WEBVTT - Chapter Eight 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:08.000 Chapter eight, Rowland, so you were there, right, Sardar asked, 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:12.119 you saw the white house burn Sardar was Jim's mechanic. 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.040 He was a short, slightly pudgy kid with a wide, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.720 handsome face and scan a couple of shades darker than 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:21.400 Roland's own. This was maybe his twentieth question since Jim's 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.919 aircraft had dropped their transport off two hours ago. The 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:27.280 other members of Jim's team hadn't said so much as 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:29.920 a word to Rowland. They all listened, though he could 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.560 see the tension in their shoulders and feel the vibrations 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:34.760 in the air as their ears twitched and their eyes 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.640 darted over to watch his replies. The fact that they 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.199 were all cramped together inside the armored confines of a 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:43.640 maddis a PC made it easy to read the room. 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:46.320 Roland wasn't a hundred percent sure if the young mrk 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:48.400 had been put up to the task of questioning him, 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.920 or if Sardar was just an inquisitive soul. Roland smelled 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:54.760 a light drizzle of nervousness waft off the boy. He'd 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.240 caught several glances between Sardar and Bigsby, but neither of 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:01.600 those facts were proof of anything. Nervousness was a perfectly 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.400 natural reaction to hanging out in a cramped metal box 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.280 with a guy you'd just been trying to murder. I 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.920 remember pieces of it, Roland replied, fucking somebody in the 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:14.039 Lincoln bedroom, stealing liquor from the kitchens, shooting in the ball, 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.160 returned the White House bowling alley. Sardar shook his head. 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.360 That's fucking loco. You're like a history book. I bet 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.720 I read about ship you did back in high school, probably, 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:26.800 Roland said with a shrug. He had about nine clear 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.600 memories of his life before the shack on Camelback Mountain, 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.560 and none of them felt very historic. Can I get 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:37.240 your autograph? Man, Sardar asked Bigsby the posthuman Rowland had 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.319 been about to arm club in a submission a day ago. 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.520 Shook his head and groaned in embarrassment. One of the 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:45.319 women he'd buried in his collapsed hovel grunted out a laugh. 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.400 Her name was Nadine or something with an inn. Anyway, 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:52.280 she and her partner Asime were both close assault specialists 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.120 like the rest of the crew, except Tardar. They'd been 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:57.320 cold to Roland ever since he'd beat the living hell 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:00.360 out of them. Something occurred to him. Hey, I got 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:03.920 a question for you, he said to Sardar. Yeah, your 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.000 crew has been real pissy to me this whole ride. 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.320 Roland nodded at Biggsby. How exactly did you guys expect 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:12.720 that fight to go down? Sardar pursed his lips. He 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.040 seemed at a loss for a second. Then he said, 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.120 Jim framed it as just a standard guilt team action. 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:20.480 We've done that sort of thing a couple of times. 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:22.920 Last year there was this crumbed out Nazi in Idaho, 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:26.240 so he tricked you. Then Roland interrupted, convince you this 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.480 was just another assassination when all he really wanted to 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:32.079 do was get my attention. Roland looked around and realized 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.680 the rest of the transport was glaring at him. Biggsby 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.239 spat on the ground in front of Roland's foot. We'd 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:40.160 devised you if he'd given us another minute. Roland just 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.360 laughed and turned his eyes back to Sardar. It's clear 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:45.399 you and the other guy, he gestured at the young 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.880 man next to Sardar, are the only smart bastards in 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:49.800 the unit. Since you didn't get back up when I 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:54.200 beat you, down. Sardar squirmed a little, clearly uncomfortable me 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.480 and pedro He gestured to the other man, We're just engineers. 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:59.919 We don't go toe to toe with the with whatever 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.639 you are all this conversation, the most he'd had in years, 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.320 made Roland feel uncomfortably lucid. He rooted around in the 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.320 tattered old backpack he'd brought with him. It contained one 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.480 rusty Mateba auto revolver that he'd found under the floorboards 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:16.400 of his collapsed shack, and five point oh eight seven 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:21.280 kilograms of assorted narcotics, mostly opiates. Roland remembered how fun 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.320 it was to watch things explode while high on oxy. 