"What the hell happened?" Tanguin said, reaching for her head.
"We killed the bastard," Nova said, sitting up. "Is anyone hurt?"
"We're all fine," Gus yelled back.
"I dunno, I hurt my ass pretty bad when we got shot. I think I'm going to sue you for injuries," Aart said.
Nova shook her head and returned her gaze to the front screen.
"There are more weapons down there," Cal said, "It won't be long until they fire at us again."
"I know," Nova said, biting her lip.
"Destination?" Crusader said.
"Take us to the front gate," Nova said. "Carefully. We need to find Meeka."
Crusader lifted higher into the air and flew far above the battle, through the clouds.
Blade stepped into the doorway and stared down at Toro's mangled body. "I was hoping to be the one…"
Nova glanced at Toro and then at Blade. "At least he's dead."
"That's true. Now we've just got to kill the rest of these bastards."
Nova nodded. "Although I think they're doing a pretty good job of that themselves."
Blade stared through Crusader's front screen at the sky rushing past and the city far below. "I haven't seen the sky in twenty years."
"Then please, enjoy," Nova said. She couldn't imagine being imprisoned for twenty years. Her time in jail had lasted just a few months and that had been more than enough.
Blade leant against the wall and gazed out at the sky. She wasn't smiling but some of the rage had dropped from her face.
"The gate's below us," Cal said.
Nova peered down. Where before there had been a massive stone wall there was now a pile of rubble. Massive stones spread out around the base of the mountains and the wooden houses were smashed to smithereens. Corpses dotted the landscape around the gate.
"Meeka!" Nova said, her hand snapping to her mouth.
"Landing clear of gunfire," Crusader said.
Near the gate a few plasma blasts hissed across the rubble but most of the heavy fighting was going on in the Capital's streets. Crusader descended and the closer they got to the ground, the more horrifying the destruction became.
"That was done with a single blast," Gus said.
The other Hunters crowded behind him, mouths open.
"How the hell can a people who don't have running water, have a weapon like that?" Orion said.
Nova ignored them as she scanned the rubble for any sign of Meeka. She would have been inside one of the wooden houses and there wasn't a single one of those left standing.
As soon as Crusader touched down, Nova sprinted out of the pilot's pod, jumping over Toro's dead body. She dashed out through the engine room just as the door slid open, leaping out into the rubble and landing in a crouch, gun in hand.
The other Hunters landed behind her, footsteps crunching on the broken stone.
Nova took a deep breath. Her only options were to sift through the rubble and hope to find Meeka's body, or to leave the planet without her. Both options made Nova's stomach turn. She thought about Meeka's strength in the face of everything she'd been through. Nova refused to abandon such a person.
"Meeka!" she called.
"Nova! There are still soldiers everywhere," Tanguin hissed.
"If you've got a better way of finding her, I'm all ears," Nova said. "Meeka!"
"Nova!" a firm voice called back over the rubble.
Nova ducked her head low and ran. She jumped from boulder to boulder and ducked between shattered pieces of metal. The gunfire thickened as she drew closer to the gate, plasma blasts erupting from behind rocks and smashing against others, leaving blackened stains.
"Nova!" the voice said again, quieter now.
Nova slowed to a quick walk, careful to keep her head low and hidden. She couldn't hear the others behind her. She ran to a particularly large boulder and skirted around the outside, not sure what she expected to find on the other side, but she squinted her eyes against the thought that it would be Meeka's mangled body.
"About time," Meeka said.
She stood with her back against the rock and a plasma pistol in her hands. Scratches and dirt covered most of her body and her clothes were stained with blood. A cut ran down her right cheek, leaking blood onto her shoulder.
"There are about six soldiers behind that rock," Meeka said, nodding her head to a far boulder.
Nova swallowed the tight ball in her throat and trained her gun. She didn't have to wait long for an armoured head to appear at the side of the rock. She squeezed the trigger without a moment's hesitation and a bolt of energy knocked the soldier ten paces back, his head exploding.
