Battleframe (The Mindwars Book 1)

by Michael Gilmour

  Whizzbang suddenly held up his finger to indicate silence. Tilting his head to the side to speak into the comnet he said, “CT Captain. Ensure that you secure the surrounding perimeter from any Scourge that we may have missed.”

  There was a gap of silence while the Captain replied before Whizzbang said, “We’re on the roof now and leaving in a few minutes.”

  Turning back to Acheron and Selfia, Whizzbang relayed the conversation. “The militia Captain will be here in a couple of minutes and he said that it’s fine for us to move out.”

  Both Selfia and Acheron nodded in understanding.

  Whizzbang pulled out a packet of nanites from his battleframe to build a glider jump pad. “I’m so glad that I met you two when I did. I don’t think I could’ve made it without you.”

  Selfia smiled as she mumbled to herself, “You would have found a way Whizz.”

  It was not long before the nanites had completed manipulating the tellurite crystals to form the glider launch pad. Whizzbang set the directional waypoint on his wrist-comp map to point to the Terrarium and then stepped onto the glider pad.

  Whizzbang loved flying and most of all he always got a thrill when he stepped onto a glider pad and experienced five G’s of vertical force. At the peak of the arc, his battleframe’s wings energised and he took a second to glance over his shoulder to ensure that Selfia and Acheron were on his six, directly behind him. The three of them soared silently over the lush green forest below towards the Terrarium. Even from their current distance, they could hear the faint crack of weapons fire.

  As he glided, Whizzbang peered through his Charge riflescope to get a better appraisal of the situation. Scourge warriors were directing their gunfire predominantly towards the top of a large rock face overlooking the massive plexiglass dome of the Terrarium. Massive hexagonal glass sheets the size of a man slotted into a plasteel frame and formed the outer skin of the Terrarium. As he glided, the morning sun reflected in bright flashes off the flat plexiglass hexagons. Every now and then, Whizzbang watched as a Charge rifle beam reached out and “melted” a Scourge warrior. Despite the obvious skill of the Concord Raven, it was evident that the pinned down shooter would not last much longer.

  Whizzbang spoke into his comnet pickup, “Whizzbang, Romeo, Oscar, Sierra, two, niner to Concord Raven at Terrarium. Three inbounds to your north will be at your position in one minute.”

  “Whizz is that you! Frap am I glad to hear your voice!”

  Whizzbang grinned. He’d finally found Bosk! Trust him to get into a mess with two Scourge fists.

  The wind whistled about his battleframe as Whizzbang steepened his glide angle downwards towards the Terrarium facility and his friend. Acheron and Selfia followed close behind and he chuckled to himself as Acheron let out a little “YeeeHaaaa!” over the comnet. Acheron’s enthusiasm was contagious and it was not long before they were all yelling a chorus of “YeeeHaaa’s”.

  Whizzbang levelled his Charge rifle’s scope to his eye and peered at the melee in the distance rushing towards him. Controlling his glide angle while scoping out an incoming battle is more art than science. The subtleties of a slight wind shift required him to make corresponding small changes in his position relative to his battleframe’s tiny energised winglets. Moving the Charge rifle’s scope to his eye, changed the position of his centre of gravity and required an almost super-natural gliding ability to compensate for the weight of the rifle barrel now sticking a long way out the front. In addition, the visual cues of the surroundings were now irrelevant since he was staring through the scope. Without a sixth sense for his glide angle he could easily end up stalled with his nose to the sky or racing towards the ground. In the end both options usually finished in a grizzly death.

  Whizzbang was more at home in the air than on the ground and it was not long before a Scourge Juggernaut was in his crosshairs. A slight pressing of the firing trigger resulted in the Juggernaut’s head spreading a highly volatized purple spray over the other Scourge firing up at Bosk. Although Selfia was not as accurate as Whizzbang in the air, a solitary boom of a sniper rifle behind him let him know that she was making the most of their inbound flight time.

