Wanted

By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

Episode 5 - Stamina

May 31st, 20XX, 8:19 AM , PST

This was the easy part. With any luck, it would be the only part.

About the same time the Judge sent the private transmission threatening him with NeedleGal's life, Snakeman had pinpointed the Judge's position about three blocks away. It was a good spot for cover, but also a tricky one to get a good shot from. The coarse rubble-filled streets removed any path for a direct shot while shattered buildings created others. Snakeman's hunter was currently inside the ruins of one of those buildings on the ground level. Given the fragile state of the remains, there likely wouldn't be any climbing to a higher perch for this sniper, he had to be ready to move quickly anyway.

Snake stayed mostly still in the middle of what used to be the road. He could have been an open target, but thanks Makoto - one of his smallest yet most sharp-eyed Search Snakes - he was able to keep himself just out of the Judge's sights.

Makoto was the closest snake to the Judge at the moment, positioned directly opposite of him from Snakeman himself. Makoto's visual feed approximated the Judge's own line of sight, and all Raijin had to do was edge behind one of the many obstructions made of the city's crumbling remains. The Judge only had to edge a few steps himself to get another mark on him, but Snake's well-timed side-stepping kept himself from being a target long enough to be a problem.

Snakeman tried to hide the fact that he actually knew where his opponent was by acting like he was still searching. His movements were meant to look random rather than strategic, an act he was pretty sure wasn't fooling anyone at this point. The Judge had already experienced Snakeman's hunting style and came here with the sole intention of gunning him down, so he was probably well aware that the paranoid skulking was just a stalling act to get six of his other Search Snakes in position to trap him in the ruins of that building.

So that's where the hard part would come in. If he did know what was coming, why wait there like an idiot? Snakeman tried to guess what trap of his own the Judge had set, if any. He kept coming back to the confident assumptions. It's just an unhinged human with a gun. He hadn't learned a thing. It's going to be even easier this time than when his python Sara wrapped him up all those months ago. Raijin was hardly the optimistic type however, and tried to wipe those ideas from his mind. He had a hard time picturing a worst-case scenario involving a single sniper opponent, since his usual worst-case scenarios either involved an army of heavily-armed opponents out in the open where he wasn't equipped to take them head-on, or else NeedleGal’s in a bad mood.

Besides, if the Judge really meant business, he could have taken both of them out earlier when they were in his sights. The fact that he went to the trouble of announcing his presence and getting Snakeman alone told him that his opponent was probably going to make more stupid moves to make things easier for him.

When Scarlet, his red spitting cobra got into visual range he got a possible hint to the contrary. Through her eyes he noticed a previously unseen duffel bag sitting not too far from the Judge's feet. Jack would be getting closest to the bag in a moment, and from there the rhinoceros viper could run a scan on the bag before crawling right into it and possibly disabling whatever nasty surprise the Judge brought with him.

It wouldn't be long now. Snakeman was edging closer to a particularly large standing wall that would give him plenty of cover and force the Judge to move. Hannah, Scarlet, Jack, Skip, Makoto, Sara, and Moe now had his spot effectively surrounded. All that was left was to have Jack peek around that rock and into that bag...

The pit viper's sensitive surveillance systems focused on the large, lumpy duffel bag. A flash x-ray scan revealed a large mechanical device surrounded by twelve smaller ones. The small devices were all inert, but the larger one emitted a distinct electromagnetic signature.

Snakeman uttered his first word since splitting up with Needle, and for decency's sake that word won't be repeated. Nearly every robot's least favorite piece of technology was hiding in that bag, and it looked to be remote controlled, meaning the Judge could trigger it whenever he wanted. Snakeman couldn't let that happen. He immediately had Jack slide silently into the bag and carefully coil around the device. All he had to do was locate the power source and cut it. Jack's drill-bit horn could make short work of the casing, but would also generate enough noise to give himself away. He would only get one shot, so it had to be good.

Snakeman clenched his fists and tried to keep calm. He wasn't even trying to act ignorant any more. He knew the Judge knew that he knew he was there. Half his body was already hidden behind his wall. The Judge continued to focus on him, apparently unaware of the Search Snakes. Jack had found the sweet spot and was about ready to drill into it. The next few seconds slowed to an eternity.

Then something happened that made Raijin's mechanical heart skip a beat; Jack went blind, followed immediately by the other six nearby snakes, then he himself felt painful wave of numbness and nausea hit him like a truck. His remaining five sets of extra eyes further throughout the area went blank within two seconds. A second later Snakeman's failsafe backup power supply kicked in and restored his systems before they could seize up as well. It could be equated to going brain dead for a split-second, only to be brought back with a punch to the heart, as the back-up battery jolted his entire body involuntarily. When the sickening feeling passed, he was left with a sudden feeling of vacancy.

