《R.A.D.E.》


 Chevy Runs Deep

    *Flint Industrial District, Midwest Reclamation Corporation Territory (formerly the city of Flint, Michigan) 2074 AD*


    Fred cursed his team mate as the truck flew over the bumpy road, knocking him about like he was inside a rattle.


    "For fucks sake man, you said you could drive one of these old things!"


    Corporal Lenny "Gears" Freedman just laughed, "This thing was made before magnetic shock absorbers, this the best we will get."


    "Oh shut up both of you," their Sergeant sighed, "focus on the fucking mission."


    Private First Class Fredrick Ericson grumbled that it would be easier to do if he wasn''t battered to death by his squads driving, but wisely kept his voice down. To be perfectly honest, they were lucky to get this rundown old beater at all. It still ran on gasoline for fucks sake and was probably close to eighty years old, but unlike modern magnetic hybrids that could smoothly cruise at three hundred miles per hour with a battery pack the size of his hand, the truck was basically too low tech to be traceable. No extranet connectivity, no AI assistant, no magnetic field, only thing they had to worry about was the awful noise and heat signature as they approached the factory.


    The Midwestern Reclamation Corporation had retooled the rundown factories left over from the 2020''s and had begun using the new facilities to produce their new line of Maglev tanks. Intelligence said that they could produce nearly six per day from this plant alone, all fully controlled by an integrated AI commander.


    With that much firepower, The United Remnant wouldn''t stand a snowball''s chance in hell and the uneasy truce between the government and the corporation would collapse. The upper brass was scrambling to get a plan together, but they needed time, and that was why Fred was in this goddamn relic barreling along an overgrown dirt road towards the brightly lit factory tonight with his three squadmates.


    Approaching the compound wall, Sergeant Sorli gave the order and all four dived out to each side, relying on their Power Assisted Armor to buffer their landing as the modified truck barreled into the wall and exploded, leaving a gaping hole.


    "All right folks, time to earn our paychecks! We have fifteen minutes before security arrives, so lets party hard and get the fuck out of here!"


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    With that, they broke into two teams and engaged the onsite security systems and personnel, laying charges at specific points as they went.


    Fred sighed as he fired his chemogauss rifle, just another day at the office.


    ***


    The chemogauss rifle. First built in the late 2050¡¯s, it revolutionized warfare because of its incredible destructive power and amazing accuracy and fire rate. Smartbullets, utilizing nanofins to direct bullets even after the bullet is fired, meant that you didn¡¯t even have to be all that accurate anyway, but it if you were accurate the computers could direct the bullets into vital areas. These bullets were launched by a combination of chemical reactions and magnetic propulsion at a blistering 7500 miles per hour, nearly ten times faster than the speed of sound. The smaller, but denser, bullets allowed there to be hundreds of rounds to a clip as well, so all in all, it was the perfect tool for slaughter.


    ***


    Fredrick and Corporal Lenny hit the doors by the employee entrance, literally. Sure there were keycard scanners they could have hacked, or maybe they could have gone to the roof and worked through a vent, or even just used breaching charges and blown through, but the reality is that with Power Assisted Armor that was all unnecessary. Just lower your shoulder and grit your teeth and you¡¯d be through the door in a second.


    R.A.D.E. could be a subtle operation, but the ¡®Assault¡¯ and ¡®Demolition,¡¯ parts of the job description were about as subtle as they sounded.


    ¡°Anyone who doesn¡¯t want a bullet in the ass hit the ground!¡± Corporal Lenny roared as the workers scattered screaming. Poor fucks, this hit would probably cause them to be laid off.


    ¡°All Employees please report to planned emergency zones,¡± a pleasant female automated voice was playing out over the speakers. ¡°Automated defenses are being deployed on the premises. Failure to comply may result in contract termination or death.¡±


    The announcement wasn¡¯t kidding either, Fredrick saw some movement out of the corner of his eye and instinctively turned and fired on it. The defense drone that had tried to sneak out of the women¡¯s bathroom near him was torn to shreds by the bullets.


