A/n: Well, nows the bit where it gets a bit more action-ey, so hopefully the suspense I have been building (or at least attempting to build) pays off. Enjoy, and please review!
It was almost pitch black at the Dragon's Throat. High up above, the cloud cover blocked out any of the last rays of sunlight of the day. These clouds swirled and boiled, their ferocity revealed by the frequent flashes of lightning. This also revealed the torn up volcano cone itself. It reached high into the sky in the near distance; the masses of cloud were swirling about its summit like the dragon was spitting out a spinning, continuous stream of smoke.
Even below all the raw energy above, a fine, stinging rain fell. And the wind howled. The dragon screamed; legend said that it didn't like intruders. But the last thing on Cortes' mind was offending a rock formation that vaguely resembled a mythical creature.
He'd landed the Mosquito on the block at Diwan's coordinates. It looked to be one of the largest of those that orbited the volcano. Just big enough to land two ships without too much risk of being blown off the edge just before you set the ship down.
And now Diwan's ship had landed too, its lights cutting through the dim. Its engines powered down, and the hatch dropped open. Diwan stepped out. She was alone, though Cortes could guess she may well have a few Brigs on the ship. It didn't matter that much, because he had a gun back in his. He wished it was by his side instead.
Diwan walked silently up to him and then stopped a few feet away. For a moment, they just looked at each other and the only sound was the howling of the wind. Then Diwan's eyes shifted over to Cortes' ship and back to him.
"You've only brought one single-person ship," she said. Her tone darkened. "Where's Lena!?"
"She's not here," Cortes said simply.
Diwan glowered, and her fists started to clench. "We had a deal, Cortes. Don't you care that all the sick people on your block willdie if you don't cooperate? What's going on?"
Cortes harrumphed. "Let's just say I'm not very good with kids. Lena's gone. Mahad found out I'd made this deal, and he took her away in the Hyperion. Just like you'd expect any caring older brother to do…"
"He's an idiot!" Diwan shouted. "And you can't even control your own crew! You've both just sentenced your block to death!"
"Listen to me, Diwan!" Cortes shouted back, easily matching the strength of her voice. "I can't give you her now, but I can give you the ability to find the Hyperion. I guarantee both she and Mahad will be with it." He flicked the memory card out of his pocket, and held it up for Diwan to see. This was the part he had to play right; Diwan had to believe he was telling the truth. Cortes locked his gaze with hers, and didn't break it. Avoiding it would indicate he was lying. He just hoped he had enough anger and hate in his eyes that she would be unable to see any deception in them. "This memory card has the frequency of the locator beacon on the Hyperion. You only need follow the signal, and it'll lead you to Lena."
Diwan seemed to think for a moment. Then she stepped forward and snatched the card off Cortes. "Let's just check it then," she growled. She whipped a handheld device off her hip, and slid the memory card into it, then waited for a moment. The device blipped.
Diwan raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you're telling the truth, Cortes. I'm getting a signal."
"Where's the cure?" Cortes snapped.
Diwan smirked, and pulled her own memory card from a pocket. "Alright. Here."
Cortes snatched it off her. "I need to transmit this from the Mosquito," he said, taking a step away.
Diwan nodded.
Cortes paced back to the small ship, and stepped into the cockpit.
"Keep that hatch open!" Diwan shouted at him.
Cortes ignored her, but left the hatch up. She was obviously worried about him flying away, though Cortes knew there was no way the Mosquito could outrun her S22. And he doubted he could fly well enough to take it down either.
He shoved the card into the Mosquito's computer system, and pulled up the display. A molecule came up on the screen. Cortes had no idea whether it would fix the sickness the Sphere had caused. But itlooked right. He knew carbon really was an atom, for instance. His shoulders slumped as he exhaled, and actually relaxed. Puerto Angel would be okay. He reached for the controls that would transmit the information.
Diwan watched from where she stood, her arms folded and a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Cortes would be a good source of information on what was left of the rebellion. If he told them enough, the Sphere would be able to crush the final remnants for good. But that was a big if. She knew Cortes would not be convinced to talk easily, even with the Sphere's many 'methods of persuasion'. That was the reason she'd let him take the information on the cure all the way back to the Mosquito, let him put it into the computer and see that it would work… then she'd snatch it away from him. Effectively, she'd snatch away the lives of everyone he'd thought he was just about to save. Diwan knew that that single action might go further towards breaking him than wiring an electrical impulse generator directly into his spine.
She waited until she saw Cortes relax, then hit a button on the same device she'd used earlier. It sent a signal to her S22. The S22 put out a radio interference pattern.
The link Cortes had almost established with Puerto Angel disappeared.
