Conway did not blanch, did not flinch. His eyes were every bit as sharp and possessed of cold as they always were. “Kill me, then,” he said, grimacing. “ARTEMIS doesn't move without my say-so. Kill me and the unit won't budge. I guess your family will be... fucked then, won't they?” The cruelest smile wormed its way across his pale lips.
Silvio let him go forcefully, sending him to the ground. “Just hurry it up.”
Standing and brushing his coat off, Conway nodded to Emil. “Let's begin. We'd hate for our operator here to get worked up. No need to give him the chance to do something he might regret.”
***
When ARTEMIS had been fully constructed, Silvio couldn't get into the cockpit fast enough. Accepting a cocktail of painkillers and performance-enhancers that might've killed a lesser man, he took off his shirt and allowed Dr. Deal to prep him for launch. Without the Colossus bearing down on them, the process went more smoothly than it had the last time. Time was of the essence, and the moment he got the OK, he intended to send ARTEMIS sprinting after the beast.
Emil had compartmentalized the unit differently this time in transit so that the components were easier for him to sequence when the time came to reconstruct it. Moreover, he hadn't torn it down completely, leaving certain of the limbs completely intact, for added ease. The entire unit was put together in the space of just a few hours, and when a quick test was done of its responsiveness, Silvio got the green light.
First, however, he was briefed by Conway and McCoy, whose voices competed through the cockpit's speaker. First, was the commandant.
“Look, kid, San Fran's been ruined. The fucker seems to have stopped, for a while, anyway. It's sitting in the ocean. Dunno what it's doing there, but it's balled up in the shallows, on the coast. Maybe it's sleeping. I don't know. What I do know is that we don't need to lose anymore ground to this thing. Can I trust you to take it out this time? Ya did grand last time with just one arm to work with. Ya got both this time. Think you can pull off a miracle?”
Leaning forward in the cockpit and clenching ARTEMIS' fist, Silvio replied in the affirmative. “Don't you worry. I'm going to show you things you've never seen before. It won't know what hit it.”
Conway spoke up. “Mr. Echegaray, I hope you'll exercise extreme caution. We've equipped you with a new weapon, which may allow you to keep some distance from the creature.”
“New weapon?”
“A sword.” Silvio remembered hearing talk of a sword. Conway went on to wax poetic about it. “It is the most devastating blade ever crafted. It is unbreakable and unimaginably sharp, crafted of the same alloy that makes up ARTEMIS' body. It is the single sharpest thing on this planet. If anything can devastate the rocky hide of that creature, it is this sword. It has been attached to ARTEMIS' back by a magnetic bond. To release it, you need only to will the magnetic bond to cease. Then ARTEMIS will be able to grasp it and wield it. Understand?”
His mind was scrambled with fear. San Francisco had been leveled. His family wasn't so far from there; had they been in the Colossus' path? There was no way for him to know. Doing his best to restrain his worry, he complied with Conway's directions, lest the hateful man stall the pursuit further. “Anything else I need to know?”
“Happy hunting,” said McCoy amusedly. “I take it you know the way?”
Silvio turned in ARTEMIS, the display showing him the long line cut into the ground where the raging Colossus had rampaged its way to the coast.
Every muscle in his body tensing, he took a deep breath and began sprinting down the line, following the creature's tracks. Everything felt perfect; ARTEMIS' systems were responsive and a steady stream of drugs made his blood feel like fire. He was a part of the machine, the heart and soul of this glimmering titan that would strike down the beast at the end of the line.
Enjoy your rest while you can get it, you bastard. I'm comin', and I won't play nice this time.
26
The monster hunt was on.
From the very first, Silvio was overwhelmed by the scope of destruction at every turn. Presently he was racing over the ruins of a city; just which, he couldn't be certain. To know that the creature had laid waste to so much of the country in this same fashion was a difficult thing for him to process. All around he saw survivors milling about like ants, their anguish and terror palpable even from hundreds of feet up.
Here and there makeshift shelters had been constructed, and they appeared to be hotbeds of human activity. There were communities of tents, bustling with both military personnel and civilians. Were Sarah and Leah in one of those camps somewhere? Or, maybe, had the Colossus avoided their town altogether? Or...
