The Return

"Time for another crazy stunt," said Volodja to Chase, sitting by his side after they spotted rumbling Monolith on the lose. "Publicity expects it from us and I feel obliged to offer them at least something. Stand back gentlemen. I will try to convince one of these giants to switch sides. Sophie can reprogram it, I firmly believe. If I don'r return from that suicidal but necessary mission then remember - it was honour to serve with you both although I didn't had much chances to talk with you and get to know you better. Actually there was lot of things I haven't experienced, like getting old. But I hope that I have a chance for that if I don't get killed now. You two better stay alive so you can tell that it was my own decision and nobody forced me to do it. After all I have something to lose too but sometimes one must put his personal desires aside and do something for everybody than himself. Maybe I did it too often, forgetting myself in the way, but that's who I am and today seems to be day where I can't turn the new page and start to think about only myself yet and forget innocents who rely on us. Vaya con Dios, compadres."

Volodja stopped the vehicle next to landing Monolith, jumped out just like Chase and Kaj did, climbed to the roof of the nearest building via the fire ladder and started to count:

"One for the money
Two for the show
Three to get ready
And four to GO."

Then he made jump and landed on the Monolith, grabbing a hold with his strong hands and securing himself right away. He secured himself on the place with help of his limbs when Monolith started it's rise to the heights. Volodja held himself even stronger when Monolith descended again and landed to the ground, making him shake like a leaf on the tree. He just could not let go or his death will be in vain. And getting disqualified because he has couple of broken bones was not an option either. While Monolith stood in the middle of the courtyard, Volodja started to climb upwards again just like a worm, pressing himself tightly against the side of the Monolith. Another rise made Volodja to have that WOOSH feeling under his heart, caused by sudden vertical movement. But yet he refused to let go his hold although his knuckles turned white from tension.

After all - he was an ordinary man trying to do the right thing to avoid victims, not a superhero. His only powers, if someone can call it them way, were his memory and intelligence and even having them brought along penalty - constant tension and over-sensitivity. Fortunately he had one damn good EGO psyche, Sophie, who was busy with playing his adrenaline glands to provide him with necessary fuel, needed in extreme situations.

Another smash to the ground shook Volodja properly. Quite luckily he didn't left his tongue between teeth or he had to spit at least part of it out after that. And making words was one of his few talents so amputation of his tongue would have been equal to hitting Achilles heel. Fortunately his teeth were knocked together with nothing between them. But he maintained his hold and kept climbing. After all - his plans for somewhat peaceful solutions weren't exactly successful so now he had to do something he could do better - fighting. Finally he was on the top of that Monolith and only reasons why he didn't pulled out his shining sword to smash it into the metal were:

a) there was no time for memorable gestures like that 

b) he had to hold himself steady on the place so swinging swords was out of question because it would have ruined his balance

c) nobody will see it anyway so no reason to give heroic performance but lot or reasons to be efficient instead

d) last and foremost - he didn't had a sword with him. 

All he had was his sapper shovel and now he found yet another reason to avoid heroic gestures  - rising a sapper shgovel above his head in heroic manner would spoilt the moment aesthetically. That's why he just pulled it out, slid into the crack and started to pull the lid open. With a squeaking voice, succumbed into surrounding battle noises, it finally gave up and Volodja was able to stick his spare hand inside.

"I will hold on now and you do all the reprogramming, Sophie dear," he said and since he had enough practice in this day already, retreating from his body went more smoothly. Sophie sighed and started to tap quickly, knowing that Volodja's grip can't last forever....

Finally it happened. Just like in a cheap movie. Sophie finished reprogramming successfully and exactly the same moment Volodja's hands gave up the fight so with it's final move Monoliths flung Volodja away. On his way through the air he still managed to think: "No way I will yell: "I can see my house from here!" That would be too obvious. But everything else is logical - I rose to the heights and now I will end up in usual manner. Der Untergang. Downfall. Nothing heroic in that. And nothing romantic either. I hoped for a more impressive exit but...Everything get what they deserve. Nothing more."

