The attack came just as the rain started. Angelica and the others had just settled down in camp. One of the sentries out on the perimeter fired his rifle and the Russian mechs came charging in out of the dark.
It was barely a moment’s warning, but it was enough. Hannah sprung out of her tent and met the first Russian to enter the clearing with a shield of incredible power. The enemy machine crashed into it at a full run and was thrown back. Hannah staggered under the backlash of magic when her shield broke, but the Russian mech collapsed.
Angelica burst from her tent and leapt. Her istota-fueled leap carried her blindly 20 feet into the dark in the general direction of her mech. At the same time, she reached out through her bond. Her charger sprang up and met her halfway. She hit the shield plate off-center and had to grab for the handles on the side of the head. Still, nearly perfect for a blind leap in the dark and rain.
The Russians had achieved surprise, but Hannah’s quick action had killed their momentum. Now to turn the ambush on its head. Angelica sent her mech charging forward even before she caught her balance.
Another Russian mech came out of the woods. It stepped over its fallen ally as it raised its cannon. The bore of the weapon loomed huge in Angelica's vision, and then she was upon the enemy. She didn't have time to bring her own weapon to bear. Instead, she dropped her mech's left shoulder as she met the enemy. The charger brushed right past the Russian's cannon and slammed the mechs together with a bone-shaking crash.
Just before the steel giants came together, Angelica released her grip and pushed away from her perch, toward the enemy. The Russian pilot was magically bonded to the shoulder of her own mech, and the impact flung her around like a ragdoll as Angelica flew across the gap. In midair, she swung her rifle. Its stock hit the Russian woman. Their bodies crashed together.
The Russian pilot's broken body tumbled off the mech’s shoulder. The splintered stock of her rifle fell apart in Angelica's hands. She felt stabbing pain in her ribs and shoulder. The world spun under her, and she realized she was standing on the Russian charger. Its rider, severely injured or maybe dead, left the charger disoriented. If its rider was dead or unconscious, it would collapse in another minute.
Angelica sprung away, high into the air, as her mech bodily grabbed the Russian machine. It flipped the other machine over a hip and tossed its body away into the woods. The Russian mech slammed hard into a tree with a crash.
Angelica landed as her mech was recovering from its throw. She swung back into place on its shoulder. Hearing movement, she immediately commanded her mech to lunge to the side. Not a moment too soon. A cannon roared, splitting the air where her mech had been. It blasted up a fountain of dirt on the other side of their camp, spraying the area with pebbles and earth.
Two more Russian mechs stepped from the woods into the firelight, cannons raised. Angelica crouched and summoned istota to leap away.
A hole exploded in the middle of the first Russian mech as Veronica triggered her cannon against its back at point-blank range. The attack surprised the second rider, and her shot went wide, missing Angelica, but showering her in dirt even as she leaped away. Angelica threw herself extra high, this time angling toward a large, house-sized boulder.
She landed on the stone, dropping into a crouch and putting her hand on the rock. It was as graceful a landing as she could manage in the dark on an uneven surface; she narrowly avoided twisting her ankle.
Here above the fight, she was temporarily out of sight of the enemy. Wind lashed at her. Rain soaked her uniform. She tried to ignore her discomfort and focus on her bond. Angelica burned istota to strengthen the link. If she kept this up, her reserves wouldn't last much longer.
Lightning crashed. Angelica got a clear view of four more Russian robots entering the clearing. They spotted Veronica and stopped in a rough firing line.
The one on the end was the Red Widow herself. Her mech stood a head taller than the others, and its distinctive red color made it stand out even in the dark. Even as the image burned into her vision, a crash of thunder blasted over Angelica.
Her hair stood on end. That lightning had been close. She had to get off this rock.
She released the tight control of her bond, with a last command to send her mech flanking wide around the enemy to get back to her, then scrambled for the far side of the boulder. Focusing her istota on her hands and feet let her move across the rock like a squirrel on a tree trunk. It was a tricky maneuver she rarely practiced. She managed three or four handholds before slipping and sliding into the darkness beyond.
