Chapter 72

Nuclear Dawn

A few seconds after Eric passed, the train suddenly lurched and jarred violently, causing everyone to stumble!

"What the hell was that?!" Jet exclaimed.

Egad got on his headset. "Amon! What's going on with the train?"

"Master, car 4 has separated from car 5 down! The train's starting to gain speed!" Amon reported from the weapons van.

"Shit!" Mick cursed. "Codec, at the train's top speed without cars 5 and 6, how soon will we be at the border?!"

"It's impossible to say, since the train's top speed accounts for all cars being connected and functional." Codec said from the Weapons Van.

Mick felt sweat drip down his brow from the tension. "Search theoretical!"

After a few seconds, Codec responded. "Mmmm...Taking into consideration the weight of the remaining cars, and the capability of the primary engine, the train will cross the border in one hour."

"Oh, crap! We need to defuse these fission explosives, and get the engine's computer stabilized asap!" Mick barked.

Jet and Mick ran over to the control module for the fission explosives. It was attached to a basic portable computer with several input usb ports.

"Can you defuse it?" Mick asked Jet. "Do you know which wires to cut?"

"Cutting wires is out of the question." Jet said, getting out his laptop and hooking it up, running his own cipher decription program to break through the firewall. "Cailus has no doubt rigged this thing to detonate if even a single circuit is cut. The only way to stop this thing is to hack into the module and kill the detonation program."

"Can you do it?" Mick asked.

"I think I can, but I'll need some help." Jet said. "Xen, you stay with me, as well as Jack and Christina, just in case! Xen, if you combine your laptop and decription software with mine, It should go faster. Plus, it will give us an advantage because the mainframe will have to deal with a two-pronged attack."

Xen pulled out his laptop and hooked it up, running his own cipher decriptor. "You got it! In the meantime, one of us has to go to the engine and find a way to bypass the main cpu to shut it down!"

"I may not know about hacking, but I do have a knack for electronics!" Mick said. "I can cut the CPU from the main propulsion drive to shut down the train, but if we fail, we need to minimize the damage."

"Meaning?" Bishop asked.

Mick gulped. "Meaning that we need to emergency separate the engine from the rest of the train. That way, even if the engine goes thermal-nuclear, it will minimize the damage to the surrounding area."

"In that case, you had better do it quick." Codec said. "The train's coming up on a long underground tunnel in the next ten kilometers, so if you want to take advantage of that, you will need to be fast."

"Godspeed, everyone." Egad said. He bent down and took Jet into a deep kiss, rubbing his stomach and back for a few moments. "Be strong, Jet. We will all get through this." Egad turned and went to the doors to the engine car. "It's time for the final confrontation."

# # # #

Egad, Anthony, Mick, Tommy, Bishop, Gareth, Galen, Uniko, and Zhal stepped into the engine car, seeing several more of Cailus' elite guard with Bruce and a few combat droids, going out the maintenance door onto a side catwalk!

"One last bash before the main event." Bruce purred. "Let's see who will step forward. We'll be waiting on the roof." Bruce then stepped out.

Mick ran up to the control console. He quickly found the emergency car release for the engine in case of a runaway engine emergency. "Quick! Get onto the roof! Confront Cailus and distract him, then I'll separate the engine!"

Egad led the rest of the entourage onto the engine car's roof, out the maintenance hatch. Egad stood in front of his group, Cailus doing the same with his. The brothers were ready to face off. For one last time.

"Well well, brother... A fitting place for our final turnabout, don't you think?" Cailus asked.

"Turnabout indeed." Egad said with a glare. "Mick! Now!"

A few seconds later, the train suddenly lurched, as sparks flew from the train's under carriage! Everyone struggled to maintain their balance at this sudden movement to avoid falling off the train! Then, there was a loud clank and clunker of sounds! Shortly afterwards, car 2 separated from car 1, the rest of the train applying it's emergency brakes as the engine separated, splitting from the rest of the main train!

"NOOOO!!!!!" Cailus roared, seeing the rest of the train, and his nuclear bombs fade into the distance from the engine! "DAMN YOU, BROTHER!!!! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!!! YOU MAY HAVE STOPPED MY BOMBS FROM GOING OFF, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO GO TO PRISON OVER THIS!!! AT LEAST I CAN TAKE YOU WITH ME TO HELL!!!!!!!"

