by Reiter
“Fifteen seconds of climb time,” Persephone thought. “Just wish we were–”
“You still want this bad baby to climb, Captain?” Mel called out as he typed commands into his brace-com.
“You better believe it, Tank!”
“You got it,” he replied. “Firing emergency boosters!” Persephone closed her eyes and allowed herself a slight smirk of relief as she heard the boosters ignite. The ship was climbing again, and much faster than it had when all three engines were working.
“Now see, that’s just plain rude,” Vidé remarked. “Seems that we’re still talking about your choices, Captain!”
“Any way you can kill his feed?”
“Not from back here,” Mel replied. “But Scamps is up front with Thom.”
“Speaking of choices, you either have a ship in low orbit and you’re trying to get to a rendezvous point, or you’re attempting to get as much air as you can so you can skydive your way to safety. Captain, do you really think I would have risked making contact with you if I didn’t have a counter to your options?” A loud cracking noise over the speaker preceded Thomasine reporting that her friend had cut the link between the shuttle and the Jockey.
“Saves me the trouble of trying to come up with a lie,” Persephone thought. “Truth is, Z’s too heavy for us to move quickly… he’s got us dead to rights up here!”
“Don’t do it, Captain,” Annsura said, taking hold of Persephone’s arm. “Satithe’s a member of the crew. You wouldn’t trade one of us out to this Jockey.”
“Damn straight,” Persephone quickly concluded.
“We’ve got inbound!” Thomasine reported. “I’m counting seven, all faster than this tub… and no bio-signs of any sort. Thirty seconds out.”
“Robots,” Persephone quickly concluded. “The fucker sent robots after us!” A soft beep came from her brace-com and Persephone looked down to the read-out screen where a message was flashing: You couldn’t ignore me if you tried! “Oh yeah, just one clean shot!”
“Captain, do we have a plan?” Agatha asked as she held on tight to the railing along the wall.
Looking at Mel, who quickly shook his head ‘no’, Persephone nodded at him, letting him know it was okay that he had come up blank. He was, after all, not alone in that position. Looking at her brace-com, Persephone checked the status of the command she had sent before coming aboard the shuttle. It was a relieving bit of news. Not the sort that took them out of harm’s way, but at least she had a fighting chance. “Not one you’re going to like,” she thought.
Looking around the room, Persephone made a count of Agatha, Marlene, Mel, Goldie, Olkin, and Annsura. “Okay, the only people of the Away Team not in this room are Scamps and Thom, am I right?”
“Affirmative, Captain,” Annsura quickly responded. “… ten of us altogether.”
“We’ve got to ditch,” Persephone declared. “Get ready to sky-fall.”
“What?!” Marlene cried out. “Have you lost it?! We’re done, Captain. This guy’s got us by the short and curly’s!”
“Clamp it, Mayhem,” Annsura snapped. “Last I checked this wasn’t a democracy, and the Captain’s giving the orders!”
“When these doors open, you will jump and grab as much air as you can. Thom, Scamps, you’re going to need to level out after we jump and then eject. That will give me a bit more time to do what I have to do.”
“If I may speak–”
“I’ve heard enough of your hole, Mayhem!” Persephone barked. “This is how it is. You want to open a channel to the ship and give the order, fine. Have one last joke before you buy it! But I’m not going to make that call. Can you imagine what this bastard could do with someone like Satithe backing him up?! You wanna walk with that on your shoulders?!” As much as Marlene wanted to argue the point, she could not ignore her Captain’s point. “Didn’t think so! Now everybody get your asses to the right hand side. Move it!
“Tank, I need you–”
“Say no more, Captain,” Mel interrupted turning his chair over toward the statue. He rolled by Goldie who was taking his position behind Persephone. “I got him.”
“They should just about be in weapons range by now, Thom,” Persephone said.
“Damn, almost to the second!” Thomasine remarked. “And we’ve got an incoming transmission.”