  Just before Whizzbang de-energised his winglets, a Scourge Slayer met a similar fate to the Juggernaut. With a few short breaking steps, he landed on the roof of the ready room directly opposite the Terrarium and then immediately rolled onto his stomach. Selfia and Acheron followed closely behind him. Directly across from them was the empty scanning tower landing clamps. Just before they had arrived, the tower was vaporised so that Concord communications remained disrupted.

  The three of them lay flat on the roof to remain out of sight of the Scourge below and carefully checked out the composition of the enemy firing up at Bosk. Like Research Ravine, the scanning tower platform was constructed entirely from standard issue Concord plasteel grating. Stairways descended at both the south and north side of the upper tower deck to the ground below where the majority of the Scourge were now positioned.

  Leaning over the edge of the roof, Whizzbang peered through the grating at the Scourge scurrying around wondering what had killed a couple of their comrades. It would not be long before one of the enemy on the upper deck next to the tower clamps decided to investigate the roof the three of them were using as cover. That is when all hell would start heading their way.

  Ducking back out of sight Whizzbang whispered into the local comnet, “Bosk, how goes it up there?”

  A panting, strained voice responded, “Not so good. My battleframe’s got more holes in it than a block of cheese and my nanites are working over-time to repair the damage. I could really use a minute or two to get a bit of self-maintenance happening.”

  “CT Bosk. Hang in there.”

  “Doing my best.”

  Acheron slid along on his stomach to lie next to Whizzbang. He peeked over the roof edge at the Scourge below and asked, “Plan?”

  Indicating the direction of the Scourge, Whizzbang replied, “First we’ve got to clear the few Scourge out of the high ground around the tower platform and second deal with those two battle-pods and the enemy below. Self, you take position up here on the roof and snipe a few. I’ll stay with you until the upper deck is cleared and then jump across to the Terrarium roof on the other side. Ach, you smash them on the deck below and then head down the northern stairs to create a three way kill zone,” ordered Whizzbang.

  “CT Whizz,” Selfia said as she took up position and began getting a bead on a Shock.

  Acheron looked down at the group of Scourge milling around the tower platform who were clearly agitated about what had recently killed their two companions. Smiling, Acheron glance back at Selfia and silently mouthed, “I love you” just as he dropped off the roof onto the deck below.

  “Bosk, you sit tight while we create mayhem,” Whizzbang stated as he lined up a Scourge Engineer in his sites.

  “CT Whizz. I’ll remain behind cover,” Bosk replied.

  Another spent cartridge ejected from Selfia’s bolt-action rifle and fell onto the roof beside her. It landed with a metallic clank as it bounced off her growing collection of empty shell cases. A faint thin trail of blue smoke rose from the spent ammunition just as another crack of the rifle delivered its deadly contents in the direction of the now thoroughly confused Scourge.

  Lying prone on the roof beside Selfia, Whizzbang waited for his Charge rifle to power up to maximum before pressing the firing stud. The beam of super-heated energy sped through the air cutting first one Scourge and then bored its way through the enemy behind as well. One of the nice things about a Charge rifle beam is that it tended to keep going when only obstructed by flesh.

  Selfia glanced at Whizzbang, raised an eyebrow and said with a cheeky smirk on her face, “No need to show off Whizz.”

  “Two’s always better than one Self.”

  Acheron grunted in acknowledgement across the comnet as he opened up fire on the remaining Scourge warriors. They scattered to the l
eft and right in an effort to dodge the torrent of bullets heading in their direction. Despite their desire to avoid being riddled with holes Acheron picked each and every Scourge off and was as subtle as a surgeon doing a brain operation with a chainsaw. He was good at his job, in fact very good. It was not long before he cleared the upper deck of enemies and was ready to play his part in stage two of Whizzbang’s plan.

  Whizzbang kicked his jump jets into action and scooted across to the Terrarium roof opposite Selfia. Acheron jumped down the stairs three at a time. On his way down, he smashed a humming Scourge golden drone with his armoured fist and pumped a few rounds into it for good measure.

