Raid (Animus Book 9) Read online

  Raid

  Animus™ Book Nine

  Joshua Anderle

  Michael Anderle

  This book is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2019 Joshua Anderle & Michael Anderle

  Cover Art by Jake @ J Caleb Design

  http://jcalebdesign.com / [email protected]

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  A Michael Anderle Production

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  First US edition, September 2019

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-64202-444-9

  Print ISBN: 978-1-64202-445-6

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Author Notes - Michael

  Books by Michael Anderle

  Connect with The Authors

  The Raid Team

  Thanks to the JIT Readers

  Jeff Eaton

  Jeff Goode

  Diane L. Smith

  John Ashmore

  Dave Hicks

  Larry Omans

  If I’ve missed anyone, please let me know!

  Editor

  The Skyhunter Editing Team

  Dedication

  To Family, Friends and

  Those Who Love

  to Read.

  May We All Enjoy Grace

  to Live the Life We Are

  Called.

  Chapter One

  “So, do you think we’re in trouble?” Jensen Pope asked the organization’s council leader jokingly. Juro Sasaki’s lips were pursed and showed more annoyance than amusement at the comment. Unfazed by the man’s attitude, he took another look around the dark, stark room only illuminated by a few glowstrips along the ceiling. “It’s odd that all the council members were called in and our leader isn’t anywhere to be seen.” He motioned with his head to the northern wall, where Dario leaned against it and gazed at the floor with a casual smile on his face. “But his personal assassin is.”

  “That’s enough, Jensen.” Juro hissed a sharp intake of breath. “You know we have made considerable progress toward the mission. Our leader would not need to—”

  “You seem rather tense, Juro.” The councilman was cut off by Xiulan Liu, the medical corporate leader, and she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you care to share?”

  “It seems he’s merely rising to Jensen’s provocations again.” Damyen Orlov, the Russian ark academy chancellor chuckled where he sat across the table. He sipped casually on his glass of water. “Do you lack so much stimulation, Jensen, that you must do this at every meeting?”

  “It was an honest question,” the man stated in his defense and looked at the other nine council members once more. “I can’t be the only one thinking it, and everyone is so quiet. Even Qiana looks worried.”

  “Mr. Rayne isn’t the kind of person to dispose of useful individuals.” The entire group looked at Dario, who still stared at the ground. “Don’t worry yourselves too much. Not unless you consider yourself useless. In which case, that kind of humility may spare you. Although we are supposed to be a ‘secret’ organization…” He looked up and tapped his chin. “How do you feel about a lobotomy instead of termination?”

  Before they could retort, a holoscreen appeared in the middle of the table, and they all turned their attention to the display. Merrick looked at the group as Dario pushed himself off the wall and walked closer. “All are present, Dario?”

  “Yes, indeed, capo.” The assassin nodded and seated himself. “How have you been? We haven’t talked in a couple of weeks.”

  “Busy, as I’m sure all of you have been,” their leader stated, although his gaze had moved to look at something on his desk. “I wanted to take a moment to congratulate you all on your work thus far. We are drawing ever closer to our goal. But before we can truly begin, I need to confirm some of the particulars.” His gaze darted to General Nolan Pocock, who stiffened slightly under his gaze. “General, the army—how is it coming?”

  The man stood and coughed to clear his throat while he retrieved a tablet. “The droid division has been bolstered significantly and continues to grow. However, the soldier division, even with assistance from Mr. Orlov and Dario, still falls considerably short of the requisite numbers.”

  “Still? That’s been your main priority for three years now, General,” Qiana muttered. “Why not simply supplement the meat with gang members and hired mercs? I have lists of those with loose morals who would work for adequate pay.”

  “I’ve been over this with you and Ms. Liu,” Nolan retorted. “We need more than merely bodies. Our targets will have no problem in dealing with mindless foot soldiers. The droids will work as a main force but for specialized matters, we need specialists.”

  “My robotics division has made great headway in the functionality of some of our specialist models, General,” Oliver Solos offered and his gaze moved from the general to the leader. “If it comes down to it, perhaps we can use this opportunity as a proper field test.”

  “Field test?” Damyen mocked and shook his head. “On the day? Get your head out of your ass. You’re underestimating the situation, Solos.”

  “Am I? Part of the human force is composed of your trainees, correct?” he asked. “Do you expect them to be prepared to fight an army of highly skilled soldiers after training for half the time or less than their adversaries?”