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:27.080 He pulled a pillbottle out of the sack, delauted, and 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.120 poured half of it into his mouth. Roland swallowed, then 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:33.880 guzzled the second half. Jesus said, will the man he'd 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.440 stabbed in the throat with a piece of wood yesterday, 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:38.440 this is the guy who kicked the ship out of us. 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:41.960 I am sorry about that, Roland said. If I'd known 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:43.440 we were going to wind up sharing an a PC, 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:49.080 I probably would have just choked you out. Mortar fire incoming. 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:53.040 Roland's hindbrain ran the calculations estimated it at around eight 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.120 miles out. He sat up straight, since his focus towards 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:59.080 the sound of the fire. Bigsby and Asim reacted the 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:02.200 same way. They clearly splurged on the good ears. The 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.760 rest of the team didn't seem to have heard. They're 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:09.120 shooting ahead. As Amy said, sixty millimeter mortars. Get up, folks, 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:11.640 Biggsby added, as he pulled his own S thirty barret 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:16.240 assault rifle from its resting place on the wall behind him. 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.920 The funk was that as Amy cocked an eyebrow, her 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.320 left ear twitched, her tan, lean face flushed red with excitement. 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.920 I don't recognize that one me either, Biggsby grunted. The 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.880 other post human looked to Roland with clear frustration. You 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.280 recognize that, Roland did. It's an M one forty two, 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:37.240 he said, Mobile rocket Artillery antique U S military issue. 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:40.680 Will looked over to Bigsby, confused, I've never heard of 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:44.120 anything like that in the sdf's armory. It's not the SDF, 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:47.200 Roland explained, slurring his words more than a little. The 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:49.880 opiates had just started to hit. Holy sh it, I 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:53.120 loved allotted. He thought that's in coming can't you tell, 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:57.400 he said, not a not from this distance. As Ame answered, 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.440 she glanced awkwardly over to her partner, need put a 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.359 hand on her thigh and squeezed. Could you not be 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.040 monstrously fucked up when we're about to go into battle, 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.719 Biggsby asked. He seemed angry. Roland debated, offering one of 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.719 his handfuls of pills. He decided he'd much rather save 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.080 them for later. First off, I didn't sign up for battle, 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.120 he explained, as he popped and chewed a pair of 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:22.040 morphine tablets. Second, we still got about almost eight miles 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:24.480 before we hit the front. Plenty of time to sober up. 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.279 Eight miles, asked Sardar. The Richardson line is fifteen miles out. 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.680 More mortars crumped in the distance. Roland heard blossoms of 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.120 heavy machine gun fire too, and the hums of dozens 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.480 of assault drones. Hey, Biggs, the voice of the APC's 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.320 driver crackled over the vehicle intercom. There's a lot of 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:43.560 craziness coming in from the main s d F channels. 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:45.880 It sounds like a major assault. The martyrs have pushed 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:47.599 all the way to deep Ellum. Some of the field 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:52.799 commanders are talking about a full retreat, Jesus shitting christ Will, Bigsby, 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.760 and Nadine all cursed at the same time. Roland thought 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.080 it was cute. It tugged at his heart strings a little. 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:00.880 He missed being part of a close knit team. Some 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:04.159 of his stronger memory fragments involved really good times he'd 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.080 had during and after the war. He remembered blowing up 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:09.599 an armored school bus with a guy named Mike, throwing 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:12.760 rotten oranges at a government sniper with Jim. His brain 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.320 also brought up snatches of late night drinking sessions and 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:18.280 watching cartoons on an old projector in the desert. When 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:20.480 he closed his eyes, he could smell the burning man's 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:23.479 anita smoke of their camp fire. Payne tugged at his heart, 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.320 but he was jerked out of his revereree by the 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.360 sound of an explosion. It was big and close enough 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.000 that everyone in the APC heard it, even though Roland's 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:35.960 hindbrain put the distance at over seven miles away. V. B. I, E. D. Bigsby, 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.760 and Asime said at the same time, real big One, 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.080 as Ame nodded. Roland could tell that the explosives rigged 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.719 vehicle had been an E series Mercedes truck. But he 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:47.120 didn't bring that up. No one liked to know it all. 