Chapter 16: The Battle of Port Moonstone, Part 1.

  Once I saw the message from Amy, I knew I couldn’t tell her about McClear and Sebastian Giallo, not yet anyway. How could I? She had enough on her plate, and the last time I’d interfered in her love life, I’d ended up in a brawl in front of two entire Year 12 classes, got a bloody nose and could’ve got jail time if The Major hadn’t stuck her neck out for me. So I wasn’t going to interfere, not yet anyway.

  Amy had been stand-offish when I arrived, and Emma had been acting very protectively of her, ushering me away when I tried to talk to her. Don’t get me wrong, I know how it must have looked, in light of everything that was happening, but it still stung.

  The tension was split by the sound of wailing alarms, and the Major looked like she’d seen a ghost when she saw the footage from her battle station. “Fuck, it’s on! Three of you, roll out!”

  I climbed into Silverback. Fortunately, the missiles were loaded this time. Flipping on comms, I steeled myself for battle as I began the journey to Port Moonstone. As Silverback made the trek, I saw Amy flying past, carrying Emma.

  “Major, this is Silverback requesting sitrep, over.”

  “Roger that. All operatives, be advised that hostile life forms have been spotted downtown. Based on available intel, believe these to be similar to Che Saguaro, albeit far smaller. Iron Mask has also been spotted loitering near the headquarters of Takeuchi Industries, goals uncertain for now, but expect trouble. Silverback, we’ve got reports that a large creature is also stomping around the industrial district, towards the ports. Entity seems to be blasting everything in sight with liquid waste and garbage.”

  This was sounding all too familiar. It was at that moment I realized: we’d dealt with Detritus by throwing him into a bin and letting the truck take him away. In one of the most idiotic moves of our mutual careers, we’d tried to kill a rubbish monster, by giving him all the garbage he could ever want or need.

  “Sounds like Detritus. And if his intel was right-“

  “Break. No sign of Rahab at this point. Amethyst, Emerald, I want you two to break off once you hit Port Moonstone. We have Army and QPS fighting back against the cacti, I want you to assist them in retaking the city. If safe to do so, make you way to Takeuchi Industries and confront Iron Mask there. Silverback, your priority one is to incapacitate Detritus, but avoid unnecessary damage. Major out.”

  I bit my tongue. I knew that Rahab had to be around here somewhere, but orders were orders. In this case, best to save my missiles for the old catfish bastard: besides, I didn’t want to risk unnecessary collateral damage. I made my way to the industrial district, guided by the sound of whiny laughter.

  I didn’t give him the chance to turn around. I simply swung a haymaker right where I figured his head was. Silverback’s fist connected, spraying rubbish, but Detritus yelped in what seemed to be pain as he wheeled around to face me. I gave him another couple of hits, but Detritus began dodging.

  “Motherfucker, I wasn’t ready! You sucker-punching-ass fraud! Take this! LIQUID WASTE CANNON!”

  Detritus started spewing liquid rubbish: acids, greases, sludges and expired milk. Fortunately, Silverback’s got pretty sturdy construction, whatever it’s made out of, so I just let him finish his spew session. As soon as his stream came to a close, I returned to my melee assault. Admittedly, I wasn’t 100 percent sure it would work, but Detritus had never been a big enough threat for Staaldier, and I had no idea how the Crystalline Sisters had ever handled him back in the day, so brute force it was. And with Silverback’s size and weight, I had plenty of brute force to go round. I began chasing Detritus, as he retaliated with makeshift grenades made out of car batteries, and big gobs of broken or mouldy furniture and glass as he tried to taunt me all the while. This was frustrating. Don’t get me wrong: I was able to swat away whatever he was throwing at me. But A). Time I spent swatting away projectiles was time spent not catching up and beating Detritus’ ass, B). I was worried that Rahab was going to show up at any moment, and C). I could hear some of the radio chatter, as soldiers began retaking Port Moonstone. I was safe, I had Silverback to protect me, but I felt sorry for the poor bastards in infantry, trying to protect civilians and retake key areas of the city. But I had to focus on my mission.

