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Selene couldn’t bring herself to say a word. Tears clogged her throat as she drank in the sight of her man, aloof and cold, committed to his mission. Unable to handle the agony, she looked away, tamping down her terrified feelings and bracing herself for what lay ahead.
Kainan jerked his helmet. ‘We are go.’
In seconds, Kage’s hidden rifle spat out a series of rounds.
The guard crats reacted.
They swung their rifles towards his stealth position and fired.
One shot hit Kage in the chest, but his armour repelled the bullet.
At the same time, Ki’Remi shoved Sheba behind him.
Selene ran towards the pair, and they fled the bridge room, ducking fire as they moved as fast as possible. Selene fired a few shots, providing cover for the unarmed pair, coming between them and the action.
Seeing the fleeing group of humans, the crats fired at them from the bridge level below them. Riv pumped lead, and a barrage of gunfire blazed in the space.
Riv and Selene, together with Sheba and Ki’Remi, took cover where they could. Kage picked off the crats one at a time, holding them off as best he could.
Then Kainan began his diversion. He fired from his position on the lower level. The crats responded and swung away from the crouching group.
‘Move!’ Riv shouted, sensing their break.
The group ran outside the large doors and into the long corridor.
One plucky droid followed, trying to cut them off as they advanced down the corridor. Kage stealthily took him out.
The group barrelled forward through the long lone halls, heading towards their marker - the same panel they’d slipped through onto the command deck.
Still cloaked, Kage provided cover from behind and put down a few crats who dared to try and ambush them. Shortly they reached the man-size ventilation panel.
They stopped just outside it when Selene had a thought.
‘We don’t have suits for Ki’Remi and Sheba. So how are we going to do this?’ she panted, staring at Riv.
‘Kage will take Ki’Remi, and Riv will carry your sister,’ the Edenite responded.
Kage rematerialised before them. ‘I’ve got three or four bogeys behind me. Our weapons fire has slowed them down, but they’re still blasting. Let’s get the fokk out of here. Selene, Kainan would kill me if he heard this, but you’ll need to act as rear guard.’
Selene nodded and gestured for him to rush through the panel. ‘Whatever it takes! Go!’
Kage eased through the panel, activated his suit thrusters and reached out to grab hold of Ki’Remi. He then let himself and his friend fall to the lower decks.
Riv did the same, grabbing hold of Sheba, who’d been wordlessly but nervously watching from the sidelines all this time. She waved to her sister.
Then she and the ghostly Rider were away.
Selene heard the rush of footsteps in her direction, and she launched herself through the panel opening, heart pounding. Shots flew towards her, and she fired back, then instinctively ducked, disappearing, reversing her jets downward in pursuit of her friends.
Kainan
On the bridge, Kainan was battling crats with heavy blasters relentlessly assaulting his position.
Behind the dozen guard crats still standing were the gold-cloaked Eminences, who’d filed out to watch the assault as it unfolded.
As soon as the Riders, Selene and her sister were clear of the bridge, Kainan shot at the door controls. To keep the crats with him from following them.
But it was in vain. The fluctuating output throughout the ship’s systems meant the doors tried to squeeze shut, but the massive power needed to close them was simply unavailable, so their motors died down with a grunt.
