Animus Complete Series Omnibus, page 253
“I admire enthusiasm but let’s be smart about this,” the officer suggested and retrieved his tablet. “I’ll call the ship to meet us at the gate when the barrier goes down in case we need a quick getaway.”
“Did group B tell you how long it will take?” Silas asked.
“They said they were gunning for it right now,” Cameron said and shrugged. “Are all bombs in place?”
“Our section is complete,” Jaxon confirmed.
“Same with ours.” Haldt nodded as the entire group gathered directly in front of the gate. He held the trigger up. “Raul, let me know when.”
Aside from the sounds of fighting in the distance near the R&D department, the group heard nothing but the thunderous approach of the droids. Some could be seen hopping along the remaining rooftops of the Academy buildings. Haldt held the trigger ready while Raul watched the feed and the seconds ticked by.
Cameron took aim with his rifle and Jaxon exchanged his machine gun for a rifle as well, but the officer held a hand out to tell them to lower their weapons, at least for now.
The hacker closed the feed and nodded at the security officer. “Do it!”
Haldt pressed the trigger, and the entire center of the island erupted with such violence that even the heavies felt the force through their armor. Buildings toppled and droids shattered while an enormous cloud of dust and debris hung over what was probably a large crater in what remained of the island.
“What the hell was that?” an Ark soldier asked as they continued to set the bomb up in front of the stubborn door to the abandoned facility.
“Did they get through the shield?” another asked.
Dario, with a curious frown, checked his tablet. “No. At least not yet from what I see.” He put the device away and walked to the stairs. “Although I suggest we quicken our pace somewhat. It seems we won’t have much time to peruse the goods like the general wanted, although we may have a different kind of fun now.”
“Oh, my God!” Indre exclaimed as the explosion settled. “Aren’t we trying to take this place back?”
“We can rebuild later,” Cyra shouted and yanked the case off her back as she shot an approaching bladed droid. “Chiyo!” She threw the case to the infiltrator as she fired two more shots at the mechanical and walked back, taking her rifle out to assist Indre and the three remaining hacked bots to hold the seemingly never-ending Arbiter bots at bay
Chiyo unlatched the case, withdrew the marker, and aimed at the building. She walked closer as it primed. “Kaitō, assist in the connection process but don’t release those droids,” she ordered.
“Understood, madame. I am close to task capacity, but I shall do my best.”
She looked through the scope and focused as a triangle formed in the frame. A thin line appeared that went through the building and began to expand. Soon, it encircled the building, then moved behind her and from there, around almost the entire section.
“Connection established, madame. Power at one hundred percent. You may fire when ready.”
The infiltrator pulled the trigger with no apparent result. To the naked eye, there was nothing, but a bright flash blazed in the screen of the scope and immediately went dark. She checked the marker, which was still fine, but the scope had failed. When she looked back, her group no longer fired and instead, all the bots had deactivated, Cyra held a hand out, placed it against the head of one of the bots, and pushed it over. It toppled against another that fell into two more, and all tumbled without any effort to resist.
“So, it worked, right?” Indre asked. A crackle above them drew their collective attention. A trail of energy no longer connected the shield to the colossus. A hole began to form at the tip of the dome and it widened, then descended.
They had done it. The shield had fallen.
“The fighters say the shield is still up.” Zena sighed, Kaiden and Wolfson frowned, and Desmond shrugged as her hand lowered from her commlink “I guess we’ll have to join the main fight until—” Her hand darted to her comm again and a wicked smile formed on her face. “Scratch that. The shield is falling. We’ll have boots on the ground the second we’re there.”
Whoops and hollers issued from the gang members. Wolfson punched a fist into his other hand and smiled as he grasped his shotgun and headed to the deck. Kaiden was happy but not elated. He had expected his friends to succeed.
It had taken them longer than he’d thought but still, they’d earned their drinks once this was over.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sasha had reached the city itself when Haldt informed him via the commlink that a large number of droids had been hiding under the island. It answered the unspoken question amongst them all after the battle had started as to how many droids the AO could apparently produce and made those they battled now seemed almost paltry by comparison. Janis would arrive soon and his forces had pushed to the edge of the city. The bridge to the Academy lay directly ahead. All they needed was for the shield to fall.
As the thought entered his mind, he turned to glower at the beam that connected the shield to the colossus and hope flared as it began to dissipate. The barrier began to shimmer before it faltered and holes appeared all around the dome.
He wasted no time. “This is Commander Sasha. All troops, the shield is down. I repeat, the shield is down!” He quickened his pace and was almost unaware that he ran beside other military and resistance members who sprinted down the streets of Bellingham toward the bridge. “Make sure to keep your flank covered but head toward the Academy grounds. Our enemy is awaiting their defeat!”
Cameron unlocked his helmet, pulled it up slightly, and drew a deep breath. “This is probably the first fresh air the Academy has had in months,” he commented before he slid the helmet on, turned the oxygen tank off, and opened the vents. “Man, that’s nice.”
Luke, Silas, and Haldt gestured to where dots appeared on the far side of the bridge. “It didn’t take them long to notice, did it?” the titan asked.
