Animus Complete Series Omnibus, page 241
“Let’s get moving before we’re cornered by more—” Several shots, both kinetic and energy, streaked out of the dust and red clouds. Kaiden ducked and returned fire. “Do these assholes only show up when I mention them?”
“Up the stairs!” Chief ordered. The two men walked backward while they fired at the four enemy soldiers who stepped out of the smoke and dust. All wore the Omega Horde black and red colors.
The ace was the first to head up and he opened a pouch on his belt to remove four small disks. “Sync in, Chief.”
“Already done,” the EI acknowledged.
He tossed them along the walls and stairway. Wolfson followed hard on his heels and readied his launcher, although Kaiden stopped him from firing. “Lure them up,” he shouted to the officer.
The man looked at the disks, nodded, and vented his shotgun once he’d put his launcher away again. “Come and get me, you kronidiots!” he bellowed and thumped his chest as he ran up the stairs.
They reached the next floor and the ace identified two silhouettes in his HUD beneath them. “Hit it, Chief!”
The two teammates were almost toppled by the blast but the mercs met their end when the stairs behind them shattered and gave way.
“That got ʼem.” Chief chuckled, although his eye shrank quickly in surprise. “Or two of them at least. I still read at least four more, and worse news is that there’s an enemy ship on the way.”
“Fucking fantastic,” the ace bemoaned, although Wolfson clapped him on the shoulder.
“It is fantastic!” he bellowed. “We need a ship, after all.”
He nodded as he thought it over. “Do you think you can take it while I get the device?”
The giant nodded, thumped his shoulder, and walked away. “You have ten minutes,” he said cheerfully.
Chapter Twelve
He inched his hands into the container and lifted the device slowly out of the box. His role had begun even before the others arrived and he’d already spent more than a week trying to bypass the vault. They now drove the enemy forces back while he focused on breaking through the final lock, but they had their objective.
When the device was secured in his case, he closed it and took it with him out of the vault. He sent a message to the pilot that they were ready to leave. His smile faded, however, when he heard two shots followed by the distinctive clank of metal as the two droids stationed outside collapsed. They were honestly useless, he thought for not the first time.
Without hesitation, he approached a group of machines, slipped the case between two of them, and looked around him for a perch. Normal protocol was to alert the pilot that there would be a delay, but he wouldn’t be long.
Kaiden pushed the door open cautiously, checked the room, and immediately noticed that the lab was unlike the rest of the building, which had been largely undamaged. Whatever the reason for that, it did not extend to the main laboratory. Pieces of the wall were ripped out or cracked and many of the machines were also torn apart or battered.
“I guess it took them a while to find it,” Chief commented as he studied the destruction.
“It looks more like they came here to loot than to retrieve a single device,” the ace stated and grimaced when the floor beneath him groaned as he walked over the scattered debris, rubble, and parts. He reached a large door which he assumed was a vault. Several machines, laser drills, and claws lay abandoned beside it. They had obviously spent considerable time accessing the secure area. Ordinarily, he would have no objection to the fact that the enemy had done all the work while he retrieved what he came for. This time, however, there was a slight problem. One glance confirmed that the vault was almost empty. He noticed a cube-like container in the center and scowled. It was open and when he checked inside, it was empty.
“Ah, hell, did they take it already?” he asked and shoved the container onto its side in frustration.
“Hold on a moment, Kaiden. There’s a signal coming off the box,” Chief warned.
“Signal?”
“A silent alarm sending out a message. I can pick it up…it’s an alert that it was opened without authorization. But it was only a couple of minutes ago. Right before we came in, actually.”
“So unless the guy who took it can teleport—” Kaiden held his rifle ready as he exited the vault. “He should still be in he—”
Chief’s eye enlarged rapidly in surprise. “Kaiden, roll—now!”
The ace immediately complied and rolled behind a console as two shots struck the floor behind him. “A sniper?” he asked and huddled against his temporary defense as he pressed the switch on his rifle and held the trigger to charge a shot.
“He has a damn good stealth generator too. That’s why I didn’t detect him. I only picked up the energy from his rifle when he was about to shoot,” Chief explained. “Get moving. He’s trying something. I’m picking up a spike.”
He pushed himself away from the console and darted across the laboratory floor as the sniper fired at his previous position. A visible blue light streaked from the top of a large machine, which identified his attacker’s position. When the man fired, however, the shot struck the floor and erupted. A wave of energy cascaded to hurl Kaiden off his feet and his shot rocked toward the foot of the machine. It blasted the edge, tipped it, and forced the sniper out of his perch. The man became more visible as he leapt from the machine to the floor.
“What the hell was that?” the ace asked as he pushed to his feet and pressed the trigger of his rifle. “A nova bullet?”
“These guys are outfitted well, at least,” Chief muttered. “I had a glimpse of our shooter and it looks like he’s using a Dybbuk model generator. It works best when you’re still but can’t keep it up in motion. If nothing else, blow the place apart.”
