by Isaac Hooke
Once more the Explorer took the lead, confirming Denver’s blind spots were empty up ahead.
And then hidden defense platforms emerged from near the top of the cliffs on either side, and energy bolts rained down on the party.
The group huddled close, with the two Aria’s throwing up their ballistic shields to protect the party members. The two Sophie’s also activated their energy shields, and together all four of them managed to protect the party from much of the onslaught.
Operating in Bullet Time, the team fought back, destroying all eight defense platforms before too much damage was inflicted. Lori 5 took a hit to her arm, which disabled it. Tara 5 had also taken a debilitating hit to laser arm, losing the laser and grappling hook. But otherwise, they were still good to go. Repairs would take too long for either of them, so Jason simply ordered the group onward.
The team soon approached the mouth of the pass, and paused at the bend just before it. Via the Explorer, Jason could see the base: it was ringed by defense turrets, and surrounded by an electric fence topped by razor wire. Inside he saw four long rows of satellites, and several smaller groups of repeater towers clustered together near the peripheries. It matched up with what the major reported. There were still no sign of the Cataphracts that Denver had sighted during his original fly-over of the region, which was troubling. Then again, if they were lucky, Bokerov had repositioned those units to another base.
Jason could only hope.
He nearly lost his Explorer as different defense turrets opened fire; the Explorer’s autonomous evasion systems kicked in, and saved the unit, causing the scout to withdraw behind a nearby peak. The evasion system would have activated as soon as the Explorer detected the turrets swiveling to track it. The top portion of the peak broke away, and the Explorer was forced to retreat further.
“All right,” Jason said. “You guys know what to do. Arias, lead the way.”
The two Arias rounded the bend, interlocking their shields like the last time. Small red circles appeared on the insides as they took hits that caused the metal to superheat. Once again, any energy bolts that struck were powerful enough to penetrate entirely, creating small circles in the shields.
Tara dashed forward, taking cover behind the left Aria, and aimed her laser past the edge of her ballistic shield. Xin meanwhile took cover behind the rightmost Aria, and similarly unleashed the plasma beam from her eyes.
Jason and the others opened fire from behind the bend. Even Aria’s tanks unleashed shells that arced over the valley and pummeled the different positions. Only Sophie didn’t participate, as she didn’t want to expose her micro machines to too much damage—the weapon was meant for relatively short-range attacks, after all. She and the Rex Wolves. When the mutants saw the damage the two Aria’s were taking to their shields, they obviously realized it wouldn’t be very safe for them out there; besides, they probably also took some cues from Jason: he was staying in cover, so they would, too. He hoped.
Lori meanwhile moved forward, using the distraction caused by the attack to ensure her tiny thermal footprints went undetected. She stayed close to the wall of the valley, edging past the ringing turrets. Once she was beyond them, she would cut through the fence, or simply step over it—it didn’t look that high, at least for a mech—and then search for the server room. Lori 5 stayed back for now, as per Jason’s orders.
The platforms unleashed a nonstop barrage, launching volley after volley of plasma and energy bolts at the party, concentrating their fire on the two Arias and their ballistic shields. There were also laser beams as well, but Jason couldn’t see those, as the involved photons weren’t on the visible band.
The attacks only picked up in intensity, with more of the fire focusing on the bend, where the weapons of Jason and the others were visible; he was forced to dodge behind the ever-diminishing rock edge, which was taking a pounding. Pieces of that rock broke away constantly—it certainly wasn’t made of the same stuff as Aria’s shield.
“Switch to the severing routine!” Jason ordered.
Tara 5 swapped with Xin so that she was behind Aria 5’s shield, and then the two of them ran forward and to the right. Meanwhile, original Tara and Aria moved in the opposite direction. They ran right up to the defense platforms, while Jason and the others did their best to lay down suppressive fire.
The two pairs reached the closest defense platforms; each Aria shifted her shield to the side, allowing the Tara in behind to swipe out with her sword. The impacts cut each platform in half.
