by Isaac Hooke
“But the Draactals attack in swarms,” Cornelius said. “You only have a platoon? What hope does one platoon have against thousands of aliens?”
“We’ll fight for as long as have to,” Rade said. “Until we can’t fight anymore.”
“What about the other buildings?” the woman said. “I have family in the skyscraper next door. Are there platoons stationed there, too?”
Rade shook his head. “No. Only this skyscraper was breached, as far as we can tell.”
“So far…” Cornelius said.
Rade inclined his head, conceding the point.
“Well, that’s all the news we have,” Rade said. “We just wanted to check on you.”
Cornelius narrowed his eyes, but then his face softened. “Thank you.”
Rade nodded, and turned away. He paused, remembering something.
“Oh, did you receive a woman?” Rade asked. “She would have been escorted by a Centurion.”
“No,” Cornelius said. “No one came except you.”
“Cynthia could be anywhere,” Tahoe said over the private channel. “Lower in the building, still in the stairwell. Or inside one of the sealed off office areas.”
“Or she could be dead,” Rex said, squeezing through the inner hatch. “Along with the Centurion. In one of the breached areas above.”
“We don’t have time to search for her,” Rade said. “We’ll have to assume she made it to one of the airlocks, and the Centurion escorted her inside.”
He waited for Tahoe to enter the hatch, and then followed after him.
The woman with Cornelius suddenly tried to rush inside after him, and Rade stopped her with one arm. “You have to go back.”
“Please, let me come with you!” she said. “I can’t stand it in here.”
“Honey, you can’t go outside,” Cornelius said gently. He tugged at her arm. “We talked about this. The air is unbreathable. They’re wearing suits.”
“You have a spare suit for me right?” she asked Rade hopefully.
“I’m sorry, no,” he said.
She slumped, and allowed Cornelius to drag her outside. “I apologize,” he told Rade. “We’ve been under a lot of stress.”
“No need to apologize,” Rade said through the opening. “Spread the word to the others. Tell them not to despair. Help will come.”
Cornelius nodded. “I’ll let everyone on this floor know. We don’t have a way to communicate with the colonists on other levels, though. We tried a short-wave radio someone had, but the materials in the blast shield, the floor, and the ceiling seem to reflect most of our transmissions.”
“Do you know what other floors hold colonists?” Rade asked, pulling up the blueprints of the building that Screwdriver had sent him.
“All of them,” Cornelius said. “Except the very top few.”
“Should we try to move the colonists down to the next floor?” Tahoe asked over the private channel. “Farther from the aliens?”
“There’s no point,” Rade said over the same channel. “It’ll take too long. And besides, the floors below will probably be even more crowded.”
While studying the blueprints, Rade noticed something strange underneath the basement level. “Is this building connected to a subway system?”
“It is,” Cornelius said.
“That’s what I thought,” Rade said. “Thanks.”
He stepped back, and nodded at Bender and Rex, who began ratcheting closed the airlock.
“I heard that familiar tone in your voice,” Tahoe sent over the platoon channel. “The eager tone that says: I have an idea.”
Rade answered over the same channel: “The subway system will let us access the rest of the city. It gives us a way out of here.”
“But how does that help us protect the colonists in this building?” Tahoe asked.
“It doesn’t,” Rade replied. “At least not immediately. Which is why only a few of us can leave, while the remainder stay behind to defend against the Draactals.”
“And these few go where?” Tahoe said. “To bring back reinforcements from the rest of the city?”
“Potentially,” Rade said. He scanned the map for ideas. He spotted what he was looking for. Now if he could just find…
By the time Bender and Rex had sealed the door, he had his plan. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”
And he told them.
“It’s risky,” Tahoe said when he was done.
“Yes,” Rade said. “But what plan isn’t?”
“The good ones,” Rex quipped.
“Bro, you wouldn’t know a good plan if it hit you in the face,” Bender said. “I like this plan.”
“You would,” Snakeoil said.
Bender shrugged. “Anything that involves killing a lot of bugs, of course I’m going to stand behind.”
“We’ll have to get approval from the LC, of course,” Rex said.
“I intend to,” Rade replied.
Bender and Rex finished sealing the hatch, and then moved to the far door. They didn’t bother venting the atmosphere, and instead directly opened the outer hatch. Yellow mist vented inside through the crack until the entire room was full of the alien atmosphere.
When the doors were wide enough, the team squeezed through, and then hurried into the stairwell, making their way back to the rest of the platoon.
When Rade neared the floor where the others resided, he tapped in Scotts as soon as he was available.
“Welcome back, Rage,” Scotts asked. “Did you contact any colonists?”
“We did,” Rade said. “They’re alive. We informed them of the situation.”
He climbed the last few steps until he reached Scotts and the others. They were still guarding the stairwell. The platoon had dragged the bodies of the dead Draactals into the upper portion of the stairwell, blocking the way.
“They’re running low on water,” Rade said. “And they’re fairly anxious, as can be expected. But otherwise, they’re holding up well.” He glanced at the corpses. “The aliens still haven’t come, I see.”