  The Scourge on the ground around the battle-pods that had been previously focusing their fire on Bosk, had now managed to regroup. An Engineer launched a second drone to attack Bosk’s position with the obvious intention of finishing him off. Two Shock troopers directed their attention towards Selfia’s rooftop position while two Juggernauts sent blasts of plasma at Whizzbang as he jump jetted across to his new vantage point. A couple of snipers began to take an interest in Selfia but she was already safely lying flat on the roof to avoid the fire already directed towards her. Selfia involuntarily pressed her face into the roof as a ruby red high energy beam zinged over her head and burrowed into the rock behind her.

  Three Slayers raced up the path and around the corner to face a smiling Acheron who braced himself as he gently squeezed his gun’s trigger.

  As Whizzbang can testify, Slayers can be annoying combatants, especially for a sniper when they are concentrating on targets through their scope. Before they know it, a Slayer can plunge eighteen inches of polished tellurite crystal into their backs, and the sniper finds they have been eported back to a Concord stronghold.

  The Slayers charging around the corner did not face a sniper, but Acheron who stopped them dead in their tracks. They literally shuddered to a halt. Not because they were hopelessly outmatched but rather because the thousands of rounds of depleted tellurite pouring from Acheron’s small mini-gun had severed their legs from their bodies. The stunned looks on their faces were almost comical if it was not for the fact that the three Slayers became six gently twitching body parts.

  Chapter 14

  In the Hanger

  “Come on professor! It’s time to go!” Altavia yelled across at him.

  “I’m nearly done Altavia. Just a few minutes more.”

  What is going on out in the crater Altavia thought to herself. She had tried to contact Whizzbang and Bosk on the comnet but not surprisingly, they had switched channels. She cursed the fact that she could not use her unique abilities as Creativity as it would reveal herself to the ultimate enemy. Typing faster than was humanly possible Altavia finished her part of the programming scripts that would send all of the research back to Kaladon.

  The professor looked more haggard than usual. He had hardly slept the last few months and there was only so much that stimulants could do before they took their toll.

  The voice in Altavia’s earpiece suddenly changed its’ message to, “Scourge have entered the building.” Bosk and Whizzbang must have failed.

  “Professor, we need to leave now!”

  Professor Steinberg tapped the keyboard a few more times and looked up at Altavia. “It’s done.” That simple statement summarized his life’s work. “I hope the Scourge cruiser doesn’t intercept the signal but it can’t be helped now,” he stated flatly.

  “It will be fine professor.” She loved this man, like a mother loves a son.

  Opening a drawer in her desk Altavia reached in a pulled out a small laser pistol. It may not do much against a warrior’s armour but it may be helpful in distracting them.

  Taking the professor by the arm, she guided him to the main throughway. It was the quickest way to the frigate but it was also the most exposed.

  Before entering the throughway she whispered, “Stay here professor.”

  Ducking down Altavia slowly looked around the corner and to the energy wall in the distance. Everything looked clear. It usually did until an enemy appeared.

  “Come on,” she whispered.

  They quietly creeped past racks of equipment, computers and machines as fast as the older professor could move. Altavia kept her eyes roving and searching forward for the Scourge that had entered the base. They finally made it to the edge of the research zone and she paused to let the professor catch his breath.

  A burst of automatic gunfire suddenly echoed off the high hanger roof. Signalling for the professor to wait where he was Altavia poked her head around a large computer rack to look at the frigate. Four enemy warriors had just gunned down a technician that had tried to make a run for the stairway leading up into the ship. His body now lay sprawled on the hanger floor in a pool of his own blood.

  Altavia needed a plan and one that did not involve both the professor and her dead. “Professor, I need you to hide between these two racks of computers and when the Scourge are gone board the frigate as fast as you can.”

  “What about you?”

  Altavia gave one of her most becoming smiles. “With any luck, I’ll be shortly behind you.”

  “Altavia.”

  “Yes professor.”

  “Be careful.”

  “Of course professor. Just remember to head to the frigate as soon as they’re past.”

  The professor nodded. He had an inkling of what she was going to do and knew that they may not see each other again. If he was a young man then it would be her in hiding and him defending.

