Chapter 15: Esthi
I was about to get a hot piece of Armor when he shoved me in this wretchedCSParmor.
Damn it!
After the chamber releases me, I stagger into the room and assess my new dark gray suit. It has a zembi on one hip, a rifle on the back, and a handgun on each thigh. “Complete with weapons?”
“Yes. For fast response,” a voice says in my head.
“Who’s that?”
“Armor. You touched me in that suit, so I am logged first because I am closest. But all Titans should be on your visor. To call all of us, use the Local tag.”
I step into the hallway to find it abuzz with Titans handing things back and forth from various crates. Missiles go one way. Parts for an engine go the other way. Inside the medical bay, Atox is down to two Titans still on beds. Yeti and Fenrir still haven’t awoken. Anilius is coiled up in a narrow compartment, repairing an engine. Turbine is beside him, prepping parts.
The pilots guide us in a barrel roll around an onslaught of Skysprinters slinging yellow and green rockets in our direction. My boots clunk and hold me to the floor as we spin, and gravity’s pull swings over my head and back under my feet again.
“Heading to the drop zone. Radar?” Armor asks.
“Javelin and Firebolt ready on your mark,” Radar calls up.
Armor stands in the center of the ship, hands on the walls. Titans sneak past him, beneath his arms. His shield shimmers with light. I’m not certain the repairs I made will hold. I climb up Armor’s body and hook my legs around his waist. “Tell mewhen you drop the shields. I need to make sure my repairs are sufficient for this level of use.”
His eyes flash with communication. “Break coming. Be quick, please.”
The moment he nods, I open his chest panel, pull out the circuit board that needs repair, and close him up. His shield reignites. I carry the unit into the medical bay and use the Titan repair tools to replace the burnt bridge rectifier. It takes me all of two minutes with the tools on hand.
Snatching up a flashtack gun, I run back to where Armor stands in the middle of the ship, climb up his towering body, and wait for a signal.
“Now.”
I open him up and secure the board back into position, then begin soldering the wires back together, the ones I simply twisted together in the tunnel.
“Esthi...” He warns.
“I’m almost done.”
“We need the shield!” a pilot shouts back. “Barrage, twenty-plus, incoming!”
“Esthi!”
I finish the last and close him back up. Armor’s shield lights up bright pale blue-violet. A wave of light shimmers out from his body, spreading through the ship. His brothers brace themselves for impact.
The pilots guide us away from the majority of the attack, but three missiles smash into the shields: Armor’s and the ship’s built-in ones.
Armor curls forward and grunts. A swirl in the light around him makes me wonder if he feels the shield like his skin. Every hit we take makes him cringe, and spots like bruises appear on his synthflesh. But still, he keeps his eyes closed and holds his position.
All this time, I thought they were invincible, even though I knew better.
The Titans around me return to their duties.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I ask Armor.
When he opens his eyes and blinks, he focuses on me. His eyes are covered in a milky blue pearlescent sheen, similar to his shield.
“I need you to be safe. I have arranged for a transport. We are a target. Titans cannot afford to lose you, Esthi. Not a cybertech. You are too important to my Brothers for me to be selfish and risk keeping you with me.”
I look behind him to where Joey sits in his cage. I bet I know why we’ve become a target.
