And then it was as her imagination spoke for her through her memories of something he once stated: “I always felt that, well, that’s what makes us Harbingers a Harbinger.”
The trail of attached memories of her own uttered hopes out of seeming futility, however, didn’t carry the usual sting of the same hopelessness as it always had. One focused look ahead revealed the Tiger coming to the ground as it raised its shield and carbine at the Assembly Hall, standing in front of it in a threatening manner, but she cared nothing for its apparent intentions.
Well, look at that. It's exposed.
The thought that her father’s ramblings as well weren’t merely empty echoes was quick, but her drive was revived even quicker, as was her retooled awareness. She hurriedly turned off her aiming assist functions along with all laser guidance, hoping to sneak in a shot where it would hurt most.
“Only ten more blocks,” she whispered under her breath, slowing her approach as she quieted her thrusters, relying more on her wheels to carry her forward through the abandoned, scattered traffic. And all the while, what her mind now focused on was finding a good vantage point, quickly spotting a break in the high-rises between two large parks where a wider avenue split from the main street. She rapidly slowed her approach, and upon turning onto the avenue she found herself standing on top of a tram’s wide-open railway, providing the best viewpoint of the Tiger shown still aiming down towards the SAU Assembly Hall, which stood between other government buildings of the massive complex.
She knew the first thing to aim for if ever given the opportunity was the only thing keeping it off of the ground. She adjusted her stance and slowly raised her own rifle, taking caution for bullet drop and windage as any automated laser-based calculations might get detected. But despite the eerie confidence she had in her plans seeing that she was still completely unnoticed, she realized she wouldn’t get the time she needed when a bright onslaught of flashes blasted from the Tiger’s carbine.
What!?
And just like that, her focus was shattered and fading faster than the unexpected fountains of glass, dust, and debris from the narrow area impacted. As much as she knew the attack had to have been for intimidation, she didn’t expect actual executions.
.
Orsi never expected such an execution, either. Echoes of screams from within the exposed areas of the Assembly Hall rang out, however muffled from the falling debris that hit the collapsed ceiling segments below. Unable to feel anything nor move, he could barely make out a numbed radio call from his earpiece. He choked in his attempt to breathe, hoping to reach for his crushed chest before realizing his arm too was pinned down. As the calls for emergency lock-downs and nearby screams desperate for his whereabouts filled the air around him, his last shallow breaths failed to support him long enough to answer. His eyes that were looking up to the smoke-filled sky remained locked on the Tiger hovering overhead, almost as if being seen off personally.
.
Adrian backed away by about fifty meters, just hovering above the mixed government and commercial building complexes filling the block behind them, knowing his next move required cover from any local’s rash decision-making. He let out a nervous sigh, fingers still shaking from the uncontainable sense of accomplishment mixed with fear he’d regret the unplanned taking of his once-mentor’s life there on the spot. But the plans he had to live to see through to the end were still very much on course in his mind.
[Charlie, Delta,] he spoke calmly through an opened line connected through a separate laser connection. [Stay hidden until either I give a signal or Reaper informs us of any turncoat activity. Let me handle the lone hero once she makes a move,] he continued, speaking clearly of Sam’s LTAC he had been keeping tabs on the whole time. [And until further notice, Reaper as well as myself are assuming command. Bishop, or Mr. Orsi, should we say, was revealed to have compromised the mission for unknown causes or intentions.]
[This is Charlie. Copy, Bender,] answered one voice in a manner that implied Orsi’s passing had left no shock or distress. [Holding position.]
[This is Delta. Giving status report of Reaper’s extraction team. They are approaching Angel’s location and will proceed once the area is clear of Rex and Enrai’s ground teams.]
[Good. We must leave our country in the right hands. Here’s hope democracy can do its job in the coming weeks,] he spoke in reference to the process it would take to replace Orsi as commissioner, knowing the representative would be another local native.
.
.
Sam’s whole body was now trembling from the shock left by what she witnessed combined with every nerve still on edge from the anticipation of her unintentionally delayed shot she had to place. But when? She felt like each passing millisecond was another opportunity wasted as the Tiger rose in altitude and inched farther away from her firing range, and the building right behind it gave even more reason to hesitate. She remembered that not a single soul emerged from the building that very Tiger assaulted earlier prior to the shots fired, and there was no way she’d be capable of doing the same now. She began to ease the tension from her trigger finger slowly and regrettably.
“SAM!!”
The terrified shout shattered what remnants of focus she had left, almost dropping her controls entirely upon hearing her mother’s voice.
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“Sam! Wait! You have to stop him as a team!” Amelie continued in desperation, seemingly gasping for air between statements.
Sam could have sworn she was hallucinating, not only because she feared the worst earlier but also because nothing on her visor screen showed connection she could recognize. But then she noted the lit indicator flashing next to Sebastian’s tag. “Mom?!”
It clicked. Sebastian wasn’t only on his way to her, he had to have been carrying a laser line of communication established from elsewhere and he was merely the proxy, connecting the two of them for the first time in so long. It was sudden and perhaps nothing more than a baseless spur of the moment thought, but she was convinced. “Mom! Where are you!?”
“Adrian Liotta! He’s a Harbinger level pilot!” Amelie persisted through steadily increasing interference. “Their operation’s goal is to reunite all of the former Confederate Unions, starting here with Argentina and the S-”
“-Mom, wait!” Sam blurted out without thought, instinctively reacting to sudden movement from the Tiger. Her jerking of the controls and a stomping on her left pedal quickly forced her LTAC behind cover of the office building now in front of her, but something sent a shockwave through her body in the process of narrowly dodging a narrow blast from the Tiger. Her shield she had mounted on her left shoulder fell with a crash about ten meters behind her, and now she noticed an armor alarm blinking red over the same joint area.
