We moved down the aisles between the assemble lines. The automation continued to roll forward without notice. If our intelligence hadn’t told us that there were four Vantagax working in the facility I would have thought we were home free.
I followed behind Asel in a crouch within a few arm lengths. My sole weapon was a small sidearm. Shaaban and Asel said they didn’t trust me in a firefight because I’d had no weapons training. I countered that I had gone through plenty of fights. We compromised on a weapon that couldn’t penetrate their exo-suit’s armor plating.
“Need to find stairs,” said Shaaban over the team feed, but it sounded like he talked to himself.
Asel grunted.
I looked up. Catwalks stretched across the open area above the work floor. The protective siding and solid floor provided cover. We had no protection on the assembly line floor and would be sitting ducks if there was anyone above us.
Asel continued forward as I scanned over the top of her head. Even though we knew where the offices were located we didn’t have an interior layout of the facility. Finding our way across would have to be done without waypoints and markers. Even though I’d done just that so many times before being cryo-frozen I’d grown used to my HUD providing me info. Not having it didn’t feel quite right and a knot of uneasiness sat in my stomach.
The knot loosened. I tapped Asel on the shoulder and pointed to a set of stairs that made its way up to the catwalks.
“Stairs,” I said.
Asel gave thumbs up. Shaaban didn’t acknowledge, but I knew he heard because he headed towards the staircase.
A crack rang out over the sound of machinery. Shaaban and Asel turned firing almost at once as one. A lone Vantagax screamed and tumbled backwards over the catwalk. Without the roar of the machines we would have heard him hit the ground.
“One down,” said Shaaban.
Shaaban ran up the steps taking them three or four at a time. The force of his running bent the metal and left indentations everywhere he landed.
“Run,” said Asel. Her voice was calm, but she put a firm hand in the small of my back.
I took off after Shaaban. Sparks flew around me as the pinging and whizzing of projectiles created a din. At the first landing I took cover behind the siding and plastered myself against it. The impact of the shots fired at me reverbed through the material.
Asel grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. I saw something ricochet off her shoulder in a puff of smoke. It didn’t faze her, and I didn’t know if she was hurt or not.
Shaaban fired short bursts above me as I continued up. My legs started to burn, and my three at a time steps became two at a time. Asel followed up behind me shooting as she went.
“Two down,” said Asel.
I made it to the catwalk and slid across the floor and rested against the side. I sucked in air and moved to pop my head up. The rate of fire had lessened, and I felt safe enough with Asel and Shaaban providing cover fire to see who was left.
Shaaban shoved me down without taking his eyes off his target. I wasn’t sure how he knew, but I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. He snubbed me like I was a civilian who didn’t know what was happening. I’d taken on more Vantagax than we faced now, and I’d done it alone.
“Three down,” said Asel.
I stuck my head up again without Shaaban stopping me. A Vantagax lay draped over the catwalk railing on the opposite side of the factory.
“Weren’t there supposed to be four?” I said.
Asel came up behind me as I stood. Shaaban stood and started to move towards the offices. They both advanced with weapons in front, crouched, heads looking from side to side. I took up the rear, my sidearm at the ready.
“Team Two setting up explosives,” came in over the general feed.
“Team Three setting up explosives.”
“We didn’t say it was clear,” said Shaaban. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Internal mikes aren’t picking up any shooting,” said Bello. “I thought that was the plan.”
I saw Shaaban grit his teeth and heard them grinding over the general feed as he spoke through a clenched jaw. “I said we would let you know once the shooting has stopped, and it’s safe to enter.”
“Sorry,” said Bello.
“Do you want them to pull back?” I said.
“No,” muttered Shaaban.
Asel continued to look around. She shook her head as she turned back to us and said, “Where the hell is the fourth one?”
We kept moving towards the offices. I looked over the side and saw Two and Three spreading out and placing explosives on support columns and machinery. With our stay in the abandoned mining facility explosives weren’t hard to come by, so we decided to not be picky in where we put them.
“The last one was some kind of plant manager,” said Shaaban. “Probably hiding in a locker.”
As we got within twenty feet of the offices its doors exploded out of their frame. Fragments rained down onto the factory floor. The doorframe buckled and bulged out as a hulking figure forced its way out from the offices. The catwalks sagged and groaned from the extra weight. I could hear the supports protesting.
“I don’t know how we got it in here, but I’m sure glad we did,” said the figure.
Shaaban and Asel started to fire before the dust cleared. I followed suit. Two and Three shot from below. Bits of the ceiling poured down on us, and the floor became marked from the projectiles.
The figure didn’t move.
We stopped firing. The dust cleared. The figure was a Vantagax dressed in what looked like civilian clothes with some kind of supercharged exo-suit on around it.
“Mech-suit,” said Asel. Her voice rang strong over the general feed. “Take cover.”
“One to the roof,” said Shaaban. He walked backwards away from the mech shooting as he moved. Asel grabbed my arm and we sprinted away. Two and Three scattered in different directions on the factory floor.
The Vantagax closed her eyes and turned her head as Shaaban shot. When she realized the small arms fire wouldn’t hurt her she laughed and moved forward a step.