  Detritus began to run, and I weighed up my options. On the one hand, I needed my missiles for Rahab, if he was going to show up. On the other hand, maybe he wouldn’t. The Major’s words echoed in my head. “If he’s out there, I promise, you will get your chance, provided it’s strategically advantageous. But your vengeance will not come at the expense of the broader goals of the Initiative.”

  Fuck it. Every second I spent chasing this rubbish monster was seconds wasted. I locked on with one of my missiles, before I heard chatter on the radio, and the sound of gunfire. The voice sounded panicked.

  “Major, this is Charlie Company, we’re evacuating civilians from the corner of Joe Collings Street and John Currie Street, but we’ve got a fuckton of cacti blocking the road and firing at us! We’re pinned down, and need reinforcements or fire support ASAP!”

  I did the math in my head. Detritus was heading right that way, and if he made it, he could turn the tide in the cacti’s favour. But if I could make it in time, I could turn the battle around as well. I radioed through.

  “Major, permission to assist Charlie Company? Detritus is heading down that way anyway. ”

  “Roger that, Silverback. Charlie Company, hang tight: Crystalline Initiative is in the field and is headed your way.”

  I focused. I had my own job to do. Coming to a halt, I saw Detrius coming to a four-way intersection, where I heard the sound of gunfire. I held back a little bit, marked him with my targeting laser, and launched a missile down toward him. I heard him scream something as he tossed another car battery my way, but the missile struck home, blasting him apart. I caught the battery as I stamped down toward the shootout, picked a target-rich environment, and then hurled the battery. It exploded, lighting a bunch of the cacti on fire, as I stomped down, swatting cacti all over the place, like an iron god throwing a tantrum. The plan was working exactly as intended, and Charlie Company was able to evac. But then I heard the screams and the rumbling.

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  I don’t really know how to explain the screams. They sounded both monstrous and all too human, coming from everywhere and nowhere. I swallowed in a dry throat, as I stepped back from the cacti. Because I’d heard those screams before, once. I knew what they meant. I felt his presence.

  The minute that Rahab stepped out from behind some buildings, my targeting laser was on him. I radioed through to the Major once again.

  “Major, it’s Silverback. I have visual on Rahab. Preparing to engage. Silverback out.”

  Locking on, I fired the missiles, one after another. I was not going to take any more chances. Sure, I’d spent all that time in the simulator, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. He managed to catch two of the missiles, letting them burn out in his hand, but the third struck home, knocking him off his feet. I fired again. Direct hit. He roared in what I hope was pain. I fired another 3. Part of me wanted to just let the whole load go, but given the urban environment, I couldn’t take the risk of letting anything miss, not here. I knew I needed to hit him with everything I had. 2 missed, sailing into the wild blue yonder, but the other one struck him. It was nasty, but it wasn’t enough. Rahab was still advancing. I did the calculations. Too close for maximum missile effectiveness now. I began backing away, but he was getting faster. Missiles needed a bit of distance to be really effective, and Silverback wasn’t quick at reversing. The only way I was facing this was head-on. As Rahab drew closer, I began charging, firing my chainguns as I did so, letting the bullets sink into the old catfish bastard, before charging. There was no technique when we started swinging: Just pure primitive instinct of two titans slugging it out, man versus monster. He was still as tough and infuriating as ever: I was dodging where I could but his strikes still jolted me around. I tried to punish him with combinations, but even as I was connecting, it didn’t seem to be enough. His technique, if you could call it that, was sloppy, but he had the physical edge over Silverback. Then he gave that smile: That goddamn catfish smile as he caught Silverback’s arms. I struggled, but Rahab was even stronger than I remembered. Without thinking, I pulled his head back against Silverback’s, headbutting him. His scream was ear-piercing, and it took all of my self-control to keep my hands on the controls. I adjusted the aim on the chainguns, and fired down his gob, roaring my own challenge as I did so.

  “Jim Parkes and Sophie Kessler say hello, motherfucker!”