His body flew still through the air but soon there will be an impact with a hard surface. Voldoja fought with feeling to close instinctively his eyes. If anything has to happen then he wanted to see that. Time seemed to be already slowed down for him so he could see him floating, instead of flying. In moments like that time becomes irrelevant so people have plenty to relive their lives or finsih the book or do something else. Just like Volodja was about to do.

In his last moments one is usually alone, but Volodja had an advantage - Sophie was with him, so he said:

"I am proud to have you, dear girl. No matter what happened, you were the one who was always with me and for me. Hopefully you will find new and better host."

"I don't want to," Sophie sobbed. "You are the best host and a friend an EGO girl can ever wish for. Nothing compares to you."

"We haven't landed yet," said Volodja calmly. "So we might as well survive the fall. And we managed to convert one of those Monoliths to be our ally. We did good. There is nothing to be ashamed of. At least nobody sees us crashing. Saves me from public humiliation. And if we have a crash landing then at least I have good company waiting for me on the other side. My fallen comrades are probably there where I am going, so we will have some catching up to do. If we don't make it then I am going to miss you and some other girls, but that's the life...They say: "Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse!" I think two out of three isn't a bad result after all." And Volodja smiled by himself right before he was about to hit something hard.

Landing was hard indeed because Kaj Oenfer wasn't exactly a softy from outside, no matter how soft he might feel inside. After some noises - "THUMP" which marked impact of two bodies and "Ungh" which came from the mouth of Kaj as a reaction to his landing, because Volodja wasn't exactly light as a feather and hit him pretty hard. Volodja himself was quiet. At least he was safe for awhile. Until the next time he tries something like that. Thanks to Kaj he remained to be alive but some-why he wasn't overwhelmingly enthusiastic about it. Volodja probably read so many chivalric romances that he lost his sanity and decided to set out to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world. Just like don Quixote. At least he attacked the real giant instead of the windmill.




That was the positive aspect of his survival, but he didn't said a word about that. Instead of that Voldoja thanked Kaj for saving his life. That was the right thing to do. Then he went back into the battle and resumed his position in top of the Monolith. He can have his heartache because of his broken dreams later. At moment they had some civilians to rescue.

"Come on, Rocinante," he said. "We are going to have a ride and since you are already tamed, we are going to show the rest of the Monoliths what we are capable of doing." They rose to the heights again, picked themselves a prey to catch, dived again  and hit another Monolith beneath them with all the kinetic power they had, pressing the Monolith against the ground, turning it into the pile of junk. 

"Way to go, Rocinante!" Volodja exclaimed. "You did great! Next one please!" Suddenly he spotted a mother with a child running across the street to find a shelter from a heavy bombardment. He made a quick decision and landed his "horse" right above mother and her child, providing them with a temporary shield so they could run into the basement unharmed. Something hit Rocinante's side at the same moment they landed. Volodja checked her quickly for the possible damage. Fortunately nothing serious. They could keep fighting. And their action just saved two lives without a penalty, except Volodja's thigh which got pierced by couple of splinters. But it was not an innocent blood which was spilled there, but blood of the sinner, so everything was still all right. Without moving away from their position they aimed that Monolith which hit them and precise hit from their cannon made the Monolith to whirl and smash to the ground outside the outskirts of the City. Volodja looked downwards and saw that mother and her child made safely to the door and smiled to them encouragingly although his smile covered physical pain in his wounded leg.

Now he sat steadily in the saddle. His brown eyes started to look for another opponent he can have a duel with. At least Kaj was the only one to see his fall from the glory. At least he wasn't laughing at him.

