As my natural eye watered, I felt as though my brain had almost been rocked out of my skull. Who in the IMBIBE are these crazy bastards? I asked myself, feeling disjointed whilst I pushed myself up.

The Thundrum’s doors slashed open once more, and I saw Stelig proning against his prefabricated straps, sliding his Sniper Rifle into the harness set up. It made him look like a statue and not to be offset by Tryzer’s glorious piloting. He knelt, slid his left foot outside, then shouldered his Sniper Rifle with purpose.

Waves of water formed in the air as if the sound barrier had been broken. as Stelig fired two shots “SHIT!” Stelig growled.

“Did you just shatter a windshield?” I asked, trailing outside the Thundrum, zooming in and seeing a shattered windscreen from a passing vehicle. “Not my problem!” He roared, firing another shot.

The kidnapper’s van dipped, sailing onto a different Skylane, Trucks, Cars, Trailers and everything flying charged towards us, as we were in the wrong damn land!

“Strap IN!” Tryzer roared, slapping a white button above his head. The motor for the harness spooled up, dragging me back in and the doors slammed shut.

I felt the Thundrum dip, swerved, climb and banked left to right. “Stel! that's coming out of your hazard pay!” Naedon snapped.

“Come on Cap. That’s bullshit.” Stelig complained.

“IS it? Last mission you goofed around with that hooker and lost sight of the target. We had to trek FIVE MILES might I add, in the PISSED Waste just to bring him in.”

“That wasn’t me Cap. I told you, she drugged me!” He pleaded.

“…and we told you to take your antispetiminue nanite shot. But no. You wanted to feel the sweetness of the Petiminue!”

“…I DID take my shot Cap!”

“Whatever…” Naedon roared from the front.

Naedon pulled down a Holodisplay from the middle of the dashboard, and swiped right, tying in numerals from the looks of it, then slammed it shut.

“Bastard…” I heard Stelig whisper.

“Rynord…what’s taking so long for you to lock on to the rat bastard?”

“He’s swerving too much Cap, each time I have him in my sights, a damned Car, Truck or Bird appears out of the blue.”

“Shoot. The. God. Damn. Birds! We don’t care.” Stelig said.

“I don’t think Rynord wants anything taken out of his hazard pay.” I joked.

The spooling roar of the Thundrum went dead, leaving my ears to wonder. I sensed as If I’d said something stupid by the way Rynord looked at me from upside down. Stelig eyed me with goggled eyes, whilst Naedon just stared at me with his strong jawline. If Tryzer could pull his eyes from the staring well, I’m sure he would.

“Cap…I request that Cypher’s hazard pay be docked instead of my own.”

“On what grounds?”

“Lame. Ass. Joke.”

“Granted.”

I gave dry laugh, feeling as though, I’d just been the butt of an ongoing joke. I know better though, this was their way of hazing. Not like I cared. I wasn’t part of their squad, officially, but I was here to help…in any way I can.

I couldn’t say I was a fan of their jokes, but everyone has their way of dealing with high-pressure situations. Mine, however, was a bit more, surgical, precise. However, in a hostage situation, in a car chase across the city. Being surgical and precise were far but none for me.

“Stelig…it’s now or never,” Naedon said.

White lights pulsed around the Gunseat and began to pulse and beat like a heart. The Machine Gun stapled to the top of the Thundrum began to spool, sounding like metal grinding with a howling whistle at the end of each turn.

Bullets spat from the Machine Gun in the form of lava flies. The Armored Van ahead of us swerved left, then right, perfectly avoiding each shot as the tail of bullets followed its trajectory. No matter how skilled one’s flying could be, there was no one someone could dodge bullets the way he did. Something was wrong here, but what?

“What the hell are those bullets?” I asked, “The Parabola fizzles out before it even gets close.”

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“Quiet Cypher!” Stelig huffed. “Rynord needs silence when using Stelig snapped. I zoomed in, watching the bullets fizzle out of existence from the heat. “I need you to get closer Tryz…the bullets are shattering before impact.”

“Stel…Cypher gonna need you again!”

Stelig knelt once more, but this time he didn’t allow his foot outside. He held his arm, and the dangling dings of his harness rocked and back forth as he held his position as best as he could.

I, on the other hand, was halfway out of the god damn door, rain spitting in my face, hoping an ongoing car, or truck didn’t splatter my head against the Thundrum’s roof!

The roaring sound of the wind sprayed inside, hissing as it surged inside like a tempest. Stelig took aim once more and the Machine Gun stapled to the top of Thundrum began spooling up once more.

Stelig fired a barrage of shots at the Armoured Van ahead of us, but not one shot got to the targets, bullets dissipating in the wind.

“What the hell are you firing?” I growled from outside, but the comms were working quite well.

“Paint Ball Pellets,” Naedon said, shrewdly. What? Did I ask myself…paint ball pellets? THIS MAKES NO SENSE. “WHY?” I hissed, perplexed by Naedon’s nonchalant answer. “…Because the solvent within the PBP is traceable. Look, this isn’t working, your eye is good, but Liza isn’t competent enough with it, So either you pick up a weapon and help, or sit back down and enjoy the ride!”

