by Mark Wandrey
"Is she okay?" Minu heard Jacob ask. She hadn't seen him come over.
"Alijah died out there, one of her team members."
Jacob nodded gravely and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I'm sorry," he told her. She just nodded. "We're in it deep, can I still count on you?"
Minu thought for a moment. What were her options? Go down to the command bunker and hide? Curl up into a ball and wait for a centipede-bot to chew her head off? Or how about kill as many of the Rasa as she could? That last option sounded pretty good. She walked over to a table piled with the new guns and took a second one, then crammed as many of the five round magazines into her belt as would fit. "I'm good to go," she said in a rock solid voice.
Jacob nodded and gave her a viscous grin. "Glad to hear it. Take your team up to the third floor mezzanine and establish a firing position."
"We want to help here."
"I understand that, but you need to follow orders now." Dram walked over and nodded toward Jacob.
"We spotted a team of the Rasa soldiers out there preparing hoverfield belts. We think they're going to try and attack the higher floors. Only this floor and the third floor mezzanine have larger windows. The smaller ones all have forcefield in place, so between the fields and the ceramic concrete they could pound at them all day. The shutters are in place over the courtyard roof, so their only choice is straight at us through one of these three doors, or the mezzanine."
"Yes sir," she said, nodding first to Jacob, then to Dram. She thought that maybe she'd underestimated Jacob after all. He looked as cool as ice and his plan of defense had thus far worked well. "Where's Pip?" she asked suddenly, spinning around and looking for him. Last time she'd seen him was when he'd screamed at Aaron.
"He left during the first bot assault," Gregg said. Now unlimbered from his own turret, a handgun on each hip and a handheld beamcaster slung over his shoulder. Aaron was equipping similarly while Terry hefted one of the new guns with obvious trepidation.
"Gregg, show Terry how to use that so he doesn't blow his foot of. Do you know where Pip went?" she asked Aaron.
"He yelled something about counter attack and ran inside."
"Well, I didn't think he'd run from a fight. He might be little, but he doesn't lack for courage."
Down the short hallway toward the courtyard, the forcefield flashed bright red. The Rasa had salvaged Alijah's beamcaster turret and was turning it on the complex. "Cut the power to those turret points," Dram ordered. The Rasa got off two more shots before the gun went silent, not nearly enough to breach the powerful main forcefield.
"Let’s get up stairs before we get any unwanted visitors," she said. A squad of heavy crab-bots waited by the door from the jump off room, their flat backs laden with piles of dualloy plates to add in the defenses. As she approached they turned in concert and started following her. Jacob again thinking ahead. Making sure they were all following her, she ran toward the lift.
Chapter 5
Julast 13th, 518 AE – 13:30
3rd Floor Mezzanine, Chosen Headquarters, Steven’s Pass
When Minu reached the third floor mezzanine she carefully crawled around the corner from the lift. The five spoke-like hallways of the building went off in different directions surrounding the central courtyard. Benches were arrayed around that normally open area where one could sit and enjoy the sunlight coming in above through the courtyard roof or the smell of flowers and grass from below. It was dark now with the shutters closed to try and contain the Rasa. She used her binoculars and gave the space a sweep.
At first glance it appeared clear, then she saw movement. Halfway around the courtyard, near the hub heading to the command branch, a group of Rasa hovered on the other side of the moliplas and were setting up some sort of a scaffold.
"What is it?" Aaron asked, looking around the same corner where he'd squatted and was peeking around her bottom.
She shivered from him pressing against her, then clamped down on the emotion like a safe door slamming. Not now, damn it! "It has to be something to penetrate the field."
"Can you do that to a forcefield?"
Minu shrugged. You could just walk through a shield. All they did was absorb energy. A forcefield was an entirely different monster, they consumed vast amount of energy and employed the nuclear strong force to create a nearly impenetrable barrier. Problem was they were hard to shoot out of as well, just like down stairs. Shields were transparent to fire from the inside and basic levels of physical force. The turrets had shields as well as fields. The fields were weak, only intended to stop someone from rushing the turret on foot and engaging the operator hand-to-hand. The complex used its massive energy stores deep underground to power hundreds of fields. Outside, the Rasa continued to work assembling their device.