“It’ll still take a while for them to get here, assuming they will make their way on foot,” Silas pointed out. He watched as the destroyers swooped into the fight now that the colossus’ almost impenetrable shields had finally disappeared. “Do you think we can flag one down to help?”
“I think they have their hands full,” Haldt reasoned as their ship hovered on the side of the bridge directly outside the gate. “Contact the others and make sure they are on their way. Hopefully, there wasn’t a second wave of bots gunning for them, but we should be careful. There’s no use getting this far only to—”
“Droids!” Raul called.
Mack’s armor lit with energy. “Where?”
This was answered by a small fireball that spun toward the vanguard, who raised a hand and blocked it with a shield. “That was my drone,” Raul stated and drew his rifle. “The last image was of a group heading through the plaza—or maybe climbing through the rubble in the plaza would be more accurate. There were others coming around the edges as well.”
“I guess it would be too hopeful to think the blast would slow them enough for the others to arrive.” Jaxon looked to his right as he felt an odd rumble. “Mechs!”
The group armed themselves and took defensive positions as two mechs ascended from the ground. Both immediately prepared their cannons. The two heavies ran ahead and activated their respective shields, but before either side could fire, a large blue blast erupted behind one of the mechs and it toppled noisily. The other turned to see what had happened and a large metal arm swung violently and severed its head with a single blow. The massive body stumbled and fell over the edge of the island and into the sea.
“Hello, friends!” Genos waved cheerfully from where he hung off the edge of a mech. “I’m glad to see you safe.”
“Genos!” Jaxon shouted in surprise as the engineer vaulted off. The two Tsuna ran up to each other and the ace placed a hand on Genos’ shoulder. “It’s good to see you have fared quite well,” he said and studied the large mechanical.
“Yes. I was unfortunately separated from the others, but I was able to acquire this in the hope that it would prove useful when we met again.” He looked around the group. “Are Chiyo and the others with you?”
“Not yet,” Luke said and shook his head as he walked over. “They took the shield down a few minutes ago so they should be on their way. We were about to try their comms before those—”
“Droids!” Cameron shouted.
“I was getting to that,” the titan protested in annoyance until he looked back. A large group of droids raced up the main road toward the gate. “Oh, shit!”
The group all turned to face the advancing enemy while Genos clambered onto the mech again. “I shall go and find them. We shall meet soon,” he stated as the metal beast lumbered away. A volley of plasma shots was unleashed by the droids, but his mech blocked them easily and fired two large salvos at the group to destroy several and scatter the others, which made them easy targets for the rifleman amongst the group.
“We need to get us some of those,” Raul remarked as Genos headed toward the R&D section. “Damn useful.”
“Wait it out until the riggers and jockeys get here,” Haldt said briskly. “We have an early start, gentleman. Let’s not allow our tallies to slow now, shall we?”
“The island is in sight,” Desmond shouted as he stepped onto the top deck, now outfitted with his large jetpack. “Jockeys, get your asses in gear. You’re heading out!”
“The sky’s our land and we’re the Kings!” a few of them yelled, followed by a chorus of dozens as they all moved to the edges of the ship. Kaiden looked at the shuttles that surrounded the assault ship and several began to open their side doors as more sky jockeys leaned out and waved to each other. When he gazed ahead, the silhouette of Nexus appeared between the mountains and above, several destroyers harried the colossus while numerous fighter ships battled around them.
“Man, that monster is big,” Zena said, startled by her first glimpse of the vessel.
“It’ll make for a nice explosion when we’re finished with it,” Wolfson responded, shouldered his shotgun, and nudged the ace’s arm. “Will you head out with the jockeys, boyo?”
He nodded and began to walk away. “I will. I should probably get suited up.”
The large man chuckled. “You’d best make sure not to scare your friends. They may blow your head off thinking you’re one of the bots.”
“I’ll make a note of it,” he responded with a chuckle. “See you down there, Wolfson.”
“Oh certainly,” the head officer answered, although too quietly for Kaiden to hear as he looked at the Colossus. “I’m more worried about getting up there, however.”
“Indre, are you all right?” Cyra asked as the girl leaned against a wall and clutched her arm.
“It burns like hell,” she muttered. “They have potent cannons, I’ll give them that.”
“Here, let me help,” Amber offered, held her stim-ray to the agent’s arm, and pressed the trigger. A green beam flooded the dark-red mark and the gouge created by the laser shot that had cut through Indre’s armor. The vivid color faded as her skin repaired and filled. While the armor was unaffected, in less than a minute, the wound had healed.
Indre nodded as she moved her arm. “Thanks, doc. That thing comes in handy.”
“I think so as well,” the medic agreed and glanced at the stim-gun. “Although if you don’t calibrate it right or use too much force in certain injuries, it can actually increase the pain and even kill nerves. it can be tricky sometimes.”
“Thank God you aren’t a first-year,” the girl said with a smirk as Amber stowed her equipment.
“How far are we from the gate?” Chiyo asked Cyra as she joined her in shooting at the pursuing droids.
“Not too far, but the quickest way is through the path they are blocking.” She ducked as a blast from one of the droid’s cannons knocked rubble loose above her head.
