59 Book 4 - Chapter 117

*strikethrough* - Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy *strikethrough*

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M1 Y:2142

Inter-Academy Round 4 Fortescue Points: 418, Rank: 6, PR: 0.5225

Term: 3, Round: 4

Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds

Daedo maintained his aim on Mace's parents as they held up their hands and walked towards them.

"Amelia, we're here to help. We've taken out four, but more are coming," Adele Mace hurriedly stated.

"Mother," Mace drew in a long breath with an audible gulp at the end. "We can't trust you. Don't come any closer and keep your hands up."

"We could goo them," Daedo said meaning a goo grenade sticking them in place and with enough application preventing them from moving.

"That doesn't help you if we're telling the truth," Gabe added. "Check your monitoring systems. You'll see we took out our team."

"We can see that," Daedo replied showing that the pair were already aware.

"It could still be a ploy," Mace stated for all to hear.

"Ameline," Adele exclaimed in exasperation, "We don't have time for this, the other groups will be here at any moment."

Daedo: activate your aurora shield

Mace: done

"Very well," Daedo said in resignation. "We'll take a chance and trust you this one time."

Mace added her own caveat, "Mum, Dad, this is your only chance to join us. You won't get another."

If Mace's parents turned on them, they would be surprised by the new personal shields encompassing the exos. They had not witnessed this particular tech in use before, no one had.

The base layout and the desert terrain above did not make full use of their mobility advantages. They had backed themselves into a corner in the base, and unless their attacker tunnelled again, they had only the one entrance open to them.

Myrmidon: sensors calibrated and the barrage has halted. If they tunnel again, we will know.

Daedo: ours are in place?

Daedo asked Myrmidon, he didn't want to take his focus from his current field of view to check.

Myrmidon: everything is ready.

"Behind those crates," Daedo ordered Mace's parents while indicating a position which would place them between the pair and their attackers. The main and only entrance was a hundred metres north in the northeast corner. Mace's parents were set up facing the entrance on the west side while Daedo and Mace were at the south end.

It put the adults at risk, but they had little choice because there was no guarantee that their offer of assistance wasn't anything more than a trap.

Before any more agents entered the long room, several canisters rolled and bounced off walls. Three drones also flew down the length exhausting some sort of gas as they flew.

"Sleeping gas," Gabe said simply. He and Adele placed a tube across their nostrils which Daedo assumed would keep them safe.

Daedo and Mace merely turned on their life support system. This exo was more than power armour with jumpjets and weapon attachments. It was capable of sustaining their life underwater, underground or even in outer space.

The air and water recycling systems were not perfected, but it was the best design they had prepared. It lost some of the speed, due to the weight and power draw of the new systems. Running the shields and jumpjets at the same time was not possible, and both those systems used all of its generation capacity which left the limited storage to supply any other systems.

A three-minute countdown timer showed up on Daedo's HUD, it was the remaining time the exo could maintain full life support and aurora shield before depleting its energy storage. This was before firing the railgun or any of the other armaments on hand. Mace's HUD would be reporting the same figure, there was no need to discuss between them, they knew exactly what they had to do.

After the gas canisters came flashbangs.

"Do they think we're noobs?" Daedo asked Mace over the comms.

"I have no idea what they think," Mace replied as they watched a few operatives rush in. Their sensors were capable of thermal, infrared, lidar and radar. Keeping track of the enemies movements was not difficult even with the visual spectrum momentarily unavailable. Their AIs filtered the flash without the need for a command, they lived and fought with their AIs constantly, and a mundane activity such as blocking the effects of a flashbang was second nature.

Daedo lined up an operative with his railgun. He could kill the man easily, but then that man would be dead forever. He wondered if he had a family, was he just a good person following orders. He couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. It was one thing to order Myrmidon to shoot down craft with unknown occupants. And it was illogical that he could do that, but he couldn't fire at this man.

He did have other options. Daedo breathed and looked at Mace, she was waiting for him to fire.

"Switching to goo," Daedo said, "Going to lock them down."

Mace nodded and let off a smoke grenade at her parents, it might block the operatives view of her parents and everything south, which included her and Daedo.

In the moments that the pair sat in indecisiveness, the operatives moved down the room towards their former allies. The exchange of fire was fierce, the munitions appeared to be darts from the Maces but live rounds from the operatives.

Gabe Mace had a long-barrelled, old school, assault rifle. Its cartridge was full of non-lethal tranquilisers which had no chance of penetrating an exo but performed well against the stealth suits that all the operatives wore.

His aim was superb, but the darts travelled slowly compared to a railgun or even regular round. Even dodging a slow-moving tranq was almost impossible but Gabe was only able to get off one short before their opponents deployed a web-like personal shield. The tiny threads caught the darts, depressed slightly and sprung bouncing the darts off harmlessly onto the ground. The round shield with a one-metre diameter was highly effective against this weapon, but not so against the goo that Daedo launched.

