Raul intercepted the ace as he pursued Jaxon and took a few shots at him with his rifle. Kaiden turned and fired at the tracker, who bounded above him and jumped between several stacks of crates.
“It’s not working out like you thought, huh?” Raul yelled as he fired another shot. His target spun and dropped to one knee behind a machine.
“What are you talking about?” he shouted back and charged a shot.
“Kaiden, they have our trackers,” Chiyo informed him. Raul fired another volley to keep Kaiden pinned.
“What? How?” Kaiden asked and fired blindly around his defense in an effort to force the tracker to move. He stood quickly and sprinted to another defunct machine while his adversary reloaded.
“My guess is that either Raul or Izzy set up a trap and when we sent out the ping to get their locations, they got ours as well. Otto and I are trying to shut them out, but for now, the only quick solution is to turn ours off.”
“Dammit.” The ace huffed his frustration. He vented his rifle and drew Debonair to fire behind him at Raul. The tracker was too far away for him to get a good shot and moved easily around the blasts. He fired back and clipped Kaiden along his waist. It wasn’t a serious wound, but the impact was enough to cause him to stumble. The man’s rifle wasn’t a powerhouse, but he hadn’t seen him vent it yet and even from long range, it still packed a punch and traded penetration and force for range and capacity.
Kaiden took shelter behind the other machine and closed the vent on his rifle. He looked tentatively around the opposite corner to assess the situation. Mack and Silas had targeted Genos and Indre battled Luke. He knew Jaxon had to be around there somewhere, but where was he hiding? And where the hell was Flynn?
He froze at a distinctive whoosh above him and scowled at a drone that definitely headed his way. His response was instinctual and he swung Sire to bear on the mechanical, but a single shot obliterated it before he could fire. Startled, he looked at Flynn, who slid in beside him. “Trust me, you want to take that thing out asap,” he advised.
“Nice shooting,” Kaiden complimented him. “Do you see Jaxon?”
“I caught a glimpse of him along the way. He’s heading to the other side of the room.”
“Do you think he’s running away?”
“He might be going to reinforce the other team. What do you think?”
“I’ll get his attention before he leaves the party,” the ace vowed a second before several laser shots forced them prone. Both shielded their heads with their arms. “As long as you deal with your old buddy here!”
“You got it. I’ll show him that he shouldn’t have come back for round two,” Flynn promised, rolled a short distance, and stood hastily to take aim and return fire.
Kaiden pushed himself up and held Sire’s trigger down as he launched forward to intervene in the fights happening in the center of the room. He fired at Mack, whose shields protected him from damage, but the force still staggered the vanguard. Genos dodged a gun whip from Silas and kicked the enforcer with enough force to drive him back.
The Tsuna retrieved a pronged device and thrust it against the vanguard’s chest. Mack batted him aside and drew two hand cannons to aim one at Kaiden and one at Genos. He fired but lacked accuracy, and the ace was able to weave through the shots as his teammate pointed at the device he’d attached to their attacker before he rolled out of the way of the volley. Kaiden moved close enough to thump a fist against the device and ducked as Silas fired an aimed shot. The blast struck the enforcer’s teammate in the chest instead of their opponent. Mack was hurled back as Genos’ dampener activated to drain the vanguard’s shields.
Silas holstered his shotgun and swung a punch at Kaiden. The ace almost dropped his rifle in his attempt to grasp his assailant’s arm. The enforcer ducked back quickly and drove a knee up into his opponent’s chest. Kaiden stumbled, holstered his rifle, and spun to face his attacker, who now brandished a knife in his hand. He managed to side-step the first thrust but his opponent flipped the blade and twisted to slice along his quarry’s chest armor.
He immediately followed with a driving tackle that thrust them both back a few feet. The ace yanked out his own blade and hoped the man would fall for his bluff. When Silas turned and barreled into another assault, Kaiden activated his shield. His attacker couldn’t halt the momentum of his swing and his blade impacted the barrier and bounced back. He dropped the shield, immediately delivered a roundhouse kick, and drew Debonair while in motion.
