Part 2
Shamus slept fitfully in his twelfth-floor apartment. It had been just over a month since their
first job, and his battle with the two BU-12Bs. In his E-SWAT battlesuit, he wouldn’t have stood a
chance. Now he was sitting on the greatest brag ever, with no-one to brag to. They hadn’t had any job
offers since, and his job was fairly quiet save for the piles of paperwork that had piled up over the
“incident” at USSD. He was beginning to get used to the peace and quiet.
It didn’t last. His sensitive ears awoke him to the sound of a floorboard creaking nearby. His
eyes flashed open, and he lay still. The first thing his saw was his clock radio, notifying him that it was
just past two in the morning. He glanced upwards and towards the door, keeping his head still. He saw
a figure framed in the doorway, barely discernible from the pale light in the hall outside. He couldn’t
make out any details, but he could tell from the silhouette that the figure was holding a silenced pistol.
He reached one arm slowly for his revolver, resting on the bedside table.
He suddenly heard a whispered “Bugger,” and the figure raised its pistol. Reacting quickly, Shamus
grabbed the edge of his mattress and rolled over, lifting it into the air as he swatted at his pistol. He
landed roughly on the floor to the side of his bed and grabbed the falling revolver, just as the figure
fired. A bullet tore through the raised mattress and shattered the window above Shamus. He raised his
gun as the mattress fell back onto the bed. He glanced over the top of the bed as the figure leapt into
the air. It twisted in flight as it sailed over the bed, and landed behind it, no more than a meter from
him. With the way it jumped, Shamus thought, It’d have to be a boomer. But the landing should have
taken it straight through the floor! Realising that he couldn’t win like this, Shamus vaulted over his bed
as a second shot blasted the clock radio right behind where his head had been. The attacker turned to
follow him, and sent a third shot into the door frame right behind the fleeing Shamus.
Shamus bolted out the doorway and headed for the end of the corridor. He turned left, and
started bolting down the stairs of his apartment block. The attacker looked down over the rail, then
vaulted over it, landing perfectly on the landing between the twelfth and eleventh floors, right in front of
Shamus. He finally got a good look at his attacker. She was a tall, dark skinned woman with short and
spiky black hair. She stared at him with intense brown eyes. She had a lean but very muscular build,
and wore a singlet and a pair of jeans. And was raising her gun to blow him away. At this range, she
couldn’t miss.
Neither could Shamus. He raised his magnum and blasted her. The shot went straight into her
forehead, smashing a hole clean through her head. She was thrown back from the force of the shot and
smashed through the landing window. A boomer that light can’t fly, he thought. She’ll be dead on
impact.
He headed back up to his apartment and called Carlisle, giving her the full details of the
attack. “Where is the boomer now?” she asked after hearing his report.
“It’ll be lying in the alley after its eleven story fall. Come over and check it out.”
After a while (and having gotten dressed), Shamus heard a knock on the door. He opened it to
Carlisle. “Hey,” he said, curtly.
“Shamus, this is no ordinary boomer.”
“How come?”
“It’s not there.”
Amy was woken by repeated knocking on the door. She glanced over at her alarm clock, and
frowned. Who in hell is getting me up at this time of morning? She thought angrily. She climbed out of
bed and pulled on her nightrobe. Muttering under her breath, she strode angrily over to the door. “All
right, do you know…” she blurted out and instantly fell silent.
Shamus was standing in her doorway. He looked, in all honesty, terrible. His eyes were
rimmed from lack of sleep, and he was stifling a yawn. “Hi,” he said feebly.
“What in blazes are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was attacked at home. I needed someone’s help.”
“You sure do.” she stomped back into her bedroom and slammed the door. Her voice was
muffled as she called back to Shamus, “Stay there. I’ll take you to the station.”
Jerk, she thought to herself. She sighed. Why do I even bother being nice to him.
Adam, Freya and Shamus met again in Carlisle’s penthouse apartment the next night.
Shamus was tucking into a glass of Carlisle’s (extensive) supply of whisky, Adam was tapping away at
Carlisle’s computer system intently and Freya was wandering around bored, looking at the view.
Carlisle entered the room, and they all quickly stopped what they were doing and assembled on the
couches.
“Sorry about the delay,” Carlisle said. “I’ll cut right to the chase. Last night, as you may have
heard, Shamus was attacked by a powerful android boomer. It took a .375 round to the head and fell
from a twelfth story window, but managed to survive and was nowhere to be seen five minutes later.”