The front two operatives were caught in Daedo's first goo grenade and as they struggled a second grenade landed behind them, capturing a third operative. The rest halted the advance momentarily before they began to spread out.

It was in these moments of mayhem that a live round hit Gabe. Mace and Daedo knew instantly from his cry of pain and Adele's scream of anger.

"We are using tranqs you assholes!" She screamed at her former colleagues. They probably expected a return of the gesture especially since Daedo was to be captured alive for questioning. Tranqs were a part of the operatives' arsenal.

Daedo kept firing goo grenades, while Mace began to fire her railgun at the closest foe. The railgun round penetrated their suits easily, in fact, due to the speed of the round which was designed to penetrate armour, it flew through his leg drilling through the bone and out the other side barely leaving a hole. Other than a surprised cry of pain, and a hunched stance within the goo, there wasn't an outward sign that the operative had been hit.

Several actions were happening at once. Adele was attempting to apply first aid to Gabe. Daedo was attempting to cover the entire north end in goo while his dwindling grenade supply lasted. Mace was exacting revenge for her Father, she was bereft of any qualms that Daedo possessed, by perforating one operative after another.

Before Mace struck down the third operative - heavy barricades could be seen filing in from the rear of the room.

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"Forward," a man yelled, and the barricades levitated over the front line of goo covered operatives. A railgun round smacked into one, it shuddered but continued downwards with the round embedded somewhere in its centre.

The barricades were some type of alloy, and the mag floor within the base allowed them to float into place despite what must have been several tonnes of weight.

Both Mace and Daedo shot them with frag grenades, blasting two back towards the rear wall, distorting their surface and with an extremely loud crack, the rear wall came out worse for wear when the heavy barricades collided.

Within moments two were in place. The operatives had paused attacks on their former colleagues, and they had not fired a single shot at the fugitive cadets during the entire engagement.

"They're setting up defensively. They think they have us cornered," Daedo said quickly.

Mace nodded, "Should we surprise them?"

Daedo shook his head, "Let's get your parents. If they went this far to entrap us. Then so be it."

"We don't have any medical equipment," Mace said with her voice full of concern and self-recrimination. A simple bio-foam application could seal a wound until further assistance could be rendered.

As cadets, they were used to the Academy support taking care of any injuries, and the fact injuries were rare because the combat was not real. Within moments of their first real fight, their lack of medical capability was apparent and embarrassing.

Daedo ignored Mace and remotely controlled a hoverbin to Adele's position. Without hesitation, she placed Gabe inside. Daedo began to move the hoverbin towards his position while Adele backpedalled in a crouching position while watching her new enemy.

Mace launched smoke grenades in front of her parents covering their retreat, however, most sensors would not be fooled. While Adele's stealth suite would possess every known, and some unknown dampener technologies, the hoverbin had no such protection. Its size and movement would be easily detectable through the smoke.

Both Mace and Daedo waited for an operative to appear from behind the recently established barricades. It confounded them both that none had shown in the seconds since Gabe started moving.

"What're they doing?" Mace asked through clenched teeth, and she shot a frag grenade over the barricade for good measure. As it flew above the barricade, it detonated prematurely. It had been intercepted by something.

Daedo quickly checked different light spectrums and tasked Myrmidon with checking all their sensors for the obstruction. It only took a moment for him to see the reflective material which had been pasted on the walls and ceiling. He had not seen the operatives apply it, but they must have done from behind the cover and without Mace or Myrmidon noticing.

"What's that?" he asked Mace indicating the reflective substance by utilising their HUD interface communication system. A close-up image popped out from its source for Mace to view on her helmets inner screen.

"Laser wall," she said, and it immediately made sense to Daedo.

The laser threads were so thin they did not detect them visually, but they were not hidden. They were in plain sight but were so thin they were invisible to visual sensors. Now he and Myrmidon were aware they were able to zoom in and see the magnitude of the thread mesh.

"That's smart," Daedo gave the operatives credit. He loved the notion of a trap that was plainly visible yet invisible. The width of the laser beams would be measured in nanometers, which was enough to dice a fist-sized object into billions of tiny cubes.

Adele arrived finally and the operatives, her former colleagues, did not seem to be in a rush any longer.

She sat with an exhaled huff behind Mace's cover as she looked with concern at Gabe's unconscious form. Daedo wasn't sure if she put him into this state for preservation or it happened naturally.

"Do they think they have us trapped?" Daedo asked Mace.

She replied with a solitary nod.

"Are you ready to move Mrs Mace?" Daedo asked her mother.

"Move?" Adele asked in slight confusion looking at the dead end.

"We can defend here, or we can move," Daedo stated calmly. "Their entrenchment is quite impressive, but it will only slow them down if we move. I'd like to move, but only if you and Mr Mace can do so safely."

Adele looked at the wall behind them, contemplating Daedo's words.

"Yes, we can move safely, as long as the hoverbin can float," Adele said.

