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Staccato gunfire tore through the sky with heavy, thunderous screams.

Luke scrambled his way down the ladder, step after step, his hands feeling like muffled blocks through the thick radiation suit. He wanted to pause for a moment's breath, impulses screaming at him to look back up at the top of the ladder. Instead, he focused on his route down, every fragment of his attention focused on getting to the soil far below.

A roar reverberated from high above him. He felt the tremble through his fingers, shuddering along the bones of his arms. A rush of panic filled him as he almost lost grasp on the metal ladder, but he managed to close his grip and hold on tight. He wondered what had caused that tremble, praying it wasn't a grenade.

With tentativeness that fought against his adrenalin, the fox's foot found the ground. Luke rushed on, forcing his body away from the ladder, all the while the churning rhythm of semi-automatic rifles blared high above him. He glanced quickly around. A thin layer of fog lay swirling close to the umbar ground, a dash of scarlet haze that made the entire landscape seem almost unreal.

He took one step, then another. The sounds of violence eased, fading just a little. He thought that he heard the echo of a scream.

Luke's heart was pounding. The android; his friend; was nowhere in sight. He was alone. The ground around him was a ruin; cracked stones lay, some half-buried and others crumbled almost to sand. Here and there, protruding fingers of metal twisted their way from the ground - burned and scorched girders, twisted by the force of the detonations and explosions that had marked the area. Around him, the obelisk-like bodies of skyscrapers lay like broken giants.

A roar of explosion beside him quickly drew the fox's attention; a dull echo that swelled through the muffled distance, before exploding into life a few inches beside him. Luke turned, glancing back to the vast building-sized truck behind him and canting his head up, catching sight of the assailants. High above, one opened a sharp ear-piercing volley of semi-automatic fire down towards him, the bullets piercing shrill dust plumes in the ground.

Turning and sprinting in a wild jog, Luke pushed himself into a run. Panic gripped him, squeezing down on his chest, as each frantic step managed to only draw the gunfire closer. With wild desperation, he dove behind a thick outcropping of concrete, praying desperately that it would be enough to stop the shrapnel. It was not - each blow tore a heavy chunk of rock from the outcrop, whittling it down while Luke crouched and strained to catch his breath.

The gunfire halted. A silence, sharp and glinting like a blade, pierced the air. Luke glanced around, barely in time to see the soldier as he was hurled from the top of the behemoth vehicle. A terrified cry, before a heavy crunching sound punctuated the man's impact with the ashen ground. Luke watched, unable to will his legs to move.

From atop the vehicle, Cybe vaulted over the edge of the ladder. Grabbing its railing in one paw, he made his way down in long, loping motions, half-sliding with each motion. In a few seconds he had reached the ground, far faster than Luke had managed, and immediately made a sprint towards the fox's cover.

As he tore his way around the corner beside Luke, the fox found his mouth agape. "You killed him" uttered the boy, eyes wide.

Without pause to breathe, the wolf ejected the magazine from his semi-automatic, quickly reloading it with a new one that he had tore from the body of the soldier. "Incorrect, sir" he replied. "They are pods."

A shrill crack filled the air as another chunk of masonry exploded just above Luke's shoulder. "What?" he yelled. "What? Pods?"

Cybe worked fast, finishing his reload and glancing behind himself again, assessing the number of assailants. "Vat grown bodies" he explained. "Bio-engineered. Designed with enhanced manual dexterity and coordination as well as physical strength and grown at using accelerated gestation in mass birthing vats. Do you have any grenades?"

"What?" wailed Luke. "No! Grenades? Oh my god, no!"

"That is a shame" replied Cybe. "If you happen to take down one of the combatants, I suggest recovering some. They can be deployed by..."

Another roar in the background began to swell, growing to a deafening crash. Above them, a hard explosion impacted the side of the collapsed skyscraper, sending a cascade of powdered debris floating down around the pair.

Leaning across Luke's crouching body, the wolf fired a volley of gunfire in response. "It appears that the combatant with the grenade launcher has returned. We should be able to acquire some from him." He reached into the waistband of his suit, pulling free the spare pistol that Luke had dropped atop the vehicle. "Take this."

