Animus Complete Series Omnibus, page 232
“I agree with ya there.” He heaved the unconscious sniper up and slung her over his shoulder. “All right, let’s get moving before Kaiden gets bored and starts getting funny ideas.”
“Do you think I should get my boots on the ground?” Kaiden yelled into the cabin.
“Are you an idiot?” Silas asked.
“That’s…a stupid…question,” Raul mumbled.
“Oh, hey, Raul is coming to,” the enforcer noted.
Mack stretched. “I can’t say I don’t understand. We have real weapons now and they’re simply sitting there.”
“Not to mention that I’d rather die fighting than because Kaiden can’t fly,” Luke muttered as the ace made another sudden turn to fire on the bots below.
“Do you wanna give this a shot?” he retorted. “Chief, are you still tracking?”
“Yeah. It looks like they are coming up. Get ready to swing by.” His eye narrowed as he changed to an annoyed red. “I’ve tried to hack into the droids and mechs ever since we destroyed the disruptor, but nothing doing.”
“I have had similar issues as well, my friend.” Kaitō agreed and appeared next to Chief on the screen.
The EI eyed the new arrival with a wide eye. “Whoa, where the hell did you come from?”
“Hey, Kaiden!” Wolfson’s voice boomed out of the pilot’s console. “We’re coming up. Get your ass over here.”
“Someone’s cranky,” he muttered.
“What was that?”
“I’m on my way, Wolfson,” he responded and banked toward the Animus Center. As he did so, he took another look at the destruction of the campus and both his dorm and the cafeteria, in particular. The dorm was on fire and the cafeteria was in a shambles, at least half of it crushed under its own metal, glass, and stone.
He tensed but forced himself to put his focus on recovering his mentors. They would be needed in the fight to come.
In fact, they would all need each other for there to be victory after this.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
When will the siege be done?
Very soon.
Can’t give me an ETA?
I would say in about an hour or less. Depends on the charge of the core.
That doesn’t give me much time but I’ll make do. You might want to hurry up and take your leave as well.
Dario put the tablet away and wondered what Damyen was up to. It didn’t particularly bother him, but if he messed up badly, he would probably have a new assassination directive in short order.
He boarded his ship and glanced back as he walked up the rear bridge. Although it seemed such a waste, he had to agree with Merrick. It would be better to create a new symbol than to simply reuse an old one. And for that to happen, they would need to be rid of the old symbol.
That and they probably didn’t have the forces to really take over the World Council. He would have loved to try. But as he looked at his tablet and saw that the remaining droids were being destroyed at a rather brisk rate, he acknowledged that now would be the best time to make his exit.
The bridge withdrew behind him and the door closed. He activated his ship’s cloaking device—although he knew it wouldn’t be enough to escape completely unnoticed. He was almost certain that the turrets guarding the outer ring of the city would fire upon any ship trying to leave at this point.
Or, at least, that would have been a problem if it wasn’t for the encoder he took from the lab. It was rather annoying that it was the only one he could find, but one small headache saved a much bigger one. He sat in the pilot’s seat and placed the chip into a slot on his console, smiling as the system booted up. It unfortunately did not give him full access to all systems on the cloud city or anything like that, but it would mean that the defenses wouldn’t register him as suspicious and he could leave without problems.
But he wouldn’t depart quite yet, merely find a suitable location to watch the fall of a symbol.
“Along with the attack on Nexus academy, there were simultaneous attacks all over the world. These were led by various terrorist organizations as well as black market mercenary companies seemingly under the employ of these terrorists. There have been no demands listed or even any explanation as to why these different organizations are even working with one another as many have conflicting interests.”
The reporter continued to speak while Julio attempted to contact Kaiden, Sasha, or anyone associated with Nexus to try to find out what was happening—if they were even alive.
“Better news comes from Terra, as we have been assured by various high-ranking officers that the attempted takeover is almost at an end. We are told that the military will scour the entire city to be sure that no threats remain from these mysterious assailants and that the police have already started initial sweeps. They should soon have suspects in custody who can shed more light on the systematic attacks.”
Laurie’s shuttle finally found a landing zone. It appeared that they were the third shuttle to arrive, at least at this particular location. The doors opened and he, Cyra, and all the other technicians with them exited the vessel and studied the view of the city.
“It looks like they’re mostly unharmed,” Cyra said, her voice quiet as she frowned at the cityscape.
“I’m not sure we can exactly breathe a sigh of relief,” the professor said, his tone a little short as he strode ahead. “With that colossus above us, we need to get as far away from here as possible. There is no point in surviving a slaughter only to be turned to glass by that monster’s cannon.”
“Where should we go?” she questioned and tried to keep pace with him.
“Seattle would be the obvious and easy option,” he stated as his gaze darted around to check on Academy evacuees and seemingly looking for someone amongst the police and medical professionals. “Seattle has enough defenses to at least make the ship unlikely to simply barrel into it. Hell, if I can convince the mayor to give me access to the bio-sphere, I can convert it into a shield with enough tinkering.”
