And then, suddenly, there was nothing but silence...

  I barely had time to react before a massive explosion rocked the entire facility, the concussive force slamming both Hinge and I hard against the reinforced wall. My ears rang, and spots danced in my vision as I tried to shake off the disorientation.

  Hinge recovered first, a cruel grin splitting his battered face. Blood dripped from a gash above his eye, splattering on the floor between us.

  "You'll never make it past my army, Kovach," he spit out between ragged breaths. "No matter what happens here, you've already lost, brother."

  I tasted blood in my mouth from where I bit my tongue on impact. The bitter, metallic tang fueled the rage simmering in my veins. I pushed myself to my feet, swaying slightly as the room spun.

  "We'll see about that," I fired back through clenched teeth. "Brother." I spit the word out as I heard the sounds of battle raging elsewhere in the facility—my team must be engaging Hinge's forces. I needed to end this, fast.

  Hinge let out a raspy laugh. "Oh, we'll see alright. You have no idea what I have in store for you and your pathetic band of misfits. Once I'm finished with you, Banshee Team will just be a forgotten footnote in the rise of humankind."

  His arrogance ignited my fury. With a primal roar, I launched myself at him, all technique and discipline forgotten. I wanted nothing more than to rip the smug look off his face.

  We crashed together again in a tangle of reinforced limbs and curses. I landed a crushing blow across his jaw, and his head snapped back with a spray of blood. But he recovered quickly, driving his fist into my ribs again and again like a jackhammer. I felt bones crack and splinter under the onslaught.

  Just as my vision started to go dark around the edges, another explosion rocked the complex, closer this time. The force of the blast hurled us apart. I slammed into the wall and slid to the floor, gasping for air through the veil of pain.

  Hinge drug himself up, leaning heavily against a console. His left arm hung limply at his side, dislocated or broken. But his eyes still burned with hatred and twisted purpose.

  "You'll never stop us, Kovach." His voice came out a wet gurgle. "The Order...is your destiny. Just like it was for me."

  I shook my head bitterly as I forced myself to stand on shaky legs. Blood dripped from my knuckles to pool on the floor.

  "My destiny..." I rasped, "...is to end you."

  I took one step toward Hinge, then another. He tensed, raising his one good arm defensively.

  But before I could reach him, the ceiling exploded in a shower of concrete and steel. I dove for cover as debris rained down around me. When the dust settled, I was alone.

  Hinge was gone.

  For now, at least. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I headed for the door. I had a team to regroup with...and a war to finish.

  CHAPTER

  FIFTY-EIGHT

  "Kill everything," I growled. "Every fucking thing you see."

  I saw Priest’s icon blinking yellow in my HUD. Then, the bastard Carlson ran toward an exit. He was also wearing some type of protective armor and a helmet which looked ridiculous on the man. I charged, determined that I was going to have at least one of the bastards to question.

  Carlson Nexis turned and aimed something at me. In an instant I knew it was the EMP weapon the Decimator had used on me at his house in Maine. I fired a railgun round as I dove behind a slab of concrete. My suit blinked off, but only for a second. I was up and charging for the man again before I was even consciously aware.

  "Hinge is making a break. Gi, take out the shuttles if you can."

  Nevis Carlson apparently realized he was never going to outpace me; he turned and readied his weapon again. I leapt high, nearly scraping the ceiling and deliberately went right past the man. I saw his eyes go wide in the helmet that was several sizes too big.

  I hooked my right foot under his chin and my left instantly clamped down behind his head as I began to fall toward the floor. The motion snatched him off his feet and used his own weight against him. His suit was strong, but using the neck as a fulcrum proved too much. I heard the snap as physics overruled firepower.

  "Shit!" I screamed. "Goddamnit!"

  The bastard lay there dead, his eyes staring lifelessly toward the ruined ceiling. I didn't want him dead, I wanted to question the asshole. "Fuck!"

