Untitled (Chapter III - part 4)

***

“What the hell?” David jumped up from his seat as the alarm began to sound. “A raid?”

Kyle leaped from his desk a fraction later and was running toward the door as he answered David, “No early warning alarms – this may be a security breach.”

David and Kyle both emerged from Kyle’s office nearly in sync.

“I’m heading to the hangars, my team will be ready for whatever the hell is going on. You coming?” David yelled over the loud noise.

Kyle looked down the hall toward Dirke’s office. “I should check on Dirke first. You go ahead.” Kyle yelled back already moving.

“In your busted up condition? I think not. We’ll check on him together then we head down to the hangars.” David changed direction and overtook Kyle already in a fast jog toward the outer door to Dirke’s office.

Kyle knew David was right. If rebel forces were, albeit unlikely, attempting a direct assault on Dirke, he very well may need David. His shoulder was still too painful to move and while he would be too powerful for anyone one on one, a group fight with one good arm may be risky. “Fine, just move it!”

David sprinted ahead of Kyle, his sidearm already drawn. As he passed by the large set of windows to his left, he glanced outside scanning for assault aircraft.

“What the hell?” David exclaimed for the second time. He stopped in mid step as he saw what appeared to be a limp Dirke leap backwards out of the building and onto a walkway a story below. Kyle caught up with David and stopped next to him. He had seen the image just as David had cursed aloud.

Both of them stood motionless for a split second trying to comprehend what they were seeing. It looked as though Dirke was being carried across the walkway but neither of them saw anyone doing the actual carrying. It took but a moment for Kyle to realize what was happening.

“It’s here! That’s it!” he yelled. “It’s got Dirke!”

David stared down at the scene, motionless for another split second before he finally realized what Kyle was saying. “We’ll fuck me sideways!”

“The stairs!” Kyle turned and ran toward the stairwell door ten feet back the way they came. “Move it Mazor!”

Without further hesitation, David stepped away from the glass, his back against the wall.

“Fuck the stairs!” he yelled as he raised his RDX compact pistol toward the window. The first shot shattered the window immediately throwing shards of glass in all directions. Kyle felt the powerful discharge of David’s RDX in his chest and immediately turned back toward him just in time to see him leap out of the now windowless frame.

“Mazor!” Kyle shouted as he ran toward the opening. He got there in time to see David hit the roof of the walkway ungracefully and lose his footing. He fell flat, his RDX falling onto the cement beneath him. He watched as David quickly grabbed the edge railing preventing his own self from going the way of his pistol.

Kyle looked toward the rooftop opposite of where he stood staring out from the window frame. Dirke was bouncing around as the suit wearer ran. It was fast, he noted, being already halfway across the roof. “Mazor – Move! You are gonna lose him!”

Kyle jumped over the window railing barely missing sharp glass still protruding upwards. His feet landed on the concrete edging surrounding the building. He gauged the distance to the walkway roof and leaped forward.

David struggled to his feet as he saw Kyle leap down to the platform roof. He turned and got a look as Dirke’s body went over the far roof, disappearing from site. “Holy shit that thing is fast!” he thought as he sprinted toward it.

Kyle landed directly behind David as he began sprinting toward the western roof line. Close on David’s heels, Kyle followed, drawing his RDX with his left hand. Within two seconds both men were at the edge of the roof looking down. Dirke was being handled like a sack of feathers and already mid way across the next building’s rooftop. David leapt. Kyle followed suit not a moment later. David hit the roof and rolled with expert precision. Kyle landed squarely behind him but due to his shoulder, he took the full force of the landing with his legs. David glanced back noticing Kyle’s upright landing.

Kyle immediately sprang forward passing David as he stood up; already beginning to run. They watched as Dirke’s body once again disappeared over the next roofline. Was it possible this thing was actually leaving them even while carrying Dirke? Kyle thought to himself as he ran forward; his left arm pointing the RDX in front of him in desperation, lacking a clear shot. But it was useless and Kyle knew it. Even if he got a good shot, could he risk hitting Dirke? “Damnit!” he said impatiently. Quickly he holstered the RDX and re-focused on reaching the roof line.

