by Isaac Hooke
“When gravity elevators go bad...” Brontosaurus commented.
“Gah, this sucks,” Bambi said.
Eric amped up his servomotors levels and then tugged at the surface that had become the new floor beneath him, but though his servomotors whirred loudly, he didn’t budge.
“I seem to recall reading some basic theory on grav elevator design,” Brontosaurus said. “For a grav elevator to work, the generators have to reside in the line of sight of the main transport area. For a tunnel like this, that means the generators have to be at the very top and very bottom. Assuming the aliens haven’t discovered some new laws of physics we don’t know about.”
“Hm,” Eric said. “It’s worth a try. Slate, I need you to fire one of your spears into the exact center of the tunnel above us. Bambi, you have to do the same to the floor, far below. According to the blueprints, the tower is fifty stories high. Bambi, you’re currently just below the thirty-ninth. Slate, you’re at the forty-first. The two of you will have to factor those distances into your calculations.”
“The spears fire using explosive charges embedded in the slots in our forearms,” Bambi said. “So neither of us will have to perform an actual throw, which is good, considering how little we can move. Still, the spears will have to fight the immense gravity. Our aim has to take that into account.” She paused. “I’m going to have to use my Accomp. I’ll mess up, otherwise.”
“Ha,” Slate said. “I can do the calculations in my head.” He paused. When he spoke again, his voice sounded sheepish. “Actually, never mind. I’m gonna Accomp it. Can’t think with all the racket you bitches are making.”
“What racket?” Brontosaurus asked.
“That!” Slate answered.
“My Accomp is performing the necessary calculations now,” Bambi said. “Based on the gravity vector. We’ll soon learn if this is even possible.” She waited a few moments, and then added: “Okay, looks like it will work. But just barely, for me, considering how far my spear has to travel. Slate has a slightly lower margin of error.”
“Well don’t miss,” Eric said. “Or you waste your spear.”
“Gee, thanks,” Bambi said. “Try not to up the pressure or anything.”
“Sorry,” Eric said. “I thought your Accomp was doing the aiming anyway?”
“That’s true,” Bambi admitted.
“Do we have to hit the generators at the same time?” Slate asked.
“I’d recommend it,” Brontosaurus replied. “Otherwise, the gravity vector will change while the other spear is still heading toward its target. You’ll throw off its aim.”
“Damn,” Slate said. “Knew there was a catch.”
“All right, according to my Accomp’s calculations, I have to fire a split second after you do, Slate,” Bambi said. “Sync up with my unit, please. We’ll let our Accomps time the firing.”
Eric waited, but the gravity continued to pin him down.
He decided to give a friendly nag. “Whenever you guys are ready...”
He heard two distant crashes; they came from the top and bottom simultaneously.
The immense gravity lifted, and Eric was free to descend once more.
“Got it,” Bambi said.
“Good job, guys,” Eric said. “Now let’s get to the thirtieth floor.”
Eric continued downward.
Unfortunately, Bambi had only completed a few body lengths to the next floor when incoming fire came from below.
A whole lot of it. It seemed to be coming from multiple floors below.
22
Eric immediately climbed back up and dragged himself into the circular chamber on the thirty-ninth floor. Bambi followed him, her energy shield flashing constantly as it absorbed impacts. The shield went dead a few moments before she reached the thirty-ninth floor, and she took two solid hits to her lower armor before she pulled herself inside the chamber with Eric’s help.
At the same time, Slate and Mickey hauled themselves into the chamber on the floor just above.
“How come we’re only getting incoming fire from below?” Brontosaurus asked.
“If I had to guess, I’d say there was less security on the upper floors,” Eric said. “And we already took out what little there was. But closer to the interface room, the security becomes a lot tighter.”
“And remember, we still have other team members trapped above us,” Bambi added. “They could be distracting whatever other units are up there.”
Eric peered over the edge. Energy bolts instantly shot upward from where the chute opened into the different floors below.
He ducked from view once more.
“Well, this isn’t going to work,” Eric said.
“Actually, it will,” Bambi said. She lifted the end of the cable she had wrapped around her waist earlier. “Anyone up for a game of leapfrog?”
She unraveled the cord and Eric secured the end to his waist. Bambi gripped the opposite end with both hands, leaving enough slack so that the cable was exactly long enough to reach the next floor.
“You’re sure you want to go first?’ Bambi asked.
In answer, Eric leaped into the chute.
Energy bolts came up at him from multiple floors below. He held his ballistic shield beneath him, and it took the impacts, since his force field was still offline.
He switched to Bullet Time, and as he fell, he spotted the turrets pointing out from underneath where the chute opened into the next floor.
As soon as he reached those turrets, he cut into them, disabling the weapons. He dropped into the circular compartment and the cable grew taut, leaving him hanging just above the chute’s opening in the floor.
Two walkers were directly in front of him, along with several small alien spheres—the scout-sized, floating units. He sliced across with his blades, terminating those walkers. He also struck two of the spheres, but the rest darted backwards.
Eric grabbed a disabled walker as it toppled forward, preventing it from dropping into the chute below. The spheres opened fire, releasing plasma bolts and that sticky webbing, but Eric blocked both with the wreckage of the walker.
