Metal Monsters

by G. D. Stark

  “Acknowledged,” I heard the knight say. This time, the knights had deigned to share a channel. Decent of them, really. “Coordinates?”

  Ace read off a string of numbers and Sir Mephiston, his suit shining with filigrees of red on silver, took a knee and extended a gun from the back of his suit, then began to fire mortar rounds in a high arc over the buildings.

  “Drop ten,” Ace said, and the knight fired another extended salvo. Shells started to fall around the knights as an enemy mortar crew opened up from behind the base. One round almost nailed the knight to the far right, knocking him down for a moment as a spray of rocks slammed into him from an impact. He recovered and opened fire on the buildings again.

  The shields collapsed completely as the knights continued their relentless assault, finally allowing us to get in on the action. I opened up with my Feemper on its plasma sniper setting, taking down any Axiosi I could catch in my sights. I really wished for my tactical display so I could see how many kills each of our team was making. Judging by his rate of fire, Park was probably at twice my hits already.

  “Watch for Unity,” Jock said. “Look for anyone with a projectile weapon, and keep an eye out for the cloakers. They’ve got to be coming out any second now.”

  “HIT!” Ace said. “The gun down. Got another one being readied, 40 meters to the right of the previous position. Don’t bother with a spotting round, fire for effect!” The mortar-launching knight adjusted quickly and sent another set of shells into the new gun’s position, taking it out along with its crew before they’d even fired a single shot.

  “There!” Jones said. “Left side of the third quonset hut!” I jerked my scope over and spotted three mercs with nanite rifles moving forwards towards the cover of reinforced concrete barriers where they could get a shot at the attacking knights.

  “Switch to EMP!” Squid ordered and we did. “K-team, pull back now!”

  The two knights in my field of view fired their jets and rocketed their massive forms back 500 meters before the enemy could come within range. Then a mortar round exploded about 20 meters in front of us, scattering dust and blocking our view. “Fox Team, you’ve been spotted!” Ace said. “Another mortar is now operational. Sir Mephiston, please send four rounds 50 meters east-northeast of your previous target.”

  “Acknowledged,” the knight replied. FOOMP-FOOMP-FOOMP-FOOMP!

  The dust started to clear and I saw one of the Unity guys pop up with his rifle, aiming for Sir Erichsson, who had not yet fallen back with the other two knights. I sighted up, but before I could squeeze off a shot the guy went down.

  “Got him,” Park said coolly.

  “Good shot,” Jock said. “Two more back there, though. I don’t know if the EMP can penetrate that barricade, even on tight-beam.”

  Even as he said it, I saw another merc pop up and this time I had him. ZAP! The guy froze up and fell backward like he’d been frozen in ice. He just locked up and dropped.

  “Nice shot, whoever that was,” Jones said.

  “Target destroyed. Sir Mephiston. The mortar is knocked out,” Ace said over the com. “Nice shooting!”

  “Two down, four to go,” Jock said.

  “Jamming field is acting up,” Edgerton warned. “I think we’re going visible to sensors. I’m seeing some serious wave distortion.”

  “Stay down,” Jock said. “Keep eyes on that barricade. One more guy back there. They must be EMP-hardened barriers.”

  “All right, Bastards, here’s the skinny,” Ace announced. “There are fewer guys here than I thought. Looks like we’re only dealing with the HQ platoon.”

  “Fantastic. Let’s smoke ’em,” Jock said.

  “Let’s get in there,” Squid ordered. “K-team, launch your rockets, then retreat two klicks. Wardogs, pop smoke and enter hard! We’ll pick off the cyborgs.”

  Our teams were located to the sides of the installation. We weren’t sure if they could see us, but the focus of fire was on the knights as they fell back. Their final barrage of rockets caused the enemy to put their heads down for a short while, but they were back at their posts when they saw the knights retreating. We came in from the sides fast, firing through the smoke, blasting with combined EMP and plasma at the advancing enemy.

  “Another cyborg down!” Morrel said over the com.

  “I’ve got three more of them retreating,” Ace said. “They know we’re after them! Towards the center of the installation now, second building from the left perimeter.”

