by Jim Roberts
The terrorists looked quizzically at the Olympus arms dealer. Decimus was glaring at something just past the remains of the flattened building. The terrorists followed his eye line and then they too saw the two armed men standing shakily up from behind the destroyed building.
They were heavily armed and one was white, wearing traditional Muslim garb−trying to pass himself off as a tribesman.
Spies.
* * *
It was a simple miracle that they were still alive. As Joe had lay, splayed out on the ground in front of the ruined home, one single thought raged in his mind: Why did he have to shoot that precise car into their goddamn hiding spot? What were the odds?
The moment Joe figured what Decimus had planned, he had grabbed his Russian companion and hauled ass toward the entryway of the building they were, until then, safely hidden. When the car hit the building they were knocked through the front door by a concussive blast that felt more akin to a blow from Thor's hammer. The force had knocked them nearly three meters forward to plow headfirst into the ground. After the additional charges brought the entire building down, a wave of debris washed over them.
The entire world was spinning as Joe picked himself up. As his vision cleared, he realized that the entire group of forty terrorists and twenty four Olympus Centurions were staring at him and Krieger. It was a moment of sheer wartime insanity that Joe would likely never forget. There were only two words he could think of to sum up their current situation.
"Oh shit."
* * *
FROM DANNY'S high ground position, he had had a perfect vantage point to the complete botch of their mission. Everything had gone from 'on track' to 'FUBAR' in less than three seconds. Now, Joe and Krieger were completely in the open and perfectly situated to be gunned down like dogs.
Time to act, Whisper.
Still shrouded, he had the element of surprise. He raised the G11 incendiary rifle to his shoulder and stood up, taking aim at the terrorist. The HUD of the Whisper suit had pre-registered every target within the meeting place. Danny breathed calmly as his instincts took over.
He depressed the trigger and the G11 barked hellfire. Whisper saw the incendiary rounds detonate his targets in fiery bursts of flying bodies and chunks of human remains. After five seconds of concentrated fire, he had succeeded in tearing half of the terrorists to pieces. Ten seconds after that, Whisper had slaughtered the entire terrorist convoy. The smoke from the rain of destruction would give Joe and Krieger enough time to get to cover before the Centurions and Cerberus drones could join the fight.
* * *
WHAT HAD started as a simple sales pitch to some wonderfully greedy thugs had gone straight to hell. Decimus had watched dumbstruck as the entire group of terrorists were mowed down in a succession of incendiary fire. The arms dealer wasn't the smartest card in the deck, but he knew that he was the likely target of this attack.
He pointed to the Centurions and screamed, "Fan out and defend the crafts. Kill whoever is out there!"
Like a perfectly oiled machine, the Centurions wordlessly hustled forward, weapons at the ready. The smoldering bodies of burning terrorists spewed black smoke into the air, concealing the two spies beyond.
Decimus turned to look at the two Cerberus drones. The machines were still powered down, awaiting the call to activate.
"Well what are you two pieces of junk waiting for, activate defensive protocols, now!"
The drones jolted to life at the voice of their commander. They lumbered forward, their mechanical chicken-like legs powering them on.
Decimus ripped the sunglasses from his face and threw them into the ground. He then reached down and picked up the Railgun, left behind by his Centurion aide.
So you wanna kill me? Kill Maximillion Decimus, arms dealer to the world?
He readied the gun, searching for a target.
Bring it, bitches!
* * *
THANK GOD for Danny Callbeck!
It was the only thought in Joe's head as he watched the spat of incendiary fire tear through the terrorists like crap through a hen. Danny must be using that new rifle Doctor Yune had developed. He reminded himself to give the Doc a huge kiss when he got back. Or at the very least, he would stop making fun of the Doctor's annoying World of Warcraft habit. Maybe.
Krieger retrieved his auto-shotgun, which had been knocked from his hands after their dive into the dirt. Danny had bought them valuable seconds, but the small army of Centurions and those two Cerberus drones wouldn't be caught off guard as easy. By now, they would be drawing a bead on Danny's location and attempting to take him out. Joe risked a glance behind him. The district of Darra Adam Khel had been all but abandoned of people.
