Cyber Shogun Revolution

by Peter Tieryas

  “I was curio—”

  Suddenly bullets perforated the glass. Reiko jumped onto Bishop, bringing both of them down to the floor. Rudo and Cossack weren’t as lucky. The assassin put a dozen bullet holes in both of them before dropping to the ground floor.

  “Who the hell was that?” Bishop asked.

  Reiko cautiously peeked over the edge of the broken glass. She spotted a male with blue hair and an auburn tunic carrying two assault rifles. He was wearing a Noh mask like the other members of the Sons of War. The sound of gunfire put the whole audience on alert.

  “I don’t think that was Bloody Mary,” Bishop noted.

  “You think the Gestapo killed them?” Reiko asked, looking at the bodies.

  “We won’t know until we grab him.”

  The assassin fired at the pair of bears who were preparing to fight on the center stage without having been lifted into the air yet. The restraints on one of the bears was destroyed. The bear, called Ripper, seemed uncertain how to handle its sudden freedom. It tentatively tried to step forward. Realizing the restraints were broken, Ripper launched itself at its handlers. Ripper was a feral giant and completely overwhelmed the people closest to it. It jumped at the gawkers in the front row, mauling two teenagers, then biting the face of a man and violently swinging him around. Reiko was surprised that no one in the stadium was leaving. They actually cheered excitedly and thought it was part of the show.

  Reiko took out the grappling hook from her belt, wrapped it around one of the chairs.

  She asked Bishop, “Can you sit here for a minute?”

  “What are you doing?” he asked as he complied.

  “Taking a shortcut,” she said, then grabbed on to the other end of the rope and leaped down. Bishop clinched to his end, barely holding on. She was able to quickly drop to the lower floor. The assassin was just ahead of her. Reiko raised her pistol and fired at his leg.

  He fell but got back up. Reiko figured he must be wearing some type of armor. Even then, the leg must be bruised unless it was artificial. She was going to shoot again, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something big sprinting her way. It was Ripper, and it pushed a trio of men into the chairs, hurting them badly.

  Reiko jumped out of the aisle, barely avoiding the bear’s furious dash. The audience members were slowly realizing Ripper was out of control. People who’d kept their guns holstered began firing at the beast. A shower of bullets fired from both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately, the majority of the gunshots ended up hitting other people who were trying to escape. Those who were wounded screamed out loud. The crowd became more scared of the haphazard gunshots than they were of the bear as people began sniping at each other in anger over stray bullets.

  Reiko searched for the assassin. She saw him running down the aisle for a different exit. People were stampeding out, and with their instincts taking over, it had become a frenzied panic.

  Moving in the opposite direction of the human wave was Bishop.

  “What took you so long?”

  “Guards outside wouldn’t let me in. Where’s the assassin?”

  “Making an exit,” she said, pointing in his direction.

  They set off in pursuit.

  “You think he was waiting for Watanabe’s name before he fired, or the timing was just coincidental?” Bishop asked.

  If not for the shooting, she would still be reeling from the revelation that Pris Watanabe was shipping in mecha parts from the Nazis and possibly working with Bloody Mary. “I don’t know. But that’d mean someone leaked our meeting.”

  “Who, though?”

  Reiko couldn’t make sense of it. Her attention went to the assassin running out into the parking lot. They chased after him, and just as they exited the coliseum, they heard heavy gunfire.

  In the middle of the parking lot, a tripedal unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), or TriWalker, was firing at Nazi guards and parked cars. It had the bulk of a tank, two J290 miniguns that fired several thousand rounds per minute, three articulating arms, and three corresponding legs to walk on. The TriWalker was eight meters tall and was shooting at a Nazi armored car along with a group of soldiers in the parking lot. Behind the UGV, she saw the assassin climb aboard a tiltrotor aircraft. It was an older model with four rotors, while all the markings had been scraped off. There was no way they were going to catch up. But Reiko had another idea. She took out a peripheral for her gun, attached it to her pistol, and aimed at the assassin. She was too far to get a lock and ran forward.

