Tempest: The Renegade

Phase 4, part 2

I am completely normal, my friend. I just have something to fight for.

"But he can't last forever," another one, a woman, says. "Just a little bit more. See? He's already wobbly."

I realize she's right - the energy I had at the beginning of the fight is gone - too much was consumed by the initial clash with Valentina and the furious ride that followed. If I succumbed to the madness, it would bring new power into my veins, but I already promised myself that I won't let it consume me.

Now I can do nothing but hide behind the shield, which is ought to fall apart any time soon, and hope for some miracle. Come on. I deserve it. Or is this my punishment for all I've done...?

The God replies.

It starts with loud cracks accompanied by flashes of bright blue light. One by one, my perpetrators are collapsing to the ground like someone cut off their strings. Then, I finally see a band of Castaway Wardens in blue jackets with shock rifles in their hands.

After all of Nightingale's goons are down, they aim their rifles at me and I gulp, aware what would happen if they pulled the trigger. "Easy, easy," I say while putting down the shield slowly, keeping my other hand up. "I'm the one who called you. There's no need to shoot at me."

...

"Maverick?" one of the Wardens, a middle-aged woman with a bionic eye, says. "I wouldn't expect you here. I thought you were some kind of..."

"Brute? Savage?" I interrupt her with a slight smile. "These days are gone, I hope."

"Where are the serums?" another Warden asks.

"I'll show you once you get me the hell out of this place."

They comply and lead me to the end of the tunnel where I see sunlight again. However, one of the peacekeepers keeps aiming his rifle at me and it makes me rather nervous. "Wow, look at him," the woman scans me with her artificial eye; judging from the clear skin around the socket, she was born without it.

"God... how can he withstand all these injuries?" another Warden gets her point.

The truth is I probably look pretty bad. I was right - now, when the adrenaline is gone, I feel all the pain from all the wounds I received since morning. I can hardly stumble forward and the bullet wounds are taking its toll. In the end, one of the Wardens has to support me. It's humiliating, but necessary.

I see two Warden aircrafts, elegant aerial vessels toned into black and blue, on the ground close to the tunnel. The AVIA vessels belonging to Nightingale's thugs are also there - one of them is damaged after a crash landing, the other one appears undamaged. However, they didn't go without a fight. The surface of the Warden aurcrafts has been penetrated by the chaingun bullets.

"He needs a Fix. Immediately," the woman remarks again, mentioning the nanobot therapy which should get me back on my feet. "That guy literally became a bullet sponge."

"What the hell keeps him on his feet?" her colleague wonders.

"I have to get the vials to one specific person," I rasp. "Zoya... or Tempest. Promise me you'll get me to her immediately after I pull myself together."

"No promises, man," another Warden tells me. "I've heard Tempest is missing."

"What...? Missing?"

He nods. "She hasn't been seen for a few days now. I'm sure she'll emerge somewhere soon, maybe she needs to take a break after her partner died. We'll keep you updated."

"Thanks."

The Wardens carry me to one of the aircrafts and seat me there. They immediately take off. The woman, apparently some kind of medic, takes a syringe out of her satchel and injects its content into me. The pain miraculously ceases, but both my vision and mind becomes blurry.