Chapter 8: Skirmishes

"Pow! Pow! Pow!"

Lisa fired three shots from her arm gun in quick succession at the military vehicle. The first struck the automatic turret dealing some damage to its armored platting. The second shot hit the back window cracking its bulletproof glass like a spiderwebs. The finale shot hit the vehicles right back tire, causing a loud popping sound and the Hummer gridded to a halt blocking the dam’s road.

The automatic turret immediately pointed her way and opened fire! The bullets were fired with such speed it was impossible to count the number of rounds. Lisa jumped to one side of the dam and using the wall guarding the edge of the dam as cover to avoid the bullets. She heard the men shouting as they exited the Hummer and set up a defensive position.

Lisa took a quick peek from behind the wall. She had a feeling of disappointment. The turret had to of been equipped with heat vision sensory equipment, otherwise it couldn't have reacted so quickly and found her location. She was going to have to move fast if she wanted to capture that officer.

Normally Officers in the American Fascist Regime (AFR) would be accompanied by far more military personnel instead of just the two guards that were with him. If she didn't act now, she might never get a chance like this.

From her leather jacket she pulled out her long dull black sword and in a quick sweeping motion unfolded it. Holding it in her left hand, she gripped it tightly with anticipation. "Probably the best way to end this quickly would be to take out that turret." Lisa thought to herself.

She then pulled off the jacket and tossed it aside. Underneath her leather jacket was a skintight faded black body suit, it looked similar to what a surfer's spring suit might look like, but this was no ordinary suit. It was made of densely packed Kevlar fibers, ceramic, and other sci-fi like shock absorbent materials; perfectly capable of taking on nearly all small arms and rifle fire. If someone were to look closely at the suit, they would see a hexagonal pattern of the materials molded together, adding both flexibility and impact absorption technology.

She jumped out onto the road and purposely rolled as the turret locked onto her heat signature. Bullets sprayed out at her in repeated bursts. Lurching up, she dashed as quickly as she could across the dam road towards the opposite side of the road. The bullets zipping behind her were just millimeters from ending her life! Then she jumped behind the wall on the other side of the dam road and the sounds of the turret shooting instantly stopped.

She calmed herself and regained her breath, "Well now that I got the timing of the turret memorized, let's take it out." Lisa thought while giving a wiry grin.

She reappeared from behind the wall just as she did before. However, this time instead of running straight across the road, she charged at the Hummer. Bullets flew at her in angry hot bursts, but every time there was a pause in its fire rate, she changed direction zigzagging down the road. Closing the distance in no time, she suddenly leapt high into the air above the turret.

The turret rotated upwards following the woman's movements and shooting rapidly. Every shot trailed just behind her as she dropped like a meteor from the sky. She landed with a heavy clang on the turrets metal armor. Her sword embedded deep into the exposed armor she had shot off before. Giving her sword a quick twist upward she lifted the turret off from the roof of the Hummer. Bolts and electrical wiring screeched loudly as she tore the turret apart!

Officer Hawkins was at first shocked seeing the speed and power of the woman. But as soon as she was tearing apart the turret, he snapped out of it and yelled at his guards to shoot her. He also whipped out his pistol and took aim at her head.

"Pa-Zoom!"

The sound of a laser zipped past Lisa's cheek, much to close! She could feel the heat searing her cheek as it pasted by her. Reflexively she let go of her sword and raised her arm up to cover her face. Both of her prosthetic forearms opened up and spread out to create a shield to defend her face!

"Ping ting! Ping ting!"

Laser projectiles streaked upwardly at her from the two guard's laser rifles, every shot intended to kill. Her arms were military grade metal armor and deflected nearly every shot, but one slipped under her arms knocking her in the stomach! The force of its impact knocked her off the Hummer roof and she tumbled out of sight.

"Circle around and finish her off!" Hawkins ordered quickly. The two guards immediately circled each side of the vehicle guns raised.

As soon as Lisa had landed on the ground she looked down at her stomach. Smoke was rising from a blackened hole in her suite that had somehow absorbed the laser. But it hurt bad and she was short of breath. Then she heard the officers command and knew she need to act fast.

She scrambled towards the back of the Hummer and saw the feet of one of the guards moving towards her. As soon as the tip of his gun poked around the edge of the vehicle she attacked.

Lisa grabbed the gun barrel with her left hand and swung at his head with her right. Even though her power was greater he still blocked the attack at the expense of breaking his arm. He then countered with a knee at her stomach, but she blocked it with her right hand. He stepped back trying to pull his gun free, but she grabbed his arm and pulled the gun from his grasp.

At that moment, the other guard arrived behind her. In a panic he fired his laser gun at her but missed, nearly getting her legs. She grabbed the first guard and chucked him with unbelievable strength at the second guard and they collapsed into a pile against the dam wall.