Are you sure it was an android, not something more heavily armoured?” Adam, always the
tech head asked.
Shamus snorted a small “huff,” then replied. “It jumped over my bed and landed on a wooden
floor. Anything heavier would have gone straight through the floor.”
“How about flight capability?” Adam asked.
“No,” Carlisle replied. “Flightjets would have increased its weight considerably. It’s some new
kind of android boomer. Shamus has been able to supply me with a description,” she continued and
then promptly handed out the description to Adam and Freya.
“We’ll keep an eye out for her. Anything else?” Freya asked.
“Yes.” Carlisle paused. “All of our equipment is finally up to scratch. Tell your contacts that you
can do contracting work for the Star Angels, but make sure they don’t suspect you to be a member. Our
secrecy must remain absolute.”
“Right.” Shamus stood up. “If you don’t mind, I’ve got some legwork to do.” He turned and left.
Nicosia Winters unlocked the door to her apartment and wandered in, throwing her bag in the
bed nearby. Tough day, she thought, and sat down on her bed. She unclipped her hair, and let it hang
loose, almost down to her shoulders. She shook her head and ran her hand through the back of her
hair to get some feeling back into her scalp.
The videophone on her desk suddenly rang. She got up and hit the “speaker” button. The
screen came up with the words “audio only,” as the man on the other end started speaking. “Nicosia,”
he began. She knew the voice, and stiffened straight away. “We have a new job for you. We believe
that the Star Angels may be working along similar lines to ours. Find out what you can about them,
especially their motives, and report back. The information we’ve gathered so far is being e-mailed to
you now.”
“Understood,” she replied simply. The screen flashed up the “call ended” message for a few
seconds, then went dead. She rubbed her eyes and sat down at her desk. She punched a few numbers
into the pad, and hit the speaker button. It rang a few times, then was answered by a tall, rough-looking
man.
“Hello? Nicosia?”
“Tell me what you can about the Star Angels.”
He let out a sigh and sat down at his desk, level with the ‘phone. “They’re some kind of
vigilante group. So far they’ve taken out a rogue boomer downtown, and were involved in a battle at
USSD HQ. Some people at work think they’re a kind of boomer, but I disagree.”
“Vigilantes in battlesuits?”
“Not sure about that first bit. Could be they’re working for someone. Whatever the case, they
haven’t shown up in about a month.”
“Thanks,” she said, and cut him off. She quickly dialled a second ‘phone number, and was
answered by an alarmingly chirpy answering machine. She hung up before it could finish, then hit a
third series of numbers.
The videophone rang for a while, before being answered. “Hold on a second, said the person
at the other end, who then dashed away from the ‘phone. Nicosia couldn’t see her for a few seconds,
then she returned to the phone with a sandwich in her hands. “Who is… Ah. It’s you.”
“Yes, me. Tell me what you can about the Star Angels.” The woman on the other end visibly
stiffened and went silent. After a second or two, Nicosia simply asked “What?”
She replied, shaken. “Meet me at the usual place in about fifteen minutes. We gotta talk,” and
then hung up.
Nicosia rubbed her eyes and shook her head. She clipped back her hair again, grabbed her
bag, and left.
Shamus stood out in the cold night, waiting in the park for his meeting. He was rewarded by
the swift arrival of an attractive woman in her early thirties, with blond hair and wearing a large coat.
“Christ, Shamus, why’d you have to call me out on a night like this?”
“Sorry,” he said nonchalantly. “I was attacked last night.”
“Attacked?” she said, concerned.
“Someone sent some kind of android boomer to knock me off. I doubt it had any weapons,
‘cause it was using a pistol.”
“An android… can you give me a description?”
“Tall woman, black, short dark hair and muscular build. Ring any bells?”
She thought for a second, then slowly shook her head. “No, sorry. We churn out loads of
androids. You should know that. Probably just some client.”
“This was no normal android.”
“What do you mean?”
“It took a magnum slug to the head,” said Shamus, pointing right at the spot on his forehead
where he had hit the boomer, “And was still alive enough to keep going after a twelve story drop.”
“An assassin boomer?”
“Can’t be. Jumped over my bed and landed on a wooden floor.”
