The talker was quick to point his rifle. “What in the Twin Hells is that?”
“I'm what happens when you flip the switch on a several hundred kilo love machine. Fun, guns, and nightmares, son!” Fluff answered.
“Yo Melio, he just called you, 'son!,” one of the other men cried out.
“Melio, is it?” Lasher asked.
“Yeah. Emilio Torres. We was setting up some drops through the stacks when me and the boys got pinched. Big T's going to be mad cuz he didn't want no problems when things kicked off big.”
Fluff moved beside Emilio, slinking around him as though he were a real cat. “Listen cuz, we need to slide down this roll to bang out the fool that started this mess. You help us along the way, we make sure Big T knows you were instrumental in helping us. It be ladies, liquor, and livelihood for all after that, you feel me?”
The Torres boys were in hysterics after Fluff's performance. Emilio was quick to jump on his bandwagon. “For real, though! You alright, Top Cat!”
Lasher whistled to get everyone's attention. “Listen up. We're kicking these invaders out once and for all. If you go back that way, you'll meet up with soldiers who can get you to safety. If you want payback, you can come with us.”
The Tyth among the group walked over without hesitation. More than a few took him by the wrist, a sign that they were with him. A sign that they would fight beside Tythian's favored son. Within the span of a few minutes, Lasher had grown his posture from a small team to an ad hoc fighting force.
Rapid footfalls brought everyone's attention and rifles back the other way. A man in black armor jogged up while slinging a black case over his shoulder. Pulling a pistol from a magnalock on his hip, a shoulder stock snapped from the back of the weapon, turning it from a heavy blaster pistol into a compact carbine.
“What took you so long?” Fluff asked.
Kel tapped the side of his helmet, sliding the face mask to the top. “I was so awestruck that Melio's hair was still perfect after so long in captivity, I needed a minute to myself.”
“Oh! No one told me this fool was rollin' with you cats!” Melio shouted in disbelief. The two men hugged like long lost family.
“You okay?” Kel asked.
Emilio shrugged, stepping back to show Kel his condition. “Your boy been askin' me the same thing. Seriously, though. Where you been? We lost track o' you when things kicked off near the factory district.”
“Had to roll to get my other brother.” Kel said.
“No doubt, no doubt. You got a cell-com I can slide off you for a minute. Got to call Big T and let him know I'm not fightin' for the other side no more,” Melio said.
Kel winked. “Already done. He was so grateful that he said I should take my reward out of your end.”
Laughter erupted among Emilio's crew, prompting slaps and good natured shoves. Lasher interrupted by standing over him. “I hate to interrupt, but we're not safe out here. Time to move. Kel, you hanging back to play over-watch?”
“Yeah, just give me the sign like last time.”
The impromptu fighters followed Lasher as he wound through avenues, snaking through buildings, or slithered through spillways to make his way through the city. Several times they encountered patrols of citizens bewitched by the Koda storm-tech, or full-on Exo Commando units. Lasher opted to free the former while avoiding the latter. When their fighting force exceeded a company in strength, Lasher brought Emilio aside.
“Listen, the airfield is up ahead. That building is where the Exo commanders are running their operations from. I need a big distraction to make it seem like we want whatever it is they have. Do you think you can run that for me?” Lasher asked.
Emilio checked the energy mag on his rifle. “I got you. Be a lot better for us if Big T was bringing the rest of the family.”
Kel shoulder checked his friend. “Just keyed him into what's doin'. He's sliding up to the airfield from the other side. You boys start shooting and then meet in the middle. It's a hit and fade operation, kid. Send some bolts down range, then fade away before they can train the heavy guns on you. You good?”
Melio clapped his forearm against Kel's. “You know we are! Thanks for pulling us out, cousin.”
Kel leveled one last hug. “Go on.”
“Go fierce.”
“The Viper Kings made an impression on you, didn't they?” Lasher asked.
