Chapter 13: Outsource/Outfly
s-t-h
"The pain is nothing but an alarm of the body."
"Yes, but…"
"People like us in particular should learn to ignore it."
"Whatever you say, kid, although…"
"When the danger has passed, pain is inconsequential."
Vertigo sighed. "Your wise old sage persona is only ruined by your sniffling," she quipped, eyeing him with concern. "But seriously, what were you thinking jumping between shots like that?"
Ice nodded in accord. "Yeah, you didn't have to take a bullet for me," he added, awkwardly scratching his head. "As you said, we chaos adepts can take it."
Miles wiped a couple more tears, finally letting go of his tails. "We were all unprepared. To effectively shield against live fire, one must do it consciously. I've learnt that the hard way." He poked at a burnt patch on his fur, his tail recoiling away an instant later. "I saw a chance and took it. You were both aiming to kill and I have no desire to physically carry either of you."
The alarm that had been dominating the base around them chose that moment to stop. "We'll wait another minute, then go," decided Ice, lowering his voice in mid-sentence to compensate for the sudden silence and looking at the younger fox for confirmation.
Vertigo took Miles' ensuing nod as a sign he was alright and ready for a tongue-lashing. "And what were you doing here, mister?" she inquired harshly. Her face became concerned. "What about the other children?"
The shark decided to join the drama, if only to save his new friend. "The kids are safe and sound in Central City and will be moved to Station Square soon. You must be Vertigo the Fox. They talked a lot about you."
The older fox's visage changed to a beaming smile. "Awesome! How did it happen?"
"Apparently, Miles here shoved them in the transport blimps, saving their lives by intercepting an honest to goodness missile with his body, then decided to come rescue another damsel in distress," replied the shark, shrugging as it was no big deal. "It seems he has an affinity for shielding others with no regard for his personal safety," he added, and the kit couldn't help but blush.
"Hardly in distress," sniffed Vertigo, schooling her face neutral, then turning to her would-be savior. "I'm torn between kissing and killing you. What possessed you to come after me?"
Miles crossed his arms defensively, ready to dodge either reaction, tails lashing irritably behind him. "The fact Speedy overpowered and captured you, greatly contributed to my decision. Even though his grunts assured me you'd have great fun together, I was still worried," he explained with a straight face.
Ice broke into a cough at that, while Vertigo blushed hard enough to be seen through her fur, caught between mortification and hilarity. "Even Speedy wouldn't…" she started, then realized the other vulpine was clueless. "And as a result you got caught yourself," she concluded, in an attempt to save face.
"But not before he kicked Kukku Jr's feathery ass," noted the third member of their impromptu team. He nodded at Vertigo's disbelieving visage. "It's true. Little unbeatable cybird is still out of it and Miles here has earned the lofty title of The Mael-Sprawler among his enemies." The last sentence was delivered through a bitten lip, as all seventy kilos of muscled G.U.N. agent barely failed to be reduced to giggles.
"The mael- what?" she asked mystified.
"Just a stupid mispronunciation of my name. They don't even know it's me. Can we go already?" replied Miles, still annoyed.
Vertigo accepted that, for now. "Do you know how to get out? This place is unneededly large and confusing."
"Well, we do know how…" started Ice with trepidation, not knowing how the fox would react.
Miles had a better idea and his mouth curved to a grin. "… but first I want to cause some damage, along with our resident G.U.N. agent," he finished, indicating the shark.
Vertigo blinked at that. "Totally nuts. Completely suicidal. Not playing with a full deck. Gone looney-tunes. Running on the outer side of the path loop." Then her face broke into a wicked smile, mirroring his expression. "I like it. A chance to stick it to the Armada again. What's the plan?"
-s-t-h-
Ice's first punch came like Thor's hammer in clear weather and the second followed at gattling speed, each taking down a battlebird. Vertigo, her style more agile, leaped behind the small patrol, throttling another two of their would-be assailants. As for Miles, he didn't bother flying in the enclosed space, simply twirling around a few times with his tails harder than alloyed titanium and neutralizing the last three foes. The whole affair took less than two seconds, with no sound louder than a yelp to tell the tale.
Ice nodded at Miles, expecting as much after what he'd seen and heard, but Vertigo eyed him in wonder and with a little bit of concern. "You can sharpen your tails?" she stated more than asked, regarding the blood-stained appendages.
"Among other things," he replied, a bit sullenly. Realizing her worry, he offered a thin smile. "I'm not always okay with it, but I do what I must."
She frowned a bit but nodded, allowing Ice to resume leading them towards the control center. "We should split up for a while," he suggested. "I'll hack the system while you go on and damage the S.A.M.s"
Vertigo was about to accept, but Miles shook his head. "I'll do the hacking, then I'll join you," he offered, causing raised eyebrows. "I won't let you face the hardest odds. Whoever stays behind gets to cover the rest. No offence but I'm stronger than either of you," he explained, sounding sincere rather than arrogant.