“Dirty Terran,” she said. “I don’t know why you’re here, but I’m glad you are.” Another step.
“Margaret,” said Asel as we raced towards steps that looked like they led up. “How far out are you?”
The mech-suit clanked forward as Shaaban continued to shoot.
“Air defense down?” said Margaret.
“Yes,” said Bello.
The hands of the mech-suit open and closed as it narrowed the gap between itself and Shaaban.
“Thirty seconds,” said Margaret.
I pounded up the stairs and shouldered open the door. The sky and daylight greeted me. Margaret’s shuttle roared in the distance as it came closer.
Asel pushed me out the door and onto the rooftop. She backed out but continued to aim down the stairway. A blue light and a pop reverbed up.
“Shielded,” said Shaaban.
“We’re going to have a little gift for you, Margaret,” said Asel who backed away from the door as Shaaban took the last step up.
He turned his back and ran. Asel followed close behind. I tried to keep up.
Margaret bombed over the treetops, banked and came to a hovering halt fifty or so feet above the roof. The mech-suit Vantagax stepped out in the daylight, eyes focused on the three of us as we ran. She laughed and seemed oblivious to the fact that a shuttle perched just overhead.
“Mech-suit?” said Margaret.
A single energy shot from the shuttle turned the suit into a pile of slag that fell through the hole in the roof and crashed through the facility to the floor below. I edged up to the lip of the hole and looked over. Two and Three crowded around the pile then looked up at me. They cheered. One individual kicked the pile before they dispersed.
Margaret hovered low, and we climbed aboard. I strapped myself in and leaned my head back. The adrenaline drained from my body, and if I could have
I would have fallen asleep right then and there.
Shaaban said, “Blow the facility when we’ve reached the rendezvous – ”
An explosion interrupted him. Then another and another and another. The shuttle rocked back and forth, pitching from side to side. Margaret swore over the team feed.
I patched into the shuttle’s external cameras. The facility erupted in a mushroom cloud of smoke and flame. The shockwave rippled out flattening the greenery around the entire area. Figures were knocked down. I held my breath, but they all got up, some struggling.
“Idiots blew it too fucking early,” said Asel.
“I can’t believe we didn’t die,” said Shaaban.
Chapter Thirteen
As we roared over the barren landscape the mood over the general feed was one of confidence. The other teams joked and ribbed with each other. They laughed and told light stories. Over the past several months we’d raided for better suits, weapons and equipment. We added shuttles and small dropships to our arsenal.
Shaaban grumbled. He had his eyes closed, but I could tell that the general chatter bothered him as he went through his pre-fight routine: controlled breathing, small prayers and the occasional rocking back and forth.
“The fools are getting too cocky,” he said.
“Can you blame them?” said Asel. She cracked a smile. “There have been only five deaths: most from their own ineptitude.”
“We bring in upgraded equipment and supplies almost every time,” I said. “Most of the facilities we attack are shut down for extended periods of time. The newsfeeds are reporting on the inner turmoil in the Vantagax Republic. Facility security has gotten more lax when it should be getting heavier. The Braxa brood is losing support and money.”
“Allegedly,” said Shaaban. “The newsfeeds are reporting on rumor. We’re still attacking fringe facilities.”
“That feed into the overall Braxa conglomerate,” I said.
Shaaban’s pessimism wasn’t going to get me down. Our plan was working. The financial feeds reported on upgrades being put on hold. Plans for new facilities were being mothballed. Investors were pulling out. In my mind the snowball that was Braxa’s demise was speeding up and would soon become an avalanche.
“Death by a thousand paper cuts,” said Asel.
The shuttle jolted and bounced.
“Target ahead,” said Margaret. “Taking fire.”
“I thought you took down the anti-aircraft, Bello,” said Shaaban.
“I did,” said Bello over the general feed. “This is manual: not networked. Can’t do anything about it.”
“That wasn’t part of the intel,” said Shaaban.
“I got it,” said the pilot for Team Two.
I watched as Two’s shuttle sped ahead. Ground fire pitted its hull and splashed off its sides. The shuttle turned broadside and fired all guns. The entrenched positions where the anti-aircraft fire came from erupted in a wall of fire, dirt and rocks.
Two’s shuttle touched down before the air cleared. The team spilled from its side, running towards the weapon positions. They fired as they went kicking up more dirt and debris. The side gunner from the shuttle fired over their heads. A few straggling shots came from the Vantagax defense but by the time Team Two was on top of their position the artillery was destroyed and anyone that may have been there were gone.
We came in hot and landed with a jolt. The three of us jumped out and ran towards Team Two. Margaret’s shuttle roared and lifted into the air. The other ships left their human cargo and did the same. They would be circling, keeping tabs on any incoming ships and would come back for extraction when we finished.
Shaaban ran towards Team Two, who were celebrating. They hooted and hollered. Some danced and shot in the air.
“What the hell are you doing?” said Shaaban. His tone seethed with rage. He grabbed Two’s leader, a middle-aged man with blond hair and a paunch, named Antony Yazov, and pulled him close.
“Why are you celebrating?” said Shaaban.
“Kicked their asses,” said Yazov.
