ic [IC] A Heavy Metal Christmas

[Blarghy]

"Negative!" Warne shouted as he took to the air again, soaring away from the house in pursuit.  "Male cyborg, heavily armed, bad intentions--call for backup!"

 

Then he was gone in the snowstorm.  Now Adept, he struggled to see past the darkness and the fluffy pale flakes.  Limited visibility could get him into trouble, he knew, but he didn't have the luxury of overt caution.  As soon as he spotted this strange new enemy again, Adept attacked with his mind once more and just hoped he was fast enough to strike before more of those heated blades came for him. 

[Sophistemon]

Ethan's eyes widened, then narrowed as he gunned the engine on his bike. "Mantis?" he whispered, too quietly for Adept to hear. He put the helmet on and floored it, the tires of his motorbike kicking plumes of snow back into the garage as he sped away. Dangerous? Yes, certainly, but far too necessary to avoid. His family was at stake, and if the scythe-armed cyborg had returned from near-death to seek revenge... Adept might not be enough to contain him. As he maneuvered down the street, hoping his partner could at least delay their foe long enough to return with backup, he reached up and tapped the comm-link embedded in his headgear. "Mayday!" he shouted. "We're under attack. One bogie, so far. Adept's engaged but we need the AMP. I'm on my way; have it ready for when I get there."

 

Adept spied movement in the dark as Ethan's rear lights disappeared into the black like a fading red star. There. The interloper had regained his footing and stood tall in the snow. He had either regained his blade, or fashioned a new one... and one other, as now both arms had released a glowing, red-hot weapon that hissed and spit sparks in the damp. Adept concentrated for a moment, unleashing a portion of the psionic storm inside his head, lashing out with his mind and willing his enemy to hurt. But his armored foe appeared more prepared this time, as the plating that covered his body ones more tightened along his frame to protect him from harm. "Mistake," chided the cyborg. "Should have run. Now you die." A port opened on one shoulder and began to glow. Half a moment later, a dazzling red laser erupted from the barrel and lanced through the sky at the floating agent.

[Blarghy]

Adept tried to dodge, flying to one side, but he wasn't quick enough, and the ray of light splashed across his own twisting energy field.  A quick, bright flicker was the only effect, however, and behind the shimmering barrier, Agent Warne stood tall and proud.  He scowled down at this intruder.

 

"AEGIS does not run," he said.  "We chase."  As though to do just that, he leaned forward and flew right at the cyborg, apparently having taken leave of his senses--especially of self-preservation--with the intent of engaging in melee.  But then, as the space between them dwindled, Adept spread his mind wider than he had in years.  It felt like the opposite of going cross-eyed; once his consciousness occupied a much larger range than evolution ever intended, he took hold of all that fluffy snow and biting wind and started to spin.  Suddenly, a wall of white exploded up around them, and the agent vanished. 

 

To his enemy, the world became a dull blur of white.  White vision, white noise, a murky fog of frost that tore away smells and numbed touch.  An outsider, in this case Ethan, could see the new blizzard roll out in all directions, right on the rear wheel of his fleeing motorcycle, until Warne pulled it to a stop, causing the raging sleet to rise and fold back in on itself so that it made an enormous pale dome, swirling clockwise.  Somewhere near the upper center was this artificial storm's architect, floating in a calm eye.  He opened his mouth and sent a single word down on the wind.

 

"Mistake," Adept chided the cyborg in his own terms. 

[Sophistemon]

Optics went blank. At first, the cyborg thought his eyes had malfunctioned and filled his vision with static. Then he realized the truth and uttered a high-pitched shriek of impotent frustration. He couldn't see. He couldn't see, and he couldn't kill what he couldn't see. His burning blades cut through the wind and snow, flashing red and yellow as they sliced the air with frantic slashes, but to no avail. "Warne!" came the call, the challenge. "Warne, you coward! Fight me!" A laser burnt through the snow and pierced the air to the Agent's left, missing entirely and lancing off harmlessly into the crisp night sky. "I have no time for cat-and-mouse, American! Fight me, die, and get out of my way!"

 

Ethan's motorcycle chewed snow from the ground and spit it back behind his passage. A quick glance at the rearview mirror showed the self-contained storm in action, and the pilot couldn't help but smile when he recognized his partner's handiwork. "Give him hell, buddy," he whispered. "I'm almost there. Keep my girls safe for me."