Vertigo looked as if she was about to object, then swallowed her tongue and nodded grimly. Ice just sighed. "I won't even ask whether you're skilled enough," he started, passing him a data stick from one of his belt's pouches. "Just run this program when you're done. It will copy all the data my people need to invade."
The oldest two kept running, disciplined enough to not hesitate when Miles turned at an intersection and vanished from sight. "He'll be alright," encouraged the shark, misinterpreting Vertigo's silence for second-guessing.
She flashed a smile at him instead. "Little kit took down Speedy, whom I could barely touch. He thinks I gave that daft bird a workout, but I'm actually a bit embarrassed at how easily I folded. At four years old he's one of the strongest beings on the planet and he has no clue."
Not caring about stealth so close to their objective, Ice simply shot yet another unfortunate battlebird without breaking his stride. "Do you know his parents? Such powerful chaos affinity is usually hereditary."
Vertigo delivered a lightning-fast triple kick at a turret that erupted from the ground, denting its base beyond the ability to fire. "He says he doesn't have any. Apparently he spawned inside a fully-habitable house in the middle of nowhere. I'm betting on amnesia myself, but I shudder to think of what could cause such a shock to someone that stable."
"I know. The natural aggression we all have is there, of course, but he controls it well. I'd have gone insane at his age, had I possessed such raw power. That or imploded," he joked, somewhat morbidly. He abruptly stopped running, grabbing an inconspicuous ladder, placed in a nook along the corridor. "That's our stop."
The fortunately unlocked armored hatch at its end led to the building's roof. The whole area was filled with net-baring poles, camouflaging the installation from casual satellite view. The S.A.M turrets were poking through said canopy, painted in similar earthen colors.
"How should we do this?" muttered Ice, mostly to himself, while rubbing his chin.
Vertigo huffed at his pause, snatching a power ring from the agent's utility belt, walking up at the first of their targets and grabbing a pair of handles. After bracing her feet against its base, she started pulling at the five-times-her-height device.
"I don't think this will…" started the shark tentatively, then shut up when the whole contraption shuddered. A faint corona of light surrounded her body and she snarled ferally. Ice tried not to gawk as Vertigo slowly uprooted the turret, amidst the sounds of popping bolts and groaning metal, then toppled it, quickly moving away to avoid getting crashed under its weight. "That works…" decided the G.U.N. agent sullenly. "Figures that both the infant and the teen are stronger than me," he muttered.
Panting from lack of breath and exhaustion, the Vixen smirked at him. "I'll have you know I turned eighteen yesterday, so no teen jokes apply." She massaged her sore arms a bit. "You'd better give me a hand with trashing the rest. We'd really lose face if Miles finishes before we do and comes to help."
-s-t-h-
Said fox was already hacking the base's systems, after dealing with the guards and operators. Even with passwords prominently displayed on more than one stick-it notes, the Armada network proved difficult to dominate. The security systems were certainly not the garden variety, commercial applications, but rather custom-coded.
"Neat!" muttered Miles, his tongue comically protruding from his grin. The challenge had made him ecstatic since, although he had in-depth knowledge of hacking and all things digital, he had never put it to the test since his awakening.
Gradually, systems gave way as he familiarized himself more. Internal communications stopped working, cameras went out of order, secure gates were jammed at an open position and defensive turrets started firing at their former allies. As he worked, Miles would occasionally throw a bomb toward the door, every time moving feathers registered at his peripheral vision. Most battlebirds would hesitate to fire, both because he wasn't what they'd expected and because he was right before the base's fragile mainframe. As the pile of bodies started mounting, he actually increased his speed. Armory doors were locked shut, security passwords were changed and battle-droids went berserk. The tiny fox plugged Ice's data stick and while it downloaded nearly the whole database, he left one last surprise inside the system.
Satisfied with his work, he turned to leave, but not before he gawked at a S.A.M turret, large as a truck, falling by the command center's armored windows. "They've been busy," he laughed, then sped away, eager to join them.
He reached the roof just as the last turret was rendered inoperable, four hands and one jaw making short work of its mundane armoring. "Oh, you're all done," he noticed, sounding a bit disappointed as he gave Ice the data. "I wanted to see one intact."
Ice patted him on the head. "I'll give you the plans after we give this place the slip. Speaking of which, I think our best bet is to steal a vehicle, after all."
Miles frowned. "I checked their logs and all the planes in this base are one-seaters. Can you guys pilot?"
"Technically," replied the shark with trepidation, while Vertigo shook her head.
"What about these?" she asked, pointing downwards. Twenty stories down, hidden inside a natural gap between three hills and camouflaged with more nets, was what looked like a garage, full with jeeps, A. , trucks and even a couple tanks.
