This is it, Micah thought as he looked to the monks and nuns around him without moving his head.
He needed to pick a target.
Chapter Thirteen
It was going to be quite an excruciating wait. While in reality, everything was set to start in forty-five minutes to an hour, Micah knew that each minute that passed with him standing at attention was going to stretch much longer than he was comfortable with, giving him plenty of time to go over a rudimentary strategy for how he planned to launch into action once all this started up, as well as an equal amount of time to fret over how they were going to pull it off.
And for that matter, if it was even possible to begin with.
While Saru’s entourage had been cordial enough, the seven standing around him were completely quiet, including the one who must have belonged to Saru, Micah not able to really distinguish between them. Sure, their information appeared when he looked at them, but he didn’t know them by name, nor did he know much about any of their lives. They also wouldn’t know anything about him considering his information had been thoroughly hacked. While Choro was good at what he did, Bobi was better, and he had made sure that they had deep aliases that morning, including combat and other semi-verifiable actions, to back it up.
After a few minutes of silence, Micah found something else to focus on. He was able to gauge each of their industria levels, and in doing so he noticed that three of the seven around him were highly powered, the others at more of a mid-range level, which could still technically beat him, but at least it gave him some hope.
Weirdly, in that wait for the action to start, an inkling of a strategy came to him, one that would allow Micah to engage all of them in a matter of seconds. After all, he only had one goal, really, aside from staying alive—don’t let any of them get into the inner chamber, and this would be his focus.
Four stood across from him, two monks and two nuns, and next to Micah were three additional monks. Unfortunately, he was the furthest from the door, which he realized was his fault for not claiming the first space available.
Amateur moves, he thought as he cycled through his plan again.
Micah knew that Yuri and Bunni would be able to get to their opponents faster than him or Liza, so if he could just keep the monks and nuns around him at bay long enough to get some assistance, then his entry to the inner chamber would be secured.
Using the newest power he had learned—if it worked—would allow him to fling some of his opponents into the walls. If anyone struck Micah, he could absorb their attack, but he still wasn’t very good at that even with the training he’d had, and there was always the chance that he would be brought down in such a manner.
There was no point in doubting himself. He just had to keep reminding himself that this was about to be a pinnacle moment in his life, even with Youseg’s prophecy weighing down on his shoulders. You’ve got this, he told himself, and as if he were telepathically linked to Micah, Choro’s voice appeared in his bucket.
“Julia’s forces are all officially in position, some within a hundred yards of the compound and disguised as repairmen working on one of the sewer lines. So don’t worry about the outside, and if you are worried about the inside—don’t. You’ve got this. There are seven of them, one of you, but they don’t know what’s about to happen, and you have the element of surprise. Don’t forget that. I wish I could be more useful, but just focus on the monks and nuns around you and… You’ll be fine.”
“I’m here too,” Bobi said, “so expect to have some aim assists courtesy of me. Also, I just have to say how exciting this is! I’ve been dormant in these woods for well over a thousand years just coming up with a name for myself and minding my own business. Well, I suppose I befriended a few woodland creatures, at least the ones that were brave enough to come to my cave. And there are the songs and other data that I have on my system, societal treasures that have been thoroughly forgotten. You know, once all the stuff settles down, you should take a look at some of the stuff. I’m sure it would be helpful to historians…”
Micah wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. Instead, he listened to Bobi rattle on for another minute or so. He remained at attention, as silent and as deadly-looking as the elite nuns and monks around him. This did get him wondering though. Were any of them distracted at the moment? Was he the only one with people talking to him in his bucket?
One of the nuns made a noise with her throat. She stepped aside and quickly removed the bottom of her helmet to sneeze.
“Sorry,” she said as she placed helmet on and got back into her line.
“Are you allergic to your bucket?” the man next to her asked. “You aren’t supposed to remove it to sneeze. You’re so dumb.”
“No, I’m allergic to your foul deodorant, and for some reason, the filter in my bucket isn’t preventing me from smelling you, you piece of shit.”
The monk next to her laughed. “I think you’ve been spending too much time in Thunderhama.”
“Have I?” she asked, and even though her voice was metallic, Micah could tell that they were teasing each other. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“That place reeks, and you’ve probably just gotten used to smelling terrible things mostly on your clothing once you take off your helmet. Am I right?”
“My clothing always smells worse when I’m down there,” one of the monks in Micah’s line said. “Almost as bad as the Golden Trash District. I don’t know how people live like that. Animals, if you ask me. As soon as I could, I got a place in Neojuku. You guys should see it. I got a view of Woodsaka, and it’s absolutely stunning. Love me some trees.”
Even though Micah was agitated by the way they spoke about Thunderhama, he realized then that this would be the distraction he needed. If they were all chatting when the coup kicked off, it would be much easier for him to take them off guard. So he joined in: “You should see my place, right near the shrine in Uyanga. It’s sweet. I even have an underground connection to it so I don’t have to deal with the general public at all. Best move I ever made.”
