Chapter 11: "Flight of the Iron Goose"
"EVERYONE MOVE!" Kai bellowed.
Tessa fired the first shot — a searing bolt that grazed a black-armored soldier's shoulder. Kiri flung a pulse of force magic, knocking another into a crumbling pillar.
The black-cloaks responded instantly —Explosive bolts rained down, lighting the ancient temple corridors in flashes of red.
"Retreat to the Goose!" Kiri ordered.
"Best words I've heard all day!" Kai agreed.
They sprinted back through the twisting halls, leaping over triggered traps they'd barely dodged earlier.
A mimic-slime tried to ambush them again.Kai punted it like a soccer ball without slowing down.
"Sorry, Jerry!" he yelled. "No time for hugs!"
Outside:
The Iron Goose materialized from its stealth cloak — engines roaring to life.
"Welcome back, Captain," G.A.I.L. chirped. "Combat mode activated."
Kai practically dove into the driver's seat, Tessa slamming the hatch behind them. Kiri jumped onto the gunner platform.
"Goose, prepare for extraction maneuver 57!" Kai shouted.
"You made up that number," Tessa accused, strapping herself in.
"YUP!" Kai grinned, punching the ignition.
The Goose blasted backward, wheels spinning, dust flying.A dozen black-armored soldiers poured out of the temple, mounting sleek, dark bikes and hovering skiffs.
The chase was ON.
The High-Speed Chase:
"Deploying road spikes!" G.A.I.L. said.
The Goose's rear hatch popped open, scattering self-deploying spikes across the road.
Two enemy bikes hit the spikes, flipping end over end into the underbrush with satisfying crashes.
"That's for almost turning me into kabob!" Kai yelled out the window.
"Incoming fire!" G.A.I.L. warned.
Explosive bolts struck the Goose's upgraded shields, flaring golden as the new Core power absorbed the brunt of the impact.
"Shields holding at 72%," G.A.I.L. reported.
"Great! Plenty of health left!" Kai said cheerfully — just before a small missile struck near the Goose's rear tire, sending the truck airborne for half a second.
"STOP SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT!" Tessa screamed as gravity punished them all.
Kiri's Counterattack:
On the gunner platform, Kiri activated the Pulse Scatter — a founder-tech weapon that sprayed compressed magic bursts in wide arcs.
With cold precision, she took out skiff engines, shattered bike stabilizers, and dismantled enemy gear mid-chase.
The black-cloaks scrambled, scattering like ants under fire.
"Nice shooting, Grandma!" Kai whooped.
"Cease calling me that or perish," Kiri said calmly as she popped another shot into a pursuing skiff.
The Drones Strike Back:
The black-cloaks weren't dumb.
They launched seeker drones — tiny, jagged spheres buzzing with corrupted magic — straight at the Goose.
"Hostile drones detected," G.A.I.L. announced.
"Drone defense protocol!" Kai shouted.
Mini-turrets popped out from the Goose's sides, spraying anti-magic netting into the sky.Half the seeker drones got tangled and fell like angry wasps into the forest.
"Okay, remind me to marry G.A.I.L. later," Kai said.
"I can officiate," Tessa deadpanned, loosing an arrow through the last incoming drone.
The Forest Gauntlet:
Kai whipped the Goose into the thick trees, weaving through towering trunks at insane speeds.
The enemy skiffs followed — but the Goose's agility, now enhanced by the Waypoint Core, let it pull impossible hairpin turns.
"Shortcut!" Kai shouted, yanking the wheel.
They blasted straight through a wall of brambles — and right into a narrow ravine filled with waterfalls.
"Less shortcut, more drowning hazard!" Tessa yelled.
"It's called improvisation!" Kai cackled.
The Goose rocketed down the slick, rocky river path — bouncing wildly.
Behind them, the pursuing skiffs lost control one by one, splashing into the river or smashing into rocks.
By the time they shot out into open plains, only two enemy skiffs remained — both smoking, battered, but stubbornly hanging on.
The Goose's Secret Weapon:
Kai grinned.
"Time to try the experimental button."
"WHAT EXPERIMENTAL BUTTON?!" Tessa screamed.
"The one I rigged last night when you were asleep!" Kai said gleefully, slamming a big red button on the dash labeled "TRUST ME" in sloppy handwriting.
The Goose vanished with a massive boom of compressed air.
For half a second, they teleported —— and reappeared several hundred meters ahead, leaving the two enemy skiffs spinning in confusion.
One skiff hit a tree.The other simply gave up, powering down and drifting to a stop.
Kai whooped so loud it shook the windows.
"NAILED IT!"
Tessa slumped back in her seat, looking like she'd aged ten years.
"Next time, label your deathtraps properly," she said weakly.
"That was properly labeled," Kai argued.
Safe... For Now:
The Iron Goose rumbled into a quiet glade as night fell, running silent under stealth mode.
Kai parked under a massive willow tree, letting the engines cool.
They all sat in the cabin, breathing hard, bruised, a little bloodied — but alive.
"That was closer than I liked," Kiri said, polishing her blade.
"But we got the Core," Tessa said, holding it up. "And a serious upgrade to the Goose."
Kai leaned back in the driver's seat, hands behind his head, grinning up at the roof.
"Man," he said, "this road trip rules."
G.A.I.L. beeped quietly.
"Captain, based on current trajectory and newly unlocked map fragments, another Waypoint is within reach."
Kai's eyes sparkled.
"Guess we're not slowing down anytime soon."
Outside, the stars turned lazily overhead, the road stretching forward into infinite possibility.