She didn't have far to fall before landing in a crash of brush. The branches cut her face and hands, but she had no time to worry about that.
Angelica sprang to her feet. She was in a stand of dense pine saplings. Their branches tore and scratched at her face and uniform as she forced her way through toward the relatively open deeper forest, where the trees were old and farther apart. Her charger link was faint now, fading with all the istota she had burned. Her mech was running up a slope, dodging between trees, and taking poorly aimed shots towards the Russians. Without her attention, it was clumsy and ineffective.
She scrambled through the trees, twisting and falling over boulders, then scrambling up again. Her heavy wool overcoat protected her from most of the branches, but her hands and face were lashed by things she couldn't see in the dark.
At least the rain was less here, under the big trees, except for the occasional heavy drop that splashed into her. In the distance, the roar of cannon fire continued.
She had to get back and help Hannah and Veronica. Her breath came in heavy gasps, and she stumbled again, falling to her knees. Ahead of her, branches cracked. She struggled up with a flash of fear. Even as it hit, the fear melted into relief. Her mech was here.
Angelica staggered forward and it caught her with an outstretched hand. She steadied herself on its forearm, then reached up as it knelt. When she pressed her hand against its chest, istota flowed out of the charger and into her.
Stolen novel; please report.
It seemed a funny name to call it her essence when the power was a byproduct of a desh engine. They could only draw istota into themselves from a machine they had bonded with, and they could only hold it for hours or days at most before it faded. But until it did, they were able to use it to work wonders.
Angelica's scrapes and bruises faded as the power filled her. The machine had been freshly fueled before bed. It still had deep reserves available to them both.
Despite the rush of energy, Angelica didn't trust herself to leap into the dark forest, so she scrambled up the handholds that were strategically placed on the mech's hip and back. When she had regained its shoulder, she crouched low and urged the machine forward. Time to get back in the fight.
There was another flurry of shots, farther off now. It sounded like the fight had moved down the slope to the west.
Angelica returned to the remains of their camp. Two Russian mechs were sprawled on the ground. Another set of metal feet stuck out of the brush at the edge of camp. Only two machines were standing, but neither were her allies.
The Red Widow's menacing mech turned. The woman herself eyed Angelica, wearing a black leather longcoat. She had one hand raised to summon a shield or force wave.
Angelica and her machine froze. Her cannon was aimed low near the feet of the Red Widow. Did she have time to get off a shot before the Widow blasted her? The Russian’s own weapon was pointed well off to Angelica's right.
"I recognize you." The woman spoke clear Polish. She turned her head slightly without taking her eyes off Angelica and snapped something in Russian. Angelica more or less understood. "Go! Help the others!" The second Russian mech turned and vanished into the woods.
"You've led us on a merry little chase," the Widow said, eyeing her. She didn't lower her hand. If Angelica fired now, would the impact throw enough debris at the Widow to distract her? Probably not.
This was the second time she had faced the Widow. For some reason, the older woman hesitated. No one ever spoke of the Widow hesitating.
Angelica's mind whirled furiously. Why was the Red Widow still after them? That she would run into them three times, in completely different locations, hundreds of miles apart was too great a coincidence. There had to be a reason. Eva had claimed the Widow was after the fire stone. Sergeant Golem had said the same. It was starting to look like they were right.
Angelica stalled. "It’s not here.”
The Widow’s eyes widened, more in admiration than surprise. "And what would you know of it?"
"I know you've gone through incredible lengths to find it. I don't know what power you think it'll give you."
Something clicked together in Angelica's mind. The Widow was old. Not ancient, but older than most Tsarist mech-bonded women. She was going through great lengths to seek an item of power. She had a sudden memory of her earlier encounter with the Widow. As Angelica had attacked with her sword and the Widow had defended, her mech had just stood there, unmoving.
Was the widow getting old? Was her link slipping?
Angelica felt hope swell in her heart. She tilted her cannon up and fired. Even as she did, the Widow blasted her with a surge of magic.
Angelica let the wave carry her. It shoved her off the shoulder of her mech, but she gripped the handle on the side of her machine's head tight and swung around behind its head and back. The wave of force washed over her mech and it staggered backwards.
