It wasn’t all bad news though, because even if Izzy was out, Jaclyn wasn’t. In a blur, she ran out from behind a group of crates, grabbed Izzy, and disappeared before the True could do anything. White light hit the spot where they’d been.
For all the True’s ability to predict people’s moves, they couldn’t necessarily move quickly enough for it to matter. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 12
After all that Izzy and Jaclyn had done and the damage they’d taken, I probably was the person most ready to take point. The Rocket suit might not be in perfect shape, but I could take a few shots from the True I knew had to be up there.
Of course, Cassie was already moving. She jumped through the hole in the ceiling even as I aimed myself in that direction. I shot off a bot to scout as she passed me because I wanted to know what was up there if I could. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 11
I aimed my sonics at Ana’s suit. Even though firing them off was something of a crapshoot and you never knew what you’d damage, you generally damaged something, sometimes even something important. Given that Ana’s suit was no longer protected by either stasis or a force field, I had a real chance now.
Despite that, it didn’t spark, blow smoke, or stop moving.
Even though her suit wobbled, she still took a punch at me. It missed, passing a few inches in front of my helmet. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 10
Off to my right, I heard a crackling noise. A glance showed Cassie standing on top of a cabinet next to a group of cubicles, using the height to shoot over a big bluish-grey block that my implant labeled as a “dark matter converter” and into the Abominator energy generator.
The Abominator energy generator burned where she hit, throwing glowing bits of whatever material the case was made into the air, some of them hitting the dark matter converter.
Recognizing, now that I had a few years of experience with it, that even wondering what the dark matter converter was would cause a massive download into my brain, I chose not to even try. I could do that later. Continue reading Holes: Part 9
That put everything into a new light. The crowd of people was moving in that direction to be teleported out. Mechs that looked a lot like the mechs Rook’s henchmen used were coming out of the teleporter room, presumably because this base was worth fighting for—at least for a little while.
Inside the room, more bird-shaped mechs appeared even as I descended toward them. Thinking back to Daniel, I asked, When you drew my attention to the room, what were you hoping I’d do?
I had no plan. I felt that whatever was going on down there was important, Daniel thought back at me. Continue reading Holes: Part 8
Izzy turned her head to look at me, “You’ve said Abominator technology is based on Artificer technology that corrupts the user. I don’t see a reason to keep any of it.”
Inside the helmet where, unlike anyone else, she still might see it, I smiled, “I… can think of a few, but they mostly amount to ways they could help me understand both species’ tech. I want it, but I think it’s going to be easier to get things done if we break things.”
Daniel nodded, “I feel like it’s going to be harder if we try to preserve the equipment and I don’t need prescience for that.” Continue reading Holes: Part 7
As we walked toward the stairs, I noticed a message in my HUD. It said, “Connection lost.” Everyone near me still showed as green, but everyone else had gone red including Kayla. That meant that we had no backup or any way to tell anyone we needed help. Plus, everyone back at base was probably freaking out now or would be soon.
“Hey,” I said, “We just lost everybody. I’m going to run back into the room and tell them what’s going on.”
“Hurry,” Daniel said. Continue reading Holes: Part 6
Over the comm I asked, “Do we have time to think about our next move, or are we best off moving forward?”
Daniel closed his eyes for a moment, “We don’t have long, but we’ve got a little while before it becomes too dangerous.”
“Okay. I’m going to send out a roachbot to see what’s ahead. If Blue’s can scan this place without giving them too much of a hint that we’re here, maybe she can too?” Continue reading Holes: Part 5
“Crap,” I muttered.
Since he’d said it over the comm in addition to me, Cassie glanced up at us from the landing, asking, “How bad?”
Daniel shrugged, “There’s still too much flux to be sure. Hey Blue and Accelerando, how does the first floor look?” Continue reading Holes: Part 4
Zooming in on Yoselin, I noticed that she held something in her hand. From this distance, her hand covered most of it, but I could tell that it glowed. In my head, my implant told me, “probable Abominator origin.”
On the one hand, that wasn’t good news, but on the other, it didn’t seem to be harming anyone. The woman laying on the ground in front of her mech pulled herself up and stood as I watched. She walked up to Yoselin and started talking. Continue reading Holes: Part 3