Chapter 7
The Royal Army of Acorn's Arcology
10:02 AM, Two Days Later
Kyros twisted and rolled over in the hard bed he laid in. It was one of the least comfortable beds he had the pleasure of using, but it was better than sleeping on the floor, and with the entire team's chronic lack of sleep over the past week or so he was eager to get a full night's sleep in anything. He groaned and tried to find a relatively comfortable position and continue sleeping, hoping to make the most of the opportunity. How the inhabitants of the arcology managed to sleep in these beds every night was beyond him.
His eyes cracked open as he heard the hushed footsteps of someone approaching their room, and he tried to shake off the groggy feeling still holding him in its grasp. A few seconds later, the unlocked door slid open, revealing a pangolin dressed in a white doctor's uniform. He stepped inside and took a quick look around to try and spot anyone awake.
"Yeah?" Kyros asked, volunteering himself.
The pangolin looked up to his bunk and smiled. "Sorry to wake you, but the doctor wanted to let you all know that Ms. Morceaux is awake now and strong enough to have visitors. If you would like to speak with her, I can let you in now."
Kyros nodded and sat up in his bed. He pulled himself from beneath the rough covers that he had discarded in the warm night before, and prepared to hop down. He mulled over the thought of asking for the air conditioner to be adjusted before the night, but decided it was best not to complicate things at the moment.
"Alright, give me a minute to get the others up." At least the uneasiness that had overshadowed them since they arrived two days ago would be lifted a little now.
"Right this way," the pangolin, Mr. Rao, said as he swung open a large door. Sissera followed along, customarily near the end of the group. She was anxious to see Maya again, and ever since they had arrived and given the two patients over to the overlander she had been very nervous and desperate to see them again. Practically the moment she saw them carried away and out of sight, she had begun to question her own decision. Maybe she should have done the surgeries herself.
"After you," Mr. Rao said, opening a door and allowing the group to enter a small hospital room.
Sissera eagerly skipped inside and found Maya sitting upright in her bed, looking out a window next to her. Maya turned her gaze in their direction, smiling weakly and offering a weak wave. Sissera hurried over and led the group in greeting her personally. She hugged her and whimpered, "I'm so glad to see you made it."
Maya grunted in pain at the squeeze and replied, "Me too dear. I had quite a scare there."
Sissera let up and said, "Sorry, I guess you're still a little sore."
"Yeah, but I've had worse." Maya straightened herself a little and continued, "I'm still a little tired right now, but I actually feel better overall than I have in years."
"That's good to hear," Kyros said.
Marcus stepped over to her and gave her a small hug. "I was worried about you Miss Maya."
"Me too," she replied. "Does anyone know how Tantalus is doing? I haven't had time to speak with the doctor."
"He's fine, last I heard," Sissera answered. "I think the doctor said that everything went alright, but it's going to be a few days before he's totally back to himself."
Maya nodded and leaned back against the head of her bed. "That's good to hear. The doctor said he would only need a few days? That doesn't sound like much."
Behind them, squeezed her way into the overly crowded room. She lowered a clipboard in her hands and said, "Sorry to interrupt everything here, but I just wanted to check up on Ms. Morceaux here." She looked to Maya and said, "Everything feeling alright today?"
"Very well, actually. Thank you again."
Dr. Valtorta flashed her a smile and said, "Well, actually I didn't even do your surgery. Dr. Voss did it, I just did your friend's since I'm the only one qualified to do cybernetic surgery." She adjusted her glasses and said, "You're welcome though, I'll pass the thanks on."
"How is Tantalus?" Seltic asked before Maya could.
The overlander smiled and turned to face him, saying, "Recovering well, all things considered. It's a miracle he survived as long as he did, considering the infection he had and the blood loss. You really should have gotten him here days ago."
"We didn't really know," Sissera offered, answering the unspoken question. "I do thank you for doing it though, I just don't think I could have."
Dr. Valtorta shook her head and said, "No, I do doubt it. I'm not doubting your skill, but without the proper computers and robotic surgical tools it would have been nearly impossible." She stepped off toward the door and said, "I hate to run, but I do have other obligations at the moment. Once you all are done visiting here, I'd like to meet you in Major Simmin's office. We have some things to discuss. No hurry."
