by Alex Fall
My teeth clenched. He's trying to copy my deeds I've done in Lenburg? My burns I've done to people?
“If you're so obsessed with me, then you must have seen that van too! That was fun! Ripped the wheel right off!” he added.
“That's not what I did, and I'd never be obsessed with someone like you!” Come on, think! I'm in the worst possible location of this room, what's the best way out?
“Oh but my love, yes you are! You can't take your eyes off of me! You get so excited that you have to play angry to hide it! And then to show off, you go around and take over the city until you find me, then you come all alone. Were you wanting it to just be the two of us?”
I shifted my feet and noticed two of the Greaters also shift. Something isn't right.
“And if I am copying you, you should be proud! Mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery. I'm flattering you!” He said with poochy lips.
“By killing people?”
“That's what you do, isn't it? I love powerful women, they're my favorite! And who is more powerful a woman than Sapphire Eyes? We were made for each other! Love at first sight, am I right?”
I have to do something. I forced a half smile at his joke, then simultaneously pulled my cure gun and my revolver and shot them together with near instant reaction speed. Even if I don't make it out alive, at least this guy will be cured and dealt with.
Another greater had pushed the blonde burn out of the way fast enough to avoid both projectiles, taking both the shots himself. But neither penetrated. That particular greater was wearing some tough armor.
I growled and tried again, but this time the gun backfired and blew the slide and part of the barrel off. The force jarred my hand and it felt as if something might have sprained. I dropped what remained of my weapon and took a step back.
“Whoa now, you didn't even ask. Don't you want to know my name before we go on a date?”
The bold faced mockery! A date? Dates are what Keegan brought me on. This is sadism! I swapped my cure gun to my right hand and pulled my other SMG around to my left hand.
The burn frowned. “Do I need to take away your other toy too?”
What do I do now? Any fire I create, even from a muzzle flash, can be distorted and weaponized by this guy. Besides that, he can create fire at will. Three of them. I'll only aim to cure three of them, then escape. But this Burn...I can't get him like this. No one will be able to get him unless I do something now. But what? What do I do? Keegan, what do I do? Keegan...I miss you so much. You were the answer to everything.
...everything...
I cleared my throat and smiled. “At least you haven't found it either.”
“Your toy?” the burn asked with humorous confusion.
“The Seeker’s drug. Which makes sense, you and him didn't get along too well from what I understand.”
The burn puffed his lips up then blew them out as a form of sighing. “I already got his drug. How do you think I got to be so powerful and darn good looking?”
“Not that old crap. The Seeker’s new stuff.”
“What are you on about now?”
“As if I'd tell you. Bet I can find it before you can…”
We locked eyes momentarily. The Burn was searching me for sincerity, smiling more and more as he found reason to pick a contest with me. Meanwhile, I put every bit of talent I had in maintaining a calm face while he searched me.
“By the way, name's CC. Stands for Carter Ce-”
“Don't care.” I raised the SMG, and began charging my power.
Part 33
“Tetsuro, please hurry.”
“Almost there...wait are you inside?”
“Yes! Come through the ceiling!” I whisper shouted. I was afraid of speaking too loudly in case an owl heard me. The area was still far too dangerous. That Burn is still out there somewhere, and he has a slew of peeved Greaters trying to kill me. I barely escaped. I'm in so much pain. I'm so cold. Admittedly, I'm scared. Oh what I wouldn't give for some sleep meds and ice cream!
“But your ship! It will get scratched!”
“Tetsuro, I don't care! Get in here now!” The crunch of gravel had me aiming to kill with my SMG. Not many bullets left. Only one syringe of cure left, and no delivery system to hit them with it, just manual injection. And above all, no more templar unit. I tried to calm my breathing in case they heard me. How did they find me? I've moved buildings three times!
Suddenly the ceiling of the room buckled and caved in with a magnificent crashing sound. The ramp opened up in an awkward position forcing me to jump belly first up onto the ramp. A greater rushed into the room and began to interact with something.
“Tetsuro, move!” I screamed.