    ¡°These AI get smarter every day,¡± Lenny grumbled, kicking the wreckage. ¡°Pretty soon they will be ruling us, like that old movie.¡±


    ¡°It is just that you weren¡¯t very smart to begin with,¡± Fredrick slotted in another clip. ¡°They are reacting faster than we planned, we had better get to the line quick.¡±

 Built Ford Tough

    The drones did react quickly, but the ones here were really cheap models, even if the AI controlling them seemed pretty decent. Probably the best way to describe the things was calling them RC cars with guns, the perfect Christmas gift for your world-dominating corporation! Though backing them up were uniformed security guards, and Lenny felt terribly sorry for them.


    The Hague Declaration and the Geneva convention were just things in history books after all, and the chemogauss rifle was designed to take out heavily armored soldiers and AI controlled drone weapons. While it was true that the bullets did move quickly and would pass through human targets, the sheer speed that the bullets moved at caused ¡°cavitation bubbles¡± in the human body as they passed through. Before it went extinct, there was a sea creature called the mantis shrimp that could punch with the force of an old school 9mm, the shockwave generated from that would knock out or flat out kill its prey.


    The chemogauss was on another level though, the shockwaves generated by the bullet more or less disintegrated human flesh in a baseball sized hole around the bullet, and fucked up anything outside of that radius to boot.


    Still, there was not exactly any other options considering the nature of this mission. They only had twelve more minutes to blow the line and get the fuck out before CorSec would be on their asses, and you do not want to mess with Corporate Security if you can help it.


    On the production floor, the actual plant itself seemed mundane. Tools and machines had been left halfway through whatever when the alarms had sounded so aside from the screech of drone wheels, they place was empty.


    Fredrick and Lenny moved quickly towards their objective, the specialized maglev gantries used to construct the sensitive parts of the tanks float system, gunning down drones all along the way. Up close, the gantry was huge. Well, it had to be to support an entire tank.


    ¡°You have the charges?¡± Lenny asked brusquely.


    ¡°You ask that now?¡± Fredrick had to laugh at his squadmate as he began setting up the explosives around the machinery, enough to, as Sarge had put it, ¡®leave nothing but a smoking crater.¡¯ ¡°No I just decided to come out here with you and enjoy the scenery, instead of the charges I brought sandwiches. No, you can¡¯t have one.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Haha,¡± Lenny grumbled sarcastically, while covering his teammates back. ¡°Very fucking funny.¡±


    Suddenly, over the coms they heard the Sergeant.


    ¡°Incoming hostiles,¡± he was business like as usual. ¡°CorSec, on the roof.¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck me,¡± Fredrick swore. ¡°Sergeant, we have the charges set, proceeding to extract.¡±


    ¡°Someone must be on their ass to improve their response times,¡± Lenny quipped, but his face was grim beneath the suit¡¯s visor. ¡°Sucks to be a wageslave, right?¡±


    ¡°At least they get paid, what did you make last year?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask, I¡¯ll just be depressed.¡±


    As they were leaving, black armoured figures dropped from the ceiling, CorSec shock troops. How the fuck did they even get in from that angle? Lenny and Fredrick opened fire, moving behind the machinery as cover.


    ¡°Oh shit,¡± Lenny was actually somewhat worried now. ¡°Did you see that flash?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Fredrick gritted his teeth. ¡°That new prototype shielding the brief mentioned. What was their strategy against it again? Oh, right, unload on it until they die. Fuck my life.¡±


    ¡°Surrender immediately!¡± One of the black armoured soldiers called out, ¡°This is MRC property and any trespassing or damage will be subject to litigation!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, my lawyer is on vacay, so I really can¡¯t deal with that right now!¡± Fredrick tossed the sarcastic remark along with a grenade, as CorSec scattered the two R.A.D.E. soldiers stood up and fired. Risky, as moves went, but this was not the time to be picky.


    One soldiers shields overloaded with a popping sound and then he screamed as electricity coursed through him, Lenny¡¯s target lost his shields to and collapsed to the floor moaning clutching the stump where his arm used to be.


    Looking at the crispy CorSec officer it appeared that they had not quite worked out all the bugs yet. Still, best to leave while they had their chance.


    ¡°Sargent, we are on our way to extract. ETA six minutes.¡±

 Find New Roads

    All things considered, PFC Fred was not really surprised. The whole mission had been fucked since the start, why should it stop being fucked now? As Lenny and him and busted out the door at full tilt, only the warning from the onboard system in their suits had saved them from being shredded to pieces when the shell hit the spot they would have been.


