Adrian Saunders felt exactly as though somebody had shot a missile at him, and that was because they had. A dozen robo-slugs in a kind of armour that Adrian had never seen before, carrying weapons that reminded him uncomfortably of Earth. They’d been heading for the Warehouse where Askit was speaking with Jen, and they didn’t look the friendly type.
Neither did Jen, he thought, but that didn’t matter right now because although the missile hadn’t hit him a lot of shrapnel had.
Shrapnel fucking hurt. Even through the adrenaline it hurt like hell.
He wasn’t dead though, so that was a silver lining, even if his left arm was broken and torn. He was in trouble, though, and he knew it. The armour these robo-slugs were wearing was clearly higher spec stuff. When it moved it had weight to it, and while that made it easy to hear them moving, it was not an encouraging fact, especially when the sound of their movements indicated a flanking maneuver. Quite correctly they hadn’t assumed him to be dead after a single missile – although thank goodness they hadn’t used any more – and were fanning out to search for him.
He held his position amongst the ruins of the shattered building he’d been holed up in. At least he’d managed to tell Askit… something. He hoped it was enough.
It would have been nice to see Jen in person one last time.
“No,” he told himself. “I can’t be thinking like that. I can still survive this… somehow.”
First point of order: what did he have?
Nothing. Fuck, shit… he was down to using pieces of debris as weapons. All his gear had been near the explosion – he hadn’t exactly been expecting an army – and he’d been lucky not to have joined it. The missile had headed straight for it, so it seemed likely it had been keyed in to target some piece of equipment, most likely the communicator.
So if he had no equipment, he couldn’t be targeted? It was a guess, and a hopeful one, and he didn’t like to trust hopeful guesses, but given that they hadn’t shot another one at him it did seem likely.
That didn’t help the fact that the robo-slugs were busy flanking him, but it did mean one less thing to worry about.
The mechanised stomping was growing closer.
Adrian grabbed a good sized bit of rubble in his right hand; it was time to act.
Then he sprang from hiding.
+++++
“What the hell are those things?” Jen asked as the group took up position near the site of the explosion. She could see twelve robots clomping around, and they made enough noise doing it that it was clear their weight was considerable. There was also some form of robotic weapons platform sitting in the middle of the street, looking for all the world like a rocket launcher.
“Allebenellin heavy troopers,” Chir said softly. “They are an annelid race that uses robotic bodies to interact with the world. Those suits are not standard issue, however.”
“I’ve seen them before,” Zripob revealed, and he did not sound happy about it. “They’re supposedly based on the physiology of a powerful alien creature. Expensive, but they can dominate a battlefield if you use them right.”
Jen glanced at them both. “Are you telling me those things-“
She was interrupted by the sounds of weaponsfire, gutteral screaming and violence, and quickly turned her gaze back to what was going on at the ruin.
One of the robot things was down, with a bald and bloody human repeatedly slamming a rock into its fallen form until it stopped moving. He was pounding away at it with his right hand only; his whole left arm hung limp and useless at his side.
The others were already converging on his location, and they weren’t carrying standard pulse weaponry.
“Adrian!” she exclaimed despite herself, then looked desperately to the other two, all thoughts of vengeance gone. “We can’t let this happen… where the fuck is that Corti?”
“He ran for it,” Chir said disapprovingly. “Corti are cowards.”
“I don’t recognise those weapons,” Zripob said. “They must be something new.”
“I hate new,” Chir muttered. “When it’s not ours anyway.”
“Spread out and advance,” Jen told them. “We don’t know what those weapons will do, but they haven’t shot him yet so it’s likely that they’re close range.”
“That looks like a rocket launcher,” Chir said. “What if the ship-“
Jen cursed. “Right… fuck. Darragh, do you hear me?”
Darragh answered nearly immediately. “I hear you. I’m about ready to-“
“Do not take off, Darragh,” Jen interrupted. “They have a rocket launcher!”
“What the hell is going on over there?” Darragh asked in bewilderment.
“If I figure it out I’ll let you know,” Jen replied sharply, and ended the link. “Alright, boys… once more unto the breach.”
+++++
Askit had started running the moment he’d been able. He wasn’t running away, not really, but he was a computer tech and computer techs generally didn’t have an extensive shelf life if you brought them onto a battlefield.
Instead he’d sent out the hover cameras to get an eye on the situation, and he did not like what he saw. The building that Adrian had been hiding in was a complete mess, and while Adrian himself was clearly superior to the single Allebenellin heavy trooper he was cracking open like a particularly troublesome nut, he wasn’t likely to be superior to another eleven of them. Not with such an obviously mangled left arm, in any case.
The female human and her two pet aliens were beginning to provide some distraction, however, and were advancing on the Allebenellin troopers in a spread out formation. Their anti-tank rifles were already firing, and while this had distracted the Allebenellin troops, it wasn’t doing enough damage to take them down.
