Get Me out of Here

[Cat]

Unknown date in the future (as of the time of Kyle's message being received)
Unknown transport ship traversing Gallic Border Worlds

- What you're planning is suicide! They've got guns.
- I've got one too. And a couple of surprises.
- I don't even have a weapon!
- Here, take this. Although, if you ever have to use it, it means we're done for.

With that, the man handed a heavy metallic object to the woman. On closer inspection, it was a telescopic stun baton with two buttons on the hilt. One button would extend the telescopic club with the stunning device at the end of it, and the other button would turn the baton on. The thing was quite heavy, because it was intended to be used as a club as well, so the woman almost dropped it at first, before she got used to the weight.

The man finished rigging the ship's power core, as the woman had instructed him to do, and stood up to face her. His hair were no longer short, and he had a stubble instead of clean shave, but that way Kiara recognized him even better. Other than a few bruises and scratches on his face, he was still Kyle Cross, the man she had met so long ago... in another life.

Kyle gave Kiara a warm encouraging smile and winked, taking a moment to look at her. She hadn't changed at all, apart from a medical patch on her neck; her blonde shoulder-length hair and green eyes could still turn the experienced mercenary into the youngster from West Point academy that he had once been. She approached him for a quick peck on his lips. "For luck."

Kyle nodded, then quickly got towards the exit from the dimly-lit room where the transport's power core was located. With a quick glance he checked a relatively wide corridor for potential trouble, but found none. "The coast is clear, just like you told me. Let's go." Kyle rushed down the corridor, expecting Kiara to follow him, which she obviously did.

So far the plan was working flawlessly. Secretly send a transmission to the Forlorn Hope, informing them that an escape pod would need a pickup? Check. Damage the comms afterwards? Check. Disable weapons, tractor beam, and rig the transport to explode, so that it wouldn't be able to do anything about two people escaping in a pod? Check. It's so good that Kiara had the chance to learn the ship's routines through and through during her days as 'Aurora Moreau'.

There was only one part of the plan that was hard to execute: get through the guarded cargo bay of the transport to one of the escape pods. The softhearted Kiara wanted to wait until it was time for a guard change, but Kyle insisted on rushing it. After all, there was no way to know how soon the transport would explode, and the element of surprise played in their favour.

Kyle hid behind a cargo container, quietly instructing Kiara to do the same. He then peeked at two Brigands standing in a narrow passage between two containers. No way could he hope to gun them down: even with his reflexes enhanced by Cardamine, it'd be too risky. Instead Kyle checked his belt, looking at two similar green metallic cylinders, as if deciding which one to pick. After a few moments, he made his pick and took the grenade off his belt, putting it on the floor. He then took black ballistic glasses out of his pocket and put them on.

Pressing a small button on the right temple, Kyle turned on the combat visor built in his glasses. The two grenades and a visor took a lot of effort to procure, but at least he'd put them to good use now. "Cover your ears and open your mouth. When I take your hand, you close your eyes and run after me, never releasing my hand, ok?" he whispered to Kiara. As she nodded with a frightened, yet also somewhat curious expression on her face, and complied, Kyle started to act.

He peeked at the two guards again, this time them being marked on his visor. He could see the blast radius of the grenade that he had prepared, so he knew exactly when to remove the ring, how long to wait, and how to roll the grenade so that it'd end up close to the Brigands without giving them enough time to react. Once he did that, he followed Kiara's example by opening his mouth and covering his ears.

The explosion didn't catch him off guard, but the Brigands were not so prepared. After the shock wave passed, Kyle grabbed Kiara's hand and jumped up as he unholstered his Stinger laser pistol, courtesy of Ageira Technologies and Kiara Garlow, who had slipped one pistol from from a batch intended for Bretonian resistance in Leeds.

As Kyle rushed through the smoke and debris caused by the explosion, gun at the ready, pulling Kiara with him, he hoped that she wouldn't open her eyes to see all this mess. At least the visor was working, and Kyle's reflexes weren't failing him. Only the last part of the plan remained: rush through any remaining Brigands (gunning them down, if necessary) who stand between them and the escape pod. Kyle and Kiara were almost out of here.