Tara 5 and Aria 5 continued moving to the right, while Tara and Aria proceeded to the left. The Arias kept their shields raised, allowing the Tara’s to cut through the platforms with their swords. They didn’t have to attack all of the platforms, because Jason and the others managed to take down some in between.
The two pairs proceeded to loop the entire razor-wire topped fence in that matter, cutting through all active defense platforms in their paths in the process. When they met on the other side, between them, they’d destroyed all platforms ringing the comm center.
“Well, my shield is a mess, but that actually worked quite well,” Aria said.
“Lori, have you found the server room yet?” Jason said.
“I’m looking for it,” Lori said.
On the overhead map, her green dot showed that she had stepped over the fence, and was passing between the rows of satellites. There was a small cabin located next to each row, but she ignored them, heading toward the multiple outbuildings near the center of the base. On the rooftops of those buildings were several more satellites, and repeater towers.
“Taras, Arias, deploy on the far side of the base, and watch the outgoing approach on that side,” Jason said.
“Will do,” Tara said.
“Sophie, with me,” Jason said. “Let’s see if we can help Lori speed things along. The rest of you, stay here and watch this approach.”
Jason had only just stepped around the bend, when the ground began to shake. A camouflaged blast door on the far side of the valley, to the right of the base, was opening up. The door was huge, about three times as tall as his mech, and five times as wide. Beyond it, he could see several giant metal legs. They belonged to Cataphract mechs, no doubt; as the door continued to rise, and the bodies were further revealed, his suspicions were confirmed. The giant mechs were spaced in two rows.
“Well, this is going to be fun,” Jason said. “Jerry, you should probably combine.”
Jason took a step toward the base, intending to get to Lori as fast as possible, but then three shapes dropped from the sky, landing in front of him. They had likely leaped down from the upper portion of the pass. How long they’d been lurking in place, he didn’t know—he suspected they had only just arrived, ahead of the reinforcements that Bokerov had no doubt summoned. And the fact that they hadn’t fired from their positions at the top of the pass told him their weaponry had limited range.
He amped up his Bullet Time to study them.
Three mechs stood before him.
Three mechs entirely unlike anything he’d ever encountered before.
20
Jason stared at the mechs uncertainly. They were about the same size as his own, if a little smaller.
His AI core identified the first mech as a Dragonfly. It was humanoid in shape, but had four wings protruding from its back, like a dragonfly. They were coated with a strange, glistening substance—no, it wasn’t glistening, but a series of tiny micro motors. He suspected alien technology was involved, because he doubted standard motors could provide enough lift for a mech of that size.
That mech also had two long swords emerging from its forearms. They weren’t coated in electrical sparks like Tara’s, but they looked just as deadly.
The next mech was also humanoid in shape, but with thickly armored torso and arms. His internal database matched it to a Grazer model of mech. The mouth area of the head protruded like a horse or other grazing animal, hence the name. Three drones orbited th
e unit, buzzing menacingly.
The last unit was a Locust mech. It had a carapace with a human-like torso protruding from it, like Sophie, except instead of eight legs and two arms, this mech had six legs, and four arms. Those legs were also extremely thick at the bottom, looking almost like it was wearing some kind of booties. The arms were equipped with glowing energy whips. And the insect-like maw on the head had two pincers protruding, with a localized energy beam traveling between them, active at all times. Jason didn’t want to touch it, nor those whips.
Not that he had any choice. The Locust was currently launching two of them toward him. The Dragonfly had also thrown the swords, which were pummeling through the air toward his chest. The drones of the Grazer also darted forward, forming a deadly triangle of energy between them that threatened to slice through him on impact
Jason started to dodge, but his movements were terribly gradual compared to the incoming attacks. Jason’s time sense was already accelerated, but he upped it to the max to weigh his options. Yes, his body was moving too slowly: there was no way he was going to move his body out of the way of those weapons in time. The three mechs had prepared to launch them before landing, and the instant they’d touched down, they had released those weapons.
