Advance (Animus Book 4)

by Joshua Anderle

  “Hologram,” Magellan shouted.

  “Where is— Guh.” Kaiden tasted blood. His helmet was still on, so nothing could have gotten in. Cold pain stabbed in his chest and he looked down at a jagged blade. A hand dropped on his shoulder, and Gin leaned forward with perverse glee. “I’m picking up where you and I left off, kid.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Kaiden!” Magellan fired two shots at Gin’s exposed helmet over Kaiden’s shoulder. The killer leaned back and released Kaiden who fell to the floor with the blade still in his chest. The bounty hunter continued to fire until an empty click indicated that his rifle was out of ammo. Lazar took up the volley, but the killer simply created a barrier, this one bigger than those before.

  “Dammit, his barriers are getting stronger,” the merc shouted and rushed at their opponent. He swung his massive gauntlet, but Gin danced easily around his swings before he leapt back and tossed two more flashbangs.

  Lazar and Magellan shielded their eyes. “Pilot, fire on him,” Lazar ordered.

  “Who is that?” she asked.

  “Doesn’t fucking matter. Shoot!”

  The ship’s cannons whirred and aimed at the killer, who serpentined across the roof as the blasts left craters in the dome. He created three holograms of him running to confuse the pilot.

  “He’s not getting away,” Lazar challenged and raced after him. “Tend to the kid.”

  Magellan ran to Kaiden and knelt to inspect the wound. “EI, whatever the hell your name is, what are his vitals?”

  “His heart rate is slowing. He’s lost blood, but the blade is stifling the flow. He’s bleeding internally and has passed out from the shock. He was stabbed just above the solar plexus. For that kind of accuracy, you’d need to be a surgeon,” Chief said. He appeared in the air and looked at his fallen partner. “We can’t remove the blade unless we have something to repair the damage or plug the hole. Kaiden used the rest of his adhesive on the merc. All he has is basic rejuv serum.”

  “I have something.” Magellan retrieved a small orb. “Glaze foam. It’ll seal the wound and keep the blood from pouring out.”

  “Even with that, he won’t last long. He needs medical attention or ultra-grade medicine,” Chief advised. He turned to look at the bounty hunter. “I know you want this Gin guy bad, but please don’t abandon my partner.”

  Magellan looked at the EI. “It’s kinda odd to hear emotions from an EI, but I promise you, I won’t.”

  “I’m almost out of shots,” the pilot advised them. The ship’s cannons tried to pin Gin’s location down with little success. “I can’t get a hit on this guy. How the hell is he able to avoid cannon fire?”

  The killer and his holograms ran to where the devil bird had crashed. Lazar was in pursuit and maintained fire but only hit holograms that kept disappearing and reappearing. “Lazar! Stop,” Magellan ordered.

  Although he looked back in anger, the merc obeyed.

  “Pilot, focus your fire on the large cracks in the roof. Bring it down,” the bounty hunter directed.

  “Roger,” she acknowledged. The cannons redirected to the target as Gin passed over it. She fired four rounds at the area and the explosions made the roof section gave way. The holograms vanished and the killer fell into the fissure that opened up.

  “Good work! Come around.” Magellan waved at the ship. The cannons folded into the sides as it coasted to the roof.

  “This mission started with five of you. Are you the only ones left?” she asked.

  “Yeah, and it’ll be one less if we don’t get this one back to a medical facility soon.” Magellan beckoned to Lazar. The merc looked at the hole in the roof and grunted before he jogged quickly to him. “I need you to snap this blade so I can roll him over and take the rest of it out,” he explained. He nodded, placed his gauntlet on the ace’s chest, and gripped the blade firmly. He jerked his fist to the side and the metal snapped. The bounty hunter handed him the orb as he turned Kaiden. He placed one hand on his back and gripped the blade’s hilt with the other. After a slow exhalation, he pulled the blade out in a single swift motion.

  He flipped the still unconscious man again, took the orb from Lazar, and cracked it in his fingers before placing it on the puncture. Light-blue foam formed along the center of Kaiden’s chest and seeped into his wound.