Then she shouldered the laser ruffle and fired into them. She quickly turned and dashed around the Hummer and took aim at the Officer. But he was waiting for her.

"Pow!"

Fortunately, he shot just a tad too soon and his shot deflected off the window of the Hummer. Lisa quickly ducked back behind the end of the Hummer and waited.

"I know you're ex-Military." Officer Hawkins called out still holding his pistol at the ready. "What's your reason for betraying the AFR? Not that it matters anyway. We will reunite this land. Why can't you just submit?"

"I know your stalling." Lisa called out. She could now just barely hear the sound of a helicopter approaching in the distance.

"Perceptive." Hawkins spoke out. "I'll find out who you are eventually. When I do, you're finished!"

In seconds, the helicopter had risen over the crest of the mountain behind the officer. Lisa couldn't risk exposing herself to shoot at the officer or she would be immediately targeted by the helicopter's guns. So, she decided to stay put, ready to run if she had too.

The helicopter landed behind the officer sending dust and trash in every direction. He walked backwards towards the helicopter, keeping his pistol ready. He then climbed into the side door as it slowly rose into the air.

Lisa sighed. She had let him escape. The laser rifle she took wouldn't have the power to take down the military helicopter anyway. She stayed hidden until the sound of the retreating helicopter disappeared over the mountain.

She then walked over to the open doors of the Hummer to loot it for anything of use. To her surprise the scanner was laying on the floorboard. She picked it up and found the officer had foolishly left the chip still inside. The blueprints were hers.

"Finally, a little luck has come my way." She chuckled to herself and continued searching the Hummer.

…

The rioters had surrounded the Marriott Hotel the Black Rats gang had been using as their base. The number of rioters had risen from eighty people to now closer to four hundred. The gangsters had barricaded the lobby and other exits, but they wouldn't hold for long. Nathan Dees was up at the front swinging an axe at the barricade along with some others. Some others threw rocks and parts of furniture at the windows smashing them.

Someone had found an oily rag and lit it on fire, tied it to a rock and chucked it into a second story window. It must have landed on something flammable, for soon smoke was billowing out of the window and was quickly followed by smoke coming out of another.

The crowd was in an uproar now. Indiscriminate yelling and screams raged from the rioting below as the boss of the Black Rats looked on from a safe height.

"Boss what are we going to do? There's too many of them?" His top lieutenant said gripping his shot gun tightly.

The boss, a thickly muscled Germanic guy, grimaced as he spoke, "We're going to have to make a break for the boat dock and get onto our ship. We'll have to come back and find out who responsible and kill the b******."

There were only twenty-two gangsters at the Marriott Hotel when the rioters first surrounded the place. They all were currently in the room with the Boss. The Black Rats boss pushed his way through them and flung open the door to the hallway.

"Are you coming?" He yelled turning back to his gang. "Or you are waiting for an invitation?"

The men shuffled and quickly filed in behind their boss. They headed down the winding staircase and into the back of the hotel. The number of protesters outside these locked doors weren't as numerous as by the front lobby.

"All right, you two, get ready to open the door. The rest of you," the boss said turning with a smug look on his face, "Get ready to fight!"

The men shouted ready to go and a couple of gangsters readied their guns while others gripped their hand-held weapons.

"Attack anyone in our way and head straight for the boat. Ready? Go!" The boss shouted as the door were flung open.

The rioters were surprised for a moment when the doors swung open. But their surprise turned to fear once the gangsters came pouring out with guns firing and weapons swinging. The gangsters easily broke through the rioters and quickly thumped down the wooden docks towards a large fifty-foot pleasure boat docked in the middle of the boating slips.

Someone from the rioters in the back quickly ran around to the front yelling that the gangsters were escaping. Nathan heard this and pointed his axe high yelling to the rest to give chase. The mob slowly moved in mass around the hotel. By then it was too late.

The gangster's boat was already pulling out of the docks and onto the open river. The gangsters were waving their guns and throwing taunts at the people on shore. One even mooned at the people on the docks! One rioter tried chucking a rock at them, but it fell short. The gangsters laughed at this.

Nathan grumbled out loud, "It's not over yet." Then he turned to the crowd and yelled as loud as he could. "This is a victory!! They are running away!"

The crowd gave a cheer and waved their handheld weapons. Nathan, however, wasn't finished yet. He had to stop the gangsters from regrouping.

"They might have escaped onto the river, but they have to land somewhere. So, some of us need to keep following them. As for the rest of us, we know there are other Black Rats in town, let's get them!" Nathan said raising his axe high.

The crowd cheered again and started to disperse down the roads and into the town. A few of the rioters stayed with Nathan. One tall scraggly man with a thick beard came up to him.

"You are the one that started this riot?" He said with a gruff voice.

"I am." Nathan said flatly.

"Well now you're our boss and have my support. We need someone who can stand up to those gangsters and unite this town." The old man said and two dozen others behind him also voiced their agreement.