Volodja had to put thumb up when he saw Kaj's selfless actions on the battlefield. A modest warrior deserves recognition, so Volodja shouted to him: "You are doing good Kaj! You are the real hero here, because you are doing everything you can to help others, including me!" And his handsome face went serious when he saluted Kaj in most correct manner. He wasn't sure how Kaj takes that gesture, because he had a hunch that in eyes of Kaj  he might look like a fool, but that didn't meant that fool can't show his respect. Volodja was who he was. A shadow from the past. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Then he went back to the battle, leading his Rocinante into the fire-storm above the City. He could have not done it without Sophie and Kaj who both did they share to help him back into the saddle after his fall and made him believe that at least for awhile he can be somebody. Even if everything he does now is just a tiny detail of the bigger picture it was a shared experience and a result of the team effort. And now he will fight to the end and then...He wasn't sure about that. Besides - battle wasn't over yet and anything can happen. He  knew that he should have been dead long time ago but he managed to cheat death several times. Maybe he can do it again. Maybe not. But he better cheat death at least this time.

Nothing mattered any more, except saving civilians and stopping Esthete. As soon as sky is clear Volodja will land Rocinante and Sophie will have to take over his body again. She is more skilled to take Esthete down than Volodja. He can provide her with tactical advice but Sophie is the one who does the real job. 

"Seems that we can proceed, Sophie dear," Volodja said. "You will be in charge again after we land and find the place to connect to Esthete's network again. I wouldn't be worried about that if I was you." And he smiled to himself with certain amount of self irony. Sophie will succeed. He was sure about that so she didn't need his motivational speech. But he would not be himself if ho didn't at least tried to change the world better with the help of words. Guns can't solve everything.

"Thank you Dov," said Volodja laconically. "Everything will be properly done." He landed Rocinante and made his way down to the ground. Pain in his bleeding leg made him careful, but he limped decisively to the nearest port and connected his laptop to it. In playing Tom and Jerry they didn't needed something exclusive and powerful. All they had to do was get Esthete's attention and lure him after them until they reach into some secluded area. Then they can cut him off from the rest of the City and capture him at last.

"No, Sophie dear. My leg doesn't matter at moment. Catching Esthete is more important that my minor wounds. No arguing, dear girl," said Volodja. "And wipe those tears please. We are still alive and I promise that I won't die until we caught the bastard. One more thing. We need to map the area for Esthete Junior so he can block Senior's way. Every node must be marked on that and sent to him. That's why you are going to connect my data pad to the laptop and use it as a drawing board. You probably know where to download the necessary software. Then you will send everything you gather to Esthete Junior. Good luck, Sophie dear."

After preparations which Sophie used to stop the bleeding, Volodja sat down, connected his laptop to the network and begun to clear his mind again with Rocinante watching their back. Soon Volodja was back at Sophie's Bottega and Sophie used his hands and minds to gain access to Esthete's network again while frowning Volodja's face because of pain on his leg. 

Best approach to the problem seemed to be changing information about certain part of the City and then start to leave "bread crumbs" of changed stats for Esthete to follow. That's why Sophie chose her first target - couple of house blocks in the other side of the City, so Esthete could not find them right away. That enables her to calculate Esthete's approximate reaction speed and time which he uses to react. Then she can place another lead and lure Esthete further and making him to realize that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Meanwhile Junior will get every piece of intel Sophie collects so he could take over those points behind Esthete's back so he can go only further after that. 

"Time to make someone a bit upset," Sophie hummed with Volodja's melodic voice. "Not for real, of course. Actually - I can use couple of fake emergencies as well to catch his attention. With the battle going, some things like citizen's increased need for safety look so natural. And if Esthete feels that City became too big for him to swallow, he might take a leave." And Volodja's hands, covered with dirt and blood from his wounds, started to manipulate with huge amounts of information about the City.

Sandy fought back the lump forming in her throat and the tears welling up in her eyes as she handed the microphone back to Taffer, then asked with a strained voice that broke with emotion, "Anything else I can do to help sir?"