"All right," Minu said, "we need to do more than stop them, we need to take out that device too."
"How do we do that?" Terry asked. His new handgun was cradled against his chest like a child would hold a stuffed toy, his face looking desperate and sweaty with fear. “The fields work both ways, you know.”
We need soldiers, Minu thought. "Here's what we do."
***
Julast 13th, 518 AE – 13:35
Science Branch, Chosen Headquarters, Steven’s Pass
The Rasa device activated with a flash, tiny lightning bolts of energy began arching back and forth. Immediately the slightly translucent effect of the forcefield began to fade. “They're coming through,” she told her people. As soon as the field began to fail the dozen Rasa who'd assembled it backed away slightly and prepared weapons. They carried short barreled flechette guns designed for close quarters fighting. With a flicker, the field around the scaffolding failed creating a hexagon shaped opening about a meter across. The Rasa instantly started flooding in. Minu held her hand up until the last one was came through then dropped her hand in a slicing motion. All four of them moved around the corner and opened fire.
To Minu's surprise, all four made direct hits. The gun bucked in her right hand making the cybernetic muscles whine in protest. On either side Aaron and Gregg held a gun in each hand, their weapons roared and scarcely lifted from their aim. The guns blasting centimeters from her ears made her glad for the hearing protection the boys provided.
All four Rasa went down. Even Terry, firing the monstrous handgun for the first time, scored a perfect center of mass hit. His target was the first one through the hole, and the impact shattered the enemy soldiers chest armor and flung him back against the two who'd just made it through. Minu switched to a two hand grip and shot one of the other two, Gregg nailed the other one. An instant later a dozen more Rasa were flooding through the hole.
The huge guns roared over and over, killing as fast as they could fire. Wounded and dying Rasa rolled to the floor or back out the hole to the ground below. Minu stuffed the gun into her belt and drew the second one. Terry and Gregg ran out too and in the couple seconds of reduced fire several Rasa made it through and dove for cover.
"Minu to Dram, they have gained a beachhead," she said urgently over the tiny radio sticking to the side of her head, part of their field kits.
"Acknowledged, fall back and inflict as much damage as possible." It was Jacob who responded, not Dram, and Minu worried that the big scout leader was down. While she fired the monster gun one handed, she used a tablet to access the facility defensive controls. Kilometers below in the control bunker a team of Chosen were monitoring the battle and doing everything they could to slow the Rasa and keep them contained. Minu confirmed that the corridors to either side were now sealed and then noticed that the one right in front of them was about to be cut off. She overrode the command with a few quick button pushes.
"Chosen Alma," came an unfamiliar voice right away, "this is the base defense coordinator, why are you disabling defensive field?"
"Because if we cut them off from my section they'll go back out and pick another direction. I am the only team here. As long as they're coming at me, they're
not loose in the base."
"Acknowledged," was the reply, “Jacob informs to make them pay for every meter. Hold as long as you can.” As the Rasa continued to penetrate through the breach they tested both hallways and found out there was only one way to go.
Minu replied to the coordinator that she understood and turned to her team. "Let them come a little," she told them. The first two rushed into the open and toward them. She held her breath as it passed the halfway point between the hub and there position. “Now,” she said and raised both guns to double fire. The recoil from her left hand traveled all the way down her spine and made her bite her tongue, but both rounds scored. The right hand shot took of the top of the soldiers head off, the left tore a fist sized chunk of flesh and bone from the others leg. It fell to the floor, hissing and spitting as it slid almost to their feet. When it moved to fire at them Aaron shot it point blank in the head. Brains, bone and blood splattered the hallway. He grabbed the soldiers weapon and dragged it back behind cover.
“Bots, get to work!” Minu barked.
