Chapter 58 – Over-Watch
Wednesday Late Night, Early Morning, July 29-30, 2308
Out on the far western edge of the Republic’s border, the derelict hotel, bearing darkened signs reading St. Vincent’s, drifted over the Pacific Ocean. Before Ross left, he’d set the building’s autopilot to a drifting loop out over the ocean. It would mess up the children’s escape routes, but at least they wouldn’t be there when the enemy arrived in the first place.
Further inland, the 405 freeway cable ran from the far south, up past the city, until it was bisected by the 101, running from the east side of downtown, up the coast through Ventura county and on to Santa Barbara.
St. Vincent’s hugged the pocket caused by this freeway intersection, not too far from the canyon neighborhood where Ashley had grown up.
Ana had convinced Reid to put the battle tank on remote and hang a few thousand feet overhead, scanning the slow-drift traffic with their scopes. Ana reasoned that if Cedric had an old-school radar style unit; the battle tanks at the same coordinates would hide their individual silhouettes. All they had to do was stay anchored in tandem, synching their personal harness with the tanks.
What Captain Snow did not predict was the military convoy that had cued up behind the two remaining wolves.
“Are you sure this is a good idea,” Reid asked, feeling his heartbeat rise as he spotted the wolves and convoy approaching below. They were still a dozen miles out. “What about Ashley and Geoff?” he asked.
Ana sighed. “Let’s worry about that if we survive. Ross wires a good safe house, from what I remember.”
Below them, the Maxwell Armored Fighting Vehicles slowed and moved into a flying-v formation, drifting in step as the wolves prepped weapons and accelerated toward their targets.
“Let her rip,” Captain Snow said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Reid answered. Below them, his battle tank launched missiles in series, three, then two, three, two, five and three.
The Wolves proved surprisingly agile, kicking out chaff and rolling past the warheads. Their independent tracking mini-guns chased the missiles and triggered them at a safe distance from the tank’s armored hide.
Ana’s Black Willow tank opened fire with its machine guns, ripping into the nearest wolf as it launched a handful of its own missiles.
“Look,” Reid said, pointing to the five Maxwells that had begun creeping forward again.
Their weapons were adjusting, aiming for the invisible origins of the fire hurled against the encroaching wolves. Reid’s battle tank opened fire on the armored vehicles.
One of the wolves, fleeing the line of fire, turned upward and climbed directly toward Ana and Reid.
Ana and the Chief Warrant Officer smiled at each other and aimed in with their long barreled rifles. Together, they opened fire on the armored wolf as he accelerated up through the atmosphere.
Ana’s first shot hit the wolf in the shoulder, screaming wildly off the armor plate, but slowing his ascent significantly.
Reid had aimed at he second one and struck him at a gap in the plate, his round ripping into the wolf’s mechanical aorta.
The first wolf opened fire and as the rounds of his min-guns reached them, Ana released the gravity-synch with her tank, executing an aerial cartwheel, her body no longer in the line of fire, but her shot lined up. She fired but only hit him in the thigh, spinning him from her line of fire.
The second wolf, venting pressurized fluids and incapable of maneuvering, after being plugged by Reid, found himself with a shot on Ana. He opened up with everything, blindsiding her, but sacrificing himself.
Reid, still in control of his gun tree, fired with four rifles and five missiles; scoring enough direct hits to separate the wolf in loaf-sized pieces, but the damage was done.
The tumbling wolf had righted himself and retreated, as Reid’s battle tank, though wounded, ascended toward their elevation. Reid put the wounded Captain Snow in the tank and programmed it for a safe house across town.
The Maxwells had not missed either aerial engagement and moved in to continue the assault. Their fifty caliber guns chased Reid and the severely wounded Captain from the sky, scoring several more hits before the pair of them escaped to a safe distance.