His head was pounding. No. "Pounding" wasn't the right word. It felt like someone was drumming on it with a hammer. Every. Single. Beat. Every heartbeat made him think his head was going to explode.
That wasn't the only thing. He tried to breathe but, when he inhaled, his body almost spasmed in pain. His rib cage was in a vice. His lungs were on fire.
But he had to breathe.
So he clenched his teeth and forced a sharp, painful gasp through them.
Then another.
And a third.
What the hell just happened?
Nothing answered the question. His mind was completely blank.
No… that wasn't right. It wasn't blank. It was fuzzy. Things were there but he couldn't do anything with them.
Another, agonizing breath.
Whatever it was, I can't stay here. Wherever 'here' is.
The moment he tried to move, though, his head throbbed so hard he almost puked.
Okay. Maybe stay here for a sec. Try to figure out what the hell is going on.
Could he pull anything out of the mess that was his head? There was fighting. A lot of fighting. Who had been fighting? Him and his squad? And a small Insurrectionist cell. The FLP. Why? Why had command sent them instead of a counter-insurgency unit? Why send a team of-
The ground under his back started trembling. It was noticeable enough for him to feel it through his armor. He was laying on something.
He pulled his eyes open. The sky. The only thing above him was the sky? Were they fighting on a base?
It was night but… there was a lot of light pollution. It was all coming from his left.
Craning his neck, he looked over-
A city. A massive one. Glimmering towers, lights and glass washing away the darkness.
But the vibrations under his back pulled his attention away from the cityscape. They were getting stronger. And the light pollution was getting worse. Something was heading toward him.
Now he didn't have a choice. He had to move.
As he forced a hand under him, he noticed the ringing in his ears for the first time. It was like someone had fired a rifle right next to his head without any hearing protection. It was the only thing he could hear.
With the trembling growing quickly, he didn't have time to worry about hearing damage. Or a head that was still pounding so hard, he might rather have it explode.
His first attempt to push himself into a sitting position was met with failure as his arm buckled under him. The second try was more successful and he managed to get himself off of the ground.
Ahead was a road. Two lanes, dull yellow lines marking the center. On either side was a railing and, about 200 meters away, the road disappeared, turning left behind a small hill. What the hell was he doing on a road?
Whatever was heading his way wasn't coming from that direction.
The vibrations had grown to a rumble, the pavement under him felt like it was writing. The light pollution was growing rapidly now, bright enough to illuminate the rocks on the far side of whatever span he was on.
Twisting to look behind-
HOLY SHIT!
Thought took a back seat to action, discomfort and pain forgotten. Less than 50 meters away, and coming fast, were two sets of headlights. He had to throw a hand over his eyes, even with his visor polarizing, to shield them.
There was no time to consider what came next. Between him and the front of whatever was heading his way was a little bit of air and maybe half a second.
As the two sets of lights approached, time slammed to a near stop. He shoved himself to his feet, supported by legs that weren't ready for the exertion. That didn't matter. What mattered was not getting hit by whatever was flying toward him.
With a monumental heave, he threw himself toward the city-side of the street. The overpressure from the rapidly approaching vehicles shoved against his armor-
But he just cleared their path as they careened through the spot he'd been sitting.
Without the lights blinding him, he was able to make out a few details. Both cars were low and sleek, the one closest to him had a long hood and aggressive intake and extraction vents down the side. It wasn't any car he was familiar with.
That thought only lasted as long as it took him to fly over the sidewalk and then the railing.
And, suddenly, he was over nothing.
Again, he didn't have time to think. He looked down to see a massive concrete wall sloping down away from him. A hundred meters below, it met with what looked like some kind of landfill.
His sideways momentum was already starting to be overtaken by the downward momentum. He'd hit the wall maybe 20 meters down.
It wouldn't be comfortable, but it was better than nothing.
Twisting, he pointed his legs downward before crossing both them and his arms.
Then he plummeted toward the concrete wall below.
Freefall was something you could get used to. You had to, if you were going to operate in zero-gs.