Danger:59
"Danger: 59." The warning scrawled across the window in the cockpit, several indicators making it far too bright. Not for the pilot's eyes, but to be seen from the darkness outside. Wiping the blood from his fingers over the lights to dim them down, pushing harder on the throttles to get that bird flying faster. The asteroids floating through the remains of the planet zipping passed him were nothing more than indistinguishable blurs.
"Danger: 50" A threat detection timer appeared on the HUD. But, he already knew that, he knew what he needed to fly through to get the intel to General Anlyth, the Legion of Syn needed these plans if they were to endure long enough for The Quartet to mount a proper retaliation. At least he hoped they could.
"Multiple class 4 threats ahead. Danger: 30" The comms had gone down two systems ago, he couldn't let anything hear him coming. Not the enemy, not the command post, not the flight deck. No noise except for the thrum of his engines sucking down the little fuel they had left. "Are you sure you wish to continue? Are you sure this flight plan is worth it?" The voice in the HUD asked. Several armament indicators became active at the request.
The pilot flicked open all the counterbalancing systems. "Danger 15." He felt his guns lower from his wings, the kick from the hydraulics as the main cannon settled into position just under the bird's nose. "Danger: 10." Removing his gloves as the autopilot took over for a few moments. Setting them down over the now blinking lights, still too bright. "Warning, Warning: Threat Detected." But, he knew that. He knew this was going to end in two ways. He'd either be able to get through the nest, or it was done. There was no turning back.
"Threat ID: Shadow: Balance. Multiple flighted targets, Former classification: Brownie." "Wonderful. Buggy threat detection." Were the only words he said as he felt the vibration of his guns lay down suppressive fire on the small group of shadowed figures hiding in the darkness of the asteroids. The bullets found their mark on one, kicking up great clouds of dust from the rock as the pilot banked hard down finding cover in another group of stones. A beam of magic and fury rained down on him like a spear from the heavens, narrowly avoiding that and one of the rocks that had been thrown in his path.
"Warning, fuel level is low. Do you wish to override?" The pilot flicked a switch gliding past one of the former Siblings as its scream faded into nothing as a few well placed shots gave it the peace they deserved. Though that didn't stop the others as the atmosphere that used to surround the planet gave them more than enough to work with, without gravity to hold it to the surface, it became a thin cloud around the asteroid field. Ice was already forming on the wings as the bird opened the back of his suit to access his wings. That cold sting in his back as the power given to him by Syn was siphoned away from his wings to power the ship.
He felt the whole bird rattle as his main cannon charged its shot. "Rail cannon armed in: 15." He had more than enough time, the rocky field around him zipping past. Though he could still feel that pull in his mind as the Vestiges screamed from the dust around him. Unholy howls closing in on his position, he wondered where the Shadow was. If it was even here. Banking hard, another beam of the Great Mother's voice hit home on his wing. It sent him into a spiral that only made him lose all sense of orientation, speeding at nearly top speed through the minefield he had flown into.
The smoke coming from his now destroyed gun on his left wing made it easy to spot him now. "Danger Miasma>> Direct Source. Shadow Intercept in 19:" "Railgun charged in 5." Trying to correct his tailspin, the field opened up to show him the one thing he didn't want to see. That slithering mass of darkness turning it's gaze toward him with a vile toothy grin. Balance had been waiting, while that group of Brownies appeared out of the dust cloud behind him. He didn't get a good look at them the first time, now he wished he hadn't
Monstrosities of their former selves. Mockeries to what The Great Mother had made them to be. Membranous wings gliding lithely through the thin atmosphere, bones broken, skin open and bleeding. Their unholy song caused ice to build up even faster on his wings, as their songs tried to pull apart his bird. He left the cold in his wings deeper as the bird took more power from him to try and block the worst of it. Though the arcs of plasmatic lightning were not help his ability to target Balance. Already racing along at top speed, he'd be taking a risk.
The Solarflares were built to take this kind of abuse, they were fighters not racers. But, given the situation, he didn't have a choice. "Rail cannon armed." The HUD told him.
"Time to dance with fate." The pilot said, his pride as a Faerie causing his wings to glow like a second sun. Blinding the brownies following him, several flying straight into rocks, while the others slowed just enough for him to break their hold on his ship. His cannon hit home on Balance as it carried not only itself, but the speed he pushed his engines to. The tungsten slug hitting Balance with enough force to actually send it flying back through the asteroid field, out of sight. Though the blast had enough punch that it reminded him of a nuclear charge, even in this thin air, the blast cracked his cockpit window.
