Animus Complete Series Omnibus, page 255
Ropes uncurled as the ship lowered slightly and fired at any droid in the area while troops in heavy and medium armor in a fiery-red and sky-blue slid down the ropes. Some leapt off before they reached the ground and all fired at the enemy droids and shouted fiercely. He recognized them immediately as the gangs Kaiden was well acquainted with.
Genos ran to Wolfson as the ground shifted, the telltale sign of a mech being deployed. He glanced over his shoulder and, sure enough, a beast rumbled from the earth. Before he could decide whether to engage it or not, one of the gang members yelled, “Fucking get ʼem!” At least a dozen Fire Riders and Skyway Kings attacked and obliterated it before it had a chance to prepare a shot.
“Ey, is that you, Genos?” The Tsuna turned as Wolfson strolled up beside him. “It’s nice to see a familiar face right away.”
“I’m happy you could join us, Elder Wolfson,” he responded. “Are you looking for Kaiden?”
“I could always pull him up on the map but if you know where he is, I’m listening.”
“Certainly.” He nodded and pointed to the administration building. “He went in there to take control of the master system and open the gate. Coincidentally, we were heading there anyway as there is another way into the old facility from here that is much faster and potentially safer than using the normal route near the docks.”
“Then let’s get in there,” Wolfson urged and tucked his weapon securely against his chest. “Nothing bad has happened before I got here, right?”
“There were some explosions a couple of minutes ago,” Genos told him.
“That sounds about right.” The giant chuckled and pushed into a jog. “We should hurry.”
“Why are there so many inside the building?” Kaiden shouted as he poked his head into the hall and fired a charged shot from Sire. It was dodged by most of the droids but hit one that had come around the corner at the perfect moment.
“I think they were cutting through,” Chiyo told him and tapped the screen on her gauntlet. “We simply happen to be in the way.” Both she and her teammate ducked into the room they hid in as three of the droids stopped moving. The others pushed past but the three began to shake and emitted a loud beep before they exploded and catapulted their fellows off their feet.
“Go!” she shouted and both entered the hall and eliminated the mechanicals before they could recover. As they made their way to the end of the hall, an enhanced droid stepped out, its cannon ready to fire.
“Shit—Chiyo, get behind me!” the ace yelled and held Sire to the side as his shields flared and she crouched behind him. His adversary fired and the bolt careened into him and kicked up dust and metal. The droid tilted its head before a bolt of green energy streaked in retaliation to shatter its chest and careen it into the wall.
“I get why it’s called power armor now,” he commented as he and Chiyo stepped through the smoke. But before he could fully enjoy his victory, three more enhanced droids stepped out and primed their cannons.
He scowled as he and his teammate took aim. “This might be pushing it, though.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“I believe we are close now, correct?” Genos asked as they ran deeper into the building. A loud explosion one floor up cracked the ceiling and dust filtered onto them before a droid plummeted from above. The Tsuna ran forward and readied his cannon, but although the enemy tried to push up, its damaged chest sparked and it stiffened before it collapsed.
“Well, that saves us the trouble,” Wolfson stated and tried to reach a box on his back but his bulky frame made it difficult. “Do you mind grabbing that box for me Genos?”
“Certainly,” the Tsuna replied, took the box, and placed it into the officer’s outstretched hand.
“Appreciated.” The large man opened it and removed several small disks as the distinctive sounds of fighting above them escalated. He tilted his head as if to listen more closely before he took a few steps forward to the edge of the hall, threw the disks onto the ceiling, and retreated hastily. “Head down!” he shouted as he fired at the disks.
They erupted as soon as the shot hit, the ceiling gave way, and three enhanced droids fell from above. Wolfson took two more disks and flung them at the pile and they stuck onto the head of one and the leg of another. He nodded to Genos, who charged his cannon as the enemy began to stand and fired a large red orb that found its target in the center droid. The resultant eruption annihilated the bots and a large portion of the ceiling.
Once the dust settled, a large figure dropped from above. Genos instinctively prepared to fire, but his companion stopped him and he realized a moment later that it was Kaiden in his new power armor.
The faceplate opened and the ace nodded a greeting. “That could only have been you, Wolfson.” He chuckled and motioned to someone above before Chiyo landed quickly beside him. “You are the only one as partial to destruction as I am.”
“I wouldn’t say partial, exactly. I merely don’t mind it,” the man corrected.
“It’s good to see you are unharmed, Genos,” Chiyo said.
“You don’t have your mech anymore, I see.” Kaiden looked disappointed.
The Tsuna nodded and glanced at the giant beside him. “He is…more compact than a mech but equally as devastating.”
Wolfson uttered a loud laugh. “I’m putting that on my officer ID when this is all said and done.”
“This is Sasha. Are you there, Kaiden?” the commander asked over the commlink.
“Finally. It’s good to hear your voice, Sasha,” he acknowledged. “Are you on the grounds yet?”
“Just landed. How is your progress?”