“You’re right. Standard assassin weighs 200 kilos. Landing from a jump would’ve sent it
straight through the floor.” She pondered this for a second. “How well was it moving?”
“Like an athlete, or better.”
“Damn. Otherwise I’d say someone had up-armoured an android, but this makes it a real
poser. I’ve have to look into it…” She trailed off, then suddenly snapped back up and looked at him.
“Anything else?”
“Yeah, actually.” He paused, trying to phrase his next statement correctly. “I’ve come into
contact with people who can take contracts for the Star Angels. I don’t know anything about them, but if
you’ve got anything, let’s say, under the table that you need doing, I’m sure I could pass it on.”
“Ta. I’ll consider that. Take care of yourself, Shamus.”
“Hmmph. I new my charm hadn’t worn off.”
She gave him a filthy look. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m rather married at the moment.”
“Didn’t stop you before,” he said, smirking.
She glared at him. “Shamus…”
“Alight,” he said, realising he’d stepped over the line. “See ya.”
She turned in a huff and stomped off.
Nicosia arrived in a café on the fourth floor of the Neo-Angeles Megamall. Her contact was
already waiting there, sitting nervously and twiddling her thumbs. Nicosia silently walked up and sat
down. Her contact looked up and started at her arrival. Nicosia glared at her, and simply said “All right.
Tell me all about them.”
“Look. They’re… They’re a vigilante group who’s working against Genom. I can’t tell you any
more.”
“Can’t, or won’t?”
“If anyone finds me here I’m going to be in no end of trouble, okay? They do mainly mercenary
work, especially Genom-related cases. They do it to get funding for other operations.”
“And how precisely do you know all this?”
Shamus rode home on his motorbike, pondering what had happened. Twice before someone’s
tried to kill me, he thought, but never like this. I need to get a new place. If only I knew who they
were… He was immediately broken out of his reverie when he spotted a figure amongst the crowd
heading into the megamall. It was the boomer that had tried to kill him last night. She was walking
oddly, but seemed fine. Damn, he thought, It’s tough.
He flipped open his communicator and called Freya to the scene.
“Okay, then, what other kind of operations are we talking about?”
Nicosia’s contact was on her third cup of coffee, and refusing to give over anything valuable.
Nicosia was now more interested in finding out her connection with the group than anything else. She
looked like she was about to say something, when they were interrupted.
“Well, what’s going on here?” Shamus had just showed up, with Freya following behind him.
“You know these people?” Nicosia asked her contact.
“Er, yeah.” Carla replied.
“’Course she does.” Shamus walked right up to their table, and Freya followed cautiously.
“Now what’s going on here.”
“We were just chatting,” Nicosia replied coldly as Carla seemed to sink under the table.
“Well, I’d like to know what it’s about,” Shamus persisted.
“Whose business?”
Shamus showed his badge. “Police business. Now just answer the question.”
“Nothing important to you,” she replied coldly, and sipped from her coffee.
“I think otherwise,” Shamus said, annoyed by her smug attitude and drawing his revolver on
her.
“Shamus!” Freya exclaimed.
“Stop it!” Carla demanded.
Nicosia just looked up at him, then turned back to her coffee.
“Well, are you going to answer me?”
“I thought I already did.”
“Leave her alone, Shamus!” Carla said, standing.
“Why? What were you two on about?” he asked her.
“Nothing!”
“Put the gun away, Shamus!” Freya said.
“So how do you know her?” he asked Nicosia.
“Just friends,” she said nonchalantly.
“I’ll just be, ah, getting along, ‘kay?” Carla said, backing off.
“I’m not finished with you,” Shamus said, turning the gun on her. Carla stopped, staring at the
barrel inches from her face in surprise.
“Leave her alone. It’s got nothing to do with you,” Nicosia said coldly.
Shamus turned back to Nicosia. Carla backed off some more, then turned and started to run
from the café. But as she turned, she bumped into the back of a very large man standing by the Café,
who was taking no interest whatsoever in the scene. “Er, sorry,” she said, then went silent. The man
apparently hadn’t noticed her, and his back felt hard and unnatural. She backed away from him
nervously, and turned her head to her friends. “Er, guys.”
“What?” said Shamus, irritated.