  Honestly, I had just taken my frustration out on the man. Rollo Hinge was the one I really wanted, but that didn't seem to be the way this would play out. Then I thought about how they had seemingly brought Hinge back from the beyond. I flicked the selector on my Rattler and fired a carnage round point blank into Carson's head.

  "That motherfucker ain't coming back," a bruised and battered Priest said, running up.

  Outside, Koog and Gi were using the Decimator to level the playing field, its massive cannons tearing through the enemy ranks like a scythe through wheat. Koog set off drone charges, dropping the hangar roof onto a number of the enemy troops, crushing them beneath tons of concrete and steel. Upon hearing me, Gi began tracking Hinge fleeing in the confusion, and Sumo tore out after the man, his jaws snapping hungrily.

  The fight with the PMC troops was relentless, but even outnumbered, Banshee was holding its own. Their training and experience proved to be the difference-maker. But then, the Decimator began to glitch.

  At first, it was just a flicker in the targeting system, a momentary loss of connection. But then, the glitches became more frequent, and more severe. The cannons began to misfire, the targeting systems went haywire, and the Decimator lurched and stumbled like a wounded beast.

  Ada fought desperately to remotely regain control of the machine, but it was no use. The Decimator was out of control, and I feared it was seconds away from turning on them.

  "We need to take cover!" Koog shouted. "If it does that melee thing again…"

  Gi nodded, and together they abandoned the Decimator and ran for their lives.

  Behind them, the Decimator let out a deafening roar as it went berserk. Its cannons fired wildly, tearing through the hangar walls, and sending shrapnel flying in all directions. The enemy troops scattered in panic, but many were caught in the crossfire and killed.

  I watched from the ruined control center in horror as the Decimator rampaged through the wrecked hangar. I knew that I had to do something, I just didn't know what. I couldn't risk getting too close, or I, too, would be cut down by the withering amount of firepower being laid down..

  But then, I saw something that gave me an idea.

  One of the enemy troops was running towards the Decimator, armed with a rocket launcher. I knew that if the soldier fired, it might be the end of us all.

  I took aim and fired a series of rail gun darts clipping the heavily armed soldier in the leg. The soldier went down hard, and the rocket launcher clattered away from his grasp.

  I ran back to where Carlson lay in the control center and yanked the EMP weapon from the dead man's hands. I turned, raced directly into the fight, and aimed it at the Decimator, firing a single blast. I had no idea if it would work, hell, the Warbot had used the same thing on me a few months ago. Was it shielded? That was something I should have checked out before now.

  The blast was invisible, but the Decimator was thrown backwards, and then it collapsed to the ground, its twin turret, mounted guns spinning down harmlessly.

  The hangar was silent. The few enemy troops remaining stared at the wreckage of the Decimator in shock. Banshee had just killed off their most powerful weapon. What happened next was a welcome sight. Almost as one, the dozen men began fleeing off into the desert as fast as their powered armor could manage.

  I lowered the EMP launcher and looked around. The battle was over. Banshee had won. Personally, I felt otherwise; Hinge was in the wind, and I’d killed our best hope of learning more.

  CHAPTER

  FIFTY-NINE

  I watched helplessly as Hinge's stealth ship faded into the distance, cursing under my breath. That slippery snake managed to evade us once again. But at least I hurt him. I can't dwell on him now, and I feel like a petulant child for brooding and for letting my emotions get away from me.

  "Koog, what's the status on the Decimator?" I asked. He was already hard at work, trying to bring our downed war machine back online.

  "Not good, Boss. That EMP blast really did a number on its systems. I need time to assess the damage and see if it can even be repaired," he replied. I knew Koog would do everything he could to get the Decimator up and running again. He was just one of those guys who seemed to be great at everything he did. Totally makes me sick…but I was glad he was part of Banshee.

  Just then, I heard the familiar chime in my head as Ada had something to offer. "Ada. I hope you have some good news for me after that mess," I said.

