I get a message on my IC, it is from the good doctor. I open it, seeing a live camera feed. A tactical unit is working its way toward the lab.

I instantly recognize the uniforms. They are mercenaries working for a company called Madeleine’s Safety Systems, a subsidiary of Délta Corp. These mercs hide behind an innocent sounding name. a name that is meant to sound like it is an adorable little girl giving you instructions on how to stay safe. Regardless of their name, they are highly organized, heavily trained, and well equipped.

The tactical group is made up of people commanding teams of humanoid drones. They use specially modified ICs to do it, the machines are in many ways extensions of their bodies.

“What are we going to do?” Sylvia asks.

Gorman sounds like he doesn’t have a care in the world, “Gustav, my beautiful boy, get the riot cannon.”

Gustav jogs away, heading to a different room, his big boots stomping on the metal plated floor. I stand there, watching in fascination as the point drone reaches the corner that leads to the hallway where the door to the lab is. A snake cam shoots out of its arm and winds its way around the corner, giving the drone a safe view of the next area. They move into the corridor, a fireteam posts up on the door to the lab. They stand by while their comrades enter the other rooms.

They clear the rooms with immaculate precision. Each trooper is clad head to toe in composite armor and combat gear. Most of them wield tactical SMGs, holding them at eye level, ready to squeeze off a burst of hollow point rounds. Each drone is sleek, moves with the speed and grace of a seasoned soldier. Their programing is drawn from the experiences and knowledge of hundreds of warfighters that have fought in dozens of conflicts.

The Délta goons finish securing the area, they move into position in front of the lab’s door. Me and Sylvia get behind cover, pointing our weapons at the door. Gorman is hiding behind a solid looking piece of lab equipment. Gustav returns, he is lugging a gigantic chain gun, I can tell by the size of the holes in the barrels that it fires big, fat shotshells.

The door opens, but no one shoots. A loud voice cuts through the tension, “Give us the girl and nobody will get hurt!”

I want to tell them that I don’t have the girl, but I know that they won’t believe me. Gorman answers for me, “I don’t know who you want, but they aren’t here. Can I interest you in a new bo,” he is cut off by a gunshot. This is immediately followed by everyone opening fire.

The first group of drones comes through the door, trying to quickly clear the fatal funnel. Gustav cuts them down with his riot gun. Hunks of soft armor are blasted apart, buckshot tears through outer casings and shreds the inner workings to pieces.

As the first wave falls, I focus on the bots that are giving them covering fire. I take aim and squeeze the trigger, the armor piercing slug cuts completely through the drone. The shockwave from the impact blasts its way through the machine’s body, destroying the subsystems that keep it running.

Incoming rounds ping off of our cover. A clear plastic tank shatters, the heart that is growing inside of it slops onto the floor. A 3D printer takes a grazing hit, a round ricochets off of a lathe.

The second wave enters, Gustav sprays his Gatling gun, most of the bots fall, but one gets through. The survivor reaches cover and begins exchanging fire with Sylvia. Another wave enters, a few more get through.

Gorman pops up from behind his cover. He throws something, while simultaneously telling us to fallback. There is an explosion, we send a few rounds into the smoke cloud as we retreat deeper into the lab. We find new cover and start taking potshots at the drones and troopers that are pouring into the room.

Gustav has drained the riot gun. He drops the weapon to the floor, the tip of its barrels have started to glow. The big brute pulls out his handgun and starts blasting.

An MSS trooper gets gunned down by our hail of fire. Blood sprays out of his wounds and he falls to the ground. A team of drones moves to help him, by the time that they reach him they have been reduced to distorted hulks. A shot from an enemy pierces the equipment rack that I am using for protection, the bullet explodes out of the metal plate, missing my head by mere inches.

A flashbang comes sailing toward us, it shatters into countless pieces. I look over to see Gorman holding a C&C Model 47 pistol, a grin on his face. Damn, I didn’t know that he was such a good shot. I also didn’t know that he had such good taste in firearms, I guess that is one aesthetic we can agree on.

I empty my gun into a team of drones, each shot feels like a cannon blast. As I reach for another speed loader I spot him, a trooper has flanked us. He has a carbine pointed right at me. He isn’t doing anything; he is just standing there while I reload my revolver. His head falls off, tumbling to the ground and rolling away. A fountain of blood erupts from the neck as the body falls in slow motion.

I tear my eyes away from the madness in front of me, focusing on putting the rounds into the cylinder. I get them in and slam the wheel back into place, before raising the gun, ready for action.

I scan the area frantically, aiming down the massive gun’s iron sights. I see it, a slight disturbance, a strange flickering pulse of light that dances between the primary colors.

A stealth suit, there is no mistaking that throbbing rainbow pattern. The tech renders the wearer invisible, unless the surface of the material becomes obstructed. That is why those kinds of suits are useless on a conventional battlefield, they are only suitable for certain kinds of operations. Blood has splashed onto the surface of the suit, causing a disruption. The only question is why did they take out that MSS trooper.

Another Délta Corp soldier falls, a swath of red appearing out of nowhere right before he tumbles to the ground. One of the MSS guys catches on, he sprays the area with his submachinegun. A round finds its mark, the invisibility field sputters and dies as it becomes soaked in blood. He is wearing a skintight bodysuit and a pistol belt. The face is completely covered. There is a katana in his hands.

The remaining Délta Corp guys start peppering every corner of the lab. More invisible figures are revealed as they try to sneak in close. The newcomers take cover, draw their pistols, and return fire.

“Who the hell are these guys?” I ask.

“Who cares? Let’s just get out of here while we still can!” Sylvia declares.

“They have the symbol of the Church of the Ascended on their uniforms,” Gustav explains.

I picture the symbol in my mind, a humanoid shape, with a translucent figure above and behind it. This is meant to symbolize ascension, but people joke that it looks like someone is performing oral sex on a giant ghost.

Echo has tactical units. But the Church is known to deploy is own assets. These groups tend to be well trained and highly motivated. Aganok said that the Church was involved in this. Hell, at this point who isn’t involved?

I call out to the others, “It is some kind of spec-ops unit. Sylvia is right, we need to go.”

“This way,” Gorman says, leading us toward a hidden door.