The aircar appeared in a halo of rain and mist, a pale, fragile vision, hissing magically up to Badboy's position, hovering in the air, spraying a storm of mud and water. My head whirled. Lying on my back, I thought I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life. It was a pure white aircar, Tara's personal car, which had ridden in the
I tried to move my limbs. A bloody, glistening cenite arm appeared before me, then fell away. Bad idea. Voices echoed in my helmet.
'Get in! Get in!'
'Faster!'
'Oh my God.'
'Cinta, three DefCorps aircars, coming quick!'
'Aircars!'
'Systie aircars!' Dragon exclaimed. 'Psycho—cover us! Load 'em up, gang!'
Psycho charged off into the rain, his chainlink going up. Merlin and Dragon, splattered with mud, seized me under the arms and tossed me effortlessly into the aircar with a crash. I did not even feel it. Valkyrie pulled me to one side, then stepped over me.
Full auto tacstars whistled and ripped through the air, tingling my skin, the stars hissing and roaring. The sky exploded, airburst nukes, a sky of fire for the Systie aircars.
Someone screamed. Someone else was crying. Armored bodies slid along a bloody metal floor. Frantic activity. I tried to raise my head—I could not.
'That's One, Three, Two—Gamma One—Nine!' Dragon and Merlin were hauling Priestess towards the aircar. I knew her wounds were bad.
'Gamma, I think she's alive.' Valkyrie helped drag Priestess into the aircar. There was blood everywhere.
'Coolhand is critical!'
'Snow Leopard is still bleeding!'
'Hurry! DefCorps aircars are here!' Tara's exec Whit was in the pilot's seat all by herself, calling out to Valkyrie. 'They're here!'
Psycho was still firing outside and the sky was full of nuclear clouds, spitting an unholy white light. The humanoid leaped into the aircar, carrying Tara in his arms.
'Gamma! Help us!' Dragon and Merlin struggled with a body. Valkyrie helped them drag it in. It was Warhound, who died for us all, his A-suit horribly burned. Then there was another—Ironman, a helpless, dead A- suit. Valkyrie slipped in the blood and went to one knee.
Another scream. Who was alive, who was dead? Whit was out of her seat, hurrying to her Commander. 'Oh my God! Cinta! Oh! Hurry, hurry! They're circling!'
'Get back in your seat, pilot!'
'Coolhand is hit bad!'
'I've zeroed Gamma Five and Seven!'
'Where are they?'
'Wait for us! Be right back!' Dragon and Merlin whirled around and disappeared into the smoke, splashing wildly through the mud.
'No! No! Come back! Oh my God!' Whit was ready for a complete breakdown.
Out the open assault door Dragon and Merlin paused at a glowing tacstar crater full of rubble from a collapsed building. They found two Legion A-suits trapped in the wreckage, one covering the other.
'Get them out.' Dragon frantically tore at the rubble with his hands. Merlin pulled at the first A-suit.
'It's Sassin.'
'Is he alive?'
'Don't know.'
'Help…help.' A whisper.
'Five!' Scrapper, stunned but alive.
'Aircar attacking!' Psycho fired his chainlink again, white-hot tacstars ripping overhead. Dragon and Merlin raised their E's and fired into the raging sky. Nuclear airbursts, hot hail splattering all around them. Merlin dropped his E and pulled Sassin from the rubble. Dragon got ahold of Scrapper. A flaming inferno above, splitting into fragments, trailing black smoke.
Psycho stood alone in the mud, watching the Systie aircar break apart above him. Direct hit! The sky was his! He let loose another burst, giggling to himself. His sky—his! The other aircars circled, warily.
'Systies! Systies! I'm here! Right here! Can't you see me? Closer! Come closer! I want to kiss you!' Psycho burst into demonic laughter. 'Just a little kiss! Here—taste it!' He let loose another burst, up into the burning sky. He was staggering in the mud, looking up and laughing.
Two more shattered A-suits, Dragon and Merlin dragging them, splattering through the mud. Gamma Two reached out to haul them into the aircar.
'Bring the O.'
'We don't have time!'
'Bring the O!'
Another corpse, this one charred and smoking, obscene black unreal armored body parts, all wrong, still sizzling, falling apart as they slid it into the car. Alien limbs, twitching. Alien blood, hissing onto the deck. A revolting stench.
'Scut! Is that it?'
'Another attack! He's launched!' A warning from Whit.
Psycho fired immediately, a long tacstar burst. The ground shook. The aircar shrieked.
'Board, Psycho—now!' Dragon and Merlin leaped in. Then Psycho hurtled in head-first, his chainlink slamming against the ceiling. The aircar moved, picking up speed, rain and spray hissing over us from the open door.
'Wait! Don't leave us! Take us! We helped it!' A Systie A-suit was running alongside—it was Millina.
'Shoot her,' Dragon said, reaching for his E. I came to life, my one good hand locking onto Dragon's arm.
'No!' I shouted, 'Help her! She shot the Systies! I saw her!'
'What do we do? God!' Whit hesitated, the aircar gliding forward slowly, barely moving, the Systie aircars already on their firing runs.
Valkyrie leaned out the door, extending her E in one hand, barrel out. Millina ran alongside, her arms outstretched. Only an instant, for Millina to decide. Gamma Two, Legion, her slave, leaning out with her E, the barrel pointed right at Millina. Pale green eyes, a whole new world, life or death, reach out and taste your fate. Millina seized the barrel of the E with both hands. Her feet left the ground. Valkyrie and Dragon hauled her in. She collapsed on the deck, gasping, hysterical. Whit hit the throttle and the aircar spat flame and the assault door slammed shut and Fernveldt blurred and vanished in a flash of tacstars.
'Thinker's stable.'
Stable, stable, stable, echoing in my helmet. Someone opened my visor. It was Valkyrie, a flash of her pale face, icy green eyes. She turned away. Pandemonium erupted. I desperately tried to get off my back and crawl over to Priestess—the pain was overwhelming. Somebody screamed, and I think it was me.
'One's bleeding. I can't stop the bleeding!'
'Give me the cyro!'
'Hold still there—don't move it!'
'Open the visor.'
'Coolhand—Deadman! Help Coolhand!'
'Priestess! Can you hear me?'
'Gamma, gimme a charge!'
'Priestess is hit bad!'