Ice eyed them analytically, then slowly nodded. "We can't jump from such a height, of course, but we could find a way through the base. No telling how much resistance we'll find in…"
Miles rolled his eyes and decided to quicken their getaway. Somewhat impulsively, he grabbed them both, his gloved hands as strong as steel vices. "Don't let go," he ordered as the two older mobians blinked in confusion. They were hardly prepared for him to leap ahead, clear the protective railing and, instead of falling, to tug them both upwards.
Gravity reasserted itself and Miles yelped as they started falling, yawning void beneath them. His tails redoubled their efforts and he winced at the girly screams that threatened to pierce his eardrums. He could have sworn Ice's pitch had been half an octave higher than Vertigo's. Their direction actually reversed multiple times as they bucked in the air, his arm sockets complaining, until he managed to finally compensate for the extra weight.
The trio descended slowly, the two unwilling passengers holding for dear life, the vixen hyperventilating, the shark almost biting through his own lips as he gritted his teeth. Despite the smooth landing, their knees buckled as they reached the ground.
Miles frowned as he stretched and rotated his arms a bit. "Come on, now, you're both overreacting," he complained.
Ice gawked at him incredulously, his jaw opening and closing soundlessly. "Overreacting?!" he managed at length. "You… you..!" he tried, failing to form a coherent sentence through the adrenaline high.
Vertigo managed to steel herself first. Rising from the ground in an effort to salvage some shred of dignity, she crossed her arms and glared at the kit. "You should have warned us before trying such a stunt," she reprimanded calmly, secretly astonished her voice wasn't trembling.
For once, Miles acted closer to his age. "Sorry," he mumbled, eyes downcast and ears drooping. "I didn't think it was such a big deal."
Vertigo sighed and patted him on the head, unable to stay mad at him for long. "Flying foxes are not exactly commonplace, kid," she reminded him.
The G.U.N. agent finally regained his composure. "Yeah, even most avian mobians can't fly, never mind mammalian," he provided, belatedly trying to play it cool. "Now, which vehicle should we snatch?" he wondered, trying to bring their escape attempt back on track.
Previous incident forgotten, Miles was already hugging one of the tanks, his eyes pleading. Vertigo shook her head. "No, Miles. I know it looks impressive, but these tanks are slow as molasses and steer like venerable cows."
Ice was also eying the tank regrettably. "She's right, kid. Sure, the cannon's handy and the plating tough, but if one of these birds brings anti-armor ordinance, we'll be sitting ducks.
The younger fox sighed. "Fine, we'll take a jeep. Minigun or missile launcher?" he asked, indicating the weapons mounted on each.
Vertigo shrugged, while Ice rubbed his jaw. "The vulcan. These rounds are armor piercers and there's a lot of them. Now let me try to hot-wire it and…"
He stopped talking and blinked as Miles literally flew to the driver seat and slashed at the ignition with one of his tails. His hands blurred and about five seconds later the engine came to life. "Well, hop on!" he exclaimed excitedly.
The two adults gave each other long-suffering glances, Vertigo sighing and Ice rubbing his temples, and complied. "Can your feet even reach the pedals?" asked the shark, eyeing the kit dubiously.
Miles, standing on the seat and still barely able to peer above the wheel, smirked cockily. "No need," he chirped, expertly changing gears and using his tails to reach lower. The sturdy vehicle roared and rushed forward, just as a team of five battlebirds exited the building's armored doors. Apparently, they had been guarding the garage access and were mystified as to how the three intruders had bypassed them. The kit sharply banked to the right, somehow evading their enemies' initial salvo and putting one of the tanks between them and his new car, gaining a momentary reprieve.
"I've got this," exclaimed Vertigo, readying her stolen rifle and firing as soon as Miles left the impromptu cover.
"Do something about the gates," ordered the kit frantically. Said gates were two slabs of solid steel, secured by an oversized padlock, a metal bar and two diagonal rods propped against the ground.
Ice grunted an affirmative and leaped to the gunner harness, swiftly feeding ammunition to the oversized machine gun. Ignoring the battlebirds that were already pinned down by Vertigo's barrage, he aimed at the gate and fired. The knockback was strong enough to shake the whole vehicle and Miles yelped and used one of his tails to stab all the way through the driver seat to keep himself steady.
"Go right at them, pedal to the metal!" shouted the shark above the roar of his weapon, as his bullets indiscriminately shredded the door's defenses. Vertigo eyed the still sturdy portal in horror, but Miles complied, ears flat against his head and a somewhat pained smirk frozen on his face. Ice fired a few more rounds, then leaped forward, landing on the jeep's bonnet. The vehicle's leather roof was retracted and he grabbed the sturdy beam above the windshield tightly, somehow balancing on the slippery surface. With less than a second before collision, he punched forward with a warcry, channeling all of his chaos powers to protect his body.
