Iron Empire

Twenty-Six: Trust Issues

That left me and the Legion. If I played my cards right I would be able to make it up the riverbed without being blown away by the metal slugs it fired.

The Prowler's legs pistoned as I ran to the closest cover, a cylindrical grain silo. A second shell vaporized the ground beside me, spraying me with dirt.

If my estimation was correct, I had about four seconds before the howitzer cannons reloaded.

As predicted, a third shot rang out seconds later, tearing the top off the grain silo above me. Seed bounced off my hull, sounding like raindrops. Time to move.

I had another four seconds. I sprinted to reach my next cover, my Prowler's massive weight crushing an abandoned combine harvester underfoot.

I was approaching the farm's warehouse, its red-painted exterior blackened by the earlier battle between Axion and Russia's forces. A few mech metal corpses littered the ground nearby.

I had cover here, for the time being, but there was no way the Legion hadn't seen me move.

As if to prove that theory, the exterior wall of the warehouse rocked as a metal slug impacted it. The shot had blown through the wall farthest from me but hadn't had enough force to pierce the other side, where I remained temporarily protected.

I was preparing to duck out from behind the warehouse when I heard a gasp over the comms.

"Crap! An Apollo got away!" Kedrick shouted. "Jax, it's tracking you!"

The rogue Apollo had broken from the pack and now rushed toward me across the one remaining bridge. If it reached me I would have to leave cover to escape it, risking fire from the Legion. If I stayed and fought I would be destroyed.

I didn't have to make the choice.

"I've got it covered!"

Across the river, Alyx's cannon flashed, and the front of the Apollo exploded into sparks as a shell punched through it. I caught a glimpse of the other side of the river via the fresh hole through the mech's cockpit. The mech's yellow feet left the ground for a brief moment before it plowed forward into the soil, command capsule sailing into the sky.

"Great work, Alyx!" I grinned.

I stepped out from behind the fuel silos and nearly had my head taken off by a barrage of shells from the Legion. I swore and swung around the other side of the warehouse, leaving my last available cover behind.

There were no grain silos beyond this point, only an empty field between me and the base of the dam. I knew I had about four seconds until the Legion reloaded, then seven seconds of stealth after that. Beyond those eleven seconds my luck ended.

I could see the Legion's head tracking me as I ran, ready to open fire as soon as possible. With the four-second reload time almost up, I slammed my hand down on the activation for my stealth and felt that now-familiar buzz at the back of my jaw. I had bought myself seven more seconds.

My heart pounded. I hated timed deadlines.

I was growing closer now. The Legion took a few tentative steps backwards, making its way towards the middle of the dry sluice gate.

I was going to make it.

The flat field gave way to a slight incline, a gentle hill that led upwards towards the unforgiving shape of the sluice gate. My Prowler's feet touched solid concrete, reaching the dam's access bridge.

How many seconds did I have left?

I growled and pushed the Prowler's speed to its max, skirting the edge of the dam.