He forced the thought out of his mind, focusing only on his furious pursuit. He pushed every ounce of energy he had into urging ARTEMIS on. The mech ran hard and fast, sailing through the air with great strides. He wished that Conway had given ARTEMIS the ability to fly. Despite the great swaths of ground the mech covered with every step, he didn't feel he was moving fast enough.
The sound of a helicopter reached his ears. Dr. Deal, Conway, Emil and McCoy were in it. The thing had trailed him since he'd set out. Now and then one of the passengers would say something to him over the comm line, but for the most part his rush to the coast was gravely silent.
Silvio wasn't in a chatty mood. He'd gotten his orders. Now was a time for action, a time for revenge. Even if his own family had been spared, there was no shortage of rage in his heart for what the creature had done to countless others. Seeing the destruction first-hand, his disbelief melted away into sheer rage. This was an anger unlike any he'd ever known.
Early in his boxing career, when he'd been a green-behind-the-ears rookie, he'd gotten slugged in the nose by some upstart. Losing control, he'd tossed away everything he'd learned and gone after the guy hard, throwing a flurry of wild punches and elbows that ultimately got him disqualified. Up until now, he'd never been reacquainted with that kind of anger. Things just went so much more smoothly when he controlled himself, reined it in. Abuelo had always taught him that, even from the earliest days. “The best fighters are the ones who keep their cool, mijo. They don't lose their heads after getting hit. They don't get mad, they work smarter, understand?”
What would abuelo say if he could see him now? Silvio wondered. The old man's voice echoed in his ears, but the meaning was lost.
Sorry, abuelo, he thought. There's a time for calm. There's a time for working smarter. But this ain't it. When I find this thing, I'm going to try my damnedest to tear it to pieces.
Somehow, he didn't think his abuelo would have had such a hard time agreeing with him, in this instance.
***
His head was beginning to ache when he spotted the coast. The intense focus had taken its toll on his energy levels, and only the constant stream of drugs kept him in the game.
But then the destination came into view.
Silvio was reinvigorated, the mental strain he'd taken in driving ARTEMIS across the State evaporating forthwith. It was showtime. The Colossus was somewhere in the water. At least, that's what McCoy had said.
Conway broke in over the comm line.”Mr. Echegaray, the creature is close-by. Pay close attention and prepare for battle.”
Silvio stopped in his tracks, standing amidst piles of busted skyscrapers. He waded through them as though they were fallen building blocks in a child's playroom. A cloud of dust lingered about the ground. Things hadn't completely settled down here since the Colossus had barreled through. Though he glanced this way and that, Silvio couldn't zero in on the creature. He scanned the shallows, standing near the coastline and using the display's zoom function.
Something so big can't stay hidden for long, even in the ocean, he thought to himself. I'll find you soon enough.
As he walked along the coast, he saw a few makeshift camps in the distance. They were alive with military vehicles. As best he could tell, military craft were distributing rations to the survivors and constructing temporary
shelters. That was what he'd told Sarah he was off to do. He'd lied to her, told her that he was tasked with doing cleanup.
Instead, he was the guy they'd brought on to hunt the monster down. He chuckled at the ludicrousness of it all, and hoped he'd have a chance to see her again. Somehow, even if he survived all of this without a scratch, he didn't think Sarah would ever see the humor in it.
Turning to the glistening ocean, Silvio narrowed his gaze. “So, should I dive in there and look for it?” he asked through the comm line. “How does ARTEMIS handle in the water? Is she a good swimmer?”
He didn't have to wait for Conway or the others to reply, however. Instead, his target came to him.
A black stain crowded the water some ways out. Something, it was clear, was emerging from the depths very rapidly. In the next instant, black spires were thrust out of the water. A reptilian head, hulking shoulders, two arms tipped in fearsome claws.
The Colossus thrust its massive body out of the deep and stood firm, appraising ARTEMIS with animalistic rage in its yellow eyes.