“So we need to evacuate the entire town as well?” Cyra asked, her expression a little daunted. “Do we even have enough shuttles to do that?”
“That’s what I’m trying to determine right now,” he replied and tapped the shoulder of an officer assisting a newly landed shuttle. “Pardon me. Who is in charge here?”
The man shook his head. “Honestly, I couldn’t really tell you. Most of the real leadership is on the front lines making sure those bots don’t get into the city itself.”
“I see. Whatever the case may be, I need to at least discuss evacuating the populace.” Laurie pointed at the enormous vessel. “I’m sure you know that we are not truly safe while we are near that thing.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to understand that,” the officer agreed. “We’ve notified nearby cities and are bringing together all the carriers and shuttles we can and have already warned the city to evacuate through the network.”
“Did you decide on a destination?”
“We recommended Seattle as the closest available city for defensive reasons. But I can’t imagine that many will want to risk still being within such a close range of that thing.”
“Particularly if they are able to get Aurora online,” the professor muttered and looked away for a moment before he returned his gaze to the officer. “Have you been able to make contact with the WC? I would imagine that even if they are in the middle of an important discussion or their usual prattle, this would get their attention.”
The man’s eyes widened for a moment before he drew in a sharp intake of breath and shook his head. “Right. Obviously, you wouldn’t know. None of you would.”
Laurie raised an eyebrow as Cyra stepped forward. “Know what?”
“The World Council building has been under attack, probably even before the Academy was,” he explained. “The last I heard, they were still fighting to take it back.”
His face paled alarmingly quickly. “The world council under attack?” he asked, his voice shaken. “By who? How did they get in?”
“You would think it would take an army, but from what I heard in the news, a small force was able to slip in and simply take it over from the middle section, lock the top floors, and push the personnel and guards down,” the officer explained and looked briefly at the Academy. “They said they were fighting advanced bots, white and humanoid-looking like the ones that attacked the city and Nexus.”
The professor pursed his lips. His color returned but it was an infuriated red. “This was what they prepared for? What was the purpose? Why spread their forces?” he muttered to himself. He returned his attention to the officer. “Did anything else happen? Was anyone else attacked?”
“Many people, unfortunately,” the man replied with a nod. “Terrorist cells, gangs, all those bastards have blown things up since this began. I guess they used the chaos to their advantage and simply started all kinds of shit. In Sydney, Beijing, Vancouver, London, you name it. Most of the major cities have had to deal with it since the attack started.”
Laurie nodded but remained silent as he moved passed the guard. Cyra nodded to the man in thanks and caught up to the professor, who stared at the colossus. “I should have focused on them more—exposed them—but I was too arrogant. I thought I had more time…” He covered his face with his hand and closed his eyes. “I have failed.” She placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him but suddenly, he stood tall, removed his hand from his face, and balled it into a fist. “But we will prevail! We will not let the Arbiters have their way.”
Cyra stepped back, surprised by his outburst, but his declaration emboldened her. She looked at the enormous vessel and for the first time since it had appeared, she wasn’t frightened by it. The massive craft wasn’t a terror anymore. Instead, it was something to destroy.
Chapter Forty
“Sir, the destroyers Rammstein and Krokus have arrived to join the blockade. I am attempting to contact them so we can link up for orders.”
The captain shrugged where he leaned against the railing of the command deck as he looked out of the front window. “Yet more ships with nothing to do. We’ve held this blockade all day!” He grunted, his impatience clear in his voice. “We have enough ships here to obliterate half of Europe. Rather than wait here and twiddle our thumbs, we should put an end to this charade of an ‘invasion’ and assist in putting down the terrorist attacks over the world.”
“It’s a delicate situation, sir,” the executive officer reminded him. “If this invader will not back down, they will be moved to desperate actions. You have to think of the collateral damage and loss of life if we simply try to destroy them. What about any council member still trapped in the building?”
“Elections will happen soon then, won’t they?” the captain retorted and immediately straightened and held a hand up to calm the officer. “I joke, promise. I know that the troops in the building are making their way up. In fact, ensign, what is their progress?”
“According to the latest report, they are only four floors from their destination, sir.”
He nodded and allowed himself a small grin. “Terrific. We might as well tell other ships to head out and do some real work.”
“Sir, I’ve established a connection to Rammstein and Krokus, but they aren’t responding.”
The captain and officer looked at the speaker. “Did something go wrong with the comms on their way here?” the officer asked.
“Scan the ships for signs of damage and maybe try to send messages via the terminal,” the captain ordered. Before the ensign could comply, his terminal deactivated, along with most of those on the command deck. “What the hell is—”
“Greetings, crew of the Veles,” a deep but jovial voice said over the speakers. “My pardon for the sudden takeover, but my teams aboard the other ships had some complications and ended up on a course over to the frontline. I decided that since we were here, we should try out a new program of ours.”
“They are trying to commandeer our systems,” the captain snapped. “Purge them now.”
