Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #2 – "Born to be Killed" ❯ Chapter 12 - “Springing the Trap” ( Chapter 12 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter 12 - “Springing the Trap”

In this area of the city, made of mostly manufacturing and light industry, was fairly quiet this late at night. The compound itself was mostly in shadow, with only a few lights on to illuminate the pathways and doorways. The gates were large steel bars, set into thick walls. The walls themselves were tipped with barbed wire, with the already mentioned TV cameras slowly sweeping the wall and the ground around them.

From his perch on the roof of a ten story Government building, Craig scanned as much of the target compound as he could. With all the satellite dishes, air conditioning units, and lift motor housings, there was plenty of shadows for him to hide in. Along with the hardsuit’s heat masking systems, it would be difficult for a boomer and almost impossible for a human to see him unless they knew exactly what they were looking for.

“Black to White,” Craig said into the suit’s radio. “It seems quiet.”

“Is there any sign of extra security?” Sylia asked. The other four Sabers were in an alley nearby, waiting for the signal to go.

“Negative. This is beginning to smell like week old fish.”

“Stop being an old women,” Priss said scornfully.

“Hush child, or I’ll whap you with my cane,” Craig muttered. He looked at the loading dock. “There’s only one tractor trailer in sight, White. That maybe our pigeon.”

“Understood.” Sylia said “Are you ready to cover us?”

The sniper rifle came down over Craig’s shoulder and locked into place. The targeting hairs lit up inside Craig’s HUD. “Affirmative. Ready to go.”

“Pink, have you found the transmission frequency for the cameras?”

“Yep. I’ve already have thirty seconds of transmission recorded and ready to loop.”

“Good.” Craig could hear Sylia take a deep breath. “Knight Sabers, Sanjo.”

*****

The entry into the complex was done swiftly and without wasted motion, the sure sign of a well-trained team. Nene overrode the camera’s frequency, transmitting pictures of the ground and walls as they were three minutes ago. The four leapt over the wall, using just enough of their jets to clear the wall, before dropping back into the wall’s shadow. Stopping only long enough to take their bearing, they darted towards their targets, Linna and Sylia toward the lab buildings, while Nene and Priss headed for the building with the data. As they moved toward their objectives, Craig covered both teams with the sniper rifle.

Both the white and green hardsuits sprang to the top of the three story building that contained the lab, using the hardsuits’ muscular system instead of the jets. Once on the roof, they dropped and knelt, scanning for any signs they had been detected. “White to Black,” Sylia said “Do you see anything?”

“Nada,” came the reply. “Wait! I see three people walking out of the building.” There was silence for three seconds, then Craig said. “They look like techs taking a smoke break. They’re standing near the door and talking while they smoke. None have the mass to be disguised 55s.”

“Understood. White to Blue. Location?”

“We’re near the building. Pink’s scanning for electronic signals.”

“We go in one minute. Black, when we’re out of sight, start with the second phase of your job.”

“Understood, White. Good luck.”

Sylia glanced over at Linna, who gave her a thumbs up. Sylia closed her eyes took a deep breath. 55...54...53...52...

When the counter in her head hit zero, she said, “Go.”

*****

As soon as the four disappeared into the buildings, Craig pulled back from sight and retraced the sniper rifle. As soon as the unit was in it stored position, he detached the unit and picked up another, heftier weapon. It locked into place in the same mount that had held the rifle. The magazines of .50 caliber cartridges attached to his hips were quickly replaced with larger magazines. He slotted a full magazine into place, brought the targeting system up, and took a deep breath.

The sniper rifle was nice, but the second phase needed more punch. That punch came in the form of the 87mm recoilless cannon now mounted on his hardsuit. He moved back into position, watching the gates and the loading dock.

All he could do now was wait.

*****

Sylia and Linna made their way into the building by the access door on the roof. Nene had hacked into the security system as part of her data search, and had disabled the alarms over most of the complex. Between Nene’s data and Sylia’s contacts, The Knight Saber’s leader had enough information to plan the team’s infiltration.

They moved down the stairs quickly, speed being paramount to the plan. The door at the bottom of the stairs was locked, but it wasn’t designed to withstand the judicious application of a hardsuit’s strength. The two were through the doorway and the door closed well enough to withstand a cursory glance.

The two found themselves in a hallway, with offices on both sides. With the exception of safety lights every ten meters, the halls and offices were dark.

