I shook all the doubt off my shoulders and stood there, grinning. I’d go in hard and rain death on their best, or die trying.
A sudden surge of emotions came to life within me, but they weren’t mine. The familiars twitched for a brief instance and shifted from foot to foot. What the hell? I tried to pry deep into what made them what they were, felt for the chips ingrained inside me that made them what they were, but there was nothing. Was I seeing things?
“Fucking hell,” I cursed. “You’re scaring my familiars,” I yelled at the Templar and darted right at him as Bucky charged in from his flank. Buzzard strafed the brutish creature with its minigun, peppering the armor with nanite bullets, but they were far too weak to do any damage to the armor itself.
Bucky slammed into the Templar, using his Charge ability, and stunned the Templar momentarily, then pulled back and got down on all fours. My splinter cannon came to life and released one of my most prized slugs, a full-on bunker-busting projectile. Bucky propelled himself at the Templar as my slug struck and almost knocked him over.
I dropped to a knee and loaded another of my rounds as Bucky activated Harden, doubling his defense. The Templar moved into a defensive stance, shielding himself with the two giant swords in his gauntlets.
“So you think you can take it?” I yelled as the second round struck his left arm, breaking the defensive posture.
Beast slid into siege mode, ramming both front legs into the concrete bellow, lowered his hindlegs, and opened all his missile hatches as the two miniguns propped out of his back. A swarm of tiny, hornet-sized missiles streaked from the launchers and were joined by slugs shot from the miniguns just as Bucky hit the Templar’s side. Explosions rang out and were accompanied by thick, white smoke.
I swatted the notifications on my INAS aside and dropped to a knee as my palms came down against the ground. A mass of 35% O-Nan cells slammed into the ground, and instead of sending them into the Templar, they darted for the two half-devastated buildings to each of the Templar’s sides. They were far from sturdy since they’d been shaken numerous times by bombardment of the mine, even more so after the Donnerjack went to town on the region. They had one job, and they performed well as huge chunks of stone, steel, and random debris dropped on top of the Templar.
Bucky made it out on his own without me even needing to order him. It was then that I realized something was wrong. The bots were acting too autonomous in comparison to how they’d been doing last time. I cursed inwardly and pushed the thought away for later.
Beast’s back-mounted cannon rang out and slammed deep into the rubble, exploding with the power of a massive bomb. The blastwave sent the Raintroopers and Zealots flying in all directions.
Bricks and stone peppered everything in all directions, including me, the troopers, and the several Ravagers who joined in moments ago. Smoke wafted from the point of impact, but I knew it was far from over as a tingling sensation ran up my spine. I had another one of those tier upgrade sensations but this one was different; I ranked beyond Tier 5 into an Adept Technomancer. My INAS screamed congratulations and a whole array of new data regarding my new options within the CFF. I had to push it all away to focus on the fight.
I became aware of the destruction I caused, and even more, of what I was able to do once I became even stronger. Combined with the sensation of leaving tier levels behind, I felt like I could pluck battleships from the skies.
I was wrong. Not only was I unable to touch a battleship, but the Doomguard Templar also rose steadily and pushed the debris off him. The grin on his face told me one thing: he was having the time of his life.
I quickly checked my INAS and found that I had caused very little damage to his armor. How the hell had he barely sustained any damage from my best ammo combined with two damn buildings dropping on top of him?
The heap of bricks shuffled as the giant white-gold armor made a step toward me. The Templar pushed away the rubble around him and rose to his full height, sand and other materials sliding down his slick armor. It glimmered just as it had moments before without a single scratch.
“You shifty bastard,” I muttered and clenched my fist. “Fine, let’s have it your way! Beast!”
The assault bot had enough ammo for another full round of minigun and missile barrages along with a second nuke, as I liked to call it. It could best be compared to a rail gun, where a chunk of steel was propelled at a target with incredible speed. The impact was so massive that it imitated a real explosion.