Maya waited for her to leave before asking the obvious question, "Discuss what?"
Kyros shrugged and said, "Probably want us to do something else for them now that they had to fix you too."
"Maybe not," Sissera said. "They told me not to worry about it." She crossed her arms and let out a sigh before continuing, "Well, no need to worry about it right now. It must not have been a big deal."
Major Simmin idly brushed nonexistent dust from his desk as he waited patiently for the rest of his appointees to show up. Dr. Valtorta sat across from him, fiddling with a strange vial of some powdered gray substance that she claimed was of incredible importance. She had neglected to tell him exactly what it was, but he figured it was something that wouldn't mean much to him anyway.
"The others were on their way, yes?" he asked.
She looked over from her study and nodded silently. The powder seemed to be almost sludgy as it sifted about in the clear tube, and was certainly holding her attention more than his presence. "They were right behind me, although I believe Ms. Morceaux wanted to get changed into something more formal before joining us."
He nodded and glanced briefly at the digital clock suspended on the far wall, noting that it had been several minutes since she had arrived herself. He leaned back in his chair and adjusted his sleeve before asking, "So, what is it exactly that you have there? Anything I would understand?"
"Actually, I wish I knew entirely," she replied, setting it on his desk. "We found it inside of our two patients."
He involuntarily raised an eyebrow and leaned forward again to examine the small vial more closely. "Really? What on Mobius is it? Nothing I would expect to be found inside a living person."
"Me neither." She retrieved the vial and shook it about a few times to watch the particles settle and said, "It looks almost like some sort of carbon... graphite perhaps. If I'd just found it in one of them I might believe some sort of remotely unlikely and unusual metabolic disorder, but it was in both..."
Major Simmin thought for a few moments but his chance to speak was cut short as the buzzer on his desk alerted them to someone waiting to enter. He depressed the button and spoke into a small intercom, "Yes, come in."
The large wooden door before them opened automatically at the press of a button, locking mechanisms jolting open with hydraulic hisses. As expected, several of the Armadians entered the room, the same few that he recognized as pertaining to important matters plus a few he had not had the chance to meet more formally.
The small group quietly shuffled inside and found seats among the chairs scattered about the room, each silently looking to either him or the doctor for answers.
Major Simmin took a deep breath and said, "Thank you all for joining us, Dr. Valtorta has something... important to discuss with you." His eyes briefly tracked to Maya and he said, "I take it you are doing well."
She nodded and offered a tired smile. "Yes, thank you very much again for helping us."
Dr. Valtorta returned the smile and said, "It's our pleasure." She raised the small jar of mysterious powder up and continued, "Anyway, this is what I wanted to bring to your attention. As I was just discussing with the major here, I... discovered this strange substance while performing the surgical implant on your other friend. Dr. Voss tells me that he discovered the same material while replacing your pacemaker."
Maya's face distorted in confusion. "Discovered it? Where?"
The overlander adjusted her glasses and looked away from the group's questioning gaze. "In your case, Dr. Voss claims that whatever it is, it was covering the contacts leading from the nuclear battery in your pacemaker, preventing it from providing electricity and powering it. After removing the material and replacing the battery, all seemed well.
"In the case of Mr. Grey, I found it embedded in several of his wounds and particularly around the areas of his kidney that were exposed and in his other kidney, which I was forced to remove."
Everyone, the major included, continued to stare on in confusion and mild disbelief. A green tenrec among the group asked, "Well, what is it? It looks harmless enough, and it's not biological is it?"
She shook her head and replied, "No, we haven't had time to examine it too thoroughly, but it is definitely not biological and therefore not microbiological. I was at first concerned it was a form of infection, but that seems very unlikely at this point."
The blue echidna among the group asked, "So, is it dangerous?"
"That, I believe it is," she answered, returning their concerned gazes. "I don't know what it is, but in any case it was directly responsible for causing your friend's remaining kidney to fail, and it was directly responsible for causing your pacemaker to fail.
"At first I thought it was simply some sort of substance that managed to get into his wounds simply by exposure, like dirt. On the other hand, this does not explain how it got around your pacemaker's battery."
