Chapter 8       Wrath entered the private chamber of Malice. Holding his head low, he gave the news he had to report. '(The evacuation proceeds, Sir.)' '(And?)' demanded Malice. '(Arsis is missing, as is the prisoner.)' Malice was seated turned away from Wrath, facing his wall of vidscreens. '(An unforeseen development.)' '(Shall I organize a security team to track them down?)' '(No.)' replied Malice. '(Put the base on alert, but do not actively pursue them.)' Wrath raised his head slightly as he asked, '(Is that wise, sir? Arsis...)' '(Is the greater threat, that is to be sure. But he seeks to free the female, not disable us from within. His effort will ultimately be for nothing.)' '(I will personally see to that.)' added Wrath. Malice spun his chair around and stared directly at Wrath. '(When your time comes, you will finish the female, but not before.)' The way Malice phrased his response struck Wrath as odd. It was as if he meant more than the obvious implication. Wrath pushed the thought from his mind as he asked, '(Who shall deal with Arsis then?)' Malice turned back to his vidscreens. '(I know not. His future is clouded to me, and may well undo us all.)' * * *       Arsis rounded the corner and hugged the wall as he inched down the hallway. Shanita trailed a short distance behind him. Arsis poked his head around the next turn then brought it quickly back. "What?" asked Shanita. "They know you are gone and have likely guessed your means of escape. Wait here." Arsis snapped his weapon up as he jumped into view of the next passage. Three armed guards began to counter the move. Arsis wasted no time opening fire. The white hot beams of energy he fired cut one guard literally in half as it proceeded onward to strike the one behind him. The last guard fired. Arsis rolled to his left, the shot missing wide. He leveled his weapon and fired, killing the last source of resistance. The entire exchange took less than 5 seconds. Shanita stepped around the corner. "Nicely done." she said as she noted his handiwork. Arsis picked up one of the guard's weapons. He handed the terran style rifle to Shanita. "I fear you will need this." "You trust me with a weapon?" She took the weapon from him, gripping it in her right hand. Arsis continued forward after offering, "Like you, I have no choice but to trust." * * *       Kaz inserted the clip into his sidearm and locked it into place. He shifted the weapon from hand to hand, then finally slipped it into his holster on his belt. He sat on the nose of his exofighter and surveyed the organized chaos before him. The hanger was cacophony of sound and motion. Exotechs swarmed all over their e-frames, checking and rechecking them. Amidst the barking of orders and the sound of quick feet, Kaz spotted Mandy Wang. She had put on a plain black flight suit and was being lead to Worthington's frame by Remes. Sue greeted them and motioned to Wang to hop up into the cockpit of her rapid assault e-frame. Mandy carefully and none-to-gracefully climbed up and into the rear seat of the e-frame. Sue stood alongside her on a maintenance ladder, explaining the basics of the controls. She wouldn't be operating the frame because she had no cyberjack implant to do so. Sue probably just felt that explaining the controls to Mandy would make her more comfortable with being there. "Doesn't look too at home, does she?" Kaz shifted his gaze downward, where Remes was standing. "No, she doesn't. But she's got Sue to take care of her, so she'll be okay." Remes nodded. "I noticed you haven't been all that bothered by that Wright woman being back." Kaz shrugged as he stared off into the distance. "Focused on the job, I guess." Remes followed his line of sight right back to Sue's e-frame. "Yeah, you're focused on something all right." Remes walked off to his own e-frame as Kaz watched him go. He slide up the nose of his fighter and lowered himself into the cockpit. After jacking himself in, he closed canopy and switched open his comm line. "This Able Squad leader to all pilots, jack in and prepare for departure." * * *       "How are the preparations going, Lieutenant?" asked Sterling. Longfeather surveyed the dropship hanger's activity. "Right on schedule. Is there something I can do for you?" Sterling picked up a vac helmet and turned it over, as if determining if it were a good fit. "I'm told you need some extra personnel." Longfeather crossed his arms. "You're a civilian now, and we have a full complement of soldiers." Sterling nodded. "I know that. I also know that these terrorists have a device that could end all life in this solar system. The way I