Sector 1 zone 1.
“Are we ready for the operation?” asked a male voice from beneath a red face mask.
Four other people, all similarly dressed in dark clothing underneath light armor and with a red face mask, nodded as they checked their weapons.
They were all sitting inside of an old outdated hover-work-van that should have been scrapped long ago.
“I don’t like this plan… it seems too risky,” said a young female voice.
“They paid us too much money to ignore it, plus you know who they are. Even if we wanted to, we could not deny them this ‘request’,” said a second male voice.
“There is no point in waiting here any longer,” said the first voice as he looked at the time on his wrist-datapad. “Everyone out. Remember only speak common for this mission, no RSS.”
The van’s side door slammed open and the lightly armored group of five rushed out with their weapons held up at the ready as they rushed to the entrance of the nearby MagLev station.
Since it was early morning the station was just starting to come alive again as the morning and night shift workers were trying to get to work or returning home causing the grimy platform to be packed.
The five took a stance inside the entrance blocking the path of many trying to leave.
Bam!
A single shot was heard as the leader shot his rifle into the ceiling destroying one of the flickering lights causing sparks of electricity to repeatedly spray the area.
With the shot, they gained the attention of everyone on the platform. With everyone’s attention on them, the five aimed their weapons right at the civilians in front of them and slowly started to walk forward. The civilians were all like deer caught in the headlights as they watched the armed group approach them.
Bam!
“AH!”
A pained cry rang out as a random person was hit in the leg and fell to the ground.
Bang!
The entire station platform turned into chaos as the civilians pushed and shoved each other trying to escape the shooters. The only place they could escape to was the MagLev which was stopped at the station right now.
The five shooters continued to walk towards the MagLev while they kept shooting into the crowd.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
There was no rhyme or reason for who they shot. They just aimed at those who were in front of them. The only exceptions to this was for those that tried to escape being herded towards the MagLev which the group of five also boarded.
Now that the group of shooters was on the MagLev, everyone wanted off… but the doors all slammed shut and the MagLev shot off to its next destination, trapping everyone with the group of five killers.
***
“…over 50 people were killed in the attack and just as many if not more were wounded. Current reports are that it is only one person who is heavily armed. ERF has been given the task to assess the number of troubled suspects, rescue the civilians if possible, and gain control of the MagLev that has gone rouge,” said Tooth who was being broadcasted on the top right of Arron’s and the rest of the ERF teams helmet screens.
While listening to Tooth, Arron had been looking out the hover-copter’s door window as it zoomed through the city sky.
Arron, Kix, and Kat were the only three in the back of the hover-copter while the rest of the team headed out in vehicles for ground support.
“Don’t they have a kill switch for a situation like this? Why send us?” asked Kix as he continued to check his Light Exoskeleton which had recently received a few minor changes.
“The decision-makers fear that if they stop it at any of the stations or near a civilian or industry zone the possibility for an explosion is high which will cause too many problems for them. So they have decided to keep it running on a random loop for as long as they can. Plus there is a rumor that it was hacked, so they can’t do anything even if they wanted to. You have all been given new prototype jump-jet packs to test out for such a situation like this.”
“Wooo…” said Arron, not at all happy about strapping some untested item to his back.
The jump-jet pack that both Arron and Kat were wearing was smaller and more compact compared to the jet pack attached to Kix’s light exoskeleton which was larger and far more powerful since it was able to pull more juice from the exoskeleton’s power source.
“We’re nearing the target!” said the pilot over the hover-copter’s internal comms. “It’s moving at a fast speed so there will be no easy hover and drop like normal. We will have to keep the same speed with them.”
Arron, Kix, and Kat all finished their last checks and clipped a heavy line attached to their armored harness to the ring holes on the hover-copter.
The side doors of the hover copter slid open as it continued to speed forward and lowered its altitude to get as close to the speeding MagLev that was now just below it.
“This is the best you’re going to get,” grunted the pilot as he tried to keep the speeding hover-copter steady over the fast-moving MagLev.
Kix jumped out first and descended to the MagLev in only seconds. Arron was the next to hop out and as he descended he began swinging wildly as he was pushed back by the wind. He did not bother using the jetpack to stabilize his descent as he had tested too many ‘failed’ projects (although they were not publicly announced to be failures) already and knew of all the horrible ways something could fail miserably when needed the most.
He was just fine with the wildly swinging wired rope descent and successfully landed on the roof of the MagLev with a thud as he scrambled to activate the magnet grips in both his boots and gloves. At such high speeds that the MagLev was traveling the wind pushing against him was no joke.
