Twenty-six
Guardians Hawk, Claw and Blitzkrieg
Orellian Star System
26 September 2017
The second dropship released from the Eternia touched down in the rally point east of the suspected ancient Horde base. Landing just long enough to disgorge the APC in the internal hold, the pilot took off and orbited in that quadrant, waiting for the order to assist the Guardians or pick them up.
All any enemy surveillance systems would see was the APC approach the solitary building at a right angle, pausing for not more than ten seconds before continuing on its patrol, joining up with several Valkyrie units along the way.
That pause allowed the three Guardians quickly step out under the protection of the retroreflective system and size up the situation after the APC roared away. The driver had been careful not to kick up a cloud of dust that might coat the cloaked battlesuits. Once safely out of range, the trio began the long trek toward the structure. As they walked, a small spot on each suit allowed them to locate each other and maintain their loose formation via their infrared sensors set to a specific frequency. That reduced the likelihood of discovery by the enemy. Unless someone in the underground base was scanning through the frequencies, that is. But they would have to suspect a cloaked enemy was on the field.
Sonya noted the dropship carrying War Wing circling overhead. So far, no response from the base had materialized. The Val-kyrie were sure someone had taken up residence in the underground facility; Adrian seemed sure as well, but for reasons he could not explain.
The three Guardians trudged onward, each growing a little unnerved by the lack of activity in the target zone. Eventually they drew within a few yards of the building. It was unremarkable to look at; with faded paint, and the metal surface pitted and scratched by the elements. The trio found a part of doors in the south face large enough to allow a Shadowdemon to pass through. However, there was no visible control panel to summon the lift. It was probably summoned by someone using a comm system.
Sonya and Hawk searched via passive scans for anything connected to the lift. Unfortunately, active scans in combat mode were more effective than passive. Only the battle mode could make better use of the passive sensors. Converting to battle mode while using the retroreflectors had not been tried. There was a chance of discovery the trio could not risk.
"Look!" Brad said suddenly. He gestured to the west, though his companions could not see it.
It only took a moment for the others to spot what Brad referred to. Magnifying the image, they saw Falcon and Gatling Arm in battle mode calming striding across the dusty landscape toward the lift box. According to plan, if the arrival of the assault force did not provoke a response, unmasking two Guardians and sending them openly toward the base was the next option.
Just as they wondered what to do next, vibrations reverberated in the soles of their boots. Audio pickups caught deep rumbling sounds from all around them. Seconds passed with no obvious signs of enemy activity. The trio finally spotted the thick metal panels grinding up from the valley floor like giant flower petals.
There was the way in!
"Which one should we take?" Jeromy asked. All four were equidistant from their current position.
"The south one," Sonya declared, heading off in that direction.
"I guess we're going south," Jeromy commented.
"Ja," Brad said.
Each glanced in the direction of their companions waiting for the black wave of machines streaming out through the west gate like an oil slick. Even at the distance of around ten kilometers, the sounds of a battle joined reached the trio; Rockwell and the Sorceress were bringing out the full capabilities of their battlesuits. Shadowdemons were destroyed in small numbers at first. As more of the machines stomped within range, the two Guardians quickly made short work of them. The downside to what they were doing was the drain on the internal capacitor that was a suit's power source. The capacitor regenerated over time, but they would have to stop fighting in order to allow that to happen. Sonya wasn't too concerned. They would figure out a way to stretch their energy reserve.
Her concern was getting into the base without being discovered. Thus far, demons only were emerging from the west and north gates. No movement issued forth from the east and southern gates.
The massive panel measured almost two feet thick, supported by massive pistons powerful enough to push the plates upward. Another panel as thick descended into the depths of the underground base. Sunlight only reached a third of the way down the ramp. Sonya's display compensated for the glare. Peeking around the hinge, she spied the legions of hulking machines waiting for the order to move out; a shiver rattled down her spine at the sight. For the moment, that way was clear.