"Five to go," Meeka said.
Between the two of them, they made quick work of the next two soldiers to show their heads and by then the rest of the Hunters were with them. Somewhere Gus had found a cannon-sized weapon and when he fired it at the far boulder the whole thing exploded into pieces of shrapnel that tore the hiding guards to shreds. None of them got up.
"Everyone, this is Meeka," Nova said. "Meeka, this is everyone."
Meeka nodded as she wiped her hand across her forehead.
"What the hell happened?" Nova asked.
Meeka took a deep breath and shoved the gun into her belt. "They appeared on the horizon a few hours ago. The soldiers were slow to respond, not that it would have done them any good. Before they were anywhere near us, they fired some kind of gun and it took out the whole wall. Pretty much everyone was crushed in that instant."
"Omi?" Nova asked.
Meeka snorted. "The coward ran as soon as the wall went down. You know he's spent his whole life lecturing me about honour, but as soon as he saw what he was up against, he ran. Luckily he left his gun behind." Meeka gestured to the gun at her belt.
"I'm so glad you made it."
"I hid while most of the army went past, not exactly honourable either. They left a few soldiers here to guard the gate and I've been taking them out ever since."
"Well this is a great reunion," Orion said. "But I want to get the fuck off this planet as soon as we can."
"Me too," Blade said.
Meeka's eyes widened when she saw the foreign woman but she kept her mouth closed.
"Me three," said Tyra.
"What are they saying?" Meeka said.
Nova bit her lip. "They want to leave Chindo before we get caught in the fighting."
Meeka frowned. "There are still good people here, you know that. Things will only get worse if Buta takes control, and you saw how it was with Toro."
"Toro's dead," Nova said.
"Then we definitely can't leave! Without competition, Buta will take over completely; Chindo will be set even further back."
Nova looked from Meeka to her companions.
"There are good people here," Meeka said again.
"She wants to stay and fight the attackers," Nova said to the others.
"Fine, let her. Let this damned planet sort itself out," Gus said.
"We can't leave it like this," Nova said, waving at the destruction.
"Why the hell not?" said Gus. "We didn't do anything."
"If we kill Buta the rest of his army will fail. He's the only thing holding them together," said Meeka.
"Cal! Get the other ships to upload translator patches to the others, I'm sick of being a parrot," Nova said.
"Thanks," Aart said and the others nodded.
"She said that if we take out their leader then the army will fall," Nova said.
"But it's not our fight," Blade said. "I've suffered enough for these people."
"I know it's hard," Nova said. "But we can't just leave them like this. Not when we have the power to make a difference."
Tanguin sighed. "I think Nova's right. Not everyone here is bad, and if we don't try to help them we'll never forgive ourselves."
"I'll forgive myself," Orion said. "Look, done! Those bastards nearly killed me. They're nothing but robots following orders. In fact, I've seen robots with more empathy, self-control and more will-power than these bastards."
Aart scuffed his foot against the ground. "I think she's right, if we can take this bastard out nice and quick then we should. I know you're pissed." He locked eyes with Orion. "But that's why we've got to do something. We've faced worse odds."
"I'm not exactly in fighting condition," Orion said, gesturing to his crutch.
"You might have to be backup on this one," Aart said.
"We have to go now," Meeka cut in. "If he makes it to the Capital building he'll have control over the whole city, the whole country even, and then we won't stand a chance."
"We can't take the ships back in there," Tanguin said. "The shields are already low and we don't know where those anti-air weapons are now."
"She's right," Gus said. "I'm not going to get my arse stranded here trying to save these bastards."
"Then I'll go alone!" Meeka yelled. She pushed away from the rock and darted across the desolate landscape, limping and clutching her injured side.
Nova sprinted after her, glancing back at the other Hunters. "I've got this! If something happens, get out of here."
Tanguin and Aart had stepped forward to follow but stopped. Nova nodded and turned back to Meeka, who was already far ahead. Nova pushed harder, her boots slapping against the stones.