Samsun receded into the mist behind them, and the morning traffic eased slightly. They continued to push on, following the road as it bent slightly to the south and headed inland, the mist lifting slightly as they did so. Of to the left, they saw flashing lights in the sky, descending and passing them from east to west as a small plane came in to land at Samsun airport, the main runway running almost parallel to the road some distance away.
An icon appeared in the corner of Marius' consciousness, strobing an angry red colour as the diagnostics reported that all electrical contact had been lost with the trailer. He reached out mentally, feeling his way through the systems and trying to determine what the problem was – an electrical fault or loose cable perhaps, or maybe a stone had been flung up and had severed the connection. Moments later an additional icon appeared, also flashing an angry red as the hydraulic system reported a complete system loss. He activated the speakers, and cleared his throat.
"I think we have an issue."
Clunk. A third icon appeared, and Marius gave a strange shudder as the trailer physically disconnected from the truck. As a rigger, it felt oddly like someone unscrewing and walking off with your left leg, leaving you standing on just the right. He started to apply the brakes, checking the external sensors and trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
There was a loud and deep bang as the trailer slammed into the back of the truck, throwing them forward in their seats slightly. In the trailer, the effects were more noticeable. Shimazu was sat in the corner, wedged in quite tightly and escaped the worst of the damage. As the trailer slammed into the truck Tads, who had been sitting in the middle of her lodge, slid towards the wall at high speed, slamming into the armoured bulkhead hard. Fortunately, the slide across the floor gave her just enough time to raise her hands and absorb the impact, and it caused no appreciable damage.
Marius accelerated slightly, pulling away from the trailer and watched in the sensors as it slowly rumbled forwards, drifting off the side of the road and then bouncing across the scrubby grass at the side of the road. The spiny bushes that had grown over the barrier down the shoulder absorbed yet more of the impact, and the trailer slowly shed speed before coming to a graceless halt, the two wheels on the outside edge precariously close to slipping into the shallow drainage ditch that ran down the side of the tarmac. He cursed to himself, wondering what had happened with his systems and looked around.
The fog had lifted enough that he could see a fair way in either direction down the road. Ahead of them, the road was pretty clear for a while, with a tractor or some other kind of agricultural vehicle approaching in the distance. Behind them he could see a large gap and a van in the distance, driving eastwards. He threw the mental wheel over hard, guiding the truck into a tight turn and doubling back to the west, aiming to drive for a short distance then turn again, and get close to where the trailer had come to a rest. As he turned and headed down the westbound side of the road, Aswon suddenly frowned and then cocked his head to one side.
He was just starting to speak when Hunter also suddenly looked up and they both exclaimed at the same time.
"Chopper!" Looking around, they spotted the form of a large helicopter flying low over the fields to the north, coming from the direction of the airport. As they saw it, the nose suddenly dropped and the anti-collision lights switched off, and the craft built up speed towards them rapidly. There was a click as the safety came off on Hunter's rifle, and Aswon looked at the Purdey in his hands and at the oncoming chopper for a moment, then grabbed the new rifle from the overhead stowage, slapping in a magazine and working the action.
The truck lurched again, as Marius reefed it into a tight turn, sliding in front of the trailer as tightly as he could, then slapped on the brakes and opened his door, dropping out to the ground.
"Achtung! Come on! Let's get re-hitched and on the way, I don't want to be a sitting duck!" Nadia slid over after him and dropped down to the ground lightly, pursuing him to the rear of the truck, while Aswon and Hunter bailed out of the other side. Kai followed Marius, looking around them and analysing the situation. As he reached the rear of the truck, Marius shouted loudly for Tads and Shimazu, hoping his voice could be heard through the armoured hull, before turning and examining the hitching post and connections. Nothing seemed to be damaged or broken – it had just come unlatched somehow.