    As it was, they were thrown into the air and slammed back against wall of the building. Even with the armor, Fredrick was sure he had cracked a rib and he could taste blood in his mouth. Still, better than a direct hit.


    ¡°Sargent, we have a situation here.¡±


    ¡°That explosion was you guys?¡± Sarge sounded hopeful. Poor guy, this would ruin his day and Fredrick swore that if he survived it he would also make sure to ruin the fucks who worked in intels day.


    ¡°Negative,¡± The two soldiers darted to cover behind machinery that they prayed to whomever would listen was not prone to explosion. ¡°Those mag-levs the plant was building? They got one up and running.¡±


    ¡°Fuck, can you extract?¡±


    ¡°Not with that bastard in the way, we are going to have to find a way around or through.¡± Fred didn¡¯t mention that it was far more likely for both of them to die, ¡°You guys go ahead, Lenny and I will catch up.¡±


    There was silence on the comms for a second and then, ¡°Negative, this is a no-trace mission. I can¡¯t let you two fuck up and leave bodies behind, we are coming over, just hold on!¡±


    The next round from the tank blew their cover away and sent Fredrick sprawling on his ass. As he scrambled to find some cover that might survive longer than a few seconds he got a decent look at the thing trying to wipe him and Lenny off the planet.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Heavily armored and with an incredible cannon and even small arms on the frame, it looked almost like a floating porcupine. If that porcupine was the size of several trucks put together. The thing had basically no weakness, and if they had shield tech¡­ Well it would only get worse from here, but he also saw something else.


    ¡°Lenny, this guys missing a plate on the back of the cannon,¡± They had not expected a functional mag-lev here, and it seemed like it might be fully functional after all. Honestly, based on the brief they would already be swiss cheese if it had been. Still, that armor was impenetrable to infantry weapons normally, but if there was a gap in that armor for repairs¡­


    ¡°Fuck off Fred,¡± Lenny swore back over the comms. ¡°That thing has a three-sixty degree of vision, and it is smart enough to know where it is vulnerable!¡±


    ¡°You want to die here then?¡± Fredrick growled back, ¡°Because if you don¡¯t, we have to take this fucker out! Standard pincer, stay low and fast!¡±


    As Fredrick gave the order the two soldiers darted out from their meager cover and dashed around the tank in different directions. The main cannon followed Lenny, but couldn¡¯t keep up with his power-assist armor.


    ¡°Its small arms aren¡¯t firing!¡± Lenny exclaimed happily, ¡°It only has the cannon!¡±


    ¡°That is plenty enough to wipe your asses out,¡± Sargent yelled over the comms. ¡°Take it carefully.¡±


    Not this time, Sarge, sorry. Fredrick thought to himself as he jumped up on to a piece of ruined machinery then jumped back towards the buildings wall and used the incredible strength of his armor to kick off it and fly towards the tank. The AI tried to react, but it was too late, Fredrick was on top of it.


    He had lost his gun in the explosion, but with the armor removed for work, he didn¡¯t need it. Just rip out anything that looked like it shouldn¡¯t be ripped out, demolition 101.


    Actually, if this was what he thought it was¡­ He grabbed a small cube hooked into the machine and pulled it out. The tank, which had been bucking wildly to dislodge him, stopped dead and shut down.


    ¡°Mag-lev neutralized,¡± Fredrick was relieved to say. ¡°And I think I have a present for the guys in IT.¡±


    ¡°Good work,¡± the Sargent sounded happy, not that he would ever admit it. ¡°Now let''s get the hell out of this shithole.¡±

 Run like a Deer

    It was a slog to the rendezvous point, but that was the point.  Better to be uncomfortable than have someone follow you, Fred thought.  And given what waited for him at the evac site¡­  Well, it was called a ¡®visor up¡¯ ride home by most everyone in the armed forces.  It did not take much imagination to figure out why.


    The Sargent had secured the cube in a black bag, which was made out of fabric that blocked out any and every signal.  Otherwise they would have to worry about being tracked down by CorSec by some tracking device on the cube¡­


    Not that it mattered if the sounds of chopper blades were that close.


    ¡°Shit, they are not fucking around.¡±  Lenny hissed.  If you could hear the blades, than it was an assault chopper and not a recon one, and they could be loaded with enough firepower to level a small city.  They generally were not, but they could be.  And that ¡®could¡¯ was always a bitch on the field.


