The Final Countdown (The Range Book #6): LitRPG Series, page 15
“I disagree,” the mercenary shook his head. “This thing is like an extra fighter. We could use the help. And the ammo... I won’t have time to use it all if the morphs get to us. So why the hell try to spare it?”
“Well, suit yourself,” I shrugged my shoulders. “Do you have any mines left?”
“The last two,” Sam nodded. “I’ve already planted them. Around the corner. I told you, you should have identified yourself. You’re lucky I haven’t activated them yet.”
I swallowed a lump.
Yep, I had definitely gotten lucky. That would have been a real bummer.
“Alright. Go ahead. Set up your device and get in position. The creatures have slowed down for now, but they’ll be here soon, I think.”
At that moment, something rumbled so loudly that the floor shook beneath my feet and debris fell from the ceiling.
“What the hell was that?” Sam muttered.
“I’m afraid we’re about to find out,” I grinned wryly, adjusting my gun’s belt.
* * *
The rumbling came again, this time quieter, without any special effects. Then, we heard buzzing, screeching, booming and a steady thumping on the concrete that was getting closer and closer. It was as if something large and heavy was barreling its way through the tunnel, occasionally grazing its walls.
I’d heard those sounds before. I just wished I could remember where...
I glanced at Psi Scanner.
The Xenos continued to arrive, huddling together in the tunnel but remaining in the same spot. The rumbling and screeching was getting closer by the second.
The scanner wasn’t showing the source of the sounds.
What the hell was that thing?
“Hikaru?” I called the engineer without taking my eyes off the tunnel.
“I’m working,” he replied through clenched teeth. “It’s a mess here.”
“If you don’t hurry up, we’ll be a big mess here,” Sam muttered.
“I’m trying!” The usually calm Japanese man lost his temper. “If you think you can do it faster, go ahead, be my guest!”
“Uh-huh,” the goon chuckled. “And who’s gonna cover you? You’d get crushed by my machine gun.”
“Then be patient, and don’t get smart with me,” Nakamura snapped at him.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Stay here. I’m gonna check it out.”
I glanced at the ammo counter, making sure I hadn’t forgotten to replace the power cell in the pulse emitter, and moved forward.
“Alice, turn on Mimicry and noise reduction,” I commanded in my head.
The neural network confirmed the command. The icons of the activated features lit up in the interface.
Here we go!
Trying to tread as quietly as possible, gently walking heel to toe, I ducked down and slipped into the tunnel.
Okay, Altai, watch your step!
Sam had set up his mines somewhere around here. I needed to avoid touching the sensor beam or I’d get my head blown off. Even though the machine gunner called his mines smart, they had no recognition system, which meant I had to be careful.
Actually… Sam had mentioned he hadn’t activated the mines yet. Should I ask him? Ah, damn it! His amp was broken. He wouldn’t get a signal. I should probably take a look myself.
“Alice, infrared mode on.”
“Yes, boss.”
In the blink of an eye, the image had changed to red.
Okay, the mines hadn’t been activated yet. Hopefully, Sam was smart enough not to turn them on until I got back. Wait! They could also be activated remotely, right? Or were sensors the only way to trigger them?
Hmm... No, that wasn’t gonna work. I needed to find out for sure.
“Hikaru,” I muttered through ComLink. “Can you ask Sam if the mines are activated?”
There was silence for a few seconds, and then Nakamura’s voice came through the headphones.
“This moron forgot. Should we activate them remotely?”
“No!” I nearly shouted out. “On my command only!”
“Copy that.”
Phew!
I turned off infrared mode, put night mode back on, and continued on my way past the mines.
Meanwhile, the clanging, rumbling and screeching grew louder as I approached the source of the sounds.
Okay, let’s see what the hell this is…
I turned the corner and froze, peering into the darkness.
No way! It couldn’t be! Where the hell had that thing come from?
My eyes weren’t lying. Marching down the tunnel in my direction, taking up the entire space from wall to wall, was a Rhino assault bot covered in red mold — a sign of infection.
And it didn’t look friendly at all.
Chapter 15
Earth Federation, Orion System
Rhapsody
Perimeter of the Green Zone
Tunnel under the Western Perimeter Security Fort
THE TWIN-BARRELED MACHINE GUN on the Rhino shifted in my direction, unleashing a furious round of shots. The only thing that saved my life was that I sensed something wrong at the last moment and took a long, awkward leap back behind the tunnel’s corner.
The bullets hit the wall in front of my face, sending fragments in all directions. The blue glow of my personal force field flashed before my eyes.
