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“Descending,” Makara said. “Stand by. This might get a little rough.”
I looked out the windshield from my spot in the jump seat. Red clouds completely obscured the sky. Makara dipped Perseus’s nose down, and when we broke through, it was into a vision of Hell.
The entire ground was a single, teeming mass of movement. It seemed to...slither...from east to west in an unending tide, breaking against the steep eastern slope of the plateau, an island in a roiling sea. The tens of thousands of monsters on the ground seemed to move as a single entity. And above, swirling by the hundreds, were the xenodragons. More yet joined the fray from the east. This swarm was at least five times bigger than the one we’d seen in Los Angeles, and perhaps even larger, especially as more monsters reinforced from the east.
The plateau, by contrast, was bare. A thick line of soldiers manned its eastern flank, defending it from the coming storm. I couldn’t even imagine what was going through those soldiers’ minds.
Situated in the center of the plateau was the railgun, pointing to the east. A streak of fire shot from its long barrel, almost instantly connecting with an unsuspecting dragon. The force of the projectile pushed the dragon upward, sending a purple spray of blood out the dragon’s back. It spiraled to the ground below, just as a thunderous crack and boom resounded, audible even inside the bridge. The ship’s hull vibrated.
“Damn,” Julian said.
“We can’t come in from the east,” Makara said. “It’s too thick.”
The railgun shot again, blasting another dragon from the sky.
“Go around,” Anna said. “Come in from the west.”
“Yeah, on it.”
Makara changed the ship’s trajectory, sticking to the periphery of the battle.
Jonas’s voice left the speakers.
“Makara, that railgun will tear you to shreds. It’s completely automated and might mistake you for a dragon.”
“We’re moving,” Makara said. “We’ll be on the ground soon. From the west side.”
“We need everybody down here. The men could use your encouragement.”
“Where’s the Emperor?”
“On the frontlines, with his men,” Jonas said. “Same as Carin.”
“I didn’t ask about that scumbag. Just tell Augustus we’ll be there soon.”
Before Jonas could even confirm that order, Makara switched the channel off.
We descended toward the plateau’s western side. The mood on board became tense. I could see the railgun firing another shot, not too far away. Yet another a stream of fire belched from its barrel.
At last, Perseus touched down next to Orion. Everyone made for the armory, where Samuel doled out its stock of rifles, handguns, grenades, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, all of which everyone stuffed into their packs. Fully loaded magazines clicked into place. Once everyone was armed to the teeth, he shut the armory door.
When we had all gathered in the wardroom. Samuel faced us all. Anna joined me.
“Whatever happens out there,” Samuel said. “We will make it through, believe me. I know what we saw out there might seem impossible to deal with. We just have to hold on, for as long as we can. Let’s give them hell.”
Makara walked to the door. “Alright. Let’s go kill some crawlers.”
She pressed the exit button, opening the door to the plateau. Anna and I watched as everyone walked out.
Michael was the last to go. He held Lauren, kissing her on the lips.
“Don’t die,” Lauren said, after they had parted.
“I won’t. Tell Callie I love her.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Lauren said. “I thought you were coming back.”
“I am,” Michael said. “Still...tell Callie I love her. That I always will.”
“Go, Michael,” Lauren said, tears in her eyes.
Michael adjusted his rifle strap, looking at Lauren a moment longer before walking off the boarding ramp. He didn’t look back as the door shut behind him.
Lauren turned to us, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Let’s get moving. We can’t hang around here any longer.”
We returned to the bridge, Anna taking up the controls. The engine had merely idled while we waited. With a pull of the control stick, Anna lifted Perseus into the air.
In front of the ship, I could see my friends running to the frontlines – Makara, Samuel, Michael, Ruth, and Julian.
I could only hope they were still standing by the time I got back.
***
WE WERE MAKING GOOD speed north when the first dragon attacked. A whoosh of wind, followed by a piercing wail, shook the frame of the ship.
Anna angled the ship into a dive. “It’s to starboard.”
“Two more aft,” I said, looking at the LCD. “Make that three chasing us.”
Anna increased the thrust, pushing me back into my seat. Lauren gritted her teeth against all the twists and turns.
A dragon appeared from the sky above, dead ahead. It went into a dive.
Anna mashed the control stick and two missiles streaked outward, hissing in the air. Anna swerved to port just as the explosion crackled and boomed, shaking the bridge in a fiery explosion of light.
Ahead, no dragons threatened us from outside the windshield, and the safety of the clouds was near.
“Those dragons are still riding our ass,” Anna said.
“They’re so fast,” Lauren said.
“Yeah,” Anna said. “They do seem faster.”
“It’s the evolution,” I said. “They’re stronger.”
The entire ship jerked from back to front, the motion sending the ship into a slight spin. Anna steadied the ship’s course, giving it more thrust. The ship pitched again, violently, pointing the nose downward at the xenofungal plain below. Lauren screamed as we fell forward in our seats, restrained only by our seatbelts.
“Let me try something,” Anna said. “Hold on.”
She angled the ship even further down, at almost a forty-five degree angle. Lauren continued to scream as butterflies flew in my stomach. It was astounding how quickly the ground rose to meet us. The ground was close enough for me to see individual xenotrees and crawlers.
There were but a few seconds until we crashed.
“Anna!”
At last, she pulled the control stick back. The ship’s hull gave a great groan, as if it would rend in two. The ground was so near we must have been no more than thirty feet above it. Several of the crawlers were even trying to jump at us.
