Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

TWO

"Drop your weapons and pull over immediately!" one of the troops on top of the armored trucks ordered through a loudspeaker. "We will use lethal force if you do not comply!"

I glared up at him and revved the Hardy's engine as I drove. "Does the phrase 'No way in hell' ring a bell?"

Biggs fired a warning shot. "We're comin' through!"

"Avalanche terrorists!" the soldier snarled. "Take 'em down! Those traitorous assholes destroyed Sector 7!"

"The hell we did! We tried to save it!" Lena yelled.

He grabbed one of the turrets. "Bullshit!"

The next thing we knew, rounds were going off all around us, and I could barely hear with all the shells blasting into the road barely inches away. I had to swerve the bike back and forth to avoid getting shot, and the guys weren't much better off. Biggs returned fire, filling one soldier with bullets and sending another flying off the truck, but they weren't the only things we had to worry about.

I jerked the Hardy aside as several grunts on the transports opened fire, and the blue energy bolts flew past Lena and I's shoulders, missing us by a hair. They didn't give us a chance to recover, though, because as soon as we got in range, one of them jumped right onto the front of the bike, clinging to the frame and slashing at me over and over again with its clawed metal gauntlets while I drove.

"Shit!" I swore, barely blocking the attacks with my talon.

The grunt didn't let up, and it was all I could do to keep control of the Hardy as I ducked and wove with that thing right in my face and all those turret blasts still going on as well. As I kept on fighting, I noticed another grunt jump toward the bike. Lena shot it down in midair, but a third one took its place almost at once.

The masked grunt nearly knocked her off, and I heard her cry out as she fought to stay alive and on the bike. The Hardy tilted low to one side as the grunt attacking Lena held on and pulled hard at it, not even caring about its own safety as we leaned over. I struggled to keep us up, but the other grunt clawed at me again and again, and I barely avoided getting my throat torn out. Of course, it wasn't gonna matter anyway if I couldn't somehow keep us from crashing.

But then, the grunt in front of me abruptly jerked backward and to the right, bullets tearing through its helmeted face, and tumbled away. I quickly holstered my weapon, then grabbed the handlebars with both hands and pulled hard to the left with a yell, getting the Hardy back up again as Biggs shot the other grunt off Lena.

"Thanks, guys!" I called.

Biggs nodded. "Always got your back!"

Wedge risked a glance at us. "You two alright?"

"A little scratched, but we're fine," Lena assured him. "Still, there's a whole lot more of those bastards."

Biggs tapped Wedge's shoulder. "Gimme your gun!"

He gave him a thumbs up. "Take it!"

"Had to shoot a few of those sons of bitches off us, too," Biggs said as he gripped Wedge's rifle. "Otherwise we'd have been able to get over to you sooner. Can't let 'em do that again."

"Lena, my belt pouch!" I said. "Get a raspberry!"

I felt her flip it open and grab one. "In my hand, Jessie!"

"When I give the word, throw it!" I told her.

"Ready!" she shouted.

Biggs took aim at the transport on the left. "We'll take this one, you get the other one! And watch the turrets!"