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Authors: Matt Roberts
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survivors while at least a dozen more were on guard duty. Their only chance was to create another distraction. Owyn readied a grenade and awaited the perfect opportunity.
“Now or never, Carter.” Shaw was as supportive as ever.
He let loose, and on impact the grenade let out a flash of white light. Owyn’s gun deactivated, as did Shaw’s. The grenade was a local EMP, so as well as serving as a distraction, it meant that gunfire from electric powered weapons wouldn’t be an issue – for a few seconds at least.
With blades in hand the pair raced out from cover and cut straight through the enemy lines. One soldier managed to grab a hold of Owyn’s arm, but a simple slash of his knife was enough to set him free. Leaping up onto a protruding ledge they made their way inside the crippled structure.
The tower’s aching supports cried out under their weight, and the searing hot floor hissed against their boots as they met the surface. Shaw helped Owyn up through a chasm in the ceiling before the favour was returned from above. Scorched and decapitated corpses were strewn across the floor. The supports creaked loudly once again and the entire building lurched forward, bringing it closer to collapse. Owyn and Shaw continued their climb, this time taking advantage of a fallen girder to reach the next level. Now that the EMP had worn off they had bullets raining down on them. A sniper shot whistled past Shaw’s head, missing the mark by mere inches. His instinct was retaliation, and so he spun around, knelt down and landed a bullet perfectly between the eyes of the culprit.
They ran for the opening. Less than two minutes remained. It was a fifteen metre drop to the desert floor, but this wasn’t the time for indecision. Owyn used his final drops of fuel to fire his thrusters, propelling him over the last of the debris. He made it out, but his take-off was far from smooth. With the impact rapidly approaching he was upside-down in the air with no way of righting himself. He couldn’t land on his head, so flung an arm out to shield himself.
His body crashed to the ground and he used his momentum to roll over before springing to his feet and launching into a sprint. Shaw was up ahead, and beyond him were the shadowy outlines of a pair of jets coming to roost. Each stride felt like less progress than the last as Owyn’s feet failed to find solid ground and clouds of dust and sand bellowed out behind him.
“We’re running out of time,” Sully notified them. There wasn’t enough panic in his voice to drive Owyn’s heart any faster, but as his timer fell into double digits his nerves began to jangle.
He hurled himself inside the jet’s airlock and scrambled across the floor to find something to grab hold of as they lifted off with the door still wide open. Immediately they jolted upwards. In the midst of the ascent, as the wind tugged relentlessly at Owyn’s ankles, the air began shaking with a terrifying rumbling. It was like a tsunami and a volcanic eruption happening all at once, while a landslide pounded boulders into the ground. Owyn turned his head over his shoulder and through the shrinking opening of the airlock door he caught a glimpse of the ground around the base glowing bright blue. Fissures were forming in the earth, ripping through the compound. The pieces then began to fall inwards. Buildings were sucked through the cracks as the walls around them crumbled and broke apart.
Finally the shockwave arrived. The jet lurched forward, thrusting Owyn into the wall. His head crashed against the metal and his vision flashed to black. He was out cold.
CHAPTER 5
MILLER
Owyn awoke dazed and disorientated. His head was throbbing as though ready to burst yet all he could feel was the searing pain in his arm and side. When he had been thrown back by the explosion his ribs had taken as much of the impact as his head and it quickly became clear that a fair few had fractured to match his elbow, which had suffered the
“Now or never, Carter.” Shaw was as supportive as ever.
He let loose, and on impact the grenade let out a flash of white light. Owyn’s gun deactivated, as did Shaw’s. The grenade was a local EMP, so as well as serving as a distraction, it meant that gunfire from electric powered weapons wouldn’t be an issue – for a few seconds at least.
With blades in hand the pair raced out from cover and cut straight through the enemy lines. One soldier managed to grab a hold of Owyn’s arm, but a simple slash of his knife was enough to set him free. Leaping up onto a protruding ledge they made their way inside the crippled structure.
The tower’s aching supports cried out under their weight, and the searing hot floor hissed against their boots as they met the surface. Shaw helped Owyn up through a chasm in the ceiling before the favour was returned from above. Scorched and decapitated corpses were strewn across the floor. The supports creaked loudly once again and the entire building lurched forward, bringing it closer to collapse. Owyn and Shaw continued their climb, this time taking advantage of a fallen girder to reach the next level. Now that the EMP had worn off they had bullets raining down on them. A sniper shot whistled past Shaw’s head, missing the mark by mere inches. His instinct was retaliation, and so he spun around, knelt down and landed a bullet perfectly between the eyes of the culprit.
They ran for the opening. Less than two minutes remained. It was a fifteen metre drop to the desert floor, but this wasn’t the time for indecision. Owyn used his final drops of fuel to fire his thrusters, propelling him over the last of the debris. He made it out, but his take-off was far from smooth. With the impact rapidly approaching he was upside-down in the air with no way of righting himself. He couldn’t land on his head, so flung an arm out to shield himself.
His body crashed to the ground and he used his momentum to roll over before springing to his feet and launching into a sprint. Shaw was up ahead, and beyond him were the shadowy outlines of a pair of jets coming to roost. Each stride felt like less progress than the last as Owyn’s feet failed to find solid ground and clouds of dust and sand bellowed out behind him.
“We’re running out of time,” Sully notified them. There wasn’t enough panic in his voice to drive Owyn’s heart any faster, but as his timer fell into double digits his nerves began to jangle.
He hurled himself inside the jet’s airlock and scrambled across the floor to find something to grab hold of as they lifted off with the door still wide open. Immediately they jolted upwards. In the midst of the ascent, as the wind tugged relentlessly at Owyn’s ankles, the air began shaking with a terrifying rumbling. It was like a tsunami and a volcanic eruption happening all at once, while a landslide pounded boulders into the ground. Owyn turned his head over his shoulder and through the shrinking opening of the airlock door he caught a glimpse of the ground around the base glowing bright blue. Fissures were forming in the earth, ripping through the compound. The pieces then began to fall inwards. Buildings were sucked through the cracks as the walls around them crumbled and broke apart.
Finally the shockwave arrived. The jet lurched forward, thrusting Owyn into the wall. His head crashed against the metal and his vision flashed to black. He was out cold.
CHAPTER 5
MILLER
Owyn awoke dazed and disorientated. His head was throbbing as though ready to burst yet all he could feel was the searing pain in his arm and side. When he had been thrown back by the explosion his ribs had taken as much of the impact as his head and it quickly became clear that a fair few had fractured to match his elbow, which had suffered the
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