Project Devilgama

Eleven

The vessel aligned with the surface of the ground, suddenly. As if an invisible cushion had caught the plummeting fiery vehicle from the sky and made it bounce several times, several meters high. Dust and debris from the dry ground were blown away below the belly of the vessel. The lethal impact was absorbed, but the vehicle eventually touched the ground.

The metal body drifted a short distance after the touchdown.

"We made it," Hannev spoke, pushing the mechanical plate and armature off his chest. "We're a pile of lucky bastards."

May and Mhaz came out of the swollen airbags surrounding the interior. The two were still implanted in the harness by the moment the aircraft hit the ground, their bodies remained in one piece, which became the first good news for Mhaz since the fall.

"Where are we?"
"No clue."
"You alright, May?"
"Yes."

Mhaz walked towards the gaping hole left on the back of the Sparrow by the explosion, peppered with small residual burning embers. He saw wrecked parts and charred pieces of equipment scattering on the floor. And all windowpanes have shattered, revealing the hazy picture of the outside that glared off sunlight. He stumbled upon Farad, which is sitting against the metal wall, covered by perforated airbags. It showed no signs of activity.

He knelt before her, probing any sort of button in the sides and back, "Any way to power her back on?"

"Oh," May said softly as he walked towards her, "Please, let this be working."

"What happened?"

"Ran out of power. Once I restart her, we'd only have a couple of minutes before the emergency reserve dies."

"Let's not do it now."

Hannev stood before a part of the console that appeared to remain undamaged. More than half of the interface had been broken on impact, but all he need was anything to contact the remaining fleet or survivors of the shootdowns. But, he found nothing. The fleet had abandoned them, and there was no lack of reason - it had been torn apart by the ambush.

May sat across Mhaz, trying to pacify his raging heart in silence. But Mhaz was the first to start, "You told me you're going to tell me by the moment we hit the ground."

"It happened too quickly."

"You owe me that."

"We have to find out how to get this done and get out of the freaking zone!"

"I'm not your worker nor soldier. I'm still your friend. Now tell me."

May sighed, "You have to know that all the data was contained inside her. She was more than a robot. She has the drive. If we can plug it into our simulator in the Twin Mountains, then we can have another Devilgama."

"Now we need to figure out how we get to the Twin Mountains," Hannev said as he left the inoperable console of this aerial machine behind. "We can contact the airborne Sparrows to pick us up or walk our way out of this place."

"Either way, we have to wake her up first," May said, turning his sight on Farad.

May started probing the back of her head, seemingly trying to reach an unknown button. Then her screen head began to come alive as May slowly took his hands off.

Now she only began putting letters on the display. Mhaz could see as they turned into readable text:

Find a Maglev station in the Special District. Go west, and find a house on Southpearl Street. I'm waiting there.

CLUE: Where the believers gather, Noble Men.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," 

"Holey-hell, Maykal. What is it all about?" Mhaz panted. "Special District?"