Berserker (Messenger Book 2) Read online

  “That's where you're wrong,” Wizard said, his smile widening. “Have you forgotten? I can see people's future actions. I assure you, this is extremely useful in battle. To make full use of this ability, I've been undergoing secret combat training for years.”

  “Oh? So you're not the type who just issues orders and then hides under a rock after all. I might have to revise my opinion of you.” Janice tapped her staff against her shoulder. “What about Regina? Will she be coming, too?”

  “Someone needs to stay behind and watch over the Temple.” Wizard reached out his hand. “Come, Janice. We're about to turn a new page in human history.”

  Don't I know it, Janice thought, her eyes twinkling as she accepted his hand and boarded the transport. But little do you know, I just tore out the rest of the book, so when we turn this page, there's going to be nothing after it.

  *

  They found preparations already well underway by the time they landed in the Garden's main hangar. As with the attack on Tigerhöhle, a team of soldiers, battle drones, and cages of Nullities were being loaded onto the Gigant. The Asuras of the First Knights were being readied for launch, with Pierson and Wizard as the pilots.

  In addition to these preparations, Janice was surprised to find an enormous vehicle being outfitted with a winch so it could be carried underneath the Gigant. It was a quadrupedal exosuit about two stories high and twice as long, shaped like some kind of predatory beast. A turret with three gigantic barrels sat atop its back, and its hull was covered with countless smaller weapons. Aksinya was standing next to the monstrous vehicle, speaking with some mechanics in preparation for boarding.

  Janice approached Wizard and asked, “What in the world is that?”

  “You like it?” Wizard replied. “It's a test model for the Yotun, a heavy artillery exosuit being developed by Red Sky Industries. One of our benefactors managed to smuggle this one in to us.”

  “It's certainly impressive,” Janice said. “Kind of looks like a big, slow target, though.”

  “It is that,” Wizard admitted. “It's meant to be used either at long range or with infantry support, which we'll provide. But it's more than capable of defending itself, should the need arise.”

  Janice gave the Yotun one last look before climbing into the back of the Gigant. Even with this assault force and the aid of guerrilla teams that had been hiding around Halispont in preparation for the operation, she knew that defeating the Spacy battalion guarding the processor would be no easy feat. She was grateful for anything that would give them an edge in the coming battle.

  One battalion. That was the last obstacle standing between her and her fulfillment of the Voice's designs. One last bloody struggle, and then at last she could enjoy eternal peace.

  *

  Vic had a strange feeling as he changed into his pilot suit. It wasn't his injured arm; the half dose of regen serum had been enough to heal the break just in time for the operation. It wasn't that he was about to board an exosuit, either. He operated labor models as part of his construction job on DEEN Station all the time. But the last time he had boarded an exosuit for a combat operation had been years ago, during the Insurrection. He had only joined the rebellion in its final stages, but even that brief struggle, culminating in his betrayal at the hands of Demir, had taught him well the futility of bloodshed. After that, he had hoped to carve out a small niche of peace for himself and the people he cared about, forever removed from the Sarisan planetary system's endless conflicts.

  Yet here he was, about to descend into the flames again. Maybe it had been naïve to think that he could escape his civilization's mass suicide attempt. Or perhaps, having once thrust his hand into the great sea of blood, it would never stop trying to pull him in.

  Vic finished donning his pilot suit and joined Astral outside the locker room, similarly clad for exosuit operation, with her MINDs at her sides. They were to go into combat together. Astral's power to predict the actions of others, combined with Vic's unique ability to tap into her thoughts, made them a formidable team.

  The only two seaters Aqualung had available were flighted Sylphid models. Vic had experience with atmospheric flight from performing construction inside the shell of DEEN; but the only military models he had operated had been ground types, never the hyper maneuverable aerial fighters. To familiarize himself with the Sylphid's idiosyncrasies, he had been spending almost all of his waking time in the simulator, along with a handful of practice flights. Such haphazard preparation hardly seemed adequate, but fortunately the speedy Sylphid was a natural fit for his daredevil piloting style. That, combined with Astral's shared predictions, would have to be enough.