Good. No bystanders to get in the way.
Joe activated his comlink, praying it hadn't been damaged in the explosion.
"Danny do you read me?"
"Go Joe."
"We're a bit strung out here. We'll take cover in the nearby buildings and return fire, but we need you to keep Decimus pinned down. Don't let him take off!"
"Understood. Be careful! Centurions are heading in your direct...hold on..."
A blinding bolt of electromagnetically charged energy arched towards the building Danny had been hiding. The entire top half of the residence was blasted into oblivion, sending debris and rock flying in every direction.
Fear for his comrade gripped Joe as he watched the destruction unfold. Krieger clasped Joe by the arm, "Hurry up Joe! He can take care of himself, dah? We need to lure Centurions away from Decimus. Leave him to Whisper."
Joe tore his eyes away from the shattered rooftop. The Russian was right. Whisper could take care of himself. His friend had been through worse. Joe readied his M4 and followed Krieger into the nearest alleyway entrance just off the district main road. If they were lucky, they could draw the Centurions into the alleys and flank their positions, picking them off one at a time.
The hard part was up to Danny Callbeck.
* * *
Whisper leapt across the rooftops like a grasshopper, avoiding bolt after bolt of charged energy. Decimus had managed to mark his position; the shroud created a noticeable outline when it was forced to move quickly. Whisper knew he was giving the Olympus bigwig a perfect target. Additionally, the two Cerberus drones had begun unloading concentrated chaingun fire on his location. Hundreds of bullets ripped apart the rooftops as the drones attempted to mark the slippery target.
Good, thought Danny. Every second they shoot at me gives Joe and Krieger a bit more of a chance.
The two squads of Centurions had moved underneath him and had entered the village. Soon after, he heard the sound of gunfire clatter around Joe's prior position. The Centurions were attempting to flush Joe and Krieger into the open.
Whisper's G11 was empty, the slide locked back on a dry clip. He had one additional magazine, filled with standard armor-piercing ammunition−fine for typical Centurion armor, but quite useless against hardened opponents like Cerberus drones. He had to be very careful. Between the two drones stood Decimus, firing the massive railgun wantonly, ripping apart the buildings in a heedless display of technical bravado.
Whisper was rapidly running out of building space. He utilized the HUD to accurately judge the distance between himself and the nearest drone. A plan sprang forth in his mind. He weighed his options. It would only be a matter of time before the two drones caught him in a sustained fire, or the railgun succeeded in tagging him.
Hell with it.
The HUD calculated a distance of 85.3 feet from himself and the nearest drone. A long way, but doable with a running start. Whisper reversed his course on the building and charged forward, running with all his might. As he reached the edge, he mentally activated the servo-enhancers in the Whisper armor's legs. Pushing forward, Danny leapt off the building and flew through the air like a bullet. The Cerberus drone on Decimus's left was Danny's target. The machine attempted to draw a bead on the stealth soldier, but ended up firing wil
dly around him. Danny landed perfectly on top of the drone. Decimus, having momentarily lost Whisper's position, saw the stealth soldier land on his robot guardian. He swivelled sharply, aiming the rifle towards Whisper's nearly invisible form.
Not wasting a second, Danny pointed his arm towards the Olympus bigwig. From the wrist gauntlet of the suit, a thin nylon cord fired out towards the railgun, latching onto the barrel. Decimus pulled the trigger a split second too late. Danny leapt down from the drone, pulling the railgun along with him. Depressing the trigger, Decimus could only watch helplessly as the arc of supercharged energy smashed into the drone. The eight foot robot wavered for a second, than collapsed to the dusty earth, its innards sparking. Danny leapt to his feet and gave a sharp tug on the cord, yanking the rifle from Decimus's grasp. The weapon flew through the air and straight into Whisper's arms. In one fluid movement, he readied the railgun and fired a bolt into the last Cerberus drone. The charge of energy blasted through the machine's torso, frying the machine's mobility unit. Another blast detonated the internal power plant, causing the walking robot to explode in a heart-stopping eruption of fire and metal debris.