Cailus took a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. Suddenly, the engine's speed skyrocketed, the entire contraption speeding down the monorail faster and faster, like a bat out of hell, the engine becoming a literal giant nuclear bullet as it entered the tunnel!

"Master, the engine has gained much more speed!" Codec reported. "At it's present rate of acceleration, taking into account it's total torque and potential top-end power, as well as the missing cars, your time to the border has been cut down to one-quarter of the original arrival time!"

"Fifteen minutes..." Egad sighed. "Then it's time to get to the point. You leave me no choice, Cailus. It's obvious now, no matter how big this galaxy or universe is... There is no way you and I can coexist here with your current mindset! If I have to end you, then so be it..."

"May the Five Paragons bless our fortune with this final battle... Let us end this!" Bishop said, and the rest of the group assumed combat stances, while Cailus, Bruce, and his remaining men and droids did the same. Tommy gripped his Ninjatos with vigor, Bishop holding his Nodachi with intent purpose to kill, Gareth assuming a stance ready to stab at his opponents with his wrist blades! Galen, Uniko, and Zhal, however, holstered their firearms and readied their fists and feet!

"Mick, you have fifteen minutes to defuse the engine, starting now!" Galen then let out a loud leonine battle roar, and the two groups charged at each other! Egad and Cailus readied all of their offensive magics, charging their fists with elemental energy as they connected, knuckles grinding against knuckles as waves of magic energy erupted allaround them!

# # # # # #

Mick clung to the side of the train, inching forward as he neared the engine's tip, making his way to the core as the main engine of the_Azure Flux_ approached it's maximum speed, screaming down the monorail track at 600 kph! Mick felt his pulse accelerate from adrenaline, using all of his willpower to stifle his fight-or-flight response that told him to turn back! He could hear the blood pounding in his ears, but he willed himself to keep going! He needed to do this! He could not afford to be afraid! Fear was not an option right now!

As he reached the access hatch for the core, Mick hit a button on the outside that ejected the core's CPU module, as it slid out for access. He had to use an emergency override command he got from Jack to open the CPU core, seeing that having it open during engine operation was against safety protocol! Mick could clearly see why as he felt the wind rush around his body, causing his jacket to flap rapidly in the wind! He looked up for a moment, seeing the dispersal waves of magic spells emanate from the engine's roof! He could also hear the clanging of blades, and the sounds of loud punches and kicks!

Mick looked back to the CPU, making sure his electronics cyber visor was on and active! He saw all the colored wires, as well as the pathways for the current! After analyzing the current visible through the wires, he quickly found the best way to defuse the train and disable the CPU, thereby shutting the entire engine down! He held onto the train as he popped out some robotic pliers and wire-cutters from his cybernetic hand, an upgrade to his original installed by Jet before they got onto the train!

Mick steadied his fingers as the electronic pliers and wire-cutters popped out, seeking out the necessary wires to cut: He needed to cut seven choice wires out of the twenty-one that fed current the 128-mega-core CPU that handled all the engine's performance programming, all in sequence, with the clock now ticking down to five minutes remaining!

Mick went as quick as he could, feeling sweat drip off his brow and fly into the wind rushing around his head! After four minutes had passed, he was down to one wire remaining! He only had sixty more seconds!

Mick held onto the train with as tight of a grip as he could muster, using all of his power of will to remain as still as he could! He moved the robotic pliers, grabbing the final wire as the engine flew out of the tunnel, then moved the cutters into position. Thirty Seconds! Mick was out of time! He triggered the cutters to do one final cut! The cutters extended, electric mini-motors whining as they crept up to the wire, and made a last, final snip with ten seconds on the clock... Once the countdown got to five, the wire cutters jaws closed! The wire was cut, the circuit severed! The train's engine whirred down, the power source for the entire engine car dying out and the engine shutting down! The train was now only running on steadily declining momentum!

Mick then shut the CPU's hatch and started to inch back towards the hatch so he could join the battle up-top!