  We headed in, taking down the regulars who happened to get in our way as we advanced. They weren’t in the mood to put up much of a fight, as they seemed to realize the gig was up. Ward, Zelag and I got to the building first and Ward blew the door. Multiple bolts of plasma flew out at us, so I chucked in a frag. The concussion rocked the small building and the firing stopped. Zelag looked in the window. “I see two down!” he said. “Head in.”

  We did and saw two of the cyborgs on the ground. Their armor was scarred by the grenade explosion but their helmets were both smoking. The third was hunched in the corner, unarmed.

  “Freeze, freakshow!” Ward yelled, covering him with his Feemper. The cyborg put up his hands slowly. I stripped the helmet off one of the two on the ground. Two metallic spheres fell from the helmet as I pulled it off and looked at the cyborg’s ruined face. Curls of smoke drifted from ears and empty eye sockets.

  “Possenti’s holy mother,” Zelag said. “His eyes blew out.”

  “They deleted their existence,” said our prisoner. “As shall we.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Ward said. “We won’t kill you if you cooperate.”

  The prisoner stood upright and shook its inhuman head. “If you attempt to forcibly extract information that is not classified as public, this unit must be deleted,” the cyborg said.

  “That’s fine,” Ward assured it. “We don’t need anything from you. We won’t harm you and we won’t interrogate you. Look, if we don’t keep our word, you can blow your own head off any time, right?”

  “Your logic is correct. Deletion can be delayed, pending future events.”

  I looked down at the dead cyborgs on the ground, not sure why Ward thought the surviving creature would be worth keeping around if we couldn’t ask it anything important. “Sounds like we have a deal,” I said. “Just behave yourself and don’t try to hack any of our systems. We’ll treat you as a prisoner of war and you’ll be released unharmed.”

  “Mighty sensible of you guys,” Zelag said. “I’ll make diplomats of you yet.

  Chapter 12

  We were feeling pretty good after knocking out the base and taking a live prisoner, but our elation didn’t last long. When we got back to base, we found ourselves overwhelmed by a beehive of unexpected activity. Our captured cyborg was promptly delivered into the hands of four non-jacked Sfodrian MPs who escorted him away.

  “Well done, men,” Captain Yost said as we drove in and pulled off our helmets, looking forward to some respite. “But don’t get comfortable.”

  “Shoot,” Squid said, swigging a bottle of water. “What’s going on?”

  “A major enemy offensive looks to be in progress,” Captain Yost said. “The Axiosi are positioning their troops to attack the capital. It very much looks like a serious assault on Nepolon is in the works. Knights and militia are mobilizing to defend the perimeter and more are coming down from Laconia. They lasered our first flight of drones from the sky but not before we observed multiple armored columns advancing from the north. I would assume the remaining Unity operatives are with the attacking forces. The Lord General was here when we got the news, so be ready for a briefing in twenty. He wants to talk to us before he returns to the Hall of Meeting to address the public. Suit up and meet me over there.”

  When we got back to our room I splashed some water on my face and looked at Ward, who shrugged at me. “Another day, another dollar. At least we get paid for this.”

  Fifteen minutes later we were in the cafeter
ia. Lord General Landros and multiple Sfodrian officials were there along with five knights, including Sir Mephiston. A map was projected on the rough metal wall.

  “We must defend the city at all costs,” the Lord General said with no introduction. “Forty knights are now preparing themselves for the defense as I speak and more will come from their estates across the polity.”

  “What of hacking risk?” Captain Yost asked.

  “Captain,” the Lord General said, “your service to the polity has not gone unrecognized, but you must realize by know that we hold our honor far more dear than any of our lives.”

  “How much more noble blood can you spare?” the captain replied. I thought it was a reasonable question.

  “As much as it takes,” one of the knights said. “Down to the last drop. No enemy may defile the sacred city.”

  I cleared my throat. Yost heard me and addressed the Lord General.

  “Lord General, may my man be permitted to share his thoughts on the matter?”

  The Lord General looked my way and I saw recognition in his eyes. He nodded.