  “Activating wound binding,” Chief stated, and several strips emerged from the interior of the armor and wrapped Kaiden’s chest. “It’ll have to do for now.”

  “Help me get him on the ship.” Magellan and Lazar lifted Kaiden and carried him to the dropship. The side door opened, and they moved him gently to one of the benches. The pilot, a woman in her twenties with dark cropped hair and tanned skin, approached with a red box. “I have basic medical training and some high-grade supplies,” she explained. “What happened?”

  “Stab wound—jagged blade to the chest,” Lazar said and folded his arms.

  “We’ve already removed the blade and applied glace foam. His armor was equipped with medical binding, but the internal damage is severe.” Magellan walked to the back of the ship, opened a crate, and removed three magazines of ammo which he placed on his belt. He tossed a case of thermals to Lazar along with his grenade launcher.

  “Take him to a medical center. We’ll ring you when we’re done.” He prepared to walk out of the ship.

  “I can’t come back,” she protested. “That’s not how the gig licenses work. I can drop you off and retrieve you from a destination only once. After that, I become an unclassified aircraft and am liable to get shot down by the country’s air force, not to mention all the mutants that will be flying around here because of all the ruckus.”

  “Then I guess we’ll find our own way back,” Lazar stated. He loaded a thermal into his launcher and closed it. “Go ahead and take the kid out of here.”

  She looked at Kaiden for a moment, then back at the merc and bounty hunter. “I can probably keep him stable enough for a while and buy you some time.” She opened the medical box and removed a vial and injector. “I can keep the ship in a hover, but you have twenty minutes, tops. After that, I’ll have to leave.”

  “Understood, but if he goes south, you leave immediately,” Magellan ordered. She nodded in acknowledgment as he and Lazar stepped out of the ship. “Stay airborne in case he doubles back,” he shouted to her. She nodded again and closed the door as they ran to the hole in the roof.

  Lazar landed with a loud thud from the impact of the jump as Magellan slid down the side of a pillar, leapt off, and rolled onto the floor. They were in another hangar, this one more derelict than the last, but there was no sign of mutants in this one. Nor, it seemed, of Gin.

  “Gin!” Magellan shouted and activated his pulse. “Come on out.”

  “Quite your hiding and skulking around,” Lazar demanded. “You’ve been a bitch this entire time, so show some spine.”

  “I know you’re bored with this,” Magellan growled as he proceeded to aim his rifle at every nook and cranny of the hangar in turn. “I won’t stop hunting you, and you won’t be rid of me. I don’t know why you thought coming to Earth was a good idea, but you have to realize how fucked you are when it gets out that you’re here.”

  “With that bounty on your head, every gang on the planet will want a piece of you,” Lazar threatened. “And the Fire Riders will be first in line. I’ll see to that myself.”

  “You bring up excellent points.” Lazar and Magellan spun quickly. Gin stood behind them with his arms folded and his head tilted nonchalantly. Lazar aimed his launcher, but Magellan raised a hand to block his firing line.

  “Another hologram?” he asked. The bounty hunter nodded and pointed to a shimmer along his arm.

  “I’ll admit to a little trepidation on my part. I lost my gun, I’m low on toys, and I only have one knife remaining. I unfortunately lost most of my stash when you blew up the room I used as my temporary living quarters.” The hologram turned its head to face them. “I have to say, b
ig man, you have been more sporting than I expected.”

  “Let me get hold of you and I’ll change this to blood sport,” he muttered.

  “I believe that this has had plenty of blood. How’s Kaiden?” he asked.

  “You won’t claim him,” Magellan vowed. “He’s out of your reach now.”

  The killer chuckled. “You know how persistent I can be when I set my mind to something, Magellan.” The bounty hunter’s eyes narrowed as the hologram tossed its hands up dramatically. “Although to be fair, I’ll probably be far too busy to give him much time in the near future. I understand he’s an Ark Academy student?”

  “You overheard us?” Lazar questioned.