Sonya ordered her companions to follow her inside. She suspected there would be a clear area immediately under the ramp if they could get down far enough and jump off the side in time before the Shadowdemons lined up started moving forward.
They just made it. Sonya led her companions further down than she normally would have because of the cloaking field. The suits could make the leap to the floor thirty feet below without difficulty but sounds of metal crashing against metal with no discernable source could draw unwanted attention.
They needn't have worried. Just as Sonya was picking her place to jump, the lead element of Shadowdemons suddenly began marching forward. The cacophony of tons of armored machines marching out into battle effectively masked any sounds the three cloaked Guardians would make. The decision was made for them; the trio made the twenty-foot drop to the floor and darted around the back of the ramp.
The trio found themselves inside a massive underground hangar designed for the deployment of ground forces. There were no aircraft or spacecraft anywhere. They might be in another hangar similar to this, but the Val-kyrie would surely have discovered it by now. Even so, the amount of Shadowdemons marching out to do battle was a formidable army.
Sonya scanned the ceiling four stories overhead. It was heavily reinforced to support the ceiling and the weight of the landscape covering it. Support pillars over ten feet in diameter had been strategically placed for added load-bearing. Judging by signs painted on them, they provided a means to direct movements throughout the chamber. It was through her study of these directions in the ancient Horde language that Sonya discovered the way to the command tower.
Turns out it wasn't a tower in the traditional sense since it was sunk deep into the ground. She informed the others of her discovery and set off with Brad and Jeromy in tow. Weaving through the throngs of robots was not challenging so much as an exercise in frustration. For every yard closer to the target, the trio had to move three back or laterally to avoid being bumped into; visual cloaking did have its disadvantages. They reached their target a little over fifteen minutes later.
The tower was about the same diameter as the Leaning Tower of Piza, only nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing. No guard robots were in evidence, though there were a lot of Servator machines walking around doing the tasks the battle machines could not because of their size and function. A slow circle of the tower revealed only one entrance: a set of double doors facing southwest, with no obvious control panel to operate the door mechanism. Passive probes by Hawk indicated the entire robot army may be operating things like the doors wirelessly. The AI could break in, but that might trip some sort of alarm.
Fortune was with them. The trio scattered to the sides abruptly when the doors suddenly parted. Four Servators trudged out into the chaos of the deploying army. Without being told, the three Guardians quickly darted through before the doors closed. They found themselves in a chamber measuring the entire circumference of the tower. Six tubes scattered equidistant in the center serviced the tower. All were sized for the Servators since demons could not get in.
They froze when more robots exited several lifts only to enter others to carry out their assigned tasks. All tubes were numbered, but those had no meaning without a reference.
Brad spotted the device in the center of the ring of tubes. "Think that's an information kiosk?"
"One way to find out," Jeromy said.
Since Hawk was the infiltration unit, it fell to Sonya and the AI to figure it out. All three moved into the center area out of the way of traffic and still maintained spacing, in case a machine needed to use whatever the device was.
Slipping a computer module onto her left forearm, Sonya aimed and fired twin cables into the console. She tapped out several commands while the AI tried to keep the penetration from setting off an intrusion alarm. While caution was warranted at all times in enemy territory, they needn't have bothered. It was an information system designed for newly assigned machines to download schematics of the base into their memory in order to navigate through the structure.
Hawk copied the schematic into her system and transmitted it to the others. It also included codes for getting into every location in the base except one. It was off to the northeast in a remote sector of the installation and restricted to only a select number of Servators and demons.
"Adrian may be right. The machine he's after may be here after all," Sonya commented.
"So, what's the plan, now that we have a map?" Jeromy asked.
Hawk answered, "It looks like we won't have to actually go into the central control center after all. There appears to be an auxiliary command center several levels above it. That should allow us the access we need without arousing suspicion."
"But what if there are Servators on duty there?" Brad asked.
"We eliminate them. Only way," Hawk answered.