Cortes stared at the screen, almost in shock for a moment. Was the radio interference pattern still up around Puerto Angel? No, Wayan knew he needed to transmit the cure; he would have taken it down when Cortes was due to send through the information. He'd probably done so earlier, seeing as he had been so opposed to it being put up in the first place. Then the reality hit Cortes and he looked up, glaring hard at Diwan. "What did you do?!"
"Me?" said Diwan, not even trying to hide her slight amusement. "Nothing."
Cortes closed his hand around the gun in the bottom of the cockpit, and then stepped out. "Whatever it was, fix it!" The gun came up.
"I thought we agreed on no extra fire power?" said Diwan, totally unperturbed by the weapon. She carefully pressed a button on her small device. Cortes was far too angry to notice the slight movement.
The guns safety clicked off. "Fix it," Cortes growled, pointing the weapon right in the Guardian's face.
Then the air was rifted by an almighty crack. A lightning bolt had hit the top of Diwan's S22, lighting everything in a stark blue light. And suddenly, that light was in Diwan's hands.
"Now Cortes, I think you'd better drop that gun," said Diwan. She didn't wait for him to comply, just hurled the energy. It hit the gun and knocked it from his grasp, sending a burning, tingling sensation up his arms.
Cortes grunted in surprise and shook has hands as if to flick off the pain, and then he took a step back.
"Did you realise that Seijins can use almost any energy source, Cortes? Not just the sun; that's just the easiest. Lightning takes quite a bit more practice – it's pretty powerful. At any rate, it needs to be close to be utilised properly. That's why there's a lightning rod on my S22, which I just activated. I bet you didn't expect that."
Cortes ignored her explanation. The tables had turned on him, and he was desperately looking for a way out. He was seeing none. "Diwan," he tried, "you've got to let me send the information for that cure."
"Too bad," Diwan growled. The amusement was gone; she was getting tired of this. "A few less pirates will do the Sphere just fine. I have no reason to let you send it."
"They're not just pirates! There are families with children on our block, some that have nothing to do with us, they just live there."
"Too bad," Diwan reiterated. "I don't remember receiving any communications from those families telling us there were pirates on their block. That is their duty to the Sphere. If they don't perform it…" she shrugged.
Cortes gritted his teeth, and felt rage building inside him. "Some are just kids!" he shouted, because he could do nothing else with the rage lest Diwan blast him.
Lightning hit the top of the S22 again, but Diwan didn't bother to grab the energy. She didn't need to. "You should know better than to try to appeal to my humanity, Cortes."
"Aye, because you have none!"
----
"What was that!?" exclaimed Mahad, staring hard out the windshield of the Hyperion.
They'd just made it to the Dragon's Throat, and suddenly a bolt of lightning had hit some distance away.
"Lightning…?" said Lena, unsure what her brother was getting at. There was a lot of lightning about.
"Yeah… but according to the Hyperion's computer, it hit exactly where Cortes is meeting Diwan."
Lena blinked. "Then maybe it means we've got to get there now, Mahad!"
Mahad nodded, and accelerated.
----
"Now come quietly, Cortes. You've lost. And don't try anything stupid; I want you alive." Diwan hadn't missed his glance towards the edge of the block.
Cortes just looked at her, out of things to say. His mind was trying to shuffle through every possible option, though there was little to shuffle. For one shameful moment, he'd thought of just going off the edge so she had no chance of gaining any information from him. But that was the easy way out. He'd just lost his chance to save Puerto Angel. He wasn't giving himself an easy way out. That then left only one option.
"Alright." He dropped his eyes, and his shoulders slumped. His voice was barely audible over the background howl of the wind. "You win."
Then there was a whine of ships engines, and a light blazed from somewhere behind Cortes.
Diwan's eyes widened, and she quickly drew energy from another bolt of lightning.
Cortes turned around. "The Hyperion!?"
Mahad's ship floated just above the edge of the block. It opened fire on Diwan.
Diwan caught the blast and hurled it back, causing the ship to rock under the impact.
This caused Mahad's next couple of shots to go wide; Cortes ducked as one flew over his head.
Another hit the Mosquito. The small ship seemed to jump from the earth, and then it flipped over and came to rest somewhat on its side, and somewhat closer to the edge of the block.
Cortes blinked, then snapped out of his stupor as he realised the memory card with the cure was still inside. Diwan was no longer concentrating on him, so he made for the Mosquito. A glimmer of hope was back. He might get one last chance.
Diwan powered up another ball of energy, but the Hyperion dipped below the edge of the block.
----
"I thought you said she wouldn't be able to use her powers!?" said Lena as the Hyperion pulled down into safe airspace.
"I know! I know! But did you see her ship? I think it's attracting the lightning somehow…" Mahad was breathing hard, somewhere between being shaken by Diwan's barrage and actually enjoying the adrenaline rush.