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.000 Biggsby's mouth opened and closed, the telltale sign of someone 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.599 having a subvocal conversation through their deck. Roland could have 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:57.080 read his lips, but that would have been rude. Instead, 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.320 he looked over to Sardar. If the gig is called 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.719 an account of war, you want to get ship faced 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.280 in Austin with me? The kid blinked, then replied, I mean, 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.000 of course, but I'm pretty sure boss Man's gonna want 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.000 us to do the job, even if it's hot out there. 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:14.520 Roland growled a little without thinking and start a cringed. 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.840 I did not sign up to defend against an active invasion. 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:22.440 I'm here to funk up property, not people. Jim says, 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.640 that's still the plan. You funk up the property, Biggsby grunted. 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:27.640 My fam and I are here to funk up the people. 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:31.120 A red hot cherry of anger bloomed in Roland's heart. 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:34.520 That wasn't the deal, he said, and Jim knows it. 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:36.240 One of you call him and loot me in on 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:40.680 your screen. I'll set this right. Call him yourself. Spat Bigsby, 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.520 he can't Startar pointed out, he's got a dead deck, 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:47.440 no signal at all. True, Noll, why the hell would 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.920 you go null? As Am started to ask, Bigsby interrupted her, 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.200 it doesn't matter why this ascopters null. I'm on with 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.080 Jim and he says you're under contracts. Still, we'll make 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:59.920 sure you don't have to cack anybody. For a moment, 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:03.480 Roland focused his attention outside the little a PC. His 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.440 hind brain coalated the bursts and vibrations that echoed out 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.400 around the battlefield. It compared them with his peda bites 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:11.880 of stored combat data and the last map of Dallas 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:15.160 he downloaded before severing his deck. In a couple of seconds, 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.040 he had what his Heiden brain assured him was an 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:20.920 accurate projection of the current fighting. It didn't look good 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:23.440 for the defenders, and what if it's too much for 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.120 you guys out there? Rowland asked, you can expect my 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:28.160 ask to murder a bunch of strangers to get you 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.920 and your fam home safe. Bigsby rolled his eyes. It's 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:34.079 a bunch of fucking martyrs. Maybe they caught the SD 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.520 off with their pants down, but they'll loose steam soon enough. 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:40.240 Those savages are all baseline sapien. We got chrome on 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:44.200 our side. Roland shrugged. If you're wrong, I'm gonna take 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.520 one of your nipples home with me, just a heads up. 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.480 The other post human's face turned to purple. It grew 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:53.160 purpler still when Sardar laughed at the remark. Sorry, Biggs, 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:56.559 it's fucking funny, man, it wasn't a joke. Roland shared 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:07.480 them both. They hit Dallas proper ten minutes later. Their 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:10.800 arrival was heralded by the sounds of car horns, squealing brakes, 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.640 and frustrated shouts, the songs of a city at war. 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:16.600 Flashes of memory from this same city in a different 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.920 war shot through Roland's mind. They kept him occupied while 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.920 Bigsby and his squad prepped their combat gear. There was 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.840 something almost comforting about the sound of men and women 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:28.880 arming for battle. He remembered the way Mike ran through 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.360 the lyrics of Iye of the Tiger before every op, 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:33.920 and the careful way Jim had loaded his pre battle 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:36.800 meth pipe. The crump of mortar fire and the boom 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:40.200 of heavier artillery grew louder and louder. The sour sinse 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:44.319 of Gamma amino butaric acid, cortisol, and epinephrin filled the cabin. 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:48.120 Bigsby's team had good game faces, but they were nervous. 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.959 Biggs the driver's voice crackled over the intercom. I'm seeing 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:55.080 a shipload of hostile drone activity. Sky is fucking angry 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.680 right now. Might be best at dismountain hit. Roland smelled 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:00.480 the fuel burning off in the ache of the hell 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.320 Fire missile roughly a second before it hit. He knew 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.120 the archaic munition didn't have the ability to penetrate a 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:08.760 man as a PC, but he still warned his fellows, 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.559 missiles are coming. What Sardar asked? And then it hit. 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:15.600 The impact rocked the vehicle on its axles and bounced 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.439 its hapless passengers into the hard metal edges of the cabin. 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.319 Roland bounced with them, although for him the pain of 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:25.560 impact was more curiosity than actual discomfort. The driver braked hard. 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.240 Roland heard and felt as the APEC collided with what 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.960 sounded like the outer wall of a large concrete building. 