Kel waited until the crew was out of earshot to respond. “There was a lot of fighting to get where we are now. The gang war we went through to get here was brutal. Lots of good and bad on both sides. Is it wrong that it feels like we're sending them to die?”
“You called Big T, who's bringing his guys and ours will hit it from here. At some point, we have to believe they can handle it without us.” Lasher said.
Kel folded his arms as he watched the Torres boys fade into the city. “Doesn't make me feel any better.”
Fluff bumped in between the two, turning them back the way they'd come with his tendrils. “You know what makes me feel better?”
“A target rich environment?” they both said together.
“Best day ever!”
A light pen hovered over Anaxis' open palm. Memories of deep space weightlessness sizzled into his mind with the same clarity that one remembers the smell of a favorite food. After all this time, he couldn't remember what that food was, but he tasted the sheer joy of watching a pen float by him in zero gravity for the first time. This wasn't that. The time before was the absence of gravity. This was something tremendous.
“Someone challenging himself?”
Anaxis hadn't noticed Russo enter the room. “The initial challenge was getting it to turn on. Now, I strain to turn it off.”
“Don't strain yourself too hard, O turbulent one. We have a plane to catch.”
“Have you found her?” the Exo Noble asked.
Russo reached across his boss' mystic display to tick a few control tags on a hologram. “Possibly. Drone assets are on the way to confirm. I sent a squad of Dozers with Fifth Commando to secure the scene. Initial reports from our trooper said it has a duradium door with corodan reinforced heavy pins in the wall.”
“What's corodan?” Vidar asked, his concentration focused on the pen.
“It's a Vosi metal, refined from a meteor that roams in and out of their system every hundred years or so. The Justiciare' used to smith their armor with the stuff. Very hard to cut.”
“Maybe instead of cutting it we coax it open?” Anaxis posited.
“My role as First Commando in the absence of a guardian or sentinels is to recognize when our glorious leaders are going off the rail and either put him back on it or throw him all the way off.”
Anaxis snatched the light pen from the air, taking a moment to marvel at its feel in his artificial fingers. His new abilities were growing at an exponential rate along with his feeling this body wouldn't be adequate for much longer. While the frame underneath was powerful, the living tissue on top was vat grown. Even with Lasher's enhancements to the nanites, he wouldn't be able to generate enough of a connection to tap into the power he was seeking. His developing plan was becoming ever so complicated.
“You needn't concern yourself with my state of mind, ARC Commander Russo. My new abilities are allowing me to see things from a wider perspective.”
Anaxis' comments were cut short by an explosion that shook the tables in the room. Warning messages flooded their displays, giving them near instantaneous access to the situation. Hyper adaptive brain implants surged through the information, pushing forward the most prescient details.
“Well, Mr. Wider Perspective, time for us to relocate.” Russo said with a bit of snark.
A snap of the fingers brought Anaxis' sentient armor online, causing it to follow the duo. “Do we have a ride?”
“Got a K-Fast in orbit above the airfield. Dust off in thirty seconds. Our special asset is flying AirSEC.”
“Good. Proceed.”
The trio left the shield enhanced co
mbat information center. Shimmering duradium plates shifted from the secure dome to let them through to the warehouse proper, picking up a squad of Exo Commandos as a shield. Sounds of gunfire echoed in pace with explosions beyond the perimeter. Outside the warehouse bay doors, groups of swarm-tech enhanced citizens ran beside full conversion cyborgs toward the fighting. Anaxis put his hand up to halt the group. “According to the intel, most of the attackers are part of a criminal cartel supported by local tribesman, all freed from our control. Lieutenant, take your detail and support the Heavy Infantry Cyborgs. We'll take the swarm enhanced for security.”
“Not wise, especially if Lasher can use his mojo to free them when we're in flight.” Russo countered.
Anaxis dismissed the thought. “Feeds suggest he has to see them. Lieutenant, go.”
