Lacking any other method of communication, the demon roared, its massive form slightly lowering into a crouch as it prepared for the fight. Gustav had advised Carmichael to keep the favored ground near Avalon's Hope and let the Omega-6 come to them. Carmichael had accepted this advice with minimal condescension.
Honnenheim's anger was unbound. Rage fueling his actions, he held tightly onto the controls of the Omega-6. He increased the acceleration of the Omega's hydraulic legs. The Omega-6 dashed forward at great speed, the stamping footsteps a massive drumbeat in the nearly silent city. Raising one of the its gigantic arms and pivoting at its mechanically-assisted computer-compensated gyroscopic waist, the Omega threw a massive and accelerated fist at the Terminus.
The demon raised an arm to block the punch, but that arm could not stop the massive force that was the Omega's fist. The blow struck the Terminus in the center of its chest. The force of impact echoed across the city. The massive creature stumbled backward. After a few steps it stumbled into a building, losing its footing. The demon fell into an almost sitting position in the building, its arms out to brace itself. Rubble fell to the ground.
"What was that?" said Carmichael in shock.
At the time of impact, the entire control room had shook, knocking almost all of them off their feet. Then it had rumbled and wobbled as the Terminus stumbled backward.
"This demon was designed to be unstoppable!" said Carmichael.
"We designed it to your spec!" said Gustav, back on his feet and bracing himself at a desk while his control crew gave him status reports. "And then we accounted for every scenario we could think of!"
"Why did you not account for that?" said Carmichael. "Nobody even told me those exist now!"
"We didn't know giant robots existed either!" said Gustav. "This is the first one!"
"Technically I've dealt with some much smaller versions of these..." said Dane, but nobody was listening to him.
"Damage report!" called Gustav. His men sounded off, noting minimal damage.
Carmichael took a deep breath and stiffened his back. Knowing he was the first to encounter such a threat actually steeled his nerves rather than increasing nervousness. Carmichael was always first. "Good. Let's prepare for a counter attack. We will show this monstrosity that we can respond in kind!"
The Terminus pulled itself up from the building. As it stood, whatever remaining frame of the building was destroyed. The rest fell to the ground as the demon stood back up.
Honnenheim had made no outward reaction with the Omega-6, though his face on vid screen showed a smug amusement as he waited to see what his opponent would do. He seemed to actually be excited when the demon got back up. He enjoyed a challenge.
Once again letting forth a roar that made Honnenheim roll his eyes, the Terminus leapt into action. It raked its claws at the Omega-6. Honnenheim raised the massive arms to guard, but while one set of gigantic claws sparked as they slid off the Omega's right forearm, the left arm failed to stop the other claw. The gigantic talons sheared across the Omega's body, cutting through the armor as if it wasn't there. A long road of shorn metal and sparking connectors showed the path of the demon's attack, running straight through Honnenheim's face on the giant vid screen.
Now it was the Omega-6's turn to move backwards. It didn't stumble as the Terminus had; this was a tactical disengagement that Honnenheim had directed. He hadn't realized the cutting power of his opponent's claws. While the heavy forearm armor seemed to be enough to block those sharp digits, the regular plating of the Omega was useless. He made a mental note that Omega-7 would have much stronger armor.
With his new breathing room, confidence returned to Honnenheim.
"Perhaps it's time for a new tactic," he said over the speakers.
On the back of the Omega-6, large bay doors opened. From within, thousands of small whirring objects took off. To the occupants of the Terminus, they could see only a vague buzzing cloud that seemed to flow from the Omega's back. This cloud flew toward the demon.
"What are these?" said Carmichael.
"Report," said Gustav, but there was nervousness in his voice. He knew that there weren't any sensors on the Terminus. It wasn't a starship. They had cameras on the outside, but that was it.
"I have a bad feeling about this," said Colette.
"They're moving too fast to keep on the cameras," said a control crew member. "They're small."
One of the flying objects passed by the windows and they could all see it for what it was: one of Honnenheim's plasma cannon equipped drones.