Grimly, they came to an agreement. Hawk summoned the lift in the appropriate tube servicing the primary and secondary command centers. The doors parted and the cloaked trio stepped inside. Only after the doors closed and the lift dropped toward its destination did Brad bring up the idea of pressure sensors in the lift registering weight.
Too late to worry about it now.
Each Guardian grew anxious during the trip. Sonya checked the memory of the module still attached to her left arm. There was nothing wrong with it, she was just burning off nervous energy. Hawk had all the old access codes from the Great War loaded into her memory. Penetrating the computers of this ancient Horde base would be simplicity. Even if the codes had been changed, the AI was confident she could break them in short order.
The lift slowed to a halt. The doors parted too slowly, it felt like. The Guardians quickly stepped through without making a sound and flattened themselves against the wall flanking the lift doors. Seconds passed and the doors closed. While the command functions of the base were repeated here, the chamber was not as large as the primary center. It was also not occupied.
Despite being alone, the three did not drop their cloak. Sonya, with Hawk's aid, spotted the primary console, firing the attachment cables from the module into panel and cautiously penetrating the system. As the AI suspected, the codes had not been changed, so the old ones outdated by a thousand years quickly gained her entry. Hawk suppressed the indicator that would call for attention in the primary center. She then ran a loop of camera footage from just prior to the trio's entry to make it appear that the secondary center was still empty. Once assured that they would not be discovered, Hawk dropped her cloak. The Claw and Blitz followed suit. Blitz took up station just off to the side of the lift doors, laser rifle aimed and ready to shoot anything that tried to enter.
Sonya and Hawk commenced searching for anything of value regarding the enemy and any plans stored in the system.
Guardian Falcon
I'm getting better at this, Sorceress mused as she and Jake continued to destroy Shadowdemons advancing on them. Who am I fooling? Falcon is doing most of the work. The suits used certain centers of the human brain to aid in balance and movement. While the suits could move on their own, famously, and dramatically shown off by War Wing at the World Council meeting in the former United Nations building on Earth, such movements were slow and awkward. Once connected to the brain of their respective operators, the suits moved with dexterity and nimbleness unparalleled by any other such weapon system ever created.
All she had to do was think of whatever action she wanted to take, and Falcon made it happen. Training sessions on Val-kyre afforded the Guardians the chance to increase their efficiency and the symbiotic relationship of operator and AI acting as one. Adrian and War Wing achieved the feat on a level no one could have predicted.
Surrendering to the moment, the Sorceress and Falcon operated on the same level effortlessly. Each trusted the other implicitly. The piles of demolished Shadowdemons in their wake were a testament to that. Jake and Gatling Arm, also well in synch, were making a fair mess of the enemy themselves.
Adrian and War Wing engaged the big machine when it finally appeared on the battlefield. Sorceress noted the pair trading blows in a low-tech battle with plasma blaster rifle and the artillery cannon. Neither managed to score a significant hit. Adrian's enemy discarded its empty cannon and reached for the beam saber handle stored on the left hip. Adrian followed suit by storing his rifle and switching to the saber handle stored in Wing's right forearm. They resumed battle with a clash of red and amber energy blades.
That was the signal for the Sorceress to begin the next phase.
"What do you need from me?" Sorceress asked the AI while cutting down two more Shadowdemons with the blade disks.
"Only those centers of your brain to which I am already connected to facilitate combat. As long as the connection remains unbroken, I can fight while you do your psychic thing."
Without another word, Sorceress settled back, snugged the padded harness holding her in place, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Sorceress conjured up the image of Adrian's opponent in her mind's eye and cast herself toward it. Wing's scans of the thing were indeterminate. There was a possibility of a person inside the machine, but the readings of organic matter did not indicate an amount corresponding to the size of the average humanoid. The plan had always been to try a psychic penetration of the machine. The scans only added to the mystery.
Ignoring the fighting taking place across the battlefield, Sorceress zeroed in on the target machine and lunged toward it. Reflexively, she closed her eyes, a needless action since she was not physically penetrating the enemy machine. Sensing a halt to her movements, Sorceress opened her eyes – and found herself standing in a cone of white light in an otherwise dark space. Odd. That never happened when she tested the back door to all the battlesuits in this way. Connecting with her fellow operators always ended up in a scenic location commensurate with the home of the operator.
