“Are we running or gunning?” Mack asked and the energy of his armor flared.
“I’m ready for a real fight,” Cameron said and checked his machine gun yet again. “I say we hold our ground.”
“This could be a trap,” the ace pointed out. “We still haven’t run into that other sniper.”
“I’m keeping an eye out for him, but we don’t know all the tricks he could be capable of,” Flynn admitted.
“Kaiden, I read some large energy outputs,” Chief interjected.
Kaiden began charging a shot. “Be on your guard. We’ll have to deal with at least a few of these guys so might as well face them as they come.”
The group stood poised and prepared to fight when two forms turned the corner. Both were massive, their armor far larger than any of the heavies on Kaiden’s team. One wore dark-red armor with a domed head and black visor. Two large canisters on his back were connected by a tube to the gauntlets on each arm. The other wore solid black armor, more ridged and with an almost cube-like head with a red visor. This one was held a massive chain gun.
“Oh, that looks painful,” Cameron exclaimed.
“That gusto left rather quickly,” Kaiden quipped.
“Do you wanna charge in there? I’ll follow, I promise,” the bounty hunter retorted.
“I’m not sure about the one with the chain gun, but I’ll take care of big red there.” Flynn raised his rifle and fired at the canister on the left. The bullet struck but bounced off and ricocheted into the ceiling. “Oh, well, that’s a problem,” the marksman ventured nervously.
“We need to—” Kaiden didn’t finish his statement as the chain gun began to whirl. Mack rushed out to form a shield and quickly powered it up seconds before the bullets rocketed to slam into the barrier. Cracks began to appear almost immediately. “Luke, prepare to reinforce him,” Kaiden ordered.
“I’ll do it, but my shield ain’t nothing like his,” the titan reminded him as he stepped beside his fellow heavy.
“At least I get one last compliment before we die,” Mack said but his voice sounded strained as he tensed with the effort to maintain his shield against the assault. The red enemy heavy walked forward and pointed both arms at the group. A jet of flame sizzled toward them from his gauntlets. Luke erected his shield but he hissed in pain, clearly audible over the comms.
“Are you all right?” the ace asked worriedly as he, Flynn, and Cameron returned fire, only for their shots to sink into Mack’s shield. “Mack?”
“It’s a dissonance shield so absorbs energy and lessens impact,” he shouted, then grunted again and he took a step back as the chain gun EX-10 began to advance. “It’s the only way to keep it up right now,”
“My shields aren’t good against elements,” Luke added. “I can block the brunt of the flames, but the heat is burning my armor.”
Kaiden retrieved his shield device, but as he went to help the other two, he saw Flynn turn and point. “Kaiden, look—” The ace spun and activated his shield as two shots fired and impacted the still-forming barrier.
“Sniper!” he yelled. Flynn took aim and returned fire but hit nothing.
“This guy is a better runner than a marksman,” he shouted angrily.
When Kaiden turned back to his teammates, he did a double take. Mack literally glowed and a trail of light flowed from him to Marlo’s cannon. “What the hell did I miss?”
“Something new. This cannon is great. I really need to get the details from that bartender,” Marlo shouted merrily. “I’m adding my cannon’s energy to Mack and it’ll keep the shield up a little longer.”
“Only a little, though. We need a plan here,” the vanguard warned.
“I have something, but I need some space,” Luke stated.
“I’ll take over.” The ace swung his shield into place as the titan deactivated his and fell back. He was right, the flames didn’t actually touch him, but the heat was intense as it blazed into his barrier. He glanced back to where Luke knelt on one knee and fiddled with his hammer. “What are you doing, Luke?”
“I’m about to bust through. Both of you drop your shields when I say so,” he yelled.
“Are you insane?” Mack protested. “My shield is the only thing stopping these assholes from turning us into a trypophobe’s worst nightmare.”
“Wait until the very last second or throw it at them or something. I only need a second.”
“Are you sure?” Kaiden asked worriedly. His shield was about to disintegrate, and he didn’t want to be in the way of the flames.