Shaaban pointed towards the mine’s entrance and said, “We still have to get across the open area.”
Yazov laughed and slapped Shaaban on the shoulder in a genial manner. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’re going to roast these birds.”
The crack of gunshot echoed across the area. A puff of dirt kicked up around my feet, and I fell to the ground on my stomach. Shaaban and Asel did the same along with a few others. Another crack then the whizzing by of a projectile and the rest, except for Yazov, took cover.
He stood with his arms open, laughing. The electric crackling of an energy weapon’s pulse flew overhead, but Yazov continued to stand there. He fired back from the hip, shooting at random spots.
Asel tapped the top of my helmet. She slid off to the side, followed by Shaaban and myself. Team Three and Team Four went in the opposite direction.
“If that idiot wants to act as a distraction and get himself killed, all the better,” said Shaaban.
We wound our way through the machinery sticking to as much cover as we could. Nothing ran or was turned on. We hadn’t picked up any civilian workers going about their business. Our information had indicated that everything was shut down for a facility wide inspection.
The flash of gunfire lit up the main entrance tunnel to the mine. We crouched behind a pile of boulders. The breeze kicked up a small whirlwind of dust. Team Three and Four settled in across from us.
“In position,” radioed Four’s team leader, one of the reservists, Loka Kamaka
“My mark we fire,” said Shaaban.
He looked back towards Yazov who had stopped dancing and was now slapping his butt. Another crack came from the entrance. Another miss.
“I kind of wish he would at least get winged,” said Shaaban. He sighed. “Fire.”
We stood and fired into the main entrance. Projectiles ricocheted off the tunnel’s walls. Energy blasts scorched the walls. Yazov and his team joined us as they came in from the front. As far as I could tell there wasn’t one return shot fired.
As a group we rushed the tunnel. I ran low to the ground trying to protect myself from enemy fire, but no one fought back. At the tunnel entrance everyone skidded to stop. We were greeted by a projectile gun and an energy gun set up on turrets.
“No wonder they couldn’t hit your sorry ass,” said Shaaban.
“What the hell is this?” said Yazov. “Where the hell did everyone go?”
Shaaban looked up and moved through the tunnel. I followed close behind him. Standing around at the entrance wasn’t going to bring us any closer to our objective.
I switched over to our team feed and said, “What the hell is going on? This doesn’t feel right.”
“I know,” said Asel. “Too easy. Easy even by our standards so far. It’s like two-thirds of our info has been wrong.”
“My gut’s telling me something isn’t right,” I said.
“You’re right,” said Shaaban. “We’re being led into a trap.”
He came to the back of the tunnel and tapped in a passcode on the door panel. It began to swing out and up with a grating metal-on-metal sound. We slid to the side using the frame as protection. Three and Four did the same.
“I know you’re not supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth,” said Shaaban, “but I just can’t help myself.”
“You guys afraid of something?” said Yazov. He stood in the middle of the doorway. “They’ve all run with their tails tucked between their legs.” He laughed. “Or whatever it is birds do.”
The door completed opening and came to a halt with a jerky, shuddering bang. Yazov turned on his headlamps and swept the darkness through the doorway.
“Told you there wasn’t anything to be afraid of,” he said as he stepped across the threshold. Team Two followed, each one chuckling.
“Isn’t there supposed to be power?” I said. “Why aren’t there any lights on?”
Asel poked her he
ad around the frame, her headlamps on and moving across the dark open area. Machinery looked to be in its place. Helmets and uniforms were hung with care on the walls. There wasn’t a single item out of place. It looked like the lights had been turned off when everyone went home.
Yazov and his team started to disappear farther down the tunnel. Their lights became smaller and smaller as they went. Their laughter over the group feed grated on my nerves. They were too jolly, too laid back. Something wasn’t right, and everyone else knew it.
“Bello,” I said, “any info on inside the facility?”
“Internal sensors seem to be off,” said Bello. “Work records indicate there are only three inspectors there today.”
“We already know that isn’t true,” said Asel.
“Sorry,” said Bello. “I can’t give you anything else.”
Kamaka broke from the wall and took a step forward through the door. She stood still for a beat then exhaled. The bubble of tension popped for me, and I followed her. The rest soon joined us.
Yazov and his team had disappeared somewhere farther down the tunnel. I flipped a large switch that read “Power” over it.
Nothing happened.
I flipped it again and again, back and forth. Still nothing.
“No power,” I said.
“So we go in the dark,” said Shaaban.
The room erupted in light and a tsunami of noise. My suit wasn’t quick enough to filter it out, and I was left seeing spots and my ears ringing. Yazov and his team screamed over the general they were being attacked.
I fell backwards against the wall and began firing my gun in random directions until my vision cleared. Several of our members were already on the ground, unmoving. Several whirring objects zipped above us shining lights directly into our eyes while at the same time shooting as they went.
It felt like minutes, but I know it was perhaps ten seconds, and the fighting stopped. Five drones lay broken on the floor amongst the dead. I threw my head back and breathed through my nose trying to calm myself. The suddenness had sent my heartbeat sky high, and my limbs shook.
The Terran Shepherd (The Terran Series Book 2) Page 8