“I think we’ll only be able to take you and maybe two more at best,” Damyen told him. “That should be fine, however, and more than I anticipated for today. It’s been quite a stressful situation, I assure you, so it’s nice that we can have one beneficial thing happen for once.”
“Whoever you are, relinquish this ship,” the captain ordered.
“You should prepare to do that yourself, Captain. I won’t provide an alternative once we take you back to base,” the chancellor warned. “Besides, you should thank us. Unlike all the other ships here, your crew, at least, will live.”
Sweat trickled down the captain’s brow. This was surely a simple intimidation tactic, right? There were now over sixty vessels present. They had no weapon capable of decimating an armada of this size and would need a device capable of tremendous power and destruction that could obliterate all or most of them in one strike. Did they have a nuke? A rapture cannon? This had to be a bluff. If these terrorists weren’t affiliated with any larger corporation or government, they wouldn’t have been able to create something—
As his mind frantically considered the implications, he caught another glimpse of Terra below and the answer occurred to him out of the blue—not create but destroy. He paled and looked around hastily as he hurried to his chair. “Get in contact with someone—anyone!” he ordered and tried to access his terminal. “Tell them to pull away!”
“It’s too late now, dear Captain.” Damyen chuckled. “We should find a safe distance.”
As Izzy walked the field, attending to those who had made it through the tunnels and been escorted to the medical staff, a few shuttles came in and settled gently at a safe distance. She searched for her friends, anxious to see who else had made it.
So far, she had yet to find any of them, and the number of those who had made their way there thus far was frighteningly few.
When she walked past one of the makeshift medical tents, she noticed someone with their hair undone and whose clothes were distressed but recognized the doctor who examined one of the initiates.
“Doctor Soni,” she cried and rushed inside.
The woman looked at her and exhaled a sigh of relief as she stood quickly and accepted her embrace. “It’s good to see you, Isadora,” she said, addressing the scout by her full name.
“Where’s Amber? She made it with you, right?”
Soni pursed her lips and nodded. “She’s all right, but…” The doctor drifted off for a moment and Izzy’s concern mounted. “During our escape, we were pursued by soldiers as we made our way down the emergency hatch and, to cover our escape, Flynn and Marlo—”
She didn’t need to finish. The scout’s eyes widened in understanding and shock. “Where is she?”
Izzy walked into the bunker as others approached the doctor. The woman told her that Amber hadn’t moved since they arrived and had said she simply needed time to compose herself. She had been down there for more than three hours now.
Quickly, she walked into the mostly barren gathering area and in the corner, huddled into herself, was her friend. She crossed hastily to her, knelt, and placed a hand on her arm. “Amber?”
The battle medic looked up for a moment. Her eyes were sunken and her jaw clenched, but a spark of life flared in her when she recognized the scout. “Izzy?” she asked, her voice quiet.
She nodded and slid an arm around her to hold her as Amber did the same. “Your mom told me what happened with Flynn and Marlo,” she whispered gently.
Amber nodded and drew small, sharp breaths. “They stayed behind so we could get away. I didn’t see what happened—the door shut. I only heard…heard shots and something hitting the ground.”
Izzy remained silent. Hearing it that way with no details and only the sounds to go on, a dark feeling threatened to come over her as the image came together.
“Could they have been taken?” her friend asked, as much to herself as to Izzy. “Many of the students… It’s horrible to see it as the better option, but if they were taken, we can get them back, right?”
Izzy leaned in and gave her friend another hug. “Of course we can, and we will,” she promised. “If they are there, we will get them back with all the others. Everyone lost something today, but I’m sure we will all do our best to get it back.”
Amber nodded and held her tightly. “Thank you, Izzy.” She uttered a soft sob but pulled away after a moment. Her eyes still contained sadness, but it was eclipsed by a new determination. “We need to go up top. I doubt we’re in the clear simply because we made it across the bay.”
She smiled. “I think most people are coming to that conclusion.” She helped the medic up and they both headed to the exit of the bunker. “I think I heard some of the officers saying they ordered an evacuation of the town. That they would take the survivors to Seattle.”
“We’ll be close by, then,” Amber muttered and her eyes narrowed in thought. “I hope we have the chance to destroy them before anyone else.”
The girls shared a determined look as they ascended the stairs. “We won’t let them have the satisfaction of keeping us on the run. Before long, we’ll be back for what’s ours.”
The battle medic balled her fist. “Right.” That was her only response as she walked out of the bunker and looked into the sky where the stars had barely begun to show themselves. She stared at the colossus. Flynn and Marlo were in there. She wanted to say she could feel it but she knew she was relying on hope.
Even so, she wouldn’t let them take that from her.
Chapter Forty-One
Merrick watched each battle unfold. Dozens of screens displayed each conflict, all started under his direction. He felt each loss of life and would draw a sharp breath when he saw the fear in an Ark Academy student’s eyes as they were captured. This was for the betterment of humanity but like any surgical improvement, the work was always visceral. The hope was that the outcome could mask it.
