Incarnate- Essence

by Thomas Harper

  The forty-eights spread out, forming a semicircle in front of the refugees at the top of the hill, ducking down into the snow. Manny hesitated a moment before letting go of Ellison after guiding him into position. Forrester lined his people up to the north on our right.

  I counted eight incoming soldiers wearing EXO:B-039s. Between each one was a SABERCAT, totaling seven, maintaining formation as they crept forward slowly in a large semicircle. We had twenty total in third generation exos and fifteen in the Kevlar model.

  “What’re they waitin’ for?” Rocky asked.

  We didn’t have to wait long for the answer. Lumbering out of the pines was a fifteen-foot-tall behemoth. An EXO:B-128. More of a mech suit than an exoskeleton, the smooth snow-white Polymer armor built up to ten inches thick in places, giving it a bulging appearance. On the right arm I could see the large barrel of the rail gun mounted on the forearm next to a 75 mm tank cannon, the left arm mounted with a 30 mm Gatling-type gun next to a 90 mm rocket launcher. There were two tubes on the back able to launch laser-guided missiles.

  This is probably their field test.

  “Anyone with a larger rifle,” Sachi said to the refugees, “we need covering fire on the aught thirty nines while we-”

  Two streams of smoke shot into the sky from the tubes on back of the EXO:B-128. There was a moment of stunned silence as the missiles arced back down toward the hill, two explosions erupting to either side of me. The shockwave thumped through my chest, flaring up the pain in my left shoulder. I saw two of the refugees in Kevlar and one of Savita’s men fall back to the earth, bodies mangled. Shouts echoed over the clearing as we opened fire, Utah soldiers quickly returning fire.

  “Take out the UGVs and aught three nines!” Sachi shouted over the radio, “then we can focus on that big fucker!”

  Gunfire pelted the hillside in front of us as the line of soldiers and UGVs started creeping forward. They moved in a large semicircle with the EXO:B-128 in the center, looking to encircle us.

  “Forrester!” Sachi shouted, “take your people and flank them from the north!”

  “Go fuck yourself!” Forrester growled.

  “Christ,” Sachi said, standing up, “Rocky, Eshe, Brie, Victor, come with me.”

  I stood, three bullets glancing off my exo as I started to the north, following Sachi back out of view. I glanced over, seeing the refugees huddled there, bullets flying overhead. We were going to have to beat a hasty retreat with them if things turned bad.

  “Or just let the soldiers waste their time slaughtering them,” Evita said, “while you get away.”

  Forrester was still shouting obscenities over the radio as we ran behind them, starting down the north face of the hill. We ran through undisturbed snow, creating new paths. I panted as we ran, making a large circle around the clearing.

  And then I heard the hum of a railgun. I looked to the sky but couldn’t see anything.

  The EXO:B-128…

  The hum grew louder as we ran, keeping the fight far to our left, until the blast sounded, the explosion cracking violently behind us. I glanced back, seeing snow, dirt, smoke and bodies sailing through the dim sky, falling back toward the earth. Chunks of debris started raining down around me, a severed arm smacking onto my helmet, leaving a smudge of blood on the visor.

  Gunfire continued. I heard the distinctive clanging of a large gun that I knew had to be the 75 mm tank cannon that Benecorp had put on the EXO:B-128. There was no way a BAX:SAA-037 could stand up to it.

  We ran into the pine trees, now behind the Utah soldiers left flank. Sachi called us to turn. I followed along with her as we crept toward the back of their line through the trees. The clearing came into view, the Utah line still advancing on the hill, hurling gunfire at the line. I could see across the clearing a destroyed SABERCAT and a fallen soldier to the right of the B-128.

  “Spread out,” Sachi said, waving her hand to the side.

  Rocky, Victor, Brie and I fanned out, just behind the line of trees. I got to the far end, seeing the EXO:B-128 slowly stepping forward, firing from the 75 mm on its right arm, the 30 mm Gatling on its left spraying non-stop at the top of the hill.

  “Go!” Sachi shouted.

  I ran out into the clearing, seeing Brie running out ten yards to my left. I bore down on a soldier just to the B-128’s left, firing my 30 mm at his back. The SABERCAT near him spun around opened up with its .50 cal, flinging up earth around me, bullets glancing off my exo as I dodged left.

