Animus Complete Series Omnibus, page 170
He drew Sire quickly and Jaxon hefted his machine gun. It seemed both aces had the same idea. The other sniper had been able to avoid the assault. He charged a shot while Jaxon and Flynn fired at the retreating foe. The sniper lobbed a grenade and a large plume of dark smoke erupted from it. Kaiden fired and it careened through the window and exploded to disperse the smoke, but no body or bodily fluids confirmed a kill.
“Well, that’s one down, at least.” He sighed and glanced back as Marlo and Luke rushed out onto the plaza to assist Flynn and Mack. “Is that enough of a demonstration?”
Desmond and Zena’s mouths were agape. The man shook his head and managed to regain his composure. “Right. Hurry on in before they can reinforce again.”
“I don’t think they’ll come back, but they are possibly preparing the defenses within,” Jaxon advised and focused on his fellow ace. “Who’s with whom?”
“You don’t have any thoughts?”
“If you go in from the front, I would think you will encounter the heavier resistance, so take who you need.”
Kaiden slung his rifle over his shoulder. “I don’t think you’ll have an easy time either, once they catch on.” He considered his teammates. “There are eleven of us in total, so not an even number. I’ll take the extra and we’ll split it that way.”
“Agreed.” Jaxon nodded.
“I’ll take the heavies, Flynn and Cameron.”
“Me? How nice of you to notice my abilities for once,” Cameron snarked.
“Before you get too uppity, I’m doing Jaxon a favor. We’ll run this loud and they need as much subtlety as possible for as long as they can. You’re the loudest bounty hunter I know,” Kaiden retorted.
Cameron waved him off as Silas, Amber, Izzy, and Indre joined Jaxon. “Ready to go?” the Tsuna asked Desmond.
The man dug in a crate and retrieved a black helmet that clashed with his suit but fitted when he put it on. “Let’s do this. Try to be careful with the goods once we get inside.”
“My friend there effectively destroyed the entire front of the building. Delicacy is out the window at this point,” Kaiden pointed out and gestured to the shards of glass and rubble in the plaza.
“That’s usually how things go when we get called in,” Zena confessed. “But in this case, he’s talking about the equipment. If we lose some…well, it’s better than losing all. But the stuff they use to make it isn’t all safe, so you might create more problems if you simply blast indiscriminately.”
“Understood. Fair warning.” Jaxon nodded, glanced at his team, and nodded at his fellow ace. “Ready?”
Kaiden brandished his rifle. “Best of luck, keep in contact, and let’s take these guys out and make some creds.”
“We shall see you soon. Lead well,” the Tsuna declared quietly.
He nodded and motioned for Cameron to follow. “Let’s break.”
Chapter Twenty
As Desmond and Jaxon’s team sprinted across the plaza, Kaiden and Cameron vaulted the barricade and joined Flynn and the heavies on the battlefield. The droids were retreating by this point. There only seemed to be a little more than a couple of dozen, and they were systematically destroyed by the heavies who attacked with no holds barred. Kaiden had actually forgotten their sheer power as they were usually relegated to defensive positions on their Animus missions. But man, give them the space to work and a group of targets, and they could make it rain parts.
He fired a few shots, but the remaining droids withdrew into the building, probably to lie in wait as an ambush force. The ace confirmed that Zena was rallying her gang members. “Guys, can you hear me?” he asked to get their attention over the comms.
“We hear you loud and clear, buddy.” Mack hooted and drove his fists together. “Are we ready to bring it to them?”
“It’s nice to finally get out there and smack some heads.” Luke laughed as he crushed a Guardian droid’s head under his heavy armor’s boot. “You don’t really think about it while running around in the Animus, but man, there is a difference beating something in the real world that the sims simply can’t equal.”
“I know, right? That’s one of the best parts of—” Kaiden shook his head to regain his focus. “Uh, right. Listen up. You guys and Cameron are on my team. I switched us to a personal link for communication.”