“All right, looks like I’m not going to make it through this one,” Jason said. “So here’s what I want you to do… Jerry, you—”
But before he could finish, he saw a distortion in front of him. The outline of a humanoid shape formed in slow motion: the outskirts began to fill-in with metal. It was a mech.
Tara.
She was teleporting in front of him to take the brunt of the impacts.
“Tara, no!” Jason said.
“Sorry,” Tara said. “I can’t let you die. I always knew that one day if I was faced with the choice, I would choose this. I would choose you.”
“No, Tara,” Jason pleaded.
“It’s too late,” Tara said. “Once I begin the teleportation process, I can’t stop it.”
As she continued to form, with her body materializing from the outer peripheries inward, it soon became obvious that even she couldn’t save him. The two sword blades, the drones, and the whips, were already passing through the still unformed central regions of Tara’s mech, and headed straight for him.
The deadly objects passed through her entirely so that there was nothing between Jason and them. Tara’s central region began to solidify shortly after the objects had traveled by, and he was extremely relieved she wouldn’t be taking any damage.
Now all he had to do was wait for his own doom. He would have held out his arms in a welcoming embrace if he wasn’t frozen by the heightened Bullet Time. At least that time granted him a few moments to contemplate his life, and what had become of it.
Never thought it would end this way, trapped in a mech body in the middle of the irradiated uninhabited zone, chopped up by a bunch of swords, drones, and energy whips.
He smiled inside.
Hell with it. Now’s as good a time to go as any. At the top of my game. I did my best. I loved. I fought. I’ve got no regrets. Well, except that I never did get with Aria and Xin.
It was funny, that he’d be thinking about sleeping with those two now, when he was about to die. This from the guy who had once believed only in monogamy. One would think there would be other things to regret in life, other than not sleeping with a few girls.
Before he could continue down that mental path, he was hit by something in the side. The force was immense, and literally knocked him off his feet. He sped up time slightly, trying to figure out what was going on. In slow motion, he was sent barreling out of the way of the incoming weapons. When he struck the ground, something furry rolled on top of him.
Shaggy.
Jason realized the Rex Wolf must have leaped at him the moment the mechs touched down, while Jason had been staring at the trio in confusion; that was the only way to explain how the mutant could have reached him in time.
For a moment he was worried that Shaggy had been struck, but then he saw the rock shatter behind where he had been standing a moment before, and he realized that the weapons had missed the mutant. The hilts of the two thrown blades protruded, while the whips were retracting, and the drones retreating.
He was relieved.
He changed his time sense to something a little more manageable, and clambered to his feet.
The others were already opening fire on the mechs. The Grazer’s orbiting drones formed triangular shapes in front of it, and an energy shield flashed into existence between them, absorbing every shot aimed at the Grazer.
The Locust in turn moved its whips at high speed, intercepting the plasma and energy bolts, and absorbing anything that struck them.
The Dragonfly didn’t bother to defend, and instead took flight. Jason noticed that, in addition to the little motors spinning in the wings, the long appendages also flapped, like a real dragonfly’s. He could see how that would help with the lift, but he was still convinced alien tech played a part. The Dragonfly held out its hands as it rose higher, and the two swords embedded in the rock tore free, flying back into its grasp.
Jason glanced at Shaggy. “Thanks, Shag! I owe you one!”
Shaggy barked happily, but then his gaze shifted skyward, and he growled.
The Dragonfly was diving directly toward him.
But Bruiser intercepted this time, chomping its large jaws around the mech. The Dragonfly was thrown off course, but before it hit the ground, it issued some kind of shockwave that sent Bruiser flying away.
The Rex Wolf landed, and shook its head, momentarily stunned. Its fur was singed in several places, thanks to that shockwave, but otherwise the mutant seemed all right.