  “What are we doing?” Bishop asked as he followed her.

  “I need to get closer to that tiltrotor.”

  “You get any closer and that minigun’ll take you out.”

  “Fortunately, it’s focused on the Nazis,” Reiko said.

  She crouched behind the automobiles and peered carefully over. It was clear. She rushed toward the plane. Bishop followed behind, gun ready. Reiko was able to obtain a lock on the aircraft when she noticed something in her periphery. From her flank, a Nazi soldier was about to attack with his assault rifle. Just before he fired, Bishop yelled, “Get down!”

  He fired his pistol at the Nazi’s shoulder. The soldier twirled at the impact, firing into the air instead of at Reiko. Bishop pounced on him, stripped away his gun, and knocked him out.

  “Thanks for the save,” Reiko said.

  “I owed you.”

  Reiko turned back to the assassin’s aircraft, which was taking off.

  “Cover me,” she said.

  She climbed on top of the car. A Nazi who saw her was about to fire at her, but Bishop picked him off, shooting him through the chest. Reiko compensated her aim for speed and wind, then pressed the trigger. The tracker hit its target in the air.

  “Reiko! Watch out!” Bishop shouted.

  The TriWalker had finished mopping up the Nazi soldiers and turned its attention to them. Reiko jumped down from the car just in time for the minigun to puncture holes through the car instead of her. Reiko tried to see if any more Nazis were coming. The armored car was destroyed, and all the soldiers appeared to be killed. They were pinned at their location, and the UGV began walking their way.

  “You tracking it?” Bishop asked, pointing to the sky as the aircraft flew past them.

  Reiko nodded. The tracker was lodged on the hull of the vehicle and would be difficult to detect without a thorough search. It’d relay a signal to the GLS that’d pipe back its location to her portical.

  The TriWalker was getting closer. She sent a “come here” signal to the Inago on a tethered channel that she knew would circumvent the kikkai disruptors.

  “What are our chances of surviving this?” Bishop asked.

  “The Inago has never failed me.”

  “Hope today isn’t the day that changes.”

  “It won’t be.”

  Reiko checked the distance of the Inago versus the rate at which the TriWalker was getting closer. She sped up the Inago to its fastest speed, but it was going to be tight.

  Bishop said, “I’m going to try distracting it.”

  “How?”

  “By playing hide-and-seek.” Bishop put the hoodie over his head, and his body became a reflection of his environment so that he was nearly impossible to spot.

  The UGV stopped firing for a few seconds as it looked for them. Bishop used that chance to run to the next car. Reiko watched her portical to check the Inago’s proximity. It was still two minutes away. She could hear the TriWalker’s footsteps getting louder and louder. Just then, there was a blast as something fired at its head. It must have been Bishop.

  The TriWalker rotated around and began walking in his direction.

  Reiko amplified the strength on her laser gun to fire at a car on the other side, causing it to explode. For a moment, the TriWalker became confused and turned its attention to the new blast, trying t
o identify its source. That’s when Bishop pummeled it with more rays from the opposite end. Again, the TriWalker moved to investigate before unleashing bullets.

  They were both pinned in place.

  But these distractions gave them the minute they needed for the Inago to arrive. The TriWalker began barraging the mecha with its gun as soon as it was within visual range. But the Inago was too strong for it, the bullets barely making a dent on its armor with the plasma shield up. Reiko had a first-person view of the mecha via her lens and moved so that it would close in on the UGV. Using her shield in conjunction with her fists, she punched the walker, immediately destroying its main section. The TriWalker tried to set off missiles, but the Inago used its magnetic gun to delay its ejection, and the missile blew up in place. The TriWalker exploded, and its remaining legs fell over to the side. The final move by her mecha was a heavy stomp to make sure the TriWalker’s legs couldn’t take any autonomous actions.

