Project Destiny

by Justin Sloan

  The other man, though, took his own knife to the eye. Intrepid turned, bloodied hands held out as he said, “It’s war, Marick. We’ve done worse.”

  Marick remembered much from those days. He didn’t need a reminder. “Whatever needs to be done,” he said, then motioned ahead. “Let’s hit them before they have another chance to ambush us.”

  “Agreed.” Intrepid took his rifle, checked around the building, and then motioned him forward. Two Os Dragoes were dead on the street before them, but Marick and Intrepid ran on, darting for cover and shooting when a soldier poked her head up. She took the hit on the armor, but it was enough to distract her so that Marick could get in and stun her.

  A glance over to their right showed the Taipans were moving against a building where the majority of Os Dragoes had settled in. Meanwhile, up ahead, something was moving at the edge of the dome. Then voices came through the earpieces.

  “That’s us,” a woman’s voice said, one that felt right in his ears. “But we have them hot on our tail and it doesn’t look much better out here.”

  “A—Alicia?” Marick said. Seeing her like this, even though it was just a blur of movement, while hearing her voice at the same time… it made nothing else matter. All the gunshots, explosions, shouting. It all faded away, replaced by him and her, until…

  “Marick?”

  KABOOM!

  A grenade went off nearby and Intrepid tackled him. “DAMMIT! Save your reunion for after the explosions!” Intrepid yelled, pulling shrapnel from his thigh.

  Marick responded on instinct, rolling across the ground until he was prone, aiming in on the soldier who’d thrown it. The first shot hit the helmet. This guy was too guarded, so Marick did what he needed to do to take him out. He switched the gun to four-round burst, and opened up.

  BRRT—BRRTTT. Again and again, until the man staggered back, thinking he was under cover, and tore his helmet off. It was dented, and he surely couldn’t see in it now with all the hits that had connected with the faceplate, but removing it was just stupid.

  But seeing that it was good old Captain Legorn under that helmet, no amount of stupidity could surprise Marick. He aimed in, switched it to single shot, and gently squeezed the trigger.

  BAM! He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the blood or the collapsing corpse. He had only partially done it for Red. More so, he’d killed the captain because he knew the man would put more people at risk alive. By that jackoff being dead, lives were saved down the line.

  “Ruthless,” Intrepid said, hand on Marick’s shoulder. “Now let’s get you to your girl.”

  They were up, moving around the backside, where the food stalls and fake trees provided cover. Os Dragoes were falling back now, drawing out the PD soldiers so that Marick could move in. He was even able to see the Heel with several figures behind her, heading their way.

  Drawing closer, he strained his eyes. With each step, he felt he’d land and crash right through the metal floor, or take off flying through the protective layer of the space station and out into space. He was a mixture of heavy and light, worried that his memory wouldn’t fully come back, even as he was already starting to remember.

  Then her face was there, staring at him as he ran, and he was laughing, not remembering everything, but remembering the emotions—and that’s all that mattered, for now.

  A shot took out the Heel, then more shots. The Taipans had abandoned the other front to come for them. Black and purple flashed, and then Marick processed the fact that Nightshade was right in front of him, blaster pistol in one hand, sword in the other.

  The team behind Heel was backpedaling now to avoid being hit, and Nightshade turned on them in a shout of rage, giving chase. The two large men set up energy shields to keep off her shots, while the rest retreated into the metallic buildings in the back, the ones that led to the outer wall.

  “Get out of here!” Alice, or Alicia as he knew her now, shouted over the earpiece. “We’ll figure this out.”

  “No way in hell am I leaving you,” Marick said, turning to Intrepid.

  “I’ll hold the rest off,” Intrepid said, taking a knee and checking his weapon. “You just do what you need to do. It’s good to have you back, brother.”

  Marick hesitated. “You can’t hold off a team of Taipans by yourself.”

  “Watch me.” With that he went to the prone, unleashing hell.

