| Phase 38 � The neighborhood?� � Oh yes. That hole is the like the exhaust pipe on a sand buggy. Just stick something explosive in there and it�ll blow up the battery, engine, and gas line all at once and then it�s the end for that pathetic excuse for a Gear!� Sigurd gave me a look of flat disbelief. � Do you even know what that Gear is, stupid?� � It�s the Alkanshel,� I replied calmly. � It�s supposed to be able to destroy something about the size of the Yggdrasil without using too much power. But that doesn�t matter. Its defense sucks.� � Oh, and that just makes everything okay.� � Precisely.� I looked up and grinned. � Here he comes!� I turned to leave, but collided with a living wall. I glared at the person. � Wha . . .?� � I�m not letting you go out there to fight him.� � Why?! You promised! You said that I could!� � I didn�t think you�d be reckless enough to put Kris in danger!� I frowned. � Why do you care? You are the one who shook her off and treated her so rudely in the site! She wants to kill Stein too! I�m doing her a favor!� � By sentencing her to death?!� � Kris will do anything it takes to kill the ones who hurt her before. She enlisted my help and I agreed.� � Kris isn�t a suicidal maniac!� I humphed. � Boy, you�re in the dark.� Sigurd broke in. � The Alkanshel is moving in.� There was a pause. � And he demands that we hand over Kris.� Bartholomew instinctively pulled me against him and pinned my head against his chest. � I know you want to Sig, so go ahead and tell him where he can shove that request.� Sig smiled. He probably would have grinned, but he�s too stiff for that. � Yes sir! Thank you very much!� To Stein he said with no small amount of total loathing, � Kiss my ass, you bloodsucking parasite.� . . . Maybe he�s not so stiff after all. I tucked my head under Bartholomew�s jacket and relaxed almost to the point of leisure as my eyes shut. I don�t know why; must be something Kris does when he holds her. Bartholomew stroked my hair. � Please. I know I promised, but . . . I didn�t realize how dangerous it would be.� I pulled my head back to look up at him. � So you�re going to tell me not to go so Kris isn�t in danger, but you are going to go out there to possibly get yourself killed so Kris will have to mourn you? How fair is that?� � I�m not going to die.� I snorted and pulled away. � The ones who say that are usually the first ones to go. They say they won�t die and then do something stupid to prove it and then, ta da, they�re dead.� He shoved me back and left the bridge. I started to follow, but Sigurd grabbed my arm. � Don�t you dare.� � What?� � I know you were going to go after him and annoy him some more. But there�s something wrong with him.� � Obviously.� � Well picking at him isn�t going to make him talk!� he snapped. � Now you stay here and behave yourself for once!� � Why don�t you talk to him?� � I might, when there�s time!� I humphed and crossed my arms. � Fine. Whatever. Though it would be more fulfilling to do it myself, I suppose I can watch it from afar. As long as he dies.� To make a long story short, it wasn�t going well. They were losing. And if it weren�t for that asshole Grahf, they probably would have been winning. So I went down to the Gear bay and stopped to stare at Axyl. She looked different. Her wings were much larger, but slightly more proportionate to her form. And her crest was curled up some and pointed, not blunt. � Hey.� I whipped around. � Lyn! What the hell are you doing here?!� She shrugged. � Just haunting my ship.� � Why does Axyl look so strange?� � I upgraded her.� � To what?� � Nothing. Just upgraded her some. She�s not an Omnigear, if that�s what you meant.� � So what�s she called?� � Axyl S240. Or, in your case, Axyl S120.� � Why is mine half?� � Because your Axyl only requires half of the power that Kris� does.� � . . . That makes no sense.� � Since your Axyl draws some of its power from you, it only needs the rest as a supplement. It only takes half the power. Kris� Axyl is unable to draw any amount of power from her without killing her, it relies totally on fuel and the engines. Does that make any sense?� � Enough.� I looked up at the almost completely black Gear. Only the end of the crest, the �mask� over the lower half of her face, the �skin� of her new wings, the bottoms of her boots, and her palms and fingers were grey. Her visor was mirrored, giving her an air of maliciousness. Good. � What can she do?� � Normally? Uh . . . Just a flick of her wing could make her stall a pretzel and put pretty dents in the Solarian country.� My eyes were saucers, I was sure. � O~oh. Can I take her for a test flight?� � You mean against the Alkanshel? Go ahead. Be my guest.� I bowed sarcastically. � Thank you, my queen.� She laughed. � I almost was, girl, I almost was.� I climbed up into Axyl�s cockpit. � Lights.� The lights came on and I glanced around. Everything still looked the same. � Axyl, start up.� � Enter control code.