Havoc Squad: Armor Brigade Book 2 by Toby Neighbors

Author:Toby Neighbors [Neighbors, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mythic Adventure Publishing
Published: 2023-06-30T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Marching back the seven or so kilometers to the front lines in MAL Armor that wasn’t functioning was nearly impossible. After trudging along for an hour, and only getting half a kilometer from their previous position, Cosmo and Dyson had to face reality.

“We’ve got to leave the armor,” Cosmo said.

“I don’t like it,” Dyson replied, looking over his shoulder. “Those things could come back at any moment.”

They could see the mass of gargoyle creatures that had once more created a hive-like swarm around the portal. But their armor was non-functional, including the battle helmets they used to control the HAVOC drones. In particular, the HUD that normally showed their position on the battlefield, and zoomed in on far away objects, wasn’t working. The armor, without its movement-assist technology functioning, made simple chores like walking much harder.

“And what would we do then?” Cosmo asked. “We’re too slow to run away. Can’t fight in these things. I don’t even think our weapons are operational.”

“One way to find out,” Dyson said, flipping the switch on his LA6 to activate the lower projectile barrel on the over-under weapon. He pointed it away from Cosmo and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

“They’re electronic,” Cosmo said. “And nothing electronic is functional out here anymore.”

“How the hell do they do that?”

“I don’t know,” Cosmo admitted. “Maybe the captain will have an idea.”

He reached up and pulled the tab on the seal around his neck. The helmet came off easily enough. Dyson followed suit. It was good to breathe fresh air again. Having their battle helmets on while their armor wasn’t functioning was a bit like wearing a bag over their heads. They stripped out of the MAL Armor and headed back toward the FOB in nothing but their compression shirt and pants. Fortunately, the armor was made to go over standard issue military boots, but neither of them had weapons. Their LA6 rifles were too bulky to use without the movement assistance of their armor and didn’t work anyway, as they’d discovered. Even the knives they carried into battle were heavy and unwieldy. So the two troopers left everything behind and walked back to camp.

By the time they arrived an hour later, the sun had set. The camp was lit with small fires and torches. It was like they had slid back in time…way, way back. No electronics were working in the camp.

“Good to see you two made it out,” Captain Swift said. He had obviously been watching for them. “I was afraid you might have gotten stuck in your armor.”

“Couldn’t hang onto it,” Dyson said. “We’d have never gotten back with that stuff on.”

“What about the drones?”

“They’re intact,” Cosmo said. “But they’re just sitting out there helpless.”

“It’s the one thing I didn’t account for,” Captain Swift said. “I don’t know if the new creature set off an EMP device, or if it emits an interference haze like the Ma’Tis, or what it is exactly. But I’ll have to make some adjustments to the HAVOC drones.”

“It ain’t just the drones,” Dyson said.

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