Sorceress suddenly realized what this was even though she had no idea why it should be so bland.
"Welcome," a male voice said from behind her. "It's been so very long since I had a visitor."
Sorceress whirled around as a man stepped from the shadows to join her in the cone of light. He was a handsome man, a bit on the rugged side for her taste, well-groomed dark hair, and mustache, standing close to six feet in height and wearing what could be peasant clothes.
"It's been said that redheads of the galaxy over have terrible tempers. I have my doubts despite having seen some real firebrands in my time."
Sorceress shot a hand up to her head and looked down at herself. She was dressed in the outfit she had worn long ago, and recently, when she had first journeyed to Castle Grayskull seeking help against Morgoth.
"You are seeing residual self-image." The man's eyes narrowed in thought. "You seem surprised by that. Is this your first time in the psychic interface?"
Shaking off her shock, Sorceress finally found her voice. "Uh, no. No. I have done this several times with the others, but the results were always more pleasing to the eye."
"And your appearance surprises you?"
"I haven't looked like this in a long time," Sorceress admitted.
"Nor have I," the man responded. His clothes morphed into a uniform she was not familiar with. "Now you," he invited.
Closing her eyes, Sorceress concentrated on her appearance as the Guardian of Castle Grayskull. When she opened her eyes, her appearance had changed.
"Splendid!" the man exclaimed, though he stopped short of clapping. Thankfully. "I must say I never thought I would meet the Sorceress of Grayskull."
"You know of me?"
"Well, not you, personally. It's been rumored that many women have held the mantle of the Sorceress, but no one could ever prove it," the man said. "To be honest, Eternia, and that part of the galaxy in general, is not a priority sector. Not much of value to be found, what with the war going on."
Sorceress frowned, knowing the war he spoke of. "The war has been over for a long time."
"I am aware. That damn machine can't hide everything from me, though not for a lack of trying."
"Forgive me, but who are you? Are you the operator of the black battlesuit?"
The man chuckled in a sad sort of way. "Oh, no. I do not operate the machine. That is entirely controlled by artificial intelligence. In answer to your first question: I am – was – General Alton."
Was? And why did she know that name? Trying to dredge up information from the vast wealth of knowledge beamed into the brains of the six operators never worked on command. Sometimes they got lucky and recalled a memory here, an experience there. While the Sorceress felt a familiarity with the name, she could not recall anything more.
"Was?" Sorceress asked. It was all she could think of saying.
"Yes. You see, I was present at the Battle of Orellia. I was wounded on day eleven of that battle. That fact was kept secret from my enemies – the Val-kyrie. I died later on the way back to a Horde medical center," the general explained.
Of course! Sorceress thought. The Val-kyrie thought he had been killed, but no proof ever surfaced.
"Then you are memory engrams installed into the black machine that same as had been done to the Guardian battlesuits?"
Alton was surprised by the question. "So Kragor attempted to transfer memory engrams into those demon suits. How very interesting. No. I am not memory engrams of General Alton. The reality, I'm afraid, is much, much more horrifying." Cocking his head, Alton appeared to listen to something only he could hear. Sorceress opened her mouth to ask another question, but he cut her off.
Stepping up to her, the general placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's returning. I don't have much time, so listen to me very carefully." Alton paused for a moment. "Your friend in the winged suit must destroy the machine. Whatever it takes!"
"He's trying," Sorceress replied, though she had no idea how Adrian and War Wing were faring. The word needed in context is fare/faring.
Alton continued with what he needed to tell her. Sorceress listened intently to what he had to say, absorbing every word. A plan formed while he talked. When he paused, she injected her idea. Alton admitted that it might work.
The late general was asking if the Sorceress understood everything he had explained, and she was answering with a nod when the world suddenly dissolved around her, and she snapped back into the real world strapped into the operator's cockpit of Falcon. Sorceress jerked as if she had been physically struck.