Still, he poured more power through his wings as the HUD gave more warnings. "Mechanical failure: engine, gun rails, thrusters. Overheating: Thruster Reactor, reduce power." He ignored them, that little stunt wouldn't buy him much time. He knew at the station just beyond this nightmare would have picked up on that blast. These monsters were hiding from the weapons platforms orbiting the station, clever tricks hiding among the dead. But, he wasn't out of danger yet.
He could see the belt thinning out now, his speed reaching nearly a quarter of the speed of light now, relying on the autopilot to maneuver around the rocks. The hull of the Solarflare glowing from the friction of this place. Darting his eyes around, turning his right gun behind him, already charging his main cannon if he needed it. An inky darkness reaching up and grabbing his bird, panic setting in. He was so close. Dumping the remaining power he had left to him from his fuel, to his wings he pushed the engine more while his gun opened fire. Bright staccato flashes as each round hit home, but a pointless effort.
Several of the changelings crawled over his bird as it rapidly came to a stop, "Engine over heated: Component failure>> Multiple." Their eyes, still that same royal purple as The Great Mother's, their faces mostly unchanged. Though there was nothing behind them, savage tools of war as they began trying to pry open his cockpit with fingers that were not Brownies. Talons, boney stubs, streaked in gore. Their tails were stripped of flesh leaving only the vertebrae visible, their small bodies emaciated to reduce their weight even more as their chests ballooned to take in more air. The pilot knew just enough about them that he knew they had three sets of vocal chords, and wasn't thrilled he could see all of them as they opened their mouths to use their now cursed magic.
He closed his eyes, he failed. The realization that the Legion wouldn't get the plans for the Ashbringers only evaporated the last shred of hope he had. The glow from his wings faded as the ship took the last bit of power he had from him, arming the Rail cannon, he overcharged it. Detonating it would at least save the files from being captured by Balance, giving them an edge in the war. He could at least do that.
"System acknowledgement: SOS received, Assistance: -3" He popped his eyes open. "-3?"
A hailstorm of golden spears rained down from above the bird pinning the Brownies to the ship. A second volley put them all down for good. A growing light filled his vision, not quite understanding what he was seeing. Sucked from the ship a moment later as the beam of pure sunlight melted half the ship. Like the god she was, falling from on high with the force of a crashing star, she plunged her blade into Balance. Burning his flesh as her divine light filled his being. Molten pyroclastic fury spiderwebbing up through skin and bone. In a cloud of cremated ash, she turned toward the pilot. He didn't know if he was imagining this, or the lack of oxygen in the thin air. Syn reached for him, his Mother of Mother's. His goddess.
The legion would get their file.
"Danger: 50" A threat detection timer appeared on the HUD. But, he already knew that, he knew what he needed to fly through to get the intel to General Anlyth, the Legion of Syn needed these plans if they were to endure long enough for The Quartet to mount a proper retaliation. At least he hoped they could.
"Multiple class 4 threats ahead. Danger: 30" The comms had gone down two systems ago, he couldn't let anything hear him coming. Not the enemy, not the command post, not the flight deck. No noise except for the thrum of his engines sucking down the little fuel they had left. "Are you sure you wish to continue? Are you sure this flight plan is worth it?" The voice in the HUD asked. Several armament indicators became active at the request.
The pilot flicked open all the counterbalancing systems. "Danger 15." He felt his guns lower from his wings, the kick from the hydraulics as the main cannon settled into position just under the bird's nose. "Danger: 10." Removing his gloves as the autopilot took over for a few moments. Setting them down over the now blinking lights, still too bright. "Warning, Warning: Threat Detected." But, he knew that. He knew this was going to end in two ways. He'd either be able to get through the nest, or it was done. There was no turning back.
"Threat ID: Shadow: Balance. Multiple flighted targets, Former classification: Brownie." "Wonderful. Buggy threat detection." Were the only words he said as he felt the vibration of his guns lay down suppressive fire on the small group of shadowed figures hiding in the darkness of the asteroids. The bullets found their mark on one, kicking up great clouds of dust from the rock as the pilot banked hard down finding cover in another group of stones. A beam of magic and fury rained down on him like a spear from the heavens, narrowly avoiding that and one of the rocks that had been thrown in his path.
"Warning, fuel level is low. Do you wish to override?" The pilot flicked a switch gliding past one of the former Siblings as its scream faded into nothing as a few well placed shots gave it the peace they deserved. Though that didn't stop the others as the atmosphere that used to surround the planet gave them more than enough to work with, without gravity to hold it to the surface, it became a thin cloud around the asteroid field. Ice was already forming on the wings as the bird opened the back of his suit to access his wings. That cold sting in his back as the power given to him by Syn was siphoned away from his wings to power the ship.