  “I heard you mumbling in the stairwell. But it’s rather easy to tell if you know what to look for—like that pistol of his, which has a schematic straight from the Nexus Academy and is similar to my pistol. I guess that makes us alumni.”

  “You went to Nexus?” Magellan asked, honestly surprised that he had never learned that detail.

  “For a time. It wasn’t a good fit, really.” He chuckled. “I was in the Medic Division, if you can believe it, and swapped between surgeon and battle-medic. I ended up leaving after my third year. I bounced around, sharpened my skills and blades, and joined a gang or two before I settled with the Star Killers, but you know how that turned out.”

  Lazar shot a grenade to a floor above and the explosion knocked some debris to the ground. Magellan looked at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Getting impatient.” He armed the launcher with another thermal. “Will you actually come out and fight, or merely prattle on? I’ll level this entire place to find you.”

  “That would be quite an accomplishment with what I’m guessing is five thermals?” Gin inquired. “Take it from a seasoned vet, my big buddy, threats only work when they are both feasible and detailed.”

  “Enough, Gin,” Magellan demanded and received another head-tilt from the killer. “I’m tired of this. Do you really want us to fight for the rest of our lives?”

  “Considering our chosen professions, the ‘rest of our lives’ could be much closer than we think.” He chuckled and looked at the floor. “I’m surprised you seem so forlorn, Magellan. You’ve always taken my little excursions personally, ever since the first time we met.” He looked at the bounty hunter. “But this time, you didn’t get to play hero, did you? You didn’t show up in the nick of time to scare off big bad moi from harming any more innocents. It’s not what I would call them, but it fits the scope better, I would say.”

  Magellan fired a shot through the hologram. The figure warped for a moment before resolving, and the static and haze became clearer.

  “You need to find better company, Magellan,” the killer mused. “This one’s temper seems to rub off on you.”

  “I’m not picking anything up,” Magellan told Lazar and now ignored the hologram’s snide comments. “At least, not him. There’s something along the edge of the hangar, though, and some signatures outside the dome to our left.”

  “Then let’s ditch this glorified inflatable and see if we can find him. He can’t have gone far,” Lazar suggested. The partners turned to leave.

  “Actually, I can,” Gin interjected, and the two stopped momentarily. “As much fun as this has been, you were right, Magellan. I’ve grown a bit bored by it all. I’ve already left the building.”

  Lazar turned, and anger crept into his eyes. “You lying sack of—”

  “I have many vices, big boy, but truth is one of my many virtues.” He placed both hands on his chest. “Like I said, few options remain at my disposal, and as much fun as it would be to play a game of hide-and-go-slay with the two of you, I am a little late for my meeting already.”

  “Meeting?” Magellan asked, “Who reached out to you?”

  “A gentleman never asks and a lady never tells,” he chirped. “It’s not how I would usually describe myself, but I can be prim and proper when the mood strikes me.”

  Lazar slammed his hand against his leg. “So we’ve been pissing time away,” he muttered, “Maybe we can get the pilot to hunt him down if we get back to the ship.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Gin responded cheerfully. He held up his thumb and forefinger and scaled the gap down. “You may have one slight problem with that, however.”

  “Lazar, these readings are moving toward us. Multiple targets—more mutants.”

  “Because we haven’t had enough of that,” Lazar growled. “We’ll blow them to bits and make our way out. There’s no point in sticking around.”

  “I think you might underestimate what is coming your way.” The hologram ticked off its fingers. “Much like I underestimated the time it took those pheromones to activate.”

  “Pheromones?” Magellan spun around, “You had more?”

  “Another vial.” The hologram glanced downward. Magellan could scarcely make out the dark brown liquid which almost blended in with the dirt and grime on the floor. “Different blend but similar results, though. I was a little disappointed with my findings here, but I certainly got more use out of this stuff than I expected.”

  “Lazar, let’s hurry and get out.” Magellan froze as something ripped the dome’s wall. A large beast with jet-black fur leapt into the hangar. It stood on all fours, with sharp claws and bloodied fangs, and stared at them with sharp black irises surrounded by muddy-green eyes.