Clenching his hands down around his ears to protect them from the bellowing of the gunfire, Luke gave a bleating cry. "I can't! I can't use that."

"It is simple" explained Cybe, speaking softly but loudly enough to be heard over the gunfire. "Hold the weapon so that you can view through the targeting sights. Then position the reticule so that it is positioned over the person that you wish to die, and gently squeeze the trigger."

"No!" he snapped. "I can't kill somebody. I just can't!"

Another shrill whistling pierced the air. The grenade impacted onto the back of the pair's hiding spot, sending a large chunk of masonry scattering. It struck the wolf's shoulder with a heavy, bone-crunching thud, but the android gave no reaction, even as the impact's tremor shook Luke to his bones.

"They are not alive" shouted the wolf, scanning for a new route to get to cover. "Each clone is a blank slate - a meat vessel, without mind or soul. They are grown by the batch-load and are fully remote controlled."

Luke glanced around. In the shadows and at the edges of the surrounding rubble, he could see dark figures moving. They slunk through, staying close to the terrain, their dark helmets obscuring their features, clutching their rifles securely. "Remote controlled clones?" repeated the fox.

"Yes" said the android, "doubtless CyberaTech is using them as I am unable to remotely hack them like I would a robot. When you terminate one of them, their remote operator will regain consciousness back at their home base or headquarters." He rose up to his knee, extending his arm and firing a heavy volley of shots into one of the nearby soldiers, who crumpled to the ground. "It's actually highly efficient, as many of the minds that control them have extensive combat field experience, and as they are at no risk of immediate death..."

Another explosion, this one far closer. Luke screamed.

"Perhaps" said Cybe, returning fire towards their assailants, "it would preferable if I give you the expositional information when we are not in mortal danger?"

"Yes!" cried Luke, clasping his hands over his ears, "Please!"

"That way!" snapped the android, rising quickly to his feet. Taking Luke's pistol, he opened fire with both that and his own, focusing a suppressing fire on both teams that had closed into a pincer movement around them. As the troopers fell back behind cover, the fox scrambled into a terrified sprint, moving as fast as his legs could carry him.

Scurrying quickly through the ruins of a long-destroyed window, Luke wrapped his arms around a torn wall and pulled himself into what was once a skyscraper. He clambered up along the inside of the building, turning his head to look at what remained of the contents. In some time, long ago, it may have been a busy office. Laying in scattered heaps around the room he saw the waste of a long-forgotten world - dented metal filing cabinets, sheafs of discoloured and ruined paper, cracked tables and singed chairs. Each lay half-overturned and forgotten.

He wasted no time pushing his way past a heap of desks which lay haphazardly. He looked back over his shoulder, barely able to catch sight of the wolf that hurried along behind him, sporadically twisting mid-jog to fire off a few rounds.

"How many are there?" yelled the fox.

Catching up with him, Cybe kept his pistols levelled and aimed at the route behind them. "General squad numbers are eight troopers, one heavy arms specialist, and a commanding officer. I've taken down four troopers so far" he explained.

Grasping ahold of a door's handle, Luke pulled. Instead of opening, the entire door swung on a single hinge, twisted downwards, and tumbled to the ground. Kicking it aside, Cybe took the lead, pushing the fox down the hallway. Behind them, heavy running footfalls echoed, sharp snapping thuds against the ground.

"What do they want?" screamed Luke as the wolf ushered him into what may have once been a large meeting room but now sat cracked and torn, a single large crevasse formed across the breadth of the room from where the building had fallen. "Why are they trying to kill us?"

Reaching down to grab ahold of several ripped and dusty desk chairs, Cybe began to throw them against the doorway in a haphazard barricade. "If it helps, they are only trying to kill you" he said. "They are trying to recover me and bring me back. I can be recovered in pieces, though."

"That makes me feel so much better" grumbled Luke.