Hunter and Aswon landed on the other side of the truck almost simultaneously. Hunter reached out and tapped Aswon on the shoulder, then pointed a finger at himself and the road to the east, pointed to Aswon and the road to the west. Nodding in agreement, Aswon turned and he and Hunter moved swiftly to positions on either side of the truck and trailer, taking up a guard position. Instinctively they both headed to the scrub lining the side of the road, crouching down amongst the sparse and scratty growth close to the drainage ditch, seeking whatever cover they could gain. Hunter raised the rifle to his shoulder and sighted down the scope, zooming in on the large tractor that was bouncing down the road towards them. The driver sat high in the cab, visible through the unpolarised glass in the cab, and sat smiling with a strange expression upon his face. The vehicle was meandering as it drove, describing shallow curves down the road, and he could see a number of vehicles behind it, queuing up.
To the west, Aswon mirrored his actions, raising the two metre length of the rifle to his shoulder and sighting down the scope at the traffic. He gave a sharp intake of breath as he caught sight of the van approaching – it was obviously armoured, and looked analogous to a Bulldog Step-Van, a common security truck that was also favoured by fast response teams. He quickly flicked the sight over, but the next vehicle was a good kilometre further back. A tiny part of his mind marvelled at the clarity of the picture – the optical sight was of superb quality and displayed the vehicle clearly, but the majority of his thoughts confirmed that it was far enough away that it wasn't really a threat. He flicked back to the armoured van, and watched it approach, studying it carefully as it closed in towards them.
In between them, the rest of the team deployed to deal with the situation. Marius moved to the front of the trailer, with Nadia tagging along behind him. First he checked that there was no damage to the A-frame or interconnects, spending a few moments looking for the cause of the de-hitch. He couldn't see any damage or issue, so he lifted the post and checked that the axel would turn, and that the air line for the brakes and the comms lines were safely out of the way and available to connect. To the rear, Shimazu, Tads and Kai got behind the trailer and started to push, applying pressure to roll the trailer off the edge of the ditch and towards the back of the truck so they could re-hitch and be on their way. With a shout from Marius, they leaned in, applying more force and slowly the trailer started to roll gently towards the truck, with grunts of exertion from all five of them.
There was a flash of motion from the closing truck, and Aswon shouted loudly, not even bothering to key up his comms.
"CONTACT!"
It wasn't much of a warning, but it was enough to alert the team that something was going on. The side door of the van slid back and a large burly figure leant out with an assault rifle cradled in his arms, his body swinging on the end of a harness of some kind. Shimazu twisted his head and saw the figure, and the brief flash and desperately threw himself to the side. The first burst from the rifle slammed into his armour, deflected from centre mass by his sudden movement and thudding harmlessly into the reinforced Kevlar and ceramic plates. Split seconds later though, with the reactions only possible to the cyber enhanced for whom their gun was a literal extension of their body, the assailant corrected and three more rounds vomited from the gun, the advanced recoil system and the burly and well-practiced arms of the assailant keeping the muzzle on target. The three rounds headed straight for Shimazu and slammed into his body, the soft covering peeling back and the ultra-dense plasteel penetrator being driven into the armour. With a superhuman effort Shimazu twisted and flexed, dropping voluntarily to the ground. Instead of the three rounds hitting in a tight group no more than three to four centimetres apart and fracturing the protective plates, each now hit a fresh area of the armour jacket. The rounds punched through the armour, hitting at an acute angle, but they were robbed of much of their momentum doing so, and penetrated only the surface layers of flesh before running out of energy. The pain was considerable and he let out a cry – but the damage itself was superficial.
As the figure in the van fired, swinging on the safety harness in the wind, the van accelerated hard. It sank back on the rear suspension, the nose raising in the air as the driver gunned the engine. Aswon raised his front hand a minute amount, pushing up the barrel of the gun by a degree or two, then took in a deep breath and held it. He focussed on his heartbeat, and as he felt the blood pump, he gently pulled the trigger. At just under a kilo, the trigger broke and the gun surged back into his shoulder. For all the violent action displayed, the free-floating barrel driving back into the receiver before the entire gun shook and travelled, rocking him back on his legs, there was barely a sound – just a muffled snap then a louder crack as the bullet punched its way through the sound barrier. In the corner of his eye he saw the huge brass casing arcing through the air as his hand automatically cycled the action, flipping the bolt carrier up, back, forward and then down to load another of the monster 12.7 X 99mm rounds.