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:34.440 He smelled blood on Sardar and Nadine. From the sound 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:36.800 of the blast and the resulting crash, he guessed the 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:41.160 APC's front axle had splintered. Ryan the driver was unconscious. 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.360 He'd hit his head hard enough that the trauma nanites 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:45.160 in his blood stream had knocked him out while they 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:48.160 worked to stop the swelling in his brain. Out out, 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.440 move it, motherfucker's, Biggsby shouted. There was a hiss as 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.480 the rear inside exit hatches of the APC fired. Open 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:57.960 light streamed into the vehicle. Bigsby was out first, his 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.200 very large rifle at the ready. Dean and Asime followed 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.199 behind him. The former had a Juggernaut auto shotgun, the 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.400 latter had an IM fourteen sniper rifle. There were no 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:11.720 infantry nearby, not yet, but Rowland closed his eyes, concentrated, 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.280 and after a second his hindbrain guessed that the nearest 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:16.560 ground troops were about a quarter of a mile away, 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.680 six men in Airy's pattern powered armor, followed by fifty 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:24.040 unmodified human soldiers, a half dozen technicals, and two drone carriers. 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:26.600 The men in the Airy suits were the only thing 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:30.160 that concerned him. Powered armor couldn't make an unmodified human 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:32.960 into a true match for a god fucking monster engine 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:35.600 like himself, but it could give a squad the firepower 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:38.120 they needed to do some real damage. If they could 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.960 hurt Rowland, they could kill Bigsby and his team. His 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.400 hindbrain told him that the power armored soldiers would be 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:46.480 in weapons range within two minutes, just enough time to 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.080 roll a blunt He grabbed a blunt wrap and a 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.720 bag of groundweed out of his backpack and started to roll. 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:54.679 As he walked out of the abandoned a PC, Sardar 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.280 and Pedro had taken cover behind the vehicle and started 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:00.520 to administer basic first aid to their wounded driver. Will 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.240 was a few meters ahead on overwatch, covering them all 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.880 with his heavy M ninety four belt fed grenade launcher. 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:08.960 The others were nowhere to be seen. Roland heard them though, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:12.079 About fifteen meters west of the stricken transport. He felt 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.319 them take up firing positions. Should I warn Biggsby about 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.800 the armored guise, Roland wondered. He shook his head and 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:22.080 said nah out loud. Sardar stared at him. The wheed 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.960 was dry and slightly yellowed with age. Roland had certainly 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:28.000 smoked better, but he'd smoked worse often enough not to complain. 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.559 He drizzled the crumbled herb into the blunt wrap and 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.240 rolled it between his fingers. He licked the seam and 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.960 sealed it. As he watched Sardar shoot a stem capsule 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:40.080 into Ryan's neck, the driver started to regain consciousness. Roland 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:42.040 lit his blunt, took a hit, and offered it to 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.520 the man. Welcome back to the land of the living, 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.560 he said, with a cheerful grin pop. Sardar gave him 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.360 a stern look. Is this really the time? The screech 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.480 of a rocket propelled grenade filled the air outgoing fire. 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.320 It must have been from a nearby SDF position engaged 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.360 with the advancing martyrs. Of course there's time, said Roland. 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:03.000 We got a solid ninety seconds until they're here. Might 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:06.320 as well get high. The kid rebuffed his offer. Roland 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:08.320 would have been a little hurt if he hadn't secretly 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:10.439 hoped they'd turn him down. It took a lot of 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.839 pot to get him high. One whole blunt was about 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:16.080 the right amount for where he wanted to be. Bigsby 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.840 opened up with his heavy machine gun. A vague worry 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.920 started to grow inside Roland. The armored martyrs had moved 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.360 faster than anticipated. Am I going to have time to 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:27.079 finish smoking? He was thankful that he'd at least loaded 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.080 up on pain killers before reaching the front. The machine 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.600 gun was joined by the sharp crack of Nadine's sniper 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.760 rifle and the rich bellow of Asime's auto shotgun. It 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:38.920 sounded like she was firing tungsten core penetrators rather than 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.680 the explosive Dragon's Breath round she'd loaded during the assault 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.120 on roland Shack. That was probably smart. Are you going 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:48.280 to do something, Sardar asked. Roland could smell his fear 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.720 wafted off him like a fine mist. He heard the 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.120 heavy hum of a suit mounted rotary chain gun, and 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:56.760 then another incoming fire. A few rounds arced and ricocheted 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.440 off the body of the a PC Startar and Pedro 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:02.640 dough for cover and pulled Ryan with them. Roland didn't move. 