Existential Threat: Chapter 13 Part 2 of 3 (Patreon)

Icons showed the Adraxi as Luke ran up the rise to the edge of the mining camp, reaching smoking movers covering the entrance.

The frame of one squeaked as he jumped on it, shaking as Jynx landed on it too. He peeked over the top. Adraxi were converging on the building he’d marked to take.

Just my damn luck.

Adraxi turned and fired back at the breaches the other squads were pushing. An explosive went off in the building, dead Adraxi nearly choking a blackened doorway. Others had been pushing through rents in the repair bay doors.

Luke fired, his rounds tearing them apart, covering the walls in ichor that burned off into ash.

“More coming from deeper in the facility,” Jynx said. Luke followed her tracers between the automated miners and belts, some still working in the chaos.

A part of the wall blew out.

“Crabs!” Markers shot up.

“Going Vee-one,” Fin said.

“Moose you too.” Luke found targets and fired. He ducked as rounds pinged off the mover he was using as cover, turning and returning his compliments.

They ducked back into cover.

“Mother fuckers, these ones know how to use cover.

Flames shot out of a crab as he flopped to the side. Another popping its shell, the upper shell landing several meters away.

“Good work on those tanks.” Luke flipped to squad leader chat.

“Foxtrot get your turrets up-“

“On it.”

“Golf push up. I can see that the mover infront of you gives you cover, then there are a bunch of compressed blocks lined up till fifteen meters from the repair shop. Use the blocks to create a firing position and get your turrets up.”

Luke kept firing as he talked, more rounds hitting around his position. He ducked, shoulder scraping along the burnt out mover stacked between the one he was standing on and another.

“Going Vee-twos,” Luke watched it switch amber and snap back to green. He stood orientating on the positions he’d been receiving accurate fire from and let loose a burst in each location. Nothing fired after that.

“Made it to the blocks,” Kaalim said.

“Turrets are rocking and rolling,” Scalia said.

“Crabs are down,” Moose said.

“Moose, Jynx I want you to advance up to those heavy movers there. You’ll cover the western side of the shop. Golf will have the East.” Markers popped up, a cloud or nuclear blast out of the way of a warship’s sensors. “Live feed from recon!”

“Sneaky bastard, hiding behind the factories.” Factories were removed as the crab and massing Adraxi were wiped out.

“Dropship Three Two, this is Echo squad lead, we might be needing a gun run sometime soon.”

“Echo this is Three-Two, we’re seeing that.”

“Gonna try and draw them to us and line them up for you.”

“We’d appreciate it, still limping from that rough entry.”

“Understood. I’ll mark and call you when I need you, it might be quick-like.”

“Copy, we’ll be ready.”

“Turrets up!” Kaalim said.

“Jynx, Moose, go!”

They scrambled through the movers, got their heads down and sprinted for cover.

Luke sprayed anything that seemed to be aiming in their direction.

“There ain’t that many but they’re using tactics,” Shiro said.

Jynx and Moose weaved through gear and up to the heavy machinery, climbing it, Jynx smashed out a window and fired from the vehicle’s cockpit, Moose standing on treads and firing over the back of the big machine.

“East side flank!” Scalia yelled.

Adraxi ran out across the road, through belts and miners, three crabs stepped out, firing at Scalia’s position, destroying one turret and raking it with spitter fire.

Luke fired into the crabs, throwing them back, breaking their armor, rounds detonating inside. Rounds pinged his armor and struck his head, dropping him back. His left eye fuzzed and fitzed, closing it he aimed with the other.

Bursts weren’t enough as the turrets and the squads fired at the full push coming in from the mining facility.

“Three Two, I think I’ll take that gun-run if you got it!”

“Coming in, fifteen seconds.”

It was holding back the tide with a sieve. Luke fired bursts into the groups the furthest ahead, switching between them, impacts hit all around him as he moved, not trying to take cover as he did so. The movers were a steel drum band, but filled with rocks and thrown off a damn mountain.

“Incoming.”

“Brace, Brace Brace!” Luke locked his rifle to his back, bracing against the mover he was taking cover against, dialing up his boot’s magnetic field as he held against his cover, rounds ringing out, the Adraxi no longer suppressed.

Luke never heard the first round fire, only its impact.

V-3 was a very different beast compared to its smaller brethren, the entire round was essentially a mass converting explosive. The Area Denial (AD) round released a seventy meter fireball, the blast wave travelling seven hundred and fifty kilometers an hour, petered out after one hundred and ninety meters, dying down to two hundred and fifty kilometers and hour for an additional two hundred meters, filled with heat that would cause third degree burns on anyone within four hundred and thirty meters of the impact zone.

The Dropship’s turrets were drowned out by the sound of explosions.

Winds battered at Luke’s cover, jarring the movers and him as he held on.

“Gun run complete,” The pilot said.

Luke dialed the boots down, releasing the bent metal under his grip and grabbing his rifle.

“Everyone good?”

Yeah, yups, I’m here, Came back from his squad, several bot markers weren’t where they were supposed to be. Turrets extended back up, Foxtrot’s second turret had been blasted out of position.

Metal burned, popped and crackled. The repair shop was in the same place. Other compressed waste brick buildings stood. The sea of automated miners and belts had been scoured, picked up and chucked into their brethren that missed the dropship’s vengeance. A line of craters sowed across the ground.

Shadows were burned into the ground and walls. The dropship had walked their fire between buildings to not hit those inside.

Hope they weren’t near any windows.

“All squads advance,” Luke growled, his throat dry.

He flipped to AP climbing over the pile of movers.

Adraxi walked drunkenly from where they’d been thrown. Luke cut down a group with a burst and kept advancing, weapon at the ready as he reached the heavy machinery Moose and Jynx fired on semi-auto at targets unseen.

“Golf squad heading into the repair shop,” Kaalim said.

Fin and Shrio slammed up against the heavy mover. Scalia and his squad were pushing up on the Eastern side.

“Jynx you see any good firing positions up ahead of us?”

“Yeah, here and here, not sure about this one.”

“Fin you take the first, Shiro you take the sec-“

Weapons fire and and explosion ripped out of the repair shop.

“One friendly down, Adraxi are dead in here, uhhh, Luke we got civvies in here.” Kaalim stopped. “One of them is wounded.”

“Shiro you’re with me, we’re heading into the repair shop. Moose, cover Jynx and Fin, you three work together to cover off the Western Side.”

“Copy,” Moose said.

Luke moved to the edge of the heavy machinery nearest the repair shop, eyeing the trip, patting Shiro on the shoulder. He nodded. “You go first, I’ll cover.”

“Love getting my run on,” Luke braced, leaned forward and ran, in the ground bouncing lope of the heavy bot, head up and scanning.

He slowed as he reached the repair bay a bot covering the doorway moving to the side.

Luke moved past it and dropped to a knee, watching the East.

“Move up.”

“Jynx, Fin I got you, head up,” Moose said.

He heard Shiro, not looking away.

“Moving across your arcs,” Scalia said.

“Got you.”

They ran across the road leading up to the repair shop, into the twisted and scattered mess of automated miners.

Luke lowered his rifle as they passed his arcs. Shiro slapped his shoulder.

Luke turned and followed him through the rent in the repair bay, a mover shoved out of the way to allow them through.

The bot at the opening moved back, crouching, rifle at the ready.