The technician stared for several minutes as the bright glow of the tiny screen illuminated his face. Too young, thought DaemonS. His eyes were far too young. Even in the flawless, cloned bodies of her comrades, the eyes always told the truth. It was clear he hadn’t experienced life. He had no idea of the horrors that existed in this universe, of what it meant to walk the fine line between life and death, of dying a thousand times and yet still be willing to fight for life. She didn’t envy him his naiveté. Sooner or later the universe woke everyone to the truth.
The technician gave a last look at his screen, smiled and turned to her. She towered over him.
“I’m sorry Ms. DaemonS, but Geneslicer is functioning optimally,” he said, looking up into her eyes without fear.
“Optimally? He keeps fragging his own teammates!”
“That’s not really our problem. He’s programmed to respond to all threats with lethal force. Maybe if your team was a little more careful....”
“A little more careful! You think we’re amateurs? You think we got to The Death Match on luck? Maybe you’d like to....”
“Boss... boss!” Pincer had come up behind. The petite woman had a knack for approaching unseen and unheard. DaemonS turned to her teammate.
“Let it go,” Pincer whispered.
“But... he... ,” looking back at the self-satisfied smile on the guy’s face, she knew Pincer was right. He would never understand.
“Fine,” she said, turning to the Genilon rep. “But I suggest you avoid Bodybag on your way out. She’s not as... level-headed as I am.”
She stomped away with Pincer following, as the technician unhooked the cables from Geneslicer’s head.
4
“This is where things begin to get interesting,” DaemonS said, addressing the Cowgirlz. They all sat, relaxed on the couches in the team lounge, except the perpetually moving Bodybag and the silent, immobile Geneslicer, recently returned from his check-up.
“Three matches down and half the teams are gone. Only sixty-four left. No surprises so far, but sure as the Bruuz are bugs, you can bet that’ll change anytime now.”
“What’s our schedule?” Defcon said, interrupting from mid-sofa.
“In a minute. The CTF’s a single elimination ladder now. The further we go, the better our ranking toward the final round. But all the top teams remain, so it’ll be luck of the draw.”
“What’s our schedule?” Pincer asked.
“In a minute. The Lockdown ladder is open. The first matches — which are also qualifiers for Deathball — begin tomorrow. The organizers want as many ladders going simultaneously as possible. More fun for the fans.”
“What’s our schedule?” called Vorpal.
“One more thing. It’s going to take complete focus, total concentration and excellent teamwork to pass the next rounds. So, I’d like to make an official apology to everyone for my play during the last match. I promise you it won’t happen again.”
“Awwww, that’s sweet,” Pincer said, before the other women chimed in, “What’s our schedule?”
“Per popular request and without further ado,” DaemonS said, as they began pelting her with small objects, “our next match, early tomorrow, opens our Lockdown ladder. Luck’s still holding as we’ve drawn Terragen Terrors, seeded twenty-seventh. They’re a group of mutants, our toughest team yet but there aren’t any easy ones left.
“Tomorrow evening’s our next CTF so we’ve got our work cut out for us. I suggest we get a good night’s sleep. It’s gonna be a long day.”
“Who we playin’?”
She had hoped to avoid the question until after the next match. Trust Bodybag to bring it up.
“No one too difficult. Don’t worry about it, just focus on the game ahead.”
“Who we playing, Daem?” asked Vorpal.
Damn, there was no use.
“The Helldivers,” she said in a low whisper.
“FINALLY!” As one, they jumped. No one had expected Geneslicer to awaken with such vigor from his usual home-base lethargy.
“Did I hear right?” Defcon asked as the metal creature returned to its immobility.
“Damn it, yes. Our next CTF is against The Helldivers,” she admitted as the room erupted in a cacophony of excited yells and screams.
“Can you believe it — The Helldivers!”
“I can’t wait to see them in action!”
“What d’you think Ch’Kandra’s capable of?”
