Chapter Twenty-Four: Hammerhead City, Part Two
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The three began moving down the hallway. Kina was partially hiding behind Tommy's Thunderbolt, as John covered their rears.

"How did you guys get in here, anyway?" said Kina with a slight quaver in her voice.

"The ventilation system," said Tommy. "Only way we could have a chance at getting in without being spotted."

Kina nodded, then raised her eyebrows. "Wait a second…how are we going to get out, anyway?"

John chuckled. "Certainly not the way we came in. I doubt you'd want to crawl through ducts…and there'd be no way for you to get up the levels, either."

Kina sweatdropped. "But…but how, then?" Tommy opened his mouth to say something when two figures appeared ahead of them in the hall.

"Hey! What the hell are you two doing with that prisoner…wait, those aren't Hammerhead fighters! Get 'em!"

"Oh, no!" cried Kina as the guards leveled their weapons.

"Kina, get down!" shouted Tommy. "Quick!" She did so as the guards opened fire on the two VF-11s. The corridor was so tight that neither Tommy nor John could effectively get out of the way of the incoming fire, so they raised their anti-projectile shields to block the incoming light lasers. Luckily, they held the blasts at bay.

"Let's see how you handle THIS!" Tommy opened up with his gun pod. As he did, Kina immediately clamped her hands over her ears. The bullets took down both guards very quickly.

Tommy laughed. "Clean and quick! Perfect!"

John called him on the radio. "Tommy…?"

"What?" Tommy's fighter turned around. As he faced John, his Thunderbolt made a nod in Kina's direction. Tommy immediately looked, and gasped. Kina was sitting on the floor with her hands still over her ears, almost hyperventilating. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Oh, God…Kina? Kina?"

"I…I can't do this," sobbed Kina.

Tommy put his gun pod on the ground and kneeled the fighter. "Kina…look at me. Please, look at me."

She slowly looked at the Thunderbolt. "Tommy…I'm so frightened…"

"It'll be okay. I'm right here now. Everything's going to be okay."

The tears now flowed freely. "You've got to get me home…I want to go home…!"

"You will. You will!" said Tommy in a tone that managed to be firm and kind at the same time. "I'll die before I let them get you, Kina."

"…Really?" She wiped the tears from her eyes.

Tommy chuckled. "Damned right." Kina couldn't help but laugh a tiny bit at that.

"My funny knight in shape-changing armor…!" she giggled.

Tommy smiled, then extended one of the VF-11's hands. Kina took it, and Tommy helped her back up. As they stood again another guard, a Lightning III variable fighter, came charging down the hall. It aimed its gun pod, and Tommy knew whom it was going for.

"Oh, hell!" Just before it fired, Tommy put his anti-projectile shield right in front of Kina's body. The shots bounced off the super-strong shield harmlessly. Kina gasped.

"…Wow!"

John followed up on Tommy's defensive action with his own offensive one. He opened up his FAST pack launchers, and sent four missiles right into the Lightning. The explosion ripped the enemy aircraft to shreds.

"Smoked 'em! Ha!"

Surprisingly, Kina didn't panic this time upon the attack.

"That was a little close. Are you going to be okay, Kina?"

Kina managed a small smile. "I think so. But we'd better hurry."

They continued through the corridors, eventually reaching an elevator. Inside, polka music emanated from above them.

Kina made a face. "Ugh! These people have no taste whatsoever!"

"I'll get it for you." Tommy extended his bayonet and rammed it through the speaker in the roof of the elevator, silencing the awful music. Kina gave him an arch-eyed smile.

"Thanks! That was getting annoying!"

John, meanwhile, was trying to guess which floor would contain what facilities. Tommy and Kina walked over to him.

"So, where should we head, John?" asked Tommy.

John sighed. "It'd help if we knew what was on what floor…but I think our final goal should be the hangar bay."

Kina blinked. "Why there?"

"Kina, can you pilot powered armors?"

