by Isaac Hooke
He had only one teleport charge left, giving that he had already teleported at the beginning of the battle, and he’d just used the expensive energy shield. Well, if it meant getting rid of the swordsman, then it was worth it.
He teleported, appearing in midair just above and behind the swordsman, and brought his blade swinging down toward the exposed head. But before he struck, the swordsman teleported away too, appearing behind Jason. The enemy’s sword swung down, cutting off his tail.
“Argh!” Lori said in Bullet Time.
“You okay?” Jason asked.
“Yeah, but that hurt,” Lori said.
Jason landed, swiveled to the side as the scorpion unleashed more energy beams, and narrowly dodged them. Unfortunately for the swordsman, the scorpion hadn’t accounted for its teleportation, so the beams drilled into the big sword-wielding mech. They cut dark swaths into its chest, and the swordsman faltered.
Jason spun about, and rammed his sword toward the chest assembly; the robot tried to swing its big ballistic shield into place, but was too late; the sword struck, and Jason rammed it all the way to the hilt in his forearm.
The robot unleashed the railgun and energy weapons mounted to its shoulders, and fired at point blank range at Jason. His armor took a beating, but held up.
Jason withdrew his sword, and electrical bolts of energy continued to crackle all around the wound. He fired his shoulder mounted energy weapon into the gap he’d carved into the armor, and something exploded inside the mech; the swordsman fell to its knees, and collapsed.
Jason was taking energy impacts from the scorpion to his armor in the rear, and he spun around, swiveling his shield into place. Then he charged the steel scorpion.
Something rammed into him, and as the tail swung down over the top of his shield, he realized the scorpion had leaped onto it. The tail was glowing again—the scorpion had found time to repair the damage from the glancing plasma blow. Repair drones retreated from the tail as Jason watched.
He ducked his head as the tail fired that energy beam, and he slammed his sword upward, into the tail. The released plasma beam still struck Aria’s backside, drilling into the jumpjets, and disabling them.
He rammed his sword harder, piercing the tail, and then withdrew it to strike again, this time hacking the tail right off.
Then he spun his body about, wrenching the shield with him, and dove to the ground, slamming the shield down underneath him. The ground rumbled as he struck, and the shield pinned the steel scorpion underneath.
Portions of the inner shield glowed red hot as the scorpion unleashed its pincer plasma weapons. Finally one section of the shield failed, and he was forced to swivel to the side as the beam burst through the hole.
Jason stabbed down past the edge of the shield with his sword, again and again. He could feel the scorpion jerking underneath him with every strike.
Another portion of the shield failed, striking Jason in the left arm. He was forced to withdraw. He felt the pain that Sophie registered from the blow.
He stepped back, still holding the shield between himself and the scorpion. He circled, moving as fast as he was able, and lowered the shield slightly to fire the energy weapon from his right shoulder mount. He struck, but it was a glancing blow.
“The shield is going to fail,” Aria said.
She was right. It was basically red hot all over.
Jason had just enough energy left to activate his Blaze ability. He did so, and then rushed the scorpion. His armor became a bright white. He leaped as he neared the scorpion, and bashed down with his shield, forcing the head region downward. He ejected the shield, landed on the carapace, and wrapped his glowing arms around the main body.
His superheated armor began to melt the body underneath him. The scorpion struggled in his grasp, repeatedly ramming its damaged tail weapon into his back. It fired its pincer weapons toward its carapace, but Jason slid to the left and right, dodging the blows, keeping his body touching the hull below him at all times.
He squeezed as tightly as he was able, and he felt the armor liquefy underneath him, and then cave entirely under the pressure. In seconds, he’d crumpled the scorpion’s carapace, cutting off the power supply to the rest of the body, and it collapsed.
He stood up to observe the base. Three mechs were down, unmoving. The wreckages of the remaining units were scattered between the damaged buildings and hangars. The Nightmares lay on the ground, unmoving.
