Chapter 33

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Hydros yanked on his airship's yoke, jerking it into a wide arcing turn. He fired at the, now squadron, of Scythe class fighters. They weren't as advanced as the ones at Orion but they were still deadly in their own rights.

The turrets mounted on the underside of the wings roared with gunfire as they ripped through the lead fighter and sent it twirling off into the distance. Another barrage destroyed the second in a blinding explosion.

He covered his eyes for a brief moment and out of the smoke, a third sliced through and fired its own barrage at him. He jerked the craft to the side, taking some damage on the hull but nothing too concerning.

"Damnit." He muttered. "And I just had Hephaestus paint this thing."

He hit the thrusters and chased after the craft. While the enemy was faster and more agile, his airship was tougher and had better firepower. He flipped a switch to his left and a secondary crosshairs appeared on in front of, its holographic display lighting up in a rainbow of colors.

On the underside of the cockpit, a long, gunmetal tube emerged from a hidden compartment. It was simple in design and only had two prongs at the tip of the barrel pointing inwards. They charged with a sickly yellow energy and formed a ball inside the barrel.

"End of the line pal..." he grinned as he squeezed the trigger.

When Hydros pulled the trigger, it fired like a missile at twice the speed and imbedded itself in one of the engines of the enemy craft. He broke off his pursuit and flew off towards the Zealots. The craft behind him lurched backwards as the energy over the vessel. A sound like a dagger being dragged against a chalkboard emanated from the Scythe as it was vaporized into ashes.

His display flashed red and he retracted the weapon. He sighed as he neared the operation site.
"Too bad I can only do that once. I really like that thing."

His communicator flashed and he saw it was Doctor Seraph. He answered "What's up Doc?"

"I wanted to check in, away from Solaris and the rest of the military cronies. How are 'my' Zealots performing?" Doctor Seraph asked in an almost gleeful manner.

"I can tell you right now as I get closer. They've stopped the convoy and it seems the four of them are engaged with the remainder of Slavore's forces. I'd have to see what Devon's up to as I didn't see him on the skyscraper." Hydros explained.

"Really? That quickly? That is fascinating and impressive." Seraph mused. "What else?"

"Well, let's just say I'm glad that I'm not on their bad side. I think I can see a man cut in half down there." Hydros gagged.

"So they are showing no signs of remorse or having a breakdown? Good, that's very good. It means that it's working." Seraph muttered.

"What do you mean? What's working?" Hydros asked.

"It does not concern you right now. I expect a full report from you and all of the Zealots upon your return. Seraph out." The line went dead silent.

"The hell are you up to Seraph?" Hydros muttered as he neared the bridge, readying the ship's weapons.

He changed to their comms channel. "Zealots? How are you-?" He was cut off by Lucas' shouts for joy.

"Wooooohooooooo! Yeah! I love this axe!"

"Would ya give it a rest?" Alyssa asked, an edge of annoyance in her voice. "I'm sick of yer nonsense!"

"Ah c'mon! This is fun! We're having fun right?!" Lucas said cheerfully.

"Can we just finish this so we can go help my brother?" Rose sighed in frustration. "And we don't need to be reminded every two seconds Lucas."

"But-!"

"Just shut yer trap already! Yer a god damn nuisance!" Alyssa yelled.

"I ain't a nuisance!"

Hydros cut in. "How about you all save the chitchat for later. Let's deal with them and go find Devon, okay?"

"Yes sir."

He cut the line and started firing at the survivors of the convoy, gunning down any unlucky soul to get hit. Lucas and the rest of them picked off anyone he missed and waved at him.

He hovered the craft over the road and they all climbed in the back. Rose walked into the cockpit as they took off again.

"Do you know which way he went?" Hydros asked.

"He chased after one lone truck that broke through thanks to Lucas being battle crazed." She sighed.

"I heard that!" Lucas called from the back.

"You were supposed to!" She yelled back as she folded her arms.

"Alrighty then, let's get to huntin'." Hydros said they sped off down the road.

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