The gate never stood a chance. Miles had wisely aimed for one of the two steel panes, its lock and hinges almost weakened to the point of collapse. The shark's punch, carrying all of the vehicle's momentum, sent it flying off a nearby cliff as the three Chaos adepts blasted by.
"That was awesome!" exclaimed Miles, still driving at top speed despite the jarring collision, somehow staying on the zigzagging road, heedless of the huge rail-less drop that waited them just off the tarmac. "I have to use this before we get out of range," he muttered, retrieving a very plain remote and pressing its single button, causing a large explosion behind them.
With Ice knocked back head over heels and nursing his fist that was already swelling, Vertigo took his place behind the rotary gun, aiming backwards despite looking a bit green on the face. "Did you booby-trap the whole installation?" she asked incredulously as plumes of smoke rose from a huge hole on the base's side.
"There wasn't a real self-destruct mechanism," explained the kit-almost sadly. "Instead, I rigged their main reactor to overload," he added proudly.
Before she could comment on that, her eyes went wide. "Incoming!" she exclaimed, swerving her unwieldy weapon towards the sky. What must have been a regular patrol of three, all riding one-seater hoverpods, was already closing by, easily matching and surpassing their jeep's speed. The vixen tried to hit them with little success, the smaller and much more agile vehicles turning her best efforts into grazing shots. "Missiles!" she added frantically.
As Ice tried to reorientate himself, his good hand blindly looking for Vertigo's discarded rifle, Miles gritted his teeth and did his best to throw their enemies' aim off. Two of the missiles fell on the mountainside just above them, burying the road behind them in soil and rocks, and another three passed inches from the off-road vehicle's frame, Vertigo patting her fur that had almost caught fire from the fuel flames.
"I'm so glad they're dumbfire missiles," muttered the kit stiffly, his eyes snapping back and forth between road and mirrors. At the last possible moment he leaped off the driver's seat, did a handstand above the windshield, one tail somehow still on the wheel, and kicked away a sixth missile that would have otherwise hit them. This time he made sure to hit the projectile's side, diverting instead of detonating, and sending it to further ravage the mountainside. "Anytime now, guys!" he complained as he returned to his seat.
The shark had finally managed to upright himself and join Vertigo, flinging a flashbang grenade behind them even as he yelled a warning. Miles closed his eyes tightly, against all his instincts, doing his best to navigate the mountain road by memory for three whole seconds. The battlebirds had it even worse, though, not having heard the warning. With eyes and ears overloaded, two of them bumped on each other in midair, becoming easy targets for Ice's and Vertigo's combined fire. The third hoverpod wisely retreated and the three adepts dared to hope for a reprieve.
It was not to be.
"Blockade ahead," warned their diminutive driver, his voice shrill. "No time for breaks!"
The other two turned their weapons and fired, to little effect. Said blockade consisted of heavily reinforced cement blocks on rails and was manned by four battlebirds that were already scurrying to prepare R.P.G. launchers.
"Brace for impact!" shouted Ice, as Vertigo's hands frantically searched for anything resembling a seatbelt.
"Not on my watch," snarled Miles resolutely. "Ring!" he commanded. The shark agent had just enough wits left to comply, reaching for his utility belt and producing another radiant power ring, a part of him wishing he had remembered to use one before punching that gate.
The two-tailed fox, grabbed the offered power, absorbing it instantly. Taking a deep breath, he very nearly ripped the wheel off, sharply turning, avoiding a flying R.P.G. and catapulting their commandeered vehicle cleanly off the cliff.
Miles, wondering if he was contributing to the chorus of horror shrieks without even noticing, left the driver seat again, wrapped arms and legs around the vertical bar jutting above the front seats, turned his tails toward the sky and spun them faster than ever before. At first there was no effect. The flying car still had the momentum of their previous mad rush and had entered an almost textbook ballistic trajectory. The kit tried even harder, the heavy Chaos expenditure causing sparks to fly from his spinning appendages. Torturously slowly, their vertical speed was reduced, though hardly negated.
"Someone grab the wheel!" he yelped more than ordered, and Ice scrambled to the kit's former seat, moments before they touched down and zoomed ahead. Miles had managed to aim for an actual road and he was certain the collision had broken every suspension at the very least, a vast improvement compared to the fireball his frantic efforts had avoided. The kit collapsed in the vehicle's back seats, mumbled a set of coordinates and fell unconscious.
-s-t-h-
End of chapter 13.
Story written far back in the time
Come back to life smelling like fresh lime
While another chapter you may wish to see.
No one can tell you when that can even be.
Seriously, though, it's been some time since I last touched this one. Oh well, for most people it will be like a brand new story. I hope you enjoy and tell me what you think.