AMP Rebellion

by Stephen Arseneault

  I moved away from the others and got on the comm to Frig. “I need a portal here in a minute Frig. We have Feta with us and I want to send him through. He is a hindrance more than a help at the moment, but he may still have valuable information. Assign someone to escort him around and keep his exposure to our facilities to a minimum. Also, we are sending him through blindfolded. Take him out of the lab before the blindfold comes off. I don’t want to give up our secret of the portal yet.”

  Frig replied, “We will take good care of him Don. Let me know when you are ready.”

  Under slight protest a hood was pulled over Feta’s head. A portal soon appeared and he was carefully passed through to waiting hands on the other side. When the portal closed we returned to our current endeavor.

  Frost spoke, “Sir, we can take several of the tables, turn them on their sides facing that pool, and when the Durians come through here, we set off grenades to knock them into the water. It’s a very simple plan Sir. We only need a wire or string to pull the pins on the grenades.”

  I replied, “Everyone. Spread out. We are looking for a large ball of twine or thin wire. We need it to run from here to the staff hallway. See what you can find!”

  I continued, “I don’t know Frost, something seems too easy here.”

  Frost replied, “It’s the simplicity that will make it work Sir. We lure them through the door. Let them see one of us running down that staff hallway and then watch them as they walk right into it. There are a thousand things that could go wrong Sir, but nothing that should go wrong. Our bigger concern should be how we cut their numbers down to six or eight and how do we get those six or eight to bunch up right there?”

  I looked at our setup. “How about we bring three of these tables over and lay them on their sides, give them a wall of sorts to hide behind. If we can get them out into this center area they will naturally seek the cover of those tables if fired upon, no matter how little safety they actually offer. That will group them up, we just need them to all move at once after that.”

  Aaron returned. “The catwalks end in the staff area Sir. I would place some kind of barricade in the hallway to give us a little extra time if things don’t work out. Whoever is going to be up there should go up and practice dropping something, so they have their alignment right. After that, we just need to go find some Helgrons!”

  We practiced a number of scenarios playing out in the Aqua Center. After a few minor adjustments we were ready to find and lure in our prey. Frig was able to provide us with two bazooka rounds.

  I spoke, “As soon as they hit the water I want a bazooka round in there with them. Try to place it in the middle. Along with that I want at least six grenades, followed by six more. If any of them are still moving try to get as close to them as you can. We only get one shot at this. We can do this people. Let’s show them who they are fighting!”

  After the little pep talk we moved out into the hallways of Mako-3. Frig offered Intel on a squad of 12 Helgrons coming down Mako Transway-7. If they made it to Mako-3 our mission would begin.

  Frost spoke, “You make a good leader Mr. Grange. Marines don’t like to sit inactive. And while the missions we have been on lacked the level of planning the Colonel does, other than our own mistakes we have come through them in good shape. I’ve had a number of squad commanders in my time Mr. Grange, and you rate with the best of ‘em.”

  I replied, “Thank you Frost. As fighters go, you are top notch yourself. If not for that one crazy episode you had over Baker’s death I would say you are as good as I’ve ever seen. Right up there with Sergeant York!”

  Frost replied, “Thank you Sir. I like to think I’m as mean as York and twice as crazy!”

  We set up camp at the entryway for Transway-7. Frost fired a shot up the ramp to draw the Durian squad’s attention. Blaster bolts were soon impacting the floor just in front of us.

  I spoke, “OK, let’s fall back to that first corner. Frost give’em one more poke and then join us.”

  After a few more shots to bring them our way, we split-up at the third hallway. It was our chance to send half of them off in another direction. As expected they took the bait with six going towards Transway-8 while the remaining six followed us towards the Aqua Center.

  Aaron came on the comm several minutes later. “Sir, we have taken them as far as we can. We moved up the trans-way to Mako-4. They should wonder up here for a bit looking for us. We are on our way back down Transway-5. Will let you know when we are setup in the Aqua Center.”