The enforcer had barely regained his balance when Kaiden fired several shots. Silas sprang backward and hauled out his shotgun. Before he could fire, a beam seared into him from the side to drive him back and melt his chest plate. The ace glanced quickly at Genos, who lowered his cannon and nodded at him. He waved his thanks and bounded toward Luke and Indre.
Kaiden reached the titan a split second before the giant crushed the downed agent. He activated his heat blade and vaulted up to slice through the bounce pack on his back. Luke twisted and his armored foot descended in a powerful thump that narrowly missed crushing his adversary’s leg. More importantly, he exposed his ruptured pack to Indre, who scrambled up and placed a shock mine on the damaged jets.
It detonated in an eruption of electricity that fried the systems inside Luke’s armor.
“You got this?” Kaiden asked as the titan hobbled around in an effort to reset his system.
“I can keep him distracted, at least. It’ll be easier now that we’ve short-circuited his balancers,” she confirmed.
“When you have the chance, regroup with Genos and Flynn and then get out of here and join Chiyo. She and her group are heading for the other team of defenders,” he instructed.
“So you are going with the MAD idea, huh?” she asked.
“I wish it could have gone cleaner, but I won’t take the chance that they combine forces and drag this out.” He shrugged. “Assuming he didn’t already run off.”
A shot struck Indre in the back and she toppled against the ace and knocked them both down. He looked up to see Jaxon prepared to fire again, rolled over, and activated his shield to block the shot. “Go!” he ordered. Indre nodded, pushed to her feet, and moved to assist Genos.
Kaiden held onto his shield device as he stood and smiled when he saw Jaxon select a shock grenade. That would drain his shield faster, but he didn’t intend to stick around long enough for it to be a problem. He attacked the Tsuna ace, who threw the grenade as he’d expected him to do. It detonated and his shield began to flicker, but he hastily removed his own grenade container, this one full of thermals. With the entire cylinder held firmly in his hand, he dropped the shield. Jaxon stepped back to take aim, but Kaiden drew his blade and covered the distance between them too quickly. He feinted boldly with the knife and the Tsuna grabbed his hand as Kaiden swung his other arm at his adversary.
Jaxon dropped his rifle and grasped that one as well, but as he tried to push him away, Kaiden dropped his knife and snatched his arm to drag him closer. He couldn’t see his face behind his helmet, but he saw his opponent register the container of grenades and look sharply at him, the recognition obvious in his body language despite being encased head to toe in armor. Kaiden pressed the switch. The ordnance detonated at virtually the same moment and engulfed the two combatants.
In one blink, he was surrounded by fire. In the next, he was in what appeared to be a rec room with a large monitor screen in front of him. He looked down to see he was dressed in a simple black underlay, his armor gone.
“Do you really believe that was necessary?” Jaxon asked. Kaiden looked over to see the Tsuna in a light blue underlay, minus his infuser, with his hands clasped behind his back. He could almost feel himself giggle in response. The Tsuna’s tone was short and he obviously tried to retain his calm, commanding demeanor, but he could tell he was more than a little pissed.
“Well, you wouldn’t stand there and get shot so I had to compromise,” he pointed out. Jaxon huffed and walked up to
the screen, which was split in two. One focused on Genos, Indre, and Flynn in the storage room and the other observed Chiyo and her team in battle with Izzy and her defenders.
“Do you think they can last without their leader and best member?” the Tsuna asked as he watched the chaos unfold.
Kaiden noticed several tables, one of which held a chess board. “I’m gambling that mine can better than yours.” He took a seat at the table. “So, what are your thoughts on that risk?”
Jaxon fixed his opponent with a long, hard look before he focused on the monitor for a moment and made an odd noise—a mixture of pops and garbled grunts. The ace guessed that was Tsuna for conflicted cursing.
Finally, he joined him at the table and sat across from him. “I believe in my team as you do in yours.”
