Stormblood, стр. 133

Alcatraz. Ratchet. Myra. Cable. Drummer. Me. Thousands of others.

Locked in an endless war with ourselves. Breaking ourselves apart rather than come to terms with the alien matter squirming inside us.

Except, the stormtech was me. Always would be.

Maybe it was time to accept that.

I saw my fellow Reapers. Lost to the chaos of the battlefields. Buried with their armour across sweeping grasslands and mountain valleys on long-forgotten planets. Coming home broken and lost. Their names whispered by comrades around campfires. Their dog tags worn around the necks of their brothers and sisters. Their sacrifices and bravery and brotherhood loyalty etched in the stars and in memory.

Gone, but never forgotten.

I felt them with me now. Part of me, as they’d always been.

Once a Reaper, always a Reaper.

I let myself go.

I lowered all my defences and let the stormtech flow uninterrupted through the fabric of my body. A glow spread through me like a warm, wet mist. I relaxed, going limp, giving myself over to the stormtech completely. Gathering up all the broken, scattered pieces and merging them into one. Growing me gills to adapt to these waters. The throbbing of my heart boomed in my whole body, supported by an extra, powerful force. I inhaled. Air flooded my body, like the snow-fresh mountain winds of New Vladi, rushing and charging into my lungs.

I’d done it.

Another rumble up my spine. Jolting turbulence. I cracked an eye open and saw the blurry outlines of Hideko, Lasky and the Jackal gathered in the command cockpit of a small transport spacecraft. Crash webbing dangled above me like guts. I was strapped firmly into a plastic seat. I was still wrapped in my prisoner’s suit and harness, the muzzle still affixed to my face. Even when on the precipice of death, they weren’t taking chances with a Reaper.

A foggy viewport to my right. I tried to look, but a wave of nausea slammed me back like a kick to the chest. Still adjusting. Couldn’t rush this. More slowly, I leaned forward. Starklands stretched beneath me. Every building, every object, every individual clear and visible as though projected on a high-def flexiscreen.

Couldn’t celebrate just yet. Jae had said they were taking me back to the Void Zones, to be a test subject as they finalised their operation.

I had to get out now.

I reached deep into my body and allowed its warm, shivering sensations to cocoon around me like armour, lending me clarity and guidance. I stamped down on my instinct to struggle against my binding straps. Had to free my hands first. I levelled myself upwards, the straps biting hard into my shoulders. The spacecraft was one of those older models in dire need of repair and the metal wall cladding was peeling back in jagged strips. I stretched my bound hands, the chain tethering them to my chest going taut as nanowire, but I latched onto the edge. I pushed down, hard. The metal edge tearing into the meat of my wrists and drawing blood. One wrong move here and I’d slit them open. I reached for the stormtech’s wet, slithering pulse. Taking its focus and strength, keeping escape and stealth at the forefront of my mind. Sweat trickling into my eyes and smearing my vision, I pulled harder. Harder. The sharp edge scraped against the cuffs, driving a wedge between the chainlinks as my muscles burned. Dread grew in my gut. Had to glance up, see if the Suns had spotted me. Had to speed up, thrust downwards and break free, no matter how much it hurt.

No. Couldn’t lose focus.

The chainlink broke, my hands thrusting downwards, the jagged metalwork slicing a burning gash along my arm. I bit back a scream. With my hands free, I tore the jagged edge clean off the wall. Heart thumping in my chest, I positioned the edge over my neck restraint. Blood trickled from a wound in my neck as my hands slipped on the sweat-slick metal. Clamping down on my panic, gritting my teeth, I sawed a jagged line through the fabric one centimetre at a time, scraping past my jugular.

The fabric snapped. Almost free.

I planted my feet on the hard spacedecking and thrust my body forward. The thick, three-point safety straps biting into my torso, every muscle in my body straining, the stormtech working with me, wrapping around every fibre of my being.

A silent chorus roared in my chest as something inside me ripped apart.

The straps gave with a sudden, violent snap. Soaked in blood and sweat, I staggered to my feet.

Free. I was finally free.

I could have hacked the Suns’ throats open and wrestled control of the chainship. I felt the urge enveloping me. I didn’t fight it. I didn’t cave into it. Instead, I allowed the sensation to crash over me like a wave on a beach, accepting its existence but holding my urges in check until the feeling ebbed away and a secondary escape plan began to formulate in my brain.

Past an emergency barricade for hull breaches was a glowing escape hatch and a series of mottled-white spacesuits with anti-grav protection webbed to the wall. A skyscraper was looming towards us, would be under us in half a minute. I’d throw myself out of the chainship and the spacesuit’s emergency override would steer me towards the roof. Wasn’t exactly my prime choice, but I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with options right now.

I reached to put the nearest one on when a single word froze me solid. ‘You!’

Lasky had noticed the seat was empty. Now, he raced towards me, fumbling for a weapon. I jerked back, scooping up a nearby munitions canister and sending it smashing into his face with a wet crunch. He was slammed screaming to the floor, clawing at his face. His nose was broken, twisted at a hideous angle, several teeth smashed and splintered. ‘Get him! Get him!’ he screamed like an animalistic child in hysterics, spitting and smashing the decking