Craze>>Local: Titan on board!
Relief and excitement thrusts energy into me. Pellucid is here, on Hyperion, with us. If I play the situation right, I can get some answers and we can save one of our own.
Two of Warden Tav’s squads approach the ramp. The Titan is small and massively outnumbered. Gunfire glitters through the ship. Sealscreens protect those on the ramp.
Winds tousle long strands of jet black hair from the Titan’s hood, and I hold my breath.
Titan Pellucid: Female.
The ship thumps and rumbles with battle. The Titan has torn through the vessel like a little tornado to protect a group of humans.
All plans vanish from my vision and only one engages. I’m back in Craze-mode, darting between pallets of goods and parked vehicles, aiming for the innocents under attack.
The conviction in her eyes as she fights back has me more excited than I’ve been in years. She fires through the fading sealscreen toward Warden Tav before he can even get off his next shot, and I’m instantly hard.
Craze>>Local: It’s a female Titan! With legs!
I have to save her. She is the rarest of us all.
Slinging my rifle behind my back, I draw my handguns and pick the path of least vulnerability.
She confronts her end as she stands above her collapsed humans in a display of defiance and self-sacrifice that both turns me on and breaks me inside.
I don’t have a choice. I have to be fast enough to reach her.
Craze>>Local: Emergency Rescue! I repeat this is an emergency rescue mission! Take out Tav’s squads!
Gunfire slices through the air, whizzing past me, and taking down approaching soldiers.
I run as fast as I can toward the ramp.Hang on, Pellucid. I’m coming for you.
Chapter 8: Navi
Alerts flash in my vision saying life-support has been redirected from the lab. The torch is off. “What? No!”
Rochir smirks from where he sits on the floor. “Higher clearance, Naughty Navi.”
Warden Tav’s technician collapses, catching Rochir’s attention. Another bullet punches into the hull. Sparks shoot out of the panel. Gravity eases back to normal.
Squad members turn away from us, shouting.
Warden Tav’s rifle kicks out one last shot that breaks the shield. I fire back at him until my gun in empty. The green light bursts and twinkles out.
Warden Tav straightens, unharmed, and sends one more flaming yellow bullet charging at me.
Programs run fast in my splay. I lean aside and feel the bullet’s fire tail heat my shoulder in passing.
Auto Defense Mode: Initiated.
My body takes over. A soldier climbs onto the ramp, reaching for the closest woman. I leap over her, and as I come down, toward the soldier, I knee him in the chest. My momentum knocks him backward. He smacks his head. He doesn’t move.
Craze>>Local: I've got the Titan. Axe on Squad One. Macabre on Two. RamBash and Tangle, on me!
A heavy, contoured body slams into my side, collecting and thrusting me off of the ramp.
Shavih!I reach for her as I’m swung around and deposited behind a metal man.
Craze>>Local: They’re females! I repeat: females on the ship!