"Oh no..." said Dane.
"That's a fascinating piece of tech," said Gustav. "But what is it -"
The drones began firing. Plasma rained down upon the demon from countless angles, the wood and metal of its skin scorched from a thousand different contact points.
Trapped inside this form, the true demon screamed. Its pain was so great that it burned across the mind link like fire. This made Carmichael scream, his agonizing shriek a pale version of the demon scream that echoed from every part of his mind. Those in the control room did not act, they only stared at the old man who writhed on his throne. The drones kept firing, causing even more pain to burn through the demon and the old man. The entire building was rumbling, causing everyone to fight to keep their balance. Then everything began to vibrate. The rumbling increased and it sounded like the building was going to crash down around them.
"We're all going to die unless you do something!" said Dane, looking at Colette and Gustav.
Colette only looked on in horror while Gustav stammered something to one of the workers about stabilizing. The drones had finally stopped firing, but Carmichael was still screaming.
Dane sighed in frustration. These were his enemies, but he didn't want Abby, Jameson, himself, or many of the probably innocent workers to die because of Colette and Gustav's idiocy. There would be another chance to stop the demon later. Dane pulled back his arm and slapped Carmichael. Hard.
The old man stopped screaming. The building stopped vibrating and everything became very still. There was a nervous silence as almost everyone looked at Dane in shock. This tense moment ended quickly. Kripp was suddenly behind Dane. The larger man wrestled Dane to the ground.
"Stop." It was Carmichael's voice, but there was a waver in it. "Let him up."
Kripp reluctantly let go of Dane, who stood back up to look at Carmichael. The old man was even more pale than usual and now used a handkerchief to wipe drool off his lower lip.
"Thank you, Mr. Monday," said Carmichael. "While I rarely need help, I do not forget debts I have accumulated. Therefore I shall make things even. Provided you do not interfere further, you and your companion will not be killed when the city is finally destroyed, as I originally intended."
"Thank you for your small favor," said Dane sarcastically.
"Now to deal with this threat," said Carmichael. "Gustav, give me full control!"
"Are you sure?" said Gustav, remembering the old man was screaming just moments ago. "Even without damage, the strain on a single person -"
"I said give me control. Do not make me ask again."
"Yes, sir."
Honnenheim's rage had cooled as his drones had zapped the demon into submission. His anger had turned to a smug satisfaction seeing his opponent crouch and then nearly fall. Then the Terminus stopped moving. Honnenheim wasn't sure what to think and instead waited. Unless he wanted to wade into hand-to-hand combat, Honnenheim needed to wait anyway. His drones which still hovered near the Terminus needed to recharge their cannons. Rather than space out their firing, Honnenheim had decided on an all-out barrage up front to cause the most damage. Now they were all recharging at the same time. It had been a calculated risk, but so far it seemed to have been a sound strategy. He paused and read the Terminus Hotel's challenging Twitter posts from a few minutes prior. Honnenheim had a smug satisfaction that his opponent would not feel so bold now.
Honnenheim had almost grown impatient and ready
to end things when the creature finally recovered from its paralysis. Honnenheim could have, and would have been entirely within his right, to simply step forward and beat the demon back down in this moment of weakness. But there was still adrenaline in his blood and he was in the dominant position. He was intrigued and decided to watch for the Terminus's next move.
The demon pulled itself to its full height, standing tall amidst a cloud of thousands of buzzing drones. Its lips opened, showing rows of sharp teeth, but the jaw stayed clenched. Its wings spread out even farther than before. The green fire that rolled between the Brass wing frames started to become brighter. The flames roared, becoming a raging fire when before they were simply licking at the air between the wings.
Honnenheim wondered what new attack this would be. He had mused that the wings were some sort of exhaust system, or perhaps some type of protection field to guard a weak point on the Terminus's back. He didn't think it was actually arcane fire. That would be preposterous.