  Marick didn’t have time to debate. He set his return point on the teleporter, and said, “If you need me, if you’re getting overrun, let me know. I’ll be here in a second.”

  “JUST GO!” Intrepid shouted, rolling for cover to reload, then getting back out there again.

  Marick turned and took off at full speed in pursuit of Nightshade. He had no idea if he could take her, but knew he had to take the chance. He had something she didn’t have, and that was a reason for fighting. Not a simple ideological one, but one that came from a deeper place, one that drove him to move faster than he ever had before, filled him with a strength unlike he had ever experienced.

  And with it, his confidence soared. This lady wasn’t going to stand a chance.

  30

  Alice: Elite Housing

  Running from Nightshade, Alice flashed to a movie she had seen long ago, a unicorn running and a bull made of fire chasing it. She hardly remembered the movie, almost wondered if it was just a dream, but the emotions were real enough.

  Scorpio was at her side, the other two guards moving into defensive positions and falling back. After a couple of explosions, she glanced behind her and saw Nightshade leaping from one rooftop to another.

  “We’ll get out of this,” Alice said, pulling Scorpio aside. He had been stuck in his cell and wasn’t as limber as her, not counting the fact that she’d received the first stage of enhancements and felt she could run forever.

  They ducked in an alley between two tall housing units and then ran up a stairway, ignoring the looks of the frightened few elites who were home. With a solid kick, the door of the unit flew in. Alice turned, flipping up the screen of her hologram device, and aimed back toward the street where she’d been. Sure enough, an image of herself appeared, and as she ducked into the house, it too started running.

  “You need to get me one of those,” Scorpio said as he followed her to a room and out the back.

  “That’s just the beginning,” Alice said with a rising sense of pride. “You have no idea what I’m capable of now.”

  “Like the door?” They climbed out onto a rooftop of a smaller unit, and his face went pale. “No, you didn’t. You got enhanced?”

  “Only the first stage,” she answered, flinching as an explosion sounded nearby.

  Nightshade’s piercing shout of anger echoed off of the nearby outer wall as Alice helped Scorpio down from the roof and into another alley. They ran, dodging left and right, not with anywhere in mind, but working to get away from her.

  A dog emerged and wagged its tail at them, giving Alice cause to worry that it might bark, but they continued on without a problem.

  Whirring sounded overhead and they spun to see four little drones, two of which had just locked onto them.

  “Give me a break,” Scorpio shouted, then turned and dove into a nearby home, yelling into his earpiece, “Get us out of here, dammit!”

  “We can’t get a fix on you—” Yerbuna started, but her voice was cut off by the drones opening fire. Another two came down in front of Alice and she backtracked, then turned left into another unit to try and work her way back to Scorpio.

  “Stay with me!” she shouted into her earpiece, ignoring the old man who was gawking at her from a chair as she ran by. She came out the back and nearly ran right into Nightshade, who had just landed from a jump, judging by her stance. She turned up to stare at Alice, looking like a bug ready to bite her head off with that creepy mask.

  Alice tried to shoot with her wrist piece, but the pellets bounced off Nightshade’s armor. Nightshade cocked her head, took a step forward, and t
hen went flying sideways as Marick jumped into the picture, slamming his exoskeleton enforced elbow into her helmet and following it up with a kick that sent her to the ground.

  He turned to Alice and said, “Get out of here!”

  “Not without you,” she said, trying to think of what else she could try here. Grabbing one of the paintball-like objects, she let it fly at Nightshade. The ball hit her and exploded, filling the air nearby with little crackling noises and a gray smoke.

  At first nobody seemed to know how to react to that, but then Nightshade shrieked. Her armor was sizzling as the corrosive gas began to take effect.

  Marick didn’t hesitate, turning to grab Alice by the arm and pull her with him. They were running for their lives, but this was the first contact with her husband in over a year, and Alice couldn’t help but smile.

  She pulled her arm free and took his hand instead, running with him and laughing.