The tenrec immediately perked up and said, "Wait, that looks exactly like the stuff we found at the storage facility site we destroyed!"
The echidna, Kyros, added, "Yeah, it does. I'd bet anything that's what it is, and Robotnik made it."
Major Simmin turned his head slightly and asked, "Storage facility?"
Maya nodded and replied, "About a week ago we found some sort of storage tanks Robotnik was building on the shore a little ways from here. We didn't know what they contained, but we demolished them anyway. We flew by a few days ago and found something very similar to that covering the area."
The major leaned onto his desk and looked squarely at Dr. Valtorta. "Do you think it's possible Robotnik is behind this? Some sort of incomplete poison?"
She shrugged and replied, "Who can say? We won't know until the analysis is complete, but it is entirely possible." She made a slight gesture to Maya and said, "It's entirely possible that you breathed it in and it diffused into your tissues indirectly."
"So why aren't we sick?" a porcupine asked.
"That... I also don't know. Since I only found it in injured or weakened tissue, it's possible that your bodies were able to repel it. Something else I won't know for sure until we get the analysis results back. I can test you all if you're concerned."
"That's okay," the tenrec answered for his friends. "I'm not good with needles."
"Perhaps we should just wait until the results are in then," she said. "In the meantime, I think it might be wise to quarantine you all to reduce the risk of affecting others. If it does turn out to be dangerous, I think it would be best to minimize exposure."
Major Simmin sighed and looked down. "I don't know how we can do that. They've been in contact with virtually everyone for nearly three days now."
"It's just a suggestion. Do what you want or think is best."
"Alright." He raised his hand to the doctor and said, "Is there anything else you think we need to know at the moment?"
"Nothing urgent. If I learn anything new, or if the state of our other patient changes for the worse I'll be sure to let you all know immediately."
"Very well." He stood and continued, "You're all dismissed then. I want a report on the analysis as soon as possible. Until then, you may all continue to make use of our facilities as you see fit, but if you could minimize contact with others I would appreciate it. As the doctor said, it is best to keep risks as low as possible."
Seltic slowly plodded along in the middle of the group of his friends, making their way to a large conference room below ground in the arcology. The doctor had contacted them half an hour ago and reported that something disturbing had been learned about the mysterious substance, and that it did indeed point to Robotnik. Whatever she had learned, she wasn't in a hurry to tell them over the intercom, and the major had decided to make it a strictly non-civilian matter.
Kyros tapped the third basement level's button in the elevator, and said, "Anyone else got a bad feeling about this?"
"Yeah," Maya replied as the door slowly slid shut and locked into place with a thunk. "The major wanting to keep this secret tells me that it's something serious."
"Perhaps he doesn't want the civilians involved in matters concerning Robotnik. I'm sure he has something to do with it," Stanley added.
Vladimir grunted and backed against the wall of the elevator. "He probably does not want to cause a panic. Hopefully it is something that can be handled easily."
Seltic gave a half chuckle as he saw Kyros roll his eyes. "I wouldn't count on it, not if it's got something to do with Robotnik."
The elevator slowed from its dizzying pace, reaching the floor from the sixty-seventh floor they had previously been on. It ground to a halt and let out a chime from an aged speaker that drug out the sound and crackled with static. As the door slid open with another hydraulic clank, the elevator's bright lighting spilled into the room beyond. Two armed guards fully enclosed in the blue-tinted metal armor the soldiers wore turned slightly to acknowledge their arrival.
"The major is waiting for you. Please go through this door and do not deviate from the marked path," one said to them, pointing to a cavernous hallway a few meters away. Large red markers glowed slightly in the dim lighting, marking the path the soldier had mentioned.
No one spoke and only Maya returned the comment with a nod. They quietly continued down the hallway, following the red markers at each junction. Eventually they arrived at a large double door marked, "Briefing room."
"I guess this is it," Kyros said unnecessarily, activating the door controls.
The thick and heavily armored door flashed a green light and unlocked with a much quieter mechanism than the poorly maintained elevator. It silently slid open, revealing a similarly poorly lit room filled with various people clothed in either officer's garments or the heavy ceramic and metal armor of a soldier.