“Let that bitch eat static. Prepare to come hard right on my mark,” Persephone ordered as she took her place near the bay door controls. She looked at her people with almost glaring eyes. She was not angry, she was focused. “Grab air and just let gravity do its work. When you see me coming, ball up tight and take a very deep breath. Hold it for as long as you can.
“Hard right now!” Persephone said, opening the doors. The environmental shield kept the pressure in the room steady. “Jump left, people!” Persephone dropped the shield as she jumped straight up. Though it could hardly be called a fond memory, Persephone could recall what it was like to be sucked out of an aircraft. She was counting on the fact her body would be grabbed and thrown free of the shuttle. She tumbled three times before she arrested control of her descent. “Level it out, Thom!” she cried into her brace-com. The shuttle took an energy bolt hit to the portside wing just as it began to level off.
“Icarus, drop stealth and rendezvous!” Persephone ordered and she could hear the engines of her sky-bike fire up. She back-flipped only once and landed on the vehicle. Goldie landed on the bike just behind her. She reached back her left hand to take hold of his arm, as it felt like he had hit too hard and was sliding off the back.
“Whoa!” Goldie cried, putting his free hand on top of hers. He steadied himself and then reached to his neck. “Here, you need these more than I do!” Persephone could feel a necklace lock around her neck and the next instant she was wearing a mask.
“Goldie, I just fell in love with you,” Persephone said as she moved her hand to her belt. The rifle she had been assigned was in her hand in the next moment. “You’re not a hundred percent… and I know when you were offered a gun, you took missile weapons, but–”
“There’s a difference between preference and inability,” Goldie yelled, snatching the rifle from her hand. The next thing she felt was his back pressing against hers. Persephone set the gravity seat to keep them both on Icarus and she took a hard turn to the right.
“Sorry about the scratches, Z,” Persephone thought as she leveled out and flew across the flight path of one of their pursuers: cloud-flyers. They were indeed robots, piloting jet packs that were armed to the teeth. The nose of Icarus struck the head of the lead robot. Both machines were shaken, but as Icarus turned, the cloud-flyer fell from the sky. “That’s one!” A rifle blast struck the next closest robot in the shoulder and with only one working hand, it could not maintain flight.
“Make that two,” Goldie yelled as the other seven cloud-flyers broke off pursuit of the shuttle. “And I think that just pissed them off!”
“Turn around and fire over my shoulders, Goldie,” Persephone ordered as she banked her sky-bike. “The type of flying we’re about to do… I’m going to need a nose cannon more than a tail gun!”
“They just upped their speed!” Goldie reported as he turned around. “You think you can handle all seven before the others reach the mountains?!”
“We would be over the damn mountains,” Persephone cussed. “Sure could have used the extra room for the drop. Nipple-twisters!
“Screw it,” Persephone huffed, taking Icarus into a very sharp dive. “Go back to tail gunning, Goldie. We’ve got to get our people out of harm’s way first.”
“Not that these bots are just going to watch the show,” Goldie added as he turned around again.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
“Look at her go!” Vidé muttered in amazement. He watched as JoJo performed a barrel-roll as she flew to avoid most of the laser-fire coming from a pursuing robot and pick up a crewman at the same time. “What is this woman?! And what the hell is she using?! Some
sort of pocket device? Just fly by and grab at a body and poof, it’s gone! That explains how she got her team to NayFall, flying in her fighter.” A flash of light from his screen made Vidé jump and he quickly keyed in commands. “And that rifle packs more than the usual punch. Those robots were supposed to be armour-plated. It’s supposed to take anywhere from eight to ten hits to get through the plating. This kid just knocked out one of my guys after three shots!
“Good-ness!” Vidé shouted, standing up from his seat. He could not believe what he had just seen. While grabbing the second member of her Tandem team, JoJo had managed to avoid a virtual crossfire between two robots and place herself in a position to allow her tail-gunner to get off a series of shots. He lit up the sky and two more robots were out of commission.
“Hold on a second,” Talthwynn said as he looked at the screen. “She sounds the horn on her bike before each pick-up.
