Galactic High

“The one at the end is probably the best one!” Sephy hurriedly whispered as the group quickly crept up the row of parked trucks to get to one at the end. “Though we could try and quickly search through the others? We have the keys!”

“Nah.” Nika shook her head. “We’ve been taking too long, and we’ve gotta get out of here before more people come. Any idea who the assholes called?”

“Haven’t a clue.” Sephy shrugged.

Most likely, independents seeking our bounties, Chiyo reasoned. Though that would be the best of several bad options.

“All the more reason to get out of here,” Jack pointed out as he led the way to the truck Sephy had indicated for them. “If there’s still other truckers driving off we might be able to blend in and sneak away with them.”

“That’s the plan.” Alora nodded, as they passed the second to last vehicle in the parking lot and finally got a proper look at the vehicle they were going to steal.

The menacing-looking black behemoth was almost twice as large as the largest truck Jack had ever seen from Earth, with thick, armoured plating along the cabin and chunky, reinforced wheels that were almost taller than Jack. The trailer it was latched on to matched the colour of the cab, with ‘Wingu Incorporated’ written along the sides in big bold golden lettering, with a simple background of a yellow triangle, two sides of which were stylized to look like wings.

Wingu should be neutral in the current corporate war. As a logistics and finance company, they thrive on sitting on the fence during these kinds of conflicts, Chiyo told them. However, there are rumours that Corvin Enterprises has a major stake and have designs for a full takeover.

“Sephy? Can you dislodge the trailer?” Nika asked, taking a look at the coupling.

“Sorry, no.” The Skritta shook her head. “At least not quickly enough. There’s interwoven layers of physical and cyber security. It’s pretty much the same for all the trucks, and I’m guessing only the recipient has the unlock protocols.”

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Alora pointed out, climbing up to try and look through one of the thick, tinted windows before using the keyfob to unlock the door. “As long as we get moving.”

Jack climbed up after her, helping the rest clamber into the cab too as they heard the deep, rumbling sounds of engine noise getting closer to them....

Despite the rugged, heavily armoured exterior of the truck, the interior was surprisingly spacious, clearly designed to be comfortable and functional for long hauls, with black plush, velvet seating with integrated systems, operated by a series of deals and switches on each one. Surrounding them on most sides were thick, reinforced glass windows that Jack could see were enhanced with augmented reality overlays that began displaying vital information, like traffic routes and nearby combat zones to avoid.

At the back was a built-in sleeping pod with privacy curtains that was much cleaner than Jack expected from a truck, with a relatively tidy and made bed with a few porno magazines laying on top that Nika bagged with a shrug, claiming that they could be sold or traded to some of the guys at school. Covered with misshapen foam to act as sound-dampening insulation and grills for heating and air conditioning, Jack was almost surprised that a company in this galaxy would bother investing money into unnecessary comforts for their employees. He had assumed that on a ringworld with no laws, everything would be the basic standard bare minimum to save money. Was ‘Wingu Incorporated’ providing these luxuries from an ethical perspective, or was there some more cold, calculated reason behind it?

Adjacent to the sleeping pods was a minimalist but luxury-looking kitchenette with food and drink storage that Chiyo wasted no time in raiding, guzzling down a can of fizzy drink before chucking the empty can in the sink, not immediately seeing a bin.

“Doesn’t look like there’s an access hatch to the trailer,” Alora noted as she checked for any alcoves at the back, while Sephy began quickly checking the various compartments around the cab. Seeing that he was the only one not being productive, Jack joined her in quickly placing various items on the pile, quickly finding two sidearms near the driver seat and a first aid kit in the glove compartment.

I have an important question to ask, Chiyo suddenly interrupted, a concerned look on her face as if she just realised something. Does anybody know how to drive this thing?

“Ummmm…..” Everybody answered.

“Damn,” Alora cursed. “Sephy, are you able to directly interface with the controls?”

“Doesn’t look like it.” Sephy apologetically shook her head. “Not without spending a few hours we don’t have to spare.”

“Anyone feel brave enough?” Nika shrugged with a grin. “I would, but I’ll admit my feet don’t reach the pedals.”

“I’ll do it.” Jack sighed as the words left his mouth before he could even think, realising he was probably the best choice.

Have you driven any vehicle where you’re from?” Chiyo asked Jack, looking at him with concern.

“I did some go-karting at a friend’s birthday party when I was younger.” Jack grinned. “And I’ve played some Grand Theft Auto. That qualifies me, right?”