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.480 His hindbrain had plotted the trajectories of the errand rounds 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.679 as soon as they left their barrels. There'd been no danger, well, 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.240 no danger to them. By the sound of it. The 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.240 power armored Martyrs had pinned a Biggsby down. Roland could 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.720 smell Nadine's blood in the air. She was alive but injured. 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:20.760 Will started to fire and pumped a steady stream of 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.160 explosives out in a high arch in front of the martyrs. 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:25.960 Roland felt as the men scattered. He also felt the 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.240 footfalls of dozens of normal infantry two hundred meters behind 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:31.920 the power armored vanguard. He heard the rich thunk of 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:35.640 Recoilis rifles being bolted into the ground. Roland puffed on 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.880 his blunt as he considered the tactical situation. Bigsby and 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:40.720 his team seemed to have knocked out one of the 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:44.160 armored martyrs, but they were alone and unsupported. The STF 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.520 was in full retreat, and the small squad didn't have 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.400 the firepower or the chrome to hold off what was coming. 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:53.600 Roland did, but he very much disliked the idea of 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:57.200 murdering several dozen brainwashed idiots. These kids weren't responsible for 0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:00.760 anything beyond buying into artful propaganda and law, he promises. 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:03.400 He didn't see them as worse than any other gaggle 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:05.560 of armed eighteen to twenty two year olds in the 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:10.480 history of war. Hey, Sardar, you got a wrench, Roland asked, what, Yes, 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.680 Sartar replied, can I borrow it? Um? The young mercenary 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.440 raised an eyebrow in confusion. It's not a sex thing 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.760 Roland has shared him. I never assumed it was, Sardar said, 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.320 then can I have it? Sardar stared at him for 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.920 a long beat and then said okay. He handed over 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.640 his wrench. It was nice, more than two ft long 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.520 and made from fifteen point four pounds of stamped steel. 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:39.160 This is perfect, Roland told Sardar. Perfect for what Sardar asked, wounding, 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:50.240 Roland replied, and with that he was off. Roland could 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:52.520 break thirty miles an hour at a dead sprint, but 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.720 with all the painkillers and weed he'd just taken, and 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.640 that didn't sound super fun. So he strolled along at 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.440 a brisk eighteen miles per hour, darted by will and 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:02.880 zig zagged his way past a few hundred errant rounds. 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.240 The armored Martyrs fired to suppress Bigsby squad. Two of 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:10.280 the big recoilist rifles fired their giant explosive tipped munitions. 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:14.120 Roland reached Nadine and Asame's position. The former was down, 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.840 bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. Her lover fired from cover. 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:20.760 Roland felt as one of the explosive rounds arched towards 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.040 their position. The other was headed towards Bigsby. Roland's hind 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:27.160 rain guessed that Biggsby would survive the hit, Nadine and 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:30.240 Asame wouldn't. He jumped forward and grabbed them both while 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.120 still airborne, and the second before missile met masonry. He 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.680 threw them back out of the blast radius. He knew 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:37.920 the landing would hurt, but both women were chromed enough 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.040 to survive. After he tossed them, Roland slid to a 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.120 stop on top of the pile of ruined bricks they'd 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:46.320 hidden behind. The rocket propelled munition hit about three feet 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:49.240 below him. The seventy five millimeter round contained a half 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.400 kilogram of hexagen, enough explosive power to tear a hole 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.080 in the side of a small tank. It detonated and 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.760 turned the pile of bricks into a shrapnel volcano. Roland 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:00.880 hopped again. His hind brain made it clear that he 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:04.120 wouldn't avoid all, nor even most of the shrapnel. Medelin 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.560 brick tore through his biceps, his gut, his legs, and 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.960 his pectorals. Most of the shrapnel stopped at the subdermal 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:13.440 carapace that protected his vital organs. A few pieces went further. