Chapter 8: Thruster
I fly faster and smash into ships with hotter, harder hits. My body roars between enemy fire, nearly outpacing their rockets. I tear through the side of another Skysprinter heading for Kelta's position. I refuse to let anyone threaten her existence ever again.
Including myself.
Another Skysprinter races across the desert, trying to get back to the deep valley where my brothers are. The trick is not letting the Solcrue think I’m defending the valley, just myself. So I arc close until I fly alongside the ship, then race ahead of it.
Come on, target me. Try to shoot me down.I fly over the valley and far into the mountains. Then, when we’re firmly over another valley, this one green and lush, I push myself into a tight bank, circling back into the ship.
I savor the impact: the crunch of metal, the caving in of trusses, the power of my engines propelling me like a cannon. And yet, every hit doesn't quite knock down the desire that grows for Kelta. I wish it would.
All I can think about is holding her, asking her about her home, the outer rim, how many were with her, and what they've heard and seen since the war ended. But mostly, I want to lookinto her brown eyes and try to find the hope she seems to see in me.
Because I’m about out.
When the airspace is clear again, I fly around the deep valley toward Holo’s signal, hoping I’m not too late. He’s tucked in a ravine in the mountains. The ship he was in smolders not far away.
Holo’s signal blips in and out. Something is messing with our communication.
As I race toward him, I look down at the place I’ve left Kelta. She isn’t there.
I scan the treeline and swerve to check her path for Solcrue and CSP. To my surprise, I find a soldier lying beside a boulder. A klick past his position, I see Kelta hiking down the hill toward the valley where the facility sits in the distance. She’s covered more ground than I expected she would.
Pride swells in me. She waves as I pass.
I have to get Holo out of his hole and make sure he’s operable.
Thruster>>Holo: Approaching your position now. Status?
Holo>>Thruster: Stable. No combatants visible. Stitching my leg back together now. Sorry for scratchy coms. Pain.
I scan the skies one more time, then decide to check the backside of the mountain. It doesn’t make sense for Holo to crash in such a manner. We always try to save as much as we can, landing broken ships so we can still salvage from them later.
Must’ve been a bad fight. As I circle the mountain where Holo’s hiding, I find three vessels, two Solcrue, one CSP, hovering as if waiting for a call to engage. I roll onto a side, grab my rifle from my back, and aim for their engine cores as I arc just behind their tails.
Ammo is not something we can afford to waste when we have limited ways to make more. So I make every flaming bullet count.
The explosive rounds zing through the air and slam into the back end of the first ship. It blooms in a cloud of fire. Shields can't cover propulsion without interfering with maneuverability. The explosion of the first pushes the second ship into the third. All I need is one more to blow, and it will take out both.
The rifle kicks against my shoulder as I launch another round toward the careening ships. I hit the third in the ass and send the CSP and final Solcrue vessel to the rocky hills in billowing clouds of smoke and fire. No one ejects. I didn’t give them time.
I rush around the mountain and scan once more before dropping to my feet near Holo’s position.
He gets up onto unsteady limbs when he sees me.
“You good?” I ask
“Good enough for a drop.” Holo pats his damaged thigh. “If I can have an hour at camp, I can fix it.”
"Copy." I pull out cable tethers from my sides and walk around behind Holo.
“Been a long time since I did a jump,” he admits.
"Just slap the cables for release. Stretch reflex will disengage them." I clip into the tops of his shoulders, then hover overhead until the cables are tight.
“Power status?”
“We’re good.” I engage the rest of my engines until I’ve lifted us off the ground. Holo steadies his rifle across his chest as we leave the ravine behind to travel north along the mountain range to the drop site.