see it, there are only two people that can probably disarm it. I'm one and Professor Algernon is the other." "And why should I take you and not the Professor." asked Longfeather. "Because we both know that I can pull my weight in a fight." Longfeather nodded. "True enough, so why don't you tell me the real reason you're asking?" Sterling cocked an eyebrow. "Real reason?" "I've just been humoring you, Sterling. I was right alongside of you at the Battle of Chaos. I know your expertise and you know that I know." Sterling smiled. "Okay, you got me. I do have another reason for talking to you. You see that young women over there." Longfeather didn't bother to turn as he replied, "Ellen Wright, the one that was brought here by accident." "Yeah, she wants in on this mission. She wouldn't tell me why, but it seems like she might be of help to you." Longfeather nodded. "See? That wasn't so hard." He pointed to the dropship. "Your pod is next to mine. Grab a vac helmet and whatever else you need. I'll deal with Lt. Wright." "Yes sir." Sterling headed off towards the dropship as Longfeather arched a finger at Wright. She swiftly walked over to him. "Its been brought to my attention that you wish to be part of this mission." Ellen stared straight ahead and at attention as she answered. "Yes sir." "Why?" asked Longfeather. "I can't explain it, sir." "Try." ordered Longfeather. Ellen looked uncertain as she tried to formulate the next sentence. "I guess its because I think its the right thing to do. I mean I took an oath to the Exofleet and another to Charlie Five. Alternate realities aside, I believe its my duty to still honor those oaths." "Don't want Charlie company going into a fight without you, eh?" Ellen nodded. "Something like that, sir." Longfeather nodded. "You'll need some jumparmor. Come with me."       Ellen followed him to the back of the hanger. He stopped in front a small crate. "I had a feeling you'd come. So I got this out of storage." Ellen walked up to the crate and opened it. She stared at what she found inside. "It belonged to someone very much like you...once." Ellen reached inside and removed the armored helmet. Holding it in her hands she said, "This belonged to her. The other Ellen Wright." Longfeather nodded. She placed the helmet gently back into the crate. "I'm not sure I can accept this." Longfeather placed a hand on her shoulder. "She would have wanted you to use it. But it is your choice. You can suit up and come with us, or stay here." He turned and began to walk away. "You're the first, you know." Longfeather glanced at her from over his shoulder. "The first what?" "The first one who hasn't brought her up inside a minute of meeting me." "My people believe that the spirits guide everything that happens in our lives. The Ellen I knew died. It was decided that her time here was finished. So she had to move on to the next world. And when life is extinguished, new life is formed. That is what you are, new life. Not to be compared with that which came before, just accepted as it is. The spirits brought you here Ellen Wright. You may think it was an accident. But I have come to believe that everything happens for a reason. Thus your being here must have a purpose." "Why do you think I'm here?" Longfeather smiled. "That's the odd thing. Sometimes the spirits work in ways beyond our understanding."       Holding part of the armor in her hands, Ellen felt like she had just stepped on her own grave. The exoarmor was the same as hers had been. The only difference was that someone had died in this armor. Not her, but for all intents and purposes it might has well have been. A shiver ran up her spine as she strapped the first section to her thighs. Slowly but surely, she encased herself in it. Working from her legs up, it was only a matter of time before she was all but finished. She picked up her rifle, fitting the shoulder strap in place around her neck and under one arm. She let the rifle hang as she reached for the helmet. She looked into the eye pieces and wondered about the person who had used them last. After tucking her braid into the armor's 'neck' she walked back out to the dropship with the helmet under one arm.       Longfeather checked the countdown. It was nearly time for the drop. Giving his heavy gravity armor one last check out, he turned to address the troops with his helmet gripped in one powerful hand. "Any heroes in here?" "No sir!" came the unanimous reply. "Good then let's jump!" The troops headed to the respective pods and closed them down. Longfeather noticed one straggler walking up behind him. "Decided to join us then?" "Yes sir." answered Ellen. Longfeather nodded. "Good. You're with my unit then, take pod 12 and form up on Pellegrino when we land." "Understood, sir." returned Ellen.       