Their target was four floors below them, in a basement lab. With the exception of the technicians in the lab itself, Sylia doubted there was anyone else in the building.

“It’s quiet,” Linna said.

“It won’t be for long,” Sylia said softly.“This way.”

They both ran down the corridor.

*****

Priss and Nene’s target were more accessible, as the network holding the data was located on the top floor of another building near the lab. So, like the other team, they entered the building from the roof, and crept down the stairs.

Priss didn’t have Sylia’s finesse, and the door splintered into several large pieces as the blue hardsuit put pressure on it. “Damm it!” Priss hissed.

“Worry about it later!” Nene said. “The computer room is this way.”
The door leading into the computer room was about ten meters from the shattered door. Unlike the door Priss had wrecked, this was a steel door, with no knob. A keypad was on the wall next the door.

Nene held up a hand. “Let me do it this time,” she said.”The door has its own security system, separate from the building’s.”

“Be my guess, little Miss Cyberpunk,” Priss replied.

The pink and blue hardsuit moved toward the door. She stared at the keypad for several seconds, letting her scanners feed her the data she needed. “This may take a couple of minutes.”

“We don’t have that long!” Priss hissed.

“I can’t help it!” Nene hissed back. “This is a top of the line system! If I go too fast, I’ll set off the alarms!”

“Then stop yackking and get started!”

*****

“Now?” Mason asked, his tone cutting.

“A couple of more minutes,” Largo replied easily. “We want them to think they’ve succeeded before we spring the trap.” Mason didn’t bother to give the cyberdroid a glance, but instead continued to stare at the monitors. Several showed the four Knight Sabers inside the buildings, walking into the trap.

The GENOM pair were standing in a secured room three floor below ground and in a different building from where the trap would be sprung. The room itself was only slightly larger then Mason’s office, with a dais in the center of the circular chamber. Four female boomers, all Mason’s, were seated at the monitor controls, making the special assistant the only flesh and blood person in the room.

“Besides,” Largo continued, “I hope to find where the Avatar is hiding and kill him now.”

“What makes you think the Avatar is anywhere nearby?” Mason asked.

“I know it.”

Mason didn’t looked convinced. “We can’t waste too much more time, or they’re going to realize that it is a trap.”

“In another two minutes, it won’t matter.”
*****

A feeling of uneasiness crept over Craig and he scanned the compound. It was like a feeling of ice that slowly slid down his spine, a cold certainty that something was wrong. But what?

He scanned the compound slowly, using different filters every time he did so. It wasn’t until he used the infra-red that the item that was bothering him clicked.

He hadn’t seen a single boomer the entire time he was here.
“Black to White,” he whispered.

“What is it?” Sylia asked.

“The stink factor just went up. I haven’t seen a single boomer since we arrived.”

“Understood, Black. I agree.”

“Do we abort?” Linna asked.

“Negative,” Sylia replied. “But we’re not taking any chances. Team Two, do not access the system for the data. Just upload the virus and get out of there. Team One will continue onto the lab.”

“Do you want us to come over and give you a hand?” Priss asked.

“Negative, Blue. Team Two will fall back to Team Three’s position and wait.”

“But –“

”Don’t argue. We may need you to cover us when we pull out.”

“Don’t do this!”

Sylia’s voice became cool. “You will follow my order, or I will put Black in charge. Is that understood?”

“Put that bastard in charge?” Priss snarled.

“My parents were married,” Craig muttered. “And I’m not thrilled with the idea myself. So, stop bitching and get back here where you’re done, okay?”

“Fine! Priss snapped. “We will fall back to Team three’s position, once we’ve done.”

“Good. White out.”

Craig crouched a little lower, trying to look everywhere at once. “Be careful,” he murmured.

*****

“How much longer?” Priss asked. She was glancing up and down the corridor.

“Ten seconds,” Nene replied.

“How fast can you upload that virus?”

“Thirty seconds.”

“We’re out of here in two minutes, whether or not you’re done.”

Nene gave a little cry of victory as the steel door slid open. Priss held up a hand. “I’m first,” she said, then darted inside. Nene counted three, then followed.

The room was empty, a hollow shell with nothing in it. For a second, neither Saber moved.

“It’s a trap!” Priss yelled. “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

*****

Largo smiled. “Now it is time.”

“All units,” Mason snapped, “close in and destroy!”

