The Death Riders had brought in backup.
They began firing along the shoreline, where the sand exploded upward.
“What are they doing?”
Parrish stared down in horror. “They’re targeting the shield’s power conduits!”
On the beach, wind turbines fell, crashing into the sand. Huge craters opened up in the earth, exposing smoking conduits that quickly caught fire. Black billows drifted down the beach.
“They want to take over the city to wait out the asteroid strike,” Raven told them.
“The idiots!” Juliet yelled, leaning against the glass to look down. “If they take down the shield to get inside, we’ll never get it back up in time before the strike. They’re targeting the city’s power supply.”
“They’ve never been ones to consider consequences,” Willoughby pointed out.
H124 heard a low thrumming build up, followed by an explosive boom that shook their aircraft. A shockwave hit them, sending them hurtling downward. The ground surged up beneath them as they plunged, but at the last minute, the pilot got the aircraft under control. They came to a jarring halt just feet above the ground.
The humming ceased abruptly. H124 stared up to see the dome come down in a dazzling display of light, fading all the way to the retaining wall before winking out.
The Death Rider ships moved in at once, raining fire down on them.
“The shield is down!” Juliet cried. “We’re unprotected!”
All around them grass caught fire. The pilot shot up into the air, speeding them toward cover, but already the Death Rider ships gave pursuit, cannons flaring.
The invasion had begun.
Chapter 24
Willoughby turned to Juliet as the aircraft banked through the air. “What kind of defenses do you have?”
She frowned. “Not a lot. We’ve always relied on subterfuge for protection, convincing the PPC that Melbourne City was still active and transmitting. We’ve got a few mobile cannons mounted on aircraft, similar to the ones we installed at the Antarctic genebank. We have some small arms, a handful of EMP weapons. That’s about it. We’ve never had to use them before.”
H124 wondered how far out Rowan and the other Badlanders were, and how many he’d been able to muster.
Byron leaned forward in his seat. “Backup is coming. But we have to hold them off till they get here. Think we can do that?”
Juliet nodded. “We can do our best. In the meantime, we can try to get the shield back up.”
Parrish leaned over, bringing up diagrams on her floating display. Her PRD looked very different from H124’s. Parrish’s was far sleeker and smaller, the display brighter and three dimensional, so real that H124 wanted to reach out and touch it.
“Our wind and solar power are routed through those conduits. They’re scattered around the continent, feeding into the few dwelling areas we have. The interior of the continent is completely unpowered. The shield draws so much energy that all of the conduits have to work in tandem to keep it operational.”
Juliet spoke up. “We could use the excavator. Dig down under the area where the PPC destroyed the cables, and splice them together right under their noses.”
“We’ll have to destroy the ships, too, so they can’t repeat the endeavor,” Parrish pointed out. “Timing is essential. If we can repair the conduits enough to bring the shield online right after the airships are destroyed, that would be perfect.”
Byron turned to H124. “How much time until impact?”
She regarded her PRD. “A little over two and a half days.”
“We don’t have much time for error.”
Raven leaned forward. “I don’t get this. They must have a backup plan. Once they’re inside the perimeter of Tathra, they’ll want the shield back up or risk dying in a global firestorm.”
H124 patched into Rowan’s comm link. “How far out are you?” she asked, bracing against the fast maneuvers of the aircraft.
“Almost there. Still out over the ocean.”
“We definitely need reinforcements. The PPC just took down the city’s shield.”
“Send me your exact coordinates.”
They ended their call, and the aircraft slowed. Out her window, she could see similar Binit aircraft, all converging on the same spot. Mounted on some were pulsar cannons identical to the ones outside the Antarctic gene bank.
A dropship modified by the Death Riders dropped into view, sending the smaller Binit aircraft scattering. She heard the dropship’s main weapon powering up. Immediately their aircraft took off, weaving in and out of the others. “Trying to draw its fire!” Donovan called back. “Give those cannons a chance!”