Kina nodded. "Yes, but…" She sweatdropped. "Oh. Oh, no. No way!"

"It's the only way, Kina," said John with a sigh.

"But…I've only piloted construction armors…and I'm not even any good at those!"

Tommy turned to her. "Don't worry. We'll keep you safe."

Kina sighed. "It's not that I don't have faith in you, it's just…I'm not a soldier. I've never even HELD a gun, let alone shot one!" She looked down, and actually chuckled. "Guess I'm a lousy Zentraedi, huh?"

Tommy smiled. "Not at all. You're just a gentle one."

Kina looked up and blushed a little. "Thanks, Tommy."

John cleared his throat. "Ahem…Luke, Leia? No offense, but could you save it for after we live through this mess?" As he turned around, Kina stuck her tongue out at him. Tommy saw it, and barely suppressed a laugh. Kina winked at him.

John sighed. "Well, you know what they say about a journey of a thousand miles, right?"

"Um…it's really, really hard on your feet?" said Kina. Now Tommy wasn't able to stop the laughter.

John shook his head. "Amantes sunt amentes…" He turned back towards the row of elevator buttons. "They say that it begins with a single step." With that, he pressed a random button. It lit up, and the elevator began to climb. Much like back in the vents, it seemed to take a bit too long to pass a floor. Eventually, the elevator bell rang, and the doors opened.

The hallway was clean, with white walls all around. Lockers adorned the walls. Kina was a bit confused, but Tommy and John knew where they were.

"This must be where the pilots go to suit up," said John. "Not bad, considering it's a pirate base. Well, let's try again."

"Wait!" said Tommy suddenly. "This is a good thing. We forgot one crucial detail: military armors don't have a self-contained oxygen supply."

John sweatdropped. "ACK! You're right, she needs a TLS suit!"

Kina raised an eyebrow. "A what suit?"

Tommy turned to her. "TLS. Tactical Life Support. It's a cross between a spacesuit and a G-suit."

Kina brightened. "Oh, those!" John sighed quietly. Suddenly, a voice sounded from down the hall.

"Who's there? Hello?"

Kina gulped. "Uh-oh!" she whispered.

"Into one of the rooms, quick!" said John. The three immediately rushed into one of the side changing rooms as a Zentraedi soldier appeared at the opposite end. The soldier slowly walked down the hall.

"What do we do now?" asked Kina.

"We could just pop him and be done with it," said John.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We don't know what else might be around." Tommy sighed.

Kina suddenly brightened. "I know! We could distract him; catch the guy off guard!"

"That's a good idea, Kina. I've got just the plan, too." Tommy's Thunderbolt moved to the door. Turning up the volume on the loudspeaker, he cleared his throat and spoke. "Uh…sorry about that!"

The guard stopped, a little confused. "Uh…sure, no problem…is everything okay in there?"

"Yeah, yeah! Just can't keep these stupid bottles in place, you know?"

"Bottles?" The guard's eyebrows lifted. "What bottles?"

Tommy chuckled. "These damned vodka bottles!"

The guard smiled to himself. "You know, perhaps maybe…I could help out?"

"Gotcha…" thought Tommy. "Sure, that'd be fine!" Kina covered her mouth to avoid giggling.

"Okay, I'm coming in," said the guard.

John and Tommy moved to the sides of the door. The unsuspecting guard walked through the door…and was instantly seized.

"Got the sucker!"

"Hold him down!"

"Hey, Kina, can you pass me that piece of cloth?"

The bound and gagged guard struggled on the floor, effectively neutralized. Tommy and John rifled through the lockers, trying to find a spare suit. Kina just watched the door for any other guards, occasionally turning a somewhat pitying eye to the bound guard.

"Sorry about that, guy, but we can't afford to mess up now!" she thought.

"Found it!" cried Tommy. "Kina?"

"Yeah?"

