"Fuck the mission," Julie snapped. "What's the plan? What are we doing?"
"Not this time, Julie. It's me they want."
Stella screamed at me. "You're doing it again. Don't hold back on us. We're soldiers, too!" Her eyes were red, bleary.
"I know, damn it. But we're outmatched here."
Kayla pushed Stella aside and tapped the command console. The cargo bay doors creaked open.
"I'll do whatever you want," Kayla said. "Remember?" She forced a tight smile.
"What's he doing?" Nikki asked.
"Something stupid," Stella said. She turned away from the others, hiding her face.
The wind roared as the cargo bay opened fully. I could see the Mekanics pursuing us. It was now or never.
I sprinted towards the open exit and jumped while melding at the same time.
The rushing air around me sounded like someone screaming. It was screaming. I was screaming.
I fell.
The ground loomed in the distance, little trees like miniature broccoli. They grew bigger and bigger as I plunged through the sky.
Can I Phase Shift, uh, through the Earth.
Don't be silly, Dustin. You knew there's only one way you're getting out of this.
I could make out a new sound, a mechanical whine above the roar of the wind.
They're coming.
I could see the Mekanics clearly now. They were humanoid in form, roughly the size of a tall person, but they had sharp stiff wings like fighter jets extending from their backs.
Metal angels of death.
They swooped towards me head first, arms outstretched. I flinched inwardly as the closest one grabbed me with its metal hands.
The ground was still rushing towards us. We had maybe a quarter mile left.
As the Mekanic grabbed me in a bear hug, it flipped so that its feet were pointing at the ground, then strained to slow my fall. The weight of the rapid deceleration crushed me against the Mekanic's arms, causing a trickle of damage.
ENERGY: 681/700
I waited. Too soon, and I might not survive the fall without bleeding enough momentum away.
Too late, and the Mekanic might take me to who knows where.
ENERGY: 645/700
As if sensing what I had in mind, the Mekanic's arms crackled with electricity, further draining my energy.
"Do not resist," a mechanical voice intoned.
ENERGY: 536/700
We were still a couple hundred feet off the ground, but the Mekanic had slowed our descent to a crawl.
I Phase Shifted, slipping through the Mekanic's arms.
It responded immediately, diving toward me to catch me again.
I Phase Shifted again and again, avoiding its grasp.
I Phase Shifted through the length of an entire tree. Then, I bounced off the ground. One. Two. Three.
Fuck, that hurt.
ENERGY: 78/700
I picked a direction at random and began sprinting, zigzagging every hundred yards or so in case they were trying to track me from above.
I didn't hear anyone chasing me for a minute, so I slowed down.
Dustin, this is the wrong way. Zoe's tone was frantic.
Wrong way? All I see are trees and more trees.
To your right.
I peeked through the foliage. In my desperation to escape the Mekanics, I had led myself right back to the outpost where Cody and Staccato had been originally waiting.
Drake was perched over a smoking piece of metal in the rocky clearing. I assumed he had managed to take out one Mekanic.
Dustin. They're here.
Staccato's Beastform, some kind of gigantic brown praying mantis, charged, slashing its glowing forearms. Drake met the slashes with his own wings. They were locked in a fury of Beastform blades, evenly matched.
Until Cody joined the fray. Drake couldn't parry Staccato and dodge Cody at the same time. Cody barreled into Drake with his cannonball attack. When Cody rebounded, I could make out a metal sleeve across the back of his Beastform.
ENERGY: 79/700
I had barely recovered any energy since my fall. I didn't have much to waste, but I sent a Sonic Screech at Cody to distract him.
"Drake!" I shouted, running behind him. "Let's go!"
I figured he could grab me and fly away, outrunning anyone chasing us. He was a freaking dragon, after all.
Drake swiveled his head, a gleaming silver eye staring at me.
"Hunter?" Drake roared.
Drake did exactly as I hoped, disengaging from Staccato and lunging for me.
But Staccato used his speed ability, appearing instantly between me and Drake.
I was about to Phase Shift through Staccato, but Zoe screamed in my mind.
Careful! He can hurt you in your Phase Shift!
I dodged to the right, instead. My energy was too low to take a hit.
Drake tackled Staccato, and they both went tumbling. I raced after them, trying to position myself closer to where Drake would end up.
Where's Cody? And the Mekanics.
Dustin…
Drake disengaged from Staccato and managed to end up next to me.
Staccato and Cody were across from us.
"Time for a little foreplay, right Staccato? There's four of us, get it?" Cody laughed, a throaty growl.
God, I had forgotten how annoying he was.
"Can we run for it," I whispered to Drake, flicking my eyes upward.
As if in response, the two remaining Mekanics landed with loud thumps, one to our right, the other on our left. Neither the former Beastmasters or the Mekanics made a move.
"Damn Mekanics," Drake grumbled softly. He swung his head toward me, peering at me with one eye. "Why'd you come back?" he snarled.
"I…I tried to lure them away from the others."
Drake blew a puff of smoke out his nostrils. "I suppose it wouldn't have mattered." He lowered his head closer to mine. "I have enough energy for one serious round of Dragon's Breath. When it happens, run and don't look back."
My heart sank. The way he said that, I knew what he expected. He was going to zero himself and end up dead, just to give me one last shot at escaping.
"But—"
"That's an order!" Drake hissed.
It wouldn't make a difference. They had tricked us, trapped us, treated us like the technologically inferior species we actually were.
That we had survived so far was a miracle. They were toying with us, even now.
"The reunion's been touching, but it ends now," Staccato said. He waved a bladed arm at the Mekanics. "Make sure they don't escape. I want to finish this myself."
"Spike, you traitorous bitch!" Drake roared. He lowered his voice, speaking only to me. "Get ready…"
Even if I escaped, they would find me again. I knew it, in my gut. I couldn't let Drake sacrifice himself for me for no reason.
"Wait!" I shouted. I unmelded and stepped forward.
"Hunter!" Drake screamed.
Staccato had tried to kill me last time, when he had claimed that only Zoe was important. But the Mekanics had saved me in the air just now. They could have let me fall, zero, and then swooped in to take Zoe. I didn't know what exactly Staccato's relationship with the Mekanics was like, but I had to bet that they were in charge, not him.
"Let Drake go," I said. "If you want me, you can take me."
"Sure, I'll take you." Staccato laughed. "Idiot. I want you dead, though, remember?" His bladed arms glowed blue as he prepared a strike.
Shit! I prayed that I wasn't screwing up.
"Hunter, get out of the fucking way!" Drake screamed. He inhaled sharply, preparing his final Dragon's Breath.
Staccato took a step forward.
"It was nice knowing you little-D," Cody called out. "Well, not really. See ya, sucker."
I ignored everything around me, turned, and knelt toward the Mekanic on my right.
"Take me to your leader."
Staccato's shadow loomed over me, but it stopped. A harsh wheezing sound broke out. He was laughing. "Really, Hunter?"