Tailspin, page 80
“Down to one drone,” I said, feeling emotion I never expected.
“Shit,” she said. “We need both coming into the fire zone.”
“I have an idea,” I said. “Don’t panic.”
There was a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to look into the icy face of the man in the back.
“You’re nothing but kids.”
“I’m nineteen.”
“Kids,” he said. “Give me the radio pass codes.”
“No,” I said. “You’ve been debriefed, right? They got through?”
“No,” he admitted. “I have no idea why I’m on here.”
“Choose to just get on any landing helo?” Malaki asked him.
The man nodded toward her. “Been piloting long, miss?”
“Since I could fucking walk,” she spat back.
He really must have pissed her off. I unchecked from the DP controls. “You got this?” I asked.
“I could fly back to that fire zone in my sleep,” she said. I could see her anger.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “Get us there safe. I’ll debrief him.”
Malaki put her hand on mine, and I slipped in the back, yanking my shirt over my head.
The man before me tugged off his coat and other clothes and dropped them on the floor.
“Mage Saba.”
“Ruslan Korolyov,” I replied.
“Go on,” he said with a nod.
“Sorry, I—” I had suddenly lost my voice.
The older man stood as shaky as I was. His rich green eyes searched for something. Something in me. Then he smiled. “Not been in a 718 for years,” he said and sat, pointing to the seat across from him.
“That the only reason you got in?”
He glanced around, lost in memory, then nodded. “Thought it might have been my old unit, something important, something off-grid.”
“It’s off the grid,” I said, and I admitted, “We stole it, kinda.”
“No way,” he said. His smile soon faded when he realized I wasn’t kidding.
With a flick of my wrist, I pulled my HUD details up, and I replayed the video feed from a few hours before, zapping fast to the attack on the hesacha.
The mage’s face changed as he saw the men in that fireteam get taken out. “Tovak was a good friend,” he said, rolling his sleeves. I noted the deep-cut design there over his arms. “That beast is severely wounded.”
I nodded. “It is healing, though.”
“You shouldn’t have had access to these feeds, this helo.”
“No.” I shook my head. “We’ve been firefighting from a SAR 747, drop and load. We discovered the beast yesterday while doing a drop over some of our friends.”
“They were on the ground when you saw this?”
I couldn’t look at him, my mind lost in the sight of it as it took out half the firefighters in the area. That…that monster.
“You lost someone?”
When I looked at him, this time, my vision blurred. I wiped my eyes, clearing the tears.
“I’m sorry, kid.”
He ran a finger up his arm, and I saw it light with fire. He wasn’t a water mage, which is what I’d expected.
“Why did they ask you?” I asked him.
“If Tovak couldn’t take it down with water, the only other option is to beat it with its affinity. That’s me.”
“You were at the wall with—”
He stared out the front of the helo. “HQ knows you have me?”
“Yes,” I said. “They do now.”
“Then what’s your plan?”
“You’ll do it?”
“That thing killed your friend and mine.” He scrunched his fists together. “Believe me, it is going down.”
92
The mage’s words, “Believe me, it is going down,” reverberated in my mind. Gods, I wanted it dead.
My emotion threatened me once again, but I swallowed it. This man in front of me was as professional as they came. I wanted to be like him. I had to be like him.
I clicked inside my HUD and brought up the coordinates HQ had given us. “This is its last known location. HQ is saying it’s moving on from there, going here. But I know it’s not. It’s done everything out of the box. It’s one step ahead of everyone.”
“Where is it going?”
“There’s an old path which takes you down through this section of forest. It’s not as well known, but it has key firewood that will spread faster if it gets to here, through towards the power plant.”
“It will also devastate half the west fields.”
“It has to be stopped here.” I pointed. “Before it reaches that turnoff, towards those meat farms.”
“There’s not a lot of space there to drop,” he said and eyed the cockpit. “She that good?”
“I trust her with my life,” I growled. “Always.”
“You’re going to need drones,” he said. “To get me anywhere near land.”
“I have a plan.” I tracked left and pointed. “My helo with our second team is here.”
“So what?” His face paled. “You’re going to steal their drones?”
“Yes,” I replied with confidence I didn’t think I had.
“Right out from under them?”
“Yes,” I said again, giving it more conviction. “I’m hoping they will respond to me first, before the pilot in command at the moment.”
I mean, I couldn’t take all of them. I’d leave him with some. I didn’t have enough branches or the nodes for it. I had to handle six. I just had to.
“What TAP?”
“Tier two,” I said and cringed. I knew it wasn’t up to this task, and from the mage’s face he was aware of it too.
“Drones mastered?”
“Two,” I replied.
Mage Saba ran a hand over his face. I didn’t know what to think, expect from him.”You’ve practiced with more?”
I nodded. “Quick bursts of three, but not for long. I can do this. I will do this.”
“We only have two drones,” Malaki repeated. “You’re bonkers!”