He took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Alright, Askit,” he said, “now’s the time to prove you’re as good as you say you are.”
There was an interesting weapon on the main street. He wondered what it did.
+++++
Anti-tank guns were completely fucking useless, Jen had decided. She was dead sure she’d managed to hit a robo-guy a few times, but apart from staggering it she’d only seemed to piss it off. That this was how other races must feel when they came up against the human was not a fact that was lost on her, but it might have been nicer to appreciate it from a distance.
At the very least they’d managed to force the robo-guys into a defensive position, and that had distracted them from Adrian. Where he was now was anybody’s guess, but Jen hoped that he hadn’t just let them drop themselves in the shit for him and left.
“No,” she said to herself. “He wouldn’t do that.”
But now her small group was on the defensive, hiding behind larger chunks of the building that had been blasted into the street, and the robo-guys were slowly advancing.
The first of them fired his strange gun and a bright orange plume of plasma swept out past her position, hot enough to feel it cook off the sweat from her skin.
Jen pressed herself harder against the makeshift barricade that protected her, her chest tight with fear.
They were using plasma weaponry.
That was about as bad as it could possibly get; even a human would get cooked by plasma, and they could make the air so hot your lungs would burn first. It was an awful, and painful way to die, and it was about to happen to Jen.
She’d never been religious, but now she started to pray.
And that was when the explosions started.
+++++
Adrian had lost himself in the moment when he was beating the shit out of that robo-slug. Their body was mostly too solid to hit through, but they’d used some form of glass to let the worm inside get a good view, and even though it had taken a few hits it turned out not to be quite as resistant to having a slab of rock smashed against it.
He had been expecting to die, but he had been dead set on taking that ugly fucker with him.
That was when the robo-slugs had been distracted by a new threat – by Jen, Chir, and Zripob – and had been forced to pay attention to them. Those three only had anti-tank weapons, though, and from what Adrian could tell that basically meant they were in about ten-shades of shit if that was all they had.
And there was something else: the robo-slugs had plasma guns!
Adrian wasn’t the most informed guy in the galaxy, but he was fairly certain that was a rare kind of thing, and even Margarita’s modified plasma thrower had toasted him when he used it. It seemed likely that the only reason they could use them at all was the heavy protection from the robotic suits.
That meant if he tried it, he’d just cook himself in the process, and he was already feeling bad enough that he knew that wasn’t going to end well. There was always more than one way to skin a cat, though, so he took the gun from the dead one and slipped back out of sight to get to work on it.
And that was when the explosions started.
+++++
Virg advanced slowly upon the resisting fighters, staying in line with his men. The human male was close by, had killed Cort with a rock, but the human male was wounded and would not be able to use the plasma weapon without killing itself.
The human female and her two companions were another story. Despite the minor effect such weapons would have on the ultra-harnesses, they would eventually cause significant compound damage. They could not be ignored, but their deaths were at hand.
The Heirarchy would be pleased, and soon Cavaras would be human free once again. Virg may even receive a promotion for getting two humans when only one had been expected.
There was nowhere for them to run, there was nowhere for them to hide. The Heirarchy had intervened to clear the area of civilians and prevented the response of the local authorities, and with the ‘missile array’ weapons platform operational, there would be no air support available to the enemy.
They had the humans exactly where they wanted them.
Virg heard the ‘missile array’ prime itself, an indication that the enemy had made a fatal mistake of committing air support to the area. He turned slightly to watch the glorious display of the next cylinder launching at the inbound target.
It was pointed right at him.
There was a mechanical hiss as the missile released, and that was when the explosions started.
+++++
Adrian had been as surprised by the fact that the missile launcher was attacking the robo-slugs as they had been, but unlike them he had an idea as to what was happening and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Askit,” he shouted laughingly, “you glorious fucking bastard!”
It was a pity that the Corti couldn’t hear him and make one of his amusing replies, but that was just another thing for Adrian to be pissed at the robo-slugs about.
He finished filling the plasma focusing barrel with dust and grit from the broken building. The weapon was thoroughly broken now; so dangerously so in fact that it was pretty much a bomb.
He grinned evilly to himself, set the weapon to prime, and flung it with all his might towards the remaining robo-slugs.
+++++
Jen and company had shielded themselves from the deafening explosion by pressing themselves into cover provided by already exploded debris, and had waited for the wave of dust to sweep past them.
There was enough dust in the air for her to choke on it, and she could hear the others gagging as well.
That had the possibility of turning really bad if there were still robo-guys left, and she thought that she could hear them still moving over the ringing in her ears.
She peeked out from her cover and could see six of the eleven were still mobile, although they were now turning their fire against the missile launcher, something that Jen had thought should be suicidal but seemed to be having the desired effect. It was possible, she thought unhappily, that the warheads did not explode through contact with high temperatures.