The round hit the radiator at the front of the vehicle, the huge bullet smashing through the reinforced metal grille. Lighter rounds, like those from an assault rifle or sub-machine gun would have been deflected easily, only a concentrated and sustained volley of fire being able to overcome the resilience of the armoured components. The heavy round from the precision rifle was in a different class though, with vastly more power and kinetic energy. After demolishing the armour, it tumbled and span, flying through the actual radiator at a near horizontal angle, tearing a huge chunk of fins and pipework in its passing. Aswon grunted in satisfaction as a jet of steam burst out of the front of the vehicle, but then frowned as it continued to head towards them. The engine was still running, that much was obvious, so it was no disabling shot – but perhaps the vehicle had a backup radiator or auxiliary power plant. Either way, he was almost certainly going to struggle to penetrate the main armour of the vehicle and hit something truly critical, so he swung the rifle over to try and get the angle on the lunatic hanging out of the door spraying fire at his team mates instead.
Aswon sighted in on the far side of the vehicle, trying to get sight of the shooter in the side door, but frustrated by the angle of approach. As he peered through the sight, trying to get a lock, he failed to notice the driver's window wind down and a hand appear carrying some kind of machine pistol. It spat two bursts towards the trailer, this time at Kai. Like Shimazu, Kai managed to dodge the first burst of fire, which spanged into the armoured trailer harmlessly, but the second burst stitched him across the chest, throwing him back into the trailer like a rag doll. The machine pistol firing at him was light, using small rounds – but the rounds were not the standard copper-jacketed rounds most guns fired, but an advanced composite design with a slender high speed SABOT at the core, that slid through the Kevlar weave of Kai's jacket and lanced into his side.
Hunter tensed as he heard the gunfire behind him, but kept his eyes to the east. If this was a pincer attack, then someone would be waiting for just this moment to strike. It was difficult to keep calm in a situation like this, ignoring the sounds of combat and the natural urge to turn and face the identified foe – but if this was a trap, then it would be the worst time to do so. He kept his eye on the tractor which still puttered towards him with a small jam of traffic behind it, and he saw a couple of cars edging out slightly, trying to get a view of the road ahead. His grip tightened on the grips of his rifle, and he scanned the traffic, waiting for anything to lurch forward and present itself as a target. As he heard the sound of the third and fourth burst of fire from behind him, confirming that this wasn't just some random gang violence, one hand dipped to the pocket in his combat jacket and pulled out the magazine of armour-piercing rounds, and he quickly swapped over ammo, working the action to make sure that one of the tungsten-coated penetrator rounds was ready to fire.
Slowly, oh so slowly, the trailer rolled forward, Tads, Marius and Nadia continuing to push with all their might, conserving the momentum built up and closing the distance to the truck and the hitching post. Kai had spun with the impact of the hits and was on the corner of the vehicle and leant against it, trying to add a little extra to their efforts, whilst he examined his wound and confirmed the damage, fingers probing gently at the impact site and checking the rate of bleeding. Even now though, he didn't draw his weapon or prepare a grenade – instead trusting that Aswon and Hunter would take care of the situation with the attackers, whilst they dealt with the truck.
The gunner strapped into the truck sighted again, and another burst of fire spat from the rifle, slamming into Kai. His body armour, already ragged from the first attack disintegrated under the impact, and three rounds penetrated his chest. They were not immediately fatal – the armour still slowed down their passage and absorbed some of the impact, but it was a serious hit. Lead bullets ripped through flesh and crashed into bone, tumbling through his body and leaving a trail of destroyed tissue behind them. Blood spurted from the wounds, and his hands fumbled at the pocket over his heart, grabbing the field dressing there and hastily slapping it over the impact site. A deep red spot appeared immediately on the pristine white bandage as the blood soaked through the pad, driven by his hammering heart, but the coagulant soaked dressing started to work, slowing down the blood flow and providing a barrier. He let his legs crumple and collapse under him, not even fighting the impact of the rounds and using the momentum to drop out of the line of sight from the gunner, and down the side of the trailer.
