Chapter 12.A

“How did the drop off go?” asked Hank.

“She was pissed and it was awkward,” replied Jimmy

“To be expected.”

“If you say so, It’s none of my business. To bad she didn’t get to see you in your pimp suit before she left.”

“Hadrdy har har.”

Jimmy had just walked Suzie a few miles through a wooded area to the nearest road so she could catch a taxi to the airport. He had also given her a few tips on how to stay off of the radar with her digitally counterfeited 2-million dollars. Now Hank, Jimmy, Cerulean, and Dractus were en route to Washington to see if the small town really had been taken over by demons. If that wasn’t the case they intended to help anyway in whatever capacity was needed. Hank and Jimmy had just finished putting on the 3D printed armor that Cerulean had provided them. Which ended up being a goldish or brass color. Jimmy had immediately christened them “pimp suits.” Cerulean had said that the color was just happenstance because it was one of the strongest lightweight alloys that her onboard 3D printer could work with.

Their “pimp suits” were skin tight layered scales that had a surprisingly comfortable under layer that rested against the bare skin and helped to wick moisture. The armor also had raised plates over the knees, shins, elbows, spine, pectorals, shoulders, forearms, and genitals. Which gave the pimp suit the general vibe of a futuristic motorcycle outfit. Or maybe the suit of a backup dancer in a music video. Dractus had been at the front of the ship monitoring the evolving situation in Washington, but he had stopped by shortly to give Jimmy and Hank tips on getting in and out of the Arbiter armor, before adding: “It’s just like ours, except shittier.”

Dractus… always the wordsmith... Jimmy spun around in a mirror a few times before decided he was tired of looking insane. So he threw his old jeans on over the armor. He tried to get his t-shirt on as well, but it wouldn’t fit over the shoulder plates without the bottom hem being higher than his belly button. So he settled on his thin bullet proof vest and his FBI windbreaker. He almost looked normal now except for the gold dragon-scaled shirt sticking up from under his vest. Hank followed his lead since he also didn’t want to look like the newest breed of Power Ranger. Some Jeans, workboots, and one of his yellow “Steel Gravel” tank tops and he almost looked normal. Since the tank top was sleeveless it fit nicely over the suit and shoulder armor.

Dractus’s voice blared through some kind of on-board intercom, “Alright puny humans, we are landing. Meet us at the back ramp.”

“Well, it’s showtime,” said Jimmy who was stuffing his last few magazines for his pistol and rifle into different pockets all over his person. “I’m a little light on ammo. I hope they have a gun store in this one horse town.”

“Of course they do, every rural town has a gun store. Why don’t you just ask Cerulean for a weapon. I’m sure she has an armory somewhere on board.”

“Good point.”

“Jimmy I have to ask. Why are you wearing the bulletproof vest? Dractus said this stuff is already strong enough to stop a bullet.”

“I’m not going to be riding in a bullet proof bulldozer. I’ll take all the protection I can get,” said Jimmy before he zipped up his windbreaker completely hiding the golden armor.

Cerulean had thought ahead because when they met her at the back ramp she had two weapons cases sitting open on top of some cargo boxes. Inside each case was an enormous looking pistol which had five bulbous micro-cylinders hanging off of the bottom of the barrel diagonally in each direction. So five going down left, and five going down right. Hank realized if it wasn’t for its size and the strange off-shoots that the weapon would look eerily familiar to a Glock set up for competition use.

“Gentleman, welcome. I’d like you two to have these weapons, but not before I explain them.” said Cerulean. “I confiscated these off of a Kalrothian arms dealer some time back. Before we parted ways I got him to explain them to me. These are highly experimental and highly illegal mass drivers with built in gravatonics. They have a 1000-round built in magazine. When the ammo is gone the gun is done for, unless you return it to the manufacturer for reload. The heat meter is on the back portion here. That should be facing you at all times if you have the barrel pointed down range, keep an eye on it.

The heat produced from the amperage and electromagnetic fields on this weapon are extraordinary. Luckily, the manufacturer thought of this so the bulk of the heat is vented forward and up. Having said that, you should understand that only so much heat can be vented at once and the weapon is always riding a precarious and dangerous line. So pay attention to the heat meter on the back. If you don’t, the gun will explode which will surely kill you and everyone around you. The weapon is also set up with a magnetic holster and your armor has a built in magnetic holster receiver. I’ll show you. Watch me.”

Cerulean took one of the weapons out of the box. Then indicated an out of the way button on the side by pointing at it. “This turns on the magnet,” she said as she pressed it and then placed the weapon against her outer upper-thigh. When she removed her hand the weapon stayed in place.

“Here, you try,” she said as she handed it to Jimmy. Jimmy replicated what she had done and sure enough it stuck to his upper thigh, right on top of his jeans, just the same as it had for her.

“Cool,” he said.

“Cool indeed, but that’s not all,” said Cerulean who lifted the other weapon out of the box. “When you put your finger on the trigger, this happens,” she said as she aimed the weapon away from everyone and placed her finger on the trigger. Two small metal bars flipped up near the back of the weapon and a small hologram appeared between them of a red cross.

“It’s a holographic reticle which is automatically zeroed-in based on the planet’s gravity and weather conditions. If it fails the weapon still has iron-sights.”

Hank looked confused before piping up. “Can someone explain this weapon with less nerd-terms?”

“It’s a really small rail-gun Hank,” said Jimmy before continuing. “It fires really tiny pieces of dense metal, really super fast. Like so fast that it will probably fly through a lot of buildings before stopping.”

“Which is why it is so illegal, so watch your backdrop,” Cerulean added.

“I don’t need this. I’ll be in the bulldozer, and I have my own weapons,” said Hank.

“Keep it anyway. You never know,” replied Cerulean.

“Stop all this standing around, there are demons to kill!” shouts Dractus.

“I’m with Dractus, let’s do this,” says Hank.

“Wait,” said Jimmy. “If we are taking these bad ass rail guns, what about you two?”

“Dractus has his ax, and I have a few weapons on me as well. If it gets too bad though I thoroughly intend on retreating back to my ship and having it do a few strafing runs over the area. I have enough ordinance on this ship to glass half the planet.”

“Dractus what the hell are you going to do with an ax if a gun fight takes place?” asked Jimmy.

“It has been my experience that people can not fire a gun when you chop their hands off,” replied Dractus.

“Right… Well, I’ll trust you know what you are doing. I’m ready,” says Jimmy who slings his AR15 over his back.

As they descend down the ramp and hit the ground Hank sees a beautiful sight. Hanging below the ship suspended by cables as thick as one of his arms is his Killdozer. The ship itself is parked on uneven ground in a clearing in a dense forest. There is a light dusting of snow on the ground and the air is chilly. The ship is supported by multiple telescopic legs that are all extended to the exact length to not only keep the ship level, but also to keep it taller than the height of the bulldozer that is tied up below it.

“Well that is a fucking cool design,” says Hank.

“They are Smart Cables, normally only top of the line tow rigs have these but I had my baby here retrofitted,” says Cerulean as she pulls out her tablet.

She presses a few things on her device and the cables start unwinding from around the bulldozer until only a few remain which gently lower it the ground. The second it hits Hank is up and running to it. He hops up to the cab and rips open his door. The inside of the cab is still covered in dried blood and littered in his firearms.

“I’m sorry for leaving you. It’s been too long.”