Unbreakable Arsenal

by Jeffery H. Haskell

  “My turn!” I hold out both palms, ionic pulse energy rips through him, overloading nerves, causing him to jerk around like a crazed Muppet. It always puts a smile to my face.

  Puff-puff.

  The double-barreled grenade launchers have almost twenty targets on the ceiling, thinning out the crowd dramatically.

  “Tia, mass up!” I yell her way. She drops to one knee, her mass and density increasing with each second. “Full power IP Cannons, maximum width, rapid fire.” The sandpaper staccato fills the air as I whip my hands back and forth sending out wave after wave of energy. Countless superhumans fall to the ground spazzing with energy as their nerves lose control.

  Tia’s hyper-condensed form doesn’t allow for the energy to penetrate her skin. When I lower my hands only a handful of people remain standing.

  “If I were you, I’d surrender,” Kate tells them. She’s standing on three bodies piled on top of each other, while she twirls her IP-pistol in the air like a gunfighter. Her clawed hand dripping blood onto the floor.

  A moment of indecision passes before the remaining people drop to their knees with their hands up.

  It’s then I can hear the sirens outside and the loudspeaker calling for people to come out with their hands up.

  Amelia, I am detecting an enormous energy signature. It might be best to flee.

  “Run,” I say over the loudspeaker. “Run outside, right now. Epic, particle beam!”

  Remember, we only have it for thirty seconds of sustained fire before it must shut down.

  “I know!” The beam flashes ready and I fire it at the ceiling in an “x” pattern. The corrugated aluminum falls in leaving a hole large enough for those trapped up there to float out.

  Warning, the energy signature is moving.

  The water inside the covered dock area heaves forward in a four foot-high wall washing over anyone still on the ground. Several people sputter to consciousness, pulling themselves up. Tia grabs two and chucks them bodily toward the door. Kate is helping too, I know she could help better if she could teleport, clearly, that wasn’t related to the barrier.

  Seawater splashes over the lip again, this time even higher. I grab the green energy guy and heave him the thirty feet to the door. Tia relays him right out the door before he even hits the ground.

  Epic shows three more unconscious on the far side. I hit the Emdrive and floor it. The suit isn’t as agile as my others, I slam into the wet floor, skidding to a halt. I pick up one, toss him over my shoulder, then the second. Epic fire the grenade launcher with a puff to catch the third. He gently floats up and out of the whole.

  Amelia, move!

  I hit the jets, blasting out of the hangar-like structure through the hole I made in the ceiling, arc around and come land next to the police, dropping off my package.

  “Who are you?” The officer next to me asks.

  “Arsenal, The Protectors. Listen, you have to evacuate the area, something big is—”

  Before I can finish speaking, the entire structure over the dock collapses in a scream of twisted metal and broken glass. The police officer yells for everyone to fall back.

  I don’t think they have enough time. “Epic, what the hell is that?”

  It appears to be a gigantic robotic T-rex with ape arms. Like the one we crashed the alien ship into… but bigger.

  “Oh, is that all.”

  Tyrannosaurus-Robot pulls himself from the wreckage of the building, massive three-fingered hands dig furrows in the ground as he lifts himself out of the water. I don’t even know where to start. The thing is huge, black, and has a head full of teeth. It’s clearly made from the same material my armor is, but I could never, ever make something that complex. It moves like a living creature, metal plates shifting like skin.

  It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

  And it’s going to kill me.

  “Epic, we need to draw it away, give the police time to evacuate. Full power to the particle beams.”

  They still have not cooled down since last use. You only have fifteen seconds of sustained firing left.

  “Noted.” I shunt power to the four Emdrives and blast off in a howl of whining engines. Taking to the air in my riot suit isn’t nearly as graceful or agile as my alien armor. More like a flying tank. Of course, I think I’m going to need the flying tank. I do a quick scan while it continues to pull itself out of the water. The best bet is to lead it north, there is park land and a forest only a few miles away. Less chance of damage to life and property away from the city.

