File 9.3 - Wings upon Death

Aboard the transport, Shizuka and Edgar stared across at each other. The ship they rode ran empty as the AESIR went ahead of them with the work teams working on them still on site. They would be ready by the time that they arrived.

Ed fiddled with the belt at his waist having been at a loss for words since they got into the air. “Ya prep’d?” he opened, trying to find some way to start the conversation.

“I’ve been training for this.”

“Yea, but ya dun’t really want tah do it, right?”

“No. I’m against it, but I don’t know what they’re planning either. So until then I’m going along with it.”

“Yer goin’ haveta fight like in battles ya saw, ya know.”

Interrupting them before Shizuka answered, the intercom broke through the bay. “We’re entering a thunderstorm, so the ride’s gonna get a little bumpy, kids! And so you know, we don’t keep puke bags on board.” The message from the pilot was cut out.

Edgar glared towards the front of the side. “Jackass, I’ve flown through worse than ya have prolly.”

Well timed to the warning, the ship lunged up and then down quickly. Their belts were the only thing that kept him well anchored. Even with all of the advancements, flying through a storm still tossed things about.

Fortunately, the simulations that Shizuka went through gave her a little bit of training handling such things. Though in simulations, it still felt fake and the mind knew that. So the effect turned out not to be as potent. Reality proved to be a different story. For her it was more annoying than sickening, her stomach handled it well. She just didn’t want to smash her head into one of the bulkheads while they flew.

A minute into the storm things seemed to stabilize with the bouncing not being as bad. Seeing the chamber shaking felt a little dizzying. She leaned into the seat and closed her eyes keeping the sounds near.

Suddenly, the ship leapt, nearly ripping her out of the belt and the transport turned violently to the side. She snapped her eyes open looking down at Edgar. Red lights flashed annoying everywhere as the roar of the storm and tearing of metal exposing the outer atmosphere completely drowned out the sirens. She saw him trying to get free, looking like he wanted to reach out to her with his other hand. ‘I can’t hear what he’s saying…’

Everything turned righting for a moment and then spun about pressing her painfully into the seat. The sound turned deafening as she almost heard nothing at all and her head became light. Explosive bolts flashed around her as latches and panels clamped around her. A moment later, she could not see Edgar anymore with the transport in the way and the storm completely surrounding her.

Shizuka stared at the ship as she fell further away from it. Explosions shot off in the distance from something unknown, while her ship buckled. She got a clearer view of it seeing flames coming off the wings and a large chunk of the front completely missing. It surprised her that the pilots still lived to eject her, unless it had been automatic.

Everything drew further away from her until the transport exploded in a large pink-red blast painting the dark storm clouds in pink highlights. She felt a little of the warmth from the explosion with debris raining down over her. Pieces bounced into her escape pod denting and cutting into the metal. ‘Is this where I die? Escaping death too many times now?’