Deus Ex Machina chapter 2
I held down the trigger on the rapid fire quad rocket until the magazine was entirely empty. The Atlas nearest lost its shields and its return fire with its Plasma Railgun only blazed air. I dashed in a zig-zag line as my Stryder titan reloaded the quad rocket launcher. A constant vibration rattled my legs as the titan's leg servos clattered against the sea of Spectres marching along the port of this export town. The second titan was an Ogre blasting at my shields with an X0-16 Chaingun. Reloaded, the quad rocket went back to the Atlas with the decimated shields. The plasma railgun seemed to be clumsily handled in the Auto-titan's hands as the rockets rained down on the armor from all sides. The Ogre was trying to cover the other but I moved too quickly to be damaged severely. The Atlas exploded into two pieces and I turned my attention to the Ogre. Suddenly, a rocket barrage took out the last of my shields. The Ogre had finally keyed on me and bullets racked the armor of my cockpit. Sid growled into my earpiece, "Boss, you have enemy Spectres on your titan. I suggest removing them before I catch something." Just as he said that a Spectre on the visual screens was climbing on the left arm of my titan. It took out a blow torch and cut into the elbow circuits. Thumps resounded in my cockpit as more were climbing onto the top of the hull. It would not be long before they would start firing their weapons into the main circuitry. With a quick flick of my wrist I made the Stryder activate the vortex shield. The Spectre was sucked into the magnetic disc emanating from the open palm of the left hand. The Spectre swirled along with the incoming hail of bullets from the Ogre titan. I aimed carefully and released the lead and Spectre back at the Ogre. The shields went away on my enemy but the Ogre still had plenty of armor underneath to grind through. My entire cockpit vibrated as the bullets from the Spectres on top. The overall health of my Stryder titan deteriorated rapidly and Sid was beginning to sound even more aggressive in my ear.
"These Spectres will suffer the consequences of our wrath, boss. They will be terminated with extreme prejudice."
However, the bigger problem was the two hundred ton angry machine firing fifteen hundred rounds a minute at me. I dashed to get close on its flank and unloaded the entire magazine in the quad rocket launcher. I had even maneuvered the Stryder behind the Ogre and laid into the enemy titan with a salvo of guided rockets. The knees staggered on the big titan but it still continued to fight. My Stryder was not faring much better as warning lights blared into the cockpit. More Spectres climbed onto the hull until everything went quiet. I mean, yes, a deadly battle with an Ogre titan was happening on this dock but Sid was no longer complaining about enemy Spectres on the hull.
I unloaded one last load of rockets into the Ogre and it was about to fall. Fire burst from the ports and sparks ejected from the strained servos. I dashed forward and thought this robot needed to be finished. I made the Stryder titan reach back and then slam its fist into the cockpit of the Ogre. I pulled back and to my surprise a Spectre was piloting the titan. It struggled to free itself from my grasp as I looked closer at it to make sure. My titan was malfunctioning and the vision was flickering inside the cockpit but indeed it was a Spectre. With deft movements with my pinky and ring finger, I made the Stryder put its thumb underneath the chin of the Spectre. It stopped fidgeting and looked straight before I flicked the thumb up and the Spectres head went into the air.
"Boss, we have taken major damage due to your human ineptitude. Seek cover for regen."
"Don't worry, I am not staying long-Alice, do you copy?"
"I'm here. Nice job with the Stryder. We had your back with those Spectres."
"Thanks. I pulled a special Spectre out of that last titan it seems Spyglass has been cooking something up these couple of months."
"That can't be good. There has been some reports of Spectres performing parkour unusual to their animation design."
"Keep your eyes wide open then, I'm coming to join you."
I opened the hatch and leapt out of the Stryder. Smoke and sparks billowed from the ports. The armor was dented and burnt all around and half the left foot was missing.
"Sid, you don't look so good. I want you to engage in follow mode and I'll watch over you."
"Your mother said that you didn't look good either, Boss. Engaging follow mode."
