The Legionary stood like a great rugged statue, its weapon pressed tightly against its plated chest. Beady eyes scanned the shadowy dunes surrounding the land tank from behind its helmet, never once breaking focus. The Cabal were not allowed to break focus; they were punished severely for offences of that ilk, especially during current times of high alert after the breach in Psion data retrieval the day before last in a nearby factory. Command had taken that incident very seriously; the number of guards had been tripled.
The soldier's bones ached under the strain of its heavy armour; its neck was stiff from standing so upright; its hands were grazed from where it held its slug rifle tightly. This was the fourth consecutive Red-Day of its post on the East external boardwalk of Hometank IV. There was no rest; just sentry duty. Sometimes it wished for some mercy from the Empire - some sort of respite - but it understood that the Empire's goals were too important to allow for actions of improper conduct such as rest. The Legionary was grateful that this night was cool and silent.
As these thoughts passed through the sentinel's weary brain, so did something else. Something long, cold, and sharp.
The Legionary crumpled quietly to the crosshatched deck of the Land Tank, Cleo-9's curved knife protruding from the back of its helmet. She strutted up to her kill and recovered the blade, removing the coating of thick brown blood with her cape. At the same time two violent crunches were heard as Brazen and Jacob used their Arc and Void charged fists to eliminate a further two Cabal. Ghali brough up the rear, Plug One.1 at her eye, covering their deadly advance from behind. Pulling the Jigoku from his back, Jacob fired off two rounds, now both silenced and Arc charged by the energy Infuser he had calibrated and applied the previous day - with help from Silver, obviously. A Cabal Phalanx hit the ground with a thud, a whisp of black smoke where its head used to be. The Guardians, having cleared the Cabal in the immediate area, moved back into a diamond formation and continued along the Land Tank boardwalk.
At this proximity the great war machine was gargantuan; the Guardians had scaled a nearby mountain and leapt from a cliff face to merely board the thing. A sea of metal plating, ariels, vents, deck guns, and aircraft docks stretched out to the left of them for nearly a kilometer. Grey spires and huge control towers were strewn over the Tank's surface also, causing the hulking beast to look like a great armoured, spiked tortoise. It was an imposing sight; Jacob was wholly glad that the Cabal had not yet managed to land a tank on Earth. He felt uncomfortable being on board, he could feel the invisible tendrils of Darkness eminating from within, scratching away at his Light.
The team crept forward, keeping low behind Cabal barricades and equipment in order to avoid being seen. A number of patrols wandered the decks, though they all seemed to be blind to the Guardian presence. Noticing a small maintenance hatch, Brazen motioned towards it. He unlatched the grate and hefted it open, his hydraulic muscles straining under the weight. Holding it there, he allowed the other three Guardians to slip inside before swinging himself into the hole after them. Taking one last swift glance at the nearby patrols, who continued to be oblivious, he gently edged the hatch shut and disappeared from sight.
"Stage one complete," whispered Cleo as the Guardians crouched in the thin maintenance shaft they had found themselves in. The space must only have been about two meters wide, forcing them to crouch together. There were countless pipes and wires lining the walls all tinted with the trademark Cabal orange glow. Jacob could feel the heat they radiated through his armour.
"Stage two commencing. We must access the Cabal mainframe and eradicate the remainder of the data the Cabal have retrieved from the surrounding area; anything that Silver may have missed when she interrupted their data stream and wiped the cache. We should be able to do this from the bridge, but we will need to kill the Commander first."
"Should we maybe attempt to take him hostage instead? That way we might be able to force the Cabal to give us enough time to wipe the drives."
"No, that wouldn't work, Jacob. The Cabal don't care for hostages; if any of their numbers showed sufficient weakness to allow themselves to be taken hostage then they would storm the room and kill everyone without thinking, including the hostage. That's the Cabal way."
"Huh, never mind then."
"The Commander must be killed. It should be straightforward enough if all four of us work together and follow the plan. I believe the bridge will be exactly the same as every other tank bridge we have seen; fairly large and open with two entrance doors, one on either side. My plan is Ghali and I shall move in through the door on the left hand side, eliminate any guards near to us and move around the Commander, flanking him to the left and right, and catch him in crossfire. Jacob and Brazen will assault from the opposite door and kill any Centurions and Psions posted on the bridge, This will make it significantly easier to advance for the killing blow on the Commander. Once the Centurions, Psions, and guards are dead we shall all advance on the Commander and bring him down with heavy weaponry and grenades. Questions?"
"No questions."
"Good. Once the Commander is dead the Ghosts will begin to wipe the hard drives. If possible, we must try to delete the root system files which should destroy large amounts of data permanently and not simply the backup copies. Again, this should be fairly simple as the Cabal computers are not incredibly intricate or clever. If our mission here is successful it will result in a major blow to the Cabal of Opportunity's Belt and Freehold, and likely the rest of Mars."
Her explanation complete, Cleo-9 sat back on her heels and studied the Guardians around her for a few moments. Jacob crouched, poised, bobbing with anticipation. He held his modified Jigoku in his hand tightly. She was impressed by how quickly he had adapted to Guardian work and life in the tower and considered him an excellent addition to the Guardian ranks. Ghali crouched quietly, her demeanor dissimilar to her usual confident, brash self. She was quiet, but seemed contented. Cleo wondered if something had happened, perhaps between her and Jacob. Human emotion hardly interested her so she resigned the thought. Brazen knelt on the steel floor in a meditative position, a hulking mass in the tiny tunnel. He had replaced his usual scout or auto rifle with two large sidearm pistols strapped across his chest and the Chaperone hung from his waist, the chrome shotgun glinting in the orange light. His hands rested on his thighs as he lifted his head now that Cleo's plan had been delivered. Cleo did not consider Brazen-61 a friend as they had their differences, but he was an invaluable ally and she respected him. She smiled with content beneath her rounded grey helmet as she scanned her team. They were her team, after all; she had the most Martian experience and considered herself the leader for that reason - it was only logical.
Lifting herself into a half-standing position, she readied her hand cannon.
"Shall we, then?"
Turning, she began to make her way quickly down the slim shaft in a half-run with Brazen at her side. Jacob and Ghali brought up the rear, keeping close in the narrow space. All four Guardians were very much in anticipation of what was to come.
YOU ARE READING
Beneath Infinity
Science Fiction"There is perhaps no better a demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world." - Carl Sagan, 1995. In the distant future - beyond an age of gold, surpassing a dark fate - the soul of a young man is torn from t...