When he was clamped down he looked up to watch Kat descend from the hover-copter. She was swinging even more wildly as the hover-copter had to make several adjustments.
As she slammed into the metal roof Arron had to reach out with one hand and grab her arm stopping her from sliding off the slick roof.
When he heard the buzzing clunk over the wind he knew that she had successfully activated the electric magnets in her armored boots and gloves.
“Thanks,” said a heavy-breathing Kat over the secure comms as she lay flat on the roof.
“Find a place to plug in and work your magic,” said Arron to Kat, before turning to Kix who was farther up ahead of them. “I will head to the rear to scan for the troubled suspects. Are you okay with checking the front Kix?”
“Fine with me,” said Kix as he started to clomp forward with his exoskeleton’s magnetic feet keeping him attached to the roof.
As Arron crawled towards the rear he made sure to turn his helmet’s heat scanning function on, allowing him to see through the roof of the MagLev into the cabins and scanning the people inside for any signs of the armed targets.
It was quite troublesome moving one magnetic limb at a time while trying to stay balanced with the wind pushing at him from behind. He was working up a good sweat from all this.
Over the comms, Arron heard Kix let out a cuss before saying, “Watch out!”
Arron’s back turned to Kix and was too slow in responding to the warning and was smacked in the back by a low-hanging sign that was just above the MagLev.
The sudden hard hit knocked him off his handhold on the roof and sent him tumbling back along the roof of fast-moving MagLev. His armor scraped and screeched against the roof as he slid back and started to slide off to the side of the roof.
Arron tried to regain a foothold but with all the tumbling and sliding he could not get his feet or hands to clamp down on the roof.
As he was falling off the roof and went airborne, in a last desperate act he activated the jetpack on his back.
The thrust from the jetpack was another brutal kick in the back and gut as he stopped falling backward and started to keep a wobbly but steady pace alongside the speeding MagLev.
The digital power gauge of the jetpack was displayed on his helmet’s screen and it was falling rapidly. Since this version had less juice he had to act quickly, luckily he was not as heavy as Kix in his exoskeleton so the jetpack had less need to compensate for that.
He fiddled with the jetpack controls and tried aiming to move back up to the rooftop.
As he shot back up into the air, the windows just underneath him shattered as bullets shot out hitting nothing but air.
With a loud thud on the rooftop, Arron was able to land back on the roof but he did not stop to catch his breath and calm his racing heart and instead used another jolting boost of the jump-pack to launch himself forward onto another carriage ahead of him as the roof he was just standing was riddled with bullets.
“I found them,” said a gasping Arron over the secure comms. For several seconds all he could do was cling to the roof with his heart beating at such a high rate from all that happened in such a short period.
The digital power gauge now showed he only had 10% left. If not for this jetpack he would have been nothing but a bloody mush on the ground for someone else to find. That was just another near-death experience he could put on his resume.
“You okay?” asked Kix as he heard Arron’s heavy breathing.
“Just peachy… Kat, how goes the hacking?”
“Already in, just typing up some stuff. Which carriage was it that you said they were in?”
Arron looked to the top of the carriage behind him and saw large lettering on it A-113, he used the heat scanning to make sure the targets were still in that place and counted five people with guns.
“A-113, and it is not one person that was reported. There are five people inside along with a dozen or so hostages.”
“Got it. Activating the code.”
KaThunk!
The carriage behind Arron detached from the main MagLev and started to slow down while its doors went into lockdown mode.
The main MagLev that Arron, Kix, and Kat were still on top of continued to shoot down the designated course.
“HQ this is ERF scout 1. The target carriage has been separated from the main MagLev and stopped near the tunnel system at these coordinates,” said Kix, sending the directions to Tooth.
“Affirmative, sending the rest of the team to that area. Make your way there and secure the area.”
With the full control of the MagLev, it was easy for Kat to stop the MagLev allowing them to slide off onto the ground.
Arron’s legs were a bit wobbly as he tried to stand straight. His body still felt like it was vibrating from the shaking and thunking of the MagLev and the fierce wind that was pushing at him just moments before.
Kat was in no better shape than Arron with Kix being the least affected.
“Remind me next time to ride the MagLev inside a carriage instead of on the roof,” joked Arron.
“I’m glad I didn’t eat a big meal before that I think I threw up in my helmet…” said Kat, as she continued to monitor the situation on the MagLev carriage that had been separated.
“You won’t be able to get out that way, just sit still and wait for us,” said Kat as she hacked into the broadcast system in the carriage and spoke directly to the trapped troubled suspects.
With the three of them regaining their land legs they set off at a fast jog running back down the MagLev tracks toward the halted carriage.