  I swing wide south, then east behind it. “Hit it with every sensor we have.” I doubt we’ll be able to find anything other than heat levels. My armor is immune to a lot of things because of the way the molecules bond together. If this is my armor, then it will be too.

  I am afraid nothing useful. It has a massive power source, clearly. Beyond that, I cannot detect anything.

  “Dangit all. Okay, let’s wake it up,” I say as I do a roll and head north. The particle beam fires, ripping through the air in a sizzle of blue as hyper-accelerated silicate splashes against Robo-Rex’s hide. I run the beam for the full fifteen seconds before the shut-off warning flares to life and I have to turn it off.

  No effect.

  “Gee, you think.”

  One massive foot with three toes slams down on the building in front of the pier. Wood and concrete explode outward in a shower of dust. Then its second foot makes landfall and all one-hundred and fifty feet of it is standing over the city, like Godzilla at a buffet table.

  Epic highlights the police’s effort to evacuate the area, and it is working, just not fast enough.

  Incoming call from Kate.

  “Is there anything I can do?” she asks. I hear screaming behind her and a mass of people all shouting to “run.” Good advice.

  “Nothing comes to mind. Can you teleport?” I ask her.

  “No, I’ve been trying. Whatever he did, locked me out.” The frustration in her voice is evident, as is the exhaustion. Not that I’m peppy myself.

  “Get to our truck if you can, let me know when you’re there. I might have an inkling of an idea.”

  “On it.” She disconnects.

  “Epic, fire off all the AG pods on its left leg, let’s make it hard to turn.”

  I have eight remaining.

  A yellow path lights up on my HUD showing the way to go. I hold out my arms wide to steady the flight as we bank. The whine of the Emdrive fills the air around me. I come in low and it takes a swipe at me with a massive arm. It only looks slow because of how big it is, but it’s actually fast. I flip over and dive for the ground just as it passes above me. “Fire.” It’s now or never. The puff-puff in rapid succession tells me Epic is following my orders. The sticky AG pods slap against the left leg, activating. They’re designed to lift up to a metric ton, I seriously doubt they’ll do anything against this behemoth.

  I fly out between its legs, dodging the tail as it comes at me. I respond with a couple of shots from my IP cannons, but the energy fizzles on impact. Robo-Rex lifts its head up in a mighty roar. Buildings shake and glass shatters for half a mile as the sound reverberates.

  “Why do I get the feeling this is more than just a robot?”

  Rafael did say he is a conjurer. Perhaps it is a combination of metal and life? I am going over the last twenty-four hours recorded by your wrist computer. Give me a moment.

  “Sure, take all the moments you need.” I fly up to three hundred feet, and four hundred north of the metallic monstrosity, and then line up my particle beam, firing the moment it comes back online. The super accelerated sand hits him in the face leaving a glowing orange trail behind it as I move it across his eye. Armored plates like eye-lids slam down over the ocular section. The beam simply heats up a very small area before I have to shut it down, again.

  Robo-Rex swings his leg around, clawed foot bursting through buildings as gas lines explode in its wake. He’s fully facing me and pointed north. Awe
some. I can’t lead him too far or he might return to wrecking the city or doing whatever it is he came here to do. Time to try some new ordinance. I’ve never been one for conventional weapons, but why reinvent the wheel? Besides, with the riot control variant, I have a lot of extra room.

  “Bring up the kinetic missile.” Essentially nothing more than an arrow-shaped mass driver. However, since my attempts with mass drivers outside the animetal armor have been… shall we say “disastrous” this one fires at a much lower velocity. Instead of pumping 100 mega-joules into the driver this one only fires at 10. Which is lower than even the Navy's own railgun. However, it should allow me to do it more often. Plus, I make up for velocity with mass.

  Tank missile ready.

  Epic has the best sense of humor. Using my eyes as tools to navigate the menus, I kick in the loudspeaker. “Hey Rafael, bring it!” I fire. The Gatling gun on my right shoulder reconfigures, locking down the articulating arm into a hardpoint. The energy build-up whines then discharges like a broken battery. Fire leaps from the barrel as the eight-inch-long arrow launches at three thousand miles per hour leaving a jet of flame in its wake that momentarily blinds me.