“We’re on our way and are near the center of the administration building, so we should be close to the secret room Laurie told us about,” he advised.
“Who is with you?”
“Chiyo, Genos, and Wolfson.” He linked the call to the others.
“Wolfson is with you?” Sasha asked. “Will he accompany you?”
The head officer looked at Kaiden and nodded. “Aye, do you need me on the field?”
“If you are going, then no. I will take charge,” the commander stated. “I hoped that at least one of us could accompany Kaiden while the other handled things out here.”
“You’re more suitable for that anyway. I never was one for large-scale battles,” the officer stated. “Well, I’ll fight in one certainly, but trying to command all the moving pieces isn’t much of a strong suit for me.”
“I understand. Do your—” His statement was cut short by a loud explosion over the link from his side.
“What was that?” Chiyo asked.
“One of the destroyers. They’ve lost their shield and are taking heavy damage from the colossus,” Sasha explained, his voice grim. “You need to hurry.”
Kaiden nodded. “We won’t let you down,” he promised and cut the link as he motioned for the others to follow, holstered Sire, and looked at Chiyo. “Do you know if the enemy has opened the door yet?”
“I felt a large explosion before you arrived,” she explained. “I would imagine that was the bomb they brought to open it. I don’t know if it worked but they appear to have set it off.”
“Then if they did make it in, they’ll meet us there,” the ace surmised and shrugged. “It means we don’t have much time, but if we can eliminate them while we’re down there, we don’t have to worry about them getting the serum.” The faceplate closed and he turned away. “Let’s get going.”
“One of the destroyers is disabled,” the Arbiter technician stated. “It’s trying to break away. Should we pursue?”
“Fire on it and send the bombers on their next run while we do so,” Nolan ordered. “Send out any remaining fighters and drones to defend them. I’m sure they’ve caught on by now and will make plans to intercept the bombers.” He looked at an ensign. “Are the pods ready?”
“We’re at seventy-five percent, sir,” she told him.
“That is enough to begin.” He focused on another technician. “Mark points around the center and along the rim of the island amongst the enemy combatants. See if we can’t take out some of their forces while we bolster our own.”
“Understood, sir.” The man set to work quickly.
The general looked at his screen. The cannon was only at twenty-seven percent and charged much more slowly now. It had been almost completely depleted when they arrived. He had to come to terms with the fact that if he wanted to destroy the enemy, he wouldn’t be able to do it with his forces alone.
“Break off one of the fighters,” he ordered. “Send it to the west and once it gets outside the jamming area, have it send a distress beacon.”
“At once,” the same technician replied.
Nolan leaned back in his chair. He was loath to call on Damyen for anything, especially so soon after his previous assistance. But he would swallow his pride because if he failed now, he failed the organization and Merrick’s plan would not come to fruition.
That was a guilt he would not be able to shake, even in death.
Sasha watched the battle above with the helplessness that came from the inability to intervene. The crippled destroyer had broken away but was still battered by the colossus’ side cannons. It was now far enough away that if it did break apart, it should hopefully miss the island. He was still hopeful it could escape but it was too damaged to warp at this point.
Several objects were jettisoned from the underside of the colossus, followed immediately by many more. He recognized the pods, exactly like those that had been launched at the island during the invasion.
“We have more droids incoming!” he shouted on all comms. “Be ready. They are dropping pods so don’t get trapped.”
Three of them landed about fifty yards away from him. The heavies who guarded the commander looked at him and when he pointed at the hulls, they raced forward while he and two other snipers took aim. As soon as the doors opened and the droids emerged, they were beset by cannon fire, kinetic hammers, rockets, and sniper fire from Sasha’s group. He would not let them take this island again. The AO might have the numbers advantage, but they were prepared this time.
Almost as if in response to this thought, Janis’ carrier finally appeared over the mountains and cruised toward the island with its three-hundred-droid load. It was not nearly the end.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Kit surged forward and thumped the back of a droid’s head with the butt of her rifle to knock it off the resistance soldier. They both fired on the mechanical and once it was riddled with holes, she helped him up as Fritz contacted her. “Hey, Kit. Janis is here.”
She looked up as the soldier ran off to rejoin the fight and grinned as the large carrier finally advanced over the horizon. “It took him long enough.” She chuckled and a small smile lingered on her face. “This’ll turn the tide. Hopefully, we don’t make a habit of getting into big fights like these after this, but we should look into upgrading that ship’s engines once we—”
“Look out!” another soldier yelled and yanked her to the side. Before she could frame a question, a large object thudded into the place where she had previously stood. Two more landed behind them as she and her rescuer tensed and trained their weapons on the pods as the sides fell free and Arbiter droids boiled out.
“Fritz, we aren’t the only ones with reinforcements!” she called as she fired on the new arrivals while she backed away a little to gain space. One of the resistance mechs ran forward and fired at one of the pods while it kicked the other into the sea. A third careened into the back of the mech and crushed it. The pilot was able to crawl from the wreckage, but Arbiter bots descended and swung their blades viciously. Kit and a few other soldiers opened fire and managed to eliminate a couple before the remainder dispersed and turned to them to retaliate, but the pilot was already dead.