H124 strained to see out of the window, bracing herself against the sudden movements of the craft. A cannon let loose a stream of fire at the dropship as another Binit aircraft arrived, this one fitted with a different weapon. The design was very similar to the EMP gun she’d used at the missile silo. “Hold on,” Donovan said, careening out of range. The EMP fired, and the Death Rider ship dropped to the left, then spun, dead metal falling through the air. It crashed to the ground, sending up dirt and catching fire.
Death Riders streamed out of the emergency exits, scattering across the field as flames consumed the ship.
“One down,” Donovan said, veering back toward the other craft as another dropship lowered into view. Death Rider guns rattled from its flank, firing off a volley of deadly shots. H124 wondered how long it would take before the EMP gun would be ready to fire again.
Then something impacted their hull, driving them down. As they went into a spin, H124 clung to her seat, feeling Raven steel himself beside her.
But this time Donovan couldn’t bring the craft out of its spiral. It hit the ground with explosive force, sending H124 thrusting out of her seat as the safety harness cinched down across her shoulders and lap.
“The engine’s on fire!” Donovan panicked, unstrapping and climbing out of the pilot’s seat. “Everyone out!”
H124 unbuckled herself and scrambled out with the others into the open. Above them the dropship fired its primary weapon, opening a colossal crater in the earth. The Binit aircraft scattered, though one was obliterated instantly in the blast. Machine parts cascaded through the air, falling down in a cloud of smoke and debris.
Binit pulsar cannon fired on the dropship in an attempt to take out its guns. “We have to find cover!” Byron yelled, taking off toward a knot of trees. They’d crashed on a savanna, with little cover except for the occasional tree cluster and some rock outcroppings. In the distance, she spotted two giraffes running for safety, their long necks and gangly legs swaying gracefully from side to side.
Pushing herself, she reached a small gathering of trees and took refuge behind a trunk.
Pulling up her PRD display, she sent Rowan their updated coordinates. Moments later, an equally beat-up dropship appeared from the opposite direction. It pulled up on the scene, rusted and dilapidated, engines sputtering and clunky. The low pulsing sound that emanated from it told H124 that its main weapon was primed and ready to go. She braced herself, but when the blast erupted from the belly of the craft, it hit the enemy dropship, its skin instantly vaporizing in a fiery inferno. What was left of the underbelly cabin turned into a searingly bright ball of liquid metal; it rained down to the earth, killing everyone on board.
Rowan’s face appeared on her PRD comm channel.
“Right on time!” she said to him, bolstered.
Then two more enemy dropships fell into view. The pulsar cannon fired on one, taking out its bank of guns. H124 felt vulnerable on the ground. Off to one side, flames completely consumed the aircraft they’d been on.
The Binit cannon fired again, hitting the damaged dropship, taking out one of its engines and igniting the skin. It careened off to one side, too low to regain control, and crashed
to the ground. Death Riders streamed out, heading straight for H124 and the others, weapons raised, adding battle cries to the clamor.
As Rowan’s dropship lowered to the ground, the ramp extended, disgorging dozens of Badlanders onto the battlefield. She’d never been so happy to see anyone.
The Death Riders raced forward, clashing with the Badlanders. H124 withdrew her long-range rifle and took a knee, aiming toward the mass of blood-encrusted warriors. Byron did the same.
Up ahead the Badlanders tangled with the Death Riders in a chaotic dance. The sun glinted off blood-soaked battle axes while the boom of gunfire made H124’s ears ring. A cloud of smoke gathered, collating from the discharge of all the weapons. The air smelled of cordite.
Above, a Death Rider airship hovered into view. She recognized it as the one Olivia had used to escape from Antarctica. She wondered if the woman was still up there. It drew lower and lower until it was only ten feet above the ground. This seemed to encourage the Death Riders, who went into a frenzy. They slashed and fought among the Badlanders, striking anyone who stood in their way.
The ramp came down from the belly of the airship. The Badlanders stared upward nervously, and some started to scatter. Then she saw something spew forth from the ramp: a black, writhing mass of creatures, alive and thrashing. They leapt eagerly from the ship, dropping into the midst of the fighting.