  It works perfectly.

  The hardened arrow slams into the robot’s chest in an explosion of force. The thing stops for a second, wobbling back and forth. He lowers his head, opens his mouth… and belches out smoke before slamming its jaws shut. His eyes flash red. Lines spread from his eyes down his back and limbs like lasers getting brighter and brighter as the second's tick by.

  “Uh-oh, I’ve seen this movie. Epic, full power to the drive!”

  Done.

  I leap up through the air as Robo-Rex unleashes a blast of red fury that misses me by well over a hundred feet but turns the air into an oven. Alarms scream from the sudden thermal increase. The thermometer spins past one-thousand well on its way up. I throw the reserves into the drive as I realize he’s tracking us with his heat breath. The suit bucks as we break Mach One. Then a few seconds later, Mach Two. Only then does the temp start to fade.

  “Bring up the area, find me some cameras so I can see what he’s doing!”

  Screens flare to life showing me what is happening. With me fleeing, he’s turned his attention back to the city.

  “Epic open a channel, all radio frequencies, hack the television broadcast, AM radio, hell bounce a laser off of him and use Morse Code. We need to speak to Rafael.”

  Working. I need ten seconds.

  I swing back down coming in over the city. Another tank missile locks into place with a thunk. I only have six left. He’s so frigging massive unless I can find a way to get a kill shot, we’re screwed.

  I have all local frequencies.

  “Rafael, if you can hear me, look at what you’re doing! Who’s the one killing people? Who’s the one trying to stop you? Ericsson wanted to trade a hundred million people’s lives on the hope of saving more down the road. That is exactly what you’re doing! You’re killing people, not saving them. Listen to me, I’m not Ericsson. Do you hear me? I’m not him.”

  I use my hands to slow down as I come back face to face with the monster. He’s a hundred feet away, head low and mouth open. I can only hope Rafael has some kind of control over the beast. I can’t even imagine how he built it, let alone imbued it with life. I refuse to believe it’s magic. Just science I haven’t seen yet.

  “Amelia, I’m at the truck, what do you need?” Kate’s voice interrupts my thoughts.

  “Your swords, and then find Tia. I’ll need her too.”

  “On it, be safe!”

  “Always,” I tell my best friend.

  The line cuts and I’m back to staring down the robo-apocolypse.

  He is broadcasting.

  “On screen.”

  Audio only.

  “People of Argentina, of the Earth, I am Ricardo Rafael, founder of the Fabulous Five, also known as The Red Wizard. Please listen to me. Your very future depends on it.”

  I shake my head. He’s really not going to back down. No matter what.

  “Superhumans are not your friends! They lie to you, they steal from you, and they murder you. The few who put on costumes and protect you do not make up for those that abuse their power. As long as one person with superhuman abilities roams free, we’re all in danger. Stop them. Do whatever you have to before it’s too late! Once we have power, we will never give it back.”

  I shake my head. “Because that makes all kinds of sense. Punish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty? Superpowers aren’t going anywhere, Rafael. Wishing them away doesn’t make it so. And even if you could remove superpowers from the world… do you think we would all form a circle and sing Kumbaya? Lest you forget the wars the world had before anyone had superpowers?”

  As long as we are facing each other off, he’s not destroying property or killing people. My skin crawls watching that big metallic monster, made from my material, hunches over, rising slightly with each breath… why is it even breathing? What has he done?

  The monster’s eyes narrow and he leaps forward. Nothing that big should be that fast. At least a real T-rex had short useless arms. This thing has long gorilla-like arms with three claws at the end. One of which hits me square on.

  Alarms scream in my ears. The world flashes around me and I want to vomit from the g’s piling up on me. Something explodes around me and everything goes dark for a second.

  Amelia, are you okay?