The squads switched places on the move, needing little direction as the embedded AI's running the swarm-tech took complete control of Anaxis' new security team. Upgraded reaction algorithms, nano enhanced agility, and adaptive exoskeletal armor uploaded over a matter of steps moving toward the Koda Fast Attack Shuttle.
A robot came racing across the tarmac, floating on a suspension field. The spherical automaton's dome was crested with two antennae on one side. A large central lens with two offset beneath it dominated the front of the globe. The robotic adaptive tactics mech slipped into place beside Anaxis just as the engines on the wing mounts came to full churn. The vehicle lifted from the ground as though it were on a trampoline. It sailed at a relatively slow speed while gaining altitude, allowing those inside a bird's-eye view of the fighting. A single energy bolt hit the passenger's compartment. Bits of resicarbon flashed hot against the passengers, who were too inhuman or too entranced to care.
“Damn, still don't have that.” Anaxis grimaced, as he strained to see where the bolt came from.
“Have what?” Russo asked.
The sound increased as the engines rotated from their VTOL push to flight configuration, increasing the noise even more. Normally, the whine of the engines would make speaking difficult outside of a helmet or headset. Being an advanced cyborg, Anaxis was above such limitations. “The marshals can use their abilities to bend space around them, making incoming fire follow a different path, like water down a curved glass. When this is all said and done, my new form will allow us so much more.”
“We have to get the Baroness first, sir.” Russo said.
Anaxis stared at his clenched fist while taking in all the input the Crucible could give him. “Only a matter of time.”
The city was in a state of civil war. Large bands of swarm enhanced citizens fought against lancer units making inroads into the city. Advanced equipment and tactics were being pitted against the swarm's nanotechnology in a battle to see what strategy would win the day. Explosions vied to dominate the observers' eyes as smaller flashes of light and noise reverberated from below.
A rocket spat a gout of smoke tinged flame as it sped toward the K-Fast. Systems warnings flashed across their HUDs, drawing attention to the speeding dart.
Anaxis raised his palm to shoulder height, his hand vibrating as though it were being viewed through a camera not fast enough to photograph its motions. “Go.”
A Zheegan, savage and crocodilian, stepped to the edge of the passenger's compartment. Anaxis pushed his hand outward in command of an invisible force, tossing the giant lizard man into the expanse. Rocket and reptile man collided in decimating display of smoke and gore.
“Vidar, did you really think that was the most effective use of your security?” Russo yelled.
“It served its purpose.”
The K-Fast zipped through the buildings, dropping below the line of skyscraper rooves where more rocket wielding criminals or lancers could be lying in wait. After all, he only had so much of his security detail to use as target countermeasures. While staying above the skyline was faster, it would become costly.
The ship bucked, transitioning into a plane-wide shudder as the drive engines rotated back for vertical takeoff and landings. Their velocity slowed, permitting an unobstructed view of the Kabran City Arena. The giant multiplex was one of the city's shining jewels, where games like murderball, Vosi Polo, and Racer Tag were played to give the masses a sense of civilization out in the Frontier. While the teams were all local, it was enough to give the spacers looking to relax, drink, or gamble some place to do it so that money made here, stayed here.
Large processions of swarm-enhanced troops were interspersed throughout the stadium, making it one of the most secure sections of the city. Down on the grassy field, the company-sized Fifth Commando waited in formation for Raven's arrival. Ascending from one of the team entrances on the other side, an armored giant strode under the brilliance produced by the wide array of stadium lights, keeping it as illuminated as though it were noon. Following it were an assortment of four legged mechs, whose conical heads searched the environment beyond, whipping metallic tendrils on their backs.
Anaxis jumped from the K-Fast before it had fully set on its landing gear. “Danyss, the Architect. Good to see you so up and active. I wasn't told they'd found you.”
The burly armored form cracked open in the center, venting gasses partially obscuring a more human form inside. She stepped from the machine, clad in a myomar body suit similar to those worn by deep space pilots. Holograms flitted around her head like a laurel wreath worn by the conquerors of Old Sol.