  “The knights will be the first targets, not the militia. Not the buildings. Not your infrastructure. They know of your honor and they are taking advantage of it, to your detriment. They are turning your very strength against you.”

  “What other option is there?” the Lord General said. “Our order stands as a shield before the people. We have over three hundred thousand commoners in the city. If we do not defend them, they will be massacred. We cannot stand by and permit that to happen. Better we die first.”

  “The knights are certainly the primary targets,” Captain Yost observed. “Many will certainly be lost if they charge into battle. Yet still, the mercenaries are few in number and the Axiosi must know we’re on to them. This reeks of panic to me.”

  “Lord General, I believe they’re trying to force you to sacrifice your knights,” I said. “Our combined approach proved highly effective earlier today. We killed all the mercenaries and not a single knight was lost.”

  “I confirm the hireling’s words,” Sir Mephiston confirmed, nodding at me in a manner that was almost friendly. “There was no dishonor in their tactics and the enemy was entirely defeated.”

  “Very well,” the Lord General said. “The enemy approaches but is not yet at the gates. We need not commit our forces yet. Captain, if you can provide us another option, we will consider it. Nepolon must be defended, but we shall not yet decide precisely how.”

  After the Sfodrians had left for the Hall of Meeting, we reviewed the data coming in and discussed the options.

  “Perhaps we could put the militia in front of the knights and let the knights act as artillery,” Squid suggested. “That worked this morning.”

  “Put them behind the commoners?” Zelag said. “That won’t sit well with the knights. Also, the militia isn’t trained to direct them. It would be a disaster.”

  “Yes,” Zelag said, “but certainly they realize that’s suicide.”

  “I don’t think suicide is a big deal for them,” Yost said.

  “They need to be there for their people,” Ward said.

  “Maybe…” Pitt said, trailing off.

  “What?” Yost said. “Spit it.”

  “The Ascendancy fears nothing more than an incursion of the cyborgs,” Pitt said, chewing on his lip. “They’re paranoid about it. You know, if we made a call, they might be very interested in what’s going on here.”

  “Yeah, but this is a League system,” Jock said. “It’s an independent planet.”

  “Sure,” Pitt said, “but it’s what, two, maybe three jumps away from an Ascendancy naval base. A few Unity mercs now, then some more advisors, then before long, there is an Axiosi nation-state dominating the world and putting the entire planet under Unity control. It’s a quick slide into a full-on Unity beachhead. These mercs and their interference are likely just a test. A worm in the system, so to speak. From what I’ve read about the hiveminders, they’re pretty subtle that way. They find a weakness and slip in, before you even know what they’re up to, they already present a serious threat. And there isn’t much the League is going to do about it. They’re more of an economic alliance than anything else. This is out of their league, so to speak.”

  “Maybe,” the captain said. “WDI isn’t exactly in good odor with the TA, though.”

  “We’re a legitimate corporation, publicly traded!” Pitt said, sounding offended.

  “I mean the Navy,” Yost explained. “And the Sfodrians are touchy and independent as hell,” Yost said. “They might see the TA showing up as a threat that’s worse than the Unity.”

  “I doubt that,” I said. “It’s obvious they’re in over their heads. If a few mercs can show up and upset a balance that has lasted for centuries, taking out more of their leaders than have ever been lost in their history, then what would a thousand Unity operatives be able to do? This isn’t a time to stand alone, as much as I hate to say it. Even if we threw the whole WDI corporation at the Unity, we couldn’t win. The TA knows it’s a huge threat, the Sfodrians know it’s a huge threat, and we know it’s a huge threat.”

  “We need a way to just let them know without it being on anyone’s shoulders. Maybe a personal call, or maybe we just send the data to the right people in the Navy.”

  “I might know the right people,” Zelag said. “I’ve still got some good connections from my days in the diplomatic corps.”

  “Fine,” Yost said. “Send the data. Just raise it as an urgent issue of high concern. Give them our sharknose specs, too. That will sweeten the deal. Tell them to come in with sensors tuned and let them know what they’re going to see. Tell them the Axiosi have gone rogue and allied with the Unity, and the Sfodrian government is too proud to ask for help. The Ascendancy Navy is always looking for possible infiltrations.”

