Metamorphosis

by Marty Chan

  “Charlie agrees with me. We have to stay together if we want any chance of beating Ba Tian.”

  Ehrich sighed. “Okay, okay. You win, Bess. We’ll go together.”

  Dash and Gur-Rahim returned. Amina and Tesla joined them. She nodded at Ehrich. “Sorry, my anger spilled over.”

  “Water under the bridge,” he said. “We have to focus on Coney Island.”

  “What are we going to do, Ehrich?” Dash asked.

  Ehrich placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “We’re going to fight.”

  “If we leave a small force here with the two exoskeletons, they might be able to clear away the rubble in the tunnel and get the other machines,” Hexacate said. “That might give us an edge against the forces.”

  Charlie nodded. “There’s no way we can take the units with us to Coney Island without creating a ruckus. We’d spend more time trying to fight off New Yorkers to get to the train. We’re better off going with what we have.”

  Amina shook her head. “Those exoskeletons are devastating. We’re going to have to be strategic about this. I’d be more comfortable if we could bring at least one of the units with us. That could buy us some time and cover against the army.”

  “Then let’s make it our priority to secure one of their units when we reach the island,” Bess suggested.

  “Are you sure we can’t take the units with us?” Hexacate asked.

  “They won’t fit on the train,” Tesla pointed out.

  “How do you think Ba Tian is moving them?” Dash asked.

  “Most likely the same way we escaped from the tunnel. He’s probably piloting them underwater.”

  “Then let’s do the same. Maybe we can catch up to Kifo. How fast do they move, Mr. Tesla?”

  “I don’t know the top speed, but they are swift.”

  “We’ll be able to launch a secondary assault from the beach,” Hexacate said. “And right now, we need all the help we can get.”

  The others agreed. Hexacate ordered two of her people to climb into the exoskeletons. Once they were familiar with the controls, they piloted the units into the river while the rest of the crew marched to the nearest train station. Dawn was starting to break as they reached the platform with the contingent of Dimensionals. Only vendors and deliverymen were awake at this hour, giving the troop the freedom to climb onto the platform without any notice. They headed up to the platform to await the arrival of the train. If other New Yorkers arrived, they’d have to stand in line at the bottom of the stairs. Hexacate’s people had filled the stairwell body to body. With the weapons they took from the Hudson River guards, they were a force to be reckoned with. Ehrich only hoped that these fighters would be enough.

  They boarded the train, filling every seat and every car. The train wheeled slowly ahead and picked up steam, taking them to their ultimate destination: Coney Island.

  The Invasion Begins

  The scene at Coney Island was not what Ehrich had expected. As the train pulled into the station, the sun was rising and the rays of light reflected off two exoskeletons stationed at the bottom of the platform. Ehrich scanned the cockpits for Kifo, but he was not there. The machines swivelled toward the train and raised their gun turrets.

  Ehrich bolted up and shouted, “We have to get off the train now!”

  The other passengers screamed as they saw what he had seen, and a stampede of travellers rushed for the exit. Suddenly, a volley of disks strafed the car. Glass shattered. A few of Hexacate’s travellers fell to their knees, clutching bleeding wounds. They were under attack! Ehrich pushed the people out the other side of the train, which was still rolling to the station. The fall to the ground below would hurt but they would live. The steady rat-a-tat of the disks piercing the train cars filled the air, punctuated with the screams of the injured. Ehrich grabbed Dash and together they jumped off.

  Only two exoskeletons were wreaking havoc on the train. Ehrich dreaded what would happen when they faced an entire troop of these devastating machines.

  Amina joined him on the ground under the elevated rails, bringing with her some of the survivors. Tesla was further down the tracks with Hexacate and another pack of travellers. Ehrich signalled the other group to stay low. Above, more Dimensionals were leaping out of the train, which was now screeching to a halt. Sparks flew from the steel wheels grating on the tracks.

  Some of the people who had fallen to the ground were not getting back up. Their bodies were lacerated with disks. The exoskeletons had done their job.