*****

“It’s a trap!” Priss yelled. “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

Sylia and Linna stopped on the stairs, halfway between the ground floor and the basement where the lab was located. The Green Saber looked at her leader. “Do we abort now?” Linna asked.

“White to Blue,” Sylia said. “What’s wrong?”

“The computer room was empty!” Priss replied. From her breathing, she was running. “There was nothing in there!”

Just then, the fire door on the floor below the two Sabers exploded into the stairwell, fire and smoke belching from the now empty doorway. The pair were staggered by the resulting pressure wave, but they managed to keep from falling. Visibility rapidly decreased as smoke billowed out into the stairwell, but the flames licking the doorframe were still visible and increasing in size.

“Abort the mission!” Sylia shouted, grabbing Linna by the arm.

“But those people –“ Linna began.

“They’re already dead!” Sylia said in a clipped tone. “White to Black. Expect company anytime now.”

“Understood White,” Craig said, tension clearly in his voice. “Don’t dawdle, guys. I feel naked sitting up here all alone.”

“That’s...an ugly thought,” Priss said.

“What?”

“The thought of you naked.”

“Why, I outa –“

“Stop it,” Sylia said briskly, though not sharply. “You two can bicker later.” Igniting their jump jets, both Sylia and Linna flew up the staircase. “Rendezvous at the first rally point.”

“Right!” the other three chorused, and the grim task of getting out of the trap started.

*****

The first truck appeared five seconds after Craig finished speaking to Sylia.

By now, the fire in the basement lab was noticeable to anyone outside the building, if the noise from the explosions didn’t attract enough attention. Craig knelt in the shade of a solar panel array, his eyes scanning the compound in search of both boomers and his teammates. The cannon was in the ready position, loaded and ready to fire.

When the first truck turned into the road below him, Craig’s mouth became dry. It was a large tractor-trailer, moving slowly toward him. Another truck turned into the roadway from the opposite direction, again going slowly.

Craig keyed the radio. “Black to White. Two tractor-trailers just showed up at the back door. Take them out?”

“Yes!” Sylia replied in a tone that said, ‘I’m very busy trying not to get killed right now, don’t bug me with details.’

Craig stood, leaned over the side and fired twice at the first truck. His hardsuit sensor had just enough time to registered the truck driver as a boomer before the two 87mm shells smashed into the trailer part of the vehicle. The explosion ripped the trailer apart, sending metal and fire everywhere. In the dazzle of the explosion, Craig could see what were parts of boomer strewn around the truck. A single boomer staggered out of the wreckage, and Craig’s blood ran cold as he saw it was a combat boomer.

“Shit,” he muttered, as he fired another round at the badly damaged boomer. The boomer erupted in a mini explosion, but Craig was already turning toward the other truck. “We got combat boomers out here!” he shouted over the radio.

“How many?” Sylia asked bruskly.

In the brief time Craig had destroyed the first truck, the second truck had started to unloaded its deadly cargo. “Enough,” he replied sharply, “And these are the big boys –“

A pair of air defense boomers opened up on the rooftop, forcing Craig to throw himself away from the edge, avoiding the streams of 35 millimeter shells but not the debris created by them. Most of the rooftop overlooking the street suddenly vanished on the steel firestorm.

“Shit!” Craig rolled to feet, grabbing the sniper rifle and moving away from the building’s edge. “It’s getting nasty out here!”

“Fall back,” Sylia commanded. “Try and draw some of them off the perimeter.”

“Understood,” Craig replied as he ran. “But be aware these aren’t the ‘55s, they’re the bug-eye ‘12s, with at least two of the AA models and one tank killer!”

“Fuck,” Priss hissed.

“That’s bad,“ Nene said.

Craig ducked into the shelter of a air conditioning unit and replaced the partial magazine for the cannon with a full one. “It isn’t good,” he said

“We can’t go up against that much firepower,” said Linna..

“I know,” Sylia said. “Black, stay put and cover us. Keep as much of their attention on you as possible.”

Craig looked around the corner of the unit. The area of the roof where he had been standing was now torn apart. He swallowed hard. “I don’t think that will be a problem, White,” he said in a somewhat whiney voice, “The problem is going to be getting them to stop paying attention to me!”

Sylia ignored the weak protest. “The rest of the team will hit the boomers from behind. One pass and one pass only. Do not stay and fight. We want to knock them off balance, not kill them.”

“They don’t share the same view,” Craig muttered.

“Our ETA is one minute, barring any surprises. Can you hold out for that long?”

