Orphan Ch. 02

A metal projectile tears past Sage. He catches sight of the War Golem with an arm plate open pointed in his direction then he spins around to see a trooper grabbing his throat as he falls to the ground. Blood spurts through his fingers and Sage knows it will only be minutes before the man loses consciousness.

Tanttan satisfied continues with the foray of troopers filtering in from different corridors. Sage, after taking out several more troopers with ease, suddenly feels an arm wrap around his throat followed by the point of a knife. "Hold still or find your throat cut." The man's voice comes across with anger and authority. "Now drop them."

Sage does as instructed then balls his hands into fists. He rams his elbow into the trooper's gut using his abilities in Tetrakinesis to amplify his strength and impact through the tough armor. The impact causes the man to exhale forcibly and loosen his grip around Sage's neck. Sage grabs the trooper's arm and throws his hip into the other's and with a quick thrust, the trooper flips through the air and onto his back. Sage is already coming down with his third sword into the man's chest before the trooper has time to register what has just happened.

Tanttan doesn't see Sage in trouble. He is busy putting a three shot burst into the chest of another of the troopers. Just as soon as the trooper drops, he sees a trooper with a rocket launcher step out from his blind spot.

"Fuck!" the war machine says to himself using the human expression as if he were human.

Before he can maneuver out of the way, the rocket has already been launched and slams into him throwing him sideways. Tanttan's systems reboot, leaving him to wonder just how long he has been out. Once his visuals are back up online, he scans the room. Much of it is covered in debris and a fire is raging. In fact, upon tapping into the prison's mainframe, he learns that a fire has begun to rage through the entire complex. He pushes himself back up to his feet and continues to scan the area looking for Sage. Once spotted, the War Golem slips over to Sage's fallen form.

"Vital signs are...Zzzt...functioning. Are you...Zzzt...alright?"

Sage shakes his head to clear his vision. He can feel a headache forming and tries to push the thought of it away. "Yeah, I fine," he answers a moment later. "I managed to get a shield up in time. You?"

"I have need for...Zzzt...repair but otherwise undam...undam...umdamaged."

"I'd say," Sage says as the machine helps him to his feet. "I say we get Celaeno and get the fuck out of here."

"I couldn't agree...Zzzt...more."

With the prison completely engulfed in flames and the ceiling practically falling on them, Sage and the War Golem, Tanttan, race through it corridors. They pass countless cell doors both open and closed—most of the closed doors still held prisoners. Sage would like to help them out, but considering the time they have left or lack of time, he has no other choice but to forget them. Looking at the War Golem ahead of him, he almost wishes he had a lack of emotion like the machine.

Tanttan is loyal to both Sage and Celaeno a little more than any other machine. The War Golems were built to be loyal to the extent that one could perceive it as love because of their unwavering loyalty and willingness to sacrifice themselves to save their human counterpart. At least that was the plan, but giving the machine artificial intelligence changed all that.

After the Great War the Divortium rose up above all others and no longer needed the machines. Whether out of a fear of this or a planned objective, the War Golems rose up in a rebellion, disregarding and overwriting their previous programming. It's rumored the Divortium knew this would happen because of their quick action against the machines, but most likely it was just the brute power Rurik Garrison held under him.

Regardless of the how or why, every war machine was destroyed. A few survived sure, but none of them were operational. When Celaeno found Tanttan he was in the same state and it took Sage countless hours and days to get the big machine operational. From what he could tell, the machines were probably controlled by a large super computer and the mystery behind the Divortium's victory lied in a flick of a switch, so to speak.

They now had a ally on their side and a powerful one at that. Of course once the Divortium found out they had a War Golem in their possession, it only added more prices on their heads to the ones they already had. But having the big and nearly indestructible machine also keeps many bounty hunters away. There are still those foolish enough to come after them, but they are few and far between.

"How much farther Tanttan?" Sage yells over the roar of the flames, screams of the burning prisoners and the yells of those wanting freedom.

"Celaeno's tracking...Zzzt...device puts her just around the next...Zzzt...turn," the War Golem answers unaffected by their sprint through the complex.

As the two spring around the corner, weapons drawn and at the ready, they find Celaeno still naked and a couple troopers. She has a chain attached to her wrist and around a trooper's neck and he appears to not be moving.

"Took you two long enough to get here," Celaeno says smiling as she releases the chain, letting the trooper's lifeless corpse drop to the floor. "Another few minutes and I would have been running through the streets of New Paris naked and looking like a crazy woman."

"Sage...Zzzt...can be slow for a human," Tanttan says mechanically.

While Sage frowns, Celaeno looks up at the giant war machine not sure if that was a joke or something else.

"That's humor...Zzzt," the War Golem answering the unasked question.

"We've brought you some goodies," Sage says holding up the bag.

Celaeno steps up and takes it from him. "This place is coming down fast. We need a quick and efficient escape route out of here."

"Already on...Zzzt...it."

She reaches into the bag and pulls free a sword and two pistols and then an outfit and looks up at Sage. "Kind of cutting my short on supplies aren't you?"

Sage merely grins at her. His eyes are unwavering as he looks straight into hers. There is no need for him to gawk over her athletic body. Not only is he her guardian, but her lover as well—at least by means of when she gives herself to him.

"Short timing, considering," he answers as he sweeps his hand through the air. "Besides, you are quite efficient with even the littlest of things."

A grin creases Celaeno's face. "Tanttan, get us out of here."

The War Golem grunts an affirmative and steps past Celaeno and Sage and immediately begins hammering his oversized fist into the wall. After several clashes, the wall gives, crumbling to his feet. Before them is a hole not only large enough for a human to walk through, but one big enough for a war machine.

"Two more walls...Zzzt...and we'll be out of here," Tanttan says.

"Clear path to the ship?" Sage questions.

"Negative," the War Golem answers. "In fact...Zzzt...we will most likely run into...Zzzt...trouble along the way."

"That," Celaeno, dressed in a black tank top, worn out khakis and boots, says as she slides her pistols away at her sides, "will not be a problem."