Standoff, page 14
What are you? I risked asking a few moments later. We had yet to have that conversation.
I don’t know anymore, he admitted. I was born, not created out of tech. Though, of course, we had tech.
We?
My brothers and sisters.
You’re not artificial intelligence at all.
You know I’m actual intelligence, though this is a conversation for another time.
Just after the distractions, I mumbled. I’m nervous as hell.
So am I. He went quiet for a little while, and I could just feel something building. I am, however, glad to be with you.
Really, you’re not upset or annoyed?
No, not at all. We were taken for experiments and then slaughtered. This new information threw me, and it pained me how he said such a horrifying thing with ease. In the end, I was born for something else. They saw something else in me.
I am glad, too, then.
My X16 spun round and around as my drones waited. It hated waiting, and I knew why the view of the same thing was irritating to the X1. It needed more input now when I was sitting around. I really did need the distraction.
I waited for my orders or for Silao to spot something up ahead.
Nothing came. Not for a while.
Then I spotted movement ahead on the ground: our soldiers.
“Moving into position.” Malaki tapped my leg. “Drones out.”
“Copy,” I said. “Moving out and into First Formation.”
With only a command, all my drones left the hangar. Spreading out with Silao’s, we made one heck of a formation.
“Mace21 in position,” Noel reported.
“Pappa Bear in position,” Trevor comm’d.
“Drones out,” Frank and Casey confirmed.
“I would love to see this,” I said to Malaki. “We must look…”
“Sick,” Justin said. “I’m sure one of the recordings from below will be available for us later.”
“I’m more than sure we’ll get to see what happens later. And many a time after that,” Ren spat from the back.
“Easy, tiger,” I warned. But I turned in my seat, tapped the side of my head and knocked on her DM’s. I’m good, right?
Ren’s face lit up. You’re good, so are Fiona and me. Though we have limits. Do not blow them too early.
That was all I needed to know. They might have said no guns. There was no way Ren couldn’t and no way I wanted to; she had been sneaky and I needed to also know how. Maybe the other engineers were on her side. In fact, I didn’t need to know that; they obviously were. It was impossible to sneak weaponry in or pretend to take it out without someone seeing.
You’re the best, I returned and faced the front again.
We’re the best, she said.
Knowing we had some weapons took a weight off my shoulder. I would use them if I had to. Despite being under orders not to. If it saved lives, the lives of the men I’d seen and gotten to know over the last week, then I’d take the consequences after from M-Corp and yep, be damned.
“Detonations in thirty seconds,” Noel reported.
I edged my drones with Silao’s in tow. We lined the whole mountainside from the air. On the ground, I could see our men flanking the banks everywhere.
The croba wouldn’t know what hit them.
“Fifteen seconds,” Noel said.
“All green,” Malaki checked in.
“All green,” Justin confirmed.
“All green,” Trevor added.
“Drones all green,” Frank reported for us.
“We are ready.”
“Five seconds.”
“Shots ready,” Ren confirmed behind me.
“Shots ready,” I echoed.
Are we really ready for this? Apex asked.
I couldn’t answer him.
The land that stretched out before us exploded skywards. A massive plume of smoke blasted out, dust and debris with it.
“Wait for it!” Trevor ordered.
The scream…Oh gods. I wanted to cover my ears.
“Mal, next mod, I’m getting replacement ears,” I said, barely able to hear my own voice.
I looked over and saw blood dripping down her neck. “Fuck, Mal, are you okay?”
“Damage taken. Ear drums burst,” Trevor called across comms. “Medikit injections now.”
If Bisan were here… “This?” Ren shouted through to me, holding an injection gun to Malaki’s neck.
I couldn’t respond, nausea spread through me, and I was fighting to keep control of my drones. They dropped out of the skies as I did.
Hold on, Apex said to me.
“Yes, Ren,” Apex’s voice crackled through the helo’s comms. “Hit her, then Ruslan and yourselves.”
Ren didn’t hesitate, though she frowned at the orders from a stranger. She swiftly hit Malaki before turning the needle towards me. With one sharp movement, she pierced my neck, and the healing nites flooded my system, making me feel alive again. I was about to lose all of my drones. I struggled with them and then had them back up in time to see one of Silao’s hit the dirt.
The boost worked its magic in full, and my equilibrium and focus were restored.
The rest of Silao’s drones were pulled up in time, along with the Black Bears’.
“Thanks,” Malaki said, her voice brimming with excitement and determination. “Guns hot!”
From eleven different views, small fissures appeared on the surface, creating a mesmerizing pattern that crisscrossed down the mountainside. The whole mountain was a network of tunnels and chambers that formed the crobas’ colony.
My stomach churned with anticipation. The land, now a living breathing entity, dropped then rose, blasting air and earth high into the skies as it erupted with hundreds of mutated croba, some as small as dogs, others as large as horses. Each one with six powerful legs; four meant for jumping vast distances, and two raptorial legs that were meant to hook their pray with deadly accuracy, their serrated edges ripping anything they touched apart.