"You're back," Falcon observed, destroying another Shadowdemon in the process. "That didn't take long."
Sorceress worked her mouth, but it took a few tries to find her voice. "How long?" she croaked.
"Just a few seconds. Is everything all right?"
"No," Sorceress responded, shaking her head. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. "No, everything is not all right." She passed out before Falcon could inquire further.
Hawk, Claw and Blitzkrieg
"We're in!" Sonya exclaimed. Data scrolled down a window on her heads-up display. Hawk copied everything she could find dealing with the enemy's organization, attack plans, possible alternate bases – anything useful.
Surprisingly, the AI stumbled across an important piece of information. A data file containing the specifications of the Servator, current Shadowdemon model, and, most importantly, a complete schematic for the big black machine commanding the enemy force. It made sense that all this information should be present when the pair discovered an extensive repair facility in the northern section of the underground base. Anything salvageable would be taken there to cobble together serviceable units. The commanding machine, while bigger and more powerful, was not indestructible. Even if it did not incur damage in the fighting, it would need replenishment of expendables.
"This is it," Hawk said. "This is what Adrian was hoping for."
Sonya tempered the AI's excitement. "Da. Now we just have to get out of here alive with this information." She studied the design specs for the big machine. Something about it seemed a bit off. It resembled the Guardian base design, but something had been altered.
The base also served a dual purpose. This battle was a trap to bring out the six Guardians and test the limits of the firepower and abilities of not only the AIs, but the abilities of their new operators. But that was only half of the design. The base did in fact serve as a forward base for launching attacks deeper into Horde territory.
There was still the high security area in the northwest corner to consider. Something was there, but Hawk's programs could not crack the security system without tripping the intrusion protocol.
"We got it," Sonya informed the others. "More than we thought we'd get. Adrian will be pleased."
"Remember what he said about stopping to analyze," Brad reminded her.
Suddenly, the operation went pear-shaped in an instant. The lift doors parted and three Servators stomped into the chamber. Jeromy promptly shot two of them through their chest plates. Brad pummeled the third with the extendable claw assemblies mounted on his forearms. The action was over in a matter of seconds, but the damage had been done.
Intruder alarm klaxons blared all over the installation.
"That's it!" Brad said, tightly. "We're out of time."
Re-engaging their cloak, the three Guardians stepped into the lift. Hawk sent a signal sending them rocketing back up to Sublevel One. While in motion, Brad broke radio silence to advise they were on the way out, likely to be under fire shortly. The pilot of the dropship that had deposited the trio acknowledged and promised he would be on station along with the APC and a squad of Val-kyrie armor.
The lift slowed to a halt. After a moment, the doors parted and Jeromy stepped out, laser rifles blazing. Brad followed close behind, utilizing his claw assemblies to punch, grab and tear Servators apart. Sony exited last with a pulse plasma blaster mounted to her right forearm. Bursts of green energy burned divots in chest armor and blew head casings apart. She shot down those her companions missed.
The Servators had issues targeting the enemy because of the retroreflector system. To compensate, the machines blasted away with their forearm weapons, laying down a field of fire looking for anything that blocked the energy bolts. It didn't take long for the cloaking systems to fail under such an assault. But making the enemy visible did not necessarily help the Servators any. All resistance was swept aside by the Guardians as they made their way back to their entry point.
Brad and Jeromy converted their suits to battle mode and engaged several Shadowdemons standing in their path. Unprepared for the appearance of several more battlesuits in battle mode, the machines fell quickly to strikes directed at their vulnerable points.
With the underground chamber virtually empty of demons, the Guardians got a good look at the scope of the installation. So many more enemy machines could have been packed into this area alone. Thousands could have been packed in here waiting for the order to move out. Instead, the allies faced only hundreds of powerful machines, which were proving effective despite their losses.
