"I'm tracking a drone ship headed our way," Keno shouts. "Four minutes."
"Not enough time. We gotta abort."
"We have the time if she breaks the dampener. I need this haul, mate."
I turn to Hel. "Do or die time, babe."
A triumphant smile flashes on her face. "Got it! Opening the trailer doors now."
Keno whoops as the doors creak open. I leap off the rig just in time to see his expression alter from excitement to distress. He curses, jumping sideways just as a concussive blast detonates where he just stood. He rolls and leaps back to his feet, ducking low and running to the cargo truck for coverage. His squad of goons covers his escape by opening fire as something large, bulky, and metallic emerges from the back of the trailer.
A spider mech.
It's the size of a small car, but armored with graphene shielding that can repel most weapons with ease. With its eight expandable and retractable legs, it's capable of skittering, leaping, and maneuvering with startling speed and agility. I watch in fascinated horror as it rolls into a protective ball, using its armored exoskeleton to deflect or absorb the rounds that manage to find their mark. In the time it takes to blink, the mech rolls over to the nearest squad member and springs back to its original form. The turret gun blazes at point-blank range, turning the startled man into a shredded pile of bloody pulp.
The act of gratuitous violence jolts me to action. As the air hums with pulse blasts and explodes with gunfire, I focus my mind and lose my digital form. Truly intangible, my consciousness drifts like a disembodied spirit, phasing through the walls of the trailer into its interior.
A game. It's just a game…
That's what I tell myself over and over as I the sounds of carnage continue outside. Men and women scream. The mech's legs click like typewriter keys as it scrambles. Keno's voice yells over the com line.
"Shut it down. Shut it down!"
The trailer is full of synoids, lined up and secured in capsules that look strikingly like the Deep Sleep pods. For a second, I'm disoriented, unsure of whether I’m awake at all; if I ever left Elysia. Then I remember that it doesn't matter. I have a job to do.
I cast myself into the nearest synoid in a rush of light and static noise. I open my new eyes, lifting my hands in front of my face. I feel sturdy and durable. A system check scrolls across my vision as I open the capsule door and step out in a cloud of vapor when hot air meets cold. My outfit is combat-ready: carbon nanotube armor in the form of a ballistic vest along with neck and shoulder guards. Underneath is a spider silk tactical uniform for further protection. Definitely a military model.
That works in my favor as I assimilate the unit's system, downloading millions of tactics and scenarios that give me a lifetime or two of combat experience in a matter of seconds. The data submerges into my subconscious, ready for me to tap into whenever needed as long as my mind connects to the synoid.
"I've attained symbiosis, Hel. Gotta take down the friendly neighborhood spider mech."
Her voice buzzes in my datcom. "I'm already ahead of you."
I calmly walk over to the wall of the trailer where the arms locker is secured. Using my superior strength, I take hold of the metal door and tear it off the hinges with a metallic grinding sound. Snatching up a Particle-Beam rifle, I slap a charger cartridge into the ionizer and run toward the sounds of carnage.
The spider mech has Keno and the last of his squad pinned behind their cargo truck, which is being shredded by the mech's digitally precise shooting. Hel exited the rig and is on her aerocycle, targeting the mech with her rail gun. The mech raises an ion shield at the last minute, unharmed by the explosion of plasma that sizzles around it. Dropping the shield, it fires a targeted missile from its housing in a cloud of smoke. Hel tries to evade, but she's too close. The aerocycle explodes, sending her flying like a rag doll to the ground below.
I don’t pay it any mind. Like me, Hel doesn’t have to worry about being hurt in her current manifestation. I stay focused on the mech. When it returns its attention on Keno and his men again, I leap from the trailer, landing in a crouch on the broken street below. Raising the PBR, I lock the target tracker and pull the half-trigger, charging for a more powerful shot. When the rifle pulses, I drop my finger to the full trigger and fire.
The blast is instantaneous, striking one of the legs behind the joint and shredding it in an explosion of sparks and flame. The mech immediately whirls its sentry gun, limping just a little while compensating with its other legs. I drop and roll, narrowly avoiding the barrage while continuing to return fire. I destroy two more legs before it has time to raise a shield in response. At this point, it's a useless gesture. Emboldened, Keno and the others leap from their cover and fire nonstop. Between all of us, the mech's shields are overwhelmed. One shot from my rifle to its central body obliterates the spider, leaving only charred, twitching limbs behind.
"Bloody hell!" Keno staggers to the bodies of his fallen men. Most are unrecognizable, shredded to raw meat like fresh roadkill. "Those sodding wankers put five of my best mates down. I knew something was wonky from the start. Too bloody easy."
"We can't do anything about it, Keno. Let's get these synoids loaded, or it's all for nothing."
"Oh, that's easy for you to say." Tears spill from his red-rimmed eyes. "You get to wash your hands clean, go back to sticking your head in the sand after this. Meanwhile, I got fam that's not coming home. And all we got to show for it is this heap of scraps." He kicks a metal leg with enough force to break a toe. "That's not bloody good enough."
I seize his harness straps and shake him. "Hey. This is your score, remember? You got a rig full of prototype synoids. I'd guess improved soldier units for off-world stations from the looks. We're talking top cream for these. So, we load them up and get the hell out of here so we can get paid. That's why we're here, right? Take the money and split it with families of the soldiers that fell."
Keno stares at me without comprehension for a moment before finally nodding. Clapping me on the shoulder, he nods. "Right, bruv. Right." He barks a laugh. "Bloody Specter. Always cool as ice. Proper nice look you got there, by the by. You're a bleeding madman; you know that?"
I grin. "We're all mad here, bro. How much time we got?"
The color drains from his face. "Time's up. I think we're buggered, mate."
The jet-sized drone ship appears as if in answer, humming on fusion rotors as it drops from the night sky like a mechanical bat, beaming powerful spotlights on us and kicking up clouds of stinging dust. We run for cover around the truck and rig as it hovers, scanning the area. A robotic voice blares from its communicator.
"You're violating state and federal laws. Lay down your arms and surrender or lethal force will be authorized."
I glance over at Keno, who shields his eyes from the glare, gripping his ion blaster with his teeth clenched.
"What's our play here, Keno?"
His eyes shimmer with a familiar insane look. "We take the ship down. Only option."
"Are you kidding me? Look, I can't die in this synoid. But you and your people can. Abort the mission, live to fight another day."
"No way we're backing out now. We lost too much already!"
My angry reply is cut off by the drone operator. "Your time is up. Lethal force authorized." The statement is followed by an ominous humming sound as panels open on the wings, revealing missiles ready to fire.
An arc of light flashes from the woods, striking the hull of the drone ship like a bolt of lightning. The drone goes haywire: lights flickering, emergency thrusters barely keeping it in the air as whirs and wobbles drunkenly, stirring gusts of wind and making warbled noises.
Hel appears out of thin air beside me. "We have visitors."