The armor plating on the shield Adrian held up was originally designed for repelling firepower magnitudes up to light artillery levels, having no problem deflecting the incoming stream of bullets from Sam’s LTAC. Still under the emotional effects from moments ago, he refrained from reacting more overtly to the return fire, knowing exactly what earned such a futile reaction.
And almost all at once, several operator voices joined in, some angry some panicking, but he tuned it out. His focus remained on the building in front, seemingly as if he were awaiting some kind of sign.
[I did my part here! You can handle the rest of this dirty work yourselves!] He barked after realizing the return fire had stopped.
.
Sam’s LTAC was flung the other direction as she screamed out in a fit of rage, trying to catch her balance while fussing back: “Let me go, damn it!” She fought the controls in her hurry to find her aim toward the sky but quickly found another LTAC rushing her direction from in front.
[Stop!] Dani screamed back with equal intensity, bracing for impact if Sam didn’t turn to run. [Or we all die! Is that what you want?!]
The same LTAC that flung her from her spot earlier grabbed her from behind once more, spinning her the opposite direction as if to force her to join their retreat. [Move!] Renzo joined in; his holler thick with desperation. [This is our one chance to run!]
Sam knew instinctively that it was her only option, subconsciously slamming her control sticks forward, accelerating down the one open street in front. But her desire to spin right back around quickly mounted a fierce comeback as countless memories- albeit even those tied to regret or anger, forced their way through her conscious as she bit down. If this had happened only half a year ago, she’d have sworn she would feel relieved if not relinquished from the years of disappointment, pressure, and guilt burdened upon her shoulders. But something felt different given the circumstances.
She was trying to save us from something, wasn’t she.
An unrealized tear fell down her right cheek and formed a trail around the lower brim of her visor pressed against her cheek as her heart rate continued to hasten.
Even if it was about him, she’s trying to stop us from killing each other as if… as if…
An idea of what must have driven her mother to such lengths suddenly exploded into a series of wild yet plausible reasons connecting the ongoing attack to her presence. She threw her right stick back and slammed it against the limiter block as her LTAC snapped into a half-spin, pinning down the other stick in tandem with her footwork that slung her back towards the still-airborne Tiger as if on a suicide mission.
[Hey! What the hell are you doing?!] Renzo barked in response but to no avail. [Dani- wait! Where are YOU going!?]
Sam paid no heed to neither of his distress calls, nor did she listen to Dani’s nor Sebastian’s subsequent responses as she slowed her approach, looking upward to the now ascending Tiger. “Hey!” She yelled out through a cracked voice as if the assailant could hear her. Her heart was already beating out of her chest and tears of frustration never ceased, yet she found the will to open up her lungs and force out the only thoughts desperate to get out. “You think you can take my mothers life AND get away with war?! If that was her, she already stopped you AND your stupid plan!”
The Tiger stopped its ascent, causing her eyes to widen in newly injected surprise and fear.
But for some reason the desire to shout him down never abated. “Hey! Do you hear me?! My mother never lost a battle in her LIFE! Whatever you are thinking- it’s already over!!”
And by that time she had already slowed down to a soft halt, holding her shield up and placed her rifle into the mounted position at its side, taking aim with her manual controls. She knew Antares would be her best friend if it were an option, but something told her to keep her controls off of anything automatic. It was almost like Antares was there somewhere in the background, guiding her, providing confidence to take on someone way beyond her capabilities.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I heard every childish, misguided word out of that mouth of yours, little kid,” Adrian’s irritated voice came up to her further heightened surprise.
That voice! She gasped, instantly recognizing everything about his voice that snapped her conscious back to the day he asked Sebastian and her for an autograph. She didn’t remember his name, but she vividly remembered the assassination attempt that quickly followed that fateful night.
“I knew you weren’t who you said you were, you fucking traitor!” She belted back, eager to pull the trigger, but sense kept her back even if for one last line. “You’re even more insane that my brother! How many innocent lives will YOU take in the name of reviving the Confederacy?!”
