Ori and the Stranger

Chapter 24

The chassis of the Hawk rumbles violently, causing Blitz to stumble and fall off his feet. He feels Vice catch his arm, steadying Blitz with his immense strength. Vice chuckles. "Careful, little man," he taunts. Blitz responds by pulling his arm out of Vice's grip, and punching Vice's shoulder, but Vice doesn't seem to notice. "Shut up," Blitz snaps, a hint of a smile on his face. He walks through the Hawk, using the walls to steady himself amongst the turbulence, and into the cockpit, walking up behind the pilot.

"How much longer, pilot?" Blitz asks. The pilot quickly responds. "ETA T-Minus 1 minute, sir. Better get ready."

Blitz nods, stepping back into the cargo bay. He looks at Helm, and the two nod knowingly to each other. Helm stands from his seat, shouting at the rest of the Minutemen with his powerful, authoritative voice. "We're about to drop, boys. Get ready." Afterwards, he grabs his rifle and places it on his back, the magnetic locks securing the rifle to the side of his jetpack.

Vice nods, hauling his heavy minigun and placing it on his back. Metaljacket grabs his own rifle, checking the optics one last time before holstering it on his back. Blitz retrieves and holsters his blade and pistols, and the four soldiers line up and prepare to jump. Through the rumbling of the Hawk, Blitz can faintly hear the sounds of battle below him. He takes in a deep breath, his nerves running high (as they do before every drop), and watches as the ramp of the Hawk opens, revealing the gray, gloomy atmosphere outside. The sound of rushing wind fills the Hawk, deafening everybody inside. Blitz stares at the indicator light to his right, waiting for it to turn red.

After a few seconds, the light finally turns red. The Minutemen immediately leap out of the Hawk, with Blue cheering loudly as he does so. Blitz feels the familiar feeling of weightlessness as he begins his freefall, and he sees the flashing lights of plasma and tracer fire below him through the fog of war as he falls. He then activates his jetpack, and sees the others do so as well, controlling his descent as he falls to the ground. At around 100 feet, he suddenly orients his body upright, and his fall is quickly slowed by the jetpack. Blitz's feet touch down behind a destroyed building, and he immediately dives for cover. He peeks around it, and sees the Volkers. The fanatics seem to have overrun the marines with the help of their massive Tyrant, and Blitz feels a surge of anger as he sees the burnt, charred corpses of marines laying around the fanatics, who seem to have noticed the Minutemen's deployment, as they are now pointing their weapons in every direction.

Blitz sits patiently behind his cover. Helm doesn't need to tell the team what the plan is, as they all likely already know. Blitz waits for Metaljacket to fire his first shots, and Blitz picks his target. He presses a button on his helmet, hearing the built-in radio buzz to life, and he mutters a few words: "I've got the Tyrant."

After a few moments, Blitz finally hears Metaljacket fire his first shot. He hears the thump of a body hitting the floor, followed by frantic yelling from the Volkers and the sound of indiscriminate plasma and tracer fire. Then, the familiar sound of Vice firing his minigun. Blitz dashes out of his cover, ignoring the Volker infantry and heading straight for the Tyrant. He feels a few rounds of plasma and bullets hit his armor, but his Gandalum plates easily repel the fire. Within moments, he's reached the massive tank.

He leaps up, landing on the Tyrant's chassis, and sprinting up to the entry hatch. He draws his blade and stabs down, feeling the sword easily slice through the thick metal plating of the hatch. He pulls it in a small circle, before ripping it off and leaping inside. His vision becomes a blur as he drops a single grenade inside the massive tank, before leaping out. He lands on the muddy ground, leaping into a nearby trench. Moments later, the tank explodes, sending flaming debris everywhere.