David was hot on Kyle’s heels as they reached the edge of the building together and looked down to the concrete. But Dirke was nowhere to be seen. “Where’d they go?” David asked frantically.

“I don’t see them.”

Both men scanned the area from the hangars to across the airfield and back toward the western fencing. Kyle walked to the southern edge of the building looking down the alley way between the hangar and the southern wall of the building. There was nowhere to hide and Kyle began to get desperate.

“Well they couldn’t have just disappeared!” David shouted over the still blaring alarms toward Kyle a few yards away. “I am going down.”

Kyle spun back toward David, “Wait!” but he was too late. David vanished over the railing. Kyle sprinted back to the edge where David had stepped off. He glanced down to see David reel backwards as if he was hit.



David’s mind went blank for a moment as he heard his jaw dislocate. He felt the wall of the building he had just leaped from push back hard as he fell into it; nearly knocking the breath from his lungs. He swung out hard at what he thought was a distortion in the air. Failing to make contact he used the solid surface of the wall to propel a roundhouse kick that would have broken the neck of any man.

“You want to tangle with me, asshole? Let’s get it on!” David screamed into the air as he foot landed back on the ground hitting nothing. David spun around; his augmented vision searching for his target. But this was no ordinary target. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Kyle as he leaped from the roof and landed next to David.

As he landed, Kyle had caught a glimpse of Dirke prostrate on the ground; tucked underneath a large trash bin to their right. Clever, he thought. He quickly searched the surroundings, reaching for his RDX once again.



Sarah knew she had hurt him pretty badly. She had felt the jawbone snap as she hit him. The scene was unfolding in slow motion as she watched him attempt to connect to her with a kick. She easily stepped back to avoid it. Looking up, she saw the second AK leap from the roof. “Oh you again?!” her mind recognized Kyle from the night’s previous encounter. “How was he up already and moving? And engaged in a fight already?” The rumors must be understating the AK’s regenerative abilities. On the contrary, they must rival her own in fact.

Sarah moved toward the dumpster as she watched him land. Then she saw the shoulder strap and realized maybe she had concluded too soon. He was not fully healed as she would have been by now. That made him target number one. Already wounded, she would incapacitate him quickly and finish the second AK one on one. She had managed to surprise the first AK and landed an early blow but she wasn’t stupid. Sarah knew that she was quickly running out of time, the world seemed to be moving more slowly than before. Unless she was able to disengage from combat, her hyper-thought would proceed out of control until her mind would finally shut off; like a switch being thrown on an overheating computer chip. Already she was experiencing the first symptoms as the world around her seemed to slow ever further. She must end this quickly.

To her right, Sarah noticed movement and turned to see several soldiers running toward the fight from the second hangar’s open doors. “The battle drag occupants.” she assumed. She counted six individuals all clad in black except for the AK insignia on their collars. Suddenly she felt her heart in her throat. With the suit, she may have a chance to defeat all of them, but with each passing second, she would descend inevitably toward unconsciousness. She would be long unconscious before she would be able to take them all out. She began to fear she had miscalculated and at that moment she could not imagine a worse situation to be in during a miscalculation. Sarah’s focus snapped back to the immediate situation at hand as she realized the second AK was reaching for his sidearm; an RDX compact. “No!” she unintentionally spoke aloud. Watching as his hand moved as if through molasses, Sarah stepped forward to within striking range. She must end this now and resolutely.



David heard the faint “No” come from his right. Instinctively he swung out toward the sound; his augmented speed delivering the left hook precisely where his ears had pinpointed the source. He felt his fist connect with something but it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting to feel. Instead of soft tissue or the hard jaw line of his opponent, David felt as if he had hit a brick wall. Pain surged up his forearm, clearly sending a message he had not anticipated. But his mind instantly knew that whatever he had hit had just shattered his hand.



