Dead Mech (43 page)

***

“I’m all set!” Jethro shouted. “Let the
Commander know we can start fucking shit up!”

Rachel slapped the mechanic on the shoulder.
“Great job, Jethro.” She stepped to the transport door and froze.
“Fuck. This doesn’t look good.”

Themopolous, trying to make sense of the
nanotech data she had, looked up from her tablet. “What’s
wrong?”

Rachel reached out and grabbed an
auto-shotgun, placing the butt against her hip as she drew her
sidearm. “Start the transport, Jethro,” she ordered. “If you have
to, get yourself and the Doc out of here.”

Jethro looked at the external vid feeds.
“Shit.”

***

Rachel walked down the transport ramp, her
eyes on her father and Mastelo. She could tell by Capreze’s hand
gestures that he was trying to calm things down, but the stance of
the Skinners told her it wasn’t working.

And then, in the blink of an eye, a skinner
councilor moved and Mastelo fell, the hilt of a knife sticking from
his throat. Capreze ducked and rolled as two blades whizzed by him.
Rachel brought up her shotgun and started firing, dropping three
Skinners.

“Fucking go!” she yelled back at Jethro as
she dove to the ground her shotgun barking.

***

The Boss landed a powerful right hook
against June’s cheek, knocking her head back, making her stumble.
“Remember the pit, bitch?” he said, dancing to the side, sizing up
the damage he had wrought. “I grew up in that fucking hole. You may
be UDC trained, but I’m pit fight tested.”

He lashed out with two quick kicks,
connecting with June’s mid-section. The pilot doubled over and
tried to catch her breath. Her diaphragm refused to obey and she
thought she’d pass out from lack of air.

The Boss grabbed her by the hair, slamming
his knee into her face.

***

Harlow didn’t run, she didn’t hurry, she
didn’t speak. She just casually pulled her long blades from her
back, taking one in each hand and walked towards the onrushing
Skinners.

Four came at her immediately once they were
within range and four Skinners fell, missing limbs and heads. The
others stopped dead in their tracks.

Harlow stayed silent and waited. The
Skinners eyed her nervously, looking from her blades to their
fallen comrades and back. The mech pilot could smell their fear,
see the uncertainty in their eyes. They had her outnumbered, but
she had them out-skilled by a longshot.

***

June, choking on the blood pouring into her
sinuses, coughed and spat. The Boss jumped back away from the red
spray. “Hey now, don’t go wasting the good stuff.”

Shifting his weight to his right side, the
Boss lashed out with his left foot, connecting with June’s face,
sending her sprawling across the hangar floor. He looked away from
the fallen pilot and at the Archbishop. “This’ll be over soon then
the two of us should talk. I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
The Boss returned his attention to June. “Just give me a minute to
finish.”

***

Bisby put two bullets in the heads of each
Skinner that charged him. He didn’t bother to reload his pistol
when the 18 cartridges were spent, he just flipped it around, the
grip now a club.

Eight Skinners stepped over the nine bodies
on the ground, each no longer taking the mech pilot for granted.
One drew his arm back and threw his knife, aiming for Bisby’s head.
With equal agility, Bisby snatched the blade out of the air,
expertly grabbing the hilt.

“You think I haven’t practiced that move,
you dumb fucks?!?” he sneered, now with blade in hand.

***

Jethro had the transport ramp and door
secured before the hostiles could get in. He heard them pounding on
the outside, their bloodthirsty calls making him shiver. But, that
had to wait as he glanced at the vid screen connected to mini-mech
Two.

“Ahh, shit,” he cursed, seeing June take a
beating from the Boss. “Fuck!”

Themopolous looked out one of the
transport’s portholes and gasped. “We have to do something!”

“Yeah, Doc, I know!” Jethro exclaimed.
“June’s in trouble too, so get your ass over here and help!”

Themopolous glanced at Jethro. “What do you
need me to do?”

***

The Boss waited for June to catch her breath
and get to her feet.

“Kill her!” the Archbishop screeched in his
cracking, teenage voice. “Kill her now!”

“Where’s the sport in that?” the Boss asked.
“I thought you wanted a show.”

June hocked a gob of bloody mucous onto the
floor between the Boss’s feet. “Fuck you, Boiler. You won’t take
me.”