For the next few minutes the Rasa made three skirmish runs at them, testing their rate of fire and accuracy as the crab-bots quickly welded dualloy plates to the floors to construct a hardened defensive point. Minu almost wept at the wanton waste of life. The soldiers continued to come and never withdrew under fire. She was reminded of army ants. All the succeeded in doing was disabling two of their three bots, but they'd already finished their job by then. Finally there was a pause and she evaluated their condition.
The team split in two on opposite sides of the hall, better to have them all fire simultaneously. Aaron and Gregg, both in heavy scout armor, were in good shape. Aaron was tolerating his earlier injury well and Minu suspected he'd popped another buzz, though she hoped not. Terry had taken a flechette dart though the meat of his left hand and a particle beam burned some of his hair when he wasn't quick enough to drop behind their new cover. The wounds were working to toughen his resolve, any signs of fear or nervousness were gone. Minu hoped she looked as assured as he appeared.
Ammo was a bigger issue. They'd shared twenty magazines in the belt she'd grabbed. Half of them were empty. Aaron and Gregg started out carrying so much ammo she wondered how they could walk. Of course they were much more effective with the guns and burned through the ammo at a stupendous rate. Each still held fifteen magazines, even after sharing out five more to Terry. His rate of fire was the slowest, being unsure of the weapon and his own marksmanship. Gregg assured him he was doing fine and Terry smiled in appreciation. Neither of the two scouts had yet to use their beamcasters, saving them for more desperate measures. Each weapon only held one power pack.
"What about that?" Minu asked Gregg about the Rasa flechette gun he'd grabbed.
"Nice little piece of engineering," he said and showed it to her. A magnetic accelerator gun using a block of super dense moliplas impregnated with iron slivers for ammo. Little teeth sheared off needles of the plastic material then loaded it into the accelerator.
"Damn," she said in appreciation, "they're plastic machine guns." The irony that Alijah died from a gun shooting plastic darts did not escape her or make her feel any better.
Across the hall Aaron's gun roared quickly followed by Terry's. The Rasa were making another attempt. At the same time a couple dull explosions sounded. She looked at her tablet and saw they'd disabled the field generators between her and the courtyard. "We're committed now," she told them, “no way to cut them off.”
"Fine with me," Gregg said and loaded both his guns again. He sat, his beamcaster on the floor within reach, and got ready. The metal defenses to bots built had small firing slits that were now torn gouges, results of the repeated Rasa attacks. Minu slid the alien gun out of the way then she looked around to see if anything in the room might prove useful. The surviving crab-bot stood nearby, patiently waiting for orders and still holding a few dualloy plates. There just wasn't time to do anything more with them. They were in a storage room used by the labs. Even though it was the science hub, that branch required less space and many rooms were nearly empty. The latest attack ended quickly and she looked around again. When she saw a long line of cylinders along one wall she smiled and ran to them.
Minu rejoined Gregg just as the shooting stopped. She sat two cylinders down and peeked past Gregg. "What are they up to?"
"Can't be good," he said while reloading. As they watched, a hoverfield platform rose into view from the courtyard below.
"Heads up Minu," Jacob's voice said in her ear, "they're boosting something up to your level." She could hear the sounds of weapons fire in the background and knew the assault was not limited to her area.
"Got it," she said over the radio then to her team, "here they come!"
Everyone tensed as the platform came level and they saw what it held. A pair of turtle-bots were rolled through the small field breach where they unfolded shield generators and came on one at a time. Minu didn't need to say anything. Aaron and Gregg both grabbed up their beamcasters and started firing. Crraack, crraack, crraack, went the weapons, concentrating fire on the first bot. It's shields changed color as they absorbed more the energy. Halfway between the courtyard and their cover the first one exploded with enough concussive force to break plates off their defensive emplacement and knock Minu off her feet. Ceramic concrete cracked and was pulverized next to the exploding bot, filling the hall with dust and flying pieces of debris.