Edited May 24, 2017 by Sophistemon

[Blarghy]

Short-tempered, Adept thought to himself as he studied his enemy.  I can use that.  Bring him to a rage so that by the time Upgrade returns, he might make foolish mistakes.  At the same time, Warne was very curious about this man's origins.  Were Ethan's fears correct?  Could this be an ally of Mantis?  And why would he come here, looking for the unassuming pilot, whose secret identity should still be very secret?

 

"No, I think not," he let his voice drip down.  "Agent Stone is gone.  If he was your mission, then you have already failed.  Not to worry; I can still keep you company.  Before I come peel you out of all that steel and leave you in the snow like a bare turtle, tell me why.  What stupidity brought you here, to attack a United States military base, alone, against me?  Are you with Mantis?  What do you want?  Answer me, and then the Grinch will give you a Christmas ride straight to Blackstone."

[Sophistemon]

A moment's pause, and then an answer. "Agent James Warne," said the interloper. "Adept. The loner. Should have been spending the holiday by yourself somewhere... not here." The agent can hear the high, shrill scrape of metal against metal from somewhere within the snowy maelstrom. "The Stone family. Ethan, Meryl, Lillian. Without his armor, Stone is just a man. It should have been simple. In-and-out. Three corpses, and no-one would ever know why." Another pause, another scrape. "Your presence here was not anticipated. It is, however, surmountable." The voice is calm, collected now. The anger seems to have faded. "Mantis and I were hard men to kill before we died. Now, perhaps impossible. Even know, Mantis is being reborn for the second time. His failure was a painful experience, but an educational one. We learned so much from his defeat."

[Blarghy]

Chills ran down Adept's spine, colder than the blizzard surrounding him.  He knew better than anyone that this world wasn't kind to civilians, not even children, and normally he could maintain professional composure when faced with horrible atrocities, but now a kernel of real hatred began to form in his mind.  Warne could hear Lilly's voice in his head: "You're silly!" 

 

"You damned coward," he snarled through clenched teeth.

 

Perhaps worse was what this assailant had confirmed: he knew, without doubt, Upgrade's secret identity, a matter of highly classified security.  Thus, so would Mantis, and whoever else associated with these men. 

 

"I assure you that tonight will be full of such lessons," Warne went on.  "Will I find an artificial spine somewhere in that husk?  Whoever cobbled you back together may have left it on the table by mistake.  Who do you work for?  Who is your informant?  How do you know about Stone?"

[Sophistemon]

The voice hissed, remembering old pain, then spoke. "The spine is mine," said the assailant. "Mostly. Roughly two-thirds." There was a cold, mechanical chuckle. "I work for very smart men. Men smart enough to put me back together, if I fail like Mantis did. But I won't. Mantis, he nearly killed you, and would have if not for Stone. Stone is not here to save you from me, and so this ends only one way. Four corpses instead of three. It makes no difference in the end." There was a pause, a moment of thought. "Will you calm the storm? Will you fight me, man to man? Humor me in this, let me test myself against you, and I'll tell you about Stone before you die."

[Blarghy]

Warne issued an animalistic growl, torn away by the screaming winds.  The anger in him gave strong temptation to comply, fly down, and duel this remorseless killer, but he was right: Mantis alone was too much for him, and he had no reason to think that a fighter of similar skill would be any different. 

 

"Man to man?  Impossible.  You are vermin, and I will squash you as such, with the boot of America's military might.  Do you know where you are, you hopeless fool?  Even Mantis was clever enough to isolate his targets.  You came here, to the outskirts of a naval base.  Soon Upgrade will return, and you'll have the test you want.  If we somehow fail, then more will follow us, and more after them.  Your night will end in shackles.  Whether I interrogate you now or later makes no difference; in the end, you will be beaten, assessed, and used as a link to find the rest of your scum friends.  We only have to determine the fine details, because your fate is sealed."