Energy bolts were still coming up from below, and his armor took some hits.
“Some slack!” he sent Bambi.
He threw the walker toward the spheres. He gripped the upper edge of the opening in the ceiling and swung himself forward—Bambi gave him enough slack to swing inside, and he hurled himself out of the line of fire of the enemy units shooting from the floors below.
He landed just as the walker impacted the flying spheres; he got two of them, but the remaining three scattered.
He swung his ballistic shield into place as they fired plasma bolts. One of them launched a sticky webbing his way, but he cut through it with his alien blades. He rushed them, swinging his weapon about, and in moment had hewn down all three.
Eric surveyed the room. The big metal slab leading out of the chamber remained closed. He assumed that meant no reinforcements were waiting beyond. Which was a relief. Still, he couldn’t shake the sense that something was wrong. That he was missing something.
“All right, Slate, Mickey, join Bambi,” Eric said. “She and I will try to protect you with our ballistic shields while you climb down.”
“In a bit of trouble up here,” Slate sent. “The door to the server room here just opened up. The airships are sending reinforcements in through the windows… looks like we’re going to be defending for a while. You bitches are on your own for a while! Good luck to you!”
“Got the same problem here,” Bambi transmitted. “I had a feeling we were taking too much time… when you’re in the heart of enemy territory, you can’t drag your feet!” Eric realized that was exactly what seemed off about the whole situation to him: that it had almost seemed almost a little too easy, up to this point, given the stakes.
“Looks like you’ll have to get to the thirtieth floor on your own,” Bambi continued. “I’ll do my best to hold them off.”
&nbs
p; “I won’t leave you!” Eric said.
“You have to,” Bambi transmitted. “I’ll join you when I can. Go!”
He didn’t even know how he was going to get to the thirtieth floor, not while there were defenders waiting on every floor to fire at him while he climbed down.
Maybe I can climb the outside of the building…
First he had to rip open that slab in front of him.
On cue, it opened of its own accord.
He understood now what Bambi and the others faced: the aisle beyond was packed to the brim with Sloth units. In the background, he could see the jagged hole the units had melted into the building exterior to gain entrance.
Great. Now I have to defend, too.
Actually…
“Fuck it.” Eric removed the line connecting him to Bambi and leaped into the chute, directing his ballistic shield downward.
The walls passed by in a blur. The ballistic shield absorbed bolts fired by enemy units on the levels below him, but as he passed the openings on each floor, more and more tangos switched to being on top of him: he began to take plasma and energy hits on his upper back. So far, his alien armor was holding, though his right deltoid servomotor had become orange, meaning its power output was reduced, but still functional.
Another hit there, and the entire arm will be offline.
When he passed the thirty-first floor, he folded the ballistic shield away and swiveled his body toward the wall. He slammed his blades outward to slow his fall. They dug into the wall, sending up sparks, and he did slow, but still fell with significant speed. There was no incoming fire coming from the opening to the thirtieth floor below, he noted.
Odd.
He passed through the opening and into the circular chamber; as he dropped through the chute in the floor, he rammed his arms outward and grabbed onto the edge. The impact halted him entirely, but his momentum nearly ripped him away regardless—he had to drive his blades into the floor to keep himself from being pulled down.
Servomotors all along his arms were flashing orange now. He struggled to lift himself into the room with the reduced power output from those motors.
A helping hand reached down.
Marlborough.
Another pair of hands grabbed his opposite arm. Crusher.
Eric accepted their help, and in moments he was in the circular chamber, out of the line of fire from the units above and below.
Manticore was already there, along with Frogger, and Dunnigan on his back. The smashed remains of alien spheres and walkers lay scattered across the floor.
“You made it,” Crusher said. “The others?”
“Bambi, Mickey and Slate are pinned about ten levels up,” Eric said. “I haven’t seen Dickson or Eagleeye.”
Eric lifted his arms experimentally: they moved fine now that they didn’t have the entire weight of the mech pulling down on them. He still had full range of motion in both arms.
“You look just as useless as I feel,” Dunnigan said from Frogger’s back. The comment was directed at Brontosaurus.
“The life of a backpack,” Brontosaurus lamented.
Manticore stood next to the metal slab that served as a door. His alien scout had interfaced with a slot in the wall next to it.
“Why not rip it open?” Eric asked, stepping forward.
Crusher raised a halting hand. “He’s not trying to open it, but keep it closed.”
“Why?” Eric asked.
In answer, an energy ax hacked through the slab.
Eric leaped backwards. “I see.”
He drew his elbow behind his back, keeping his forearm raised and ready to stab out with his Wolverine blades. The other mechs, including Manticore, stood beside him, assuming similar defensive postures. They formed a defensive half-circle in front of the damaged door. The alien scout flew away from the door, and stowed itself inside a storage compartment in Manticore’s leg.
The ax emerged a few more times, stabbing through the slab, quickly cutting it away.
A Ravager stood there at the head of a score of Sloth units. Like on the floor he’d abandoned above, they filled the aisle between cylindrical servers all the way to the window.
