Free Space Cadets by Adam Moon Page A

car and hunched down behind it.
    He took one across the street from me.
    There was a cowardly part of me that hoped whatever was coming our way would turn off down a side street and avoid us, but that was wishful thinking.

Broken Beast
     
    To my utter astonishment, the Beast came into view at the end of the road. It was going very fast. Even from so far away, I could see the damage it had sustained. The windshield was cracked and the body was punctured over every square inch.
    There was a busted up police cruiser trying its best to keep up.
    As they came closer, the Presidents men came into view, running behind them. They were all suited in armor, but there were only four of them left. I don’t know much about how this works, but from what I’ve read, usually the President is surrounded by dozens of men and women willing to lay down their lives for him. Four remaining men did not bode well.
    One of the men exploded like a water balloon. The boom rocked the car I was hiding behind.
    Then we saw its source. There were at least a hundred men and women on foot, giving chase and there were three armored vehicles fitted with turrets and such. The men and women looked insane as they ran and fired from the hip.
    I’ve never been so afraid. There was a succession of booms behind us. When I turned my head to see what caused them, I almost cried. There must’ve been another hundred crazed men and women at that end of the street. We were boxed in. This was going to be a slaughter. The Beast sped up but a Popper was fired at its front bumper and the explosion killed the engine, and probably the driver too. It veered to the right and hit a storefront. One of the remaining three Presidential guards fell down hard. Blood oozed out from beneath his body.
    The police cruiser was hit with an exploding projectile and did a little hop in the air. No one inside survived.
    This was a kill-box and I was in it. The terrorists were about to get a two-for-the-price-of-one deal; the President and me.
    But just as all hope was lost, a shadow fell over us and then the sound of an aircraft engine trailed off in the distance. I looked up and saw tiny specks falling quickly to the ground. It was the airborne Rangers. I counted a dozen or so of them. I was beyond happy when I spotted a mech amongst them. A mech skin would come in handy but I was still worried it wasn’t enough. There were at least two hundred terrorists here.

Help From Above
     
    The mech used its thrusters to get to the ground first. It wasted no time. Whoever’s consciousness was running it had clearly modified the thing. It had two shoulder cannons and a spinning head turret. It also had two Dannon Cannons in each hand. It landed just a few feet from me, looked right at me and then bolted towards the President’s limo. It was firing all weapons at the approaching terrorists as it ran.
    By the time the airborne rangers hit the ground, there were already a lot fewer terrorists to contend with. They hadn’t used chutes but instead used quick thruster bursts to slow down their descent. Most of them ran at the terrorists to the rear, with just three of them going to help the A.C.E. (Automated Combat Equipment) unit.
    The larger group split up. A Ranger ran over to a shop front and attached what looked like a long bar. I saw another Ranger at the other side of the street do the same thing.
    With that done, and bullets hitting them left and right, a third Ranger chucked a little orb down the street, towards the approaching terrorists. Then each of the Rangers at opposite sides of the street pressed a button on their rod-like devices and an opaque orange force field went up between them.
    I heard an aircraft engine screech towards us and then the other side of the force field lit up like the sun.
    I felt none of the blast; no shrapnel and no heat. When the smoke cleared, not a single terrorist was left standing. The three armored vehicles were in smoldering chunks. I’ve read a bit