“You do?” the other nun asked. “I heard about places like that, but I was never able to nab one.”
“Lucky,” the man next to him said. “You could even go into work without any of your gear and just change there.”
“And that’s what I do, every single goddamn day. I go into work after a long bath—I should mention that I have a bathtub that has a world-class view of the skyscrapers of Sabine,” Micah said, using the rebranded name for the Golden Trash District. “Sometimes I just stand there naked and look out at the city.”
“What are you telling them?” Choro asked, on the verge of laughter.
“I would do that,” said the monk across from Micah. “It’s nice to not have to wear all this stuff, you know. I try to be as naked as I can around my place.”
“No one needs to know that,” one of the nuns said.
“You know how I am. As soon as I can get this bucket and this armor off, it’s off, baby. Heh. That’s just the way I am.”
“Grosssss…”
The moment came. Soraya tipped all of them off by saying the code word, one that Bunni had devised: “Princess Shortness.”
Micah, who had just been deep in a conversation about the best place to buy ready-made meals in Thunderhama, tensed. He was glad he wasn’t the one talking at the moment, and he knew that he only had a very short time to prepare for what needed to happen next. One of the problems he faced was that, as he had noticed in the past, his utilization of industria was tied to the intensity of the situation, to his adrenaline.
Yet moments ago, Micah had been chuckling, and had accidentally found himself in a relaxed state. He’d been trying so hard to blend in that he had gone too far with it, perhaps he’d become too comfortable.
Micah clenched his eyes shut, and steadied his breath for just a moment, visualizing what needed to happen next.
Go! he mentally shouted at himself.
&nb
sp; He swiveled to the monk standing next to him just as a reticle appeared. He fired a shot at point-blank range right to the kill zone that Soraya had pointed out to him, the gap between his opponent’s neck and the bottom of his bucket. It had the intended effect Micah had hoped for, the man neutralized immediately, and it also flung the monk into the person next to him.
Triggering his industria, Micah brought his energy shield up and charged forward, ramming into the monk directly in front of him and taking the tall man down. He began firing on the others before he could even fully turn around, his energy shield blocking the first strike coming in his direction courtesy of one of the nuns. Micah didn’t know what was happening with the Yuri and the others; everything was too chaotic now, moving in a rapid-fire slow motion that defied logic, all coming to him at once.
One of the nuns reached for his energy shield with industria-powered gloves and Micah quickly brought it down as he sent his other elbow forward. He managed to propel her backward, the woman moving in a strange way as if she were a marionette operated by a careless drunk. She scissored into one of the monks just getting to his feet.
Aiming down at the man he’d just plowed through, Micah fired another lethal shot, his energy shield back up and protecting him from a volley of weapon fire by those still standing. Two were completely down now, and five now rallying together to stop Micah.
The hallways weren’t high enough to use industria packs to fly over him, but they were usable in a way that would allow his opponents to rocket forward, which one of them did, Micah not able to redistribute industria in time to fling him backward.
The impact on his lower back and tailbone caused a spark of pain to shoot through Micah’s extremities. It also had a way of deactivating his shield, Micah not able to focus enough industria into the protective gear to keep it powered on.
“What the hell are you doing?” the monk screamed in his face as he prepared to deliver a punch. Micah was able to tilt to the right just in time, his free hand coming to the energy dagger sheathed at his waist.
His next move was entirely primal, the spirit of Soraya moving through him as he drove the blade into the side of the man’s neck, his weapon activating just at the last moment. He pulled back and stabbed two more times, just as she had instructed him to do, and he would have gone for the femoral artery had it not been for other opponents, one with an energy gatling gun similar to his, and the other three with more traditional weapons.
Micah pushed the monk off him and quickly got to his feet.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
He managed to turn the very last second, the shots all hitting his shoulder, partially protected by the upper body armor he wore under his robes, but not fully, Micah instantly feeling the sting.
He had actually been hit, the pain a hundred times worse than what he was currently experiencing in his lower back.
“Get up, man, you got this!” he heard Choro shout in his bucket.
“Mechas incoming!” Bobi announced.
Wincing, and still holding his energy blade, Micah sent his free hand forward and with it his industria, activating his wrist shield just as more weapon fire reached him.
Lasers cut into the polished stone floors around him, a few also hitting the monk he had just killed, no blood leaking, the wounds instantly cauterized. Down on one knee now, Micah fired around his shield, and managed to strike one of the nuns in the abdomen. While it didn’t cut through her armor, he did come with enough force to cause her to stumble, the woman backing into the monk who was still firing at Micah, and throwing his next shot off its trajectory.
Seeing an opening, and hoping that the others were nearly done with their opponents, Micah began firing at their feet, his four assailants quickly taken off guard by this maneuver. He kept it up, hoping he had enough juice left in his charge pack as he moved forward, still crouched behind his shield, his lower back, thighs, and the wound on his arm all shrieking at once.
