Iron Empire

Sixty-Seven: Deal with the Devil

The wind left my lungs with a hiss of breath.

Moments later, my back struck the ground with an agonizing thud.

I lay there for a moment, gasping, unable to breathe. As I did so, I took stock of my situation.

My left ear rang, but my head was clear. This wasn't the first time in the past week that I'd been hit by an explosion. I could still see, which was good. Unfortunately, however, the full ache in my ribcage told me that I would be suffering the moment my adrenaline wore off.

Panic cut through the pain of my impact, a hot knife through my mind. The others! Taking slow, deep breaths, I pulled myself to my feet, my aching muscles protesting all the way. I stood, staring around the hangar, searching frantically through the smoke.

Kedrick lay on the ground beside me, holding his elbow, and Alyx was dragging herself to her feet, ignoring a gash on her forehead.

I could hardly hear Alyx's shout over the alarms. It was like every word was being shouted through water.

"What the hell was that?" she slurred. "Where are the others?"

I hauled Kedrick to his feet.

"I don't know!" I replied. "I think the tower is being bombed!"

The elevator and nearly a quarter of the mezzanine were gone, as if part of the Firmament had been deleted. Fire lapped at the maintenance floor below, immolating several toppled mechs.

I couldn't see any other pilots through the smoke.

My right ear, earpiece attached, was unaffected by the blast. I could hear the wail alarm in the distance, confirming the impossible.

This was no accident. The Firmament was under attack.

The ground shook, sending a hail of sparks raining from above. Kedrick nearly lost his footing, but Alyx caught him. Somewhere in the smog, something exploded. My eyes watered.

I caught a flash of movement in the thick, black smoke.

"Martin?" I called, scarcely able to hear my own voice. "Sojwa?"

Draco Fisk lunged out of the smoke, blond hair tousled and streaked with soot, brandishing a stolen pistol. Before I could react I was on my back again, the air leaving my lungs. Something flashed above my head, impacting something deeper in the hangar with a thunderous explosion.

"Jackson!" Alyx shouted.

I tried to struggle, tried to remember any form of self-defence, but my arms were heavy. The cold steel of a gun pressed against my neck.

A moment later it was gone. Draco Fisk stood above me, but his gaze was not menacing. In one hand he held a grey pistol, but his other hand was outstretched.

Had Draco... saved me?

I hesitated for only a moment before taking his hand, letting my nemesis pull me to my feet.

Alyx's mouth hung agape, her charge frozen mid-stride by Fisk's bizarre behaviour. "Is this attack your doing?" she snarled. She looked ready to knock him flat the moment he moved.

"No," Draco replied. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"What the hell are you doing?" Kedrick snapped. "Do you think you can just turn your heel and have us forgive you?"

Fisk laughed at his disbelief, a sound that made me grind my teeth.

"Look around!" he declared. "I assure you my motives are purely selfish. You folks are my ticket out of here."