12 Drinks and Plans

"The assault team's nearly there, Alexio. They encountered some resistance from the aerial troops but they're no problem without the pulse cannon. ETA 2 minutes tops. What's the situation inside the ship?"

Alexio and the others were running through the main hall as Riku contacted them.

"The defense cannons are temporarily disabled. We maintain control over the command center for a while before the system resets itself and all containment doors reopen. You've got a five minute window to hit this fortress with all you've got before we're blown to kingdom come by the Kridora inside the ship. But don't worry about the evacuation, I have something in mind."

"Got it. Good luck."

The lieutenant of Richard's squad turned towards Alexio questioningly as they approached the walls.

"How do we get off of this ship? You said you had something in mind?"

Alexio had a crazy smile on his face as he explained his plan.

"I had everything planned from entry to exit before we even came onto this ship. The timing's perfect. Right now, below us is a company of Kridora drop ships being sent to the Andra as reinforcement for the frontier struggle. They'll be passing directly below the fortress in about 2 minutes. I'll be jumping off the ship and hijacking one of them and eventually return to the surface. The rest of you can glide in the lower atmosphere right? You'll return to the HQ on your own. I'd hitch a ride with one of you but you won't be able to carry another person without crashing. The rest of my team and father here can manage on their own, I'd say. Also- "

Alexio was cut off by both his father and the rest of the soldiers as they gave him truly shocked faces. One of them finally came out of his stupor as he said,

"What the hell are you thinking? There are drop ships on this fortress. Surely we can take one and-"

"You'll be dead before you reach it. And besides, with the entire ship in lockdown, I doubt we even can. Blasting through the doors will be more exhausting than effective. I'd like to keep the enemies on board as cut off from us as possible. Don't worry, I'll manage something on my own. Give me your pulse rifle though. I feel as if I'll need it."

"I don't know how a rifle will be any useful when you're free falling but alright. Lord Richard, how do you plan to return?"

The soldier turned towards Richard who was looking at the ceiling thoughtfully,

"Oh we'll find a way, me and the Templar Knights. We always do."

Just then, someone spoke over the common channel,

"The assault team is in place. We were delayed by the patrolling aerial units. Heavy artillery now surround the ship from every direction. Orders?"

Alexio turned towards the towering wall in front of them and said,

"Light this place to kingdom come! All units, fire!"

The entire ship shook with explosions as the assault team shelled the hull. Even with a dozen soldiers, without their defense cannons and reinforcements being minutes away, the Kridora were defenseless. The shields around the ship began to crack with every blow. The fortress began to tilt to one side as the rear boosters finally began failing. The wall in front of Alexio and the others finally gave way to open skies as wind rushed past them.

"Alright time to go. Ava! I'll be jumping from the main hall in fifteen seconds. If you've got any grenades left, throw them to me from where you are! Haru and Leo, well, good luck I guess. Father's got a plan to get everyone out so I'll leave you guys to it."

"I'll try. The explosion from the armory blew a huge hole in the hull so I do have a window. It'll be tricky to match your timing. Haru, what's your status?"

"I'm out of the control center. Running towards Lord Richard and the others; ETA three minutes. Leonid?"

"I'm on the lower levels. The Kridora are still trying to take the defense guns back but I think I can hold them back on my end. The lockdown really cut them off from each other. Sir, what's the plan then?"

"I'll explain as we go along. Alexio? You're absolutely sure you can do what you're claiming? If you miss the patrol, well, it'll be mashed potatoes for dinner."

"You're one to talk. I've seen the reports; you've done some pretty crazy stuff, haven't you? Even before the war broke out… Tch. Alright Imma head out! Ava, be ready! 3…2…1…now!"

Alexio back flipped out of the ship as he heard someone shout his name from the main hall. Just then, he saw a small object flying in his direction. The grenade was thrown slightly off but Alexio conjured his tendrils and managed to catch it. To his left, he saw a couple of aerial units headed towards the assault team. Looking down the scope, he aimed for the string of grenades on one of the stray flyers. Taking the bullet drop due to acceleration and viscosity into account, he shot just above his target and took all of them out.

"Woohoo! That's got to be a million enhet shot! Now, where is that patrol?"