“Good enough!” Alora smiled, as Nika and Sephy shared his grin.

“Oh, this is gonna be good!” Sephy cackled. “Try not to crash!”

Try not to get us all killed! Chiyo exclaimed.

“It’ll be fine!” Jack smiled as he sat down in the driver seat, which was situated directly in the middle of the cabin. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I’ll be your copilot!” Sephy snorted with amusement as she sat next to him. “I can at least go through the HUD and give you directions.”

“We have multiple vehicles coming in,” Nika noted, looking out of the window. “Doesn’t look like they’re coming in hot and we still have a few late departures moving out. Try your best to blend in with the ones going out.”

“Alright…” Jack began, looking at the controls. The steering wheel was obviously to turn, and he assumed that there was some kind of brake active to stop the vehicle from moving, where was it? Ah! It was probably the giant winch lever that could be moved up horizontally from the floor to vertically by the dashboard. It looked much bigger than ones from Earth, though this was a larger vehicle….

“How do I turn on the engine?” Jack asked, looking around the dashboard for the ignition, but didn’t find an obvious slot.

“Hang on,” Sephy told him, pressing a button on the key itself, causing a panel to slide open, revealing the keyslot which she then inserted the key into. “There you go!” She grinned, as a large button on the console began to glow with soft, golden neon light.

“Thanks!” Jack grinned nervously as he tried to calm himself down in anticipation.

“Several more coming in,” Nika warned.

Likely independent bounty hunter gangs, Chiyo noted. Though I can see a convoy of similarly marked vehicles pulling in as well. We should leave before they discover the carnage.

“Okay.” Jack sighed, preparing himself as he pulled hard on the lever, yanking it from the floor to the dashboard. Feeling something give underneath them, Jack gently pressed the glowing button, and the truck’s engine roared to life, accompanied by many dials, displays and sounds coming online. The deep, rumbling growl of the powerful beast reverberated through the cabin, filling the space with nervous anticipation.

“Alright!” Alora smiled, sensing Jack’s nervousness. “You’ve got this Jack!”

“Yeah.” Jack smiled back at the encouraging words. “I’ve got this.”

Checking the windows and displays showing the rear, Jack could see several vehicles pulling into the truck stop, with a few individuals now exiting and looking around. Several wore body armour with a uniform, with a symbol of greenish hue that looked like a gauntlet closed into a fist, surrounded by a spiked ring of purple, who quickly stacked up on one another and prepared for orders from a larger-looking commander. It looked like they would escape just in time. Jack did not want to risk a fight here…

Looking ahead, Jack could see a clear path to the exit that joined the highway from where they were. It would be a simple straight line from where they were, and it didn’t look like the scant few lorries that were left were being harassed on their way out. All too easy!

Giving a cocky smile, Jack pressed his foot on the accelerator…

The truck shuddered violently, the motor chugging heavily alongside the sound of metal screeching against concrete, as the behemoth surged backwards. Jack’s eyes widened in disbelief as he tried to brake and reverse the action, before the back of the truck smashed into the front of an expensive-looking APC that had just pulled in, sending sparks dancing into the night sky and sending the APC careening off into other mercenary vehicles that were following it. Their truck continued, flattening a red sports car that had just parked, the prior occupant screaming obscenities as something exploded, causing a massive fireball to blast out; the shockwave of the ruined vehicle violently lifted the back end of the trailer on its continued race backwards, while sending its neighbouring vehicles flying into the air to land in a hail of flaming devastation all over the parking lot. One of which crashed through the roof of the truckstop into what could only be described as a Health and Safety inspector’s fever dream. All of the generator fuel and a litany of other chemicals stored inside exploded in a hail of liquid fire, launching brick and mortar shrapnel everywhere, including into a small squad of troops that had already dismounted their vehicles, leaving them all in various states between perforated to puréed. Another truck that had just pulled in was torn in two as the beast smashed through it with the trailer, before slamming into what remained of the faded brick wall of the truck stop diner they had just exited. When the cloud of dust finally faded away, the monstrous truck Jack had just driven for a total of eight seconds had embedded most of itself into the ruins of the completely collapsed truck stop.

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

“Oops,” Jack finally spoke, having absolutely nothing else he could say at that moment.

“Jack, I told you to try not to crash!” Sephy chuckled, which set the rest of them off until they remembered what had actually just happened.

