MG Herron
赞助内容
Elya was flung back into consciousness while the world spun around him. His head rattled and, for a terrifying moment, he thought he was a child again, fleeing Yuzosix. Elya, his mother, and his two older brothers had fought their way onto a shuttle in order to escape the planet during a Kryl invasion. He remembered the ship shaking so hard during launch it felt like his brains would rattle right out of his skull.
The same feeling now consumed him as his body was thrown against his safety harness. His helmet rebounded off the cockpit’s frame, splashing black and red smudges across his vision. It was only thanks to thousands of hours in the cockpit and the deep grooves of muscle memory that Elya reached out blindly and found the controls by feel. He kicked the rudder in the opposite direction of the spin and held it there, then shoved the stick fully forward to lower the nose. The jet didn’t respond. His flight controls were unresponsive.
Hedgebot blinked bright red. The little guy was jammed into a corner by the centrifugal force of the spinning craft. Elya tried the thrusters and found that all of his engines were dead. That’s when he remembered what had happened: Kryl drones dropping in among the Mammoth fleet and attacking, then drawing him away before phasing through his ship in an impossible maneuver and shooting out his engines.
The other ship! He craned his neck, looking around, but didn’t spot it. Maybe it had burned up in the heat of atmospheric reentry.
𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱? 𝘖𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘐 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?
His mind recoiled when he remembered the even more unsettling part of that experience—that the drone he’d been chasing had been piloted by a monstrous Kryl. Not a living Kryl spawn shaped like a ship, as he’d been taught in his xenos class at the academy. Had the pilot’s face been partially human? Or had he imagined that? Elya knew only that he’d passed within inches of the arachnoid alien.
That drone had been 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥.
There was no time to consider these questions, no matter how wild their implications were or how scared he might be. He was too busy to be scared. His first order of business was to land the Sabre safely. Though the world outside of his cockpit continued to whirl about him, he began to make out landmarks—a cloudy blue sky, green and red treetops, a dark jagged scar of a mountain range in the distance. He was plummeting to the surface of the forest moon and would soon be turned into paste if he didn’t get this thing under control.
Hedgebot scurried around his seat and busied itself behind him, motors whining as it struggled to move. The sound of soldering filled the cockpit as it operated a set of repair tools Elya had installed into its machinery, an after-market improvement that had been required to clear it for military use as an astrobot. There was a racket of noise, a burning smell, and then the control column in his hands rose to life as power returned. Hedgebot scurried back in front of him, its warning lights fading from a deep red to a burning orange.
“Hang on, little buddy,” Elya mumbled. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
The creature beeped erratically in an irritated tone, letting Elya know that, 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵.
In spite of the very real danger, Elya grinned.
The same feeling now consumed him as his body was thrown against his safety harness. His helmet rebounded off the cockpit’s frame, splashing black and red smudges across his vision. It was only thanks to thousands of hours in the cockpit and the deep grooves of muscle memory that Elya reached out blindly and found the controls by feel. He kicked the rudder in the opposite direction of the spin and held it there, then shoved the stick fully forward to lower the nose. The jet didn’t respond. His flight controls were unresponsive.
Hedgebot blinked bright red. The little guy was jammed into a corner by the centrifugal force of the spinning craft. Elya tried the thrusters and found that all of his engines were dead. That’s when he remembered what had happened: Kryl drones dropping in among the Mammoth fleet and attacking, then drawing him away before phasing through his ship in an impossible maneuver and shooting out his engines.
The other ship! He craned his neck, looking around, but didn’t spot it. Maybe it had burned up in the heat of atmospheric reentry.
𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱? 𝘖𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘐 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?
His mind recoiled when he remembered the even more unsettling part of that experience—that the drone he’d been chasing had been piloted by a monstrous Kryl. Not a living Kryl spawn shaped like a ship, as he’d been taught in his xenos class at the academy. Had the pilot’s face been partially human? Or had he imagined that? Elya knew only that he’d passed within inches of the arachnoid alien.
That drone had been 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥.
There was no time to consider these questions, no matter how wild their implications were or how scared he might be. He was too busy to be scared. His first order of business was to land the Sabre safely. Though the world outside of his cockpit continued to whirl about him, he began to make out landmarks—a cloudy blue sky, green and red treetops, a dark jagged scar of a mountain range in the distance. He was plummeting to the surface of the forest moon and would soon be turned into paste if he didn’t get this thing under control.
Hedgebot scurried around his seat and busied itself behind him, motors whining as it struggled to move. The sound of soldering filled the cockpit as it operated a set of repair tools Elya had installed into its machinery, an after-market improvement that had been required to clear it for military use as an astrobot. There was a racket of noise, a burning smell, and then the control column in his hands rose to life as power returned. Hedgebot scurried back in front of him, its warning lights fading from a deep red to a burning orange.
“Hang on, little buddy,” Elya mumbled. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
The creature beeped erratically in an irritated tone, letting Elya know that, 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵.
In spite of the very real danger, Elya grinned.
0:00 / 0:05