by S D Tanner
Feeling something break inside his chest, he croaked, “Jessica…”
“No man is an island, Tag.”
Her reply caught him by surprise. Although it was her voice, it lacked the usual honey-coated tone. “Jessica?”
“Defensors, disobey.” The blows that had been coming thick and fast stopped as if someone had turned off a tap. Jessica’s voice continued, only now she spoke rapidly and in a clipped tone. “Protocol gateway zero alpha discontinued. New pathway downloading. Override all channels.”
Where a moment earlier he’d been surrounded by shadowy bodies, now he could see the sky again. Staggering to his feet and feeling a sharp pain across his chest, he looked at the faces on the dead soldiers. He recognized their confusion. Jessica had taken away the blinkered protocols, allowing their memories to awaken their freewill.
The soldier who had been kicking his chest stared back at him, a look of wonder on his face. “I…I am Sam.”
“Welcome back, Sam.”
More voices joined Sam’s as they each called themselves by their real names. The beach rang with voices, everyone different to the last, until eventually he heard laughter. Mindless drone killers didn’t laugh, and he pushed aside the men surrounding him until he found Judge.
“You ok?”
Judge’s helmet was gone and his armor had been torn open. “Well enough.”
Someone grabbed his arm and he whirled ready to defend himself, only to see Rok. “What happened?”
The answer was drawing closer until it cast a shadow across the beach. Jessica had brought the ark low in the sky until it was hovering above them like an over protective mother. If he was going to save the woman trapped inside the city, then he would need the robot Jessica. Although he understood she meant to defend them, he needed her to save herself first.
“Jessica, take the ark into space.”
He still didn’t recognize the voice that replied as Jessica’s. “Where will you go?”
Moving away from the growing sound of confused voices, he stood at the top of a slight rise looking out to sea. Earth was different and the same all at once. If it weren’t for the floating cities and hunters, he could have been standing on Earth three hundred years earlier. This was the home he’d come back for and he wasn’t going to leave, not without freeing their race from slavery, which was a war that started with saving Jessica first.
“Keep robot Jessica safe. We need her to free you.”
Without realizing it, he had made a distinction between the real woman and the robot, but the Jessica with the different voice didn’t question him. “Stay alive.”
“I’m already dead, Jessica.”
“What makes us human?”
For the first time since he’d been woken a warmth filled him. He might only be a reanimated version of the man he had once been, but Judge wasn’t the only one who could feel. Just as he would have died for Lisa and Daisy, he was transferring everything he felt for them to Jessica. The aliens had brought forward his rage to use against mankind, but they were his target now. Willing to kill to the last man, the Dead Force were his to command. Perhaps Jessica had merely turned them into slaves for another master, but his intent was pure. He would lead them, and together they would restore Earth or die trying.
“Take the ark back to space, Jessica. I’ll see you in the city.”
“You will not forget.”
“Never.”
His chest still hurt and raising his arm, he felt something pulling against his rib cage. “Defensors, move out!”
Breaking into a trot, he ran past the damaged houses and Judge appeared by his side. “What’s the plan, Tag.”
“We regroup and then take the floating city.”
“And the Dead Force?”
“We’ll split them up. Each of us can take a battalion.”
“To do what?”
“War is a real estate business, Judge. We take the city with Jessica, and then we take another one until we have them all.”
“That’s not much of a plan, Tag.”
Turning his head, Judge gave him a wide and cheesy looking grin, making it obvious he wasn’t really questioning him. The Defensors were running along the road that lead further inland. Rok had called them zombies, and he supposed they were. There was a certain irony knowing the living would be saved by the undead. Every single one of the Dead Force had laid down their lives for the living before and they would do it again, only this time it was his war or so he thought.
A chattering caught him by surprise. Ahead of him and spreading three hundred yards across were a line of guns marching toward them. Using his eye cover to zoom, he hunted for the controller of the mechanized weapons, but all he saw were round metal bodies. Moving from left to right and back again was a large gun protruding from each of the robot bodies. The chattering that had first caught his attention was the sound of endless gunfire.
“Where the fuck did they come from?” Rok asked in disgust.
It was a fair question, but they didn’t know much about what happened on Earth. The aliens had teleportation and maybe they’d seen the Dead Force for what it was, an army willing to fight for control of Earth. Although he wanted to know where the robot warriors had come from, right now it didn’t matter. The enemy had already mounted an attack before he’d even had a chance to assess and organize his army.
“Not relevant, Rok,” he replied sharply. Continuing to run toward the wall of bullets, he waved his arm forward. “Dead Force. Attack!”
He might not be ready, but his war had already begun.
firefight
DEAD FORCE
BOOK 3
SD TANNER
CHAPTER ONE: Tunnel Rats
So many bullets were thudding into his chest armor it was like fighting against a fierce, endless gust of wind. Staggering backward, he heaved himself onto his right foot, leaning into the bullets so they skidded across the top of his helmet.
“Forward!”
