“Jorusk!” Fieri calls to me. “Get out of there!”
I smash into Osiris and charge toward the pod. But before we can get to it, it bursts into flames and a pop of metal fragments.
I dart us around the blaze and call Fieri. “You’re going to have to team up!”
Osiris swears over his com, but he latches onto Fieri’s back when I drop him off. We aren’t winning with our cover blown. It’s time someone takes out the vessels that are the biggest threat. No more fighters.
I want the biggest one.
I jet out into space to confront the remaining fleet.
“Where are you going?” Osiris calls after me.
“Where no one else can.” I dodge the missile fire, draw the rifle from my back, and pinpoint the fuel supply system on the next closest ship. I fire, sending sparks up from the panel,eating a hole in it. I burn through an entire magazine of rounds, but the carrier sprays blue-white fuel into space. One lick of a flame from my wings and the fuel catches fire, setting off a catastrophic explosion that takes out three nearby vessels.
I look back at the blaze and grin. That’s what we need.
The fighters, frigates, and carriers ahead of my position turn their firepower on me. It’s a satisfying thrill, darting through the onslaught to the next ship and destroying another fuel system. Five more ships go down with it. The blast launches me harder toward a destroyer. But this time, my rifle is empty, and the propulsion system of the vessel is buried further into the ship. I can’t access it from the outside.
Eager to find a way to stop the assault, I dive between the blazing bullets and land on the destroyer. Guns swivel and turn toward me, spraying fire in my direction. I’m not eager to test my immortality, but the more rounds they blow on me is fewer they have to use on my brothers. So I sprint across the deck, my lightly magnetic boots keeping me attached to their hull.
A green Orillium missile bashes into the weapons shield of a neighboring carrier, spraying out in sparkling fractal patterns. Seconds later, the entire fleet begins smoking.
The empire has upgraded their shields and masking techniques. But they still don’t have an effective compartmentalization system to prevent full ship detonation when they take a devastating hit. I’ve seen that much already.
Bullets cut through my path ahead. I drop and slide along the smoking hull toward the propulsion system and skid to a stop in the access chamber. The thrusters of this destroyer are bigger than DIA. They vibrate with the force ofGravionengines. I can’t do much on a system of such magnitude except disrupt the cooling system.
I fold my wings back and crawl over the hull to the metal pipelines that keep the engines from overheating the powergeneration systems. Tearing several coolant lines free, I launch myself into space. The engines redden like they’re overheating as I sink deeper behind enemy lines.
While I look back to check on the developing catastrophe, I notice the battle around Alpha Prime. It sparks and flashes with rapid weapons exchanges.Mesannokhas turned away from Mindor and is headed for them.
My com feed fills with reported movements of squads and changing targets. Orillium, Drathious Pyralites, StarEmbers, Earthen fighters, and a few other ships unfamiliar to me fight back. Gravion isn’t visible, but I can still hear them on my com feed.
The vessel I’ve left blows an engine that sets off a chain reaction, taking out another ship, then another.
Cheers erupt over my ear com.
Brynna is safe. Let’s keep it that way.
But as I turn to charge the next ship, an icy missile bashes into me. The frigid gel coats me, knocks my fire out, and freezes my wings in place behind my back. Ice coats my mask, sucking the heat out of me. My Inferno shudders and dies inside me. The lack of oxygen becomes suffocating.
Panic strangles my cry for help. Dizziness grips me, and I drift aimlessly into the dark abyss.
This isn’t how I wanted to die.
I just pray Magmium can find a way to reach through this battle and carry me home. If I can’t have Brynna, at least let me wait there for her. I hope she takes her time.
But I cannot feel the pull of the motherland. I do not sense her spark in my soul. The poison is too strong this time.
Magmium… Where are you?
22: Brynna
I wanted to be free of war, but it came for my new friends, anyway. Sky is here. Quinn too. Eluni has us on encapsulation guns. We may have broken our promise to Aura to stay onGravion. But I can’t stand seeing people die. It’s one of the reasons I tried to get out. I am tired of this war. But the universe led me to Jorusk and back to this battle.
There has to be a reason. DIA says it is because I am an anchor. I think I’m just a person who’s pissed off enough to not want the greedy assholes of this universe to get their way. If we want to fight over goods and control and ore, fine, but I’m tired of lives getting sacrificed for someone else’s bullshit ideas.
I try not to think about Jorusk out there among the Neb ships. It makes my hands unsteady.