  The railgun hummed again.

  I dropped to the ground on my stomach, burying myself in deep snow just as the railgun erupted, the shockwave searing another trail in the snow up the hill, the blast pluming at the crest, throwing up a spray of devastated earth.

  I jumped back to my feet, seeing Brie fire her 30 mm into the side of the SABERCAT point blank, blowing a hole out the back of it. The dawn lit up with Victor’s flamethrowers somewhere to my left. The ringing in my ears cleared, only to hear the roar of the EXO:B-128s 75 mm cannon and Gatling tolling unceasingly.

  I fired again at the Utah soldier as he took aim at Brie, my big gun smashing into his thigh just as he fired his own, hitting the former security agent square in the chest. Brie fell forward limply, sliding into her killer as he dropped sideways. I stopped over him, hearing shouting behind his mask, and fired right into his visor, the soldiers head bouncing from the impact, spraying blood over the snow around him.

  When I turned I found the EXO:B-128 facing me. I sprinted to the side just as the Gatling-gun started cutting through the pine trees behind me, thin trunks and branches being shredded and tossed around like a wood chipper. I launched a grenade at the mech’s back as I ran – down to my last grenade – the explosion causing the mech to lurch backward, then another explosion from Rocky’s grenade hitting it in the back, staggering it forward.

  “Advance!” Forrester growled over the radio.

  Bullets began rattling off armor. I turned, finding another one of the SABERCATs thrashing toward me. It opened up with its .50 cal, a bullet hitting square on my left calf as I darted right, embedding into my flesh and causing me to stumble. I fired at the UGV with my .50 cal, the bullets penetrating but barely slowing it down as it overshot, running past me. I whipped my head around, wincing as I stepped with my injured leg, and saw the UGV circle back around, dodging through shredded pines, racing back at full speed.

  The railgun hum vibrated through the air.

  I fired at the circling SABERCAT with my 30 mm, flinging snow and wood splinters behind it. It got back around, turning to face me, charging at sixty miles per hour as I fired. The railgun shot off just as the UGV was sent tumbling forward. I jumped away, landing and turning in time to see a trail of decimated pine trees toppling to the ground in the line of fire of the B-128’s railgun, gray steam hissing off the mech’s right arm from coolant.

  Forrester led his six down the hill along with three refugees in Kevlar, cutting across toward Utah’s right while the B-128 was distracted.

  I ran toward the EXO:B-128, firing my 30 mm in futility, the slugs lodging into its thick armor. The cylinders mounted on its back fired missiles into the air, the streams of smoke climbing upward three hundred feet before arcing back down.

  Without thinking I fired my .50 cal into the air at them. The two missiles slammed into the hill, the explosions tossing one of Forrester’s agents and two Kevlar clad refugees into the air. The agent scrambled up after landing, bolting away from the falling debris, the two others unmoving.

  Victor sprinted toward the EXO:B-128 and sprayed fire at it’s back, flames engulfing the mech. I ran in front as the B-128 swung itself around. The 75 mm fired as I rushed past, its gun clanging. The fire continued to pour over the B-128s rear. Forrester’s people engaged the remaining soldiers on Utah’s right, Savita now leading her own people down the hill toward the EXO:B-128. The giant mech turned toward Victor, who ran laterally away as the 50 mm tore through the air behind him.

  “It’ll tak
e hours to burn through that armor!” Victor shouted, “I don’t have enough fuel!”

  Savita launched one of her grenades, the explosion pluming off his back as he tried to hit Victor.

  “Grenades only do small damage,” I said, “and I’m down to my last one.”

  Someone screamed over the radio. I watched as the EXO:B-128 grabbed one of Savita’s people off her feet, the thick fingers of the mech reaching half way around her torso. The fingers squeezed with almost no resistance, crushing her 037 and going right through her rib cage. Victor sprayed fire again, shooting his 30 mm into Savita’s soldier.

  “Get to the fucking city!” Sachi shouted, “we’re either getting on that goddamn train tonight or we’re all fucking dead!”