Due to how fast the main MagLev section was traveling as well as the many twists and turns it took they were having trouble finding the right direction to go in the maze of tunnels and tracks.
Through Arron’s connection to Kat’s comms, he was also able to hear the troubled suspects shouting threats at the ceiling of the MagLev as they pointed their guns toward the few remaining hostages they had.
“What’s taking you guys so long!”
“IF YOU DON’T GET HERE SOON WERE GOING TO BLOW THEIR HEADS OFF!”
They seemed rather irritated having to wait for so long trapped inside the carriage.
As the trio were arriving at the site of the stalled carriage several M1 hover-copters were swooping in carrying ERF team members and exoskeletons who all roped or jumped down to the ground and formed up around the carriage.
Captain Pointer stepped forward and tapped a few options on his wrist datapad to activate his helmet’s external mic.
“Troubled suspects! Your plans have been thwarted and you are now trapped and surrounded!”
Captain Pointer turned to Kat who was now standing next to him. She shook her head as she watched the troubled suspects inside grow alert and raise their weapons.
“If you do not lay down your weapons and release the hostages, we will be forced to Normalize you by any means,” said Captain Pointer.
Again Kat shook her head so Captain Pointer jabbed his fingers at the Kix and the other exoskeleton members, and then pointed to the sealed carriage doors.
They understood his orders and stomped forward forming up ready to rush in.
Captain Pointer turned to Arron and asked, “How much juice do you have left in your jetpack batteries?”
“Enough for one or two more quick jumps. That’s it,” said Arron.
“Alright, I need you to jump up onto the roof and draw their attention.”
“What? They’re going to shoot me if I do that!” said Arron.
“Exactly what we want them to do,” said Captain Pointer, shooting him with his two finger guns. “That’s why you have to be quick.”
Arron grumbled as he walked over to the rear of the long carriage and checked the remaining energy which was still the same as before.
“You are green to take flight whenever you feel ready,” said Captain Pointer over the comms.
With a quick burst from the jetpack thrusters, Arron shot into the air and landed on the roof with a loud thump that was all too noticeable by those below him. He did not stay still and continued to run forward to the front of the carriage.
As he ran he was chased by a hail of bullets that opened new holes into the roof of the carriage.
While the troubled suspects were occupied with shooting Arron, Kat deactivated the door locks allowing Kix and the other exoskeletons to rush in and start clearing the targets.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Half of them were incapacitated before they were able to comprehend what was going on and return fire at the exoskeletons.
The surviving troubled suspects dived behind several parasteel metal boxes dragging a few hostages with them while others just outright shot the hostage they were near before diving to cover.
A fierce gun battle started as the exoskeleton members cautiously moved forward checking for booby-traps or explosives that the suspects might have set.
“Stop! Everyone out! It’s gonna blow!” shouted Kix.
No one hesitated or asked questions, they just rushed back to the doors. It had only been a few seconds since they had entered so they were not too far into the carriage.
It was unfortunate but they could not save the hostages as they had to save their own lives first!
Arron was nearing the edge of the front of the carriage when he heard Kix’s warning over the comms and he cursed to himself.
He did not stop running and instead picked up his pace before jumping into the air and activating the last of his jetpack’s power to shoot him forward at a higher speed.
He crash-landed by face-planting into the para-concrete cracking his helmet as he skidded and rolled over 50 feet and slammed into a wall knocking the wind out of him.
BOOOM! A huge explosion rocked and vibrated the air and the ground as the carriage disappeared into a large fireball and shrapnel that flew through the air in every direction.
Several large chunks of shrapnel embedded themselves above and around Arron, as he tried to make himself as small as possible and roll towards a dip in the MagLev tracks.
A string of several dozen more small and large explosions continued to go off for at least 5 minutes as whatever had been inside the carriage continued to cook off and explode.
Arron only looked up from the ground when the sound of flying shrapnel and explosions had stopped.
What he saw was a grim sight.
“M1 HQ can you hear me?” asked Akira, not sure if his helmet’s comms were still working.
“I hear you,” said Lexa.
“We have multiple officers down! Send as many med-vacs as you can!” shouted Arron as he rushed over to the M1 officers lying on the ground. Several of them had been pierced by the large shrapnel of the MagLev carriage.
Although Kix and the exoskeleton members had been closest to the explosion their armor had been enough to block most of the raining shrapnel that had been flung out.
The one who looked to have received the worst of it was Captain Pointer.
“Stay awake Captain!” shouted Arron as he tried to plug the large holes in Captain Pointer’s arms and legs and worked as fast as he could to stop the bleeding of the numerous other shrapnel wounds on his body.
“What the hell was that carriage carrying?”
