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opted to return home first to salvage some precious knickknack, or make
certain that family or friends had already departed; and then there were the
diehards who simply refused, and the thrill-seekers who lived for this sort of
thing. And it was these last groups that the Bioroids moved against,
fulfilling the directives of the Masters to capture as many Micronians as
possible. Unseen by Dana and the rest of the 15th, and as yet unreported by
the Civil Defense networks, the Bioroids were engaged in a novel form of
looting: using their massive metalshod fists to smash through the walls of
dwellings and shops, and grab in those same hands whatever Human stragglers
they could find, often unknowingly crushing them to death before returning
them to the troop carriers.
Ultimately the Bioroids entered the canyons of downtown and found the
15th waiting for them.
Sean said, "Heads up, folks, here they come!"
"Have any bright ideas, Louie?" the sarge asked.
"Yeah, I do," the corporal answered, ignoring Dante's sarcasm. "If you
aim to either side of the cockpit, you can temporarily paralyze the pilot."
"Now why the hell would I want to do that, Nichols?!" Dante bellowed.
Dana cut into the tac net. "Angelo, just do as he says-it's important,"
she announced cryptically. "We've got to try to avoid hitting the pilots
directly."
"Whose side are you on?" Dante got out just in time.
The Bioroids loosed plasma bolts from their Hoverplatforms top-mounted
guns as they approached, one of the first shots finding Dante's mecha; the
explosion threw the Hovertank fifty feet from its position in the center of
the street, but the sergeant rode it out, reconfiguring to Gladiator mode
during the resultant back flip and swinging the cannon around for a
counterstrike. Dana had also reconfigured her mecha. She hopped the
self-propelled gun over to Dante's new resting place, just as the sergeant
blew one of the Bioroids from the air.
"Angelo, listen to me-I want you to try to shoot down their Hovercraft
first."
"What are you up to, Lieutenant?" he fired back at her.
"Once you've got 'em off their Hovercraft,". Dana went on, "shoot at
their legs and put `em out of commission." She was trying her best to make
this sound appealing to Dante, but she could just imagine his face, screwed up
in anger under the helmet.
The Bioroids were coming in low now, not more than ten yards off the
ground, Bowie, Sean, and Louie a barricade they'd never get past. The 15th
trio blew the Hoverplatforms out from under the attackers, even as explosions
rocked the street all around them. Bioroids fell with ground-shaking crashes,
while others decided to leap from their crafts and take up positions in
recessed doorways and storefronts. Downtown became a war zone as both sides
pumped pulsed fire through the streets. The sides of highrise buildings
collapsed and cornices and friezes crumbled to the cratered street. Glass
rained down in deadly slivers from windows blown out high above the fighting.
Dana ordered her team to reconfigure from Gladiator to Battloid for
possible hand-to-hand encounters.
The street and surrounding area was pure devastation now, but the enemy
had been held at the 15th's line. No one bothered to ask what the aliens were
looking for, or where they hoped to get. Still in Battloid mode, the squad
headed for the cover and continued to trade salvos with the entrenched group
who had taken the far end of the avenue. Once again, Dana reminded them to go
for the legs and not the cockpits. But this time Sean took issue with her.
"They can still blast us if we do that," he pointed out. "We've gotta
take a chance and aim at an area near those cockpits, Lieutenant."
"They're androids, damn it, androids!" Angelo yelled over the net.
"I'm convinced they're not, Sergeant!"
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"Well what's the difference whether they're androids or clones?!" Dante
said as debris from a shattered store sign fell on him. He thought his
Battloid through a front leap that took him clear across the street. "They're
still shooting at us!"
"We've got to capture one!"
Without warning, a Bioroid appeared behind Dana's mecha and loosed a
blast at her. She spun but not in time. Fortunately Angelo saw the move and
managed to take the thing out, slugs from his chaingun tearing open the
enemy's cockpit.
"So much for leg shots," Dante said.
"That's one I owe you," Dana responded tight-lipped.
Bioroids had taken to the rooftops and were pouring everything they had
into the street. Troop carriers were dropping in to assist, and things quickly
took a turn for the worse.
"We'll never be able to hold them!" Sean said, voicing what all of them
were thinking.
But just as suddenly, the battle began to reverse itself, through no
effort of the 15th. The Bioroids were returning to their Hoverplatforms and
making for the scarab ships, seemingly in retreat.
Dante said as much over the net and ranged in the Trojan Horse's forward
viewfinder. One of the Bioroids had a civilian clutched in its hand. Dante
turned and found another-the civilian limp, probably dead. Everywhere he
looked now, he saw the same scene.
"They're taking hostages!" he told Dana. Traversing his cannon, he took
aim on one of the Bioroids, muttering to himself, "You're a goner now,
buddy..."
But Dana positioned her Battloid in front of him, preventing a clear
shot at his target.
"Angelo, stop! You'll kill the hostage-"
Two Bioroids blew the words from her, with shots that would have thrown
her face-forward to the ground had Dante not been there to catch her.
"That's two I owe you," she said with some effort.
They both dropped their Battloids into a crouch and returned fire. Many
of the Bioroids were left without Hovercraft and were obviously bent on going
down fighting. There would be no captives here, just a scrap pile of mecha and
android parts.
Dana did manage to blow the legs out from under one of their number, but
a second later the thing seemed to self-destruct. And when they did that,
there weren't even parts left, just memories.
Further down the street the troop carriers were lifting off. The 15th
was pinned down, unable to stop them. Still other carriers were landing close
in to the fighting, picking up troops who would have been abandoned. Could
they be getting short of firepower, Dana wondered?
The 15th pushed their line forward and took two more city blocks from
the dwindling number of enemy troops. Then ultimately they found themselves
firing on the carriers themselves as they were lifting off, presumably
returning to the fortress.
"There they go," Dante said, laying his weapon aside. "I wonder what
they're planning to do with all those hostages?"
"That's a good question, Sergeant," said Bowie.
"Yeah, a real good question," said Sean. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]