The second swarm of missiles and bullets hit the Templar’s armor, but most of the rounds bounced off with ease. This time the Templar didn’t just stand there like a statue, no. He moved with incredible agility considering his size and rushed toward me while blocking out the incoming fire.
Bucky charged into the Templar’s right leg to intercept him, but the impact wasn’t even enough to stop him for a heartbeat. Instead, the Templar swung one of his giant swords at the tank bot and cut off both his right arms, halving the nanite integrity of the bot.
The Templar stopped for a second and swung the sword again, but I used the moment to send a spike at him from below, slamming right between his legs. The armor held, but it distracted him for another heartbeat. Any moment gained was a win in my book. My spike attack left my O-Nan cell count at 40%, which wasn’t much.
The brute slammed both swords together and activated an ability I’d seen many a time by now: Raystrike. The weapons gave off a strong white glow as they came my way. I jumped away by the skin of my teeth as the two giant blades ravaged the ground and left a gaping hole where I had just stood.
The Templar swung the pommel of his sword at me midair, catching me directly in the chest. His attack passed right through my Blade Shield, which shouldn’t be possible. I thought I’d faint right then and there as I struggled to regain my composure and take in enough air to breathe. I would have dropped to the ground if it wasn’t for Beast who literally caught me. My INAS reported that I had suffered internal trauma from the attack, and though I could feel very little pain, I knew that my insides would need some serious mending.
I pushed off Beast’s back and tried to gain some distance, but the Templar wouldn’t let me. Another set of swinging blades almost cost me my right hand as I jumped. The Templar wasn’t just strong, he was incredibly fast, too.
Beast and Bucky charged right at the Templar. It was a futile and stupid attempt to save time, but I had something in mind, so it just might work, even though I’d probably never see them again in this configuration.
Bucky charged the Templar from the back and Beast attacked from the front as the Templar swung down at Bucky first, knowing it was more dangerous up close than the assault bot. Surprising him yet again, I turned on the Vibro-Shield at the last second. Although it was designed to stop projectiles, the Templar’s swing was as devastating as any cannon shell. The energy he released with each strike heated up the air in the entire area.
The Vibro-Shield held for a series of quick hits but then shattered into a million pieces as the heavy golden blade slid right through it. Beast jumped and bit into the Templar’s gauntlet, its razor-sharp nanite teeth actually punctured the armor and caused some direct damage to the giant. I used the opportunity to do the one thing that I thought could work. I came into the Templar’s melee range and pressed my hand against the armor of his right leg.
The giant was shaking Beast off his hand when he realized where I was standing. It wasn’t an understatement when I looked up and saw surprise beneath the visor of his helmet. Sure, it sounded dumb, but nothing could really surprise these brutes, not even death.
I pushed 20% nanites into the Templar’s body the way I would push them into the ground to spike a group of enemies. I could feel them bore slowly through the armor, too slowly because the Templar smacked me with the back of his hand, just like I’d do with a fly. I flew through the air a good twenty yards before I slammed into the side of a building, rattling every single bone in my body. The Templar
shook for the slightest of moments and then tried to dislodge the bot from his back, just as I started the hacking sequence.
HACKING TEMPLAR: 1%
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath as his security protocols struck back. They were as tough as his Doomguard armor, so I had to use nanites directly. I ran up to the distracted Templar once more, fully aware that this was my last resort. I pressed my hand against his legs and used my remaining 20% nanites to speed up the hacking attempt. Within a second the number jumped from 1% to 19%. The Templar was now frantically trying to grab Buzzard as it sent a hailstorm of bullets at the Templar’s visor. By the sound of it, some of them passed through the cracks and dealt some damage, but he couldn’t reach it. He was so occupied with the familiar he didn’t even notice me.
Come on, I screamed internally as the number jumped to 24%. Finally, the Cantari monster dropped on its back on purpose and smashed Buzzard beneath his weight. My H-Nans were in the deep red trying to fix the damaged tissue within me but it was now at a point where H-Nans could do very little to keep me conscious and moving.
