Three Square Meals Ch. 124

As Maria darted into cover, the APC gunner kept firing, spraying the freight-hauler with shells. Fresh produce was blown apart in a leafy green explosion, showering vegetation behind the long vehicle. The truck wavered unsteadily, then veered off to the side, the black smoke billowing from the rear indicating something more serious than vegetables had been hit.

Faith propped the rifle up on the back seat and aimed through the targeting scope. "Get ahead of another one!"

Maria twisted in her seat to look to the left, then winced as the truck smashed into the ground. "Oh no... the driver!"

"They're automated!" Faith yelled over the whistling wind. "You're more important than a truck!"

"I guess the owners can just bill ISD," Maria murmured, shifting lanes to overtake another freight hauler, this one loaded up with lumber.

Faith didn't reply for a moment, as she was concentrating on her target. She aimed at the front-left anti-grav cyclic, then gently squeezing the trigger, an armour-piercing round leaving the barrel with a loud crack. The bullet bounced off the armoured housing, but she still had an entire magazine full of rounds, which she continued firing at the pursuing APC. Its armour had been damaged by the missile Joel had launched back at the house, so it only took a few seconds for one of Faith's bullets to punch through the torn plating.

"Yeah!" she crowed, watching the APC judder in her scope.

Sparks and shards of metal sprayed out from the damaged propulsion system, dramatically slowing its pursuit. With five cyclics still remaining, it was in no danger of crashing, but the APC was now struggling to keep up with the fleeing sedan. The gunner showed his displeasure by raking the rear of the car with another burst from his heavy machine gun, stitching a line of big bullet holes across the rear. The back seat exploded in a spray of shredded leather and stuffing, the slugs narrowly missing Faith.

Maria yanked the steering wheel to the left, pulling in front of the next truck and using that for cover. "Faith! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine!" the brunette replied, grabbing another magazine from the pile on the back seat. "Just keep dodging!"

Turning back, she could see chips of wood and metal flying up in the air as the APC gunner tried to shoot the truck out of the way like the last one. The lumber was far more resilient though, protecting the front cab and all its automated systems from damage.

"We're coming up on Baybury!" Maria called back anxiously. "But there's lots of traffic... oh, it's the police!"

"Take the turn!" Faith urged her, twisting in her seat to see the distinctive red and blue flashing lights on top of four police cruisers far in the distance.

***

The squad of ISD operatives whirled around, eager to take out the secondary target that had just fallen into their laps. Jehanna strode into the lobby, her boots crunching on the shards of glass littering the floor. She raised her pistol as the green-clad soldiers opened fire, then hesitated as a storm of bullets hit her shield, creating a rippling blue wave in a bubble around her. Without the high-tech defences Dana had provided her, she would have died in an instant, gunned down by hundreds of rounds.

Her brown eyes glinted with anger as she continued her advance, pointing the muzzle of her deadly pistol at the closest soldier. The ISD soldiers were trying to kill Henry Voss, who was Rachel's father. The thought of that lovely girl being devastated by grief at the loss of her parent was too horrible for Jehanna to bear.

Aiming for centre-mass, just as her own father had taught her, she squeezed the trigger and fired a short burst of dazzling sapphire energy bolts at the ISD assassin. His scream was cut off in a hollow wheeze as the laser fire vaporised his lungs, the man collapsing where he stood with a huge hole in his chest. Ignoring the bullets hitting her shield, she picked the soldiers off one by one, their state-of-the-art armour useless against the incredibly powerful laser pulses.

Jehanna stood a dozen metres away, calmly executing each in turn, until a terrified soldier fired a grenade at her at almost point-blank range. The blast caught the reporter by surprise and knocked her flying backwards, but she managed to regain her balance and skidded to a halt in a spray of shattered glass. Seeing her shrug off a grenade was too much for the remaining ISD troops and the last two soldiers turned and fled, desperate to escape from this indestructible killing machine.

Jehanna tracked them with her pistol as they ran, then gunned down each fleeing soldier with short bursts of laser fire. Glancing back at the rest of the squad, she nodded to herself in satisfaction, confirming that every one of them had been slain. As she stood amongst the carnage, surrounded by a dozen steaming corpses and the stench of cooked meat, Jehanna was suddenly struck by the enormity of what had just happened. She had mown down eight men without so much as a second thought. Bracing herself, she waited for feelings of guilt and remorse to assail her, just as they had when she'd been forced to kill one of the men in Weber's kidnapping team.