Jack! You kept it switched in reverse and in the wrong gear! Chiyo panicked.

“Shit!” Jack frantically looked over the console as the rest of them could hear shouting and movement ahead of them. A flash of light shot out and smacked into the front glass, though didn’t penetrate. It was followed by several more shots, and though they were protected for now, they wouldn’t be forever.

“Two levers!” Nika shouted over the noise. “Either side of the wheel!”

“Is anybody hurt?” Alora asked, but on seeing the shakes of heads, she could tell that they were fine-enough for now.

Jack immediately grabbed both, noting that the one on the left could only lock up or down, while the one on the right had locks at several different degrees. Switching the left to the top and bringing the right down several notches, Jack slammed his foot onto the accelerator and gripped the wheel with white-knuckled determination as the truck mercifully charged out of the wreckage with a cacophony of raw power, battering aside the van that had made the mistake of trying to block their escape like swatting aside a fly.

Seeing their avenue of escape rapidly closing, Jack increased the gears, causing the behemoth to bellow forwards, smashing another truck to the side in a heap and jolting the cabin as he cut straight through the carpark towards the exit ramp.

“Holy shit!” Alora finally gasped as they joined the highway.

“My words exactly!” Nika chuckled. “Next time someone else drives!”

“Sorry guys,” Jack apologised, turning his head slightly to look at the others. “I didn’t know.”

“None of us did at the time, not your fault.” Sephy looked at him with a weak smile, paraphrasing the words Jack had told her earlier when they were alone.

Unfortunately, we may have bigger problems to worry about! Chiyo warned. I see vehicles behind us with many angry auras!

“I take it they don’t have insurance!” Alora joked, pulling out her wand and moving to the far window. “We’re going to have a fight on our hands, they’re scrambling into the remaining vehicles to come after us.”

“I have an idea!” Nika grinned, jumping up and pulling a lever against one of the walls that had a sign with an arrow pointing upwards with a square on top. Yanking it, a thin, telescopic ladder dropped down from the ceiling as Nika quickly assembled her sniper rifle, pulling the individual pieces out of various pockets in her pack before clambering up the ladder, only slightly peeking her head out.

“Chiyo and I will take the sides!” Alora announced. “Though we won’t open the windows unless we have to. There are some spells we can cast that won’t require a direct line of fire!”

“I’ll stay with Jack!” Sephy called back. “I can assist from cyberspace!”

Flooring it, Jack quickly accelerated through the gears, forcing the others to hold on tight. In the distance, the highway stretched out before him like a lifeline to freedom, and he was thankful that there didn’t seem to be anybody on the road, at least not directly in the way. A few of the trucks from earlier had the good sense to give way to Jack’s erratic steering, his larger vehicle commanding respect as they veered out of the way and cleared a path forward.

“Uh… guys?” Nika shouted above the roaring noise of the engine. “We’re on fire!”

“What!?” Jack asked in alarm. Sure enough, he looked at the camera feeds giving him a view of the sides of the lorry, and with a start he could see the billowing black smoke coming out of the back. The rear camera was completely busted, and all he could see were the bright orange flames that grew ever more intense with each passing moment.

On the plus side, we have a smokescreen, Chiyo noted. On the downside, we also have a smoke signal. Oh, and our vehicle is literally on fire! We need to bail as soon as we can!

“We can’t until we find a way to lose these bounty hunters!” Alora pointed out, before she began casting a fire resistance spell on the party.

“If we kill enough we can dissuade the rest from following,” Nika pointed out between shots. “Or we can take out the lead vehicles and slow the rest down?”

“Could we find a less-conventional way to disconnect the trailer?” Jack asked. “We could gain some speed without the drag?”

“That’s a good idea!” Sephy agreed. “It could cause a roadblock behind us and it might distract them enough that we can peel away. Nobody’s gonna miss the opportunity to raid it for supplies.”

“Do what you can Sephy!” Alora ordered the Skritta. “The rest of us are on defence. Jack, you focus on driving!”

“Got it!” Jack acknowledged as he kept his eyes on the crumbled, deserted road, while the horde of angry drivers got closer and closer….

“Jack! They’re pulling up alongside us!” Alora warned, as she began to cast a beam of bright light to try and dazzle their pursuers.

They’re trying to board! Chiyo warned in a panic as she tried to tear up the exposed weak points in the crumbled highway, sending rubble flying behind them. Jack heard the squealing of tires and a crushing noise, but he could see that the assholes chasing them were still closing in.

