File 10.13 - Innocence Lost

Power offline and the enemy approaching, Shizuka squeezed her hands on the control stick. Tears thinly dripped down her cheeks. “Please…move… I need…to save him… I don’t care anymore! Just this once I need your power to protect him!”

The Freya suddenly fully powered up with all systems coming on line. The weapon systems activated with final checks clearing as it came alive inside the transport.

“She did it!” Natalie gasped, looking at the data coming back from the Freya. Her sync rate easily jumped out of the danger zone responding to her commands.

“How far away?” demanded Shizuka to the pilots.

“We’re still a minute out!”

“Turn the ship around right now and open the hatch!”

“Sir?”

“Do it!”

Edgar didn’t know what happened anymore, there wasn’t even enough to keep the passive systems running. He figured it was more than just a lack of power, damage to the systems was too severe. He pushed it too far in such a state. The hatch wouldn’t even open with the damage the head took. He already tried the emergency release, but it was damaged.

In the distance, through the metal he heard a heavy thud. It came closer slowly. He already had a pretty good feeling about what it was. “Sorry, Cap, but it looks like I’m gonna see ya soon. At least I avenged ya before I went…” It wasn’t the way he wanted to go, but he at least felt satisfied. The sounds were nearly on top of him now.

“Now you die!” yelled Cal pushing the thrusters to max to get enough force behind the sword. Sparks flew out as the joints strained under the weight. They would only hold out for a single swing, but it was all he needed. The target was in sight. It just needed to connect. “DIE!”

“Edgar!” Shizuka desperately shouted from the Freya.

Suddenly in mid-swing a high energy source warning flashed on Cal’s screen. “From where?!” He couldn’t stop and the beam shot through open fields hitting straight through the chest of the machine. The force knocked the Jiao off course and slid across the grass digging up the earth.

Another beam shot out disabling the emplacement that pinned down the Njord. The terrorist machine pushed with all the power in the verniers to get out in front of the Od. Sparks and small explosions blew out of the damaged machine signaling the immediate future. Just as the Njord landed to cover the Od, the machine exploded violently.

“Commander! NO!!” Schir frantically tried to locate the source of the beam, but it was too far away. And even more shots came through disabling her last emplacement on the roof. She was out of options.

The ship pulled in alongside the roof with the side door open. Over the comm. system Rinn called out to her, “Get in! Schir!”

“But the Commander’s dead! I have to—“

“Yes and you’re still alive! Remember the orders he gave you! Live so that you can fight tomorrow. Live so that you can make sure this isn’t repeated!”

Hesitating, she stared at the monitor. Everything was gone. She had no more options left. All of the team was gone. Everyone that she knew died on this Hell of a planet. They took them all away from her. Rinn’s calling slipped through her pain and anger. Her feet slowly started to back away with reluctance. Another beam attack skimmed over the ship putting her into a full sprint. Rinn would die too if she didn’t move. She leapt aboard and grabbed the door closed.

“Hang on to something! This is going to be a rough ride!”

“New energy source detected aboard the vessel,” Aerona reported.

The computer already began calculating the new trajectory of the ship as it pulled away. “They’re trying to escape into space!” Shizuka repeated in surprise. She pulled the sniper rifle up trying to get a new lock on the ship before it left. “Angle the ship more! I need a better firing solution!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

She picked up the main cannon on the Skadi building to charge, but Shizuka already knew that it wouldn’t be enough. In the state the Skadi was in, it wouldn’t be able to get a sure lock. It was down to her. She aimed carefully with the rifle as the computer narrowed in on the ship. Rapid calculations for acceleration, Earth curvature, energy dissipation and more ran through trying to get a lock quickly.

The monitor crosshairs lined up giving a solid lock. She fired immediately with the beam speeding towards the ship. Cameras from in the city fed back to her with alternate angles as she watched. Then that new energy source ignited and the main atmospheric thrusters came on accelerating the ship out of the target location. It sped ahead as the beam fell short of the target.

“Out of range,” she muttered from the alert on the monitor.