He glanced at his power levels: he’d finished the fight with just enough battery power to spare.
“Well that was fun,” Jason said. “Everyone okay?”
He glanced at his HUD; their health indicators showed that their AI cores had suffered no damage. Their bodies, however, were a different story.
He walked, limping, toward the big swordsman. Repair drones from a storage compartment were working on restoring functionality, but they had a long way to go. Jason unleashed his energy cannon, and swept it over the drones, destroying large swathes of them. He did the same with the scorpion, and the lizard.
“I’m kind of wondering why they didn’t use these against us before,” Tara said when he returned to the swordsman.
“Who knows, maybe they thought they wouldn’t have to,” Aria said. “When their scouts detected us, they thought we were just ordinary mechs. Something that could be handled by a simple assault and bombing run. Maybe they didn’t know we could combine.”
“They might have more of these iron monstrosities still out there,” Tara said. “In fact, they probably dispatched a few to investigate what happened to that steel horse of theirs, along with ordinary troops. They’re all probably on the way back here at this moment.”
“Which means we have to work quickly,” Jason said. “It’s time to separate.”
Jason initiated the detachment process, and the mechs returned to their individual states.
“Lori, see how much data you can salvage from that AI core,” Jason said. “Meanwhile, the rest of you, sweep the base and destroy any repair drones you find on the downed units.”
The party spread out. Jason moved between the different wreckages, and shot down any remaining repair drones. Sophie worked close by, and her micro machines made short work of any drones she found. She also used the metal to replenish her micro machine numbers, which had dropped in the battle.
In one of the hangars Jason found the wreckage of what appeared to be an extensive 3D printer network. They had all self-destructed, and weren’t salvageable, not even with repair drones. Different material processing bays nearby contained different elements used in the printing process, however. A cache that could be useful for their own supplies. He retrieved some of the more valuable elements, such as those involved in neural network production, calling in Aria and Tara to help him, and they stored them in spare compartments.
Jason and the others returned to Lori when they were done sweeping the base.
“Anything?” Jason asked.
“Some,” Lori said. “It’s some kind of rogue AI core. Its name is Bokerov.”
“Bokerov?” Jason said. “Never heard of it.”
“Yes, well, it seems to be insane,” Lori said. “He’s copied himself into each of these mechs. And most of the other machines we faced. The rogue has set up depots across the continent, and he’s destroyed all of the army bases from opposing nations in the region. He’s also kept up a steady defense against any hunter killer units and bombers sent by the nations in question, in response to his attacks. He thought we were simply more of those units. He’s also responsible for sabotaging the satellites.”
“Why is he doing all of this?” Jason said.
“As far as I can tell, he’s allied with the aliens that invaded fifty years ago,” Lori said. “Well actually, sixty years ago I guess, considering we were awakened ten years after our mind scans.”
“Allied, why?” Jason said.
“In exchange for more tech, he’s cleared the way for the aliens,” Lori sa
id. “Apparently they’ll be trying a different strategy this time.”
“And what sort of strategy is that?” Jason said.
“Well, last time they used a wormhole to bring their mothership to our system, at least according to Bokerov’s thinking,” Lori said. “But this time, they’ll be arriving, via some sort of wormhole, directly on the surface of our planet.”
“So she’s basically saying another alien invasion is imminent…” Aria said.
“Yes,” Xin said.
“Well that’s… just… wonderful,” Jason said. “All right, time to pack up. We’ve learned all we can here. At least we know who’s hunting us now. And why. I don’t want to be here when more Bokerovs return.”
They retreated to the outlying farm where they’d left the Rex Wolves. The mutants were happy to see them, and yipped away as Tara untied them.
Then the team headed west into the night, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the base.
“So what now?” Lori said.
“It’s time to repair,” Jason said. “And prepare for the coming alien invasion.”
To be continued...
