Each had a center section with a small, clear window for the pilot. The inside of the machine was illuminated a soft blue, and the pilots wore a helmet with wires sticking out of it. My first thought was that they were wearing haptic suits, the kind that provided tactile, audio, and visual feedback for the user. But they wouldn't need a window if that were the case. I needed a closer look.
I waited for another ladar scan to pass, and just when I was ready to take another look, Skrew crawled across the gap between our boxes. I’d never seen a vrak crawl before. Instead of using their knees like humans did, they just used their lower sets of hands. It was a lot more efficient and probably less painful.
I didn’t scold him because I didn’t want him to turn around and go back. There’d be no way he would make it in time.
Once he got to me and took cover behind the box, he whispered, “Jacob not worry. Skrew has plan. They are vrak. Big plan. Mean plan.”
I had no idea what that meant, but his toothy grin told me he was confident. So, I nodded and waited to see what he would do.
Skrew waited until another ladar scan passed and crawled away from the box before disappearing around the side of the control booth. After another pass, he popped his head up, saw me through the bars, and waved happily. I shrugged. Either his plan would work, or I’d fight a few mech.
“Ninny-headed losers!” The voice echoed through the whole garage. The pounding of the mech feet stopped. It was replaced by the whirring of motors and opening of hatches.
“Dumb poo-eaters! Yours mothers eat poo, too!”
One of the mech pilots activated an external speaker with an electrical snap and responded. “Dum-dum speaks bad of mother! Come out! Surrender, dum-dum!”
“Ooooh,” Skrew hissed, “guard’s mother so ugly, look like human butt!”
The mech pilot gasped into his microphone. A moment later, I heard the sound of another, smaller motor and a hatch opening. It was followed by the hiss of a rocket being launched and an explosion powerful enough to make my ears ring and my balance lurch.
I chanced a peek around the corner and discovered a cloud of dust and vaporized rock filling the room. From what I could see, one pilot was screaming at the other pilot—probably the one who’d almost brought the entire building and thousands of tons of dirt down on top of all of us. The third, instead of watching their backs, stood there stupidly, as though he was waiting for something.
I caught Reaver’s eye and motioned for her to move forward. She nodded, found a better position, and moved, silent as a mouse.
Beatrix had been watching our exchange. I gave her the same hand and arm signal, hoping she would understand. She did and found a better position closer to the mechs.
I made my way back to the central console, hoping there was enough of the right kind of tech to shut down at least one of the mechs before we had to fight the other two. If there was, I hoped Skrew knew how to operate it.
The mechs, meanwhile, had settled their differences and were actively scanning the room.
“Guards not change password,” Skrew whispered. “Dum-dums not know Skrew. Great fun! Skrew find defense system, payment system—oh, Skrew rich now—radio system, monitor—”
“Defense system?” I whispered.
Skrew nodded and gently clapped two of his hands together.
“Can we use it against them?”
He frowned. “No, is for walls. Skrew turned off defense for walls. Now can escape. No escape before. But can now.”
That was good news. I was glad I hadn’t strangled, drowned, shot, or pulled the head off the looney vrak.
“Skrew loves to button push.” He tapped a thumb against his chest. “Know lots of the things. Smart with the stuff.”
He wasn’t wrong, but if we didn’t make it out of the garage, it wouldn’t make a difference if the wall defenses were down or not. If we died here, we’d never see the wall. It was time to fight.
I held a finger up to my lips and whispered for him to be quiet before sneaking out of the control room.
After a ladar scan passed, I moved forward to a box closer to the mechs, who were almost halfway across the room. Their thundering footsteps caused a block to fall somewhere near the far end. All three spun at their waist to address the sound. It was my time to move, but as I started to rise, there was a new sound.
I ducked as a hoverbike flew over my head and crashed into something nearby. I couldn’t see what it had plowed into, but I could hear it and smell the smoke. I caught a glimpse of Beatrix as she rolled to safety behind a storage box. She was smiling, and when I looked around the corner of my own cover, a mech was lying on its back with the remains of a hoverbike sticking out of its cockpit. There was no way the pilot had survived. If anyone cared enough to recover his body, they’d have to use a turkey baster and a sponge.
The other two mechs deployed hand-held miniguns from compartments near their shoulders.
I charged the closest one, staying low and moving fast. The mech must have had proximity sensors, because just before I got within slashing distance, it raised an energy shield that deflected my strike. Ebon sapped some of the power from it, but the shield recovered quickly.
Getting through would mean hitting the construct until Ebon punched through it. Suddenly, the mech furthest from me turned 30 degrees to its right and opened up with its minigun. At the same time, the nearer mech started firing a dotted line down the carved stones toward the center of my chest.
I tucked Ebon against my forearm and jumped clear of the stream of enemy fire.