  I replied, “Thanks Aaron! We have had a couple close calls with our timings. Frost got the right side of her battle suit singed a bit, but she is unharmed. We are taking them back around now for the second time so hurry it up. If they change tactics we will have to start this chase all over.”

  Four additional minutes passed before Aaron signaled that they were in position on the catwalk overlooking the pools.

  I spoke, “As soon as we hit that door I want you all to hustle back down that staff hallway. I’ll draw them into the door and right to the bottleneck. I may still be running when they come in after me, so Frost, I want you to pop off a few rounds to slow them down if needed. But do it from that hallway because I don’t want to have to run anyone over.”

  Frost replied, “Roger that Sir. We will be right where you ask.”

  Five hallway turns later we ducked into the Aqua Center door. As planned the rest of the squads ran for the cover of the staff hall. I fired two rounds down the outer hall, impacting the wall on the other side. The first Helgron stepped around the corner and fired his blaster.

  As I turned to run the blaster bolt perfectly impacted the hinged portion of the door, blowing it from its mounts. The door caught me mid-stride as I moved away, knocking me helplessly to the floor. After several stunned seconds I pulled myself up and ran. My timing was now short.

  As I ran Frost, Margot and Dawson stepped back out of the hallway and took up firing positions.

  I yelled, “Get your asses back in that hall!”

  The first Helgron ion bolt impacted the floor beside me, sending me sprawling as I came to the end of the pool. I again pulled myself up and ran, two more bolts whizzing by just over my head.

  The second and third Helgrons then entered the skirmish. I turned towards a nearby office as two more bolts just missed my torso. Frost and the others fired repeatedly in an attempt to draw the Helgrons attention. When the final three Helgrons entered the room Frost, Margot and Dawson turned towards the staff hallway. Margot was the first to take an ion bolt directly in the back. His ribcage exploded violently, knocking Dawson to the ground and into the corner of the hallway opening as he ran. Frost barely skipped by.

  The next bolt caught a startled Dawson as he pulled himself up. It was a shot that grazed the right side of his head, blowing away the bone and half of the gray-matter that made up his brain. Frost ducked deep into the cover of the hallway as I dove and rolled into what was probably an administrator’s office. Office furniture then began to explode around me as bolt after bolt of ion energy came through the door behind me. I curled up in a corner as the shrapnel from the furniture bounced endlessly off the walls around me.

  The Helgrons then moved their position up to the overturned tables. Half a dozen more bolts came into the office where I lay curled up. A metal cabinet beside me was the only thing keeping the flying bits of furniture from ripping me to shreds. Two more of our squad, Corporal Dennis Talon and private Caitlyn Bottoms stepped out of the cover of the hallway, again to draw fire from my direction. The Helgron were excellent marksmen, Talon and Bottoms quickly paid the ultimate price.

  The Helgrons then began to move along the side of the pool beside the rigged tables. Ion bolts continued to impact the office.

  Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom!

  Seven grenades went off at the same instant, forcing the turned tables into the Helgron fighters and the
Helgron fighters were knocked into the cool water of the pool.

  A rain of grenades then fell from the catwalk, followed by a single bazooka round which passed them during their fall. The explosive weapons detonated as the Helgrons regained their bearings.

  Boooom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom!

  Seven more grenades were then dropped.

  Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom! Booom!

  All went silent… seconds later the clatter of battle boots on the catwalk filled the Aqua Center with sound as Aaron and his team headed for the stairs. Frost emerged from the staff hallway and immediately threw two grenades into the pool where the lifeless Helgron fighters had sunk to the bottom.

  Booom! Wooosh! Booom! Wooosh!

  As I slowly stood, ears ringing from the explosive force of the ion bolts, I stepped and looked out the door towards the pool. Frost was standing at one end with a wide grin on her face.

