This time the flight was much longer. Despite the instantaneous conjuration of the steel glider wings on his back, it took a few seconds to catch the airflow. Few very scary seconds, when his heart was beating like crazy under the image of the approaching ground. It was still far from him, but that was exactly the problem. Too far. Moreover, his observation came to an end when his eyes were full of tears from the incoming wind. The next moment uplifting push paused his fall before it continued further.
Half-blind, Rob was in full panic mode because of the absence of the airship from earlier. Hastily rotating his head, he failed to see it. The gray-blue color of the ballon made the task even harder, taking into account the cocktail of emotions he felt at this moment. Insidious thought about its position above him was instantly thrown away only to appear a few seconds later. His barely controllable fall would lead to sure death if he gave in to the panic. It was already hard to breathe when the air mass was literally pushed inside his mouth. Cursing inwardly because of the inability to shout, Rob dispersed his wings and rotated his body in the air, making a full circle.
Nope… one more time…
Repeating the process a few times, Robert finally noticed a glimpse of the airship. Immediately returning his wings, he pushed his body in that direction, praying for the correct distance and height. Instinctively adjusting his own position, he somehow managed to catch the flow, which pulled him up. The short moment of joy was cut off by understanding that he was going much higher and at a bigger speed than he wished. Moreover, the balloon was already clearly visible, not giving much time to react. Still, he tried.
Pushing his body up, Robert slightly decelerated his fall. The wind immediately attempted to push him to the side, but Rob was ready. Continuing to move like a trembling bug who was turned upside down, he managed to stay in a straight line by chaotically moving his limbs. The moment the ballon had appeared underneath him, Rob changed his wings into an improvised steel version of a huge umbrella, which was protruding from his back. Pushing his abilities to conjure to the limits, he made as big as he could to kill the inertia. He succeeded… partly.
Dropping on the fabric at full speed and instantly dispersing the created construct, he barely kept his consciousness after the strong impact only to continue his roll right on the top of the ballon. Through the constantly rotated world, he was almost too late to notice an incoming edge. Shouting from a panic, Rob pushed multiple steel spikes out of his body in an attempt to stop himself. Unfortunately, the fabric appeared too tough to be easily pierced. However, it was the exact same moment when the fragments from the destroyed dirigible had reached him.
The explosion from tens of bombs was too huge, sending the remnants flying across the surroundings. Being spread in different directions, they soon started to fall under an invisible effect of gravity. And quite a few had picked their target the very same dirigible. Therefore, when the huge flying chunk of metal pierced the fabric right before Robert’s body, he was too shocked to react accordingly. The moment later his moving body crashed into the burning fragment, hurling the latter out, while simultaneously killing the inertia for the former. The feeling of heat and strength of the impact had sent a wave of pain before Rob had fallen into the newly made hole in one of the ballon’s segments.
Dropping down on his back, he groaned before pushing himself to the side in a more comfortable position. Rob’s back ached from the fall, while his lower pack felt was spasmed that he could barely move. The right shoulder wasn’t better. Moreover, several fragments from a grenade had found their way into his flesh. His heart didn’t show any signs of calming down, beating like a drunken madman in the drum, while teary eyes only started to regain an ability to see clearly.
What a hell of an experience… Directly from the suicide list. Jumping without a parachute – check…
Watching the sky through the gap in the ballon, Robert saw more flaming debris that was raining from above. Luckily, their trajectory of the fall was safe not to be targeted again. Still, it appeared to be a beautiful picture, which mesmerized him for some time before the wounds reminded him about themselves. Turning attention to his state, Rob was shocked to find a metal piece stuck in his shoulder, right under the place where the steel pad was. The latter prevented a fragment from going deeper inside but at the same time kept it in place. The other one had left a bloody mark on his butt.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so painful…
Creating tongs, he spent a few minutes trying to take it out before bandaging the wounds with torn parts of his shirt. Overall, Rob felt quite beaten after the fall. A dislocated shoulder and two injuries were like a cherry on the top of a cake. Left only in pants and boots, he was covered with blood. Mainly not his, but still it didn’t add any points to his image. At least his regeneration was constantly working, already stopping the blood loss and slowly returning him back to his peak form. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even try to extract the fragments. Of course, it would take more time for full restoration. The time, which he didn’t have.
“Okay, let’s go!”
Hitting the fabric with a fist, he slowly stood up trying to think about his next course of action.
As far as I understood, the main segment of the dirigible is used for lifting up, but additional – around it – are there to compensate for the net weight of the airship. Therefore, they are not connected to anything and are almost like a buoy to create a null balance in weights. Their segmented nature is meant to prevent easy destruction and the fall of the machine. So, potentially I can break down through them to get to the cabin.
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Nodding himself, Robert conjured a huge pike before striking down. Surprisingly, the fabric resisted an initial hit, being pierced only after adding more strength to the push. Before the steel tip went down, the light bulb inside Rob’s mind lightened up, telling the consequences of such a deed, but it was too late. The small explosion from the released pressure together with a stream of odd smokey gas had thrown him back. Fortunately, except for the pain in his butt from the impact, he wasn’t injured.
Sighing from his own stupidity, he nevertheless continued with the same action, breaking through three more segments. Each had a height of three meters (10ft) and was held inside a metal cage with additional tubes going somewhere down the metal carcass. The destruction of the last one finally opened the sight on the cabin’s roof. The careful observation from above, while Rob was holding on to the ballon’s inner frame, didn’t show any signs of enemies. However, he wasn’t naïve to think that explosions of segments went unnoticed. It was literally impossible.