Kyle turned away as David’s punch swung past him only to stop in mid air as if it had met with an invisible wall. His ears picked up the faint crunch of bones breaking in David’s hand. Then he saw it, a vapory outline just to his right but well within range. Perhaps David’s punch had distracted it long enough for Kyle to get a lock on its position. He stopped his movement toward his sidearm and reversed course in an instant. With all the power and speed which he had meticulously hidden from David for years, Kyle launched a bare knuckle punch directly at the outline he had locked in his sight. He felt himself connect with his attacker sending it backwards toward the trash bin. With any luck he connected in just the right spot to knock it out cleanly.



As Sarah had begun to unleash upon the wounded AK reaching for his sidearm, she had seen the punch coming toward her from her right. It was a fast punch but still no match for her hyper-thought twisted world. She decided to meet force with force and with her left fist, met his punch knuckle for knuckle. She could hear his bones snap as her forged-like knuckles shattered his hand. She knew that to him, it may as well have struck a steel plate. As she watched his face twist in agony from the pain, Sarah made her second crucial mistake of the day.

She would later wonder if it had been her run away hyper-thought or her quickly approaching unconsciousness that had betrayed her. But whatever the reasons, she had missed catching the wounded AK’s punch which took her by surprise. It was powerful, far more powerful than she had ever experienced and it hurt. She stumbled back as the second AK landed his fist on her left cheek bone. Had it been lower, it may very well have knocked her out. As it was, she struggled to regain her footing. Her head was buzzing from the blow but she somehow managed to avoid falling against the trash bin. If she had, it would have given away her position. Perhaps the only thing that saved her was the suit… once again.

Sarah turned toward the attacking AK, moving forward trying to lock on her position. Behind him, the six flak soldiers were approaching quickly, clumped together tightly as they ran toward them. Sarah could not see a way out. She guessed she had maybe thirty seconds before succumbing to hyper-thought blackout. Perhaps Fate had had enough smiling for one day.

Then it struck her… the very thing that she had avoided stumbling in to may be the answer out of here. Sarah re-focused, trying to clear her mind from the now apparent daze of hyper-thought. With an intensity she had never before summoned, Sarah reached toward the trash bin with both hands. Grabbing at the metal bin, she could feel her strength increasing as she focused all of her will toward her plan. With inhuman strength, Sarah began to lift, struggling against the weight of the large metal container. She didn’t hear the sound she was making as she pushed herself to a level she had never dared to go.

As she strained against the nearly immovable object, she felt her body respond. From the center of her chest, a warm sensation spread outward, reaching to every part of her being; to every augmented molecule, to every forged like bone, to her very hyper-thought twisted mind. She had never felt her strength like this before but she had never allowed herself to go beyond a certain point. It had scared her in the past but now she was in fear far more than that point ever had dared to frighten her. Almost imperceptibly Sarah felt the container begin to lift off the ground. The full weight was now in her arms and her reeling, twisted hyper-thought ravaged imagination brought a flash image of herself; a statue holding the world upon her shoulders.

Sarah’s once blue eyes, now a strange golden orange snapped open locking on the AKs in front of her; the clarity of the world around her more vivid than she had ever seen, almost surreal. The wounded AK was backing away quickly. She watched as he turned, as if in a dream, to grab his buddy whose hand she had shattered with one blow. Sarah stepped forward and with all her new found strength hurled the container toward them both.



Kyle had stepped forward quickly after his punch made contact. He knew he had hurt it and he wanted another shot. His eyes searched frantically for the tell tale distortions around the edges of the suit. But they were so very subtle, and even his augmented vision was struggling to detect it. As he moved toward the direction his punch had sent his attacker, he noticed the first movement of the trash container in front of him. He stopped and watched as it seemingly began to lift from the ground. Kyle’s mind was racing as he tried to comprehend what was happening. He saw Dirke’s leg just underneath it, still motionless. Within a second, the container was fully a foot off the ground. Kyle backed away knowing David and he were directly in the line of destruction should it somehow, unbelievably, be thrown in their direction. Kyle could not believe what he was witnessing. He and David together would be pressed to lift it. It would surely weigh in at 3000 pounds if not a full 2 tons. It was solid steel and very large. How was this possible? There was no way either of them could lift it singly. Yet here was something that could seemingly do the impossible.