� � Control code: Tyra, 5-2-7-1, input.� � Control confirmed to Tyra. Welcome aboard.� I sat in the chair and fit myself into the harness, my wings wrapping around me like clothing. � Axyl, we�re going to play golf and the Alkanshel�s volunteered to be the ball. Engage engine and exit the bay through the back door. And while you�re at it, display personal weapons.� [And the magic word is . . .?] Yep. Same old Axyl. � Please?� [Compliance.] I scanned the short list. Chain gun, wings, crest . . . and the whips. Kris would be happy. � Axyl, all ahead full. We�re going to tear the Alkanshel and Stein apart.� [Compliance!] The wings flapped with a roar and lifted Axyl into the air a bit. Hm. Never done that before. Lyn wasn�t fibbing. Axyl S could never take off from a standstill. She had to at least have a running start, if nothing else. The wings flapped once again, then Axyl leapt out toward the water and pulled up with another flap. She paralleled the Yggdrasil, then twisted upright and covered the length of the ship in seconds. Brigandier, Vierge, and Renmazuo were backed away from the Alkanshel. If the damn Gear didn�t have Mass Limit, they probably wouldn�t be in such trouble. Oh well. Enter: Axyl S120. � Show me your stuff, Axyl. This is one tough bastard.� [So I see.] � Rip Streak!� [Compliance.] Axyl skimmed over our allies� heads, then threw her head down, slicing at the Alkanshel�s hull with her crest and pinion aegises. This began a deadly rotation with Axyl crunched up and spinning completely around several times a second so that she was a blur. I cut the cameras off, just in case--though unlikely--I got motion sickness for once, and I was left with the sensation of G-forces shoving me back into my seat. Then Axyl stopped and kicked out, knocking the Alkanshel away temporarily. � Tyra?! I thought I told you to stay in the ship!� I (badly) mimicked his voice. � Thank you, Tyra, for helping me.� I returned my voice to normal. � Oh, no problem! My pleasure!� For real, I snapped, � You�re welcome! I saved your ass, remember!� � That�s not the point!� � Hey, I never promised like you did, so you can�t get me for it!� � Ugh! Why are you such a pain?!� � Because it makes you angry!� � Well how about---?! Tyra, look out!� Axyl spun just in time to get smacked aside by the Alkanshel. She crashed to the Yggdrasil�s nose and tumbled along the metal, sending sparks everywhere. I got her back on her feet a moment later. � Still with me, S120?� [Just barely.] � Status.� [There�s some serious electric damage. My batteries are overloaded; I don�t know how much longer they can hold out. The COM is all but gone. The cameras are fried.] � So we�re running blind?� [Essentially, yes.] � Perfect. Axyl, switch to MAC. I�m going to be your eyes.� [That�s not safe. Bartholomew will have kittens.] � He can have as many as he likes; I�m not going to back off and lose to a wimp like Stein. Now switch.� [Shifting to Mental Auto Control . . . Completed.] I retrieved the helmet, unhooked the wires, and activated the remote antenna. A tiny stick-like object rose from a cove in the back of the helmet. I put the helmet on and switched the camera links to the ones hidden in the helmet. From there, I moved to Axyl�s shoulder, then took to the sky and backed as far away as precise accuracy dictated. Stein gloated over an open-air channel, � What�s the matter, Krista-Lyn? Is your Gear malfunctioning?� � Hardly!� I snarled. Okay, he�s just in front of you and to your left. Axyl lunged, slicing with her wings. The Alkanshel fell back. � Wh-What is this?! How is this possible?!� We have the element of surprise. He�s all yours. Axyl then began to fight with everything she had. Her wings cut and dented the other Gear and her crest punched holes everywhere that could be reached. In the end, Stein regained his senses and fought back, tossing Axyl to the side again. She tumbled once, but caught herself and stayed back, stopping so that her head was beside my body (must have been a lucky guess). [Now what?] Now we wait. And when he moves, we stay out of his way. [Won�t he go after the others?] He doesn�t dare turn his back on us. I don�t know about them. An idea hit me. Wait a second. I narrowed my mental channel to a single person. Bartholomew, make yourself useful. How? Axyl and I will try to put Stein between us and you all. Once his back is turned, get him. What if he won�t do it? Then Axyl and I will finish him ourselves. Tell the others. You got it. I turned back to Axyl. When he attacks, duck to the side and spin around so his back is to them. [Understood.] But Stein wouldn�t cooperate. Fine then. Axyl, he�s right square in front of you. Pick up where you left off. [Compliance.] Axyl resumed her beating of the Alkanshel and hardly five minutes later the larger Gear was nothing but scrap. Once it was confirmed, Bartholomew began to chew me out. . . . I love happy endings. <--Phase 37 Phase 39--> |