Ayn Daqnah, five kilometres away from Menagh Airbase
The fleet of Marauders, led by Colonel Aditya Lone, surrounded the GHE-O Rescue, driven by Dei Maria, and created a seemingly impenetrable wall of steel around her vehicle, while making their way back to Menagh Airbase. Instructions were calmly being exchanged between the Comanche, Marauders, and the GHE-O. Images from the drones controlled by Colonel Moeed Khan fed each of the ground teams, ensuring that they encountered as few warring factions as they can. The evenness of the voices on the radio belied the tension each person in the rescue team felt. No one felt it more than Dei Maria.
"Some first mission, Uncle Antony, really," she muttered under her breath, as she shifted gears to keep in pace with the Marauder team.
A voice broke through the radio. "Slowing down, Lieutenant Hidalgo?"
Dei Maria chuckled and shifted to fifth gear. "Don't count on it, Colonel Lone. I'd race you on any given day, on this baby."
She turned head towards where the two doctors were. She saw Dr. Faulkerson awake, trying to get up, only to be pushed back by Dr. Gupta. He was regaining his strength, she thought, which was better than being unconscious, although Dr. Gupta said he won't recover fully until he gets the medical attention he needed.
Her thoughts turned to the particle shield she conjured earlier, when she had to cut through the rubble that blocked the tunnel. She sighed as she pressed her back against the driver's seat. She found out about her abilities at the abbey, right after she took her vows, when Abbot Antony revealed the rest of the details to her. Apparently, keepers knew what the abilities of their oblates were even before the oblates knew it themselves. She found it incredulous at first, but at the abbot's guidance, she was able to conjure her first particle shield in the abbey, small as it was. It was a good thing the particle shield she conjured back in the tunnels was enough to open up the tunnel. But she knew that she could only bring out one shield at a time, and that she had to reserve her strength before she conjures another one.
"Hey, Hidalgo," said Colonel Lone over the radio. "Are you up for a race? We have competition coming up."
Dei Maria looked at her screen. The drones spotted one tanker and two trucks fast on their heels. Government troops.
"Yeah, I'm ready to outrun these suckers."
"Okay, then," said Colonel Lone. "Go right in front. Boys, let's show the lady how we deal with such suckers, shall we?"
A chorus of "ayes" filled the radio. The Marauders, then, changed their formation, allowing the GHE-O Rescue to speed up right ahead of them. Three Marauders ran behind the GHE-O, while the other three stopped and waited for the approaching enemy.
"Okay, boys, let 'em have the waffle."
"Roger, Colonel."
The three Marauders got into a V-position and waited for the approaching troops. Upon seeing the tanker, the Marauder at the centre of the formation opened fire, hitting the tanker right in the middle, even before the tanker could come close. Temporarily immobilising the tanker, the other two Marauders went to each side of the tanker. Five whirring blades came out of each vehicle and they sandwiched the tanker, causing its steel belts to jam. The vehicle on the right of the tanker, then, turned and climbed on the tanker. The 4.5 - tonne monster flattened the tanker, destroying it completely.
"Nice waffle, boys," cackled Colonel Lone over the radio. "You really had to climb over the tanker, didn't you, Rodriguez?"
"Ha, you said impress the lady," Rodriguez answered back. "I was just following orders, Colonel."
Their banter was cut short by Colonel Khan's voice. "Hidalgo! Swerve! Missile to your left!"
Dei Maria took a sharp turn and swerved the GHE-O to the right. The missile fired from the approaching truck barely missed her. The missile hit right smack on the concrete bridge two hundred feet away from her, and caused it to collapse. A large heap of rubble resulted from the direct hit, blocking the ground team's way.
"Damn it," Dei Maria swore. She hadn't recovered fully yet to produce another particle shield. She, then, had an idea, and grabbed the radio. "Boys, I'm climbing over. Follow me."
"We'll take care of these assholes first," Colonel Lone said. "See you on the other side."
She raced her GHE-O towards the heap of rubble and pulled the gear back. The 500-horsepower vehicle started to make its descent to the top of the heap. The wheels of the GHE-O crushed the rubble beneath its path to dust. She felt each bump and gravel as she worked through the heap. She, then, looked back at the two doctors. "Hang in there, sirs, this will get rough."
The wheels of her GHE-O steadily went up the heap, and then went down. Breathing a sigh of relief, Dei Maria got instructions from Colonel Khan to wait for the rest of the ground team. She saw on her screen that the Marauders knocked the two trucks over, causing the troops to flee after Colonel Lone's men opened fire. The six vehicles, then, made their way up the heap, then down, and joined the GHE-O in a matter of minutes.
"Not bad, Hidalgo, not bad," said Colonel Lone over the radio, as the Marauders resumed their formation around the GHE-O.
"Not bad yourself, Colonel Lone," she said, as they rolled out to the Menagh airbase.
Waiting for them at the airstrip was the fleet of Comanche stealth helicopters, ready bring them in and fly them out. The ground team stopped at the airstrip, got down from their vehicles, and assisted the orphans, the residents, and the allied troops to the helicopters. Dei Maria climbed down the GHE-O, and opened the back of the vehicle. Two members from the ground team climbed in and got Dr. Faulkerson, who was still in a stretcher, out of the GHE-O. They were making their way to the Comanche when they heard a high-pitched scream coming from the orphans in the nearby helicopters.
Dei Maria looked towards the direction of the screams.
Angry rebel troops snuck in the airbase, undetected, and pointed their guns at the orphans, ready to shoot.