“We’ll have to push through,” the infiltrator stated quietly. “The cannon is still down and all Indre’s drones are destroyed. I’ll ask Kaitō to try to hack some more—what?” A large mech came into view and trampled a couple of enemies as it charged its cannon and destroyed a group across the way. Several Melee droids attempted to leap onto it but it hurled them all away when it purged its shields and it took several steps forward. A few more mechanicals were crushed beneath its massive feet as it fired another blast at the fleeing droids.
Something climbed onto its shoulders and waved at the group. “Is that…Genos?” Cyra asked as they all stared in bewilderment.
“Friends? Are you there?” Genos called and the entire group chuckled and ventured out of their defensive den.
“Genos? It’s us,” Chiyo replied on the comms.
“Oh, good! Wonderful job on destroying the shields. I apologize for not accompanying you all the way,” he stated as the mech marched forward. Despite their understanding of the situation, Cyra and Amber still fidgeted somewhat as the clearly Arbiter-made monster approached.
“Didn’t we leave you with seven or eight droids to deal with?” Indre asked as the metal beast stopped in front of them. “How did you get the mech?”
The Tsuna dropped off the machine and walked up to them. “By improvising, I suppose,” he said, although it really explained nothing. “The others are waiting at the gate and the army is on its way already. I suggest we join them.”
Chiyo smiled under her helmet and nodded. “I agree.”
Amber pointed to the sky. “Look there!”
The group looked up as several shuttles descended rapidly while all around, armored troops with jets orchestrated maneuvers to fire at the droids on the ground or that attempted to climb the buildings.
“It looks like the first part of the calvary is here,” Cyra noted.
“This is Kaiden Jericho, broadcasting on…all the frequencies I can. Is anyone there?” the ace asked.
Chiyo’s smile widened. “We’re here, Kaiden.” Hers was only the first response as Genos and most of the soldiers also greeted the new arrival. The engineer sent a ping and one of the jockeys broke off and banked in their direction. It didn’t look like Kaiden’s usual armor and Chiyo wondered if he had to wear a spare from one of the gangs before she realized it was much more complex than a normal suit.
He landed in front of the group, wearing a bronzed set of armor with black trim. The faceplate rose to reveal his broad smile. “Great job on getting the shield down. Now, it’s my turn to get to work.” He lowered the faceplate again and the eyes glowed white and Chiyo thought she could make out Chief’s orb avatar in the sockets. “Do you care to join me?”
She looked at Indre, Cyra, and Amber. “Will you be okay?”
“Of course, and we’ll be fighting again soon enough,” Amber stated and the other two nodded.
“Then I shall,” the infiltrator confirmed.
“As will I, friend Kaiden.” Genos nodded and returned to the mech. “I believe this will be of great benefit as well.” It lit up once again, its shields partially reformed.
“Oh yeah, that’ll do,” the ace said and brandished his rifle. “Now, let’s go find that teleporter and get on that colossus. I don’t want to keep the asshole who took our Academy waiting.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Janis stood in the center of the command deck and one of the technicians turned to him. “Sir, Kit sent a message to say that the shield is down. They are already heading to the island.”
“That quick, eh?” The Azure Halo leader took a moment to look at the land map on the technician’s screen. “We’re still about ten minutes out. Hopefully, they can hold on that long.”
“Maybe we can send some drones to back them up until we arrive,” the man suggested.
He shook his head. “They don’t fly faster than the carrier unless we allow them to overclock their cores, but that would drain their energy much quicker. It won’t be very helpful to send depleted drones that will simply fall out of the sky on arrival.” He placed a hand on the technician’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, they’ve done well so far. I’m confident they will keep doing well and once we arrive, we’ll help them finish this.”
“Cannon charge at twenty percent,” Aurora stated as the colossus was rocked by another blast from one of the WCM destroyers. Nolan cursed himself. He should have siphoned energy from the Academy shield to charge the cannons faster instead of empowering the shields. But if he had done that, it would have destabilized the shields. Now, with them taken down anyway, he had no alternative. So be it.
“Send out any remaining bombers and have those already deployed focus on one destroyer at a time, starting with the one directly on our port side,” he ordered and studied the holographic map of the battle as he prepared his plan. “It should only take two to three runs along the ship to destroy any shields they may have. Then we’ll send it crashing onto the island. Kill two birds.”
“Sir, what about Dario and the soldiers?” one of the ensigns asked.
The general looked at the man. “Dario should be close to finishing his mission,” he answered with a nonchalant wave of the hand. “Besides, he hasn’t gotten to his current position by being easy to kill.”
“Is everyone behind the shield?” Dario asked politely and the soldiers looked at one another. He made one final headcount as he twirled the trigger in his hands. “It looks like it. Very good.” He held the trigger up, opened the top slot, and placed his thumb on the button as he focused on the bomb attached to the door. “You may wish to brace yourselves.”
With that final warning, he pressed the button and the bomb made a loud, high-pitched ringing noise. The lights around the center and on the top turned white, then yellow, before the noise reached a fever-pitch and the lights briefly went red before the device exploded.
