Animus Complete Series Omnibus, page 249
“I activated the emergency locks. They’re usually used when the armor is in for repairs or has sustained enough damage and they wanna keep parts from falling off. If activated when it's mostly intact, it simply locks it down,” Chief explained. “Get ready. I’m gonna eject him.”
“Eject?” A hiss of air issued from the armor and Kaiden instinctively readied his gun. Rather than move again, what remained of the back of the suit unfolded to the sides. A man with a bald head and disheveled black-and-red beard fell out dressed in a black jumpsuit. He grunted as he scrambled to his feet and tried to get back into the armor, his feet still locked into the boots. As he struggled and fell again, the ace walked up to him and noticed burns around his eyes.
The captain rolled his head and glared as best he could through his damaged eyes. “Come any closer and I’ll throttle ya,” he threatened.
He paced back slowly and out of the man’s arm range and held Debonair trained on him. “I promise not to get too close. My trigger finger has a mind of its own, though.”
There was a brief moment of concern on the man’s face, but it quickly changed to consternation. “Why are you here? I can tell you aren’t one of the Riders or Kings. You’re too trained for that.”
“I’m a mutual friend, and as for why I’m here…well, you can actually help me with that.” He flipped his weapon and whipped it against the captain’s head to render him unconscious.
“Go ahead and let him loose, Chief,” he ordered. When the boots were unlocked, he hauled the man fully out of the suit before he stepped up to it himself. “This is still operational, right, Chief?”
“Indeed it is.” The EI nodded and returned to the HUD. “I’m guessing you like the look of it?”
He smiled as he studied the armor speculatively. “I wonder how it will look on me.”
When the captain awoke and heard thumping, he initially thought it was only his head until something shuddered under his legs and back. He sat, opened his eyes as much as they could, and grinned when he focused on his power armor. The idiot must have left him to go off and sabotage the ship without taking the time to completely destroy the suit. This was his golden opportunity, and he’d make sure to finish the invader this time.
But as he moved to stand, the armor looked at him and he froze. That had to be a trick of the light, right? When one of the arms moved and the blade in the gauntlet emerged, he knew it was no trick.
“I said you were gonna help me,” the soldier’s voice boomed out of the helmet. “If you need convincing…well, I have time and we’re the only ones here, right?”
The captain paled.
Haldt helped a King into the base, followed by several others while a group stayed behind to guard the entry. Another man in bloody, heavy armor came over to assist and helped him to place the injured man on a cot.
“I appreciate it,” the officer said and rolled his shoulders to ease the stiffness.
“I should say that to you,” the King member said and extended his hand. “My name is Desmond. I’m the leader of this chapter of the Skyway Kings. I haven’t seen you around—are you with Kaiden?”
He shook his hand. “Arsenio Haldt. I’m an officer in Nexus Security under Head Officer Wolfson. I’m glad to be of assistance.”
“You seem to have done more than that.” The large man chuckled, his arms loose at his sides. “I had a couple of reports from the boys saying there was some new guy flying around with jets. They said they wanted a set when this was over.”
“Considering that’s what you’re known for, I’ll take the compliment.” Haldt pressed the button to unclip the jets from his armor. “Unfortunately, I took a hit or I’d be glad to spare mine.”
“We can still use it,” Desmond assured him. “We’re used to working with scraps.” Shouts and laser fire outside caught his attention and a couple of errant blasts thumped into the walls at the entrance. “Are they all the way back here?” he asked.
The officer drew his machine gun. “Only some but the rest are on their way. We can hold the building until Kaiden is done.”
“He’s taking his sweet time, isn’t he?” the other man muttered. “Zena, you gonna join us?”
She walked over, flanked by a squad of reds and blues, and tossed him a shotgun as she readied her own. “I’d rather take it to them than sit here and wait for them to come knocking.”
“Damn straight.” Desmond activated his weapon and picked his helmet up from a nearby table. “All jockeys, if you have your jets fixed and you aren’t dying, head into the sky and assist the fighters. We’ll hold the rest down here.”
Three men nodded and jogged up the stairs to the roof. Haldt was impressed. For a non-military outfit, they seemed to respect the chain of command quite well.
“Are you with Kaiden?” Zena asked and stepped beside him. “Do you know how he’s doing? We haven’t had another volley from the ship since he got in there.”
“I haven’t had contact. Wolfson has but hasn’t reported anything to me.” He glanced at the time in his HUD. “Seventeen minutes. It looks like I might win the bet.”
“Bet?” she asked, but he waved her off.
“Nothing important. We’d better get out there and finish this, right?” Haldt turned and strode to the doors and Desmond, Zena, and the squad of riders followed. They hollered and whooped as they pushed out to engage the advancing Omegas.
Wolfson cruised around the airspace of the assault ship. Kaiden hadn’t responded and while he had been in the middle of a fight earlier, he had no idea if that was ongoing. That might be why or maybe his helmet and commlink were destroyed. There was only one other option but that was one he didn’t want to think about.
The assault ship’s turrets began to turn, as did the ship, and it slowly began to fly closer to the field. The head officer’s heart stopped for a moment while his mind protested the possibility that his worst fears were realized.