Saba’s eyes flashed with fire. “You push this, you could—”
“I know, I’m willing.” Every single time I did something stupid, they all warned me. Damage to my TAP could be permanent.
I watched his face for a moment, could almost see his mind working. He could just contact HQ and they’d come down on us there and then. He only had to let his fire out into the helo and we’d have to back down. This man was not only high rank, but he was also military trained, top tier.
Mage Saba held his hand out to me, and I stared at it. “You’re crazier than anyone I’ve ever met in my life.” But he smiled, and it was deep and genuine. “I’m in.”
“Seriously?”
When I took his hand in mine, I felt the power and strength in him. He said, “For Tovak, and your friend.”
“Niko,” I said, and my chest tightened.
“For Tovak and Niko.”
He clasped my hand tighter, and I reciprocated.
“Coming into green space,” Malaki called over to us.
“You best lock in,” Mage Saba said and nodded towards the front.
I moved off, pulled my shirt back over my head.
“Wait,” he shouted, and I felt him grab my arm tugging me back. “Fucking kids.”
“What?” I panicked. “What is it?”
“Give me one second,” he ordered. “Don’t move.”
I could hear him rummage in his bag, or his coat?
“This is M-Corp built, but something isn’t right. You fried your bottom tier,” he said. “This will hold. Can you? Seriously?”
The next thing I felt was…something winding around one of my nodes. Then it stretched across to another.
I tried to look over my shoulders and caught his eyes. He knew I had no choice, so did I.
“It isn’t going to be pretty,” he whispered.
“How long will it last?” I asked.
“Long enough,” he said. “I hope.”
I moved to turn back to the front.
“Rusty,” he said. “One more thing.”
I turned back and he held up a needle. “What’s in it?”
“Military drug booster.”
I turned my arm toward him. I never liked the idea of drugs. But…I needed every advantage I could get here.
Mage Saba plunged the needle into my arm, and I felt the liquid flood through me in an instant. I was more awake than I’d ever been, my X1 and X16 together. Fuck, the clarity was insane. I brought my hand up to see it shake slightly.
“Not used to them,” I said to him.
“You good?”
“I’ve got this,” I replied, turned and I didn’t look back.
A second later and I clicked into place, feeling the nodes of the helo burn this time. I really had fried my internals.
I clocked the damage.
TAP = Damaged
Branch 1 has split - fix implemented - will not last
Risk of permanent damage - 88%
Durability: 42/100
Permanent damage - High Risk!
“You okay?” Malaki asked.
“No,” I responded and shook my head with it. I couldn’t lie to her, not now.
“ETA five minutes.” Stinky’s voice came back over my comms. “You still with us, Rusty?”
“Yes,” I said. “But we have one more illegal maneuver for you, sorry.”
He came back with, “If you pull this shit off, there’s no illegal anything. You got that.”
“Crystal clear, Stinky,” I said, then I added, “Thank you.”
“I’m watching you in, steady on.”
Carefully, I sent out feelers across Aug-World, locating Justin’s and my helo. Silao’s drones were flittering about here and there. They were doing vital work under his control, but work that could wait; this couldn’t.
I locked in on their command channel. “Sorry, guys,” I said over their comms. “Four are coming with me.”
I felt their sudden confusion, but they were my drones. I was their first command. Second command would never hold, and they fell to me in seconds.
The X16 then separated my view away from the helo cockpit, with one eye still kinda seeing the world around me, and two views from the eyes of my two drones. I focused on the view inside the X16. Then watched it split into four other screens, essentially. Now I had six very different views spread before me. It was hard to witness and take it all in.
Not for long, I said to Apex. Not for long.
You can do this.
I have to, I said. This is it.
The drones sped after us as we blasted past the other team.
“How much fuel have you got left?” Mage Saba asked.
“We’ll get you there, do the job, and we’re out,” Malaki said. “We’ll be landing in the green zone, can’t hang about. I’m sorry.”
My next thought and the drones flew by us, and as she started to come in nearer to the forest boundary, I spotted the firefighters below. “They have a full load,” I said. “Dropping now.”
It was nice to drift past, soaking the land underneath and the men with its contents. It cleared the air, and they all looked up at us, waving.
“Rusty,” Stinky said. “Change local, five hundred meters left. Take him in there.”
“Got it,” Malaki replied.
I turned to the back, still maintaining control of the drones. “Ready?” I asked.
Mage Saba had stripped all of his ice clothes off now. He only had boots and shorts on. His thick legs, rippling with muscles, flexed as he held onto the grab rail. “Ready,” he said.
“I can’t see a thing,” Malaki screamed at me.
I focused back on the drop zone, speeding in with the drones, and concentrating on clearing the air. As soon as she could see she was down, the door was open, and the acrid air filled my lungs.
“See you on the other side,” Mage Saba said.
I coughed. The door closed, and Malaki was back in the air.
“He’s on his own,” I said, and my heart somersaulted.
“I can stay for a minute.” Malaki said. “Not much longer.”