“We need back-up,” she yelled as more pods landed and the liberation forces were quickly overwhelmed and forced deeper into the island and away from the gate.
“Janis, what’s your ETA?” Fritz demanded over the commlink to the Azure Halo leader. “We’re swarmed out there. The colossus is sending dozens of pods filled with bots and soldiers and we’re now forced toward the center of the Academy. Soon enough, they’ll be able to treat us as nothing more than a shooting gallery.”
Janis looked at his instruments. “According to the GPS, we’re another fifteen minutes out,” he explained, looked at one of his crew, and gestured with his hand. “We have a few shuttles meant for evac but we’ll send them now with some of the droids. I’ll have to deploy the drones to keep them safe.”
“I’ll see if we can’t get some of these jet jockeys to meet you,” the other man yelled in an effort to be heard over the cacophony. “If any can be spared.”
Sasha fired three rapid shots and overheated his rifle. Three droids that attempted to leap to his position were destroyed in mid-air and he vented his rifle as Fritz contacted him. “Hey, Commander. Do you have a line to the Skyway Kings?”
“Not presently, but I should have no trouble establishing one. Give me a—” Something landed behind him with a loud clang and he spun as he drew his pistol to aim at a heavily armored figure, who held his hands up.
“It’s all right,” the newcomer stated and removed his helmet. “The name is Desmond—we met while taking that AO factory.”
“I certainly recall you.” The commander nodded, holstered his pistol, and closed the vent of his gun. “This is good timing on your part. I’m in contact with one of the Halos and it seems they could use your help.” He connected the man to the commlink.
“Desmond of the Kings here. What do ya need?”
“I’m Fritz. We have reinforcements incoming, but the carrier is a slow bastard and won’t be here for another fifteen minutes at least. My boss is sending shuttles on ahead with drones for defense, but we’re worried they’ll be targeted.”
The Kings leader looked at the carrier that was still a large blob on the horizon. “You certainly won’t be able to hide a ship that size once it gets in view. It may already have been picked up by some of the enemy ships. Shuttles will make for easy targets as well.”
“We were hoping you have some jockeys to spare. Some fighters and interceptors will probably try to engage the shuttles. The drones can deal with most of them but some assistance would be nice.”
“Agreed.” Desmond nodded briskly and looked at Sasha. “I was about to ask if you had anything in particular for me and my Kings, but this’ll do.”
“Take what you need,” the commander told him. “We’ll hold no matter what.”
The gang leader smiled as he put his helmet on. “I like that confidence, Commander.” His jets began to prime. “But we work fast and will be back before you know it.” He launched off the edge of the building and circled while close to twenty jockeys fell into formation behind them.
As Sasha watched them depart, a droid snuck on top of the roof and crept up to him. The marksman simply raised his pistol to his left and fired two shots into its dome. It collapsed and he returned to his perch and began to select and eliminate his targets with practiced precision.
“Is this the room?” Wolfson asked and when Kaiden nodded, he lifted a massive boot and kicked it in.
“We have the access code, you know,” the ace muttered and scowled at the door that now hung by only one hinge. He noticed that the metal blocking bar had been engaged when the man had kicked it. Being able to kick a door in with a blocking bar could only be with the help of the armor, right?
The four walked into the storage room and Chiyo hurried to one of the back walls. “There’s a second door…” She looked around and Kaitō scanned in her helmet and located a small crease along the left side of the wall. “Here.”
Kaiden nodded and approached. “Upload, Chief.”
“I’m already on it. We’re in.”
The false wall pushed out, then slid aside to reveal a metal door. Metal unwound within, followed by a hiss as it unlocked and opened to reveal a hatch inside.
“It seems small,” Wolfson muttered.
Kaiden knocked the back of his hand against the head officer’s chest. “Suck it in, big guy.”
“We can close this door once we descend, correct?” Genos asked.
“Yeah, I still have control and even if I didn’t, the door closes automatically after five minutes.”
Chiyo retrieved a small cube and tossed it onto the ceiling where it attached and opened to reveal a camera. “To make sure we’re not followed or warn us if there’s something waiting on the way back,” she explained quietly.
“If all goes well, the plan was that we will take the transporter into the ship,” Genos reminded her.
“We want to actually invade the ship,” she said. “I am realistic in saying that I doubt the four of us could take it alone.”
“I could take it myself,” Wolfson and Kaiden boasted at the same time, which drew an amused gurgle from Genos while she shook her head.
“If we can take the transporter up top so we can actually seize the ship with a significant force, I think that would be for the best,” she reasoned.
“I’m not sure that’s much of an option,” the head officer replied dubiously. “Although I’m not too familiar with much inside the old facility. It was basically a vault for this stuff and not examined very closely. But I do know that the transporter requires its station to work properly. We can detach it but without the station, it’ll lack the power to function properly.”
“And how heavy is the station?” Kaiden asked.