“And you have to do that, don’t you, JoJo?” he said, typing in a command and taking direct control of one of the remaining robots. “They curl up because the grab field is small and you don’t want to touch them with the edge of that thing, do you? So it’s precision you need. Crosswinds can only do so much… the same could be said for turbulence.
“But what about an explosion, JoJo?” Vidé asked, as he commanded the robot and the cloud-flyer to go into overload. “If it is timed to go off just as you’re making a swipe, you could cut a crewman in half, couldn’t you?” Talthwynn smiled as he piloted the cloud-flyer to get closer to the crewman that was called Cutter. With his finger resting on the command key that would signal the detonation, his eyes squinted and he held his breath.
“Hey there, sexy,” Persephone called out over his feed line. “You enjoyin’ the show?”
“What the hell?” Talthwynn said, looking around. “Where the hell is that coming from?!”
“Well, for a few seconds, it was piggybacking on your robots’ feed,” Persephone replied. “… but that was just until I could put more direct eyes on you. So, on your way to the spaceport, eh? Nice ride there. That’s a nice, tricked out, white limo!” Knowing he was riding in the very conveyance she had described, the Net Black Assassin felt the fear he was used to dispensing. “I sure hope it’s insured!”
“Pull over now,” Talthwynn yelled.
“I know you were watching,” Persephone said softly. “You remember when I asked whose ass did I have to kiss to get one clean shot? Turns out it was Satithe’s. Welcome to what we call Stage Two, ass-wipe! Tell me, Vidé, did you forget that Icarus has a real nasty big brother?!” Vidé screamed when a hovering Daedalus dropped its stealth field, its gun ports opening. The ship fired on the slowing vehicle. The rear third of the hover-car was cut free from the rest of the construct and sparked as the rough edges scraped against the pavement. Talthwynn fell out on to the street and rolled. He came to a stop to see an empty fighter-craft hovering over him with its weapons locked on his position.
“So, in the argument of which one of you is the better brain,” Persephone said over Daedalus’ loudspeakers. “… after everything you went through, all the plotting, planning, and scheming just to faux pas your way into a DreamCasteR, know that my Chief Engineer took you out while he was on the sidelines!”
“You don’t want to do this, JoJo! If you knew–” All the guns on the ship fired on Vidé’s position, creating a crater in the middle of the lane.
“Give my regards to the boatman!” The gun ports closed and the Daedalus faded from sight as its engines were engaged.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
Persephone took a moment to breathe, but not too much of one. Her borrowed mask had been removed and she looked down into the valley from the peak upon which she had landed. She could feel her heart beating in her chest and it was only just beginning to slow down. Smoke came from Icarus and she grimaced in sympathetic pain. He was in need of new plating, and probably an engine overhaul. Persephone looked at Goldie as she breathed out, shaking her head as he looked at the left sleeve of his shirt, burned by laser fire that had caught the garment but had missed flesh. Slowly sending her hand to her belt to open her holding pocket, Persephone’s body shuddered as bodies sprang from her waist.
They all rolled to a soft stop, thanks much in part to the gravity field coming from Panzer, and it was clear to see they were slightly disoriented and wearing their masks. Marlene was the first to get to her feet and looked around, followed quickly by Annsura. The others started to get up more slowly, and newer crewman Obanyo Kessiter did not get up at all. He just rolled over on his back and gazed up at the sky.
“What the hell is wrong with Scamps?” Persephone asked. “He was in there the shortest!”
“True, but he wasn’t breathing right when you dropped him into the pocket,” Thomasine said as she knelt down to check on her friend.
“And?”
“You should know something about the way the pocket works, Captain,” Annsura said softly. “It does have air… under normal circumstances.” Persephone closed her eyes and squatted, covering her face. “Yeah, air got kind of thin when you opened up the pocket way up there,” Annsura continued. “Poor Scamps was on the verge of a nervous breakdown when he got dropped in. He wasn’t balled up, by the way.”
“He wouldn’t stop screaming,” Persephone said softly. “Thom broke away from him and I scooped her up, but I had to put hand on Scamps, lift him up to the side of my ride, and then lower him into the pocket! Cost me some move time and we took some hits.”
