“I never got a look at his face,” Kaiden admitted. “But he used the same weapon he was armed with at the dock and had the two stripes at the top of his helmet. All the other guys have different patterns on their armor.” He pointed to one of the bodies that had three vertical lines on the left side of the helmet and another that started at the forehead and swirled to the neck. “I assume that’s some sort of sign or designation.”
“It was intended as a show of support for the Io marauders—the survivors, as we called them. It was an idea Dirk and a few other members of the security force suggested. This doesn’t make any sense. Why would they betray the WCM? Why have they allied with the marauders?”
“I don’t know everything, but my EI said he read a warp gate activation before we were attacked.” Kaiden related.
“A warp gate? I never authorized—how did they even get their hands on one?”
“It would probably be helpful to know who they are,” Kaiden pointed out. He turned to Mack and Lancia. “I heard shots in there. Did the marauders turn on you?”
“Well, kind of,” Mack grunted and shrugged his shoulders. “One of them did.”
“What do you mean?”
“The leader’s advisor is the one who killed them and attacked us,” Lancia explained. “He had an ocular in one eye. I saw it flash only a few minutes after we began our discussion and he drew a hidden pistol and shot the leader in the head. The bodyguards tried to return fire, but when they pulled the triggers, the guns erupted and killed them. He tried to shoot at us, but Mack blocked and shot his arm off. Then he…he had a bomb and activated it when we tried to question him.”
“If it wasn’t for this fellow’s barrier, we would have been lost then and there,” the captain stated. “We live, but we have no idea what is happening, and something has locked me out of the security systems. That’s why we had to ask your vanguard friend to knock the door down.”
“I have over a dozen uses, but battering ram is one of the most fun ones.” Mack chuckled. “But now that we have a few moments to breathe, I assume we can safely say that ending this peacefully is no longer an option?”
“My objective is no longer listed,” Lancia said. Her eyes lowered, and her face revealed uncertainty. “I now only have to survive again.”
Kaiden looked at the despondent negotiator. “Now, I feel kind of bad. She didn’t get a chance to do her thing before this all went to hell,” he whispered to Chief but received no response. “Chief, are you there?”
“Yeah… Yeah, give me…” His response crackled with static.
“Again with that? Did something get into you?”
“I was in the middle of trying to get into the systems to see if I could bypass the lock when your big ass friend there slammed through the doors. It caused a hard reboot. I’m fine or will be fine when I get all of me back together, but maybe we’ll be more mindful of that in the future.”
“All right. I’m glad your back with us.” Kaiden looked at Lancia “I’m sorry that this kinda turned more into our thing than yours,” he apologized and gestured at himself and Mack. “I don’t wanna sound like I’m dogging you, but I don’t think diplomacy is really an option right now.”
The look on her face quickly snapped from despondency to neutral understanding. “I’ve come to that conclusion myself,” she agreed “What should we do now? I have no other priorities but survival. What about either of you?”
“Only to keep you alive,” Mack said. “What about you, Kaiden?”
“Same, keep her— Wait, I have something new coming on. It says that I need to keep the negotiator alive and either escape the Dreadnought or take down the leader of the mutiny?”
“Who’s that? The lieutenant guy?” Mack asked.
“It doesn’t say. That’s a hell of a lot to juggle right now,” he muttered. “Where should we— Damn it!” He swore as the Dreadnought was rocked by another explosion. “That’s starting to make me sick!”
“Wow, that’s a lot of fire,” Mack exclaimed. The ace turned, and his eyes widened when he saw that the small flicker he had seen before now engulfed nearly a third of the hallway behind them.
“Well, getting away from that seems to be the immediate priority,” Kaiden stated dryly.
“I know it’s a lot to ask…” The captain caught the trio’s attention. “But can you escort me back to the bridge? I need to get control of the security systems and main weapons. Without those, we’re compromised both outside and in.”
“Your weapons are down?” Lancia asked.