  Amina gritted her teeth. “They’re cutting off Coney Island from anyone who might be able to help. That must mean the generals are already here for the execution.”

  Ehrich agreed. “We have to move now. Maybe we can skirt around these guards and rush to the site.”

  “I want to come with you,” Dash said.

  “No. It’s too dangerous.”

  Dash insisted. “No more dangerous than sitting out in the open here. I can help.”

  “No, you’d just get in the way.”

  “I can operate the exoskeletons,” Dash said.

  Amina shook her head. “The boardwalk offers no cover. We could use those two exoskeletons. If we can distract the pilots, maybe a small group can take over the units.”

  Ehrich nodded. He raised a hand to signal Hexacate. He pointed at the exoskeletons stationed at the bottom of the train platform and used his fingers to signal her group to fire upon the machines. She nodded and began ordering her people to take up positions under the tracks.

  Amina instructed the travellers. “Focus your fire on the exoskeletons. Buy us enough time to get behind them. Then hold your fire if you see us making our way to the units. Understood?”

  The Dimensionals nodded. Amina and Ehrich edged away from the group and moved under the tracks as the air began to sizzle with the energy bursts from the Teslatron rifles. The battle had begun. Disks screamed through the air and clanked off the pillars of the overhead rail lines. Above, the survivors of the initial attack had fired down on the units as well. Ehrich smiled grimly, glad that some of the people on the train were still around. He checked back for Dash, Charlie, and Bess. They had found safe positions.

  Amina led the way to the exoskeleton on the left, leaving the one closer to the train to engage Hexacate’s travellers. Her group closed the distance, but the machine began to swivel toward them. Amina and her allies were caught out in the open. She sprinted to close the distance, but the pilot spotted her and took aim with the gun turret.

  Ehrich tried to pull her away but he, too, was caught in the crosshairs. Suddenly, an energy bolt struck the unit on the side. Ehrich turned to see the source. Bess and Dash were shoving Charlie’s wheelchair ahead at full speed while the pale young man fired shot after shot from his Teslatron. The energy bolts lit up the shield of the cockpit. The pilot frantically pulled and pushed at the controls to spin the turret around to meet the new enemy.

  Ehrich and Amina sprinted under the exoskeleton. Ehrich reached up and spun the wheel of the hatch and yanked it open. Amina aimed her pistol at the pilot and fired two darts. One pinged off the seat while the other struck the pilot’s leg. He seized up in his seat and the exoskeleton’s arms dropped to its sides. He convulsed in the harness until he passed out.

  Ehrich launched Amina up into the cockpit and she pushed the wounded pilot out. He slammed the hatch shut as the unit lumbered toward the other exoskeleton. Ehrich used Amina’s unit as cover as it marched closer and closer to its companion. When it was a few feet away, Amina launched a volley of shots into the back of the iron behemoth. Ehrich sprinted toward the underbelly of the second exoskeleton as it was swivelling around to face off against Amina’s unit.

  The two iron giants grappled each other’s arms and pushed each other back. The Dimensionals charged from their positions to assault the unit. Ehrich reached the hatch and spun it open. Inside
, the pilot was too busy concentrating on Amina’s unit to notice him until it was too late. Ehrich fired his dynatron pistol once and struck the pilot in the calf. The erupting electricity stunned the pilot and the machine went inert.

  The travellers cheered as they charged ahead. Charlie, Bess, and Dash rushed to Ehrich and helped him pull the pilot out of the cockpit. They stripped the man of his weapons and trussed him up alongside the one Amina had kicked out of her cockpit.

  Hexacate took stock of her people. They had already lost a third of their numbers from the train attack. The engine was dead and the train blocked the tracks. There would be no one else coming into Coney Island. They were on their own against the warlord’s forces.

  “We need to march on the demonstration site and see if we can stop Ba Tian,” Ehrich told the others. “Now that you’ve seen how we got in the machines, that’s what you have to do.”

