“Those gun goblins might realize what you have,” Emma suggested with a questioning look in her eyes.
“It’ll be a short life for any man who tries to take you,” Erik countered.
Jia couldn’t see Emma slotted into Erik’s exoskeleton. That made her feel better about the whole thing because it meant the AI couldn’t easily be targeted.
Emma smiled and stepped back. “As long as we all agree.”
“Let’s finish getting ready,” Erik replied with a frown. “I don’t like having to ride in their cargo flitter there, but that’s one solution Alina hasn’t provided for us yet.” He took a couple of steps forward, the exo’s feet clanging on the floor of the Argo’s cargo bay. “Hmm. If we move some of the stuff around and keep at least two of the flitters in the loading ports, we could probably get a cargo flitter in there, too.”
“Something for the future, huh?” Jia asked. “Malcolm, how are you doing on your end?”
“I’m in a good position,” he responded over the comm. “Emma’s already done a lot of the heavy lifting, and I will keep the local drones and cameras outside the main warehouse distracted.”
“Good, but somehow I doubt we have to worry about the local police showing up.”
Thirty minutes later, Jia and Erik stood in the back of a cargo flitter packed with men and women in colorful suits, sitting on the benches lining the walls on either side. The contrast between the dull exoskeletons and the bright, cheery outfits of the gangsters kept a smile on her face the entire time.
All the gangsters carried rifles strapped over their shoulders. A couple lugged machine guns, but there wasn’t an exoskeleton or rocket launcher among the group. Whether that meant they lacked the weapons or they intended to place the blame for heavy weapons use on Erik and Jia was unclear. She didn’t care either way. They weren’t planning to stay on Mars any longer than absolutely necessary. Whatever reputation they gained there was a temporary concern.
Felix sat close to Jia. He tapped his fingertips on the top of his leg, his brow creased in worry. The flitter set down and the back opened, settling down as a ramp. Bright light from outside spilled into the interior and chased away the red-tinted darkness that had defined their flight. Other flitters were parked in rough lines, additional Prism Associates gangsters already outside with their weapons. Most of the vehicles were smaller, sportier models, but there was one other cargo flitter, also empty now.
Jia frowned. She looked around and checked the camera feeds. A helpful Emma-provided map indicated their position.
“I know we couldn’t land without taking fire, but this wasn’t the plan,” she complained. “We’re too far away. They’ll see us coming.”
Felix made his way down the ramp. “If you knew we’d get shot, what did you think we were going to do? Miss Tellvane told us to bring you here and make sure you had a lot of firepower on the outside. We don’t go inside unless we feel like it.”
Erik jumped his exoskeleton out of the back of the flitter, landing with a resounding thud. Everyone snapped their heads in his direction.
“If we walk up there, they’re going to reinforce too well, and we’ll end up in a protracted battle or worse once their reinforcements arrive,” he explained. “If your boss doesn’t want a bunch of blood on your pretty suits, we need the surprise that comes with a sudden attack, which means we’ll need an aerial insertion.”
Felix scoffed. “Not everyone is as crazy as you two. You told Miss Tellvane when we were planning things that you knew about them being able to take down drones.” He jabbed a finger in the air. “They can take down more than drones.”
“They aren’t using missiles, are they?” Erik replied. “That means a large flitter on close approach will get shredded but not instantly destroyed.”
“Yeah, then it’s going to crash into a building, and whoever’s on board will be dead,” Felix complained. “That’s your brilliant plan? Crash a flitter into them as a distraction?”
“Partially. Yeah.” Erik motioned with the exo’s arm toward the gathered gangsters. “You’ve got a good number of people here. You can surround the warehouse, cut off escape from all directions, and force whoever’s inside to spread out their forces. That’ll also guarantee us a place to retreat.”
“And what? Lay siege?” Felix tugged on his lapels. “We spend too much time messing around, reinforcements are going to show up, and then we start dying.”