"Come in, have a seat," Major Simmin called to them from across a glowing holoprojector table.
Seltic followed his comrades in and found an empty seat near the back of the room. Despite the dimness of the room, he easily made out Sergeant Morgan's face in the crowd, and a fairly large number of other species clad in armor with sergeant's chevrons painted on them. Four others stood around the table with the major, their jackets adorned with commissioned officer's rank isignias. Seltic tried for a moment to recall their specific rank by looking at the symbols, but at the very least they were all below major if they weren't running the show.
"Alright, it looks like everyone important is here," Major Simmin said, stepping back from the table. "As you probably suspect by now, we have a serious problem."
Seltic tried to quell a sudden fluttering in his stomach.
Major Simmin motioned at the table, prompting it to change its image from a generic image of the Royal Army's badge to a massive and extremely convoluted image of spheres interlocked with lines. Instantly he recognized it as a molecular diagram of some sort.
"Dr. Artis recently finished analyzing the substance found inside of the two patients we received recently with an electron microscope and heuristic computer analysis, and this is what he found." The major pointed in the general direction of the image and continued, "Although it isn't completely obvious what its purpose is, it has been concretely identified as a nanotechnological machine."
A number of startled and confused voices began murmuring among the crowd. Seltic felt a chill wash over his body. If what he said was true, then this was extremely bad. Nanotechnology was among the most advanced developments in overlander science, and had never been transferred to the Mobians in any sort. Although nothing significant had been made of it to his knowledge, the potential was horrendously bad.
"We have analyzed the devices and it appears that they have malfunctioned, possibly due to poor design, or by damage inflicted by our friend's immune systems. They are all currently completely inert and don't appear to be doing anything."
That was a relief at least. Perhaps if nothing else they would have time to react to the threat now, but if Robotnik mastered the technology then the war would be over at that instant. He could manufacture poison that was always fatal, spread quickly and reproduced in the field by absorbing material from the environment. The nature of the ones they had found surely pointed in that direction.
The major changed the image again to show several reconnaissance images over Robotropolis. He crossed his arms and said, "I don't think it's necessary to even question where it came from. Robotnik is the only one with the technology and knowledge to create it. Thus, we have no choice but to immediately embark on a spying mission into Robotropolis to learn more."
He waved his hand over the image and continued, "Somewhat surprisingly we have found nothing unusual in Robotropolis by recon, so we believe that wherever it is being researched and produced, it is disguised to prevent us from locating it. At this point, we thus cannot directly attack the source nor can we commit a force with the intent of locating and destroying it at the same time.
"Instead, in two hours, we will be deploying six squads under the command of company captain Morent to scout out a number of locations that we believe have buildings large enough to house such a research project."
The major looked to the back of the room to the group that had arrived recently and said, "Although we are not going to demand that you assist us, we believe it is mutually beneficial if you do. We would be able to cover more ground, and Robotnik is a serious threat to the both of us."
"We understand," Maya answered. "We'll do what we can."
Seltic half expected Kyros to protest, but given the situation even he was quiet and receptive to the request.
"Excellent, we really appreciate it. I'll leave it up to you to decide where and how to proceed, but I'm open to providing suggestions and tying you into the detachment as a whole." The major shifted his posture and said, "If you agree, I believe we can use your help to perform spying in areas that we would draw too much attention. From what I hear you've done an excellent job in the past in such matters."
He smiled at a nod from Maya and continued, "Great then, we can move on to a tactical discussion and begin laying out objectives." He turned to face a monkey to his side and said, "Captain, if you'd like to begin..."
Vladimir watched silently as Kyros and Maya continued to debate over potential strategies and locations to scout, wondering to himself quietly as he always did. Although he would never show it to his friends, events of late were very unsettling and he was beginning to feel genuine concern about Robotnik. He couldn't recall being so concerned since his brush with death in the prison at Robotropolis.
In the background, six squads of soldiers were busy ferrying supplies and preparing their equipment and themselves for the imminent infiltration of Robotropolis. Memories of his own service in the Royal Army's special operations forces continued to dominate his thoughts as he watched. Had Robotnik's forces not slain his detachment and permanently separated him from the armed forces, he may well have ended up here instead of Armadi. None of the soldiers were familiar, but he did still feel somewhat at home here. He would never say it to his friends, but he had considered asking to join the army now.
