Chapter 5: Escort Mission

Chapter 5: Escort Mission

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Escort Mission

The thing about doors is that they're for people who aren't running for their lives.

Me? I drove straight through the truck entrance.

"Get in!" I shouted out the window as I saw Adam and Blake fighting. I ended up driving right between them and one of the Spider Droids by pure chance and the machine thankfully halted its attack for a second, apparently uncertain whether it should be shooting at me. Or maybe it was the logo on the side of the truck, I don't know. Either way, I didn't slow as I passed themcouldn't afford to, honestlybut the two Faunus thankfully recovered quickly and I saw them hop on top of the truck through my mirrors.

I also saw the trail of smoke left in the wake of a rocket fly out of the back of the truck, presumably the work of Ram Man. A second later, I had to look away as it exploded right in the face of one of the machinesand wow, I felt that explosion even as far away from ground zero as I was. And it was loud, too; the movies don't do explosions justice. I had no idea where the White Fang got their rocket launchers, but whoever made them obviously didn't mess around.

I thought I would have been deafened by the soundwhich would have been bad, damn it, why hadn't I thought about that when I saw him with a rocket launcherbut after the last sounds of the explosions died away, my hearing was left untouched. I wasn't sure if that was a Gamer thing or an Aura thing, but either way I wasn't going to complain right now.

"Damn it, Billy!" I heard a female voice snarl, sounding more than a little irate.

"Blake!" Ram Man, or maybe Billy, shouted, though I couldn't see why; the downside of driving a semi.

"Map," I said, nearly sighing with relief as the grid of streets appeared before me. Almost as useful, there were a trio of red dots moving on the map, close behind the blue marker of the truck. My eyes danced across the map for a moment before I swung the truck wide onto Afzan Avenue, passing through a holographic streetlight in the process. I was driving faster than the machines could move, at least for the moment, but given that one of them was clinging to the side of a building as I flew past, I was pretty sure they weren't lifted by roads for mobility.

I had to prioritize. Blake and Adam may have been able to combat those things directly, but I had a truck full of people who couldn't have even if they weren't wounded. If those things started firing on us, I couldn't trust the truck to standup under their fire. It wasn't enough to just stay ahead, I had to keep them from having a direct line of fireand oh boy was that gonna be a fun trick to manage against people who could climb a building and bath me in fire at range. And given the size of this truckNew novel chapters are published on

I had to stay on roads wide enough to maneuver on and connected to other roads I could switch onto before the machines caught up and keep track of the machines locations in three-dimensions and the size of the buildings around me so I could try to keep out of sight. But where was I even going? The bridges? No, I couldn't be certain they wouldn't be willing to follow us into the Commercial or Residential Districts, at which point who knows how many people could get hurt, even assuming we survived crossing it, which was unlikely if they caught us on the bridges. Unfortunately, there weren't all that many roads I could safely drive on, excluding those.

And there was the police to worry about, I was sure. The idea of just going to them and placing this mess in their laps was tempting butno. I didn't know what the robots would do and if they were violent, a lot of good men and women could die. If they were Hunters, maybebut they weren't. And even if the robots refused to fire on them, the police would almost certainly want to arrest the White Fang and I couldn't imagine them coming quietly. Given Adam and Blake's levelsno. I had to avoid the police, too. Which probably just meant avoiding the bridges, for nowit had been, what, five minutes since the Spider Droids got loose? Ten? The police wouldn't move in until they could mobilize a response capable of addressing the problem.

But if I couldn't cross the bridges, I couldn't get toto what? Safety? Where could I take a bunch of White Fang members without them standing out, even if I could cross the bridges? Hell, discounting them, a beaten up, dust-covered truck would stand out all on its own. Where could I

I had to slam myself back into the seat as a shape swung into the cabin, through my open window. I glimpsed hands grabbing the top of it, a blur flipping over and in, a heart-stopping moment where my vision was covered in black, and suddenly the was a woman in the seat next to me. Pale skin, long black hair, yellow eyes, black bowBlake Belladonna. Ignoring the dust that covered her clothes and the smears on her face, she would have been beautiful under normal circumstances.

As is, her most distinctive feature was the belt of ammunition across her chest and the rocket launcher Billy must have given her.

"What the hell was that!?" I snarled, the shock she'd induced fading after a flickering instant. "Can't you see me trying to drive here!?"

I nearly growled in frustration as Blake cast me a measuring glance, frowning slightly.

"You're a human," She observed.

I didn't know what to do.

So I listened to my mother.

Dust, I hope I'm right.

I chose Wisdom and closed the window.

And then I twisted the wheel.

"Let's get out of this mess!" I shouted, turning the semi-truck in a maneuver that probably broke a dozen laws. "You really think that thing can take one of them out?"

"Adam can," She replied. "But only if we can get him a chance! You think you can?"

I merely smiled at her because, uh, no, I kind of wasn't. But I had an idea and this was our best shot.

I took Third West to Anderson and headed South, putting the pedal to the metalI was going to need every bit of speed if I wanted this to have even a chance of working. The machine came into sight quickly, waiting in the middle of the street down the roadand it's really unfair that such a large machine could get into position so fast, even if I'd originally been heading North. But I didn't dwell on that thought for long, because I had more important concerns.

"Observe," I muttered, focusing intently. I ignored the stats, mainly to spare myself the knowledge of how bad things were, and focused on Weaknesses instead.

"That hole in the center of its stomachthat's its main eye!" I said and had to take a hand off the wheel to grab Blake by her shorts to keep her steady as she took a moment to brace herself and then fired. It hit dead-center with the camera and I shifted the truck into the left lane to put space between me and the last place it'd seen me.

And I didn't slow down. Not even a little. That sudden boost in Wisdom hadn't provided any miracle solution, sadly, it had onlyclarified things a bit, made the choice easier to make, the conclusions easier to draw, and maybe, just maybe, giving me a little idea. I'd chosen Anderson not because it kept me from the Circle but because of its long shape, perfect for picking up speed at a time like this. There was no way to safety except past one of these things and nothing we hadexcept maybe Adamwas going to really hurt them. If we wanted to have a chance, we were going to have to do this just right.

If the Droid wasn't blinded, at least temporarily, it wouldn't work. If it had a chance to figure out what I was planning, it wouldn't work. If I didn't have time to build as much momentum as possible, it wouldn't work. Even with all of that put together, I still wasn't sure it would be enough.

But I'd had a thought. I knew the basics of the new ability I'd gotten, that 'Aura Channeling.' Hunters channeled their Aura through their equipmentthrough weapons and armor alikeincreasing their power to harm or defend. It was a simple technique, but a stunningly powerful one if properly honed, based on a very simple principle; Mankind had risen to power thanks to the usage of tools and it only made sense to express the power of their souls in a similar fashion.

And what was a vehiclesuch as this truckbut another of those tools?

It wouldn't be enough to defeat the machine. It probably wouldn't even hurt it all that bad. But I didn't need to, for thisI just needed to get through.

I dragged Blake back into the cabin as best I could with one hand. With the one I had on the wheel, I focused my powerall of my power, as I would upon one of my weapons but to a greater extent.

And then I ran a glowing white truck straight into a giant robot.

Mastery of the skill Drive increases! Drive's level goes up by one! Drive's level goes up by one! Drive's level goes up by one! Drive's level goes up by one!

A skill has been created through a special action! Through the shattering power of your soul, the skill 'Aura Crash' has been created!