“I can work with that plan.” He dug out a few more explosive disks. “Where did you last see him?” Chief displayed an arrow on the HUD that pointed to a corner. He raised Sire and fired and the sniper darted out of the way and attempted a shot while in mid-air. Kaiden whipped around, dodged the shot, and tossed the disks to scatter them in different directions. “Blow them, Chief!” he ordered.
The explosions were small but covered a wide area between the several he had thrown. When he saw a figure enveloped in the smoke of the blast, he fired Sire but instead of striking the target, the marksman threw a small orb to meet the blast. A cloud of orange gas erupted, blinding Kaiden. “Dammit!”
“Kaiden, fall back!” Chief shouted. “This guy isn’t simply some random merc.”
A loud bang was immediately followed by a solid thump of something into his helmet. He fell back, his visor cracked, and a partial warning popped up to warn him of impact to the skull. As he forced himself up, he dropped Sire and fumbled for one of the shield batteries on his belt.
“Keep your head down, Kaiden. You’re exposed!”
He knew that, but more importantly, he would have to abandon his helmet as he could no longer see clearly through his visor. First, though he needed to get this gas away from him in case it was poisonous. He tossed the shield battery up, drew Debonair, and fired at it. The explosion wasn’t lethal but the shield energy erupted in a sphere, scattered the gas, and hopefully, pushed the sniper back, even if only a little.
The ace unlatched his helmet and discarded it. A swirl of gas contorted around an object that wasn’t visible to his left and he instinctively dropped to one knee and fired several shots. The sniper’s cloak dropped as his light shield was destroyed and Debonair’s shots burned into his armor.
Kaiden retrieved one of his last two disks and prepared to throw it. The marksman came out of his stupor and stared at him, and in a low, droning voice, he muttered. “Kaiden?”
This caused the ace a moment of hesitation. Even with that almost disembodied tone, it sounded like a call of familiarity, not like someone identifying a target or person of interest. But in the next moment, the man shook his head and raised his rifle with one arm. The ace reacted quickly and tossed the disc as he fired. The eruption engulfed them both.
Chapter Thirteen
Wolfson sprinted up the stairs, the four remaining enemy soldiers hot on his trail. He had almost reached the top and needed only a few more minutes, he told himself as he clutched the container of thermals on his belt. Only a few more would do it. His pace rhythmic and measured, he continued the ascent to the next floor as he closed the vent on his gun and held it aloft, then pushed on to the ninth and top floor.
He pressed the switch and hurled the container of thermals down the steps as he pushed toward the roof access. They detonated but he had no way to confirm any deaths right now. It would be better to get the ship and get out than stay and let them regroup or call reinforcements.
The door to the roof gave in to his single kick. He sprinted over to the landing pad but stopped in bewilderment when the expected craft was nowhere to be seen. Anger and confusion surged over him. He had seen them land there but the shuttle appeared to have vanished. Was it simply patrolling the skies and waiting for a call? Maybe the pilot saw the fighting and left? It wasn’t exactly professional, but he wouldn’t put it past these honorless bastards.
As he turned to retrace his path to the stairs, an odd whoosh behind him made him whirl in alarm. The shuttle banked sharply to face in his direction. For a moment, he wondered if the bastards had come for him simply because he thought about them. While he did feel a brief moment of satisfaction at the fact that he hadn’t imagined the vessel, it quickly vanished when it aimed its guns at him.
The head officer flung himself off the landing pad as the craft opened fire. He landed heavily and a spray of large kinetic rounds punctured the roof and landing pad. With a string of colorful curses, he pushed to his feet and held his left gauntlet up to activate the personal shield emitter and generate a large rectangular shield in front of him to intercept the assault.
He was able to walk himself back and found shelter behind a cooling tower. The shuttle drifted to the side to gain time for its guns to cool. Wolfson planted his shield, detached the emitter from his gauntlet, and hunkered behind it as he ran a hasty weapons check. He had his shotgun, his launcher, one more ax, one shield spike, and a container of shock grenades. It felt like a damn waste now to have used his last container of thermals on the pursuing soldiers.
The ship fired at him again and he studied it quickly, knowing his shield was on its last legs. He recognized the model, which appeared to be a Mako although painted and modified somewhat. If he could get under it, his shotgun should have enough punching power to destroy the balance drive beneath. That would cause the pilot to lose control and crash, hopefully on the ground below instead of on top of him.
It would also mean they would have to find another mode of transport out of there, but that seemed moot. This shuttle wasn’t much of an option now, anyway. He unlatched his shoulder pads from his armor along with his gauntlets, leg guards, and chest plate. For what he had planned, he would need speed and had to take the risk.
Wolfson loaded his launcher with three shock grenades. He holstered his shotgun and took his second ax out, then drew a deep breath as his shield broke and the firing stopped. His mind worked quickly to determine that he had to get the craft back to the landing pad as he would need the height.
He broke cover from behind the tower and raced along the roof as the ship pursued him. Without slowing, he fired one of the shock grenades behind him, more to confuse or anger the pilot than damage the ship. He reached the landing pad and confirmed that the shuttle continued its approach. Calmly, he retrieved the spike and drove it into the ground to cover himself in a domed shield. In perfect alignment with his plan, the shuttle passed overhead.
