Chương 126: Chapter 125 – Objective complete

Cole backed away and let Howie work with the 'chief enumerator' of LouixCorp to copy—not transfer—Elliot Werner to the mission laptop. He pulled out his vape and took a few puffs to collect his thoughts. Alexa came to stand next to him and pull out her own.

"Penny for your thoughts, Airborne," said Alexa. She leaned back against the cement wall of the bunker, one foot flat against the wall. Cole looked over at the other Kicker.

"You've been at this longer than I have," he said. He waved a hand in the general direction of the hex core.

"What the fuck do we even do with all this? OPORD is to get Elliot Werner home. But this is… I don't even know what the fuck this is turned into."

"Scuffed, is what it is," said Alexa. She sucked on her pen like she had a grudge against it.

"Some ops are like that from the moment you step off world. Elliot's dead on Earth. Body already cremated. Even if we knew how to stuff him back inside, there's nothing to stuff him into. I figured this was going to be a reincarnation or a soul transmigration into a local host body that we could drag back. But…" she thrust her chin up at the floating computer core.

"As far as I can call it, we're operation complete as soon as that laptop is back on Earth. After that, it's up to Oak Ridge to figure out what to do with him. Hell, if he needs a body, he can have Archie and I'll make a new familiar."

"That's so fucked," said Cole.

"Even if we do that, he's still here. Still on this dying world. We didn't pull him out of anywhere. He's still gotta watch this place die and eventually die with it." Alexa replaced her vape.

"Things aren't always black and white, Airborne. If we get everyone home with life, limb, and eyesight intact and a hard drive is all it takes to check the box? A win is a win." A rumble translated through the cement, shaking dust off the walls and ceilings. The bulbs overhead blinked off for a moment. Cole stiffened. That must have been a fairly strong blast if they were feeling it in an underground bunker.

A few seconds later, an alarm bell trilled and most of the LouixCorp personnel launched (or lurched, for the exhausted among them) into action.

"Getting home might not be that simple," said Cole. Fransisca joined them along with Howie and Clockwork Elliot. The Enumerator was making the weird culty gesture over her chest again.

"The arch-demon is beginning its attack on the city," she said.

"We go now to join with our brothers in arms. Will your world's angels stand beside us?" She must have meant the dreadnaught. It had come close enough to begin its attack on the city, which probably meant every MK 1 bot in town had been quickened, along with whatever artillery and assault craft the dreadnaught itself would bring to bear. Judging by what they'd seen, Cole didn't fancy one team's chances at repelling an invasion. Not their mission. Still… he glanced up at the hex core.

Elliot was still here, even if they were also bringing some version of him home. And this world, its knowledge. It was worth protecting. The clockwork version looked at him with its lenses.

"Can you see what it looks like up there?" asked Cole.

"Not see, but I'm getting pretty good at interpreting the HBL data. There's an attack ship about ten miles off the coast. It's sending boats and transport drones. Lots of people are moving around, too. There's going to be a big fight. We should help." Not your mission. Cole pocketed his vape.

"Elliot, if we take you topside, what are the chances Hextant takes over that body like you did?"

"Nil!" he said.

"Hextant may be strong and smart, but he's not clever. He calculates. He doesn't think. Not like I do, anyway. In fact, I should be able to take over his bots if we're close enough for the clockwork body's signal to conflict with his."

"Then let's get topside," said Alexa.

"If we can line of sight to get comms with Major Beauregard, maybe there's something he can do." She met Cole's eyes, leaving the second half of that statement unsaid. If nothing else, they could signal the boats for extraction before the dreadnaught finished what Hextant started. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Cole whistled for his squad.

"Bring it in. Howie, what's your progress?"

"Done and done, bossman," said Howie. He started unhooking the alligator clips from the hex core's pin board and winding up the wires. The rest of the squad and Therza gathered around Cole.

"What's the play?" Cole looked between each of the team.

"We're going to try and make contact with Camp Hamilton. As of now, we're first-task complete on the primary OPORD." A few gazes shifted back and forth. They all knew what that meant. This wasn't like Vael, where the locals were immediately hostile. These guys had welcomed them, hell, even bailed them out in the tunnel. Leaving them high and dry didn't sit right with Cole, but he had to prioritize the mission and his own team. He looked at Therza.

"Can you make it back to your territory?"

"Heck with that," she said.

"I'm going with you at least to the beach. That's where my people will be. Don't worry about this girl."

