Although this was only the tiniest slice of what Cadan knew of the coming events, it served to be sufficiently abundant for Jael.
“Cadan, we need to get back on track,” Mykah said as she and Taon arrived back from their brief respite.
“The car is outside,” Jael declared. “Follow me.”
The four of them exited the lower level with two of Jael’s men leading the way.
“Tomorrow may be a great day,” Jael supposed after a couple of minutes of walking, reflecting on Cadan’s disclosure.
“Tomorrow will certainly be a day that everything changes,” Cadan declared.
When they arrived at the door, one of Jael’s men tactfully opened it, pointing his thermal-scoped weapon outside to check the area. The man jerked back and signaled them that is was clear. They all exited single file from the warehouse with Jael’s men in the lead, staying close to the wall and heading back to University Parkway.
“Wait, I hear something,” Taon alerted.
Jael’s men, moving forward around the warehouse, did not hear Taon. As they cleared the corner, the men were shot to pieces by an incoming V33. The rest of the group pressed hard against the wall.
Mykah watched the Raider streak by and bank to redirect its fire on their position.
“Move!” she yelled.
“No! Stop! Stay close to me,” Taon shouted.
As the V33 flew directly at them, Taon turned his palms upward and slightly forward from his body. Two balls of energy began quickly forming in his hands, arching over his head and around the entire group. The V33 opened fired, using all of its offensive capability but Taon’s shield protected them from the onslaught of missiles and cannon fire that tore gaping holes into the wall behind them
Standing within the shield, Cadan looked carefully at the V33 and noticed it was Valik!
“Taon, be careful. That is the same SETH from Vegas!” Cadan warned, astonished to see the S2 still alive after their last encounter.
The barrage of fire coming from the V33 stopped as the heavily damaged Valik surveyed his results. Taon released his shield and told the group to run as he walked into the path of the Raider, hovering about seventy feet high in front of him. Valik momentarily stared down at his target before opening fire again.
From the time he first ejected out of the emergency lift at Dugway, Taon felt he may have a limited ability to control gravity.
It felt like I was almost floating back to the hanger floor,
Taon reflected. Just as he remembered the sensation, Taon’s body autonomically generated a close proximity repulsion field that caused him to quickly ascend above the spot Valik had targeted, causing another complete miss.
Taon floated upright with his palms in the same position as before and leveled up with the V33. He began flying forward at a slight angle with the balls of energy forming in his hands. Valik redirected his fire. Before Taon commenced his attack, he was pounded with the Hughes M330 chain gun. He was not yet aware that his electrostatic repulsion field was weaker than his stationary field. The ordinance from the automatic cannon exploded ferociously against Taon, disabling his flight ability and throwing him backwards through the air, landing on the warehouse roof.
Valik aimed his cannons to finish off his downed adversary when the systems alarm sounded. A stream of missiles struck the Raider. The left nacelle flew off and exploded against the fuselage, sending the crippled V33 down to the warehouse roof.
Simeon and Ben slowed to a hover over the rising black smoke emanating from the warehouse roof, assessing the destruction of Valik’s Raider that was now hanging halfway off the edge.
Mykah, Cadan and Jael scaled the latter leading up to the roof as Simeon landed the V33. Mykah and Jael ran over to Taon who was just beginning to sit up while Cadan approached Simeon and Ben after they landed. “Nice shot guys!” he complimented. “Now tell me, what the hell are you doing here?”
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