by G J Ogden
“You’ll get your chance,” said Cad, noticing that Alexis had now pulled herself inside the crawlspace. “Just be ready to move when Alexis takes out that gun.”
“I’m always ready,” replied Draga without even the slightest hint of irony or boastfulness.
Cad fired a couple more bursts through the opening, receiving a number of volleys back in return. Then he heard Alexis over their private comm channel.
“I’m in position,” said Alexis. “I’m going to drop down and take out the gunner. Then it would be great if you two could race in to my rescue. So that I, you know… don’t get killed.”
Cad smiled. “Sounds like a solid plan, Alexis. We’ll wait for your signal.”
Cad reloaded and nodded to Draga, who moved into position ahead of him. The renegade base then suddenly fell silent, as if it had been hastily abandoned. Then panicked cries and frantic shouts filtered through into the hangar as Alexis dropped down amongst the renegades like a bomb and exploded into action. The crack of her Five-Seven-Sevens filled the air, and Cad prepared to give the go-ahead to storm through the door, but Draga was already moving, shotgun aimed and ready.
5
Cad heard Alexis cry, “Go!” over their private comm channel, but the message was superfluous, since Draga was already charging toward the enemy like a berserker. Cad cursed – though, in truth, he expected nothing less from his bloodthirsty partner – and ran after her. Rounds immediately pinged off his armor as the renegades positioned at the barricade unloaded on him. His visor acquired several targets and he fired from the hip, taking out three renegades with the first burst. Then his neck snapped back and he was knocked off his feet, as if he’d just run headfirst into an invisible crossbeam.
For a second, Cad thought he must have blacked out. Then muffled cries and frantic shouts assaulted his ears and he rolled to one side, finding a support column for cover. His visor was smashed and the display was flickering chaotically, making his eyes hurt. Cad grabbed the helmet and tore it off before turning it to face him. Three bullets were lodged into it – one in the visor section itself, and another two in the upper shell. Cad cursed and tossed the broken unit away, then glanced around the pillar.
Draga was still heavily engaged with the renegade fighters, blasting some at point-blank range, while using the stock of the shotgun to batter others. Cad scrambled to his feet, still feeling slightly shaky, partly because of the hard hits he’d taken and partly because he couldn’t see Alexis. Then he spotted her, back pressed up behind part of the makeshift barricade. Her helmet was also smashed, and it looked like her right leg was damaged too. Four renegades had her pinned down and were closing in fast.
Cad was assaulted by a heady mixture of dread and anger. He was used to seeing Alexis in danger, and used to watching her get hurt, but it never got easier. Nevertheless, with years of training and discipline, he had learned to filter out this barrage of sensations during combat. He’d learned to use his emotions, and to control them, instead of letting them control him. Fear and adrenaline were Cad Rikkard’s Randenite, fueling him to even greater levels of brutality.
Cad tossed the sub-machine gun aside and drew his Black Prince sword. Alexis had said they should show the renegades why they were right to fear the Blackfire Squadron – now Cad Rikkard would give them a personal demonstration. He ran out from behind cover and advanced, keeping a watchful eye on the renegades in case any switched their focus to him. Only five now remained, one of which Draga had pinned to the deck with her hands pressed around the renegade’s throat. Draga’s face was contorted into a frenzied rage; she’d given over to bloodlust.
The remaining four renegades were still stalking Alexis and were close to making a kill. Cad pressed on and was halfway toward the renegade mob before any of them had seen him coming. Suddenly, one fighter turned his weapon toward Cad, the renegade’s eyes filled with fear. Cad shielded his head with his left arm, feeling rounds strike his body, and quickened his advance. The renegade’s weapon clicked empty and Cad vaulted the barricade, drop-kicking the man square in the chest. The renegade rebounded off the wall, straight into Cad Rikkard’s waiting blade. Cad forced the sword deeper through his opponent’s flesh, locking on to the startled man’s dying eyes before steering his limp body toward his comrades.
