Something he had said during his confrontation with Diana had given me an idea. I still had a few memories of what had happened. I had written them down, stories. And my most recent one was about him.
I needed to know more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I made my descent fast, angling the glider down through the rushing fog. Shadows on the clouds informed me of the presence of my companions. This plan was perfect, executed many times before. This was not a day to fail. Lives were on the line. As the last of the fog peeled away, I saw our target. Below on the rippling oasis sands were the rows of advancing machines. Their spiked wheels struggled for purchase in the sand, their formation breaking every now and then to skirt the trees and water pools. The shine off its black metal in the pre-dusk light was deeply alien. The Nova had one thing in their sights, the nomad city of Askavii
The Kator and Eldern families had been feuding since well before I was born, long enough to forget what they had been fighting over, but it was only in this past 50 years that it had turned into all out war. The Kator, with a military background, had the natural upper hand, but to combat them, the Eldern had built traveling cities, masses of buildings on the back of an almost crab like machine. Their defenses were almost impenetrable. And so the Kator evolved, developing the Nova ships, with energy cannons able to take out the legs of the cities. Once again, the Kator were winning. The Eldern were dying out, so in their last attempt, the created the Anti-Nova Task Force, a group of highly skilled individuals with the ability to destroy the Nova ships completely. This ability stemmed from the suits of armor they wore. This was what I was.
I slowed my drop, knowing I had more then enough space since we had launched from the top of Askavii, and leveled out. The captain's voice barked in the communicator fitted to my helmet. He went over the plan once more, reminding me that I was the one to make the first drop. I tuned him out. I didn't want to listen to his cautious ramblings from back in the city. I was the one out here on the battle field. If he wanted to gain my respect, he should come out here and join me. There was one voice, I did listen to though.
"Arin, I don't think I can do this." Her voice was timid, shy, like when we were children. It was nothing like the strong woman I had come to know these past few years.
"Shalis, we need to. You know that without us, Askavii has nothing on the Nova. All the people living there need us to succeed. We can't give out now."
"I know, but..." She paused. "Now that I'm seeing them up close, they're a lot scarier."
"There's no difference between them and the simulator. Just stick to the plan."
The speaker crackled violently and I winced, turning the volume down until I could hear the Captain interrupting.
"Arin! This is your ten second warning! Your target is the ship near the back. We believe that is where the commander is stationed. It's the same drill: drop, disable and then get out of there. Once you're on the ground you're sitting ducks."
"Yes sir."
While I had been talking to Shalis, I had maneuvered myself into the prime position to drop on the Nova. Now, all I had to do was fold in my glider. The green fabric rustled on my back and I plunged towards the ground like an arrow head. Any moment now, the Nova ships would notice our presence and begin trying to shoot us down.
"Arin, I-"
"Be careful Shalis!"
Then I turned my communicator off. I rotated, the air screaming as I fell, falling so that my feet went first. I was almost on top of my target when they started firing. The Nova on the front line were completely oblivious, but further back they could see us, in our white and green armor, dropping from the skies to land on them. My feet hit the back of the ship and I rolled with the impact. As soon as my balance had returned, I unhooked the glider material from my back and discarded it.
In the top of the Nova was a circular hatch which I began sawing through with a laser mounted on my right arm. My landing would have been heard inside, so I worked fast. Once the latch was off, I opened the trap door and dropped inside. Now there was no way I could be beaten. I was in the memory deck, a hallway in the centre of the ship (which was no bigger the four cars) that kept all the ship's data, storing it and controlling the other functions. I scouted the walls, covered in small flashing lights and diagrams, until I spotted what I was looking for.
I rolled my shoulders, preparing to use my suit's main function for the first time. From my back sprouted two metal wings. They flared as I moved, just like real wings. While they looked real, they could do none of the things their biological counterparts could. I raised my right arm again, selecting options on a green lit touch pad. I could hear footsteps hurrying towards me. One of the crew entered my view space just as I pressed the final launch.
