Altitude 4,500 Feet — Underside of the Helix Fortress
The Icarus shuddered as Renji engaged the magnetic landing clamps.
CLANG.
The ship locked itself onto the jagged, metal-reinforced underside of the floating castle. They were hanging upside down, suspended over the city like a bat clinging to a ceiling.
"Magnetic lock secure," Renji reported, unbuckling his harness. "Gravity inside the ship is local. But the second we step outside the airlock, gravity is going to try to kill us."
Kazuki disconnected the power cables from his chest. He felt drained, like he had just run a marathon. "We're going out there? It's a mile drop!"
"Then don't let go," Renji said, grabbing a plasma cutter and magnetic boots. "Suit up. We cut through the floor."
Exterior Hull of the Icarus
The airlock hissed open. The wind roared, swirling with freezing mist.
Kazuki stepped out onto the hull of the ship. His magnetic boots clanked against the metal, locking him down.
He looked down. Through the clouds, he could see the tiny, glittering lights of Neo-Tokyo.
His stomach did a flip.
Don't look down. Look up.
Above them was the dark, rusted belly of the fortress.
Renji and Aeva were already there, attaching the plasma cutter to a maintenance hatch.
"Two minutes to breach!" Aeva yelled over the wind.
Renji scanned the perimeter with his rifle. "Too quiet. Kaelen knows we're here. Why isn't he shooting?"
As if on cue, a hatch opened in the fortress hull—fifty feet away from where they were cutting.
Blue light spilled out.
Then, figures dropped.
They weren't human. They were Nullifier Drones.
But these were different. They had sleek, aerodynamic armor and thruster packs on their backs.
Four of them dropped from the castle, landing on the wings of the Icarus with heavy metallic thuds.
[THREAT: AERO-NULLIFIERS.]
[WEAPON: GRAVITY HAMMERS.]
"Contact!" Renji screamed, opening fire. "Defend the cutter!"
The Nullifiers ignited their gravity hammers—massive pistons that glowed with purple energy.
One of them charged at Kazuki. It raised its hammer.
Kazuki tried to run, but his mag-boots kept him glued to the floor. I can't speed-blitz! I'm stuck!
He disengaged the boots.
Click.
Instantly, the wind caught him. He began to slide off the curved hull of the ship.
The Nullifier swung the hammer.
CRUNCH.
It hit the spot where Kazuki had been a split-second ago, denting the hull of the Icarus.
Kazuki was sliding toward the edge. Toward the drop.
He jammed his Fulcrum Staff into a seam in the metal plating.
CREAK.
He hung there, dangling off the wing, thousands of feet of empty air beneath his boots.
"Kazuki!" Aeva screamed.
The Nullifier walked toward the edge, raising the hammer to smash Kazuki's fingers.
"Not today!" Kazuki yelled.
He didn't climb up. He pulled.
He used the staff as a lever and swung his body up and over the Nullifier's head.
Mid-air, he engaged the suit.
[VELOCITY KICK.]
He kicked the Nullifier in the chest pack.
BOOM.
The drone was launched backward. It slid off the slick wing of the ship and tumbled into the clouds, flailing silently as it fell toward the city.
"One down!" Kazuki yelled, locking his boots back onto the hull.
"We have trouble!" Renji shouted.
Two more Nullifiers had bypassed them. They weren't attacking the team.
They were attacking the Mag-Clamps.
SMASH.
A gravity hammer destroyed the left clamp holding the Icarus to the castle.
The ship lurched violently. It was now hanging by one clamp. The metal groaned, tearing.
"They're cutting the line!" Renji realized. "They're dropping the ship!"
"The hatch is almost through!" Aeva yelled. The plasma cutter sparked. "90%!"
SMASH.
The second Nullifier hit the right clamp.
The Icarus dropped. It fell five feet, caught only by the emergency tether.
The ship swung wildly in the wind.
"We have to jump!" Renji roared. "Jump to the hatch! Now!"
"What about the ship?" Kazuki yelled.
"Forget the ship!"
Renji grabbed Aeva and fired a grappling hook into the open breach hole above them. The winch pulled them up.
Kazuki was the last one on the wing.
The final Nullifier was charging him.
And the tether was snapping. Snap... Snap...
Kazuki looked at the drone. He looked at the rope Renji had left dangling.
He sprinted.
He ran up the vertical tail fin of the Icarus, launched himself into the air, and grabbed the rope.
SNAP.
The tether broke.
The Icarus fell away. Kazuki watched as their only ride home tumbled down, engines sputtering, until it disappeared into the cloud layer below.
He dangled from the rope, swaying in the freezing wind.
Renji's hand reached down from the hole.
"Gotcha," Renji grunted, hauling him up.
Inside the Fortress — Lower Maintenance Deck
They collapsed onto a cold metal grating. It was dark, smelling of ozone and sulfur.
The hole they had cut sealed itself shut behind them with a hiss of purple energy.
They were inside.
"We lost the ship," Aeva whispered, checking her gear. "We have no extraction plan."
Renji stood up, reloading his rifle. He looked calm. Terrifyingly calm.
"We never had an extraction plan, Aeva. This is a one-way ticket."
He pointed down the dark corridor.
"The Anchor is in the Throne Room. Top level. We have fifty floors of soldiers between us and Kaelen."
Kazuki stood up. He tightened his grip on the Fulcrum Staff.
"Then we better take the stairs."
Suddenly, the corridor lights flickered.
A holographic projection appeared in the center of the hallway.
It was Kaelen Rhyne.
He was sitting on his throne, looking bored.
"You survive the fall," Kaelen's voice echoed. "Impressive. But my house is vast, and you are... very small."
Kaelen leaned forward, his eyes locking onto Kazuki.
"Come to the roof, Boy. I will leave the door unlocked. Let us see if you can run faster than I can cut."
The hologram vanished.
Renji looked at Kazuki.
"He's baiting you."
"I know," Kazuki said. The fear was gone. He felt cold focus. "But he has the Anchor. We have to go."
"We split up," Renji said suddenly.
"What?" Aeva and Kazuki said in unison.
"Aeva, you find the reactor core and rig it to blow. If we fail, you drop this castle into the ocean."
Renji looked at Kazuki.
"You and I... we're going to the Throne Room. We clear the path together."
[To Be Continued…]