Considering his prior experience with the army, Kyros and Maya had asked his input on the situation. Unfortunately his own knowledge about the situation was so limited that he had nothing significant to add, but had requested that they work directly with the army. If they were tied into their communication nets, at the very least they wouldn't be in the dark about potential problems that arose. Considering Robotnik's last response to their presence, it was likely that things would get intense quickly.
Among the crowd of troops hurrying back and forth around them, Corporal Fields appeared, partially armored and clearly still unfinished with his preparations. He looked back to his subordinates and shouted a few orders over the noises echoing through the room before beginning to weed his way over to Vladimir and his friends. He halted as he drew close and attempted to remove a pair of small radios from his belt clip.
"Alright, the major has decided to allow you to work directly with us and use our radio channels. These radios are encrypted and internal to our network, but if we use them much Robotnik will catch on to our locations, so try to keep things to a minimum," he said, finally wrenching the radios free and handing them over.
Kyros accepted the two devices and replied, "Yeah, we know. Are we going to be working with your squad specifically?"
"Yeah," the donkey answered with a frown, adjusting a radio ear stud in his ear. "The major seems to think that since we're acquainted that it's the best way to proceed."
"Okay, do we have our orders yet?"
"Major's still working on them, he'll hand them out electronically when we leave." The corporal grunted and stepped back before adding, "Make certain that you're ready within half an hour, we can't afford to be late."
Vladimir could see a hint of anger welling up within Kyros as the donkey left. The echidna pocketed the radios and turned to Maya, asking, "Okay, so what's his problem?"
"I don't know, things are a bit stressful, maybe he's just anxious."
Kyros frowned and turned to Vladimir and said, "Whatever. You ready? I think all we need to do is head to the hangars."
Vladimir smiled and flashed a small smirk. "Of course."
Kaplain quietly crept along behind Kyros as the team followed Sergeant Morgan's squad at a distance. He wasn't hoping to be back in Robotropolis so soon, but if there ever was a situation that demanded action, this was it. Briefly he had considered the option of feigning a particularly bad case of the chronic pain that plagued him so that he could stay behind with Maya and Marcus at the arcology, but now wasn't the time to back down on the promise he'd made to them.
At least they had managed to breach security without any fuss, the major's plan to avoid combat at all costs taking them into the city through an abandoned natural gas line that was large enough to walk through. Even when they had emerged into the city, there was no sign of any workers or security detail other than the odd buzzbomber or spy-eye. Whatever security reassignment Robotnik had performed recently, it apparently required the attention of all of this sector's security as well. Something large had to be going on.
He changed grips on his rifle to rest cramping muscles in his arms and continued to slide along the wall of a nearby building. Even if security seemed lax, there was no need to make it easy to detect them.
The building they had been assigned to investigate had apparently at some point been a chemistry laboratory, and if anywhere in Robotropolis had potential to be making components of the nanotech it was a good bet. The sergeant had told them that they were unable to send a recon force ahead to check for security first, but if things continued as they were it wasn't likely they would be running into a large force.
The other five squads had entered Robotropolis through the same hole in security, but had long ago diverged to cover nearly a quarter of the city with some reasonable guarantee of not missing anything. The other parts of Robotropolis were mostly filled with heavy industrial factories, and by everyone's logic Robotnik would probably prefer to leave them alone and instead convert a useless building into the manufacturing plant.
Suddenly, up ahead Kyros crouched and waived his comrades to the ground. He turned back and said, "Watch it, the sergeant just radioed and said that there are about five security bots patrolling around the target building. She wants us to move up slowly and meet up with them before they engage."
"Alright," Stanley answered as he moved up beside Kaplain. "They're what, two blocks up?"
"Yeah, come on, and keep it quiet."
Kaplain could feel his pace quicken a hair at the idea of being in another firefight. With any luck the soldier's weapons would shred the robots before they even knew they were coming. If not, they would only have a few seconds to finish the job before one gave their position away, and that was assuming that there weren't hundreds inside the building working at producing new nanobots.
