Grunt Hero by Weston Ochse

Author:Weston Ochse
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd

Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

Bruce Lee

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“PEARL, SEE IF there’s another access point to the roof.”

She moved swiftly down the hall.

“Liebl, post at this access and advance on command.”

“I’m not going up there,” he said, his voice steady and even.

“It talks.” I stepped forward and slammed my visor into his. “You will go up there on command.” I locked eyes with him, daring him to do something. Finally, he averted his gaze. “Do I hear a WILCO?”

His eyes flicked back towards mine. Then he said, “WILCO,” in a small voice.

I turned away from the blue falcon. I had little faith that he’d actually do it. But until that moment, we both had to pretend he would. I glared at the ceiling. What was up there? Was it an alien? Was it a Cray?

Pearl came running back. When I looked at her, she shook her head.

How were we going to make it to the roof? Going one by one up the ladder and through the hatch was suicide. We had to find another way up… find a way to distract whatever was on the roof.

Then I had an idea.

I told Pearl and Liebl my plan.

By the looks on their faces, I could tell they approved, especially Liebl.

I went to the end of the hall and found an office.

Pearl found an office opposite the roof access.

I counted to three on the command channel and we both opened fire at the ceiling. Cinders, chunks of wood, and drywall rained down on me. I kept firing until I could see sky.

“Now,” I shouted.

Hopefully, Liebl was opening the hatch and standing beneath it ready to shoot anything that stuck its ugly face in his field of fire.

I stopped firing. While the six barrels spun to a stop, I pulled free my harmonic blade and hacked at the space above me until it made a hole big enough for me to climb through.

I sheathed the blade and announced, “Ready.”

Liebl shouted, “Ready!”

But nothing from Pearl.

I shouted it again, as did Liebl. Still nothing.

“Pearl, status.”

Then I heard what sounded like a gargle.

“Liebl, move!”

I reached up and pulled myself out of the office and onto the roof. I saw Liebl coming out of the hatch. But other than a complex control module powered by an almost silent generator on the other side of the roof, I didn’t see anything.

I started to run over to where Pearl had made her hole when a great beast of an EXO pulled itself out of the hole to stand on the roof. It was definitely an EXO, but it wasn’t Pearl’s. It wasn’t even close to being hers. This EXO was easily the biggest I’d ever seen. Twice as large as mine in both height and heft, it was gunmetal grey with only red, white and blue shoulder adornments in the shape of epaulettes. Unlike our suits, whose primary weapon was a built-in minigun with a retractable harness system, this EXO carried an M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun like it was a child’s toy.

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