Copyright 2015 © Objurgation
All content created by Objurgation and used fictitiously. All characters, companies and places are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons or business entities, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Terra-33
Episode 0.9
Ida was the first to open up, her rifle cracking loudly in the close quarters. After two rounds, it seemed like the entire corridor suddenly exploded. Trix let her SMG rip, trigger fully depressed as it tore through a fifty-round magazine in seconds. Green orbs sped down the hall, making pulsing concussions whenever they struck a wall. Remi had reopened the door they'd just exited and screamed for Trix to get in and reload. His rifle was roaring heavy cracks as he sent Sharps at the robots. It seemed that the distance was hampering both sides' accuracy, despite the relative lack of cover in the area. Ida was pinned down behind the console array, lying prone and firing.
The orbs that the machines were firing were disrupting Trix's aim. They glowed and scintillated, even with her HUD dropping red targets through the chaos, it was a lot to get her sights lined up on them. A purplish beam streaked down the floor in the middle of the hall. Trix fell back as the green balls began to pound Ida's hiding place, reloading as quickly as possible. Remi dropped his rifle, the single-point sling catching it near his side before the muzzle could hit the ground. As Trix popped back into the hall and let another magazine rip through her Chanet, she saw Remi prime a proximity mine and launch it at their attackers. Trix smiled as the little ball bounced toward them. The mine banged loudly, followed by an even louder sucking pop. It sounded like someone was sawing a tree trunk with a vacuum and a chainsaw.
Remi dashed into the corridor during the temporary lull in firing brought on by the mine-turned-grenade and skidded to a halt near Ida. When the smoke cleared, Trix saw that one of the robots was motionless and down, another spinning wildly and the source of the weird popping. It looked like something in its ball had malfunctioned and sparks flew as it twirled. The third had retreated behind a console array and Trix began snapping bursts at it with the remainder of her mag. Just as her SMG clicked up dry, Remi sprinted past with Ida over his shoulders. Trix put her back against the open door and watched with growing concern as Remi tried to revive the construct. She appeared to be unconscious for the second time and Trix figured she would be pretty mad about it when she woke up.
If
she woke up.
"Use a bomb," Remi ordered, gathering up his rifle and waiting at the edge of their cover. Trix had one primed and ready two seconds later and turned the corner with him, hurling her little projectile at the last place she had seen the robot. Remi's Garr opened up and Trix cheered as one of his rounds struck the machine in the face, causing its glowing riposte to go screaming into the ceiling. Her mine landed a little farther down the hall, active now that it had struck once. The only problem was that the robot was too far away to trigger it. She cursed and made a snap decision, bursting out of the doorway at a crouch and letting her SMG chew up the enemy's cover. She heard Remi tell her to stop but didn't acknowledge it and dropped her weapon as soon as it came up empty. With a whoop, her pistol was in her hand and she was cracking off three-round bursts, still charging forward.
This mad frontal assault was more than the robot was willing to suffer, just as Trix had hoped. It fired another purple beam at her but missed by a few yards. Then it was retreating speedily on its ball, its upper body still rotated toward them. The viridian glow was just charging up on its right arm when the mine burst with a thwack. The impact immediately reversed the machine's momentum and it came flying back toward its fellows, splitting in two when it landed. Remi rushed past her as she did a little victory dance. He stopped two feet from the injured robot, his rifle smacking copper-jacketed lead into its head and torso until it stopped moved. Trix surveyed the damage, metal everywhere spewing sparks. The console array that she had flushed the last survivor out of had at least two punctures in each viewscreen.
"Ida," they said in unison.
"I'm ok," Ida croaked over the comm.
Trix beat Remi back to the room, rushing to the downed construct's side. She bent over and tapped Ida's visor, hoping for a view of her face.
"It's not working," Ida began. "I didn't want to distract you during the remainder of the fight, but my armor is not responding at all. Those green discharges must have paralyzed it in some way."
Trix saw scorch marks on Ida's left breast and hip and realized that she'd be hit by at least two of the balls.
"Does it hurt?" Remi asked.
"Negative. My body is responsive and appears fully functional."
Trix fumbled with the helmet, her fingers finding the four clasps for manual removal. It was rare for a suit to have a power failure, but it was always possible to remove it by hand just in case. When she lifted the construct's head and slipped the helmet off, Ida looked up at them with a smile. Her hair was dark brown with sweat and matted around her face, but she still managed to look fetching. The bright green eye color she had recently acquired was blurred a bit by tears. Trix thought it was relief though, not sadness.
"I'm glad you're ok," she whispered.
Remi was getting to work on Ida's arms, disconnecting the main armor from her priming suit. The Sariin gear hugged her curves but was also well-padded and its clasps were easy to access if you knew where to look.
"Why was your microphone working?"
"Everything internal to the suit was still working. HUD, communications, environmental, all fine. It was just that I couldn't move my limbs, like the armor's joints had been frozen in place."
"I've never seen technology like that," Remi mused. "Even the slumpers use primarily kinetic weapons. Bullets and bombs, not lasers. The closest thing we have to what those robots were shooting are energy whips. On the ground at least."
"I'm guessing that there is something in the charge that interferes with the target's surface. Like a paralytic that only affects external functions so that the target can then be interrogated when the process is reversed, or wears off," Ida suggested.
"How does it work?" Trix asked, not happy at the thought that one or two hits from a green ball could render her armor useless and trap her within.
"I have no idea," Ida replied, a little worry seeping into her tone.
"We need to get back to the buggy, I think. Without armor, Ida would be directly exposed to the non-lethal ammo." Remi suddenly fell forward. He had been putting most of his weight on pushing at Ida's leg to get the armor removed.
"It's working again," Trix stated with a huge grin.
"Yeah, yeah," Remi grumbled as he sat up.
Ida stood and took stock of her gear. Trix handed her pieces and watched their work of the last few minutes go right back onto the construct. Remi was poking his head into the hallway, presumably searching for more angry robots.
"I was unable to move for nine minutes, twenty-four seconds," Ida informed them. "We have a time frame for that weapon, or a basis for one. Without further data, it would be hard to make an accurate assessment."
"I'd like to avoid further data, Ida," Remi said. "I don't see reinforcements coming. With all the noise we made, I would have expected it by now if it was coming."
"Will it be safe to head back to the technical?"
"Who knows," Trix replied. "Unless you want to lock up the door and try to figure out that bed, I vote for buggy."
"Same here," Remi agreed.
"The buggy seems like the best option for a secure rest. I don't think we will be able to exit the facility easily without whatever is in control letting us. The ingress doors were quite thick."
"Yeah," Remi mumbled, slinking into the hallway. Trix followed after, mimicking the way he hugged the right wall. He paused at each doorway to check behind them, ready to burst in for cover if needed. The trip back up the corridor was uneventful, and seemed much shorter this time around. Remi paused at the door and held it slightly ajar for Trix.
"One, two, three!"
She burst through as he swung the door wide. Their buggy was parked near the center of the large dock-like room. On first glance, she didn't see anything abnormal. Then, a bluish appendage appeared for just a second, visible only briefly in the gap between the underside of the buggy and the floor.
