B E A T R E E S E
I HEARD HIS VOICE before I heard the explosion. Lumingon ako at sakto isang maliit na missile ang paparating.
My bones turned into ice and my muscles became stone. I couldn't move except widen my eyes. In a split second, I thought I was finally going to die.
But what happened next was too fast.
Ang alam ko na lang ay nasa harapan ko na lang bigla si Deo. At sa pagsabog ng missile ay hinigop niya ang enerhiyang nilabas nito. Sinubukan niyang kontrolin ang malakas na pagputok sa pagitan ng kaniyang dalawang kamay at kung hindi dahil sa kaniya ay siguradong lasog-lasog na ang mga katawan namin. Hindi ko na narinig ang nakakabinging pagsabog at pati 'yon ay in-absorb niya rin.
Wala naman nang sinayang na oras si Deo. He stomped his foot and the energy he took from the explosive was transferred to the ground coming for the robot like lava worm below. As the attack reached the mech, it flew high above the air and fell down, smashing to bits one of its kind.
Napasulyap ako kila Cade at nakitang nakatingin silang tatlo sa akin. I gave them all a nod to let them know we were okay. We could handle this. And they all came back fighting for their lives. Ezerina torturing the soldiers with her hollow touch, Kato blasting all the tanks with his electric bolts, and Cade securing themselves with a protective forcefield as he himself squashed robots with his mind.
They wouldn't stand a chance.
Or that was what I thought.
HIndi namin napansin ang isang bomber sa taas. Sisirain talaga nila itong base na 'to malibing lang kami ng buhay.
Naglaglag ng isang bomba ang eruplano. At sumabog ang gusaling nasa tabi namin. Umuga ang buong paligid at halos mabingi ako sa pagsabog. I blocked my face with my arms from the dust and the assaulting wind that came after. Cade, Kato, and Ezerina were several meters away from us and they were almost at the intersection right across the street. The ground shook and another bomb was dropped.
"Come on!" sigaw sa 'kin ni Deo sabay hatak sa kamay ko.
Unti-unting bumigay ang pundasyon ng gusali at gumuho ito sa gitna ng kalsada at nahiwalay kami kila Cade. As the building came crashing down, I coughed the dust away from my lungs while still shielding my eyes. Little bits of debris flew from the fallen structure. Deo's grip from my arm was tight I thought it'll leave a mark. Good thing he was fast enough to snatch me like that or else I was already buried underneath all the concrete and metal.
Pumikit ako at huminga ng malalim. Pinakiramdaman ko ang kanilang brain activities para malaman kung okay lang sila. Nakahinga ako nang malalim nang malaman kong wala ni isa sa kanilang nalibing.
"Cade!" sigaw ko. "Kato! Rina!"
Walang sumagot pero mula dito ay kita ko ang mga asul na flash ng mga kuryente ni Kato. And Deo and I weren't foolish enough to stand there and watch the electric flash and the orange flames emanating from the other side of the fallen building.
"Tara na," sabi sa akin ni Deo. "May parating naman nang back-up."
Tumango na lang ako at binitiwan niya ang braso ko. Nanguna siya sa paglalakad at sumunod ako agad sa kaniya. Kahit papaano ay naubos na ang mga tanke at robot sa kalsada. Umuusok sila habang ang iba naman ay nayupi na parang lata. Pero kahit gano'n ay sigurado ako na may pinadala na nama si Havierre sa 'min. Hindi siya papayag na makalabas kami ng buhay dito. O kaya naman, kung hahayaan niya kaming makatakas alam niyang matagumpay ang pag-iintimidate na dala niya.
But no. We would not be intimidated.
Havierre may have the biggest army in the world within his control, the most powerful seat within his command, and the strongest of us within his ranks, but we, ourselves, have our own cards under our sleeves.
Hindi kami agad papasindak sa kaniya. Alam naminhg may tiyansa kami. Bukod do'n may alam kami na hindi niya alam. There's a brewing revolution at the Alphane Mounts and we were going to do anything to turn that spark into an engulfing flame. We would eat him alive.
Unless he eats us first.
I knelt before a soldier and ripped the rifle from his stiff grip. It was light and easy to carry. I snatched the grenades holstered on his hips and put it on mine. We'd never know when we could use this.
