Star Cat Forever: A Science Fiction & Fantasy Adventure (The Star Cat Series - Book 6)

by Andrew Mackay

  “P-Please d-don’t kill me—”

  WHIRL.

  Jelly flung the dead mercenary off her claw and sent him tumbling down the corridor.

  She wiped her claw on her bare, furry buttock and held out her right hand.

  “Gimme your gun. Come on, gimme it,” she mocked. “There’s a goooood boy.”

  “Y-Yes—”

  He dropped his shotgun in her palm and backed up.

  “Seems your masters have abandoned you, dickhead.”

  “I know. They’ve run away.”

  “They were right to run.”

  Jelly hooked the shotgun strap over her shoulder and sniffed around the bullet wound on her leg.

  “You’ve b-been shot, Jelly,” the second mercenary said.

  “Yeah, no thanks to you and your boyfriends.”

  Sniff-sniff.

  The wound bled profusely as she inserted the infinity claw on her index finger inside and wrenched around.

  “Nggggggg,”

  “Oh my God,” he said.

  She gouged the spent shell from inside her flesh and tossed it onto the executed mercenary.

  “Ah, that feels better,” she said as she tried to stand up straight, “Ugh.”

  She pressed her hands to the wall and kicked her hind leg.

  “Damn it.”

  “I can g-go and get a medician?”

  “No, you can go to hell,” she snapped and stomped her injured foot on the ground. “Come here.”

  “Wh-what?”

  She moved her nose against his entire face.

  WHUMP.

  She grabbed his collar, his face up to hers and grunted in his face.

  “Look at me.”

  “O-Ok-kay—”

  “—Go out front and tell those bastards I’m coming.”

  “Huh—?”

  “—I SAID TELL THOSE BASTARDS ANDERSON’S GONNA TEAR THEIR SHIT UP.”

  The man burst into tears like a baby in her hands.

  “Ohhhhhhhhh-kaaaaaay.”

  She released the mess of a human to the floor and booted him up the ass, forcing him to yelp and move quicker down the corridor.

  “Faster, dickhead.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m g-going.”

  Jelly grabbed the two mercenary shotguns in both hands. Her wound left a trail of blood as she made her way to the gantry.

  ***

  Maar and Brayn ran into the reception area with their weapons drawn.

  The place was a husk of its former self.

  The walls were demolished and the desk was broken. The bodies of dead employees were scattered all over the floor.

  The life-size gold statue of Pascal D’Souza remained intact in front of the fountain that hadn’t been touched.

  A shuffling noise came from behind the statue, drawing Maar’s attention.

  Brayn and Maar aimed their guns at the statue’s legs and yelled.

  “Who’s there?”

  “M-Maar?” the man’s voice stuttered. “It’s me, don’t shoot.”

  Arden appeared with his hands above his head.

  “Oh, it’s you.”

  “Y-Yes.”

  “What happened, huh? Fell back like a little fairy and let us walk right into certain danger?”

  “Uh, no. It wasn’t like th-that,” Arden stammered with fear. “Is it dead?”

  Maar nodded at Brayn, “Give our friend, here, a strap.”

  “You want him armed?”

  BOOOOOOOOM.

  The war occurring outside between RAGE and the mercenaries rattled the building.

  Outside, a dead USARIC employee burst into a haze of blood and smashed through the window.

  The body slid across the floor and arrived at Arden’s feet.

  “Does that answer your question?” Maar said. “Give the man a gun so he can defend himself.”

  “Fine.”

  Brayn reached into his belt and retrieved his spare handgun. He tossed it at the scared man at the statue, “Catch.”

  WHUMP.

  Arden caught the firearm in his hands.

  “Don’t point at the people you’re working with,” Brayn added as Maar raced over to the shattered doors. “Or at people you like.”

  The sight of sheer carnage taking place on the outer grounds angered him.

  “Damn it. Look what they’ve done to my facility.”

  STOMP — CLANG — STOMP — CLANG.

  Arden looked at the door to the research bay and gasped, “Who’s that?”

  “It’s her,” Brayn said. “Mr. Sheck, sir? We have to leave.”

  Brayn and Arden stepped over the dead bodies and joined Maar at the door.