“A good leader should. Even I know that’s basic.” Kaiden chuckled and tapped a finger on the chess board. “I already promised my team that drinks were on me if we won. Do you wanna make a bet that if yours succeeds, I buy a round for them?”
Jaxon leaned back in his chair with his arms folded. “What would you like if I lose?”
“That’s a good question.” He took a moment to think it over. “How about the next time I have a mission, you tag along?”
“That seems a rather steep exchange,” the Tsuna protested. “I thought you preferred to work alone?”
“Most times, but it’s more about being able to finish early. I won’t skimp you, of course. You’ll get a cut.”
Jaxon thought for a moment and closed his eyes. “I do not have a mercenary license.”
“Depending on the gig, you only have to pay a fee and get a temporary waiver. I’m only asking for a low-level mission, nothing more than a night,” he explained. “Besides, this only matters if you lose. All these concerns make it seem like you really think it’s a possibility.”
The Tsuna ace opened his eyes and narrowed them in defiance. “I merely want to be prepared. It is a possibility, but I request that if my team loses, you will run at least three missions with me.”
“Uh…that’s fine, but why the change?” Kaiden asked. “Do you need a training buddy?”
“That is one benefit, but I also want to train you in proper ace technique,” he explained. “From this scrimmage, I see you have progressed to some degree, but you could use refinement.”
“You do realize I beat you before the swap, right?”
“And you realize that was a mixture of fault on my part and Chiyo’s assistance?” he countered.
“So you caught that,” he muttered.
“I am not so idiotic as to overheat my weapon in the thick of combat,” he pointed out flatly.
“All right, fine, you're on.” Kaiden proffered a hand, which Jaxon took. They both directed their focus to the screen. Genos’ team ran through the building and Chiyo’s team continued to engage the defenders. “So how do you think this will pan out?”
“It’s hard to say, currently. I suppose the big issue right now is who retains control of the security station.”
He chuckled and his hand hovered above the line of pawns. “It might be Chiyo’s happy place, and we could make use of it with two techs,” he began as he moved a pawn forward on the board. “But I doubt they would risk losing it. Chiyo was feeling feisty anyway.”
“Is that so? I’m glad to see your relationship has finally progressed to that level,” Jaxon stated, his gazed fixed on the board.
“Wait, do what?” he asked.
The Tsuna chose a pawn of his own and moved it two spaces forward. “Your awareness needs work as well,” he muttered without looking up. “Your move.”
Chapter Thirteen
Kaiden took his opponent’s knight and was momentarily distracted when Marlo bulldozed into the hall with Chiyo’s team and fired a large blast that forced Izzy and her group to back away. “Until your heavies catch up, it looks like this just swung in my favor,” he noted.
“You and Genos drained Mack’s shields but they will recover.” Jaxon slid a rook forward.
“It’s not such an easy fix for Luke, though,” he pointed out and moved another pawn. “Considering I took out his bounce jet and Indre was able to shock his systems.”
“How is the newcomer?” the Tsuna asked. He seemed torn between the need to consider his next move or watch the monitor.
“She’s certainly good. I can see how she was able to transfer here, but she’s a little…I don’t know, faint? Uptight? She’s not used to what goes on in our group.”
“As a whole or only your antics?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m still a bat out of hell and all that, but hey, it’s year three. At this point, I think I’ve proven that it doesn’t hurt to add flair to the military thing.”
“Even when we graduate, we never stop learning, Kaiden,” Jaxon explained and used his rook to take one of the other man’s knights. “There is always something new to discover, both in battle and in strategy.”
“I bet you never thought I would blow myself up simply to eliminate you, though. You didn’t see that coming, did ya?” Kaiden scooted his king one position to the left.
“I did not, no, but tell me, how many times do you think that will work in reality?” his companion prodded but frowned as Silas attempted to sneak up on Otto and didn’t notice Flynn preparing a shot.
“I see it working really well…once,” Kaiden admitted.