In the corner of my eye, I watched as the White Van whipped itself across the skyline, sailing under a tripod set of legs of the Water Tower.

The van hit one of the legs and the sound of strained metal bending groaned out. The Water Tower began to tilt, then when enough metal had been strained it dropped right in the flight path. You’ve got to be shitting me.

“BRACE FOR IMPACT!” Tryzer roared, trying his best to push his yolk forward. The motor from the harness kicked again, pulling me back into the Thundrum with venom. The g-force from pull slammed back inside and barely grabbed onto a handle that was on my right. “RYNORD…IT’S SLOWING DOWN. HIT IT NOW. THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE.” Naedon roared.

Droplets of water splashed against the windscreen, as I tilted my head up, watching as Rynord empty the machine gun into the flight path of the White Van!

Rynord had a good again, but with a tilting Water Tower bending into our direction, I could see my life flash in front of me.

The Thundrum spun vertically in a maniacal fashion upon impact. A flood of water crashed through the side door, sweeping me off my feet and pushing me towards the opposing door.

I reached out for the Gunseat pole, trying my best to stop myself from being pushed out, only to graze my nails against the pole.

My stomach leapt up and into my mouth, as I sank my nails into the floor, hoping that would help. My nails scraped against the matte floor like a rock sliding across the ice.

The weightless of my body made me feel as if I were floating. A thousand thoughts rushed into my mind in the second. Thoughts of Shin-Lee…Hannah…the only reason I was alive. I promised myself I wouldn’t put myself in dangerous situations after massing the fortune I gained, only to die from falling through a door.

Knowing Shin-Lee, she would get through without me, she certainly was, when I met her, but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted to grow old with her, see her hair turn grey, whilst Hannah be married with children of her own.

A stinging sensation pulsed around my chest as if someone was about to bury their hand into my chest. I looked up, shocked by the revelation. “I gotcha Cypher,” Rynord said, holding a fistful of my shirt and jacket.

The violent spins came to end after thirteen seconds, with variegated sounds of the Thundrum’s afterburners roaring around me.

To my left, Stelig hung from the door holding his harness, sniper rifle dangling from his chest, swaying from left to right.

We sat in the middle of two buildings, floating, catching everyone’s attention, those that’d stopped anyway. “Is everyone alright?” Naedon spat. “I’m fine,” Tryzer said.

“I’m good Cap, just a bit banged up.”

“Stel?”

“fine…just wet,” Stel answered.

“Cypher?”

“Alive and kicking!”

“Good…”

“What about me Cap, you dine ask shit about me?”

“It’ll take more than water to kill you Rynord!”

The Cobra Squad all start laughing as if this was some type of joke. For christ sake, we almost died and I’m as hell!

The Thundrum hovered in spot, blinking lights and traffic flying past us. We’d lost the White Van after whatever that psycho Tryzer did at Water Tower. It was a genius thing to do, Hell, I approved of the tactic, but not at the expense of my life.

Pink and Yellow Lights swarmed around us, with blistering heat as reconvened our thoughts and mellowed our minds. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, nulling the effects from the bumps and scrapes I got earlier during the night.

I plunked myself back into my seat, feeling my drenched tuxedo send chill bumps across my back, making me feel even more miserable.

Rynord sat between Stelig and me, whilst he held his head down, gathering his thoughts. Stelig stared at the ceiling, no doubt pissed as hell, based on how many teeth he showed, angered.

“Good Work Rynord, Trackers in place. We got ‘em.” Naedon said, raising a datapad. ”Great.” Rynord said with a huff. “Which direction are they heading?” I asked. “Northern District.”

“Northern District? The only thing there is abandoned warehouses, shanties and ghettos.” Stelig said.

“That’s not true,” Tryzer interjected. ”Belleview Port is there as well.”

“Belleview Port?” Stelig hissed. “SHIT…that means…”

“Yup…it would seem that way.”

“They might be looking to smuggle the girl out of the City,” I added.

“This isn’t good…who in the IMBIBE did they take?” Stelig grunted. “Cypher! Why couldn’t you get an eye out for her, you bastard, you have a Cybernetic eye for Christ sake!” He finished in an eastern accent drawl, which, I didn’t expect.

“Stel, quiet. It doesn’t matter if Cypher got an eye on her or not. It would’ve made our job easier. However, we don’t ever take the easy jobs now do we?” Naedon said, firmly. “In truth, we don’t know what their final destination is, because all we have is a guess, is it good? We don’t know, but let’s keep our heads on and wits, ready. Try…move out.”

The Thundrum was quiet for three seconds before I finally broke the ice. “Does he always break into speech mode?” I whispered to Rynord. “You ain’t heard nothing yet Cypher, wait till we find these bastards…you’re in for a speech, I’m telling you!”

I gave dry laugh and allowed my body to sink into my seat. Bruised and tattered was how I felt, but the little tranquillity I got, was good enough for me. All I had to do now, was show up, help get the girl back, go home and watch the credits hit my account, simple right? Right.