Steel Soldier by Cameron Coral

Author:Cameron Coral [Coral, Cameron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cameron Coral

Chapter 15

Collateral damage

Nova’s steel boots reverberated through the passageway as she climbed the stairs to the 103rd floor. She’d only ever seen the iconic Chicago tower in postcards. It had been known as the Sears Tower once upon a time when companies still existed. As she lifted her knees, her joints were facilitated by an intricate network of nanobots that moved in sync with the SoldierBot exoskeleton. The EMP was a dense weight against her back, a subtle reminder of the task at hand—destroy Mach X’s command center, cripple the SoldierBot forces in Chicago, and win back the city.

A soft chime sounded in her feed, the secure communication channel buzzing to life. Nova, Cybel’s voice came through, what’s the situation?

The plain concrete walls of the tower’s stairwell greeted her with each level’s ascent. Her steps echoed in the silence. Clear so far. Passing thirty-seven.

Stay alert. Once you reach the command level, you’ll have to deal with security. We won’t be able to link comms once you’re inside the fortified neural network walls, so I’m beaming you a recording that walks you through the process step by step. Got it?

Yep. The reality of 103 stairs was hitting every inch of Nova’s body. Though she was aided by the nanobots to power the SoldierBot’s cumbersome armor, she was still getting a cardio workout.

Remember, you need to get to ground level before the pulse goes off. You’ll have five minutes.

Nova paused for a moment and leaned back against the wall of floor thirty-nine. She was going to trigger a device that would incapacitate not just the enemy SoldierBots but the captive robots too. Cybel, the robots, the prisoners I told you about. There’s a CleanerBot . . . they’ll all be destroyed?

Yes. It’s unfortunate, but it must be done. The EMP doesn’t discriminate. It will affect all bots and electronics within its range. Your suit will deactivate, and the nanobots will die. Remember to show the flag so your crew can spot and extract you.

Cybel and Oxford would be miles away from the EMP blast to be safe. There could be residual pulses, like shockwaves, so it was too dangerous to bring any robots close. The plan was for Geo and other rebels to drive in a truck and grab the SoldierBot wearing the flag. They would haul her to where Cybel and Oxford could extricate her from the inert SoldierBot exoskeleton. She had to get the flag on her before the detonation or she would be lost among thousands of other SoldierBots and risk starving inside the suit.

Her life hinged on the blue and white city of Chicago flag that they’d displayed in the North Side headquarters. It was stored inside a storage compartment in her thigh.

All robots in the blast zone would fry. The image of the CleanerBot from earlier flashed in her mind. It looked like Block. And if it was anything like her friend, the poor thing simply wanted to clean and make people happy. It was caught in a war it didn’t ask to be part of.

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