As the Phoenix II fell through the stormy black sky, Grind and Axler howled, grins of delight on their faces. Miranda's eyes were closed, and she looked relaxed for the first time since Ryan had outlined the assault plan.
As they plummeted, the boom of thunder grew deafening until it seemed as if they were under attack. Ryan could see white flashes all around the LAV as they fell through the growing darkness.
"Everybody brace yourselves! This is going to be a quick stop." Dhin sounded calm.
There was an explosion, bigger than the rest, and serious gee forces slammed the runners deep into their cushioned seats. Ryan felt as though all the breath had been knocked out of him.
"Cliffs edge!" shouted Dhin. "Go, go, go!"
Ryan was the first out of his restraints. He jumped to the door and triggered it.
Cold rain slashed at his face as the door swung out, and a devil's fork of lightning lit up the black sky outside. The LAV hovered just at the cliff's edge, and the world was a dim gray in the torrential rain.
"Great job, Dhin," Ryan yelled into the tacticom. "We won't need to rappel." He jumped, landing on a wet outcropping of rock. Miranda was next, then Axler and Grind leapt simultaneously, landing with weapons drawn.
"Everyone's down," said Ryan.
The Phoenix II's doors closed themselves as Dhin pulsed the jets and maneuvered the big machine upward. He shot over their heads, going east.
As Axler and Miranda headed south and Ryan and Grind started north, they could hear the sound of the LAV burning brush in an attack landing. Hopefully, Burnout would believe that the runners were still aboard and react accordingly.
"Deploying drones," said Dhin.
Then there was nothing but the sound of thunder, the flash of electricity, and the chill of rain.
Ryan and Grind moved quickly over the rocky terrain. Just to their right, far below, they could see the black mirror surface of Cat Lake, rippled with the pounding water of the storm.
Miranda's voice came nervously through the comm. "I can't see drek in this rain," she said. "And I've lost the old man."
Axler came on. "Stay chill," she said. "Focus on the objective. The shaman will show."
Ryan nodded silently to her advice. Axler was right on. A good leader, and the one who would be in charge if he weren't here. Grind and Ryan had made it a hundred meters, and were just getting into position to make their sweep at the tower.
Suddenly, through the hissing rainstorm came a crash and a rumble that wasn't thunder.
"Frag, Miranda! Watch it!"
Axler's voice.
There was a short scream, which was cut off mid-breath.
"We have contact. Miranda's down!"
"We're coming," Ryan said, breaking into a fast run. Grind came just behind him. As they ran, they could hear the sound of Dhin's drones opening fire.
"Jane, did you get a feed from one of them? What happened?"
Jane's voice sounded angry over the tacticom. "A log jam fell on Axler and Miranda," she said. "Axler dove out just in time, but Miranda is still down. Don't know how bad it is, but I don't think she's gone yet."
"I hope she's all right," Ryan said. "We need her."
Jane interrupted. "Axler's engaging some huge creature I can't quite make out. Looks like a bear or something. She might need help taking it down."
Ryan concentrated on his magic and increased his speed. Like wind through the trees he moved. Barely touching the ground, weaving through the trunks of the pines. He pulled out in front of Grind and was ten meters ahead when the ground erupted at his feet.
Like an explosion from the earth, a creature of roots and dirt and humus popped to the surface before him. Ryan threw himself to the left just before the thing's metal blades sliced the air where he had been.
He tumbled and fired his Ingram. In front of him was something out a nightmare. Burnout, naked to the waist, his body covered in mud, like some undead creature crawling from the grave, leapt out of the hole in the earth.
"Ambush!" yelled Grind, then he opened fire.
But Burnout was no longer where he had been. With reflexes so swift Ryan could barely follow him, the cyber-zombie sprang almost three meters straight up. While Burnout was still in the air, and in a flash of lightning, Ryan could see the mechanical third arm sweep upward, its mounted weapon sighting in on Grind.
Grind was on the move, the mounted weapon chewing up the ground where the dwarf had just been.