  “Unlike that Academy, I don’t coddle my students,” Damyen stated and thumped the glass in his hand on the table, seemingly for emphasis. “Between my methods and the adjustments we made to our own Animus system, they will be more than formidable.”

  “I’m sure they will, Mr. Orlov,” Nolan said, his tone placating. “But they are only a force of two hundred at the moment. That might suffice for the initial invasion, along with the number of golems we will have available, but we have to worry about the fallout and continued operations after that success. I’ve been able to pull some strings on my end and obtain the assistance of a private military contractor to handle the distraction objective, albeit in a way that I find somewhat tasteless.”

  Merrick turned to the general, intrigued. “Oh? How is that, General?”

  He put the tablet down and
rubbed his temples. “They want to create a smokescreen and have men go in under the guise of terrorists. The assumption is that the WC will think it is a coordinated attack by a joint operation between Black Lake and a few other groups.”

  “I see.” The leader leaned back and closed his eyes. “We shall…consider it, for the time being. I also believe this may be contrary to what we are trying to achieve. This should be a time of unification among the human race. To use such a tactic could be—”

  “Fun?” Dario interjected and earned glares from the entire table, including his boss. He held his hand up. “I suppose it would be a problem. But we have already signed up for the long haul. Even if this all goes perfectly, we won’t change the hearts and minds of everyone, not until the real threat presents itself on their doorstep. I would suggest that causing a little chaos to make sure our first strike succeeds without a hitch would be a fine compromise.”

  “Which is why I said I would consider it,” Merrick stated and returned his attention to the general. “Although, if you can think of another idea that would be suitable, Nolan, I would happily change course.”

  “I’ll do my best, sir. As it stands, however, it may be the best option with our current forces.” He sighed.

  “Why not go with the lady’s suggestion?” Dario asked and folded his arms. “Gang members can be quite resourceful. After all, one of our facilities was destroyed by a former gang member.”

  Damyen turned to Dario and sneered. “You say that so casually for the idiot who lost it in the first place.”

  “Too true,” he conceded. “But it did open my eyes to the possibilities. It wasn’t a huge loss for us at this point. But for such a small team to succeed, maybe there are others like him we could have at our disposal?”

  “You’re letting your bloodlust show, Dario.” Xiulan huffed. “And making connections where there aren’t any. Whatever his past may be, that was a team of trained Nexus students,”

  “Half-trained,” Oliver countered. “They were third years.”

  “And the one who destroyed your droid in that junk town last year was a second year,” Jensen added and kicked his feet onto the table. “Damn shame about that. I had to put a fair amount of work in myself to try to smokescreen it all.”

  “Which is why you should have used your own men to make the robbery instead of relying on that Halo gang,” Oliver snapped and he frowned at the normally calm man’s sudden rage. “I believe that shows the kind of competence we can expect should we hire those kinds of ruffians.”

  “So, we’re going with no, then?” Dario asked and twiddled his thumbs. “It’s a shame, really. There’ll be so much unused stock without hands to hold those weapons.”

  “We’ll send those to my contact before the time comes if I cannot amass a larger army,” Nolan stated and stared at Dario before he turned to the leader. “And I promise you, sir, nothing like that incident will ever happen again. I have made sure that all our remaining facilities are well guarded. They won’t have a prayer of getting in.”

  “We’re in,” Kaiden stated triumphantly and kicked a dented droid head down the hall as he made his way into the base. His armor was mostly shattered and his shields depleted. He held Sire in one hand and a stolen machine gun in the other. His visor was cracked, as well, and he contemplated simply peeling it out before he proceeded.

  “It took you longer to get in here than it takes you to complete some missions,” Chief noted. “And I’m picking up a hell-ton of signals. I think—”

  Three mechanicals fell from above and unfolded to reveal themselves as Havoc droids with cannons on each arm. The ace readied to fight and aimed both weapons at the bots before a thud behind him drew his attention. He glanced over his shoulder as the heavy doors of the entrance closed behind him. “I thought you said you had access to their systems?”

  “I do— did! I didn’t even realize I was overwritten,” the EI stated. More droids—four, seven, then fifteen—landed in front of them. He held Sire’s trigger down as they began to approach. “To finish my thought, I was going to say I think you might have overdone it.”

