Nicholas Smith - Warriors

It was time to finish this now and save the others.

To save the entire human race.

Carrying both weapons, he walked to the downed machines and put a bolt through each metal skull. Then he trained the rifles on the open doorway.

The shouting intensified as they made their way outside and down the road. From there, Les had a perfect view of the warehouse at the west end of the compound.

Drones continued to circle like vultures waiting for a meal. The tanks stood outside, weapons angled down at a horde of people.

A hundred or more people filed out of the building and stood in the dirt. Les started toward them, motioning for Sofia to stay close and hugging the buildings along the way to keep out of sight.

What he saw seized his breath. People young and old, of all races. Les had never seen such a diverse group.

Defectors herded the growing crowd away from the warehouse. Two of the machines dragged armored bodies out of the crowd.

“No,” Les whispered.

“We have to do something,” Sofia said.

They stopped behind a cluster of trees growing outside the metal tower with a spiked roof. Hidden by the trees, he watched in the darkness, his mind racing as fast as his heart.

He had no idea what was happening in Aruba or the Vanguard Islands, and his team was either dead or captured. It was on him to complete the mission by finding the damn mainframe. If he did that, he still might save everyone here and at home.

The machines herded the prisoners toward the gate. People sobbed, and a group of children wailed as they were separated from the adults. Les spotted a young girl who could have been his own daughter. Another reminder of what was at stake.

He zoomed his rifle scope in on Michael. There was a reason the transmissions had stopped. Michael was limp like Arlo—either unconscious or dead.

Les lowered his rifle, his heart breaking. He searched the sky for Discovery. Timothy was up there, awaiting his orders. There was no other choice now. It was time to risk the airship and his position.

Les bumped on the comms. “Timothy, this is Captain Mitchells. Do you copy?”

The response was almost instant.

“Copy you, sir.”

“You got anything up there left to fire?”

“We are down to ten percent of our ammunition, sir.”

“I want you to use most of that on those cannons outside the base,” Les said. “Once they’re destroyed, fly low and fast and take out the drones, then the tanks. We’ll deal with the individual machines.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

“Drop off all civilians before you come in. Food and supplies, too, just in case.”

“Already done, sir. Only one person is on the ship with me.”

Another voice came in over the comms. “Captain, this is Samson. I’m staying with Timothy. He’s going to need a copilot.”

Les wasn’t surprised. He was one of only a few people besides X who knew the truth about Samson’s cough. His fate would be the same as Captain Maria Ash’s: throat cancer. But it had spread to his lungs. Not even the ITC cancer medicine could save Samson now.

“We got your back, boss,” he rasped.

“You’re sure about this?” Les asked.

“Hey, I always wanted to be a Hell Diver but was a bit heavy for the old launch tubes. I guess this is as close as I’ll get. Good luck, Captain.”

“You too,” Les replied. “And, Timothy?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Give these AI assholes hell, my friend.”

“You may count on that, Captain.”

The channel closed, and Les opened a private one with Edgar and Lena.

“It’s on us now,” he said. “When Discovery comes in, start shooting the DEF-Nine units to give the prisoners a chance to run. I’ll try to find the mainframe and end this.”

“Roger that, Cap,” Edgar said. “Stay safe.”

“You too.”

With the division of prisoners complete, the gates were opening. Two machines dragged Michael and Arlo by their feet while six others with laser rifles marched most of the men outside. The rest of the machines guarded the other prisoners. The women and children were sobbing and screaming for fathers and brothers.

It was clear what was about to happen.

Les turned to Sofia, handing her one of the laser rifles. “Stay here under cover and take out as many of those bastards as you can.”

“What about you?”

“I have to shut down that mainframe.”

As the prisoners were corralled toward the gates, Michael suddenly broke free from the two machines dragging him. He got up and swung with his robotic hand, shattering a defector’s visor. The other raised its laser rifle.

Les and Sofia both aimed their rifles but before they could fire, the defector staggered sideways, sparks flying off its head.

A gunshot rang out in the distance. Edgar had taken the perfect shot.

“Good luck,” Les said.

“You too,” Sofia replied.

Two drones rocketed away from the warehouse as Les set off on his own. Lena opened fire with her laser rifle, and Edgar fired another high-velocity round, hitting a defector in the chest.

Les heard the electronic chatter of the laser rifle behind him as Sofia laid into the six defectors herding the men through the open gate.

Screaming and wailing rang out from the crowd as the chaos spread.

A voice surged over the comm channel. “The mainframe is in the main tower!” Michael said.

Les glanced up at the black tower he had just left. The spike at the top flashed orders to other drones rising into the sky. A squadron of the bots blasted away through the darkness to find Discovery.

Timothy was ready. Explosions burst across the dark clouds over the mountain. Waves of tracer rounds from the airship’s twenty-millimeter guns raked back and forth. Orange bursts illuminated the snowcapped crest of Kilimanjaro. The drones that had taken to the sky rained down as bits of shrapnel.

A moment later, Discovery exploded out of the cloud cover. Its reinforced bow slammed into a drone, splattering it like a bug on a windscreen.

Rockets streaked away from the tubes, slamming into the cannons below. Explosions billowed up into the sky from each impact, some making huge, loud fireballs as the artillery shells also detonated.

Les turned back to Michael, who had helped Arlo to his feet. Civilians were still scattering, but the defectors were gunning them down. One of the tanks released a flurry of rounds into several men who had picked up laser rifles. They vanished in bursts of pink mist and gore.

Raising his rifle, Les aimed at the central unit and fired a stream of bolts into its core. Several bolts broke through the armor casing. The tank went haywire, jerking back and forth, legs stomping the ground, then crashed in a cloud of dust.

Michael and Arlo looked in his direction.

“Get everyone out of here!” Les yelled. “Outside the walls!”

Michael stared for a stolen moment, then took off as Discovery raked the defector ranks with twenty-millimeter rounds.

Les took off for the tower as more drones ascended from an open roof to the east to fire bolts at Discovery. Several stitched across the hull.

Timothy kept the airship steady and turned the bottom-mounted twenty-millimeter cannons on another group of defectors, turning them into scrap metal.

Another group of brave prisoners stormed the destroyed units and picked up their dropped laser rifles. The second tank swiveled its turret toward Discovery as the airship blasted back into the sky. The tank fired a volley of bolts, several blowing into the stern and knocking out a bank of the thrusters. The group of prisoners turned their newfound weapons on the tank.

Les kept running, watching as a swarm of drones climbed into the clouds after the purple exhaust trail from the thrusters. Several of the machines peeled away a moment later, changing direction.