Assault - pt. 3

My head feels heavy. Maybe it’s because I hit the ground too hard, or maybe it’s all the blood spilling out of me. Probably both. The sky is a collection of smoke, flares, and missiles. The air smells of burning metal. Weakly looking at my surroundings, there’s the fallen tower of the Mangler. Beside me, Shiloh and Jasper, as injured as me.

“Guys… Guys, hey…” I can barely speak above the sounds of warfare.

They don’t respond, but their chests move up and down – slowly. Still alive, but for how long?

Another body lays still a little ahead, Ace’s. His helmet is cracked, and a laser wound is on his shoulder. The golem must’ve thrown him off. He stirs awake, and when he fully regains his consciousness, he turns and crawls over to us without me having to call him. As if he already knew we were like this.

“Give me just a second,” Ace mumbles.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bottle of Re:Pills. He takes a good look at us, then at the number of pills in the container. Sparing his shoulder, he moves closer to me, then carefully lifts up my head. Six pills are fed to me, and that strong, unbearable pressure crushes me. But just like before, the pain fades, and even the bleeding stops.

I sit up, with it now being possible, and watch as Ace slips the container back into his pocket. “You aren’t going to take any for yourself?” I ask, but not out of concern. Don’t care that he just saved my life, it doesn’t change the fact he’s scum like the rest of them.

“That was all of them.”

My eye twitches, my thoughts instantly going towards Jasper and Shiloh. “What about my friends? They’re going to bleed to death at this rate – you could’ve given us two each, moron!”

Ace shakes his head, a shard of glass falling from his broken helmet as he does so. His voice is clearer now, and it’s gentler than expected. “No, I couldn’t. Your injuries were too severe, you needed all of them.”

I scramble onto my feet, a nearby rocket going off nearly causing me to go back down. “In other words, you’re leaving them to die!”

“Calla, please trust me, they’re going to survive this—”

Unconscious, losing all this blood, with nobody helping them?

“Liar!”

I don’t think. Too desperate for that, and as a result, far too stupid. Like I said, if I’m ever going to die from anyone besides Ezri, it’d be because of the people that matter to me. I pick up one of the guns that had fallen alongside us, and run to the other side of the ship, where the entrance is located.

“Calla!” Ace shouts. “Get back here! You have to live, we need—”

Gunfire and missiles block out his yelling, as I face the battleground – and a dead body, right in front of me. The guy’s neck was sliced. I’m sorry, Mom. I know it’s corruptive, but once again, there’s no way to stop looking. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I step over the corpse. A shiver crawls up me when my foot accidentally touches it.

I remember when Ezri gave me medicine for my headache – she had gotten it from a cabinet, with other containers in store. There’s a chance it may have the Re:Pills as well. How big of a chance that is? Don’t know, but I’m going to find out, even if it’s the last thing I do.

To my left, the path to the entrance is clear, the golems distracted by the soldiers in the field. From the north, trucks are driving up. Out come M-droids, who are thankfully the way I know them, except their eyes are also red. They unload ammunition from the vehicles. Great. I hold the gun closer to my chest, its cold frame feeling foreign and unnatural in my clutches, and hurry onward. Each step I take, the more I risk getting noticed and shot, but I manage, practically leaping inside the Spearhead.

But it’s not safe inside the ship, not anymore. All those soldiers that guarded it are lying dead just a few feet behind me, and the floors are decorated with bloodstains. A golem is in the middle of the first room, on the ground shaking as sparks fly out from it. At least somebody already handled it for me.

I approach the corridor leading into the east wing of the ship; the cockpit is at the end of it. A red light flickers over me, coming from the wounded golem. “Enemy detect- enemy detect- annihil-,” it struggles to say. Even while breaking down, it’s still prepared to kill.

Does Dad know about this?

I ignore the thought for now, focusing on the task at hand. Can’t dilly-dally, Shiloh and Jasper need me. Continuing along the hall, my footsteps echo in the interior.

I expect something to jump at me at any moment. A blast makes me jump back, but it’s only outside, only outside.

There’s a small object onward, something roundish— oh, oh— it’s a head. Well, there you go, then. My guts ball into knots, but I have to keep moving. Shiloh and Jasper need me.

Someone moans from around the corner. “Help me, help me… Commander, Captain…” a feeble voice begs, but there’s also movement. The spinning blades. My finger slowly moves to the trigger – I pull back, hesitant, then proceed, repeat, until it’s finally there and ready to pull. As I figured, a golem is standing above a wounded soldier, the edges of its blades about to tear through her armor, all while I’m motionless.

Do I just run? No, it’d hear me. I do have this gun, but— I don’t know how to use it properly, and is it really necessary to? I could just not get caught, it’s possible.

“Help me…” the soldier pleads again.

However, I run out of time to decide on anything. Perhaps sensing my presence, the golem turns to me. The lines of its guns and blaster are dulled, not giving off any light – it needs more ammo, that explains the trucks. But those cutters are still going.

Dang it, do something— What’s wrong with you? Just shoot the gun, just this once, it’s not that difficult. Illegal, yes. Frightening, yes. How ironic, I’m acting like those Admins at the Convention – the button to call the golems right at their fingertips, yet paralyzed by themselves.

“Enemy detected,” the golem sets to lunge. “Annihil—”

“Help me, Admiral—” the soldier says deliriously.

Just as the golem moves, she blows off a grenade, driven to suicide by her mental state. It destroys the both of them. The force of it pushes me into the opposite wall with a thud. A burning pile is all that remains – on the inside, at least. It made a giant hole through the ship, revealing two golems. Unlike their friend, their weapons are charged.

This time, I don’t just stand around. I get up and book it down the hall, a laser almost grazing my skin as the golems say the alert. The cockpit isn’t far, the doors are ahead, just keep running— another laser shoots by, close to my head. I throw a helmet from another dead body to intercept the next. Running up to another corner, I aim to dodge rapid fire, but it’s not good enough – a laser hits through my leg.

Not good, not good. The cockpit doors are literally across from me, but with my leg like this now, the golems will reach me first. Wincing in pain, I stare down at the gun. There’s nobody else to save me now. Someway, I’ll have to survive on my own – for their sake.

I remember how Shiloh took down that one golem – shoot like mad, but I don’t even know how much is in this thing. Whatever, it’ll be better than nothing. The stomping of the golems get closer, my heart feels like it’s about to burst out my chest. I raise the gun, and there it is again, the feeling I’ve done this before – except now, it doesn’t scare me.

No, I’m calm, steady – experienced, somehow.

The golem pokes out its head, and not holding back, I shoot. Again and again, landing every hit I set out to. I don’t know how, but the weak spots – the skull and core – just jump out at me, as if already hidden somewhere in the back of my brain. Defeated, the golem falls back onto the other, giving me the opportunity I need.

Restricted to all fours, I crawl to the doors, a trail of blood following behind.