Another blast. Another hard impact. Blazing fuel. Frozen blood. Another dropship smashed. Jet wasn't sure how many of them she'd taken out. Come in from the top, lead with the right foot at a decent speed, and let physics do the rest. The van-sized pods just tore apart or burst. Waved armour could take the hit.... almost.
Wreckage drifted by. It was silent. All was silent except for Jets heartbeat pounding deep inside her.
Jet saw two blackbirds chase each other through the sky., rolling, turning, diving, charging in again. The chaser might've been Midnight... Jet was almost certain it was. The leading Blackbird seemed to be limping, trailing smoke from one engine, but the pilot knew what he was doing. He was just about keeping his plane ahead.
Right up until the moment he seemed to run into a brick wall of static and started to shine like a radio lightouse. It near flooded her radar it was so bright. It took her more than a few moments to figure out what had happened, filtering through the haze and noise on the radio. Someone was begging for help. there was something else she couldn't quite make out, lost in a static warble, followed by one word that made everything dreadfully. One word came through clear.
"...Tinman..."
Jet finally understood just why that Blackbird had suddenly seemed so confused. Jet finally realised exactly where she was leading her Gruppe. She knew just how lethal a blast of EM like that'd be....
"Engel Flight! Break Zero-Ninety!"
Straight up. Pray they got the message in the static. God willing, they'd see her break and have the sense to follow. Jet boosted her engines hard, a deep vibration from somewhere in her right foot warning of a bearing failure in the turbine, moments before the auto-systems caught it. Jet didn't throttle back...
She didn't see what happened to the blackbird, she focused herself on picking her way through the debris. The wreckage of what might've been a Peacemaker drifted passed in a haze of leaking fuel, followed by another dropship that'd been clean cut in two.
Jet wasn't even armed with anything heavier than a pistol. Her blades had snapped off long ago, leaving only buckled stubs. One of her wings had jammed shut.
"Engel Flight, status!"
The rational part of her mind was surprised she'd even spoken. She was half running on autopilot. Eight voices answered. Jet glanced back, seeing them picked out on her HUD. There was something so relieving about seeing them catch up. She wasn't alone at least. There were nine of them left.... nine small people, caught in a very big furball. Didn't anyone remember they were up there? There'd been some orders what seemed like an age ago... but since then, nothing. Whoever they were supposed to rendez-vous with... hadn't been there.
"Now what?" Gant demanded of her, pulling alongside.
Jet could see one whole side of his leg ripped open, revealing the actuators underneath. Sparks spat out every few moments. There was only one thing she was certain of.
"We can't stay up here,"
Something exploded far above, punctuating that statement.
"No way I can make landing!"
Jet looked around, "I doubt any of us can," A Pause. "I think they've forgotten we're up here,"
"I don't think we're gonna be up here much longer!" Gant gave a nervous laugh.
"I'll call for a pickup, somebody's gotta hear it." Jet glanced around once more. They were all pretty battered. Still going far longer than any of them had any right too, but battered nonetheless. "This is Engel Flight hailing any vessel in range. We're stuck up here, we need a pickup,"
Nothing.
Another wave of dropships was coming in. Jet looked at them, then at the Gruppe, wondering if they'd go. Standing still left them a sitting duck. No real choice there....if they were going to be stuck up in space, they might aswell get stuck in. She had no idea what else they could do but keep fighting. Just be lucky they don't get shot down by their own side.
"Follow me!" she yelled, boosted her engines. Her right turbine finally blew, blowing sparks and shrapnel through the exhaust. She felt something ping off her armour, before biting deep inside her leg with a lot more pain than she'd expected. Swearing blind, Jet pitched over, compensating for the loss.
Well.... that's not going to be covered by the warranty, she thought, before she started laughing madly at the absurdity of it all. Next target. In from the top, lead with the right foot. It smashed as easily as all the others.
Jet tried once more, hoping for an answer.