“I follow,” Flynn answered and continued his vigil on the building. “I don’t see the other sniper at all. I switched to thermal vision, so even with a stealth generator, he wouldn’t be able to hide. I guess he’s creeping around inside.”
“We’ll keep a watch,” the ace assured him and vented his rifle. “For now, prepare to go in hot and heavy. The Fire Riders will be joining us.”
“What about the other guys? Are the Skyway Kings holding back?” Marlo asked as he adjusted his cannon.
“They will circle and try to break in from the rear. Jaxon and his team will handle that,” Kaiden informed them.
“It looks like they’re ready, Kai,” Cameron stated and thumbed behind them.
Zena approached with about three dozen grunts behind her. “Is this all you have left?” the ace asked.
“All who can still fight,” she confirmed. “The others are either too injured or…well…” She motioned at a few of the bodies. “You guys are the big guns—literally.” She pointed to Flynn’s rifle.
“That works. They probably still have a fair number of bots to throw at us and traps set up. You guys should be able to deal with that no problem.” He turned to study the building for a moment. “We’ll rush in, eliminate anything in our path, and your team can take over from there while we hunt the EX-10 guys.”
“I can’t say I like being relegated to clean-up duty but considering the other option and the losses we’ve taken, I’m a little more willing to drop down a couple of notches,” Zena admitted.
“Speaking of clean-up…” Cameron looked around. “You definitely won’t be able to sweep this under the rug so you might wanna call someone at Ramses and tell them they’ll need a press release.”
“I’m sure they are already looking into it. The board members can simply say the building was under attack and the problem has been taken care of and then spin it to say they promise to always protect the city and maybe court some sympathy at the loss of life.” Zena looked at Kaiden. “Assuming we can catch these guys.”
“We’ll get them. Count on it.” He tapped a hand on Cameron’s shoulder and pointed ahead toward the building. His teammate nodded and reloaded his machine gun. The ace walked in front of the heavies and took a deep breath as he placed his rifle against his chest. “Get ready,” he ordered and his team tensed in preparation to breach the building.
“I have at least thirty signatures inside, partner,” Chief informed him. “That’s only on the ground level. It looks like there might be more ahead and above, but with that many droids all together, it’s too jumbled even for me.”
“Fish in a barrel and all that. But keep a look out for the big bads. They are the main focus.”
“As in the creds bonus?”
“Creds piñata.”
“Oh, God, please no.”
“Jokes adapt.” Kaiden chuckled darkly. “Let’s get this done.”
The group surged into an aggressive attack with Kaiden, Cameron, Flynn, and Marlo firing as they entered the building. Luke leapt up and landed hard to crush a pair of Soldier droids. The mechanicals returned fire, but Mack created a simple barrier that stopped the lasers easily. None of their current adversaries seemed to use kinetic rounds, which made this a one-sided fight.
It rapidly became an even more dominant one-sided fight when the Fire Riders followed and hails of bullets and lasers swept through the massed enemy. Kaiden glanced at Zena, who motioned for them to go.
“All right, guys, break left. Mack, make sure to give a signal to let the Riders know you’re dropping the shield.”
“You got it,” he shouted. The ace and the others dashed into the hall on the left, but he quickly realized he didn’t know where he was going.
“Dammit, no map. Does anyone see an elevator or stairway?”
“I always have to pick up your slack,” Cameron taunted and a map appeared on Kaiden’s HUD. “Rok gave it to us while we waited for you to swim to the pod.”
“You could have sent this to me before now,” he grumbled.
“Yep, I could have. Now, where to, great leader?”
Behind them, Mack jogged to catch up. Kaiden slowed slightly as he studied the map. He traced the path to the stairway. “Whatever they are here for, they are probably headed to the development lab. That’s where all the new and shiny stuff is worked on, so that’s where we’ll go.” They found the stairway easily enough, but the door was locked and reinforced. “What the hell? Did they reinforce the stairway door? That seems like a hazard.”
