These weren't the sewers. They were more of a water drainage system to prevent the city from flooding whenever there was excess rainfall, but that didn't matter. To Jett's poor nose, it was a sewer.

He stumbled after Moxie's slender form as she led the way through the narrow round tunnels, one hand holding the neck of his shirt pulled up over his nose. Behind him came Raven; the Talon flyer's movement remained as silent as ever despite the fact he had to hunch over in the small passage.

Their flashlights cut through the darkness around them, illuminating smooth concrete walls curving around them gently. A small trickle of water flowed past their feet; thankfully it was small enough that they could step to the side of it without having to get their feet wet.

Jett played his light across the water. It looked crystal clear. Yet he had his doubts. These tunnels stunk to high heaven. No way that was clean water.

Their footsteps echoed back at them, loud in the oppressive silence. It didn't take long before Jett started to feel like the walls were closing in on him, his breathing quickening as anxiety started to build.

These tunnels supposedly carried on for miles in an intricate web beneath the city, with many branches and dead-ends that could easily misdirect anyone foolish enough to tread them. If Moxie got them lost and they died down here, would it be years before anyone discovered their bodies?

Even worse, maybe they wouldn't get lost. Maybe they'd get trapped. Jett still remembered Shann Tei like it was yesterday. The machines had come, flattening buildings, tearing a swath of destruction through populated areas. Their passage also damaged the underground tunnel systems of Shann Tei, causing many of them to collapse. However, unlike Mianka, where the underground systems were largely forgotten and unused, some of the gangs had taken to using those of Shann Tei. So the damage then had been so much worse – people had been crushed beneath the collapses. Or trapped.

Jett shivered and rubbed his arms. He glanced back over a shoulder, wondering if maybe they should have taken another route. What if the machine came and stomped all over the tunnel they were in, collapsing it?

Raven lifted his eyebrows. "What, you getting tired?" Surprisingly, there was no lighthearted amusement to his tone. It seemed like Raven was actually being serious.

The concern took Jett by surprise, and he hastily turned his head back, offering a muttered "No."

That was a lie. He felt exhausted and achy and in general, not great. How much of that was just from lying in a bed for awhile and how much of it was his poor condition, he wasn't sure. He wasn't about to admit it, though. The Kairg were stomping about above ground, and Raven and Moxie were leading an escape. The last thing they needed was him slowing them down.

"Turn left here," Moxie called out. Jett looked up to see the tunnel branching off into two. Moxie darted into the left one, her feet splashing into shallow water. Following, Jett was horrified to find this new tunnel had several more inches of water. If he wanted to keep his feet dry, he'd have to straddle the trickle of water and waddle awkwardly. Or, he could just not bother and do as Moxie did.

Jett bothered. Very much. Gingerly, he stepped to the side, careful to not get his shoes wet. Who knew what bugs lived in that water? It smells like pee anyway. He managed to get two steps, before Raven chuckled behind him.

"Don't waste your time, princess." The amused words came with a firm shove, one that sent Jett stumbling into ankle deep water. He hissed – it was freezing!

Another shove had him staggering forwards, each step splashing in ice-cold water. Not only his shoes, but soon the lower half of his pants were soaked. Jett gritted his teeth. If he had his flyer suit on, he wouldn't even feel the temperature. Nor the damp. And there'd be a proper barrier between pee-water and his skin!

As Moxie lead them down one branching tunnel after another, the water seemed to get deeper. Eventually, they waded through knee deep ice-cold water. It had a strong current that almost threatened to sweep Jett over. It was all he could do to keep upright, and by the time Moxie led them to a metal ladder leading upwards, Jett was shaking with cold and fatigue.

Raven took the lead, climbing up the metal rung with a relaxed ease while Jett and Moxie shone their flashlights at him. Fortunately, Raven only had to climb a short distance before he reached the manhole cover. He reached up and laid his palm flat against it. He shoved.

It didn't budge.

Raven shifted, then gave it another solid push, this one a prolonged application of strength. After a long second or two, the heavy lid finally creaked open. Small flakes of rusted metal and dirt fell from above, visible in the shaft of yellow light that shown through.

"Nice!" Moxie exclaimed.

Jett grumbled something beneath his breath. He crossed his arms against his chest, trying not to shiver.

Above, Raven poked his head through the hole, taking a quick look around at the surroundings. It must have passed inspection, since the flyer climbed the rest of the way through. Moxie was right on his heels, shimmying up the ladder as if she were a monkey.

Within seconds, Jett was left alone in knee-deep water. He glowered up at the manhole, squinting against the light. For a second, he debated staying where he was. The pee-water was much nicer company than those two. They didn't seem to care much about his opinions, anyway.