“That guy, he’s a -“
Before she could continue, the man in front of her suddenly bulged and tore out of his skin,
shredding the suit he was wearing. Before her stood an enormous boomer, its exposed components
and sloping forehead revealing it as a BU-C-139. Around the mall, more people tore out of their skins,
one into a BU-C-139 and two more into ornately constructed BU-C-208s. The one in front of Carla
immediately turned to a slow-reacting security guard and fired its mouth laser, mercilessly cutting him
down. A second guard fired a shot at the boomer, only to receive the same treatment.
In the café, people were running for their lives. Shamus ran to the bar and vaulted over it for
cover. Freya took refuge under Nicosia and Carla’s table as the other two ran for the nearest
emergency exit. Freya flipped open her communicator and activated it. As she did, the boomer spun
around and flipped over the table. It brought its exposed mouth laser to bare on her as she hunched up
and prepared for the worse.
A shot rang out across the mall, striking the boomer on the side of the head, it roared and
turned to face Carla, it’s assailant. As she squeezed off another shot, Freya scrambled out of the way
and made a dash for the exit. The boomer fired its mouth laser at Carla, the beam smashing into her
right thigh with enough force to punch a hole straight through her leg and drop her to the floor. It was
about to finish her off when Shamus fired a round from his magnum to distract it. It turned back to face
him and fired just as he ducked below the bar, the beam shattering bottles above him and raining him
with drinks.
Nicosia leant down and grabbed Carla by the shoulders. Seeing she was still conscious, she
dragged her wounded colleague behind an overturned table. Carla muttered up to her, “Follow Freya
and Shamus. Help them out!” Nicosia nodded silently, and dashed for the exit after Freya.
Shamus stood and fired another shot, hoping for a head hit to at least blind it briefly enough to
allow him to escape. The round went wide and the boomer prepared to fire. The world seemed to slow
down as Shamus new he couldn’t get out of the way fast enough to avoid the lethal beam. A figure that
had been running towards him suddenly leapt and, with inhuman speed, landed on him, bearing him
down behind the bar just before the boomer fired. Shamus looked up at his mystery benefactor. He was
being pinned to the ground by the boomer assassin that had tried to kill him less than twenty hours ago.
Looking closely at her face, she had a large blemish on her forehead where he had shot her, and the
skin had apparently healed improperly. She called out his name, then crawled off him and grabbed his
hand, dragging him towards the exit.
They ran into Nicosia and Freya as they got to the fire stairs. Everyone seemed to talk at once.
“Who’s she?” asked Nicosia.
“What’s she doing here?” asked Shamus.
“What happened with the boomer?” asked Freya.
Freya’s question was answered first as the BU-C-139 charged at them. As a group they
scrambled down the stairs, the boomer assassin dragging Shamus and Freya running on ahead. The
combat boomer, unable to fit in the stairwell, fired at Nicosia in the rear, but only succeeded in taking
out a part of the railing. Freya called back to them as she sprinted down the stairs “I’ve already called
the boss. She’s bring the truck, so get ready!”
They reached the car park level, and Freya sprinted over to the entrance. Nicosia stopped inn
front of Shamus and drew her gun. “Just what is going on here?” she demanded.
The boomer lunged forwards at her, swiping sideways with the flat of her hand at the gun.
Nicosia drew back, evading the blow, and fired her gun. The shot went straight into the boomer’s
abdomen, but it didn’t even notice. Nicosia’s eyes grew wide with surprise at the realisation that the
woman was a boomer. It lunged at her again, and Nicosia once again evaded the disarming blow.
“Put down your gun!” Shamus yelled at her. Nicosia immediately dropped the gun, and the
boomer stopped its attack, standing still in a combat-ready pose in front of her. The two of them stared
at each other, each one almost daring the other to make the first move.
“Explain just what’s going on here,” Nicosia said quietly to Shamus, not taking her eyes off the
boomer. That very moment, the Star Angels’ road hauler tore into the car park, and screeched to a halt
in the middle of a lane between parked cars. Shamus ignored her and ran over to the truck. The
boomer glanced towards Shamus, then followed him. Nicosia ran after them, determined to understand
what was happening.
Freya and Shamus boarded the back of the truck as Carlisle climbed out of the cab, still
dressed in her business attire. She looked at Nicosia and the boomer, and immediately asked “Who are
you.”
Nicosia responded quickly. “Carla’s injured and she asked me to help her. This woman is a
boomer of some sort. She saved your man’s life.” Carlisle stared at the pair of them for a second, then
the back of the truck opened up. Shamus and Freya emerged, clad in their hardsuits, and sprinted for
the stairs.
