1:4:9 Reclamation (Part 2)

The frenzied soldier carved a swathe through its own army; its once allies tried everything to put it down but each attempt only seemed to anger it further. Working in unison, they shot off its arms which staggered it but failed to make it stop. It lunged at them, teeth first, ravenous and hungry. It took a great effort before the turncoat soldier finally fell down dead. All eyes returned to the clones as Magpie’s group united with The Destiny and her unit.

Ace jumped from the ramp and started firing into the crowd. Aloe, Outlier and Curve followed suit as The Destiny pulled up and repositioned herself above the main campus, shooting her exhaust down onto the battlefield so as to aid the clones. Now able to see, the others properly joined in. With all eight of them fighting as one, they managed to budge closer to the campus while also examining their new foes and their weaknesses. Although very capable of staggering them, their energy weapons did not seem the most effective means for them to use. Curve and Outlier didn’t seem to have these issues as their weapons either sliced cleanly through the soldier’s torsos or bludgeoned them to the point at which they became flat; all of their foes lay dead at their feet. Aloe noticed the pattern and started to lower her aim; she drilled into her nearest soldier’s chest, laying waste to its stomach and ribcage before it too joined its once animated comrades on the floor.
“Aim for the chest!” Aloe screamed.
The clones, following suit, took their journey time down from an approximate hour and a half to a mere fifteen minutes. While it had become trivial to shut them down, the soldiers further away from them had started to retreat. Their push was over almost as soon as it began as, before they realised it, they were at Magpie’s window and were ready to enter the campus.
“Was that it?” Magpie started scrounging around the corpses, something shiny had caught his eye. “These are new… I think. Our training pods were all based on Protectorate units weren’t they?”
Ace nodded. “If they used it, we’ve fought it, why?”
“Because look at that.” He handed them a grimy, metal tag. A layer of mucus made it slick to the touch. “That’s definitely a Protectorate tag but we’ve never seen these before.”
Ace knelt down too and started prodding the body. “This isn’t standard uniform either. Cloth based without plating?”
“They’ve always used polymer armours.” Aloe chimed in.
“Exactly. I don’t think these were with The Protectorate’s army. They’re part of The Temporal guild.” Ace flipped the tag and showed them the reverse. “Look at that.”
“So what does that even mean?” Curve took the tag. “They’re with the same group Lore was with?”
“Yeah… No? It means there’s likely an Inquisitor about.” Ace got up. “Somewhere on this base, there’s an Inquisitor, but that begs the question: Where?”
“And why?” Aloe pointed to a nearby tank. “These things likely couldn’t operate the tanks so why leave them out here? Why aren’t there actual people out here?”
“I’m still only registering you lot as the only proper life signs.” Destiny came over their comms. “But I can’t see into The Slingshot’s towers. And, you’ve got another problem…”
“What’s that?” Ace groaned.
“First off, those soldiers have got themselves some reinforcements from around the other side of the campus, they’ve nearly doubled their numbers, so you better get a move on and... There’s even more of them in the courtyard.” Destiny paused. “They’ve got The Slingshot surrounded.”
“Mission hasn’t changed…” Ace turned to their team. “Too much at least… Mags, you take Blindside and see if you can’t get rid of this nebula. Everyone else, we’re going to press on and secure The Slingshot.”
“What should I do?” Destiny lowered the ship slightly to make sure they knew she was there.
Ace thought for a moment. “Can you access any of the campus’ systems?”
“Nope. They’re all on a separate network. Only way of accessing it would be through a physical connection but the main server room has been destroyed.” Destiny scanned the campus. “If I had access, I could potentially shut down the nebula and anything else that’s using the network.”
“Then wait for Magpie to get you access.” Ace sounded almost annoyed.
Destiny turned her ship about face. The front end started to whir and click as it unlocked and started to spin. The Destiny went from its usual, almost hammerhead like design to resembling something not too dissimilar to an axe; its engines pivoted and started to point fore rather than aft. A faint blue light emanated from them as Destiny charged the ship’s light-speed accelerators; she loaded both of them with a small, old Earth, carpenter’s nail and fired into the distance. There was a burning orange light in the distance as if the nebula itself was combusting followed by the most intense shock wave any of the clones had ever felt; the ground beneath their feet quaked as the explosion continued. The lights above them in the hallway, which were about the only thing that hadn’t been too badly effected by the nebula and surprisingly still functioned, flickered before fading. There were two short wails from a siren further into the crumbling campus before the bluish backup lighting kicked in.
“And that, Destiny, is why… Maybe… You should stick to being our eye in the sky…” Ace mumbled into their microphone.
“Fine!” Destiny yelled. They all heard her gasp over the comms before speaking again. “Sorry… Only if needed.” She calmed down rather quickly.
“That sounds like a plan.” Ace spoke calmly. “Have you got any more information about this place?”
“Absolutely nothing.” She returned. “If Lore didn’t know anything about it, I don’t either. The Council didn’t see fit to give me access to their data.” Destiny made sure to increase the volume of her microphone to The First’s clones only to send the message.
“Okay then.” Ace nodded towards the path Magpie had drawn for them. “You know where you’re going Mags?”
Magpie looked down and saw several colour coded lines on the floor. “I think we can puzzle it out on the way. We’ll have the nebula sorted in no time.” As he spoke, he found himself increasingly distracted by the lines as he started studying them.
“Right then, my lot, let’s get going.” Ace waved their hand and started their group off down the corridor while Magpie remained crouched on the ground.