He felt the whole bird rattle as his main cannon charged its shot. "Rail cannon armed in: 15." He had more than enough time, the rocky field around him zipping past. Though he could still feel that pull in his mind as the Vestiges screamed from the dust around him. Unholy howls closing in on his position, he wondered where the Shadow was. If it was even here. Banking hard, another beam of the Great Mother's voice hit home on his wing. It sent him into a spiral that only made him lose all sense of orientation, speeding at nearly top speed through the minefield he had flown into.
The smoke coming from his now destroyed gun on his left wing made it easy to spot him now. "Danger Miasma>> Direct Source. Shadow Intercept in 19:" "Railgun charged in 5." Trying to correct his tailspin, the field opened up to show him the one thing he didn't want to see. That slithering mass of darkness turning it's gaze toward him with a vile toothy grin. Balance had been waiting, while that group of Brownies appeared out of the dust cloud behind him. He didn't get a good look at them the first time, now he wished he hadn't
Monstrosities of their former selves. Mockeries to what The Great Mother had made them to be. Membranous wings gliding lithely through the thin atmosphere, bones broken, skin open and bleeding. Their unholy song caused ice to build up even faster on his wings, as their songs tried to pull apart his bird. He left the cold in his wings deeper as the bird took more power from him to try and block the worst of it. Though the arcs of plasmatic lightning were not help his ability to target Balance. Already racing along at top speed, he'd be taking a risk.
The Solarflares were built to take this kind of abuse, they were fighters not racers. But, given the situation, he didn't have a choice. "Rail cannon armed." The HUD told him.
"Time to dance with fate." The pilot said, his pride as a Faerie causing his wings to glow like a second sun. Blinding the brownies following him, several flying straight into rocks, while the others slowed just enough for him to break their hold on his ship. His cannon hit home on Balance as it carried not only itself, but the speed he pushed his engines to. The tungsten slug hitting Balance with enough force to actually send it flying back through the asteroid field, out of sight. Though the blast had enough punch that it reminded him of a nuclear charge, even in this thin air, the blast cracked his cockpit window.
Still, he poured more power through his wings as the HUD gave more warnings. "Mechanical failure: engine, gun rails, thrusters. Overheating: Thruster Reactor, reduce power." He ignored them, that little stunt wouldn't buy him much time. He knew at the station just beyond this nightmare would have picked up on that blast. These monsters were hiding from the weapons platforms orbiting the station, clever tricks hiding among the dead. But, he wasn't out of danger yet.
He could see the belt thinning out now, his speed reaching nearly a quarter of the speed of light now, relying on the autopilot to maneuver around the rocks. The hull of the Solarflare glowing from the friction of this place. Darting his eyes around, turning his right gun behind him, already charging his main cannon if he needed it. An inky darkness reaching up and grabbing his bird, panic setting in. He was so close. Dumping the remaining power he had left to him from his fuel, to his wings he pushed the engine more while his gun opened fire. Bright staccato flashes as each round hit home, but a pointless effort.
Several of the changelings crawled over his bird as it rapidly came to a stop, "Engine over heated: Component failure>> Multiple." Their eyes, still that same royal purple as The Great Mother's, their faces mostly unchanged. Though there was nothing behind them, savage tools of war as they began trying to pry open his cockpit with fingers that were not Brownies. Talons, boney stubs, streaked in gore. Their tails were stripped of flesh leaving only the vertebrae visible, their small bodies emaciated to reduce their weight even more as their chests ballooned to take in more air. The pilot knew just enough about them that he knew they had three sets of vocal chords, and wasn't thrilled he could see all of them as they opened their mouths to use their now cursed magic.
He closed his eyes, he failed. The realization that the Legion wouldn't get the plans for the Ashbringers only evaporated the last shred of hope he had. The glow from his wings faded as the ship took the last bit of power he had from him, arming the Rail cannon, he overcharged it. Detonating it would at least save the files from being captured by Balance, giving them an edge in the war. He could at least do that.
"System acknowledgement: SOS received, Assistance: -3" He popped his eyes open. "-3?"
A hailstorm of golden spears rained down from above the bird pinning the Brownies to the ship. A second volley put them all down for good. A growing light filled his vision, not quite understanding what he was seeing. Sucked from the ship a moment later as the beam of pure sunlight melted half the ship. Like the god she was, falling from on high with the force of a crashing star, she plunged her blade into Balance. Burning his flesh as her divine light filled his being. Molten pyroclastic fury spiderwebbing up through skin and bone. In a cloud of cremated ash, she turned toward the pilot. He didn't know if he was imagining this, or the lack of oxygen in the thin air. Syn reached for him, his Mother of Mother's. His goddess.
The legion would get their file.
Sure. This rocks. You daid Id like and I do.