“Do I have a choice?”

Just then, a pair of BU-12B boomers landed on the roof and opened fire.

*****
“What the hell is going on out there?” Mason demanded. “Who’s on that rooftop?”

Largo, armed folded, watched the view screen with a smile. “It seems out enemy’s Avatar is making his presence known,” he said.

Mason turned and looked at the cyberdroid. “How do you know that’s the Avatar?”

“Come now. The four Sabers inside the compound are all known to us. This one is not. Our friend on the roof is also male, while the other four are clearly female.”

“So this is our chance to kill him.”

“Possibly, but he has already given his team mates a fighting chance to escape our trap.”

“I want him dead.”

“As do I, but he isn’t the main prize of this operation.”

Mason turned away from Largo and snapped, “Activate all the boomers inside the compound and implement program Intruder Five.”

*****

The first boomer that Linna and Sylia saw was a cleaning boomer that tried to hit them with its inbuilt vacuum cleaner. The blow was easily dodged, and a shot from Sylia’s laser cannon shattered it completely.

“What was that about?” Linna asked, as they flew down the corridor, leaving the wreckage of the boomer behind them.

Two more boomers, maintenance types, leapt out of a side corridor and tried to grab the two Sabers. Both died quickly, as they were not designed for combat.

“They’re using these boomers to slow us down until the security boomers can reach us,” Sylia replied. “White to Blue. Watch out for any boomers you see. They have orders to slow or stop us.”

“I already know,” Priss replied. “Me and Red have been jumped twice already by gardening boomers. I was about to call and tell you.”
“What’s your location?”

“Outside, about halfway between the lab and the wall. Do you want us to link up with you?”

“Negative. Black might need your help.”

“But –“

”Green and myself will be right behind you.” She motioned to Linna. “We’ll make our own exit.” Sylia cut her jets off, followed by Linna, both of them dropping lightly to the ground. The White Saber slammed a hand into a door next to her. The door folded and flew off its hinges, revealing a dark interior –

– and a quartet of secretary boomers that started throwing office equipment at them. Four shots eliminated their threat, but not before the pair had been hit with two phones, a computer monitor, several notebooks, and other items. Two more shots destroyed the windows directly opposite the door and the two Sabers launched themselves into the night.

*****

The exchange of fire between Craig and the combat boomers was short and ugly. Four eighty-seven millimeter shells traded places with half a dozen forty-six millimeter rounds in a couple of heartbeats, the sound of gunfire mixing with a large and a pair of smaller explosions. The result was two dead boomers, a destroyed air conditioning unit and one Knight Saber trying to get back on his feet half a dozen meters from where he had been thrown by the exploding unit.

Craig was swearing in both English and Japanese as he managed to stand again. The demolished air conditioner had save him from taking a direct hit from the BU-12's bazookas, but when the unit exploded, only the hardsuit had protected Craig from being riddled with makeshift shrapnel. The hardsuit was dented and pitted from the explosion, but he was still alive....

...for now.
Something warm and sticky flowed down the side of his face. From the coppery taste in his mouth, Craig guessed it was blood. His head was pounding and his body felt like one large bruise. “Black to Team,” he croaked. “You’d better hurry.”

“Are you all right?” Linna asked.

“Ask...me when you get... here, assuming it’s...it’s not too late.”

“Blue and Red’s ETA is thirty seconds,” Sylia said. “Green and mine is forty-five seconds.”

“Well, don’t...stop to smell the – OH SHIT!”
Another BU-12 came into sight, landing on the roof with all the grace of an avalanche. Craig leapt back, his jump jets flaring to life, firing his suit’s lasers at the combat cyberdroid. Both shots struck the boomer, but it ignored them and raised it’s own bazooka.

As the boomer fired, Craig cut the jump jets, dropping him to the roof as the burst of shots passed through when he would have been. He hit and rolled into the shelter of another solar array, his pain submerged under a sea of adrenalin. Without thought, he exchanged the now empty cannon magazine with his last full one just as the boomer opened fire at the solar panels with its heavy machine gun.

Not designed to be bullet resistant, the panels shattered, showing Craig with fragments. Again, the hardsuit saved him from serious injury, but it wouldn’t save him from a bazooka shell. Muttering to himself, he counted to five after the machine gun stopped firing, then leaped to he feet and looked for his target.

Fortunately for him, the boomer had not move, as it had been seeking results to its volley of fire. Again, cannon fire ripped through the night as both opened fire at the same time.