"We found a spare suit. Here." He walked over and gave the suit to Kina. It was in the same black and steel-gray colors as the Hammerhead aircraft. Their shark insignia was on the left shoulder.

"Great! I'll go change…uh, where's the changing room?"

John's Thunderbolt pointed to a side room in the wall. "I think that's one."

"Right. Guard the door, will you?" She hurried into the room.

Tommy smiled. "We will. And don't worry. If John peeks, I'll shoot him myself!" They both heard Kina's laugh come from the side room.

John chuckled. "You're such a joker, Tommy."

Tommy's VF-11 faced John's. "Who said it was a joke, John?" John sweatdropped.

It took a few minutes for her to exit the changing room, dressed in the TLS gear.

"Sorry I took so long, guys. Aivea was right, I should cut my hair a bit…!"

"No problem," said Tommy. "What's next, John?"

"We should get back to the elevator ASAP. Let's go." They started to exit the room. Just before they could, though, three Zentraedi pilots showed up at the door. None of them were armed.

"Hey, what in the-"

Tommy quickly shoved the speaker away with his gun pod, knocking him and his comrades into the wall opposite the door. One guy slumped down, but the others shook it off and got up again. John's VF-11 punched one guy in the gut, and then in the jaw, sending the Zentraedi sprawling. The other guy tried to tackle Tommy's fighter, but Tommy sidestepped at the last moment and the man ran right into the wall. It wasn't sufficient to knock him out, just to anger him.

Kina had been staying back, not wanting to get struck by a stray blow. However, when Tommy dodged the tackle, the male Zentraedi found himself standing right in front of Kina. He snarled, throwing any potential for being chivalrous out the window. Kina whimpered.

"Eh…good boy…go home now!" He advanced on her, fury burning in his eyes. Tommy turned to try and help, but he was suddenly grabbed from behind by the third Zentraedi and was unable to get free in time.

"Kina!" he cried. "Do something, don't stand there!"

She gulped, then clenched her right fist. "I'm really sorry about this!" She suddenly closed her eyes and punched the man right in the jaw. To the surprise of everyone still conscious, the blow leveled him! Kina stared with huge eyes and an equally huge sweatdrop on her head.

"Great shot, Kina!" said John as he took care of the last Zentraedi with a kick from his Thunderbolt's heavy foot.

Kina still stared. "I really did that, didn't I? Ouch…poor guy, that must've hurt like hell!"

Tommy laughed. "Doubt it. He's OUT!"

"Point taken," said Kina with a raised eyebrow. "Must be from all the lifting I was doing…" She sighed.

"Well, let's get back to the elevator and get out of here now!" said John.

The next elevator ride was up only a couple of levels. The wait still grated on all of their nerves, but at least they wouldn't be stuck listening to polka music.

"Hey, Tommy?" asked Kina.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you something…forgive me if this sounds weird, but would you answer me as a soldier?"

Tommy blinked, then smiled. "Sure. Shoot."

"How do you do it? How do you keep from…thinking about the men that you have to take the lives of?"

Tommy sighed softly. "Soldiers have been asking themselves that since the beginning of history. I'm really not qualified to answer, but…I don't know. I suppose it's the cost of failure. If the U.N. Spacy fails in its efforts, the entire human and Zentraedi races will pay the price. It's not much of a reason, but…" He looked down in his cockpit.

"I see…so you're fighting to protect." She smiled at him.

Tommy smiled back. "I suppose I am."

The bell rang again, and the doors opened. This time, there was no doubt; they were in the hangar bay. Unfortunately, it was quite crowded. The group made their way to the back of a large crate near the elevator.

"What do we do?" said Kina. "This place is crawling with those guys!"

John sighed. "It's time we stopped screwing around and got busy, I think." He looked around. Over in a corner of the hangar, he spotted a Queadlunn-Rau armor. "There! There's a Queadlunn in that corner of the hangar that Kina can use."

