Book 3 Chapter 38: The Entombed

Book 3 Chapter 38: The Entombed

Through my binoculars I could see the facility. It was much like the factory Id sieged with Graves, Leah, and Mercy. A massive raised square of old world production, funneling arms, armor, and ammunition straight to the siege at Medina. Unlike the one Id attacked before that housed irradiated mercs and a rebellious Marshal, that in retrospect had some excellent points, this one had guards in power armor, drones, and turrets guarding it. It had nearly the same level of defenses as the fort that housed Masters and his cabinet. To attack it alone would be a death sentence, even for me. I was fairly certain that I couldnt recuperate from my body being completely evaporated. Luckily, I wasnt alone.

To my right stood thirteen power armored deadmen. I could feel the radiation leaking from their suits and suffusing the air around us. Each suit was based in deep black paint, sharply contrasting the shining silver of those worn by the Rens. Most of the deadmen had also added their own personal touch to their armor, just as they did with their domes in Potts. One of them had added a gaping maw full of sharp teeth to his helmet, another had painted intricate patterns like circuit boards in white across their armor, one had simply splashed red across it as if it was stained in blood, and their leader had painted plants and flowers all across it, reminding me of the tea gardens that occupied many of the cellars in Potts homes. These decorations werent exactly camouflage, but then, the point of the armor wasnt for them to hide.Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

I activated my shield bracelet, drew my sword, and nodded at Daisy, the leader of the Entombed.

She returned the nod, raised her hydra staff high in one hand, and brought it down to point at the factory. At her gesture, the ground shook as we began running toward the factory, straight at the front door. This wasnt about being subtle, this was about shock and awe.

The squad pointed their Hydras and started to unload the combined power of 117 lasbarrels on the factory's entrance. Before the defenders could react, five turrets, two drones, and four guards were evaporated.

The defenses whirled around and started firing, unleashing an almost equivalent amount of counterfire onto us. My vision was a blur of lasfire, bullets, and explosions dispersing across my shield as well as the ones surrounding my allies as we charged.

Before we could completely close the distance, five power armored figures in jump packs landed in front of us, all wielding the heavy power-hammers and mauls favored by the Remnants.

I leapt at the nearest one, activating my sword's vibrating edge, and drove it through his chest before he could firmly find his feet. The Entombed with faux blood splatter across his armor secured his Hydra to his back and jumped at the next nearest, his servos squealing as he launched himself forward. The arms and fists of his armor were heavily reinforced and crackling with the same energy as the Remnants hammers. He slammed his fists into his enemies chestpiece, breaking through the hammers handle in the process, and cracking it. Once he was on the floor the blooded armored Entombed smashed a hammerfist into his helmet and killed him.

I gave her a nod, as my shoulder re-knit itself together, then I popped it back into place without a sound. I looked around, the other entombed had managed things well, all the defenses were crushed, defenders slain, and wed only lost a single soldier.

Daisy, moved over to the Entombed that had died. The power armor had what I realized were song lyrics written in white all across its black surface. Daisy kneeled at the corpse for a few moments then pointed to another of their number, this one wearing pure black that was unadorned.

Burke, carry her body back to Potts.

He nodded, moved over to the body and lifted it with ease before running for our deadzone exit. In some circumstances I would have suggested waiting to transport the dead until the operation was complete, but considering the value of the Entombeds suits, I understood Daisys priorities and said nothing.

Once Burke was out of sight Daisy turned to everyone else. Alright, we dont have much time. You remember the instructions Julian provided. We cant enter the Factory, but we can make it significantly harder to re-open and operate. You know your roles, get to it.

The Entombed moved in pairs to different spots above the Factory. We werent going to be able to break in. The factory bunkers were meant to survive a nuclear holocaust after all. Our goal instead was to make it difficult, perhaps impossible to re-surface. Julian had found a weakness in a number of the mechanisms related to raising and lowering the facility, and I watched as the Entombed targeted those weaknesses, using a combination of their hydras, explosives, or even raw strength to reach and damage them. They needed to move quickly, as it was unknown when the Remnants would be able to send reinforcements our way.

I heard the dull thud of an explosion below ground, followed by a kind of horrific metallic creaking sound. I looked over to see each of the pairs returning to Daisy and my position.

Daisy nodded at them. Good job. Theres only the emergency exit to worry about. I could practically hear the smile in her voice when she gave her next order. Let's seal that off too, do them the honor of making them Entombed as well.