  “Did you see that? We took down Nightshade!”

  “We got lucky,” he said, eyeing her with curiosity, then moving to a few small trees that led to what looked like a garbage chute. “This way.”

  “You owned her,” Alice said. “Don’t sell yourself short. Also, hi. Should I say ‘nice to meet you,’ or…?”

  He laughed, shaking his head, and then together they jumped, landing in a decline between the rows of buildings. “To you, I’m just the husband who’s been missing for a year. To me, you’re the woman who haunts my dreams, though I mean that in a good way.” He had her up, running again as the drones approached, and then they dove under an overhang, crawling along to another section where it let out. “I’ll catch on soon enough, so… just act normal.”

  “Act normal?” she glanced at him, then back at the drones as they connected another scan.

  “Yeah, tough circumstances for normal, I guess.” He shrugged, and then suddenly she saw Nightshade appear over his shoulder, stepping up onto a ledge about four buildings over, rifle at the ready.

  “Down!” Alice yelled, slamming her hand onto her belt. The force field appeared instantly, the shots from Nightshade sparking and vanishing as they made contact.

  “Nice toy,” Marick said with a grin, and they ran again as he pulled a rifle out. At the next building, he said, “Lower the shield.” When she did, he returned fire, but shook his head. “Didn’t get her.”

  “She’s not our only problem,” Alice said, pointing past them to the streets beyond, where more soldiers were coming from. With the soldiers, the drones, and Nightshade, there was only one direction they could go—toward the wall. They ran, expecting more soldiers to pop up at any minute… and they were right.

  A Taipan soldier came charging from one of the rooftops and leaped for Marick, but they were at the edge of the wall where construction was being done. Upon impact, the two of them went over the side.

  Alice yelped and darted forward, stopping at the edge as she heard the clang below. She leaned, and saw them grasped in combat. Not wanting to wait here, she lowered herself over the edge, timing her fall just right, and landed with both feet kicking the Taipan soldier in the face. His helmet went flying off, and Marick pulled him up and over to slam him into the ground.

  “Pete…” Marick said, staring at the man.

  “Old chums?” Alice asked.

  Pete pushed himself up and then fell, growling. “You betrayed us for what. Her?”

  “It’s not like that,” Marick replied.

  “Oh? And my sister? Did you tell her about how you beat Trish so you could escape?” He turned to Alice now. “Is that the kind of man you want?”

  Alice frowned, knowing Marick had been through a lot, likely done much, but that didn’t sound like him. Then again, it wasn’t like this Nightshade character was a man, and she had no problem with Marick killing that bitch.

  “I didn’t do it,” Marick said. And to Alice’s relief, she believed him.

  Pete stared, then turned and started to make a move for his gun.

  “I can’t let you do that.” Marick had his own up now, aimed at his old buddy. Pete lunged anyway, and Marick shot. The stun shot hit, and he collapsed.

  “He’ll get a good long sleep, might not remember all of this when he wakes,” Marick said.

  No resting yet though, because the drones whirred over above. It was clear there was no way out but down again.

  “Take my hand,” Alice said, and Marick smiled as he did. Together, they jumped.

  They landed and rolled, a quick glance around showing them they were in part of the New Origins military flight bay. Marick started to move for the closest door, when it opened to reveal Nightshade standing there, rifle at the ready.

  “Step back,” she said.

  Marick glared, but took Alice’s hand again and did so. Alice considered reaching for the gas balls, maybe the shield. But the lady was focused in on them, her helmet probably analyzing their every move. Nightshade was quite the sight, with her armor now covered in streaks of singed areas, some revealing her uniform beneath. She wore an exoskeleton on top of her armor, giving her a distinct advantage in many ways.

  “Again,” Nightshade commanded, and then smiled as they did. “Enjoy the ride.” With that, she reached over and slammed her hand on a red button. An alarm sounded, followed by walls of thick glass and metal rising up between them.

