Chapter 80: Clash of Titans

 

Deepwater 9. The Main Deck. 4:15 PM (Blizzard Conditions).

CRASH. The blast doors of the laboratory flew off their hinges. Sebastian and The Warden tumbled out onto the frozen steel deck, locked in a death grip. The blizzard hit them instantly. Wind howled at 80 miles per hour. Snow blinded everything.

The Warden kicked Sebastian in the chest. CLANG. Sebastian skid backward, his magnetic boots sparking as they dug into the deck to stop his momentum.

"You are slowing down," The Warden stood up effortlessly. His suit wasn't affected by the cold. His blue crystal cane crackled with energy. "Your battery is dying. I can hear the servos whining."

[ WARNING: BATTERY 8% ] [ HYDRAULIC PRESSURE: CRITICAL. ]

Sebastian ignored the HUD. He grabbed a loose steel pipe from the railing. "I don't need a battery to break your face," Sebastian growled.

He charged. He swung the pipe like a baseball bat. The Warden caught it with one hand. CATCH. He crushed the steel pipe like it was paper.

"Predictable," The Warden sneered. He drove his other fist into Sebastian’s helmet. CRACK. The visor splintered. Sebastian tasted blood. The HUD flickered and died. He was fighting blind now.

---

[The Hangar Brawl]

Fifty meters away, near the helipad. Harper was dragging her mother toward the waiting helicopter—a heavy-lift transport chopper they had found. "Move! Mom, move!"

"Droids!" Dr. Braun screamed, pointing at the shadows. Five combat droids emerged from the mist, red eyes glowing. They raised their machine guns.

"We're pinned!" Harper fired her rifle, but the bullets bounced off their chassis. "Jack! Where are you?!"

VROOOOM. A massive yellow shape roared out of the fog. A Forklift. Driven by Jack, with a lit cigar in his mouth.

"Coming through!" Jack yelled. He rammed the forks into the first two droids, pinning them against the wall. CRUNCH. He lifted them up and threw them off the side of the rig, into the churning ocean below.

"Get in the chopper!" Jack shouted, reversing the forklift to block the other droids. "I'll buy you time!"

"Jack, come with us!" Harper screamed.

"Go!" Jack racked a shotgun. "Someone has to keep the engine running!"

---

[The Kill Box]

Back on the main deck. Sebastian was losing. The Warden was too fast. Too strong. He slashed Sebastian’s armor with his arm-blades, cutting through the hydraulic lines. Oil sprayed onto the snow. Sebastian fell to one knee. His right leg servo was dead. He was dragging 100 pounds of dead metal.

"Pathetic," The Warden walked over. He raised his cane for the killing blow. "Any last words, Mr. Sterling?"

Sebastian looked up. He saw the massive Liquid Nitrogen Tank behind The Warden. It was used to cool the drilling bits. He looked at his left gauntlet. The winch was broken, but the Grapple Hook was still loaded.

"Yeah," Sebastian spat blood onto the deck. "Chill out."

He fired the grapple. Not at The Warden. At the valve of the nitrogen tank behind him.

THWIP. The hook caught the valve wheel. Sebastian yanked his arm back with the last ounce of power in his suit. CREAAAK. HISS.

The valve ripped open. A geyser of liquid nitrogen, at -320°F, exploded outward. It hit The Warden squarely in the back.

The Warden screamed—a digital, glitching shriek. The extreme cold flash-froze his synthetic joints instantly. His perfect skin cracked. His internal coolant froze. He stood there, a frozen statue, mid-strike.

Sebastian didn't wait. He stood up, his servos groaning. He walked up to the frozen Warden. He pulled back his fist. "Resignation accepted."

SMASH. He punched The Warden’s head. It didn't bruise. It shattered. Like ice. The pieces of the cyborg’s skull scattered across the deck.

---

[The Red Button]

Sebastian collapsed against the railing, gasping for air. He checked his wrist computer. [ HELIOS LAUNCH SEQUENCE: T-MINUS 2 MINUTES. ]

The missile silos on the far side of the rig were opening. Massive rockets, loaded with the virus, were rising into launch position.

"I can't hack it," Sebastian realized. "The system is hardwired." "I have to blow the rig."

He limped toward the Main Gas Valve—the heart of the rig's pumping system. If he overloaded the pressure, the methane gas from the seabed would turn the entire platform into a bomb.

"Harper," Sebastian activated his comms. "Take off."

"Where are you?" Harper’s voice was frantic. "We are waiting!"

"I have to stop the launch," Sebastian reached the valve. It was rusted shut. He gripped it with both hands. "Go, Harper. Fly."

"No!" Harper screamed. "I am not leaving you!"

"You have to," Sebastian gritted his teeth, pushing the valve. Groan. It wouldn't budge. His suit was dead. He needed more power. He screamed, pouring every ounce of his own biological strength into the turn. His muscles tore. His bones creaked.

SCREECH. The valve turned. Pressure alarms began to wail. [ WARNING: CRITICAL PRESSURE. EXPLOSION IMMINENT. ]

Sebastian looked at the helicopter hovering fifty meters away. He looked at the raging fire starting below deck. He had 30 seconds.

He ran. Dragging his dead leg. Dragging the armor. He ran toward the edge of the helipad.

---

[The Leap]

The helicopter was rising. "Jack! Lower the ramp!" Harper was hanging out of the side door, reaching down.

Sebastian reached the edge. The rig shook violently. The first explosion tore through the lower decks. Fire erupted behind him, chasing him.

"Jump!" Harper screamed.

Sebastian didn't have the power to jump. But he had momentum. He threw himself off the edge of the rig.

He fell through the air. His hand reached out. Harper’s hand reached down.

SLAP. Their fingers locked. Harper gasped as the weight of the armored man nearly pulled her out of the chopper. "I got you!" she screamed. "Pull!"

Jack and Braun grabbed Harper’s legs, pulling with all their might. They dragged Sebastian onto the metal floor of the helicopter just as the rig exploded.

BOOM. A massive fireball consumed Deepwater 9. The shockwave hit the helicopter. It spun wildly, alarms blaring. "Hold on!" The pilot (Jack) wrestled the stick.

They dipped dangerously close to the waves, then stabilized. They flew away. Behind them, the oil rig—and the virus, and the droids, and the Warden—sank into the burning sea.

Sebastian lay on the floor of the chopper. His armor was smoking. His face was covered in soot. He looked at Harper. She was crying, hugging him.

"You idiot," she sobbed. "You absolute idiot."

Sebastian smiled weakly. "I told you," he whispered, closing his eyes. "I'd run for you."

(End of Chapter 80)