By the time we leveled out, I glanced at the LCD. The two dragons exited their dive, wings outspread. They had no problem keeping up with us, despite Anna’s gymnastics.
“Shit...” Anna said.
“Do something!” Lauren screamed.
“I’m trying! And you’re not helping.”
Anna swerved to the right, still skirting the ground. Hills, boulders, and dips in the terrain changed so quickly that it seemed impossible that Anna could react in time. I closed my eyes, knowing death was a possibility with every passing second. We zoomed over a hill filled with xenotrees, dipping over it as quickly as we’d gone above it. The LCD showed the trees ripping to shreds in our wake.
The dash read 168 mph.
“Anna...” I managed. “You have to end this.”
Gritting her teeth, she lifted us from the ground. The two dragons followed as if they were on leashes.
“I can’t lose them,” she said. “Anytime I pick up some speed, they cut me off and slow me down.”
Ahead, a flock of dragons swarmed toward the frontlines. Three of these dragons peeled off and headed in our direction.
“They’re herding us over there,” Anna said.
She turned to starboard, only to see two dragons blocking the way out. She angled upward, back for the clouds. Again, a dragon bashed the ship’s stern, making the ship lurch. In the crimson sky above, yet two more dragons went into a dive.
“We’re through,” Lauren said.
Jonas’s voice escaped from the dash.
“Anna. To port!”
“That’ll throw me right into the dragons!”
“If you want to get out alive, you better do as I say. Now do it!”
After a slight hesitation, Anna swerved left, directly toward a massive dragon gunning right for us.
“Time to play chicken,” she said.
“You can’t play chicken with something that doesn’t care if it dies,” Lauren said.
“Jonas!”
“Hang in there....any second now.”
All we had were seconds. The dragon neared, neck outstretched and jaw agape. It let out an unholy roar. I closed my eyes and screamed.
When I opened them, a massive geyser of purple blood gushed from the dragon’s side. It shrieked as it spiraled to the ground. Anna lifted the ship just enough to pass over its falling form. The air crackled with the energy of the projectile that had obliterated the monster.
In the LCD, more dragons erupted in bursts of organic matter and chips of bone, misting the air with purple blood. Another dragon’s head simply disappeared, its neck writhing like a worm as it plummeted to the ground. Several more cracks resounded in the air.
The railgun had opened an escape path, and Anna veered the ship upward, at last gaining the speed necessary to outfly the dragons. As we ascended, several trailing dragons were shot down. Ripping sounds emanated long after the projectiles had hit. Realizing we were going to escape, the remaining dragons turned to rejoin the main host assaulting the plateau.
We sailed upward, none of us speaking. Anna didn’t slow down, even as we raced above the clouds.
We had escaped with our lives, and we had Carin and his railgun to thank.
***
THE REST OF THE JOURNEY was made mostly in silence, and it wasn’t long before we began our descent. Anna alerted control of our arrival, and soon enough, we were descending through the open hangar door and settling on the floor. Word of our arrival had spread quickly – people stood on the periphery of the hangar, staring up at us.
As we walked Lauren to the blast door, we made our farewells.
“Please be safe,” Lauren said, pressing the exit button. “Don’t do anything stupid. Make sure Michael doesn’t do anything stupid, either. We’ve come too far for anyone to die now.”
“We’ll be careful,” I said.
When Lauren left, we returned to the bridge and immediately lifted off. We had to return to the battlefield as soon as possible.
During the flight south, Anna and I were quiet. I stared out the windshield, thinking mostly about Quietus. It had been about four hours since we left the Xenolith, and it would be quite a few hours more before Quietus even arrived at Ragnarok Crater. Considering how long she would have to speak to Askala to convince her, the clock was running against us.
And these dragons definitely seemed to be flying faster. What changes had the new strains made to the crawlers, or the Behemoths, or even other forms of xenolife that were surely attacking us? I thought of the three-headed Hydra we fought in Bunker One, and that strange, creepy monster we found in the Elekai forest underneath the Xenolith – the one that had attacked the Wanderer.
We would only find out what we were up against in due time.
***
WE LANDED ON THE OTHER side of Orion, near the railgun, within the circle of stakes the Reapers had built. No dragons had intercepted us during our descent, seeming to be concentrating mostly on attacking the front lines.
Anna called Makara’s channel. At first, there appeared to be an answer, but the only thing that exited the speakers were terrible sounds – screams, inhuman wails, high shrieks, and gunshots. Outside the ship, the railgun gave a deafening crack, followed by a deep boom.
“We have to go after them,” I said. “I’m not waiting here while Makara and the rest are in danger.”
“Let’s go, then.”
We headed for the armory. We slid the door open and filled our packs with ammo. I grabbed some 9 mm rounds for my Beretta, and 5.56 mm rounds for my AR-15. I hastily loaded the magazines for each weapon, throwing the rest of the ammo boxes in my pack. Meanwhile, Anna armed herself with her own assault rifle – she preferred to use her katana, but firing at long range would be a necessity out there. With just the two of us, we needed all the firepower we could carry.
We entered the wardroom and stood before the blast door. Anna looked at me.
“Ready?”
Before we stepped out, I kissed her on the lips. She seemed surprised by the move.
“Let’s kill as many of these freaks as we can.”
Locked and loaded, we stepped outside to face whatever was to come.