Into the Void

Chapter 28

Nate was awoken by a booming call from Onyx, followed by a long burst of laser fire. He scrambled out of the tent, grabbing his repeater and pulling on his helmet as he stepped out into the darkness. He stood and ran towards Onyx just as a long stream of bullets hammered into the war machine, sending flakes of armour raining to the ground, and forcing the Construct to his knees. Onyx sprang back to his feet and snapped off a series of shots from his heavy laser pistol, the long bolts of ruby light reflecting off  the metal carapaces of several drones. Nate slid into a crouch and fired into the trees, sending puffs of smoke and steam rising into the night. Damon dove out of tent and joined the battle, lobbing a small grenade high into the air. The grenade exploded into a slowly drifting ball of sputtering white light, illuminating the forest and revealing at least ten drones closing on their position.

Nate snapped off a pair of shots before ducking behind a log, sending one of the drones to the forest floor in a heap. Laser beams filled the air, slapping into the snow around them and sending bursts of steam curling into the air. Onyx stood tall, defiantly weathering the storm of incoming fire, lasers glancing off his armour. Onyx fired a pair of rockets into the treeline sending lethal clouds of shrapnel scything through the drones. Damon crouched behind a thorn bush on the other side of Onyx, sending long streams of laser fire streaming through the forest from his short barreled carbine. Nate ducked as a beam seared the air to the left of his helmet. Keeping his head low, he rested the barrel of the laser repeater on the log firing blindly. He peeked back up over the log just in time to see an insectoid drone leaping towards him. He scrambled backwards but the drone caught him in the chest, knocking him flat and pinning him to the ground. A spiny footed leg dug into his left arm slicing through the toughened fabric of his Exo-Suit. He dropped the laser repeater and struck with his right arm, his alloy fist slamming into the drones steel hide with a high ringing sound. The drones armour dented under the blow and it staggered back slightly. He struck again, striking the drone with all of his enhanced strength, pain sensors flared across his knuckles as armour buckled and broke under his fist. The drone rolled off of him, limping away. Nate scrambled to his feet and picked up the laser repeater, firing a burst through the drone and leaving it dying in the snow.

A crimson beam leapt out of the night, burning through the remaining scraps of his armour, and knocking him off his feet, burning through his exo-suit and flash boiling the flesh underneath. A jet of steam exploded out through the hole in his exo-suit sending a mist of blood and chunks of flesh splattering across the snow. Nate rolled into cover, screaming. Clutching his wounded shoulder, he saw Onyx fold under another stream of bullets, the heavy rounds punching through his armour plating. Onyx fell to one knee and fired another pair of rockets into the forest. Before the rockets detonated, Onyx surged to his feet, flicking the heavy blade out of his forearm and charging the enemy lines. Nate gritted his teeth and leaned up over the log, firing on full auto into the cluster of drones as Onyx charged.

A pair of drones wilted under the torrent of fire. Nate held the trigger in, watching as the ammunition counter on his heads up display spun down to zero. He fumbled to load another power cell into the repeater. Damon sent a trio of precise shots into the treeline downing three drones who were retreating from Nate. Onyx slammed into a bipedal drone standing in the rear line of the drone’s formation, armour buckled under his weight and he slammed his heavy blade up into the drone’s chassis, lifting the machine off its feet and sending a river of sparks pouring out of its chest. Damon sent another trio of shots into a second bipedal drone, melting its left knee to dripping slag. Onyx threw the dead drone off of his blade and into its comrade, bowling the machine over, and emptying his laser pistol into the falling machine. Nate sent another long burst towards the remaining drones, driving them further out of cover while Damon carefully placed shots into each one. As the last drones lay dying, Nate looked down at his left arm. The entire side of his exo-suit was slick with blood and the shoulder was a scorched mass of shredded meat.