“No,” the lieutenant command said. “The mechs are holding out far longer than we could have ever hoped. They’re valiant, and courageous as hell.”
Rade nodded, pressing his lips together, feeling a surge of sadness when he thought about Taya. She was probably surrounded by Draactals at that very moment, and fighting for her life. He wondered if he should go to her, and fight by her side… no, that would only anger her. She had essentially stayed for him, so that he might live. If he went back, then her death was for nothing.
Besides, he couldn’t abandon his men. There was one last thing to do…
He explained his plan to Scotts.
The lieutenant commander regarded him skeptically. “You’re sure you can pull it off? There will be patrols of Draactals everywhere. What if you run into them?”
“Then we’ll deal with it,” Rade said. Scotts seemed unconvinced, and for a moment Rade thought the lieutenant commander wasn’t going to consent to the plan, so he added: “We have to try.”
Scotts smiled sadly. “I suppose we do. We’re warriors. Do you have a team in mind already?”
“I thought I’d take my current group,” Rade said.
Scotts nodded. “Best of luck to you all.”
“And you as well,” Rade said.
“I’m not sure which of us will have it worse,” Scotts said. “Us, up here, defending against the aliens. Or you five, stepping out into the fray.”
“We’re probably about equal, when it comes to the suck,” Rade said.
“Probably,” the lieutenant commander agreed.
Rade descended the stairwell without any further goodbyes. Tahoe, Bender, Rex and Snakeoil followed behind him.
The stairwell remained mostly dark beneath them, with emergency lights illuminating every three flights. Their weapon lights easily made up for the darker areas.
Rade kept his rifle raised, and he gazed down the sights as he took t
he steps two at a time: his exoskeleton countered the vibrations of wobbles induced by each step, ensuring his aim remained steady. If a tango appeared ahead, his aim would be true.
Bender and Tahoe were in the lead, while Rex and Snakeoil followed on the rear.
Traveling down the sixty-five flights to the basement level took six and a half repetitive minutes. They encountered no aliens along the route, nor anyone else, including Cynthia and the Centurion with her.
At the bottom floor, the stairwell opened out into the basement. It was essentially a concourse, with shops sealed by security grills lining the way. It wasn’t pressurized like the other floors of the Breach Resistant building, and thus had no airlock: it was completely exposed to the alien atmosphere.
Rade and the others hurried across that open area, scanning the area for tangos. There was more illumination here, with the emergency lights out of reach on the ceiling above.
The team kept close to the concourse wall. Dents and scratches in the concrete told him at least some Draactals had passed through here at some point. Their jumpsuits still had tech that allowed them to blend in with those walls of course, but it hadn’t helped all that well against the Draactals, or the Nemesis, so far. The Draactals could see on the infrared band, after all, and Rade suspected the aliens probably utilized some form of echolocation as well.
Rade set a waypoint on his overhead map, placing it in the center of the underground subway station ahead, and overlaid the route with his HUD. A dashed green line appeared above the floor, guiding him toward the target.
They approached a bend in the concourse ahead, where it shrunk to a smaller passageway. Bender and Tahoe moved wide to clear it, and then continued forward. Rade and the others pursued.
Because the ceiling was lower, the overhead emergency lights were within reach, and they had all been smashed out; the weapon lights on the laser rifles provided the only illumination.
Rade heard a constant chittering sound coming from ahead, punctuated by the occasional howl.
“Sounds like one of Bender’s house parties,” Rex commented.
“Funny little man,” Bender said. “Let’s see how jocular you are when I smash your faceplate. You know, your stubbly scalp reminds me of the faces of those colonists. Or the pussy hairs of a camel.”
“You would know what the pussy hairs of a camel look like,” Rex said.
“Oh ho!” Bender said. “The lip! It wasn’t that long ago we still considered you a little caterpillar. Better shut your mouth before I begin treating you like a hairy little bug again!”
Rade interjected before Rex could get himself in trouble: “Guys. Not now. Focus.”
“From the noise, I’d guess there are quite a few of them,” Tahoe said.
“We didn’t expect this to be easy,” Rade said. “Slow down, and deactivate weapon lights. Switch to LIDAR.”
Rade and the others turned off their illumination sources so that complete darkness overlaid his vision. He could still see his comrades, however, thanks to the location sharing: their bodies were silhouetted in blue.
When he activated the LIDAR, white polygons outlined the walls, floor, and ceiling of the corridor, allowing them to continue forward.
Ahead, the corridor opened out into another concourse-like area. According to the map, it was the subway platform.
He could see Draactals on the far side of the platform where a stairwell led to the surface. Tightly packed, the aliens crowded out those steps, tentacles waving impatiently as if waiting for the creatures in front of them to move out of the way so they could rush up the skyscraper and join their brethren in the attack. They had probably been forced down here by the sheer number of aliens crowding the area. By Rade’s estimation, the streets above would still be covered in them.
The backs of the aliens were to him, as far as he could tell on the LIDAR.
“Does anyone else think these aliens partially see by echolocation?” Tahoe asked.
“I do,” Rade replied.
“So, the question now becomes, can they see behind their heads with that echolocation?” Rex said.
“Guess we’ll find out.” Bender stepped out onto the subway platform.