  Frost yelled over to me. “We bagged six Helgrons Sir! Dawson and the others would consider it a fair trade! Should I call up Frig to get us a portal open? We won’t want to be dragging six of them around for our experimenting. Let Doc and Gy have a few more to run tests on!”

  I struggled to reply, “Go ahead and… hmmph… go ahead and… hmmmph… yes!”

  I waved Frost on as I dropped to my knees, the remains of a chair leg protruding from my back. Aaron and our medic were soon offering aid.

  The medic spoke, “We are going to have to send you back Sir. That thing is right beside your liver. I can’t tell from here if you have damage or not.

  Aaron raised Frig on the comm. “We need a big portal here! Mr. Grange has taken some shrapnel to his back and needs more care than we can give him. Mark my position and open it 5 meters to my right if possible. That’s a clear area.”

  Frig replied, “Opening a portal now. Please hold your position while I mark… done. Make sure he does not touch the sides as you pass him through, we will have people waiting.”

  Aaron replied, “Roger that, we will be sending through a few dead Helgron after him so keep opening the big portals as you can. We took out six of ‘em.”

  The portals were opened and my now unconscious body was passed through. It was decided that the Helgron would all follow as the labs on the Suppressor would offer a better test bed for unlocking any Helgron weakness.

  The doc had the operating room ready and I went immediately into surgery. I awoke in a bed several hours later.

  George was waiting and spoke, “Sorry Don, I had to amputate that leg you had growing out of your back.”

  George smiled.

  I attempted to sit up but was met with a twinge of pain. “What happened to the Helgrons? Did we get any off them?”

  George replied, “Sit back and relax. You got all six. Two of them were still alive when they came through. They have been restrained and their comm gear removed before we brought them back. When their cohorts got to the pool your team was long gone.”

  I winced again as I spoke, “What happened to me? Last thing I remember was coming out of that office.”

  George replied, “You took a metal chair leg to the lower back. It lodged right next to your liver, but other than a slight bruise to it you got lucky. It left a hole about two centimeters diameter.”

  I replied, “What’s my downtime Doc, we have a lot to still do out there.”

  George replied, “You just relax. The hole it created was general tissue. I knew you would want back in the fight so I cleaned it up and covered it with a medi-graft. You might have a little discomfort, and a nasty scar that I can take care of later, but you should be able to get back in the fight by tomorrow evening. The Colonel and the Admirals can keep things running until then.

  I was done fighting for the day. It was time to rest and heal. I turned my head to the right to look at the bed beside me. It was occupied. George smiled as he walked over to the bed and pulled back the sheet that covered an obvious body.

  George spoke, “I thought you might want to watch as I cut him up.”

  I replied, “A Durian?”

  George nodded and continued, “A couple quick observations, they are surprisingly strong for their thin frame as their muscles and tendons attach further up the bone than ours. I was looking at their knee joints and…”

  I dozed off to a sound sleep as the painkillers the Doc had administered took their toll.

  Chapter 21

  When I woke, Feta was sitting in a chair beside me. “Hello Mr. Grange. How are you feeling?”

  I sat up and reached around to feel the bandage on my back. “Much better than yesterday I can say that.”

  Feta replied, “I watched the doctor perform the surgery. He is quite impressive. I found some of the practices interesting as compared to those at home. Our medical technology is advanced, but the techniques your doctor used were superior to ours. Most of our surgeries are automated. With every medical situation being unique, that automation does not always employ the best methods to a particular problem.”

  George came in the room. “Ah, our patient is up. How does he feel?”

  I replied as I sat up in the bed. “It actually feels OK. I can tell it’s there and it’s a little tender, but it doesn’t hurt.”

  I gently twisted from side to side and then bent over and straightened. “You do good work Doc. Always have.”

  George replied, “Let me take off that bandage and have a look. I still get excited to see how quickly one of those medi-grafts takes hold… Yes, looks good. I think by this evening you can return to the fight if you like. I temporarily deadened a few nerves around the wound. Just don’t savage it in any way and it will heal nicely.”