“Alice!” I bellowed, turning around. “What the fuck? What happened to Mimicry?”
“Mimicry is active,” the neural network reported nonchalantly.
“But it doesn’t work! That fucking hunk of metal almost got me!”
“This bot may not be equipped with friend-or-foe recognition sensors used by the Xenos. Or it might operate according to a limited program whose aim is the destruction of all living things.”
“Fucking great! Hack it!”
“Running the scan protocol.”
I gave my last command as I ran, feeling the Rhino getting closer with every step on the back of my neck. I passed the mines Sam had planted and reached the airlock a few seconds later.
The door was still locked. The autosentry Sam had installed moved its barrel as I approached but quickly lost interest in me and returned to its original position.
“Don’t shoot! It’s me!” I yelled to avoid making the same mistake as last time. “Squad, get ready! Take cover behind the wall! Keep your heads down!”
“What is it, Sarge?”
I had to give Ruad some credit. First, he hid behind the partially destroyed wall and stuck his gun out through a porthole, and only then asked the question.
“Who fired the shots? We heard machine guns...”
“A Rhino!” I replied, taking my position. “The Xenos dropped an infected assault bot into the tunnel!”
“Oh my...”
I could tell Ruad didn’t like what he had heard.
“Sam, activate the mines! Now! Skyler! I said, take cover! Nakamura, what about the connection?”
“I’m working on it, Sergeant!” the technician muttered through gritted teeth.
“Then work faster!”
“I’m working as fast as I can!” Nakamura snapped back.
“It’s not enough. Sam! Got something to greet the bot with?”
“Not really,” the big guy muttered. “We didn’t come here to fight tanks. I didn’t bring any grenade launchers...”
Well yeah, that made sense. Who would fire a grenade launcher in a tunnel? The blast wave would shred you to pieces. Although, personally, I would love to have one on me at the moment. Preferably a tandem-charge one. So that the first charge would deactivate the force fields and the second charge would reach the bot.
Damn it! How were we supposed to destroy it?
The bot’s heavy footsteps sounded closer and closer. There was no time to think of anything original. And what was there to think of anyway?
I cursed through my teeth, jumped over the remains of the wall, crouched behind a ledge, and readied my pulse emitter for battle.
An explosion rang off. The screeching of ricocheting fragments filled the tunnel as two of the mines had gone off at once. Unfortunately, this had no effect whatsoever as I heard the bot’s footsteps again after a brief pause. Most of the lethal projectiles must have been repelled by the Rhino’s force fields, and the remaining shots couldn’t do any significant damage to its armor.
There seemed to be only one option left.
“Get your plasma grenades ready!” I commanded through ComLink.
As a rule, bots of this type were equipped with anti-energy and anti-plasma force fields in addition to anti-kinetic ones. But what did we have to lose? The generators may have broken down a long time ago. There was also a chance to toss a grenade right under the bot’s feet where a force field wouldn’t save it. In any case, I didn’t see any other options. Maybe if we threw a few grenades at the same time, it would work. Sure, it was a gesture of desperation, but what else was there to do?
The autosentry’s drive buzzed. The machine gun turned on its frame and opened fire.
As I had suspected, the autosentry didn’t pose a serious threat to the bot. Its anti-kinetic force fields lit up. A few seconds later, the machine gun went silent — the bot had simply demolished it, knocking down the tripod and crushing it with its heavy mechanical arm.
Yeah... As they said, rhinos couldn’t see well, but with their weight, that was no longer their problem…
“Nakamura, what’s your status?” I whispered through ComLink.
“Almost done!” the Japanese man responded. “One more minute!”
But we didn’t have a minute.
The bot appeared in the tunnel and immediately unleashed a heavy barrage of fire on our improvised shelter.
The concrete, corroded by acid, was breaking and crumbling. A whole piece fell off the wall next to me, nearly crushing my leg.
Crap! This beast was about to get close and destroy us!
“Alice, can you hack it?” I muttered under my breath.
“There are no external channels. The bot operates offline,” the neural network reported resolutely, dashing my hopes for a relatively simple ending.
Goddamnit! A little longer and this soulless creature would trample us to death!
The shooting suddenly ceased, the ensuing silence striking my ears — the bot had paused to let its guns cool.
Now!
“Ruad, Sam, throw the grenades!”
I activated a grenade with the delay already set up, leaned out, took a short swing, and sent the ribbed cylinder flying toward the enemy. Sam and Ruad did the same almost simultaneously, with the gunner tossing two grenades at once.
If we were lucky, an explosion of that power could overload the bot’s force fields.