HACKING TEMPLAR: 35%
I wasn’t even halfway through when the Templar rose back up and shook me off his leg like a bug. I still managed to keep my hand on the cuisse that was protecting his thigh, and continued although I knew it was futile. He was completely aware of what I was doing and mad like a raging bull. He again pulled out one of his swords and readied to strike me. I guess I pissed him off since he didn’t want to take the chance this time.
My life flashed before my eyes as I screamed at him and the blade which came crashing toward my head. There were tears in my eyes mixing with the blood in my face and tumbling down my cheeks, but I didn’t care. I focused on the flash of powerful, white light most of all.
A sensation of warmth took over when the sword touched my outstretched hand. As if it could do me any good against such a powerful swing. But to my surprise, the sword did stop. My hand rested on his gauntlet, but I had no idea what was going on? How did I stop him? Time slowed down as my hand still rested on his gauntlet. Decades of emotions rushed through me. My life, my entire life encapsulated within one single emotion before it spread out and opened up. More lives, more emotions, a thousand, a billion lives came rushing and passed through my very soul and being.
I screamed at the Templar as swarms of nanites rushed from my body, from the pores in my skin, under my nails, from my eyes, and mouth. H-Nans transformed into O-Nans and multiplied with incredible speed. They encased the Templar’s gauntlet. Power surged through me as it mixed with my anger, rage, and hatred toward the enemy. No, this wasn’t my last moment. It was his!
I slammed his gauntlet into the ground so hard that it bore a hole into the concrete and left him stuck there. The nanites returned to me, they seemed to faintly glow red as if washed in blood. They swirled around my two hands like boxing gloves made of millions of razor-sharp teeth. I slammed my fist into the incapacitated Templar, knocking his helmet right off. The Cantari face beneath it revealed its confused face. He couldn’t believe it, and neither could I, but it didn’t matter right now.
“See, Cantari? Do all of you Aloi bastards see this?” I screamed at the Raintroopers and Ravagers around me. “Your Templars are nothing! Your whole race is nothing! This is the fate that waits for all of you!” I swung again, sure that I would decapitate the Templar with my naked fist, but the exhilaration of my sudden power vanished instantly.
The Templar caught my fist with his free hand, then with a twitch he removed his gauntlet from the concrete, picked me up like a ragdoll, and slammed me back into the ground. I immediately lost all the air in my lungs and blood sprayed from my mouth. My INAS flared up manically.
CRITICAL FAILURE IMMINENT!
SEEK IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE!
For a second I lost consciousness, but as it slowly returned to me, all I could see was the Cantari face uncomfortably close to mine.
“Human,” the Cantari spoke and I could smell his rotten breath on my face. No Aloi ever spoke to me, and in fact, I’d never seen an Aloi speak up until that clusterfuck beneath the mountain. HQ always claimed they were as intelligent as some other races including humans, but they never really seemed that way on the battlefield.
“You can... talk?” I whispered through ragged gasps of air.
“Make the stars sleep, Human Stavos. Please.”
The Templar’s lips barely moved, but I knew he’d spoken. I was sure of it! He rose above me and sheathed his sword, picked up his helmet, and just stood there for a long moment. Our eyes met again and he held my gaze. Those eyes were otherworldly, not just because they literally came from another world, but there was an estrangement in them, a distance between him, me, and the universe around us. He wasn’t just intelligent; this creature was wise beyond anything I had ever met, I was sure of it.
It brought him no points in my book, on the contrary. It was only more reason to despise them. The smarter you were and the more you knew, the worse the punishment for your crimes should be. That was my philosophy, and the Aloi just showed me that none of the disgusting things they did was by accident. They knew the world all too well.
My INAS reported that the Templar was seriously damaged but far from inoperable. I was far from being even close to calling this a win, but I had still caused incredible damage with zero preparation and help from anyone but myself and my familiars. The Templar nodded once more and then walked away, leaving me neatly tucked into the concrete cot he made for me. The Raintroopers and Ravagers followed him out, and not a single one spared me another glance.
