood as she pulled her right arm out of the sleeve. It was definitely broken she noted.
She looked around, coughing in the smoke to note Mackie, Askdall, Jensen, and the others were all dead. They formed a temporary wall of dead between her and the corner where the enemy was surely advancing down. She cradled her broken arm as she stepped out of the suit and then staggered out of the area. There was nothing left for her there, nothing at all.
<)>^<)>/
Dimitri saw Zevaya's blockade go down and groaned. He had a small glimmer of hope when he saw Zevaya manage to get out of her suit and then get away before the enemy's advancing suits could get to her, but it was a fleeting sense. He knew they were screwed. He'd just lost another eight troops. “All units, this is Delta Baker One. I'm setting the final option. Fifteen minutes. You've got that long to fall back on the back door and get clear. Move or get buried, your choice,” he said as he rose from his kneeling position.
<)>^<)>/
“We have a breakout here. Repeat, breakout,” Jasper said before he followed the others. They got to the intersection and whistled at the carnage. “Both ways appear open.”
“Roger that,” Jethro replied.
“Preferences on which way we go?” Jasper asked.
“Head to the reactor or control room,” Jethro replied.
“Right,” Jasper drawled as he checked the map. It was still only partially complete. He started to orient on it when he saw a suit approaching down the corridor where the enemy suits were stacked up. Well, that simplified things a little he thought.
<)>^<)>/
James Scornlan passed Zevaya without her suit. He turned, but she waved him on, cradling a hand to her head. He shrugged and turned as his sensors told him the enemy was advancing. He charged at the enemy suit as it rounded the corner, firing from the hip. The enemy suit fired back, DX'ing his gun, and hitting him in the chest. He continued to charge in a berserker fury right up until a rocket propelled grenade hit him in the abdomen and tore him and his suit apart.
<)>^<)>/
Zevaya got around a corner as she heard James snarl and charge forward. She cringed when she heard the weapons fire echo back at her, then the explosion. She closed her eyes in pain, fighting tears as she continued to move away from the enemy.
<)>^<)>/
“Bast, we need to find that reactor and the control room,” Jethro said. “Any ideas?” he asked.
“One,” Bast said. He felt her take control of his right arm. He relinquished control. She reached up and ripped through a false ceiling cover to get at wiring. She fished through it until she found ODN cables zip tied together. She used his fingers to snap the zip ties to get some slack and then pulled the cable down. She snapped one end of the ODN cable leading deeper into the base and then plugged it into a port on the back of his hand.
He felt her send data through it, most likely bots. “There is a self-destruct count down. The fusion reactor is set to go critical in thirteen minutes,” Bast said after a second. “Lance is closest,” she said.
“Lance, you heard?” Jethro demanded as Bast filled in the map. “Get in there; shut that damn thing down fast.”
“Understood,” the gorilla growled.
“There is a lot of data here. We need to get the others involved to get as much as we can,” Bast said.
“Cocoa, anyone not doing anything important, hack the ODN cables. A.I. do not step on each other. Work together to get what we need.”
“And that is?” Callisto asked as her host located an ODN junction box and then accessed it for her.
“Everything you can get. Start with the map, personnel list, location of enemy units, control of the base's systems, and location of their other bases. Go down from there, communications, encryption keys, the lot.”
“Understood,” Callisto said as Cocoa plugged into the jack. She sent a stream of bots through. “If you don't mind though, I'll set my own priority to shut that countdown off.”
“Agreed,” Bast replied.
<)>^<)>/
The A.I. hack into the control and communication's room computers. Bast passed on everything she learned to the other A.I. and they did the same. Callisto entered the reactor control systems and sent the order to shut down the self-destruct.
Bast managed to pull up an in-depth look at the base as well as the maps and locations of the other Horathian bases on the planet.
She was on her way to gett
ing the communications protocols and decryption keys when Captain Zhukov realized the computers were acting sluggish. He checked the status board and noted that the processors were at 100 percent. Something was in the memory, and he didn't like it.
With a start, he realized he was being hacked. He stood and started yanking cords and smashing systems. He pulled his side arm and fired into the server tower.
<)>^<)>/
Bast and the others felt systems in the enemy network go down fast. They took what they could and then bailed out of the network as it crashed down around them.