Craig fired twice, one shot missing the boomer and exploding several meters behind it, but the other struck the BU-12 just below the head and decapitated it in an paroxysm of fire and smoke. As the boomer topped over, Craig snarled, “Take that, you overgrown tinker-toy!”

It took him several seconds to make sense of the pops and screeching that suddenly started behind him. He turned and looked, and a single word passed between his lips as he saw the cause of the sounds. “Shit.”

The boomer’s return fire had smashed the supports of the already annihilated solar panel array, and it was now responding to gravity and fell....

....right onto Craig

*****

Linna dodged another BU-55's punch.

In response, she slammed a punch of her own into its chest, the knuckle bomber leaving a nice hole there, then snapped a low kick into the boomer’s right knee that snapped the joint. As the boomer fell, she somersaulted over it, her ribbons slicing through the head and neck. The boomer collapsed, and Linna was ready for the next attack.

The ambush had come halfway between the lab and the complex’s outer wall. A quintet of BU-55, part of the normal security force, had come flying out of a small grove of trees off to Sylia and Linna’s right. The first two had gone down quickly, but the others were now on top of them.
Linna had just taken down number three, while Sylia was finishing off number four with a couple of well-placed shots from her cannon. Number five dropped all attempts at hand to hand, and leapt away. As it landed a dozen meters away, it opened its mouth, revealing the laser and its intentions.

But before it could fire at them, several spikes hit the boomer in the face. Robbed of both its visual sensors and the mouth laser, the boomer snarled and staggered forward. Seeing their chance, Sylia and Linna shot toward the boomer, moving with the speed and precision. Before the boomer realized what happened, Linna’s ribbons had sliced through both of its legs and Sylia had finished off the CPU with a point blank cannon shot.

As the boomer fell, Priss and Nene came out of the shadows. “Are you two all right?” the red-headed hacker asked.

“We’re fine,” Sylia replied, “But I was under the impression that I told you two to join Craig.”

“We ran into the same thing you guys did,” Priss replied, nudging one of the dead boomers with her boot. “We had to take another route just to get here.”

“Let’s move out,” Sylia said. The four leapt into the air. “White to Black, we’re all together and heading toward you. What is your status?”

Silence answered her.

“White to Black, what is your status?”

This time, she heard a groan, followed by a few dozen swear words in English, Japanese and even Chinese. “What status?” Craig replied weakly.

“Are you all right?”

“No, I am not fucking all right!” Craig shouted back, followed by a groan. “Some steel-shit of a boomer dropped a entire fucking solar array on top of me!”

“Can you move?” They were coming up to the outer wall now, and the building Craig was on was slightly off to their right from the direction they were heading in. They could all see the damage the top floor had taken from the boomers’ attack.

A groan was followed by another, longer groan. “No!” he shouted angrily.

“We’re on our way,” Sylia replied, trying to sound soothing. “Are you in immediate danger?”

“Not that I can see.”

“Fine. We –“

The outer wall exploded right in front of the Sabers, pelting them with pieces of brick. An abnormally large boomer came striding through the hole, followed by two others.

“Shit!” Priss yelled, “It’s the AT Boomer!”

Even as the boomer started tracking them, Sylia’s mind was already forming a plan. “Green, Blue,” She snapped, “The AA Boomers are yours. Separate them from the AT boomer. Pink, jam their sensors as much as possible, then go help Black. The AT is mine.”

She had expected Priss to argue, but all the singer said was, “Right!” and angled away from the others. Linna did the same to the opposite side, while Nene darted away, her ECM already going full blast. Sylia charged towards the massive form of the AT boomer,

‘AT’ stands for ‘Anti-Tank’, and the weapon before Sylia was a preeminent example of the concept. She didn’t stand a chance of beating it one on one, so the best she could do was keep it occupied, hopefully without getting herself killed in the process....

*****

Craig tried once again to push the wreckage off, but the twisted metal conspired to keep him pinned top the roof. For the third time tonight, his Hardsuit had saved him from being killed, but the extra pain and bruising made it a close trade-off. His head and arms were free of the junked array, but he couldn’t move the rest of his body, trapped by the debris. He had heard Sylia’s orders and knew the team was fighting against the AT and AA boomers, and here he was, trapped face-down under a mound of steel, unable to help.

