"What?"
She slapped a remote transmitter on the bottom of the main console and snatched her stun blaster off the desktop. "I got company. Get back with you as soon as I dump them."
"Make it snappy, Jinx. We're sitting ducks out here."
"What do you think I am?"
She ended the transmission and crept up the stairs into the convenience store. A red-masked soldier crept past the window. She'd been the subject of enough manhunts to guess what he'd do next.
Racing across the store, she leaped out the exit and shot him just as he raised his arm to throw the flash grenade. The stun round knocked him backward, the grenade flew out of his hand and rolled toward his approaching comrades. The detonation sent them flying through the air.
Another squad stormed around the corner, shouting and aiming their ion blasters. She unstrapped her Kick-Ass blade. As the weapon clicked into shape, she whirled it in a circular motion, casting a disruptor wave that shut down electronics in a ten-yard vicinity. The soldiers stopped, staring at their rifles when the power cores went dead.
Jinx stormed them before they could recover, KA-blade striking left and right. The stun setting discharged electric volts with every touch, leaving the soldiers convulsing on the ground as she cleared through the six-man team. One of them managed to leap away and draw his sidearm. She switched her KA-blade to gun mode, blasting him with an electric ray before he pulled the trigger.
Leaping into the Cayenne, she hit the thrusters, shifting to air mode in a plume of heated dust and propelling in the direction of Los Nuevos.
Her threat detector alarm flashed. The rearview cam flicked onscreen, displaying the military gunner craft that quickly gained on her. The twin plasma cannons equipped on both sides of the small airship opened fire, narrowly missing her vehicle.
"Hey! Watch the paint job!"
She dropped low, zigzagging and barely skimming over the desert floor, kicking up enough dust to cloud their vision and possibly screw with their sensors. Scorching blasts rocked the ground around her, kicking up clouds of earth and wreathing the Cayenne in flames.
She looked up. The Haven was much closer; only seconds until she struck the protective shielding like a fly against the windshield of a bullet train. She tapped her com.
"Deejay. I need a window in the shielding. Open and shut right behind me."
"Now?"
Jinx winced as the Cayenne shuddered from a close miss. "Yes, now. Either I get in or get shot down. I can't shake these pendejos."
"I don't think I can—"
The threat detector blared, indicating a missile lock. Jinx gritted her teeth and slapped her palm on the boosters. "You can, Deejay. Do it. Do it now!"
The shielding shimmered directly in front of her. She threw up her hands, squeezing her eyes shut as the Cayenne hurtled into it full throttle. The sound of an explosion followed, rocking her in the seat as heat flared around her.
She opened her eyes, staring at the detonation behind her from the missile striking the energy shield. Unable to pull up, the pursuing gunner ship slammed into the forcefield as well, creating an even bigger explosion. The Cayenne continued forward, trailing smoke as it shot toward the glittering city of Los Nuevos.
Jinx threw back her head and whooped. "You did it, Deejay! I don’t know how you did it, but you saved my ass big time."
Deejay's smiling face flashed on the dash monitor. "De nada, Jinx. But let's do each other a favor and never try that again."
"I think I can agree with that."
"I was only able to operate so quickly because Sergeant Chen was assigned an entirely different task, leaving me in control of the system."
"What's she working on?"
"A massive tracking search. I've never seen anything like it."
"Can you clone the search without her knowledge?"
"Already done. We'll know whatever she does when she's done. For now, I'm sending you our coordinates. I think the crew is going to need all the help they can get."
"Yeah, someone has to come to their rescue. I'm on my way."
Kilgore limped into the Reservatory. His right leg was severely sprained in the fight with the attacking synoids, his arms suffered contusions, and his face was badly bruised. The body armor protected his vitals; the only reason he didn't suffer further damage. He needed time to recover, for his accelerated healing system to operate unhampered. He shoved the discomfort to the back of his mind. Pain meant nothing. What mattered was in front of him.
Sergeant Chen's head snapped up at his entrance, unease clearly visible on her face.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
He glanced down. Blue synoid blood covered him as if he bathed in it. "Nothing special. Did you track the name?"
She eyed him nervously when he walked closer. "You were right. Without access to Maximillian's tech, I'd never have been able to locate him."
"But you did."
"Yeah." She pointed to a position on the screen. "He's in Oakland, California. I've pinpointed his location to an area of five square kilometers. Do you need me to send the file to you?"
"No. I need you to erase the location. Erase the search. Any trail possibly leading to that location. No back doors, Sergeant. I mean that sincerely."
"No problem." Chen's fingers flew across the keyboard. "All traces erased. No one else will be able to perform the search. No one will know about what we found."
Kilgore extended a hand. Blue light flickered, and a Five-Seven pistol appeared in his hand, aimed at Chen's head. "You're right. No one will know."
She froze, gazing up with terror swimming in her eyes. "Please. I did what you asked. I swear I won't tell anyone."
"I know you won't." He grinned and pulled the trigger.
Mateo and Hessler entered the Reservatory just in time to see Kilgore calmly shoot a soldier in the head. Hessler didn't pause or hesitate. He opened fire immediately, shots booming in the cavernous chamber. Somehow Kilgore was quicker, leaping over equipment and while firing back with his own pistol. Every one of Hessler's shots missed the mark.
Kilgore's didn't.
Hessler's body jerked when struck by multiple rounds. He slumped to the floor, gun falling from his hands. Mateo scooped it up, running forward. His adrenaline exploded, tinting his vision red. Time slowed down, allowing him to avoid Kilgore's gunfire easily. He returned fire, practically floating across the floor. When the gun clicked empty, he kept running. Leaping off the wall and flying through the air, he ignited his arcsaber and attacked.
Kilgore whirled and weaved, dancing in between Mateo's blurring strikes. He dropped the gun, hands flashing. A long, gunmetal staff appeared from thin air, whirring in his hands as he switched from defense to offense. Mateo parried the whiplash attacks, surprised that his arcsaber didn't cut the staff in two.
Must be made from graphenite. Cool. Mateo smiled as he fought, picking up his speed. The arcsaber hummed, sizzling with every clash against Kilgore's staff. Sparks reflected from Kilgore's mirrored glasses. His teeth were bared in a fixed grin as if he enjoyed the sheer dynamism of the battle as much as Mateo did. They flowed across the room, feinting and striking, parrying and counterattacking.
Kilgore drove Mateo back, then reversed and somersaulted backward, landing in a crouch. "You've been trained by the Wraths of Ebonhall, boy. You can summon the Rush, increasing your speed and reflexes. But you haven't been marked, and you don't wear their colors. Who are you?"
"A free spirit," Mateo said. "The Sister raised me as her own, then kicked me from the nest to teach me how to fly."
"So, you were fostered by the Renegade. Normally I'd be interested in that story, but not today. And you won't be able to fly with your wings clipped." Kilgore raised his hand. The arcsaber vanished from Mateo's fingers, reappearing in Kilgore's fist. The laser blade immediately deactivated.