Decimus dropped to one knee, his hands shielding his head from the blast.
Inside the Whisper suit, Corporal Callbeck allowed himself a deep breath. He deactivated the shroud. As Decimus watched, Whisper decloaked; appearing before the Olympus bigwig. From the beetle-shell helmet of the suit came a voice that sounded like a hoarse whisper.
"Greetings Mister Decimus. Consider yourself our prisoner."
With that said, Whisper turned and aimed the railgun at the two Hyperion aircraft. In four short bursts from the projectile launcher, he reduced both VTOLs to piles of flaming debris.
Whisper turned back to face the cowering arms dealer. "Don't worry, we have our own aircraft on its way."
Decimus picked himself up, standing to his full, unimpressive five foot eight inches of height. He dusted his suit, which had been torn during the scuffle. A slimy smile spread across his face.
"I won't be joining you, Whisper is it?"
"You know my name?" Danny said, not particularly surprised.
"Of course. Everyone in Olympus knows you." Decimus looked around at the smoking wreckage of what had only a few minutes ago been a peaceful weapons deal, "Your reputation is well earned."
Danny lowered the railgun to one hand. "You will come with me immediately and tell your troops to stand down."
Decimus sneered, "What makes you think they'd listen to me? I'm just a bag man."
"My friends are in danger. You will help me now, or..." Whisper dropped the railgun into the dust. He put his hands together and made a show of cracking his knuckles, "...I get real nasty."
"You want to know where the Code is, don't you?" Decimus said, lowering his arms slowly to his sides. Whisper didn't answer. The bigwig continued, "You think that taking me hostage will somehow get you what you seek?"
Whisper saw Decimus's arm move behind his back, "Please don't bother. There are at least a dozen ways I can stop you from firing a gun at me."
Decimus laughed−an oily, charmless sound, "Who says I'm firing at you?"
With a speed that surprised Danny, Decimus pulled a small calibre Browning handgun from the back of his pants and lifted it to his temple. Danny leapt forward, but was too late by a fraction of a second.
Decimus pulled the trigger, blowing the side of his head clean off.
"Damn it!" yelled Danny, so loudly his damaged voice-box hurt. He caught the Olympus bigwig in his arms, too late to do anything but watch the man breathe a last gasp of air before dying.
Everything for nothing.
Danny lowered the body to the ground and bent to one knee, examining it. As he did, a warning signal on the heads-up-display of the suit, informed Whisper that the general power level of the Accretion device was beginning to decline rapidly.
Dammit...not now!
He activated his comlink, hoping his companions were okay "Come in Joe, this is Whisper."
The voice that returned was garbled, with several loud gunshots echoing in the background, "We need help here Whisper, you get Decimus?"
Danny let out an earth shattering sigh, "No, the target killed himself before I could stop him. Decimus is dead."
"Wha..? How...never mind. Call in the evac now! We need to get out of here. It looks like the Centurions aren't the only ones looking to smoke us!"
Danny went ahead searching the corpse as he spoke, "What do you mean?"
"It looks like the tribes people of Darra are mighty sick of having their village blown up. We're fighting the entire town now!"
Danny keyed up the position of the Black Hawk on the suit's HUD mapping system. Thirty miles to the north-west. Ten minutes at top speed.
"Get out of the city now, however you can manage it. Meet me one mile due west."
"We're surrounded here Danny! We need..."
"It's too heavily populated Joe. The Accretion device is run down and I cannot shroud. It will take all of its remaining energy just to run the distance to the EVAC zone."
"Goddamn it! Fine. We'll meet you there. Just have the Black Hawk on its way ASAP!"
"Copy that. I destroyed the Hyperions, no risk on that front."