“Stinky,” I said as calmly as I could. “Let us know.”
“I’ve got drone coverage from higher up,” he said. “We’re watching. I’ll keep you informed.”
I flew my own drones around and watched, knowing Malaki couldn’t see any of this.
“Hesacha is engaging,” Stinky said.
“It’s struggling,” I said to them both.
“It is,” Stinky said.
Mage Saba stood central and proud. Fire ranged all around him. Swirling red, green, blue. The colors were astounding.
“Mana,” Malaki said. “I’ve never seen so much in one area.”
“You can see the draw from them both,” I said.
Mage Saba was strong. There was no getting away from that. His fire burst from him in a massive attack. The drones panned around under my control as Maga Saba took that fire-breathing monster on with his own. His fire hit in one long burst of defying energy now, but the hesacha returned it. They struggled against each other for what seemed an age. Mage Saba’s flesh blackened.
The hesacha was seriously damaging him. Its health had climbed back up.
“Fuck.” And Saba’s health was failing.
“I can go back,” Malaki said. I felt the helo turn.
“No,” I said. “Get us to safety. This is on him.”
She looked at me, nodded, and then banked us hard out of the way.
We were seconds away when we heard his voice over comms. “Rusty,” Stinky’s voice said low, really low. “Listen to me carefully.”
“I’m listening,” I said.
“Set the drones to self-destruct.”
“What?”
“Use the code AM7199 XO. That will give you ten seconds.”
“You want me to kamikaze them?”
“All of them. Everything you got,” he said. “This is our only chance.”
The expense…I swallowed. “Mage Saba?”
“We’ll get him. I’ve got medivac on standby.”
“The blast?”
“He’ll survive,” Stinky said. “I promise you.”
I swallowed. I didn’t want to destroy all the drones or risk the mage’s life at all. But all lives depended on this. It would be chaos.
I followed his orders, setting the drones, my drones, to destruct. Then I lined them up, and I sent them to their doom and mine.
Malaki didn’t even have time to react. I had no time to tell her, no time for anything.
The drones hit and the blast from them pushed us higher and higher, then out of control.
Malaki wrestled with the helo, then stabilized us. I hoped. Hoped to all the gods in my universe…but my connection was failing.
Malaki reached over, put her hand on my shoulders. “Disconnect,” she said. “Pull back.”
I moved in my seat, pulled off the nodes.
The world around me threatened to vanish. I held on. I needed to know.
Minutes later, within the swirling pain and darkness, threatening to swallow me. Stinky’s voice came back. “We’ve got him.”
“He’s alive?” I asked.
“He’s alive.”
I couldn’t help it. I let myself fall forwards, and Malaki put her hand on my back. “Coming in.”
“You got this?” I asked.
“I’ve got this,” she said. “We’ve less than fifty pounds of fuel.”
I cringed. We’d be on the cards, we’d be up on all charges going. I didn’t care.
When the helo thumped to the ground, we just sat there.
“You never even asked if we got it,” Stinky said.
I hadn’t. I’d only been interested in the man I’d sent to his death. “Did we?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, we did.”
I closed my eyes, the helo’s engine slowing, the engine popping under us. “She wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” Malaki said. “She’s fucked.”
“Bit like me,” I said.
Malaki ran her hand up my back, but I flinched. “You did good,” she said.
I met her eyes with mine. “So did you,” I said.
Then my side door opened, and a man I didn’t know stared at me. “With me,” he said.
I couldn’t even get out. “I can’t,” I said.
“MEDIC!” the man called. “Now!”
The next face I saw, also one I didn’t know, helped me out, and looked at my back. “He needs surgery now.”
“Mal?” I asked.
She was at my side in a moment. “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I’ll debrief them. Focus on you. You need those looked at, or you risk…”
“Permanent damage,” the medic said, his voice stern.
I hated surgery; I hated hospitals. More costs, more debt. Malaki leaned into me, whispered in my ear. “They owe us. You need the best treatment going,” she said. Then she looked at the medic. “Spare no cost.”
“Under orders already, ma’am,” came his reply and in the next moment, I was whisked away to a field hospital, prepped and as the anesthesiologist injected white fluids into my veins, the world vanished for the umpteenth time, leaving me within the void.
***
When I woke, I’d no idea what time it was, how long I’d been out. Anything.
The room, no the floor, was dark, the machines at my side beep-beeping away. I was upside down in a special bed. My back was exposed to the ceiling.
I coughed, and a set of legs in the chair next to me moved.
Malaki’s eyes and face were then level with mine as she lay on the floor underneath me.
“Thank god,” she said, her hand on my shoulder.
“Hey,” I said, and pushed her back. “Easy.”
“Sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I thought I’d lost—I—I couldn’t lose you too.”
I held her hand in mine. “Best mates never leave each other behind,” I said even though I was thinking of Niko, but I’d not left him behind. I’d been there right till his last moments. “Remember?”