When last they'd met, it'd been during a night-time battle. In the light, the creature's grotesque features were all the more apparent. Its black, scaly form exuded primordial wickedness. Its mouthful of jagged teeth parted in a deafening roar that was altogether too familiar to him now. From behind, he caught glimpses of that enormous tail. The creature's face was still marred near the jaw, where Silvio had delivered a solid kick. The spot hadn't completely healed, still looked raw.
Silvio's attention was pulled away from the beast, however.
Something else captured his gaze as the creature stood in the water, looking him over with hatred.
In its emergence from the sea, it had displaced a good deal of water, conjuring up a tremendous wave. From a mile or so out to sea there now surged a tidal wave whose equal Silvio had only ever glimpsed in film. A great wall of water was dredged up, gaining speed and size as it barreled towards the coast.
His limbs went limp as he scrambled for some way to stop it.
All of those people, he thought, glancing the flimsy tenements where soldiers and refugees now cowered. That wave is going to blast them... they don't stand a chance.
Spreading out ARETMIS' arms, Silvio sought to block the thing, using the mech's body as a shield. There was no point, however. Even before it struck him dead on and nearly toppled ARTEMIS, he knew himself unable to stop it. There was simply too much water, coming from too large an area, for his feeble efforts to have any effect. Water crashed past his reach, began eating up the coastline and the land beyond.
He turned, wide-eyed, as the tsunami rocketed past and tore the makeshift shelters, along with all of their inhabitants, to sea. Tanks were pulled into the drink, along with what must have been hundreds of flailing humans. Men, women and children were dragged under the waves, along with loads of rubble and impotent military vehicles.
And still the Colossus stood in the sea, its bloodlust suddenly reinvigorated at the sight of its metallic rival.
Frozen, crestfallen for a time, it was only the shouts through the comm line that roused him to action. “Silvio!” called Dr. Deal.
“There's the creature! Strike it down, at once!” called Conway.
“Let 'er have it!” came McCoy
Silvio punched the console before him, repeatedly, till his knuckles opened and a trail of blood ran down the side. “Goddammit!” He turned his teary eyes to the beast that snarled at him from the distance. Palming away his tears, he recalled the magnetic lock that kept the sword fastened to ARTEMIS' body and released it. Then, reaching back, he willed the mech to grasp the handle.
Disgust and white-hot anger coursed through him, filling up his every cell to bursting.
Face red and awash in tears, Silvio felt a sob welling in his throat. He choked it back, however. There would be time for mourning later. The electrode patches on his wrists were dappled in tears as he formulated his plan. Funny, he thought, that even that dead eye of his should still be capable of shedding tears.
Pointing the tip of the sword seaward, he screamed out before rushing at the black form of the Colossus. There was no need for hatching a detailed plan, for strategy. His only desire then was to perform as violent an execution as possible.
“You goddamned monster, this is where it ends! Today you have more than just me to reckon with. I'm going to give you every ounce of my anger... and the anger of everyone else on Earth. You're done for... done for!”
27
Silvio didn't know much about sword fighting. He'd trained for years to turn his fists into powerful weapons, never having to rely on any other tool to make him deadly. Against this foe, however, the sword was a much-needed upgrade to his usual arsenal.
Wielding it with one hand, he raced into the water till ARTEMIS' legs were submerged nearly to the knees. The mech operated well-enough, and the water added only a bit of resistance to her stride. The Colossus, however, well-suited to an aquatic environment, proved surprisingly agile in the water, diving down and resurfacing with incredible speed. The waves it dredged up in its wake as it moved to avoid Silvio's wild slashes pummeled what little remained of the coast, expanding the borders of the ocean and nearly overcoming ARTEMIS.
If he was going to win this fight, he'd have to lure the thing onto land. There was no way he could hope to defeat it in the water-- not with this weapon he had zero experience with. Silvio willed ARTEMIS back slowly, step-by-step, till the mech had risen out of the almost waist-high water and neared the shore. Brandishing the sword, he waited for the creature to arrive within striking distance and delivered a powerful slash.
Missed.