The emerald wing fire was now a roaring blaze. It rippled through the wing frames and out of control licks of flame threatened to set nearby buildings on fire. But the buildings were not the Terminus's target. The demon shifted onto one hoof and then twisted. The beast's entire form twisted in a full circle. As the Terminus spun, the wings extended. The green wing fire swept around the demon, burning everything. Wherever the fire touched the drones, they burned with ease. It was such a quick and unexpected movement that Honnenheim was caught unaware. He didn't have time to pull back his drones. Instead, all but a handful were caught in that roaring conflagration. Drones rained to the ground as burnt and smoking pieces of machinery. The few intact cars below on the street were struck by flaming drones and burst into their own explosions, car alarms blaring.
The two news choppers were caught unaware. They hadn't been amongst the cloud of drones, but they had both gotten closer for better shots of the drones and the incapacitated demon. So when the demon's fiery wings spun, that green arcane fire affected their helicopters. The Channel 8 chopper had the altitude advantage and while the fire did not touch the helicopter itself, the heat and air disruption caused the chopper to lose its delicate balance. On the Channel 8 feed, viewers could hear reporter Mitch Mendelson panic, but in moments the pilot corrected the chopper. Mitch calmed down and apologized to his audience.
The Channel 5 chopper was not so lucky. It was closer to the cloud of drones. The green arcane fire clipped the edge of a propeller during the middle of an evasive maneuver by the pilot. On Channel 5, there was muffled shouting and cursing from Jack Steadman as the video footage spiraled out of control. Then both the video and audio were cut. Half of Channel 5's split screen was black.
Channel 5 viewers were met with a moment of awkward silence.
"Jack! Jack, can you hear me!" shouted Tug Johnson, breaking the silence, but there was no reply from the chopper team. The Channel 5 video cut back to Tug in the studio. His usual composure was rattled, his face pale. When he realized his director had cut back to his desk, his expression was like a deer in headlights - he had not yet processed Jack's disappearance and wasn't ready for the cameras. But his professional instinct kicked in, and in just a moment, he put back up the careful mask of the news anchor. "We appear to be having some technical difficulties with Jack's feed. We'll check back with him later."
At home, thousands of viewers knew that the technical issues were Jack Steadman's chopper crashing, but Tug Johnson would not admit such a thing on live television.
"We're picking up Channel 8's coverage now." Tug was in the middle of a relieved sigh as the channel cut to Channel 8's chopper trying to make sense of the footage.
Honnenheim's face on the damaged vid screen was a mask of rage. "Curse you, demon! Those were my best drones!" He grasped the controls of the Omega-6 even more tightly. Now it was time to be serious. No more politeness, no more seeing what the opponent could do. It was time to truly fight.
In response, the demon simply roared, it's dual pitched shriek echoing through the city streets. It lunged forward at the same time that the Omega-6's powerful legs surged forward. They fell on each other, the two foes meeting in a crash of metal and wood. The Terminus attempted to rake its long claws across the Omega, but the robot's huge hands grabbed the demon's wrists. This stopped the demon but in practice locked both their arms down.
Now it was a contest of strength and wills. Honnenheim and his Omega tried to force the demon's claws back on itself or to break them off entirely. In contrast Carmichael and the demon were attempting to free their claws and gut the Omega. Honnenheim's face was a mask of concentration as he held the controls tightly and looked for ways he could divert more power or use the gyroscopic physics to his advantage. A similar conversation was happening within the Terminus.
"I need more power!" said Carmichael, his voice thick with exertion.
"We're freeing up all non-essentials," said Gustav. "We're giving you what we can, but I don't think this is a pure power-based solution. We can't just throw power at this and hope for a new results. We're struggling against a robot, not experiencing a blackout. There are limitations due to physics and the fact that this is a matter-based conflict -"
"More power," said Carmichael.
"Right," said Gustav, feeling the harsh rebuff. "Giving you as much power as we can." He shrugged at the worker next to him who also didn't see the sense or wisdom of Carmichael's request.