“Vidar Anaxis. You weren't told because I was only recently discovered within the last hour. From the sound of things, you seemed busy. Now please explain to me why you'd shore up security to check a storage locker while the Shepherd is plying his drones against random sites that are less than promising?”
“Dearest Danyss,” Anaxis began. “The Shepherd and his assets are scouring the streets for the potential location of our beloved Baroness. When he finds something, we act on it.”
The Architect appraised her bots standing ready to receive her commands, not bothering to face Anaxis to address him. “And if her crypt is here, you'll be the one to greet Her Royal Highness when we find her?”
“As it should be as acting Guardian,” the Exo Noble cooed.
“And as Guardian, it doesn't trouble you we have no access to the Cypher-Link or any of the advantages in the panamorphic environments?” Danyss asked. “We should be able to contact the Baroness and bring her online, which would make locating her crypt that much easier.”
“We do what we can with what we have in the uncivilized situations we find ourselves in.” Anaxis said, parrying her statement. “Seeing that you're here, I would like to commission you to build a device that might help us penetrate the bunker below us.”
“Duradium doors with corodan pin locks. I can fabricate a beam drill but will need significant power to operate it.”
Anaxis issued commands through his interface without moving a muscle. “Would it help if we brought one from the Hunter's Moon?”
Danyss flicked a holo between them from the assortment floating around her head. It expanded until everyone watched it flow through a series of equations, reaching a conclusion she was more than convinced was the case. “It would seem that it would take longer for you to bring it here, break it down to fit into the space provided, and then reassemble than it would for me to build a new one. My Forge Hounds can fabricate it quickly enough. Can you get me the necessary power?”
“Consider it done.”
Danyss spun to face him as if seeing Vidar for the first time as worthy of her full attention. “Why Vidar, if you keep up this can do attitude, you might end up in that Guardian position permanently.”
“I serve at the pleasure of our esteemed leader. Once she's free, everything will be as it should.”
“Yes, I'm sure it will.” Danyss said playfully.
She climbed back into her noble armor, sealing out the world. Anaxis turned his head nearly imperceptibly toward the RAT-7 hovering close to his shoulder. The lenses on the machine focused for a mo
ment before going still.
“Wait, did you just infect her with swarm-tech?” Russo asked.
Anaxis pointed a finger toward a club box at the other end of the stadium. “That will do nicely. In answer to your question, yes, I have given the swarm to our little club. It is the only way I can ensure compliance to the plan. It is how I must maintain control over events so we may succeed.”
“Sir, if the Baroness finds out that you subverted control of the nobles...” Russo let the statement hang in the air between them.
“Once we find the Baroness, she will be subjected to the same. We will have complete control and will execute to our final objective. I will become more powerful than anyone and my loyal friends, who didn't need such coercion, will work by my side as equals.”
Russo nodded his agreement, pressing for more. “Until then, we play the game. I get that. But why not use the Shepherd to verify this latest find? Why have the Architect go through all this work if there's nothing here?”
Anaxis scowled. “The Shepherd never came out of his armor. The sensor systems on his little drones are too acute to have the nanites go unnoticed should we let the little bugs lie in wait for him to emerge from his suit. He isn't under our influence.”
“This is a dangerous game you're playing, Vidar.”
“And what better place to play than such a lovely sports venue? Now if you would be so kind, ARC Commander, would you make sure that my detail sets up our impromptu command center in that sky box? While I very much want to be close to the action, a good egress route from there would be beneficial in the event something goes wrong.”
“Right away,” Russo agreed. “When it's done, I'll leave you the security detail in the event you see any more rockets.”
Vidar Anaxis leveled his top commander a knowing grin. “Thank you, Commander. It's refreshing to finally have someone with whom I can be myself.”
Twenty-Nine
“What in the Twin Hells is that?”
“Mara, you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Marco asked.
The Sentinel: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Hunter's Moon Book 3) Page 35