An explosion outside of the building rocked the hallway, signaling that the exterior fight had kicked off, that either the mechas had landed, or someone was using some serious firepower. The distraction was advantageous to Micah; one of the monks fell and brought down the nun next to him.
Micah squeezed his trigger grip and managed to hit a soft spot on the nun with the powered gloves. The ground shook just as the other two were getting up; the only monk still fully standing had run out of charge on his weapon, and was quickly trying to swap out his pack.
There wasn’t going to be another opportunity like this.
Micah charged forward with his shield in front of him and shouldered into the group, activating his industria at the same time. He sent all four of them flying either to the other side of the space, or into the ceiling. Unfortunately, Micah went down with them, but he was back up before the others, his first instinct being to stab into his nearest opponent, Micah once again going with three quick jabs as Soraya had instructed them. He fired a shot under the man’s bucket and moved to the nun, killing her before he reached his next opponent, the monk who had run out of charge.
He was tackled by the monk, Micah not even aware that his energy shield was no longer powered. His opponent slammed into the ceiling and was shot forward by Micah’s industria; as he came back down, Micah brought his blade up into a reverse grip, the man landing on it.
Fueled by his own industria and adrenaline, Micah stood, the man still attached to the end of his blade. It turned out to be the right move, especially as another energy weapon struck the man’s body, Micah essentially using him as a shield to protect himself from the final nun still left standing.
She stabbed at Micah. He shielded himself with the monk’s body and triggered his industria at the exact same time, which pushed the man off his blade and straight into the woman. They landed a few feet away from Micah and he quickly approached them, the last shot on his charge pack taking the nun down.
Seven opponents down.
Micah had done it.
Miraculously.
The ground shook, signaling to him that he needed to move. As he made his way around the circular hallway, Micah quickly swapped out charge packs. He knew that Bunni and Yuri would be able to hold their own, but he wanted to get to Liza, to make sure that she was fine.
“Mine are down, status update,” he said.
“Finishing up, I’m around the corner from you,” Yuri said. “And… Done.”
“Still in it,” came Bunni.
No reply from Liza.
Micah reached Yuri to find seven monks and nuns around her, all bleeding out, a few limbs missing, the leader of the Royal Star Ninjas with her sword pointed toward the floor. A serious bloodbath.
“Good job,” Yuri said as she flicked some of the blood away. “I was just about to make my way to you.”
“I got lucky.”
“We always do.” She turned in the opposite direction. “Liza is next. Liza, coming your way,” she announced over their headset. “Bunni, meet us there when you’re done. Soraya, update us.”
No response.
Micah and Yuri exchanged glances, neither of them able to see each other’s facial expressions because of their buckets.
“Let’s hurry,” she finally said.
Chapter Fourteen
Micah was moving fast, but he began moving even faster as he turned the corner and found Liza currently being held by two monks, while another punched her in the face, her helmet forcibly removed. It was a rage like he never felt before, Micah on the man that had just struck her in a matter of seconds. He slammed him so hard to the ground that they cracked the polished stone floor, the man dead upon impact, likely due to an industria surge.
Micah didn’t realize this as he began choking the man and repeatedly cracking the back of his helmet against the ground. He also didn’t notice the halo he had caused in the stone, a crater that would later leave the staff tasked with cleaning up the mess baffled.
The other two monks, the ones that had been holding
Liza, quickly met their fate on the end of Yuri’s sword, blood spraying out of one of their abdomens and onto the man in front of Micah, and for that matter, partially onto Micah’s back. The sudden splash of red woke him from the tunnel vision he was experiencing at the moment as he fired several shots into the bottom of the already dead monk’s helmet.
Stunned by his own savageness, Micah pushed away from the ground and immediately turned to Liza. She was down on both knees, her swords somewhere off to the left, one of them stuck in the side of a nun’s body.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he came to her, immediately placing a hand on her bruised cheek. He began absorbing her injury almost immediately, even though Liza could heal as well.
Micah didn’t want her to suffer.
“Almost had them,” she said, a look of relief appearing on her face. “How did you do?”
“Surprisingly well. I thought it would be Yuri or Bunni rescuing me.”
“He did really good,” Yuri said as she placed a hand on Micah’s shoulder, the leader of the Royal Star Ninjas still alert in that moment, ready to engage anything that came their way. There was more commotion outside, and some inside the next chamber as well, shouting, which told Micah that the coup may not be going the way they needed to go.
“We’ll get in there in just a moment,” Yuri said, reading his thoughts. “Just waiting for…”
“That was fun,” Bunni said as she came trotting around the corner, her fully extended glaive resting on her shoulder as soon as she came to a stop. “What took you guys so long?”
“You’re the last one to join the party,” Liza said as Micah helped her to her feet.
By this point, he had absorbed much of the punches she had sustained, and now his own jaw hurt, his cheeks as well. It wasn’t so bad, and the adrenaline coursing through them only made it hurt less. This was an advantage, he realized, of healing in the moment. It provided an almost shared benefit with his own body chemistry.
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