As the mountain continued to breathe, more and more croba gushed forwards. There were now thousands pouring down the mountainside, being funneled like we planned. The rotten smell from inside their nest overwhelmed me even from a distance; Malaki gagged.
“Good gods,” she said. “How many of them are there? We can’t fight that many!”
The croba swarmed out of their cave system into the valley, their numbers still growing by the second. It was a sight to behold, and I knew we had to act fast to take them out.
“It’s time. Drones in,” Noel ordered. “Net us that prize money.”
Without wasting a moment, all forty-five of us moved forward like a wave, rushing to meet the oncoming horde. It was a coordinated effort, and it worked like a charm. They fell one by one as we darted them with precision and accuracy. Then we swept through the tunnels and began to flush out any that were hiding.
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of exhilaration and satisfaction as the insects fell to the ground. We had done it. We had executed the plan flawlessly, which was a moment to savor.
It was, however, too easy.
Far too easy.
15
Apex…
I know, I’m watching the mountain.
The number of insects started to dwindle.
“There’s a lot more than that, right?” I asked over comms.
“Yes,” Noel replied. “I’m showing significant backlog in the sides of the mountain. Ice71, can you confirm?”
I knew he was asking for my X16’s extra details, so I pulled my focus away from my drones for a moment, zooming in and reading the slight heat changes in the area. The Bear’s mods were higher tier than mine, but they were also a generation out-of-date. “Confirmed.”
“What are they doing?” Justin asked.
Our drones had darted all the croba that had come outside so far, and I now turned mine to look at the mountainside.
“They’re waiting,” Malaki said. “I’m not sure what for.”
“Brace!” Apex shouted directly over general comms.
The mountainside shifted, and a new flood of croba poured out of the mangled landscape.
“What the fuck?” Justin shouted. “How fucking many are there?”
The sheer number wasn’t the only problem, though. There was one other, and my X16 noted it straight away.
“Mace21,” I said, my stomach flipping. “These ones have wings.”
“Fuck,” Noel cursed, and we all heard his report go out across the soldier’s net. “Eyes in the skies. We’ll do what we can, but you have incoming flight-capable enemies.”
“Red7, drop five hundred meters,” Malaki ordered.
“Copy, Mal,” Justin replied.
“Pappa Bear down to three hundred,” Trevor reported.
“Hit them with as much as you can,” Noel ordered. “Don’t hold back.”
“Ren,” I added over internal comms. “Hold. This is no firefight yet.”
“Copy,” Ren replied. “Darts away.”
“Darts away!” Fiona confirmed.
As the insects continued pouring out of the mountain, my heart raced with urgency. All my drones were locked and loaded, and I knew I had to keep them in the air if we would stand a chance against this swarm.
Dodging and weaving in between was no easy feat, but our drones were faster and more agile than the insects were, and I thanked the gods for that.
The soldiers on the ground were doing their best to fend off the onslaught, but the insects were closing in fast.
“Banking left,” Malaki reported, and our helo shifted direction, putting her and Ren’s side onto the onslaught. But it wasn’t enough. The insects were getting closer.
The soldiers on the ground were shooting as fast as they could, too, but the insects were almost upon them.
“Mal, if they reach them…” I trailed off, unable to say it.
“I know,” she shouted back at me.
“Fall back,” Justin ordered, his voice tinged with something. Panic?
I turned my X16’s gaze to the mountainside as it shifted and moved once more. Apex?
It’s their queen.
I had no idea how she got out from under that mountain of rubble.
“There’s too many.”
“Pull back. Pull back!”
“We’re overrun.”
“Fuck, Jackson’s down!”
“We need backup, now.”
The ground moved, shook, and then the queen was out.
With crystal clarity I saw everything she was. If she didn’t have death in her eye, I might have taken a moment to admire her. The giant croba stretched into the sky with legs that held her twenty feet high, thick with muscle definition a body builder would be jealous of. Her chitinous exoskeleton caught the sunlight in a rainbow of colors.
“Fuck. Me,” Frank’s voice came through.
Her mandibles were sharp and deadly. They’d easily pierce the metal if she got anywhere near our helos.
What she didn’t have, though, were wings. Thank fuck.
“Mace21,” I said. “Orders?”
The queen’s antennas pointed high, and she screeched…I fought my drones dropping out of the sky, and Ren passed me the injection gun again.
I grabbed it and injected myself before Malaki, and then I spoke for all of us. “Those men on the ground won’t survive that, that thing. We have to stop her.”
“Mace21, this is Command, you will dart that queen and we will bring her in.”
Command. Captain Kine, no way…
“There are not enough darts in all our helos for that monster,” Noel replied, his voice shaking. The secondary wave of monsters was more than we had accounted for; our darts were precious few now.
The weight of this hung heavily in the air.
“You will dart that queen. We have backup to your location, on its way now,” Captain Kine ordered.
I muted general comms for a moment. “We can’t use darts,” I said, desperation creeping into my voice. There was no way we’d survive long enough if we darted her.
“Ren?” I asked.
“Check your second locker, Fi,” Ren shouted to her friend, eyes scanning the horizon for any sign they were coming for us.