“You figure things out fast,” Adrian replied with a shocking level of calm. “Now run along so you don’t get involved in a mess your mother helped create. You’re in the wrong fight.”
No, Sam told herself as her trigger finger began to twitch, noting the Tiger’s resumed ascent. Mom helped stop two wars, and I bet this all was her last hurrah for a third. Why didn’t she ever tell me anything?! Her eyes burned with a renewed wave of frustration and anger mixed with an even stronger desire to take back what was taken from her without a chance to ever find common ground… or even forgiveness. “My father fought people like you and taught me everything I know- you think I don’t know your precious Tiger’s weak points!? He took down dozens of twisted bastards like yourself and, and-”
-Fuck it all!
She pulled the trigger the instant her crosshairs started an upward travel three notches above the head unit at a sweeping angle toward her direction. She knew the strongest advantage he had over her was its sheer acceleration power and the ability to change directions mid-flight, but the thrusters always started out one direction during its initial burst phase. That was the one and only thought that drove her to pull that trigger, feeling as if her father’s old advice helped push the notion with solid, perhaps ill-timed confidence, as she knew the lie she just spewed only came as a spur-of-the-moment thing; She never once trained with him in person, only listened the occasional anecdote.
It was also too late to realize just how silent the world was before feeling the jarring vibrations and rattling of the pair of three-round bursts fired off from her rifle. No one shouted her down. No one ran up from behind to stop her. No one from the outpost snarled orders to stand down. And no one reminded her of a fact she should have better included in her rash calculations: the Tiger’s ability to take a hit from smaller craft fire.
Adrian wasn’t fazed. He kept his ascent as the two strings of rounds sailed overhead harmlessly and out towards the sea. “Your father and mother had to have taught you better! Now back off before you make me change my mind!”
Sam desperately wanted to swipe back with her own piece, but a paralyzing combination of the acceptances of both his words and her dire predicament kept her from pursuing him further. He really is out of my reach- I can’t do shit by myself like this.
But as he took off with a deafening blast of his main thrusters, what had her turning for him in a screaming fit flashed across her mind just as strong as it did then. It wasn’t just that one pilot she couldn’t let have his way. This was also Isaiah getting what he wanted, she confidently reminded herself. It was like every sacrifice he knew her parents made, even those who she got to know along the way that survived the last war were all about to become ones made in vain.
But rather than shout him down in futility, she tore off down the open side of the street, hurrying to pull up a map to help her find a route, even though live condition updates would be impossible with the jamming present. This is another coup attempt I swear! False flag and everything! The ONLY reason they’d bring in a whole damned Tiger unit would be to scare the shit out of everyone in sight! The ultimate bargaining tool for a Confed with too much money and power!
.
* ● ● Enrai Branch Operations Outpost, Belgrano District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, SAU
Sebastian grabbed his bag and angrily slung it as he stormed for the access elevator hall, only to be stopped by the operator from earlier.
[And just where are YOU going at a time like this?!]
Sebastian read his eyes, knowing the last thing they could trust was a newbie from outside any and all Underground circles, but he had nothing left to do but what he knew best. [You see what’s going on,] he firmly responded, holding back his emotions best he could. [Enzo and Eunice are off the grid, Ella has been severed from our laser comms line by some unknown interception, and you want me to sit here and dig around the dark for them?]
The operator’s demeanor made it clear that while he could acknowledge everything spoken to him, he couldn’t let him through, simply replying through returning gazes.
Sebastian began to read the improbability of his release, but his siblings and Sam’s safety never left his conscious. [That Barringer mech- the Tiger, I mean… It’s all for a Junta, and we need every last one of us out there to stop it, am I wrong?]
[And what the hell do you really think we can do about it?]
Sebastian grew more impatient by the second as his body now clearly mirrored his speech. [I’m going to borrow one of those Kappas you have parked in back. I saw the registry. You got two on deck. That’s what.]
[Let him go,] Kaylen’s voice came over their in-ear radios, catching the operator off guard and putting a smirk on Sebastian’s face. [I’m about to gear up myself. We got no time to lose and not a pilot to waste.]