Carlisle nodded towards the back of the truck, and simply said “Get in.” She clambered into
the truck and Nicosia followed her, somewhat bemused. She was startled by what she saw in there. A
large computer console made up the wall against the cabin. In the middle were four large motorcycles,
each with an enormous gun strapped to their sides. And at the back were five large lockers, two of
which were wide open. As Nicosia gawped at the interior of the truck, Carlisle threw her something
which she easily caught. “Put it on,” Carlisle said simply.
Nicosia looked at it. It was some kind of jumpsuit, made of latex or rubber and apparently tight
fitting, with a few metal triangles on the chest and neck. She turned back to Carlisle, and was startled
to see her getting undressed. “What’s this for?” she asked.
“You need it to pilot Carla’s hardsuit.”
“Hardsuit?”
Carlisle had finished struggling into her innerwear, and pressed a button on two of the lockers.
They opened up, each revealing a hardsuit. She pulled out hers and began to board it.
Adam barged into the rear of the truck. “Freya and Shamus are heading for the… erk!” He let
out an exasperated cry as he saw Nicosia suiting up. She was equally as startled, and brought her
hand around and slapped Adam.
Adam recovered quickly. “What in hell’s she doing here?” he yelled at Carlisle.
“Calm down, Adam,” she responded. “It’s okay. She’s joining us for this one.”
Freya and Shamus cleared the top of the fire stairs. Peeking out into the mall, Freya saw the
boomer nearby, watching over a group of hostages. She could see one of the BU-C-208s on a lower
level across the mall, but no sign of the others. She turned to Shamus. “You give me cover; I’ll take him
out.”
“Right,” he replied, and they both sprang into action.
Shamus jumped out into the open and fired his railgun. Both spikes went wide, but got the
boomer’s attention. It spun around and fired its mouth laser at him, barely missing. Freya dashed out of
cover, plasma bomber energised, and drove her battleglove straight through the boomer’s torso. As it
collapsed to the ground, the BU-C-208 fired up at them with its mouth laser. They both avoided the shot
and spread out.
Shamus dashed up to a railing as the boomer fired again. He ducked below it until the laser
beam had ceased, then popped up and fired his railgun at the boomer. It took one spike in the arm, but
the other went wide and stuck into a rather nasty plastic pot plant. He ducked as the boomer fired back,
then continued to trade fire with it.
Freya dashed around to the side, glancing down to try and spot another of the boomers. She
saw the other BU-C-139, guarding some more hostages on a lower level. Hoping that it hadn’t spotted
her, she jumped over the railing. Angling her jump vernier backwards and sticking her leg out, she shot
towards the boomer like an enlarged dart. It spotted her coming and sidestepped the clumsy attack.
Freya crash-landed into a café table, then rolled out of the way as the boomer blasted at her with the
mouth laser.
Nicosia and Carlisle ran in through one of the entrances on the ground floor. Carlisle looked
up, and ordered Nicosia to take one of the higher levels. Nicosia silently activated her jumpjets as she
had been instructed, and manoeuvred up to land on one of the upper tiers. She immediately spotted the
other BU-C-208, and took cover as it fired at her.
Lower down, Freya leapt to her feet as the boomer fired again. She dodged the shot with
ease, and ran forwards. Activating her plasma bomber, she swiped at it to no avail. It lunged forwards
with a clumsy punch, and Freya dodged backwards avoiding it. She sprang forwards, thrusting out with
a powerful kick which caught the boomer in its midsection. As the kick connected, she activated the
rocket vernier in her hardsuit’s leg, thrusting further into the boomer’s abdomen and forcing it
backwards. It crashed through the railing and toppled to the floor below. As it crashed to the floor,
Carlisle dashed towards it and drove her knuckle bomber through the boomer’s head. It’s body
convulsed briefly, then lay still.
Shamus rose up over the railing briefly to fire at the boomer and saw that it had
launched from its position and was flying up towards him. Too easy, he thought, and fired his railgun
straight at it. Both spikes stuck into the boomer, shutting it down in mid-air. It careened forwards for a
few seconds, smashing into one of the lower railings, reverberating off and crashing to the ground far
below.
