Iron Empire

Twenty-Six: Trust Issues

My new comms headset was clasped tightly over my left ear as I fell from the sky. It crackled as I adjusted the frequency until I began to hear voices from my team clearly.

Since I'd escaped the first explosion my right ear had been ringing, but now it was completely silent.

I tapped the microphone that hung in front of me with my hand and spoke out loud.

"One two, one two, anybody getting this?"

My voice sounded muted behind the earpiece, but the others got it loud and clear. Several sighs of relief echoed across the airwaves.

"You're lucky Lucas was there to grab you," Taewi chuckled, "or you'd be a pancake right now!"

"Lucas?" I intoned. "I got picked up by some mystery woman! She gave me back the Prowler!"

Silence for a few moments, punctuated only by the jerking sensation of my mech touching down.

"Jax, did you hit your head?" Kedrick sounded genuinely concerned.

"He's not kidding," Alyx gasped, "the Prowler just landed. Is that...a new paint job?"

"Honestly," I replied, "I'm as confused as you are."

My HUD blinked into existence and I took in the warzone that Stalnoy had become.

Several Apollo still remained and, despite their disorganized methods, were still desperately holding their own.

Most of my squad was holed up around a loading dock at the western edge of the mining district, using the large structures nearby as cover.

"Alright Jax," Taewi began, "here's an update."

As he spoke I took off running toward the sounds of weapon fire in the distance.

"I think we can handle the remaining Apollo mechs, but that Legion on the dam is giving us trouble," Taewi informed me. "Could you take care of it for us?"

I grinned and changed course.

"On it."

To the distant east, I could just make out the Legion standing vanguard on the lower retaining wall of the dam. The imposing concrete structure dominated the grey horizon, impossible to miss. It had to be almost one hundred storeys tall!

Fortunately for me, the Legion stood not at the top, but at the bottom of the dam, atop a fifty-meter high sluice gate that spanned the diameter of the dam's base. Inaccessible from the mining district to the north, the top of the sluice gate was only reachable from the farmland that occupied the south side of the river.

My path wasn't an easy one. While the mining district was a jumble of buildings perfect for cover, the old riverside farm was scarcely more than an overgrown field dotted with grain silos and a single four-storey warehouse.

While each silo and the barn were large enough for me to hide behind, I was doubtful that they would provide adequate protection from more than two or three shells.

I had about seven seconds of stealth to keep the Legion's howitzer cannons off my back, but after that I was vulnerable. My only advantage for the moment was that the Legion was focused on Alyx' Grendel and not me.

A shot whizzed over my head and I sighed. So much for not being noticed. I supposed that my new crimson paint job didn't exactly make me harder to see.

"Okay, I have his attention," I declared, "but you guys need to keep those Apollo mechs occupied."

"Oh, don't worry," Alyx grunted. An explosion from somewhere in the mining district caused a bit of feedback over the comms. "We can handle them."