    ¡°Yo, Corporal Jones,¡±  Fred dove behind a tree as a spotlight swept the ground nearby.  ¡°Can¡¯t you give them something else to look at?¡±


    ¡°Not unless you want to be on your ass spitting out your teeth,¡± Jones was their demolition expert.  Every member of R.A.D.E. could be considered a demolition expert by the standards of a normal army, but Corporal Jones took that to a new level.  The man was a refugee from the MRC who had been arrested for arson, and he was a certified pyro.  So the brass had decided that instead of treating or imprisoning the man, they would hand him as much explosives as he could carry and let him use the MRC as a test subject.  Fred didn¡¯t like him much, but he did respect the man.  Hard not to respect someone you stood shoulder to shoulder with in battle after battle.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°We have another half mile before we clear the zone,¡± the Sargent grunted.  ¡°And we all know that when the techs say ¡®clear the zone¡¯ they actually mean, you will still get hit but we think you will survive.¡±


    ¡°I prepared the charges myself,¡± Jones laughed.  ¡°Don¡¯t you trust me?¡±


    ¡°You get off on the blasts, asshole.¡±  Lenny growled, ¡°I¡¯ve seen your motherfucking burn marks!¡±


    ¡°Stow the chatter,¡± the Sargent cut in.  ¡°Let''s clear the zone, blast the place to hell, and get to our evac.  If you can talk, run faster.¡±


    The team shut up and pushed forward, though they were all thinking it wasn¡¯t fair for the Sargent to tell them to run faster.  They might be super soldiers, but compared to the genetically engineered Sargent they might as well have been children.  For fucks sake, the man was nearly as fast and strong as the rest of them without his armor!


    A little bit later, they heard an explosion and a shockwave nearly knocked them off their feet.


    ¡°Goddamnit Jones!¡±


    ¡°Corporal Jones,¡± the Sargent sounded disapproving but exasperated, this would not be the first time he had given this warning.  Jones probably had a lecture waiting for him in the transport.  ¡°I have told you many times, give us a fucking warning before you pull the fucking trigger!¡±


    Jones just laughed.

 For the benefit of all

    Transport.


    That word has certain connotations, and none of them were evident in the E.H.A.L.O.E.P- which was an incredibly stupid acronym, for the record. It stood for Emergency High Altitude Low Orbit Evacuation Pod- in other words, it''s a bunch of chairs on a lot of explosives that throw you to the edge of space and then let you fall back to earth. Having said all of that, I was incredibly happy to see the vomit comet rocket, as it was known among us boots on the ground.


    When we were inserted, this baby was dropped off as well. You wouldn¡¯t know by looking at it, but this thing had limited capability to move over land in addition to what it was intended to do. In other words, it could be dropped off at the LZ with us, and then crawl its way to where we could get to it for an evac.


    Well, you hoped it was there at the extraction zone and not fallen in a ditch somewhere. It had an AI that left a lot to be desired.


    ¡°Everyone in and secure!¡± Jones shouted as he jumped through the hatch and into one of the seats. A bar came down like you would see on a roller coaster from sixty years ago and other belts and straps connected by themselves as he was secured to the seat.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Damn I hate this,¡± Fred muttered as he got into his seat and the straps began to wrap around him. All it would take was the AI to not realize he was a human and those straps could kill him by themself. ¡°Feels like I am being mummified.¡±


    ¡°You would think differently about it if I introduced you to this one gal I know,¡± Lenny waggled his eyebrows suggestively¡­ Or at least I think he was, helmets make that a bit hard to tell.


    ¡°Lenny, I get turned on by blowing shit up,¡± Jones commented dryly. ¡°And even I think what you do in the bedroom is weird, and I think it is even stranger that you feel the need to tell us about it!¡±


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t knock it until you try it.¡±


    ¡°Oh for the love of God,¡± Sargent Sorli groaned. ¡°AI, launch us into space before he says another word.¡±


    [countdown initiated, launch in ten]


    ¡°You guys really need to open your minds- it can be quite fun!¡±


    ¡°Longest ten seconds of my fucking life!¡±


    [four, three, two, one- launch]


    And this is why it was called the ¡®vomit comet rocket,¡¯ massive acceleration straight into the sky just below what would knock a person out, and when we made it to the top, we¡¯d just drop right down again.


    They don¡¯t pay me enough for this, Lenny thought.