“You have to stay focused on the Lockdown match!” DaemonS shouted, trying to be heard above the din of the four eager women. It was no use. There would be no talking to them until they calmed down. She turned and left the common room for the sanctuary of the captain’s station.
* * *
“In Lockdown, each team attempts to capture a pair of control-points, ‘A’ and ‘B’,” located at opposite ends of the zone, the soft, feminine voice explained to him from the vid. Figment only half-listened. Like the rest of known space, he was well aware of the rules.
“The control-points can be captured simply by stepping on them and, when captured, they will turn the color of the controlling team. Successful control of both pads for ten seconds will score one point.
“Two points are required to win the opening match of the ladder and three points in all subsequent matches. All teams winning two of their first three matches will continue in the Lockdown ladder, in addition to qualifying for the Deathball ladder.”
The fluff was gone. Half the teams had been eliminated and each of the remaining had potential. Simply qualifying for the second tournament ladder almost guaranteed sponsorship for next year’s Death Match. So far, the big eight had shown no surprises. Each had breezed through the ladder qualifiers with their usual efficient brutality, leaving the weaker teams helpless against an onslaught of unchecked teamwork, aggression and firepower.
CTF, Capture-The-Flag, was an interesting diversion but, next to the fast-paced, team-oriented Deathball, Figment enjoyed watching Lockdown the best. A simple game at heart, it was freakishly fast and unforgiving in its brutality. This should be fun.
* * *
Atlantis, mythical city-state under the seas, inspiration for many an explorer and even greater numbers of storytellers. The plight of the overly proud and highly advanced nation of almost twelve millennia past was first detailed by the human philosopher Plato and entered into the collective imagination of mankind almost immediately. Dreamers never ceased searching for the ancient city, scouring the Earth’s oceans in their entirety. It was never found — on Earth.
Discovery of the ruins had to await exploration of the depths of Europa’s oceans during the Okijuza colonization of 2112. Scientists and historians were deeply disappointed at finding no signs of the legendary technologies described by Plato and quickly abandoned the site to tourists and amateur explorers. In a fit of corporate altruism, Okijuza agreed to provide easy access to the city by erecting a permanent energy shield around it using an advanced technology they had developed that same year.
Now those ruins stretched before her, a small portion of the once great city sectioned off and reinforced for the tournament. Catacombs carved through ancient rock led to twin chambers of vast, arching stairways. Each room with a single circular control pad adorning its far end, watched over by megatonnes of water held effortlessly at bay by a shimmering wall of transparent energy.
DaemonS snapped back to the moment as the casual, feminine voice of the announcer informed them, “Blue team has lockdown... 9... 8...”
That meant Defcon had been fragged at control point A. There were only three Apocalypz Cowgirlz in the Lockdown opener. Since Geneslicer was too much of a loose cannon, that meant Bodybag and Defcon as teammates for this close-quarter venue. The others were undoubtedly watching the Helldiver match in preparation for tonight.
She raced across the well-packed silt floor toward the nearby point B, flak cannon held steady in her arm
s. This was something of a redemption match for DaemonS, proof, to herself as much as her teammates, that the mistakes of the last match were in the past.
“... 6... 5....”
“I’ve got B. Bodybag, cover A when you zone.”
“Roger dat.”
She rushed up the stairs, cart-wheeling left to dodge a rocket, and unloaded a flak round into a blue chest before following it up with a grenade. Landing, she lunged for the blue control point before her.
“... 2... unlocked,” came the announcement as the ‘A’ control pad turned red.
“Red team has lockdown... 9... 8....”
“Good job,” she said.
A rocket exploded on the zone shielding behind her, raining DaemonS with shrapnel. She spun to her right, leaping into the air, and caught a glimpse of a pair of mutants outfitted with heavy artillery. And she was riding her last rounds!
Pumping the flak cannon, DaemonS lobbed her final grenade at the first attacker and saw him duck beneath the bridge before she summoned her pulse cannon and dodged left. She still caught flaknel from the second blue as metal shards pierced her abdomen and right shoulder.