“Yeah. Sure—super-sure,” Luke affirmed but didn’t sound entirely reassuring.
The ace acknowledged to himself that he couldn’t complain because he didn’t have a plan at all that wasn’t defensive. He and Mack exchanged a wary glance and they nodded to one another. “Give the word,” he said as calmly as he could.
Luke stood and several purple lines formed along the head of his hammer. He held it in both hands and took several steps back. “When I’m about to hit the floor, back up.”
Kaiden’s shield was at its limit, and the vanguard was almost on his knees. “Let’s do it.”
Luke roared as he charged and raised his hammer. The ace dropped his shield and rolled back as Mack changed his barrier to hard light and thrust it forward as he fell back. The shield shattered at the same moment that Luke’s hammer connected, and a large plume of purple energy erupted to hurl the bullets and flames back as it surged toward the mercs. The flamethrower raced forward and punched it, and both he and his teammate were knocked back.
“What was that?” Flynn asked, bewildered.
“A kinetic wave—a mod for melee weapons,” Luke explained as he drew his hand cannon. “Lesson later, shoot now.”
They released an immediate fusillade at the enemy and the chain gun merc took the shots and activated his shield. His teammate recovered and ran off—as fast as a heavy could, at least—while the other man covered their retreat.
“Oh, you ain’t getting away now,” Mack challenged and raced after them. Luke and Marlo followed.
“Wait up,” Cameron shouted but Kaiden caught him by the arm. “What are you doing?”
“They can handle them. We’ll go after the sniper. None of us are safe with him sneaking around unchallenged,” he explained.
“Can you guys take care of him?” Flynn asked and his teammates turned to look at him in surprise.
“While you do what exactly?” Cameron inquired.
“That sniper wasn’t who I saw earlier,” he explained.
“There’s another one?”
“It looks like we got lucky, then,” Kaiden noted acerbically.
“Yeah, thanks for that, but I saw a figure at the edge of the hall in the same direction our heavies ran off in. They will probably try to take them out given they are the most powerful ones here.”
“Did you get a look at what they are carrying?” the ace asked.
“I’m guessing it’s their assassin. I saw a blade but she was using a stealth generator like the sniper, so I only caught a thermal sight.”
“She?” Cameron asked.
“Yeah, definitely female. As well as looking out for her, I can eliminate that flamethrower merc this time.” Flynn retrieved another magazine, this one with a teal line on it. “I got a little cocky before, but this will take care of him.”
Kaiden looked at the mag and back at Flynn. “Go on. Cam and I will take care of the sniper.”
The marksman changed the magazines and nodded before he activated his own stealth generator and left. Cameron shouldered his machine gun. “I’m getting this kill, all right?”
“They might be worth more creds alive,” Kaiden pointed out as the two moved on.
“Maybe more creds but less peace of mind.”
He chuckled and shifted Sire to a more comfortable position. “You might make a good bounty hunter in the future, but you won’t be a rich one.”
“But I’ll have a hell of a tally,
” he promised.
Chapter Twenty-Two
By the time Flynn caught up to the heavies, they were already engaged with their EX-10 counterparts in what looked like a large office. This time, however, they seemed to have gained something of an advantage rather than simply being pinned down. Mack and Luke battled the chain gun wielding merc, who couldn’t create enough space to properly prepare to fire his weapon. Marlo faced the flamethrower, who definitely put up more of a fight. His blasts of fire were something the demolitionist couldn’t easily deal with, and they seemed to not affect the merc himself. He released his fiery attacks at close quarters and didn’t bother about blowback. Marlo’s energy bolts didn’t seem like he actually tried to do much damage but rather to make room for himself or force his adversary to back away.
The marksman scrutinized the room but found no readings of the assassin he had seen. Despite this, he was sure she was still in there somewhere. He glanced hastily behind him but saw nothing and shrugged impatiently. There was no point in stressing about something he couldn’t see. He had better hurry with his other objective or his paranoia would put him in a bind. He flipped a switch above the trigger guard and pressed down lightly on the trigger. A soft whir emitted as the bullet within began to charge. He knelt and activated his comms. “Guys, this is Flynn. Get ready to defend yourselves.”