  Everyone started scattering away from the EXO:B-128, its enormous guns still roaring. I zigzagged, even though it wasn’t aiming at me. Behind I heard it fire its back-mounted mortars again, the missiles arcing through the sky. One exploded a ways away just before another detonated to my left, the shockwave thrashing me onto the side of the hill. I howled in pain, trying to stagger back to my feet, looking down the hill and seeing the B-128 following Savita and her people northwards in front of the pines.

  “The fucking refugees,” Forrester growled.

  “I know,” Sachi said, “Eshe, come with me.”

  Hands grabbed me, steadying me on my feet. I looked at her mask, her visor cracked and partially torn away, allowing me to see Sachi’s eyes peering out from the hole, blood dripping off her forehead. The armor of her helmet was dented and chipped off, revealing some of the electronics underneath. She signaled for me to follow and both of us made our way up the hill to the camp. We found it devastated by the railgun.

  “The refugees were what he was aiming for,” I said.

  As if to voice its agreement, the railgun started humming again. I followed Sachi through the camp – now a pulverized crevice marring the top of the hill – seeing dead bodies strewn about, covered in dirt, debris, and blood. Nobody living remained.

  The railgun thundered, the explosion cracking some ways away from us as we searched the blasted camp. I came by the top half of a mangled body, turning it over with my foot, and found the blood-soaked face of Doctor Taylor staring lifelessly back up at me.

  “Christ…”

  “They ran off this way,” Sachi said, signaling northeast.

  I took one last look at Doctor Taylor’s remains – grey hair singed and bloodied, her formerly determined eyes now serene in death – before I followed Sachi as she bolted away. Gunfire from the mech quieted as the others outran him somewhere off in the distance. I looked over my shoulder, seeing the devastated pine forest but no mech. I turned back, seeing Sachi rushing forward across the uneven ground, following trails through the snow made by fleeing refugees.

  “They won’t have gotten far,” Sachi said, “not running through this shit.”

  After a couple minutes of running, we came up over a ridge, finding them down on the other side in a small valley. Even from fifty feet away, I could see the sprays of blood frozen to them from the railgun blast. I spotted Aveena amongst them, shivering, holding a bawling Yukiko in one arm and clutching her shotgun in the other. Akira stood next to her like an obedient dog, her face looking like a Holocaust survivor.

  “Come on,” Sachi said, “we’re going into the city tonight.”

  “They’ll know we’re coming,” someone protested.

  “Yeah, but it’s not like they’ll forget about us if we wait here longer,” Sachi said.

  “We’re walking,” a familiar voice said.

  Both of us looked over, seeing Major Forrester coming slowly toward us, Major Ellison beside him.

  “We’re not going into the city,” Forrester growled, “we’re going to walk to Denver.”

  “Don’t be fucking stupid,” Sachi said, “if you walk you’re going to-”

  She was cut off when Forrester fired his 30 mm, the bullet hitting Sachi on the left side of her chest, sending her reeling backwards. I rushed toward her, but Forrester pointed his gun toward me and I stopped a few steps away.

  “We’re not taking orders from fucking terrorists anymore,” Ellison said, looking to the other refugees.

  “Get your exo off,” Forrester said in a low, forceful voice, his gun still trained on me.

  “My leg is injured,” I said.

  “Leave the fucking leggings on then,” he growled impatiently, “but remove your weapons.”

  I looked to Sachi, her body lying still, mostly obscured in the deep snow. A splash of red streaked across the white behind her from where the bullet had come out her back.

  See you in your next life.

  “Hurry up,” Forrester said.

  I started undoing the locks on my gloves, slowly removing them and throwing them into the snow beside me before reaching for my shoulder. I inhaled, wincing.

  “My left shoulder is injured,” I said, “I need someone to help me take it off.”

  “Oh, Jesus Christ,” Forrester snorted.

  “Someone fucking help him,” Ellison said.

  Everyone stood still for a moment until Aveena started forward.