The other gangsters nodded in agreement, murmurs of discontent rippling through the crowd. Tellvane had guaranteed their cooperation but not their loyalty or obedience. Jia mentally moved the plan into the bad idea column.
Erik laughed. “Nope. I wasn’t thinking of using you to do anything I’d need a soldier for. I just need you to watch our backs. Jia and I will take all the heat, and this will be easy. We only need one of your flitters. We’ll fly it in, let them shred it, and jump out of the back. The crashing cargo flitter and two exos will be a big distraction. Then you all can land closer to the warehouse and surround it while we finish busting inside. At that point, the Star Guild will be so confused, they won’t know what to do.”
Felix shook his head. “You are insane, Blackwell. You have a death wish?”
“This isn’t even the craziest plan I’ve come up in the last couple of months. The worst thing that happens is we die, and you can run off. Or you can wet your pants and be afraid of a bunch of guys from a weak syndicate. Your choice.”
“I hate your ass, Blackwell,” Felix replied. “And I don’t like taking orders from a non-Red.”
“Really? Can’t do much about the second, but the first? It’s a nice ass.” Erik smiled. “You in or out?”
“I need to contact Miss Tellvane. This wasn’t the plan.” Felix reached for his PNIU.
“What did you think we meant when we said, ‘Hard entry?’”
Chapter Twenty
“Yes, ma’am,” Felix muttered under his breath. “I understand, ma’am. I’ll inform you when it’s over.” He tapped his PNIU again and glanced at Erik, shaking his head. “Miss Tellvane agrees with your plan, but she wanted me to remind you that anything that’s left behind belongs to Prism Associates. You still agree to those terms?”
“Yes,” Erik replied, walking toward the cargo flitter. “Does that mean you’re going to come inside?”
“No, but Miss Tellvane feels there’s a good chance the Star Guild will abandon the building if your attack goes well,” Felix replied. “We’re going to loot it like we found Generous Gao’s hideout.”
Jia walked back over to the cargo flitter and made the short hop into the back. The cargo flitter dipped. She walked toward the front.
“That works for us,” Erik replied. “Everyone load up, and let’s get going.” He lowered his voice. “You in control, Emma?”
The cargo bay door lifted. She didn’t speak until it’d closed, despite sending it as a transmission.
“Yes,” Emma confirmed. “I’m in control of the flitter and linked to their comms. I should point out there’s a non-zero chance of you being injured. The drones were being taken out by lasers. Even I can’t easily dodge a laser.”
“This is a better plan than relying on Team Colored Vomit there,” Erik replied. “I’ve fought enough gangsters to know the big thing they lack is discipline. They’re fine for rearguard duty, but if they go in the front and take any casualties?” He shook his head.
The cargo flitter shook slightly as it took off. Emma produced an overlay displaying the Prism Associates fleet, with the cargo flitter on point.
“Connect me with them, Emma,” Erik ordered.
“Done.”
“Listen up,” Erik bellowed. “We’re dropping in exactly two minutes. You all wait two more minutes before following us. That should give us enough time to get their attention and focus their forces before your arrival. You’re welcome to the party inside if you want. Blackwell out.”
Jia moved toward the back of the flitter. “I will admit to bei
ng surprised about one thing.”
“What’s that?” Erik asked.
“Radira seemed genuinely disgusted by the idea the Star Guild is trafficking in people.” There was a click as a new belt of ammo slid into her machine gun. “I’m surprised she cares so much.”
“Like she said, everyone has their line,” Erik replied. “It just gives us more reason to mess up the Star Guild. To be fair, Emma, on our way in, send out a transmission informing them that if they immediately leave or surrender, they won’t be fired on.”
Jia snorted. “They’re not going to care about that.”
“Then they can’t complain that we didn’t warn them.” Erik verified his ammo feeds and his grenade capacity. Power was at expected levels, no system damage. The exo was ready to deliver the pain. “It would have been far easier when we were cops to just drop in and clean out syndicates this way.”
Jia’s ballistic shield expanded in front of her left arm with a hiss and a click. “I think a lot of things would have been easier if we could have busted in with exoskeletons and shot everyone.”