One of the exits suddenly opened, allowing a single jumptrooper to enter. The armor he wore was like nothing they'd seen before. The helmet and chest plate strongly recalled the design of the Fireboss jumparmor that Pellegrino typically used. But the leg plates had been totally rebuilt. Extra armor plating covered the lower legs and thighs. The leg thrusters had been replaced with slightly larger and more powerful models. It appeared as if the thigh plates had been fitted with the rocket launchers from the Rapid Reconn jumparmor. The forearms had armor plating that extended up the entire arm to join with the shoulder joint. The trooper held what looked like a Fireboss rifle. Attached under the main barrel was what looked like a modified version of the Heavy Gravity armor's grenade launcher. He stopped in front of Longfeather. "Reporting for duty sir." Longfeather circled around him, taking in the extensive modifications. The armor's backpack was custom built as well. It looked as if Pellegrino had combined the Fireboss jump-pack with the one from the Heavy Munitions jumparmor. Ellen noticed it as well, spying the retracted rocket launcher that peaked over his left shoulder. "You look like your ready to play hero, Pellegrino." Longfeather noted. "No sir. Only thing I plan on doing today is making them." He lifted his weapon to the ready position and flicked off the safety. "Just be sure to remember that." warned Longfeather. He locked his helmet into place and headed for the dropship. "That's a lot of armor plating for just one jumptrooper." observed Wright. Pellegrino glanced at her. "I need it to protect the micro-hydraulics underneath." "Hydraulic strength enhancement? Very nice." commented Wright. "What do you call it?" "How about the Fireboss II?" offered Pellegrino. "Works for me." replied Ellen. "You tagging along?" asked Pellegrino. "Yeah. Got to make some heroes of my own." "Wright! Pellegrino! Get to your jump pods!" ordered Longfeather. Pellegrino ran off in the direction of his as Ellen fastened her helmet. As she strode over to what would be her pod, she suppressed another shiver. The armor she wore was a coffin for one Ellen Wright already. Would it claim a second? Ellen's inner reflections were cut off as her pod closed around her. She felt it lift and lock into place under the dropship. Longfeather's voice came over the comm line. "This is Longfeather, Charlie Company is ready for deployment." * * *       "Able Squad leader, this is the bridge, the operation is a go. Repeat, the operation is a go." "Understood." replied Kaz. The hanger doors began to open, showing the surface of Venus beyond. Able Squad powered up their frames and exited first. The dropship followed behind them. This mission would be a low altitude jump, which meant the dropship would enter Venus atmosphere and drop its pods a mere mile from the ground. It would be Able Squad's task to escort the dropship in and then provide air support for the deployed troops. The target was surpassingly close to Vesta. Kaz had assumed that the base would be in the most remote part of Venus. Instead, it appeared that the Elionites had converted an old resistance base. Kaz remembered being there before, back during the Neosapian War. Marsala had been kidnapped by Venutian radicals. Nara's brother James went in to rescue him, at the cost of his own life. Now that same base - which was more of a cave than a base - housed the most deadly weapon the solar system had ever known.       The comm line crackled to life. "We have incoming." reported Remes. "Give me numbers." "I count about 25 to 30 units. Mostly elt-frames, one or two security e-frames, and one exofighter." replied Remes. Kaz opened a comm line to all e-frames. "Able Squad, break formation and engage. Keep them away from the dropship." Kaz yanked on his stick, rolling hard left and accelerating. Remes stayed on his wing. Hallas and Thrax broke in the opposite direction. Dirk and Worthington went up the middle. The strategy was relatively simple. Dirk and Worthington would keep them occupied until the rest of them could hit them from the sides and force them to scatter. With their formation broken, they would fight as individuals rather than as a team. Thus they would be less of a threat to the dropship. Worthington and Dirk opened fire, vapeing a few of the elt-frames in front. They still maintained formation, however, and it looked as if they meant to roll right