My INAS flared up again but I pushed it aside, Urgon’s chip failed to account for being slammed into the ground by a Templar. It hurt; my whole body hurt, but I was still able to move. I couldn’t even imagine what it would have been like without the chip as I tried to clear my mind and run as much as my legs allowed it.
Leo screamed when he saw me. I dropped to a knee as soon as I entered the temple and fell over headfirst. “What happened?” Leo asked as he prepared his Rejuvenation ability.
“Hell... if I... know,” I muttered almost in a state of trance.
Mavis, Ginsk, and Layla huddled around me.
“No bots, no HP, no cells. Shit man, you look like you fought an army,” Ginsk laughed. I tried to laugh along but I just coughed up blood and spat it out.
“A Raintrooper or two, yeah.”
“Sure,” Layla muttered as she stared at me with a concerned frown. “Boss, you look like there were more than a couple of Raintroopers present at the gig.”
“It’s not important. The supply drop—am I too late?”
“No, we had no visual of any aerial activity.”
“What time is it?”
“11:56 SST,” Leo replied hurriedly.
“Good, they’ll... be here any... time soon.”
“You need to rest, boss.”
Ginsk and Leo helped me to my shaky legs, but I pushed them off and instead grabbed Mavis by the collar.
“I’ve fought a damn Templar to get... the drop! Now give me my... Technomancers!”
18
Three Federation fighters flew overhead as a swarm of anti-air explosions exploded on their tail, leaving black smoke in a long trail. Numerous missiles streaked from their launchers and shot Aloi drones and several fighters out of the sky before they made a turn and dropped the supply caches. More explosions reverberated overhead as the large crates dropped half of the way down before small thrusters on the bottom came to life.
The fighters vanished into the clouds, saving their asses. Small-arms gunfire erupted from the enemy line, peppering the crate, or rather oversized container. The thing was as large as my apartment back on Persei Prime. A shield generator started humming and a small dome appeared around it, deflecting most of the fire.
“Now!” I ordered the eleven Technomancers I positioned in a circle directly below the drop. We spread our palms toward the sky and released all the remaining nanites
we had into the air. There weren’t too many cells available between us, and if my plan failed, we’d have eleven Technomancers without a single O-Nan cell in their pocket. We’d be mostly useless.
I concentrated on the nanites we released and tried to bind them into a sort of cylinder through which the supply drop should fall. I looked at the faces of the Technomancers around me. They were war-weary soldiers pushing themselves to the very limits of their abilities. It required enormous levels of concentration and control to keep the nanites flowing upward and still remain tight enough to deflect projectiles. Even though the dome still held, a single railgun round or larger missile could blow the thing to kingdom come.
The brawl I had with the Templar still had me exhausted and there was ringing in my ears that wasn’t letting up. Even though Leo healed me, I could still feel the residual pains in my bones from the last hit. I tried to keep my mind as clear as possible, though I knew I was failing miserably.
“That thing is like a chimney and the drop is like a present from Santa!” Private Neumann laughed. The grin on his face was immediately replaced by a strenuous frown as the Aloi littered our defensive nanite tube with hundreds of explosions.
Fist-sized holes appeared in the walls of the column where nanites were burned off by Aloi projectiles and grenades. The package, however, slid through our improvised chimney and landed on the ground safe and sound. Relieved that we made it, the Technomancers around me dropped to their knees almost simultaneously as they were overcome by the stress and pressure of our coordinated operation.
I frowned as I studied the men and women. They were exhausted after little more than a day’s worth of battle. They’d been bombarded, cut, shot, and pinned down all of that time without a second of respite. Most of them hadn’t slept since arrival. Some of them like Corporal Birch had lost family and friends. Some of them, like Neumann, were still enthusiastic, but only by the grace of their youth.
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