Hel PoV

  My stomach lurched as the Koa went into a freefall. I thought that would be the worst of it, but a sed ter I heard the maneuvering thrusters ki, accelerating the pod further.

  I groaned, clutg the impromptu harhat Gyrm had giveo ect to the tral support of the pod. All around me Evelyn’s bears just stood pletely, half suspended by their own harnesses hanging from the roof.

  Closing my eyes, trying to suppress the fear that was slowly growing in me. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all,” I groaned.

  Sixty seds after the freefall began, a full thirty seds lohan I was fortable with, the pod struck the ground with bone shaking force. Even though the pod had light iial dampening, my vision blurred and every bone in my body hurt at the impact.

  It didn’t phase the bears though. The instant the pod hit the street the sides of the pod exploded open and the bears poured out. Gritting my teeth, I staggered to my feet and followed. I wasn’t going to be shown up by a bunch of robots.

  My pod had crashed into a small white stone pza just outside the front of the cil building. In the middle of the pza, just a couple feet away was a massive statue of five abstract figures gathered around a small stone replica of the city. T over it really.

  Apparently the cil didn’t uand the meaning of the word subtle.

  pared to the pza, the cil building wasn’t that impressive. A ten strey stone and polished metal monolith with no windows and only a few doors. It looked more like a buhan a gover building, which might have been the point, sidering half the cil was taking cover inside.

  Sprinting across the square I smmed into the unadorned gss double doors, bursting ihe dozen guards strategically positioned around the opulent lobby only had about half a sed to realize what was happening before I flooded the entire p cryogenic gas.

  It was over in seds. There were no screams of pain, the most squad got out ained moan as their bodies froze solid.

  [Gyrm, which way?]

  Based upon the building’s schematics I suspect the trol room is ohird floor. There are shelters on the sed and fourth floors, aween them is an equally well fortified, but unbeled room. The room is also led up to a tral utility shaft, which appears to be heavily reinforced.

  [That’s great, but which way?]

  Befyrm could reply a fox burst past me. Uhe other, unadorned models, this one had a camo cloak and oversized ears. Probably one of Evelyes.

  “Oi, dy. This is no time to be sitting around, we have a building to secure. Follow me!” It yelled, before disappearing into a side corridor, followed by a handful of other bots.

  Stairs are that way.

  [Thanks for the heads up,] I growled at my AI as I sprinted after the squad.

  By the time I caught up the fox had made it half the first set of stairs. A couple of the smaller bears split off, but it didn’t hesitate for a moment, tinuing upwards.

  “The other bears will secure the cil, but I’m stig with you,” the fox shouted. “The trol room is far too important!”

  “Is that what Evelyn told you to do? Babysit me?”

  “The boss dy ordered me to secure the building, but gave me free reign on how to carry out my orders. Nyx is the ohat expressed how important it was to secure the trol room,” the fox expined as it casually opehe third floor access, and held it open for me. “I’m Bandit, o meetcha.”

  “Hel, likewise,” I replied awkwardly as I stepped past. I started slowly, and carefully, making my way down the hallway, but after a couple feet Bandit sprinted past me again.

  “What are you doing?” I hissed. “You might run straight into an ambush!”

  “Only defenders on this floor are a tatrol walking the walls, and two squads standing outside the objective!” the fox yelled back. “o be so cautious!”

  “How you possibly know that?” I growled, speeding up to catch up with the hyper active bot.

  “My nose knows!”

  Even though the fox was booking it around the halls as fast as it could, it was hardly fast. It’s stubby little legs weren’t long enough to carry it too far. I sidered passing it, and trying to find the trol room myself, but the way it took every er pletely fidently made me hesitate.

  After a minute or so of frantining, it skidded to a halt, right before an interse. It put one oversized finger up to its mouth in a shushing motion, “Pair is right around the er. ’t let them alert the others,” it whispered.

  “There’s a full blown war happening outside, I expect they have some idea we’re ing,” I whispered back. “You sure it’s just two guards down that hallway?”

  The fox nodded, and before it could say anything further I charged forward. The sprayer on my right wrist was already spraying its absolute zero payload before I pletely cleared the er, catg the pair in a bst of gas. I don’t think they even realized I was there before they were frozen solid, locked into position mid step.

  “Well doe, but we’re not do!” the little bot yelled as it bolted down the hallway.

  I reached out to stop it, as the gas hadn’t fully dissipated yet, but it ran right through. Frost formed on its clothes, and it slowed down, but it didn’t stop.

  “Crazy traption,” I muttered as I jogged after it. I felt slightly unfortable as I crossed the fog, but thanks to my various enhas over the years I ractically immuo the effects of the cold.

  After another minute, half of which I spent watg the fox slowly defrost, Bandit slid to a stop in front of a random door. It narrowed its eyes, head swinging bad forth.

  “They’re agitated,” Bandit muttered.

  “How you possibly know that?” I whispered.

  “Movement patterns, versations, thermal signatures… you know what? Here.”

  A sed ter I received a data feed whiearly overloaded my senses. Multiple spread spectrum visual sensor feeds, auditory analysis, olfactory analysis, and more. I couldn’t eveify some of the sensor feeds I was receiving. After a couple seds the data feed was cut way back, leavih something that resembled a bination of xray and thermal.

  “They’re sweating too much, heart rates are elevated, and pag. Nervous,” Bandit expined.

  “Right. you tell if any of them are in position to damage the equipment?”

  The bot hesitated for a sed, then shook its head. “Don’t think so, but ’t be certain.”

  “You have a sharpshooter rifle, right?” I said, gng at the on on the foxes back. “ I trust you with an important job?”

  Bandit fished the oversized rifle off its back. “Anything, just !”

  “I’m going to ralize everyone, but it won’t be instantaneous. From what I tell from these thermal readings, it’s a big room. I need you to analyse the situation, and if it looks like anyone might be threatening the trol system, take them out. Got it?”

  The fox nodded hesitantly. “Boss doesn’t like killing, but I know this is important. You t on me.”

  “Right. Then on three, owo…” I kicked the middle of the doors, and they shattered uhe fory samurai enharength, showing the room in splintered wood.

  The instant there , I stepped through. The room had to be close to fifty feet square. The area was mostly empty, except for a series of massive support pilrs around the perimeter, and some sort of trol room in the back. Before the soldiers inside could react, I started flooding the pce with gas.

  Walking forward, with my arms outstretched, I started with the ers. The men in those areas didn’t even have a ce to react. As I slowly moved my arms forward, I caught the men half the room as they struggled to raise their ons or find cover. Finally, as I started t my hands together, the men at the back of the roht their ons up. It looked for a moment like one might get a shot off, but before he could there was a shot from behihe ma down, a hole in his face where his left eye used to be.

  “You didn’t o do that,” I said, as I finished spraying the room. “My suit is pletely bulletproof.”

  The little fox shrugged unfortably. “Better safe than sorry though.”

  I patted it gently on the head for a moment. “Thanks anyways,” I whispered before turning back to the room and rushing towards the soles. “Gyrm, is this it?”

  From what I tell from these monitors, yes. This seems to be the nerve ter of the city.

  “Then our first order of business is to sweep for boobytraps and secure the room. Ohat’s done send a message to Evelyn and the others. We have it. The trol system is in our hands.”