Both the robot and demon began to shake back and forth. Honnenheim was strapped in and gyroscopically stabilized, so for him there was no noticeable effect. But to those in the control room, tremors swayed the room back and forth. Everyone braced during the conflict. Gustav and others held onto desks to easily keep their footing, but it was rocky for Abby, Jameson, and the security guards. While Gustav and the workers were doing what they could to assist, the main concentration was Carmichael's.
For all the demonic energy, Avalon Brass innards, and robot-assisted hydraulics, this was still essentially a battle of wills between Carmichael and Honnenheim. Physically, they were equals. This battle depended on who was willing to push farther and not give up. However, both were so megalomaniac that the thought of losing this fight was inconceivable, so both threw themselves into it without any doubt of success. They seemed evenly matched. And yet...
"We're winning!" said Gustav in triumph.
In the clash of the two behemoths the tide was beginning to sway. The demon was getting the upper hand. The Terminus was steadily pushing forward and the Omega-6 was having its arms slowly pushed back. Just a little farther and the robot hands wouldn't be able to keep their hold on the demon's wrists. Then the demon's frenzied assault could begin again.
But the tide of battle is fickle. Even the actions of one person can change the balance. Sabotage at the right moment or the wrong accident can spread chaos through the delicate dynamic of a conflict. This was the principle Dane Monday thrived on. One man can make a difference if it was the right man and the right time. Sometimes it was less about the one man but the right sabotage, the correct disruption at just the right moment. This was the Dane Monday Effect.
So it was even more surprising that in this case, it wasn't Dane that turned the tide.
In the midst of the Terminus's triumph, when Carmichael's strained face of concentration was about to break into a victorious euphoria, there was a commotion outside the door to the control room. Then the door burst open as the guard outside was thrown through it. The man kept his footing enough to stumble into the room before tripping and slamming his chin on a desk. The guard fell to the floor unconscious and the worker at that desk fled to elsewhere in the room.
All eyes went to the doorway, where a man appeared. Despite being only in his twenties, his crisp gray suit was professional. His jaw was solid enough to say law enforcement, his cheeks hollow enough to make the ladies say he was sensitive, but his determined eyes said he wasn't just a beat cop. The pistol he held in his hand said he meant business.
The whole room was still in shock as the newcomer quickly took cover behind the same desk that held the knocked out guard. None of Carmichael's people knew who he was. Kripp's men had never seen the man before, but they knew a cop when they saw one. Maybe he was FBI or something else, but they knew a cop is a cop, no matter what authority he claims. Dane saw the distraction he was waiting for. Abby was very impressed with the entrance of the handsome young man, and while he looked familiar, she couldn't place where she knew him. She did think that he seemed to be the hero Dane wasn't being.
"Who is that?" said Abby out loud.
"My partner, Will Voss," said Jameson, getting to his feet.
Abby immediately remembered seeing Voss on the television. Her reaction wasn't quite so swooning (which she slightly hated herself for now), but was favorable then too.
Shock had worn off. Chaos erupted as a fight began. It was never clear to Abby who fired first; was it Voss or was it one of Kripp's men? But once shots were fired, the workers began screaming and ducking for cover. Voss fired a few times from his own cover. One shot went wild, and two other shots dropped Kripp's men before they could get behind desks. While Voss was popped up, a third man aimed at him, but never got to pull the trigger. He was tackled from behind by Jameson. Once on the ground, Jameson easily knocked the man out with a chokehold. The older agent grabbed the guard's pistol and began to stand.
Jameson was barely standing when Kripp came charging at him. A right cross landed on Jameson's jaw, causing him to stumble and the gun to clatter to the floor. Though he was dazed, Jameson was definitely not out. He caught himself and came back punching. Kripp was surprised at the older man's comeback and the force of his punches, but Kripp was not so green as to let his shock overwhelm his fighting instincts. The two men started a long fight, a nasty punch for punch throwdown. Abby would have expected the younger and more muscled Kripp to easily end the fight. But to her surprise, Jameson more than held his own as the two began their struggle.
Manic Monday: (Dane Monday 1) Page 24
