"For our daily samurai news, today we have a story about Trigger Happy, a Dallas local! Reportedly, Trigger Happy walked into the Jack Caribou central offices and shot the arms manufacturer's CEO five times. We reached out to Trigger Happy for a statement and were told, quote, "The right to repair one's own weapons is inviolable." Last week Jack Caribou CEO Boris Quarterly announced their new Physical Rights Management measures for all their weapons going forward..."
-Report from Dallas Local News, 2034
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I put a call through to whoever was coordinating as soon as I left my room.
“HQ this is Sigma 2, how’s the situation?”
“Sigma 2, we have Antithesis landing on the roof,” an unfamiliar woman said a few moments later. “They have nominal control over the top eight floors but we have established a barricade in the floor forty-two lobby and are holding them there. Emergency stairwell is closed off but the main stairs connecting every two floors are still open. Several units are trapped on the upper floors and could use a rescue.”
“What’s the long term plan?” I asked next, already going for the elevator.
“With your help we should be able to push through to the roof and put boots in place to shoot down incoming Twelves. Rooftop AA is offline, so replacements would be appreciated if you don’t mind, ma’am.
“On it. Would you prefer if I fight my way up and clear them out, or go straight to the top floor and cut off their reinforcements?” I punched the call button for the elevator even as I asked the question, but the LED panel told me both of them were somewhere around floor forty right now, far above.
“Your call, ma’am, but be aware that the Antithesis have been known to cut elevator cables. Cameras are out on the upper floors and doors are still showing as operable, but that could change at any time.”
I went ahead and punched the button for the fiftieth floor when the elevator arrived, but given what I was told, I wouldn’t be going in without a backup plan.
“Juny, stop the elevator on the closest floor the moment one of those doors is damaged,” I instructed as the elevator closed and began to rise.
“Of course!”
I tapped my foot impatiently while waiting for the floors to go by. One by one the number ticket up, but all I could do was watch the counter right now. Right as we watched the fortieth floor, though, it suddenly sped up, gravity seeming to increase from the acceleration. At floor forty two the acceleration cut out, but the elevator continued up for a moment before falling back down, the cable groaning precariously.
The second the door opened Juny put a waypoint on my augs, and I took the hint and stepped off. Assuming she’d noticed the elevators coming under attack I didn’t bother asking questions and just looked ahead, seeing at least two squads of soldiers manning a barricade in front of a long, wide hallway. Second later I heard something snap and the elevator car sank into oblivion, crashing to the ground dozens of floors below shortly afterwards.
I had kind of expected that on account of Murphy’s Law, so I didn’t dwell on it. I just headed for the barricade. Men and women huddled behind desks and tables that had been turned on their sides, peering over to fire on Model Threes that were swarming towards them, filling the hallway. Bodies were already strewn about all the way up to the makeshift wall, and a few of the mercenaries were down with spines in them courtesy of a line of Model Fives slinging projectiles over the Threes.
“Cryo grenade,” I requested, figuring that would cause the damage to the building. “Make a hole!” I called out as soon as I had the grenade, striding forward with it in one hand and my assault rifle in the other. A man glanced over his shoulder and shoved the person next to him aside in alarm when he saw me, giving me the space I needed.
Priming the grenade, I hopped the barricade, then lobbed the explosive underhand. Chilling fluid sprayed across the Model Threes in the lead, freezing them solid and locking them in place to quickly for the ones behind to react, resulting in them running head long into the ice statues in front. I had enough time as they reoriented to bring my rifle to bear.
At this range I didn’t even need aim assistance. I just fired burst after burst, putting down a Model Three with every pull of the trigger. As soon as they’d registered my presence and lack of cover the Model Fives in the rear began aiming solely for me, but I didn’t need the cover anymore. Their deadly projectiles bounced harmlessly off my shields, and while its integrity was dropping steadily, it was in no danger of failing.
Emboldened by the newfound lack of suppressive fire coming their way, supporting fire came from the troops behind me, thinning out the horde further. By the time any of them reached me there were no more behind them. A few stragglers were picked off trying to slip past me, and one lunged right at me, ducking under my barrel before I could shift my aim.
Stolen novel; please report.
Instead of a bullet, it got the stock of my assault rifle straight to the face, and with my newly enhanced strength behind the blow something cracked. The Model Three struck the ground and slid. Before it could recover I planted a boot on it to keep it still and fired a burst into its skull at point blank range.
That left the Model Fives. I reloaded manually and shifted to fully automatic, raking fire across their line. What I didn’t kill, the mercenaries did, and the floor fell silent. I scanned the battlefield for movement or anything that could be a Model Nine in disguise, but nothing stood out.
“Would you like backup, ma’am?” a man behind me asked. I hesitated for a moment, wavering between acting confident to not impact morale and my utter lack of leadership skills. I realized, though, that there wasn’t any reason I could confidently make it someone else’s problem.