Aswon still couldn't get a clear shot – the front corner of the van occluded his sight line to the assailant, and unless he dived out of cover of the ditch and ran almost into the middle of the road, he wouldn't be able to get a clear shot. He could see the van slowing now – his shot to the radiator had been effective after all, and it was just momentum that was carrying the vehicle closer now. Instead he tracked left, lining up the shot on the centre of the windscreen in front of the driver's position. He worked out where the driver must be, imagining one hand on the wheel and the other holding a gun, ready to lean out of the side window again for another shot. A little more left, and down a touch, allowing for the slope of the glass…. Squeeze. This time there was a sharp retort from the gun, a distinct double crack from the barrel and the round as it brutally exploded from the barrel.
Once again the heavy weapon slammed into his shoulder, driving it back with the vicious recoil as the huge round was spat downrange – but Aswon was rewarded with the sight of the windscreen smashing as the bullet punched straight through the armoured glass. Again, a lighter round would have been deflected, he suspected, but the huge rounds were large enough to punch through the lighter sections of the vehicle without too much trouble. Cracks and chips exploded out from the impact point in a crazy star, spreading out from the impact point. The van lurched visibly to the side, swinging around to its left and Aswon smiled. The gunner in the side shouldn't be able to see the team now, and would have to move out from cover if he wanted to continue the attack.
With a grunt of effort, Marius gave a heave and the trailer slid back onto the road, rolling slowly towards the truck. Momentum alone should close the distance now, so instead he heaved on the heavy towing axle, lining up the eyelet with the towing assembly. Sweat ran down the side of his face from the effort of pulling the massive trailer, but also from the pressure of getting the trailer hooked up right. He still didn't know how it had come unhooked – the attack indicated that it was foul play of some sort, not random happenstance, but the truck was his, his responsibility, and he intended to find out what had happened and stop it happening again. He adjusted the bar slightly, lining it up with the receiving plate as the trailer rolled ponderously closer.
A flash of movement at the corner of his eye distracted him, and he turned slightly, his hand dropping to his pistol. Shimazu scurried past him in a stoop, using the drainage ditch as cover and to lower his height, and Marius turned back to concentrate on the task at hand, lining up the tow hitch with the hook as the trailer continued to roll ever closer. Shimazu, in turn glanced behind him, and saw Kai flop round the side of the trailer, wincing in pain from the multiple gunshot wounds. As Kai leant against the trailer, letting the gentle motion pull him along the side of the road, he saw a chopper heading their way, the nose pointing firmly down as it sped across the countryside from the direction of the airport. He called out a warning to the team in a resigned voice.
"Chopper, inbound from the airport, closing fast. Could be police, could be reinforcements. Either way, it's going to be trouble I'm sure."
Marius stiffened slightly as he worked, his hands wrestling with the spring-loaded clip that kept the tow hitch secure and pushing home the data-connections and interlinks for the electrical systems. It felt like something was pressing in on his face, a pressure or tension that he couldn't really define. He shook his head irately as if he was trying to dislodge a fly, then concentrated on his work, slapping home the last of the plugs into position. A few moments later, the sensation faded away, and as he completed the last of the connections he turned and checked out the chopper – a Hughes WK-2e Stallion. He spied two large protuberances on the wings and zoomed in, breathing a sigh of relief. Rather than missile or rocket pods, it looked like a pair of extended range fuel tanks. He panned around the vehicle and didn't see any obvious external ordinance or weapon systems at all in fact, so he turned away from the chopper. The crew could still be dangerous, and easily armed with weapons that could cause them trouble – but his big fear had been a minigun or chaingun mounted on the nose, or a rocket pod or air to ground missiles – any of which would have spelt certain doom for them.
To the east, Hunter sighted down his scope, examining the farm tractor, which continued to close on their position with a queue of traffic trapped behind it. Zooming in, he spotted the driver through the unpolarised glass at the front of the cab, and worked out why he hadn't reacted to the sounds of gunfire or the scene of the ambush. The farmer wore a glassy expression on his face along with a wide gummy smile under his bright red nose. His head wobbled back and forth as the tractor bounced along, and his body swayed from side to side. Despite the early hour, he looked… well, "wankered" was the term that came to mind for Hunter. Whether he was still drunk from the night before, or had decided a liquid breakfast was the way forward he couldn't say – but the driver was clearly inebriated and driving along in a world all of his own. He zoomed out and keyed up his microphone to call the information out to the rest of the team.