Sonya had to run to catch up to her companions because of their longer strides. Emerging into daylight, the trio paused to take in the battle raging in front of them. The sky clouded with oily black smoke rising from burning Shadowdemons and Val-kyrie APCs and mobile missile carriers. Drifting smoke made it hard to identify combatants, much less see where the front line of the flowing battle lay.
"How are we going to get through this?" Brad asked, out of breath from the close quarters fighting.
"Doesn't matter," Jeromy answered. "We just do."
Just then, something whipped by overhead moving from left to right. Smoke trails caught in the backdraft turned into black and gray spirals briefly revealing a dropship skidding sideways across the sky. Through the weapons pods were deployed, the pilot did not fire on anything.
He is looking for us, Sonya realized.
Soya hated sneaking around. She would rather do her part engaging the enemy machines, but her suit was not designed for that. It was equipped with weapons capable of taking Shadowdemons on in close combat, but Hawk lacked the endurance of all the other suits. Besides, gathering intelligence was Hawk's strength. And right now, she had invaluable information locked away in her memory banks. Getting that back to the allies was the number one priority.
Grimly, Sonya followed in the wake of her two companions toward friendly lines.
War Wing
Adrian and his foe were rapidly trading blows with energy sabers and built-in secondary blasters. All either came away with was surface scorch marks all over their suits. War Wing's reaction times were on the high side of normal acceptable limits. Adrian and the AI had to push themselves to keep abreast of the enemy machine. Wing's analysis of the demon's reaction times indicated it was operating solely as a machine. He doubted there was a human operator inside that suit despite the unconfirmed biological presence inside the machine.
Unit Six Sixty-six deflected War Wing's saber up and away with its own and quickly followed up with a horizontal slashing attack from right to left. War Wing jumped up and back on foot jets and stabilized a hundred yards distant using the wing thrusters. The Guardian stabilized, hanging in the air for several moments before cutting power and dropping lightly to the ground, knees bent and in a guarded stance.
"Impressive," Unit Six Sixty-six transmitted over an open frequency. "However, you are letting a mere machine do most of the work."
"I am no 'mere machine,' you walking pile of scrap metal," Wing snarled back.
"Could it be that the great experiment worked? Kragor's plan to install memory engrams in you actually bore fruit? From your fighting style it looks as if the fruit is spoiled."
"Calm down," Adrian advised the AI before Wing could make a retort. "Whoever that is, he's just trying to rile you up. And it's working."
"If you want to defeat me, you must have conviction," the enemy advised. "Otherwise, you have no business operating that battlesuit."
Unit Six Sixty-six launched itself at the Guardian again. War Wing blocked the unit's amber blade with his own red one. Suddenly, the enemy demon snapped the blocked blades aside, hooked its left arm under War Wing's right and easily tossed the Guardian aside. It did not give the Guardian time to recover. Extinguishing its blade, Unit Six Sixty-six picked up the Guardian and slammed it to ground once again.
Despite being securely strapped into the seat, Adrian took a pounding. There was no inertia damper small enough that could be installed into the battlesuits. Therefore, the operators could be hurt if the battlesuit performed sufficiently violent maneuvers.
"Detecting multiple contusion, fractures and one broken rib," Wing reported.
"Yeah," Adrian gasped, wincing in pain. "I detected that, too."
In the heads-up display formed in front of his face, Adrian saw the enemy machine stalking toward him, pulling and igniting its saber. Standing over its fallen foe, the demon prepared to slice the Guardian to ribbons.
The amber blade descended with frightening speed but was blocked before it could strike home: War Wing was equipped with a beam saber hidden in each forearm. Adrian usually only used the one in the right arm while employing the rocket launcher buried in the shield mounted to the left arm. Crossed red blades intercepted the amber weapon dangerously close to the suit's capacitor. Shoving hard, War Wing snapped the amber blade upwards. He followed the maneuver with snapping his feet up and aiming the business end of the foot thrusters at the black machine. Blasting with everything the thrusters had, the exhaust slammed full into the torso of Unit Six Sixty-six, lifting it up off its feet and flinging it away.