The Locust’s six thick legs began pounding the ground; the vibrations were so intense that Jason and the others found it hard to stay on their feet, let alone aim. Meanwhile it kept deflecting blows with its whips.
Lackey jumped on that one, pulling it to the ground to wrestle, while Shaggy leaped at the Grazer, ducking underneath the drones to tackle the unit. The Grazer ejected some greenish substance from its metal mouth then; it enveloped one of Shaggy’s paws, pinning the mutant to the ground. The Grazer sent its drones toward the dog, activating the cutting energy beam between them. Jason immediately fired his energy weapon at the mech, forcing the Grazer to return those drones back in front of its body, leaving Shaggy alone.
Runt tried to tackle the Dragonfly as it got up, but it too was thrown back by some sort of energy shockwave the mech activated.
Meanwhile, the Cataphracts were fast coming in from the side of the valley. He recognized the Axeman and the Dinosaur among them, and what must have been the Lizardman Lori 5 had described before. The seven others ran the gamut from humanoid to monster shapes.
Jerry had already issued the combine command, at least Jason assumed so, because Aria 5 and Tara 5 were racing across the center of the valley, crossing directly over the comm center, and trampling several satellites along the way. Jason wondered why Tara 5 didn’t teleport back, but a quick glance at her Damage Report screen told him that when she had taken a debilitating hit to her laser arm earlier, she’d also lost her teleporter core. Aria 5 kept her shield pointed toward the Cataphracts as lasers and rockets pummeled them.
Jason tried to give them suppressive fire as they raced across the valley, hoping to distract the Cataphracts. But his attacks were ignored for the most part. Like the stings of an insect. Aria 5’s shield took a pummeling, while Tara 5 remained in cover behind it the whole time she raced back.
“Uh, Lori, how are we doing on that server?” Jason transmitted.
“I think I finally found the server room!” Lori said.
Jason piped her viewpoint into the upper right of his display; she knelt before one of the outbuildings, and reached a hand inside the doorway. Though she was invisible, every part of her body was perceptible to her own cameras. The doorway was big enough to fit one of Bokerov’s smaller
tanks, but not enough to allow her entire body inside.
She switched to a smaller camera on her hand, which replaced the feed Jason had from her eyes, and he watched her extend a finger toward one of the cabinets. From the finger, a smaller telescoping limb emerged, and she used it to open a panel on the cabinet. Inside was a rack farm of small rectangular machines—servers. She attached the telescoping limb to the universal plug on one of those servers.
“Everything is just as I predicted it would be,” Lori said. “From the software version, to the interface type. I’m beginning the code injection. Should be a couple of minutes now.”
“We don’t have a couple of minutes!” Jason sent.
Five of the Cataphracts diverted toward the comm center: obviously Lori’s intrusion had been detected. They weren’t opening fire yet, however, so that meant they hadn’t spotted her invisible mech.
The Rex Wolves were doing a good job of distracting the new mechs. “Xin, Sophie, help the wolves take down those mechs. Join us when you can. Tara, Aria, you’re with me. We have to make sure those Cataphracts don’t reach Lori. Jerry, I want you to protect Lori as well.”
“You got it,” Jerry said.
Shaggy had been struggling against the substance pinning him, and he broke free then and was back in the fray. He leaped at the Dragonfly as it tried to take flight and grabbed onto the ankle. The mech didn’t issue a shockwave this time—probably had used up its charges. But it did swing its two swords down in a decapitating blow.
Sophie intercepted those swords with her micro machines, blocking the blow. She was firing her jumpjets, too, and hurled into the side of the mech, ripping it away from Shaggy.
“Don’t touch the dogs, bitch!” Sophie said via her external speakers.
Jason took off towards Lori, with Tara right behind him. Together they raced out into the open, passing by Aria 5 and Tara 5 who were still on the way to combine with Jerry and the other 5’s.