Lumiko kami sa isang kalye at tulad nga ng inaasahan may mga tanke at robots na namang nag-aabang sa amin.
Aamba na sana si Deo pero inunahan ko na siya.
"'Save it," I said. I pulled the pin from the grenade and threw it at the enemies' direction. I pulled him behind an alley. "Kailangan natin i-conserve ang natitirang energy mo."
"Kaya ko namang magtipid."
Napairap na lang ako at inayos ang pagkakahawak sa rifle na dala ko. Alam ko naman na mas pang-offense ang ability nilang tatlo kaysa sa akin kaya sa mga ganitong pagkakataon ay kailangan kong umasa sa mga baril. Kaya ko namang gumawa ng isang mind network ng mga sundalo pero sa bilis nang pangyayari baka maunahan ng bala ang abilidad ko. Bukod do'n puro mech naman ang nasa harapan namin. And there was no way I copuld control them. Unless I was Kato.
Deo blasted the tanks with great precision but each blast got thinner than the last. I know the last energy he absorbed from the missile was being drained as fast as water on a sink. We needed to find a hiding place or destroy each and every mech one by one. It was impossible.
Habang pinupunterya naman niya ang mga malalakimg tanke na sumasabog at umuusok sa bawat pakawala niya ng laser beam ako naman ang nagpapatumba sa mga mas maliliit na robot. Hindi na naalis ang daliri ko sa trigger ng rifle na dala at naubos agad ang bala. Wala akomng choice kundi ihagis na lang 'yon sa tabi.
May iilang mga sundalo ang parating. At hindi ko napigilang mapangiti. It would be a risk I needed to take of we would like to leave this place. Or just cross this forsaken street.
"Deo!" tawag ko. Nilalabanan ng aking boses ang mga pagsabog at pagputok ng mga baril sa paligid.
"Bakit?" sagot niya pero nanatiling nasa kalaban ang focus niya. A split second his attention was divided it could cost us our lives. Havierre would have two less pain in his obsessed and power-hungry ass.
"Cover for me. May gagawin ako." I closed my eyes and immediately felt the brains of the incoming soldiers a good fifty meters away from us. They were closing in fast. Better, I thought and smiled.
With a flick of my will, the marching soldiers stopped from their marched and dropped their arms on their sides, holding their rifles on their left hands. I felt the web of their consciousness connecting with each other and recede from the very back of their weak sentience. Mine took over as their eyes became glassy like a pitch of ice-cold water was poured from their irises.
In a nick of time, fifty soldiers were wrapped around my fingers. The threads of their bones and the fibers of their sinews tied themselves to my will.
Sa isang utos lang ay agad silang sumunod. Inangat nila lahat ang kanilang mga baril at sinimulang paulanan ng bala ang mga tanke at robot mula sa likod. Ang ibang sundalo ay ang dala'y mga rocket launcher kaya hindi na nakapalag ang mga malalaking mech.
Everything's chaos. My ears rang from the never-ending explosions, my eyes watered from the smoke and dust, and my mind spread thin across the place. Kahit nasa akin ang kontrol ng singkwentang katao hindi ako sigurado kung sasapat na ba sila para harapin ang mga kalaban.
Napansin ng ibang robots na naging rogue ang mga sundalo. They all aimed their barrels at them and fired. And as the bullets buried themselves on their bodies, I felt the thread of their consciousness snapping from mine.
Pinapanood ko sila habang isa-isa lang tumutumba. Si Deo ay abalang-abala at sa bawat oras ay numinipis na ang kaniyang mga laser beams.
"Shit," bulong niya sa sarili.
"Gaano ba katagal darating 'yong back-up?" tanong ko habang hawak ang isip ng mga natitirang sundalo.
"Siguro thirty or forty-five minutes."
"Shit," ulit ko. "I'm not sure if we're going to last another five minutes in this shithole."
Sa sinabi kong 'yon napangiti na lang siya. Pero ang ngiting 'yon ay agad bumaliktad.
All the soldiers were dead. All the tanks and robots were left to nothing but a smoking heap of worthless parts. But more were coming.
An estimated thousand of heavily armed men and women came pouring down the disrupted street. And a hundred bigger tanks accompanied them.
No matter how many we could destroy they would keep coming and coming.
Until there was nothing left of us but burning flesh and hollow eyes.