A figure popped up from behind the security van, which had slid to a halt in the middle of the road. In one smooth flowing motion, he raised the assault rifle and braced over the front of the van, and sent three rounds down range, catching Hunter in the back. The heavy armour dented and then buckled under the impact, the rounds driving into Hunter's muscular back and staggering him forward a few paces. His grunt of pain transmitted clearly over the comms net, and blood bubbled out of the wounds, staining the fabric around the impact site. As Hunter staggered from the impact, the shooter lost lock momentarily, and thankfully no second burst was fired.
Aswon popped up again from his position, looking towards the airport and spotted the chopper. He sighted carefully, checking the nose and the side pylons, but didn't spot any weapons, and neither did he see any open doors that would allow a view of the crew. He panned down back towards the truck, trying to get a line of sight on whoever had just shot at Hunter, and started to back up towards the truck to try and get an angle. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of motion as Shimazu continued to work down the gutter line to try and outflank their opponent.
Shimazu had crawled far enough round now that he could see the target, and carefully drew his blade as he studied the figure. He was large and burly-looking – easily a match for Hunter. Dressed in urban cammo fatigues, he was still wearing the safety harness around his waist and thighs – presumably that had been attached to some kind of rig in the back of the van to allow him to lean out and attack whilst the van was in motion. He carried a squat and sturdy-looking assault rifle with a cable that clearly terminated into a jackpoint into his arm – the presence of the Smartlink system explained the deadly accuracy he'd displayed so far. That also meant that at least one of his eyes was going to be a cybernetic replacement to allow for the display of the targeting cursor over his vision showing the point of aim for his weapon – but that also meant he could have a variety of vision enhancements present as well. He rocked back on his heels and got ready to charge – he would have to go flat out to cover the distance between them without giving him time to swing round and fire, or risk taking a burst of fire at point-blank range to the face…
Aswon saw Shimazu poised to attack, and swung the rifle over towards the front of the truck, lining up on the engine block and pulled the trigger again. The fifty calibre round accelerated down the barrel, emerging from the muzzle break at over nine hundred and fifty metres per second. The wave of hot exhaust gasses rocketed out behind it. The large silencer was still full of roiling hot gas from the first two shots though, and was incapable of allowing for the expansion of gasses into the spaces between the floating disks and baffles. Instead of slowing the round slightly and allowing for the dispersion of the gases that formed the gunshot, they instead amplified it. The crack was followed a microsecond later with a boom that rolled across the landscape before reflecting and echoing off walls and houses. Aswon was as surprised as anyone else – but it had the desired effect. Not only did the round punch through the side of the security van and into the engine block where it hit something with enough force to make an awful mechanical tearing noise, but the ork with the assault rifle instinctively turned away from Shimazu's position, to sight on the threat. Behind him there was a blur of motion as Shimazu propelled himself up and out of cover and sprinted across the distance between them, one metre of deadly shining steel held with grim resolve to his side. His concentration was total, and he used his mental training to ignore the pain from his wound and concentrate on reaching and then dealing with his assailant.
The ork saw him coming at the last moment, the reflection from the window warning him and he turned with the speed of a snake, releasing his weapon to fall on the sling, as he moved to defend himself from the strike. Thirty centimetre long blades thrust out of concealed ports on his knuckles with a "snick" sound and he raised his hands to try and parry the attack. The sword flashed down, deflecting off the spurs slightly but still ripping down his chest. The top layer of clothes were sliced through cleanly, but underneath an armoured vest absorbed the strike somewhat, slowing the swing and preventing the blade from sinking too deeply. To his credit, the ork was a skilled fighter, and swung back with his knee, aiming for Shimazu's midriff. Shimazu, though had anticipated this, and his hands flipped and reversed the direction of the sword, taking off a slice of flesh and bone from the rising leg. Shimazu recovered from the strike, taking a much more guarded position, concentrating as much on defence as attack now that the concealed weapons had been revealed.
Kai saw that Marius had finished attaching the trailer, and pulled himself up into the back of the truck, shouting out loudly as he did so, "SADDLE UP!"