Ryan kept rolling as the cyberzombie flew. He looked into the astral, trying to see the Dragon Heart. Did Burnout still have it?
Ryan found what he was looking for instantly. The Dragon Heart glowed amid the bright astral flares that made up Burnout's aura. And Miranda had been right, Lethe was here as well-like a stabilizing energy that served to anchor the cyberzombie's spirit. Is the spirit trapped inside, Ryan wondered, or a willing possessor? Or perhaps he has taken control?
A split second passed before Ryan brought himself back. "Target engaged!"
Jane came on. "Dhin's Stealth Sniper is coming your way, Quicksilver."
"Copy, Jane."
Grind came up behind Ryan, laying down a sheet of lead at the airborne body of Burnout, trying not to give the cyberzombie any clear shots.
As Ryan rolled to his feet, he saw Grind take a burst to the chest. The dwarf was thrown to the ground. Ryan didn't hesitate. He knew he had to engage Burnout hand to hand; the weapon mounted on his third arm packed too much punch for open-ground combat.
Ryan moved, lightning-quick, and was on Burnout before he could react. A round from one of the twin Predators Burnout held took meat off Ryan's shoulder, but he ignored it, channeling the pain away as he tackled the bigger man.
He grabbed Burnout's third arm and twisted with all his strength. The twist, combined with the momentum of the cyberzombie landing, wrenched the weapon upward, its servos straining. Metal bent, hydraulics screamed, and the big gun went dead.
Ryan felt a stabbing pain in his side, and shifted just fast enough to avoid the entire length of a sharp metal spike jutting from the heel of Burnout's foot. The weapon penetrated through his ribs, but not far enough to puncture any internal organs.
Too fragging close! Ryan ignored the pain and brought his Ingram up, triggering it as he raised his arm toward the cyberzombie's torso.
Burnout twisted violently out of Ryan's grasp, dodging the shots. Then he struck at the gun hand, making Ryan jerk it out of aim. The pain in his gut faded slowly as he concentrated with his magic. Ryan jumped for Burnout, a flying kick to the head. He connected, just as the cyber-zombie's hands clasped Ryan's knee.
Pain exploded in Ryan's calf muscles, but the kick knocked Burnout backward. The cyberzombie somersaulted and landed on his feet, then rushed Ryan, who was on the ground.
Ryan rose to one knee, covered in mud and blood, bringing the Ingram up. He knew he wouldn't make it.
He reached out with his magic, trying to touch the Dragon Heart, trying to draw strength from it. He could sense its presence like a small mana sun, but he couldn't tap into the power. His telekinetic strike barely made Burnout flinch.
The cyberzombie crashed into Ryan, monoblades snapping out of his forearms and targeting Ryan's head.
Ryan planted his feet on the man's metal torso and rolled with the impact, then pushed off and sent him flying through the air behind him. One of the blades left a deep cut in his Kevlar. Then the air around him was lit up with muzzle flash, and he became aware of the whine of Dhin's air drone as it peppered Burnout with light rounds.
That seemed to slow him down, but he dodged and grabbed the flying drone in a move so fast Ryan almost didn't catch it. Burnout jammed his hand into the whirling blades and destroyed the drone.
Ryan struggled up, bringing the Ingram up again, this time with the grenade gun in his other hand. He let loose with the armor-piercing clip and caught Burnout full in the shoulder. A clean hit that obviously hurt the cyborg.
Burnout gave Ryan a pained look, then faded from sight. What the frag? Ryan looked into the astral and saw the trail left by the cyberzombie, barely visible as it stretched away into the darkness. How did he pull off that disappearing act?
Ryan knew it wasn't mimetic or camouflage technology. Nothing like that existed. Must be magic, he thought. Which means Lethe. That made sense; he knew Lethe could hide himself in the astral, but Ryan also knew how to see him. It took a little more concentration and attention to detail, but Ryan had seen the spirit before and he could find Burnout now, regardless.
Behind Ryan, Grind stood, his body armor in tattered ruins all the way down to the thin trickles of blood cascading down his chest. It was quickly washed clean by the falling rain.
