Chapter 55
Eyes wide, I opened the message and stared listlessly at the words.
You’re alive, right?
It was from Vann, using my original CHRONO to message me.
It was really from Vann.
He’s awake.
He woke up.
He’s alive.
I shot back a response, my fingers shaking as I tapped in the message, requiring me to delete and retype four times before it came out right.
Me: Yes. I’m alive.
I confirmed.
Vann: Please tell me you didn’t do something stupid.
Me: I can’t tell you that.
I wanted to joke with him, tell him everything, and catch up, and I could barely contain my excitement at having the chance.
Vann: Then please don’t be mad, because I think I just did something stupid, too.
I was a bit taken aback by that, but I was going to need a less cryptic qualifier.
Me: Care to elaborate?
Vann: When I woke up, they asked me for my name. I told them, and they looked me up to verify my records and see where I was in line for a prosthetic. I was first in line. Because I was drafted. Only… the draft notice was already marked as ‘reported for duty.’
My face blanched, and sweat bloomed on ice cold skin.
Me: Oh, that’s crazy. What a mix up. So what’s the big deal?
I feigned ignorance, in the misguided hope that this wasn’t as dire as I knew it was.
Vann: It took me less than three seconds to put this whole thing together, and I’m still waking up from a coma. Don’t insult my intelligence, Fi.
Me: Fair…
Vann: I’m currently in holding, until this ‘imposter’ is taken into custody and both of our identities can be proven. I wish I could come get you, but they’re refusing my prosthetic until this is cleared up, and they won’t let me leave.
Vann: Fuck, Fi, I wish I’d known. If you’re anywhere near Astaroth, you need to get the fuck out of there, or you’re going to end up in a position neither of us want for you.
They’re not going to take kindly to treason or dodging the matching system.
I don’t know where you should go, but we’ll figure something out. We always do.
I stared at that message for what felt like an eternity.
Me: Demand your prosthetic. They have no right to refuse you. I’ll come up with something.
My legs were already shaking when a soul rendering boom shook the entire building, and threw me back onto my ass. Another boom, and I was stumbling to get upright. I was still spiraling from my world falling out from under me, when another loud blast set off every alarm in the building.
Red lights flared in the hall, while emergency sirens echoed down every corridor.
The doors to the dorms were wide open, and all entrances were cleared to allow for emergency evacuation.
I started running, but I didn’t know where I was going.
There was obviously some kind of attack, but I had no clue in what direction, or where the safest course of escape would be.
My head was spinning in a thousand directions and refusing to land on even one of them.
I heard shouting in the distance, though it was impossible to know exactly how far away the voices were or who they belonged to. I just knew I needed to get out of here, and I’d be better off if I wasn’t caught by anyone, enemy or Mictlanian.
I rounded a bend, and the voices got louder, now accompanied by the roar of gunfire, grunting, and screaming.
Before I had time to panic, I felt my chest hit a metal wall with a violent thud. A hand on my back pressed me harder into the metal, another hand over my mouth stopped me from screaming, and hard muscles and body heat bombarded my entire ecosystem.
“Not a fucking word,” Elio hissed through his teeth, as he held me against a dorm room wall and shielded my body from view with his own. He held his position, perfectly still, not even breathing as three soldiers, guns drawn, wearing unmarked uniforms, bolted past the open doorway.
Those didn’t look like Gehenna uniforms.
“We need to get back to the hangar, and we need to get there fast. Are you injured? Do you think you can keep up?” His tone was as harsh as always, but I could sense the panic behind the words. It was a good thing I’d told him where I was.
“I can keep up.” I assured him.
“Good,” was all he said, before he took off running down the hall. I gave chase, and he made sure I didn’t fall behind.
We rounded another bend, and again, I was slammed into another outcrop, blocked completely from view. More unbranded soldiers past us by, but there were still more loud voices down the hall.
“We’re going to have to either go around, or rush them.” Elio bit his lip, as he started analyzing the situation. I could practically see his plan coming together in the small movements of his eyes.
“You’re doing the overprotective thing again.” I chastised him, not wanting or needing him to always put himself in danger in my stead. We’d get out of this mess together. I’d never forgive him if I got out and he didn’t.
“No, I’m doing the necessary thing again.
