Chapter Two
"Prepare Jehuty for launch!" Elena yelled at some workers who were trying to re-secure the metatron, "Get everyone out of the Cargo Bay now!" she grabbed Leo's arm and pushed off the nearest thing she could to propel speedily for the lock.
"Rock is taking Jehuty?" Leo asked.
"Yea, come on, I'll take you to the bridge with me."
They rushed through the door, Elena stopping briefly to inform the guard what was happening. No doubt he'd already heard from Rock. From there they crammed into the elevator.
"Bridge, emergency." Elena said somehow calmly.
"Roger, increasing speed. Caution, gravity adjustments may falter at emergency propulsion. Advise you hold onto something.
Both Elena and Leo gripped the hand rail as they went from weightlessness to double the force of gravity in a second. Another second passed, the two were hurled upward as the elevator made a sudden stop. Lucky for them the adjusters came into action, grabbing their ankles and pulling them back down before their heads could hit the ceiling.
The door opened onto an empty bridge. From the main window Leo could see raptors and mummy heads attacking the ship with an assortment of lazer weapons.
"Where's Rock?" he asked.
"Oh he'll be out there soon, don't worry," she said, analyzing a panel of streaming data come fresh from computers all over The Atlantis. A grid of the ship came up with green yellow and red spots dotted all over. A section of the lower cargo holds glowed like a fiery volcano.
Elena flipped a switch turning on a live intercom, "Any crew members in cargo hold 02 please evacuate immediately. Any crew members in cargo hold 02 evacuate immediately."
Then she switched to a private channel.
"Rock, you there?"
"Affirmative, I'm leaving the Bay area in twenty seconds."
"They're going for our belly, I can't shoot them there."
"I noticed that, I'll be out soon. Thunderheart out"
With that Elena moved to another console with a set of controls similar to that in Jehuty which controlled weaponry. She fingered them carefully, taking aim to a cluster of slow moving mummy heads. With a tap the cannons ignited, destroying the party easily.
"Take the monitor near the pilot seat Leo, select the outer camera of the belly and tell me how Rock's doing."
The boy didn't question anything, simply took action. She admired him for that. For a moment Elena wondered if that was forged into him after his battles with Jehuty or if it came naturally to the ender.
Leo knew how to use a monitor, quickly selecting the desired views. The screen lit up, slightly distorted but legible and he began to watch Jehuty back in action.
Never before had he watched the frame fight, he'd always been in the cockpit. He was mesmerized by its abilities to quickly dodge, dash and strike with ease as it wove between enemies, striking each one down with its sword. He couldn't help thinking, had Jehuty looked that good when he piloted it, or was this Rock?
A gang of mummy heads approached the blue frame and began to siege it heavily. Rock proved to be less skilled at far range combat and struggled to both comets while at the same time shielding against phalanx. He saw why Rock had made him save the colony instead of himself as he made the poor decision of shielding while an impending halberd came across and struck a disorienting blow to the robot. As it was stunned, the comets all soon met their target and at the same time the phalanx continually barraged the frame. Leo couldn't help but cringe as blow after blow was made.
"How's Rock Leo?" Elena said from across the room.
"He's been hit several times by mummy head fire, raptors are closing in!"
Elena cursed and pulled up her sleeve after one last shot, "Rock, come in. What's your status?"
There was the sound of static, followed by the pilot's groaning voice, "I've been injured, I can barely maneuver the frame let alone attack. I'm coming back in."
Elena sighed, lowering her arm. Leo gazed at her, wondering how she'd react. As if feeling his eyes on her, she turned and looked at him, sorrow in her eyes.
"Leo, there's no one else. Rock was the only other runner on board. We need you to fight again Leo, we need you to fight for everyone on board." She felt guilty asking him again. How many times had she given this speech?
Leo's eyes diverted to the floor beneath him, where Celvice lay helpless in her bed, "Celvice..."
Without another word he was soon back outside the lock to the Cargo Bay, waiting for it to pressurize once again. A team with pressure suites was already in there, trying to get Rock out of the cockpit, at least the guard informed Elena through a communicator when she called down to let Leo pass.
The doors opened with a hiss, signaling the room wasn't completely pressurized but at safe levels. Rock was being carried out on a stretcher unconscious. There were burn marks all over him and a heavy head wound. Leo wondered if Jehuty was even pilot-able.
He floated through after letting the team in. The rumbling increased, he had to get out there! Everyone on this ship was depending on him, if they knew what was going on.
Leo paused for a moment when he came to the robot, he would have to work with ADA again. He'd had trouble at first listening to the computers on the ship, now he'd have to confront the actual thing.
The boy gritted his teeth and jumped upward, grabbing a pole to stop at the cockpit level. He gently touched the canopy and it disappeared in its many digits. Leo hopped in, finding the computer still activated, the canopy reappearing overhead.