Here we go!
Making several exhalations, he resolutely dropped down into the hole, going into an immediate roll. A few bullets flew over his head dangerously near, while even managed to tear a piece from his ear and graze across his bald head. Still, Robert didn’t slow down. Getting back to his feet in one swift motion, he made three wide steps before launching himself into the air. The jump had ended right on the enemy’s soldier when his boots crashed into his face and chest simultaneously. Rob could hear the sound of something breaking under his weight but was too occupied with sending another kick to react. This had sent another soldier in flight down the pathway, creating a domino effect because of the narrow space.
Hastily turning around, Robert conjured a shield in front of his face that was instantly targeted by two gunshots. Roaring wildly in an attempt to scare the opponents, he rushed forward, planting the steel plate into the face of the beastman, who was trying to reload. The latter instinctively tried to cover himself with a rifle, not to avail. The shield’s bash appeared to be too strong, pressing his own hands to the chest. A moment later three spikes shot from the steel surfaces, creating unplanned holes in his skull.
The wild crazy smile plastered on Robert’s face, sending the shivers across the back of the nearest soldier. The fear enveloped the mind of the latter, making him turn around in an attempt to run from the huge human with odd abilities. He didn’t manage to make a single step before a strong impact from behind sent him to the wooden floor. The second later a knee crashed his spine, kicking all the air from the lungs and pressing down with huge weight. He wanted to scream, feeling how the metal something had entered his back, but all strength seemed to disappear. Not able even to lift himself from the ground, he had to watch the wooden floor, which was slowly covered with red liquid…
Shit, in such a way my pants will not last long! Be fucking careful with your clothes, Rob!
Jumping back on his feet, Robert spared a glance at a newly made hole right on his knee, before returning his attention to the beastman. The thrust of a bayonet was countered by a slashing strike of a conjured knife with tilting his head to the side. The blade bounced from the metal trigger guard, severing a few soldier’s fingers in the process. Not stopping on it, Rob grabbed the rifle with his left hand, while making a similar thrusting strike with his right. The enemy attempted to step back, but it was hard to avoid the sword, which could increase its length instantaneously.
Ignoring the groaning enemy with red bulbs forming from his mouth and wide-open eyes, Robert dispersed his weapon and took the rifle with both hands. Hastily turning around, he made a shot. Unfortunately, not having time to aim, the bullet had missed. Still, it led to the instinctive reaction of the enemy on the opposite side of the pathway. Stressed by a near-death experience and seeing multiple corpses of his comrades-in-arms, his responsive shot went far above Rob’s ducking figure. Gripping the bolt handle, the soldier wanted to reload, but Robert was faster. Now wasting any time, he simply threw the rifle, using all his inhuman strength. The bayonet pierced the chest, going throw the rib’s cage and exiting from behind.
Rob, on the other hand, was already busy blocking the strike of the fire axe. Two-hand version, it was used by a bull-like beastman who was swinging it aggressively, relying solely on his strength and not skill. That appeared a stupid decision as Robert was both stronger and more skillful. Pushing away the axe blade with his shield, he made a step forward, while simultaneously grabbing the handle. Pressing the axe with his shoulder against the wall to limit its motions, Rob created something akin to a misericorde. Its thin blade had entered the neck of the enemy from a single hit, going deep enough to instantly turn an attacking enemy into a dead man.
Pushing away the corpse, Robert continued this massacre. Having superior physical capabilities, being able to conjure the steel, limited in narrow space and close quarters, fighting versus untrained in melee opponents, saved from mass usage of explosives - Rob really didn’t see possible difficulties that he couldn’t overcome with such advantage. The beastmen still fought desperately, managing to wound him once, before he finally cleared the whole ship. The last living enemy attempted to blow up the dirigible, but after experiencing it less than half an hour ago, Robert wasn’t going to make it happen again.
If they had automatic weapons, I would be dead…
Despite his combat effectiveness and achievement, Rob didn’t want to evaluate his strength through rose-tinted glasses, thinking about himself as a powerful being. He was not. And he was not sure he would be, taking into account multiple scenarios that his imagination could produce with any self-proclaimed invisible arrogant freak for the latter to meet their demise. Too many ways to kill anyone, even without weapons of mass destruction.
Returning his attention to the surroundings, he started to search for any signs of his group’s dirigible. The mist had completely disappeared by this moment, resulting in a clear blue sky. That gave a possibility to try to find his squad. However, he failed. Maybe it was the distance. Maybe it was an angle of sight as if Mason continued to raise their altitude, Rob just couldn’t see them because of the balloon above his head. There was another, more gruesome, option, but he tried not to think about it.
On the other hand, he had found three more similar airships, filled with beastmen. Luckily, there were no signs of approaching. It wasn’t hard to assume they didn’t see any possibility for the enemy to appear and, moreover, capture the aircraft during the flight. Rob himself was not sure he would want to repeat his sky-diving experience without having a parachute. This fact eased his worries but also reminded him of the need to think about what to do next. However, before he started, Rob noticed something strange and awfully familiar. Almost leaning out from the cabin in an attempt to see better, he muttered in disbelief.
“Is it a mech? What the hell!”