  “We should have called them days ago,” Pitt said. “They would have been all over this. They’ve almost certainly got a ship nearby already.”

  “It might take days to get a message to my people,” Zelag said. “Maybe we should go right to the local patrol and hope for the best.”

  “Do both,” Yost said. “We’ll let the Lord General know there’s a plan in the works. Now we need to figure out how to stall the bastards before they take the capital. And keep the knights from throwing themselves into the Unity rifles.”

  “Here is the possible problem,” Jones said. “We took out almost half the remaining Unity, right, but now the Axiosi are heading in. So far, it’s only been the Unity mercs launching nanites. The pattern was always the same. A few Axiosi go down, then a cyborg appears and hits the knights and turns the tide. Now there are what, seven of them left? And they’re launching an assault in a situation where they know all the knights are bound to show up? There is no way seven mercs are gonna take all those knights before they get their asses blown to hell.”

  “True. I can’t see them being that stupid,” I said. “Something else must be going on here.”

  “I say their beta tests are complete,” Park said. “I’ll bet they have Axiosi snipers carrying their nanotech.”

  “Bingo,” Jock said. “That’s gotta be it. No way they’re launching an offensive like this with only seven guys capable of taking down the knights. We need to assume the worst.”

  “Yeah,” Zelag said, “What better way to draw out the knights than make a major move on Nepolon? They can’t sit idly by and let the capital fall.”

  “They’ll have to fight,” Jock said. “And that’s just what the enemy wants. All these skirmishes have been nothing more than a big setup.”

  “Well,” Captain Yost said. “Let’s just hope the TA decides to step in. We should make it through this if the cavalry doesn’t arrive. But the knights won’t, and I’m kind of starting to like those big metal bastards.”

  “Speaking of metal bastards, sir,” I said. “Ward gave that Unity prisoner our word that we wouldn’t interrogate him so he wouldn’t
suicide. Maybe the Sfodrians can trade him for some of their captured officers or something.”

  “Noted,” Yost said. “I’ll make sure they don’t kill him.”

  Roughly an hour later we joined up with the militia outside Nepolon. They were streaming into camp as we arrived. Many of the men lived in the city and had just been called up and sent to armories for rifles and ammo. Those who had been training with us were more organized and we placed them over the others. Unlike many cities which flow from urban to suburban to rural without a clean line of demarcation, the Sfodrian capital was organized inside a series of squares with a huge cross highway running straight into the center of the town where a massive hundred meter wall rose up like a cliff and surrounded the 100 square kilometer plateau upon which the temples, squares, knight’s villas, the Hall of Meeting and administrative buildings were located. Huge stairs went straight up from the each of the highways of the city proper to the top of the plateau. There was a vehicle access to the south, starting alongside the stair and wrapping around in a long upward inclined plane to the top, interrupted by multiple checkpoints. The heat of the midday sun baked the stone and concrete of the city and the air rippled with heat, occasionally cooled by ancient carobs, dates, figs, pomegranates, olives and other trees I didn’t recognize, planted in neat squares cut alongside the stone roads and in the meagre squares of baked clay in front of houses. Beyond the edges of the city were the knights’ grand estates, scattered patches of green amidst the yellow-brown dirt and scrub of the wilderness.

  “We made contact with a Navy destroyer,” Pitt said as we watched Sfodrian militia members scrambling to connect with their units in the field around the large base at the northern edge of the city. “They’re 65 kilosecs out. They say they’ll come to investigate.”

  “Good,” Yost said. “Maybe they’ll be helpful, maybe not. Current intel says we can expect the enemy assault to begin today, before nightfall.”

  “Got any brilliant plans?” Squid asked the captain in between contemplative puffs on his cigar.

  “Maybe,” the captain said. “Though it’s going to rely on the militia here, and I don’t have much confidence in them. Morrel thinks they’ll hold, though, and we don’t have a lot of options.”