Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (38 page)

“Follow me!” he growled.

Gun moved off
toward
a large and heavily damaged
doorway. Behind him followed the entire group of Vanguards, each
moving forward like large metal bugs. They made use of both the
floor and the walls to walk along, with the lack of gravity making
all surfaces suitable for movement. Once through the doorway, they
emerged into a wrecked passageway with gantries collapsed from two
directions. A massive gash in the wall revealed the cavernous
interior of the ship that appeared to be filled with movement. The
first Vanguard to move closer to the gash was struck by gunfire.
The marine staggered back and lost his footing. He tumbled around
in the vacuum before striking the wall.

“
Bring them down!”
called out the Sergeant.

The firepower of the
Vanguards was a sight to behold, and even Gun was impressed at the
violence and ferocity of the unit. The L48 rifles were large
caliber weapons with multi-role explosive ammunition, and easily
capable of blowing a hole the size of a man’s head out of metal or
masonry; four Biomech creatures were shattered by the powerful
volley.

“
Keeping moving!”
the Sergeant shouted
.

The man’s
encouragement wasn’t required. On the upper level a gash had been
torn open and, the small number of surviving Biomechs took cover
and blasted the Vanguards, doing their best to hold back the
armored tide.

Let’s finish this!

Gun ignored them and
simply lifted his right arm. Fitted to his armor was the same
multi-barreled gun he’d been f
orced to
use back on Prometheus when he’d been a slave to these machines.
The barrels spun, and a great gout of flame announced the launch of
hundreds of projectiles. The other Vanguards moved past him and up
toward the massive gash. He only stopped firing as the first of his
comrades stepped inside.

“
Watch out!” cried a
female marine. She had lost her footing and spun about
wildly.

Another was grabbed
and tossed into a cavernous space by a clawed arm. The others
pushed on, firing at anything moving. Gun lurched after them,
closely followed by the last squad and into the open space. The
first thing he saw was the form of a dozen massive Biomech
warriors. They were much larger than any he had seen since the
fight at Hyperion. The Vanguards were already firing when a final,
much larger Biomech moved out from the blackness. This one was
massive, at least five meters, perhaps taller and completely black.
Its feet left indentations in the floor and walls as it moved to
the Vanguards, their gunfire putting small holes in its thick
armor. Its head was sunk down low behind a thickened collar of dull
armor so that only the eyes of its helm peeked out over the
ridge.

“Gun here, we’re inside and have run into Biomechs,
big ones!”

He pushed hard with
his legs muscles, lurching ahead and toward the machines. The small
group of Vanguards burst out, some on the walls, two on the
ceiling, and the rest along the floor. Meeting them were scores of
Biomechs, each dwarfed by the great hulk of their blackened
master.

* * *

Teresa noticed the
change in the fight immediately. Instead of dozens of creatures
holding them back, the bulk of them had vanished. Only a dozen or
so remained, and she could only assume they had moved off to deal
with the arrival of Gun. At least, that was what she
hoped.

We need
to finish this
quickly.

Movement caught her
eye
, and she noticed a small group of the
Biomechs turning their attention to the wall on the right. A flash
ensnared the group as a chunk of metal blew out a large part of the
wall, and from the wreckage emerged her three comrades, directly
into the middle of the Biomechs. Four of the creatures were cut
down, and the rest scattered into the interior of the
ship.

We’re clear, about time!

“Marines, forward!” she cried.

The crimson stripes
of her depleted guards unit pushed out through the passageway,
closely followed by the survivors of the other squads. One marine
took a blast to the chest before the entire length was finally
secured. Teresa checked the schematics in her visor while ducking
back to avoid a burst from a hidden warrior. A shaft ran up from
their current position. It appeared to reach the corner of the
power source they were looking for.

“Follow the shaft.”

With a single hard
push, she forced herself up with her boots while disconnecting the
maglock. She drifted in the zero gravity as though she were
freefalling in reverse. The other marines tried to emulate her
swift movement but none, not even Sergeant Nova could match her
speed and grace. Teresa had already reached the ceiling and was
walking upside down and into the objective area before the others
were even halfway up. She moved forward cautiously, her L52 Mark II
carbine held up to her shoulder and ready for trouble. Sergeant
Nova arrived next, followed by the other guards. Teresa indicated
with her left hand for them to move carefully. As they entered the
massive structure, they could see great blue coils pulsing with
energy. They were five times the height of a marine and embedded
into the ground and ceiling. Cables and pipes ran in great clumps
along the walls. At the far end of the cavernous open space stood a
great black machine, like a monstrous demon. It was upside down,
and all around it were dozens of smaller Biomechs engaged in a
terrible battle with another group. Teresa instantly knew who it
was.

Gun!

“
2
nd
Platoon, place the charges.
Everybody else, destroy the beasts!”

The pitifully small
band of marines ran, jumped, and hopped through the section of the
ship, firing as they moved to try and pick off the Biomechs. Few
fell before their arrival was spotted. The massive machine turned
from the battle and looked at Teresa. It extended one arm, and a
massive burst of blue energy rushed out toward her.

“
Major!”
Sergeant Nova screamed as she pushed Teresa
aside.

Teresa spun out of
control, drifting off to the left-hand wall. She was safe, but
there wasn’t time for Arina. The ball of energy struck the Sergeant
full on in the chest, and she exploded in a flash of blood, armor,
and fused metal. The remains of her body covered the marines as
well as the floor and walls around them. Teresa regained her
footing, and she stood on what was now the sidewall, with the
energy coils directly in her path. The vast black Biomech had
turned away. It was busy smashing away at Gun and the Vanguards as
they continued to fight a lopsided battle. She saw two Vanguards
crushed like flies by the machine’s terrible arms.