“Guns hot, Spiders,” I warned. Then I looked to Malaki. “You have to take us in.”
“Copy,” she muttered, her eyes fixed on the massive target ahead.
“Pappa Bear,” I said urgently. “Defend those men with everything you have.”
“Copy, Ice71,” Trevor replied curtly, full of resolve.
Malaki turned our helo again, and I saw Bears One and Two turning in the opposite direction with their drones. The tension across all channels was palpable.
“Aim high,” Trevor murmured.
“Fly fast,” Casey added.
“Fly home,” Justin replied, his voice firm.
“Godspeed,” Noel said, though his voice was still laced with fear.
“One minute till engagement,” Apex reported through general comms.
“Who is that?” Justin quizzed.
“You will have to watch those around her. They’re guards. Possibly her mates. They will not go down easy and will come for the helos,” Apex warned, bypassing Justin’s question.
“50/50 split,” I said to Silao. “Rotating drone shield.”
“No,” Casey’s voice came over comms. “You nail that fucker. Helos will help protect the ground. We’ve got the drone shield. We’re 50/50.”
This was something we hadn’t practiced. “Mal?” I asked, unsure.
“We’re good. I’ll relay any sharp moving to Casey and Frank. Go.” Malaki’s eyes were fixed on the target, watching, knowing.
“Drones in,” I ordered. “Follow me.”
“Right on your ass,” Silao retorted.
“In your fucking dreams.” I laughed, and the others over comms did too, tension momentarily broken. That was good to hear.
As we closed in on the enemy, though, the reality hit me hard. I saw what we faced with crystal clarity, the detail from the X16 Immeasurable. I swallowed. There were five other monstrous insects by her side. They weren’t as massive as she was, but still double the size of the ordinary croba. Their legs must have been as thick as oak trees.
“I don’t know how we’re going to do this,” I admitted.
“But we will,” Silao replied.
“Draw them out,” Apex thundered. “Two-on-one, you can do this. Aim for just under the chin. It’s the only spot the slugs will penetrate and kill.”
“Darts first?” I asked. “We’re low on slugs.”
“Wait,” Captain Kine’s voice came over comms; of course she was still listening, no matter how secret we thought we were. “You have slugs? How?”
“Don’t worry about the how,” I told her. “You just worry how you’re going to explain to General Canlas you put his daughter at risk without even thinking about it.”
I could almost hear her panic, even as she threatened me—us. “You shoot that queen and Canlas won’t know what’s hit him. If she’s killed…you’ll watch your parents be executed, and then we’ll tear your tech from you without anesthetic. Copy?”
Did I really hear that? I…I couldn’t put anything back in response to that. I had no doubt whatsoever she meant every word of it.
“Don’t worry, Captain Kine,” Apex announced. His voice was cold, colder than anything I’d ever heard from him. “We heard that loud and clear, and I’m telling you to go fuck yourself because that bitch is dead.”
I heard the snicker over general comms.
“You gotta tell me who the fuck that is,” Justin quipped.
“Classic,” Fiona replied.
“Classic, we get out of this. We’re in the shit,” I said. Apex, you just…
I only said what you were thinking.
“Darts,” Silao shouted. “Ready!”
“It might slow them down. Make targeting easier,” Apex answered. “Can you handle both?”
“Yes, we can,” Silao asserted.
I tried not to think about how I was sentencing our families to death.
We had to save those men on the ground.
We just had to.
“Then slow them down before you can target a kill shot in.”
This couldn’t get any harder, could it…
Then the queen’s mates launched into the air, and I cursed again.
“Ren?” I asked as my drones and Silao’s started dodging. “Two on two,” I said. “Darts first. We need to really slow them.”
“What?” Ren called back.
Fuck me, they were fast, much faster than the others out there.
One almost had a drone with a swipe. I barely managed to get it out of the way.
“Can you do anything from there?” I shouted.
“No, we’re too far away. Only if Malaki can get me in closer.”
“How close?” Justin asked, his concern evident.
“Too close,” Casey said. “Don’t risk it.”
“I swear to gods,” Captain Kine screamed. “Stand the fuck down. Now!”
Every one of us ignored her now. This was it, out on our own. Defying M-Corp in the most significant way possible.
“You can’t do this alone,” Malaki told me. “Red7, we both move. Now. Give me as much cover as you can, Casey. We’re moving in three, two, one.”
The skies around us were pure chaos. I got my darts in and then took out one of the males. Silao had another down a moment later.
Then we lost drones. Two gone, three, four. I screamed in pain as my connections severed.
Fuck.
Casey’s drones circled the helos, but the three mates that were left noted them and screamed. “Ren, they’re going to…”
“Don’t worry about us, Fi and I have it here. You need to kill her!”
“Silao,” I ordered. “With me.”
“Rus, this is suicide…”
“No,” I replied as my drones headed in. “This is war.”
We had sixteen drones left between us, and we needed all of them. My first darts didn’t make it through her thick skin at all.
Silao shouted. “I got her with two. Hit her lower belly and thighs.”
“Copy!” I turned my drones, and one after the other started to ping her with the darts.