Ice encased and bit into my ankle. I quickly became aware that as the ship was pulling away, I was still anchored to the ground by ice. In a hurry, I blasted fire from my ankle to break the bond. My ship's acceleration slid me nearly off the ramp, forcing me to drop my gun and cling for dear life to the outer panel locking mechanism at the end of the ramp. I dangled from my ship as I watched the ground shrink away dozens of meters below me, and soon it was hundreds of meters. The pain melted away as my entire being focused on gripping with my fingers, even to the point of overriding my severely burnt right hand. I had a good hold, but fear was stalling my actions. Don't drop, don't focus on the ground. However, the ramp began to fold up and close against the ship. Tetsuro was closing the airlock. If I don't get inside now, the lock will crush my hands and rip my fingers off, whereupon I will plummet to my death...I've got this.
I pulled myself in and rolled down the inclined ramp until I collided against the floor and a lip of the wall. Once the airlock sealed and pressurized, Tetsuro opened the door with haste.
“Captain! Oh...there you are.”
I was panting and lying on the floor, feeling the pain creeping upon on me. I raised my unburnt hand with a thumbs up. “Just like... a Directorate test…” I said between breaths.
“What?”
“And I passed...as usual…”
“You look…”
“Injured?”
“Yeah...”
“Medical ward?”
“Yep.” With that, Tetsuro set course for the Little One.
The scene aboard the prewar cruiser was no improvement. My crew chattered away at my antics, Sharon hid herself from out of my view, the complimentary crew of the Little One questioned others and myself as to how to handle my health care for this particular instance, and Nicolette fumed that I pursued a target without assistance. I stumbled into the medical ward of the Little One and began retrieving chemicals and medicines only I knew how to use. With a pair of preoperative injections and a swallowed pain block, I prepped myself for the big one; removing my ruined templar unit. Undoubtedly, it had melted and reformed into my skin when I burned it. It's not going to let go so easily. And it's going to hurt. Oh god...this is going to be horrid.
People chatted around me about nonsense, and the few medical staff here approached with uncertainty about my wounds. It really ticked me off.
“Everyone, SHUT UP!” I shrieked.
The room fell silent and watched with horror as I braced myself then ripped the inoperable gauntlet off my hand. It took flesh and scabs with it, and it left behind mind warping pain that battled with the pain block. A light amount of blood and fluid spilled out and spattered on the ground. It didn't hurt like it should have, but some secondary part of me knew that it should, so I clutched the table with my off hand as my balance failed. I was reduced to deep breaths of shocked pain through clenched teeth. Behind me someone fainted, and Tetsuro bolted towards a trash can to puke. However, the silence was golden. I love it.
“Ok...now you can treat me…” I uttered to the nurses.
“What, how can you, why do-” Nicolette sputtered.
“Captain!” Lori shouted with no particular words afterwards.
“Your arm...I think I'm going to be sick…” Wyatt said in the background.
“That cannot be the proper way to handle an injury like that,” one of the Little One's crewmen commented.
As the nurses hustled to fix me up, I spoke up. “Something has come to my attention. I now know what we need to be focusing our efforts on to beat the Benevolents.”
Once the small crowd simmered down, I continued. “I found evidence to suggest that the Seeker was working on an enhanced version of the drug that enabled Lenburg’s powers. We need to find that drug before they do.” I turned to Nicolette. “If any of your men find anything suspicious, let me take a look at it. In the meantime, I'm going to focus my efforts on finding this drug, or serum, or whatever it is. Can you handle everything else?”
“What do I look like? Of course I can,” she replied confidently.
“Captain, you're not doing anything until you completely heal,” Lori commanded.
I glared at her for a moment, enough to make her unsettled. “I'm the captain, I give the orders. Lucky for you, I was already planning on healing. In the meantime, you guys need to pick up the slack. Start searching any hospitals or laboratories you find. There's no telling where he might have stored that stuff. OUCH!” I exclaimed when one of the nurse's touched a stinging solution to a cut on my neck. I found myself gripping their hand out of irritation and reflex.