They split off and went their separate ways. Silence reigned as Magpie led his party, nose to the floor as if a bloodhound, sniffing its prey; occasionally, the line would break and he would have to hope and assume its path but every time, they met their mark. As they travelled further into the campus, a new haze descended. In addition to the nebula’s gas, plaster particles stood suspended in the air around them; at first, they thought it because of their boots disturbing the long empty halls but they soon realised that they might not be the only cause. The walls appeared to almost breathe. Contracting, disintegrating, eventually falling. A horde of Protectorate soldiers tumbled through the roof and started taking up a defensive footing. Unlike the troops outside, these seemed to have a modicum of sense. Rather than just charge and engage them in an animalistic melee, these appeared to be carrying ranged weapons. The rubble had rather conveniently fallen in such a way as to hinder the clone’s progress through the building while providing the mechanised attackers a more than suitable point of defence. Hidden behind the shattered ceiling, they would occasionally poke their heads from behind their defences and fire indiscriminately down the corridor. The brilliant, purple bolts forced their way through the hanging particulates and the dense atmosphere as they headed for their targets.
“Blindside, get on the floor!” Magpie yelled, forcing himself belly first to the ground. For whatever reason, it worked. The soldiers seemed hesitant to fire on them and, after a moment of inactivity, they even came to check on the clones. As they lingered over him, Magpie took the chance. His pistol had never been drawn that fast before but, by the time it had realised where it was, two projectiles had exited its barrel. The soldier’s bodies joined them on the floor. “How many do you reckon are left?”
“More than we can down with that trick.” Blindside whispered back.
“I wonder what they use to target us with?” Magpie started rummaging around. “Hello… It’s intact!” He tried to keep his joy to a minimum.
“What is?” Blindside tried to look over but couldn’t without breaking something.
“I found an ID tag in one of the defective units by the door. Smashed to pieces. Must be that these robots wear their IDs around their necks like organic troops do. Anyway, I think if you break the ID, the others can’t verify if it’s a friend or foe.” Magpie smiled to himself.
“So an intact ID means we can convince them we’re on their side.” Blindside concluded. “Brilliant!”
“Only problem is, the other one I’ve got here’s knackered.” Magpie carefully finished removing the intact ID card. “Right then… That should do it.” He carefully connected his communicator to the circuit then slowly stood up. “I’ll come back for you once I’ve got a safe way to get you.”
“Why don’t you just kill that lot?” Blindside shouted in a whisper. “Please.”
Magpie was too far gone and the firing had recommenced.

He was amazed at just how well it was working. The chip, now powered by his suit’s internal battery, was apparently enough to convince The Protectorate soldier drones that he was one of them. He felt sorry for leaving Blindside but he knew that he’d be back for them. Magpie continued to follow the line until its terminus; he opened the door slowly, fully expecting an ambush. But it never came. The room was empty save for the rusted and tarnished computers baked into its walls. He scanned around, letting his helmet tell him what he was supposed to be looking at. Any labels that had once existed had long since crumbled to dust. The helmet managed to work out almost everything but there was a piece of machinery that it was struggling to identify. Ignoring it, Magpie set to work trying to understand how exactly the device worked. He started flicking switches and pushing buttons and, for the first time in years, new life lit up the room.
“I… I… I… Initialising…” A mangled metal stump rose from the wall, the rusted remains of an arm lay in a pile on the floor below. Magpie immediately stopped. He looked at the machinery closer.
“Hello?” Magpie nudged the rust pile with his toe. “You aren’t with them are you? The Protectorate?” As he awaited his answer, he slowly moved his hand closer to his pistol.
“This… This… This unit was designated as guardian.” The voice broke. “I… I… It… Was ordered to watch over this facility.” The Amalgam moved away from the wall slightly. “Y… Y… You must not disable the nebula… Imperative. Protectorate attack vessel on intercept… Nebula preventing craft from landing…”
“But it’s already landed.” Magpie said. “Hold on, when were you given your orders?”
Its memory banks whirred and screeched before halting. “Unknown. Damage to long term storage areas. Must assume Primary Directive still in effect. This unit must not allow you to deactivate the nebula.”
“Fine.” Magpie held up his hands. “Is there anything we can do to help repel the attackers?”
“Attackers?” It responded. “Directive forty-seven states that in the event of containment breach, Amalgam units must be reactivated. Reactivation cannot be completed from this location.”
“You’re Amalgam?” Magpie wracked his brain for where he had heard that before. “Where do I need to go to start this reactivation then?”
“This unit requires area of four square kilometres of open space above it to activate transmitter to send required signal.” The Amalgam raised its stump to the sky.
“Can you separate yourself from the wall?” Magpie looked at what remained of the Amalgam. “I should be able to carry you if that’d help.”
“Detachment is possible. This unit will accompany you.” The Amalgam fell to the floor in a cloud of orange metal.
“Here.” Magpie bent down and lifted it over his shoulder. “Let’s see then…” He manipulated and bent the Amalgam until it was firmly strapped to his back. “Shall we?”
“Activating pulse. Any Amalgam units within a metre square will be reactivated.” It started whirring again.

Magpie retraced his steps, this time with the Amalgam on his back. Each time he passed a Protectorate soldier, he worried but the stolen ID card remained an effective cloak. It didn’t take long before they found themselves back with Blindside.
“You took your time.” Blindside looked up at them and sighed. “You’re not stopping are you?”
“Not yet. We’ll be back in a moment. Just got to help this… Amalgam?” Magpie looked over his shoulder. “Sorry, I never asked, do you even have a name?”
“This is unit twelve of this Amalgam co-operative.” The Amalgam responded. “Amalgam have no need for individual names.”
“Well Twelve, I think it’s time we reactivated the rest of your lot.” Magpie hiked it up his back. “Where are they?” He was hit by a sudden realisation. “Those power signatures…” He smiled and continued down the corridor leaving Blindside, once again, alone and safely surrounded by gun wielding maniacs that couldn’t hit them.