Angelica let go of the handle and dropped to the ground. She stepped forward between the mech’s legs and raised her hands.
She had intended to blast her enemy with a wave of force, but the Red Widow's cannon was coming up. Instead, Angelica hardened her wave into a shield. She didn't have faith in the shield’s strength to stop the shot directly, so instead, she twisted to the side and angled her shield.
The cannon roared. Muzzle blast and shell both slid off Angelica's shield, deflecting just enough to clear her and her mech and crash into the trees beyond. She threw herself and her mech flat on their stomachs. The muzzle of its cannon was just above her. It fired, and the thunderclap of force slapped her in the back.
Angelica wished she had her sword. Usually, she hated the old relic, but sometimes a big, sharp piece of metal was just the tool for the job.
With her mech laying on its front, Angelica's aim was poor, but the shots took the Widow by surprise. Angelica rolled over and scrambled up, bolting clear of any follow-up attacks.
A quick glance as she ran showed the Widow's mech had been hit. Its left forearm had been ripped open, its autocannon blown in half.
Something roared behind her, and a bullet smacked into the tree to her right. She ducked behind a large boulder. Unsnapping the flap on her holster, Angelica drew her issue revolver. Probably not an effective weapon against a magic user, but it was better than nothing.
The mechs struggled against each other in the woods. The widow’s mech was larger, but it had a damaged arm. She surged her link. Her mech shoved hard against the Widow's, throwing it off balance. The Widow's mech was heavier and on top of hers, bearing it down. It raised a massive fist and aimed a blow at Angelica’s mech's head. She sent another surge, and her mech bucked the Widow's off. They crashed and broke apart.
Hoping that the mech action would distract the Widow, Angelica ran around the boulder. Revolver in her right hand, left hand ready with a force wave, she quickly shielded instead as she found herself in the Widow's sights. The Russian woman's revolver roared. Six rounds hit her shield in quick succession.
Angelica fired her own revolver. The Widow was 20 yards away and running for cover. Angelica missed. She fired again and ducked back under cover. Angelica diverted some of her attention to her mech bond. It had broken free from the Russian robot. Now they circled each other amongst the trees, looking for an opening.
Footsteps crunched on the pine twigs and needles in front of her. Angelica snapped back to her own awareness. A strange golem loomed over her. She tried to swing her pistol in its direction, but a massive hand with the strength of a steel vise clamped down on her forearm. It yanked her completely off her feet and dragged her around the boulder before she could react.
More golems were coming out of the forest. They were all dressed in nondescript grey coveralls without markings. They wore thick belts with pouches and a holster.
Several of them carried lanterns.
The one holding her had the dead, blank expression typical of all golems she had ever seen, except Sam.
The Red Widow was yelling, "What are you doing? This wasn't our deal!" Her gun boomed. Angelica twisted in the grip of her captor to get a look. The Widow had stepped out from behind the trees. The golem standing in front of her fell to its knees and then flopped over face down. The others surrounded the Russian woman. She backed away from them into the clearing.
The golem holding Angelica yanked her arm up, pulling her almost completely off her feet. It made a grab for her other hand, but she yanked it away. If she used a force wave at this close, with it still holding onto her, she would just knock them both flying. If the golem didn't loosen its grip, her arm would be yanked from its socket.
Instead, she dropped the gun and caught it in her left. The golem grabbed for it, but she jerked her hand away and then swung it back. She jabbed the revolver into the golem's eye and pulled the trigger.
The thing's face didn't change expression as it twitched and then slumped. It let go of her and flopped over, almost carrying her to the ground before she scrambled away.
Angelica found herself in the middle of the clearing, standing next to the Red Widow. Even if they weren’t both nearly out of ammunition, they were surrounded. From the trees all around them, over a dozen golems stepped forward.
"What are they doing here?"
The Red Widow’s voice dripped with disgust as she answered. "They're proof that Frankenstein is a backstabbing double-crossing prick. It seems you’ll have a chance to learn that for yourself shortly."