  Bishop ran toward Reiko and said, “I’m sorry I ever doubted.”

  “Don’t be. That was close.”

  Reiko and Bishop ascended the ladder that dropped from the Inago’s bridge and got into their seats, strapping themselves in. She checked her scans. The assassin was long gone. But Nazi forces were heading toward the coliseum.

  Reiko drove to the border as fast as she could. With all the chaos back at the coliseum, she knew it’d distract authorities enough for them to make their getaway. According to her scans, security forces had surrounded the arena. No one chased her yet. At full speed, very few craft could keep up with a Katamari anyway. But as they arrived at the border gate, two biomechs approached. These weren’t the bipedal ones she’d seen earlier. Both biomechs had six arms and a massive Githu-Nafoi cannon protruding out of their chests. They also had horns over their heads and a bright red bony structure jutting out of their shoulders like epaulets. The armor with the swastikas covered vulnerable spots.

  “This is Captain Morikawa. I’m returning back to West Texarkana,” she relayed her audio message.

  The massive twin monsters came menacingly close. “Captain Morikawa,” the pilot replied. “I’m Gryz of the Lashiec. Eight of our citizens were assassinated, including one at the bear fight you attended.” Eight? What were they talking about? There was only Cossack. “We request your assistance in this matter.”

  “You can send a message to the embassy. I’m in a hurry to get back right now.”

  “Captain, we need you to get out of the mecha and return with us for questioning,” the pilot insisted.

  “Questioning of what?”

  “Surely you can see that you’re not in a position of strength. Don’t force us to take a regrettable course of action.”

  Reiko grinned. “I’m not getting out of the Inago, and I’m not returning with you anywhere.”

  “You don’t fully understand your situation. We will annihi—”

  She ended the communication and sped past them. The initial acceleration caught them off guard. She hopped through the gate and entered Texarkana’s demilitarized zone. Several cannons from the wall fired at her. An unlucky shell hit her mecha’s hip and caused a disruption in the wiring. The joint stiffened and slowed her by half. She toggled the automatic repair articulation module to try to fix the issue. They started their process, but initial prognostics indicated she needed to replace the part for a full recovery. She limped toward the other side.

  The biomechs were faster than she’d expected for their size and caught up to her. The first biomech lunged at the Inago, breaking its shoulder and causing the Inago to spin in place. The biomech’s cancerous skin looked like it was morphing and eating itself at the same time, a disturbing ooze that was in disruptive turmoil. Reiko got out her magnet gun and tried to repel the biomech via its armored plating. But the biomech was too dense, and she couldn’t push it back. It moved its way through the magnetic force and came straight at her.

  “Hold your seat!” Reiko ordered Bishop.

  “Why?”

  Reiko hit the emergency drop so that the bridge would descend from the head down into the stomach. They did it just as the biomech battered the Inago’s head, causing a big chunk of it to cave in. The monster struck again and this time decapitated the mecha’s head off. Emergency alarms rang, which Reiko immediately shut down. Their space was much tighter, and auxiliary controls had remained above. She used boosters on her boots to make distance between the two. Reiko had an idea.

  She lifted the Inago’s separated head with the magnet gun. Just as the biomech tried to attack again, she used the head like a cannonball to lambaste the biomech. This pushed the biomech to the side. It wasn’t enough to defeat the Nazi. But that wasn’t her goal. What she wanted was to give them space to make a few more meters to their half of the border. It worked. The biomech took a few steps back before lunging forward again. She triggered the plasma shield which temporarily repelled the biomech. Reiko sped quickly toward West Texarkana. The biomech renewed its pursuit.

  “It’s still chasing,” Bishop said.

  “Any suggestions on how to avoid getting killed?”

  “Invite them to watch a bear fight together.”

  “What do you think this is?”