The aliens, which were only about fifty meters away at that point, didn’t respond. They continued to stand in place, tentacles waving, mandibles grinding.
Bender and the others kept close to the platform wall, which was perpendicular to the previous passage. They moved quietly, and reached the spot where the glass separators had once protected the tracks; the individual panes had been smashed, allowing Rade and the others to easily lower themselves onto the tracks below.
They crouched so that their bodies were hidden beneath the height of the platform beside them and advanced, passing the aliens, and continuing deeper into the subway tunnel.
The chittering and intermittent howls faded behind them, until there was only silence. The emergency lights were still active in places here, but Rade kept his LIDAR enabled anyway, to illuminate the shadows.
They passed another subway stop, and had to crouch lower to avoid yet another group of seething Draactals that crowded the stairwells. Then that stop, too, was behind them.
They encountered no further resistance to their destination, and the next subway stop was completely empty. Bender and Rex cleared the way to the surface shed, and the others followed behind them. The team disabled their LIDAR by then, since it wasn’t needed. Broad daylight awaited outside.
“Got Draactals to the left,” Bender said. “Crowding the edge of the street.”
Rade switched to Bender’s viewpoint, and saw that he was looking down the scope at the aliens in the distance. Bender raised the scope to examine the skyscraper beyond it. The exterior was covered in those aliens. They seemed to be crawling over one another, but otherwise not advancing in any meaningful way. The chokepoint set up by the remainder of Alpha Platoon inside the skyscraper was having its desired effect, then. As they crawled over one another, aliens occasionally dropped to their deaths as he watched.
“I see them,” Rade said. “We’re going to have to cross quickly. You two, first. We’ll follow.”
Bender and Rex crossed the street at a crouch. They weaved between the debris that was scattered across the asphalt here, using it as cover along the way—downed aircraft, broken vehicles, pieces of buildings. When they reached the building on the other side, they climbed the steps and ducked behind a pillar next to a wide, stone flower pot.
Rade, Snakeoil and Tahoe went next. They all had jetpacks, which theoretically could have been used to boost the speed of their crossing, but most of the fuel was gone—it had been shared with their mechs. Rade didn’t have enough fuel to manage even a small burst.
As he quietly darted across at a crouch, Rade glanced to his left, and saw the Draactals milling about in the distance. He could swear that some were looking his way. At this range, the jumpsuit camouflage would allow him and his team to blend in well with the surrounding street, especially considering their smaller profiles as compared to Brigand mechs. Hopefully, the suspected Draactal echolocation was just as imprecise at this distance as vision.
Apparently it was, because none of the aliens broke away to pursue them.
He climbed the steps and reached the others crouched behind the pillar.
“Not a peep from the bugs,” Bender said.
“Good,” Rade said. “Let’s get inside. It’s time to loot the armory.”
The five of them piled into the police station.
30
Rade looked around the entrance. He marked off the armory on his blueprints, and a path became highlighted on the floor in front of him.
“Snakeoil, Cyclone, stay here,” Rade said. “Watch the rear.”
Rade and the other two hurried along the plotted route.
“The armory is going to be alarmed, you know,” Rex commented.
“That’s why Bender is here,” Rade said.
They made their way past t
he front counter, and into the office area of the police station. They stopped in front of a locked door.
“According to the map, it’s behind here,” Rade said. He glanced at Bender.
The black man stepped forward and giggled. “Well tickle my dick, you gotta be kidding me.”
The door clicked.
“Nicely done,” Rade said.
“Dudes were redirecting some of the emergency power to maintain their interfaces,” Bender said. “Interfaces that have more backdoors than a Ho Chi Minh Flesh Musician.”
The three entered the metal-lined hallway beyond. It was lit by emergency lights. They reached another locked door, this one lined in steel rivets.
Rade looked at Bender, but the man was already smirking. But that grin quickly became a scowl.
After thirty seconds, Rex remarked: “Looks like he’s finally met his match. Maybe we should just blast our way through?”
“I got this,” Bender said.
After another minute, Rex glanced at Rade: “Chief, we don’t have all day.”
“I almost got it,” Bender said.
Rex bent over and started searching the adjacent wall for an access panel. “I wonder if there’s a manual interface.”
“Can you stop prancing about like that!” Bender said. “You’re distracting me!” His voice took on a mischievous tone. “With that fine ass and all…”
Rex straightened, and planted himself firmly behind Rade as if hoping the chief would protect him from Bender.
Finally, the door clicked.
Bender gave it a solid kick, and the door banged open. No alarms went off.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the armory,” Bender said, performing a sweeping bow.
Rade nodded at Rex, who entered. Bender followed behind him.
“Mm, that ass,” Bender said.
Rex quickly increased his pace, and Bender chortled.
Empty garage bays lined the left side of the corridor, once holding the police drones, robots, and mechs the force had at their disposal. The units had no doubt been deployed to help the army, and were likely stranded alongside the other divisions. For a moment Rade wondered why the trapped troops hadn’t used the subway system to relocate, but a quick glance at the map told him the neighborhoods where the divisions were marooned didn’t have underground tracks.