Eric stuffed his head into the close fitting, full-face helmet of his armor. From the outside, the visor was indistinguishable from the rest of the plastic. It looked as if there was no way for the wearer to see at all. Eric pulled the helmet down until it fastened tightly with the collar of his suit. There was a faint snap as power was supplied, and the visor came to life. Micro fiber optic apertures opened all over the face of the helmet and fed their visual information to the crystal display within. The display warmed up and Eric suddenly had a full view of the outside world around him.

He saw the hatch begin to lower itself in front of him. Immediately, wind and backwash from the engines began to flood into the cabin, howling with the sound of rushing air. He stepped closer to the edge and measured their height from the ground.

They were still a bit too high. He locked a magazine into his rifle and waited a bit longer.

“That’s about it, Major,” Redo’s voice came through the speakers in his helmet.

He looked over to Lance, who was already at the edge of the hatch with his rifle trained downward. “Let’s go.”

Taking a step forward, Shade leapt out into the night. A blast of hot air hit him from the engines as he fell towards earth. He felt himself accelerating and faintly he could see the ground rising rapidly upwards. His feet hit first, sending a jolting shock through his entire body. As he rolled to break the fall, his body slammed into some unknown debris and broke it into pieces. Eric quickly regained his footing, and then crouched low to the ground. He activated the optics in his helmet. They were better than those mounted in his eye; the apertures had a control system, to adjust for changes in light source intensity.

“Lance you okay?” he spoke into the helmet mike.

There was a slight grunt and finally, “Yes.”

“Did you make it, Major?” Redo asked from above.

“We’re fine,” Shade lowered himself for cover. “Gain a bit of altitude and keep an eye out overhead for us.”

“Will do.” Eric stared out into the night, which was now transformed into a scene as bright as midday. They were in what seemed to be the remnants of a housing district. The buildings were leveled almost totally to the ground and around them huge mounds of debris were packed up, in what used to be the street. Eric looked ahead of him and tried to get a lock on the people they saw from the Aerodyne.

“I got them,” Lance said. “About ten meters away.”

Lance crawled through the rubble and crouched down next to him, then pointed out the targets with his armor-clad forefinger. Eric followed it, and saw some motion in the direction.

Barro Suta still heard the whistling of the Aerodyne above her. She wanted to look, but training warned her against it. Whoever was up there was most likely scanning the ground for survivors. Her eyes would light up like headlamps if they focused on her.

Barro looked down to Mother, who was seated in front of her, her back leaning against an I-beam jutting out of the mound of rubble surrounding them.

“Is the plane still intact?” Mother asked her.

“No,” Barro looked towards the burning aircraft. “We took too much damage to the engine from the cannon fire. I was lucky to be able to land it in the condition it was in. It caught fire a few minutes ago.”

“We need to leave now then.” Mother began struggling to get up. “Alex help me.”

The man standing behind Barro hesitated slightly, seeming a bit in shock over the sight of the talking android. He followed her command nonetheless, moving quickly towards her and trying to stand her to her feet.

“Wait,” Barro told him. “They are up there looking for us.”

Alex abruptly stopped at her command, and began looking about confused.

Barro could already tell that Alex was not particularly smart. He was not designed to be after all. He was a construction worker, with a body that could probably lift ten times that of a human his size. His kind made up the majority of the cyberoid population. They were cheap and highly efficient laborers that could be produced by the hundreds and each of them for a fraction of the cost of a human worker’s salary. They were the true slaves of the future. Barro felt almost guilty for considering herself among the oppressed. She could only imagine the hardships Alex had to endure throughout his life.

“We must hurry,” Mother prompted. “It is not far from here. Is that correct, Alex?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, not too far.”

Barro looked around cautiously. Just minutes ago she had landed the plane and was suddenly meet by Alex. She still wasn’t sure how Mother had gotten word to him to meet them here. Though after witnessing the capabilities she possessed thus far, Barro assumed almost anything was possible. Still, they had greater problems at hand. Mother was incapable of moving on her own and Alex certainly didn’t seem equipped to deal with the situation at hand.