The cargo flitter lurched and lifted off. There were no windows in the back, but Emma was sending feeds to Erik’s and Jia’s faceplates. The gangsters’ flitters floated off the ground, but per the plan, they didn’t follow.
Erik deployed his shield and moved beside Jia. “Give us a few passes to get their attention before you open the back.”
“And if the flitter takes so much damage that is no longer possible?” Emma asked.
Erik chuckled. “Then we’ll open it the hard way—with a plasma grenade.”
“Hmm,” Emma replied. “What a curious plan. I’d suggest securing yourselves, given the lack of equipment aboard to facilitate that.”
Erik and Jia activated their leg spikes. The metal shot through the floor and the heads spread out to lock them into place. Whatever damage the flitter was about to take would far exceed what they’d just done.
“I’m not worried,” Erik admitted. “There’s a limit to what they can deploy. It’s not like they’re going to take us out with a huge missile. There’s only so much they can do before the locals have to stop looking the other way, or the military goes on the move.”
Emma sighed. “Such confidence, built on such a shoddy dataset. Oh, well. I’m far sturdier than you. I’ll likely survive the crash.”
“I love you too.”
The flitter accelerated, the warehouses and nearby factories becoming blurs. There was nothing subtle about their approach. Erik took a couple of deep breaths, his heart rate as steady as ever. A man should never take battle lightly, but he didn’t fear the kind of petty crooks Radira’s color gang could beat down.
“It’d be handy if Anne and Kant were around right now.” Jia sighed. “Why do I have the feeling we’re only going to get to use them half the time?”
“Half the time is better than none,” Erik replied. “As long as we have them for the final battle.”
“Against the Core?”
“Yeah. And I don’t think that’s coming next week.”
Emma abruptly changed direction. The flitter jerked up and down as it circled the warehouse. A laser carved a small hole through the side but only scorched the other wall. Whatever they were using was far less powerful than the laser rifle hidden inside Erik’s MX 60.
Suited men rushed out of the building, including on the roof, rifles in hand. They pointed them at the flitter and opened fire. Bullets filled the sky, a couple of stray ones striking the vehicle and ripping through the exterior. They did no serious damage with the emitters angled away from them.
A large red circle in the feed marked the laser turret, a squat affair half-hidden by curved gray housing. The turret turned, and a new hole appeared near the back of the flitter.
“We can’t depend on them running out of shots.” Erik grunted in irritation. “They’ve probably got that thing linked to the main power in the warehouse.”
“Should I open the back?” Emma asked.
“Not yet,” Erik replied. “Try to take us lower. Buzz the guys on the roof.”
With a stomach-churning drop, the cargo flitter rolled toward the warehouse. It swerved from side to side as bullets pelted the front. A stray bullet struck a grav emitter, and the vehicle rolled to its side. Emma corrected, pulling up at the last second to avoid smashing into the roof of the building. She barreled toward the gangsters, who stood their ground for a surprising couple of seconds before leaping to the side. Their bullets had left the front windshield a hole-filled mess, and if anyone had been in the pilot’s seat, they’d have been killed.
Erik grinned as he stared at the laser turret in one of his feeds. It spun in their direction, but the barrel couldn’t lower enough to line up with them.
“Open up, Emma,” he ordered. “We’re going to jump, then you crash this thing right into that turret. I don’t want anything to make our retreat harder if we have to come this way.”
The back door opened, revealing scrambling gangsters leaping behind towers and exposed vents. Erik and Jia retracted their spikes and jumped out of the back of the flitter with quick thrusts. Before they landed, they opened up with their rifles. The rounds ripped through the feeble cover and downed the gangsters.
They advanced toward the open roof access. The flitter crashed into the turret, exploding and sending out an angry, expanding cloud of sharp burning metal. Chunks of the turret and its housing mixed with the flitter, the barrel a twisted, half-burned mess.
