Hydra Heart

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter 36: Penumbra

Vesta did not run further in towards the Pillar, or back into the lines of battle. She climbed off of the edge of the Platform, using its side stairs as scaffolding to get to the underbelly of the ship. She honed in on her target. She checked the inside of her jacket pocket, experiencing mixed feelings of relief and overpowering dread. She still had the explosives with her.

She strode along the underhanging railings, trying to get where she needed to be to finish the mission. Each step brought her closer to the Celestial Pole.

She could see the base of it. It was relatively unguarded, so she should have no problem getting through and destroying it. It was projecting that ever-so fragile pillar of magnetism, which stimulated the rings at the center of the Platform. She did not have to understand it to know how to destroy it. She found emergency parachutes in a position relative to the Platform in the same way that life rafts were positioned relative to a large boat. She peered through the fog of doubt and took the leap. Of the three free falls in her life, it was the least terrifying. She was shot at as she came in for the landing, but that problem handled itself.

The small building that housed the Celestial Pole was before her. It was difficult for her to fully comprehend what she was about to do.

Vesta busted inside the control area, shooting everything in her path. Surprisingly, she encountered only a few soldiers, and none equipped to deal with a highly combative Kit user. There was a sophisticated sentry turret, but it was shredded by Backlash at the expense of a little SOLE.

She found her way into the star room. The Celestial Pole itself was guarded by bulletproof glass, but she wasn't going to use bullets. She withdrew the first explosive device from her jacket, and planted it on the wall. It went off, clearing a hole almost all the way in. She chipped farther with the sharp metal of her boomerang. The work was frantic and bruised her knuckles.

Then, she was there. Just being in such proximity to the Pole was giving her a headache, so she tossed her explosives in and backed away. Only once she was out of the building again was she ready to detonate.

"Everyone, evacuate the Platform."

If the Platform fell, it would crush everything and everyone under it, including herself. However, the greatest and most ambitious military device in the history of Earth would be no more. Hirudinea would be set back trillions of credits. This one victory would mean more than anything else she had ever done.

Vesta took a deep breath. She pressed the detonator. The sky screeched, a metallic roar, and the descent began.

--

Molly could not think of anything to do besides run, so she picked up a kid and hustled With the wind, they were on track to escape, but her curiosity conquered her. She turned her head to see behind her that it was true: the sky was falling.

But, not immediately.

--

Vesta saw how slowly the Platform was falling, and she knew how Banner had won. It's going to crush this entire place, all of his resistance, and it won't even be his fault. Not to mention, it's falling so slowly that the Platform will be up again within a week.

As soon as Vesta had destroyed the Celestial Pole, secondary jets had kicked in on each corner of the rectangular Platform. There was time to evacuate, but Vesta feared it still wouldn't be enough.

Thousands are still going to die, and it is my fault. She thought about it some more, and decided to choose her words more carefully. No, it is not just my fault. It is my responsibility.

She saw a conveniently placed tower, one next to her that was almost directly beneath the hole in the Platform. The elevator made its way to her, eventually carrying her up. She knew she had a minute or two, and she was not in a rush to reach the top.

She thought about that word, "responsibility." If she was responsible for this horrible situation, which she was in every way, it meant it was on her conscience when everything went to Hell. But, the word "responsibility" also meant that she had the authority to fix it.

She stretched her arms and legs on the rooftop. She was bracing for impact. Her stance widened, her back arched, and her arms reached out to the sky.

The platform was a few feet above her.

It came into contact with her and Backlash. Vesta felt like she was trying to stop a meteor. No matter how slow the Platform's descent, it bore down on her with inevitable authority, straining every cell in her body. Vesta felt like she was boiling. Inches away from her face, the gargantuan metal rings pressed down on her. She had to focus on the fact that every part of her body was on fire just to stay conscious, for however long she could.

--

Molly watched the last wave of citizens flood out of the city. If only they were closer, she could help them. If only we had just two more minutes, she thought, we could have saved everyone, the last few thousand would have made it. She felt tears well in her eyes.

Her sorrow did not last long. It was quickly replaced by confusion.

Someone had stopped the Platform's descent. The last wave of people could still reach the shore.

--

Vesta felt an eternity crash down on her. If she could open her eyes, she would see that her skin was bruising, turning reddish-purple everywhere. Her lungs were too crushed for her to scream. Her whole being was pressurized, and she feared she would explode before she could use all the SOLE she had. That would not take long.

Her energy was on a timer. When she had taken the weight of the Platform, she had turned an hourglass upside down. She could not count the grains, but, the bottom half was almost full.

--

Molly pushed herself up with Answer to the top of the Platform. She dodged soldiers and members of the organization, most of whom were busy scrambling to evacuate. She arrived ragged and too exhausted to do anything but watch.

Vesta was below. She had taken everything on her shoulders. Molly saw Vesta's last seconds of holding up the sky. Then, it crashed.

Vesta's tower was the highest, and the first to be crushed. Molly could only see on thing through the haze of concrete and dust. The top floor had completely collapsed.

Vesta was gone.

Molly's heart dropped. Then, as if it had always been there, waiting for her, she felt it in her pocket. One half of Backlash was hers. It fit perfectly in her hand.