H124 breathed sharply. Night stalkers.
She halted as the Badlanders turned and ran toward her. The night stalkers leapt and slashed, vaulting onto the backs of fleeing warriors and tearing at their necks and arms. Screams erupted from the battlefield, mixed with the eerie ululation of the shadowed predators she remembered all too well. Then she noticed something: They were only attacking the Badlanders.
The Death Riders didn’t try to escape. They remained on the battlefield, shooting the Badlanders in the back as they fled. She watched in confusion as the night stalkers weaved around any Death Riders they encountered, targeting only the Badlanders.
One with its jaws open in a snarl darted around a Death Rider and seized the Badlander he’d been fighting, knocking the woman over and tearing at her throat. A fellow Badlander hit it point-blank with a shotgun blast, but it was too late. The woman was gone, and her neck was nothing but a ragged hole.
As more night stalkers dropped down from the ship, H124 watched as they repeatedly avoided the Death Riders, still attacking only the Badlanders. Now Rowan’s comrades streamed past her, and she tried in vain to spot Dirk, Astoria, or Byron in the escaping mass. She searched desperately for Rowan, but saw only the faces of strangers absconding in desperation.
A night stalker focused on a Badlander with a twin mohawk, its sleek black body prowling forward, its curved claws digging into the dirt with every step. It slunk forward, head low, then pounced. As it landed on the man’s back, H124 got a closer look. Something clung to its skull. She withdrew her rifle and took careful aim as the man beneath it screamed and struggled. The beast’s claws dug deep into his back, its fangs clamping down and tearing off a chunk of meat from his shoulder.
H124 fired. The round impacted the night stalker’s chest. It fell into the dirt. Racing toward the Badlander, she helped him up. Torn flesh hung from his wound, and blood soaked his shoulder. “Thanks,” he said, then ran past her, fleeing with his kin. H124 approached the night stalker twitching on the ground. It wore a cranial web, identical to the ones that had enslaved the DisPos soldiers.
H124 stared up into the belly of Olivia’s airship. The wretched woman was controlling the creatures. H124 watched in disbelief as more of them than she thought possible burst from the ship’s hold, cavorting down from the ramp, felling every Badlander they could reach.
The Badlanders streamed from the battlefield in a mass exodus, bolting toward H124. Byron caught up with her. They reached a stand of trees, and paused to catch their breath.
“Do you see Rowan?” she asked him.
Byron turned, bringing up his rifle’s scope. “No. Don’t see Dirk or Astoria, either. But Scarlet’s out there with Garrett, inflicting some major damage.”
She followed his gaze to a tangle of Death Riders savagely swinging chains and battle axes. She spotted Scarlet grabbing the end of a chain, using it to strangle its owner. The Death Rider went limp. Another foe closed in on Garrett, swinging a shotgun around and thrusting it against the man’s chest. H124 was about to squeeze off a shot when Garrett kicked the gun aside, wrenched it out of the man’s hands, and fired it into the Death Rider’s face. His features exploded in a fine mist.
H124 opened up a comm window to Onyx. On the screen, she saw that the hacker was facing her own threats. She was aboard a different Binit aircraft, and it was banking wildly.
“Onyx! We’re in a tight spot! Olivia has attached cranial webs to night stalkers. They’re decimating our forces.”
“What? She put them on night stalkers?”
“Can you hack them like you did the DisPos soldiers?”
“I can try,” came the reply as another maneuver almost sent Onyx flying off her seat. She righted herself. “Give me a few minutes.”
H124 raised her rifle, sniping Death Riders from her covered location. Night stalkers swarmed everywhere, taking down Badlanders so fast she didn’t think they’d last another five minutes. Time crawled by. H124 struggled to find clean shots in the chaos.
Then the night stalkers all stopped attacking. Some collapsed, but most merely shook their heads in confusion. One clawed at its scalp, ripping off the cranial web. The others followed suit, tearing at the control devices, leaving gaping wounds in their heads from the electrodes. They then slunk low, looking around, catching their bearings, regarding each other.