The wolf crouched, turning his body to face the crevasse, and pushed himself into a sprint. With a single leap, he made his way across the opening. Turning, he held his arm open for Luke. The fox thought for a moment, urging himself into a run. He landed in the wolf's arms, unsteadily. As he stepped back, a shuddering explosion broke through the room, tearing the barricade and scattering it across half the room.

The fox glanced over his shoulder, hurrying over to the room's large bay window. He reached down, grabbing a hefty fragment of a table, ready to smash the window.

As the troopers spilled into the room, Cybe opened fire. Bullets shattered into the first trooper to enter the room, filling the air behind him with a crimson haze. His body convulsed, tumbling to the ground, where his colleagues immediately leapt over him. The wolf took bead on another one, readying to pull the trigger, when a familiar whistling roar filled the air.

Luke almost dropped the table edge, turning to see a billowing trail sear through the air from behind the troopers, emitting from the heavy arm's specialist's rocket propellor. He ushered a cry as the grenade slammed into the android, who pulled his arm up to defend himself as the projectile exploded.

Dust plumed, and the wolf was thrown backwards. The force of the detonation shattered the bay window, blowing the glass outwards. Luke hurried over, throwing the table aside. He scrambled to the wolf's twisted body, which lay scattered on the ground. "Cybe!" he cried. "Cybe, are you alright? Say something?"

For a moment, the android seemed unresponsive, laying twisted against the shattered window. A dull thud drew Luke's attention, that of the troopers as they began to make their way across the thin ravine that split the room.

Luke didn't think. He hadn't had a chance to think for what seemed like an eternity. His body was aching, his chest heaving. The heavy odour of smoke assailed his nose, even through the filtration of his suit. He was panting. He shook Cybe's shoulder. The android's body shook, limply. From his shoulder jutted several snapping, scorched wires. A few stray twisted forks of metal was all that remained of the android's arm.

Turning his head, Luke uttered an angry bellow at the troopers. Clutching up the android's fallen gun, the fox gave a wave of his hand, firing blindly towards the troopers that advanced. He did not even notice the first one collapsing, falling in a thin cloud of dusty red, before the boy's shots were tore wild from his aim with the pistol's kickback. The troopers stepped back, hesitantly, clearly not expecting to have met resistance from the youngster.

Dropping the gun, Luke grabbed ahold of the android by its limp shoulders and began to pull it towards the broken bay window. Below, the remains of the skyscraper tapered downwards towards the ashen soil. With a forceful shove, his addrenhalin pushing him onwards, Luke shoved the android's hefty form through the window. A series of shots punctured the air around him, urging him onwards. He leapt through after the wolf, skidding and stumbling along the building's gradient slope.

He tumbled, sliding back and forth, doing his best to clutch onto the android's lifeless form. A heartbeat later, though, the force of the sharp masonry that jutted around him tore his grip from the machine, and left Luke spinning down to the ground. He landed in a plume of ashen dirt, his impact kicking up a cloud. The android lay skidded to a halt a few yards away and, after checking over his suit's integrity, Luke hurried over to it.

Kneeling down and muttering sharp curses as he looked over the android, Luke fumbled around. He shook it, and felt panic rise in his chest as it gave no response. "Damn it" he muttered, a quick thought occuring to him that the body might be irreparably damaged beyond repair. In growing desperation, he began to examine the scuffed, ash-dusted body, hoping desperately that somewhere on its chassis he could find...

Yes, he thought, is fingers sensing a small indentation at the small of the wolf's back. A button, he realised, which he intuitively pushed. Holding it inwards for a few seconds, the wolf's body seemed to emit a soft humming noise. Then, with a growing flicker, a lively green light returned to the android's eyes. "Online" it said.

Luke gave a sigh of relief, and then quickly turned to glance behind them. Far above, he could still see the troopers - too far above to be able to draw an accurate line with their guns. Already they were starting to scramble, carefully and slowly, advancing cautiously down the collapsed building side. He turned back to Cybe. "What happened?" he asked.

Picking himself from the dust, Cybe sat up and began to check over his outer casing. "There is a slight issue in my system's programming" he explained, "which causes my processor to automatically shut down when it is overloaded with sensory input data."