  “Who is going to operate the units?” Tesla asked.

  “I will do it,” Hexacate said. “What do I need to know?”

  Her son rushed up beside her. “I will help you, Mamma.”

  She beamed and hoisted him up into her arms. “You? What do you think you can do, little one?”

  “I can help,” he said.

  Ehrich smiled. “And the cockpit is probably the safest place for him.”

  “All right. Let’s get inside, then.”

  “What about me?” Charlie asked. “I don’t want to slow you guys down.”

  “It would be a tight squeeze,” she said. “But you should fit in one of these things.”

  He pulled out the communication device. “I have a better idea. I can find high ground and relay troop positions to you, Ehrich. What do you say?”

  “Great idea!” He flashed a quick glance at Dash.

  Charlie picked up on the hint. “But I’m going to need a second pair of eyes and someone to push me. Dash, you think you could help?”

  Dash’s face lit up. “You bet.”

  Bess shook her head. “They’ll need someone to cover them. Hand me a pistol.”

  Ehrich smiled admiringly at her before handing over a pistol. “You know how to shoot one of these things?”

  She tapped the barrel. “This is the deadly end. Point and pull the trigger. That about cover it?”

  “Well, you have to hit the target.”

  She smiled. “My dad taught me how to hunt when I was eight. I won’t miss. I won’t let anything happen to Charlie or Dash.”

  “I wouldn’t stand in her way, Ehrich. The Dimensionals should run from her if she gets her temper up.”

  She laughed and pushed Charlie away with Dash scouting ahead. Ehrich watched them go, hoping they would be safe. Behind him, Amina and Hexacate climbed into their cockpits and fired up their iron machines.

  .

  Once they were ready, they marched on the execution site. Amina and Hexacate led their group to the back side of the execution stage while Ehrich led his forces toward the front of it.

  As his troop drew near, Ehrich saw that they were already too late. Two horse-drawn paddy wagons were parked beside the stage. Ehrich glimpsed crimson hands clutching the bars of the wagon windows and guessed the occupants were Ba Tian’s generals awaiting their fate. Edison’s hunters took cover on the other side of the stage, right next to the generators. The hunters fired at a couple of dozen exoskeletons marching toward the stage. Ehrich scanned the cockpits for any sign of Kifo, now in Mr. Serenity’s body, believing he would be leading the charge. He couldn’t see the assassin.

  Another dozen exoskeletons were lumbering to the right of the stage to flank the hunters. By a rough count, Ehrich estimated that maybe three dozen exoskeletons were about to attack. He scanned the shore, half-expecting to see more machines waiting to charge in and finish off the dwindling defenses that Edison had set up around the demonstration site. Where were the others? He scanned the empty beach for Kifo and other soldiers.

  Nothing but ocean. He had hoped the two travellers who piloted the exoskeletons from the Hudson River would have arrived, but he saw no sign of them.

  He pulled out the communication device. “Charlie, are you guys in position?”

  “Almost. Wheels are stuck. Dash and Bess are pushing but it’s slow going.”

  “The main force seems to be in front of the stage with another dozen working their way behind. They’re concentrating their fire on the guards around the two paddy wagons. Do you see any more of Ba Tian’s forces?”

  “Hold on. Dash is going to get a better view.”

  He waited for several seconds for Charlie to reply. Time inched by as the sound of energy bolts and the scream of razor-sharp disks erupted in the morning air. The hunters were clearly losing the battle, being outgunned by the massive machines. It wouldn’t take long for Ba Tian to overcome the forces and take back the generals.

  Finally, Charlie responded. “No sign of any other enemy forces. The best attack is on the dozen exoskeletons moving behind the stage.”

  “Thanks, Charlie. Wait until my forces are in position, then tell Amina to launch an offensive on the smaller group. I’ll engage the main forces and keep them occupied. Let me know if anyone comes up behind us.”

  “Understood, Ehrich.”

  “Stay safe,” Bess said.