Alice and a couple other pilots came out of the besieged building. Decimated Spectres littered the entire sea-side square. The sounds of battle still echoed eerily between the buildings. The two other pilots were fresh faces as well, but they were not dirty and bloody in their first baptism. They looked at me with wonder while Alice got right to business.
"Kax, the Militia is pulling back. They are giving up this town. We need to move before we are left behind."
"How do you know?"
"I keep my ear on the grunt channels. They have sustained massive casualties and are no longer an effective fighting force."
Just then came the all call from Bish, the tech-wiz guy of the Militia. Somehow that chunky dude was able to bring down the towers at IMC Airbase Sierra. I was not too appreciative of that being that I was there with the IMC's 40th Squadron. "Pilots, we lost this round. We are falling back to the eastern edge of town."
The Special Forces brunette, Sarah, interrupted. "Dropships are on their way pilots. You want to be there to secure the LZ. This evacuation won't be waiting around."
Cheerful frau wasn't she? I looked over at Alice and she winked. And I thought I was the strategy guy. The four of us ignited our jumpkits and a young boy pilot took point. He was decent at parkour and using the timing on his jumpkit. He got a little ahead of us and that turned out to be his downfall. A battle still raged and we were trying to make our way through the flank of Spyglass's forces. Spectres poured out of the buildings and flooded the streets with their malignant, black steel. They upset cars and set them ablaze. They smashed windows with the realest artificial disdain. Almost as if . . . they were once human.
The young pilot jumped off the roof of a building but in his hurry, misjudged the distance to the next office. He stuck his data knife into the wall to try and climb back up but he fell almost right down to the street level. Nothing human was on that level. All the Spectres saw him and aimed their weapons. The three of us on the previous roof aimed our guns down but we were too late. In a short burst, nearly a hundred bullets peppered that poor pilot on point. His body hung to the dataknife for a moment, then let go. His remains disappeared into that black sea. We took cover behind the ledge as to not be seen by the Spectres below. I glanced at my watch.
"We have twenty five seconds until the dropships arrive. That building is where they will be picking us up. We just need to sit tight and-"
Incoming fire racked our position and we dropped to the roof on our bellies. Alice lifted her LMG and began firing.
"Get to cover!" She yelled. "They got the high tower on us, go! Go!"
I darted for the commercial air conditioner unit as the thunderous bark of the Spitfire countered the automatic fire coming from the opposite building. They might be the special Spectres, the pilot kind. I leaned out the side and pulled off a few shots into grey skyline. The broken Spectre fell down eighteen stories. The rumble of titans shook our boots and I glanced at my wrist-map. No friendly titans in the area. We had sixteen seconds until the dropship would come and go. My mind almost froze with dread but I didn't survive the IMC because I was some lily wilting in the sun. Winter knew my name and I knew the cold.
"Sid, are you still there?"
"I am still on the ground, Boss."
"Put all the firepower you got on this coordinates," I pressed my marking button on my helmet that highlighted the higher rooftop where the attacking Spectres barraged us.
"I don't care if another titan comes and takes you out, Sid. Just pour it on right there."
"Complying."
Rockets flew from the street on our flank and while most of them missed into the endless sky, where they would fizzle out and landed like an artillery barrage in some field, a few found their mark. They did not have a chance of killing any of those Spectres at this distance, but Sid's cover would keep their heads down for the chance we needed.
"Ten seconds, Kax. Let's go!" Alice yelled as she slammed another giant box clip into the Spitfire. I ran and jumped off the ledge of the building. Fear clutched my heart; I had just seen a man die when he made this jump. His blood was still painted all along the walls. I hit the jumpkit and did not make the distance to the roof. I smashed into the ledge and grabbed it with my off hand. With a herculean effort I pulled myself up and over the ledge. The barrel of a R-101C lined up with my face. I thought it was over. But a pilot put down his weapon.
"Call your direction bro! I nearly merced you."
