20 The Resque Squad

"Your brother already dies, and you will follow him soon"

"So that bastard is already dying"

"You're awfully glib these days," quipped Sousuke.

"A lot's happened since then,"

he chuckled. ''I d have a lot to tell you, but there isn't time. I need to get on with tinkering around in that girl's brain. So exciting. it's like a treasure hunt."

"What are you talking about?"

"Her head is packed with Black Technology, such as the applied Theory of the Lambda Driver. Once it's complete, nuclear weapons

will be obsolete."

"What?"

"Guess you're out of the loop. Sorry, no time to fill you in. Tell the boatman at the river Styx to expect a big group soon, okay?

Buh-bye!"

Again, Lauren lowered the gun.

Just as Kaname opened her mouth to shout, there was an explosion and a splash of water. Lauren's rifle split into two pieces.

Leaping back, Lauren narrowly avoided three incoming shots each ruthless and dangerous.

A loud roar passed overhead, marking the arrival of a gray AS, which was descending from the sky at full speed. It cut its chute and plummeted.

"Yahoo!"

The plummeting Gernsback fired its rifle wildly before landing roughly in the water, sending a miniature tidal wave over Sousuke and Kaname.

"Urzu Six, landing successfully. And I've got a visual on Seven and Angel, too."

Immediately, the M9 squeezed off a quick burst of shots, destroying the incoming enemy Arm Slaves. Lauren's mech seized the opportunity to hide behind a hill.

"Kurz!"

Upon hearing the familiar name, Kaname frowned. "Kurz?

Does that mean . . ."

"In the flesh. How goes it, Kaname?"

"What is going on here?"

Temporarily confused, Sousuke suddenly remembered that Kaname and Kurz had met the previous Sunday.

"Hey, Sousuke," called Kurz, "can you move?"

''I'll manage." Battling intense pain, Sousuke heaved open the bent frame and crawled out of the cockpit.

Sparks flew every which way through the sky above them as the multi-warhead rockets that were launched from the Tuatha de Danaan scattered small bombs.

Explosions preceded the eruption of many small flames.

Now, Kurz's AS was not alone. five more M9s detached their urgent deployment boosters and plunged onto the base.

Simultaneously, rotor sounds announced the arrival of attack and transport helicopters rushing toward the base. It was the de Danaan's rescue squad!

"Listen, Sousuke. Take Kaname and get back to the base. Head for the south side of the runway," Kurz instructed as he snapped a magazine into his rifle and turned to chase the silver AS.

"The base?"

"A couple of C-I7s will be making a forced landing. They'll wait for five minutes. Leave this battle to me. I'll pick you up afterward."

"Understood. Be careful of the silver AS. Both the mech and its pilot are in a league of their own."

"Don't sweat it, I'll kick his ass good!"

After a preparatory squat, Kurz's M9 leaped away.

...

In the base

Kuroko asked all passengers to go out of prison. They just saw some arm slaves and helicopter arrived.

"Hooray"

"Please remain calm! This is a United Nations rescue squad!

Already, Mithril's transports landed and taxied toward the jet. The friendly M9s took care of business around the base, and the attack helicopters hovered overhead.

There is yellow tape leading away from the exit. Follow that tape to the transport vehicles waiting outside. For your safety, stay calm and don't panic. We won't leave anyone behind. I repeat: We are a United Nations ... "

Everyone went out to the transport vehicle, except Kuroko. He wanted to join this battle for getting experience.

Sousuke's rampage took out a pretty good portion of the opposition forces.

Behind Mao, the hostage group lined up and hustled toward the two types of transport. She peeked at the clock in the corner of her display screen.

'Two minutes ... "

Not a lot of time. Mao wondered whether Kurz was able to find and rescue Sousuke.

.....

Leaning on Kaname for support, Sousuke ran along the runway.

"Hang in there," she said.

''I'll make it," he replied with his traditional flatness. The gash on his head was not serious, but the wound in his side hurt like crazy.

"Are we going to make it in time?"

"Not sure. But Kurz will come back to get us."

"He's one of you, then?"

"Yes, a sergeant on the same team."

A stray mortar plopped down about a hundred feet behind them, showering them with tiny bits of concrete. Kaname screamed.

"Ignore it. Just keep running."

The friendly transports were a solid two miles away. On foot, there was no way they could possibly get there in time for takeoff.

Kurz's M9 was nowhere in sight. He must have been struggling with Lauren.

Then again, Kurz also knew that the enemy was after Kaname, and he probably was doing everything he could to distract Lauren.

Wishing he had a transmitter to communicate with the passing, helicopters, Sousuke said nothing and kept running.