Chapter 18 - Sacrifice

Leonard now watched as the bullets flew around the column he was behind, every time he moved and temporarily exposed himself, tearing huge chunks of the building façade off where they hit. Leonard knew they weren't rifle bullets, they were something bigger and suddenly he realized that the suit he was in might not stop them, he had only tested the material against rifle bullets. The only advantage Leonard had was that the suit could enhance his movements and make him able to move quickly if he tried and so Leonard quickly revised his escape plan. Right now the gunners didn't have a target, if he went the other way he might be able to get to the area between the buildings, and then, if he could get into the open for a few seconds, he could use the thrusters to get away.

Penny reached the scene after the guns starting firing, her mind a mess, just trying to understand what she was seeing and what was happening. She saw the buildings were still standing, but she couldn't understand why the soldiers were firing at one of them, she was in a daze, her mind in overdrive trying to understand and piece together all the information she was being exposed to. The only thing that dominated all this was one thought, 'Where was her Leonard?', so she walked within a few feet of their line, looking for some sign of him.

Leonard needed to act quickly, so he abruptly moved the opposite way he had been going, to the next column, confusing the gunners and making the move before they corrected their heavy machine guns. He didn't stay there long, immediately going for the next, barely making that one too, however when he then tried moving to the third, this time he didn't make it. Two of the 50 caliber guns caught him in a crossfire, the heavy slugs and the pain they caused making him fall to one knee. The 50 caliber machine gun was made to shoot down aircraft, so the pain of huge 50 caliber slugs hitting the suit was like sledge hammers, it was amazing they hadn't penetrated, but when they hit they hurt, hurt bad. Leonard tried moving a little to keep the fire from concentrating fully on him, but he was barely hanging on, the pain from the repeated hits, causing welts wherever they hit. He also had another problem, the suit was taking hits and sustaining damage too, he was getting more and more systems warnings, the suit was shutting down.

It was during the time, when Penny was staring at everything happening, that Howard and Bernadette had finally caught up to her and saw what Penny saw, machine guns firing at the building and like her they didn't know what was happening. Penny had moved to only a few feet behind the soldiers, staring at the building they were firing on and Howard had slowly moved towards her, to grab her and pull her back to where Bernadette was standing. However both of them had became frozen in their spots when they saw Leonard run between the columns, extreme joy and fear for him as they realized he wasn't dead but still in trouble.

Penny had watched as Leonard tried to escape, and silently prayed for his success, time seemed to have gone into slow motion as she watched him go to the next column, even though it was only seconds. She had been paralyzed in fear for him, tears running down her face, she had thought she lost him and seeing him again, she couldn't stand to loose him again. So when he didn't make the third column, fell to one knee, and Penny had to watch the tracers from the machine guns hit Leonard, She became hysterical, moving up to the line, standing between the soldiers and with everything ounce of energy inside her she screamed "Leonard!"

Penny had walked right into the mix of the soldiers, everyone so focused on the thing near the building, they didn't even notice her until several soldiers heard her scream and turned to look at her, wondering where she came from. The small commotion and the sudden decrease in weapons fire, make Turner turn from his nearby command vehicle to see what was happening, surprise crossing his face as he noticed the blonde young woman mixed with his men. She was screaming while they tried to hold her, from it looked like running to the building, and her screams seemed to be only one word, 'Leonard?'. However Turner had a very good memory for people and he recognized her, he had seen her at the party a few weeks ago, she was the girlfriend of Dr Hofstadter who was working on the new bullet proof material project, wasn't his name Leonard, his mind tried to process all that was happening and it came to one quick conclusion. Turner grabbed the command radio microphone, "Cease fire! All units stand down! Secure weapons!" Turner shouted into the radio. Everything immediately got very quiet and Turner looked at Penny, then he yelled down to her, as he pointed to the thing, "Is that Dr Hofstadter?" Penny, taken by surprise, turned her head to look up at Turner and just nodded, tears flowing from her eyes.

The shooting stopped, new pain from the heavy caliber guns hitting the suit had also stopped, Leonard hurt all over, and took a ragged breath. His mind started to work again and as he started to listen to the computer warnings, his heart froze.

Warning System malfunction, system discharge unit malfunction

Seven.…..Abort

Warning System malfunction, system discharge unit malfunction

Six…Abort

"Abort, Abort, damm it abort." Leonard yelled.

Five…Abort The laser was charging, with no target and he had a warning that the emergency discharge system was damaged, only one thing could happen, it would blow up and he would probably not survive.

"Targeting" He tried, maybe he could fire it harmlessly away at something.

Targeting system malfunction, laser off-line

Four…Abort Leonard then realized something, he had four full chemical packs left, they would all go off if there was an explosion, it would take out almost a city block. He looked at all the soldiers, they were all in danger and as he quickly scanned their line, he saw the blonde hair and his heart froze again, he saw Penny. His mind screamed, 'NO… NOT, PENNY!'

Three…Abort He had to something, he had to save Penny, he couldn't let the packs explode and hurt or kill her, he had to protect her, it was the only thing going through his mind. He looked around desperately and saw it, a fountain and pool, in front of the buildings, it was his only chance. He had only two seconds and he thought, pleaded, 'Please Work'

Two….Abort

"Thruster"

Thruster Armed…..Abort

One…Abort

Leonard made one last effort, got the suit standing up and turned to the pool, taking a difficult couple steps, as quickly as he could, from under the overhang, then hit the fire button, in his glove.

Ready

Leonard now had two seconds before the system aborted and discharged and blew up, as they thrusters carried him to the pool. The soldiers watched in awe as the thing lifted off then, then just as suddenly, landed in the pool. Leonard hit the water, immediately falling on his back and quickly sank, watching as the water covered his visor as he sank, hoping beyond hope he was right.

Laser abort. System discharge

What happened next, was the event that Leonard hoped would happen, the system discharged to a power bus that was now in water, the electrical discharge dumping completely and safely into the water, turning suddenly on and then shorting out every spotlight in the pool, sparks flying like a fourth of July fireworks display. The new steel frame work of the suit's exoskeleton was the only thing that saved Leonard from be electrocuted, however the suit was not waterproof and it was now flooding and Leonard had no power to move it, the electrical discharge had killed the suit too. The water was rising fast, filling the suit, Leonard could feel it coming up rapidly to his helmet, and there was nothing he could do. In the seconds he had left, as he felt the water fill the suit, he thought it had been worth it, he really had no regrets, Penny was safe and in a way it was almost funny, after all he just been through, he was going to drown in about 4 feet of water.