"We need to prepare for the defense as well," said Fransisca.

"If a clear radio signal is what you require, our transmitter on the roof of the building is functional, and quite powerful."" Tell me about it," muttered Therza just loud enough for Cole to hear. He suppressed a smirk, remembering the woman complaining about LouixCorp jamming up the airwaves with religious propaganda.

"Roger that," said Cole.

"Let's head up."" Good luck!" called Hex-core Elliot. The bots under his control were moving as well." I'll keep this place safe." LouixCorp had maintained a functioning elevator, and Fransisca gave them priority on it. The freight lift was just big enough to accommodate Cole's team, Therza, and three automaton marksmen that Clockwork Elliot had brought along in tow. But before they could board, several LouixCorp soldiers came up to them with small canisters.

"The HBL discharge from the demons in the train tunnels. What of it that we could spare," said Fransisca.

"Take it. The rest of the parts and ammunition are still being collected, but much of it is critical to Elliot Werner's bound automatons." Howie clicked his teeth.

"Hell. I'd forgotten all about how much loot probably dropped in that damn tunnel with all those bugs we blew up. Who knows what we missed out on down there."

"Bigger fish," said Cole.

"Maybe they'll drop something even better," said Roxy. They boarded the elevator and the motors whined as the platform began to lift. They rode in silence for several floors until Therza broke it.

"I know you're not here to save us," she said, meeting Cole's eyes.

"I know that you're extra-dimensional aliens, not angels. And I know that your mission here isn't to defeat Hextant. I won't say anything to Fransisca""You're right. Thank you for not ratting us out to LouixCorp on that front," said Cole. Clockwork Elliot looked at them." It's not?" he asked.

"What is it?"" You," said Roxy, nudging his metallic body." Oh. Awwwwkward," said Elliot. Cole couldn't help it. He snorted, which got most of the rest of the team going. All the tension that had been mounting finally blew open the valve. Sometimes it was all you could do in a shitty situation." I think the dreadnaught is here for me, too,"said Elliot." Hextant knows I'm a threat. He's not going to stop."

"I figured as much," said Cole. The elevator continued to climb until it let them out at the level below the roof access. They climbed the rest of the way, pushing out into the chilly night air. The rooftop gave them a view all the way to the western edge of the city and beyond. The dreadnaught had closed enough distance to be plainly visible off the coast of the city. It looked more like a bulk cargo ship than a warship, albeit one with two massive pontoons.

Flashes along its bow sent shells toward the city, impacting defensive positions that occasionally spat a rocket or an artillery spell back. Flying transport craft and amphibious assault craft moved toward the waterline about five kilometers to the LouixCorp bunker's west, taking fire from the city as they approached. Some of the air assault vehicles were already heading back to the dreadnaught, having dropped their automaton loads into the city.

"Christ on a cracker," said Roxy.

"Fuck that thing."

"Agreed," said Cole.

"Alexa, work with Elliot. See if you can get us a line."" Hold up,"said Elliot. He moved to the rooftop radio system and began fiddling." I knew that HAM operator license would come in handy someday. You got a decoder?" Alexa pulled out her long-range radio and the cables, clipping them into the ports on clockwork Elliot's chest.

"This feels dirty, somehow," she said.

"Keep it in your pants," said Roxy. Elliot giggled." Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. But, yeah, this is weird. Hey, wait, I'm getting something! I think we're up." Alexa snapped her fingers and pointed to the handset radio. Cole took it and keyed the transmitter." Hamilton, Airborne, radio check." Elliot's voice scrambled for a moment, turning to static and then turning to the rough, tinny treble of an Army radio." Airborne, that you?" came Major Beauregard's voice from the clockwork familiar's speaker."

Got you lima-charlie, son. What's your status?"

"We're objective one complete," he said, glancing at clockwork Elliot. Sort of.

"We're ready for extraction, but I've got eyes on this hex core naval dreadnaught coming to wreck up the place. It might complicate things."" How good are your eyes, son?" asked Beauregard.

"I'm staring straight at it, sir," said Cole.

"We're on top of a tower five klicks east of the beachhead."" Good. Because we got through to Bricker with your last report and boy did that stir up a hornet's nest in Washington. Hexighast is now a priority-one world with some heavy support inbound. Standby to copy new orders." Howie pumped his fist in the air. Besson and Roxy both looked relieved. Cole couldn't keep the grin off his own face.

"Send it, sir."