<)>^<)>/
Dimitri emptied an entire clip into a server, then grabbed it and threw it over onto its face for good measure. He yanked the power cords, then went to the door. He primed a pair of grenades and tossed them into the darkened room as he left it. He was now down to his suit he realized as he reloaded his sidearm and the grenades went off behind him, tearing the equipment into small pieces. So be it.
<)>^<)>/
With the order to cut and run, the defenses crumbled. Some of the troops hesitated, then started to slowly walk away, and then run to the back door as fear of being left behind got to them. It became a route within seconds when there were no more calls from Captain Zhukov.
<)>^<)>/
“Did we get it? Tell me we got something,” Jethro said as he noted the signal went dead.
“We got a lot. How much we are unsure. We can wait on processing it,” Bast replied. “Right?” she asked as they saw enemy units on the run.
“Definitely,” he said as he returned to the here and now. He engaged his cloak and went hunting.
<)>^<)>/
Tex had abandoned his empty gun rig and was down to his two side arms and grenade bag. He'd also lost something almost as important to him. Somewhere along the way, he'd lost his trademark western hat, and he hated that. He felt a bit lost without it.
He was trying to figure a way out, maybe getting around the enemy units when he saw movement ahead. He fired at it instinctively.
<)>^<)>/
Lobo realized he was in trouble when the enemy suit fired on him. Apparently his damage had affected his cloak in some way or it was the smoky haze in the corridor. Either way he was drawing the enemy fire like a magnet; something he didn't want.
<)>^<)>/
Roarack heard the nearby weapons fire. Fenrir put the location up on his HUD; it was just ahead. He rounded a corner to see the distant fire going up the other corridor at the T intersection. According to Fenrir, Lobo was there on the other end. Not good.
To get the guy to split his fire, Roarack began to fire his rifle at the suit, but he didn't have a clean shot, The guy was obstructed by a beam and some crates.
<)>^<)>/
Tex realized he was being attacked from two sides, so he shot like a two-fisted gunslinger, using both hands to fire at separate targets. He hoped and prayed his ammunition would hold out. He had a quick release and reload harness, but he wasn't certain he'd have the time to use it.
<)>^<)>/
Lobo didn't have shields or cloak; his suit took some hard hits and went down. Coyote whimpered and tried to deal with the damage. “Cover,” Lobo snarled, trying to back away. He returned fire but the heavy suit shrugged off the light caliber weapons. Need to switch to heavy caliber but no time.
“Come on, you want some of this?” Tex said as he advanced on the damaged suit. He pivoted his right arm to keep firing at the muzzle flare there. He would hit something eventually he knew.
Roarack took a couple hits and realized his gamble of exposing himself to save Lobo was risking his own hide too. Fenrir snarled and dropped the cloak as they moved in. The shields spun up, but it would take time for them to engage. And Roarack had other plans.
They couldn't get through the heavy armor of the heavy weapon suits, not with the low-caliber weapons at a distance. So he waded in, soaking up some of the fire to get up close and personal. He got to the guy's side just as the pistols clicked empty. He didn't hesitate though; he rammed the muzzle of his own weapon into the guy's abdomen at an upward angle and triggered a full stream of fire right under the chest plate.
<)>^<)>/
Tex felt the muzzle go under his chest and tried to twist and block it, but there was no time. Then incredible pain tore at his chest and abdomen.
“That's low,” Tex gasped out as he dropped to his knees. His pistols drooped and then fell from his nerveless fingers.
Roarack grunted. “All's fair in love and war,” he said as he lifted his gun to the guy's helmet. “Lights out,” he said as he pulled the trigger.
“Baker Two to Alpha One and Baker One. One Tango down. Baker Two damaged. Baker Four damaged. We're down but not out,” he said, noting the suit damage. Fenrir was doing what he could, but there was a lot of damage.
“Roger that,” Jethro replied. “Sit tight and render aide to each other until we can get you some help,” he said.
“Oh, we're not going anywhere,” Roarack said as he took a kneeling position near Lobo's fallen suit. He reached out and touched the suit with his right hand. Fenrir accessed it and sent him a report. Lobo was injured but unconscious. He checked his own status and noted he too was injured.
“Huh, no pain? Are my implants blocking it or you?” he asked. Fenrir growled, then went back to work.
