TTO Episode 8.3

8.3

Michaly Bruin was the Grecian who drove us while another named Tonta was the turret operator. The two were mightly short for Grecian but they were armed with ideas that sometimes may not work at all. In the short time I knew them they have shown me their outlook of events was based in humour and luck. Michaly was always the leading character while Tonta was the follower. However the transporter was not your state of the art stuff nor in best condition. It was an old vehicle from some discarded invasion army. I reckoned the transporter was over a hundred years but it was maintained. Well for one the engine coughed into life when the ignition was pressed although the noise sounded hoarse.

“This ain’t much to look at.” Michaly hit the side of the vehicle where the half the console switches looked dead. He fingers hovered over some switches which would not activate. “It’s was kept by our forefathers in the hills. We are the Grecian that never stood down to the invaders.”

I have data on the small numbers of Grecians who never believed in the tolerable conditions of the majority. They do not resist in open fight but create chaos by sabotage or at times, the rare killing. The last hundred years had shown greater number of these Grecians who had joined the new approach but they had remained low in numbers.

“However we are good at the cables. We have regular practice.” Michaly laughed out in a loud tone when his ministration of the fingers failed, he had resorted to the simple bang on the surface and the whole console lighted up.  “It was better than shooting at the stuffed figures.”

“Yes, I am good at it. My average is three out of five targets.” Tonta gave us his scores on the range. “It would help if they made it bigger.”

Both the Grecian laughed but we were on the run by then while Kuzuka was still trying to check on Edo but the later was adamant on being on her own. She approached the Grecian in the turret.

“You there? Ton…” Edo shouted above the noisy din of the vehicle engines. “Are you seeing anyone following us?”

“It’s Tonta Bruin and no, I don’t think we are followed.” The turret operator replied while he pedalled the turret in different directions. I was not sure he was doing it to check for troopers or he was unsure of the controls. He ducked down later and asked Michaly.

“I think we are tracked.” Tonta called out. “I saw those troopers on the hover bikes.”

I was rushed to the side opening and looked at the new threat. There were three troopers on the hover bike; a modified single seat vehicle that was powered on the anti-gravity circular pods instead of wheels. The bike but was not fixed with any weapon but the riders were armed with rifles. The bike was highly manoeuvrable in tight conditions and could soar up to fifty feet above the ground. The design was named Su-bike for the speed and its ability to do sharp turns.

The trooper bikers seen us then and they were approaching in a collision path.

“Micahly, we got three on our portside.” I heard Tonta and looked out. They saw us and were riding parallel to the vehicle. I still have my rifle but with the trees obstructing then in the forest, I was not able to aim at the troopers.

“Oh, Michaly, we have more. Stinger on our roof.” My circuitry was thrown into full surges of data when I heard there was a Stinger was onto us. I approached the turret and told Tonta to step down.

“My average is five out of five.” I told the other. Without hesitation, Tonta stepped off. I took his place then. The turret shell was a simple seat with the double mini cannons and directional pedals. The cannons were fed by the belt of energy bolts. I held the handle of the mini cannons in my hands. The trigger was secured and so was the twin mini cannons barrels. I pedalled the steps to move the turret.

“If you are happy with it can you look for the Stinger?” Edo was getting impatient. I nodded and then looked above me. I saw the Stinger was on the flank and was tailing us. I then looked at the three hover bikes on the portside. They had drawn closer at two hundred feet and keeping pace with us. I pressed the pedal to level the mini cannons and fired at the bikers. The energy bolts shaved through the trees or its branches before it hit the last rider in the leg. The biker was thrown back against the tree trunks and soon landed at the foot of the trunk. That shot made the two riders to split up with one going for our flank. They drew their rifles to fire on the transporter. I ducked below the turret cover when the shots came in. By then Michaly have driven us into the cover of the bigger trees but the later was too sparse to offer much cover. It was the nearby rim of forests that surrounded the temple and we were on the unmarked trail.

Suddenly Michaly cut to portside and we were on the collision course with the biker there. He came close to the biker and it was my opportunity to fire the next round from mini cannons. I hit the second biker on the circular pad and caused the rider to crash into the next tree trunk.

Two down and one more to go but the last rider had retreated. There was only the Stinger. I calculated that the transporter speed was at about half that of the approaching Stinger which was flying at the lower speed. Our driver was improving given the number of side swipes on the tree trunks have diminished and we were still intact. I searched for the Stinger and worked out the distance between us was about a mile and closing.

“Edo, can you ask the driver where are we headed and how far?” I shouted below. The reply was more depressing.

“I am going uphill and then we shall reach safety.” Michaly replied. “It’s not far.”

I could haveestablished then my sensors had picked up the noise of wrenching gears on the transporter when we climbed the slopes then. I looked then at the mini cannons.

Model Brent 240 of the Monscrats Army with the twin forty inches length barrels and fed by the belt fed five hundred rounds energy bolts per load. I kicked at the load in the housing below. I estimated we were down to less than fifty bolts there. Probably target practice or that was the balance. The bolts could reach a maximum distance of five miles but those were serviced parts then. I doubt the mini cannons I have then would reached a mile.

That was all I needed to know.

I pressed the trigger and saw the barrels spurted off three rounds of the bolts into the sky. I missed the Stinger by half a mile.

“Kick the main block. It will improve the direction.” I heard Tonta and did what he told me. I fired the second burst and almost hit the Stinger which was a quarter mile away. I would have replied a compliment but the Stinger had returned fire.

“Incoming!” I shouted but the Stinger shots tore into the right side of the transporter. I felt the vehicle swerved but we had to shave the tree trunk then of some low branches.

“Keep on driving.” I heard Edo shouted out. She poked her head near the turret opening. “And you keep on firing.”

I pressed the trigger for longer bursts of the energy bolts but it was not my aiming. It was the mini cannons; they have a mind of their own. Bloody Monscrat design. Just then when I thought I had the feel on the mini cannons, Michaly had driven us into a cave.

“Another cavern?” Edo was heard exclaiming in exasperation.

“Yes, on Grecia IV we have numerous caves and our tunnels system…” I believed Edo had then shut Tonta off. It was a large cave entrance but the cavern was smaller inside. Somehow Michaly managed to drive the transporter into the narrower tunnel and then by our surprise, he had the lights on the transporter front lighted up. It lit up the tunnel ahead and then I heard the Stinger was at our flank firing its cannons. The walls on the tunnel we were in were collapsing but Michaly was still driving on. The collapsing walls was piling the tunnel with debris but the eight wheels transporter surged on with the bumps.

“We did not foresee that but the end will be near soon.” Michaly called. “You might want to hold onto something.”

The end came soon and it was a long drop into the surging river below in a large cavern.