But she felt nothing of the kind.

By going after Henry Voss, these soldiers had attacked Jehanna's extended family, therefore their deaths were well-deserved and not worth a single moment of regret. She nodded to herself as she considered her feelings, enjoying the warm sense of contentment at a job well done. Stepping over the butchered soldiers without so much as a backward glance, Jehanna approached the doorway to Henry's office.

"Henry, are you okay?" she called out, peering around the doorframe.

In the charred corners of the room were a pair of Gatling Laser turrets, one of them blown to pieces by grenades, but the other very much intact. The barrel was whirring ominously and it spat out a burst of laser fire at Jehanna when her head appeared around the corner. She pulled back as her shield took the hit, orange bolts harmlessly absorbed by the protective field. In the brief glimpse she'd had of his office, there had been no sign of the Voss Corporation CEO.

"Henry!" she shouted again, hiding behind the doorframe. "This is Jehanna Elani... you're safe now! The assassins are all dead!"

There was silence, then a deep clunk echoed from the room. "I've deactivated the turret," a faint voice replied, sounding oddly muffled.

Jehanna cautiously poked her head around the door, her gaze locked onto the Gatling Laser's rotating barrels. The recessed weapon was tilted down, the spinning slowing now that it had been turned off. Behind Henry's huge desk, a section of the wall had swung back, revealing the entrance to a hidden panic room.

She bounded over, feeling a surge of relief that he'd taken such elaborate lengths to protect himself. "Thank God you're alright!" she gushed, stepping through the door. "I was so worried!"

Her voice trailed away as she saw Henry Voss slumped on the floor, his white shirt soaked in blood. Lying on his lap was a deathly pale young woman, her long raven hair only partially concealing the cluster of gory gunshot wounds in her chest.

"Abigail got in their way... she saved me," he whispered brokenly, cradling his assistant against him. "Why would she do that?"

***

Maria peeled away from the skylane as she fled towards the welcoming skyline of Baybury City. Four police cruisers were racing towards them in a dazzling flash of red and blue, the bright lights announcing that help was on the way.

"Will they just give up now?" Maria asked as her sedan roared towards the outskirts of the city.

"We should be safe," her brunette companion replied confidently. "There's no way they'll chase us through the city."

Glancing in her mirror, Maria spotted another of the black armoured vehicles. "Faith! There's two of them!"

Faith spun around and aimed down her scope at the pursuing vehicle; there was no mistaking the sinister profile of an ISD armoured transport. She saw both black armoured vehicles follow them towards Baybury, leaving the skylane behind as they charged after their quarry.

"I don't believe it..." the bodyguard muttered, shocked that they were still coming after them.

Both APCs opened fire again and Maria cried out in alarm as bullets slammed into the Luxura sedan, each impact announced by angry metallic clangs. The windscreen was hit by a stray bullet, smashing a big hole through the passenger side and shattering a spider-web of cracks across the glass. She ducked down, quickly grabbing a pair of sunglasses so she wouldn't be blinded by the wind if they lost the windscreen.

The four squadcars roared past, two on each side, rushing to intercept the APCs. Seeing the police charging to the rescue was a huge relief to Maria, knowing that they would stop the assassins now. Unfortunately, that relief was short-lived, as the ISD turret gunners opened fire on the squad cars, peppering them with shells. One exploded as the power generator was ruptured, the wreck crashing to the ground in a blazing fireball. The driver was hit in another and the officer's partner had to grab the steering wheel and veer away to stop them careening into the skylane of hover traffic. The last two returned fire with the machine guns built into the bonnet of the police cars, but the APCs armour was thick and deflected the bullets.

"Oh shit..." Faith swore, noticing the black smoke pouring out of the sedan's rear-right cyclic. "I think they hit something important!"

"We're losing power," Maria agreed, stomping down on the accelerator in an effort to keep the hovercar going. Unfortunately, it did nothing to stop the dropping needle on the speedometer.

"Get into the city centre!" Faith called back, aiming her rifle at the closest APC. "Use the buildings for cover."

