Emmett crouched low on the roof, more out of habit than necessity. The scrubbing protocol hid him from the drones circling above, and cloaking hid him from the biomech patrol walking down the street.
He stared down at the approaching patrol. Emmett was four stories in the air, but it didn't feel very high up anymore—especially not when the giant hec unit was a little over two stories tall. The two sec units walked on either side of it, while the three small rec units scurried like pets beneath the hec unit's feet.
While Emmett waited for his moment, he tracked Athena and the second squad of biomechs in his HUD map. Athena was walking up to the target's front door now. She would use nanites to pick the lock and let herself in, then relay the situation to Dimitri and his family.
If everything went well, they would be ready to go by the time Emmett took down the two patrols.
"At the door," Athena said through the comms. There was a click as nanites opened the lock. "Letting myself in..."
Athena entered the house and began talking with someone. Emmett was vaguely aware of the confusion and conversation that followed, but he mentally pushed it aside and focused on his part.
Just as expected, the biomech patrol stopped on Emmett's corner and turned down the street. In a few more minutes, they would be at Dimitri's house and taking him into custody.
They would never get the chance.
Emmett leapt off the building. It was a short fall to the top of the heavy mech. Emmett landed with a dull clang. A first layer of nanites sloughed off his suit. They dug into divots and tiny imperfections in its armor, anchoring Emmett to the surface like velcro.
The next layer of nanites was already streaming off Emmett and through the gaps in the mech's armor. They would go after the hec unit's circuitry, cutting off its weapons and major systems.
They'd run hundreds of simulations of how to take down heavy biomechs. Emmett's fusion rifle could take off smaller weapons, and given enough time, it could melt through their hull. Both Clara's fusion blast and Athena's blades had similar outcomes. The problem was, they never had enough time to get through the hull. As soon as the main guns targeted them, it was game over.
Nanites weren't the flashiest solution, but it was hard to argue with their effectiveness. Why spend minutes trying to crack through heavy armor plates when nanites could slip inside and melt the wires in a few seconds?
One day, Emmett would use the same principle to take down heavy drones... but he fully expected something made by Dr. Venture to be harder to crack.
Not that the hec unit was completely defenseless. Its armor flashed as high voltage electrical current passed through it. Anyone else would've been thrown across the block, but Emmett's suit and prosthetics were insulated. The smell of ozone hung in the air.
The heavy mech lurched, trying to throw Emmett off of it, but he held fast. The mech hummed, one of its generators revving up for another electrical discharge.
It never got the chance.
The heavy mech groaned and finally froze. Its internals groaned and whined a second longer before they gave out too. Emmett pulled back as many nanites as he could.
NANITES 285% CAPACITY
By now, the smaller sec and rec units were coming after him. The twin sec units fanned out so that they could target him from the street, while the three small rec units clambered up their lifeless brethren and up the nearby building.
Emmett had already unslung and leveled his rifle. Kinetic blasts were more than enough for both of them. The twin sec units didn't even get a shot off before kinetic blasts shattered them. Rec units faired similarly—
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Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)
Science FictionFor this cyborg, power is just an upgrade away. Emmett was used to being caught between college and his engineering internship, but when he gets caught between a powerful hero and an even stronger villain, he becomes collateral damage. Instead of d...