“... 5....”
“I’m outfitted,” came the call from Defcon, “which side?”
“... 4....”
“I’ve got two at B and I’m about spent,” DaemonS said, firing off a pulse into the bridge attacker. The purple beam nailed the Terragen square in the chest, pushing the mutant off the bridge. Unfortunately, a single shot from the pulse cannon was nowhere near enough to kill.
“... 3....”
Twisting the rifle left, she fired off an energy sphere intending to trigger it, but the first Terragen absorbed it first as he sped to the top of the lower stairway. DaemonS fired another pulse burst into his chest as his rocket plowed into the floor at her feet. The blast pushed her back, lacerating her legs and abdomen.
“... 2....”
She staggered, managing to fire a third pulse of energy into his chest. He dropped as the other Terragen topped the same stairs. Spinning in her direction, it charged, firing a round of flak point-blank into her chest.
“... 1....” Atlantis vanished in a haze of red.
* * *
“5... 4... 3....”
DaemonS rushed up the stairs next to her spawn location. The narrow bridge was closely bounded on either side by the Okijuza energy shield. Beyond it, strange creatures floated through the hydrocarbon sea. The only sight that interested her at the moment, however, was the rocket launcher in the center of the bridge. That and the blue suit running off the other end. Her last frag must have spawned nearby but with a small time advantage.
“... 2... 1....”
“Sit-rep, guys?” called DaemonS, grabbing the heavy weapon and speeding after her enemy. The comm. channel was quiet. She new what the next announcement would be.
“Blue team takes the lead. Next round in 3... 2....”
“Hi, Daem.” DaemonS spared a quick glance to see Defcon jumping onto the bridge behind her.
“At ‘A’ bridge,” called Bodybag, “they got it?”
“Yep. Let’s take one back quick,” she answered, rushing through the passage and up the crumbled, ancient stairway toward B with Defcon following closely.
“We have no choice,” answered Defcon, “they score one more and it’s over.”
“Blue team dominating... 9... 8....”
The announcement wasn’t surprising since the Terragens should already be dug-in at the control points.
The Cowgirlz entered the chamber, speeding up the short stairs to a catwalk before leaping to the ground.
“I’ll take right,” DaemonS said. Defcon immediately veered to the left.
“... 7....”
DaemonS grabbed the machine gun that sat in a small alcove to the side before re-equipping the rocket launcher and rushing on. One could never have too many weapons.
A purple pulse scorched the air beside her, missing by inches.
“... 6....”
“Where you at, Defcon?” she called, jumping to the left.
“Coming up on far side. Single target. Watch it Bodybag, that means there’s a pair at your end.”
“... 5....”
“I see ‘em.”
DaemonS fired off a rocket that sped wide, exploding too high on the shield. It was enough of a distraction, however. Moments later the blue suit erupted, showering clumps of red over the ancient architecture.
“... 4... unlocked.”
“Good work Defcon,” she said, turning to rush in the opposite direction. “I’m on my way to ‘A’. How’s is looking, Bodybag?”
“One down but da udder be givin’ probs.”
The cavern sped by as DaemonS leapt up the end stairs to the catwalk. Racing to the middle of the zone, she jumped into a small, central alcove that bridged the two caverns. Avoiding the ancient monolith, decorated by illegible hieroglyphics, she leapt out the other side, into A zone just as the announcer’s voice returned.
“Red team has lockdown... 9... 8....”
“Good work, now let’s hold it,” she said.
“Two incoming!” yelled Defcon. DaemonS spun, retracing her steps back to B zone.
Below her, on the left, was one blue shirt. The second had almost crossed the bridge.
“... 7....”
Focus on the most dangerous, the one closest to Defcon. She fired off a rocket, aiming for the far end of the bridge as the glow of a shock pulse flickered around the Terragen, pushing it backward. Slamming into DaemonS’s rocket, the Terragen vaporized leaving only a cloud of red dust in the air. She rushed across the bridge.
