“Okay” said Emma, “We should definitely do some more quick checks and then we should be good to go. As long you think you're ready Auton, most of this is your show”.
Auton showed Emma a thumbs up that Mateo had taught him, so she guessed that was that. She set off to do the last few diagnostics on the craft, calling over Mateo for his assistance with the software. In the background the video feed continued, the two resistance fighters looking across at the city below them, plumes of smoke dotted around.
THE RESISTANCE
“Jacob” shouted the fighter with the camera feed, to which his colleague turned around.
“What?”
“What is the mist-like thing over there” he said pointing to a nearby park.
“Could be more Nano-bots” Jacob replied, “Although it's hard to tell from here”
Below them in the park they could see sporadic gunfire bursting out and a hazy blanket of something swooping towards the shots. More shots rang out, along with spine-chilling screams and a blanket of mist cutting straight through the fighters below them, their bodies sprinkled to the floor like ashes.
“Holy shit Haziq” Jacob shouted back to the camera man, “Did you see that?”
He certainly did, and he didn't want to see something like that again. He doubled back a little, Jacob following him.
“Where are you going?” He asked.
“I'm getting to a safer location, we stand out like a beacon up here” Haziq replied.
They descended the hill slightly and settled in a sheltered spot covered discreetly with bushes and blossoming trees. Further down the hill they could still see and hear signs of carnage, indiscriminate cries, aimless bullets being fired, and then moments of silence before it repeated again. There was another bomb blast, much louder than all the others, much closer to where they were. They peered down from where they were to see that the blast had occurred at the foot of the hill they were on, targeting a building below. The blanket from the park changed its direction and moved towards where the bomb had detonated, too close to them for comfort.
“Shit, we need to move back” Jacob said, turning and darting back in the direction they had originally come from.
Haziq followed, taken by surprise and lagging behind a bit, especially as he was carrying more weapons than Jacob was. They raced around the hill to get to the far side, passing a few people who immediately spun their heads around to process them, giving them an intense emotionless stare that felt like it was searing into their souls. They both knew what this meant, they had been spotted and someone would soon be coming for them. It had changed from a surveillance mission to another getaway mission, so they grabbed their weapons ready for any onslaught. The three staring people began to chase them, like loyal obedient servants, someone else pressing the buttons in what was left of their minds. They lunged forward in a co-ordinated hysteria, turning themselves into human battering rams. Jacob and Haziq were too quick off the mark for them and their weapons let out a rush of ammunition that turned each of them from a human battering ram to a splattering ram, muddled screams penetrating the surrounding space and rolling down the hill.
Jacob and Haziq continued their journey, their legs trembling down the steep slope as they tried to get to cover as quickly as they could. They heard a sound behind them, an electric buzzing sound and glanced back to see the blanket of robots thrusting themselves towards them. They passed more people that were running up the side of the hill towards them. They had to keep running to get to the bottom, to a small entrance that led them to a series of underground tunnels. They could block the entrance by collapsing it with a rocket from the inside. This was the way they had got in, the tunnels leading eventually to their underground base through a selection of switch backs and false doors. It would take all their might to do it, but they knew it was their only chance now they had been spotted.
The 'Mind-controlled' that were running up the steep slope seemed to develop superhuman speed and were almost on top of them within seconds. A quick fire of a few well-placed rounds tore their bottom limbs from them, causing them to drop face down onto the ground, their confused and pain-riddled faces chewing on soggy grass. The buzzing got louder and louder, the tunnel entrance closer and closer. Haziq turned, pulling a new weapon out, launching a missile straight at the blanket in front of them. It tore through the centre, sparks of ex-Nano-bots fizzling to the floor, the rest of them continuing on with their deadly pursuit. It gave them crucial seconds to get a few feet further ahead, the blanket of tiny robots reconfiguring itself into a new fatal flying tapestry. A few unfortunate people who had been thrown into the chase against their will were flipped into human jigsaws as the Nano-bots sliced their death-blanket through the air towards the resistance.
Behind them two more resistance fighters appeared from the tunnels, guns blazing, the rounds streaking past Jacob and Haziq and exploding into the blanket behind them. More fizzles and sparks lit the air, leaving only a few Nano-bots left to try and carve up Jacob and Haziq into bite-size portions. With another roar of fire, the remaining Nano-bots were fused into sizzling metal fragments and they dropped to the ground. The remaining 'Mind-Controlled' that had been forced into a confrontation were there one minute, gone the next, the cavalries high-powered weaponry literally making mince-meat of them.
“Damn, we weren't expecting backup, thanks guys” Haziq shouted jubilantly.
“Orders from base camp, we need to get out now, come on” one of the cavalry shouted motioning them back to