He moved further in, nursing his injuries and clearing the way for the next person. Nobody followed him though, and he spun in place to see why not. In the space between the truck and trailer he spotted Marius and Nadia, both with submachines out and pointed at the floor, which seemed to be rising to meet them. The ground grew and flowed around the wheels, clogging them with earth and trapping them as the earth elementals used their powers to literally reshape the ground around the trailer. Presumably there was a mage – probably in the chopper to give him a greater line of sight. Marius depressed the trigger, firing fully automatic into the magical creatures. Comprised of the raw element, the magical bindings and nature of their composition normally protected them from mundane assaults – requiring a magical attack to be truly effective. However, the muzzle of the gun was only inches away from them – it was impossible to miss, and the transfer of energy and the muzzle blast was ferocious. It overcame their defences and large sods of earth were blasted free of the creatures, causing them to writhe in pain as they were carved into chunks with a liberal dose of firepower.
A moment later the chopper roared overhead and reefed into a tight bank, tipping over to be almost horizontal to the ground as the pilot pushed the controls to the limit to bring them back on target from the opposite direction. Hunter finished staggering into the ditch, and raised his weapon for a moment towards the ork that had shot him – but then lowered it as Shimazu flashed forwards with his sword. Instead he tracked around towards the chopper, waiting to see if a door would open and a fresh target would present itself. Kai staggered to the back door and pulled a smoke grenade out from his pocket, holding it in his hand by his face, ready to throw it in case anyone needed covering.
As he focussed on the scene, the pin worked its way loose from the grenade, and the spoon flicked up and away into the cold winters morning. Aghast for a moment, he looked at the live grenade cradled into his hand before his senses caught up with the danger and he reflexively threw it away from himself. He looked up at the banking window of the chopper with suspicion, as if through sheer willpower he could stare through the one-way glass and spot the mage who was up to no good.
Tads threw her hands towards the second elemental, her fingers twisted into claws as she mentally locked herself into combat with it, using her raw power to bind it together into a lump and squeeze it, banishing the spirit back to its home plane. She slowly squeezed, pressing the elemental together and squishing it out of existence. A moment later, Nadia jammed the barrel of her gun into the form and fired, blowing it to bits.
Shimazu swung again, once more flipping his wrists over and pulling the blade through the air with a twist from his hips, the sword singing as it sliced through the cold air. Once more his aim was true, biting deep into the armour and spilling out blood and intestines onto the road from the deep slash across the ork's midriff. The ork threw himself back with a grunt, rolling and springing back to his feet with his rifle aimed square at Shimazu's face.
For a moment, time stopped for Shimazu. He was off-balance from the swing, his body wanting to continue to the left from the force of the blow, and there was no way he could redirect the energy in time to close the gap that had opened up between them. He saw the hand on the grip tighten – and even though there was no finger on the trigger, he knew that mentally the command was being sent, and in a moment the gun would spit out rounds towards him. His opponent was badly wounded, bleeding profusely from the multiple wounds inflicted upon him, and the combination of pain and recoil might drive him off target – but he couldn't count up it. He tensed, ready to throw himself to one side, to dive to the floor to avoid the stream of lead.
The ork's head exploded in front of him in slow motion. It bulged first, then expanded, the eyes going boggly for a moment first then protruding further and further until the face just ripped apart in a gory shower of red and grey matter. The massive boom rolled around the road and fields again, and Aswon let the recoil drive his shoulder back and the barrel up as he put the large round straight through the back of the ork's head.
Hunter saw motion and swung around, but it was just the cars behind the tractor suddenly throwing on the brakes and pulling over, trying to keep the tractor between them and the lunatic with a massive rifle. The repeat shot had confirmed that "bad things" were going on, and it looked like none of them wanted any part of it. Bizarrely enough, the tractor continued to drive down the road at approximately ten kilometres per hour, slowly closing the distance. He turned around just in time to see a flash of motion ahead of him, and take a breath to call out a warning.
The figure leapt in the air, clearing the fence along the side of the gutter with ease, tumbling through the air with the grace only possible to a well-trained physical adept or an Olympic gymnast. A small blade flashed in his right hand, which was held high as he plummeted down towards Kai and Nadia. Shimazu drew his pistol in a smooth flowing motion and fired, but the combination of fatigue and wounds sent the round tumbling past the gymnast, though the loud retort did grab his attention.
