“Sure, but we will run missions like this in the Master year. No point in running them now while we’re still getting used to the Animus.”
“I feel ya, but you can’t say you’re not used to it when you’re in there almost every day for nine months,” Kaiden pointed out. “I’m not saying that getting here wasn’t damn stupid, but now that we are here and considering… Hearing that Wulfson can’t use the Animus and thinking about his past, it’s obvious the man was one of the great champions in the WC military. He got there by blood and grit. But ever since the Animus became the go-to thing for developing the greats of tomorrow over the last thirtyish years, guys like Wulfson are left behind. It just made me a bit more sympathetic to think about it that way. Makes me realize that I was like that once too, and maybe I’ve become a little too reliant on the Animus. Nothing wrong with keeping your boots in the dirt—or snow, in our case.”
The room went silent. They all looked at the floor, lost in their own thoughts. Then Luke coughed and stood up, rolled his shoulders, and stretched. “I’m ready to move if we got a plan.”
“We still need more supplies,” Silas stated.
“We could split up. I’ll head north while you guys head out in the other directions,” Cameron suggested.
“That could work, but we’ll need more than only weapons and armor to take Raza down,” Kaiden warned.
“You have a plan?” Silas inquired.
“Forming one, but we should spend a few hours scavenging while we still have sunlight.”
“You think there are bears around here? Should we be worried about that?” Luke wondered aloud.
“Not unless they’re hungry for rations.” Silas chuckled.
The door to the shack burst open, and the four jumped. Kaiden readied his pistol and Cameron drew his knife.
“Bear,” Luke cried. Flynn walked in and looked around.
“What bear? I didn’t see one,” he asked, perplexed.
“Luke’s just skittish.” Kaiden sighed, lowering his gun. “Although, what’s with smashing open the door? It couldn’t have frozen over.”
“What? Oh, right. Sorry, I got excited.” The marksman walked over and placed a small case on the bed. “I found this while hunting around.” He unlocked the latches and opened it. The case held an Arc pistol, several grenades, a flashlight, and a small black box that Flynn took. “Scavenger rights,” he said cheerfully.
“What is that?” Kaiden asked.
“Camo barrier,” the sniper said. He dropped it on the floor and briefly became translucent before disappearing altogether.
“So it’s like your stealth generator?” Cameron asked.
Kaiden reached out to where Flynn was standing. As he stretched across the barrier, his hand shimmered then dimmed before disappearing. He drew it out, and it appeared once more.
“It makes a small dome that camouflages anything within it. I’m not completely invisible like I would be with my stealth generator, but unless someone can see the haze, I’m mostly out of sight.” Flynn deactivated the box, reappearing as he straightened and tossed it in the air and caught it.
“Good find,” Silas commended him, holding up one of the grenades.
“Those are net grenades, like the ones I use,” Cameron noted, picking up another one. “They are very durable and constrict around the target. We could probably use these to capture Raza. It might take a few considering how strong he is and how sharp those claws are, but it could work.”
Kaiden handed his gun to Luke. “You don’t want it?” the titan asked.
“It’s probably more your speed. I’ll take this Arc pistol.” The ace picked up the silver gun and examined it. “These things pack a punch. Could be useful for keeping him in place so we can net him.”
“Were you able to find anything else?” Silas asked Flynn as he placed the flashlight in the satchel.
“Yeah, there was another big crate about a half mile from here. Wanna check it out?”
They exchanged glances and nodded. “Lead the way,” the enforcer said cheerfully.
The group made their way through the trees. “You sure it’s this way?” Kaiden asked, “Don’t wanna get lost out here.”
“Yea, it’s right there behind those trees—see it?” The ace moved around a trunk in his path and peered through the thicket, seeing the large silver container in the distance.
“I gotcha. Let’s see what we got,” he called.
“May want to be quieter. I’m not sure about bears, but there could be wolves or other predators around,” Silas advised.
“I’ll keep an eye out,” Cameron promised, hanging back from the others and watching the woods.