The team silently crept up the barren street. The midday sun overhead shone down on them with what seemed an unnatural brightness, possibly distorted by one of the dozens of pollutants filling the air. The beams of light picked out hundreds of stark shadows shifting across the road, cast by pieces of paper or other debris blowing around in the brisk wind. Kaplain squinted and groaned as scorching blast of wind buffeted his face, and he tried to brush away particles of dirt and dust now embedded in his fur.
Kyros paused behind a large chunk of some unknown machine and waited for the others to join him before saying, "Alright, the squad is one more block over." He pointed through a building to their side and said, "The sergeant wants us to go through here to meet up with them, with the hopes of avoiding any prying eyes."
The team silently acknowledged the order and followed Kyros into the alley and through a battered and rusted steel doorway. The inside of the building was choked with clouds of floating dust, and any possible cover in the form of abandoned furniture had long been removed. At least there weren't any robots.
"This way," Kyros ordered, strolling through the building with unusual confidence. He moved up to a shattered window and pointed to a building across from them over an empty plot of land. "Her squad is supposed to be stationed in there. She wants us to wait for them to clear the defenses before we meet up and head inside."
He pulled the radio from his coat pocket and signaled their allies that they were ready. "Okay, the fireworks should start any moment now."
Kaplain hunkered down next to Kyros and peered through the window. As predicted, the sound of particle and laser beams ripping through the air began to meet his ears, and an occasional stream of energy shot past their window toward an unseen target. Amid the chaos, the sound of heavy metal footfalls joined the cascade, and two robots burst into the clearing from another building.
"Take them out!" Kyros shouted to his own squad, raising his rifle to the two and opening fire.
Kaplain joined fire followed immediately by the others. The two unsuspecting foxes were hammered by the barrage of fire, and in an instant they collapsed to the ground, fountaining sparks from the jagged holes in their bodies.
"Come on, let's get to the others, we might have more company any moment," Kyros bellowed as he smashed the remaining glass from the large window and hopped outside.
"Contact!" another robotic voice shouted in their direction.
To their right, Kaplain instantly made out a roboticized kangaroo standing in an alley. It studied them for a second before its eyes snapped open and it shouted, "It's Kyros! Terminating now!"
The kangaroo charged toward them, raising its arm in Kyros' direction. A pair of plasma bursts jumped from Seltic and Sissera's weapons, detonating against it and hurling it from its feet with a blinding burst of light. It slammed into the building supposedly housing the other squad, and staggered for a moment before forcing itself back onto its feet.
A cold chill raced down Kaplain's spine as he recognized the unbelievable durability of the robot marking it as a combat specialist. He immediately poured particle rifle fire in its direction, the blue beams slicing through its body in several places.
It snarled and ignored the shots, arming a grenade launcher in its other arm. Its shot rocketed off into the air in a parabolic arc as an uncountable number of laser shots hammered it, shredding through its unarmored elbow and shearing its forearm off. Behind him, Vladimir opened fire with a heavier automatic laser cannon, punching dozens of irregular holes in its torso and annihilating its knee.
The kangaroo groaned and continued to fight to regain its footing, shouting, "Kyros the echidna is in the area! All units report immediately and return-" Its words were cut off as one of the heavy lasers smashed into its eye, blowing fragments of glass and mechanics onto the street before detonating components inside its head. Acrid smoke poured from its ruined eye and ears as it slumped forward, an echoing crunch of metal against asphalt sounding as its heavy body hit the street.
"Nice shot, now let's go!" Kyros commented, darting for the building ahead.
Already the soldiers inside were pouring out into the street, responding to the battle that had just ended. Among them, the shorter of two equine figures examined the remains of the destroyed kangaroo and said, "Did he manage to alert anyone else?"
"I think so," Kyros answered, taking a second to regain his breath. "It seemed awfully concerned to see me, it shouted off for others to come and help it take me out."
The taller of the two cursed and looked back to their destination. She turned to her squad mates and said, "Okay, no more time to waste. We're going on with the mission, but only to see if there's anything inside. Either way, we're not hanging around, and if we come under heavy fire we'll fall back immediately."
The shorter corporal stood from his crouched position over the remains and said, "What should I tell the captain?"