The Colossus was no fool; it knew better than to walk into the business-end of the sword. Though its craggy exterior would likely protect it against any attack, the creature was cautious. It'd underestimated ARTEMIS once, and apparently recalled the way its face had been wounded the last time.
Jabbing in the air, ARTEMIS lurched towards the beast, only to have the tip of its blade parried by the creature's tail. The obsidian spike on the end batted the blade away like an expert fencer, and then remained in position, lest Silvio attempt a follow-up slash.
Focusing on the blade, Silvio unleashed a downward slash, then a side-jab when the first was narrowly avoided.
“This thing is just too goddamn fast in the water,” uttered Silvio, doubling back towards shore. “Either that, or I'm just too slow in it.”
Conway's voice came through the comm line, colored in tones of excitement that sounded wildly out of place. “ARTEMIS is not designed for aquatic activities of this kind, though to see it in action is inspiring. I've already got some ideas for improvements in its design, ways to allow it improved mobility underwater.”
Silvio sighed, allowing ARTEMIS to mount the shore. “Well, I'm so glad I could help you out with that, doc.”
As if taking the bait, the Colossus followed him onto land, snaking through the raging currents with ease and then bounding onto the lip of the shore with one of its enormous saurian feet. It lashed out at him with a claw, demonstrating such speed that he was momentarily stunned. ARTEMIS' sword was caught in the swipe, and was knocked from her grasp.
“Shit!” Silvio struggled to keep balance as the Colossus started straightaway into its next offensive. The snaking tail shot past the bulk of its torso and encircled the mech's head, tightening in an instant and dragging ARTEMIS down onto her knees. Silvio was rattled, saved from ruin only by the harness he wore. From up above, he could hear the sounds of metal being tried under great pressure.
The Colossus was trying to rip ARTEMIS' head off of her shoulders.
Struggling to gain a footing but pushed down repeatedly by the strength of the creature's tail, Silvio tried to reach the sword. It'd fallen into the ground, had been buried up to the hilt, like a hot knife in butter. The thing really was incredibly sharp, but it did him no good buried in the shore. He tried to grab it, but every time he moved, the grip of the Co
lossus grew only more oppressive.
The black monolith peered down at ARTEMIS as it attempted to wrench off her head, a savage delight communicated in its yellow gaze. A lesser opponent would have been torn to shreds by such an assault, however the Colossus seemed to enjoy ARTEMIS' resilience, roaring as the segments of its tail writhed and tightened. The sound of groaning metal filled in the silences.
“Come on, ARTEMIS... hold on, buddy...” Focusing his energies on gaining his feet, Silvio loosed a scream. One-by-one ARTEMIS' feet were planted shakily in the ground. Then, with a monumental effort, the mech began to rise. Silvio's body quivered as though he himself were bearing the titan's wrath. His head ached terribly, his mouth went dry.
But he managed to stand the thing.
Enraged at this show of insolence, the Colossus screamed in tones that saw the ocean churn before drawing near and laying into the beleaguered mech with its clawed hands. A series of smacks were delivered, which rocked ARTEMIS and very nearly toppled her shaking operator.
Amid the blows, Silvio reached out and balled ARTEMIS' fist. “Back it up!” he shouted, wheeling the mech's arm around and delivering a firm, back-handed punch to its right eye.
The Colossus fell several steps back, its tail loosening considerably and a screech of pain issuing from its scaly lips.
He'd scored a massive blow.
Rolling away from the Colossus' reach, Silvio grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it from the earth. ARTEMIS then turned to face the beast, which had fallen onto its haunches in a fit of shrill cries.
Its right eye had been severely damaged, the yellow globe having been punctured and the insides of it spilling out across the creature's craggy face. The thing pawed at its craggy snout, its limbs shook and it waged a wild tantrum.
He'd blinded it in its right eye.
Silvio began to laugh. Watching the beast shudder and cry, he felt an intense rush of satisfaction. The aching in his body was quelled for a moment, his stress melted away. The thing had underestimated ARTEMIS again, had gotten too close. And now it was paying the price.
Bonecrusher: A Kaiju Thriller (The Armageddon Tetralogy Book 1) Page 15