By the time the unit slammed to the ground and slid to a halt, War Wing had rolled to his feet, stored the left saber handle, and charged the enemy just as it was regaining its feet. The shield point connected solidly with the enemy's left shoulder armor despite an incredibly quick attempt to dodge out of the way. Mounting bolts snapped, armor plate deformed and sailed away exposing the shoulder joint.
Roaring with annoyance, Unit Six Sixty-six lashed out with a combination of strikes using saber, fist, and razor talons. The neutronium skin of the shield suffered no damage. The Etherium alloy armor suffered little more than scratches and burn marks. Adrian managed to connect with the unprotected back side of the unit's right knee. Although his red blade's contact lasted seconds, the contact melted the linkage enough to hamper further movement.
Adrian then delivered his own version of a WWE Smackdown. Shadowdemons were not covered with Etherium. Their armor was tough, but nowhere near that of the mystic metal. Man and machine unleashed every ounce of brutal energy the battlesuit was capable of delivering in focused strikes. Armor plate dented in places, cracked in others. The left elbow took a direct hit, rewarding Adrian with a light show of sparks from damaged power linkages.
Taking a page from the Guardian playbook, Unit Six Sixty-six channeled all power into the focusing lens on its chest, aimed, and fired. The attack was so spontaneous and unexpected that the Guardian took the full force of the blast. Wing sailed across the ground for almost fifty yards before landing and skidding a further forty yards, or so. The impact broke two more of Adrian's ribs that had been cracked earlier. He could not take much more pounding like this.
Damage indicators all over War Wing showed structural status and it wasn't good. All the joints glowed yellow. The paired wing joints glowed red with yellow icons for the imbedded thrusters. Lord knew what shape his foe was in, but Adrian betted it wasn't any better than War Wing.
A bright flash in the northeast drew Adrian's attention along with his limping opponent. "What was that?" Adrian mused aloud.
"Something exploded," Wing supplied dryly.
"There's an earthshattering revelation," Adrian groaned.
"A diversion," the enemy machine said over the open channel to War Wing. "Your plan will fail." The machine turned away and limped furiously toward the south end of the base.
Shadowdemons filled the gap to keep the Guardian at bay. Adrian struggled to get to his feet. The suit was in as bad a shape as Adrian, but both managed to get back up. Despite low power levels, Adrian deployed the plasma rifle and locked targets on the lead enemy machine. A hail of plasma bolts and a flying disk cut down the three lead machines.
Falcon and Gatling Arm had arrived to assist.
They quickly brought Adrian up to date with events. The infiltration team succeeded in their mission and were coming out hot. Shadowdemons were moving with all haste to stop them. It looked as if they were having trouble getting a fix on the trio despite Claw and Blitz being spotted in battle mode.
Jake was banged up from going hand-to-hand with demons and Gatling Arm was in a similar state. Whatever had transpired when the Sorceress tried the psychic link to that big demon, according to Falcon, she came out of the trance long enough to make an ominous statement before passing out. Falcon appeared to be in the best shape of the six. Not a good sign.
Off in the distance, the trio saw what happened next, and there was nothing they could have done to stop it.
The dropship that delivered Sonya's team circled a particular spot, launching missiles, dropped a bomb or two, and unleased the 20mm cannon in the nose. The range was too far to see the results, but they did see what happened to the dropship.
Dropships were nimble in the hands of skilled pilots. While this one was not quite in the class of Lieutenant Feril, he did a pretty good job weaving away from, and dodging, devastating plasma bolts from Shadowdemon cannons. The demons converged their fire in a pattern that eventually hemmed the annoying craft in a kill box of their choosing.
The first cannon bolt slammed through the starboard side, damaging the number two engine. The stricken dropship faltered, tried to fling itself away, but the maneuver only intersected with another bolt that sheared off the upper port weapons pod strut. Unbalanced, the craft spun out of control, and right into a third bolt that struck the cockpit. Totally out of control, the dropship slammed down into a collection of almost a dozen Shadowdemons. The resulting explosion from the remaining fuel and ordnance obliterated everything in a hundred-yard radiance. Everything hundreds of yards further out was flattened by the shockwave.
