"Dock 47," Jackie muttered, jogging beside Max as they cut through the smoke-choked alley. "Ain't that Militech's old freight yard? Figures you'd pick the creepiest spot in the district."
"Wasn't me," Max replied, ducking under a collapsed conduit. "Mary's call. It's got magnetic shielding. Genesis can't ping us there."
V sprinted ahead, rifle sweeping the shadows. "Until it learns how to," she said. "We've got four minutes—if we're lucky."
The group burst out onto a cracked service road overlooking the industrial canal. Water ran black and sluggish beneath flickering neon signs. In the distance, faint explosions echoed — Militech drones cleaning up the area, wiping any trace of their failure.
Lucy's voice came through the comms, sharp and tense. "I'm reading at least two scout drones in pursuit. Fast movers, probably armed with micro-rail systems."
"Then we don't stop," Max said. He activated his neural HUD. "Mary, give me local camera access."
"Granted."
Dozens of red dots flared across his vision — incoming signatures converging fast.
"Two minutes to intercept," Mary confirmed.
Jackie racked his shotgun with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "You handle the tech. I'll handle the welcoming committee."
They reached Dock 47 — a maze of rusted cranes and shattered cargo containers. The air stank of oil and burnt wiring. A massive freight drone sat dead in the corner, half-buried in concrete. Overhead, the faint hum of an approaching transport cut through the night.
"Raven's bird's close," Lucy said, breath ragged. "Thirty seconds."
"Then hold—"
A laser burst slammed into a wall near her head, showering sparks.
"Contact!" V shouted.
Three Militech scouts dropped from above, their chrome limbs glinting under the dock lights. Their red optics scanned the group, weapons spinning up with a rising whine.
Jackie dove behind a crate and opened fire, the roar of his shotgun echoing off metal walls. One drone went down hard, its chassis splitting open in a shower of circuitry.
V moved like liquid — two clean bursts to the optics of another, the drone folding before it hit the ground.
The third darted sideways, launching a barrage of micromissiles that streaked across the dock.
Max threw up his hand — energy shimmered around his palm as Mary's tactical barrier flared to life, absorbing the blast in a halo of blue static.
Lucy took the opening, jacking her cable into a broken control panel nearby. "Override… now!"
The dock cranes lurched suddenly, one of them swinging a massive steel container straight into the last drone. It exploded in a bloom of sparks.
Silence followed, broken only by the deep thrumming of rotors.
The extraction drone descended through the haze — matte-black and sleek, Raven's insignia flashing faintly on the side.
"Get Voss aboard!" Max ordered.
Jackie scooped her up, carrying her toward the hatch. V covered their retreat while Lucy yanked her cable free.
The drone's ramp hissed open, hydraulic arms extending to take the wounded scientist.
Voss groaned softly as Jackie set her onto the ramp, the drone's hydraulics hissing in the rain. The moment her boots touched the deck, the onboard med-unit came to life — mechanical arms unfolding to scan her vitals. A soft blue light washed over her, outlining the bruising across her ribs and the faint pulse of embedded biochips struggling to stabilize.
"Vitals low but stable," Mary reported. "She's going to need real treatment, not field repair."
Voss managed a weak smile, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "That… was not how I planned to end the night."
Jackie chuckled, panting as he slung his shotgun. "Could've fooled me. You look like someone who enjoys the chaos."
Voss smirked faintly, wincing as the med-arm injected a stabilizer. "You've been spending too much time with him." She nodded toward Max.
Max stood a few feet away, rain streaming down his coat, his optics dimming back to a calm hue. "We needed you out of there," he said. "You've got data in your implants that Militech won't stop chasing. That means keeping you alive is priority one."
V glanced up at the drone's canopy, watching the faint outline of Raven's pilot moving through the mist. "She'll make it to the safehouse?"
"Already plotted," Mary confirmed. "Route avoids all active Militech patrol zones. ETA twelve minutes to the north ridge."
Lucy leaned against a crate, hands on her knees, still catching her breath. "Good. Because if we have to fight through another platoon tonight, I'm letting Jackie do all the heavy lifting."
Jackie grinned. "You couldn't afford me, chica."
The drone's engines flared brighter, lifting a few feet off the ground as rain turned to mist around its thrusters. Voss looked at the group one last time, her voice softer now. "Whatever happens next… thank you. All of you."
V raised two fingers in a mock salute. "Just get better. You owe me a drink for all the bullets I took keeping your ass intact."
Lucy smiled faintly. "And maybe tell us next time before the giant murder-bot crawls out of the ground."
Even Max's expression softened a little. "Stay safe, Doctor."
The hatch began to close, the sound of rain muffled by the drone's engines. Voss held their gaze until the ramp sealed shut, then the craft angled upward, streaking into the night.
For a moment, the team just stood there, the silence heavy after the chaos. The dock lights flickered weakly, and the scent of burnt ozone lingered.
Jackie broke it first. "She's clear. Good." He looked around at the ruined cranes and smoking debris. "Now what?"
Max turned away from the empty sky, his coat fluttering in the downpour. "We find cover. We regroup. No more fights tonight."
Lucy nodded, pulling her hood up. "Finally, something I can agree with."
V sighed, holstering her rifle. "Drinks after we patch up. We earned it."
Jackie grinned. "Now that sounds like a plan."
They moved out from Dock 47, their boots splashing through shallow puddles that reflected broken neon. The rain had thinned to a drizzle now, soft but relentless, washing streaks of blood and oil from the asphalt.
For once, the city was quiet. No sirens. No drones. Just the echo of their steps and the hum of the distant magline above.
Lucy walked beside Max, her hood drawn low. "Mary, anything on pursuit?"
"Negative," the AI replied. "Militech's response grid is collapsing in the southern quadrant. They're too busy cleaning up their own mess to come after you."
"Good," V muttered, glancing over her shoulder. "I've had enough chrome bastards for one night."
***
Support me at
patreon.com/boring_world
It's 22 chaps ahead