20 The Resque Squad (1/2)
”Your brother already dies, and you will follow him soon”
”So that bastard is already dying”
”You're awfully glib these days,” quipped Sousuke.
”A lot's happened since then,”
he chuckled. ''I d have a lot to tell you, but there isn't time. I need to get on with tinkering around in that girl's brain. So exciting. it's like a treasure hunt.”
”What are you talking about?”
”Her head is packed with Black Technology, such as the applied Theory of the Lambda Driver. Once it's complete, nuclear weapons
will be obsolete.”
”What?”
”Guess you're out of the loop. Sorry, no time to fill you in. Tell the boatman at the river Styx to expect a big group soon, okay?
Buh-bye!”
Again, Lauren lowered the gun.
Just as Kaname opened her mouth to shout, there was an explosion and a splash of water. Lauren's rifle split into two pieces.
Leaping back, Lauren narrowly avoided three incoming shots each ruthless and dangerous.
A loud roar passed overhead, marking the arrival of a gray AS, which was descending from the sky at full speed. It cut its chute and plummeted.
”Yahoo!”
The plummeting Gernsback fired its rifle wildly before landing roughly in the water, sending a miniature tidal wave over Sousuke and Kaname.
”Urzu Six, landing successfully. And I've got a visual on Seven and Angel, too.”
Immediately, the M9 squeezed off a quick burst of shots, destroying the incoming enemy Arm Slaves. Lauren's mech seized the opportunity to hide behind a hill.
”Kurz!”
Upon hearing the familiar name, Kaname frowned. ”Kurz?
Does that mean . . .”
”In the flesh. How goes it, Kaname?”
”What is going on here?”
Temporarily confused, Sousuke suddenly remembered that Kaname and Kurz had met the previous Sunday.
”Hey, Sousuke,” called Kurz, ”can you move?”
''I'll manage.” Battling intense pain, Sousuke heaved open the bent frame and crawled out of the cockpit.
Sparks flew every which way through the sky above them as the multi-warhead rockets that were launched from the Tuatha de Danaan scattered small bombs.
Explosions preceded the eruption of many small flames.
Now, Kurz's AS was not alone. five more M9s detached their urgent deployment boosters and plunged onto the base.
Simultaneously, rotor sounds announced the arrival of attack and transport helicopters rushing toward the base. It was the de Danaan's rescue squad!
”Listen, Sousuke. Take Kaname and get back to the base. Head for the south side of the runway,” Kurz instructed as he snapped a magazine into his rifle and turned to chase the silver AS.