“This place is in infiltration lockdown, not an emergency,” Marlo observed.
“That means this would be a lockdown where they sit and wait for cops to show up rather than evacuating,” Flynn added.
“Cops, gang members on the payroll, same difference,” he muttered and his gaze settled on the elevator lobby down the hall. “What about the elevators?”
The marksman shrugged. “They are definitely locked and wouldn’t be working anyway.”
“That might be to our advantage. Let’s have a look.” The group hurried forward to confirm that the elevators were deactivated and locked, but the doors weren’t reinforced like the stairwell. “Luke, take a whack at it.”
“Literally?” the titan asked. He grinned, stepped away, and swung his hammer back.
“Of course.” Kaiden stood aside with the others.
Luke grunted as he pounded his hammer into the doors. The metal dented and bent and he looked at the ace, who nodded. He tightened his grip on his hammer and put more power into the next swing. The blow severed the doors completely to reveal an empty elevator shaft.
The ace peered in and nodded when he saw the elevator way up top. “I can’t see a maintenance ladder, so I guess they have their own wires or something for repairs instead.” He glanced at his teammates. “I know Luke has a bounce pack, but what about you two?”
“We have them.” Marlo nodded and turned to show his off. “I know this isn’t the armor we use in the Animus, but bounce packs are basically standard for all heavies except super-cheap models.”
“There’s no use in getting fancy stuff if you aren’t willing to spend the creds to get decent armor.” Cameron chuckled. “You won’t live long enough to use it much.”
“Marlo, drop in here and see how high you can get up there,” Kaiden ordered.
“Um…all right.” He bolted his cannon to his back, stepped into the shaft, and crouched slightly before he thrust up and activated his bounce pack. He hurtled up dozens of feet before he plummeted back to the floor.
“How many floors?” the ace asked.
“I made it barely over the seventh.”
Kaiden tapped the side of his helmet. “The lab is on the eleventh floor, but the power system is on the seventh. If we fiddle with that a bit, we might be able to disengage some of these reinforced doors and make it the rest of the way.” He nodded and looked at Marlo. “Jump up again and shoot out the door, then we’ll go in from there.”
“That sounds good, but how will you, Flynn, and Cameron get up there?” the demolitionist asked.
“You’ll carry us.”
“You can’t climb on our backs. The jets would burn through your armor,” Mack pointed out.
“I know. I was being literal,” Kaiden stated.
There was an uncomfortable silence as the group avoided eye contact. “Are you serious?” Luke asked at last.
The ace didn’t respond but they could tell he wasn’t joking. Flynn sighed and knocked a hand against Marlo’s chest. “Just be gentle, big guy.”
“You know, between this and the bouncing dropship entry, this is less like an exciting adventure and more a tragic comedy.” Cameron sighed. “Let’s get this done. I wanna find someone to shoot.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“We never speak of this again,” Cameron threatened as Mack lowered him to his feet.
“I ain’t saying a damn thing,” the vanguard promised and flexed an arm. “Did you have to hold on that tight? I felt it through the armor.”
“Oh, bullshit,” the bounty hunter growled.
“Quiet, you two. Let’s keep things on the silent side now that we’re on our own,” Kaiden instructed.
“Not to mention that we don’t know the specifics of the other team,” Flynn pointed out.
“Rok was fairly cryptic on that front,” Marlo agreed. “We don’t have any info on them at all?”
“I’ve looked around the Net. These guys are all ex mercs and most have different specialties except for the two—now one—snipers. There isn’t very much personal information, though. They were part of illegal merc companies, and it’s not like their files are readily available,” Chief informed them.
“No video, pictures, or reports at all? We’re only trying to anticipate what sort of blade, laser, or whatever is coming our way,” Luke inquired.
“It’s kind of hard to stay a shadowy cabal when everyone knows about you. There’s some info about them from a company bust that had contracted them before, but nothing more than that there’s ten of them and they generally worked between earth and the rim of Tsuna Space and focused on stations. The only specifics were that they are trained in multiple weapons types and there are a robotics expert and an assassin. Also, two heavies.”