“If they weren’t, we would feel the aftershocks of the cannons firing. On top of that, our tracer guns are second to none. Whatever fighters or personal craft they may have wouldn’t fly for very long.”
Lancia nodded, but her eyes wandered to the side in thought. She turned to Kaiden. “If nothing else, helping the captain will stabilize the dreadnought. We can decide how to finish this from there.”
“Sure, or we could simply find a batch of escape pods and be done with this,” he retorted.
Though he couldn’t see Mack’s face, he imagined that he had a similar shocked expression to Lancia and the captain’s.
“Uh, pardon my friend and me a minute,” Mack mumbled. He gripped the ace’s shoulder. “We’ll be right back.”
“Here, Lancia!” Kaiden tossed her the Servitor as Mack dragged him away. “Keep a lookout!”
The soldiers walked to the end of the hall where the fire raged. “Is this some sort of ruse or did you actually want to talk in front of the raging inferno?”
“I thought that maybe you were knocked on the head or something and the fire would snap you out of it,” Mack countered.
“Don’t go into therapy.” Kaiden deadpanned. “Knock it off, would ya?”
The vanguard shook his head. He threw his arms back as his barrier energy sparked to life and clapped his hands together. The blast of energy smothered most of the fire, although a few small embers and flames remained.
“Nice trick.”
“Quit it,” Mack demanded. “What’s with you?”
“What? About wanting to get the hell out of here? What’s the matter with that? We’ve done the job, and now, they’re goofing with us.” He slid Debonair into its holster and his hands into his pockets. “It’s not my fault my enthusiasm is waning.”
“Still, I mean… I know we only worked together during the Death Match, but both there and in here you showed you liked to fight and to get things done. I respect that.”
“I’m much obliged, but I don’t see the problem here.” Kaiden rolled his head like he was trying to get a stubborn crick out of it. “I’m not saying we should give up but that it would simply be easier to go with the escape route than run this little side mission and then find out who the ‘leader’ is… Although, if it is the lieutenant, I’ll be pissed that I didn’t kill him when he ran off.”
“You let him go?” Mack inquired.
“I didn’t think he was that important. Plus I was knocked off my feet by all the damn explosions, then you appeared and it slipped my mind,” he said defensively.
They continued to bicker and argue. Lancia and the captain looked on, and the concern and impatience on the man’s face became more evident.
“For someone who was so protective of his weapons, I would have never thought of him as a coward.” The captain huffed his irritation.
“He’s not,” Lancia stated firmly. “Both of them got me here, and I know about other accomplishments of his. Maybe he’s simply annoyed about how things have turned out. He’ll come around.”
“And while he takes his sweet time finding his spine, the chaos onboard only grows worse,” the captain muttered “I may have to go off on my own. I can’t afford to stay here much longer.”
“Leaving sooner won’t matter if you die. If there are a lot of hostiles on board, they will be sure to try to stop you from reaching the bridge.”
“There is that old saying, ‘the captain goes
down with the ship,’ and if that does happen, I want to have tried my damnedest to stop this mutiny, not stand here twiddling my thumbs.”
Lancia looked at the determination on the man’s face and at her Servitor. “Then let’s get you there.”
“This is about free time?” Mack asked incredulously.
“It’s about what I can do with it,” Kaiden corrected “Either way, this test contributes to how the next few months will play out for us. We have a chance to end it now and pass. I think we should take it.”
“Fair enough, but what about bonuses?”
“What bonuses? They never said anything about bonuses. Those are usually for the big tests.”
“We only have one big test this year, and it’s at the end of the year.” Mack tapped the side of his helmet. “Things are different this year. Think about it, why would they give us two different ways to end it? One lets us pass, one hundred percent, A-grade, but the other goes a little beyond.”
“Are you’re saying you think we would get extra points?” Kaiden considered this. “You must have talked to a few of my friends to know that appeals to me.”