  “Never thought we'd be doing this again, huh,” Vic said with a rueful smile.

  Astral grabbed his hands and gave them a squeeze. “You won't be alone out there,” she assured him.

  They met up with the rest of the exosuit pilots taking part in the operation. Among them were Cena and Tinubu, who were assigned to Rusalkas, amphibious suits of Panarctic manufacture that looked like a hybrid of alien fish and armored ogres. Against the advice of his aides, Amos had also insisted on taking part in the operation. He would be flying the squadron's other Sylphid.

  Led by Amos, they filed through the Esperanza's airlock into the attached Skyfish. The pride of Aqualung, the Skyfish was a stolen multipurpose Theran warship capable of operating underwater, in the air, and in space, and could carry nearly a company into battle.

  “You guys ready to rock some cultists?” Cena exclaimed.

  Vic was more subdued. “I hope we don't run into Pierson out there,” he said.

  “I almost hope we do,” Cena replied. “I'm gonna knock that guy's block off for betraying us after everything we'd been through together.”

  “If we do run into him, don't try to take him alone,” Vic warned her. “You know as well as I do what he's capable of.”

  “I ain't afraid of his traitor ass,” Cena said.

  “We should try to take him alive,” Tinubu interjected. “We know they've got Synegers, and they altered the mental state of the prisoner. They could have done the same to Pierson.”

  Cena's bravado deflated at that. “You really think they might have? I'd like to believe that, but...”

  “As long as it's a possibility, we owe him the benefit of the doubt,” Tinubu said. “If they have brainwashed him, Astral might be able to reverse it.”

  They entered the Skyfish's hangar, where several amphibious A.P.C.s and a squadron of exosuits sat secured to the deck. Groups of soldiers streamed through the hangar to board their assigned transports.

  Vic stopped and turned to the others. “I'm more worried about Janice,” he said. “Now that we know they're capable of creating Synegers, I fear what they might turn her into.”

  “Keep your heads in the game, people,” Amos chided. “Our objective is to capture the Xenolists' military H.Q. Anything else is just a distraction from the mission. Clear?”

  “Clear,” they answered.

  “Good,” Amos said. “Now suit up.”

  *

  From the outside, the Skyfish resembled a cross between an elongated arrowhead and a giant whale. It detached from the much larger wreckage of the Esperanza; then, with a muffled roar of its engines, the Skyfish set sail. It stayed near the coastline for a great distance, then angled upward and fired its omnienvironmental thrusters at full power, exploding out of the sea with a giant swell, trailing waterfalls from its spiny hull. It banked to port and flew overland at low altitude, its scream reverberating through the countryside.

  As the Skyfish closed the distance to its destination, far to the northeast, the Tsubasa and Blossom took off from 3rd Battalion's airfield, heading on a southerly course. After an hour's flight, they were joined by a fuel carrier, which would provide the thirsty exosuits with fresh drinks as they neared the target so they would have plenty of fuel for supporting the assault. Another hour passed, then they rendezvoused with a squadron of Slayers
launched from orbit and a pair of drone carriers from the 341st.

  Without the benefit of satellite communication, the coordinated assault, launched from thousands of kilometers apart, had taken meticulously planned timetables. Further, being unable to use an external positioning system, the aircraft had to rely solely on their accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers for precise navigation so that they did not miss their linkups. The feat of coordination was made easier by ideal flying conditions, clear skies and light winds across most of the continent.

  The Skyfish flew about 50 kilometers south of the Garden in order to escape the short range detection measures that were surely in place, then swung north, aiming for the tip of an inland sea that lay just east of the Xenolist base. It deployed the two Sylphids from its hangar, whence they commenced circling low over the water in preparation for supporting the assault. Then, with a horrendous splash, the Skyfish dove into the sea. Moments later, it surfaced and deployed its Rusalkas and amphibious A.P.C.s. Tethers snaked out behind the A.P.C.s as they sailed for the shore, connecting them to the Skyfish so that the ground forces could call in artillery support once the assault commenced.