  For a brief moment, I felt like my old self: brash, confident, hot-blooded and invincible, like an old-school shonen hero. I grabbed one of his arms and twisted it, striking down with one of Silverback’s elbows. I didn’t hear the breaking of bone from inside of Silverback, but I did feel it when Rahab shoved me back, and visibly stumbled. I whooped and fired off another burst, striking home. I could hear the Major calling in for fire support near my position. This was it. This was what all that training had led to. I grit my teeth, preparing to put a well-deserved end to the monster in front of me. But that was my biggest mistake. Rahab pointed a thin, bony finger, and screamed “HELP ME!”

  As much as I’d focused on Rahab, I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings. I hadn’t seen the debris, the rubble and the garbage begin to come together again. The second I prepared to charge again, a pair of garbage tentacles lashed themselves around Silverback’s arms. I swore, and began pulling away, but Detritus’ grip was too strong: almost like concrete. I struggled, but it was no use. I could hear Detritus chortling through my comms.

  “Ya’ll done fucked up now, bitches! Did you motherfuckers forget that I’m made of trash? That means that whatever you throw away, makes me even stronger! Thanks for all the bullet casings homie: you’ve made me stronger than ever! Yo, Rahab! Get some licks in!”

  Rahab seemed unsteady, grabbing his now-useless arm. He screamed again as he popped it back into place. Detritus was hardening into place. Rahab stared at me, and suddenly, my vision blurred. When I awoke, I was back at the bridge, inside Puma One’s cockpit, begging for fire support at the bridge, desperately looking for a clean angle to shoot at Rahab. Another waking nightmare. But now I knew what was going on: some sort of mental attack from Rahab. I knew it wasn’t real. I knew that these were just distorted memories, and that there was nothing I could do. But I couldn’t help but shut my eyes as Jumper Two was pulled under the waves.

  The jolt of impact snapped me out of the vision. I saw Rahab pounding and kicking Silverback, screaming all the while. I struggled, but Detritus kept holding on. This was it. This was how it all ended: from the self-declared best mech pilot in the Australian Army, to being pummelled to death by the monster that killed my squadmate and drove another to madness, then death. And all the while, Detritus was just egging him on. Klaxons blazed, warning me of shit that I already knew.

  I looked around. Detritus had leaked oil everywhere. There was one card I had that I could play, but I didn’t know if I was strong enough to do it. But I was out of options now. I hadn’t paid enough heed to the possibilities of different monsters teaming up. But seeing as all else had failed, I would try one last trick.

  “Major, this is Crystal Guardian Amethyst: Che Saguaro has been eliminated, but we’ve lost sight of Iron Mask!”

  It was good to hear Amy’s voice, at least. Rahab was still striking, and Detritus was actively pulling me back. I kept shooting at Rahab, making the old catfish bastard bleed, but it wasn’t enough. Detritus began taunting me again through my radio comms.

  “What’s wrong, you old fraud? You run out of juice already? You had all that good shit just a moment ago! Where’s all that fire now? Don’t tell me that you’re useless outside the mech, you punk-ass fraud! You ain’t shit, you’ve never been shit, and you will never, ever be shit!”

  Another jolt as Rahab struck me. “Say something, you little bitch!” Detritus roared in my ears.

  I could barely make out the radio chatter. If Detritus could access our radio channels, then he could coordinate attacks against Defence personnel and evade us, or maybe even interfere with our comms. I swallowed, feeling the lump in my throat. I was pressing buttons, panicking, but Detritus’ grip was far too strong. I switched to a backup channel. I’d get one message out before Detritus figured out what I was up to. It was time for me to play my last card. Even if it meant that I probably wasn’t going to go home today. I closed my eyes.

  “Major, this is Silverback. Do you copy?”

  “Loud and clear Silverback. Be advised that Charlie Company is en route to your location-“

  “Break, Major. We need incendiaries on my position, ASAP. Shit’s FUBAR. It’s been an honour.”

  Silence. I repeated myself, louder this time. I closed my eyes.

  “Silverback, be advised, danger close. We’ll do what we can for you.”

  Detritus had caught on, and began protesting loudly, but I didn’t respond. I knew that we had one strategy left: Rahab wasn’t going down without artillery, and the only way to deal with Detritus properly, was for all that rubbish to burn.