  “Not you,” Forrester said, turning toward her, “I know the two-uh-you are friends. You’re gonna-”

  I raised my arm and fired, the 30 mm, just missing Forrester. He dodged left, bringing his aim back to me as I jumped out of the way, his bullet grazing off the side of my helmet. Another gunshot rang out – Aveena with the shotgun. Forrester whipped around toward the new assailant. I climbed to my feet, losing balance, catching myself with my right arm. Ellison staggered, Aveena’s shotgun blast having found its way through a gash in the lower abdomen of his armor, blood leaking out onto the snow as he fell to his knees. Forrester spun back around, his 30 mm pointing right at me and-

  He exploded with a thunderous bang, the top half of his torso separating from his legs. The refugees screamed and started fleeing. I looked behind me, seeing the EXO:B-128 moving over the top of the hill toward me.

  I took off just as the 30 mm Gatling began buzzing with rapid gunfire. Bullets rained down around me. I zigzagged, catching up with the fleeing refugees. Three people around me fell to the ground as bullets tore through their flesh.

  “Go left!” I shouted, amplified by my suit, “to the city!”

  Only a few of them listened, veering left. I went along with them. There was no use trying to corral them all.

  “It’s to your advantage that some don’t stay with you,” Evita said.

  I spotted Aveena struggling through the snow, Yukiko still shrieking in her arms. I veered over to her, grabbing Akira in my left arm – her weight loss making it easier on my injury – and scooped Aveena up in my right. She shouted something I couldn’t hear as bullets continued plunging into the earth around us.

  “You’re treating them like their worth something again,” Evita said, “are you doing this just to defy me? You are not one of them!”

  Adrenaline drowned out all the pain. Aveena shouted, slung over my shoulder. The only way I knew she still had Yukiko was from her shrill screams. I pushed the exo as hard as I could, feeling the stressing mechanics propelling me forward through deep snow across the uneven ground. The gunfire died down as I pulled away from the pursuing mech.

  “I’m gonna drop her!” Aveena cried, “put me down!”

  I skidded to a stop, putting Aveena back down on her feet.

  “My exo will let me run,” she said, adjusting the toddler in her arms, “just carry Akira.”

  Both of us started forward, plowing through the snow. Refugees ran, scattered around us, making their way over rough terrain. Akira gave no protest as she bounced on the hard shoulder armor, probably bruising her.

  It took almost twenty minutes for us to find the road, the exhausted refugees only capable of walking as the plowed US-50 came into view. I halted everyone a hundred feet back from the road and set Akira down lightly on the snow before sneaking d
own the hill myself to take a look.

  Zooming in with my bionic eye, I could see the barricades down the road at the checkpoint, numerous APC:B-021s and APC:B-032s gathered, soldiers walking amongst them.

  I returned back to the refugees who had made it, some still drudging through snow toward the road. There were only twelve of them.

  “The CSA has almost succeeded in killing you all off,” Evita said, “the people who kept running off northeast when you told them to turn will never make it to Denver.”

  “We have to go around,” I said.

  “Around?” Aveena asked, finally having Yukiko down to a whimper.

  “The city,” I said, “the Capital station is up near the Palisade area. It follows the seventy, going east across the mountains over to Denver.”

  “What about the others?” Teagan asked, standing up from where she had been kneeling next to Carmen.

  “They’ll either make it or they won’t,” I said, “at this point, the people in the city know we’re here, and almost certainly know what happened with that unit they sent. They’ll be sending more to find us.”

  “Why don’t we just surrender?” Marlina asked, standing alone, her entire family gone.

  I scanned over the haggard refugees, all of them emaciated, cold, and exhausted. Most had lost loved ones. None of them were without injury – some missing limbs, like Aveena and Yukiko. Others bandaged with strips of tattered blankets. They wanted nothing more than to rest, even if it was in a prison cell.

  I shifted weight onto my left leg, feeling my wounded calf protest in pain, the cold seeping back into my hands. The ammunition in my exoskeleton was almost depleted, the armor riddled with cracks and bullet holes.

  “We’ll surrender then,” I said.

  Everyone stood silent, but I could see relief in their faces. Sachi was dead anyway, and there was no telling what had happened to the rest of her people after getting split up. The forty-eights movement was done.

  “Someone help me take the exo arms off,” I said, “we’ll all go down the road together.”

  Chapter 65