In that case the robo-guys would soon be turning their attention back her way, and with Chir and Zripob busy coughing up a lung they weren’t exactly going to be able to run for it.
Her eyes flicked to movement behind the robo-guys, a small shape flying through the air and landing amongst them.
She squinted; it was one of their weapons…
By some strange instinct she pressed herself back behind cover and shouted to the others to do the same. There wasn’t any reason for someone to be throwing a plasma gun next to these guys unless…
A wave of heat blasted past as an inferno erupted amongst the robo-guys. It was hot enough that it stayed hot once the rush had passed, and the affected area radiated intense heat that warmed even the stone debris she hid behind.
That one had to have been Adrian, and she still wasn’t sure whether she should kiss him or kill him as a result.
“Darragh,” she said, activating the link and coughing after saying the name. “Darragh, get the ship over here now.”
“But the rocket launcher…” Darragh began.
“Is not a problem anymore, Darragh!” Jen told him. “Get over here! We need to get away!”
There was a pause. “I’ll be right there.”
The communicator link terminated, and Jen leaned back against her chunk of debris and breathed.
+++++
“Gdugnir,” Askit said into the communicator link. “Do you hear me?”
Gdugnir answered immediately. “I hear you, Askit. What’s going on? There were explosions.”
“Something I’ve never seen before,” Askit told her. “I think we should start running, Gdugnir. How fast can you steal a ship?”
“I have just stolen a ship,” Gdugnir replied. “The human pilot is quite upset with me. Suggestions?”
Askit blinked, processing this information. “You’ve stolen the landing craft that Jennifer Delaney arrived on, haven’t you?”
“I’ve stolen their landing craft,” Gdugnir confirmed. “What to do with the human pilot?”
Askit groaned inwardly. “Put me on speaker for him.”
There was an obvious change in ambient sound coming through the link. “You are now on speaker.”
“This is Askit,” Askit said. “Is this the human male who was with Jennifer Delaney earlier?”
“Aye,” the human male replied, and Askit noted his speech sounded similar to that of Jennifer Delaney, and dissimilar to that of Adrian Saunders. An interesting fact, but one for another time.
“Well, let me put it this way,” Askit said. “We’re commandeering your space craft, and even though you’re a powerhouse of destructive fury, our boss is a bigger one, so you’re better off coming quietly.”
There was an audible sigh. “Well, it wasn’t like I didn’t want to meet him anyway.”
“Good man,” Askit told him. “Gdugnir, I’m sending you my position, swing past and grab me before you go get Adrian.”
“I’ll be there in a moment,” Gdugnir responded. “Get to the rooftop.”
Askit smiled to himself. “Already on my way.”
+++++
Jen had been relieved when the landing craft came in low and clean over the buildings. She had even been impressed at first, surprised at the skill with which Darragh piloted the vehicle. It was well beyond anything that she, or even Chir or Zripob could have managed, and for a moment she thought that maybe he’d fit in well after all.
Then he had passed right over them towards the main area of rubble.
She activated the communicator link. “Darragh, you missed us.”
Darragh did not respond.
She tried again. “Darragh? Answer please.”
There was no response, and the craft itself was lowering itself beyond the rubble. With the ground turned to semi-solid rock between her and it there wasn’t even a way to safely get there.
“Somebody else has control of my ship,” she said over the link. “Don’t they?”
The link finally connected.
“Jen?” Adrian asked. “That you?”
Jen froze for a moment, uncertain how to respond. Then her mouth started talking without much input from her brain. “Adrian… you frigger! Don’t you dare steal my fucking ship!” she shouted. “I’ll knack your melt in!”
The Australian just laughed wearily. “It’s good to hear from you, too.”
“Adrian…” Jen started, not sure whether she was angry or not anymore. There had been something in his voice just then…
“I’m going to be borrowing your space craft, I figure you’ve probably got more up there on your cruiser,” he continued. “I’ll drop your Irish boy here, he seems like a decent sort. Maybe a little pale, though.”
Jen did not think this was not how this conversation was supposed to go. She had envisioned it in person, with some screaming and Adrian getting repeatedly punched in the face like he deserved. The way he was talking now made her feel cold inside. “What are you doing, Adrian?”
“We have to go check something out,” he said. “I think it’s important, but there’s a chance we won’t be able to come back.”
“You don’t need to go,” Jen told him. “Just come get us…”
“No,” he said firmly. “I won’t be doing that.”
They were both silent.
“Jen,” he said after a moment.
“Yes?” she asked.
“I…” he said, and hesitated. “Nothing. Just, goodbye.”
The communicator link terminated from his end, and the landing craft began to rise.
Jen held onto the debris for support as she watched it vanish under its cloak, her eyes wide and disbelieving. Then she sank to her knees and took deep, trembling breaths.
She didn’t want to hit him anymore.