“I happened to talk to Silas and Izzy during the Death Match,” he admitted. “They told me a few stories, specifically about your Division Test. But I also know you were rank three by the end of the year.”
“Right, and?”
“You know that resets, right?”
Kaiden sighed. “Annoyingly, yes. I intended to find a way to get back up there. Those capsules aren’t the same as a bunk or bed. They make me feel like I’m sleeping in a snack wrap.”
“I can only guess, but maybe the more bonus points you collect, the more it contributes to your rank,” Mack suggested.
“I see what you’re saying… At least that means there’s a possibility of doing it the hard way.”
“Are you finally coming around?”
Kaiden chuckled, intertwined his fingers, and cracked them. “I guess I can’t say no when you seem so giddy about it. Don’t get me wrong, I usually like causing a ruckus. But I’m also usually in hostile headquarters or a jungle or something—places where I can be free to be me. I think they would dislike it if I shot up their precious ship.” He looked down the hall to where some of the smaller flames flared once more. “Or maybe that’s a moot point by now. Hey, captain! Do you mind if I—”
Lancia and the captain were gone.
Chapter Eleven
“Where the hell did they go?” Kaiden asked.
“Lancia? Lancia?!” Mack called into the comm link. “Where are you? Are you all right? You’re where? With the captain? You couldn’t have waited?”
Kaiden keyed into the conversation. “Lancia, you do realize that you are possibly the most important member of our little ragtag team at the moment and you are now where, exactly?”
“I’m escorting the captain to the bridge. We’ve been able to avoid hostiles so far and haven’t seen any more of those guards with the blue stripes, but we’ve come across more marauders,” she informed them. “My marker should be visible on the HUD.”
“Wow, how long did we not pay attention?” Mack asked when he looked in the direction of Lancia’s marker. “You’re way faster than you look.”
“I’m also not weighed down by a bunch of armor…although it looks like that could be useful right about now.”
“Dammit. Hold on, we’re coming,” Kaiden ordered and gestured at Mack to run. “Might I ask why you couldn’t wait until we finished our little chat?”
“The captain said he needed to get to the bridge as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to wait for you to finish your squabble and I didn’t want to risk him going alone.”
“You do know that it doesn’t matter if he dies or not, right?”
She sighed over the mic. “I know it’s not in our objectives, but I felt bad about—”
“Not that! I’m talking about the fact that he’s an Animus creation. We’re not actually losing a Dreadnought captain if he dies,” he explained as they hurried left when they reached the end of the corridor.
“Well…yes, of course, it’s just… We are supposed to take these missions seriously and go through them and make decisions like we actually would in reality,” she pointed out. “We’re closing in on the final—oh, my.”
“Is something wrong?” Mack asked. “That sounded more shocked than worried.”
“We-we are almost at the hallway leading to the bridge. We’re at a window. Kaiden, it’s horrible outside.”
“What do you see—actually, hold that for a moment.” A trio of marauders in the distance was better armored than the one he’d seen in the meeting room—probably because they were a boarding party and not there to talk things out. They were shielded by basic combat boots with leg and chest armor worn over more torn clothes and had basic machine guns slung around their shoulders. Whoever had supplied them didn’t seem to spring for underlays or body suits. Which really was a pity, as they would have contained the mess resulting from what he was about to do much better.
Kaiden aimed his Tempest quickly, fired a volley of lasers at the trio, and eliminated them easily. He wondered if the plan was to overwhelm them with numbers or the chaos. If all them were so poorly armed, they wouldn’t offer much of a fight for the properly armed military men and women on board.
Some of which were compromised, he reminded himself.
This truth was harshly confirmed a second after the marauder’s bodies dropped when a squad of guards turned the corner. Kaiden hesitated briefly enough for them to take aim at him. He saw the lines, swore, and prepared to fire his Tempest as Mack dashed forward and created a wall of energy.
