Chapter Twenty-Five
NightOwl noticed a bright orange flame shoot out from the front of the carrier. The blast ripped open the haul of the ship badly. The lights on various floors went out. She got on the radio. "NightOwl to base. The core to the glassing carrier has been disabled successfully. Waiting on word from the Rookie." She let go of the "talk" button on her radio. "NightOwl we'll need you and the rest of the Night Wolf squadron to move. We have a squad of A-10 warthogs coming to your location. One of the warthogs is armed with a nuclear warhead." NightOwl gasp. "tell them to wait for Rookie. His ground team is still in the carrier." She lowered her radio again. "negative. The squad is on their way." She tossed her radio down. "damn it!" she hissed. She looked at the carrier again. She shook her head. She moved the stick to her jet to the side. She made a hard turn for the hangar. She landed down inside of the hangar. She noticed Finley holding her stomach in Marcelo's plane. She had heard the explosion too. "you okay?" asked NightOwl. Finley jumped. "no. I got wounded badly. Marcelo…do you know if he's okay?" NightOwl shrugged. "I don't know. I'm getting ready to check. I need to warn him that the Air Force is getting ready to blow this place a part." Finley gulped. "let me come with you." She rasped.
Marcelo coughed from the amount of smoke that was in the room. He let his eyes adjust to the new environment around them. He had Annu clenched tight against his chest. Her breaths were coming in short and quick. "we're okay kiddo." He whispered comforting her. She looked up to see that the two of them were remarkably okay. "though the door has been blocked off from the blast." Annu whimpered holding onto him. "Marcelo! Annu!" yelled Finley. Marcelo rushed over to the caved in door. The hinges had been melted by the blast. "we're okay!" She tried to open the door. "it's jammed." She turned to NightOwl. "what do we do?" she asked. Marcelo turned around. "we'll out have to get out from the hole in the haul. NightOwl can you fly the little plane around to the front of the carrier." NightOwl nodded. "sure. That still doesn't explain to me how you guys will get out of there." Marcelo sighed. "we'll dropped down into the cargo hold of the plane. With any luck, it should work." NightOwl smiled. "challenge accepted. Let's go Finley." Finley didn't want to leave Marcelo. She felt NightOwl tug on her. Finley followed in behind NightOwl forcefully.
Marcelo kneeled in front of Annu. "I need you to climb onto my back Annu." She backed up afraid. "you're crazy." She muttered. "I'll hold onto you. I promise I won't let you go." She looked down at the ground. "I know your scared but this is the only way for us to escape." He offered her his hand. "Do you trust me?" he asked. She let out a sigh. She nodded taking it. She climbed onto his back gently. Marcelo kept firm hold of her. NightOwl started up the plane. She turned the plane around to face forward. "hang tight Finley." NightOwl pushed down on the stick. The thrusters moved the plane across the hangar deck. The front wheel of the landing gear left the edge of the hangar. NightOwl pulled up on the stick to make the plane surge upward suddenly. She flew around to the front of the ruined carrier. Finley opened the cargo bay door. She got prepared to catch them both. Marcelo let out a shaky breath. He backed up to give himself enough momentum to make it. He ran jumping out of the haul. The air blew around them. Annu clung onto Marcelo closing her eyes. Marcelo caught the edge of the plane with his hand. They were both dangling off the edge. Finley pulled Annu up first before reaching for Marcelo. She grabbed his hand pulling him up. NightOwl moved the plane away from the carrier.
Marcelo leaned against the seat. His heart was racing madly in his chest. Finley sat down by Marcelo. He put an arm around her shoulder. The jets cleared out of there before the warthogs showed up. The pilot taking the nuclear warhead got into position. He armed the warhead. "Talon to base. Warhead is armed." The flight operator looked at Adian. "go ahead and launch the nuke Talon. With the timer on it, it should give you a few more seconds to get away." Talon nodded. "Rodger that." He put his radio down. Talon took aim at the carrier. He launched the missile into the hole. The missile flew for a few feet before slamming into the core room. The timer began ticking down. Talon's squad evacuated the area. Marcelo heard a large explosion behind them. He saw a bright flash coming from where the carrier sat. The bomb exploded destroying the rest of it. NightOwl pushed the throttle forward. "everyone hold on!" she yelled. Marcelo gripped onto the handle. NightOwl tried to outrun the nuclear blast. Falling debris began falling to the ground. NightOwl looked back behind them. The blast was far behind them now. She sighed slowing the plane back down.
Adian was waiting for Marcelo and his group at the runway. NightOwl brought the plane down for a landing. She applied the brakes slowing the plane down to a halt. She quickly got out of the cockpit. She radioed on her walkie for the field medics. She opened the cargo hold. She helped Annu down. Marcelo hopped down next to her. Two medics came running up to them. NightOwl helped load Finley into a gurney. Marcelo took Finley's hand gently. "you'll be okay. They'll take good care of you." He comforted. She nodded. The medics took Finley to the small field hospital on the base. Marcelo looked up at Adian. "let's talk son." He motioned for Marcelo to follow him. "so, you break protocol and go rogue against your fellow comrades. You then proceed to carry out a mission without my permission." Adian circled around Marcelo. "I don't know how to respond to all of this, Rookie." Marcelo gulped. "sir, I accept full responsibility for acting out against you. I was just trying to protect the girl. It's my duty to make sure everyone is accounted for and safe." Marcelo kept his gaze focused on the wall in front of him. Adian nodded. He leaned forward on the table. "normally I would hand you a discharge paper and have you escorted, but since you did those things to protect the lives of others, I'm going to give you a free pass. I'll put in good word for you to my superiors." Marcelo smiled. "thank you, sir. I'm surprised that your so calm about this." Adian laughed. "no I would have done the same damn thing as you did. You demonstrated bravery out there Rookie." Marcelo shook hands with Adian.
Marcelo walked into the field hospital. Finley had been hooked up to a blood transfusion. She smiled seeing Marcelo. "hey boss." She greeted softly. Marcelo pulled up a stage chair. He took her hand again. "I was so worried about you." He whispered. She chuckled softly. "not the first time I've nearly died." She looked past him. Annu quietly walked into the hospital. She jumped up onto the bed with Finley. Finley smiled hugging her. "you saved my life." She whispered. "if you hadn't of healed my wound up, I would have bled to death. I'll be here for a few days but I'll be healthy enough to return to the mountains once I'm healed." She let those words hang in the air. "now that the Ero have been defeated there's no reason for me to be here anymore. Marcelo will have to be with his teammates. Sam and Elvis will be going back to PontyPandy once it's safe enough." Marcelo kissed Finley's cheek. "Don't you worry about that. I'll talk to my superiors and see if I can't be stationed here." She smiled leaning against him. Annu fiddled with the corner of her shirt. Marcelo rubbed Annu's back. "why don't you stay with Sam and Elvis? I'm sure they'll be happy to have you." She cracked a grin. "you think so?" He nodded. She hugged Marcelo gently.
I'm very pleased to announce that this story is reaching it's end. I have a feeling that after this chapter, the next chapter will be the last chapter to the story. I'm very happy that people really seemed to enjoy this one. Please let me know what you guys think and I will see you guys in the next chapter
Adieu
Melonsworth