[Sophistemon]

There was a pause, a consideration of things to come. Then the voice of the armored man hissed through the artificial blizzard. "Consider your words, agent," he said. "Think on them a while. Do I strike you, truly, as an imbecile? As some dumb muscle to be thrown your way?" Another pause, a silent smile. "I was sent here for a reason, American. For a purpose. Stone's assassination, the deaths of his wife and daughter -- all calculated. My employers have learned from your encounter with Mantis; his failure was my benefit. Do you think they would send me here if there was a chance I could be caught and forced to reveal their secrets? Do you think I would come, if such a chance existed? I will not be dissected by the American military; I have been carved apart enough." A rasping laugh, like the scrape of a knife on bone, pierced the air. "Imagine the amount of energy needed to power a suit like Stone's... or a body like mine. Perhaps you are right; maybe I'm out of my league and destined to lose our confrontation. But perhaps my nuclear core has been equipped with a detonator. Perhaps, if I don't get what I want tonight, I kill everyone in Lonely Point!"

Edited June 14, 2017 by Sophistemon

[Blarghy]

The earlier chills that Adept felt were nothing compared to the horrible creeping ice in his stomach now.  He could not ignore such a threat, especially since his psychological training told him that it was likely well-founded.  Yes, he also thought this man had more desire to survive than he claimed, but even if he wouldn't sacrifice himself along with tens of thousands of people, he could, and that was enough.  Warne's own life was nothing in comparison; neither were the Stones', especially given that such an explosion would take them anyway.  Unfortunately, throwing himself into battle wouldn't eliminate the danger.  He had to keep stalling, do it in a way that wouldn't push his enemy past his sense of self-preservation.  Drive him to reckless anger, perhaps, but not suicide.

 

"Ssssss," the agent hissed; he let himself fall a few feet, allowed the volume of his voice to reflect his closer--but not exact--position, hoping to tease the cyborg's interest and ego.  He didn't need to fake the hesitant worry in his tone, covered by thin bravado.  "I see that your humanity didn't make it off the operating table.  I watched Mannis blast himself into a hundred bloody pieces; if you're eager to know what that's like, you should just ask him.  Or have you already shared his past, so this future no longer has any mystery or fear for you?  How did you come to be this thing?  Who were you?"

 

Hurry, Upgrade.  I can't distract him for long, and I doubt I can beat him, no matter what tricks I use, so for God's sake, hurry!

[Sophistemon]

"I am more human than you, Warne. Despite the metal, I am true to our nature." The cyborg stomped through the snow as he spoke, crushing powder beneath his armored feet. He felt no cold. He felt no wind. He felt nothing. "I am like you," he answered at last. "I am like Stone. I am a soldier..." The voice, buzzing and mechanical, had an almost... wistful quality, trailing off at the end. "Outside influence had radicalized some Uyghurs in Xinjiang. I was one of many sent to dissuade their ongoing protests. A nerve-agent was deployed to break and scatter them. There was an error, a malfunction in the delivery system. It resulted in an explosion, and the gas spread unconstrained. Many died there, but I survived... mostly. My continued survival was expensive, more than my superiors were willing to pay. My condition became known to my benefactors and the rest is now history. What matters is the present, and the future. Will you do it, Agent Warne? Will you face me like a man? Or will you die like a hog at the slaughterhouse?"

Edited June 20, 2017 by Sophistemon

[Blarghy]

"A peculiar metaphor, given that nuclear fire would be quicker than those knives of yours."  Adept's voice shifted through the storm, turning around the cyborg, hopefully bringing him to face a new direction.  And, as the words continued, perhaps encourage him to move to a more ideal position.

 

Upgrade's hangar is that way, so he'll fly in from there, in too much of a hurry to get cute with roundabout routes.  Turn your back on him, you bastard, and as soon as I see Upgrade coming, I'll give you a real surprise!  I just pray he makes the first hit count.  We have to bring this to a quick end, or else in your desperation, you may actually make good on that threat.

 

"You're right," he went on, sounding closer now.  "Your present interests me more.  Infiltrating military bases.  Theft of technology, as you and your superiors apparently lack the wit.  Killing, of course.  You're a busy metal man, I see... Pangolin." 

[Sophistemon]

The Pangolin laughed, a disturbing sound if ever there was one, torn as it was from a ruined throat. "A fascinating animal," he said. "So much more interesting than the armadillo. You know who I am, then? You have heard of my work? This is something special, then. I salute you, Agent Warne, as one soldier to another." There was the sound of footsteps on snow, as the Pangolin turned to follow the voice of his adversary. "Perhaps, in light of our mutual pasts, we could dispense with formality? I am Sergeant Li Qiang, formerly of the People's Liberation Army, currently deceased and awaiting resurrection." A grinding noise, metal on metal. "My benefactor do not lack for wits, Agent Warne. They have promised me another body, once the Pangolin is no longer needed for their plans. I will go home, whole again, and reclaim the life I lost in Xinjiang." A similar sound. What was that? "You can empathize, I'm sure. I am not alone in having my life stripped away from me. We are the both of us dead men."