  Chapter Two

  Explosions erupted in the hall. Kaiden powered his way through a door farther in, the droids in hot pursuit while turrets activated as he continued to race deeper into the facility. His left arm had given out and his legs were hardly sturdy anymore. Keep going. Keep fighting. He maintained the inner chant and simply didn’t have the time to think of much else at this point. Sire responded to the slight adjustment in his aim and destroyed two turrets as he made his way into a hangar.

  The ace looked around for another door or elevator he could use, but all he saw was a ladder that led to the catwalk above. He turned and shot the terminal at the entrance door, which immediately began to close as the Havoc and Soldier droids behind him began to fire. They blew the doors open before they even had a chance to close fully. Kaiden swore quietly as he holstered Sire, hauled himself up the ladder, and dropped his last thermals behind him as he scrambled higher. A searing pain stabbed in his back a second before he reached the top. With a grimace, he crawled onto the platform as the explosives detonated. Droids didn’t seem to have much self-preservation instinct, but with how many there were, that seemed moot at this point.

  He fumbled behind him and his fingers touched singed flesh. Even though the underlay had dispersed the majority of the shots, the blasts had burnt deeply into him. He had almost forgotten what it was like to feel a direct strike like that. It was sobering, but he would worry about it later. He pushed himself up and raced across the catwalk while he drew Sire to fire at the droids below that continued to file in.

  A door at the end of the platform probably led into the next hangar. One of them would have a route somewhere else eventually. He prepared to fire at the panel to force the door but it opened on its own—not for him but for the Assault droids behind it. Kaiden skidded to a halt and instinctively raised his rifle to fire before it was shot out of his hand by a Soldier droid below. He grimaced as he reached for Debonair, but the Assault droids’ guns had already primed and a hail of laser fire rocketed toward him.

  The sensation of taking multiple strikes wouldn’t be easily forgotten. His body was torn apart when white-hot projections of energy seared into his shoulder, torso, legs, and stomach. He collapsed and blood pooled and dripped from the walkway. How was he still conscious? Perhaps the better question was how he could be alive at all. He didn’t have to worry about that for long, however. Metallic clanks approached along the walkway and a white light began to appear in his peripheral vision. He clenched his teeth as the Assault droid ahead of him raised a leg and brought it down as the light consumed his vision.

  Kaiden gasped as his pod opened and he fell out to land awkwardly with a loud thud. He coughed for a moment before he crumpled into himself as the pain from the Animus wracked his body. This had turned out to be a bad start to the day.

  “Damn, you were fucked up in there, partner,” Chief commented.

  “I noticed.” He groaned and winced as he rolled onto his back. Something poked painfully into his ribs—not one of the many needles that seemed to stab relentlessly into his body but more of a dull impact like someone was kicking him.

  “Are you all right?” a soft voice asked. He blinked a few times before his vision cleared enough to see Chiyo kneeling beside him. She probed his cheek gently. “I had assumed that at this point, you might be accustomed to pain.”

  “I am, but it’s still not a friend,” the ace muttered and slapped her hand away. “Quit it! You’re literally kicking me while I’m down right now.”

  “Because I’m sure that’s much worse than becoming a trypophobic’s nightmare due to a multitude of lasers.” She sighed, stood, and offered a hand. He stretched automatically to take it before a new wave of pain made him stiffen and he closed his hand and held a finger up.

  “I’m gonna lay here for a while. Is that all right?” he asked and huddled into himself agai
n as she sighed and sat.

  “I guess there’s not much of a choice for now,” she muttered and studied him for a moment. “You know, I watched on the console and I looked up the specs you chose. We were supposed to do that mission together and even with the two of us, that would have been way too much.”

  “Have some faith, Chi.” He grimaced and began to rub his chest when he coughed a couple of times.

  “If this is how you see faith, you must be the equivalent of one of the self-flagellating monks.” She sighed. “Kaiden, you know the map Laurie designed for us is only based on our best guess of what their facility could be like. Even if there are only half of the forces we think there are, we could bring all our friends and still not have a chance to do any real damage.”

  Kaiden dragged in a deep breath, rolled onto his back again, and stretched, taking slow, measured breaths as he inclined his head to look at her. “Sasha and Laurie won’t let us, remember? They say we can’t offer it to contracted students.”

  “I’m simply giving an example,” she stated. “What was your plan, exactly? Simply to see how long you could survive on a suicide run?”