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:15.879 They tore one kidney in half and pierced one of 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:19.320 his hearts. But Roland had multiple redundant backups for every 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.800 important organ. His medical nanites had already started to purge 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.080 the foreign matter and repair the damage. When he hit 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.679 the ground, the battle high rolled in, and roland synapses 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:32.080 flooded with endorphins, serotonin, and enough morphine to kill a 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:36.600 middleweight elephant. The chemical elation of imminent combat filled his senses. 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.240 Roland wasn't just high on war. He was tripping balls. 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:44.480 Sweet shitting fox, I've missed this. Roland flipped a jaunty 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.280 salute to Biggsby as he sprinted forward past the man. 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:49.719 This time he let his legs pump as fast as 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.920 they could and rushed towards the five advancing armored martyrs 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:56.160 In the quarter second before contact, Roland had his first 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:00.600 solid look at the enemy. Their suits were definitely iteration 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:04.080 of the basic aries design. They had the familiar insectoid 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.160 helmet with its bulbous eyes and heavy nasal sensor blister. 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.640 The shoulders, chests, growing thighs, and shin were all heavily reinforced. 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:14.600 These were breaching suits meant to lead in advance and 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:18.280 absorb an enormous amount of incoming fire. The armor was 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.600 painted the dull yellow of a Texas Grassland Roland could 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:23.639 see red and blue on the edges of the pauldron's 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.680 Republic of Texas colors, but the suits had clearly been 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:30.240 painted over repurposed by their new owners. Two of the 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:34.120 men had large white crosses daubed across their chests. One 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:36.600 man had a cross painted over his face plate. The 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.800 paint jobs seemed new. These suits had been captured or 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:44.200 handed over recently. Their wearers moved like competent fighters who 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.400 weren't used to the capabilities of full powered armor. Two 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:50.320 of the martyrs had shoulder mounted missile pods with angry 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.680 looking rockets inside them. Three of them mounted rotary chain 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:57.800 cannons between their targeting systems and reflex augmentation hardware. They 0:18:57.840 --> 0:18:59.919 could have hurt him if they'd had their ship together, 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:02.879 but they didn't, and he hit the point man like 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.120 a bag of concrete thrown by a gorilla. Roland didn't 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.360 even bother to swing the wrench yet, He just let 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:10.960 his substantial body weight turn him into a post human 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:14.399 battering ram. The first soldier hit the ground, Roland atop 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:17.240 him with a whine of pistons and internal motors. He 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:19.600 tried to bring his AsSalt cannon to bear on Roland, 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:22.760 but the barrel was too long. Roland slammed Tardar's wrench 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:25.159 into the man's crotch eleven times in the space of 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.200 a second. The suit's growing armor was rated to stop 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.919 a fifty caliber rifle round. It caved in on the 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:34.639 third hit. Stop, he shouted inside his own mind, Stop, 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:38.320 you're going to kill him. Roland pulled back with considerable effort. 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.160 His brain wanted more in every impact fed a few 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.920 more endorphins into the hopper, but he managed to stop 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:47.320 himself before he did a reparable harm. This hesitation made 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:49.760 him a target, though One of the armored martyrs shot 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.600 him four times and ripped deep gouges in his torso. 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:55.920 Roland rushed the man and slapped his weapon aside. The 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:58.280 drugs flooded into him again. As he swung his wrench 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:01.640 up underhanded into the poor fell lose chin, bone shattered 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:04.720 on the first swing. Biggsby fired. Roland felt one of 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.320 the other armored martyrs go down, knee caps and throats 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.639 shot out. The two remaining martyrs opted to retreat, but 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:13.760 it was a fighting retreat. They bounded backwards and launched 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:17.240 a flurry of rockets towards Roland. Discover fire. These he 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:20.800 had to avoid. Roland could eat small arms fire all day. 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:24.639 Rockets were not small. He shoved the wrench into his 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.879 waistband and threw himself into an elegant backflip. He may 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:31.200 be wanted to impress Bigsby a little. He landed fourteen 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:34.000 feet back from his prior position, and the same continuous 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.600 motion he picked up two fist sized chunks of concrete 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:40.000 off the ground, flipped back again, and launched both improvised 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:44.000 missiles at the retreating martyrs. The rockets impacted one after 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:46.840 the other in spaces. Roland had been a millisecond before. 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.200 Shrapnel from the detonations tore at his skin and penetrated 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:53.960