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Chapter 53 (YEAR 2052)
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Games of Invictus Chapter 54 (YEAR 2052)
Report: Quinn The interior of a dropship. Three-hundred feet above sea level. International airspace. Seventy minutes later our dropship was once again cruising over the Russian countryside. A massive, concrete dam dominated the eastern horizon, watching over a winding riverbed like a silent guardian. The once-pristine river was a dry trench in the ground, dividing the landscape in half. On the south bank of the river sat a farm, an old agricultural center abandoned years ago. A field of various crops swayed in the breeze, now too overgrown and irradiated to be remotely safe to eat. A small farmhouse sat abandoned next to a ring of rusting metal silos. The northern shore of the river was home to the Stalnoy mining district, a patchwork grid of rusty metal depots and tall buildings slicing into the sky. Two bridges jutted out of the district like arms, clutching the opposite side of the river. Crumbling concrete ramps lead down towards the riverbed at various intervals, boat laun
Games of Invictus Chapter 55 (YEAR 2052)
A short time later my Crusader landed on its feet, stumbling slightly in the dry soil of the drained riverbed. Dust flew up around me, a small sandstorm's worth to any human nearby. Three other plumes of dust and three ready signals told me the rest of the squad had touched down in their mechs unharmed. This wasn't like the infiltration of the Lighthouse powerplant. We weren't hiding anymore. If there were enemies, they were likely now alerted to our position. It would be an all-out battle. I rotated my Crusader's body, trying to get a feel for the British mech. Its large shield hung at my side, ready to defend me at the push of a button. This particular Crusader came equipped with two bulbous plasma launchers, the same weapon I had used on my Prowler. At least I was comfortable with the mech's weapons, if not the Crusader itself. My heads-up display flashed blue as my Crusader's cameras scanned the barren landscape. Because, unlike Moscow, there was very little radioactive inter
Games of Invictus Chapter 56 (YEAR 2052)
Report: Quinn The west coast of Russia. An abandoned mining facility. Designation: Stalnoy It felt like a shove to the back. My head almost hit my control panel as my entire mech tipped backward. My saving grace was my shield, which helped to counterbalance me and stop the wall of shrapnel that flew my way. A wave of flame swept over me, the heat stifling even inside my insulated command capsule. The mech had been a bomb. Axion had built a bomb. How could the mech's pilot survive that? The answer made me sick. Nobody was supposed to survive that. Project Apollo was the Iron War's first true suicide mech. Dust choked my vision, chunks of riverbed turned into a fine mist by the blast. I scanned the area, ready for an attack that never came. To my right, a rock the size of a truck was embedded in the soil, unearthed by the blast and pushed along the riverbed like a curling stone. It glowed red, matching the colour of the front of my shield, and was the only discerning feature in a
Games of Invictus Chapter 57 (YEAR 2052)
The district was a jumble of buildings, some squat, flat warehouses and others high-rises of gleaming glass and steel. The center of the mining district was divided by yet another set of bridges. These short, wide platforms had once been used to transport raw ores across an emergency drainage channel in the days when the swift river was a source of worry. The emergency channel below the bridges, like the river itself, was empty, long dried out when the dam had been closed. Now those bridges served to divide something else. They divided us from our enemy. I was certain that there were many more Apollo left-more suicide mechs ready to wipe us off the face of the planet. Ironically, our biggest advantage against the enemy was Harlow's constant bragging. "Feeling rattled, Quinn?" Harlow crooned. "I should hope so. That explosive power was made for busting bunkers. Each Apollo can overcharge their reactor with the force of an anti-tank mine!" That confirmed my suspicions. More Apollo w
Games of Invictus Chapter 58 (YEAR 2052)
My Crusader staggered, nearly toppling, as a flameless explosion buffeted me backwards. "What the hell?" I gasped. "They were nowhere near me! What hit me?" "I don't know," Kitt replied. The fear in his voice was tangible. "It looked like the air itself struck your shield!" None of the Apollo had moved an inch closer, yet I'd been hit by something like a small explosion. How? "You assumed the Apollo was a short-range mech, didn't you?" Harlow gloated. "But you forgot that self-destruction is not its intended purpose! The Apollo is a giant air compressor, intaking massive quantities of air and jettisoning it in one blast. Venting the air through the reactor creates a fireball of oil vapour, but if it's used as intended the attack is invisible!" "He's shooting us with compressed air?" Kedrick gasped. The Apollo stared me down, unwavering. Now that Harlow had so helpfully gloated about it, I could see two small circular vents on each Apollo's front. Those had to be the source of the
Games of Invictus Chapter 59 (YEAR 2052)
I watched in horror as Kedrick's command capsule shot into the sky. So much for plan B. "Oh Jax," a mocking singsong voice crooned, "we have unfinished business!" "Harlow is here!" Kitt shouted. "How did a mech that large sneak up on me?" "Doesn't matter," I replied. "Taewi, see if you can keep him busy. I'll try to lose these Apollo!" The remaining six Apollo were closing in on my position. They were getting smarter, herding me in the direction they wanted by advancing on me from different sides. Every so often a mech would drop back and fire a shot or two of compressed air, keeping me from travelling in one direction for too long. "Jax!" Alyx shouted. "Swing down the closest street to the edge of the district. Lay 'em out and I'll blast a few away!" "But the Legion!" I protested. "If you step out of cover to shoot it'll take you out!" "No time, Jax!" Alyx roared. "My Lynx can take a lick or two, if not I'll just come back in something bigger!" "Harlow's headed your way!" Taew
Games of Invictus Chapter 60 (YEAR 2052)
In the distance, the roaring sound of the Apollo grew closer. Far below me, my Crusader's shield was missing, blown off by Harlow's assault. My mech had collapsed like a felled tree, breaking through many of the upper storeys of the skyscraper behind it. The building's many floors had halted my descent and held me somewhat upright, trapped between Harlow and a hard place. A few hundred yards away, three Apollo rounded the corner of a nearby city block. To my delight, not one of them slowed down to fire an air bullet. They were going to overcharge. Harlow's Goliath released its crushing pressure on my Crusader, taking a step back from my battered mech. "There," Harlow announced, "now you're not going anywhere! With your mech pushed into the side of this building, it's effectively immobile! Now if you'll excuse me, I'll retreat to a safe distance to watch the fireworks." Harlow's Goliath began to stomp away from me, walking backwards in the direction of his approaching allies. Harlo
Games of Invictus Chapter 61 (YEAR 2052)
I folded the piece of paper into a more manageable shape and tucked it into the chest pocket of my jumpsuit. I would have to show it to Mallet when I returned to the Firmament-this was the start of something big, I just knew it. The only exit to the crumbling stairwell was a half-buried metal door, similar to the one I had thrown myself through about three storeys upstairs. I gave the door a solid push, and when it didn't budge I was ready to hammer against it before I noticed the handle. The door had to be pulled inwards, but its usual path was filled with bits of stone and debris. Clearing the rubble away from the door was simple but stressful-with every stone I moved I became more aware of the huge amount of rock just barely suspended above my head. Eventually, I managed to clear enough of a path for the door to swing inwards a bit. I darted out of the stairwell the instant I could fit through the gap. I found myself in a dingy basement-clearly I had fallen farther than I had a
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