  Only minutes after the ground forces landed unopposed on the beach, the roar of aerospace engines heralded the arrival of the Spacy detachment. A pair of exosuits and a squadron of aerial drones zoomed over the savanna in a V formation, followed by a pair of carriers that released two columns of ground drones into the air. The drones fired their drop thrusters to soften their landings, but they still shook the ground and kicked up plumes of dust upon impact.

  “Inquisitor Actual to all units,” Amos broadcast, his signal automatically using each unit's comm systems as repeaters to penetrate the omnipresent interference, “commence assault.”

  Despite the dramatic pronouncement and show of force, the assault began with a whimper. No opposition had yet appeared, and while they were confident that the Xenolist bunker was located in this area, they had seen no signs of an entrance from the air. The Union's ground drones, a combination of lumbering, bipedal Salamanders, colloquially known as Walking Tanks, and scuttling, spider-like Watchdogs, spread out into a diamond formation that acted as a spearhead for Aqualung's mechanized infantry while simultaneously guarding their flanks. The formation, like an armored wall around a soft core, began advancing inland while the aircraft patrolled overhead.

  The Andonean savanna presented a mix of terrain: lightly rolling hills of dry grass interspersed with groves of acacias and sprawling rock outcroppings that snaked across the landscape in web-like ridges. The copious open space allowed the maneuver of large forces, while the patches of trees and walls of stone also made it ideal ambush country.

  Once the formation was several kilometers inland, the infantry deployed a geological scanner in an effort to map the underground bunker and locate its entrances. The initial readings that came back confirmed a warren of hollow chambers underneath the savanna. Encouraged, the scanner team set about recalibrating their equipment to get more precise readings. An unnatural silence surrounded the joint strike force, as though the ridges were watching and waiting.

  Then the enemy struck.

  The first report of contact came from the southeastern flank. The second line moved to support the drone dominated perimeter and found the Spacy robots engaged with a swarm of repurposed P.S.A. drones. Lasers flashed, rockets flared, and cannons rumbled as the soulless armies clashed, filling the air with smoke and setting fire to a nearby copse. The fire quickly spread to the surrounding grass, forcing the human reinforcements back, while the enemy drones withdrew under the cover of smoke and flames.

  Vic flew over the point of contact and saw the last of a column of drones disappearing down a hole that had opened up in the ground. A laser flashed just off his starboard, then Astral's precognition, which worked on drones as well as humans, warned him of several more lasers about to cut across his bow. He evaded them with a barrel roll, then banked hard to port and transmitted his report back to the unit just as the hole closed up behind the retreating drones.

  “They've got a hidden entrance behind the ridge to the southeast.” He gave the exact coordinates.

  No sooner had he transmitted the information than a second attack came from the opposite direction as another swarm of drones smashed into the right wing of the front line. At the same time, several infantry materialized seemingly out of nothing atop the ridge to the north and began firing rockets from shoulder mounted launchers into the formation below. A pair of Slayers descended and strafed the ridge, killing a few of the ambushers before they vanished again.

  The drones from the northwest attacked in such great numbers that they soon breached the outer line and began pouring deeper into the formation. The Aqualung infantry deployed to push them back, supported by fire from the exosuits and A.P.C.s and strafing runs from the aircraft. They also called in an artillery strike from the Skyfish, which responded with a volley of rockets that detonated in the middle of the enemy force with mountainous explosions.

  The withering display of firepower stalled the enemy attack, but also had the effect of starting another brushfire, which quickly raged out of control. As the coalition forces pulled back, another wave of enemy drones slammed into the perimeter from the southwest, held back only by the liberal application of air and artillery support.

  It was quickly becoming clear that the enemy had hidden entrances dotted throughout the entire region, and they were deploying from every direction, overwhelming the air squadron's ability to spot them in time to bomb them before they could disgorge their troops. It was all the squadron could do to perform enough strafing and bombing runs to prevent the ground forces from being overwhelmed, and they were rapidly depleting their ammunition.