Alone, blind, deaf, numb. He was functioning perfectly himself, but his Search Snakes were gone. He hadn't felt so vulnerable since before his new armor was completed. He was frozen in shock.

Fortunately for Snakeman, his instincts were somehow still awake enough to force his body behind the wall completely, but not fast enough to prevent a bullet from grazing his right triceps at the last moment. Had he remained frozen, the bullet would have gone through his energy core.

Raijin was snapped to his senses by the intense pain that resonated in his arm, and he was surprised to find himself sitting on the ground two meters from where he last remembered standing. He was expecting his opponent would bring piercing bullets along and this particular type of pain confirmed that. Really, any kind of bullet would have been enough to pierce his stealth-oriented armor, but the pointier the better when it comes to causing Snakeman to hurt. From this one tiny wound he didn't think the bullets could be any deadlier to him than if they were NeedleGal’s.

And now he didn't know where the next shot was coming from. The Judge's electromagnetic pulse had shut all twelve of his Search Snakes down. If he was wearing an older version of the armor he could always produce a few more from his arm cannon, but these new Search Snakes were a fixed set, and he would have to find each one himself to reboot them. Times like this really made one appreciate the classic Robot Master designs over the supposed “upgrades”.

The Judge was certainly on the move now. Snake had to be too if he had any hope of surviving. He may have lost his edge, but he still wasn't going to be afraid of his adversary. He still had his gun, and a few other tricks up his sleeve. Forcefully calming himself down, Snakeman peeked around the corner behind the scope of his rifle to verify that the Judge had indeed taken off. He skimmed the area for any sign of movement in any direction, but the fractured structures made it easy to cover movements. Around this time, Snake started paying careful attention to the geography in this area- a surely vital part of just surviving what was supposed to be a cut-and-dry ordeal.

Finally, Snakeman spotted movement to the left of the Judge's initial hiding spot. He immediately focused on the area until he spotted another movement in the opposite direction. More blurs zipped between obstacles either left or right of the remains of an apartment building. It looked like the Judge suddenly had backup, and they were maneuvering to surround him.

Snakeman's comm. crackled with static. It sounded like the Judge wanted to make another speech or warning or something. Raijin was not looking forward to that, but he didn't have much choice other than to listen to the lunatic. In the mean time he made sure to look around for a new spot to move to.

"-ke…Snakeman…Do you hear me?...You left my fate at the hands of a jury…Now…I repay you for that…But I have to admit…My Jury is almost as biased as the pigs you and your so-called justice system charged with taking my freedom away from me. My life, Snakeman! And now…heh heh…YOUR life…is in the hands of someone else!"

And with those remarks, Snakeman's comm. went dead once again. If pressed, Snakeman could remember maybe a third of what the Judge had rambled into the radio- he had much more important things to do than listen to the ravings of a convicted serial killer.

As he dashed from his hiding spot to a new one a few meters away, a trail of automatic gunfire kicking up the dust behind him, he realized who, or rather what the "Jury" were: The twelve smaller machines in the bag with the EMP. The Search Snake's scan didn't show him much, except they were spherical and mounted with a gun of some kind. He had to see it to believe it though, and a few seconds later he did. One of the metallic balls flew around the corner of the wall Snakeman was hiding behind. One more followed it shortly after.

Each hovering orb was about half the size of a basketball, and maintained flight via a fold-out helicopter blade, giving them a unique, ominous hum as they darted about. The body of these robots was covered by a dark-tinted hard plastic shell, which more than likely contained a track-mounted camera, giving the rudimentary AI a full 360 degree view of the landscape. On the very bottom of these devilish spheres where their only source for offense- a small caliber machine gun, probably custom built for the Jury given how tiny these guns were.

Fortunately for Snake, they couldn't see the target they thought they had cornered as he surveyed his new foes from the shadows. Snakeman chose his new hiding spot for two reasons. One was the nearby manhole leading into the sewer which was now open with the lid lying next to it. The other reason was the pile of rubble lying against the wall that Snakeman was currently hiding in.

His current body came with a collapsible skeleton that along with his thinner, lighter armor allowed him to squeeze his form into spaces normally too tight for any ordinary person or robot of his size.

The pile of debris appeared to be nearly flat against the wall, only a crack of an eyehole between blocks allowed Snake to peer out at his would-be executioners. Even if they had infra-red or audio sensors, his armor was designed to suppress both heat and sound. Unless they knew where to look, he should have been essentially invisible.

