Knights Apocalyptica

Chapter 128: Layoffs

DAN: Goddamn government, they keep pressuring us and sticking their noses in our business. Did you know the Los Angeles facility had three separate visits this week? Of course, they pay, but it’s annoying as all hell, especially when dealing with the oncoming litigation.

PATRICIA: I’m well aware of the visits. I authorized them. Don’t forget that Uncle Sam’s promises for a bailout are what’s keeping us afloat at the moment. Don’t worry about the litigation. They’ll resolve it for us. They always do, just like the last one.

DAN: The only suit I trust is the ones on my payroll. And the Army isn’t on ours. Politicians are one thing, you can buy them, but I don’t like the look in those general's eyes.

PATRICIA: You sound stressed, Dan. You should take a vacation. I hear that Japan is lovely this time of year. We can rent you one of those old-school bathhouses and put it on the corporate card.

DAN: Jesus, Patricia. We just laid off an entire department, and you're suggesting I take a company-sponsored vacation?

PATRICIA: We were going to fire them anyway, lawsuit aside. Their research wasn’t showing enough promise. This is normal in the corporate world. You know this, even if you’ve only been with Vortex since you were a kid. Relax. No matter what happens, we’ll be fine.

-Dan Brovski’s Private Recordings, Tape #9 Transcription (2110, 2nd Era.)

The first location on the map was a dud. It led to an empty neighborhood with no perceivable vault. The group split up and investigated what they could, but nothing. There were a couple of minor monsters, horrible man-like creatures without eyes and pallid sun-scorched skin, they died without much fight, and it didn’t take Erec’s axe to do the job. Bullets or Enide’s las-rifle were just as effective.

Despite the setback from the first place, they found what they were looking for on the second attempt.

A pit marked the spot on the second map, seemingly dug into an intersection with reckless abandon. Broken rock and asphalt decorate the nearby street, making way for a yawning chasm. Shovels, burned fires, and discarded food wrappers marked this spot where people had recently been.

They took a moment to consider it before ducking back around the street as a little buzzing machine flew out of the chasm, flashing a red light.

“Gone,” Boldwick said a couple of minutes later.

“A fucking drone?” Yniol asked, lighting a cigarette.

“Drone?” Boldwick rattled his sword in its sheathe, loosening it.

“Old-world tech. Magi have a few they’ve found and purposed for scouting. Since they fly and you can use them remotely, they’re supposed to be useful. Don’t think we need to look further if old tech like that is active here. Has to be it.”

“If there are drones, I’m willing to bet there’s a network,” Corey piped up, stepping forward.

Boldwick stared at the hole. “Can we confirm that? Provide me more details before we move in.”

Corey nodded and took the lead, sitting in the middle of the road but still some distance from the chasm. Out of all the Pendragons, he was the lightest armed, carrying only a pistol. But this—was supposed to be his specialty. One after another, he pulled different devices out of a backpack. Starting with a folded piece of metal with a screen, then a handheld power bank, and some odd black box. After setting it up, he pressed a few buttons, and the screen lit up. Seconds later, he was tapping away.

The Pendragons took this as a sign that things would take a while dispersing and checking over their weapons. Boldwick took heed of this and began contacting the rest of the Knights.

Erec lingered over Corey’s shoulder, staring at the blinking strings and lines of letters as he worked.

[You should recruit him for your laboratory back home. If we can begin automation and delegate software creation, it’ll be helpful in the long run. Though, this one seems a bit underdeveloped. More likely used to cracking into security systems.]

There wasn’t anything to make of that since recruiting a Pendragon was far out of reality.

“Could you do what he’s doing?” Erec asked under his breath.

[Unfortunately, I have directives limiting me from such overt unethical actions. Taking control of an unbranded Armor? That’s asset acquisition and research. But breaching a different company’s facility is a very restricted action. The only one who could authorize such a hostile and illegal maneuver is Dan Brovski or a majority board vote.]

“Can you at least tell me what we’re getting into?”

[Let me check… Oh. That’s not good. Military. Really? In a city?]

Millitary facility? Old-world Millitary?

Not long after, VAL declared that Corey’s screen blinked red and blue, suddenly filling with alerts. The boy cursed and slammed the lid shut on the device, looking around with wild eyes. “Get ready!” he called, reaching for his side arm. Erec stepped back from the boy, grabbing his axe and feeling those alarm bells run.

A fleet of those drones flew out of the hole, headed right towards where they’d hidden out.

Boldwick was among the first to move, only beaten by a couple of Pendragon’s pulling their triggers. He formed a red glyph, and a second later, his sword morphed into a pillar of fire. With a broad sweep, the column of flame-seared over the drones, melting some of their parts. A couple of the things crashed into the ground as melted slag; others avoided it with swift maneuvering.

Then the bullets flew back from the drones.

Boldwick’s Armor took the hits, the denting and ricocheting off the Armor; one of the Pendragons yelled out in pain as a bullet tore into them.

