Chapter 5

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A hushed "eek!" was all I could manage as I tried to swing my mecha about, but the other mecha was faster, a lot faster. He ripped my gun pod from my mecha's hands and pushed me aside before I had even moved a millimetre. Out of my mecha's peripheral visuals I saw him raise the gun, prepare to fire, and get ripped to pieces. A spray of energy beams ripped through the head, chest and vitals of his mecha, blowing all the way through in some places. 

"Shit! DAMN!" I screamed, spinning around to look for where the beams had come from. One of those humanoid things I had shot earlier. While I was desperately trying to think of something to do about it, the other mecha, amazingly, started firing at it. It emptied my entire clip into it, splattering brackish fluids everywhere and ripping a great hole in the deck. 

I looked back at the other mecha, looking for some rank insignia... I didn't know what I was looking for, but this guy had to be in charge of somebody. He was just too good to be a nobody. <Hmmm, no rank, but he's got '001' etched in a few places. That's got to account for something.>As I looked '001' over, he handed back my gun pod without a word. Unfortunately, his movements were sluggish and jerky. "You having problems in there? Looks like you got it worse than I did..." 

No response. He started, slowly, to turn around. Sparks were coming from the large holes in the armour now. I could see a small fire starting up in the upper chest, too. When he finally managed to face the door, he froze. 

"001! You okay?" I asked. No reponse. No movement, either. I stepped around to his front. <This guy's dying... or he's already dead. Gotta find the cockpit and get him outta here.> I studied the various holes in 001's chest armour, looking for the cockpit and trying to find the pilot. No such luck. So far, there was just a bunch of electronics and gadgetry, and all of it was in bad shape. 

"Hey! You! Are you all right?!" 

"Excuse me, err...," a pause, "VF-117. <static> Could you help me back to the Mac<static>? I'm afraid I'm going to pass ou... <static>" Then I had to catch the mecha as it lost its balance. 

"Oooh boy... Okay now. I remember Karl told me something about the cockpit being detachable... but that was in jet mode... I think. Argh, I guess I'm gonna have to lug the entire thing outta here..." I glanced around the ship one more time, to make sure there were no more surprises waiting for me, and started dragging it out the door. 

I got outside and carefully looked around. Nobody to be seen. Except for the SDF-1, which was looming in the sky. <Hmmm. How'm I gonna get this guy up there?> I checked the size of the 001 to my own. It was a little smaller, but not much. I could try boosting my way up to it. 

"Nothing tried, nothing gained," I mused as I wrapped my arms around 001's chest. I bent my knees, hopefully shifting my center of balance back enough to counter 001's weight, and pushed the throttle. 

50%; nothing. 100%. Nothing. 150%. Nothing still. 

"Aw, screw it!" I bitched as I maxed the throttle and kicked in the burners. 

The world didn't quite explode, but it was just as bad. 

My screens went blindingly white, then shifted to an evil red. Then my stomach decided it really didn't want to be around me anymore, and did its best to get out though every exit it could find, all at once. The headset inside my helmet screamed with static, pounding my brain with a painful whistle. It was all I could do not to scream. For the first half-second, anyway; after that it was just too much. So, I screamed as loud as I could, not caring whether or not my comm was active, or even if it worked anymore. I just screamed from the pain and the sickness and the light and the sounds: 

<I'M DEAD! I'M IN HELL! KARL!> 

And then it stopped. Several hours must have passed in those few seconds, because the sun was gone, and the sky was black and starry. But the SDF-1 was still there, and I was still thrusting towards it... <Ooops!> I thought as I halved the thrusters... Unfortunately, I didn't slow down... I was still charging the SDF. So, I killed the thrusters... I was still charging the SDF. and I wasn't slowing down. 

"Help!" I yelped, struggling with the controls. Nothing was having any effect, and I wasn't slowing down. I checked the status lights: all green <Amazing!> The SDF occupied the entirety of my screens now, and I was fast approaching the same bay I had come from. 

Unfortunately, the door was now closed. 

Forward to Chapter 6.
Back to Chapter 4. 

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