“Omegas!” a voice called and echoed across the field from the ship’s speakers. “Put your weapons down and surrender.” Wolfson’s heart began to move again and a smile settled on his face.
“If you need more convincing…” An odd rustling issued from the speakers for a moment before another voice spoke. “This is Captain Lokleer. End it, lads. We’ve lost.”
Haldt and the others exited the fort and immediately stopped when Omega troops dropped their weapons and held their hands up. Deactivated droids lay sprawled around them. The enemy ship approached and prepared to land in front of the fort. The officer checked his time again—nineteen minutes. He sighed and accepted that he had to give it to his boss, but given the circumstances, he wasn’t too upset.
Wolfson landed his vessel and noticed that the five remaining Omega fighters had also landed. As he alighted, the pilots were shepherded away by Riders and it was interesting that they didn’t make a run for it. Perhaps there was some honor in them, after all. A ramp descended from the underside of the assault ship and weapons were drawn when someone in bronze armor stepped off with another man over his shoulders. Without ceremony, the figure simply dropped the man—who had burnt eyes and a beard—into the dirt.
The visor on the armor flipped up to reveal a grinning Kaiden. Weapons lowered as Wolfson walked over and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Nice work, Kaiden,” he said cheerfully. “You had me sweating there for a while.”
The ace returned the gesture but his slap had a little more force than he was used to thanks to the armor. “You should know I do good work by now, Wolfson.” He pointed to his chest. “What do you think? Spoils of war.”
“Some old power armor, eh?” The large man stroked his beard as he studied the suit thoughtfully. “It needs repair obviously, and a paint job, but I think it suits you.”
He nodded and brandished the blade. “I think so too. And it’ll make storming the Academy a hell of a lot more interesting.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I’m bringing her in,” the Azure Halo pilot shouted to Chiyo and the Halo leaders as they flew into their Seattle outpost. “I’m only waiting for confirmation.”
“And to be sure, they won’t shoot us down, right?” Fritz asked as he glanced at the infiltrator.
“And to repeat myself, I’ve already called in and explained the situation,” she replied and double-checked the box she had slipped the teleporter keys into before she placed it inside the case next to her helmet and guns.
“Fritz is a little skittish around military types,” Kit explained and chuckled. “I think he used to be in the military, was dishonorably discharged, and has held a grudge since.”
“Honorably discharged,” he snapped. “But I didn’t have many good experiences. Why do I bother telling you my backstory if you don’t get it right?”
She shrugged and leaned back with her hands behind her head. “I don’t know—you like hearing yourself talk? For such a bad experience, you seem to mention it every other month or so.”
“I have clearance,” the pilot stated. “Heading to the landing zone.”
“Understood.” Chiyo closed her case and prepared to grab the handle before Kit stopped her.
“Let Fritz take it. He likes to be a gentleman.” He looked like he wanted to protest but he also quickly realized how that would make him look so he simply rolled his eyes and nodded.
“I appreciate it but I can carry my own gear,” she responded. “I need to take the contents to my superiors. Besides, how can I ask for favors after you saved me?”
“Ah, that was only happenstance and really, you helped out as much as we did,” Kit pointed out. “Those Ghouls were too close to our turf. We had planned to take them out for a few months, but with everything going to hell in the area thanks to the Omega Horde suddenly coming in, we had to push our plans back.”
“We were kinda worried we didn’t have enough droids to take them on or enough intel to know what they had up their sleeves, but they started taking our supplies and some of our trading partners and became a hassle,” Fritz added. “They aren’t the type to simply talk business matters like that though, so our response had to be rougher than we like. Imagine our surprise when we got there and most of them had fled or were dead. It saved us a hell of a lot of time.”
Chiyo smiled as the ship landed and picked her case up. “It’s appreciated, either way. I hope we can come to some kind of agreement for your further assistance.”
Kit and Fritz both stood when the back ramp began to open. “Hey, if these AO guys are the ones who call the shots and the Omegas are with them, it’s better to be rid of them now than potentially be swallowed into their little coalition,” the woman reasoned
“I think it’s more about general world domination,” he countered. “Janis has tried his damnedest to find out more about these guys ever since the raid on that factory we helped with, but besides that maniac leader’s doomsday announcements, he hasn’t been able to turn up much.”
“Unfortunately, that has been the same for us and the military as far as I know,” Chiyo stated and they walked down the ramp. “For now, our focus is their main vessel and reclaiming our Academy.”
“Is that a pride thing?” Fritz asked.
“In some respects, but that colossus would be an asset once we push to reclaim the embassy and many of our comrades and possibly other innocents are stowed onboard,” she explained as they walked toward the central building. “And it appears that their leader wants something within the Academy rather desperately. We’d rather stop him from getting to it.”
Kit nodded as the infiltrator pulled the door open. “Fair enou—whoa. What’s going on in here?” Dozens of men and women, both military and resistance alike, ran through the lobby to different parts of the building and yelled orders hastily or tried to talk to others.
Janis scratched his chin. “Is this normal?”