[Blarghy]

After taking all of this in, Adept's laugh was hardly even forced.  He still wanted to rattle and unbalance his enemy, but he also felt that his following words were true.

 

"Oh, Sergeant.  You may be a heartless monster, which I can almost admire, but I had not taken you for a fool.  Your superiors promised you a fresh start, and you believed them?  Has desperation outweighed your good sense?  We are men of the world, you and I.  Surely you know better, somewhere inside that tangle of metal and wires.  If your mission was documented and in the light of day, then perhaps, but this?  You think the kind of people who send assassins after children and off-duty soldiers are the same type who keep such promises?  Especially as useful as you are?  No, Sergeant.  No.  You are a tool, and they will use you until you break.  What leverage can you possibly have to ensure that they behave otherwise?  Even if you succeed in your mission tonight, there will be another, and another, and another.  It ends when you are scrap, and not before."

 

 

[Sophistemon]

Silence. Deep, thunderous silence that echoed in Warne's ears like the roar of a thousand waves. Then, that rasping metallic voice slipped through the vortex. "If that's how it is, then fine. The world has been cruel to me, Agent Warne. If it is my destiny to endure forever with no respite, then I shall repay that cruelty a thousandfold. I shall carve a bloody swath of terror across the face of the world, one dead enemy after another. I will spell my name in a mountain of corpses before I'm done, if that's what it takes to earn my rest. I have been given power, great power. Either I get what I want, or the world gets me." That was enough. Using his telekinetic power, Warne made brief, all but imperceptible apertures in the surface of the psionic blizzard. He peered through them, and his blood went cold. The Pangolin stood partially disassembled, his chest cavity opened on a series of hinges. He was digging around inside, removing bits and pieces of himself and re-assembling them in a different configuration. The metal scrapped and hissed as it was put together and re-inserted. The android hadn't been kidding; he was more machine than man, now. Nearly nothing remained of the soldier who died in Xinjiang. Then, completely by chance, the Pangolin looked up through one of the apertures the agent had made in his artificial storm. The visor glowed red and his chest snapped shut. "I cannot help being a monster, Warne," he said. "I was built that way."

Edited July 10, 2017 by Sophistemon

[Blarghy]

Adept could only stare in disgust and dread, both from the words and sight.  What was he doing to himself?  Had Warne pushed him too far, and now he was making good on his threat to detonate himself?  Or did he have some idea for bypassing the storm, finding his targets, and cutting Warne's plan short?  Either way, if Upgrade didn't return soon, then this was sure to end in disaster.

 

"All those metal bits aren't what make you a beast," Adept claimed.  "Your choices do.  I know better than anyone that the world is bitter and heartless.  I have very little mercy left in me.  Even less kindness.  I like to blame it on what I have endured, and perhaps I have that right, but I still know that there are lines you don't cross!  You don't have to do this!  If you want to end this nightmare, then turn yourself in, and AEGIS will do what we can.  You won't be the first to cut a deal and start anew.  Why trust the gratitude of the people who set you on this road, when you can instead trust our pragmatism?  Trade your information and technology for another life.  Your superiors made you Pangolin, but we can make you Li Qiang again!"

[Sophistemon]

The Pangolin raised a metal finger to the blank, featureless face-plate of his helmet. "Shhh," he hissed. "They can hear you, Warne. They can hear everything. They are in me, in every circuit and every wire that permeate my body." He shrugged, the armor plating his arms rippling near liquidity as the plates rose and settles into place. "Shall we discuss pragmatism, Agent Warne? Pragmatism is me taking you up on your offer. Pragmatism is following you into an AEGIS building. Pragmatism is detonating my nuclear core and wiping you out in an atomic fireball." Hissing a laugh, he turned his back on the Man in Black and spread his arms. "Until I am myself again, I have no control. If I am a weapon, so be it. But there is no going back in a way that does not involve my benefactors. Were I to even consider your offer, they would kill me. They would kill you, and they would kill everyone in a three-mile radius. No, best we settle this in the American way -- let us clash and see who wins."