The other renegades abandoned their hunt of Alexis and opened fire, but their feverish assault simply peppered their own now dead companion, leaving Cad with only a few additional scratches to his jet-black armor. Again, weapons clicked empty and Cad pulled the blade from the dead renegade’s chest, using all the power in his armored leg to kick the body away. The corpse flew into the remaining three attackers, knocking two to the deck. The one left standing let out a primal, terrified roar and charged at Cad, aiming the stock of his rifle at Cad’s head. Cad dodged the clumsy attack with ease and brought down the sword, removing both of the renegade’s hands with a single clean strike. Again, he was met with a look of pure astonishment as the man held up his bleeding stumps, but the renegade’s bewilderment lasted only for a matter of seconds before Cad spun around and removed the man’s head from his shoulders with another clean, brutal strike of his sword.
The remaining two renegade fighters had recovered and clambered to their knees in time to witness the dismemberment of their comrade. Both were now hysterically begging for their lives, unaware that Cad Rikkard had no intention of sparing them. He raised his sword and advanced, but before he could swing the blade again, Alexis clawed herself up onto the barricade and shot both of them in the head with a single round from each of her twin Five-Seven-Sevens.
Cad lowered his Black Prince sword and stared at Alexis in dismay. “They were mine…” he said, almost angry at Alexis for stealing his kills.
Alexis flopped onto her back and tossed her smashed helmet aside. Her breathing was heavy, and there was blood trickling from beneath her dirty blonde hair down the side of her face, yet she was also smiling.
“Losers weepers…” said Alexis in between labored breaths. “That’s six for me now, by the way; what’s your tally?”
Cad scowled back at her before muttering, “The renegades I just skewered makes four, plus the three combat bots.”
Alexis rolled off the barricade and onto the deck. The armor on her left leg was badly damaged, and she was struggling to walk, but she still managed to stroll over to Cad with an insouciant swagger.
“The bots don’t count,” Alexis said, patting Cad on his armored backside as she moved to where Draga now sat down, resting on a metal container.
Cad snorted, realizing that their situation could not have been too dire if Alexis had resumed her more playful personality. However, although he and Alexis were more than a little shot up, Draga looked in far worse condition. She too had discarded her helmet, and Cad could see that her bright white hair was matted with a mixture of sweat and blood. She’d torn away parts of her armor and had a fist clenched to her side.
“What’s the damage, Draga?” said Cad, ensuring that his voice did not betray any hint of concern. Draga never wanted sympathy, and to show her any would merely encourage her to fight on, even when her body was clearly not capable of taking more punishment. Cad could see that Draga had already reached that point and perhaps even exceeded it. A display of compassion, such as showing his concern for her safety, would just spur Draga on and result in literally killing her with kindness.
“I will likely need surgery,” said Draga matter-of-factly. “But I am not dead yet.” She tried to stand, but more blood oozed from the wound to her side, and she dropped back down, grimacing.
Cad thought on his feet and then nodded over to the machine gun emplacement. “Man that gun, in case these renegade cowards release any more of the combat bots,” he said, trying to find a way for Draga to stay put without her thinking she’d been benched. “Alexis and I will assault and take the command center.”
Draga tried to stand again, and this time fought through the pain to remain on two feet. �
��You’ll need me…” she said, battling to get the words out since the pain had forced her muscles to tense up.
“The renegades already made their stand, and they failed, thanks to you; now I need you here, to protect my ass,” Cad hit back. “There’s no one I trust more.” Draga’s sharp eyes narrowed, but Cad held her gaze, giving her his best poker face.
The brutal mercenary meditated on Cad’s words for a second or two longer before replying, “Okay, but if you need me then…”
“If I need you, I know you’ll be there,” Cad interrupted, keen to not give Draga an opportunity to talk herself out of remaining behind.
Cad then knocked Alexis on the shoulder and cocked his head toward the corridor. They departed quickly so that Draga didn’t have a chance to change her mind, and cautiously moved through the passageway toward the operations center.