“Ishmael,” He hissed, as he tried to pulled his way out from under the array, “You son of a bitch!”
He heard something land on the roof. Snarling, he brought his left arm up in the direction of the noise. “Nene?” he shouted.

“Craig, it’s me!” Nene hissed. In the shadows, he saw the familiar form of the Sabers’ ECM/ECCM specialist.

Craig relaxed. “Can you move some of this crap off of me?”

Nene dashed over and started removing what pieces she could from the pile on top of Craig. After about half a minute, Craig could feel the weight on his back lessen. Gathering his arms under him, he said, “Stand back, Nene.”

He pushed himself up, as if he was doing a push-up. Slowly, his chest left the rooftop as his arms began to straighten, and the pile shifted, starting a small avalanche in the other direction. With a grunt, he managed to get up onto one knee, which allowed him to pull the other leg out and take a step forward. That allowed him to lean back, shifting more of the wreckage off his back and away from him. With a final forced exhale, he stood and took several steps ahead to get clear of the pile.

“Are you all right?” Nene asked.

Craig looked at her. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” he growled, “but that has to be the dumbest question I have heard all night.” His voice rose in anger, becoming louder as he continued. “I’ve just finished playing tag with three battle boomers, I feel like I’ve been worked over by the entire batting line-up of the New York Yankees, and instead of going home, like a sane normal person, I’m going to continue fighting, mostly because I’m really pissed off at Mason and Largo! Does that sound like I’m all right?”

“Er...no,” Nene answered.

“Good. That makes two of us.” He moved toward the destroyed air conditioning unit, limping slightly. Nene followed.

The sniper rifle was buried under some debris, but seemed all right when Craig removed it and gave it a quick once over. “I don’t have enough cannon shells left to make much of a difference,” he said, switching the somewhat battered cannon for the rifle. “Where are they?”

“The boomers are between them and us,” Nene replied. A large explosion ripped through the night air, the discharge mixing with the sound of sirens getting louder.

Craig activated the targeting system, and breathed a sigh of relief when it came on-line. “Black to White.” he said softly, his voice tired and slow. “I’m ready to cover your withdrawal. Awaiting orders.”

*****

From the expression on Mason’s face, Largo knew the GENOM executive was on the verge of a tirade.

The ambush hadn’t gone as planned. In fact, not much had gone as planned after the trap had been sprung. More Boomers had been destroyed then the plan had allowed for, and even the presence of the combat boomers were not making the difference they had expected. The number of explosions and fires had already alerted the fire department and the ADP to the battle, and the first ADP helicopters were only two minutes away.

“Do we have anything left in reserve?” Mason snapped at one of the female boomers manning a console.
“No sir,” the female boomer replied cooly. Unlike a human, she wasn’t scared of Mason. “We have three BU-55C en route, with an ETA of ninety seconds. Any other unit will arrive after the ADP and the fire department.”

“Which will be too late,” Largo said. “It is going to be difficult as it is to explain the destroyed combat boomers. The Chairman is going to be displeased if active combat booms are found in this area.”

“That isn’t a problem,” Mason replied.”There is already a report indicating that a terrorist group has taken control of the boomers and sent them to destroy this lab. I will just order the AT and AA boomers to attack the ADP as they arrive.”

Largo shook his head. “That would do more harm then good. The ADP is not equipped to handled that much firepower.”

The only human in the room shrugged. “Then it will be their funeral.”

“It will cause difficulties.”

Mason waved away the statement. “As long as the Knight Sabers are dead, I do not care about the difficulties.”

“Very well, but remember, GENOM is a respectable corporation. It will be very hard to maintain that reputation if those boomers are found on the site.”

Mason turned toward Largo. “I did not ask for your advice!” his hissed.

Largo returned the glare with an impassive look of his own. “You are allowing your emotions to overrule your logic. The trap is failing, and GENOM is in danger of being exposed. We cannot explain the combat boomers without raising too many questions among our people in the government.”

“I am not giving up this chance to kill the Knight Sabers!”

“You may have no choice in the matter. It is possible that they will escape. But remember one thing.”

“What?”

“We only have to be lucky once....”

*****

Linna had never faced a AA boomer before, and she considered herself lucky that it hadn’t yet managed to kill her. As it was, she had to keep moving, changing directions unexpectedly, and finding anything resembled cover. A brick wall, several lamp posts, and five trees she had used as cover were now smashed, torn apart by steams of thirty-seven millimeter slugs, but she was still whole – for now.