The vessel spun to fire on the stationary target, but Wolfson raced beyond his shield and fired both remaining shock grenades at it before he flung the launcher to the side. The shocks struck forcefully and stalled the craft temporarily while the guns seized. The pilot attempted to force it to move as the head officer pushed into a sprint. Once he reached the edge of the landing platform, he vaulted as high as he could and raised his ax over his head as he fell from his arc toward the front of the ship. The pilot regained control and pulled up, but the ax blade sank into the metal.
He held on as the pilot whipped the craft in an effort to dislodge him. Wolfson drew his shotgun with his free hand and located the rectangular compartment that housed the balance drive. He fired once and the plating was blown free. The ax slipped a little but retained its hold as he aimed again and fired and blasted the drive completely off.
The recoil from the shotgun’s second shot was enough to thrust him free. He fell about fifteen feet and barely out of reach of the edge of the roof. Fortunately, he’d managed to retain the ax and he swung it again, embedded the blade in the rooftop, and hauled himself up. Behind him, the shuttle spiraled out of control. The pilot seemed to attempt an escape but the ship spun too quickly and instead of a clean jump, he was thrown out of the side door as soon as he opened it and had no opportunity to activate his bounce pack on the way down.
The head officer climbed stiffly to his feet, grunted, and rolled his shoulders. He had begun to feel his age over the last few weeks and while it wouldn’t stop him, it certainly made the missions more of a pain.
Three soldiers drew his attention as they barreled out of the door leading to the roof. Damn, they’re persistent. He scowled belligerently
Wolfson readied his ax and shotgun. If they didn’t have the good manners to die in the explosion, he’d make them regret their rudeness. He surged forward, his weapons ready, and one of his adversaries responded quickly to swing his rifle toward him.
The enemy soldier yelled in surprise a split-second before he was obliterated by a large blast. Equally startled, the head officer darted to the side and glanced over his shoulder at a shuttle that approached while it fired at his adversaries. As it drew closer, the Nexus logo confirmed that the new arrivals were reinforcements. The side door opened and two soldiers—one in medium armor the other in heavy—jumped out and onto the roof.
“Officer Wolfson?” Silas asked.
“Aye!” he shouted merrily and rested his ax over his shoulder. “Not to sound ungrateful, but what brings you here?”
“We tried messaging Kaiden earlier but couldn’t get through,” the younger man replied. “I assumed something must have happened and am glad it wasn’t as bad as I expected. We only picked up your signal a few minutes ago.”
“We had interference. You boys came at a good time, though.”
“It seems to me we came at a bad time.” Mack chuckled. “By the looks of it, there’s no more fun to be had.”
“I don’t know about that,” Wolfson confessed and lowered his ax to rest it on the ground. “Kaiden still hasn’t made contact with me and it’s well past ten minutes.”
Chapter Fourteen
Kaiden coughed as he tried to expel the smoke in his lungs. He moved his hand instinctively to his face when a burning pain traced along the bottom of his neck to his left cheek. “What a bastard!” he muttered belligerently as he stood clumsily. “I have all my limbs, right?”
“Yep, all five,” Chief announced.
He checked his arms and legs. “I thought it was only four?”
“I would also count your d—” A gurgled, wheezing noise interrupted him. He picked Debonair up and waved the smoke and dust out of his face. The sniper hobbled painfully a few yards away and looked far worse than he did. Most of his upper armor was shattered and the right half of his helmet was gone to reveal a pale, fleshy, and grotesque but familiar visage.
“A golem,” he exclaimed in a low tone and aimed his weapon. “It kind of pisses me off that this one gave me so much trouble.”
“Hold up a second, partner,” Chief cautioned.
The ace eased the pressure on the trigger but didn’t aim the gun away. “What? It’s dazed or something. Let’s finish it off.”
“We still need the device, right?” the EI reminded him. “And those golems are controlled remotely—they’re basically fleshy robots. I’ll see if I can get into it and locate the device, then sever his connection. Kill two birds and all that.”
Kaiden frowned but acquiesced and lowered his pistol. “Fine, that’s a good point. We might as well give it a shot.”
“Good man,” Chief responded cheerfully. “Give me a minute.”
Although he nodded, he retained Debonair’s readiness, especially when the golem glanced occasionally at him and simply stared. The blank, white eyes unnerved him, but he was too cautious to look away.
“Chief, could you hurry and either find the device or let me shoot this thing? It’s creepy.” He walked to the side and the golem watched his every step.
“Kaiden, I know who is controlling this golem.” Chief’s voice had lost its brightness and was now replaced by a disturbing grimness.
“What do you mean, who is controlling this? I thought they were controlled by a program or something,” he reminded him. “Unless it was like the golems Nexus tried to use, but that required the Animus or an EI connection didn’t it?”
“Exactly. Kaiden, this is Flynn.”
“What?” He immediately strode up to it but it didn’t move to walk away or even try to attack. Instead, it simply continued to stare as he grasped its shoulders. “This thing is Flynn?”
“No. Flynn is controlling the golem, Kaiden. I’m in its chip and the code in here is an EI pattern—specifically, Jeeves’ EI pattern.”