"Sorry, bad habit," I apologized. I remembered that moment on Anon II where I landed on a friendly titan but was nearly obliterated by a friendly 40 mm cannon shot. Alice and the other pilot came over the ledge just as the dropships broke through the atmosphere. The other pilot that was with us turned around but he suddenly pitched forward and tumbled over the edge of the building. His scream towards his death was unheard by us. We had to focus on the nineteen Spectres that jumped from the street. They instantly surrounded us and tried to catch us in crossfire. I used the butt of my rifle to knock back the head of the first Spectre that came over the ledge, the one that had murdered the pilot. The face crumpled and it fell to the floor. I leveled my rifle and fired at the side of another Spectre. It took five bullets but it finally went down. Alice kicked one back over the ledge. The roar of the dropship kicked up dust all around us on the roof. Sarah called to all the pilots that our ride was here. More Spectres jumped onto the roof and we had to retreat backwards towards the open doors of the dropship. I took a knee to reload my clip and Alice stood over me with the Spitfire unleashing hell and empty bullet casings.
"Come on, they are taking off!" I yelled went to the dropship. I was the last to get on the ship and it gained altitude. But Alice was not on board.
I turned frantically and she was running towards the ship. Bullet tracers bit at her heels and she ditched the LMG on that roof. I dove onto my belly and screamed to keep the door open. I called her name and she jumped and then hit her jumpkit. Her gloves wrapped into mine and I used all my strength to crush her delicate hand. I would not let go. The other pilots saw I had her and pulled me up to haul her in. We rolled together onto the floor and bullets racked the armor. The engines of the dropship deafened everyone in the hull as the lost battle faded away. Alice and I put our helmets together. We could both hear our breathing through the helmets. We laughed and desperately cried at the same time. Too many close calls in our relationship.
As our dropship was docking, Alice had her helmet off and she leaned her blonde head onto my shoulder pads. One pilot was passing by. She looked like a hard-nosed survivor. She grimaced at us. She must be IMC to look that way. "You two from the IMC?" she snarled. A couple of other pilots were following her closely. They must have really followed this woman religiously by the looks on their faces. Unfortunately though she and I did not have the same religion since I realized that she was from the Militia.
"Ja. We used to be. Now we fight for people." I said.
"Well how was that last showdown?" She smirked. "Another lost battle on your pitiful losing streak. You two are freaking experts at retreating."
A deadly cold pool formed in the pit of my stomach. I never resorted to violence with my partners in combat. I thought we were all on the same team but the old blood feuds died hard on the Frontier. I kept my mouth shut though. The sad part was—it was true. I couldn't remember the last time I had won a battle. Alice lifted her head and gave her a few choice words in a way that women only know how to insult other women. The female Militia pilot scoffed and her small entourage followed her out of the hull. I squeezed Alice's hand gently and she lifted it up to kiss my knuckles.
It was recorded in the databases as the Battle of Export. Five companies of grunts went in but only two came out. The two that did survive were in shambles and had to be disbanded to other battalions. Much like when my 40th was decimated. The Militia had suffered the loss of twenty-eight pilots. It was only a little less than a fifty percent casualty rate. They never told us what the civilian casualties might be. Graves knew it would kill our spirits even more if we knew that we saved no one that day. We rushed in too fast in my opinion. I understand that the workers of Export needed us right away but something in my gut told me that Graves had been persuaded strongly to initiate a large-scale rescue. Besides, that was the Militia's MO. No one left behind, even if a fleet died in the process. Some might see the sanctity and honor in that but we at the IMC knew the ways of war and high prices it demanded. We knew that some men and women were to be abandoned with little ammunition to take down what they could before they were over ran. Such was war. Such was the Frontier. An old saying that was never published for obvious reasons in the IMC was something engraved in every bar in the IMC space ships. "Deliver us from evil. Deliver my paycheck to my love back home. But leave me on the field with my enemy's blood still on my fists."
A week later our ship received a call to move to a backwater named Nomandy to pacify a swelling of robot invasion there. I had no idea that I would find the IMC already there.