“Here, take this,” said Alexis, handing Cad one of her Five-Seven-Seven pistols. “Just in case you don’t manage to get close enough to use that,” she added, looking down at the Black Prince sword in Cad’s grasp. Blood was still dripping from the tip of its blade, like ink from the point of a quill.
“Thanks,” said Cad, taking the pistol in his left hand. Then he chewed the inside of his mouth for a second, before adding, “You know there’s no one I trust more than you, right?” he said, suddenly oddly concerned that Alexis might have been offended by what he’d said to Draga.
“I know,” replied Alexis chirpily, then she smiled back at him. “And I know you were just looking out for her.” She raised an eyebrow, and Cad knew she was either about to tease him or embarrass him, or maybe both at the same time. “You know, for a bad guy, you’re actually pretty okay.”
Cad snorted. “No I’m not,” he hit back, returning an eyebrow raise of his own, “but that’s why you love me.”
Alexis laughed; it was a strange mixture of girlish giggle and sadistic cackle that characterized Alexis’ twin personalities and zany eccentricity to a tee.
The pair approached the end of the passageway, and Cad focused ahead, watching for any signs of movement. From the body count they’d left behind, he doubted there were many more renegades in the hideout, assuming it had a similar crew complement to the first base. However, given the state of his armor, one lucky shot could be all it took to take him down, so he wasn’t taking any chances. As it turned out, his caution was unwarranted.
Cad emerged into the operations command center and was confronted by four renegades. A woman, who wearing the same command insignia on her uniform as the base commander of the first hideout, appeared to be the leader, while the three others stood behind her. None appeared to be armed, and none of them offered any resistance.
Cad shot a concerned glance at Alexis, pointing his sword at the commander. “Just give up, lady, the rest of your crew are already dead or dying.”
“Your reputation is well-earned, Cad Rikkard,” the female commander replied, maintaining a dignified poise that Cad respected, considering her dire circumstances. “But you will get nothing from me or from the computer systems on this base. You have had a wasted journey.”
“We’ll see about that,” Cad answered. He admired the woman’s ballsy response, but was also hacked off at her audacity. An enemy should know when it is beaten, he reflected with annoyance.
“Yes, we will indeed see about that…” the commander said before a hefty steel door at the rear of the room thumped open, and Cad heard heavy footsteps thudding their way.
Cad cast his eyes over to the doorway, recalling his encounter with a warbot on the previous base they had assaulted. Evidently, the commander of this base had also summoned her mechanical champion in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of the battle. However, Cad wasn’t afraid; if the commander wanted to test him, then he would willingly show her why Cad Rikkard was the best. He turned to face the door as a warbot emerged from the shadows and marched into the operations center, its faceless cranial unit focused on Cad.
“Is that an Achilles Seven UGV?” said Alexis as the seven-foot-tall bipedal combat bot thudded further into the room.
Cad grunted, realizing that Alexis had correctly identified the lethal machine. “Yes, it is,” he said, flexing his sword arm in readiness to use it again. “It seems that you were right earlier when you said these renegades were mad.”
The Achilles Seven had the dubious honor of being both the most lethal combat bot ever designed for military use and the screwiest. If it were possible for an electronic brain to have schizophrenia, then the Achilles Seven would have met the diagnosis.
“Perhaps you should reconsider your position, Mr. Rikkard?” the female commander said as the massive combat bot reached her side before turning to face Cad and Alexis. “I suggest you surrender now, before I order this machine to kill you and your companions.”
The Achilles Seven suddenly jerked upright then swiveled its faceless, oval-shaped cranial unit toward the commander. “Order understood; kill them all,” it said in a monotone, electronic drawl.
Cad reacted instinctively, dropping his pistol and sword and throwing himself at Alexis. The pair had barely hit the deck before the Achilles Seven started firing. Debris rained down on him as he pulled himself into a ball, trying to huddle tightly behind cover, but the frenzy of bullets was unrelenting.
“What the hell is it doing!” cried Alexis, holding a hand above her face to stop splinters of metal and plastic falling into her eyes.