"This is Engel Flight hailing any vessel in range. We're stuck up here. We've got damage and we need a pickup,"
------
Had to rewrite a little... got Ninja'd.... Oh well.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Wreckage drifted by. It was silent. All was silent except for Jets heartbeat pounding deep inside her.
Jet saw two blackbirds chase each other through the sky., rolling, turning, diving, charging in again. The chaser might've been Midnight... Jet was almost certain it was. The leading Blackbird seemed to be limping, trailing smoke from one engine, but the pilot knew what he was doing. He was just about keeping his plane ahead.
Right up until the moment he seemed to run into a brick wall of static and started to shine like a radio lightouse. It near flooded her radar it was so bright. It took her more than a few moments to figure out what had happened, filtering through the haze and noise on the radio. Someone was begging for help. there was something else she couldn't quite make out, lost in a static warble, followed by one word that made everything dreadfully. One word came through clear.
"...Tinman..."
Jet finally understood just why that Blackbird had suddenly seemed so confused. Jet finally realised exactly where she was leading her Gruppe. She knew just how lethal a blast of EM like that'd be....
"Engel Flight! Break Zero-Ninety!"
Straight up. Pray they got the message in the static. God willing, they'd see her break and have the sense to follow. Jet boosted her engines hard, a deep vibration from somewhere in her right foot warning of a bearing failure in the turbine, moments before the auto-systems caught it. Jet didn't throttle back...
She didn't see what happened to the blackbird, she focused herself on picking her way through the debris. The wreckage of what might've been a Peacemaker drifted passed in a haze of leaking fuel, followed by another dropship that'd been clean cut in two.
Jet wasn't even armed with anything heavier than a pistol. Her blades had snapped off long ago, leaving only buckled stubs. One of her wings had jammed shut.
"Engel Flight, status!"
The rational part of her mind was surprised she'd even spoken. She was half running on autopilot. Eight voices answered. Jet glanced back, seeing them picked out on her HUD. There was something so relieving about seeing them catch up. She wasn't alone at least. There were nine of them left.... nine small people, caught in a very big furball. Didn't anyone remember they were up there? There'd been some orders what seemed like an age ago... but since then, nothing. Whoever they were supposed to rendez-vous with... hadn't been there.
"Now what?" Gant demanded of her, pulling alongside.
Jet could see one whole side of his leg ripped open, revealing the actuators underneath. Sparks spat out every few moments. There was only one thing she was certain of.
"We can't stay up here,"
Something exploded far above, punctuating that statement.
"No way I can make landing!"
Jet looked around, "I doubt any of us can," A Pause. "I think they've forgotten we're up here,"
"I don't think we're gonna be up here much longer!" Gant gave a nervous laugh.
"I'll call for a pickup, somebody's gotta hear it." Jet glanced around once more. They were all pretty battered. Still going far longer than any of them had any right too, but battered nonetheless. "This is Engel Flight hailing any vessel in range. We're stuck up here, we need a pickup,"
Nothing.
Another wave of dropships was coming in. Jet looked at them, then at the Gruppe, wondering if they'd go. Standing still left them a sitting duck. No real choice there....if they were going to be stuck up in space, they might aswell get stuck in. She had no idea what else they could do but keep fighting. Just be lucky they don't get shot down by their own side.
"Follow me!" she yelled, boosted her engines. Her right turbine finally blew, blowing sparks and shrapnel through the exhaust. She felt something ping off her armour, before biting deep inside her leg with a lot more pain than she'd expected. Swearing blind, Jet pitched over, compensating for the loss.
Well.... that's not going to be covered by the warranty, she thought, before she started laughing madly at the absurdity of it all. Next target. In from the top, lead with the right foot. It smashed as easily as all the others.
Jet tried once more, hoping for an answer.
"This is Engel Flight hailing any vessel in range. We're stuck up here. We've got damage and we need a pickup,"
------
Had to rewrite a little... got Ninja'd.... Oh well.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?