Black Tide

Chapter Twenty-Two: High Stakes

The Solaris Grand Casino pulsed with life. Neon lights and holographic displays cast colorful shadows over an unrelenting crowd of gamblers, tourists, and the occasional professional predator. Kaine stood near the roulette tables, blending into the chaos. His face was a mask of calm, but his mind raced as Pred whispered updates in his ear.

“Alright, Kaine, here’s the sitrep,” Pred said, his tone dripping with his usual sarcasm. A 3D map of the casino lit up Kaine’s HUD, showing 42 red dots scattered across five floors. “The Crimson Dawn boys are spread out like bad mayonnaise on a cheap sandwich. The first floor has six lurking near the gaming tables. Second floor, we’ve got four prepping by the elevators. Floors three through four are a mix of snipers and their death squads. Oh, and let’s not forget the lovely Mr. Dean Kalor, our cell leader, holed up on the fifth floor. He’s packing a custom railgun and what looks like an exoskeleton. He also has a heavily armed pack of goons playing nursemaid.

Kaine adjusted his jacket; the Black Tide armor nestled comfortably in backpack mode. “They really brought the party,” he muttered.

“Yeah, too bad it’s BYOB: Bring Your Own Bodybag,” Pred quipped.

Kaine smirked. “Let’s make this quick. No civilian casualties?”

“I have all the suit drones on standby and protection patterns drawn up. Bring the pain.”

Kaine stepped into a maintenance corridor, the casino's din fading behind him. With a deep breath, he activated his armor. The armor unfurled like a mechanical beast, wrapping around his body in seconds. The glowing crimson accents along the matte-black surface burned like embers as his helmet locked into place. Black Tide had arrived.

“All systems online,” Pred announced.

Without hesitation, Black Tide charged back into the casino.

The six Crimson Dawn operatives near the slot machines were busy scanning the crowd when Kaine descended upon them like a storm. The first didn’t even have time to react before Kaine’s arm blades tore through his chest, leaving a spray of blood across the flashing slot machine screens.

“What the fu—” one of them yelled, raising his rifle, but Kaine’s drones intercepted the bullets with energy shields before they could hit the panicking crowd. Kaine removed the man’s head with a casual flick swing of his arm that was so fast it was a blur.

Kaine vaulted over a craps table, his pulse cannon firing in rapid succession. The shots blasted two more operatives into the wall, their bodies collapsing in broken heaps.

“Four down,” Pred said with mock boredom. “Two left, right behind you.”

Kaine spun, his grappling hook shooting out and yanking one operative into his outstretched fist. The man’s skull cracked audibly before Kaine used his other hand to hurl him into the last operative, sending both through a decorative fountain. He tossed a micro grenade in behind them, not bothering to watch the small explosion as he walked away. His drone protects any civilians too close to the blast.

“First floor clear,” Kaine growled, stepping over shattered glass and broken bodies while ignoring the civilians being herded by his drones.

He reaches out with his power and casually transforms the rows of slot machines into dozens of more drones, which Pred seamlessly controls. Most of them are added to his protection pattern, while some swarm around Kaine, ready to join in on the bloodshed.

The elevator doors opened just as Kaine reached the second floor, revealing four operatives armed with assault rifles. They opened fire immediately, but Kaine was faster.

His drones swarmed ahead, forming a shifting wall of energy that absorbed every bullet. Kaine strode forward, his footsteps heavy and deliberate.

“Surprise!” Pred shouted through the casino’s PA system as Kaine unleashed a torrent of fire from his pulse cannon. The operatives screamed as the shots tore through them, shattering armor and severing limbs. Leaving the elevator car looking like a smoking charnel house.

“Next,” Kaine said, leaving the mangled corpse.

The third floor was a sniper’s nest and would be the killing ground for the assault rifle-wielding death squads, but Kaine had already sent a swarm of drones to protect the civilians here. They have also started the killing. He burst onto the floor, in time to a swarm of explosive drones that detonated in unison. The concussive blasts threw a group of death squad members and two snipers to pieces, or over the railing, they had planned to fire from on their victims below, their bodies crashing to the ground in twisted piles.

One sniper managed to fire a single shot, the bullet glancing off Kaine’s shoulder. Kaine turned, his arm blade rising. He fired it with deadly accuracy, impaling the sniper and pinning him to the wall.

The fourth floor was more of the same. Kaine’s drones hunted down the remaining operatives, disarming traps and shielding civilians while Kaine tore through the Crimson Dawn with ruthless efficiency.

A particularly large operative charged at him with an electric riot shield, but Kaine simply laughed. “Cute.” He reached out with his powers and took the mass from gaming tables within ten feet of him. A huge energized warhammer appeared in his hand. He swung it like he was going for the homerun. The impact shattered the shield—and the man behind it. Kaine shoulders the hammer.

“Third and fourth floors clear,” Pred reported. “That just leaves our VIP.”

The penthouse suite on the fifth floor was supposed to be a fortress. Dean Kalor stood at its center, his exoskeleton humming with power as his railgun crackled to life as he fired again. A squad of heavily armed Crimson Dawn elites took defensive positions around him and were also firing. Those civilians cowering here are some of the elite of Las Vegas and beyond and were meant to act as hostages. That was the plan until his comms went crazy, and the casino turned into a war zone. Then the drones swarmed in seeming just appearing from nowhere. They didn't attack. Instead, they moved to protect the VIPs, deploying energy shields in front of them and encircling Dean and his men, pushing them to the center. No matter what he or his shooters tried, the drones just kept defending the VIPs. Not even attacking him or his men.

Ten minutes into this futuristic effort, as most of their hostages have been evacuated out of emergency exits that are blocked by drones, the elevator doors opened; Kaine stepped out, his drones flooding the room like a swarm of angry hornets. These are not friendly at all. Two of the elites are ripped to pieces by drone laser fire.

“Kalor!” Kaine shouted, his voice amplified through his helmet. “Time to pay the tab.”

Kalor fired, the railgun’s projectile screaming through the air. Kaine dodged, the shot narrowly missing and obliterating a granite pillar.

The remaining elites opened fire, but Kaine moved like a predator. His energy hammer tore through their ranks while his drones took out those unfortunate enough to survive a blow from the brutal weapon with precise laser strikes. He moved relentlessly, a force of nature that left a trail of destruction in his wake.

Kalor roared, charging forward with his exoskeleton-enhanced strength. Their clash shook the room, every blow echoing like thunder. Kalor’s punches bounced off Kaine’s armor, but Kaine’s strikes tore through the exoskeleton’s plating like paper.

“You are just a man!” Kalor spat, his voice distorted by rage.

Kaine grinned behind his helmet. “And you’re just another corpse.”

With a surge of power, Kaine swung for the fences. The hammer drove into Kalor’s chest plate, obliterating it with most of his torse. The ruined armored body slammed into the drone shield wall and crumpled to the floor, not budging the drone an inch.

Kaine let the hammer resolve as he turned away. The drones returned to their marble size and started returning to his armor from all over the casino or dissolved back into energy as Kaine activated his stealth system and disappeared. All the casino and phone cameras came back online.