  "I have accessed the base AI and discovered some intriguing information. There are references to something called the Keystone being stored here in the past. I believe this may be the artifact that Lumia mentioned. It is likely being stored here in the secure vaults and is extremely important to The Order’s project," Ada replied.

  My interest was piqued. The Keystone? Here at this old base? It seemed too good to be true. But if it was here, I needed to find it. Lumia wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't important.

  "Can you pinpoint its location? Or find any details about what this Keystone actually is?" I asked Ada eagerly. The prospect of finally getting my hands on something that could turn the tide against The Order made me feel energized. This could be just the break we needed.

  "I am still piecing together fragments from the damaged systems. Give me a few minutes to compile the data," Ada said. Her calm, methodical nature balanced my impatience.

  While Ada parsed the information, I gathered the team to strategize our next move. Priest was still recovering from his tangle with Carlson and the roof of the building, but he seemed okay. Gi and Priest scoped out the base layout and security systems. If the Keystone was here, we would need a solid plan to retrieve it.

  Gi called me a short time later. "Hey, Boss, found the underground shuttle bays. This is where your friend left from. Sorry we missed it earlier, but it's damn well hidden."

  "Anything there we can take?" I knew I could call Packer back with the dropship, but the idea of having another aircraft was tempting.

  "I don't know," Gi said hesitantly. "I am not seeing any nav or guidance systems. I believe these are automated supply ships." Ada confirmed that was true.

  "So, that means Hinge had no control over wherever he was going."

  "I suppose so, Prowler—why?" Priest asked. He looked at me, then began to smile, shaking his head at the same time. "You are one sick bastard, Master Sergeant, and God, I love being on your side."

  "Come on!" I said punching him in the chest plate. "We have work to do."

  I stood watching as Priest and Gi directed a group of loader bots to carefully move a half dozen of the large stasis tubes containing the immobile but still dangerous pregnant Furies onto the shuttle. The plan, if you wanted to call it a plan, was to load them onto one of the automated shuttles with small charges set to crack open each of the tubes once the shuttle stopped at its next location.

  "We're sure this will be going to the same place Hinge did?"

  "Yes, Kovach," Ada answered, echoed seconds later by Koog.

  "Yeah, they can't be changed manually from what I can see. Standard orbital resupply pods."

  So, their base is up there, I thought. That made sense. Like we had planned to do with the Stone Mountain; get the high ground. We were going to do to The Order what had been done to us, but up the numbers considerably.

  It was a shit-play, but my guys and I loved it. The pregnant Furies were mean-ass fucks, incredibly resilient and difficult to kill through conventional means. We couldn't just leave them here to eventually escape and wreak more havoc. This way, we could dispose of them and maybe take a swipe at Hinge and The Order without further loss of life on our side.

  The loader bots were our best bet for getting the cumbersome tubes loaded securely onto the shuttle without getting too close ourselves. Those things would tear us apart given the chance. I watched tensely as one of the bots maneuvered a tube containing an especially large Furie up the ramp and into the shuttle cargo hold.

  The tube barely cleared the doorway. I couldn't help but feel uneasy seeing those muscular, clawed arms pressed up against the transparent alloy tube, despite the assurance from Ada and Koog that it couldn't break through. This was our best chance to eliminate an imminent threat, but if even one tube failed down here, we'd have a nightmare on our hands.

  Once we had all the tubes that would fit loaded, Gi and Priest secured them to the deck with magnetic clamps and reinforcement bars. Those suckers weren't going anywhere. I did a final inspection, verifying the tube seals and charge placement. We were using compact but powerful directional charges that would slice open the tubes without damaging the content or the shuttle. The charges were linked to the shuttle's engine and rear door. Once the engines shut down and atmosphere was detected, the charges would start and the loading ramp would lower.

  God help whoever is on the other side of these doors next time they open.

  "Karma's a bitch," I said.

  I checked my wrist display as Gi closed the ramp and rear cargo doors. Just under ten minutes until the automated launch sequence initiated. Time to get the hell out of here.