  I replied, “I certainly don’t plan on savaging it Doc. And thanks for taking care of this. I’m eager to get back out there.”

  Feta spoke, “I have a few questions for you Mr. Grange. Where is it exactly that we are? What hidden passages are there on the Grid that you have these facilities available to you?”

  I replied, “Those are some good questions Feta, but it’s better that you don’t know the answer to that at the moment. If we can get this battle turned around I’ll gladly fill you in then. Until that time, just be happy that you aren’t getting turned inside out by an ion bolt or a grenade. If all goes well I hope to have you be a voice of reason for your people out there. If we can get surrender they will all be sent home safely.”

  Feta replied, “I would like that very much Mr. Grange. Even though I will not be able to return with them as I will forever be viewed as a traitor. I would be killed before reaching Dakamus.”

  I pulled on a shirt as I replied, “We’ll take care of you Feta. You help me, I’ll help you.”

  Later that day George blessed my medical repairs and I traveled back through the portal to my squads on the Grid. I was traveling back with the only potential defense Gy and Jeb had come up with against the Helgrons and their seemingly indestructible battle suits. It was a powerful bonding agent that was highly viscous.

  A shotgun round had been constructed that would fire a thin silicone encased capsule of the bonding agent. If it struck a joint the agent would penetrate and harden, making any joints affected immovable. If the legs were struck the Helgron would be unable to move from their current position under their own power.

  I spoke to my squads, “Jeb can make about a thousand rounds an hour of these glue bullets. If it turns out to be effective he can ramp production up. If those Helgrons are stopped in place they will be much easier to defend against.”

  Frost replied, “I do like the thought of a stationary target Sir.”

  Jeb came on the comm. “Chief, I may have another weapon to use against those Durian battle suits. I crafted a 12mm round that weighs about 20 grams. It’s made out of Tungsten with a Copper tip. We have a whole cargo bay loaded with each so there is plenty of supply. The center of the round is hollowed out and has a small capsule with enough of an ion charge to turn the Copper t
ip on this baby into plasma.

  If it works, which I believe it will, the Copper plasma will cut into the outer armored skin of the suit while the heavy Tungsten round follows it inside, shattering the protective layers underneath. I don’t know yet whether or not it will penetrate fully, but it should make one heck-uv-a dent if it doesn’t!”

  I replied, “When can you have that ready to test?”

  Jeb hesitated before his response, “Technically, I don’t have the gun to fire it yet, but I’m working on it. I’m thinking another… let’s say… 12 hours to construct the barrel. Once I have that, assembly and test should go quickly.”

  I looked around at the smiles on my squad’s faces. “Get that to us as soon as you can Jeb. We have some people here who will be eager to give it a try.”

  Jeb replied, “There is one issue that I haven’t mentioned yet Chief. This gun will be a beast. It will be heavy and it will give a kick like nothing you have ever fired. I imagine only the strongest in your unit will be able to handle this thing. And after a couple shots, they aren’t going to want to keep playing with it.”

  I replied, “These are Marines Jeb. They will make use of whatever you can provide in one way or another. Just get us that gun as soon as possible!”

  Jeb replied, “You got it Chief!”

  I turned back to the squad. “Let’s get the glue gun in operation and see if we can immobilize a few Helgrons.

  With our new weapon in tow we proceeded to look for the first band of Helgrons we could find.

  Frig came on the comm. “Sir, squad L77 is reporting a unit of Helgrons on Naker-22. I have downloaded the path to your arm pads. You should be in position to engage them in 16 minutes.”

  I replied, “Thanks Frig. We are heading that way.”

  As we approached the designated area the residual echoes and vibrations of ion blasts could be heard and felt.

  I spoke, “Morgan. We will spot for you and you take the shot. Frost told me all about that marksman patch on your battle suit and how you got it. I want a shot to a leg if possible. Let’s see if we can bring one of these beasts to a halt.”