A Death Rider raced by one, thinking himself safe. He gripped a battle axe, ready to swing it through a Badlander’s head. But the night stalker clocked the warrior’s movement and leapt up onto his shoulders, biting down and ripping out his neck.
The other creatures watched, then surged together, gripping the Death Riders and tearing at their flesh. In that moment H124 spotted Dirk and Astoria. She reloaded her pistol and ran toward them, picking off Death Riders along the way. A bullet whizzed past her ear, and her scalp flared up in a sudden, fierce sting. She reached up, and her hand came away bloody. But it was just a graze.
H124 joined the frenzy, fighting alongside Dirk, with Astoria throwing herself into the fray ahead. But as smoke drifted over the battle, and dirt churned up from the airship engines, it wasn’t long before she couldn’t see any of them. Binit aircraft dipped in and out on the outskirts of the fighting, picking up Badlanders and Binits and transporting them to safer locations while firing their pulsar cannons. She caught sight of Dirk and Astoria climbing into one of them.
Running out of pistol ammunition, H124 ran to the far edge of the fray. She needed enough distance to properly use her long-range rifle.
She raced for a group of boulders about a quarter mile away, hoping to outrun the night stalkers. She reached the granite outcropping and pressed her back against it, catching her breath. When her breathing had stilled, she lay down on the ground, using a smaller rock as a makeshift tripod. Through the rifle’s scope, she sniped the Death Riders as they moved on the Badlanders. A familiar figure detached from the tangle of fighters, and H124 watched Rowan race toward her.
A night stalker broke from the madness, and gave pursuit. Rowan was no match for its speed. The second it lunged for his back H124 fired, sending it tumbling to the ground. Rowan glanced back, watching the creature go down, then spotted her position on the ground. He veered toward her.
“Thanks,” he said, panting, when he reached her. “Where are the others?” He stared back at the pandemonium. Night stalkers pounced indiscriminately. One charged and sprang, landing on a Death Rider’s shoulders. As the man went down in the dirt, three more creatures joined in the feast, a mass of swirling blac
k. Torn pieces of meat flung up into her scope’s view.
Another person broke from the commotion, brandishing a revolver. She ran, firing back as a night stalker gave chase. Despite the difficulty, she managed to hit the creature in the chest. H124 watched as the woman approached. Parrish. She spotted them at the rocks, and sprinted over.
H124 picked off more Death Riders through her scope. Parrish caught up to them, gasping. “I just talked to Juliet. The excavator has been destroyed. They weren’t able to get the power conduits repaired.”
H124 felt a pang of hopelessness. “What do we do?”
The woman’s eyes went wide as the raging battle soaked in. “I…I don’t know.”
The sudden thrum of a PPC airship engine drew H124’s eyes to the sky. Olivia’s craft, having disgorged its deadly cargo, motored away. It fired its guns as it left, picking off Badlanders and Binits.
H124 watched her go. “We need to know if Olivia had a backup plan for the shield. She might have destroyed it just to be vindictive.” H124 brought up a comm link to Onyx.
“Did it work?” Onyx asked her.
“Yes! The night stalkers are attacking the Death Riders now, too. Any luck getting into Olivia’s PRD?”
Onyx nodded. “Just got through. I don’t have all the details yet, but there’s a secondary power source for the shield.” Onyx was still on the Binit aircraft, now banking violently. She held on to her seat to keep from spilling out of it. Over the hacker’s shoulder, H124 saw Willoughby and Juliet crowded around a display, trying to remain standing as the aircraft dipped and veered.
“I’ve been talking to Juliet,” Onyx went on. “Apparently, when the Binits first moved here, there was no power. The PPC megacity had failed, and most of the population died out. The survivors abandoned the city. But they didn’t want other people moving in. So they closed down the power grid using some kind of PPC scrambler. The power source is still intact. It’s solid-state wave energy, like what we used at Sanctuary City. But without a decoder, the power conduits are set to self-destruct if anyone tries to bring them online.”
Shattered Skies Page 25