Would they even notice if he got left behind?

Something ugly swirled in his belly, and he clenched his hands tightly. No. Don't be stupid. There was no way he was going to let Raven out of sight again. Even if that guy wanted to leave him behind, it wasn't going to happen. Not again. Not ever again.

He lunched forward and grabbed onto the ladder rungs. They felt cold to the touch, numbness seeping into his damp flesh. A deep tremor trembled throughout the concrete, vibrating through the metal rungs. It was more of a vibration than anything else, but it was enough to send Jett's heart leaping up into his throat.

Before he'd even realized it, he was squeezing himself through the manhole and scrabbling for purchase on the surrounding ledge. A shadow fell across him. He glanced up, only to see Raven leaning down to offer a hand.

Wordlessly, Jett grasped it, feeling warm fingers envelop his icy own, and then he was hauled up out of the dank tunnels and into fresh open air. He settled on his knees on hard pavement, a bit dizzy and out of breath.

"You all right?" Raven looked down at him, a little frown knitting his brows.

Jett wanted to lay down right there and have a nap. Instead, he gritted his teeth and stumbled to his feet. "Yeah," he wheezed. "Fine. Just fine."

That earned him a dubious look, but nothing else was said. Thankfully. Jett didn't think he could find the energy for another sentence.

He looked around, seeing that they were in a above-ground parking lot. It was huge, built entirely out of ugly gray concrete, with quite a few cars parked neatly in rows. Nearby, Moxie had already gotten the driver door of a jeep open, and was currently fiddling with some wires she'd pulled out from somewhere beneath the wheel.

"Almost there," she muttered.

"Take your time," Raven said. "I'm sure the war machine will wait."

The ground trembled again, and Jett wasn't sure, but he thought he heard the distant rumble of something exploding. Was Troit fighting back? Was anyone fighting back?

He shivered, guilt rising up. I should be helping. I can get close to those machines, I can –

The jeep's engine roared to life. Moxie cheered triumphantly. She wiped her hands on her clothes, and gestured at the back of the jeep. "Jump in, boys. She's ready to go!"

"Hm." Raven reached out and grabbed Jett's shoulder in an almost painful grip. He opened the back door and all but shoved Jett inside. Then he crawled into the backseat after him, slamming the door shut.

In the driver's seat, Moxie laughed like a madman, and switched gears. She threw a grin back at them before she stomped on the gas.

Both Raven and Jett were thrown back against the seats as the car leapt forward. It squealed through the parking lot, narrowly missing the other cars. Moxie spun the wheel, skidding around a corner and flying up a ramp to the next level.

Jett clung to the seat, wide-eyed with terror. Horror dawned on him, because he realized that there was a very good chance they'd die long before the war machine even neared. "She's gonna kill us," he gasped. He turned to Raven imploringly, who was calmly doing up his seatbelt.

The flyer then turned, reached across Jett, and tugged at Jett's seatbelt. He pulled it across, and snapped it into the little buckle. Then Raven patted Jett's knee.

"Calm down, it'll be fine."

Jett didn't believe him. He squeezed his eyes shut as the car careened around another corner once again. They burst out into a side street, and started to pick up speed.

"We'll take one of the north exists," Moxie called back. "It's on the far end, and there'll probably be some traffic, but we should be able to get through. One way or another."

The tires squealed in anguish as Moxie spun the wheel, sending them into a sudden turn. Jett found himself thrown against the door, the seatbelt cutting into his shoulder savagely as it grew taut. He clenched his jaw, sucking in a shaky breath through gritted teeth.

"Sounds good," Raven said. He sounded far too calm for the situation. It wasn't fair. "If we run into trouble, I'll deal with it."

Deal with it how? Jett wondered, then decided he probably didn't want to know. He clung onto dear life as Moxie drove them through the city like a battering ram.

The further they got, the more traffic they ran into. Obviously, a whole lot of people had the same idea as them – get out of the city before the war machine turned its sights on the rest of Mianka. It didn't take long before the roads became completely congested, so that it became nearly impossible to move.

If one stayed on the road, that is.

Moxie took them onto the sidewalks without a second thought, forcing people to dive out of the way. She sideswiped several cars as she served towards the road to avoid the occasional person who couldn't move out of the way. The jeep's right side mirror was lost to a lamppost that got too close.

People shouted and honked in outrage, but Moxie didn't care. She was determined to get them out of the city, no matter how she had to do it.

A brilliant light flashed from behind, briefly illuminating the back of the front seats and everything that happened to be facing that direction. A thunderous boom followed a moment later. Jett's heart skipped a beat, eyes wide.