But we didn’t get lucky.
The bot shot down two of the grenades mid-air from additional small-caliber machine guns mounted on its shoulders. The third grenade went off, splashing plasma all over its force fields. Only the fourth grenade, mine, with the delay set to the maximum trigger time, rolled on the floor before stopping very close to the Rhino’s massive body.
Next, an explosion rang out.
Unfortunately, a single grenade wasn’t enough to destroy the bot as its powerful armor absorbed most of the blast energy. Still, it wasn’t without consequences. The explosion disabled one of the bot’s machine guns, twisting its barrel sideways, and damaged a few of the cameras, the eyes of the metal monster. But I had no illusions — in addition to optical sensors, the bastard was equipped with various radars, lidars, and other mechanisms to help it navigate.
We didn’t even get a chance to rejoice at our success. The Rhino opened fire with the remaining machine gun, forcing us back against the wall.
“I’ve got a signal!” Nakamura exclaimed happily.
I just grinned wryly in response.
It was too late. The Western Fort still had to contact the Southern Fort. They still had to assemble a team, come down, and unlock the door...
Nope. Waiting for reinforcements to arrive was stupid. We had to do something ourselves. But what?
“Skyler!” I called the young woman. “Do you have any EMP grenades left?”
She nodded silently.
“Give them to me!”
Without asking any questions, the redhead unfastened one of the pouches on her belt and tossed it to me. I caught the pouch, unbuttoned the flap, and peeked inside.
The grenades used by the outcasts had a strange design — they looked like small metal balls with a single round button. But you didn’t have to be a genius to know how to use them. The bot’s main components were protected against the electromagnetic pulse, but its radars and lidars...
I had to give it a try.
After carefully turning around, I took off the pulse emitter strap and set the weapon aside.
Okay, now the backpack...
The tactical vest...
The sheath with the sword...
Everyone looked at me at once.
“What are you up to, Commander?” Ruad asked, licking his parched lips as he pressed himself to the floor.
“I’m gonna try to stop this piece of crap. When it shuts up, repeat the trick with the grenades.”
“Yes, sir.”
“When you throw them, everyone stays where they are. No matter what happens. Understood? Get ready!”
“Alice,” I said in my head, “I need all the energy the biobots can give me. On my command, use it all for acceleration, Focus/Concentration and Dynamic Balancing.”
With those words, I turned around, taking a better position.
“Yes, boss.”
Lately, the neural network had been acting like… a neural network without any signs of pseudo-personality and artificial intelligence. And, I must say, I was more than pleased with it. Your typical assistant, not trying to be yet another pain in my ass... It was wonderful!
The machine gun went silent again.
In the same instant, I commanded, “Fire in the hole!”
Ruad, Sam, and Nakamura each tossed a grenade toward the bot.
Another short burst from an auxiliary gun.
Another explosion that didn’t reach the Rhino and was absorbed by its force fields...
Before the plasma flash had faded, I began to take action.
“Alice, now!!!”
Two round EMP grenades went rolling under the bot’s feet. Without waiting for them to blow, I sprinted forward, jumped onto the wall, and pushed off it as hard as I could, adding momentum with the boosters.
Acceleration!
Focus/Concentration!
Dynamic Balancing!
The simultaneous flash of both grenades exploding caught me mid-air. The grenades had done their job, and none of the Rhino’s clever detection devices were working.
I accelerated as fast as I could, straining my aching muscles, landed next to the bot’s side with the broken lenses, and pushed myself off the floor again like a straightened spring, simultaneously changing my trajectory.
I doubted I could have done something like that without the biocomputer in my head, with just implants and power-ups.
As I pushed off the floor, I twisted my body so that my feet touched the wall and ran.
Thank you, Dynamic Balancing!
A step. One more. And another one...
In the slow motion of Focus/Concentration, I could see the barrels of the auxiliary machine guns turning on the bot’s shoulders. Alice drew dodge vectors in AR. I accelerated, pushed off the wall again, and went flying, turning sideways, right between the two beams which illuminated the firing trajectory.
The bot’s machine guns went off slowly, with lengthy intervals between shots. More precisely, they were firing rapidly. But by cranking up Focus/Concentration, I had slowed down time around me so much that the continuous rattle seemed like single shots to me.
One of the bullets passed so close to my face that I even saw the air swirling around it. But wherever the bot had been aiming, I was no longer there.
I fell to the floor and rolled over, forcing myself to ignore the pain in my shoulder that was either dislocated or broken. Then, I slid across the concrete right under the bot’s massive legs, raising my arm with the activated energy blades.