With sword in one hand and pistol in the other, Shimazu closed the distance with the new assailant, who ignored Nadia and Kai and turned to face him, moving swiftly towards him. Nadia tried to shoot at him, but discovered that what worked for elementals at point blank range didn't apply to moving and weaving targets, and her rounds sailed past him, well wide of the mark as the gun kicked and climbed as the rounds thundered out. Once more, Shimazu took a calming breath, trying to focus on his body and ignore the sharp pain from his wounds, concentrating and centering his attention on keeping the opponent at bay with the superior reach of his sword.
Marius had reached the front of the truck and was clambering up into the cab, manifestly heading for the controls to start up the rig and drive them out of the ambush. Up above, the side door on the chopper flipped open, and a figure leant out, long hair whipping around in the downdraft. An arm extended, ending with a single pointed finger at the back of the German's head. Aswon was on the wrong side of the craft and couldn't see this, so it was all up to Hunter. He raised the assault rifle to his shoulder, took a deep breath and held it, waiting for the green reticule to turn red in his cyber-enhanced vision and pulled the trigger, spitting out a long five round burst at him. He was rewarded with seeing the burst strike home, throwing the figure around like a rag doll and blood exploding out of the ribs and side of the figure, spraying out of the chopper in a fine mist. The pilot of the craft tipped to the side, flipping the chopper over on an angle and causing the limp body to flop into the craft before the door slammed shut behind him.
Either not knowing, or not caring, Marius climbed up into the cab and slid into the centre seat, thrusting the rigger jack into the slots on the back of his neck and interfacing with the vehicle controls. A moment later the massive engine rumbled into life and the gearbox gave a shudder as the gears moved into position.
Aswon saw the chopper tilt towards him, ten degrees, then twenty, then thirty. As it did so, he got to see straight on to the rotor shaft and collimators, spinning away at three hundred RPM – but for the first time, he could actually see a vital part of the machinery that made the chopper function, not covered by the body of the craft or protected by the spinning blades. The rifle came up without conscious thought, and once again the monster rifle smashed into his shoulder with a massive jolt as fifteen kilojoules of energy spat out of the front of the gun. He didn't know what he hit, but all that mattered was that a spray of liquid came out of the top, followed a second later by a pale grey smoke that belched and billowed out, and the engines started to scream. The pilot pushed the nose down, and headed towards the field, dropping altitude quickly as he wrenched the chopper back into level flight.
The truck started to roll slowly forwards, no more than a slow walking pace, but sending a clear message to the team that it was time to go. Aswon started to sprint towards the truck, not being able to see the combat between Shimazu and the assailant on the other side of the trailer and trusting to someone else to finish the job. Tads finished her rite of banishment and jumped for the step, pulling herself up and into the trailer, moving to the side and pushing the door open with one hand to make it easier for the next person. Kai did the same at the back of the truck, shouting at the team to get on board.
Hunter moved down towards the truck, now approaching him, and saw Shimazu fending off the new attacker. Once more he raised his assault rifle and shot him, twice, seeing all six rounds hit and stagger his opponent. The figure stumbled several steps, but must have had some well-crafted body armour underneath his jacket, as he appeared still combat-capable. He couldn't see the grimace of pain that crossed his face, the blood that welled up out of his mouth as the rounds struck and perforated his lungs – all he could see was the guy still standing. Shimazu raised his sword, ready to risk a headlong attack at him, but this time it was Nadia that came to his aid. She raised her SMG and with both hands holding on so tightly her fingers turned white, she let rip with another long burst of fire, holding the trigger down until the slide locked back on an empty chamber. The muzzle still climbed, but this actually helped a little, as the rounds impacted from his left hip and climbed up his rib cage and shoulder, ending up with the last round penetrating his left ear. He dropped to the side, another clear casualty, and Nadia turned and jumped for the rear door, Kai grabbing her and pulling her aboard.