  A look around revealed that they had walked right into a small, triangled-off section of the area, an area she instantly recognized.

  “Launch commencing,” an automated voice said. “In ten, nine…” It continued the count as Marick and Alice shared a look of panic.

  “Launch what?” Marick asked.

  “Us!” Alice glanced around, then remembered her belt. “Hold tight!”

  She wrapped her arms around him, and he around her, and then she hit the button on her belt. The force field burst out, surrounding them, and they rose slightly, barely on the ground anymore.

  “Will this protect us?” he asked, glancing at the force field with eyes full of fright.

  “I honestly have no idea. But even if it does… we might be left to float through space. Either way… we’re in trouble.”

  “Then we have to take this risk.” Marick squeezed her even tighter, lips pressed to her forehead. Whatever he was about to do, there was no question—it was incredibly dangerous. “Push through the pain. When it hits, I’m here. I won’t be going anywhere.”

  “You’re scaring me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he repeated, then pressed a button on his suit.

  It wasn’t instantaneous, and at first she thought nothing had happened. Then the blue light appeared, followed by purple. Their legs started to vanish as the light formed into squares and began to flit away.

  “What the hell is happening right now?” she asked, voice shaking.

  “Trust me,” he said, holding her face in his hands. “Please, trust me.”

  She didn’t say anything, just held his hands there, staring into those eyes she had longed to stare into and wondered if she would ever be able to stare into again. Imagine the irony, to be reunited with him and have it yanked away like this.

  Whatever he was trying, she had to hope that it worked.

  She had to believe.

  The air lock was open now and they were floating out, the force field protecting them. Half of the plan had worked. They glanced back to see Nightshade on the other side of the wall, helmet off now as she watched. Her mouth was open, eyes wide with shock.

  Even she hadn’t seen everything yet.

  “Ninety-five percent,” Marick said, eyes moving to a screen that apparently the hardware on the side of his head was letting him see. Then his comforting eyes returned to hers, and he asked, “Are you ready?”

  “Promise to be gentle,” she replied, biting her lip.

  “You know, using humor to mask times of fright… I think I remember that of you.”

  “Or maybe everyone does it.”

  He smiled, a smile that
sent a chill through her bones, and then grabbed her hands, clasping them to his lips. “If this doesn’t work, it was all worth it to be reunited with you, even for these few moments.”

  “If this doesn’t work, I’m giving God or whatever’s out there a piece of my mind.”

  “There you go again, that humor thing.”

  She choked back the next words, realizing that if this indeed didn’t work, there was only really one thing she’d have wished she would’ve done. She leaned forward, pressed her lips against his, and let the floodgates of her emotions burst forth. Hands now grabbing his face as he pulled her close. They kissed as if they had never kissed before and would never kiss again. The former not quite true, but in some ways completely true, the latter she damn well hoped wasn’t going to be. But in case it was, she wouldn’t let go, simply holding him there, the warmth of his lips against hers, the blue and purple light shining through her eyelids.

  A man laughing.

  She opened her eyes to see the light fading, fake trees around them, Marick right in front of her.

  Again the laugh, and they looked down to see Intrepid lying on the ground, staring up at them.

  “You two… you did it,” he said. “You came back to me. You idiots, get the hell out of here!” More gunshots sounded nearby. It wasn’t over!

  “Not without you,” Marick said, breaking his hold with Alice to lift his friend up. The three started off, but paused at the sight of someone moving in from their right.

  They all stopped, ready, but were relieved to see the Heel limping over. She had blood on her side, but smiled and said, “This way.”

  Following her to the side of a building and then down a secret hatch beneath the stairs, they were greeted by Veles. He didn’t say a word, but nodded and led them on.

  “It didn’t hurt,” Alice said, more of a realization. “Whatever happened, and I can’t begin to understand it…?”

  “Teleportation.”

  She blinked, clenched her jaw and then nodded. “Fine, questions later. The point is, it didn’t hurt like you seemed to think it would.”