Loss

"There's nothing left of him." Duke said soberly. "I guess he bought it after all. Davis was right."

"I'd rather I wasn't." Davis said, firing at some of the rebels still occupying the rooftops.

"They'll pay for this!" Slash ranted, firing too. "Because they'd rather buy Fightechs than pay their taxes like normal people, a good man had to die!"

"That should've been me in the lead. But there's no time for sentiment." the Commander said. "We've gotta keep moving. Better not tell Kate until we get back."

"I've been m-monitoring." Kate sobbed, her voice carried to the Fightechs from orbit. "P-please be more careful! I... I..."

"You heard our angel." the Commander said. "Move on out!"

The streets had grown oddly quiet, as if Vaughn's death had temporarily appeased the rebels. The mercenary Fightechs clanged through the streets, encountering only sporadic resistance, and no more rebel Fightechs. Before long, they had reached the tall electrified fence that separated the rebel command center from the rest of the city.

"Damn, look at the size of this place!" Thelonius said tersely. "I bet they've been planning this war for a long time."

"We're punching our way in." the Commander announced.

Down came the fence, slashed in half by Blue 5's wrist-mounted Fightech vibroblades. Between the fence and the masssive steel dome lay a wide, empty concrete lot.

"Well, this is fishy. It's too quiet." Davis said.

"Fuck it, I'm going in." Duke said.

"Slow down there, champ." the Commander said and went next, followed by the rest of the company. Once in the parking lot, the Commander launched two Hammerheads into the side of the complex, blowing out a hole big enough to fit one Fightech at a time.

Thereafter all Hell broke loose. Bays swung open in the side of the building, and the Deltan Fightechs spilled out by the dozens, firing their f-cannons and launching missiles.

"Crap!" Thelonius yelled, launching a missile to again destroy two enemy suits at once. "We're outnumbered!"

1. "We can take them and their cheap-ass suits!" Duke yelled, gunning down another opponent. "Did they buy 'em at a yard sale, or make 'em themselves?!"

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