“You need to rest,” Lori repeated.
“Seconded,” Wyatt said with a slight raise of a hand. “Hey, wait a minute! Was that ruined glove my cryokinesis unit?”
“I can't be in the room with all that….blah…” Tetsuro commented as he stumbled away.
“We'll get to work. It shouldn't be that hard to find anyway,” Nicolette concluded. “And stop running off! That's why you keep having your butt handed to you.”
“Shut up…”
Healing over the next week and a half was stressful, not that the healing process was stressful, but listening to the reports was. What remained of the Big Man kept retaliating, especially that Burn. Yet, whenever I asked people about a Burn in the Big Man, no one knew about it. Is he even affiliated with the Reds? Is he just out and about to cause problems? Is he actually really skilled at hiding? The only way to know for sure is to confront him, but I'm neither healthy enough to do so nor properly prepared. Meanwhile, Nicolette and her troop kept making regular missions with the tactical aid of her father to cure the Greaters. Progress was still being made on normalizing the city. At one point, a group of Flyers even tried to storm the Little One. I thought I might have to involve myself but shortly afterwards I was informed that it was taken care of. My crew kept bringing medicines and chemicals they found, but I knew none of them were what I was looking for. I kept what might be useful and cataloged locations where they were retrieved from.
Yet, the worst news of all came on the thirteenth day of healing. A Dweller community was attacked. I don't even know if any were taken captive. It boiled my blood. I know that Burn was there. He has just moved on to openly attacking innocents. He even killed a pair of Nicolette's fighters, and injured a couple more. He's not concerned with them. He's trying to draw me out…
At the two week mark, I left the Little One and resumed scouting the city. I piloted my own ship, scrutinizing the city for storage facilities or pharmaceutical establishments. It was nice to get out of the carrier, but being alone with my thoughts left me to brood. Last night I had trouble sleeping because of Carter, or CC, or whatever his name is. His actions awaken my wrath. I felt so angry over that report, not the normal irritated, tantrum angry I might have occasionally, but a deep, nauseating hatred like I had for the Directorates. That kind of anger prompts me to murder. It compelled me to kill the Directorates. It's moving me to efface this Burn even now. That's why I brought with me a secret weapon to counter my mood this time, something I've never had until this point in time.
“What are we looking for?” Sharon asked.
“A building with power, I think. Some place where doctors would keep their stuff.”
“Did Keegan really work on a new medicine?” she asked timidly.
“There's no telling. He didn't like talking about his past very much.” Sharon was quiet after my comment. I figured she didn't like that answer, or perhaps children can sense lies when they're sincere enough. “I don't think he would have…” I corrected.
“I hope not. I didn't like the first one.”
“You just don't like needles.”
“They hurt!”
“When you fight them, yes they do.”
“I fight them because they hurt!”
I reflected on the most painful needle I've ever been subjected too. It made my insides drop a little. I hope I never have to go through that again for any reason ever. “They CAN hurt, but they don't usually.”
“What's that building?” Sharon asked.
“...a brick building.”
“Yeah but what kind?”
“I can't tell from up here. It's a building just like that building over there.”
“If you can't tell from up here, why are we flying? How do you know that's not the one you're looking for?”
I glanced sideways at her. “How do you know it is? Did you just pick a random building and say that's the one?”
Sharon grinned mischievously. “That's what you're doing.”
I rolled my eyes. “That's not what I'm doing.”
“Is too.”
“No, it isn't.”
“Yes it is.”
I groaned to myself. “Do you want me to land and show you?”
“It's boring in here,” Sharon whined.
“Is that a yes?”