They walked up to the crate. The latches were already undone. “You took a look already?” Luke asked.
“I only undid the straps. Figured I’d get you guys first,” Flynn said.
“Let’s see what’s inside big box number two.” Kaiden undid the latches on one side, and Flynn undid the others. They moved the top and peered inside. “Weapons cache,” the ace declared with glee.
“Take your pick, mates.” Flynn grinned.
“What’s this?” Silas asked, reaching into the crate to remove a large stick with a silver orb on the end.
“Oh, that’s a kinetic club,” Luke said. He took it from the enforcer’s hand and swung it around a few times. “The more you swing it, the more energy it builds up.” He continued the motion while walking up to a tree. “Then you press this button here, and the next time you collide it with something…” He reached back with the club, aiming for the trunk of the tree. “It releases all the energy stored inside.” He slammed the club into the trunk with a loud crash followed by the cracking of wood.
Luke stumbled back a few steps. He smiled at the partially destroyed tree and the numerous cracks along the wood. “It’s got a hell of a punch.” Another ominous crack sounded, and Luke looked back. The tree shifted and fell slowly. The titan jumped back, and the others covered their ears as the thirty-foot tree collapsed and kicked up snow on impact. He winced and looked at it sheepishly. “Well, uh…the tree had it coming?”
“You can keep it. Just don’t swing it in my direction, all right?” Kaiden laughed. He looked into the crate again and pulled out a rifle and shotgun. “Hey, Cam! You want a rifle or shotgun?”
“What model rifle?” he asked, still looking around the forest.
“Uh, a Zeta & Falco munitions. Looks like a modified Mamba.”
“That’ll do,” the bounty hunter said. He extended an arm and Kaiden tossed him the rifle before rejoining the others. Silas held a machine gun, while Flynn had a set of goggles on his face.
“What the hell are those?” he asked.
“Spectrum goggles—they got thermal, night vision, and scope.” He took them off and handed them to Kaiden. “Could be useful, want them?”
The ace waved his hand. “Probably more useful to you. Hopefully, we can use those thermals to get the jump on Raza.”
“There’s a hand cannon here,” Silas announced.
“Call it,” Luke declared, marching over. He took out the pistol Kaiden had given him and handed it to Flynn. “You can have this as a sidearm.”
“That thing keeps getting re-gifted.” Kaiden chuckled.
Silas leaned over and looked at the bottom of the crate. “A couple of chest pieces in here and some ammo, but that’s the last of it.”
“Well, we can say we’re decently armed now,” the ace noted.
The enforcer looked up from the crate. “Maybe, but do you think it’s enough?”
“We can make it work. There’s still a little sunlight, but even with the flashlight, I don’t wanna be wandering around in the dark.”
“Agreed. Let’s press on. If we don’t find anything interesting, we’ll head—” Two bolts flew behind Silas, who spun and pressed against the box. “Flynn?”
The marksman was wearing the goggles and lowered his bow to his chest. He smiled and pointed into the d
istance. “I got us some dinner, boys.”
Kaiden gave him a curious look and walked over to the bolts in the snow. He knelt and swept the snow aside to find two rabbits. “Nice shooting,” he called as he picked up the game.
“Maybe we should call it a night? Prepare for tomorrow over a warm meal?” Luke suggested.
Silas looked up at him, nodding. “A bit of quiet before the hunt is always good.”
Chapter Eight
Cameron, Luke, Silas, and Kaiden stood back to back in the middle of the field looking in all directions. Silas tapped the side of his gun nervously, while the titan took a couple of swings with his club.
“See anything yet?” the ace asked, placing his hand across his mouth to shield his words and muffle his voice.
Flynn peered out through the bushes, having an entire view of the unobstructed field that the others were in. “Nothing yet. You think he’s really gonna get here on the dot?”
“Better to be prepared and wait it out than simply stand in a snowbank waiting for him to come to us,” Kaiden reasoned. “We definitely don’t want to be in the woods. He’d pick us apart.”
“Wulfson said he was dropping him off. Would we have seen a ship overhead?” Silas asked.