  Altavia pulled out her laser pistol, took aim and fired at a compressed air bottle lying on the floor in the hanger directly opposite the fast frigate. With a sound like a clap of thunder, the pressurized oxygen instantly exploded outwards. Pieces of the metal bottle flew outwards in all directions and some even managed to hit the roof high above.

  The Scourge instantly spun around and started running towards the explosion. Altavia stepped out and fired her pistol at a Shock trooper. The beam did nothing to its armour but the shot did attract its attention. “Time to run,” Altavia said to herself as she turned and ran back down the main thoroughfare and past the racks of equipment.

  Behind her, she could hear the hard metallic boots of the Scourge hotly in pursuit.

  Colonel Greerson watched Altavia’s brave act from a doorway that lead from the facilities offices and into the hanger near the frigate. Behind him, trailing up a corridor, were a half a dozen terrified administrative clerks and secretaries.

  Just as the last of the Scourge chased Altavia, he whispered back down the corridor, “OK everyone. Now’s our chance. Go as quickly as you can and get into the ship!”

  The fast frigate was built for speed and had no offensive armaments. Once moving, nothing could catch it but the Colonel would have given anything for a heavy laser battery mounted on the side right now.

  As he glided through the air, Whizzbang brought the scope up to his eye to view what was taking place within the hanger. He saw the flash of the laser pistol and the compressed air bottle explode. He then watched as the four warriors began to chase after the person that had caused the diversion. Swinging back to the frigate he watched a group of people led by the Colonel up the stairway and into the ship.

  “Did you see all that Bosk?”

  Bosk lowered his rifle. “The person that created the diversion is either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.”

  “Or both.”

  “Yes, or both. They’re not going to stand a chance against the Scourge warriors.”

  As the wind whistled past him, Whizzbang raised his scope to his eye again. He nearly stalled in the air when he saw the professor shambling towards the frigate. “Bosk, I know who created the diversion.”

  “Who?”

  “Altavia.”

  “What?” Bosk replied incredulously.

  “I just saw the professor heading across the hanger bay. She would never have left his side unless she didn’t have a choice.”


  “We need to hit the energy wall high and keep on gliding into the building. It’s the only way that we’ll catch them.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Your legs going to hurt.”

  “I know but we don’t have any choice.”

  Altavia ran as far as she dared down the central thoroughfare before turning down a side corridor between two long storage racks stacked eight feet high. It was only a matter of time before the Scourge overtook her in their own powered armour. With that time, her goal was to get them as far as possible away from the professor.

  A rapid sequence of bangs erupted behind Altavia as the Shock trooper let loose a spray of bullets. The bullets tore and ripped their way through several rows of computer servers, shattering circuit boards and power supplies alike. Sparks and smoke immediately erupted from the electronics spraying the surrounding equipment in hot metal fragments.

  Altavia’s heart was beating faster than it ever had in her life. Adrenalin coursed through her blood stream. “So this was what it was like for battleframe pilots,” she absently mused? The terror was strangely intoxicating and she finally understood why some men and women put themselves repeatedly into danger.

  Altavia knew she needed to hide. Anywhere a heat source could mask her body’s own infrared signature. She presumed that the Scourge battleframes could see in that spectrum as well as in ultraviolet and the normal visible light frequencies. What she needed was a fire.

  Still running, she fired indiscriminately at one piece of equipment after another. The sound attracted the Scourge and she could hear them coming all the faster in her direction. “Something had to burn!” she thought in frustration. And then, something did.

  It took Altavia a millisecond to realise that she was in the research sector that was developing a miniaturized tellurite reactor. Her shot must have pierced the power core of a prototype unit as the resulting explosion was nothing short of spectacular. Like a hammer, striking an anvil the shockwave hit her in the chest and slammed her against a box filled with spare parts. The explosion was not large but the long corridor of equipment filled racks had focused the energy straight towards her. Lying sprawled on the floor, she was only dimly aware that a number of her ribs and left ankle were broken.