Kina looked over. "Nice…but how do I get to it? I can't just walk up…!"

"Oh, yes you can. Watch me." John moved back from them, and transformed his fighter to GERWALK mode.

"John, what are you doing now?"

John chuckled. "Giving them one hell of a nasty surprise!" He popped out from behind cover and fired a few pack missiles at some of the stationed fighters and fuel tanks. Obviously, the resulting explosions inflicted heavy damage.

Tommy groaned. "John, please don't get yourself killed!"

"Don't worry! We need to provide a distraction so that Kina can take the armor!" Tommy nodded, and stepped out around the corner. Opening up his own FAST packs, he fired several missiles at a pair of Renegades that were about to power up.

He turned back to the emerald-haired woman. "Kina, get ready to run over there. Be FAST, okay? Our frequency is Band 330. It's at about 550 megahertz."

"Okay. Please be careful!" She headed to the opposite corner of the crate they were behind. Tommy kept firing on the Hammerheads, while John used rapid movement to provide a juicy target for them.

Kina took a deep breath. "Here goes the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life!!" She rushed out from behind the crate and headed for the corner of the hangar. A couple of laser shots passed by her, but nobody chased her. She paid special attention to the floor, as there were human crewmen down there and she did not wish to step on anyone, even if it was a Hammerhead soldier. She stepped gingerly around the crowds.

"Pardon me! I've got an armor to catch! Ooh, watch your heads!" As she reached the armor, she quickly went around to the back and pressed a button. One of the few things she did know about armors was how to open them up. She quickly climbed into the combat machine.

"Okay, let's see…" She pressed a button that looked like a generator starter, and the weapon came to life. The viewscreen showed her the outside world, and all the displays lit up. Quickly, she tuned the radio dial to around 550.

"Tommy? Can you hear me?"

Tommy answered immediately. "Yes! You're in, I take it?"

"Sure am, but this thing is weird…I've never piloted these things, but I've seen the inside of them before…this Queadlunn-Rau has been messed with, I think."

John caught that. "How so?" he said whilst dodging return fire.

"It's all…I dunno…tuned up." She decided she should go back to the crate where Tommy was holding off the Hammerheads. She tried to thrust over there, but she misjudged the power behind the thrusters and went rocketing forward at breakneck speed.

"AAAHHH!!!" She barely stopped in time to avoid slamming into Tommy.

"Kina, are you okay in there?"

She took a couple of breaths before responding. "Yes…I'm fine. That was scary!"

"It'd seem you were right about them having modified the armor. Do you think you could give us a bit of help? I've got to go get John's sorry hide out of the fire."

"Uh…you mean covering fire, like in those old action movies?"

"Yeah. Try those big triple-barrel lasers in your forearms. Be especially watchful for any missiles that get sent our way."

"Okay, I'll do my best." Tommy headed off for John. Kina slowly stuck an arm around the side of the crate and gave the trigger a test squeeze. The pulse lasers fired a short burst, then quieted. "Hmm…they seem to be working fine…here goes." She fired again, this time in a more sustained burst. Having gained a little confidence, she aimed for an unoccupied aircraft and fired. It blew up nicely after a few shots. Suddenly, some fire came her way. She got back behind the crate with a small gasp.

Meanwhile, Tommy had caught up with John, who was still using GERWALK mode.

"Tommy, I was wondering when you'd show up!"

Tommy laughed. "Let's get back to Kina, she's waiting for us."

While this was going on, Var was in his command office with a soldier standing before him.

"Sir, we have a serious problem. It would seem that some U.N. aircraft have infiltrated this base. I just got a report of a large firefight in Hangar Bay 1..."

Var didn't say anything for a second, and then slammed his fist down on the table, startling the soldier. He then got up, and sighed.

"That's that, then. Tell the boys to get MY Renegade ready in Bay 2. I've had enough of this." Var took his sunglasses off. "No more Mr. Nice Pirate…"