“Well, that’s something,” Kaiden muttered. “As long as we keep an eye out for anything coming our way, we should be able to—”
“Hey, did you guys feel that?” Cameron asked. The floor thumped and a few of the lights above them flickered. Something was definitely headed their way.
“Are we running or gunning?” Mack asked and the energy of his armor flared.
“I’m ready for a real fight,” Cameron said and checked his machine gun yet again. “I say we hold our ground.”
“This could be a trap,” the ace pointed out. “We still haven’t run into that other sniper.”
“I’m keeping an eye out for him, but we don’t know all the tricks he could be capable of,” Flynn admitted.
“Kaiden, I read some large energy outputs,” Chief interjected.
Kaiden began charging a shot. “Be on your guard. We’ll have to deal with at least a few of these guys so might as well face them as they come.”
The group stood poised and prepared to fight when two forms turned the corner. Both were massive, their armor far larger than any of the heavies on Kaiden’s team. One wore dark-red armor with a domed head and black visor. Two large canisters on his back were connected by a tube to the gauntlets on each arm. The other wore solid black armor, more ridged and with an almost cube-like head with a red visor. This one was held a massive chain gun.
“Oh, that looks painful,” Cameron exclaimed.
“That gusto left rather quickly,” Kaiden quipped.
“Do you wanna charge in there? I’ll follow, I promise,” the bounty hunter retorted.
“I’m not sure about the one with the chain gun, but I’ll take care of big red there.” Flynn raised his rifle and fired at the canister on the left. The bullet struck but bounced off and ricocheted into the ceiling. “Oh, well, that’s a problem,” the marksman ventured nervously.
“We need to—” Kaiden didn’t finish his statement as the chain gun began to whirl. Mack rushed out to form a shield and quickly powered it up seconds before the bullets rocketed to slam into the barrier. Cracks began to appear almost immediately. “Luke, prepare to reinforce him,” Kaiden ordered.
“I’ll do it, but my shield ain’t nothing like his,” the titan reminded him as he stepped beside his fellow heavy.
“At least I get one last compliment before we die,” Mack said but his voice sounded strained as he tensed with the effort to maintain his shield against the assault. The red enemy heavy walked forward and pointed both arms at the group. A jet of flame sizzled toward them from his gauntlets. Luke erected his shield but he hissed in pain, clearly audible over the comms.
“Are you all right?” the ace asked worriedly as he, Flynn, and Cameron returned fire, only for their shots to sink into Mack’s shield. “Mack?”
“It’s a dissonance shield so absorbs energy and lessens impact,” he shouted, then grunted again and he took a step back as the chain gun EX-10 began to advance. “It’s the only way to keep it up right now,”
“My shields aren’t good against elements,” Luke added. “I can block the brunt of the flames, but the heat is burning my armor.”
Kaiden retrieved his shield device, but as he went to help the other two, he saw Flynn turn and point. “Kaiden, look—” The ace spun and activated his shield as two shots fired and impacted the still-forming barrier.
“Sniper!” he yelled. Flynn took aim and returned fire but hit nothing.
“This guy is a better runner than a marksman,” he shouted angrily.
When Kaiden turned back to his teammates, he did a double take. Mack literally glowed and a trail of light flowed from him to Marlo’s cannon. “What the hell did I miss?”
“Something new. This cannon is great. I really need to get the details from that bartender,” Marlo shouted merrily. “I’m adding my cannon’s energy to Mack and it’ll keep the shield up a little longer.”
“Only a little, though. We need a plan here,” the vanguard warned.
“I have something, but I need some space,” Luke stated.
“I’ll take over.” The ace swung his shield into place as the titan deactivated his and fell back. He was right, the flames didn’t actually touch him, but the heat was intense as it blazed into his barrier. He glanced back to where Luke knelt on one knee and fiddled with his hammer. “What are you doing, Luke?”