Because as much as I hate to admit it, you’re one of the best fucking Shinka pilots I’ve ever met, and if we want any chance of getting out of here with our lives, I need you to get in a suit.
” His brow furrowed. “Plus, I think we both know you have no chance of getting to the hanger in one piece without my help, Mishka.” He emphasized the nickname, but it was negated by the fact that he’d just paid me the highest possible compliment that Elio Marx could give another person.
He didn’t see me as his equal physically, and I’d be lying if I said I saw anyone as his equal physically, but to acknowledge that I was integral to our survival was enough to make my whole body toasty with the most unhelpful blush.
No matter how nice it was to share the softer moments with Elio, it was still his hard edges that kept me on my toes that drew me to him, and I hoped that our relationship wouldn’t lose that.
We shared a single nod of unspoken understanding, then he led me through the corridors, ducking into rooms or outcrops to evade the invading forces.
By the time we got outside the dorm building, however, we came upon the vision of the entire campus up in flames.
Buildings were melted and ripped apart, while Ghuls were… everywhere.
“How did so many of them get in? I thought Astaroth had a shield around it.”
Elio shook his head, sliding a hand along his jawline as he evaluated the scene before us. “They must have someone on the inside. Otherwise, there’s no way to get in. The shields can even disable a Shinka made of Diacynn, so they couldn’t have forced their way through with brute force.”
“There’s no way we’re getting to the hangar without getting caught.” My voice shook as I said the words we were both thinking.
Elio cursed as he scanned the campus for some way through. But there wasn’t one. Amidst the screams, the panic, the flames, and the metal monsters, there was no path forward, lest we become another prisoner or casualty. He shook his head, then looked toward the school gate. “I have an idea.”
Before I could respond, he grabbed my hand, and he started running for the gate.
“Are we just running away?”
“Of course not,” he snapped back, as he slipped us through the damaged entrance to the Academy.
The gate had been completely mangled, and it was still sparking from the shorted force field.
I followed him into the garage, where he retrieved his Light Cycle from his storage unit.
He handed me his helmet, then mounted the bike.
“Do you trust me?” He asked the most ridiculous question he might ever ask me.
“Yes,” I said with a very sarcastic eye roll. “I’d be an idiot if I didn’t trust you at this point.”
“Agreed. Which is why I still had to make sure.” Elio let a smile slip, and I needed that little bit of teasing in such a tense situation.
I pulled on his helmet, half laughing and half shaking my head, then I got on the back of the bike, and we were rushing through chaotic streets, jumping sidewalks, and dodging vehicles and civilians alike with reckless abandon.
There was no sign that the rest of the Saturn domes had been attacked, and people seemed to be going about life as normal, with no idea that the Academy was in shambles with enemies at their door.
It was record speed that we arrived in an all too familiar alleyway. Elio jumped off his bike, the vehicle not even fully still yet, and pounded on the door to the shop until it whirred open.
“Quick, get in.” Lochlan ushered us both inside, shutting the door between us and the city.
“Gehenna attacked the academy. They ambushed us in the training dome, and now that most of our best are busy clearing the hordes up there, they’re attacking us where it matters.” Elio prattled off to Lochlan, much more attune to the situation than I could hope to be. “We need Garuda,” he said next.
Garuda?
“Where’s Lamassu?” Lochlan shook his head. “Garuda isn’t ready.”
“Lamassu was damaged but should be workable, but we couldn’t get to the hangars without getting caught.
” Elio shoved his hand through his hair as a nervous tick.
“I couldn’t find Seba, and Breaker is already in the hangar, but Vann’s unit was obliterated, so we need something, and this was the only place I could think to go. ”
We hadn’t gotten a chance to recover from the last fight. I couldn’t believe we were already about to go right back onto a live battlefield, but I suppose that was the point. If they waited until we had time to recoup and get ready, it wouldn’t be much of a war.
Lochlan sighed, then he walked over to the door to the room that housed his prototype machine. He paused, thought about it, then tapped in the key code. “Which one of you is going to pilot it?” he asked.
“He is.” Elio immediately volunteered me, and I stared at him, wide eyed.
“I am?” I gaped. “Why would you want me to be the one to pilot it? You’re way better than I am in the real thing.”