over Dirk and Worthington. Kaz brought his frame to bear and smiled as an elt-frame landed perfectly in his sights. Remes opened one of his frame's cluster rocket compartments. "Locked on." "Hold." ordered Kaz. "Thrax? Hallas?" "Targets acquired." replied Thrax. "I have them." reported Hallas. "Break'em." The rest of Able Squad opened fire, two frame to either side of the main formation. In a matter of seconds, ten elt-frames were destroyed as the remained scrambled out of formation and sought to engage one on one. * * *       The sound of explosions confirmed what Vince Pellegrino already suspected. The fighting had started. He stared intently at the drop clock. His grip tightened around his weapon. Suddenly a red light in his pod began blinking. The drop was starting. He steadied himself as the pod he was in shuttered. The sudden jolt told him it was released. The pod rumbled as its boosters came on-line. Not long now. thought Vince. * * *       "Drop complete. We're heading back. Good hunting Able Squad." Kaz noted the descending jumppods. "Confirmed. We'll take it from here." An alarm sounded, Kaz banked to the right and easily avoided the enemy shots. "Remes, pull in behind me and take him out." Stan's gray frame changed course to intercept as Kaz dodge another volley. "Almost got him." announced Kaz. "Almost isn't good enough." returned Kaz. Remes opened fire destroying the elt-frame instantly. "Got him." "Better." "Mayday! Mayday! We're in trouble! W-" The commline suddenly went dead as a bright flash of light caught Kaz's eye in the distance. "Report!" demanded Kaz. "Anyone see what happened?" "The red exofighter," began Thrax, "it destroyed the dropship without support." Kaz was stunned by the news. These clearly were not the same caliber of pilots they encountered over Vesta. "Thrax, take Hallas and deal with that fighter! Remes, Worthington, land and support the jumptroops! Dirk, stay on my wing, we'll deal with the rest of the elt-frames." * * *       Thrax banked to the left and accelerated. The red exofighter loomed in the distance. It matched speed and course to his. Thrax opened his comm line. "He is engaging me. I will occupy him. See if you can come in on his flank, Hallas." "Understood." Hallas' white e-frame stayed low and to Thrax's far right. Hallas began to arc away, putting more distance between Thrax and himself. Thrax locked on and opened fire. The exofighter rolled onto its back then began to dive. Thrax instinctively countered the maneuver by moving to follow. Suddenly, the fighter did a barrel-roll ending with a sudden upward movement. The end result was Thrax descending while the fighter climbed over him, getting clean away. "This is Thrax, I have lost him."       Hallas opened his comm line as he maneuvered in behind the exofighter. "Not to worry, I've found him." He opened fire with his pulse lasers. The fighter banked hard right, avoiding the shots easily. Hallas stayed on him as he again attempted to evade, using a tight loop this time. In response, Hallas cut his forward thrust and maxed his reverse engines. The resulting deceleration caused him to fall far behind the fighter. So as the fighter completed its loop, instead of finding Hallas in its sights, it found open sky. Hallas in the meantime, still remained behind him. "Perfect." he commented as he locked on again. He fired two of his cluster rockets. The fighter seemed to be caught off guard as it rose into a steep climb. The rockets easily tracked it and changed course to compensate. Hallas maintained course as the fighter continued to climb. As the rockets neared, the fighter looped around and began a steep decent. The rockets continued to follow as the fighter began to open fire on Hallas from above. He shifted his frame and aimed upward. Most of the enemy fire missed, that which connected caused only minor damage to Hallas' frame. The fighter accelerated as it stopped firing. "He is going to ram, get out of there." ordered Thrax. Hallas brought his weapons to bear and opened fire, opting to destroy his attacker before he could return the favor. The fighter bobbed and weaved through the laser fire. "He's too agile, Thrax where are you?" Hallas noted the red neofighter in the distance, coming at him at full speed. "On my way." Hallas began to erratically shift his field of fire, hoping for a lucky shot. The nose of the fighter caught a solid hit and the ship began to roll, threatening to tumble. Hallas rocketed to his left, removing himself from its path. Suddenly the fighter straightened out and made a straight line for him. "He was playing possum!" yelled Hallas. He tried to move, but there was no time. In a last desperate gesture, he crossed his frame's arms in front of the canopy. The air vibrated as the fighter rocketed past, shaking up the e-frame but leaving Hallas untouched. He unfolded the large mechanical arms in front on his canopy, a bit amazed he was still in one piece. Hallas laughed lightly to himself, "He couldn't got through with it!" His sensors suddenly went berserk as Hallas identified two incoming contacts. The thought struck him - an instant before they did - that they were the very missiles he himself had fired.       "Hallas!" yelled Thrax. The white e-frame below him exploded instantly, scattering itself and its pilot all over the landscape. Thrax steadied himself as he noticed the red fighter coming toward him. "That was your last kill, terrorist." he opened fire as they again came head to head. The craft returned the volley with one of its own. Thrax went into a barrel roll, stopping once he was inverted. He locked on target again and fired. The fighter rolled out and away. Thrax quickly went into a dive and brought his frame right-side up. After burning sufficient altitude, he leveled off and went into a steep climb, all the while accelerating. The fighter in the meantime had figured out that Thrax did not follow and began a soft arc back toward his previous position. He found, however, that Thrax was no longer there. And while the fighter was busy trying to find him, Thrax was coming up fast from underneath. He settled his crosshairs over the red exofighter and opened fire. Several blasts struck home, but the pilot compensated and juked his fighter to the left, avoiding the rest as Thrax whizzed by. It quickly changed course to pursue. Thrax's proximity alarm went off. He jerked the control stick side to side, avoiding all of the fighter's shots. "Time to see how good you really are, terrorist." Thrax increased thrust to maximum and went into a steep dive. The fighter followed. Thrax angled neofighter's stabilizers so they hung a meter and a half below the centerline of the craft. With this new 'bent wing' configuration, the craft's decent became even more rapid. The exofighter opened fire again. Thrax's frame shuttered as it took a few hits. The surface of Venus grew closer, the individual waves of a mountain lake becoming increasing clear through the Neofighter's canopy. Thrax held course as the ground drew dangerously close. The exofighter still remained behind him. Just when it seemed that Thrax was really going to ram himself into the ground, he pulled up - missing ground collision by a mere five or six meters. The exofighter duplicated the maneuver, as Thrax expected. What the pilot failed to consider was that they were over water, not land. Thus as Thrax skirted the water, his engines caused the surface to splatter. The fighter had no option but try to stay airborne as the haze of vapor and rain-like droplets engulfed his ship.       Thrax wasted no time. Pushing his frame to its limits, he executed a tight loop, coming in behind and above the blinded fighter. "Not so clever after all." stated Thrax. He opened fire, raining deadly laser light over the ship's surface. The fighter took heavy damage as it attempted to evade. Suddenly it fired two missiles. They leapt out and up, colliding just ahead of Thrax's position. Thrax twisted his control stick in an attempt to roll out of the approaching fireball. It engulfed him none-the-less. Warning lights and alarms of every kind suddenly went off. Thrax held steady as the viewport cleared. Suddenly he realized two things. One, he was headed into the mountain lake again. And two, he was inverted. Reacting quickly, he rolled his fighter over. The skyline took its proper position back at the top of Thrax's canopy just moments before the bottom slammed into the water. Thrax wrestled with the controls, trying to maintain some form of control as the ship skipped across the water's surface. Tired of the motion, the fighter finally gave into the force of gravity, plunging headlong into the deep blue waters. Thrax's body lurched forward as his safety harness did its best to hold him back. They held fast as the canopy plunged beneath the waves. Thrax remained still a moment, getting his bearing now that his frame finally came to rest. He released his safety harness and popped the canopy. Lake water rushed in as Thrax took a deep breath. The exofighter undoubtedly survived their encounter as well. So to stay with his frame would be foolish, as his enemy was surely coming round to finish the job he started. He pushed free of the cockpit, kicking