It wasn’t going well. Both Priss and herself had each squared off against one of the antiaircraft boomers while Sylia had gone after the heavily armed anti-tank boomer. The boomer Linna was facing, using the pair of machine cannons that were its main weapon, had driven her back into the research complex and away from the others. She had learned quickly that her only chance was to keep away – the boomer had nearly nailed her twice when she had tried to move in and attack. In this situation, the boomer had the advantage.

She found herself being herded toward a courtyard flanked on three sides by buildings, tall enough to put most of the courtyard into darkness. Any hope of smashing through a window or door and escaping through the buildings was dead as soon as she saw the heavy steel shutters in place across the openings. She would have to go for the roof.

“Green to team,” She said quickly. “I’m going to have to head for the roof!”

“Negative, Green!” Nene yelled. “There’s three more boomers vectoring on you and they’ll reach the roof before you will!”

“Shit!” Linna swore.

“Black to Green,” said a male voice over her radio. “You all right?”

Linna let relief flow through her. Craig was alive! “For now, but I’m between a rock and a hard place -- literally.”

“I’ve got your dance partner in my sights. Get ready to move when I say so.”
“Right!”

The boomer’s fire stopped and Linna tensed, ready to go. There was a sharp boom, then Craig yelling, “Now!”

Linna shot around the corner and fired her jump jets, sending her into a long graceful arch. She saw the AA boomer stagger, then turn to try and access the new threat, ignoring her. She cut her jets and she dropped, did a handspring and snapped her ribbons around, aiming for the boomer’s legs. She misjudged the distance slightly, and instead of cutting cleanly through the cyberdroid’s legs, the ribbons slashed through three quarters of the limbs just above the knees. Fluid gushed from the nearly severed limbs.

The boomer now spun around to face the Green Saber again. Another heavy caliber bullet smashed into it, leaving a massive dent in its head. As it stepped forward, Linna slammed a fist into the right leg, aiming for the damaged area. A low sharp explosion tore through the boomer’s leg, finishing what the mono-ribbons had started.

What had been a stagger for the boomer now became an uncontrolled fall. Linna darted to the side, twisted in mid-air and rammed another knuckle bomber charge into the back of it’s head. Weaken by the Black Saber’s heavy slug, the armor wasn’t strong enough to stop the shaped charge from blowing through it and into the boomer’s CPU, shattering it.

Linna shot away from the dead boomer, heading back into the fight.

*****

“Sir,” said one of the female boomers manning a console. “One of the AA boomers has been destroyed.”

“How?” Mason demanded

“The Boomer pursuing the Green Saber was attacked from behind. Sensors indicted a possible heavy caliber projectile. When the boomer was distracted, the Green Saber move in and destroyed it.”

“It seems that our friend still lives,” Largo mused.

“This was your plan,” Mason counted.

“And I can see it has failed. But I will not continue to ride a plan that is clearly going down in flames. We must retreat.”

“Very well,” hissed the human. He turned towards one of the female boomers. “Recall the AA and AT boomers.”
“Recall initiated,” the boomer replied in a flat voice.

‘There will be other times,” Largo said.

*****

Craig frowned as he watched the AT and surviving AA boomer break off their assaults and quickly leave the battlefield. “What the hell is going on?”

“The ADP is on the way,” Nene said. “Their ETA is one minute.”

“Oh, now they bloody well show up,” Craig muttered. “Black to White. Did you catch that?”

“We did,“ Sylia replied. “You and Red stay where you are and cover us. They may have pulled the combat boomers out, but there may still be others.”

“Got you, Boss. Red, start tracking the other boomers for me. Give me the top three threats to the team.”

“Right!” after a few seconds, Nene said, “There’s a 55C three hundred meters to White’s right.”

Craig adjusted his aim and saw the Boomer moving towards the fleeing Sabers. He lined up the shot, ignoring the dull throb that was beginning to pulse between his eyes. He waited, took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled slowly. The thud as the rifle fired was followed by the crack as the SLAP round punched through the boomer’s head and exploded the CPU. The boomer staggered two more steps before another fifty caliber punched through the chest and knocked the boomer down for good.

“Next target,” Craig said, his voice tight with pain.

“We’re clear,” Sylia said. “The boomers have broken off the pursuit. Pull out.”

“Understood, White. We’re pulling out and heading for the rallying point.” Craig turned to Nene. “You heard the Boss. We’re out of here.”