After an agonizingly tense three seconds of analyzing the area, the two drones fell for the red herring and zipped into the sewer. They looked to be unsettlingly fast. About fast enough to dodge a bullet if he tried shooting them down, and being hovering balls they wouldn't have trouble shooting back while they were dodging. Snake hoped to trap as many as possible in the sewer, but it didn't look like any of the other ten were going to take the bait. The tunnel only extended in two directions, so they would only need two to spread out and search for him anyway.

Then again, two were reserved for cornering him at the wall. Raijin decided to gamble away a couple more seconds for the Jury to deliberate, and it paid off. Two more drones flew in from opposite directions and headed underground. Knowing that was as many reserves he could pull out of hiding as he could probably hope for, he quickly slithered out of the rubble and replaced the heavy iron manhole covering. He was certain one of those little things wouldn't be strong enough to lift the cover by itself. Four of them together might, but they’d ruin their copter blades in the process…hopefully. Whether those Jurors found their way back to the surface in time likely depended on how smart they were, but if they believed he would retreat into the sewer without replacing the cover after him, he likely didn't have much to worry about.

Slinking between new hiding spots, keeping his eye out for the other eight drones, Snakeman wondered how much interaction they had between each other and the Judge. The drones were most certainly coordinated with each other, the second two wouldn't simultaneously follow the first two individually. But were they operating on a primitive AI, or was the Judge controlling them by remote? Being human, there was no way the Judge could control his Jury the same way Snakeman controlled his Search Snakes; coordinating twelve mechanical units in different locations simultaneously was just beyond human brain power.

However, he saw no evidence to suggest he wasn't sending them basic commands to supplement their own automated responses. The only clue he did have was the Judge's announcement. What he said suggested the Jury was acting completely on their own, and if he was serious with his demented courtroom diatribe, he wouldn't interfere with them. If so, that would be good for Snakeman, because he probably had a better chance outwitting the machines than their master and the machines combined.

Snake headed for the building that was at the center of the Jury's initial fanning out as he witnessed earlier. If the Judge wasn't still there, hopefully he at least left signs to track him with. It was getting increasingly difficult to make his moves without getting hit, however. By now, the remaining eight members of the Jury had him surrounded and were raining down automatic fire every time he came out of hiding. He even took some hits, but fortunately they either grazed him, or hit the tail sticking out of the back of his head. Nothing crucial. Soon enough they would have him cornered again, though.

He needed a new plan, and some luck.

Snakeman made one more mad dash to the interior of the apartment building after gritting his teeth in observation for a crucial few seconds. It cost him though, three shots in the back from a drone behind him. One of the bullets went through his tail and didn't do much damage by the time it hit his armor, but the other two pierced through and caused a lot of pain on top of a couple of lubricant leaks. The cold liquid that flowed through his armor was what masked his robotic heat signature, so this was more trouble than just the pain. Even if the increasing vulnerability to infra-red detection didn't make him easier to find, the blood-trail he was now leaving would.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to seal the wounds, inspect the area for signs of the Judge, and deal with his pursuers all at once. Snake's quick thinking had just run head-first into a wall.

He had a plan for taking out more drones, though not a very good one. Not only was it risky, but it meant forfeiting his chances of tracking the Judge from there. It was also irrelevant if that building was trapped, a possibility that occurred to Snakeman a bit too late. After a quick visual of the darkened ruins didn't reveal anything that stood out, he decided the safest thing to do was target the hole that led into the building to see if any drones were coming in after him. The continuing pain in his arm and back was making it hard to think, but he had to ignore it for the sake of survival.

A drone popped into view. Snakeman immediately let off a shot, but as he expected, the metal sphere dropped below the bullet while strafing back. Snakeman managed to roll behind a shield of debris in time to avoid the counter-attack. He could hear the hum of at least one more drone entering the building along with the first. The good news was the Judge probably hadn't rigged the building to collapse on his head if his own toys were coming in, but he couldn't count on that. He began to kick the wall, hoping the structure was weak enough to open up a big enough hole to escape through. He wasn't getting much luck with the wall, but it felt like the floor under his left foot was fairly brittle, so he began stomping that instead.

By now a drone had come around the barrier and had Snakeman in its sights. Raijin let off another quick shot. Since it was a closer range, the machine had less luck dodging the shot. Sparks flew as the bullet ricocheted off the spherical casing, drilling a hole straight through to the other side, but, unfortunately, missing anything vital in the process. It didn't do much damage in the long run, but it knocked the unsuspecting drone off course for a second, preventing it from locking onto Snakeman, who had now succeeded in opening a crack in the floor and was now trying to widen it enough for him to squeeze through.