“... 6... 5....”
“Point ‘A’ holdin’,” Bodybag informed them.
The second blue shirt streaked toward the end of the zone and the red holopad. DaemonS led him with her rocket launcher until just before the stairs, when she fired. He dodged left too late and ate the shrapnel from her rocket.
“... 4... 3....”
Leaping back onto the stairs, the bloodied Terragen rushed Defcon firing a round of flaknel at her. She launched a concussion sphere at the same moment and the platform erupted in a sonic ‘boom’ as the metal shards destabilized the sphere. The resulting burst blew both backward.
“... 2... 1....”
DaemonS leapt off the bridge to guard against last second surprises as the two lifeless bodies hit the ground.
“... red team evens the match. New round in 3... 2....”
“How you doing, Bodybag?” DaemonS asked as she jumped from the platform.
“Reloadin’ and ‘ealin’-up,” came the reply.
“... 1... begin.”
“I hear you. Same myself,” she said, running to the access stairs of the tall arch that bisected the cavern, traversing its breadth. Scaling the stairs to the highest point of the map, she pocketed the armor set that sat atop, feeling it auto-slot throughout her suit even as two Terragen Terrors entered from the translocator rooms.
“I’ve got two incoming,” she called.
“On my way Daem,” answered Defcon.
The blue suits rushed across the cavern toward the grey, inactive holopad. DaemonS leapt from her perch, firing off a pair of rockets before landing hard. One scored a hit, drawing the rapid staccato of machine-gun fire in return. She raced toward the holopad as explosions echoed from the ground below her. Defcon had arrived.
DaemonS jumped from the bridge, landing on the holopad to a welcome announcement.
“Red team has lockdown... 9....”
Spinning, she rushed to her right to see the second blue suit fall, lifeless, to the ground.
“... 8....”
“Good work Defcon! Now, cover the center point. I think they’ll attack one of the pads en masse and we’d best be ready.”
“Dey already here,” came Bodybag’s desperate call. “Two incomin’.”
“... 7....”<
br />
“On my way,” said Defcon turning to race toward A zone. As she disappeared through the narrow passage, a Terragen entered from the left-side arch.
“... 6....”
DaemonS loosed a rocket toward the blue suit, but her opponent sped up the stairs to the catwalk after Defcon.
“Watch it Defcon, you’ve got incoming behind.”
“Probs here! Any help guys?” called Bodybag.
“... 5... unlocked.”
“I’m tied up with my tail,” Defcon answered, as DaemonS left the control point, leaping up the stairs and sprinting across the bridge.
“Red team has lockdown... 9... 8....”
A Terragen sprang from the underground cavern to her right, sprinting for the holopad. DaemonS came to a jarring halt. Spinning, she pulled the trigger on her rocket launcher. Empty.
“... 7....”
“Damn,” she swore, calling the machine gun she had grabbed earlier. Releasing her adrenaline boost, she raced along the bridge, harassing her enemy with the gun’s secondary fire — it was slower but more accurate than full-auto.
“... 6....”
They reached the stairs at the same time. DaemonS continued pummeling the Terragen with a lead storm as he turned, firing a rocket at her. It sped past as she leapt from the stairs.
“... 5....”
Landing on the platform, she switched to the shield gun and raced at the blue. Her shield soaked up most of his next rocket as she entered melee range. One swipe of the short-range energy projector was enough to finish him.
“... 4... unlocked”
“Status?” she called, searching the room for other Terragens. None were visible.
“Trouble,” Defcon responded. “Two blue here. Bodybag went down.”
“Red team has lockdown... unlocked.”
“Guys?” There was only the silence of pre-translocated teammates.
Two blues entered her zone, one through the central passage from zone A and one from the cavern leading to the lower, left spawn room.
Game, Set, Deathmatch Page 4
