Adventures of a Drunkard Pilot

Chapter 16: Fallout

                                                                                DUNCAN

"Delta, trace that ship. I wanna know where the fuck it went." I said, putting the majority of my remaining Copenhagen in my lower lip.

"I am currently working on that, however with the current situation my access to resources-" Delta started.

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!" I roared, hurling the almost empty chew can at the bulkhead hard enough to embed it in the metal. I paused for a second, trying to calm myself. "D, do what you can. We need to find him." I looked at Cameron, who was lying on the ground with Smith lying over her. Cameron's abdomen was wrapped in gauze, which was stained red by the blood seeping through. "How is she?"

"I managed to get the bullets out," Smith replied, sighing, "and i stopped what i could of the bleeding, but her bladder and upper intestines got nicked. She needs a trained medical staff, now."

"ETA to base is 3 minutes," Omega offered.

"Hows our Frames?" Mitch asked him.

"Well, BRUTUS and ARTEMIS are both somewhat ready," Omega started, his figure pacing the cabin, "both are out of ammo though. ARTEMIS needs him reactor jumped, BRUTUS as a problem in the left arm response timing and joint reaction," the one i had replaced, i remembered. "but both could be ran if needed. EXCALIBER is missing part of his armor from his legs, the reactor is cold, the auto loader for the primary weapon systems is jammed to all hell, and the cockpit hatch is non responsive, probably from failed entry attempts."

"Our mechs can fix that," Mac offered from her spot in the copilot seat. "Give us a week and we'll have them good as new."

"Eden Central, this is Jester Actual, on final approach now," I heard the pilot offer. There was a reply on the radio, but I couldn't make out what it was. I could make out, however, the confused face that Mac made when she heard it. I passed it off as a long day and chugged the last of my flask. As the last drop of Jameson ran down my throat i felt the bird turn on end and slowly set down. I stood up and tried to grab the stretcher that Cameron was on, but Tex and Smith grabbed it first.

"We got this boss," Tex said. I smiley politely and nodded. The hatch opened up, and as Smith and Tex walked Cameron out i looked at Mitch. He was still sitting in his seat, staring at the deck. He hadn't said more than 5 words since we had to leave Arthur. I walked over to him as the pilot and Mac walked out from the cockpit and out the hatch.

"Hey," I said, lightly hitting his shoulder.

"Yeah," was all he replied with.

"We're gonna get him back," I told him.

"I know, i just hate that we had to fucking leave," Mitch said, standing up and grabbing his gear. "I know we had no other choice, but i still feel like we could've done something better."

"I know," I told him as i took out another flask. I opened it and took a swig of Fireball as Mitch shouldered his pack. I offered it to him, and he took it with a slight smile. "I hate it too. But now that we got our rides back, its game on for us," I said as he took a good swig. "As soon as Delta finds him, we'll get him back." I smiled at him, and he actually looked like he had cheered up some. I nodded to the door as i took the flask back and chugged it all, and as i followed him out into the hangar i shrugged my pack on and slung my shotgun over my shoulder. We walked out into a hangar that should have been ours, but it was a completely different one. I could see everyone else was over with someone that looked like an officer, and they were arguing. We had taken a few steps when the officer spotted us and yelled to the small crowd of guards around the area.