The fox blinked. "You passed out from pain?"

A gunshot filled the air, and Cybe looked up as the shot landed barely an inch above his leg. The troopers were already half their way down the building, and closing in far quicker than Luke had anticipated. "It is a little bit more complicated than that" said Cybe, "but there are still a number of hostiles advancing on our position. In fact..." he paused for a moment as he scrambled to his feet, "did you terminate one of them?"

"Run!" barked Luke, as another sporadic series of shots rained down around the pair.

The two sprinted across the ruined wasteland again, clearing a good headway and putting as much distance between themselves and their attackers as they could. But as they navigated away from the destroyed skyscrapers, it became increasingly clear that they would be sitting ducks for their attackers while they were out in the open. Luke sensed this, even before the android turned to utter the words to him. The fox caught his breath for a moment, his eyes scanning the horizon for some obstacle or obstruction that they could turn to their advantage. "There!" he snapped, suddenly, pointing.

"The truck?" asked Cybe. Sure enough, the truck rose high above them, almost half a mile distant.

By the time the pair had reached the vehicle, the troopers were almost upon them. Luke was desperately panting for breath as a ripple passed quickly through the air before it was filled with a cascade of shrapnel. The fox stumbled, hunched over to almost half his height, pushing against the side of the truck. Three heavy rounds of semi-automatic rifle fire hammered into the metallic wall behind him, embedding fist-sized impact marks into the vehicle's surface. Hot sparks danced around the fox's head, and he clasped his hands around his ears in panic.

"Down!" yelled Cybe, forcefully shoving Luke lower down. The wolf's ears were high as he scanned the horizon, trying to draw a bead on the source of the most recent volley.

Luke hit the dirt, coughing a sputtering choke as radioactive dust clouded around his eyes. He winced, tears brimming in his eyes. "We can't outnumber them" he cried out, straining to make his voice heard over the deafening cry of the rifle fire.

Grabbing his companion's shirt by the collar, Cybe pulled him towards the alcove that sat between one of the vehicle's bungalow-sized wheels and the main body of the vehicle. He wheeled around, the pistol that he clasped in his hand searching for a target and, without any luck, blazing a series of rounds of suppressing fire into the air. "Split up" he barked. "Pincer movement. Head under the truck, between the wheels."

"But..."

"Go!" replied the wolf. "I'll meet you up on the entry cabin. Hurry!"

With that, the fox scrambled into the darkness between the vehicle's mammoth tires. The vehicle's scent of grimy machinery and choking petroleum invaded his nose. Around him, heavy metal pipes, still blistering hot, hissed and dripped with condensation. He held his breath, scrambling on his hands and knees. Before long, he was surrounded by darkness, with only a swaying tunnel's end to shed any illumination. Echoes of gunfire behind him reverberated into a muffled echo.

By the time he reached the other side of the tunnel, the echoes of gunfire had all but gone silent. Once more, Luke could hear only the echoing rasp of his own breath. Looking around, he saw the haze of the wasteland, one that had been a desolate ruin but was now eternally marked with the memory of bloodshed. Turning, he began to climb up the metal step ladder that lead to the vehicle's cockpit.

As he began to climb, the fox found his confidence begin to swell. He had survived an attack - his heart was still slamming in his chest, and his head was buzzing with excitement. The start of the day seemed to be a thousand years distant. But he had survived! Had somebody told him a week prior that he would have, only a few days hence, be waylaid by armed militia and come under fire, Luke wouldn't have believed it - much less accepted the idea that he could ever emerge from such a conflict victorious.

Luke barely paused to think about how close he had come to death. Cybe had no doubt finished off the remaining soldiers, or would have by the time that the boy got to the cockpit. He wondered what they would do next. Would they head back to the depot? It seemed impossible to consider that he would ever enjoy a normal life again. But if this was his new life, well, it was certainly an exciting one! He glanced up - almost halfway to the top of the ladder, he thought, and then...

That was when a strong, gloved fist reached up from below and closed around the fox's boot.