  “We've stirred up one hell of a hornet's nest,” Cena's voice crackled in Tinubu's speakers. “What gives, Captain? Since when does a fringe cult have enough firepower to fend off a combined SLIC-Spacy assault force?”

  “According to Astral's intel, this is the hub of their military operations,” Tinubu replied. “I think we're up against their whole damn army. But don't sweat it, Sergeant. The colonel has a plan to deal with this.”

  “This better be one hell of a plan.”

  The concentration of support fire on the enemy's northwesterly forces kept them at bay, but this enabled the southwestern forces to punch a hole through the shell of Union drones and begin pouring deeper into the coalition's ranks. The Xenolists had suffered heavy losses to their drones, but now they were supplementing their attack with waves of fanatical human conscripts who were willing to sustain horrendous casualties surging through withering barrages of defensive fire in order to swarm over their foes. Tinubu spotted the wave of drones and fanatical foot soldiers breaking through the left wing and radioed in the coordinates for another air strike.

  “Python One, this is Inquisitor Actual,” Amos responded. “We are heavily engaged protecting the right wing. I'll see if anyone can break off to support you. Stand by.”

  A moment later, an unfamiliar voice crackled in Tinubu's speakers. The comm identified the source as Captain Valentin Dubrovsky, T.U. Spacy Marines. “Python One, this is Lightning Two. I will move to assist as soon as I've dealt with this group. E.T.A. one minute.”

  The Xenolist forces continued surging forward. One of the A.P.C.s was firing its machine gun, ripping through their ranks, but they just kept coming and reduced the A.P.C. to a flaming wreck with a mass of incendiary grenades. They swarmed past the wreckage, spraying fire from their black market rifles at everything in their path.

  Tinubu took aim with his exosuit's rifle and opened fire. “Lightning Two, we don't have a minute,” he exclaimed.

  “I'm on my way.”

  The wave of cultists was almost on Tinubu's unit when a guided bomb dropped on their front line, reducing them to ashes with a rolling wave of fire. A moment later, a second bomb fell deeper in their line, burning a hole in the middle of their formation. Between that
and a sustained barrage from the Rusalkas' machine guns, the attack faltered almost instantly.

  Tinubu let out a sigh of relief. “That was close. Thanks for the assist, Lightning Two.”

  “That wasn't me.”

  “Huh?”

  “The cavalry has arrived,” a familiar growl crowed. “This is Phoenix, reporting for duty. Don't mind if we get a little target practice.”

  Tinubu turned to see the aerodynamic silhouette of a third Sylphid, painted in the vermilion trim of SLIC's Wardancer cell, dive over the broken ranks of the enemy swarm, azure particle beam flashing. His I.F.F. identified the pilot as Celeste, with gunner Hector One-Eye.

  “Glad to see you could join us, Phoenix,” Amos transmitted. “Looks like the operation was a success.”

  “Feels good to be back in action, Colonel,” Celeste responded. “I guess I don't have to ask where the action is.”

  But the decimated swarm was soon replaced by another, and the Xenolists' army of reprogrammed P.S.A. drones and fanatical soldiers was not their only problem. As the formation executed a fighting withdrawal to the east, infantry in the rear guard—formerly the vanguard—began vanishing as though they were falling into holes in the ground. Cena noticed the disappearance of several soldiers from her support squad and was about to transmit a warning when she saw one of the Union drones fire a laser seemingly at nothing. She caught a glimpse of an inhuman silhouette getting cut in half by the laser, then a reptilian monster erupted out of the grass and leapt upon the drone, tearing an opening in the armored plating with its claws before vomiting a stream of acidic fluid into the hole, causing the drone to smoke and spark before it collapsed.

  “Blazing Light.” Cena opened a channel to Tinubu and exclaimed, “Remember those monsters from the data facility? I think they're back, and they're eating our troops for breakfast.”

  “Damn,” Tinubu snarled. “Python One to Python Squadron. Move in to support.”