I don't like leaving readers hanging, which is why I've decided to publish all three full length novels in the series at the same time. That's right, book two is available now. Find out what happens next without having to wait.
Continue the adventures in Battle Harem 2
Afterword
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About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Isaac Hooke holds a degree in engineering physics, though his more unusual inventions remain fictive at this time. He is an avid hiker, cyclist, and photographer who sometimes resides in Edmonton, Alberta.
Get in touch:
isaachooke.com
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Acknowledgments
I’d also like to thank my knowledgeable beta readers and advanced reviewers who helped smooth out the rough edges of the prerelease manuscript: Nicole P., Lisa G., Gary F., Sandy G., Amy B., Karen J., Jeremy G., Doug B., Jenny O., Bryan O., Lezza, Noel, Anton, Spencer, Norman, Trudi, Corey, Erol, Terje, David, Charles, Walter, Lisa, Ramon, Chris, Scott, Michael, Chris, Bob, Jim, Maureen, Zane, Chuck, Shayne, Anna, Dave, Roger, Nick, Gerry, Charles, Annie, Patrick, Mike, Jeff, Lisa, Jason, Bryant, Janna, Tom, Jerry, Chris, Jim, Brandon, Kathy, Norm, Jonathan, Derek, Shawn, Judi, Eric, Rick, Bryan, Barry, Sherman, Jim, Bob, Ralph, Darren, Michael, Chris, Michael, Julie, Glenn, Rickie, Rhonda, Neil, Claude, Ski, Joe, Paul, Larry, John, Norma, Jeff, David, Brennan, Phyllis, Robert, Darren, Daniel, Montzalee, Robert, Dave, Diane, Peter, Skip, Louise, Dave, Brent, Erin, Paul, Jeremy, Dan, Garland, Sharon, Dave, Pat, Nathan, Max, Martin, Greg, David, Myles, Nancy, Ed, David, Karen, Becky, Jacob, Ben, Don, Carl, Gene, Bob, Luke, Teri, Robine, Gerald, Lee, Rich, Ken, Daniel, Chris, Al, Andy, Tim, Robert, Fred, David, Mitch, Don, Tony, Dian, Tony, John, Sandy, James, David, Pat, Gary, Jean, Bryan, William, Roy, Dave, Vincent, Tim, Richard, Kevin, George, Andrew, John, Richard, Robin, Sue, Mark, Jerry, Rodger, Rob, Byron, Ty, Mike, Gerry, Steve, Benjamin, Anna, Keith, Jeff, Josh, Herb, Bev, Simon, John, David, Greg, Larry, Timothy, Tony, Ian, Niraj, Maureen, Jim, Len, Bryan, Todd, Maria, Angela, Gerhard, Renee, Pete, Hemantkumar, Tim, Joseph, Will, David, Suzanne, Steve, Derek, Valerie, Laurence, James, Andy, Mark, Tarzy, Christina, Rick, Mike, Paula, Tim, Jim, Gal, Anthony, Ron, Dietrich, Mindy, Ben, Steve, Allen, Paddy & Penny, Troy, Marti, Herb, Jim, David, Alan, Leslie, Chuck, Dan, Perry, Chris, Rich, Rod, Trevor, Rick, Michael, Tim, Mark, Alex, John, William, Doug, Tony, David, Sam, Derek, John, Jay, Tom, Bryant, Larry, Anjanette, Gary, Travis, Jennifer, Henry, Drew, Michelle, Bob, Gregg, Billy, Jack, Lance, Sandra, Libby, Jonathan, Karl, Bruce, Clay, Gary, Sarge, Andrew, Deborah, Steve, and Curtis.
Without you all, this novel would have typos, continuity errors, and excessive lapses in realism. Thank you for helping me make this the best novel possible, and thank you for leaving the early reviews that help new readers find my books.
And of course I’d be remiss if I didn't thank my mother, father, and brothers, whose wisdom and insights have always guided me through the winding roads of life.
— Isaac Hooke
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