Nicosia fired at the remaining boomer with a heavy railgun on the Jackal’s forearm. It rammed
through the boomer’s shoulder and sent a massive electric charge through it. The boomer convulsed,
trying to regain control of its functions. Nicosia fired again mercilessly, this time sending the spike
through the boomer’s head. The shock was too much, and fried the boomers circuits. It collapsed to the
ground, twitching.
Carlisle ordered them to check for any remaining boomers. None reported any, and Nicosia
headed over to where she’d left Carla. A few seconds later, she spoke over the radio again. “We’ve got
a problem.”
The Star Angels were assembled in the trailer, parked in an alley near the dock district.
Nicosia had found only a note where Carla had been, simply stating “Dock district, warehouse 23,
midnight.”
“It’s obviously a trap,” Shamus stated.
“Yeah, but we don’t have much choice,” Freya responded.
“We could leave her there,” Nicosia said coldly.
The others were shocked. Shamus was already outraged at Carlisle’s decision to include her
in the operation, but since she already knew who they were, it made sense. “I thought you and her were
friends,” he interjected.
“Friends doesn’t quite say it,” she responded.
Shamus gave her a suspicious look, but was interrupted by Carlisle. “So, what do we do.”
“I doubt we can just out-and-out attack them, since she’s a hostage.”
“I say we scout the area,” Freya said.
“Good idea. Any other suggestions?” She paused for a few seconds and, receiving no
response, continued. “Okay. You three,” she said, turning to Nicosia, Freya and Shamus, “will scout
without your hardsuits. I’ll stay suited up in case you need help, and Adam will stay in the truck.”
The Warehouse complex was simple enough. A single huge warehouse in a fenced-off
enclosure, with a couple of portable buildings, left over from the reconstruction seven years ago. The
warehouse itself had a side and back door, as well as the main door.
Freya crept around beside one of the portables, checking around for any movement. There
were no lights on anywhere in the complex, and she was beginning to think it was all just a ruse. But
why? she thought. Her doubts were immediately dispelled when she felt a blunt object in the small of
her back - a pistol barrel. A soft voice spoke behind her. “Keep quiet, and walk to the warehouse.”
Freya nodded slowly, and started walking quietly towards the main building.
Shamus, by the gate, saw Freya being herded towards the building. Without thinking, he drew
his gun and yelled out “Drop the gun!”
Great work, Shamus, thought Freya. The woman behind him spun suddenly and fired a round,
missing Shamus. Freya bolted for the gate as Shamus fired back. The woman didn’t even flinch as his
shot reflected off her arm. “Boomer!” he cried out, and dived behind a group of pipes for cover.
Freya opened up her communicator while running, and yelled into it. “We’re under attack by
boomers! Get us help, now!”
Nicosia crept around the side of the warehouse, up against the fence. She heard the gunshots
nearby, but ignored them for now. She opened the side door and peered in. With the lights out, and the
windows mostly obscured by crates, she could see only vague shapes inside. After a few seconds, her
eyes became more adapted, and she could see more clearly. Two large men stood inside, and as she
watched, one of them headed out the back door. And another figure was lying, crumpled in the middle
of the floor.
She crept quietly towards the figure on the floor. Recognising it as Carla, she checked over
the body. She was still breathing, and the wound in her leg was mostly cauterised by the boomer’s
laser. She was still bleeding, and looked rather pale. She hooked her arms under Carla’s shoulders,
and started to drag her to the door.
The roadhauler careened through the fence, screeching to a halt. Carla’s hardsuit launched
from the top, wings spread and headed for the boomer, which had ripped out to reveal a female-model
BU-55C. Two other BU-55Cs, one male and one female, had emerged from the warehouse and were
attacking.
Freya and Shamus bolted for the truck as Carlisle covered them. Adam jumped from the
cabin, already in his hardsuit, and fired at one of the female 55Cs. A pulse of electro-magnetic radiation
shot from his hardsuit’s battleglove, partially frying the boomer’s circuits. It roared with pain and opened
up chest, arm and head panels, revealing an array of microwave panels. It sent a blazing blast of heat
at Adam, who barely managed to roll out of the way. Carlisle fired a volley from her railgun at the
boomer, which dodged out of the way although its circuitry screamed in protest.