The ADA sign flashed on the screen before him, "Ready to resume combat operations."
"ADA..." Leo whispered.
"Yes?"
Leo shook his head, "Take us outside."
"Roger, commencing departure procedures."
The Cargo Bay depressurized once again, the holds on Jehuty released leaving the frame suspended by zero gravity. All too slowly, they began to back out, the hatch opening. Finally, the thrusters burst and Leo was outside.
First, he wasn't sure what to do, "The belly Leo! They've made several breaches!" came Elena's voice when she noticed his hesitation.
"Right," he said, and shot Jehuty to the bottom side of the Atlantis.
The same mummy head trio was there. Leo came out of his dash with a lazer attack that struck one from behind. They all turned to acknowledge him as a threat, cannon's glowing ominously.
"Come and get me!" he yelled. He knew it didn't really encourage them but he had to divert them from the ship.
A halberd appeared. Leo flipped Jehuty downward between the beams and came up with a dash attack, instantly destroying the low leveled frame. The others complied with their own halberds. The same tactic had been used on Leo many times before. He used Jehuty's expert maneuver abilities to weave between and around the attacks, following with both close and long range attacks where they were needed. Soon there only lay scattered bits and pieces of the things as Jehuty stood victorious.
A flock of raptors approached him, too many to fight all at once. Leo pressed against the controls, summoning a burst attack to form over Jehuty's head. He waited for them to come at the right distance before dropping the ball and punching it hard, aiming for the center of the flock.
The group split in two, the burst attack meeting its one target and annihilating it with an explosion of brilliant blue energy. Immediately Leo dashed for the left side. Four raptors, levels two three and five. He went immediately for the leader, the level five. he pretended as if he'd use a dash attack, then as the raptor dodged to one side he flipped backwards and came down hard on the frame with Jehuty's blade. With it stunned, Jehuty powered up and released a wave of energy from its sword in a circled motion, splitting the frame in two. The rest of the frames immediately dropped to level one and Leo easily destroyed each one with a long range attack. Now for the other side.
"Look at him..." Elena awed from the monitor on the bridge, "he flies the frame as if it's his own body. Look at his reaction time, his tactics, his skill, amazing..."
"We will cease battle position." ADA's voice informed him as yet another raptor fell victim to Jehuty's blade. "Well done sir, attack on The Atlantis has stopped. The enemy is retreating."
"Good job Leo," Elena again.
"Thanks," Leo said, out of breath.
"Come on back in, you've deserved a rest."
"Prepare Jehuty for launch!" Elena yelled at some workers who were trying to re-secure the metatron, "Get everyone out of the Cargo Bay now!" she grabbed Leo's arm and pushed off the nearest thing she could to propel speedily for the lock.
"Rock is taking Jehuty?" Leo asked.
"Yea, come on, I'll take you to the bridge with me."
They rushed through the door, Elena stopping briefly to inform the guard what was happening. No doubt he'd already heard from Rock. From there they crammed into the elevator.
"Bridge, emergency." Elena said somehow calmly.
"Roger, increasing speed. Caution, gravity adjustments may falter at emergency propulsion. Advise you hold onto something.
Both Elena and Leo gripped the hand rail as they went from weightlessness to double the force of gravity in a second. Another second passed, the two were hurled upward as the elevator made a sudden stop. Lucky for them the adjusters came into action, grabbing their ankles and pulling them back down before their heads could hit the ceiling.
The door opened onto an empty bridge. From the main window Leo could see raptors and mummy heads attacking the ship with an assortment of lazer weapons.
"Where's Rock?" he asked.
"Oh he'll be out there soon, don't worry," she said, analyzing a panel of streaming data come fresh from computers all over The Atlantis. A grid of the ship came up with green yellow and red spots dotted all over. A section of the lower cargo holds glowed like a fiery volcano.
Elena flipped a switch turning on a live intercom, "Any crew members in cargo hold 02 please evacuate immediately. Any crew members in cargo hold 02 evacuate immediately."
Then she switched to a private channel.
"Rock, you there?"
"Affirmative, I'm leaving the Bay area in twenty seconds."
"They're going for our belly, I can't shoot them there."
"I noticed that, I'll be out soon. Thunderheart out"
With that Elena moved to another console with a set of controls similar to that in Jehuty which controlled weaponry. She fingered them carefully, taking aim to a cluster of slow moving mummy heads. With a tap the cannons ignited, destroying the party easily.
"Take the monitor near the pilot seat Leo, select the outer camera of the belly and tell me how Rock's doing."
The boy didn't question anything, simply took action. She admired him for that. For a moment Elena wondered if that was forged into him after his battles with Jehuty or if it came naturally to the ender.
Leo knew how to use a monitor, quickly selecting the desired views. The screen lit up, slightly distorted but legible and he began to watch Jehuty back in action.