“
Get close and use
your charges!” she snapped, continuing her rush to the machine.
Dozens of marines fanned out and followed their Major into the
battle. The Biomechs now split up, with some fighting the
Vanguards, the rest moving off to attack Teresa. Even as she took
aim, it was clear they were behaving in a particular way. She
loosed off a powerful blast from all three barrels at the machine
only for a Biomech to jump out, taking the strike to its leg. The
impact tore off the limb, but it continued on and hit the other
side. Ignoring the pain, the thing turned around and lurched at an
approaching marine.

They are protecting the machine.

As quickly as Teresa
had arrived
, the Biomechs attacked her.
At this close distance, she found herself slower than the Biomechs.
A deft tap on her carbine and it altered to the lower powered
rapid-fire mode that utilized one barrel at a time. Three quick
bursts cleared a path and she was at the machine’s leg. Teresa
reached down for one of the thermite charges on her leg as the
machine saw her. It kicked out and struck her in the stomach. The
impact was like being hit by a truck, and she was smashed to the
floor. Lights flashed and sparks rippled through the visor as
multiple systems failed.

“Gun! We need this thing dead!” she snapped.

Oxygen was venting
from her system, yet she refused to stop. The rest of her marines
were now around her and running about in a bloody battle with the
Biomechs. Simultaneously, two squads had taken up position a short
distance away behind one of the shattered coils and fired aimed
shots at the Biomechs, bringing them down one at a time. Teresa saw
Gun push up from the ground and then land on the machine’s chest.
He stabbed at it with his blades and tore chunks out of its armor
with his arm-mounted weapon. The machine swatted him aside with a
single strike, yet Gun refused to let go and kept his left hand
firmly attached to its torso. He reached up and brought his oddly
curved blade down onto the machine’s helm. There was a blue flash,
and the weapon seemed to explode into a hundred shards. A pair of
Biomechs ripped him from its armor, dragging him away where they
surrounded him, each striking with an array of weapons.

“Gun!” screamed Teresa.

Using all the energy
she had left, Teresa took a dozen steps until she was at the left
of the black machine. Bodies floated about it as Biomech and marine
fought in hand-to-hand combat. One Biomech got in her way, only to
be knocked back by a Vanguard that continued after it. She moved
even closer until she could touch the machine’s flank. She reached
down once more to her leg and grabbed her last thermite charge. It
was the size of her fist, and with a firm pull, it released from
its pouch. Two button presses activated the device that she then
tossed up to the torso. It spun lazily and fixed itself to what
would have been the abdomen of the machine.

“
Marines, fall
back!” shouted Teresa, but rather than follow her own orders, she
moved toward where Gun had fallen. Over a dozen Biomechs blocked
her path, and they continued to flail at what must have been her
fallen friend. She made to lift her carbine, realizing she’d lost
it in the fight. Without waiting, Teresa pulled her side arm and
lurched forward, firing as she went. She made it half way when
three of the creatures staggered back. A blood-covered metal figure
lifted up, his armour cracked, burned, and damaged on almost every
section. Teresa threw herself at him as the thermite charge
detonated. Most of the power burst inward, but the heat fused
anything within two meters in any direction. She felt pain in her
leg as it damaged her armor when she crashed into Gun. The two
drifted along, crashing into a heap of shattered Biomechs and
Vanguard marines.

“
Thanks,” muttered
Gun with as much humo
r as he could
muster.

Teresa shook her
head, the pain now wringing through her body. She looked back at
the stationary shape of the great metal beast. It stood upright,
its feet still clamped firmly down, and a great hole the size of a
man burned through its torso. Gunfire continued to ripple through
the open space, but the last few Biomechs were trying to escape,
and not one stood its ground to fight. Teresa climbed to her feet
and steadied herself on her mag sealed feet. The sensor package on
her suit was still picking up trace elements from the machine. She
reached down but could find no weapon.

“
Wait,” said Gun as
she
watched the great machine.

“
It is still alive,”
h
e said with amusement.

Teresa allowed
herself a grim smile and connected to ANS Victory.

“General, the ship is secure. It is ours.”

“
Good work, Major, I
will have medical teams over in thirty minutes. This is a great
victory.”

“
Thank you, Sir,
there is something else.”

There was a pause as
if Daniels expected something terrible.

“
Their leader, the
machine that defended this ship. It lives. We have one of their
leaders as our prisoner.”

The voice changed to that of Admiral Anderson.

“
Outstanding work,
Major, outstanding. The 17th should be proud. Emissaries from the
Helions are already en route to meet us after this little episode.
Interesting that they suddenly want to meet us. Get back here for
your debriefing. I suspect we are going to be very
busy.”

Teresa looked to
Gun, and though he was in pain, she could see through the small
visor on his armor that the old warrior couldn’t have been
happier.

“So, what do you think of the Corps?”

Gun beamed.

“
It’s just like old
times! All we need to do now is fine where the hell Spartan got
to.”

Teresa expression
changed in an instant as thoughts of him returned. She looked to
Gun
, doing her best to stay
focused.

“Yes, we have their leader and we are at the heart
of all of this now. Let’s hope Helios has the answers, like we were
promised.”

* * *

Spartan shook his
head for what felt like the hundredth time in one day. His body
ached, yet he was unable to move his torso. He looked to his right
where the red machine looked at him with cold, artificial eyes.
Around him moved two similar companions, each a marvel of
engineering and the size of a Biomech. The red machine moved closer
and looked down at his face.

“Spartan, human...warrior.”

He swallowed, his
mouth dry and aching, and then spat out whatever fluid still
remained in his choked throat.