“I can agree with that, as I am sure you can agree that we all need to start using the Animus properly. The first two years allowed us some leeway, but from now on, we shouldn’t use strategies that exploit the system.”
“You obviously know I run gigs outside of class, so it’s not like I make a habit of suicidal runs,” he countered and looked up when he heard a sniper shot from the monitor. Silas fell and disappeared. “One up on my end.”
“It is your advantage for now, but my team’s backup is arriving,” Jaxon pointed out. Silas appeared in the room. “Hello, Silas, fine work.”
“Damn sneaky-ass Aussie,” the enforcer muttered and rubbed the side of his head where he had taken the strike. “God, that stings. The Animus oscillation has really kicked up now.”
“It’s still better than the alternative, right?” Kaiden reminded him, his attention focused on the other player, who moved his other knight silently in preparation to take a pawn.
“I need to run more scrims,” Silas bemoaned and flopped into a seat at the table beside where the two men sat. “I’m godlike on normal missions, but my awareness has suffered for it. Mercs and bots don’t normally hit as hard or as fast as we do.”
“Nor are their tactics usually more than run and gun, another thing we should work on—to increase the difficulty to provide better training,” Jaxon agreed and tapped the board to tell Kaiden to move.
“Well, masters get a whole selection of new maps and missions in the package, so we’ll have the opportunity,” Kaiden reminded them and leaned over the board to decide his next move. A large explosion sounded from the monitor, and the three turned to look at the screen. Two flashes of white light heralded the appearance of Marlo and Mack in the room.
“Do you know how to do anything but point-blank shots, man?” the vanguard fumed.
Marlo folded his arms and stood his ground. “You shouldn’t have tried that shield explosion. All that light made you look like some sort of anime character powering up.”
“I use it to knock people away and give me and my team some space. It usually works well until someone shoves a cannon barrel in my face.”
“Hey, you found a flaw in your strategy,” the demolitionist returned smartly as he sat on the couch and kicked his feet up. “Use it as a learning experience.”
Mack shook his head and gestured at the chess board. “Are we not enough entertainment?” he asked and jerked a thumb toward the screen.
“We’re multitasking,” Kaiden said cheerfully. “We have a bet going, so we are very interested in the final winner.”
; The vanguard huffed and scowled at the screen. “You’re up by one still, but my team should use that explosion as a diversion to regroup.”
“It appears that they are,” Jaxon agreed. He moved a bishop into place before he stood and approached the monitor. “But they are also fracturing. Locate Chiyo Kana.” The screen changed to show Chiyo and Indre running through the halls. “But it appears Kaiden’s team used the disruption to their advantage as well.”
“Huh?” Mack stepped beside him and frowned at the two women, who were headed directly to the lab. “Damn, when did they get the position?”
“We had the maps almost immediately when we entered the building,” Kaiden informed him.
“Those were the basic floor maps. They shouldn’t have had the position of the objective,” Silas interjected.
“You were all fighting in or near the security station, right?” Kaiden asked. “My guess is you tried to stop our techies from gaining access to the defenses and whatnot, but what’s the point of that if they would simply try to take you all out there?”
“It would appear that Chiyo simply accessed the system to find the location of the serum during the fighting,” Jaxon explained. He sighed as he returned to his seat. “Unless someone intercepts them soon, they will be unchallenged in taking the serum and escaping. It will be our loss.”
“You had a good fight. Check,” he said and cornered his opponent’s king with his knight.
The Tsuna looked at the screen once more. “Izzy seems to have caught on, but I don’t believe she will make it in time,” he admitted and used his bishop to swiftly capture the other player’s knight.
“Man, Chiyo is hauling.” Kaiden chuckled as the two entered the lab and snatched the serum. “Izzy and Raul are going to intercept, but Flynn will be in the way.” He moved one of his rooks.
Animus Boxed Set 2 (Books 5-8): Revenant, Glitch, Master, Infiltration Page 52