“Dear, dear Rachel, haven’t you learned? I’m
in charge. Whether in a fight or a nice sit down family dinner, I’m
in charge.” He feigned a left jab and June fell for it, never
seeing the right connect.

***

Slash. Hand. Slash. Arm. Slash. Head.
Thrust. Intestines.

Harlow moved with practiced efficiency, her
blades leaving dismembered corpses in her wake.

She ducked easily under and around the
knives flying at her and laughed. “You keep throwing away your
weapons. Not really the smartest tactic.”

One Skinner had managed to get to the
carbines and reassemble one. He brought the gun to his shoulder,
but the long blade that pierced his brain prevented him from taking
aim. Harlow ran and rolled to the corpse, retrieving her weapon.
“See! I took mine back.”

The Skinners now gave her a wide berth.

***

“We’re just going to leave them out there?”
Themopolous cried.

“Yes!” Jethro answered. “They’re big kids
and can take care of themselves. I need to focus on the base. You
need to focus on Two.”

“What?!? I don’t know how to operate a
mini-mech!”

Jethro grabbed the Doctor’s hands and placed
one on the joystick, the other on the weapons console. “Left,
right, forward, back. RPGs, 50mm, flame. Don’t hit the capped red
button.”

“Why?”

“It makes everything go boom at once. We
don’t want to do that yet.”

“Yet?!?” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, yet,” Jethro responded. “Now, here’s
the mic.”

***

“Um, ahem, attention mech base. Please put
down all weapons and surrender immediately,” Themopolous’s voice
boomed from Two’s loudspeaker. “This is your only warning.”

The Boss, about to deliver the killing blow
to June, stopped and looked around. “What the fuck, Archie? Your
people playing some joke?”

The Archbishop stood, enraged. “Who dares
interrupt? I will have your guts on a spit and force feed them to
you!”

The Boss laughed. “Now you’re talkin’!”

Two took a step forward and all eyes fell on
the mini-mech. Through swollen eyes, June watched Two raise its
guns and she covered her head.

***

The Boss looked from June to the mini-mech
and back again. He didn’t waste a second and dropped to the floor
just as Themopolous let loose with Two’s 50mms. The gunfire was
deafening and the screams of the Ranchers could barely be heard
over the percussions, as there bodies were ripped to shreds.

The Archbishop dove behind his chair, but
the gaudy piece of furniture was no match for the large caliber
slugs. His body shook and writhed as round after round pierced him.
He lay twitching as his blood pooled with the other Ranchers’ blood
upon the hangar floor.

***

The sound of gunfire echoed down the mech
base’s halls and into the control room.

“Get me a visual on the hangar now!”
Reverend Heath yelled.

“I can’t, sir,” a Rancher tech responded.
“I’m locked out!”

“What?!?” the Reverend exclaimed, shoving
the tech out of the way. “Move!”

Heath typed at the tablet, cursing. “By the
True Disciple! I won’t let this system be hijacked!”

“Should I check the hangar, sir?” the tech
asked.

“If you want to be filled with lead, then be
my guest. Those gunshots aren’t from our Believers.”

“But, the Archbishop?”

“He’s in God’s hands now.”

***

“Someone’s got fast fingers,” Jethro said,
fighting to keep control of the mech base’s systems. “Mine are
faster. How’s our girl doing?”

Jethro kept typing, but when Themopolous
didn’t respond he risked a glance her way. The doctor sat stunned,
her eyes dazed and brimming with tears.

“Doc? You with me?” Jethro asked
concerned.

Themopolous turned her head slowly to look
at Jethro. “I killed them, Jethro. I killed them all.”

“Good job, Doc. Now pull it together. Can
you see June?”

Themopolous returned to her attention to
Two’s vid feed. “She’s moving.”

“Good. Kill anything that comes at her.”

***

The Boss listened for movement in the
silence, but only heard the low moans of the Rancher wounded.
Satisfied, he sat up glancing around at the destruction. “Whoowee!
Now that was something!” He whistled appreciatively, but the
whistle was quickly turned into a cry of pain. Agony erupted from
his crotch as June’s hand clamped down.

“My turn,” June croaked, squeezing as hard
as she could.

The Boss screamed shrilly and, despite his
tolerance, passed out from the pain as one of his testicles burst
in his scrotum.