In addition to the energy ax the Ravager held in hand, the mech was also augmented with several additions that had to be alien tech. Energy turrets. Black hole double barrels. A shield generator. Spikes on knees and elbows that looked like the tips of spears.
Small alien spheres hovered menacingly around the Ravager.
“Scorpion, meet the Original Manticore,” Marlborough said. “Or what’s left of him, anyway.”
23
The floating enemy spheres immediately fired plasma bolts and sticky webs.
Eric swung his ballistic shield into place and deflected those bolts. A web came at him, but he cut through it with his Wolverine blades.
The Sloths meanwhile unleashed energy beams. The other members of the team still had powered energy shields, and those flashed into existence as the beams were absorbed.
Original Manticore leaped forward, cutting with his ax. Crusher dodged to the side and swung down with her alien blades, cutting through his energy shield and into his forearm. Electrical sparks erupted along the surface, but rather than passing up the arm and into his forearm, those sparks were drawn to the ax, where they were absorbed.
“Guess we can’t take him down with a single hit anymore!” Crusher commented.
Original Manticore kicked out his leg; his foot had an alien spear tip protruding from the toe area, which allowed him to penetrate Crusher’s energy shield. She had to sidestep to avoid being perforated by that spear. Original Manticore followed up with an ax swing, and again she barely dodged.
Eric spun toward Original Manticore and stabbed him in the back with his Wolverine blades. Once against the sparks that emerged traveled straight to the ax, diverted away from the Ravager’s power couplers.
Original Manticore swung his elbow backward, and Eric withdrew his blades, bashing down with his shield just in time to prevent the spear tip protruding from the elbow from hitting him—just because the Ravager could endure multiple hits from alien spears, didn’t mean Eric could.
Unless I can get my hands on that ax…
Marlborough and Clone Manticore were hewing down the Sloths in the aisle beyond. Frogger meanwhile concentrated on the smaller spheres, which continued to swerve about, unleashing webs and bolts. Dunnigan leaped onto one of those spheres as Eric watched, and pulled it to the floor with the weight of his Cicada, and promptly slid it underfoot to smash it.
“Good idea!” Brontosaurus leaped from Eric’s back and landed on Original Manticore. He wrapped his hands around the Ravager’s head, and tried to rip it off. Didn’t work out too well.
The mech reached up with one hand, but before it could pry away Brontosaurus, the Cicada leaped back onto Eric.
“Uh, that didn’t work out so well,” Brontosaurus said.
Original Manticore turned around as Eric and Crusher rushed him together.
The Ravager raised its ballistic shield, and deflected the blows of the two Devastators, then followed up with an ax swing.
Eric immediately dove forward before Original Manticore could recover from that swing, and he grabbed onto the Ravager’s ax arm, on either side of the deadly elbow tip.
Unexpectedly, that tip darted outward. Eric could do nothing as it struck his chest assembly.
I’m done…
He waited for the electrical sparks to short out his power coupler, but instead, the electricity was drawn down his hand, toward the ax, where it was absorbed.
Interesting. Just touching the same arm that wields the ax gives me the same protection.
Original Manticore shrugged free of Eric’s grip, and brought the ax down in a swinging blow. Eric was forced to jump backward.
The blade hewed completed through the floor, which caved slightly, thanks to the gash.
Eric leaped at Original Manticore again, and wrapped bot
h arms around his upper bicep. He tugged, intending to rip off the arm, but his servomotors were too weak from their original damage, and he succeeded only in pulling the arm outward slightly.
On the other side, Crusher had sliced her blades horizontally into the ballistic shield, cutting halfway through before the armor halted it. She slid them out as Original Manticore elbowed Eric away—there was no spear on that elbow anymore—and raised the energy ax.
But Eric was already swinging his alien blades. He hit the wrist, slicing right through it, and the energy ax dropped to the floor. The blade promptly melted through the metal, vanishing to the level below, leaving a wide indentation in the floor.
Crusher rushed in, elbowing the ballistic shield aside, and slamming her twin spears into Original Manticore’s chest. Right into his AI core.
“I loved you,” Original Manticore transmitted.
And then he dropped, dead.
Crusher stared at him, seeming stunned for a few moments. But then she turned away. “He never knew the meaning of love.”
“He was only trying to hurt you one last time,” Eric said.
“I know,” Crusher said.
Movement, and three loud clangs, drew Eric’s attention to the chute area.
Slate, Mickey, and Bambi had arrived, landing on different edges of the chute in the floor, having dropped down from above. They pulled themselves inside as incoming fire came from above and below the chute.
“Don’t tell me that was Original Manticore!” Slate said, coming to Eric’s side. He gazed at the wreckage of the Ravager.
“Yeah, it was,” Eric said.
“Bitch, I told you Manticore was mine!” Slate said.
“Deal with it,” Eric said, rushing into the room beyond.
All of the hovering spherical units were gone so that Frogger had joined Clone Manticore and Marlborough in forcing back the Sloths. Dunnigan remained tucked in on Frogger’s upper back.
Eric glanced at Brontosaurus’s status, and confirmed that his own passenger was all right.
He and the newcomers squeezed in behind the Bolt Eaters, but because the aisle was too narrow, they couldn’t fight.