“Well, excuse me for wondering,” the black wolf said as he settled in for a wait.
<)>^<)>/
Jethro grimaced when he heard Roarack's report. Another two down bothered him, but it was a remote thing. For the moment, he needed to focus. Staring at the map showed him the enemy breaking contact on all fronts. He realized the enemy units were being routed. “Alpha One to all Cadre. Advance and continue the fight if you can. If you are injured, hold tight until your A.I. and suit can handle the damage,” he ordered. “All Winchester suits to advance and secure choke points. You are going to cover our backs and make sure none of the enemy get around us and out your way,” he growled.
<)>^<)>/
Colonel Harley didn't want to jog Jethro's elbow so she got a SITREP from Sergeant V'n'r. “So far so good, ma'am. According to the latest report, the A.I. have stopped the self-destruct sequence,” he reported.
“Damn,” she murmured. So, the warrant had been right to keep her people back. If she'd sent them in and they hadn't been able to stop it … she fought to put the what-if out of her mind. After all, it hadn't happened.
“We've got two dead, three injured, ma'am,” the sergeant said. “The Cadre units are advancing on the enemy's final place. It looks like the enemy is falling back on their back door, though there are a few leakers and others trying to hide or get around and out the front door.”
“Understood.”
“Ma'am, I don't mean to be rude, but I think they are going to be breaking out soon. So if you don't mind, I'd like to focus on that.”
“Understood, Sergeant. Take prisoners if you can, but make sure none of them get away.”
“Aye aye, ma'am. Charlie One out.”
“We're jamming their frequencies to prevent word of the assault from getting out,” the colonel said as she turned to Major N'v'll. “Right?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Good. I want our people to be on hand to go over that place with a fine-toothed comb the moment it's considered secured,” she said, turning to Major Zedeal and Lieutenant Liu. Both men nodded.
<)>^<)>/
Lance got to what Mahavira said was the reactor room. He went in and nodded at the sight of the small two-meter sized box and rows of tanks. There was a nest of piping going from the tanks to the box and a nest of wires coming out of the box and going out in all directions. Lights were blinking on the box. “Jackpot. We have a winner people. This is Alpha Four; I've found the reactor,” he said over his radio.
“Secure the room and scram the thing so they can't manually blow it,” Jethro replied.
“Alpha Four understood,” the gorilla said. “Now where
is the off …,” Mahavira highlighted a spot on the microfusion reactor. “I knew that,” he said. He walked over and slapped the cover up and then hit the big red button to scram the reactor just as a suit flashed onto his HUD map. It was moving fast and red so he turned.
<)>^<)>/
Captain Zhukov saw the suit icon on his map ahead of him in the room and snarled just as the lights flickered and went out. He rushed into the room firing and took cover behind the pipes and tanks. But rounds began to ping and hammer through the tanks, spraying water all over the place.
Two rounds caught him and then more. He grunted.
<)>^<)>/
Lance saw a flat black armor with a gold lower skull facemask under a flat black Stahlhelm-style helmet rush the door and take cover behind the tanks as he turned. The guy had to have been on the run all the way in to have gotten there and into the room that fast. That said something about his suit.
But hiding behind thin-skinned tanks partially filled with water was a losing proposition. The water would absorb some of his shot's kinetic energy but not all of it. He fired at the tanks around the figure's outline. He wasn't certain if he should try to take the bastard alive.
“Alpha Four here, I've got company. It's the big cheese,” he said as he found nominal cover behind a pack of crates.
He kept firing but then a pair of grenades were tossed into the pipe work. He turned away as they went off and saw the enemy suit rush back out of the room as the grenades exploded, showering the room with shrapnel and water.
“Check that, he's getting away,” Lance snarled as debris hit the crates and his armor.
<)>^<)>/
Dimitri snarled, one arm going to his side. His suit wasn't breached, but it had been close. His left arm was at 50 percent. His left leg was about the same. He growled and headed to the armory. There were several ways to destroy the base; the reactor was just the easiest he thought as he moved. He might be able to rig the ordinance to blow.
“Captain Zhukov to all units. Never mind the reactor, its down,” he said, unsure if his radio would penetrate through the stone walls and any possible enemy jamming. “Take out supports along the way to the back door. Bury the bastards and anyone too slow to get out.”