June got to her feet and spit on the now
unconscious Boiler.

***

“You’re very talented.” Reverend Heath heard
Jethro’s voice boom over the loudspeaker in the control room. “But,
you’re in my house, bitch.”

“Go to Hell,” the Reverend cried out.

“Hey, that’s my line,” Jethro laughed. “Bye
bye now.”

Reverend Heath watched in horror as all vid
screens went blank and the room’s door started to shut. He leapt to
his feet, but was a second too late as he heard the door latch
securely.

Air started to pump from the vents. Hot
air.

“It’s about to get very uncomfortable,
especially when the temp in there hits over 200,” Jethro
taunted.

***

Ranchers across the base watched, confused
as they were systematically sealed into whatever room they were
unlucky enough to be in at the moment. Jethro remotely cranked the
heat in each room, sending the Ranchers to a slow, painful
demise.

He brought up the hangar’s vid feed. “Hey
there Juney girl.”

He watched June turn about. “Jethro?”

“Yep,” Jethro answered. “Listen, I’m setting
the base’s self-destruct. The barracks are clear. Get yourself
geared up and get outside. There’s a Railer train heading your way
in minutes. Jay, Masters and the Rookie are with it. Get the Hell
out of there.”

***

Capreze hadn’t been in combat in years and
he was thankful for regular training and workouts as his muscle
memory took over. He had his pistol out before he came out of the
roll and had dropped two Skinners by the time he was on his feet
and running for cover. He wasn’t Bisby or Harlow, dodging and
catching knives wasn’t really an option at his age.

He flipped a camp table over in time to hear
the thunk-thunk of two knives embedding themselves in the
plastic.

“Get out of here!” Capreze yelled into his
com.

“No doin’!” Jethro responded.

***

June slammed the stray Rancher into the
wall, crushing his nose instantly. She snapped his neck before he
had time to cry out.

“How many more are out and about?” she
yelled, knowing Jethro was listening.

“Three more, but other side of the base,”
Jethro responded isolating the loudspeaker in the barracks as she
burst through the door.

She kicked open her locker and grabbed a
uniform, yanking it on over her battered body. Dashing to Bisby’s
bunk she tossed the pillow aside, grabbing up the 9mm he had
stashed underneath. She checked that the clip was full and
left.

***

“Jethro, you need to check the vid feeds and
find the boy!” she yelled running down the hall.

“Boy? Did you not hear me when I said the
train would be there in minutes? Screw the boy! Get the fuck out of
there!” Jethro responded.

June came to a halt in the middle of the
hall and turned angrily to the nearest vid camera. “Jethro, so help
me God, if you don’t find him I will personally make sure you shit
in a bag the rest of your life!”

There was silence for a moment. “Capreze’s
quarters,” Jethro said finally.

***

“We’ve got to get to the mechs!” Rachel
yelled, joining her father behind the camp table, pumping shells
into the shotgun. “If more show up we’re fucked!”

“I know!” Capreze said, firing six shots
around the side of the table. Four found their mark and more
Skinners fell. “But those assholes know that also and are blocking
our way.”

Rachel stood suddenly, blasting away with
the shotgun until it was empty then dove over the table. She came
up swinging the shotgun like a club and beat Skinner after Skinner
as she dashed to her mech.

Capreze grinned with pride.

***

“MOTHER FUCKERS!!!” Bisby shouted, taking
his rage out on the nearest Skinner, nearly sending his fist
completely through the man’s skull. He shoved the corpse to the
ground and whirled in time to block a kick aimed for his face. He
grabbed the attacker by the leg and brought his elbow down on the
man’s knee, shattering it.

He felt the first blade nick his side and
another embed in his thigh. Then a pain greater than anything
filled his head and he realized his left arm was no longer
there.

Clutching at his stump of a shoulder, Bisby
fell.

***

Harlow and Rachel saw Bisby fall at the same
time.

“I’ve got him!” Harlow yelled. “Get in your
mech!”

Rachel nodded, ducking under a knife swipe,
coming up, burying the empty shotgun into the soft underside of the
Skinner’s chin, jamming the barrel up through the roof of the man’s
mouth and into his brain. She shouldered him aside and leapt onto
her mech’s leg, clawing hand over hand until she was in her
cockpit.