  Shriekers battered the door behind them, and their telltale screeches betrayed their bloodlust as they attempted to force it from its frame. Hisses sounded from the floor above, accompanied by the sizzle of naga venom sprayed against a wall or door as they tried to make their way in.

  “A panzer, nagas, and shriekers.” The killer laughed, and Magellan and Lazar readied their weapons. Their gazes scanned for a way out of the hangar as the panzer stalked slowly toward them.

  The helmet of Gin’s hologram faded to reveal a wide, devious grin on his face before the hologram began to shimmer out of existence. “Oh my.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The panzer crept closer and closer to the men. Lazar scanned the upper level and flicked his gaze between the horde of shriekers that had almost battered their way in and the rapidly melting door that barely held the nagas at bay.

  Magellan raised his rifle. The mutant cat flinched slightly and eyed his weapon with as much curiosity as hunger. It paced from left to right and watched to see the bounty hunter’s next move while it considered whether to simply make its own.

  “How do you wanna play this, Lazar?” Magellan asked, his voice calm but grim. “He’s gone, and it would be pointless to chase him at this point.”

  “You would know best about that, right?” the merc grunted, and Magellan’s hand tightened around his rifle’s grip in annoyance. He forced himself to relax. Lazar wasn’t wrong. The bounty hunter wanted to kill Gin more than he wanted anything else, but he was clear-headed enough to know that to rush into the dense jungle while low on supplies wouldn’t achieve much. The killer had escaped again, and Magellan already felt that his reputation suffered each time it happened. He despised the way the merc taunted and mocked him, but he began to feel that he had simply pointed out facts than indulged in childish mockery.

  “Are you going dark on me, Magellan?” the merc snorted. He lit up another cigarette— the last from the box, it would seem, as he crushed it in his hand and tossed it to the ground. “I didn’t think a little ribbing would get you so ornery. I thought guys like you were more cool-headed than that.”

  Magellan remained silent. The panzer now moved to hide behind a fallen chunk of the dome. “This hasn’t exactly been a great showing on my part.”

  “At least you didn’t lose your men.” Lazar looked at the level above. A couple of the shriekers grabbed onto the ledge, ready to drop down. He raised his launcher a few inches and warned them to back off. They replied with bared their teeth and smacked the floor in an angry display along with their piercing shrieks. The merc fr
owned and shook his head. “Dammit, that’s annoying,” he muttered and held one ear with his free hand. “I wish I had a fancy helmet like you and the kid to dampen that.”

  “How are your ears still functional?” Magellan asked as he patted his jacket to check his pistols.

  “Years of going to metal shows and hanging out with a boisterous group of assholes gave me a tolerance for yelling and high-pitched shrilling.” Lazar stuck his pinky casually into his earhole and twisted it. “Or it deafened me. I should probably have it checked at some point.”

  Magellan withdrew his volt pistol. “We don’t have a lot of time left before the dropship leaves. We can fight the freaks off, but I don’t wanna stay here while you fire your popgun. The scaffolding doesn’t seem very stable.”

  “Well, you did have the pilot blow the ceiling apart.” Nagas now slithered in through holes in the partially dissolved door. “I never liked snakes—the real things, mutants, or the metaphorical ones.” Lazar gripped his machine gun in his other arm and looked over his shoulder. “Go ahead and get out of here, Magellan.”

  The bounty hunter looked at the gang captain in shock. “What are you—”

  “I ain’t dense and neither are you, so don’t act like it,” he retorted before Magellan could finish. “We can’t both make it back to the ship and deal with this mess at the same time. It’s better that one of us make it back than neither.” His gaze darted to the approaching mutants. “And I probably look like the better slab of meat between the two of us.”

  “Lazar, I said I would take care of the situation if Gin showed up. I wasn’t able to do that, but I can at least make sure you and Kaiden get out of here alive.”

  The merc laughed. “Jesus, do you think this is a suicide stand or something?” he demanded and aimed his grenade launcher at the nagas and his machine gun at the shriekers. “I guess I won’t rely on you for moral support.”