“We’re kind of doing that already,” Mack shouted and pounded his fists down to spark a barrier as the merc brandished a hand cannon in his left hand and fired while the right hand began to heat the chain gun.
“I’ll create a substantial explosion in a second—more of a problem than whatever you’re dealing with, I would think,” Flynn explained and aimed at the flamethrower’s containment unit.
“How big exactly? I need to know how strong a shield to make and don’t wanna waste power unnecessarily.” The vanguard retreated slowly. Luke kicked the chaingunner back and slammed his hammer to the floor to release another kinetic wave at the flamethrower to drive him away from Marlo.
“Play it on the safe side and make it quick. I have the shot right now and don’t wanna lose it. I don’t think I have more than one of these.” Flynn steadied his rifle and prepared to fire.
Mack held his arms up and dark-blue light flowed into a shield. It expanded slowly in front of the team. The chaingunner barreled toward them while the flamethrower recovered.
The marksman released a single concentrated breath as he fired. The bullet left the barrel and a trail of teal light flowed around it, whistled over Marlo’s shoulder and through a gap in the shield that closed immediately behind it, and punched into the flamethrower’s canister as he raised his arms to deliver another blazing attack. Sparks spat and hissed as the bullet melted through the metal. A violent explosion of flames engulfed the merc and the team’s vision was temporarily blinded by a vivid white light.
Kaiden and Cameron pressed against the wall on either side of a two-door entryway.
“Are you sure he’s in here?” Kaiden asked the bounty hunter.
“I ran the data Chief got on the sniper’s specs through my EI’s tracking software.” Cameron pointed to Kaiden, whose HUD changed to a green color. He then pointed inside and the ace saw a figure through the doors highlighted by a startlingly bright yellow. “I just gave you a look at the world through my eyes.”
“There’s a lot of green,” Kaiden noted dryly.
“Old money used to be green in color, at least here in the US, so that works for a bounty hunter,” he admitted.
“Okay, it looks like he’s on a ledge or railing above.” He checked his gear one last time. “We gotta get up there or get him down. He has the advantage as long as he’s up there.”
“That’s a good point and I already thought about that.” Cameron retrieved a small disk from his belt. “I need to borrow something.”
“What’s that?”
“Tell Chief to get inside.”
Kaiden regarded him suspiciously, and the EI appeared and peered at the disk. “I would say I’m claustrophobic, but I’ve been shacked up in Kaiden for nearly three years, so I’ve adapted.” He looked at Cameron. “But what am I doing, exactly?”
“You can hack into systems automatically, right?” the bounty hunter inquired.
“Yeah, but his are locked off. To have a chance, I would have to get in quite close, and Kaiden’s device only allows me to be cast from about thirty feet.”
“I figured that.” Cameron held the disk again up. “This is a workaround.”
“Is everyone still breathing?” Marlo asked when the explosion finally subsided.
“Hopefully, only the ones who matter,” Flynn said and coughed roughly.
“What was that, Flynn? The last time you tried that, the bullet simply bounced off.” Luke turned to look at the marksman as Mack lowered the shield.
“Quasar bullet. It basically has a powerful energy nucleus inside that coats the outer shell, can pierce almost anything, and has a hell of an impact.”
“It’s risky to shoot something like that in such a confined space,” Mack pointed out.
“Better than shooting it in the hallway, although I admit I almost forgot I had it. Julio tossed it to me before we stepped out.” He removed the magazine and replaced it with a normal one. “As for the danger, I hoped you would be able to deal with the nuisance and protect me all the while.”
“Man, we get no respect from you non-heavies, huh?” Luke chortled and shouldered his hammer.
“What? You get all the respect. I trusted you with my life,” Flynn said defensively. He folded his arms and grinned at the still smoking room. “I guess that takes care of them. Now, we can look for the assassin.”