“I guess so…”
I pulled the ship around and initiated landing. This part of the city appeared lifeless. It was nothing more than empty structures. Discreetly, I took a weapon with me as a precaution. I led Sharon out into the cold city, ready to prove she doesn't know what she is talking about (and also stretch our legs.) Just as I predicted, the structures were empty and quiet. They weren't medical either. Just food and home supply storage housing. The most exciting thing that happened on our little field trip was when a rat scurried off and scared Sharon. And yet...my secret mood weapon turned out to be exactly what I needed. Here, in the most mundane and unlikely of locations was what I have been looking for all along. Could it be? Functioning industrial grade refrigerators? I will be returning here soon enough to further investigate this. Sharon has no idea how much she helped. I have found the place to hold my prize.
Some uneventful time passed since that excursion with Sharon. The Little One's crew informed me that they were detecting some outside influences within the cruiser’s systems. It seems someone was trying their hand at hacking. Also, a Trickster teamed up with some others to try and sneak some people on board the Little One. The ship's sensors still functioned without flaw however, and as soon as they were close enough, alarms alerted the crew to the unauthorized presence. However, the most dismaying news of all was that someone back in the Decapolis was tracking Little One also. The crew were doing their best to throw it off, but it seems a functioning prewar cruiser is not so easy to hide. It wouldn't be long before the Decapolis and possibly even the Board showed up here in Lenburg.
Eight days after Sharon and I found a potential storage building, reports of an imminent attack on one of our triages began to pour in. Nicolette was in the middle of her own little firefight, and Tetsuro was with Lori checking in on some possible scuttled warships across town. I was left with Wyatt, myself, and a couple of Nicolette's henchmen to run down there ourselves. Wyatt was skeptical to allow me use of another templar unit. He was still trying to refurbish the last one I borrowed. I donned my armor and psyched myself up for action. I hope I don't have to make any burns…
Yet, when we arrived, nothing seemed out of order. The head nurse even came out to meet us. After we landed our shuttle, I hustled to figure this whole thing out.
“Miss Sapphire? What brings you out this way?”
“Don't miss
Sapphire me. Why are you calling in assistance if nothing is under attack?” I huffed.
Wyatt trailed behind me, letting out a sigh of boredom.
“I'm not sure I understand. No one has requested you or any assistance here.”
I narrowed my eyes and reached up to my comm. “This is Sapphire Eyes to Little One. Give me a sweep reading of my location.”
After a moment passed, a voice returned my call. “This is Little One. There aren't any unusual readings immediately near you. Expanding the search area a little bit, there seems to be a small group of untagged targets close to a kilometer out from your location.”
“Which direction? Are they moving?”
“Stationary. To your Southeast.”
I turned to face the southeast but saw nothing. However, that didn't stop them. Some incredible force, something meant to tear me apart, stopped on my chestplate. I was twirled through the air then onto the ground. All of the wind was knocked out of me, it felt like my heart skipped several beats, and I wasn't sure if or how many of my ribs just got mangled. A distant gunshot reported, and my vision began flickering. My surroundings whirled around me and I found it hard to focus on anything. My body simply wouldn't take in a breath, and I felt restricted, even a little claustrophobic. I feel like I heard Wyatt's forcefield power up and I could hear the Little One's crew talking to me, but all I could do was focus on trying to take a breath while wondering, “what just happened to me?”
Next thing I knew, I was waking up in a strange bed with the most awful ache in my chest. I had strength to move, but every muscle in my abdomen commanded me to lie still. I was breathing, but it felt laborsome to do so. I felt like I had been run over. Some minutes after waking up, I got a nurse's attention. I was informed of my damages and healing time. I was also informed that apparently, I lived through an assassination attempt. A high powered sniper round was stopped by my armor, but the integrity of my chestplate was compromised, and the sheer force of the blow did a number on my ribs and heart rhythm. I had to be resuscitated once. I've been out for a couple of hours. All I could do was groan and hope they don't try again. At first, I didn't realize how much of a problem that sniper’s presence was. He took one more shot at one of Nicolette's men, and even though he (what I believe to be purposefully) missed, now almost all our fighters are scared to venture out without exhaustive scanning from the Little One, and protection from Wyatt's pre war security drone. It's slowed us down, and the Reds have more room to wreak havoc. Something has to be done. I need to be focusing on that burn, but now I have this to deal with.