hard with his powerful legs to clear the ship. Once he broke the surface, he noted he was a good deal away from his downed craft. He scanned the skies above while treading water. The damaged exofighter flew overhead getting ready to make a run on his position. Suddenly it veered away, apparently heading back to base. Thrax watched it go, remembering a time when he had done something similar. "So this is what that feels like." * * *       Wrath stared at the crashed neofighter below. Targeting the downed pilot, he prepared to fire. He paused, considering the action a moment. Then he changed course to head back to base. '(You are not worthy of a warrior's death, terran. Though better than most, you still fall far too short of such an honor.)' * * *       "Duck!" Shanita opened fire, sending a blast over Arsis' head. A guard tumbled over backwards from the blast. "Thank you." offered Arsis. "How far to the exit?" asked Shanita. Arsis looked around first to get his bearings. "We follow this access corridor until it splits. Then we go left, right, and another left. That should take us to the main entrance." "Are you sure about that?" asked Shanita. The fact she didn't quite trust him was obvious from her tone. "There is only one way into and out of this base. If we hurry, we can make it there before they begin to reinforce it." Shanita remained silent for a short while, prompting Arsis to grow uneasy around her. "Is something wrong?" "No. I was just seeing if I could come up with another way." "Did you?" Shanita shook her head. Arsis turned from her with his weapon ready. "Then stay behind me and stay alert." * * *       The pod opened, revealing the Venutian landscape beyond. The sounds of artillery greeted Vince Pellegrino as he stood up. Years of combat experience told him he had to move, now. Blasting his jets, he rocketed away from the pod. A moment later it was blown apart by one of the base's defense turrets. Finding cover, he opened his armor's comm line. "This is Pellegrino. Fire team c, rendezvous at my coordinates. And step on it! Those turrets got to go!" The cave that housed the base was in a sort of mini canyon with the cave carved into one of the walls. The jump pods had all landed near its perimeter, meaning that they would have to move down a slope to reach the canyon floor and then break down the front door. Attacking from the other side might have been a better maneuver. However due to the overhang of the canyon ridge, a decent from that side would be literally suicidal. The reason being that they wouldn't be able to see the base defenses until they were hovering right in front of the barrel. Pellegrino had positioned himself in a trench near the opposite canyon wall. A figure dropped in behind him. He recognized it as belonging to Charlie Five's newest tag-along, Ellen Wright. "Two anti-aircraft blaster turrets." announced Pellegrino. "Most likely triple plated with blast resistant armor and fitted into chambers carved into the canyon wall." "Blast'em." stated Wright. "At this range? Only thing we'll take out for sure is the gunner. They could have another one up there in seconds. We, in the meantime, will be in the open and sitting ducks." Ellen crouched beside him and pointed across the canyon floor. "Not if we collapse the chambers on top of them. Aim for the roof of the chamber, not the turret." She brought her launcher over her shoulder and took aim. The rocket shot out of the launcher and collided perfectly with its intended target. The canyon side collapsed over the turret, crushing the machine and its operator in one swift movement. "Good. Now take out the other one." ordered Pellegrino. The second shot was as clean as the first. With the turrets rendered inoperative that left only a few heavy blaster encampments defending the a pair of massive armored doors. A preferable situation to what had been there before. "Move out!" * * *       "Lieutenant!" Kaz opened his comm line. "Go ahead Remes." "I just got word from Thrax. Hallas bought it and Thrax got shot down. That fighter is on its way back to you!" Kaz was stunned for half a second then pushed it out of his mind. It had no place there right now. "Understood, continue supporting the ground forces. Dirk and I will handle him." "Good luck, Kaz." "Yeah, thanks." replied Kaz. He rolled his fighter left and began to scan for the red exofighter. Dirk was on his wing. "How do you want to approach this?" asked Dirk. "Carefully. Stay on each other's wing and don't go lone wolf. The only way we're going to beat this guy is if we work as a team." "Understood. Here he comes." Kaz veered to