Never before had he watched the frame fight, he'd always been in the cockpit. He was mesmerized by its abilities to quickly dodge, dash and strike with ease as it wove between enemies, striking each one down with its sword. He couldn't help thinking, had Jehuty looked that good when he piloted it, or was this Rock?
A gang of mummy heads approached the blue frame and began to siege it heavily. Rock proved to be less skilled at far range combat and struggled to both comets while at the same time shielding against phalanx. He saw why Rock had made him save the colony instead of himself as he made the poor decision of shielding while an impending halberd came across and struck a disorienting blow to the robot. As it was stunned, the comets all soon met their target and at the same time the phalanx continually barraged the frame. Leo couldn't help but cringe as blow after blow was made.
"How's Rock Leo?" Elena said from across the room.
"He's been hit several times by mummy head fire, raptors are closing in!"
Elena cursed and pulled up her sleeve after one last shot, "Rock, come in. What's your status?"
There was the sound of static, followed by the pilot's groaning voice, "I've been injured, I can barely maneuver the frame let alone attack. I'm coming back in."
Elena sighed, lowering her arm. Leo gazed at her, wondering how she'd react. As if feeling his eyes on her, she turned and looked at him, sorrow in her eyes.
"Leo, there's no one else. Rock was the only other runner on board. We need you to fight again Leo, we need you to fight for everyone on board." She felt guilty asking him again. How many times had she given this speech?
Leo's eyes diverted to the floor beneath him, where Celvice lay helpless in her bed, "Celvice..."
Without another word he was soon back outside the lock to the Cargo Bay, waiting for it to pressurize once again. A team with pressure suites was already in there, trying to get Rock out of the cockpit, at least the guard informed Elena through a communicator when she called down to let Leo pass.
The doors opened with a hiss, signaling the room wasn't completely pressurized but at safe levels. Rock was being carried out on a stretcher unconscious. There were burn marks all over him and a heavy head wound. Leo wondered if Jehuty was even pilot-able.
He floated through after letting the team in. The rumbling increased, he had to get out there! Everyone on this ship was depending on him, if they knew what was going on.
Leo paused for a moment when he came to the robot, he would have to work with ADA again. He'd had trouble at first listening to the computers on the ship, now he'd have to confront the actual thing.
The boy gritted his teeth and jumped upward, grabbing a pole to stop at the cockpit level. He gently touched the canopy and it disappeared in its many digits. Leo hopped in, finding the computer still activated, the canopy reappearing overhead.
The ADA sign flashed on the screen before him, "Ready to resume combat operations."
"ADA..." Leo whispered.
"Yes?"
Leo shook his head, "Take us outside."
"Roger, commencing departure procedures."
The Cargo Bay depressurized once again, the holds on Jehuty released leaving the frame suspended by zero gravity. All too slowly, they began to back out, the hatch opening. Finally, the thrusters burst and Leo was outside.
First, he wasn't sure what to do, "The belly Leo! They've made several breaches!" came Elena's voice when she noticed his hesitation.
"Right," he said, and shot Jehuty to the bottom side of the Atlantis.
The same mummy head trio was there. Leo came out of his dash with a lazer attack that struck one from behind. They all turned to acknowledge him as a threat, cannon's glowing ominously.
"Come and get me!" he yelled. He knew it didn't really encourage them but he had to divert them from the ship.
A halberd appeared. Leo flipped Jehuty downward between the beams and came up with a dash attack, instantly destroying the low leveled frame. The others complied with their own halberds. The same tactic had been used on Leo many times before. He used Jehuty's expert maneuver abilities to weave between and around the attacks, following with both close and long range attacks where they were needed. Soon there only lay scattered bits and pieces of the things as Jehuty stood victorious.
A flock of raptors approached him, too many to fight all at once. Leo pressed against the controls, summoning a burst attack to form over Jehuty's head. He waited for them to come at the right distance before dropping the ball and punching it hard, aiming for the center of the flock.
The group split in two, the burst attack meeting its one target and annihilating it with an explosion of brilliant blue energy. Immediately Leo dashed for the left side. Four raptors, levels two three and five. He went immediately for the leader, the level five. he pretended as if he'd use a dash attack, then as the raptor dodged to one side he flipped backwards and came down hard on the frame with Jehuty's blade. With it stunned, Jehuty powered up and released a wave of energy from its sword in a circled motion, splitting the frame in two. The rest of the frames immediately dropped to level one and Leo easily destroyed each one with a long range attack. Now for the other side.
"Look at him..." Elena awed from the monitor on the bridge, "he flies the frame as if it's his own body. Look at his reaction time, his tactics, his skill, amazing..."
"We will cease battle position." ADA's voice informed him as yet another raptor fell victim to Jehuty's blade. "Well done sir, attack on The Atlantis has stopped. The enemy is retreating."
"Good job Leo," Elena again.
"Thanks," Leo said, out of breath.
"Come on back in, you've deserved a rest."