Two more drones quickly came around to join the first. By now Snakeman had loosened a floorboard enough to lift it in front of him and shield himself from the bullets that started raining down on him. The board was shattered by the gunfire in mere seconds, but Snakeman used that time to squeeze between the floorboards and begin slithering back towards the entrance. The drones followed, but went a bit too far into the basement, apparently still expecting that to be the most likely escape route.

Snake had other ideas though. Expanding his form again, he burst up through the floorboards and made his way out the hole he came in.

He did manage to learn that the Judge was in there, for all his trouble. He saw one footprint on his way in, which didn't tell him much on its own, but the hole was the only exit from that building, so if he looked closely, he could hopefully find more clues outside. Snake doubted the Judge would head back the way he came, and if he went around the front of the building he would have left himself open, so taking a leap of faith, Snake headed around the back of the building.

The guess paid off, as he saw his first helpful clue, the discarded duffel bag that held the Judge's accessories. Warily, Snakeman lifted the edge of the bag with the barrel of his rifle. The burned-out EMP device was still inside. The Search Snake that was attached to it last he checked was gone, the Judge may have taken it as a trophy, or simply threw it away the first chance he got. Now he had to figure out where to move next. The rest of the Jury would be re-grouping on him pretty soon.

In the meantime, Snake quickly used his knife to cut a strip out of the bag and tie it around his torso as a makeshift bandage for the bullet holes on his back.

Snake searched the ground for any more signs of footprints. Instead he caught a glimpse of a different kind of track that gave him an idea for a new hiding spot, but wasn't sure if it was worth it at this point. The Judge may have been determined not to interfere with the Jury's work, but he wouldn't be stupid enough not to watch. By now he was probably too many steps ahead to chase down. Snake had to lure him out somehow. Destroying the whole Jury would do the trick, but that was a daunting task.

If the EMP could be reset, it would certainly take out all the drones the same way it took out the Search Snakes. Too bad Snakeman didn't have the capabilities to do that...at the moment. Not entirely sure if he was onto something, Snake grabbed the device and ran for a particularly large debris field at the other end of the trail leading through the dust. Out of the corner of his eye he could see more drones appearing from around the other side of the building he came from. He found the spot he was looking for; a nice thick pile of rubble with big enough chunks to allow large enough spaces to squeeze into.

Jamming the EMP device inside the opening before crawling in himself, he pushed the rubble up top behind him enough to collapse the entrance shut, which made things a little tighter in his hiding spot, but it also prevented the drones from reaching him.

From inside his cramped coffin, Snakeman could hear more electronic humming, indicating the remaining Jurors effectively had him surrounded now. There was no misdirection; they knew he was camping out in there. Taking off his battlefield bandage, Snakeman tied the piece of fabric to the EMP and his rifle, then secured it to his ankle. Dragging his equipment behind him as he forged ahead, he realized it got easier as he worked downwards and wound up in larger pockets between more intact pieces of the stone walls of the collapsed buildings of the city.

Finally, he found his way out. Underground in the basement of the building that used to stand there, it was pitch black since there were no open passages to the surface beside the hole the rubble pile he just crawled out of was clogging any of the already-muted sunlight from above. Using the minimal light from his eyes, Snake searched the ground for the one he had to thank for leading him to the spot.

There he was, right in the middle of the most clean and open spot of the floor- Mambo, Snakeman's Black Mamba-based Search Snake. This particular Search Snake had a built-in teleportation beacon that served as a quick escape from tight situations for Snakeman himself, though it was currently offline thanks to the EMP.

Earlier, during the Search Snakes' initial sweep of the area, he detected this mostly-sealed, open underground area and decided to use it as a safe-spot to have Mambo teleport him to in case things got too hairy. The track he spotted in the dust near the duffel bag was Mambo's trail as he crawled through the same maze of rubble to get there. Too bad Snake had to get in there the same way.

Now it was time for some quick surgery. It was dark as hell, and almost impossible to see his own hands in front of his face, but it wasn’t like he could ask someone to turn on the lights. Fortunately, he knew his own “pets” like the back of his hand, and used his memory to guide his fingers to where they needed to be. After a few seconds of fiddling around, Snake managed to find the split in Mambo’s rubbery hide and moved it aside. After more feverish maneuvering, he found the Search Snake’s battery box, located below the base of the robot’s skull. With a twist of a cylinder, he felt Mambo twitch to life once again.

Allowing himself a small, victorious smirk as he felt Mambo’s optical feed reconnect with his own, Snakeman’s plan started fall into place. Placing the Search Snake back down on the dusty broken floor of the basement, Raijin left the robot here. It’d definitely serve him better here in the darkness, after all.