Erik rushed toward the open doorway, his rifle up. Jia swept the roof, pointing her rifle at a gangster crawling out from behind an exposed vent that now sported three huge holes. He tossed his rifle over the side and put his hands on his head as he edged toward a ladder.
“Good call,” Jia noted.
“Thanks!” The man ran to the ladder and scrambled down. “Good luck with your raid!”
“So much for loyalty.”
Erik advanced into the roof access and stepped onto an exposed metal catwalk overseeing the main warehouse floor. Cargo flitters and scout bikes were parked in tight lines, but there weren’t a lot of crates or boxes.
Gangsters crouched spread out on the main warehouse floor, most using the flitters for cover. The warehouse lit up with the bright muzzle flashes, their bullets bouncing off Erik’s shield and falling through the railing before hitting the ground like metal hail. He advanced, which allowed Jia to step inside. Emma highlighted the modest number of IO ports on the main floor.
Erik and Jia weren’t there to secure anything for Prism Associates, and if Radira’s men didn’t want to come inside, Erik wasn’t going to worry about blowing up half the warehouse if necessary.
“If you don’t want to die, drop your guns and get the hell out of here,” Erik shouted. He flicked a finger, and a plasma grenade clunked into place in his launcher. “Or stay here and help Mars deplete its surplus population.”
“Hold them until our reinforcements get here!” screamed one of the gangsters. He fired a burst into Jia’s shield, and the bullets joined the metal hail. “Protect the cargo, or the boss will kill us anyway!”
Erik glanced to the side. The narrow stairway wouldn’t accommodate a full exo. Inconvenient, but not insurmountable with the help of jump thrusters.
“Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way,” Jia commented.
“You’re thinking about it wrong,” Erik replied, raising his grenade launcher. “I think of it the fun way.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The gangsters continued shooting, the constant impact of their gunfire against Jia’s shield rattling the exoskeleton. Frustration built on their faces as they pressed the assault, desperate to get at least a couple of rounds through. Jia might have felt pity for them if they weren’t antisocial criminal scum who participated in human trafficking.
She took a slow, even breath, curious about the cargo rather than worried about the gangsters. They weren’t going to win against tw
o high-grade exoskeletons with rifles, especially when Erik and Jia had the high ground, but they weren’t willing to leave it behind. The Lady might have smiled on Erik and Jia and given them something critical to the Core. Whatever it was, there was no reason to let the gangsters leave with it.
With a satisfying hollow triple clunk, Erik launched three plasma grenades at the floor in a loose arc. The gangsters, not being total fools, scattered, but that didn’t save all of them when the explosives blew apart the flitters being used as cover. The men kept up their return fire but didn’t linger in any one spot.
Jia picked off a gangster rushing between flitters with a burst to his chest, a sudden thought occurring to her when the nearby flames flickered. “What if they’re shipping explosives or missiles? If we blow everything up, we might take down this entire warehouse with us inside it. I don’t mind denying them weapons, but I’d prefer not to die in the process.”
Erik chuckled. “Look at how they’re moving. No one’s avoiding any parts of the warehouse or the flitters. If they were shipping bombs, I don’t think they’d be sticking around inside where they might get blown away. We’re fine.”
“Being blown up would be suboptimal,” Emma suggested. “But please note they have no active jamming inside this building, and I’m now detecting a short-range network. I’m beginning a systems intrusion. Try not to kill us all before I get in.”
“This is working out even easier than I thought,” Erik replied, raking his machine gun across the warehouse. Two gangsters went down screaming.
Jia narrowed her eyes, her heart pounding. “I just thought of another thing. There could be innocent people inside the flitters. These people are trafficking.”
It might already be too late. Had they been too trigger-happy?
“No,” Emma replied. “There’s no indication of that according to the thermal readings. If you want to blow things up, the concern returns to whether they are storing any explosives. I don’t have an easy way of detecting that based on my current sensor access, but I do note that Erik’s analysis is consistent with the enemy’s behavior.”
Unfaithful Covenant Page 15