"Maybe…" mused Lena. "Mahad let me go out there… maybe I can figure out how to use the lightning too."
"I thought we discussed this!?" exclaimed Mahad.
"I'm not going to give myself up!" Lena growled. "I'm just going to try and blast Diwan!"
Mahad looked at her, then looked away and gritted his teeth. He wanted to keep her safe, but they had to get that cure and rescue Cortes.
----
Cortes tugged at the Mosquitoes hatch, but it was wedged hard against the earth. If he could just get the ship to shift a little bit… He put his weight into it, and it shifted upwards the tiniest bit, the hatch cracked open, and then wedged again. But it was enough.
Cortes shoved his arm through the crack, felt around, and pulled the memory card out of its slot.
"I should've known better then to trust you lousy pirates!" Diwan shouted, causing Cortes to look over his shoulder. She was angry, and had a glowing ball of energy in her hands. As the Hyperion was nowhere in sight… Diwan hurled the energy with a yell.
Cortes rolled to the side. The blast hit the Mosquito. The unfortunate little ship was hurled into the air again, then it crashed down on the very edge of the block, teetering for a moment as if unsure what to do next. Then it slid right off.
Cortes looked around for his gun.
----
"Mahad!"
"Yeah, I'm thinking…!"
"That was the Mosquito!" Lena pointed to a falling ball of fire.
"Shoot…" said Mahad, watching the destroyed ship descend out of sight. They had to try something. Diwan had so much energy… "Okay, Lena. See if you can do anything. But stay on the Hyperion's deck. Promise me!"
Lena already had the hatch open. "Promise."
Mahad nodded, and brought the Hyperion back up level with the block. He'd come up just next to the S22. Diwan had her back to them, cornering Cortes. Mahad fired a few shots at her back. They hit the dirt a few feet from the Guardian. The wind conditions were making it hard to aim.
Diwan spun around, and Mahad knew she would have blasted them right there and then if she didn't have to wait for the next lightning bolt.
"Lena!" he shouted out the hatch. "How's it going?"
Lena looked agitated. "I can feel the static in the air… I can sort of use it… but it's not powerful enough. Diwan's using the lightning directly!"
A lightning bolt struck Diwan's S22.
"Use that!" Mahad shouted.
"I can't! Diwan's got it already!"
Diwan had the energy in her hands, and shouted something inaudible as she went to hurl it.
The Hyperion was right in her sights.
----
"This'll put you out for a good while, Lena!" Diwan shouted as the power of the lightning built up in her hands.
She didn't notice Cortes had come right up behind her, so focused was she on blasting Lena. Not until he grabbed her and forced her arms towards the ground. But by then she'd released the ball of energy, and it was driven into the ground, exploding practically at her feet, and throwing both of them into the air.
Cortes smashed back into the ground, what seemed like a good few feet away. He was uncertain, because the blast had left him disorientated, and barely able to see. He pushed himself up with a groan, ignoring every signal his body was sending him. Which was a bad idea, because his body suddenly decided it was incapable of doing what was being asked of it right now. He slumped back to the ground, everything going black around him.
----
"She just hit Cortes!" Lena shouted back at Mahad.
Mahad gritted his teeth. He'd seen it. Diwan had been knocked down too, but she seemed to be getting up quicker than Cortes. She was a Seijin; she was used to absorbing power, even if that energy was a powerful blast, she still took it better than the average human.
"Okay, no more power for you," Mahad growled. This had gone on long enough.
The wind buffeted the Hyperion to the side, and Mahad recorrected, bringing the ship in line with the top of Diwan's patroller. He could see what he was sure was the thing that was attracting the lightning poking off the top. He shot it.
The device sparked and exploded. Diwan, who'd just stood up, suddenly seemed to notice.
Lena looked at Mahad and grinned. Then she turned back to Diwan. "You can't use your powers anymore!" she shouted down. "Give up!"
----
Cortes blinked, realised he'd passed out for he didn't know how long, and swore. Then he remembered the memory card. After a brief second of panic, he felt it still in his hand.
He looked up. The Hyperion seemed to have Diwan pinned down; she had her hands in the air, backing away slowly from the ship.
Cortes slid the card into his pocket, and then pushed himself up slowly, wincing as his body again protested. He was probably getting too old to be crash tackling fully charged up Guardians.
"Cortes!" Lena shouted down from the Hyperion. "Are you okay?"
Cortes straightened up and brushed mud from his sleeves. "I'm fine."
Diwan moved suddenly, taking advantage of the fact that Lena, and Mahad likely as well were slightly distracted. When she came back up, she help Cortes' gun, and was pointing it right at him.
"Now, how about you give up?" she growled.