  DD-12 fired his mini-gun at the entrance gates, trying to kill the last of the rebels.

  “Brayn?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  Maar’s face turned sour at the reality of his situation.

  “Bryan?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Get Metal Bird One in the air,” Maar gasped as he soaked in the devastation. “We’re being screwed.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Maar pushed through the broken door and out into the concourse, with Brayn and Arden in pursuit.

  “Metal Bird One. Do you copy?” Brayn said as he focused on Maar approaching the giant android.

  “This is Metal Bird One. Receiving you.”

  “Be advised, we need you to pick us up.”

  “At the research center?” the pilot asked with confusion. “It’s a war zone down there.”

  “Just get here. That’s an order.”

  Brayn gripped his gun and covered Maar as he approached the gigantic android.

  “Hey, you,” Maar shouted and clapped his hands.

  WHIRRRRR - SPIN.

  Maar pointed at the research building, “Yeah, you, you great hunk of scrap yard junk. Get in there and kill Anderson.”

  Biddip-beep.

  DD-12’s eyebulbs blinked bright red. It smashed its fists together and appeared to smile.

  “Affirmative.”

  “Good, boy.”

  SCHTOMP — SCHTOMP — SCHTOMP.

  DD-12 stomped over to the arena entrance and lifted his giant, truck-sized arms.

  Maar chuckled to himself and coughed a lump of black smog from his lungs.

  “Go get her.”

  WHAAA — SMASSSSHHHH.

  DD-12 punched the facade of the building away with its fists and crunched its way through the reception area, over the corpses, and into the corridor.

  “Kill her. Kill her dead,” Maar screamed. “And when you’ve killed her kill her again just to make sure.”

  Sierra joined Amelia, Roman and Remy at the far side of the concourse, taking cover behind the gray van.

  “How many are out there?” Amelia asked as she returned fire on the enemy.

  “I dunno. They keep coming,” Sierra said. “We need to hold them off.”

  KERRRAANNNNGGG.

  The rebels watched as DD-12 punched the front of the building apart and make its way inside.

  Roman stepped forward with the intention of running after it, and straight into the line of fire.

  “No,” Sierra said. “Don’t go there, you’ll just end up dead like everyone else, damn it.”

  Roman huffed and came to his senses.

  “Okay, okay,” he said.

  Little did the Rebels know that the USARIC mercenaries making their way to the van way outnumbered them.

  ***

  Jelly squeezed the gantry railings and roared with pain. She’d lost a lot of blood and was close to fainting.

  “Ughhhh,” she swished her tail around and took a deep breath.

  A fifty-foot drop to the lab hung below her face. The Processor and conveyor belts had all stopped.

  The bullet wound in her arm and leg coughed out more blood down her body.

  “Nggggg, it hurts. Uh, it hurts so bad,” she whined.

  SCHTOMP — SCHTOMP.

  “Meow,” she s
hrieked and turned to face the door to the gantry. “Huh?”

  KRAAA — WHAAMMMMMM.

  The wall exploded in a flurry of dust and detritus as the door whipped towards Jelly.

  “Ahhh—”

  She lifted her body over the railings and plummeted to the giant, central conveyor belt rolling along the research arena.

  SLAMMMMM.

  “Yaaaoooowwwww,” Jelly squealed at the top of her lungs. She held the wound on her leg and rolled onto her side.

  SCHTOMP — SCHTOMP.

  DD-12 heard her cries and crushed its foot through the gantry, forcing it down into the arena with her.

  WHOOOSH — THWUMP.

  The entire area shook like the inside of a cereal box as the behemoth landed on its feet. Its eye bulbs blinked at Jelly.

  “Die.”

  “Arrggghhhhh,” Jelly screamed and pressed her knees on the conveyor belt as it fed her towards the android.

  She kicked herself forward just as it aimed its mini-gun at her.

  FLING.

  She hurled herself through the air, stretched her arms, and sunk her claws into its chest plate.

  THRAT-A-TAAAAAAT-A-TAT.

  DD-12 growled in its ghastly electronic voice and unleashed a wave of bullets around the arena, shattering the computer workstations and computer screens.