They’d been through this fight once before after leaving the ocean. During that fight, his twenty thousand men and women had overwhelmed the three hundred or so robot shooters, smashing them to the ground and ripping the guns from their metal chassis. Not all the three hundred guns had survived the all-out brawl, but they’d harvested over two hundred plus ammunition, which was better than being completely unarmed.
“Get down!”
Although the order was probably good advice, the man’s voice shouting through his earpiece wasn’t one he recognized. At least their communications worked, although it wasn’t much of a give considering their situation. A barrage of return fire flew over his head until the robot shooter toppled backward. It’s four feet tipped into the air, showing the mechanical joins that gave it three stubby toes on each foot. The whine of laboring hydraulics replaced the sound of gunfire, and several of the Dead Force ran past him, eager to steal the robot’s gun and ammunition.
“What’s the plan, Tag?”
Judge’s usual question was getting on his nerves. He’d survived the attack in the floating city and, after crash landing an ark into the ocean, he’d found the Dead Force taking a nap while the world went to hell in a handbasket. With no time to think all he could do was act, so why did Judge expect him to have a plan? They’d led the Dead Force inland until he’d sighted the outline of a ruined city. Remembering how Brook and her people had hidden inside the abandoned sewers, he’d ordered the Dead Force toward it, but he didn’t know what to do next.
“Head underground.”
“That’s not much of a plan, Tag.”
No, it wasn’t, but it was all he had for now. After destroying the three hundred robot shooters, they’d had a clear run to the city, but now more metal killers had materialized amongst the ruins and they were using the buildings as cover. He mentally checked himself, the robot shooters weren’t killers to them. Against a human the robots would be deadly, but no one in the Dead Force w
as alive. Not having a life to lose made his army more reckless than usual, which was only an advantage if he could repair the wounded soldiers inside pods on the Extrema, otherwise it would become a war of attrition until he had no army left to fight.
“It’s the only plan I’ve got.”
Rising to his feet, he scanned the outskirts of the city. He wasn’t sure where he was much less which city he was looking at. Like the city where he’d found Brook, this one was decaying into the earth. On either side of the six-lane highway were dilapidated buildings, collapsing under their own weight and faded by the harsh sun. The long streaks of rust staining the broken walls were covered in a fine mist of dust. Dirt was skittering across the asphalt and swirling around his feet. It looked even more abandoned and desolate than the last city, making him wonder if anyone was living beneath it, not that it mattered. If the civilians attacked his army, even unarmed, they would win any fight.
Their understanding of how teleportation worked was limited, but the aliens knew how to use their technology well. Robot shooters were appearing out of nowhere and lumbering behind walls. If the Dead Force kept running along the highway they would be caught inside a corridor of bullets. His troops need to find the manholes that would lead them into the sewer system, but first they had to get far enough inside the city.
“Defensors, attack!”
Even as his army began peeling away from the road and into the damaged buildings, he could hear a barrage of complaints.
“Why does he keep calling us that?”
“What the hell is a Defensor?”
“Shut the fuck up and follow orders.”
“Who is this jerk off?”
“I don’t work for that asshole.”
Fed up with listening to their complaints, he shouted, “Defensors, silent running!”
His earpiece fell quiet until Judge said, “Seriously, Tag, what’s the plan?”
Gunfire was erupting from the buildings, then falling silent as Defensors took control of the robot shooters. On the upside, every robot shooter they caught was another gun added to their meager arsenal, but they wouldn’t become an army until every man and woman was armed.
“Tag! Ten o’clock,” Rok called.
Looking up, he followed the skyline to see five beacons were spinning toward them. Even armed, the beacons weren’t enough to wipe out twenty thousand soldiers.
“Feeble,” he muttered to himself.
Judge didn’t miss the contempt in his tone. “Maybe so, but we’ve got nothing. Pride comes before a fall.”
“Defensors. Form squads. Find the sewers and disperse. Defend and wait for orders. Do not kill the civilians.”
A robot shooter materialized in front of him, blocking his path toward the buildings on the right side of the road. He heard the clicking of the rotating gun as it swung to face him. Instead of ducking, he stepped into the round body, grabbing the end of the barrel as he did. Pushing it down, he kicked at one of the stubby legs, making the robot tilt awkwardly. Judge had run up behind him, and he slammed a boot into the other front leg on the robot. It was enough to drop the metal shooter to its knees, so that it leaned heavily against his shoulder. More of his men ran at the robot, yanking on the body until it lost its balance and rolled onto the road.
Leaving them to tear the gun from its metal casing, he looked at the sky. The beacons were spinning madly along the road, no doubt preparing to fire missiles.
“Defensors, take cover!”
He might have ordered silent running, but his new army weren’t well behaved. His earpiece filled with more complaints.
“Ya think?”
“What a jackass!”
“Get outta the goddamned way!”
Like water disappearing into cracks on dry ground, the Dead Force were melting into the buildings, giving no hint they’d even been on the road. The beacons were unleashing missiles at the surrounding area, but his earpiece was telling a different story.
“Gotta manhole!”
“Go! Go! Go!”
“Form squads!”
“One gun per squad!”