Ryan went to him. "You look like soggy drek."
"I'm solid. Saved again by Esprit combat armor. It hurts, though."
Ryan put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go."
There was a short scream through the tacticom.
"We're getting battered here," came Axler's panting voice. "Miranda banished two nature spirits before this thing that looked like a bear-man burst past me and mauled her. If we don't get help soon, there's not going to be much left to take home."
Jane's voice cut in. "Miranda's lost her tacticom, and from Axler's visual, I'd say they need help, pronto."
"On it," said Ryan, breaking into a run. "Spell out the situation."
"Axler tried to draw the bear-thing and the nature spirits back to the clearing where she and Miranda would have some open ground to finish them. Looks like she got a bit more than she bargained for. You better hurry, Quicksilver. I'm worried about Miranda."
Ryan ran in disbelief. How bad could it be? Axler was combat supreme. Hand to hand, one of the best fighters he'd ever seen. And what happened to Miranda's confidence?
Ryan hit the grassy knoll that led up to the rocky clearing. Two hundred meters up, the Phoenix II sat like a monstrous bug cowering from the rain. Its running lights glared, but couldn't match the almost continual lightning that danced around them. Thunderclaps split the night sky with searing booms.
As Ryan moved forward, a huge tongue of flame shot from off to his left. In the afterglow, he saw the fire engulf Miranda.
He angled toward her, running.
Ahead, the rigid, flaming form of Miranda was hedged in by two shapes that blocked Ryan's view. Both looked like huge masses of fur and plant material. They were manifesting nature spirits, obviously summoned by the shaman.
Suddenly, Axler flashed into his line of sight, coming around from behind a tree a hundred meters ahead. In front of her were two more spirits-tall, tree-looking spirits, moving faster than should be possible for such large plant-based creatures. Axler backed away from them as Dhin's Steel Lynx drone peppered the spirits with rounds from its minigun.
"Dhin!" Ryan yelled. "The drone will have null effect on the spirits. Find the shaman and concentrate fire there."
Axler broke in, panting her words. "The shaman looks like a bear," she said. "Maybe some sort of shapechange spell."
Something about Axler looked wrong, then Ryan realized she was missing part of her left arm. Chrome glistened, and Ryan could see sparks flash from the hole in her elbow socket. Ryan was still twenty meters away when Axler moved suddenly, striking at a huge form that Ryan had thought was part of the trees.
The bear-man.
In the flashes of lightning, Ryan's infrared vision couldn't keep up, but once the bear-man moved, he could see the faint signature under the heavy cloak. The bear-man bled from many tiny cuts and bullet holes, though he seemed unaffected by them.
He roared, going berserk and striking hard with a huge paw. The attack caught Axler mid-jump and sent her flying.
Axler sailed twelve meters in the air and slammed into the trunk of a huge pine. Her limp body slid down to the ground.
Ryan heard Miranda scream. The two tree spirits who fought her shredded into wood pulp. She staggered then, the flames flickering out on her body, and collapsed from the drain of using so much magic. It was just a momentary pause, but it was enough.
"No!" Ryan screamed.
The bear-man crossed the distance in three steps, insanely fast. One huge paw grabbed Miranda's right thigh, the other clawed her neck.
The thing held her above its head, and a dull whoofing roar sounded in the clearing.
Miranda thrashed in the shaman's grip, struggling, battering the creature with her free arm. To no avail.
Ryan brought his Ingram on target and opened fire. The first few rounds hit home, but then a nature spirit manifested, blocking his line of sight. Ryan adjusted immediately; he drew up and circled to gain a clear shot. He fired another short burst, then moved again as the spirit manifested again.
The bear-man was hit, dropping to one knee. He held Miranda raised over his head.
Struggling.
The creature roared again, and in that second, Ryan knew what it was going to do. He dove for a shot around the spirit. Aimed higher, the burst taking the bear-man's right arm off at the elbow.
It was already too late.
Ryan watched helplessly as the bear-man slammed Miranda down.