Chiyo shook her head. “Something must have happened or is about to happen.” She headed to the stairs and motioned urgently for them to follow. “Hurry. We need to see Sasha.”
She was not the only one who wanted to see the chancellor. When they arrived on the floor where his office was, the area was almost as packed with people as the lobby had been. Chiyo and the two Halos pushed through and she explained at high volume that she had an important package to deliver. Despite her efforts, her voice was virtually drowned out by the noise.
“Everyone, I know of the attack!” Sasha shouted at the crowd from the door to his office. “The military does as well. They are preparing a response.”
“A response?” one of the mob bellowed. “Aren’t they going to attack? They have no choice now. The colossus is back.”
“It seems we were a little late,” the infiltrator muttered, currently stuck several yards away from the commander.
“What about us?” another asked. “We have to engage, right? That’s what we’ve done all this prep and recon for. This is our chance.”
Sasha pursed his lips but nodded. “I agree, and plans are coming together quickly. But we cannot be reckless about it. We do not have the luxury of failure.”
Although this did little to quell the crowd, most had to agree with the fact even though they didn’t like it. She finally found a place to push through to the front and waved at the chancellor. “Sasha!”
He glanced at her and nodded. “For now, get back to work and prepare for battle. I will give you our plans soon, you have my word.” Some in the crowd agreed audibly while others simply nodded or began to talk amongst themselves. Finally, however, they began to leave and the crowd filtered out slowly as Chiyo and the Halos hurried into the office at Sasha’s urging. He shut the door and exhaled a long sigh. “It’s good to see you made it back safely, Chiyo, and with some old allies,” he said, his way of greeting the Halos as he walked over to a chair. “May I see the keys?”
“Of course, sir.” She accessed her case, removed the box, and handed it to the chancellor who opened it and nodded appreciatively. “I didn’t have the tools available to check them but they appear to be in working condition.”
“They do seem to be in good shape given the circumstances and being in the hands of Ghouls. How they acquired them is beyond me.”
Fritz coughed into his hand and Kit shook her head at him. “That might have been our fault in a way,” she admitted. “We had actually received them from a dealer and had them stored in a bunker away from our base as we couldn’t work out what they were for. We assumed they were junk but maybe some kind of collector’s piece that would appeal to a potential buyer. Ghouls raided the bunker some time ago. I guess they knew they had something important since they kept it in a special vault, according to Chiyo.”
“I do not think they knew any more than you did. But they frequent the underground and black markets much more than the Halos do so perhaps they saw the potential of trying to trade it there or at least finding someone who did know,” Chiyo suggested.
“In any case, getting them to function properly is up to Laurie and Cyra but they both seem confident that they should be able to work even now. I’ll have her take a look soon.” The commander closed the box and placed it on his desk. “Now on to you two. It’s quite fortunate that you appeared at this hour.”
“Yeah, we’ve already been through the how do you do’s,” Fritz replied and earned an elbow in the ribs from his teammate. “Ow—look, there’s no need to bore the man with pleasantries. From what I heard, they are about to go to war so we should probably get to it, right?”
“Technically, we’ve been at war,” Sasha corrected. “We are about to go to battle. I understand you may be willing to lend your aid?”
The two nodded and Kit approached him. “We have permission from Janis to negotiate but in reality, we’re well aware that if these guys take over, the way the world currently works will change, and that’s not good for us. I’m not saying it’s a perfect world by a long shot, but it is good for our skills and business. We want to see it stick around.”
“That is quite magnanimous of you,” the commander replied in a dry tone. “Any help you can supply would be quite valuable. I hope you were able to make a nice profit from the raid last year?”
“Oh yeah, a good sum of creds, but the big haul was backward engineering those mechanicals,” Fritz said with a smile. “We hired more techies and engineers. But we’ve beefed up our droids. Your infiltrator can attest to their quality.”
Chiyo nodded. “They are quite impressive.”
He frowned. “I’m assuming that’s a dry way of saying they can eliminate a Reaper unit and save my life with ease.” This earned another shot in the ribs from Kit. “Dammit, ow! You know formality isn’t my thing.”
“Simple manners aren’t either. Of course I know, but it doesn’t stop it from pissing me off,” she retorted.
The man rubbed his side. “You were more forgiving of Kaiden when he stole your bike.”
She shrugged. “He eventually got me a new one.” She turned her attention to the chancellor again. “Speaking of, where is Kaiden?”
“Ironically, off trying to get the Fire Riders and Skyway Kings to join us once again,” Sasha explained.
“Oh? Getting the whole band back together for another suicide run gambit. He must think he has loaded dice.” Fritz chuckled.
The commander looked at Chiyo. “You should contact him, Chiyo. He was quite worried when he heard of your mission.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Worried about me? After all the things he’s put us through with his recklessness?”
Sasha nodded and slipped a hand into his coat pocket. “Yes, the irony was not lost on any of us present at the time.” He removed an EI device and slid it toward her as a message appeared in her ocular lenses. “As you must have heard, there was an attack on the outpost that overlooks the Academy. They were attacked in force by Arbiter droids and some were carried away. They had to abandon the base for now.”
