Hacking the Sun - The Re-Remake

Chapter 25 Curtain Fire 1/3

The scent of phantom rainfall tricked the senses while Jessica and Sub Terra soared toward the storm. Faceless tides braced every passenger on deck, their grimaces lit under the red diodes throughout the cabin: an ensemble of determination, anxiety, and fear. And just outside, outlined in the dark, an array of airships bobbed and weaved across the night sky.

There was a taut rope over and underneath the cabin floor. "Is something pulling that?" Jessica asked when a hand suddenly sprouted.

"Hey!" Two men grabbed hold of the hand and pulled Shannon's body up. Jessica nearly dropped when she saw her friend crouched on the floor, panting.

"That was freaken wild!" Shannon gasped.

On the verge of pulling her hair out, Jessica stammered, "What's your malfunction, Shannon? This is—it's a dangerous place to be. Hija-su-pinche-madre-fock-en-mother-of-a-cyber-loving-bitch-face-fuck-is-wrong-with-you?"

Shannon grimaced. "I wasn't going to let you guys go it alone!"

"We aren't alone!" Valerie retorted. "We've got a big ass group of trained people with guns!"

The grim eyes in Raptor's helmet said as much as Jessica expected. "We're locked onto our course," he said matter-of-factly. "There's no way to get off." As hard as she wanted to protest, nothing could be done. She would do the same in Shannon's shoes, but this wasn't some tour to survey from the sidelines. Better to be down there, indoors and away from the storm.

New Sumer darkened underneath a swerving field of vision. From a sea of neon to a checkerboard of lights to nothing but a series of flickers in pitch blackness, the entire city vanished. Raptor handed Jess an earpiece, and Beelz's husky voice came through to answer the question on her mind.

"Thanks to our agents, the city's power grid is offline. But Goliath won't be, not for long, just long enough to facilitate our breach."

Monarch's voice entered. "Lynx delivered on her word. We caught Asgard with their pants down in the forest. Thanks to their own ploy, the city's defenses didn't tag their ships. Malvis is out of our hair, and the emergency broadcast should have cleared the target area of civilians. But that was the easy part. We're in for the fight of our lives, so stay frosty and watch each other's backs."

"Four minutes, thirty seconds," said Amon. "That's your window to breach. Per the plan, Pisces will commence the attack on the 75th level."

"Expect the brunt of their resistance on the top levels," rejoined Beelz. "We'll have eyes on the landing pad, in case they try to extract VIP cargo. The good news is they're not expecting us. Advance teams, once the floors are clear, our secondary objective is the extraction of essential data.

"Lynx, you'll be dropped in as soon as it's clear. Aquarius and Scorpio will neutralize 77."

Jessica pressed her hand to the microphone. "And where will you be, Beelz?"

"I will be two steps ahead."

She has her own plans.

The key to keeping her friends safe, Jess realized, was keeping focused. At the very least, Valerie looked ready for the storm ahead. Homegirl's visor slid upward and revealed resolve, and no make-up for once, like on Shannon.

Raptor stepped in the middle of the cabin. "Pisces, Keep it tight! This is the chance we've been waiting for, so remember your training. No heroics. Watch the person next to you and keep your eyes on the prize. " He turned to Jessica and Shannon, handing each of them a vest because he'd accept nothing less than their protection. Though she winced to admit it, Jessica was glad it was him and not Dexter at the head of the pack.

On Shannon, the vest expanded and unfolded into micro-tiles over her joints. Handling the vest in the same manner, Jessica noticed the same eagerness on everyone's face. And before they could betray a breath of grief, it began.

Overhead, the dark form conquered the horizon. Incomparable to any other structure in New Sumer, the silhouette bore into their vision like a black hole, the airships like flies to its industrial mass ready to swallow them whole. Its magnificent base wedged outward like a pyramid, while the center floors erected and kept going until they pierced the night sky. Between heaven and earth, it could hold its own microcosm of secrets, which they couldn't hope to unravel in one night. The incarnation of darkness and presence awaited them.

Over a dozen airships split off into several vectors, each assuming its unique altitude and position around the gargantuan block.

"All squads report in," Monarch started.

"Taurus is a go."

"Scorpio is a go.

Raptor pressed his comm. "Pisces is a go."

"Gemini is a go," said Beelz.

The black vest quickly snapped together under Jessica's red. She fastened her goggles to the sound of prayer nearby, listening as the other squads sounded off.

"Surely, He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague. His wings you will find refuge."

"Orion is a go."

His faithfulness is a shield and rampart...

"Aquarius is a go."

I will not fear the terror of the night...

"Leo is a go."

... or the arrow that flies by day...

"Sagittarius is a go."

...the plague that stalks in darkness,

"Capricorn is a go."

...or the calamity that destroys at noon.

Outside of the 75th level, they paused in a realm between space and time. Suspense encapsulated Raptor as he lifted a large gun with a foregrip and eight cylindrical cartridges. Jessica had played enough video games to recognize a grenade launcher when she saw one.

"Commence Operation: Curtain Fire."

Raptor fired the first shot. A high-velocity shell punched a hole in the glass, and more crackles ensued from every single airship. Fiery explosions would dot Goliath's surface, resonating like thunder in the wake of a thousand shards. Visors down, the operatives at separate latitudes latched onto cables and jumped from the decks, into the breach.