“Do we have any more grenades?” Nika shouted down as Dante whined in fear, not knowing what they could do. “They’re not exactly easy targets!”

“All out!” Sephy warned. “And we’ve got fliers inbound!”

“Hold on tight!” Jack grinned in spite of their situation. “I’ve got an idea!”

‘I’ve always wanted to do this!’ The human boy thought to himself mischievously as an APC pushed forward ahead of the pack. It had been a guilty pleasure of his back on earth whenever he was banned from watching too much anime or wrestling. His parents had often blocked certain channels or streaming services to try and get him to go outside more, and while that had sometimes worked, he had often instead watched some…alternative television.

The first type of show he often watched were strange but popular Japanese gameshows that usually featured contestants trying very hard to win some heavily physical challenges, and often failing in funny, sometimes painful ways.

The other type was crazy police chases.

As a younger kid, Jack would often watch with excited glee as suspects desperately tried to escape the cops. Ducking down alleyways, cutting across farmer’s fields, and even bombing it down the motorway into oncoming traffic! Though he had often secretly rooted for the suspect to somehow escape the cops, it had never happened during any of the chases he had seen, thanks to the PIT manoeuvre. The acronym probably stood for something technical, but Jack sure as hell didn’t know what it was!

All he knew was that it usually wiped a suspect’s vehicle out in epic fashion!

Jack quickly yanked the steering wheel to the right, suddenly sending the beast of a truck roaring into the APC to smash hard into its side by its back left bumper, sending the large vehicle skidding uncontrollably as it wobbled from side to side to try and regain control, before Jack hit it again on the right side as it lurched past them, this time sending the vehicle spinning uncontrollably until it smashed into the concrete divider wall with the force of a cannonball, sending two bloodied individuals flying through the windshield, landing on the bonnet in a crumpled heap before lifelessly sliding off to collapse on the ground in a gooey pile of gore. One figure in the back seat managed to quickly get out and move away as the vehicle burst into flames, only to get completely wiped out by another group of bounty hunters.

“Should have worn a seat belt assholes!” Jack yelled out behind him, though he noted that only he and Sephy were actually wearing some at the moment, with the others all holding on to something except for poor Dante, who was currently lying down looking fearful by Sephy’s feet.

“Nice one Jack!” Nika called out in approval, before suddenly her tone shifted. “Looks like they’re focusing on the trailer now! They’ve got harpoons!”

“Oh, they want some more huh?” Jack asked. “Hold on!”

Feeling more confident with his driving now, he swerved the vehicle from side to side to try and frustrate the attackers, battering the cars that couldn’t swerve away in time…

Jack! That’s not working! Chiyo warned. It’s spreading the fire in the back and we’re slowing down!

Jack cursed, as he realised she was right, and he desperately fought with the controls to maintain their current speed and direction as the back of the truck fishtailed, skidding uncontrollably with a high-pitched screech of tyres creating sparks along the road.

“Dammit!” he cursed. “We need to lose this fucking trailer!”

“We also need to lose these flyers coming in! Opening window!” Alora warned, as she quickly began casting, before pushing her hands out and blasting a fireball that homed in on the largest gunship that she could see approaching. It quickly lurched to the side to avoid a direct blast, but their close formation with several smaller hunter-drones worked against them, as the fireball smashed into one of them to create a shockwave that sent the others spinning uncontrollably. The large gunship rolled to the side on impact, revealing several troops in an open compartment in strange, almost mediaeval-looking green armour, who quickly began shooting with plasma weaponry.

But as Jack drove the truck under the struggling craft, he spotted their leader among them, and his heart skipped a beat.

With a long, bushy beard and a bare, hairy chest with countless scars, the Ogar officially known as ‘The Redeemer’ stared at them with the hatred that only an insane fanatic could muster. He could see some kind of melee weapon strapped to his back, but while one hand securely held him in place on the dropship, the other held a long gun of some kind, with two separate rods between which green energy crackled eagerly.

“Shit!” Nika cursed, ducking down as the shots rattled on the roof. “Chiyo? You got something for this?”

I am not strong enough to pull a gunship out of the sky! Chiyo warned her.

“Then don’t target the ship!” Jack told her. “What about the smaller drones? What do they do?”

“They’re similar to mine,” Sephy spoke up distractedly, while she kept most of her focus on disconnecting the trailer. “Basic ones could just be following us, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these have weapons or explosives attached..."