Maria nodded, then followed the directions on a glowing holograph towards the bustling heart of the metropolis. The city's altitude and velocity inhibitors kicked in, further slowing her sedan and guiding her down to the broad boulevards at ground level. The ISD vehicles didn't have those restrictions, as they were equipped with the same standard-issue override given to local law enforcement vehicles. They gained ground quickly, but the gunners were still distracted by the two police cars that were looping around to chase after them.

Faith placed her rifle's crosshairs squarely over the driver of the closest APC, aiming carefully to line up the shot before pulling the trigger. The bullet slammed into the windscreen, but it was reinforced by a clear-metal overlay that absorbed a lot of the force. She fired again and again, leaving a vicious spiderweb of cracks across the glass. The driver flinched instinctively and ducked to avoid the bullets cracking the screen, inadvertently yanking the steering wheel to the side and spoiling the turret-gunner's aim. A long burst of high-calibre bullets went sailing wide, smashing the shopfront windows of a row of boutiques.

"Get under the bridge!" she called out, pointing to the high-speed skyrail that brought commuters into the city via train.

Maria braked and took a sharp turn, the hovercar fishtailing wildly as she skidded under the concrete overpass. The APC drivers were caught by surprise, driving much too fast to make the same turn. They soared overhead with the squad cars in close pursuit, giving Faith and Maria some temporary respite.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Faith protested, loading another magazine into her rifle. "They can't be ISD... they're breaking all our protocols!"

"Some rogue group?" Maria suggested, her eyes flicking over the signs as she raced along the road, keeping the bridge overhead.

"Maybe... I don't know," Faith replied, pausing when she heard more gunfire.

She climbed over the shredded holes in the back seat to look out the right window, trying to locate the APCs that had doggedly pursued them into the city. Spotting the flash of police lights, she saw one of the squad cars flying parallel to the bridge, opening fire at something out of sight. The black armoured transport roared into view, bullets pinging off thick plating. As the two vehicles passed each other, she noticed that the side door of the APC was open and several ISD troopers sprayed the passing police car in bullets. The cruiser lurched violently as it was hit by a grenade and the rear door was ripped away in the explosion, spinning down to the ground like a 300lb sycamore seed.

The car swerved sharply to the left and Faith whipped her head around in shock. "No, stay under the bridge!"

The Latina weaved through the traffic, taking another sharp turn towards a leafy park. "They knew we were under there. It's only a matter of time before they take out those police cars and then they'll be after us again!"

Faith gripped the back of the front seat and stared wide-eyed through the windscreen at the throngs of people ahead. "Maria! Where the hell are you going?!"

The sedan barrelled through the bustling park, dozens of people screaming and shouting as they dived out the way, the hover-car whistled just overhead. Maria drove directly towards a packed crowd standing in front of a stage, then roared past the shocked men in suits that were addressing the citizens.

"I remembered the mayor was giving a speech today," Maria explained, steering the smoking sedan over a lake towards the city streets that circled the park. She jinked to the side to avoid a boat. "That little flyby should bring every police car in the city!"

Faith laughed and patted her on the shoulder. "You're full of surprises."

***

Charles crawled behind the bar, bullets slamming into the solid marble surface. Turning and glancing back around the edge of the sturdy counter, he spotted a soldier standing up from cover, getting ready to fire on him. Squinting down the barrel of his pistol, Charles tapped the trigger, his shots bouncing off the ISD soldier's armour. One of the bullets hit the man's helmet and upset his aim, making him jerk the rifle reflexively as he fired. The grenade hit the restaurant's entrance instead of sailing though, blasting the open doors off their hinges. The ISD trooper ducked back down and the rest of his squad sprayed the bar with enough bullets to make it sound like they were in a torrential hailstorm.

Ducking back, Charles heard the brief pause as the soldiers reloaded. "Now, Lina!" he yelled, glancing over to where she crouched behind an overturned table.

The redhead bolted over to join him and dived behind the bar, crashing into Charles and knocking him down. She screamed as the soldiers opened fire again, bottles exploding overheard and soaking them in booze.

"Ow!" Charles yelped, wincing as she caught him in the ribs with a stray elbow.