“Shit!” She shouted out through the once more near-blinding adrenaline, catching her breath with the few seconds she just bought. “Mom, where are you?!”
“No, LISTEN!!”
Normally, Sam would wince the instant such words were uttered, but perhaps it was from her perspective how her mother seemed to be guiding her rather than making demands, as this time around she shut up.
“Your brother is being used! Bishop, Rex, all of them! I dug up what I could- you have to save yourselves AND him from this mess before it’s too late!”
Sam realized why it seemed that way as her senses chilled.
My brother is being… used?! But hasn’t everything been his doing!? HIS SCHEMING?! How does she not see that?!
“Your friends are on their way! Take that thing down, get to safety, and let me handle what I can from here!”
What is she even going on about now?!
“Mom! You-”
A sudden burst of gunfire followed by the sounds of ricochets and a pop from the disconnected line sent one last shock up her spine, just in time to hear the loud crackle from another incoming shot from the Tiger. “Mom!!” She screamed out hysterically as that same energy pulled her away from the street and farther from the impact made from the incoming NGF blast.
“You heard her!” Sebastian’s voice suddenly joined in from the same channel, confirming her notion he had carried over the signal, and the thought he must have brought the others with him brought some instant comfort amidst the chaos. “We have to-”
A split second of heavy interference hit, causing her to jump as the connection soon severed. As she recovered from her jump backward, she hadn’t even a second to make sense of what just happened before another signal cut in. Her heart fell into her stomach once more, knowing what that sound meant.
“You chose to be a hero,” Adrian spoke with notable disappointment. “Well, then, smile for the camera. You can be part of our success at the very least before I do away with you and your pals.”
Damn it. I have to make sure Sebastian and whoever he brought wasn’t brought out here in vain.
Her eyes quickly scanned the only open area near her, just across the street corner. She noticed a small equipment-laden van stopped curbside, realizing it was all set up for recording.
News? Underground? No, forget them!
She then realized what he meant when he mentioned the word “pals,” now checking her map for any sign of Sebastian. Nothing.
“Reaper, the brother, and Angel, the mother,” he continued before firing two suppressing shots in the same spot. “You could have picked a better cover name than Ella. You’re definitely nothing compared to them.”
Sam felt the rage starting to boil back to the surface, but it didn’t take more than a second to remember it wasn’t just herself in a pinch, but her mother still in danger and Sebastian walking into a trap kept her focused enough to plot her next move, albeit far more rushed than could allow for any second thoughts. As the impacts from the shots settled into falling debris and dust, all she could think was how much smaller the hits were compared to seconds ago.
He's got a variable output carbine. NGF can’t fire rapidly after big shots like that unless he has his power turned way down.
She imagined getting hit without her shield even just once more, but imagined the particles’ intensity spreading more then digging, and buying Sebastian time was all she could do now that she was cornered.
I’ll give him a show, then.
She refused to speak, fearing that would destroy any hopes she had of focusing on the most important things coming up: moving under fire without Antares.
NGF travels slower than a rifle round through air at that charge level.
Her first calculation sent her forward just over ten meters with a kick of her planted foot, then immediately took a swift, neck-breaking leap of faith at a sharply upward angle toward the building top just in front. The second her LTAC became visible from cover was the same second a shot traveled right for her. The impact of the two shots hit just where she would have been had she not jumped.
And the second her trajectory was clear, she lunged to her left and initiated a free-fall just past the edge of the building top. The sound of crackling thunder in the near distance was heard the instant she slammed on her roller brakes upon landing, darting back the direction from which she came, barely fitting between the narrow, paved access lane.
Bingo.
She hoped Adrian would shoot for the far side of the building, and the impact she heard behind her signaled her reward in judgment. Rifle out and ready, all she had to do was turn that one corner and fire on full auto, for the building he used as cover behind him should now be at an angle enough to miss any strays.
She pulled her left control handle back as she pivoted, swinging her right thumb stick up and at an angle that seemingly guided itself naturally right for the now-visible Tiger, pulling and releasing the trigger just as the ninth or tenth round left the chamber.
The ensuing swing of its massive shield was expected, but that was in her plans to hope it would allow her to switch to more of an offensive. However, the bright green blast that scattered in a firework display from his shield was what broke her focus as badly as the windows nearby that took the spray damage.
She knew that wasn’t her rifle that only carried conventional rounds, and she realized Adrian knew as well as it shot upwards to gain altitude rapidly.
Something told her to look behind her just as soon as she could duck back in for cover. And within less than a few seconds, she felt a hugely relieving rumble that only heavy rollers could cause. Around the corner arose four Ai20’s, with one holding a lengthy, heavy cannon that soon took another shot upward.
“Sebastian?!”
She almost forgot Adrian had her blocked out from communication, but now that they were this close there was no way jamming could stop a laser link this close. “Sebastian!”
“Sam!” Sebastian bellowed out as they rapidly closed in.
[Cruella!] Dani joined in with equal excitement. [I found it! I found the drop box!]
[Time to kick that thing’s ass!] Renzo added in, now almost expectedly as Sam’s morale shot upward as quick as the Tiger’s new altitude became before sensors showed it rapidly moving toward them.
An NGF rifle of our own!? And of that output!? That’s a whole motherfucking anti-MBI cannon! But HOW?!
Sam felt a smile deep down she had to fight off, refusing to give in to her usual tendencies. I think I know exactly how to use that.