“Are you sure we will be safe once we reach this tunnel?” Barro asked him.

“No one should know about it, and it is pretty well hidden,” Alex shrugged. “My truck is parked on the other side.”

“We have to go now.” Mother struggled to rise to her feet. She stumbled a bit, but managed to keep her balance and stood up, leaning against the I-beam. “Lead the way, Alex.”

*****

“I got a chopper coming in guys,” Redo’s voice crackled into Eric’s helmet. “USSD.”

“Ah, fuck,” Eric cursed. He saw the figures begin to move in the distance. “Looks like they are getting ready to pull out. We gotta make a play, Lance.”

“What should I do about this chopper, Sir?” asked Redo. “They’ll be asking for identification in a second.”

“Just tell them you saw an aircraft go down and was rendering assistance.” Shade looked about the surroundings for cover. “But don’t tell them any more than you have to, go it?”

“Will do, Major,” Redo replied.

“Let’s see who the hell these people are.” Eric scrambled forward, keeping his body low to the ground as he made his way towards the figures some ten meters away. Thes ound of loose gravel and debris crunched underneath him, as he dove behind a burnt out car to conceal himself from their sight. Eric felt a sudden thud as Lance slammed his back into the same car beside him, and crouched for cover as well.

“What’s the plan?” Lance asked through the comm-link.

“Get close enough to see who they are. If the pilot is there alive, we take them in.”

“Do we have jurisdiction on this one?” Lance flicked the safety off his rifle.

“We don’t have to make an arrest.” Shade removed the safety on his weapon as well.

“Just detain them until we find out what’s going on.”

Eric peeked over the hood of the car. He could see there were three of them now. One of them was a fairly large man the other a woman. The last looked to be in an armored suit of some kind.

Lance rose his head slightly above the car and looked as well.

“Geezus.”

“What is it?”

“I think they’re all cyberoids.”

“What?” Eric changed his visor scope to thermograph. He could see the blue patchwork of cybernetics, clearly visible in the male and female. The person in the suit remained a constant, cold blue.

“Well I think we found your body.” Eric enhanced the image to get a closer look.

“Seems to be an insulated suit.”

“HS-16?”

“Possibly. It’s got to be the pilot if they are wearing that kind of gear. Using it as a high altitude flight suit maybe.”

“Could also be the armor they were to break into the base and steal the plane,” suggested Lance.

“The pilot looks injured.” Eric- watched the female begin to carry the blue figure on her back. “Let’s move fast. I’ll take the right flank you the left.”

Lance nodded beside him.

Eric exhaled sharply for a moment, then with a sudden burst of energy he sprang from his position and bolted forward. His feet fell heavy and loud onto the concrete rubble. Any advantage they had gained through stealth would be used up in terms of speed. He held the rifle firm in his hands, ready to fire if need be. Eric closed rapidly. They did not seem to hear his approach from behind. The woman was facing away from him, with the pilot clinging onto her back. The man seemed to be distracted and was looking out into the darkness.

Shade charged forward.

“Halt! CD1!” he shouted in an amplified voice.

The woman turned rapidly in front of him. Shade rose his rifle to his shoulder and took aim at her head, forcing her not to move. Lance came to an abrupt stop at his side and trained his rifle at the man. They had gotten the drop, but there. was no telling how they could react in the next few seconds. Speed was of the essence.

“No one move!” Eric told them sternly. They seemed to comply.

Eric looked the cyberoids over quickly. The male appeared to be a standard B-class heavy work model. He would be dangerous if he got out of hand. The female was a B-class model as well. Eric examined further and saw she was wearing a flight suit. Was she actually the pilot? Eric then looked to the person hanging about her shoulders. It actually didn’t look like much of a suit at all. It was far too small. And the helmet, it looked almost as if it were a faceplate.

“Drop the suit!” Eric told the woman.

There was a slight pause of tension.