“It’s doing what it was ordered to do,” Cad yelled back. “The damned machine is going to wipe everyone out.”
The firing continued, but now it was combined with the heavy thud of the machine’s feet as it drove on toward where Cad and Alexis were hiding. Cad stretched out a hand and just managed to touch the pommel of his sword and draw it toward him. He didn’t know what use the weapon would be against an Achilles-class combat bot, but if he could penetrate the power core or sever the bus cable to the cranial unit, then maybe he could disable it.
“Cad, don’t do it; you can’t kill that thing with a sword!” Alexis cried as Cad transferred the medieval weapon to his right hand.
“What choice do we have?” Cad hit back. “We’re dead either way; at least we go out fighting, right?”
Alexis’ eyes narrowed, and in a flash, her expression had hardened like granite. She nodded and raised her pistol. “Then we go out fighting. On three…”
Cad counted down the seconds in his mind, then together, he and Alexis sprang up out of cover. The giant metal machine acquired its new targets and began to swing its weapons toward Cad and Alexis, but then Cad was deafened by a rapid succession of savage booms from behind him. The Achilles Seven staggered back, chunks of metal flying off its body, arms, and legs, before finally its cranial unit caved in at the center. The mad killing machine fell, causing the entire deck to shudder as if a bomb had just gone off.
Cad rested on his sword, for once lost for words, before turning around to see Draga Vex, leaning on her semi-automatic shotgun, which was pressed into the deck as a crutch. Smoke was still oozing from its barrel.
Draga pressed a fist to her side, which was still leaking blood, and said, “I assumed you needed me?”
Cad and Alexis laughed in unison before Cad replied, “I did. I knew I could count on you.”
Draga sighed then nodded toward the heart of the operations center. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we can count on getting anything useful from this place.”
Cad turned to see that the four remaining renegades, including the base commander, had all been accidentally slaughtered by the insane warbot. And more than that, its relentless barrage of gunfire had shattered every single computer terminal in the room too.
Cad cursed again then yelled, “To hell with this game!” before sheathing his sword. “If these renegades want to up the stakes, then it’s time we brought in some heavy artillery of our own.”
6
Hallam ducked under the fast jab that Dakota snapped toward his face t
hen used his superior reach to land a sharp counter to her body with his left. Dakota withdrew, clenching a glove to her stomach, but then raised her guard again, smiling.
“Not bad…” Dakota said. “I’ll give you that one.”
“That was for flicking my ass with a wet towel,” replied Hallam, pausing for effect and adding, “again…”
Dakota danced around the makeshift ring in the hodgepodge gym inside Dr. Rand’s renegade hideout, and punched her two gloves together.
“But it makes such a tempting target,” Dakota said, stepping in and firing out another jab, which Hallam blocked.
Hallam blocked a follow-up attack and countered with a straight right, but Dakota dodged to the side and landed a right hand of her own before following up to the body. Hallam winced, but remained light on his feet and escaped any further punches.
“Someone’s had their vitamins this morning,” said Hallam, shooting Dakota an awkward smile, thanks to the gumshield in his mouth.
Dakota just flashed her eyes at him and beckoned him on with a cocky waft of her glove. Hallam should have known better than to take the bait, but he stepped in anyway, throwing a couple of loose jabs before again attempting a harder right. He missed and went sailing into the corner. Dakota moved in, landing a couple of solid body shots before Hallam dodged out of the corner and connected with two good shots of his own. Both were now feeling the strain a little, and Hallam was glad when Dakota pulled him into a clinch, resting her head on his shoulder. This wasn’t an unusual tactic, for either of them, but this time, it felt different. Everything from the way her hair brushed against his skin, to her breathing and how she held him close felt somehow much more intimate. He found himself not wanting to break the hold, and Dakota made no attempt to break it either.
“Is this a cuddling match or a boxing match?”
The voice startled Hallam and he and Dakota suddenly pushed away from each other before standing around awkwardly, their gloves pressed to their hips.