Their unarmored allies pulled back into cover, meaning it was time for the Knights to shine. Erec sped forward, throwing a hatchet cleanly through the drone, able to track right where it’d be, thanks to the Q.A.P. It crashed into the ground in two parts, sparking and skidding.

Another flew near, and he grabbed it from the air, ripping it apart with both hands.

Bullets bounced off Erec’s Armor, sparking and making a highly annoying dinging sound. Erec felt that bit of Fury flare deep down and kept up the offense.

With the full might of six Knights and a host of Pendragons providing cover fire, destroying the drones that swarmed outward didn't take long. By the end of it, Erec was left longing for more of a fight. This hadn’t let him go wild to revel in his power.

He gave a small look at Enide, who, to his dismay, noticed. The girl gave a thumbs-up and a smile. A ‘you did well!’ but not the reaction he wanted.

This wasn’t him; he hadn’t shown her the true part of him lingering inside. If she wanted to see that if she could accept that…

[Showing off. By Dan, youth never changes. These drones aren’t the only defense in a facility like this, so I wouldn’t get cocky, buckeroo. You might have magic and Armor but have yet to deal with the full might of science.]

“Sobering,” Erec shook his head and sighed, walking forward with the rest of the Knights to inspect the pit now that Corey had failed.

Below, in the chasm, were several bodies of the people Seven-Snakes sent. Their corpses scattered on the broken pavement stuck in the dirt. Fresh, too, from all indications, and shot in the back. Scraps of drones also mingled with the bodies. They’d tried to run from the vault, but not fast enough to escape bullets. A bit of sadness washed through Erec, but it was hardly his first exposure to death. Unlike watching the Kingdom’s soldiers and Knights die on the battlefield, he didn’t know these people. In all likelihood, if they’d arrived sooner, they might’ve died at the hands of the Knights.

It was a waste, though, for them to die like this.

Without a word, they pressed lower into the pit. Several people were nowhere near the number of thugs Seven-Snakes was reported to have, so the only answer was that there’d be more down here.

“Emergency protocol,” Corey pointed out cavities in the wall as they broke into a concrete tunnel. There were metal plates on either side, most now askew and open. “If they got in, they didn’t breach the network to do it, this was a sort of trap to deal with anyone trying to access their security remotely, but if we can find a port, I might be able to find out more about this place.”

“Understood,” Boldwick agreed, looking down the rest of the tunnel. “For now, we’ll pull back. The rest of the Knights will be inbound; we’ll try to catch up with our target. Erec, Robin, and Julia. I want you on the tunnel. Make sure nobody gets out.”

The group left the three assigned guards in the tunnel, which was an eerie feeling. Staring at a concrete pathway lined with powered lights made Erec shiver. What else hid down there? His fingers tapped against his side, the metal clinking softly in the silence. Vortex Industries wasn’t even geared for combat and held a lot of dangerous research. This was the supposed government?

Not much was known about it, which he figured might be an intentional device of the Kingdom.

The tapping continued, and when he finally drew his head away from the tunnel below, he noticed Dame Juliana and Robin looking at him.

“Sorry, I’ll stop.” His fingers stopped their tapping.

“It wasn’t that,” Dame Robin said. “You’ve come a long way. It could be that three is better than two guards, but he decided to pick an initiate to help. And not Gwen, the second year. It means more than you know, Erec.”

“Huh?”

“About on par with a Knight Errant,” Dame Juliana shrugged. “Normally responsible when it comes to Knighthood. Now that he’s had his first indiscretion, it’s probably the relief in tension Boldwick hoped for. Often you test new Initiates to find their breaking points. Getting involved with a wastelander during a mission like this must be a better one than others.”

“You’re reading too much into this.” Erec argued.

“Or you’re not reading enough. You’ve killed a cataclysm-level threat. It’s silly to think that accomplishment only mattered in the eyes of the Kingdom but not your own Order.” Robin pointed out.

“Were it not for strict educational requirements, you’d likely be a Knight Errant. Boldwick is treating you like it since it’s the rank he sees you as.” Juliana said. “Fine enough, but he shouldn’t forget you’re still young. Powerful or generally responsible as you are. Though, getting used to this treatment will probably help when we return to the Kingdom.”

“Does it scare you two?” Erec asked, feeling that pit stir in his stomach. “It feels like we’re far out on a limb here. There’s a lot of things stirring in the shadows back in the Kingdom, and we’re right in the middle.”

Dame Robin touched his shoulder as she was wont to do. The gesture resonated with Erec, as constantly stirring in that latent ghost of his mother in his memory. “Of course we’re scared. Feeling fear is part of being a Knight, as is pushing past it. Together, we can take on anything this world throws our way. Change is a natural course for life, and it’s been coming for our Kingdom for a long time. People outside our walls exist, and they’ve grown as we have. No matter how the Church wants to deny it. Our way of life was fine for a long time, but we must never forget why we came back to the surface, to begin with.”

“We’ll reconquer this world for humankind.” Dame Juliana spoke up and folded her arms. “Don’t lose sight of the goal.”