Chapter 50
I bit my lip until I tasted blood to stop myself from screaming. I wouldn’t let her hear me buckle. Not right now.
She might hate me for this later, and I would happily let her, because at least she would still be alive to do so. As frustrated as I may be with the truth of who she was, man or woman, she was still Mishka, and I was not letting the mouse die on my watch.
Great as that was, there were four more in line to fire with more on the way, and it was near impossible to take on that many at once.
Their armor couldn’t take the force of our close range weapons, but it also couldn’t be penetrated by even our strongest rifles, and with this many surrounding us, it was a guarantee I’d get tagged again.
They weren’t manned or intelligent crafts, but they had range, power, and accuracy that had killed me in more than one training simulation.
I couldn’t afford that kind of trial and error now.
“Run,” I yelled into our private channel.
“We’re falling back,” I added for the full group.
She hesitated, but I didn’t. I shot back over to her and practically tackled her, grabbing her Shinka by the waist and hauling her backwards.
“You can fight me and get us both killed, or you can use your thrusters to help, but whatever you decide, we’re not staying here, even if that means I chop your limbs off and carry you back. ”
“What about Sebastian and Breaker?” Fianna argued, because she couldn’t just trust me this one time.
“I’ll come back for them after I get you to the escape transport. They can handle themselves until them.”
“And I can’t? Let me fight, Elio. I’m not letting them stay behind and get killed because you don’t think I’m good enough to be here.” She attempted to push away from me, and I clamped down harder.
Fucking hell, she was aggravating. This was why we didn’t have women on the battlefield. Compassion was going to get her killed, when we could all defend ourselves just fine.
Even if I had to admit, internally and only internally, that her sniping ability was likely the only reason we were all still alive right now.
She was an asset, but she wasn’t an asset I was willing to lose.
“This isn’t about being good enough. None of us are good enough for this.
” I heard the surge of power before I saw it, and it was by centimeters that I managed to get us beneath another cannon blast. Residual heat had me dripping in my cockpit.
In the next second, Breaker was on top of the sphere and ripping out its core with his claws, giving us a brief margin of safety to get away.
“This isn’t the time for pride and heroism.
It’s great that you want to prove yourself, but your ego isn’t worth your life. ”
“Says the guy who just had his arm blown off trying to be some kind of white knight.” She shook her head. “This is why I couldn’t tell you. I don’t need you to treat me like I’m a weak child who you need to protect. I liked you better when you made me do sit-ups with broken ribs.”
“And I liked you better when you were scared enough to fucking listen to me,” I said through gritted teeth.
“No you didn’t.” Fianna pushed back through the line, entirely too playful for the situation at hand.
She was right, admittedly. But that wasn’t the point.
“Now let me go. Either we all get out of here or none of us do. I can help. I understand I don’t have a lot of experience, but I’m good enough to hold my own here. ”
“No.” This wasn’t negotiable, and I wasn’t sure what part of our relationship led her to believe I was open to suggestions.
“Breaker: Status update.” I switched back to the group channel, not giving her any additional window to argue with me.
Lucky for her, Seba had already added her to our usual frequency, so hopefully hearing from them would be enough to knock some sense into her.
“I know you hate Earthisms and all, but have you ever heard the phrase ‘death by a thousand cuts?’” He asked in the most Breaker way possible.
Why did I align myself with these people? Was no one taking this seriously?
“Will you just fucking give me an update,” I snapped. Three explosions speckled the horizon behind me.
“Current wave of Tank Spheres have been eliminated. Next wave is en route.” Seba came online instead, giving me an actual useful update.
“Status update: 97% of surviving allied units have retreated. Six units remain in open space. Transport is returning to staging, ETA: Nine-minutes, forty-two seconds. 3,943 Ghuls remain. Remaining tanks and additionally cavalry, unknown. Vetala’s damage, 7%, two forearm cannons destroyed, but thrusters and limbs fully functional.
Syncing, 99%: Stable.” He was as by the book as always.
A quiet smile graced my lips, glad to see he was okay.
At least I could always count on one of us to be a professional.