What was that? He twisted in his seat, peering out the back window to see. Too many buildings were in the way to see much, but he caught a glimpse of a giant column of oily black smoke rising up into the sky. His heart sank, because he knew that that level of destruction meant people had just died. Probably a lot of people.

"That thing's not kidding around," Moxie muttered. She glanced up at the review mirror, grimacing. "At least we're almost out."

Raven placed a hand on the back of Moxie's seat, leaning forward. He looked straight ahead intently. "Just need to get through that."

"Huh?" Both Moxie and Jett turned their attention forward, not sure what Raven was referring to. It turned out to be a complete traffic standstill, due to a collision between a couple of trucks. People crowded around in their vehicles, blocking much of the scene from view while they leaned on their horns – as if that would help them escape the city any faster.

"Oh, that." Moxie spun the wheel, steering them onto the sidewalk once more. She was deaf and blind to the ensuing chaos that her move created. When she ran out of sidewalks, she swerved into the opposite lane, travelling straight through head-on traffic without a single blink. Once, she jammed them between a much-to-narrow space between a couple of cars, barely managing to squeeze them through. All three vehicles were horribly scraped up in that move.

Jett's door seemed to cave inwards slightly. It started creaking with every bounce in the road. He wondered how long it would be before it was ripped off entirely.

By some miracle, the eventually made it through the throng of traffic and managed to get on the main road that would take them out of the city. It too was pretty crowded, but at least everyone was moving along at a steady pace.

As they left Mianka behind, Jett couldn't help but look backwards once more. Smoke towered over the city, fed from multiple pillars that rose from several points of destruction. Flashes of orange and red and white spotted the cityscape, gradually spreading out from a single point. The war machine was moving, determined to spread death as far as it could.

Jett stared, a frown deeply etched upon his pale face. I should be there, he thought. I can stop it. His fingers dug into the back of his seat. "We should go back," he said. "We need to help them."

"You crazy?" Moxie exclaimed from the front. "You wanna die?"

A hand gripped Jett's shoulder; he turned to see Raven looking at him with an unreadable expression. "What can you do in your condition?" The Talon asked him softly.

Jett scowled. He knew he was in poor shape, but that didn't mean he couldn't try. It was a lot better than sitting here like a helpless child, running in the wrong direction. While they fled, thousands of people were dying, People he could be helping.

"Something," he said. His voice rose in volume. "At least I'd be doing something! What about you? How come you're doing nothing? You're strong enough to wreck that machine, but you're just running away!"

Raven didn't even flinch from Jett's tirade. "True," he said evenly. "I could go and deal with the machine, with the Kairg, maybe distract that bastard long enough for Troit to get their act together. But then, everything I've done the past few months would be destroyed. Troit will know I exist. They will come for my head. Ra-bastard will come for my head – that is, if he's not busy hunting you."

"But -!"

"No," Raven cut off Jett's protest before it even began. He leaned in, hold Jett's gaze with a quiet intensity. "I am only one man, Jett. I can only do one thing at a time. What would you have me do? Help this city at my own expense? At your expense?"

Jett stared at the Talon. At the teacher who'd taught him how to fly and how to fight; this flyer, who'd stood at the pinnacle before he'd fallen. And for the first time, he felt like he was looking at a stranger. This stranger who would turn his back on the helpless, and for what?

"Yes," he hissed. "I don't care what happens to me! There's people dying out there, and the only ones who can help them are running away! I can't believe you're even saying this!"

Raven gave a tiny smile, one that looked more sad than anything else. "I'm sorry, kid. I've had to make a choice, and I'm afraid I chose the selfish route. I would rather watch this city burn than let that bastard get his hands on you again."

That made Jett reel. His mouth opened, then closed, any words fizzling out of existence. Because whatever he might have expected the Talon to say, it hadn't been that. He slumped back against his seat, all thoughts of going back to help the people fizzling out.

Instead, Ravens' words floated in his mind. I would rather watch this city burn than let that bastard get his hands on you again.

Again?

That bastard? Ra'Skevvor.

Without noticing, Jett trembled. His fingers dug into the seat beside his legs, knuckles going white. Again. Ra'Skevvor. Again.

He saw the silver mask. He saw those dark pits of hell looking back at him. It was a reflection. A reflection in the water's surface, a reflection in a pool of blood, a reflection of... of him. Of a monster. Of me.

No. Again. No! I can't - !

"Stop it!" Hands shook him violently.

Jett's head snapped back, bouncing off the headrest of the car seat. Raven gripped his shoulders so tightly it hurt. The pain cut through the dark fog swirling in his mind, and he sat dumbly, staring back at the flyer with wide eyes.

