Chapter 35: The Harvest
KLAXON! KLAXON! KLAXON!
Ear-splitting alarms erupted without warning throughout the data archive! Red emergency lumen-strips pulsed violently, strobing across their faces!
"Internal security tripped!" Falco yelled. "Something's woken up!"
CLANG! THUD!
Heavy impacts echoed from the shadows around them and from the entrance they had used. Hidden blast doors slammed down, sealing every exit! Simultaneously, more armored panels slid open on the walls, revealing additional automated weapon emplacements. Heavy barrels extended, and red targeting lasers, like the eyes of serpents, flickered through the air, locking onto every moving target!
"Full defense grid active! We're trapped!" Dorio roared, diving for the nearest server rack.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP! BOOM! BOOM!
A deafening crescendo of gunfire and explosions instantly consumed the vast space! The firepower was orders of magnitude greater than what they had faced in the corridor! Kinetic slugs and shrapnel shredded the fragile server racks, sending sparks, melted components, and burning circuit boards flying! Ricochets screamed off the metal walls!
"Servitors! Counter-attack! Prioritize elimination of those weapon-nests!" Maine bellowed, returning fire from behind a heavy junction box as rounds hammered his cover.
The two Combat Servitors reacted instantly. Calculating trajectories, they unleashed precise bursts from their heavy stubbers and grenade launchers. One turret nest was obliterated by a direct hit. Another was systematically shredded by sustained heavy-stubber fire.
But the alarms didn't stop. More threats were emerging.
GRIND! HISS!
An entire section of intact wall on one side of the archive slid backward, revealing a hidden bay. With the heavy, synchronized thud of hydraulics, a full squad of more advanced Militech combat automata marched out!
Their chassis were sleeker, their armor thicker. They wielded multi-barreled rotary cannons and arm-mounted micro-missile launchers. Their crimson optical sensors swept the room, rapidly acquiring targets. The lead automaton was larger, bearing a prominent command-node antenna on its shoulder.
++[Unauthorized Intrusion Detected. Executing Eradication Protocol. Eliminate all Targets.]++ its cold, synthesized voice declared.
A dense wall of fire erupted! The rotary cannons unleashed a storm of lead, creating overlapping kill-zones!
"Heavy cover! Stay out of the open!" Maine screamed, his voice almost lost in the din.
The fight became a brutal, close-quarters inferno. Human shouts, the cold pronouncements of the automata, the roar of guns, the crack of explosions, and the shriek of metal impacts blended into a symphony of death. Dorio's heavy weapon roared, trying to halt the automata's advance. Rebecca and Pilar used the wrecked server racks for cover, firing rapidly, but their lighter weapons barely scratched the advanced armor.
One automaton locked onto Sasha and Falco, who were desperately trying to work on the isolation door. A micro-missile streaked from its arm!
"Look out!" Maine yelled.
In that split second, one of the Combat Servitors moved with inhuman speed, throwing its massive, armored body directly in front of Sasha!
BOOM!
The missile detonated. Fire and shrapnel engulfed the Servitor. A horrific crater was blasted into its chest plate, revealing sparking, mangled internals. One of its arms was torn off.
But it remained standing, its damaged weapon systems still firing back.
"Sasha! Falco! How long?!" Maine yelled, firing precise shots at an automaton's optical sensor.
"It's fighting us! The AI... it's using the facility's security against us! We need more time!" Sasha's voice trembled, but her fingers flew across her interface, a blur of motion.
The other, undamaged Combat Servitor demonstrated terrifying efficiency. It laid down suppressive fire with its heavy stubber while simultaneously making pinpoint shots with its grenade launcher. One grenade detonated at an automaton's feet, cracking its chassis. Another scored a direct hit on the lead automaton's sensor cluster, blinding and crippling it.
Deprived of their command node, the remaining automata's coordinated movements faltered, becoming momentarily chaotic.
"Now! Concentrate fire on the damaged unit!" Maine seized the opportunity.
The crew focused their remaining firepower, finally reducing one stumbling automaton to a smoking ruin. But the others pressed on, their relentless firepower pinning the team down.
"This isn't working! We're burning ammo too fast!" Dorio yelled, slamming in a new drum magazine. "We're outnumbered!"
Just then, the heavily damaged Combat Servitor began to emit a low, ominous hum, different from its usual operational sounds. The light from its damaged core pulsed an angry red.
++[Warning: Motive-Core critically compromised. Executing Final Defense Protocol.]++ its cold voice announced.
To everyone's shock, the ruined Servitor charged from its cover, launching itself with suicidal speed directly into the densest cluster of remaining automata! Its unexpected trajectory threw off their targeting!
In the next second—
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!
A massive explosion rocked the entire archive! The shockwave hurled the nearest automata violently against the walls, shattering them into component parts! The blast wave also silenced several nearby auto-turrets.
The Servitor had chosen self-destruction!
As the smoke cleared, the automaton squad was decimated. Only two or three remained, heavily damaged, limbs missing, struggling to move.
"Now! Finish them! Leave nothing!" Maine roared, recovering first from the shock.
The surviving crew members poured everything they had left into the crippled automata, quickly and brutally silencing them.
A temporary quiet fell, broken only by the crackle of shorting cables, the hiss of fires, and the relentless pulse of the red alarm lights. The air was thick with the stench of promethium, melted metal, and ozone.
"Status report... everyone sound off," Maine gasped, surveying the utter devastation.
"Okay."
"Scratched, still mobile."
++[Threats neutralized.]++ the remaining Combat Servitor reported, its own armor now heavily scarred and dented.
Maine looked at the smoking crater where the other Servitor had been, letting out a ragged breath. "Scrap... Boss better be paying us extra for this..." He knew, with cold certainty, that without Joric's constructs, they would all be dead.
"Sasha! Falco! What's the sit-rep?!"
"Got it!" Sasha finally looked up, her face etched with exhaustion and lingering fear. "Core data fragment copied, encrypted, and remote upload complete! Physical locks on the deep quarantine door are disengaged! We can try to proceed!"
"Pilar! Dorio! Perimeter security! Prepare to advance into the deep quarantine zone! Move! Who knows if this place has another wave of defenses!" Maine ordered decisively, his gaze fixed on the now-unlocked, even heavier isolation door.
The team quickly reloaded and checked their gear. Guarded by the last Combat Servitor, they advanced cautiously toward the door that held their true objective. Even through the thick metal, they could almost feel a cold, intangible, digital malevolence radiating from within.
++[Corridor clear. Entry possible.]++ the Servitor scanned ahead and reported.
"Alright! Let's go! Maximum alert!" Maine took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway into the deeper darkness.
Tense and expectant, the team moved into the unknown, leaving the ravaged, still-alarming data archive behind them. They had achieved a critical objective, but now faced a direct confrontation with a digital entity of unknown power and ancient malice.
Miles away, in his sanctum, Joric watched the core data-stream successfully upload. A wide, almost greedy smile spread across his hidden features.