"One thing you can do", Taffer replied, "Is to tell me you have a bad feeling about Volodya and our team there in Red Deer because I surely have one too as none of them have responded. If that's true, then we should take off immediately."

He briefly turned to the Sensoth and asked, "by the way, how your precious Lu looks like? We might meet her as we're going to Red Deer anyway. We could at least inform her that you, mister…"

"Axe", Sensoth replied, "My name's Axe. If you're going into the fray, you're most likely to find her right there. A young Irathient woman, bluish-gray high haircut, Irathient skin markings on forehead, nasal bridge and cheekbones, eyes… you probably won't see her eyes she wears goggles most of the time."

"Fine, I'll see if I will spot her. Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice day. We really got to get going."

They left the bunker and rushed to the aircraft. Once they hopped into their seats, Taffer powered up the engines and took off, making all checks on the fly. The aircraft was set on the course straight to the city of Red Deer, gaining altitude on its way.

---

"Hey, how do you like the picture of a flying Monolith? You're right, I don't like it either, especially when it readies its heavy cannon. I've just got our group signal and it's marked as hostile. By the way, have you ever seen a Volge Warmaster saddling a Monolith?" Taffer asked Sandy, pulling their ship upwards and following the Monolith.

"I'm pretty sure it's Belle sporting her war mastery again and the thing is trying to throw her from the maximum height. I think we're in for some space race. At least we'll have a better look. Not the best idea trying to catch a Warmaster onto our roof, and I'm not too sure this thing can handle it, so keep the oxygen mask on and eject button ready."

There were so rare moments in the past few months of his recent existence that Chase had felt actual danger. This was one of them. After jumping clear of the vehicle, Chase stuck close to Kaj as they proceeded to hold up the line against the Monoliths that dropped in. It was as if they were facing a swarm of these damned mechs.

"Mr. Lonehart," Kaj caught his attention, "Go help the others save any innocents that need it. I will keep this Monolith distracted."

"Okay. Keep rolling with the punches, Kaj," Chase told him. "McCoy, Blur!"

Chase took off at high speed, focusing on getting to the location of where they others were. He jumped and dodged by any obstacles and blasts that occurred along his path. It was at the moment that the Blur had been drained and he was back at normal speed when a blast nearby send him off his feet. He hit the ground hard, skidding briefly until he came to a stop.

"So much for a cool, big damn heroes looking moment," he muttered to himself as his feet found their place again underneath him and him back up and moving.

He took aim of the intended targets, pumping multiple rounds as he moved from one location to another. Chase was finally able to get with the others.

"Too much fun," he said. "Did I miss anything?"

-----------

Iri had waited until the appropriate time, which was around three o'clock in the afternoon, to unlock the file with the correct mathematical equation. She copied the attached notes and preceded to lock them back, setting a different time and a different mathematical equation as the solve key. She began swiping through note after note with the holographic display to see if she could find anything to indicate that any of the drug had been produced en mass. As she did so, there was a thought that creeped into her head.

You're suppose to be seeing if there's something here to fix Chase, the thought came to her.

She knew that she had come to the Fort in a last ditch effort to see if she could restore Chase's memory, but with the blueprint for the drug, it forced her to choose between the man she loved and the independence of her species. She was obligated to both and had to do what was needed. She knew she was failing on one, but she couldn’t risk failing on both.

But failing Chase would have hurt more, she concluded. Maybe if she can find out that if the drug was made and being held somewhere, she could stop it from being shared. At least that’d give her a reason to not complete her previous task, a reason to avoid facing the inevitable fact that Chase cannot be fixed, and the man he once was is completely gone. She didn’t want to be the one to break the news. At least this task would give her more time before she completely that search and reach the inevitable conclusion.

But as long as there was a threat to her species, that inevitability would be delayed. Not to mention, it would be her duty to protect all life. She would do the same if it was something that was threatening humans, or Iraths, or Castithans or any other species on the planet.

One problem at a time, she thought to herself. One problem at a time.