Alright alright, here we go. As you all know, don't like don't read. For some reason I felt like putting in the song Riot into here, but decided against it. Feel free to listen to the song though.
"The dust men are going to hit the prison with everything they have and the extraction team is twenty miles away. Do whatever it takes to keep Alden secure." Moya orders us as the three of us stand outside the prison's walls. The three of us climb up and over a few gaps in the barbed wire and manage to make our way to the courtyard. Imagine our surprise when we find Zeke on the inside of the courtyard's hallway.
"Hey there Cole, we need you and the twins to provide cover for us while the boys in blue move the lobs to a more secure area of the prison." Zeke says, wearing a SWAT vest and carrying his six-shooter.
"Alright then, but what's a lob?" I ask with a head tilt, not sure if that's even in a dictionary.
"It's a prisoner Neko; a shackle-holder, chain-man. C'mon and get with the lingo here," Zeke says with a chuckle. Then he points upward to the roof of the passage. "Oh check this out, that walkway up there is crackling with juice. Little thing I whipped up. There's also two other separate platforms so you each can get your fix."
"Thanks Zeke," I say with a smile. "Dibs on the high ground." I scamper up the bars and fence before my feet touch the electrified platform. I let out a slight shiver as the hairs on my neck stand up. This stuff is much more powerful than the generator on the bus; I can feel the difference in my veins. Cole lets out a chuckle from below.
"What's so funny lightning rod?" I ask. He motions to his head with his hands like he's got some sort of afro. I put my hands to my head and feel my hair start to wave around from the surge of electricity. It's like I'm touching one of those statically charged ball at some sort of science fair. After having a mini-cry session over my hair, I take a rubber band and tie it up in a pony-tail – or a wolf tail as that's what it feels like.
"Here they come! Move all the prisoners to Cell block B!" I hear the microphone guy announce as fiery balls of metal fly over the wall and short of coming near us. But then more spheres fly over the walls and even a few cars that explode when they hit the ground.
"Keep those things off of us!" Zeke cries out as one comes close to us. I react first, sending out a static shockwave into the projectile to bounce it away like it hits a force field. It rebounds off the blast and goes flying back over the wall to the Dustmen. Three more fly up from the bad-guy side and all three of us Conduits work to toss them away from the fence-line.
Heh… it feels like we're playing Pong. I chuckle as I send another blast into an oncoming car. None of us run out of juice thanks to the power of the generators and we manage to deflect everything that's thrown at us.
"Alright you three. Got all the lobs moved over to the new cells. That's good work," Zeke calls out. Then I notice the wall seem to bulge as a slamming sound echoes throughout the yard. Another sounds again as the bricks stretch towards us and all of us get ready, electricity humming into our arms wildly. On the third slam, chunks of concrete go flying away from the wall as about a dozen transients flood into the yard. All three of us work swiftly, blasting lightning bolt after lightning bolt at each and every garbage man with a gun. After a few bolts I blink for a few seconds and launch several rockets straight up into the air before I fire a single blast at a group of them.
The bolt connects with their shields and they seem to laugh at me. I'm not sure but I think I pick up the words "best you've got" and a word I'm not going to repeat. The only thing stopping me from throttling their necks is the effect my lightning bolt had on my megawatt hammers. Four green-blue missiles arc around in the sky and slam down into the group in an electrified fury of lightning shocks. Silver and Cole seem to get the idea and do the same thing; launching the hammers up into the air before sending a sniper's bolt or regular bolt at their foes like a targeting laser system. My eyes widen when two golems emerge from the wreckage of the prison wall and fire off their spheres. Those get redirected immediately when suddenly an RPG flies out from one of the ground troops, blowing up our energy pads.
"There are more platforms around the yard. Use them as well. Speaking of which, we got Alden strapped to a set of box springs back here. Dozens of watts surging through his sorry ass. Bastards out cold." Zeke radios to us with a laugh in his voice.
"Was that your idea Zeke?" Cole asks as he gets onto a pad to the left and I climb up to an elevated lightning-giving platform.
Zeke chuckles out a reply. "Nah, Warren's idea. Figured out a way to keep him from using his powers. Guy was bad news."
I launch rocket after rocket of lightning into the sky and send a bolt at one golem before blasting away the cannonballs he shoots to me. Those get deflected back into its armor as the rockets connect with their target. Elsewhere in the prison, I see a fireball of silvery-red flames get launched into the other golem while blue rockets blast the arms and legs at the automaton.