  We quickly made our way to the shielded control bunker overlooking the launchpad. Through the viewport, I could see the shuttle prepping for takeoff, automated launch sequencers already active. I silently wished those monstrosities a long, freezing death in the void.

  "Shuttle launch in T-minus two minutes and counting," Ada intoned over the bunker comms.

  We braced ourselves as the countdown continued, ready to react in case anything went wrong. But the launch proceeded smoothly, the shuttle engines flaring hot as it rose skyward. I watched the external feeds on the monitors as the small craft rapidly dwindled to a bright speck, finally disappearing from view as it broke out of the atmosphere.

  "Shuttle has cleared mesosphere, now on programmed trajectory into low orbit," Ada reported.

  "Do we know the destination?" I asked cautiously.

  "No," Ada answered.

  I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. I hoped I wouldn't regret this. I did feel one step closer to avenging Carol and Riker and trying to make things right with the world.

  Time seemed to crawl as I waited for Ada's assessment. If she could locate the Keystone, we may keep a powerful asset from getting into the hands of The Order.

  We got the coordinates from Ada, and a green track line appeared in our HUDs. The vaults that we entered lay deep below the surface underneath the base. Sumo, who had stayed well clear as we moved the mutants earlier, was now again on point, taking the lead and searching for dangers.

  The workshops we passed through were like nothing I'd seen before. Massive machinery filled cavernous spaces, hinting at experiments of unfathomable scale. Cages lined the walls, made to hold creatures not of this Earth. The entire complex thrummed with a palpable energy, both wondrous and deeply unsettling.

  Growing up, I remember legends about what was supposedly going on here. The aliens from the Roswell crash, maybe the flying saucer itself. Most of that was lies to cover up the real work that was taking place, but it was obvious they hid a lot of things at this base.

  "Ada, do you know if Hinge's people recovered the Keystone, or if it was here the whole time?"

  "This one has been in the base inventory for nearly fifty years. Whatever they were looking for in the wastelands is something else."

  "Maybe they’re still missing more pieces to finish whatever the damn thing is, Boss."

  Priest was right, this was not a simple thing, whatever it was.

  We reached a heavy blast door emblazoned with warnings of lethal force. Ada worked her magic, bypassing the locks. The door creaked open, revealing a vast chamber shrouded in darkness. We switched to night vision and proceeded with caution. The place was a maze of strange artifacts encased in force fields, but my focus stayed on the mission.

  My hand glided over something that glowed a faint blue. It looked remarkably like a repulser engine from our TriCraft. Several strips of metal with strange symbols or icons were lying in a pile. I picked one up, noticing how light it was. I bent it to test its strength, it gave easily, then sprung right back into its original shape with no sign of distress.

  "Meta-metals, more commonly called memory metal," Ada offered. "Supposedly of extraterrestrial origin."

  Probably a good guess, I thought.

  On a table were a half dozen metal balls in various shapes and hues. On impulse, I rolled one across the flat surface. It got to the edge and made a ninety degree turn and kept rolling, losing none of its momentum. Several of the other balls began trembling and moving as if in sympathy with the first.

  "This place is giving me the creeps, Boss."

  "I know, Priest. Same here, but stay sharp."

  “What are we looking for Kovach?” Gi asked. “Can you describe it for us?”

  “Hell if I know, just a damn keystone artifact thing.” Ada indicated she had a possible sketch from one of the data dumps. “Send it to our HUDs,” I ordered.

  “According to the base AI, it should be just ahead,” Ada said hopefully.

  Ahead of us was an altar-like platform. Upon it rested an ovoid object pulsing with power. I placed my hand near the thing and could feel the energy coursing through my arm and my suit.

  "That's not it," the Korean said.

  "Yeah, I know, but damn, it's cool."

  "My guess is that is some sort of Zero Point Energy device. It creates energy from the vacuum of space or another dimension," Ada suggested.

  I slipped it in my bag. Koog would like it. Hell, everyone likes souvenirs from Area 51. Right?