  Ehrich pocketed the device and rallied the forces to charge at the main force of exoskeletons. He concentrated the group’s fire power on the exoskeletons lumbering toward the generators. The hunters were falling back and losing many of their numbers to the flying disks.

  He moved in with the travellers to a position behind the machines. He then pressed his communicator.

  “Charlie. We’re ready. Tell Amina.”

  “I read you, Ehrich.”

  .

  A few moments later, a fresh assault began on the exoskeletons trying to flank the hunters. Amina in her unit and Hexacate in hers led the charge toward the back end of the execution stage.

  Ba Tian’s exoskeletons swivelled to confront the new enemy. This was the distraction Ehrich had hoped for. He led the charge to the underbelly of the machines in front of the stage. He waited until everyone had found a position at the hatch, then he gave the signal. One person opened the hatch while the other fired into the cockpit and took out the pilots. Ehrich climbed into a unit and waved for the others to do the same. Inside the cockpits, travellers desperately tried to figure out the controls. Some were more successful than others, but taking out a chunk of the iron troops gave the hunters a fighting chance.

  Ehrich directed his gun turret at the rest of the units in front of the stage. Volley after volley strafed the exoskeletons. His troops had figured out how to fire upon the enemy and they joined the firefight from their standing positions. The rest of the Dimensionals rushed to get under some of the machines near the generators. They had lost the element of surprise, but they still tried to get under the iron giants. Many fell under the volley of disks. Ehrich directed his turret at the units and provided some cover fire. Two travellers made it to the underbelly of one of the exoskeletons and hauled the pilot out. It was a small victory, but at least they were making progress.

  The other travellers spread out and tried to hijack more of the exoskeletons, but they couldn’t close the distance. Instead, they nestled into positions and fired on the enemies. The hunters were confused, unsure of who to shoot at. When they saw two of the travellers sneak under a machine and crack the hatch open, they took action. While the exoskeletons were turning to fire upon the travellers, some of the hunters moved into position under the units and pulled open the hatches. The exoskeleton pilots were being attacked from front and back. It wouldn’t take much longer for the iron troops to fall.

  Ehrich’s moment of victory was cut short when the communicator squawked at him. “They’re moving on you!”

  He faced three exoskeletons charg
ing on his position.

  His communicator squawked again. Charlie’s voice shouted, “On your right. Turn. Turn.”

  Ehrich spun the controls to confront a charging exoskeleton. In the cockpit of the approaching machine sat his former commander, George Farrier.

  Captured

  Ehrich steeled himself and prepared for battle against overwhelming odds. He took aim at the cockpit of Farrier’s unit and unleashed a volley, then he pedalled his machine into action and ran to meet the oncoming assault. The ping of metal disks bouncing off his armour was deafening, but he narrowed his gaze and pushed ahead to take on the commander’s exoskeleton.

  They clashed in the middle of the battle. The giant machine arms grappled one another as they tried to get leverage on their opponent. Farrier had more experience at the controls and was overpowering Ehrich’s unit, but Ehrich wasn’t going to go down easily. He snaked his unit’s iron arm out and fired a round of disks into his opponent’s arm. The sharp disks cut into the servos of the iron arm and rendered it useless. It now dangled from the exoskeleton body.

  Farrier’s unit pummelled the cockpit glass of Ehrich’s machine until cracks appeared. It wouldn’t be long before the glass would break and Ehrich would be defenseless. He blocked the next blow with both the exoskeleton hands and tried to pedal forward to drive Farrier’s unit into the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Farrier’s other units rush past him and engage his comrades. They were not prepared for this kind of pitched battle and he knew that the odds were against them.

  He saw hope, however, when two stray exoskeletons lumbered up from the beach, dripping wet as if they had emerged from the ocean. The travellers from the tunnel project had arrived in the nick of time. They blasted their rounds at the enemy and brought down two machines.

  One of the exoskeletons raised a turret at Farrier’s unit. Farrier howled in the cockpit as he tried to pull the controls and confront the new enemy.