Hoverbins were like most mag vehicles, totally useless if they weren't above a maglift compound. Adele Mace was correct with her speculation that a newly built tunnel behind them would not be lined with maglift capable constructofoam.

In the built-up area of the Academy and where Daedo lived every surface other than grassed area was maglift, and even in some cases, the grass had an undersoil layer of maglift compound. But here, underground in the desert. It only existed in the Daedalus constructed areas. That was why the first mission needed the mechs. They were strong enough to lift and carry the heavy loads.

"It would have to be dragged," Daedo said apologetically.

"We could carry it easily," Mace argued. The two exos could carry a couple of tonnes easily. The hoverbin and Gabe Mace were lightweight in comparison.

"We could. But we may need our hands free," Daedo replied. Knowing they may have to defend themselves and even though they could drop her Father, it brought in an additional range of complexities he would rather circumvent.

"We can't leave him here," Adele said with concern. "And we should move if we can. If the next gas attack doesn't work, they will keep trying different ways to incapacitate you until they succeed."

"We could kill them all," Mace said as if she was discussing what was for lunch.

As she spoke, three gas canisters rolled down the room stopping a dozen metres from their position. Within moments a black haze expressed forth.

"We need to move, this will paralyse when it comes into contact with skin," Adele Mace said quickly and earnestly. While their stealth suits did cover every inch when they donned helmets, they were porous.

Daedo wished for a fan to blow the black smoke back down the room. But the other agents had probably vacated until the black smoke dispersed knowing it could affect them.

"This is the perfect time to move," Daedo stated. He could not sense any operatives behind the barricades, only a few recon drones.

Daedo: Myrmidon

Myrmidon: Breach on your mark, shield the softies.

Daedo quickly moved between the wall and Adele Mace pulling his cover with him. A small aperture appeared on the rear wall and quickly grew in size until it was three metres in diameter. The noise of the large mining drone reverberated throughout the room. There was no chance the operatives didn't hear it or feel the vibrations of the crumbling constructofoam.

Daedo pulled the hoverbin out of the way as he let the mining drone past.

Daedo: Cut them off. This side first, then cut off their escape if you can get it done in time.

Myrmidon: we'll bring the roof down if we need to. 004 will do the north side at the same time 002 does this side. 003 is creating a pocket underneath them.

Daedo: have we worked out how they got in?

Myrmidon: AEMO thinks it was a plasma cutter. Slow, but with no vibrations and minimal noise.

Daedo: Good. If AEMO is correct slow will work in our favour.

Daedo shared the conversation details with Mace as they moved into the prepared tunnel.

"Impressive," Adele Mace said as 002 began to cave in the room behind them.

"Why does everyone always underestimate us?" Mace asked.

Daedo shrugged. "I guess they think we're kids."

"You are kids," Adele smiled briefly before adding under her breath, "Just evil genius kids."

Mace dragged the large hoverbin behind her while her mother walked backwards watching the large mining drone wreak havoc.

Daedo took point, his gun at the ready while communicating with Myrmidon. The corridor was lined with a gel-like substance the mining drone left behind. It would hold for days at least and in perfect conditions, years. Although the drone cut through a three-metre diameter the tunnel was only two at most, the excess material was compacted underneath their feet and on the sides. The size depended on whether all material was left in situ and the ability of the drone to compact the substance.

Bedrock was removed entirely, but bedrock was deep in the desert. The shallowest part had thirty metres of sandy material on top of gravel or clay before reaching bedrock at fifty metres. At some places, it was hundreds of metres.

As Daedo watched the progress of the two AIs and the mining drones on his HUD he gave Adele and Mace verbal updates.

"003 managed to close off our rear before they could get to it. Their own barricades and black gas impeded them," Daedo narrated.

"004 is working while they are occupied with 003. It's bringing down the northern corridor," He added.

"They are trapped?" Adele asked.

"I can't see their plasma cutter," Daedo said, he wasn't sure if it was a plasma cutter, but Adele would confirm or deny with her answer.

"They left it at the breach point, it's large, slow and comparatively noisy," Adele stated.

"They're trapped?" Mace asked.

"For now," Daedo said. "We need to keep moving."

"Are we going to leave them the base?" Mace asked.

"They want me, not the base," Daedo replied has he picked up the opposite side of Gabe's hoverbin. Moving quickly trumped having his hands free at this point in time and it was too heavy for Adele, she would barely keep up with them as it was. The stealth suit was close to a body suit in function and had close to none of the armour and strength enhancements their exos possessed.

Daedo: shields off, we need to recharge storage to full before the next engagement.

Mace: agreed.

They still did not trust her parents fully, but if their cooperation was a ruse, it was a damned good one.

The trio breached the surface after a few minutes running through windy tunnels, and Daedo was surprised by his HUD immediately.

"Mechs," he said. The transponder system on the surface fed into their personal systems.

"Fuck," Mace replied as she noticed them. They were still thirty kilometres away, they had just crossed the mountain range to the west.