“Look out!” Alora suddenly yelled, as a group of the drones up ahead dropped several green glowy-things on the road ahead of them. “They’re dropping mines!”

“For me? You shouldn’t have!” Jack muttered sarcastically under his breath as he pulled the truck towards the right to try and dodge, wacking another car pulling up alongside them in the process as the angry truckers chasing them on the road got more confident with the arrival of reinforcements. Chiyo strained in concentration as she was able to halt the momentum of several of the closest mines, before flinging them high, causing them to land on the road behind them, causing several explosions to ring out as the mines found new targets.

“Outsider!” a voice bellowed from the dropship. “You will not escape your redemption! You cause chaos with your very presence, you do not belong, and your death shall redeem you!”

Oh great, Chiyo deadpanned. He’s got a speaker, and I believe those VTOLs hovering behind all of us belong to members of the fucking press...

“Guys, I’m coming down!” Nika warned them as she shut the skylight hatch and slid down the ladder. “It’s getting too hot, literally! The fire’s engulfing most of the fucking trailer and we’re taking hits!”

Charging up his gun, The Redeemer let out a lance of green energy that sparked and slammed into the side of the trailer as Jack jerked the truck around to avoid a hit to the cab…

Suddenly, something in the truck lurched and gave as one of the rear tyres shredded with a loud ‘bang’. They felt the truck begin to slow down as sparks billowed from where metal scraped against the asphalt of the highway with a horrible screeching, though it barely drowned out the sounds of the heavy gunfire.

“That’s probably not good!” Jack noted with quite the understatement. “Sephy?”

“Nearly there!” The Skritta grinned as she apologetically told him. “I’ve also got processes trying to slow down the enemy drones and find us a place we can dump this thing and bail out of here!”

“I can help with the map!” Nika confirmed as she bounded over to the seat next to Sephy.

“Well at least there haven’t been any forks in the road yet, so there’s no chance I’ve gotten us lost.” Jack noted as he turned the wheel to avoid some debris on the highway ahead.

“Outsider!” they heard the speaker from the dropship play out. “You will rede-”

“That should shut them up.” Sephy snickered to the others, having quickly cut the Redeemer’s feed. “Separation process initiated as well, it should be decoupling now.”

“Like vermin scurrying in the shadows, you think you can elude the judgement of my King?” they heard from the speaker, which had been quickly reset.

“Nobody cares asshole!” Jack yelled, which he was surprised to hear repeated back to him from the same speaker, the giggling Sephy clearly up to some mischief! “We already faced a guy that had the same name as you and he was also an irritating wanker!”

“At least if this Redeemer is more focused on talking he isn’t focused on shooting…” Alora reasoned. “We’re exposed in the open like this!”

“Not for much longer,” Nika noted. “Jack, take the right at the fork coming up and we’ll be heading towards a set of tunnels the flyers can’t follow us down.”

“Got it,” Jack whispered back, though Sephy had the good sense to mute them after Jack’s outburst.

Sephy, is there a problem with the separation? Chiyo asked. We’re still being held back!

“Separation process should be complete,” the Skritta noted. “Though it’s usually done at lower speed in a warehouse and stuff.”

“The imposter will be redeemed with his killer!” the Redeemer snarled. “But you will be first, Outsider! You DARE to come to our galaxy, where you do not belong, and I shal-”

“Heh, sorry! Couldn’t resist cutting his speaker off again!” Sephy chuckled. “This asshole sure loves to run his mouth!”

“I’m guessing the trailer needs some encouragement to move?” Jack questioned, and Chiyo nodded.

“Alrighty then! Hold on!” Jack grinned like a maniac as swerved across the lands, billowing a spiralling trail of thick smoke as he moved the truck from side to side. Alora held her mouth to try and stop herself from throwing up as Dante whined in discomfort, before finally they heard a loud snapping noise as the back of the cab lurched upwards for a moment before slamming just as abruptly back to the ground. Suddenly, they lurched forward much faster than before, as they could all see the burning, smoking, disconnected trailer behind them spinning out of control, before coming to a stop with a nasty crunch as it blocked the road behind them.

“Gun it!” Nika yelled as Jack quickly flipped through the gears, quickly pelting it out of there as the flyers pulled back from the raging black cloud of smoke.

“Oh gods!” Alora gasped as she quickly made her way to a seat, while Nika grabbed on to Chiyo to pull her to another.

