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Iago knew this was not going to go well.

The Hev assault team were not well-trained or equipped, but a bullet was a bullet, and he and the others were not outfitted with the highest-end combat gear.

There were only four left with Iago, and he didn’t know the whereabouts of the rest of his squad.

The Hev pod had smashed through at the Equator ring, and he and his team had taken up defensive positions after arming themselves.  He was up high, to give flanking fire on the Hev as they advanced on the ambush spot that the others had set up down below.

When the pod door had burst open, it had been with a rush of hundreds of drones.

“EMs out!” he called.  More drones themselves than grenades, they’d suicided themselves at the burgeoning swarm, frying the drones’ brains in high numbers with great pulses of radio energy, burning themselves out in the process.

But the Hev assault drones were meant to overcome such defenses.

The Hev poured fire towards Iago’s team’s Guardian drones, overwhelming them.  Heffo took a dozen rounds that punched through her armor at extreme close range and went down.  Her cover hadn’t even slowed the rounds.

Iago couldn’t spare her a look, and continued to fire.

The Hev had overwhelming firepower, all their defenses pushed towards the front – but none of that mattered.

He had a mag rifle.

“CHARGING,” his system said.  The charge bar filled, and he let a round rip.

The gun kicked like a destrier, and the shot tore through the Hev’s armor like it was made of paper and kept on.  It pierced through another behind him, taking his leg clean off, before hitting the floor plate and punching through that.

Kynz fell down below, half his head gone.  It was only he and Kessissiin left, and the Dessei was alone at their barricade.

He also had a mag rifle; his fired, and another two Hev dropped.  They were lining up like bowling pins.

One took cover, throwing himself around the corner, but Iago’s tracking system still could project his position.

A wall wasn’t a defense.

It ripped through it, and then the Hev behind.

The rest pressed forward, but as his team had been wiped, it left more drones to guard the two of them.  The Hev drones were falling to counter-fire, and he and Kessissin were going to take them all down.

His system warned him suddenly; toxic compounds in the air.

“What the fuck,” he muttered, scanning the data.  The source . . .

Were the bodies of the Hev.  His system highlighted it, and he called to Kessissiin.

“Pull back!” he cried.  “Their bodies are rigged!”

He saw the eyes widen on the Dessei, and he began a retreat, Iago covering him, peppering the Hev with half-charged shots that might dent armor but not pierce it.  The Hev realized this and advanced, throwing grenades up at him.  One was intercepted and shot down by his drones, but his guardians were running out of ammunition themselves.  He turned to run, and saw that the grenade had landed between him and the path Kessissiin had taken.

He ripped the battery pack from his rifle, using his system to deactivate all its safeties, and hurled it at the Hev.  With as much energy as they packed into the things to power the mag rifles, it would make enough of a-

BOOM.

He threw himself through a door to one of the second-floor shops as one of the explosives – his or theirs – went off.

The door slammed shut behind him, a heavy blast door closing over it, and he lay on the floor a moment, panting.

“This is . . . Iago Caraval,” he said through his radio.  “The Hev boarders are carrying chemical and possibly biological weapons on their person that are being released upon death.  If you experience damage to your suits, get the hell away from them!”

He didn’t know if the Hev would even bother trying to come for him, but if they did it would take them precious time to break through the heavy door.

Getting up, he moved towards the other side of the room, trying to wrap his mind around his location.  He had to find a way out, find the rest of his team and-

The blast door behind him exploded.

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< Ep 6 Part 43 | Ep 6 Part 45 >