  The biomech caught up to her and lunged at the Inago. The Inago hit the boosters and barely avoided the biomech. But the other Nazi monster was about to smash into her and knock out her main systems. Suddenly, a massive sword blocked its attack. Behind them, the Zombie, commanded by General Furuya, had come to the rescue. The mecha, with its bright emerald armor and its enormous blade, stood at equal height with the biomech.

  “Thank you, General,” Reiko said.

  The Zombie kicked the biomech, then sliced its head off in one quick swoop. The Nazi monstrosity dropped to its knees and fell over, causing the ground to shake. The other biomech raised its arms, preparing to attack.

  General Furuya sent a public message, “Nazi biomech. You might not know me, but you’ve heard of my mecha. I make zombies out of Nazis. I’ll only warn you once. You’re trespassing. Withdraw immediately, or I will destroy you and add you to my collection.”

  The Zombie raised its sword with both arms. The blade was as big as the mecha, and its shadow pierced right between the biomech’s two halves. The Zombie held its pose, waiting for the right moment to strike. The biomech hesitated.

  It was clear to Reiko that no matter what the Nazi did, the fate of the battle was already determined.

  They sped ahead.

  “Okay, that was awesome,” Bishop said. “How did it get here so fast?”

  “The Zombie is known for its speed.”

  “And its big goddamn sword,” Bishop laughed. “Y’all don’t mess around.”

  “Only things Nazis respond to is might.”

  “And bear art.”

  “You feel bad for Cossack?”

  “No. But I do feel bad for Rudo. We left his body over there.”

  “The army’ll work it out with the embassy.”

  “Yeah, but he used to be Tokko.”

  She plugged her portical into the Inago and brought up the map on her holographic display. The tracking signal for the assassin flashed on.

  “Where’s he heading?” Bishop asked.

  “West.”

  “To Dallas?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “I hate waiting and seeing,” Bishop said.

  “So do I,” Reiko replied.

  Behind them, the second biomech fell, headless.

  * * *

  —

  It was painful for Reiko to see her mecha so badly damaged. The Inago’s head would need replacing, and the legs needed an overhaul. The technician in charge tried to assure her by saying, “I’ve seen a lot worse.”

  “How long will you need?”

  “Depends on approp
riations and supplies. Could be a week. Could be a month. There’s custom parts needed for the Inago that we don’t have here.”

  Since the Katamari classes were still a rare model and equipment for them wasn’t as readily available, it made sense. From her production experience, it was actually more cost-effective to have plentiful spare parts than to build new mechas, since that meant damaged machines could be fixed. The Nazi’s obsession with building more tanks rather than providing sufficient replacement parts almost ended up costing them the victory in their invasion of the old Soviet Union decades ago (their tanks were breaking down in the wintry snow and the terrible road conditions). If the Imperial forces hadn’t attacked from the east, who knows how the war might have gone?

  Mechas broke down as well, though terrain wasn’t as big an impediment. Their breakdowns had to do with their sheer complexity. She remembered the time a pigeon accidentally squeezed into one of the Inago’s ventilation shafts and blew out multiple fuses, causing the left arm to become paralyzed. It took a technician four days to fix it, and she shadowed him the entire time so she could learn how to do it too.

  A lieutenant approached them and said, “Captain. The assistant mayor wants to talk to you ASAP.”

  Reiko had never met the assistant mayor. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  —

  “What the hell did you do out there?” demanded the assistant mayor of West Texarkana Fortress, Giichi Kubo. He was a tall male of Irish-Scottish descent who had served in the army.

  “We were watching a bear fight when someone shot at us,” Reiko replied.

  “They killed our host,” Bishop added.

  “According to the German ambassador, eight political targets were killed, including Gauleiter Goring’s nephew and two Nazi generals. The Gauleiter is furious. The embassy has sent multiple remonstrations and demanded justice. I’ll ask again: What were you doing out there?”

  So the biomech pilot hadn’t been deceiving them about the other assassinations. “We weren’t involved,” Reiko stated, more confused now than before.

  “The Nazis are blaming you two.”