“Contact your commander, I’ve got things on my end,” I told him, picking my way through the corpses before I got an answer back. The floor was slick with plant guts, but my helmet blocked out the scent of old grass that must have been thick in the air. When I reached the other end unmolested I was almost surprised.
“This way!” Juny contributed, pointing me towards the stairs going up. Nodding, I swapped my assault rifle for the SMGs, assuming they would be easier to use in close quarters. As I approached, though, I detected movement above, past the landing and up the second set of steps. Another wave of Model Threes surged around the bend, some of them leaping from the landing and others diving down the stairs on foot.
I ducked and let a few of the dog-adjacent abominations sail over my head while I sprayed the ground-bound group with both barrels. Indoors I couldn’t use the rails in my weapons for greater damage, but Model Threes were still cannon fodder either way, so between both guns I had mowed my targets down before the jumpers could even spin around.
One of them dove for my leg while I reloaded, but I already knew it was coming. I delivered a kick to its face, sending its nose through its brain. Another came for my right arm, and I elbowed it in the face, stunning it long enough for me to twist at the waist and bring one SMG to around to shoot it. I completed the spin and wiped out the rest, but I knew I wasn’t quite done yet.
With the first group dead I raced up the stairs and intercepted a cluster of Fours and Fives at the top. The Fives didn’t even have time to pluck their spines before I gunned them down, and my shields shrugged off repeated strikes from the Fours long enough for me to remove them from the gene pool, too.
Nothing else was pinging my tracker, so I stepped through, checking for ambushes but somewhat confident there was nothing there. The forty-third floor had a different layout than the floor prior, apparently having four hallways in a tic-tac-toe board layout, with the staircases in opposite corners.
“The first pinned group is this way!” Juny announced, pointing me to the right. I turned and looked down the hallway, spotting a pile of furniture blocking the end of the hall. Now that I was looking that way I noticed tentacles whipping around the corners and striking at the barrier from cover; I could only barely sense them through the motion detector at this range and only because I knew to look for them.
Whoever was taking cover there was taking pot shots here and there, but they were probably lucky that Model Fours seemed more interested in keeping them pinned than actually killing them here and now. Had the two waves I’d dealt with already focused on this group they would have been dead by now, but they were likely more concerned with keeping the pressure going downstairs.
Switching back to the assault rifle, I set off down the hall in a jog. The Model Fours heard me before I arrived and ceased their attacks. I wasn’t terribly concerned about that. There wasn’t much they could do to stop me, now. All the same, I decided it was wiser not to take chances and called in another cryo grenade, which I rolled out into the intersection ahead of me.
When I stepped out of cover, I found nothing left of them but a pair of sculptures.
“Ya’ll can come out near, it’s all clear. There’s a clear path to the next floor down,” I yelled past the cracked and splintered wall. I heard movement on the other side. The moment someone tried to shift a part of the barrier aside the entire structure destabilized and clattered to the ground amid shouts of alarm from the other side, burying someone in furniture.
“…you good?”
“I’m good,” a defeated-sounding man replied, pushing junk aside to extricate himself while another man in fatigues helped. I probably could have helped, but I decided it was better to keep an eye out for more Antithesis. Also, I didn’t really want to.
When the buried man was freed he and his buddy climbed over the fallen furniture pile followed by a handful of others. Only the first two were armed, and only with side arms at that. Still, even if they’d been caught off guard and failed to reach any weapons, I had to give them credit for hunkering down before the Antithesis had gotten to them.
“Anyone injured?” The group looked each other over for a moment before one of them stepped up to answer.
“We’re all good. Thanks for the rescue, ma’am.”
“All in the job description. I’ll walk you to the stairs, let’s move before the next wave comes.” I gestured down the hall with my head before setting off, trying to tune out the pings I was getting from the group of mercs and focus on anything that might actually be dangerous. When I approached the other intersection I caught something around the corner- at least halfway down. I held up a hand to tell them to stop and grabbed my shotgun, then pressed my back against the corner and peeked around the corner.
Like I expected, it was big. A Model Six. Holding back to command the others? Maybe it decided to move up when they were wiped out. At any rate, it was too far away to be dangerous right now, so I spun out of cover and took aim. The first shot staggered it, but didn’t kill it, so I fired again, catching it just above the head and putting it down for good. I waited for a moment for anything else to appear, but the coast seemed clear.
“Go ahead and head down. I’ll let them know you’re coming,” I said, calling the operator I’d spoken to earlier as the rescuees shuffled by behind me, murmuring thanks. “First group is safe. Sending them down now, let’em know friendlies are coming their way.”
“Thanks for the heads up, ma’am, I’ll let them know.”
“Perfect. I’m moving onto the forty-fourth.”