“You could make the same argument about us, really,” Indre pointed out.
The marksman leapt up from the bench. “So we have our opponents then.” He retrieved his rifle and powered it on. “Should we head over to the entrance?”
“You’re certainly fired up now,” Indre teased. She stretched her arms and placed her drone back into its compartment. “Although I have to admit, I’m a little excited myself. This looks like it will be fun.”
Genos walked over to Jaxon, who continued to stare at the screen. “Kin, do they seem quite proficient to you?”
“Do you mean for a team of people simply here to blow off steam? Or are you comparing them to us?” the Tsuna ace asked, his attention still focused on the screen.
The largest member of the team waved to the cheering crowd. “It’s rather strange to say, but outside of the Animus, I think they might be the most skilled opponents I’ve had to face.” He tapped his infuser thoughtfully. “It’s odd to run into them in a playful situation such as this.”
“You weren’t there for the EX-10, though, Genos,” Flynn reminded him as he walked over to them with Indre. “Those guys seem good, but I doubt they can measure up to wanted killers like those we faced. Right, Jax?”
Jaxon picked his helmet up from the table in front of him and put it on. “I suppose we’ll have to see.”
Flynn and Indre looked at each other. “Wait—what, mate? It’s up to debate?”
“It’s a possibility,” the ace reasoned and faced the group. “The next match will be a challenge between the two top teams. According to the rules, killing is illegal, but I doubt that would stop them if they felt like it.”
“Well, this suddenly got real,” Indre whispered to Flynn, who nodded.
“I can’t imagine they would unless one of you has a history with them that I don’t know about.” Jaxon’s expression remained calm.
The trio shook their heads. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen them before.” Flynn shrugged. “They are all wearing helmets so it’s hard to tell, but I would have remembered that shaved sasquatch-looking guy.”
“Are you referring to the cryptid from the past or the mutant?” Genos asked.
“Same difference, really.”
The door opened and the assistant poked her head into the room. “Are you guys ready? Team one wants to get started right away.”
Chiyo heard footsteps and moved one hand instinctively toward her pistol as she glanced up. She relaxed when Kaiden strolled down the alley, his coat flapping behind him.
“Did you get everything?” he asked.
“How did you get away?” She turned the device off and placed it on her belt.
“I was only a patron, technically. I was more impressed that the guys I hired got away. They can move like bunnies despite being as big as houses.” He grinned and looked at the device, then at her.
She nodded. “I have it. Let’s rendezvous with the others and we can go through it and continue from there.”
Kaiden offered a hand. “It would probably look better to walk out of here as if we were simply a curious couple,” he reasoned but hesitated, a wary expression on his face. “Then again, they might be more worried about the fire.”
Chiyo looked up and frowned at the faint trace of smoke beyond the entrance to the alley. “There’s a fire?”
He grimaced. “It just started. I thought I stopped the guy who tried to start it but maybe one of his buddies picked up where he left off. Although it’s not in the bar. He tripped and threw it at a building across the street.”
“It seems things got out of control, even for you.” She chuckled and took his hand.
“I didn’t exactly try to control the chaos in this case,” he admitted as they left the alley and sauntered down the street. She paused to look back at the carnage. “It did spiral a little, I gotta say. I guess we should head over to the arena.”
“Do you think they are done yet?” she asked and squinted ahead at the dome in the distance.
“They should be on the final match unless things ran long,” he replied and checked the time on his HUD. “We can send a message for them to forfeit.”
Chiyo thought it over. “I…I wouldn’t want to ruin it for them, even if we are running on a tight schedule.”
“Flynn threw a fit when I sent them there,” he recalled. “They might not mind.”
“We’ll see how far they are when we get there,” she decided. “They deserve a little fun before the action if they can get it.”
“Someone, get this bastard off me!” Flynn shouted as Lycan almost caved his head when he stamped his massive foot. He managed to roll away barely in time.
“Your legs still work, right?” Indre shouted as she dodged blasts fired from her own drones. “One of them hacked my babies.”
Genos hammered a shield spike into the ground. It activated and shielded him and Jaxon against two more sniper shots fired from the other side of the arena. “They are indeed persistent.”
“Can I see your cannon?” the ace asked, and his teammate handed it to him. “Break away and take shelter over at that pillar.” He pointed to the south. “See if you can get around them and use one of your nano grenades on the hacker to shut him down.”
“Understood.” He took one out and primed it. “I had hoped to avoid using too many gadgets.”
“And it was a wise move, but we need all the advantages we can get right now,” Jaxon held the trigger down. “This team are professionals, and not only in this competition. They move and fight like the EX-10, but their skills seem to be even more considerable.” Their shield shattered from a thermal blast and he nodded to his teammate, who raced away while he ran to intercept Lycan who still harried Flynn.
“Flynn, take care of the sniper!” he ordered and fired the cannon blast at the feet of the giant. The merc shielded his eyes and jumped back as it erupted, landed smoothly, and looked at Jaxon with a broad smile.
“You look like you can put up a fight,” he challenged and pounded a fist against his chest. Now that he could see it more clearly, the ace realized it wasn’t heavy armor, but light.
“You’re not a titan?” he asked.
