Chapter Eight: Exodus

/Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, October 11th, 2029…

"You ever flown before?" Levi asked as he flicked up the visor on his helmet again. Hunter shrugged, "I've piloted a Black Hawk, before." The pilot nodded. "What about any planes?" He asked the man. Hunter scratched his beard as he struggled to think; he had never actually taken the controls of a plane he was in. "Do Predator Drones count?"

Levi smirked in response. "Yeah, kind of. As far as I know, the controls are pretty much the same, so Drones count. Here, I'll show you how to fly this thing." He said, taking off his helmet and handing it to Hunter, who took it and put it on, flipping down the visor again. "So, I hope you still remember the basics." Levi said as he transferred control to Hunters' side of the cockpit. "You know, push down and the houses get bigger, pull back and the houses get smaller." Hunter nodded. "Y-yeah, right."

Looking to the control panel next to him, Levi picked up a small headset and pulled it on, adjusting the microphone closer to his face before switching it on. "Can you hear me better now?" He asked into the mic. "I know how headsets work, smartass." Hunter replied irritably as he began to tilt the VTOL to the left, almost rolling the aircraft over upside down. "Okay! Watch it!" Levi shouted in response. Levelling out again, Hunter slowly upped the throttle, causing the Varan to shoot across the water even faster. "There's Hawaii up ahead." Levi pointed out of the glass to the tiny clusters of land on the horizon. "I hope there's still people left. We're a little low on gas. We need to get to the airport.

After a few minutes, they were soaring high over the mountainous hillside overlooking Honolulu. The coastal city was in chaos as thousands of boats filled the waters leaving the island. Hunter counted several ferries and cruise ships among the tiny boats below, all of them packed with civilians trying to flee. He watched people push cars and other unnecessary cargo overboard to make more room. The mass exodus would have looked almost comical were it not so tragic. Most of the boats that filled the tiny patch of ocean that spread away from the coast were too small and probably wouldn't survive the trip across to the US mainland.

"Down there. Pearl Harbour." Levi said. "There should still be somewhere to refuel down there." Nodding, Hunter brought the aircraft around before transferring the controls back to Levi. The engines on the sides of the VTOL tilted back until they were vertical, bringing it into dropship mode. Levi eased off the thrust as the Varan slowly lowered down to a lower altitude. The aircraft was hovering just above a vacant helicopter pad, which sat out on an elevated platform next to an abandoned hangar.

The Varan jerked abruptly as its' wheels touched the ground and the engines slowly died down. Opening the hatch, Levi stepped out, scratching his head as he looked for a refuelling depot. "Damn. I don't see any. Brilliant!" Hunter had stepped out of the hatch now and was taking off his helmet. "What?" He asked, handing Levi his helmet back. "I can't see anywhere to refuel. We have enough to stay in the air another five minutes. Nowhere near enough to get to the mainland."

At that moment, the ground shook as a nearby building exploded out over, causing the two to look on at the destruction as a MUTO emerged from the gigantic cavity through the structure. Slowly approaching them, the giant creature growled deeply as it slammed the ground with clenched up claws. "Get the carbine." Levi said without taking his eyes off the approaching monster. "What?" Hunter asked in confusion. "Under the gunner's seat. There's a CAR-30 in there. Probably won't do much good but its' better than nothin'."

Nodding, Hunter spun and ran back up into the VTOL. The gunners' seat was behind where he and Levi were sat. The prototype dropship was to have a second mounted gun on the top of the aircraft, though it had not been fitted yet, rendering the use of a 'gunner' pointless as all of the weaponry on the craft could be fired by the pilot. On the back of the chair was a large plastic cabinet. Flicking open the lock, Hunter pulled the door open and grabbed the weapon inside. It was a CAR-30 carbine, a smaller variant of the M32 AR that the US Army used. Taking out a magazine, he checked it was loaded and slammed it home before pulling the charging handle.

Running back outside to where Levi was standing, hunter looked through the scope for the rifle and lined up the MUTOs' head. "Let 'em have it." Levi said as he looked around for anything useful. Firing in short bursts, Hunter adjusted to the low recoil of the gun, which was much less than AR-15s he had trained with.

The MUTO had reached the nearby hanger, tearing away a huge portion of the building into oblivion with the swipe of a claw. Hunter pulled the trigger of the carbine again and it didn't fire. Taking out the magazine, it was empty. The MUTO was now within throwing distance as it cackled evilly. There was a sudden blast of heat as an explosion went off against the MUTOs' head, knocking it sideways. Looking to the sky, the two saw what looked like three tiny black dots in the sky racing towards them. As they got closer, the shapes grew wings before the three fighter jets pulled up and rocketed overhead, arcing back up into the sky for another pass.

"Captain Pravdin!" A voice cackled over levis' headset. "This is Raven One, we've been tasked to protect you. We have an Aircraft Carrier nearby, we'll cover your retreat." Levi nodded before replying. "Much appreciated, Raven One. Pravdin out." He looked to Hunter. "Get in, go!"

Racing up the ramp, Hunter threw the carbine onto the floor and dived into one of the seats, strapping himself in. He lit the engines of the Varan and slowly lifted it off the ground as Levi hopped up onto the ramp. As the pilot sat back into his chair, Hunter switched the controls to him and looked out of the cockpit to see the MUTO getting to its' feet, only to be peppered by missiles as the jets made a second pass. Wheeling the aircraft round, Levi slammed on the thrust and the Varan lurched forward over the ruined base.

Up ahead in the ocean stood a huge Aircraft Carrier, laden with helicopters and jets. This time, a different voice spoke into the pilots' headset. "This is Commander Ellsworth of the USS William Stenz. Welcome aboard, Captain, we'll clear a landing space for you." As they hovered over the gigantic ship, Hunter could see several aircraft taxiing and being towed out of the way to make room for them.

….

Levi and Hunter walked onto the bridge of the Stenz to greet Commander Ellsworth. He was an experienced naval veteran in his mid-fifties. The man seemed startled as he saw Hunter enter the room. Others also noticed and stopped what they were doing to salute the man. "Commander Storm?" Hunter greeted Ellsworth and the two shook hands. "Welcome aboard the William Stenz, Sir. Good to know the Hero of Tokyo is still kicking." Hunter shrugged. "I'm no longer Commander, sir." He replied. "I'm just a civilian. You're the commanding officer around here, sir."

"Hunter?" A woman's voice asked behind them. Turning to meet the speaker, his eyes widened as he recognised the person stood in the doorway. She was older than Hunter, with short white hair, glasses and a labcoat. "Rosa? What are you doing here?" Hunter asked as one of his former colleagues, Rosa Nature, stepped forward. "I should ask you the same. Its' been a while, hasn't it?"