Hastily suited up, Shamus and Freya emerged from the truck. Freya immediately activated her
jumpjets and barrelled towards on of the bulkier male BU-55Cs, activating her plasma bomber and
moving in for a quick kill. She blazed in towards it, battleglove first, hoping to drive the weapon straight
through its torso. The boomer easily avoided her, and swung around with its arm. Freya ducked the
clumsy blow, and swung upwards with the plasma bomber. Her target barely avoided it, clumsily
stepping back. She drew back her arm for another blow.
Just as she did, it opened up its chest and arm panels. A massive energy blast burst out from
it, striking Freya directly in the torso. She was flung backwards, across the yard and smashed into the
side of one of the portables, slumping down it and slipping into unconsciousness.
Shamus immediately opened fire on the third boomer, the female 55C that had previously fired
on him. One shot went wide, but the second slammed into its shoulder, just by the neck. A seemingly
minor hit, it fused some circuits in the boomer and activated its thrusters. Its rear panels opened up and
sent it careening forwards, straight at Shamus. He easily stepped out of the way, and it slammed
straight into the side of the truck. He extended the mono-sword from his hardsuit’s left forearm, and
swiped it at neck-level, decapitating the boomer. It’s thrusters shut off, and the limp body collapsed to
the ground.
Another BU-55C, this one male, emerged from behind the warehouse. Firing up its thrusters, it
charged towards the Star Angels. Carlisle moved towards it, standing her ground as it approached,
firing its mouth laser. She easily avoided the shot, and lunged towards it with her knuckle bomber as it
came in to land. Her battleglove went into its torso with a loud blasting sound. The boomer stopped
immediately, then wavered back and collapsed to the ground.
Freya shook her head, clearing it, and picked herself u[p of the ground. Her chest felt very hot,
and she smelt burning rubber (fortunately just her innerwear), but her hardsuit seemed to have taken
most of the damage. She saw shamus and Carlisle firing on the remaining female 55C, but the boomer
she had been fighting was still going, undamaged, and moving to attack them. She leapt to her feet and
ran at it, yelling to draw its attention. She succeeded, and activated her plasma bomber as she dashed
towards it. It opened up its chest panels as she charged, but Freya dodged from side to side. The
boomer hesitated, trying to aim, and Freya took advantage of that. She fired up her jumpjets for a
fraction of a second, launching her briefly into the air and surging her forwards. Bringing down the
battleglove over its chest panels, she rammed her plasma bomber straight into the boomer’s face. Its
head exploded in a shower of white-hot molten droplets, and its body collapsed to the ground. She
turned towards the other boomer to see it collapse under a hail of spikes from Shamus and Carlisle.
Nicosia got was close to the door, when she heard a metallic ringing noise. The figure, now
ripped out into a large combat boomer, was stomping towards them. She stopped and reached for her
jacket. Probably a futile gesture, she thought, but what the hey.
The boomer opened its mouth and fired. The flash illuminated it as its laser traced on the
ground around the two women. It was smaller than a BU-55C, but broader and stockier. It was coloured
a dull red, and had a complex sensor cluster in place of its right sensor eye. It advanced on them
slowly.
Nicosia was surprised when she heard Carla speak, although only in a whisper. “Give me then
gun,” she said, “and run.” Nicosia nodded slightly, and handed her the gun she kept concealed in her
jacket. “Now!” Carla said, hoarsely.
Nicosia stood up and dashed for the door as Carla rolled around and fired. The shot caught
the boomer in its eye socket, blasting the sensor cluster to pieces. It screamed with rage and fired its
mouth laser. Nicosia heard Carla scream out with pain, a piercing shriek that shook her to her bones.
But she didn’t look back; she simply bolted for the trailer.
Shamus, Carlisle and Freya burst in through the front of the warehouse, while Adam hung
back, maintaining his ECM screen of the area. The three of them saw the boomer, and their hardsuit’s
low-light vision picked out Carla, with an expanding pool of blood surrounding her. The Boomer,
however, blocked their view so they couldn’t see how badly hurt she was.
Responding to their entrance, the boomer spun around and fired its mouth laser again, raking
fire across the three of them. Freya and Carlisle both jumped out of the way, but Shamus was too slow,
and the laser raked across his hardsuit’s right leg. He collapsed to the ground, screaming as he
clutched the leg in pain. Freya dashed at the boomer, Plasma bomber out, and swung at it. It had
anticipated this move and, stepping aside, avoided most of the damage, but sustaining a graze to the
side of its abdomen.