“A what now?” Lycan balked before he snapped his finger and grinned. “Ah, right. You’re one of those Ark academy guys and have official classes and terms and all that.”
The Tsuna began to charge another shot. “How did you know that?”
His opponent smiled. “I can tell by how you fight. You have talent that’s been refined. It’s either that or you apprenticed under a general or something.”
“I trained with warriors in my clan before I ever stepped foot on Earth.” He aimed casually. “Although I doubt it takes much training to realize a large target like you should wear heavy armor.” He fired but Lycan simply moved his shoulder back and the orb sailed past him and erupted against the shield that protected the audience. The explosion drew both frightened and excited shouts. Jaxon’s eyes widened in shock.
“My training was in battle. Hell, I was born in it. It’s a fun story.” The large man drew a hand from behind his back. He’d slipped a metallic gauntlet on with several tubes that ran from the back of the hand. When he activated it, small jets of smoke poured out and the metal around the fingers began to glow. “If you are conscious by the end of this, I’ll tell you about it.”
Genos ran from cover to cover. The team’s leader and marksman had both targeted him and his left shoulder plate had been damaged by a sniper shot. Thankfully, he managed to evade the latest attempts and slid behind one of the rocks, drew his launch pistol, and placed the nano grenade inside. He had a good idea where the hacker was. The man didn’t seem to be moving much, but he had yet to take any damage. It seemed safe to assume he had some kind of shield or barrier protecting him. He wondered if he would have to waste two grenades, one to get rid of the shield and the other to turn off whatever device he used to control Indre’s drones.
There was also the risk of hi
m controlling the nanos. He shouldn’t have the time to do it, but if it took too long for them to eat through the shield, it might buy him the time he needed and would make the situation worse. Another sniper shot whistled ominously. Genos waited for the impact, but none came. It didn’t even strike his cover. Two more shots were fired, but each sounded different. He peeked around and saw Flynn targeting the sniper in the split second before the leader almost took his head off with machine gun fire. The Tsuna dragged in a breath, relieved at his narrow escape. He needed to get away or the man would be able to take him at his leisure.
He placed a finger against his helmet. “Friend Indre, do you have any EMP missiles?”
“Yeah, I have. One sec—dammit. He got my arm,” she muttered over the link. “I have one left. I already tried to take out the hacking prick, but he was able to deactivate it before it hit.”
“I think he might have a barrier as well,” Genos added. “The leader is focused on me, friend Flynn is busy with the sniper, and kin Jaxon is dealing with the larger one.” He frowned at his launcher. “I have a nano grenade ready, but I might have to use two or more and I don’t think I have many left on the ship.”
“We are taking this seriously, huh?” she commented wryly. “I’ve got it. You only have to use the one. I’ll give you an opening here in a sec. Use it on the leader.”
“What about the hacker?”
“You know how to throw a punch, right?”
Jalloh was impressed with this group, or at least with how long they’d lasted. He had to commend their abilities as well. They gave Lycan and Cascina a good fight. He looked at Raz, who had yet to move from the spot where he’d started. He didn’t seem to be enjoying himself like the others were.
A blast careened past his head. He hadn’t even heard anyone come from behind. He spun and fired at the opposition team’s agent, who had obviously shaken off the hacked drones. It was a direct strike, but she continued her approach. He smiled slightly when he realized she was a hologram. It was a good trick. Something battered against his back and he realized immediately that this was not a trick. His helmet, chest, and weapon were enveloped by hundreds of small orbs. In seconds, his weapon deactivated, and his armor began to unlatch—nanos. He moved quickly to activate a switch on his belt that covered him in a red light. The nanos began to drop off. He turned to see the mechanist had run off and now headed directly toward Raz. His teammate would have to move now.
The Tsuna lunged forward as Raz noticed his approach and fumbled for his pistol. He pounded his fist into the side of his helmet and drove him out of his protective sphere. Jalloh almost laughed at that. The simplest solutions were often the best, it seemed. He drew his pistol and fired at the two drones before the agent could gain control of them again.
“You bastard,” she yelled and aimed her pistol at him. “Do you know how long it’ll take me to repair those?”
“Someone of your caliber? A couple of hours at most with the parts ready,” he replied and aimed his gun at her. “Laser burns take a bit longer, however.”
“Agreed.” She fired and he raised his hand, activated his reflector, and bounced the shots back. Two caught her in the stomach and one in the chest and she fell heavily.
“I didn’t say I would make them.” He chuckled and holstered his pistol.
“I’m not done yet,” she threatened and scrambled to her feet.
“Perhaps not.” He turned and walked to the edge of the arena. “But this match is.”
An alarm went off. Indre, Genos, and Flynn looked up in surprise.
“That’s time, ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer shouted. “And with a score of one – zero, team one wins.”
“They scored?” Flynn shouted and glared as the rival sniper walked away.
Indre and Genos walked over and Jalloh helped Raz to his feet “When? Who?” Flynn demanded fretfully.
“Hey.” The trio turned toward Lycan who smiled and held Jaxon by his helmet. Most of the ace’s armor was shattered and broken. “He was a good fighter. Make sure he recovers so we can have a rematch, all right?”
