Zeph opened a case that housed one of their strongest weapons. Netto glanced over Rylie's head and watched his partner assemble the ion launcher.
“I'm okay now,” she said. “You guys can't possibly take that thing out. You'll die trying.”
“No shit!” Janet erupted, joining them. “We barely got away with our lives and if that thing hits the boat one more time—”
“The glass shielding will shatter. We won't be able to replace it,” Rylie said, drawing out of his arms. Netto searched her face and saw her brave mask harden. “If we get attacked again we’d be at a disadvantage.”
“Not to mention, for star's sake, the majority of people on this boat are not Cyborgs!”
Netto bit down on his tongue as he looked at those around him, only to turn and face the large creature in the distance. He hadn’t been fully paying attention, but he was certain that it had come closer. He turned toward the stairwell and shouted down to Montihan.
“Continue driving,” he roared, afraid for the module he had just fixed. “We need to lead it away.”
He turned back as Zeph clamped the last part of the weapon together and they shared a grim look. The boat started up again underneath them. Out of the corner of his eye, Netto noticed Zeph giving Janet a lingering kiss.
Netto prepared his own gun. He turned to Rylie who was climbing to the top of the boat and he grabbed her leg, stopping her. “What are you doing? It's not safe.”
She tugged free of his hold. “Helping.”
She held a link of bullets around her arm. He lifted up to join her. She popped open a panel on the roof and a mounted gun appeared.
Her lip between her teeth, Rylie loaded the gun and aimed it at the beast.
Its arm slammed into the water several yards away from them, knocking the bow on its side before it dipped back up. He went to grab Rylie only to find that she had belted herself to the gun.
The creature followed and it was close, too close for his liking. Zeph joined them and let loose the ion.
Netto chanted in his head over and over that Rylie was safe, she was flanked on either side by Cyborgs.
The bomb landed with precision at the center of the beast and the sparkling blue fire of vengeance exploded across the horizon. It sucked up whatever was left of the fog, the heat of it flushed out across the ocean. It was a sight to behold, but it did not last long. Chunks of visceral sailed through the air and pieces landed on the ship. The leviathan roared but didn’t fall.
Netto drew his own gun and shot red-hot beams at the monster. The constant hammering of the turret echoed his rhythm. Zeph ducked away and reloaded his weapon. Janet was behind them, still on the top deck, handing them whatever they needed.
The watership continued to sail away. Montihan was keeping them right outside the beast’s reach.
“I don't know why you have to do you this!” Janet screamed.
“It's on the wrong side of the wall!” Rylie yelled back, letting her terror cool down before she sprayed the monster with another round of fire. “It can’t get back across without us dropping the whole grid. It’ll go mad on this side.”
The creature roared. They all stopped. The sun had begun to ascend into the sky, haloing the monster with her bright white illumination. Zeph prepped the second ion bomb.
A dozen massive arms lifted up and smashed on the water. It looked as if it was walking toward them—which he thought had to be impossible. If it were walking it would mean the beast was big enough to stand on the bottom of the abyss. Nothing was that big.
Zeph shot the second bomb, and the whiz died in the wind as it hit the same place as the first one had.
They watched with bated breath, hoping that it was enough to split the beast in half. The explosion gave off a huge shockwave. They had to turn away from the blinding light while getting showered with water. The bomb had also failed and only enraged the monster more. A tentacle smashed down from above, too quickly for them to drive out of its range.
The remaining glass shattered under the pressure just as Netto covered Rylie. The ship sank under the water line only to reemerge a moment later. The wind filled with screams.
Zeph was nowhere in sight. The ship continued to move away.
Rylie sputtered water and Netto moved off her. She repositioned the turret and the barrage of gunfire once again filled his ears.
She impressed him but he had little time to show it as he aimed his gun again and fired a few more shots. Netto looked around. Both Zeph and Janet were gone.
“You have to go after them!” she yelled over the rush of water. He turned to Rylie.
She blinked and took a hold of his weapon in one hand, peeling it from his grip.