  SMASH — SMASH — BANG.

  Jelly swung to and fro from DD-12’s mini-gun as it tried to blast her away. The mini-gun calibrated itself and produced a second barrel over its main nozzle.

  BLAM - BLAM - BLAM.

  The bullets careened into the floor, shunting DD-12’s arm back to its face.

  Jelly released her grip, twisted in the air and booted him in the face.

  CLAAAANG.

  “Wahhh,” she screamed as she dropped back to the conveyor belt.

  “Stage One ready. Preparing for calibration,” the speakers on the conveyor advised, as the coarse material carried her like a giant, swallowing tongue towards The Processor in the wall.

  BIZZOOOOWWWWW.

  “N-Nah,” she squealed as she tried to kick herself away from the wall.

  DD-12 stormed forward and watched his bleeding, battered foe give up the fight.

  Biddip.

  Its eyebulbs scanned the cat-like woman leaning back on her elbows and digging her heels against the conveyor.

  The android grabbed the back of her head and lifted her to her feet.

  “Nyaaaoooowwww,” she wailed as her body lifted into the air.

  Beep-beep.

  Without mercy, his hand twisted around and chucked her, shoulders-first, into The Processor.

  “Die.”

  WHUMP — CLATCH.

  Jelly squealed as the back of her head smashed into the mold within the wall, “Naaaaaa.”

  SCHERR-WIPP-PP.

  “Automation process initiated,” the speaker advised. “Stage One.”

  The death droid mold vacuumed around her body and held her in place.

  A giant red bulb flashed on the wall, indicating the calibration process.

  “No-no—” she squealed and fought to escape, but it was no use.

  WHUP — CLANG.

  Two giant slabs of metal folded out and slapped to her chest. The arms within the unit extended and screwed the bolts together, encasing her in death droid armor.

  “Nuh-nuh—” Jelly slammed her elbows as a vicious lens unfurled in front her face and examined her eyes.

  BIZZOOOOWWWWW.

  A red laser flew out from the lens and scorched her retinas.

  “Gah, guh, ngggg—” she licked her mouth and tried to move her head, but the casing surrounding her ears held it firmly in place as the laser did its worst.

  SCOOOREEEEE.

  “Stage One. Complete,” advised The Processor. The strength in Jelly’s arms evaporated. They went limp and dropped by her side as she fell unconscious.

  A fifth arm clasped around her wrist and lifted her elbow up.

  SCHWUMP — KERRATCH.

  It broke her elbows in two as a brand new metal housing wrapped around her forearm and upper arm and snapped into place.

  KER-CHUNK.

  “Stage Two,” the speaker announced. “Carbon modifier. Please standby.”

  The Processor performed the same action on Jelly’s other arm, and two hind legs.

  WHUMP — CLATCH.

  Giant battle armor fastened around her thighs, knee bones, and shins.

  The Processor lifted her body up inside the mold and blew a gust of air into her face.

  “Stage Three. Please clear the area.”

  DD-12 stomped back for a good view of Jelly’s complicated execution.

  The extender in The Processor closed its prongs around her throat.

  KRICK — KRICK—CRACK.

  The top three vertebrae in her neck snapped out in two, swift motions. Her tongue hung out of her mouth, expending the last of her saliva.

  “Yaaaooowwwwwaaarrr—”

  “—Stage Three in progress,” The Processor announced.

  Jelly’s eyes snapped open of their own accord, gleaning a perfect view of her giant android oppressor watching her.

  She held her breath and didn’t dare move for fear of damaging her spine any further.

  WHIIIIRRRRRR.

  The processor sparked as five helmet compartments slammed around her head.

  She struggled to get her head away from it, but it was no use. The Processor proceeded to bend and snap her at will, “Nggg, n-no—”

  SCHWIIIIZZZZZ.

  The curved plate smashed onto her head and sealed shut around her ears, sending a shooting pain down her spine.

  WHUMP — WHUMP - WHIZZZZ.

  Two side panels bolted on each side of her face and screwed into her temple.

  “Gwwwurrggghhh,” her voice lowered into a deathly tiger roar as she trained her eyes forward.

  The back of the helmet slapped against the sides and clicked into place, pushing her head forward.