  “No,” I groan. Copper and iron fill my mouth, I hate the taste of blood. “What happened?”

  He hit you…

  I cough, trying hard not to spit up blood in my suit. “Open faceplate.” The front slides up, letting me breathe some stale, dusty air but also, I spit out the blood. I’m in a cellar of some kind. Great, at least we’re not underwater.

  “Close faceplate.” It slides back down bringing my HUD back to life.

  The force of the blow exceeded our tolerance. Amelia, he simply has too much mass. We cannot fight him. I seriously doubt even Carlos could hurt him.

  “Too much mass… too much…” My inkling of an idea turns into a full-on plan. I’d thought that maybe Kate and Tia could use the swords to damage him from below while I attacked from above… but…

  “Call Kate and locate Tia please?”

  On it.

  “Go for Kate,” she says when we connect.

  “I really need you to find Tia, then make sure the evacuation is citywide. I think I have a way to stop him but it’s going to do some damage.”

  She sighs audibly. “Amelia, when do your plans not involve ‘some damage?’”

  “Sometimes…? Just find Tia.” I close the line, shake off the dust and fire off the Emdrive. In a second, we’re back in the air. His blow sent me tumbling almost a mile away.

  “Epic, I need you to calibrate the Gatling for rapid fire on the Tank Missiles.”

  The hardware is not designed for that. It will likely exceed tolerances levels by the third shot.

  “I understand that, it’s just… this may be our only chance to stop this thing.”

  Amelia, the tolerances are heat based. I know we are accustomed to the animetal heat resistance, but this is traditional armor. Three thousand and one degree, and the suit melts.

  “I’m aware of the math—” I dodge hard to the right as red beams of heat scorch the air as he tracks his head back and forth in an effort to catch me. “Just do it!” Alarms blare as screens pop up showing me the swatch of destruction he’s leaving behind.

  “Rafael, this is your last chance. Stop this madness and surrender! You’re not doing anything to help your cause,” I tell him. I doubt he’ll listen, but it’s worth a shot.

  “My cause and humanity’s, are one in the same. You’re a blight on this world, Arsenal. You and you the rest of super-humanity.”

  I sigh. There’s just no getting through to him. He believes his goals are just, therefore any action he takes is just… that’s simply not true. Not for me, not for
The Protector, and certainly not for him.

  I have located Tia. She does not have a communications device but I caught her on cell phone footage from a bystander.

  “Call them and have them give her the phone!” I pull up hard, firing off another stream of particle beams at him. I’d have to stand still, focusing the beams on one section for longer than he would allow, to make a difference.

  “Amelia?” Tia’s voice comes to me over the comms.

  I quickly tell her where to go in order to hook up with Kate. “Make sure the police know to clear the area as far out as they can, got it?”

  “Si,” she says before hanging up.

  She will need at least five minutes to meet Kate.

  “Okay, let’s see if we can’t show the Red Wizard the way back to Thay.”

  I do not think that was funny.

  “Maybe you had to be there.”

  Another building crumbles from his attempt to punch me. Red brick and glass shower the area as I fly three hundred miles an hour, ten feet off the ground. I pull up hard, grunting from the g’s and put everything I’ve got into a climb just under his head. The front of my armor screams from the impact as I hit his jaw in a massive, full body uppercut.

  The head jerks back as I go flying off, the world flashing by me, and colors clouding my vision. “Okay, let’s not do that again.”

  You did manage to stagger him. Also, the heat breath has not fired again for several minutes. It may be depleted or need time to recharge.

  “That’s comforting. Has he said anything else in the last few minutes?” I ask as I bring the armor up in a wide loop, twisting at the end so I’m hovering in the air a few hundred feet above him and a thousand feet away.

  Negative.

  Nothing I’m packing seems to really hurt him. The hole I made with the tank missile has vanished, a self-repair routine I imagine. I get that this guy is a conjurer, and he seems to have imbued this robot with life, somehow… but the sheer level of engineering required to construct this thing is beyond anything I’ve ever even imagined… and I can imagine an awful lot.