[Blarghy]

End of the line.  I won't be able to delay him for much longer, and if he's telling the truth, which he probably is, then whoever sent him here may make the choice for him even if Pangolin lacks the courage.  His superiors must know that Upgrade is on the way, as are other reinforcements.  Every second that passes, they have more to gain by detonating that bomb.

 

Hoping to squeeze a little more time, Warne made the winds shift, causing a glimpse of his shadowy form to flicker amidst the white snowy sheets.  Make him think I'm preparing to attack.  Hell, maybe I should.  I don't have much choice any longer.

 

"I have often thought myself damned," he said, grim again.  "Then I meet a wretched creature that reminds me just how much worse I could be.  Even if you kill me here and escape unscathed, you'll still have the poorer bargain."

 

Positioning himself opposite to Upgrade's distant hangar, still flying above the icy ground and shielded by his force field, Adept started to pull back his mental might.  Better this than the fire.

[Sophistemon]

"You are far more damned than I, agent Warne." The Pangolin lowered his arms, layered armor rippling into place. "I have no choice but to be what I am. You do, and you have chosen this." There was a moment of silence, pregnant with purpose, before the armored villain spoke again. "We don't have much time. Agent Stone would have reached his hanger by now. Upgrade will be coming shortly." Pangolin turned and looked up, scanning the sky for Adept. "Be the hero, agent Warne. Take me down; revenge yourself on me for Mantis' actions. I leave the first strike to you."

[Blarghy]

"...Maybe none of us have a choice," Warne said grimly.  He didn't, not any longer.  He couldn't continue to stall--but neither could he win!  Increasingly desperate, Adept looked through gaps in the storm for something, anything, he might use.  They were on the outskirts of a naval base; surely there were some planes he could pick up and use against this madman.  But no, he didn't even see large civilian vehicles, thanks to the holidays sending many of the nearby homeowners away.  Yet, at the same time, he didn't dare use their empty homes, in case they weren't truly empty!  How could he be sure that whatever he "borrowed" didn't have some innocent bystander asleep inside with the lights off?

 

...Ooooohhhhhhh.

 

Straining against his limits, Adept maintained the snowstorm while also reaching his mind back the way they'd come.  He squinted at the Stone residence.  Telekinetic force cracked apart the lowest walls, shattering wood, metal, and concrete.  With an awful groan, tons and tons of construction material--as well as lovingly-built memories--broke away from the foundation that hid Lilly and Meryl in the basement.  As most of the house rose into the air, Warne realized that he was literally stealing their Christmas.

 

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!  Whether from the irony of all this, or the intense stress on his brain, but Adept just started to laugh helplessly.  He fought gravity to bring the house closer, above the thick snow and vicious wind, and lined it up with Pangolin.

 

"Iffff yoouuuuu innnsssssissssst!" he shouted, and slammed his weapon down.

[Sophistemon]

Pangolin braced himself, waiting for the telekinetic blast, but it didn't come. Instead he heard something beyond the howling winds of the artificial blizzard. Tearing wood and shearing metal, the displacement of wind as something large was put into motion. The cyborg growled, deep in his throat, and shifted his head to look about himself. "Warne?" he hissed. "Agent, what are you planning?" Then a shadow broke through the whirling wind barrier, and the Pangolin felt an icicle of trepidation stab into what remained of his belly. "No," he uttered, before the house came down. He activated his thrusters but barely managed to fly a few feet to the left before the prefabricated building struck him just off-center. Then, there was darkness, sound and pressure as the home crushed him beneath itself. He was pushed with incredible weight into the snow, and then into the ground beneath the snow. He felt something rupture within his abdomen, some biomechanical organ now ruined and leaking fluids. He howled, then broke through the floor and found himself half-buried in the Stone's living room, a toppled Christmas Tree rolling towards the opposite corner.

 

Then, the roof caved in.

 

Warne floated there, mildly impressed by the damage he'd caused. The Pangolin was only just barely visible in the ruins of what had been the Stone family home; his bronze armor was covered with dusty snow, and he thrashed in the wreckage like a man attempting to swim through ruined masonry and shattered lumber. Then, Warne hears it. Like a small plan displacing the air, Upgrade is on his way. The X-09 appears on the horizon, and Warne squints his eyes in its direction. It hits him in a moment: the patriotic paint is missing and there are subtle differences in the AMP's shape. A new model? In a moment, it's too late to tell. The AMP speeds by at a velocity that has Warne steadying himself in midair, then bursts through the maelstrom. Adept let the psionic blizzard drop just in time to see the war machine march through the snow, sensory array swiveling this way and that to take in the extent of the damage. Ethan's home is gone. His wife and child are safe; he saw the foundation and the intact basement, but his home is gone. That's a sobering thought on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, he has a means of alleviating his enormous frustration.