the right as shots whizzed by his cockpit. Dirk was still on his wing. "Stay with me, Dirk." ordered Kaz. The fighter passed on their left side and quickly rounded on them. Kaz pulled up hard and accelerated, now traveling in the reverse direction and inverted. Dirk was alongside and right side up. The fighter slipped into his target lights. "Fire!" As the deadly streaks of laser light streaked toward the red exofighter it turned sideways and pivoted upward. With their attack avoided, it began one of its own. Two rockets shot out from under the craft's wings. "Heat seekers! Break now!" Dirk and Kaz shot off in opposite directions, a missile trailing each. Dirk spun his frame around and targeted his pursuer. "Got you." He opened fire destroying it. In the distance he saw the red exofighter pursuing Kaz. "Hang on Lieutenant!" * * *       Wrath settled his cross hairs over the terran's fighter. '(The war is over for you.)' The fighter suddenly barrel rolled and shot upward. Wrath opened fire, his shots not only missing completely but destroying the missile he had launched earlier. "A clever trick." conceded Wrath. He whipped his frame around and pursued, firing again. The fighter quickly inverted and went into a dive. Wrath followed and lined up his next shot. With a secure target lock, he launched his last pair of missiles. The exofighter reacted by launching two missiles of its own. The rockets shot out in front of the terran's craft, crossed paths in front of it, and circled back toward Wrath. He pulled up, attempting to get out of the weapons' target lock. He noted two explosions below him and turned round to get a view. The terran fighter was now on his tail. Suddenly Wrath realized that the missiles were never intended to harm him. They were to destroy Wrath's missiles. The terran's pursuer, however, was supposed to think they were meant for him. '(You surprise me again, terran.)' The proximity alarm sounded. Wrath pulled hard right as the incoming shots threatened to tear his battered fighter apart. The smaller green frame was in perfect position for the attack. Wrath had been set up. '(Impressive.)' Wrath climbed and rolled coming out above Kaz's fighter and in line with the green frame. It continued firing. Wrath bobbed and weaved between the laser fire, taking only occasional hits. He settled his crosshairs over the frame. '(But I am full of surprises too.)' The green frame shuttered under the impact of Wrath's onslaught and tumbled backward. Wrath maintained course, continuing his attack. The green frame gave up his attack and tried to flee. He did not get far as his vehicle finally gave in to the punishment and exploded. Wrath flew right through the developing fireball, even adding a victory roll once he emerged on the other side. * * *       "Dirk!" Kaz watched in horror as what used to be Anthony Dirk was scattered all over the landscape. Horror was quickly replaced with rage as Kaz slipped in behind the red exofighter. He snapped off a few quick shots and went into a roll followed by a climb. The red exofighter performed the exact same maneuver to avoid Kaz's shots. Emerging from the climb, he fell right into Kaz's sights again. He fired without a second thought. The fighter tried to avoid, but took a solid hit. Something blew out on the rear of the fighter, Kaz couldn't tell what. The fighter began to smoke and descend. "I've got you now." "Lieutenant!" Kaz opened his comm line. "What is it?" "We could use some air support, now!" Kaz stared out at the red exofighter. He was out of the fight, and for now that would have to do. "On my way." * * *       Wrath noted the terran's departure with a small sense of relief. His comm line crackled to life. '(Report.)' '(I've eliminated most of the terran air forces, as you wanted.)' '(But more remain?)' asked the voice. '(Yes. I could try to...)' started Wrath. '(You have done enough. Return to base for repairs, I have a new mission for you.)' '(Yes sir, right away sir.)' replied Wrath. He changed course, angling his descent toward a complex a great distance from the valley below. Though their base was under attack, the terrans had clearly forgotten about their airfield. It was connected to the base by an underground access tunnel equipped with a high speed rail transport. Once Wrath landed, it would take him less than a minute to get back into the main base. He didn't like being called away from battle. For Malice to do so meant that he had a vitally important mission for him, which meant the terrans would be in serious trouble...and soon. Not soon enough for me. thought Wrath. Not soon enough for