Chapter Twenty-Five: Threat From The Dark
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The three regrouped behind the crate. It had been nothing short of a miracle that they had not taken any damage yet.

"Now what?" asked Kina.

John sighed. "We've got to get outside without getting torn apart on the way. Won't be long before they close the bay off and seal us inside, either."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Kina as she stepped around the corner of the crate.

"Kina, don't!" cried Tommy. As Kina left the cover afforded by the crate, she immediately came under fire from multiple guns and lasers.

"AAH!" She rapidly ducked back behind the crate. "There is no way I'm doing that again!"

John frowned. "There has to be some way we can get out. Maybe we could-" At that point, a huge explosion rocked the entire place. Kina shrieked in terror.

"Oh my God!!!! They're trying to blast us out of here!!"

"No," said John. "That wasn't them."

Kina blinked. "How do you know…?"

"John's right, Kina. That was WAY too powerful to be from one of them, and it seemed to come from every-WHOA!" Another blast rocked the area. Tommy suddenly gasped. "John, you don't think that…?"

"I do. Checking!" John changed frequencies.

"…Agincourt, coming into firing position now…California is approaching. …approximately five minutes. Tell Manchester to…" John switched back.

"What's going on?" asked Kina.

"Those jerks! They're EARLY!!!!"

Tommy scowled. "WHAT?!"

"Who's early?"

"The California. It'll be here in five minutes…and in the meantime, they sent some cruisers to do a little landscaping!"

Tommy's heart sank. "Wonderful! Even if we got out, those big reflex missiles could take us out with their blast radius!"

Kina sighed. "I'm sorry."

Tommy turned. "About what?"

"Sorry I got you guys into this. It's all my fault…!"

"Hey, don't talk like that. There's got to be some way, we just have to find it!" Tommy put his Thunderbolt's hand on the shoulder of Kina's Queadlunn-Rau as another shockwave struck.

John looked in the direction of the bay doors. The firing had long stopped. He narrowed his eyes.

"I'd recognize the firing rate on the Northampton-class anywhere. If it's only the Agincourt and the Manchester out there, I'd say we've got about a minute before more missiles come this way. Care to take another big risk?"

Tommy sighed. "Kina, if you're not willing to do this, I understand."

"Actually…I think it's worth it."

John smiled. "It's decided, then. Let's go!" They all rushed for the bay door. As they were about to leave, a pair of Renegades flew out in front of them. Kina's Queadlunn-Rau was ahead of the two U.N. Spacy fighters.

"Oh no!" She panicked, and accidentally pressed a button on the control console in front of her. The all-mechanical arms of the powered armor suddenly shot out two the sides, and a pair of scythe-like blades unfolded from them. As she passed the Renegades, the blades sliced through the engines of both of them.

"Whoa…" was the only thing she could say.

Tommy chuckled. "Looks like there were more things added to that thing that just better engines, Kina!"

"I guess so…now how do I put them away?" She pressed a couple of buttons. Eventually, she got the right one.

John's Thunderbolt transformed into Fighter mode. "Let's get moving! The missiles will be plunging in any minute now!!" Tommy followed suit. The group quickly hurried away from the base as fast as they could go. As they escaped, a trio of VF-4 Lightning III fighters got behind them.

"Bandits on our six!" cried John.

"Our what?" said Kina.

"We've got a few tailgaters," said Tommy. "What should we do, John?"

"Keep going until I say to turn. We've got to get out of the radius of those missiles, or it won't matter whether we down those fighters or not!" John looked up. He could make out the drive flares of incoming missiles. "They've fired! Let's hit it!" All of them accelerated. Missile warnings blared at them.

"John, they've got locks!"

John took a deep breath. "Now! Turn hard!" They all turned away as several missiles came after them. Back at the base, the heavy reflex missiles suddenly detonated. Oddly enough, the explosion occurred several meters above the base, limiting the damage severely.

"Help! What do I do?!" cried Kina.

"Use your forearm lasers to shoot down the missiles," said Tommy as he was doing just that with his rear-firing laser. "Your targeting computer should take care of the finer points for you!"

"Okay…here goes!" Kina spun her armor around, and fired. The shots were a bit wild at first, but the computer took over as Tommy had promised. It didn't take long to get rid of all the missiles.

"I did it! …Now what?"

"Fire back!" said John as he converted to GERWALK mode and pointed his aircraft at one of the Lightnings. John opened fire with his gun pod.

"Let's see…" Kina pressed another button. A picture of a missile appeared in one of the display screens. A cursor appeared over the image of the Hammerhead aircraft on the viewscreen, and an audible beep sounded.

"Okay, I've got him in my sights, and I'm hearing a beep. What now?"

"Shoot!" cried both men at once.

"Got it!" She pulled the trigger. About ten missiles fired from the engine pod launchers. The enemy evaded the first five, but the last five hit the tail end of the aircraft, tearing it in half and forcing the pilot to eject. Kina sweatdropped. "I actually got him…"

"Good shot, Kina!" said Tommy as he got behind another of the Lightnings. He locked on with his FAST pack missiles, and fired four. The missiles all impacted the target, completely destroying it. "That's two down, one to go!"