“Yea, I can see that,” Annsura said, looking at the sky-bike. She then looked around and she could see dissipating columns of black smoke and one crash site. “You took out all of those robots?”
“You could say that,” Persephone said as she slowly stood up straight. “All of this was smoke and mirrors. While we were shucking and jiving, Daedalus was zeroing that freak.” Agatha gasped at the sound of the plan and then she quickly covered her mouth. “Yeah,” Persephone nodded. “… if he made it out of that one, I’m going to make Z build him a computer all his own!”
“Captain,” Satithe called to Persephone. “I am reading a vehicle dropping out of orbit. Tracking sensors are showing in your immediate vicinity. Whatever it is, I believe it is locked in on you!”
“Any idea what we’re dealing with, Sati?” Persephone asked, gritting her teeth.
“So, this is why I didn’t want to kill him,” she thought. “And I’m getting one helluva twitch!”
“It just armed! Captain, the energy signature… it’s a Nova Bomb!” Persephone closed her eyes.
“What the hell is a Nova Bomb?” Thomasine asked.
“Let’s just say it goes off with something in the vicinity of a five-kilometer blast radius,” Marlene replied. “And if it’s scanning, we’re talking about a smart warhead. If it gets within a thousand meters, it will detonate itself because it knows its target is in the kill zone.”
“What’s Daedalus’ ETA?” Persephone asked.
“Even if you were to get on Icarus right now, you will not rendezvous with Daedalus in time,” Satithe replied. “The warhead is tracking anomalous gravity fluctuations, Captain.”
“What?!” Persephone barked knowing what that meant.
“What the hell is wrong with Goldie?!” Annsura said as she approached the young man. Persephone turned to looked at him and while he was still injured, he looked as confused as his captain. The hammering fist to the back of her head blurred her vision, and Persephone fell to the ground.
“Cutter!” Olkin yelled before his woman turned to him and delivered a hand thrust to his neck. He choked, grabbing his throat as he staggered back from her.
“Her orders… your words… the only things that could make me not do what’s got to be done,” Annsura said softly. “Satithe, this is a hunch. When I moved, did the target lock of the warhead also move?”
“Affirmative.”
“Cutter, what the fuck?!” Mel screamed.
“Stand down,
Tank, and power up Panzer for all he’s worth! The rest of you get Z off that thing.
“It’s scanning gravity fluctuations,” Annsura repeated as she walked over to Persephone and removed her boots. “… damn thing’s locked on to the Osamu!”
“Oh shit!” Thomasine whispered.
“Then why love-tap the Captain?!” Agatha barked.
“You know damn well why, Murder,” Marlene said softly. “Only the Captain’s orders and Cupid’s words. Even if she pulls this off, the blast will still reach us on this mountain.”
“That’s why she wants me to power up Panzer,” Mel explained. “He’s got shields!”
“Of course, it’s all crap if Satithe tells me that the gravity field the boots generate won’t fake the inbound,” Annsura said softly. “Because I’ll be damned if I’m taking the Osamu up to that thing.”
“What?!” Thomasine yelled. “There’s no way you can come back from that!”
“Thom, I think she knows that,” Obanyo said softly, taking a soft hold of his friend’s shoulder.
“Cutter, there has to be another way,” Satithe pleaded.
“And the reason why you haven’t told it to me is…” Annsura waited a moment before punching Persephone once more. “Man, that’s one tough bitch!” There was a pause as Annsura stood up. She allowed herself a slight smile when the engines of Icarus activated.
“The scanning waves aren’t looking for a specific signature, just gravity fluctuations within a certain amplitude. The boots will suffice, but you have to–”
“I know how they work, Satithe,” Annsura said as she removed her weapons belt. “My job was to see to the crew, remember? Everyone needs to get in Tank’s satchel and pray I can move fast enough.
“Do me a favor,” Annsura said, removing the shoulder strap and tossing it over to Goldie. The young man had no words, looking upon the woman. He was too busy questioning himself… and not at all liking the answers he found. “Get that to the proper party if would, please.”