“Drop the suit!” he repeated. Adrenaline began to flow in his veins. She wasn’t cooperating. He could tell she was thinking. Thinking of some way out of the situation.

Shade tried to predict what she was going to do.

He saw her head flash towards the male cyberoid, as if to get some form of consent or confirmation. Then abruptly the person in the suit rose their head. Sharp glass like eyes stared directly at Eric, under a crop of flowing, silvery hair. What he thought was a helmet was a disarmingly angelic face, carved of pure blue metal. Never had he seen anything so striking, so alarmingly unnatural, so frightening.

“What the hell?” Lance stepped back involuntarily beside him.

Then in a voice that seemed as unreal as its appearance, it opened it’s mouth and screamed.

“Alex!”

Eric jerked back startled.

A second later, he felt an impact to his side as Lance careened into him, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Scrambling, he desperately reached for the rifle, which had flown from his grasp. He looked upward to see the female cyberoid running away. He cocked his head further and saw the male cyberoid pulling a huge piece of pipe from out of a building.

“Shit!” Eric cursed. “Get the fuck off me Lance!”

Pushing, Shade freed himself. He struggled to his feet and looked about him. Lance was still on the ground, rolling slightly. His rifle lying underneath him.

Eric heard a loud snap of metal, as the cyberoid tore what looked to be two-meter length of pipe from the building near them.

“That bastard kicks hard,” Lance’s voice croaked into his helmet. “I think he broke some ribs. I’m going to have to pass out. Sorry.”

“Come on!” the cyberoid screamed and began a short run towards him.

Eric froze for a moment. He had no clue where his rife was, and he would not be able to get at Lance’s without getting a good taste of the pipe the cyberoid was wielding. Still he did have the advantage of armor. But by the looks of Lance, the cyberoid was obviously strong enough to cause major internal damage regardless.

He had no choice; Shade had to take him out hand to hand.

Flexing his forearms, three, half-meter long blades sprung from the knuckles of his gauntlets. Eric then dashed forward at the charging giant. He saw him lift the pipe high over his head for a massive blow. Eric left himself open for the attack, pausing long enough for his opponent to fully commit himself to the strike. Eric saw the cyberoid’s arm drop and then with a surge of speed, Shade dodged to the side and slashed savagely downward at the pipe. Eric felt the strong resistance of the metal against his claws, but it yielded with a sharp metallic ring; cutting the pipe in half. Eric struck again this time at the giant’s chest. The claws raked against his shirt and tore through it, digging deeply into the flesh and myomer beneath.

The giant recoiled in pain and shock, his large hand moving to his bleeding chest.

“You fuck!”

The cyberoid lunged forward, throwing what was left of his weapon. The pipe tumbled violently through the air and caught Eric on the shoulder. The shear force behind the blow knocked him off balance, and he fell to one side. The giant surged in to strike. Eric couldn’t move in time.

A knee slammed into Eric’s armor clad chest, launching him a full meter into the air. Breath evacuated his lungs involuntarily, leaving him gasping as a fist pounded into the jaw of his helmet. Eric’s head snapped upward with a force threatening to sever his neck. The world suddenly turned black, as the power connections were broken between the helmet and suit.

Eric landed in a heap of confusion, darkness and pain.

“I’m going to beat that fucking suit off you!” he heard the cyberoid bellowing over him.

Eric’s head was swimming. The last bit had nearly knocked him unconscious. He needed to get the helmet off, even if it meant exposing his head to-the am force of the Goliath’s blows. If he could see, he would at least have a chance to avoid them. Eric pushed himself up off the ground. Suddenly he was wailed in the side by a tremendous kick, flipping him into the air and over onto his back. Eric coughed and tasted blood in his month. He was wheezing.

Eric heard the faint call of voices. Then a short clap of a rifle firing rang out, followed up quickly by a streaming burst of multiple gunfire. The thunderous sound continued for a good half a minute. Eric could hear the bullets tearing up the surround area. He prayed that nothing would hit him in the state-he was in.

Above it all he heard someone yelling.

***