"I'm working on it, I'm working on it!" said John as he traded shots with his opponent. He changed to Soldier mode and charged at his opponent, dodging lasers and bullets all the way. He extended his anti-armor bayonet and swung it right at the Lightning's wing, slicing it clean off. He followed up by spinning back around to face the crippled aircraft and filling its tail and engines full of bullets. The Lightning quickly exploded.

"That should be it now," said Kina. "We made it! Yay!!!"

"It would seem that way," said John as he changed gun pod clips. "Let's hurry up and get back to our court-martial, Tommy."

Tommy sighed. "Right, right…"

"Court-martial?" said a confused Kina. "Why would you get a…oh, no. Tommy, you guys didn't…?"

"Yes, we did. We weren't under any orders to infiltrate the Hammerhead base. We did this on our own, Kina."

"You…gave up everything to help me?" Tears started to form in her eyes. "I…don't know what to say…!"

"Yes…we did," said John. "But hey, I think it was worth it. We survived, after all."

Tommy nodded. "John's right. We should be thankful that we still have our lives. C'mon, let's face the music together, okay?"

Kina blinked away the tears, and smiled. "Okay…"

"Not so fast…!" came a voice.

Tommy and John both tensed.

"Who the hell is this?" demanded John. Suddenly, a burst of gunfire sounded from behind them. Instantly, they all scattered.

"Now, now, that's no way to talk to a VIP, methinks."

Kina suddenly gasped. "Hey, I know him!"

John raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Who is he?"

"His name is Var-"

The man cut her off. "Var Bekran. Commander of the Hammerheads. Oh, and did I mention that I have ninety kills?!" Another burst, this time of lasers. It was obvious Var was just trying to intimidate them.

John scowled. "Come out and fight, coward!"

"You sure you want me to do that? Okay…here I come!" At first, nothing happened. Then, like a bat out of hell, a shape suddenly flew right at John's Thunderbolt, firing lasers all the way. John BARELY had time to avoid the attack.

"Holy…!" cried Tommy. "John, are you okay?!"

"Yeah, but it looks like this guy wasn't kidding about being an ace several times over!"

Var laughed. "Correct! Your prize is right above you!"

John looked up. Right above his Thunderbolt was a Renegade powered armor. But this Renegade was different from any John had seen before. It sported a larger backpack and bigger shoulders than the standard Renegade. Also, folded up on the forearms, were a pair of blades that made the ones on Kina's Queadlunn-Rau look tame by comparison.

"Good God," said John, "the rumors were TRUE!"

Kina blinked. "Rumors?"

John scowled. "Lately, some outlying U.N. Spacy garrisons have been reporting attacks involving some kind of jacked-up Renegade model that moved like lightning…but I never thought I'd SEE it! We're in a lot of trouble!"

"Oh, really, you think?" scoffed Var. "I can make it quick or slow, which would you prefer?"

"Oh, shut your cake-hole!" snapped John.

"Slow it is!" Var opened fire on John's Thunderbolt with a massive swarm of missiles. John tried his best to avoid them, but one managed to hit him in a leg.

John swore under his breath. "I've been hit!"

Kina gasped. "Oh, no!"

"What kind of damage, John?" said Tommy.

"Electrical systems are going a bit nuts, and Engine 1 is damaged, but I can still fly."

Var suddenly chuckled. "Not for long!" Suddenly, the Super Renegade flew out in front of John's VF-11. John quickly tried to boost away, but Var was too quick. He fired his particle beams right at John's cockpit. John managed to get his anti-projectile shield in front, but the rapid blasts tore large chunks from it. John transformed to Fighter mode in an attempt to escape.

"John, get out of there! He's better than all of us combined!!"

John growled. "I'm trying to, but this damned engine isn't letting me get the speed I need!" Suddenly, Var fired more missiles at him. John turned again to avoid the shots, but a trio of missiles found their mark in his armor.

"Ah! I'm hit, I'm hit again!"

"John…"

Suddenly, a large warning message appeared over John's HUD canopy: TURBINE FAILURE.

John sighed. "Mayday. Mayday! This bird's had it!"

Tommy's face went white. "EJECT! EJECT! EJECT!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed.

"I'm trying, but the computer's acting too weird!"

Kina was unable to take her eyes off the burning VF-11. "No…please…!"

"Come on, buddy…" thought Tommy, choking back tears. "Get out…! GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Tommy…" said John in a resigned tone of voice.

"John? John?!"

"…I'm not going to make it. You know what you have to do."

"…JOHN!!!!!!!" It was too late. John's Thunderbolt was enveloped in a fiery explosion, followed by a deafening silence.

Kina closed her eyes. "No…" She began to sob forcefully.

"John…" Tommy's eyes also filled with tears. "He's…really gone." Suddenly, he blinked the tears away, and set his expression in steel. "VAR BEKRAN!!! You're going to PAY for that!" he roared.

Var scoffed. "Then come and collect!" He extended both of his forearm blades.

Tommy readied his bayonet. This was going to be it, he knew. This was his final mission in one way or another.

"And I will not stop until one of us is dead."

Suddenly, Kina's armor floated up next to him.

"Tommy!"

Tommy turned. "Kina?"

"I…I want to help you take him down."

Tommy frowned. "I'd rather you got to safety…"

"I know, but…you helped me. I want to help you. Please, Tommy."

Tommy sighed, then nodded. "Keep those extra-sensitive eyes on him, okay? We can't afford to let him beat us the same way he beat John…"