"Anti-Nova on board! Abandon ship!" He screamed, then pushed past me to get at the hatch. He didn't try to stop me.
Each feather in my mechanical wings separated, then fired out from their ports to lodge themselves in the walls, floor and ceiling around me. At the end of each one was a thin cord, connecting them back to their ports on my backs. I activated the voice control on my suit.
"Pulse."
The cords came to life, powered by the enormous electric charge running through them to the feather tips. From there, the electricity entered the computer systems of the Nova, frying the motherboard and rendering the ship an empty shell. Unfortunately it also killed everyone on board, apart from me. An unwanted, but necessary side effect. Once the sparks had stopped, I recalled the feather tips and they recoiled back into their positions in my suit.
I began climbing the ladder back out of the hatch, into the now night air. As the Captain had said, the easy part was over. Now I had to stay alive on the ground until a drop ship was able to come pick me up. I vaulted off the top of the dead Nova and sprinted towards the cover of a small group of oasis palms. Looking out into the battle field, I could see other members of my team retreating, and the stronger members of Team two leaping up onto their second Nova. My job was over. I slid under a small bush, crouching. As soon as my panting stopped, I pressed a button on the side of my neck which folded away my helmet. The air was brisk, something I was thankful for as it was hot inside the suit. I closed my eyes to the sickle moon, only for them to fly open again a few minutes later when I heard voices.
The sound of battle had stopped, so I assumed that the entire Nova army had been taken care of. What I hadn't counted on were the survivors.
"Bloody Eldern."
"Shut up, Telk. I think I saw one go this way. They're venerable when they're on the ground."
"Well then why don't we just shoot the damn thing." Said the first voice, Telk.
"We have to find them first." Said another.
Insults were traded and they began making decisions on what they would do when I was found. The only thing I had to defend myself was the laser on my arm, which was almost out of power since I had used to enter the Nova. Usually, the suit would charge in the sunlight, or if I logged it back into its space in Askavii. As neither option was available, I chose to conserve it. If it came to a fight, I would need my helmet on, but the sound it made when it folded back over would alert them to my presence.
A foot stopped in my line of sight, which consisted of the bottom of the bush and a patch of sand beyond. His old leather boot ground the sand granules in his frustration. I raised my arm slowly a plan forming in my head. If I stunned him, then leapt out, I could have his gun before he hit the ground. Then it would just be a bullet shower. In my desperation, I hadn't noticed a second man creep up behind me. The impact knocked my forward as he swung something at my head.
"I got him! I got the bugger!"
The voices mingled as I slipped in and out of consciousness. Someone grabbed my shoulders and was dragging me further into the clearing. I vaguely registered the red trail of blood that followed. In a moment of clearness, I realised that there would be no way out of this. The Kator had been striving to get their hands on one of us, so they could study us, create a defense against us and continue the mechanical evolution. I had one alternative left to me: destroy myself and the suit.
I was looking down the barrel of a gun when it happened.
"You're dead you little shit. What the fu-!"
I blinked crazily and sat up, my focus returning. The man who had been in front of me until recently had been swept away into the forest by an indiscernible blur. He yelled from in the trees, then went quiet.
"What the hell. Where did Telk go?"
The rest of his team, about three, fanned around me, their weapons aiming outwards. One by one the blur returned, picking them off. Once, I heard the click of a broken neck. Eventually I was left alone in the silence. Whatever it was, I couldn't fight it in my current condition, so I slumped back onto the sand, my hair gritty with blood and dirt.
I must have closed my eyes, because when I opened them again, there was a face looking down on me. The Eldern didn't have any theories on the afterlife, but she looked like an angel to me. Rusty brown hair fell around her face.
"Hello. You must be Arin."
She crouched and put a hand on my shoulder.
"My name is Isadore. I have a job you might be interested in."
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