“What assassin?” Marlo asked.
“The one who was leading these guys over— Wait. Look back.” The team complied to see the chaingunner walk out of the smoke, his gun shattered. He hurled it to the ground and held his fists up. The gauntlets expanded as electricity coiled around them.
“Stubborn bastard,” Luke muttered. “We’ll finish this. Go look for your assassin.” The titan charged the merc, who stopped his attempt to inflict a hammer blow with a punch to the chest. The gauntlets came together on impact and the force catapulted the titan away. Mack stepped up and grabbed him, but both slid back a good few feet.
“That was a little harder than you thought it would be.” Mack raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll give him that hit.” Luke grunted, regained his balance, and activated the kinetic charger on his hammer. “He won’t get another. Are you coming?”
“I’m right behind you,” the vanguard confirmed and both spun into a concentrated assault. Mack created a simple barrier to block a punch as Luke swung at the merc’s head.
“Get in there and help them,” Flynn said to Marlo. He held his rifle up and flipped the switch down.
“Will you be all right with an assassin running around?” the demolitionist asked.
“I’ll look for her myself, but after that shot, I gotta let my rifle cool down,” he explained. “This guy looks tough, but against the three of you, he doesn’t have a prayer. Finish him and let’s get on with it.”
“You won’t have to wait too long.” Marlo chuckled, primed his cannon, and moved to join the others.
As Flynn watched the heat reading on his rifle decrease, he drew his pistol. “You aren’t that clever, you know.” He whirled and fired. The bullet drilled into the wall, but a shimmer indicated a cloak.
“Or maybe you’re simply cleverer than I had believed,” a soft but venomous voice replied. The assassin decloaked and regarded him coldly, a vibroblade in one hand.
“Or it might have been me seeing your shield break in that blast. Pick your poison,” the marksman challenged and held his pistol up.
“You knew I was here, and you let your backup run off?” she asked, curious as to the marksman’s intentions.
“Kaiden and Cam are tracking the other sniper. I need to make up for the lost target,” Flyn
n explained and tilted his pistol a little to one side. “You’ll do.”
“Cute. You do know who we are, correct?” she asked as she crouched a little lower and poised with her blade ready for a fight.
“Yeah, extra creds.” Flynn fired several shots but the assassin dodged them and moved in close. She attempted a swipe along the marksman’s chest but he blocked it by holding his rifle up. “Nice try. Don’t think that because I’m a sniper, getting in close will give you the advantage.”
The assassin parried and kicked viciously to thrust him back. “And don’t believe that tactics as simple as that will give you the advantage either.”
He regained his balance, paused, and pressed a button on the side of his rifle to shorten the barrel. “All right then, but let me show you the tricks of the Nexus Academy.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“We’re three doors in and still haven’t made a dent,” Desmond fumed and actually threw his rifle to the ground.
“Keep your calm, captain,” Jaxon said and placed a restraining hand on the man’s shoulder. “We have made progress and are inside the building now.”
“The last alert we received indicates that the intruders are headed to the main development lab. That’s ten stories above us.” He folded his arms and glared at the ceiling. “Judging by how long it took us to get through the doors and assuming that we don’t run into any traps or roadblocks, it’ll still take a few hours before we get there. They could be gone by then.”
“The other team is making progress, and the Fire Riders are still securing the building. If they made an escape, we would know,” Izzy stated.
“Perhaps there’s another route,” Indre suggested. “You have an access card, right?”
“I already told you, they changed—”
“Yes, but would you mind letting me have a look?” She held a hand out. Desmond cocked an eyebrow but shrugged, dug into his pouch, and handed her the key. She flipped a screen up on her gauntlet, slid the card into a slot, and tapped on the keys below the screen. “I won’t be able to access top-level rooms or areas, but this is a multi-staged access system, and your access card is a top-level one.”
Animus Boxed Set 2 (Books 5-8): Revenant, Glitch, Master, Infiltration Page 58