A Val-kyrie APC managed to get in to pick up the three Guardians, Claw and Blitz having converted to combat mode for the pickup. A flight of Bladewings backed up by the Eternia strafed the Shadowdemons to keep them at bay.
As if that wasn't enough, War Wing picked up vibrations coming from the northwestern section of the base. A mass of demons had surrounded their damaged leader and were heading in that direction. Because he was at ground level, several minutes passed before the reason showed itself: A Horde destroyer rising from an underground hangar. To say it was ancient didn't do it justice. Armor plates were pitted and streaked with rust. The balance of the lifting thrusters appeared to be a bit off because the warship didn't rise smoothly or on a level.
The lead Shadowdemon was making straight for the destroyer, and it looked as though the beast would make it before the Guardians could. That didn't stop Adrian from attempting a power jump to get within range to use his plasma rifle. Liftoff went okay. Soaring across the ground at over a hundred feet turned out to be a little shaky. Landing, however, turned into a disaster. War Wing didn't land so much as skid across the ground. The left foot caught in a rut, sending the battlesuit tumbling across the barren plane.
Groaning because of further punishment to already battered ribs, Adrian gritted his teeth, called up the rifle in the right hand and aimed at the retreating demon formation while laying flat on his back. Fortunately, he had come to rest with his right side toward the Horde destroyer. Settling the targeting bracket on the big machine, Adrian had to wait only a few moments for the wireframe to turn from red to green, indicating a lock. He squeezed the trigger as if his hand was on the handle of a rifle rather than a stick in an operator's compartment.
A beam of raw plasma energy focused as tight as the rifle allowed blasted across the landscape. The beam threaded its way through the formation of demons straight on course for the target. At the last moment, the big machine grabbed a demon and flung it into the path of the beam. It was as if the damn thing could read Adrian's mind. That or good anticipation. Either way, the leader got into the destroyer at the cost of one foot soldier. And Adrian had no more power to fire the rifle a second time.
Looks like this one is over, Adrian thought, glumly.
The battlesuit creaked and groaned, getting its feet under it. Adrian could sympathize.
A good portion of the Shadowdemon force in that quadrant made it into the destroyer. Bladewing strafing runs and missile bombardments prevented more from making it to the ramp. At some point, the warship commander decided to cut their losses and closed the hatch. Two Bladewings made a run against the warship, emptying their internal bays of missiles. The warheads did not have the punch to do more than add fresh divots in the armored hull. Unfortunately, the Servator directing the destroyer's guns was sharp, shooting both fighters out of the sky. Even the Eternia would be hard pressed to disable the Horde warship. All they could do was let it go.
The field of remaining Shadowdemons ceased fighting and stood down; everyone left on the vast battlefield grew wary that this was some sort of ruse. An APC carrying Colonel Markson pulled up near War Wing just as Gatling Arm and Falcon arrived. Nobody was sure of what to do next.
Cracks and whumps rippled across the battlefield like a string of fireworks going off. This lasted for several minutes before dying down. Some demons collapsed while most remained locked in a standing position.
Colonel Markson keyed up the designated channel to War Wing. "Remind you of anything?"
"Hordak," Adrian responded after a moment's thought.
The colonel referred to the new trooper model Hordak had designed and deployed against the Guardian Force on Etheria. They had a cannon that would swing up over the left shoulder, had a personal shield, and could repel attacks from Val-kyrie infantry railguns. Most importantly, the machines had been equipped with a self-destruct that destroyed all vital hardware and software.
It looked like these demons had been equipped with the same thing, probably in an attempt to keep vital design specs out of enemy hands. Their commander apparently had no idea that their enemy already had captured disabled hulks.
"Yeah. Might have worked if we didn't already have salvage to study," Jon commented.
"Yeah," Adrian agreed. "Let's go see how badly we've been hurt."
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