Looking directly below him, he saw a random stream of drop ships going past him approximately a hundred fifty meters from him. Alexio took out the grenade he had acquired and readied his gun.

'Alright this should be enough. 150m with 18 metres per square second; ignoring viscosity and and the ship being around 1500 meters to the left heading with maybe 250 meters per second…alright got it!"

Alexio propelled the grenade with his kinetic impulse and fired a blast right behind it. Using his impulse, he immediately accelerated at a particular angle in front of the ship. The grenade reached the ship at the same time as the blast hitting the former, blasting a huge hole in the hull and misbalancing the ship. Alexio reached the ship trajectory just as it passed below, missing just barely.

"Crap!"

Alexio managed to grab onto the broken part of the hull just barely with his tendrils as the cyborgs inside began firing in his direction. Alexio extended the tendrils on his left hand to grab one of the robots and threw it right outside. He then let go of the ship and immediately swung himself to the bottom of the same. Grabbing hold to the bottom, he blew a hole at the exact position the second cyborg was and grabbed it by the leg.

"Gotcha. Here's a sunburn for you, tin can!"

Before the robot could react, plasma spread from its leg and the robot exploded in a bright flash, injuring the soldiers inside.

"Ah! The hell was that! What is even going on?!"

Ripping open a big enough from the same spot, Alexio climbed aboard the ship with his sword drawn and a smile on his face.

"Yo. Room for another?"

***///////////////////////////////////////////////////////***

-2 minutes later-

"Alexio, come in! What's your status?"

"Yeah. Just finishing things up on my end. I got a ship and cleaned it of its infestation. Dead tired though. What's the situation on your end?"

"Stuff happened. We're on the ground and heading towards the HQ. Richard's plan almost got us killed! Goddamn idiot, that man. Haru's shield came in real clutch. I contacted you for a reason; the place you're gonna land is swarming with Kridora. Divert your course."

"About that-"

Just then, Riku voice echoed through Alexio's headset followed by an irritated sigh,

"You really busted the controls on the ship, didn't you? Goddamn it. Alright…I've marked your location and situation on the data pad. Now our soldiers know where you'll be landing and…wait. This is perfect! Listen up! You're landing about 2700 meters off of HQ, in the city of Odla. It's a literal madhouse out there and they've just requested reinforcements on the frontier. I've deployed a battalion and you'll be joining them as backup for the pinned soldiers there, got it?"

"Understood. Where will I be intercepting the battalion?"

"Above you."

Alexio looked up through the hole he had blasted in the drop ship earlier and saw around thirty soldiers flying in formation in the same direction as him. Having lost controls to the ship, he waited for his ship to float right above the warzone in Odla. He ventured to the back of the ship to look for supplies and managed to find a burst rifle, a couple of cluster grenades and a decelerator.

"Just what I needed. Time to get to work."

Alexio shot one blast at the controls and another just below the ship and jumped out. Midway in his free fall, he activated the decelerator that was now attached on his gauntlet. The fans opened and began spinning at high speeds on his wrist, breaking his fall to a slow descent. After landing in the forest below, he threw the equipment away and contacted Riku again.

"Alright I'm in the bloom forest, facing the city boundaries. What am I supposed to do?"

"Good. Now can you sense any infrared markers on a particular building? The pinned soldiers marked their location using the markers. Make your way to them and escort them to the HQ. The squadron I sent just contacted me to tell you that they've spotted the Diablo falling through the clouds just near to the city you're in. This has bound to create an opening so-"

"Use it to reach the pinned soldiers and escort blah blah blah. Got it. I don't have the overclocker anymore, by the way. It got busted with the times three multiplier I used. Also I'm not in excellent shape after that beat down I got so just-"

"Are you really giving me excuses why you can't provide support?"

"I'm giving you excuses why I won't just slaughter every single one of these Kridora scum. Alexio out."

He then attached the gun he had picked up from the ship to his gauntlet and checked his stock of grenades on his belt once again before venturing out of the forest and taking cover behind a broken wall. His support squadron landed a few feet away and sneaked to his position.

"That Diablo stuff was real nice, bro. How did you even pull that off?"

"Let's discuss that over drinks after we rescue our comrades here. Squadron, move out!"