Marius increased speed some more, the truck picking up momentum as it rumbled away from the site of the ambush. Shimazu looked at the vehicle as it accelerated past him and made a gut call, stooping long enough to grab the dagger from his assailant's hands. It was a weird kind of weapon, a long stiletto blade attached to a H shaped frame that was held in the hand, with the blade protruding between two fingers. As he scooped up the weapon, barely managing to keep hold of it around the haft of his sword, he realised that Marius really wasn't messing around, and was accelerating hard. He sprinted, drifting to the right as the back of the trailer passed him and gave a massive spring, landing half in the trailer, with his legs flailing around behind him. The sword, dagger and gun clattered forwards across the floor as he let go of them, fingers desperately seeking any purchase they could find – a moment later he felt Tads grab him by the waist band of his trousers and physically haul him over the edge and into the trailer, then slam the door shut behind him.
Up front, Hunter leapt for the steps welded to the front cab. As he did so, one of the rounds in his back moved, touching a nerve and his arms and legs went into spasm. He felt his fingers drift over the railing, futilely grasping at the metal bar but lacking the strength to haul him up. He stumbled, and for a moment it looked like he would fall and roll under the wheels, but he managed to push himself back on balance and ran, pounding up the side of the road with his lungs on fire, sprinting by the side of the truck. Salvation came a moment later when the truck door opened and Aswon lent out. Grabbing his rifle by the barrel, he slid the two metre long weapon down, the sling forming a big loop, and snared it around Hunter's head and shoulder. With a grunt, he pulled forward, guiding him towards the railing and helping to heave him up the steps and into the cab.
Marius did a quick count of life signs showing in the vehicle, got to the right number, hoped it was all the team, and not missing one with a stowaway. The engine popped and cracked as he hit the Nitros and everyone slid backwards or was pushed into the seat as the truck leapt forwards like a race car. Three seconds later they passed sixty kilometres per hour, and another three saw them topping a hundred. He eased off a little then, not wanting to wreck the engine and figuring that it was going to get them out of range of the ambush, but not other vehicles – so why bother.
Kai grabbed one of their first aid kits and was trying to bandage himself up, scrabbling to apply the pressure pads to the wounds on his back but unable to get anything in the right place. Aswon appeared at the doorway from the cab, checking that everyone was ok and saw him ineffectually trying to bind his wounds.
"Shouldn't we stop and get Tads to do some of her healing magic?"
"No. Don't you remember – always do first aid first. I just didn't think I was going to need this much first aid! Besides, I don't think Marius would want to stop yet!"
Aswon nodded in agreement as Kai gave up in disgust, dropping bloody bandages all over the place and ended up sticking some to the wall of the truck and just leaning back on them, hoping they'd start to stem the blood loss. As Aswon looked over, he saw Nadia sitting in the shower tray at the back left corner of the vehicle, rocking slightly with her head buried in her hands. He moved down to check on her, but she didn't appear wounded – more traumatised. He pulled her up and out of the shower, moving her to a bed and covering her with a blanket for the moment, then went back up front to check on Hunter and Marius.
In the rear trailer, Tads had pulled her first aid kit out and was applying compression bandages to Shimazu's wounds, using the dermal stapler on the rips and rents in his flesh from his close combat fight. Once she'd done all that she felt she could with the physical kits, she concentrated hard, pulling in mana from around her and channelling the golden energy into his body. It took her a minute, but as she finished, the magical power had closed his wounds entirely, and the bandages covered fresh whole skin, without any trace of the wounds that had been there only a minute before.
Back at the front, Aswon checked on Hunter, who was snugged into his corner with his gun ready, keeping an eye on the road outside while his back was pressed into the seat, keeping the wounds under pressure. He didn't seem to be actively bleeding, so Aswon left him be for the moment. He triggered the intercom, punching through the code to transmit to Marius,
"Marius, I know you're driving us away from an ambush, and I don't want you to stop now. But Nadia's in a bit of a bad way back there. Physically fine, but she might be losing it mentally. I'm gonna go keep an eye on her, but this might be something better for you to do. And we probably want to stop and check on the two in the back and get some healing sometime… so whenever you think it's safe to stop, it might be an idea."
With that, he cut the circuit, and pushed through into the back of the vehicle to check that Kai hadn't passed out and that Nadia wasn't playing with her gun, as the truck drove at high speed to the east, leaving behind a scene of devastation and carnage on the highway.