“I bet that was a ruse. He probably dropped Raza off yesterday, and he’s been preparing on his own.”
“What makes you figure that?” Cameron questioned.
Kaiden held his gun up and looked behind him “Why would he risk giving Raza’s position away or warning us that he’s here?”
“Good point,” Luke agreed.
“Can we talk about modifying the plan?” the bounty hunter asked.
“If you have something better, I’m all ears.” Kaiden shrugged.
“I just don’t like being bait. It’s not really my style,” Cameron muttered.
Luke laughed and took another swing, “Maybe you don’t wish it was, but you come to it so naturally.”
“Speaking of which, you and Raul need to be the bait every now and then. I’m starting to feel discriminated against.”
Silas walked ahead for a few feet and scanned the horizon. “You have to admit, you make a tempting target.”
“What makes me so tempting, exactly?” the bounty hunter growled in a quiet whisper.
“I don’t know man. You kinda got this aura about you that makes me think, ‘I just have to kill this guy, damn the consequences,’ you know?” Kaiden mocked.
Cameron sighed and shook his head. “I hate every single one of you right now.”
“And you’ll love me if this goes right,” the ace retorted.
“That’s looking like a big if. Lotta variables in your plan,” Cameron pointed out.
“That’s what makes it so clever. A lot of planning,” he shot back.
Luke elbowed him in the ribs. “Haven’t you said you’re better at winging it than at strategy?”
Kaiden nodded. “And this well-thought-out plan also leaves me room to wing it. There are options.”
“Said with all the gusto and cocksureness of a man trying to hide that he thinks we’ll fail.” Silas chuckled.
The ace glared at the enforcer. “You want me to leave you here to be the bait alone? I will, you know.”
As they joked and bickered, Flynn continued to scan the tree lines in the distance. He paused for a moment when something caught his eye. “Hey, guys, I got movement—eleven o’clock.”
“That’s your direction, Cam.” Kaiden tried to look back without making it obvious.
“I’m looking, but I don’t see anything.”
Flynn zoomed in with his goggles, trying to focus on what he saw. “There’s some sort of big shape on the edges of the trees. It’s still now, but I could have sworn it was moving.”
Cameron peered around the foliage. “I still don’t see a damn thing. One of you wanna take a look?”
Silas began to walk around as if he was stretching his legs. He peered over in the direction Cameron was looking in. “I can’t see anything either.”
“What color is it on thermal?” Kaiden asked.
The marksman zoomed in as much as he could, but the object was completely still. “Mostly blue and yellow. Wait, I just picked up a small dot of red.”
“Wouldn’t he be mostly red and yellow? We are the warmest things out here,” Luke reasoned.
Kaiden stretched. “Probably, he is a big ass alien…” He paused, looking slowly behind him. “The Sauren are cold-blooded.”
Cameron jerked his head to the side. “What? He wouldn’t be able to survive out here if he was. He’d freeze.”
“He’s probably wearing a suit. We’ve only seen him in that tribal couture of his, but the Sauren have to have armor or suits of some kind if they travel to a bunch of different worlds.”
“A suit would mean he has a power source. The thermals would pick that up,” Silas pointed out.
“Not one with low emissions and cooling lines,” the ace said as he moved his shotgun slowly back to his chest and slid his finger along the trigger.
Cameron turned the safety on his rifle off. “So you think that whatever Flynn is seeing could be him?”
“Probably. He’s a marksman and has good eyes.”
“Then why can’t we see him?” Cameron grunted in annoyance. “Do we not have ‘the vision?’”
“Camouflage or a stealth generator would be my guess.” Kaiden also began pacing around their circle. “A giant, red reptile man would make for an easy target.”
“So, you have any suggestions?” Silas inquired.
The ace pursed his lips and thought about it for a moment. “Flynn, can you be more descriptive?”
“About what?”
“Where you see the shape.”
“It’s around trees and bushes, like most of the forest,” Flynn said flatly.