 

"There you are," said Upgrade, spotting the struggling Pangolin. Metal feet stomped through the wreckage of what had once been a home. "You have a lot of explaining to do." Upgrade raised a massive metal hand, curled the fingers, and prepared to strike. "But I don't want to hear it." The fist swung in a rising arc, and its impact knocked Pangolin off of his feet, into the air, and out of the rubble. Trailed by shards of shattered armor and the crumpled remnants of the house, the cyborg soared backwards a dozen feet or more before landing, with a heavy thud, on the snowy ground. "Merry Fistmas."

 

The attempted assassin staggered to his feet and looked down, with placid interest, at the damage that has been done to his chest. Upgrade's blow had cracked the plating of his armor and black fluid leaked from the crack with worrying volume. The cyborg twitched, then hissed. "Not enough. Not enough, Stone! Not enough, Warne! I am still alive! The Pangolin is still alive! And you will die here, in the snow, while your women weep!" The burning blades once more unleashed themselves from his forearms, and he crossed them in an X in front of himself. "Come! Face death!" His voice is cracking, buzzed with static. He's talking tough, but it's clear he's the worse for wear.

Edited July 23, 2017 by Sophistemon

[Blarghy]

Unable to maintain the snowstorm any longer, Adept settled for just trying to catch his wheezing breath.  He would've lit another cigarette without any sense of irony if the circumstances were a little less hectic, but instead he marveled at the destruction, Pangolin's survival--I'm glad he lived, Warne thought truthfully, but is it too much to ask, on Christmas, that he not get back up?!--and finally, Upgrade's pun. 

 

The agent waited until after he attacked to roll his eyes.  Before that gesture, he battered the cyborg with his usual tactic, glad to go back to a more manageable level of force, although even that still increased the growing ache in his skull. 

 

He declined to boast or threaten, for the moment.  Warne had talked plenty; now, battle was joined, and with his partner on the field too, it was time to teach Pangolin that not only children and unarmed civilians could feel fear tonight. 

[Sophistemon]

Adept's telekinetic strike battered the already weary cyborg, straining his crippled defenses to their limit -- but still they held. The mechanized abomination drew a hissing breath, his glowing blades dripped molten condensation into the snow beneath him. "Not enough!" he shrieked, his voice buzzed with static. "Not nearly enough, Americans! I'll have your heads!" He activated his thrusters and, arms outstretched to present the blades, raced towards the hovering AEGIS agent. From the corner of his eye, Warne could see Stone reorient the AMP. Silently, the enormous war-machine raised one arm. The armored plating, spurred on by the internal pilot, because to rearrange itself, sliding back and locking into place as smoothly as you'd please. Once done, they revealed a particularly nasty-looking directed-energy cannon. The beam lanced out, turning the snow in the air to steam, and struck Pangolin in the side just in time to knock him out of the sky. The cyborg hit the ground, hard, and thrashed in the snow before falling quietly, eerily still. Upgrade looked at the prostrated form of the cyborg, then turned his sensory array towards Warne.

 

"Hit him again," he said. And then, after a pause. "Where are my girls?"

Edited July 23, 2017 by Sophistemon

[Blarghy]

...Well, ok then.  I guess that works.

 

Out of breath but tentatively optimistic, Adept gestured back toward where his partner's house used to be.  "Still in the basement where you sent them, far as I know.  ...But we're not safe yet!" he added, remembering that the danger went beyond Pangolin's red-hot knives.  "This guy claimed that he's powered by a nuclear core, and he can overload it to explode.  He also said that his superiors were watching through him, and they might be able to make the same choice now that he has failed.  We've got to get him out of Lonely Point, probably over the ocean, until a tech team can disassemble him safely.  I can pick him, even just throw him right into the atmosphere if I have to, but he won't survive something like that.  If we have to carry him, then you're a much, much faster flier than I am."

 

There's no nice way to ask someone to risk their life for the person who wanted to murder them and their family moments before, but here Warne was, trying it anyway.