"Stop it," Raven repeated, his eyes narrowed. "Do you hear me?"

Jett nodded faintly. He felt dizzy. Nauseated. And confused. Why was Raven shaking him? Why did he look so grim? Ugh. He reached up, rubbing at his head. It throbbed, a deepset ache that felt like it would never go away.

Raven's fingers tightened, digging in. Jett winced. "That hurts," he complained.

Abruptly, Raven let go as if he was touching hot coals. He looked disturbed by something, to the point he even muttered some not very nice words under his breath.

"Everything all right back there?" Moxie asked, glancing up at the mirror.

Raven's jaw clenched, then relaxed. "Just fine," he said, a little coldly. "Keep driving."

Jett leaned his aching head back, allowing his eyes to droop a little. He shivered, feeling a little cold. His eyes shut, and he saw her.

Those brown eyes, watching him. They never blinked. Never looked away. He stared back, feeling a hard lump form in his throat. His chest felt empty. It burned. Her face, her gaze – why did they look so sad?

Why did they make him feel so sad?

He turned his face away, feeling something warm spill down his face.

The car sped down the road, going nearly double the speed limit as it wove between slower-moving cars. Yet to Jett, it felt like it wasn't going fast enough. No matter where they went, he felt her watching him.

xxx

"Well," Syk said, "Isn't this an interesting turn of events?"

Raith gave the medic flyer a cold look. "I suppose you would find this interesting. I, personally, find it rather abhorrent."

"Look at it," Syk gestured at the small screen that hung from the transport truck's ceiling. Raith looked, even though he already knew what it displayed. It showed various camera feeds from Mianka, showing the widespread devastation wrought by the single war machine. As he watched, one of the feeds turned black, destroyed by a stray bullet.

"It's like Shann Tei all over again," Raith muttered.

"Not quite," Syk smiled. Of course he was smiling. Only that coldhearted man could smile at such a display as this. "Shann Tei was done by several war machines, merely for the act of conquering. This situation, however, is merely a tantrum."

"A tantrum." Raith repeated the word, then shook his head. He couldn't see what Syk meant with such a definition.

"Yes. He fell for our trap, didn't he? Although he managed to escape, he lost the boy." Syk chuckled. "He's acting just as a child would – a child who had its favorite toy taken away."

"A child who possesses powerful war weaponry," Raith frowned. He thought the analogy was a terrible one. "We've suffered a great loss due to this 'tantrum', as you put it. Mianka is finished."

Syk didn't seem too bothered by that fact. He settled back in his seat, appearing quite comfortable. "What's your next move, hm?"

You're enjoying this, Raith thought in irritation. This is just a game to you. He let none of his irritation show on his face, though. He knew better than that. It was a pointless waste of energy anyway – he had bigger things to worry about that dealing with Syk's little games.

"I've already requested the Council for more manpower," Raith said. They weren't happy with his report, but the information he and Syk had gained from the boy was more than enough to sate them. Their answering reply had come swiftly enough.

The boy must not live. Use him if you must, but at the end, no spawn of that man must be allowed to exist.

"We'll find the boy again, and secure him properly. We won't have to bother with subterfuge – Ra'Skevvor will come willingly. We can end it all then."

"You mean to try again? What if he brings more of his mechanical pets?" Syk asked. He pointedly looked at Raith's left arm. It was in a cast, and settled in a sling. "You are in no condition for fighting. Or flying."

"Neither are you," Raith threw back instantly. He regretted the words as soon as he said it, for he saw the corner of Syk's mouth curve upwards in a triumphant little smile. Between the two of them, Syk had taken less damage. Apart from a cracked collarbone and a broken nose, Syk was whole. Raith, on the other hand, had to have his shoulder re-socketted and his forearm set and casted.

Raith took a moment to exhale, forcing himself to think clearly. "It doesn't matter. With the flyers I've requested, we'll have more than enough to take whatever Ra'Skevvor decides to bring. He won't escape a second time."

"I see. You've requested an army, then?" Syk's tone wasn't quite mocking, but it was close.

Raith stared the medic in the eyes. He smiled tightly. "More or less. The Council's given me full access to resources – I will do what it takes to end this war."

"It seems the Council has placed a lot of faith in you," Syk folded his hands, a little smile on his face. "For your sake, I hope your dogs don't fail you."

Raith narrowed his eyes a fraction. "They won't," he said firmly. After all, they hadn't failed him yet. In fact, it was thanks to their warning that he was able to get out of Mianka before the war machine showed up to trample it.

They were his eyes and ears, and no matter the target, they'd find it. It was just a matter of time.