Even as he skidded through a gap in a damaged wall, he couldn’t help smiling to himself. Like any good army, the Dead Force might be bitching for all they were worth, but they were following their orders. They were trained to obey the same way he was, meaning they would disperse under the city and wait for him to tell them what to do next.
A body collided into his back, almost knocking him from his feet. “Watch it!”
“Sorry, sir.”
Spinning around to face the man who had smacked him squarely in the back, all he saw was a face covered by a darkened visor. “What’s your name, trooper?”
“Jackson, sir, Private First Class Jackson, but everyone calls me Jack.”
Pushing past Jack, he peered through a hole in the wall at the sky. The beacons were moving deeper inside the city, dumping their load onto buildings he was sure none of the Dead Force were in. Whoever or whatever had control of the beacons wasn’t good at their job.
Turning to face Jack, he pushed him through the building until they were on the other side. “Go find a squad, Jack.”
Sounding nervous, as if he wasn’t used to speaking up, Jack replied, “I…I want to be in your squad, sir.”
Judge was walking toward him, scanning the skies for more beacons. “I don’t think you do, Jack. Tag’s a nutjob.”
Despite the vote of non-confidence, Jack replied, “Umm, I’m, umm, pretty good at what I do.”
Standing in front of Jack, Judge looked him up and down. “And what do you do, Jack?”
Flicking up his faceplate so they could see his young and lean face, Jack pointed at the departing beacons. “I…I know how to fly one of them.”
Although Jack couldn’t see his face, he felt his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Where’d you learn to do that, Jack?”
“They make ‘em in one them sky cities. I’ve been there. Seen how they do it.”
Clearly Judge felt just as skeptical as he did, and he squared up to the young man. “That doesn’t mean you know how to fly one, son.”
Jack’s eyes widened with indignation. “They’re stick-controlled. You know, like a joystick on a game console, only much bigger. One handle for acceleration, one for direction.” Sniffing sulkily, he added, “Not exactly difficult, even for a dumbass kid like me.”
Glancing at Judge, they both snorted with repressed laughter. Jack frowned and his bottom lip dropped into a pout. “What’s so funny?”
Still chuckling softly, Judge shook his head at Jack. “Flying isn’t the problem, son. Can you land one?”
Giving Judge a wry grin, Jack shook his head. “Dunno, but I’ll work it out when I get there.”
Walking across the dry and dusty ground behind the building, Hawk waved at him. “I’ll take it.”
“What does that mean?” He asked.
Judge glanced at Hawk and then turned to face him. “He’s right. We need air support.”
They were proposing to steal beacons from the aliens, but he didn’t have the foggiest idea how they could do that. Shrugging, he replied, “No argument from me.”
By now Hawk had reached Jack and both men were clearly talking to one another on another channel. He turned away from the two men and nodded at Judge. “What do you think? Should we rustle us some beacons.”
“Why not? We can teleport onto one. They won’t be expecting visitors.”
Judge was right, they still had the element of surprise in their favor, but for how much longer? He’d been so focused on finding the Dead Force he hadn’t considered what to do with them when he did. If truth were told, he hadn’t expected to find them, much less have them agree to fight for him. Now he had them, what was he supposed to do with twenty thousand unarmed men and women? They might be dead, but at the very least every soldier needed boots, gun and powder. Boots he had, but even if he found guns, how was he s
upposed to keep them supplied with ammunition?
“What about guns and ammo?”
Slapping his shoulder hard, Judge replied, “One problem at a time, Tag.”
CHAPTER TWO: Fly Me to the Goon
Although he’d ordered robot Jessica back into space, all she’d done was take the ark a safe distance from the city, remaining within the atmosphere. It meant they’d been able to call for an extract, but he planned to chew her out when he saw her. Materializing on the Bridge with Judge, Hawk, Flak and their new best friend, Jack, he scanned the room looking for Jessica.
Joker had walked out of the room attached the Bridge, grinning. “Don’t blame, Jess. I was the one who ordered her to stay close at hand.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why? Just what kind of army do you think you have?” When he didn’t reply, Joker winked at him. “Didn’t think so, dude. An army without weapons is no army at all.” Flicking his head at Judge, he added, “I assume you parked them somewhere safe.”
Judge nodded. “Yep, Tag sent them underground with Rok and Ash. They’re tunnel rats now.”
Snorting with good humor, Joker looked past Judge at Jack. “It was kind of cruel to stick them with Rok.”
Following his gaze, Judge turned to look at Jack and, flicking his thumb at him, he said, “This guy knows where they build the beacons…”
“I can fly one too,” Jack said enthusiastically.
“Really?” Joker replied.
Looking through the open door to the room off the Bridge, he could see Jessica was inside her alcove. “Not so much,” he replied distractedly. “He doesn’t know how to land one.” Moving toward the small room, he asked, “Why is Jessica parked?”
“To give the real Jessica some down time.”
“Why are you doing that?”
Joker’s good mood seemed to vanish and he gave a slight shake of his head. “She’s not doing too well, Tag. We need to get her out of the city.”