"Zeke, if these guys flank us I need you to guard Alden. No matter what happens he cannot escape," Cole says in an utmost serious tone while he blasts another rocket at the golem, felling the construction. Everything seems to be going smoothly until I feel my hair fall back down. A quick glance at my feet gives me a confirmation to my guess and Zeke hammers the bad news home by reporting it to me.
"Crap on a stick. Trashbaggers cut the power. Gotta head up to the roof and recharge the generator before Alden wakes up!" Zeke reports from Alden's area in the prison.
"I've got it. I call dibs." Cole says with a grin as he glides away from the courtyard and up to the roof. That leaves my sister and me to fend off the garbage men without any power except for the city supplied boxes scattered around the area along with the lamp posts. One transient rushes up at me with a hammer in his hands, thinking to reshape my skull. My own blade comes and blocks the strike while I glare at the man. His hesitation is all I need to give him the most powerful attack in my arsenal against his kind: a kick to the groin and a knee in his stomach. Poor bastard squeals like a girl as he falls and doesn't even resist as I restrain him with his own shadow. Another gets blasted with lightning and I chuck a grenade at group of three before throwing lightning bolts all over the place. Silver and I dodge golems as they shoot out trash bits in between us trying to recharge. I find myself standing upon a powered down wire mesh with a golem looming over me. Suddenly lights switch back on as power floods the place. I blast an overcharged rocket at the golem with the sudden surge of power, blowing the creation to smithereens.
"More trash baggers brother. Better high tail it back to the yard!" Zeke calls out to Cole on his cell phone. Silver and I work together to strike at the golems and conduits among the ranks of Dustmen. The cops work with us to push back the transients while Silver and I destroy the golems and junk crab-scorpion things. Another RPG flies to my platform and I send another electromagnetic blast at the missile, saving my hide and the generator.
"Extraction team is nearly there. ETA four minutes." Moya reports. I let out a small sigh of relief. Four minutes seems a long time now, but hopefully we'll be able to keep everything running smoothly. In theory, if everyone keeps doing what they're already doing; then we should have no problems.
"Time for some payback bitches!" Gunshots sound out as Zeke charges up to the front lines with his six-shooter. Dunbar fires off two shots into some of the Dustmen that look at him.
"Zeke what are you doing? I told you to stay with Alden!" Cole yells at him. I'd like to go put him back to his post, but my hands are full with the swarming garbage wearing trashbags. I'm sure Cole or Silver would get Zeke back, if they were free to do so.
"He's not going anywhere. Got him dressed up like a spring goose," Zeke yells back as he fires off more shots at the transients. When the last one falls, a cold chill runs down my back. The area is quiet and no more Dustmen charge after us. With a bad feeling in my guy and chills in my spine, I rush towards the area where Alden was supposed to be kept. Silver and Cole join me as I open the door.
** By the time I got inside it was too late… place was slick with gore. Poor bastards never got any back up. If Zeke would have stayed at his post, they'd still be alive and Alden would still be in his cage. Not sure if Zeke's going to forgive himself for this…don't think he should. That night we could hear the screams from Tent City. They were drunk on power, proud over their victory over the cops – and over us. Now that Ray Sphere seems farther away than ever. Alden knows we're coming. He'll prepare. **
Day 18
"Where the hell have you been you three? I've been trying to reach you," Moya says with a very stern tone; disappointment clear in her voice.
"Alden's gone Moya," Cole reports with defeat and frustration in his voice. "Transients busted him out and killed every cop in the prison."
"This is unacceptable you three! You had explicit orders to keep him there. What the hell happened?" Moya demands with anger in her tone. I hear her slam her fist down on the other end of the line.
"Look, don't blame this on us. We did everything we could. Zeke's the one who blew it. We told him several times to stay put and help the cops, but he wouldn't listen." Cole growls back at the agent.
"It's time to cut him loose Cole. He's become a liability and we have no margin for error, especially with Alden back on the streets." Moya lectures us in her angered tone.
Feeling fed up with that woman I take my cell and decide to end this call. "Listen, we're gonna make a run on the next substation and beat the hell out of some bad guys."
So yup, that's it. Hope you all like it. As always, please comment on it and I'll comment back.
General Herbison: Thank you very much. I hope you liked the speech Luna gave the people. I had a hard time figuring it out, but I had an idea that Selene and Caia could watch the two.
Eugar: I'm not going to bother with replying.
Also I'm currently working on the mission after where John talks to Cole and such, with chasing after the copter and that mission. Anyhow I would like to inform you readers that I MAY have a job finally so the story might update slower now. But hey, it's a job, I get money, that's that.