me. * * *       "We're pinned down!" screamed Worthington. In the rear seat of her e-frame, Mandy Wang said silent prayer to herself. She knew it was a bad idea to come along, but they left her little choice. Still, she felt it was huge mistake on her part. She was no heroine, she never had been. "We're going to die." she mumbled. "Keep comments like that to yourself!" yelled Worthington. "You may have given up, but I've got plans that go past today!" There was a loud bang and e-frame tiled over on its side. Wang remained helpless as Worthington tried to get the e-frame upright. Things had been going relatively smooth up until this point. Worthington and Remes were providing ground support to the jumptroops. The rest of Able squad was taking care of the airsupport. But based on what Mandy had heard, there was no more 'rest of Able squad' anymore, just Lt. Takagi. With no one to keep them occupied, what little remained of the terrorist elt-frames had taken to strafing runs on the ground troops. This of course included Remes, Worthington, and by necessity, Wang herself. She gaped out the canopy as the elt-frame that had tagged them came back for another try. "Stan where are you?!" yelled Worthington. "I can't get to you, they're all over me!" responded Stan. Try as she might, Sue couldn't get the e-frame up. The stabilizers had clearly been blown to scrap by that last hit. Sue focused on drawing a bead on him instead. The chin guns maneuvered and tried to get a lock. Suddenly they locked into position and refused to move any further. "Blast it!" Because the e-frame was on its side, the chin guns had an even more limited field of fire. The elt-frame had circled wide and was coming in from behind, a position the guns couldn't reach. "We are going to die!" blurted a near hysterical Mandy. Suddenly a blue flash of light engulfed the approaching craft. A second later it was engulfed again, this time in flame. A figure ran up alongside the e-frame. "Are you okay?" Sue smiled, "We are now. Thanks, Cy." Sterling returned the smile before saying, "Let's get you upright." His powerful hands found purchase along the e-frame's body and he heaved it upward. From Mandy's point of view, the world slowly started to turn right side up. "I think I got it now." said Worthington. The e-frame began to move under its own power. Mandy watched as Sterling ran alongside. She found the sight of him comforting and actually started to calm down. Still nervous as ever, she turned her attention back to the battle being waged. * * *       "Cluster rockets away!" announced Stan. The elt-frames struggled to get out of the way and failed miserably. Three were destroyed but the fourth kept coming. He fired off a shot that sent Stan tumbling onto his back. He struggled to quickly target the craft before it killed him. He was too late however...because the craft inexplicably blew up on its own. "Wha-?" His comm line activated, "I've got you covered Remes." Remes got his frame to its feet. "Good of you to join us, Lieutenant. Need any help?" "There's only three left, I can handle them on my own. Stay with Worthington and support the jumptroops." Kaz's exofighter shifted direction and fired off two shots generating two explosions. "You got it." * * *       "We are in trouble." commented Arsis. Shanita snapped off another shot from her rifle. "You are a keen observer of the obvious." Arsis either didn't understand the humor behind the statement or choose to ignore it as he blasted away a chuck of wall. They had been pinned down near the main entrance. The narrow hallway leading out was full of terrorists. So Arsis apparently decided to make a new way out. "This way." He squeezed through the hole followed by Shanita. "Where are we?" she asked. "In an adjacent room." "How did you know it was here?" asked Shanita. "I helped design this base." He rested a massive hand on the nearby wall, feeling along it. He tapped a spot. "Here." He stepped back and fired. The wall collapsed away slowly revealing the space beyond. The terrorists from before appeared on the other side. Confused and shaken by what had just happened. "Fire." ordered Arsis. They scrambled to react, but it was fat too late. Arsis pushed back into the hallway and headed down it. Shanita followed. "Hurry, this way!" motioned Arsis. He bolted for the massive metal doors that comprise the main entrance. Guards posted near it began to react as Arsis opened fire. Shanita back him up. Suddenly she stopped, as did everyone else in the area. The base was rumbling as if ready to explode, which is exactly what it did one second later. On to Chapter 9