Icarus Guild: The Renaissance Incident

LET'S PLAY WHACK-A-BOT!

Lanza stared in wonder out of the glass panes.
The Memphis Bridge was lit up in a brilliant golden, the lights reflecting off the silvery-black waters of the river. On the banks, the city was ablaze with life. Lanza found cars zipping past the black roads. He suddenly felt nostalgic for Springdale traffic. There was this classic restaurant on Robinson Avenue that served the best sushi in the world, and all he needed to do was hitch a ride on Kai's bike.

Valhalla flew low over the gurgling Mississippi, its engines slowed to a silent buzz. Lanza knew he should concentrate on the mission, but the scenery below was too breath-taking for words.
“ You sure Sakyo went this way?”, Kai's stoic voice broke his reverie.
“ Better.”, Lanza answered as he stepped back from the viewing podium.
“ He made a stop at Memphis. And I want to know why. Besides, Valhalla has been flying pretty fast. Arden’s men say she needs a cool down.”
Kai cracked his knuckles, “ Whatever you do, be quick. I am getting a bad vibe from this place.”
Lanza couldn’t help laughing. A bad vibe? Kai was so old-fashioned, he could almost see dinosaurs around him.
“ Its a city, Kai. How can you get a bad vibe from a place that’s not even spooky?”
Kai was about to say something, but was interrupted by a young correspondent.
“ Sir..”, he shot him a salute.
“ Yes?”
“ We have reached Memphis. “
“ I can see that. Any traces of Sakyo?”
“ No. We are yet to hear from the Intel Squad.”
Lanza almost snorted. Intel squad? It just consisted of a fat high-schooler who couldn’t touch his toes. He doubted the Reno guy would be much help.
“ Fine. You are dismissed. “
The guy in the bezel uniform shifted nervously, crunching the logo of the Build squad in the process. A hammer striking an anvil.
“ Um, sir.”, he shifted nervously.
Honestly, was he that scary?
“ We were talking about the mission and most of our men say they would like to know what we are up against. I mean if you could brief us a bit about CERO and stuff.....”
Lanza knew he would have to tell them sometime. After all, you can’t have a mission with the entire crew in the dark. Wallace and the squad leaders had kept CERO a closely guarded secret. No wonder these grunts new nothing about its terror.
“ Alright, gather your squad in the mess hall. Its going to be a long chat, so keep some eyes on the RADAR. I don’t want someone sneaking up on us.”
“ Yes sir.”, the guy almost ran out of the room.
Lanza didn’t blame him. You can’t really have a heart to heart chat with a guy with a sure kill weapon. He could almost hear Raven's whisper in his ears, urging him to lay everything to waste.
Lanza shook his head, he needed to concentrate.
“ Are you really going to tell them about CERO?”, Kai shot him the question
“ I have no choice.”
“ Lanza,there is a good reason why information on CERO is kept restricted.”
He knew what Kai was worried about. Spies. Lanza couldn’t afford to have info about CERO  leaked out.
“ They deserve to know. Especially if they are going to fly to their deaths.”

Kai said nothing, but he didn’t look very happy about his decision. Lanza stared at the stark outline of Memphis through the glass pane. Thankfully, the retro- reflector panels allowed them to stay out of sight. Otherwise, they would have freaked an entire city out by suddenly appearing over the Mississippi. Honestly, he didn’t want the citizens of Memphis yelling “ ALIENS” and calling the army.

Lanza stepped out of the control room. Sensors scanned him from head to toe before allowing him to head down the corridor. The security down here was state-of-the-art. Arden' s gang had been quite clever in designing Valhalla. He had carved the entire interior out of aeronium. Lightweight. Flame-proof. Effective.

The main hall almost reminded Lanza of the Hall of Eden. It was smaller in dimension, of course. But, it had the same flurry of activity. Men in uniform dashed from one end to another, tablets in hand.

At one end of the circular Hall, the silver grey walls carved into a dome with huge doors. Valhalla’s cockpit. Only a handful of people had permission to enter. Lanza had once gone in to observe the going one. But there were so many screens and wires, he had decided to leave before he screwed anything up.