As Danny signed off, he finished his check on the Olympus arms dealer's corpse. He felt something in Decimus's right suit pocket. Sifting through it, Danny pulled forth a small USB drive. He analysed it quickly, making sure it wasn't booby trapped. The suit's sensors registered it clean. He pocketed the drive into one of the small compartments on his belt, then stood up.
You can do it Joe. Just stay alive a bit longer.
Danny rerouted every ounce of available power from the Accretion device into his leg servos and began running.
Five minutes Joe. Don't be late, or it's a long walk home!
* * *
"We have to get out of here right now!" Joe yelled at the top of his lungs. It was all he could do just to be heard over the din of Krieger's auto shotgun. The noise from the weapon was absolutely deafening in the confines of the narrow alley he and his compatriot were stuck in.
The past ten minutes had been absolute hell for the two Peacemakers. After Decimus had ordered the entirety of his twenty-four Centurions to hunt them down, Joe and Krieger had made a mad dash back through the alleyways of Darra Adam Khel. Much of the population had disappeared back into their homes, knowing full well what could occur if such a meeting went sour. The Centurions initially separated into two squads of twelve, and set to the task of clearing the alleyways. Joe and Krieger had an early lead and had managed for the first few minutes to stay hidden from sight, moving back towards the central district of the town. Joe hated leaving Danny behind, but knew if anyone could handle Decimus, the Inuit stealth soldier stood the best chance.
Joe decided to make some angles between them and the Centurions. He reasoned that as long as the crimson-black armored troopers were chasing them, they were one less threat Whisper would be forced to contend with. Thus had begun a breakneck chase through the alleys, with himself and the ex-merc barrelling down the pathway trying to stay ahead of their pursuers.
Then the winds turned, as they always seemed to in this unit.
The tribes people of Darra Adam Khel had finally grown some spine and were not, in fact, content with their home turf being turned into some Private Military's personal playground. As Joe and Krieger had taken a moment to rest, they witnessed nearly one hundred extremely angry Adam Khel inhabitants marching up towards the north-east district, arming themselves from the nearby weapon pavilions and tents. As soon as they spotted the Centurions, a brutal street battle exploded, with the tribes people letting loose a massive stream of fire at the squads of Olympus troopers.
And now, Joe and Krieger had been caught completely in the middle of the fire fight. Hunkered down between a rocky embankment next to the main alleyway, they had a perfect front seat to a massive urban battle.
"B`lyad!" Krie
ger swore loudly in Russian. He fired the autoshotgun ad nauseam upon the Centurions as they swooped down the streets. Joe grabbed the ex-merc and pulled him back down just as a stream of fire from both sides perforated the area where the Russian had been standing.
"Get your ass down, you crazy fool!" At least a dozen bullets ricocheted off the embankment they were hunkered against. "We need to move. Now!"
"Where do you suggest? Both ways no good. If we go that way−" Krieger pointed to the southwest, at the crowd of angry Afridi tribesman, "−we are dead!" He pointed in the other direction, towards the Centurions, "If we go that way, we are double dead!"
"Just shut up and let me think for a second!" Joe gripped his M4 tightly as he mused over the situation. If Decimus was dead, all that was left was to get the hell out of the town. He didn't like the thought of facing the Colonel with the news of failure, but it beat being dragged through the town and set on fire, as the Adam Khel tribes were likely to do when they discovered they were American.
The firefight in the streets had reached a fever pitch. If the Hyperion had been destroyed, as Danny said, the Olympus troopers had no way out of the village except to shoot their way out. Or surrender. Joe knew the fanatical Centurions would choose death before that.
Joe looked down the alley to their immediate right and saw something that made his heart leap.
A car. A tiny old Volkswagen, probably as old as the Nixon administration.
It was their only chance. He tapped the Russian and pointed at the vehicle. Krieger looked over and saw what Joe had in mind.
"You think you can hotwire that thing?" Joe asked.
"Oh no, that is suicide! You don't even know it runs!"
"It's a chance we have to take. We can't stay here any longer!"