"Shield!" Minu yelled over the echoing blast. The ear protectors probably kept them from going deaf. Gregg and Aaron both carried one of the Chosen's precious personal shields. Air around them shimmered as the device was activated. Terry crouched with Aaron inside his while Minu shared Gregg's. The second turtle-bot shuffled into view through the dust and across the remains of the first bot. The boys opened fire immediately. This one began shooting back. Tiny flechette darts cut colorful lines across Gregg's shield making Minu jump unconsciously.
"Hard to get used to," he yelled to be heard over the buzz saw attack.
"Don't I know it." She'd used one to good effect in her first encounter with the Rasa more than a year ago. The second turtle-bot advanced as quickly as its short legs could move. Five meters, four, three, two... "Damn!" Minu yelled and drew both her guns. It's shields glowed blue with the impact speaking of still too much capacitor storage remaining. They weren't going to overload it in time.
"Look out!" Gregg cried, his beamcaster fired from the hip on full power as he pushed Minu back and to the side. The turtle-bot exploded with devastating force, the concussion buffeting Gregg's shield. The inertia blasted them back and against the opposite wall. Gregg's larger bulk crashed onto Minu as they fell, knocking her breath out and pinning her to the floor. "It had explosives in it," he moaned as he rolled off her. No sooner than he got to his knees than a pair of faster moving crab-bots ran into the room. He annihilated one with his beamcaster as Minu got the other without having to sit up, firing over her shoulder. The gun's normally deafening blast sounded like someone hitting the bottom of a swimming pool. She was afraid that last blast overloaded her ear protection and done serious damage.
Gregg switched back to the handguns and rose into a crouch, coiled like a snake and ready to strike. As another crab-bot came into view he unloaded on it, four rounds from the booming guns tearing it in two. It might have been overkill, but Gregg was worried another shield wielding turtle-bot was coming. Instead an entire gang of centipedes and crabs skittered into view. Fire from across the hall confirmed that Terry and Aaron were still up and fighting. When Minu and Gregg joined in, the crossfire quickly dispatched the new group. The problem was, under their cover several dragonfly-bots got into the room and began spinning around them, tiny green lasers lanced out, testing their shield repeatedly.
Minu snapped off several roaring shots, missing each time. They were just too damned fast. "Watch the door," she cried out as she tried to get the flying bots. Gregg fired toward the door a second later, confirming that h
e'd heard her. Another pair of dragonflies joined the ones already there, adding their own firepower. The lasers were not very powerful, but they didn't have to be. The combined fire of four quickly added up. Their hits on the shields were causing angry red splashes of color. The personal shield control on Gregg's belt started beeping a loud warning.
"Damn it," Minu cursed and decided on a new plan. "I wanted to save these for later," she said and took aim. A single well placed shot sheared the top off one of the cylinders. It took two more to get the second.
"What's in those?" Gregg asked.
"Propane," she said with an evil grin. "Better cover your ears." She crouched down, pressing her hands over her own ears and getting as close to him as she could. "I hope the shield has enough cap left."
The gas hissed out of the cylinders rapidly, building up concentration in the room until it reached the flash point. One of the dragonfly-bots fired, the laser splashing against Minu and Gregg's shield and providing the spark. The gas exploded with enough force to shatter the wall to the corridor and incinerate all the marauding bots. To Minu and Gregg, it was like getting hit with a two story tall feather pillow. The worst part was, the fire sucked all the air out of the room.
When Minu came to, Gregg was leaning over her lightly slapping her face. Confused, she reached up and slapped him full force across the face. "Oh, she's fine," Minu heard Pip laugh.
"Where the hell have you been," she demanded, forcing herself to a sitting position. Gregg backed away, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. She'd apologize later.
"Trying to get this ready," he said and held up a tablet attached to a Chosen field radio.
"Great, are we going to order takeout?"
"Don't be a smart ass," he said and looked at the computer, finding something interesting he pecked at the controls. "You trying to blow up the whole damn building?"