"Let him know we may have alerted security. We'll let him decide if all of us should abandon our objectives or not."
Sergeant Morgan anxiously formed up with her squad mates as they approached the building. Other than the security forces they had destroyed only minutes ago, there was no further sign of any robots in the area, but she knew full well that the combat robot that Kyros' team and destroyed had alerted Robotnik. There would be hundreds of security robots surrounding them within ten minutes, and if they weren't done by then the results would be grim.
"All clear, sir," one of the soldiers said in her direction, waving them over to the large vehicle sized door on the side of the structure. "I don't see any movement inside, looks like we're in the clear for the moment."
"Great," she replied, breathing a sigh of relief. "Open it up and make it quick. If it's locked or broken, blow it open." She looked to the corporal and said, "Okay, take your fire team and keep a watch for more security. If more than one or two shows up, let me know right away."
"Yes, sir," he answered, trotting off as directed.
She watched as the massive worn doorway ground open without undue provocation, and like clockwork two soldiers scanned the interior for movement. One by one her squad entered the building slowly, weapons raised and scanning for trouble. She turned to ensure that Corporal Fields was in a safe location before entering the building herself. Just as she had been informed, there were no robots inside, and it looked as if the building had been abandoned just as long as Robotnik had been in power.
"Go check the labs downstairs," she directed to the nearest of her squad. "Make it quick." She stepped back outside and scanned the streets for movement, flinching as Kyros and his squad moved up beside her.
"Anything inside?" he asked.
"Doesn't look that way," she answered. "If we don't find anything here, Captain Morent said to head to the extraction point immediately."
"Okay, anything we can do?"
She looked down and sighed. "Keep an eye out for security, that's all I can say." With a nod from Kyros, she turned to enter the building again and determine their status. At that instant, a laser stabbed out at her from nowhere, burning a large hole in her ear where her head would have been moments before. She shrieked and grabbed at her injured ear, nearly falling back inside.
"Sniper!" she shouted as best she could, recognizing the shot as coming from a window above and trying to scramble into cover. In a panic, all of Kyros' squad poured into the building after her, ducking behind any cover and steering clear of open windows.
"What in the king's name!?" Kyros shouted. "Robotnik's never used snipers before!"
"Well he is now!" she shouted back, ignoring the burning pain in the side of her head. "Everyone get into cover now! I'll call for extraction!"
Another violet beam of energy lanced inside, shattering a window and splashing from the sloped armor plate covering her knee. She pulled further back and said into her helmet's intercom, "Captain, we're being pinned down by snipers at the chemistry lab. We can't get out and we need support right now!"
"Copy that, we're getting similar reports from other squads. I've got drop ships already on the way to neutralize the snipers and get you out."
From her side, Kyros hurled a grenade through a demolished window and covered his ears. After the explosion and subsequent spray of debris into the building, he looked to her with a extremely concerned expression and said, "I just waxed one, but there's probably fifteen more SWATbots heading this way. I'm betting they're new models."
She listened for a moment into her radio and said, "The ships should be here in less than a minute to get us, we just have to hold off until then."
A spattering of shots entered the room through the same window, punching holes in the rebar reinforced concrete walls and spraying them with powder. She grunted as another shot burst through the wall behind her and impacted her armor, and she fell prone. "Definitely super SWATbots, everyone to the basement!"
Without a further word her allies followed her lead and fell to their bellies, crawling in a crazed hurry to the stairs through a doorway to their left. More lasers sizzled past and burned the air above them, smashing random objects and riddling the wall with more holes. She sprang to her feet and rushed down the stairs, finding her half of the squad holding positions behind whatever cover they could find.
"Sergeant?" one asked meekly, rifle braced against a crate.
"Ships are incoming to evac us, should be here any moment. Stay low until then."
Just as the words left her mouth, the ships that had been standing by for just such an emergency could be heard roaring overhead. Deafening explosions rocked the ground above them as directed RPGs destroyed robots and cleared the attack waves approaching them.
In her helmet's intercom, Corporal Fields said, "The ship's here sarge, we're on the way now."
She braced her rifle and waited a few seconds for the explosions to die down above. "Alright everyone, make a break for it!"