Lina tumbled to the floor, then turned to stare at him with her eyes like saucers. "Charlie... what are we going to do?!"

He ejected the magazine from his pistol and grimaced, confirming he'd used his last bullets. "Shit! I'm out..."

"Take it, my shooting's terrible," she said, pressing her pistol into his hand. "I think there's a few rounds left."

Charles checked the magazine and saw the shiny 10mm caseless rounds nestled together inside. Slotting it back into place, he got up into a crouch with his pistol at the ready. "We have to get out the back; there could be rear access... or a refuse chute maybe."

The shooting had ceased again, so he scuttled further along behind the bar and chanced popping up, only to see three of the soldiers had advanced to the restaurant's smashed windows. He caught them by surprise by moving position and snapped off a shot with his snub-nosed pistol, shooting at the closest of the trio to slow him down. As the bullet hit the man's armour, there was a bright flash and a sizzling hole appeared in his torso. Charles gaped incredulously at his pistol for a second, until a dazzling cascade of blue laser bolts followed the first, slamming into the two soldiers by the window, each energy pulse blasting glowing holes through their armour.

Charles flushed when he realised what had really killed the soldier he'd shot at. His embarrassment turned to confusion as he stared wide-eyed at the carnage in front of the restaurant; he'd seen the aftermath of Gatling Laser fire before, but this was something else entirely. As the closest ISD troopers fell to the ground in smouldering chunks, the laser fire swept around, scything into the rest of the squad. Amidst screams of pain they dived for cover, crawling behind whatever objects they could put between them and their mysterious attacker.

Following the stream of azure laser bolts back to their source, Charles gaped in astonishment as he saw his fiancée riding atop an ascending elevator. Lynette was keeping the soldiers pinned down with suppressing fire, the endless torrent of energy pulses carving glowing holes through everything they touched. He gasped in alarm when he saw the soldiers returning fire, knowing that there was nowhere for Lynette to hide, not exposed as she was.

To his amazement, the bullets were deflected harmlessly, reminding him of heavy cannon shells being fired at a shielded ship. Lynette didn't even flinch, sweeping her laser fire through one of the soldiers who knelt behind an overturned marble-topped table, the blue streaks cutting the man in half. Another of the soldiers fired his underslung grenade-launcher at her, the explosive round arcing across the plaza and slamming into the elevator before detonating.

When the smoke cleared, Charles stared at the aftermath in horror. The blast had ripped the elevator away from the wall and the mangled remains dropped like a stone, hurtling to the floor and smashing into thousands of pieces.

"How the hell did she do that?!" Lina whispered in awe, peeking over the bar counter beside him.

Charles was struggling not to fall apart, his heart leaden with grief. "Do what?"

"Look!" the redhead exclaimed, tugging his arm and pointing across the plaza.

He followed the direction of her finger and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Lynette hanging from one of the horizontal lighting poles that circled the plaza. She swung like an Olympic gymnast, her lithe body swaying back and forth to build up momentum. Moving with astonishing grace, she flipped herself up and caught the edge of the balcony, then vaulted over the glass panels to land on her feet.

The instant she landed, Lynette drew her pistol again and the stream of laser fire renewed, one of the bolts hitting the grenade-firer in the head and instantly decapitating him. She sprinted around the gallery, ignoring the sporadic bursts of bullets bouncing off her shield, while forcing the soldiers to keep their head down with sweeping sprays of laser fire. As she got closer, Lynette started aiming more carefully, firing directly at the cover she knew the men were cowering behind.

Not much short of ship-plating could stop those laser bolts, so marble tabletops and brick walls stood no chance. Again and again she cored through the obstacles in her path, ruthlessly exterminating the soldiers like rats dug out of their boltholes. Their anguished death screams broke the morale of the last two members of the squad, who decided to flee rather than wait to be systematically executed. Lynette took them both out with precise headshots, her furious scowl finally relaxing when she realised the threat to Charles had been neutralised. She whirled around, her hazel eyes darting about frantically until she spotted her fiancé standing in stunned silence behind the bar.

"Charles! Are you alright?!" she asked, frantic with worry as she jogged over to the demolished restaurant.

"Lynette... I thought I'd lost you!" he exclaimed, vaulting over the bar to sweep her up in his arms.