Kyle dove toward David, grabbing him by the arm as the metal container suddenly accelerated forward. Outstretched, he took David to the ground with him. As they fell, Kyle knew he had barely missed being crushed. But it was not all good. The edge of the container caught Kyle’s right shoulder, re-dislocating it, for the second time in less than 24 hours. The pain was almost unbearable but he had at least managed to get out of the way enough to avoid being splattered.

He felt the massive metal container hit the ground just past their position. David cried out in agony as his shattered hand hit the hard cement. Kyle looked up in time to see the upper edge of the container clip the concrete and began to flip violently end over end. Twenty feet beyond, he noticed David’s flak AKs. They must have seen the struggle and raced to engage. Now they were in the direct line of destruction as the trash bin rapidly whirled toward them gouging chunks of pavement as it spun out of control bearing down upon them.

It caught the lead AK full force killing him instantly. As he was thrown clear, the bin began to slide through the men, severing limbs and dragging several of them underneath it. Kyle saw one AK in the back dive to the side but was unable to avoid it completely. His leg caught the edge of the container as it passed. Kyle watched as it broke cleanly in half and whipped around backwards.

As the AK landed on his back, Kyle pushed himself off the ground and looked toward Dirke’s body. But there was nothing there. Sitting up, he looked across the airfield watching as once again Dirke was being handled like a bag of feathers. Already, he was more than seventy five yards away and accelerating toward the outer fence.

Kyle looked back at the scene of trampled AKs. He saw the remaining AK lift his RDX assault rifle to his shoulder taking aim at the fleeing attacker.

“Hold your fire!” Kyle shouted. An RDX round would cut Dirke in two.

Kyle turned back toward the fleeing specter. A terrifying realization began to creep across Kyle’s mind. Whatever he and David were up against was far more deadly than he had first guessed. If the Resistance had more than one of these augments, it could very well be the end of him and the AKs and that would mean the end of the war. Kyle was partly still in shock at what he had witnessed. He had far underestimated its power and now the one man who might be able to shed light on just how much more this thing was capable of was quickly exiting the scene.



Sarah’s vision was blurring rapidly, she could feel herself beginning to succumb to the powerful blackness which had begun to creep toward the center of her vision. She knew her fate was imminent. “Another 10 more seconds…” she focused her might at holding the blackness at bay as she sprinted toward the fence. With one easy motion, her PING missile launcher was hoisted up to her right shoulder as she balanced Dirke’s motionless body over her left. She did not even bother to sight the weapon but instead haphazardly pointed it in front of her. She pulled the override firing trigger belaying the usual targeting sequences. Almost instantly the fence, which once loomed large as she continued to sprint, was nearly vaporized as the missile made contact; opening a gaping hole surrounded by the jagged red hot, dripping metal of the once stalwart fence links. The blast slowed her pace only a fraction; to anyone else it would have been unnoticeable as she continued her manic race toward the forest beyond the now open path. She leapt the final 10 feet through the hole still grasping the PING missile launcher in her right hand. She landed on the far side of the fence line and with another leap cleared the small embankment leading in to the dense underbrush of the forest.

Landing on the soft forest floor, she scanned from right to left for any hiding spot. “5 … seconds…” She would not need long; a few minutes at most until she regained consciousness but that seemed like an eternity to her at this moment. Seeing only small brush around her and a small blackberry patch, she began to sprint again but then a tactical thought entered her mind… they were not aware she was about to greet the black void of nothingness. Sarah stopped almost before she began running and in an effortless motion tossed Dirke’s limp body to her left toward a thick bush. She would have to take the chance they would believe she would continue her last known direction and speed… which was considerable… perhaps fate was not done with this day after all… maybe. Sarah dove to her right toward the nearest tangle of blackberries… This is probably going to sting a bit.” she thought… Sarah was unconscious before the first thorn ripped at her face.