“That really narrows it down.” Kaiden sighed.
“The best I can do is say that from where I see Cameron, it’s just to the left of where he’s facing. Around a huddle of bushes.”
Kaiden glanced at Cameron, then off to the side and saw the mass of shrubbery Flynn had mentioned. “That’ll do. Get ready,” he ordered and walked straight past Cameron to face the forest.
“Wait, what are we doing?” Luke asked, turning with the others.
“If he is over there, he now knows that we know,” Cameron explained, as much to himself as to the others.
“I know.” Kaiden raised his shotgun. “Flush him out,” he roared as he began to fire. The others soon joined him and they moved down the surrounding area as bullets, marbles, and shards cut through the forest.
“We’re wasting a lot of ammo,” the bounty hunter shouted. “Better hope he’s—”
“There!” Silas called. Raza appeared in a shimmering light as his stealth generator failed. He glared at them with predatory eyes visible through the visor of a large mask over his head. Two orange lights blinked on his suit of white light armor equipped with a pack on the back.
“He’s got armor now? Like he wasn’t hard enough to take down before.” Luke growled an imprecation.
“No, that works for us. It’s what’s keeping him warm,” Kaiden declared.
“I follow. Stick to the plan, but if you can take out that generator then that’s another way to win,” Silas acknowledged.
“Ready, Flynn?” the ace asked.
“Get him into the clearing and see if you can strip some of that armor. I’ll take him down,” Flynn responded.
“You make it sound so easy…” Kaiden ejected his empty magazine and reloaded. “Get ready.”
Raza roared at the group, the mask doing little to muffle the bloodthirsty cry. He brandished a rod that expanded with both ends illuminated in a blue glow. Strings of electricity arced off it.
“Static staff,” the titan warned.
“Here he comes,” Silas yelled. The four backed away as Raza charged, fanning out so that he couldn’t sweep them all together. The Sauren unclipped someth
ing from his belt. He reached back and cast it toward Cameron. It ensnared him, wrapping around his chest, and sent him sailing into the snow. He looked down to see three spheres on the ends of wires.
“What the hell is this?” the bounty hunter sputtered as he tried to stand but couldn’t. He seemed anchored to the ground.
“Heavy weighted bolas. He’s trying to capture us, remember?” Silas responded and continued to fire. “You guys keep him distracted. I’ll get Cam.”
“On it,” Luke hollered. He dropped his gun and ran toward Raza with his kinetic club in both hands. The alien looked at him and snarled. Kaiden swapped to his Arc pistol and fired a charged shot. The Sauren twitched a moment, his eyes glancing momentarily at him. The titan leaped into the air, bringing the club down on his target with both hands. Raza snapped his attention back to him and raised his left hand. A barrier shield appeared in the moment that Luke’s club connected.
The force was massive, knocking both the titan and ace back as snow erupted into the air, soaring at least ten feet up and as many yards away. Kaiden scrambled quickly to his feet, his shotgun at the ready. His teammate had fallen into the snow and turned hastily to look at the Sauren. “Did that do something?”
The arm of Raza’s suit was shattered, and the gauntlet with the barrier shield was smashed and on the ground. The creature lowered his arm and growled, staring Luke down.
“Looks like you pissed him off pretty good!” Kaiden fired his gun, trying to get their quarry’s attention. Raza glanced his way, tossed his staff from one hand to the other, and turned toward him with the free arm extended. Something shot out from the gauntlet on his wrist and exploded in the air. A net snagged the ace and pinned him to the ground. “Ah, sonofabitch! Your mother is a lizard.”
“Really? School kid insults, Kaiden?” Cameron jeered. “Can’t do better?”
“Shut the hell up and get me out of this,” he demanded.
“I’ll get the whiner. You help Luke,” the bounty hunter said. Silas nodded and ran toward Raza. He and the titan circled one another, their weapons at the ready. The enforcer began to fire, focusing on the generator on the beast’s back. The alien swung around and roared, raised the staff above his head, and threw it like a javelin at Silas.
Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance Page 69
