I flew the jet through the hangar as erratically as possible. I would love to say that my advanced flying skills made it hard for my pursuers to hurt me, but that would be a lie. Every twenty seconds I would be pelted with laser fire, and it was only through sheer luck that we were not smoking pile of metal.
We were running out of time, so I had no choice but to make a rather crazy choice. I flew the jet around three of the pillars, and brought it before the bay doors, that would inevitably lead us to freedom and away from certain death.
But it was blocked by about three dozen jets circling each other in a weird formation that gave me a headache. I had to break through that formation, and I was not smart enough to do so.
Malek would have been a big help in this case, but the vampire elder was already passed out, leaving me all alone. So the only other option I had was to deal with it using brute force, and that was something I had in spades.
I released my soul energy, letting it go out of my body to cover the entire frame of the jet, then I willed into existence the same kind of energy shield I had seen on the mecha, only this was thicker and stronger.
Then I sent the rest to the laser turrets, and the IP cannon under the jet, changing their forms, until they were bigger, and stronger, and packed more of a punch than they did previously. The jet dipped to the floor, clipping the roofs of a few jeeps and airships, becoming heavy under the added weight of the new and improved weapons system.
It was a little hard to control, as the control sticks in my hand seemed to be affected by the increase weight of the jet. It was a bit difficult, but I could easily set in a straight course.
I flew towards the bay doors, firing my improved lasers which such furry that the front of me was a shower of red lights and green glows as the lasers slammed into the collective shield of the jets in formation.
I was running put of space, and it did not look like the shield wall born from their formation was going to be coming down anytime soon, so I used the IP cannon.
The first shot, forced the jet to a jarring halt and even pushed it back a little. Because it was to heavy for the engines to carry, I drop from the sky like and egg thrown from a rooftop. I managed to wrest control in time to see the shield ripple and crack under the assault of the Ion ray I just fired.
Some of the jets in the formation began to let out smoke and sparks as the hit caused an overhaul of the jets energy source. I charged the IP cannon again, and fired, this time I manage to keep the jet in control, though I might pay for it with a stiff shoulder later.
The Ion cannon barely met an resistance as it tire through the shield, and exploded within the vicinity of quite a few jets, bringing them down as its EMP (electromagnetic pulse) function took most of them offline and opened a hole big enough for me to squeeze through.
I pushed he jet forward and escaped through that hole, withstanding an extra hail of laser and cannon fire that helplessly pelted the reinforced shields of my own jet.
As I burst out from the hangar and into the light, I felt the urge to let out a huge breath of air, I had felt so suffocated surrounded by the soul beasts, especially since we were underground. But I was not out of the woods yet, I shot the jet through the city, choosing to keep it low and to the ground.
It was stupid considering I did not have much training if any at all at maneuvering a jet through a city. But I had to stick to a straight line for the most part, so I think I was okay, at least for now anyway.
A warning came up on the jet's radar, and I looked behind me to see an airship three to four times the size of the jet, charging up an IP cannon two times bigger than what my jet could handle. I banked left into another street, clipping the side of a building in my haste to get out of range and make myself less of a target to the airship.
[LEFT LASER TURRET OFFLINE, LEFT ENGINE FAILURE IMMINENT, REACHING CRITICAL MASS.]
That was not good news, not one bit. But I had to prolong the life of this jet for as long as I could. Using my soul energy, I disintegrated both the right and left turrets.
I had no use for those laser guns now that I was only so focused on running away. It was only a matter of minutes before the huge ship reaches critical and explodes, leveling more than half the city in it's wake. I don't know how far away I was now, but I still wanted to go further, just to be safe.
The IP cannon was remodeled in the process of letting the turrets go, I made it light weight, and gave it a higher firing rate. I was escaping, but it would be stupid to leave myself defenseless. The jet shot forward, becoming twice as fast now that their weight and pressure on it was drastically reduced.
The airship fired its cannon, and in response I shot upwards, moving the jet towards the sky, I flew up, past the approaching airship, then suddenly found myself back at the beginning, about ten meters above the destroyed street, with the airship right above me and completely defenseless. Who knew the looping effect of rune circles would be so helpful.
I let out a barrage of shots at it's unprotected belly, I don't know why it did not have a shield of it's own, but after three shots, one of it's engines exploded in a shower of fire and smoke. I didn't linger and instead chose to fly towards the horizon, and in that moment the world shook.
BOOOOOOOOM
I was flying really fast in an attempt to escape the shockwave. Looking behind me showed me a massive mushroom cloud of purple flames, spreading outward as it consumed the city and everything in it with an appetite of destruction.
That level of destruction was something I've never seen before, so I pushed the jet as fast as I could, hopping that we would be able to get out of range in time.
It was almost as if the jet could not go fast enough for me, all of a sudden the left engine exploded, and the jet began to dip, loosing control as it fell to the ground. I turned around, hoping to get Malek out of his harness, it was proving stubborn so I ripped it apart.
I grabbed and kicked open the windshield of the jet, and let the buffering air carry us out. I held Malek in front of me, and made sure my back was facing the ground as we fell from the sky.
I felt my back slam through an apartment building, and out onto a parked van. Ignoring the pain in my body, I got up and grabbed the still unconscious Malek as I ran far and away from the rapidly approaching cloud of destruction and death.
I was running so fast the glass windows on every building blew out from the friction I made in the air with my speed. It was like a jet was flying at supersonic speed through the city itself. But with each step I tool, the cloud go closer, and closer.
Until thee point where I could feel the heat on my back. And that's when I made the most stupid mistake a guy running for his life could ever make. I tripped, and I fell, and then it consumed me.
====================================================================================================
THE COUNCIL BANQUET
RANDOM VAMPIRE
Two massive gasp of air was heard as the red barrier covering Kael and the Elder Malek burst apart.
Kael was on his knees breathing deeply as he seemed to be erratic and horrified by something. He coughed a bit, and almost fell to his knees weakened very much by what ever activity he has just been forced to go through.
Malek who was sitting behind him was in a better shape, in fact it was the best shape of his life, as the elder grabbed a goblet filled with blood and drank it, like his life depended on it.
He didn't stop at just that one, he grabbed another, and another until everyone watching lost count. But it was obvious that with each drink, his pallor looked better, and sunken cheeks fuller.
His thin frame filled out at a rate visible to the naked eye, until what was standing before everyone was not a weakened and almost dead vampire elder, but well muscled handsome man, that would make ladies swoon at a glance.
Kael was being held up his wife Asha, as his servant Asare kept a close and watchful eye on everyone.
His other servant, the young boy who just subdued the sirens, was coming closer, with one of them trapped in a ball of blood. The very sight of that boy gave me shivers as he reeked of bloodthirsty desires, or it could just be that I was genuinely afraid of him.
Malek got back up to his feet, talking a few unsteady gaits until he got down on his knees and bowed so low his head was touching the ground in front of Kael. Then he said words that changed the course of vampire history forever.
"Master, give your servant your commands!"