He dropped the Tsuna’s semi-conscious body. Indre and Genos surged forward to catch him and help him up. Flynn scowled as the huge man walked away and waved to the crowd once more. Jaxon was one of the best fighters in their group, and all he saw was scuffs on his opponent’s armor.
Who the hell were these guys?
Chapter Twenty-Four
“How’s he doing?” Kaiden asked as he made his way into the ship.
“I’m up, Kaiden.” Jaxon sighed and moved the ice pack from his jaw to the top of his head. “I know this is a traditional remedy for soreness on Earth, but it makes my muscles numb.”
“That is the idea, mate,” Flynn explained from the repairs desk. “Although how numb are we talking? It sounds like you’re talking with a mouthful of cotton.”
“I can’t move half my jaw,” the Tsuna muttered and rubbed a hand gingerly over his face.
“We are a little more sensitive to extreme cold,” Genos interjected as he checked on his kin and took the pack from him.
“Is that right?” Kaiden leaned against the wall. “It’s a good thing you didn’t come along with us to that outing in Alaska that Wolfson took us on.”
“We didn’t exactly come along either, Kaiden,” Flynn retorted. “You know, I still go into a cold sweat around the end of the year, waiting to be dragged away to some unknown location for another gladiatorial match.”
“And yet it seemed like you had a good time at that ArenaMAX place.”
“I was coming around to it, until that last match.” The marksman motioned to Jaxon. “He had a bad feeling about them. I didn’t take it that seriously considering how much of a cakewalk it was up until then. But those guys… Man, they were something else.”
The ace looked at the group. “Do you think they were pros?”
“It would seem so.” Genos nodded and handed a tube of some kind of serum to his fellow Tsuna. “I know that professional is only a title to signify status. But these people were… Professional professionals is all I can think of.”
“I follow, I think.” He looked out the window at the night sky that drifted by. “We left in a hurry, but Chiyo is still looking for our next destination. Are we simply flying in circles Genos?”
“I set the autopilot to head toward Tokyo,” the mechanist answered. “Chiyo’s father is located there, correct?”
“He is.” The men looked up as Chiyo and Indre entered from the back room. “But that’s not where we need to go now.”
“Really?” Kaiden straightened, his expression a little confused. “So where do we need to go, and why exactly?”
“We weren’t able to find any information on their plans for the Mirai zaibatsu,” she replied and held the Genesis device up.
“But what we did find was a unique signal code,” Indre added. “My guess is that it was the connection between the neurotech and whoever he was transmitting to.”
“And it leads to a facility in Germany,” the infiltrator finished.
“Germany, huh?” Kaiden said thoughtfully. “It’s a pity I don’t speak it. I’m actually part German.”
“You do realize that translators are standard for even commercial EIs, right?”
“Thanks for the fun fact,” Kaiden retorted. “So, the fatherland. What’s there and how should we approach?”
Chiyo walked into the center of the group, placed the Genesis device on the floor, and activated it. A hologram of a factory appeared in the air. “It would appear that this is the factory where the neurotech and his friends were sent from—maybe a headquarters?”
“So we’ll go to get more info?” Flynn asked.
“If we can get some, I would certainly take it,” she agreed. “But I’m concerned about it taking too long.”
“Taking too long?” the ace questioned and glanced quickly at the others. “Now I’m concerned because that bothers you. You usually prefer the
taking too long approach.”
He expected a smart retort but instead, she simply looked down. “I received a message from Rei, my father’s assistant. A group of people was murdered. They were a team that worked on projects for my father. The police were called in by the morning group when they arrived.”
Flynn and Kaiden’s fists balled, and Jaxon stood and placed his hand on her shoulder. “So whoever is after them, they seem to have escalated their tactics.”
She nodded. “They don’t know if it is simply intimidation or whether they were looking for something in particular and wanted to get rid of witnesses.”
“Probably both,” Kaiden surmised. “The assailants obviously had the time to move the bodies if they wanted to. The disappearances would have eventually caused an investigation, but it wouldn’t have been so blatant as to who the target was.”
“This shouldn’t change the plans though, right?” Flynn asked. “I know we’ve played it by ear up until now, but if we have a destination, we can at least go there to start, can’t we?”
“You are correct, but my fear is…” Chiyo’s voice wavered and she looked at Kaiden.
“That this could lead to some kind of attack on the company proper?” he hypothesized.
Jaxon stepped away from her, sat on the bench, and leaned over with his hands clasped in front of him. “We originally worked on the suspicion that they were trying to take control of the Mirai zaibatsu. In a forceful takeover like that, they would have the entirety of the city against them, at the very least. And you said that the Mirai has connections with the WC. This would seem like a very foolish plan on the part of the conspirators.”
“I don’t think they would be that bold,” the infiltrator reasoned. “But there are other ways to force a takeover, including a few that would at least appear legal if the right actions were taken.”
Kaiden turned to Genos and gestured to the cockpit. The engineer nodded and left. “We’ll head there now. There’s no need to waste time speculating if we stop them.”
Animus Boxed Set 2 (Books 5-8): Revenant, Glitch, Master, Infiltration Page 78