  BIZZZOOOOWWWWW.

  “Stage Four,” the speaker announced. “Please be advised. Automatic processing complete.”

  A Perspex rectangle lowered in front of her urine-colored eyes and fixed itself to the front.

  WHACK.

  Her nose pushed through, enabling her to breath. Her whiskers and jaw shunted through the opening in the helmet, finally allowing her to breath.

  BIZZ-BIZZ — SCHUNT.

  The arms released her as the mold seeped away into the interior of The Processor.

  Jelly Anderson - one third cat, woman, death droid.

  FLITT — FLITT.

  She blinked twice, wondering why the pain had suddenly disappeared.

  She lifted her giant, robotic right arm and analyzed the material.

  A heavy, broad chunk of enriched carob. Titanium ends on her left hand. The same material used for her infinity claws all those years ago. Her hand remained inside the reinforced, dark-colored material. The glint from the light reflected off the connecting screw where the sleeve end was.

  She tried to step forward but was held back by the restraints within The Processor.

  “Weapons & Armory check. Please standby.”

  WHIIIRRRRRRR.

  Her right arm snapped back into The Processor. The mold smothered around her wrist and held it in place.

  “Arrghhhh—”

  SCHTAAAMMM.

  “Weapons complete. Weapons hot. Standby.”

  A six foot USARIC-issue mini-gun, much like that on DD-12, pushed forward and shunted onto the end of her right arm and snapped into place.

  “Process complete. Have a nice day.”

  Jelly yanked her arm out of the mold and held the length of the mini-gun up to her face.

  “Nice,” she said in her electronic, guttural voice.

  DD-12 blinked and beeped.

  Jelly’s helmet turned to face him. Her yellow eyes contorted into a bizarre pyramid shape.

  “Hey, tough guy.”

/>   Both extended their right arms, slowly, in each other’s directions.

  BRRREEEEEEEEEEEEE.

  Each opponent’s mini guns spun into a frenzy, ready to open fire.

  “Die.”

  Jelly poised to leap at him, keeping her min-gun on his body, “Sure, big boy. Let me help you with that.”

  THRAAAA-AAAA — AA-TAT.

  DD-12 unleashed a blaze of bullets at Jelly as she stormed forward in her new armor. The ammo exploded up her front and across her helmet, barely making a dent.

  “Yaaaagghh,” she squealed as she ran through the smog.

  She smashed head-first into DD-12’s chest and tumbled with it across the ground. They rolled over the banks of workstations, smashed the screens and computers and collided with the wall.

  CRAACCCKKKK — BOOM.

  The wall broke away in chunks, threatening the structure of the lab entirely. Jelly pushed herself upright and yanked on a handle within her left armored hand.

  WHUP.

  A blast of fire burst from her back and lifted her into the air for a moment. She bent her knees and stomped on DD-12’s body, cracking the armor.

  CLANG — CLANG.

  Jelly lifted her heavy mini-gun up to her face and inspected it.

  “Nice.”

  She held her right arm out at DD-12.

  “Oh, no you don’t.”

  THRAAA-TAT-A-TAAAAAAT.

  Thousands of bullets bounced off DD-12’s front and screamed in all directions.

  SMASH — SMASH — CRASSSHHH.

  The bullets shattered the walls and buried into the ground, as DD-12 climbed to his feet and rotated his head one hundred and eighty degrees at Jelly.

  He walked into the onslaught of bullets and punched her against The Processor.

  WHUMP.

  “Guuuhh,” she winced and moved forward, taking most of the wall with her. “Ugh, get over here you, big, ugly asshole.”

  She reached around the back of DD-12’s head and head butted him.

  CLAANNNNGGGGGGG.

  It temporarily knocked the droid for six. He staggered back and busted the ground apart due to his sheer weight and enormity.

  Jelly stormed after him and pushed her left hand out through the opening in her armored sleeve.

  SPRANG.

  Her infinity claws fanned out like five umbrella spokes. She took a swipe and scratched the front of his head.

  WHUP.

  “Die, damn it. Die,” she roared in his face as she pushed her jaw forward, opened her mouth and revealed her razor sharp fangs.