“Holy shit this is fast!” Jack growled in panic as he fought to keep them on the road, Buildings and districts alike zoomed past them as they kept going, soon leaving the cloud of smoke behind.

“Keep going this way,” Nika told him, releasing a breath she didn’t realise she had been holding. “Once we get to the tunnel we’ll be in the clear!”

“Alright…” Jack tensely nodded. “Thank god we-”

Slow down! Chiyo suddenly exclaimed, and Jack instantly hit the brakes, causing everyone to slam forward violently before they saw the reason why.

“Move bitch!” Jack yelled at the slow-moving car right in the middle of the road as everyone shook themselves of the whiplash. “Get out of the way!”

The vehicle didn’t give way for them, and even worse, they heard the familiar, deep roaring sound of The Redeemer’s dropship heading their way.

You’ll have to go around! Chiyo warned. And there’s other drivers up ahead!

“Just get to the tunnel as quick as you can!” Alora warned, as Jack shuffled several lanes to the side and started speeding off, the gormless old alien that had blocked them not seeming to notice his frustration, or his middle finger.

“Oh crap, they’re catching up!” Sephy warned while Jack drove as quickly as he dared, dodging various cars and other transports, though thankfully several of these had enough sense to get out of the way. Nika quickly scrambled up the ladder again to make her dissatisfaction clear.

“FUCK OFF!” she yelled at The Redeemer’s ship, before opening fire, placing several shots around the cockpit but not penetrating the armour, before quickly sliding down as they returned fire. “Shit!”

“I have fireballs, but fire spells are usually not effective against machines,” Alora pointed out. “We just need to make it to the tunnel! Then they can’t get us.”

“Crap!” Jack cursed as he quickly swerved to the left as a blast of crackling green energy lanced out to churn up the road ahead of them. “I don’t think that’s an option! Keep the skylight open, I’m gonna try and take it out!”

“In the name of my King, I will purify you with holy-” the Redeemer yelled as the dropship got closer.

“Overcharge!” Jack growled, quickly drawing his dominator and turning around in a smooth motion, letting loose a snapshot that shot out through the skylight, speeding past a wide-eyed Nika while Sephy had to think fast and take the wheel. Completely catching the pilot unawares, the heavy shot slammed into the cockpit with a powerful blast, forcing the craft to pitch forward and zoom down on a collision course with the ground.

“FUCK!” Nika cursed. “I didn’t think that meant right this second! Some warning would have been nice!”

“Sorry!” Jack called back as he took the wheel back from the surprised Sephy. “That was the warning! Are you alright?”

“I’m good!” The Kizun confirmed. “Even better, they’re not! And that’s the tunnel ahead!”

Nice shot! Chiyo confirmed as they saw the dropship smash into the ground. Nobody else chasing us!

“We’re not out of trouble yet!” Alora warned, pointing into the distance.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Sephy exclaimed, as she saw movement around the downed craft. The Redeemer was somehow on his feet, staggering to his gun…

“Hold on,” Jack warned, grinning as he began speeding up. “I’m gonna nail this cunt!”

“Are you sure?” Alora asked in a panic.

“I’m sure.” Jack nodded as he stared straight ahead. “Trust me.”

The Redeemer growled as he stared at the approaching behemoth with hazy eyes. No! How could his King have forsaken him! Wait…he needed to be faithful. He was large enough to be able to stop the speeding beast dead at the cost of his own body! He needed to….he needed to…

Oh shit!

At the last moment, The Redeemer panicked and jumped to the side just as the behemoth slammed into him, sending his broken body spinning to smash against the tunnel wall with a sickening crack, before his vision went black…

“Got you motherfucker!” Jack grinned, though sobered up slightly as he thought he saw the body stir, just as he turned down the path indicated by Sephy.

Two hours later they finally came to a stop. They hadn’t encountered any more enemies, and had parked the truck in a discreet location that wouldn’t be discovered easily. Sephy was in the process of bricking the software components as the rest of them bagged and collected everything even remotely useful and carryable they could bring with them, before spending some time consoling Dante, who really hadn’t had a good time. Jack was also coming down from the nerve-wracking experience of driving a vehicle for the very first time. At least they had made much better time than they could have anticipated, and were very close to the residential district where they had met their ‘client’. As they set off, exhausted but determined, Nika couldn’t help but lighten the mood.

“Next time, I’m driving!”