“Okay, fine.” Breaker groaned. “Kishi: 0% damage, and all internal weapons online. External rifle core has been damaged, and long range weaponry is inoperable. Three weapon cylinders lost, but six on hand. Sync: 100%: Stable plus plus.” Breaker added, as unrattled as always.
“Look at that—I’m more synced and undamaged than Seba.
Does this mean I should be rank one now? ”
“No,” both Seba and I said in unison.
“At best, you can be number three. At best,” I added, because there was always enough time for senseless bickering among us.
Anyway. “I lost my right arm saving the mouse, and my back thruster was damaged by proxy, currently operating at 76%. But that’s still better than most this field, so I’m not worried.
Otherwise, nothing fatal. Sync, max and holding.
” I reported, keeping it brief. “And Mishka is fine.”
“Hey, I can report for myself,” she whined, and I was glad she couldn’t see how hard I rolled my eyes while we were in our machines.
“Max sync with a missing arm and 24% thruster damage, eh?” Breaker chimed in, still on the group frequency, at the same time that he engaged with another Ghul.
“You must have a real big motivator to keep you grounded.” Sadly for us all, violent murder wasn’t distracting enough to get him to shut up.
“Not dying is pretty fucking strong motivation, yes.” Again, we did not have time for this. And yet…
“Of course it is.” Breaker switched to a private channel while systematically ripping apart his enemies, and I had to admit that, annoying as he was, and unmotivated as he seemed, by the stars, he was good. “It’s just not your life you’re worried about, is it, Firefly?”
“You’d be doing the same if I hadn’t intervened.” I didn’t know why he was so hung up on my relationship with her. “But it’s my job, above all, to make sure everyone makes it back.”
“Fair. But don’t forget you’re part of that everyone, too.” Unexpectedly sweet words for Breaker.
“I never knew you cared so much.” We both laughed at that. His ability to remain the most calm under all circumstances was his biggest strength. “But you are too, so don’t let your sync get to your head. 1% damage in the wrong place is still enough for you to end up 100% dead.”
“War math.” He snorted through the line.
Command came online again with an update, interrupting us before we could get any deeper into this disturbingly heartfelt conversation.
“Expected reinforcements, seventeen minutes. All remaining units, immediately report to the escape transport. Failure to return on the first available pod will result in a formal reprimand. This is an order. Do not continue to engage.”
The emphasis was noted and pointed, considering a 97% retreat of our surviving units meant we were among the last few who were left.
“Still want to argue with me?” I said, back in my private line with Fianna.
“You win. Happy?” She literally couldn’t turn off her sarcasm.
“Over-fucking-joyed.” Maybe I couldn’t either.
“But I can still shoot while you fly us to safety.” She said next, and by the stars can you think about your own survival for five seconds?
But it was pointless to push back on her when she was so deadest on staying the course.
She faced backwards, while I propelled us forward, and she set up her aim.
“Keep your sights trained on the Ghuls, because our rifles can’t penetrate the tanks.
” At this point, I was just going to accept that she was going to do whatever she was going to do, so she may as well do it right.
“I learned that one the hard way a long time ago, so be glad I’m giving you the easy way. ”
“Noted.” Wasting no words, she began firing while I kept a hold on her unit with an arm around her waist, and zigzagged to avoid enemy fire.
New tanks had started moving in, but so long as I kept a constant and varied movement pattern, they would fire at where I was and not where I was going.
They could only fire for two second bursts, and then they needed that 6.
3 seconds to cool and recharge before the next blast, so I timed every movement with their refresh cycle.
Explosions rang out in the distance, pointedly timed with every instance that I felt the recoil of her shot reverberate through the both of us. A warm pang hit my chest every time she pulled off shit like that, and fuck me if it didn’t make my cock twitch.
I am seriously NOT thinking about that right now, by the fucking stars. Maybe men shouldn’t be on the battlefield either.
I used added propulsion in my damaged wings to cover more ground as fast as was possible by any Shinka, until the escape transport came into view.
Another shot, another explosion, another drop in the enemy count.
The number had finally stabilized, and was consistently dropping with every slain Ghul.
We were still outnumbered, 3922 to the 6 units who hadn’t successfully retreated, but their count was starting to roll down with a vengeance, while ours was holding.