The boomer opened up its back thrusters and launched itself through the roof, smashing a
huge hole. Carlisle activated her hardsuit’s wings and followed, launching though the same hole. The
boomer, soaring backwards, had already opened up a heat cannon from its chest and fired as soon as
Carlisle emerged. The blast caught her in the chest, smashing into her hardsuits armour and flung her
backwards. Knocked off balance, she plummeted through the roof once more and crashed to the
ground inside the warehouse.
Freya had already launched after Carlisle, and saw her get hit. As the boomer jetted
backwards, flipping over as it went, she angled her thrusters down and towards it. As it landed she
extended her leg for another flying kick. It sidestepped before she even came close, and as she landed
awkwardly, it spun around with its leg raised in a massive kick that connected with the side of Freya’s
helmet. The kick dazed her and sent her flying, reverberating off a fence as she barely managed to
keep her balance. Relentless in its assault, the boomer blasted with its mouth laser again, which she
barely managed to avoid. This boomer knows what I’m going to do next, she thought. It must have
been watching us back at the mall!
The boomer opened up its chest for another blast but was interrupted. Three metal spike
embedded themselves in the ground in front of it, barley missing it. The boomer glanced around to see
Nicosia landing to its side. Unsure of what to do, it launched itself on its thrusters again, and hurtled
towards the front of the complex. Freya took off after it, and as it flipped over in mid-air it fired its chest
cannon at her. Wise to that trick, Freya avoided the shot and as it landed, landed carefully near it. She
immediately swung around with her plasma bomber, once again grazing its side where it had already
begun regenerating.
The boomer reared up, its mouth laser open to attack, when suddenly it stopped, dead still.
Three spikes protruded from its forehead, and it pitched forwards revealing Nicosia, standing with her
hardsuit’s battleglove raised.
Freya and Adam waited in Carlisle’s living room, discussing what had happened. It was later
that night, and Carla had been rushed to hospital. Shamus was at home, tending to his own injury
(fortunately minor, but he was such a carry on, some times…). Carla’s leg had been practically cut to
ribbons by the boomer, and it was going to be replaced with a cybernetic one. Carlisle was busy talking
to Nicosia in private. As they waited, the two of them emerged from Carlisle’s study.
Carlisle sighed. “I’ve told Nicosia all about the group, and I’m ready to accept her as a fully
fledged member. Any objections?” When neither of them responded, she smiled. “Good. Nicosia
Winters, welcome to the Star Angels.”
Nicosia smiled faintly, and sat on the couch next to Adam. He quietly said “Hi,” and extended
his hand. They shook, and then turned back to the debriefing.
Carlisle continued. “The report from the hospital wasn’t good. Many of the neurones
connecting her leg are beyond repair, so she’ll never be as fast or agile as she was. I’m afraid Carla will
no longer be able to take up a combat role.”
“Does that mean she’s out of the team?” Adam asked.
“No. She’s just being moved to a support role; helping me here, or driving the truck to
operations.” She paused. “A second matter is the boomer that tried to kill Shamus. I’ve already filled
Nicosia in on it. I’ve got it in custody in my lab area. The question is what to do with it.”
“I say we break it up,” said Adam coldly. “Pull it apart and see what it’s made of. You said it
was an unusual model.”
“The boomer’s memory is a blank due to the head injury. It’s no longer a killer.”
“But it could recover its memory any day.”
“No, it was too badly damaged.”
“I agree with Adam,” said Nicosia. “If it’s that badly messed up, it could go berserk at any time.
We’d be doing everyone a favour.”
“You said it was a blank,” interjected Freya. “Like a child?”
“A child with the body of a boomer.” Adam said, bitterly.
“But surely it deserves a chance?”
“I agree with Freya,” said Carlisle. “It’s as alive as any of us.”
“We can see what we’re facing and save some people a lot of pain. Doesn’t that sound worth
it?” Adam said.
“We can’t take a vote without Shamus here,” Carlisle said.
“But you know he’d vote for my side,” Adam responded.
“We can’t be sure of that. I’ll keep it locked up until we can handle it properly.” Adam and
Nicosia begrudgingly agreed with this solution.
The next morning, Carlisle had to inform them all of the bad news. The boomer had gone
berserk, and she had to destroy it for her own safety. There was nothing left to examine.
Three of the members took this news with no small amount of satisfaction.
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