“We ain’t got the time to deal with these fools,” the vanguard hollered. Laser fire slammed into the shield and Kaiden heard a few clicks and dings from the vanguard’s armor. At least one of the guards had kinetic rounds. “I’ll make a hole. Shoot some on the way if you want but let’s keep moving!”
Mack poured more energy into the barrier, and it sparked and solidified as it had at the terminal. He shoved it forward to crash it into the squad before it impacted with the wall ahead and shattered. Kaiden took point and fired on the guards, who were able to dodge. He dispatched one with a few quick shots, but the other activated a portable barrier. Kaiden flipped the knife in his gauntlet out quickly, took the blade end in his fingers, and tossed it at the guard as the man began to fire his rifle. The knife pierced the barrier and found its mark in the guard’s shoulder between his neck and his shoulder pad. He swore in pain as the ace used the opportunity to rush forward and kick the grunt in the face.
The attacker fell, and Kaiden fired a few shots from his machine gun to make sure he stayed down. Mack fired his hand cannon at a huddle of adversaries who had been driven back by his energy wall.
“Double-tapping,” he stated and put his weapon away. “We still have a few hundred yards to go.”
“Let’s get back to it,” Kaiden ordered as they sprinted toward Lancia. “Hey, we were held up, but we’re on our way again. What were you trying to tell us before?” There was silence on the other end. “Lancia? Are you still on comms?”
On his HUD, Kaiden saw a yellow light flash next to her name to indicate that she was in danger. “Shit. Mack do you have enough power to nova?”
“Just about, but I’ll be at a minimum after.”
“I guess we’ll have to make do. They said they were almost there. Start priming!”
Although the ace didn’t take the time to look back, he felt a pulse of energy behind him and a light flared. The vanguard had started the preparatory charge. As they closed in with only a few more turns and one hundred and ten yards to go, Kaiden slowed. Mack passed him, his entire body aglow in blue light that both coated him and trailed around his body. The ace heard shots and an explosion. When he remembered that Lancia no longer had a barrier projector, he began to worry.
Mack raced into the room and barreled into a group of marauders and gua
rds. His energy erupted, and Kaiden fired rapidly at all the enemies he could see. A few tried to retreat, but he refused to make the same mistake twice. He snapped to each target, pulled the trigger once, and held it only briefly before he switched to the next. The attackers retreated too slowly. They walked backward and returned fire when they should have turned and sprinted out of sight.
Their mistake.
The ace continued to execute all targets, and Mack added a few rounds from his hand cannon. Now, the enemy was in full retreat but was down to only three marauders. Kaiden shot two, one in the back of their head and the other in the stomach. The vanguard severed the final marauder’s leg with one shot, but he made it into a room down the hall. The man’s cries of pain muted as the doors closed.
“I wish we did earn points for all this,” Kaiden mused and glanced at Mack. “I’d like to compare scores.”
“I’d say you’d lag on this one.” The large man chuckled.
“Only because you have large groups to use your nova on.”
“Don’t forget the thunderstorm effect I created on the terminal. Did that pay off or what?”
“I still think you did that mostly for flair.”
“Of course. I gotta have a bit of fun now and then right?”
“I try to keep that to a max, but it’s missions like these that bring out the worst in me.” Kaiden sighed and took a moment to look around the room. “Lancia! Captain! You can come out now!”
“Kaiden, watch it!” the vanguard warned as a guard they hadn’t seen aimed a sniper rifle at him. The ace flung himself aside as Mack turned to aim his hand cannon. Before he could fire, the attacker was shot in the back and thrown forward to land near Kaiden’s boot. He groaned and tried to stand. Kaiden brought his leg down hard on his head and knocked him out to collapse spread-eagled on the floor.
“Are you all right?” Lancia asked as she scrambled from behind the crates she had used for cover.
“I thought we would be asking you that. Nice save,” Kaiden quipped. “Where’s the captain?”
Advance (Animus Book 4) Page 9