From Book 3: Three seconds to landing, and Kaly tensed, waiting for the order to move. The street below was rushing up at her, and she readied herself for the assault. Suddenly, the entire universe seemed to shake violently and lurch to one side. Then her vision was obscured by thick, acrid smoke and someone was screaming at her to “Bail Out!” She didn’t think, she just punched the release clip to her seat harness and pitched herself towards the only sunlight that she saw. To her left, she felt an intense wave of heat, and saw the flames glowing through the darkness. The assault shuttle was on fire, and she scrambled across the slick metal decking to escape being burned alive. As she exited, she stumbled on the edge of the sally port and spilled out onto the pavement, puking out the fumes in her lungs and gasping for even a single breath of fresh clean air. Pavement shattering all around her made her forget her seared lungs and run for the nearest sanctuary; the door way of someone’s house. It was only then, hiding behind the meager cover of the doorframe that she looked back to see if anyone else had made it out alive. The rear shuttle was engulfed in flame, and something that looked too much like a body for Kaly’s mind to accept had spilled out onto the roadway. It too was on fire. But then she saw Ben Di. The Troop Leader was across the road, with T’Jinna and Margasdaater alongside her, and they were using a lectri for cover. Ben Di gave her the thumbs up before she and the rest opened fire on something above her and out of Kaly’s view. The door gunner from the shuttle was also with them, and she was adding her side arm to their furious reply, but the pilot and co-pilot of were missing. Then Kaly spotted something moving on the rooftop across from her and fired at it, and whatever, or whoever it was, ducked out of view. She knew that she was vulnerable where she was, and she scanned the immediate vicinity for a better place to fort up. And in so doing, she witnessed something that would be added to all the other nightmares she already had following her into eternity. It was one of the little horrors that made up the greater backdrop of war, but no less hideous. The pilot and co-pilot were still inside the downed shuttle. She could see them through the canopy and it was obvious from her limp form that the co-pilot was unconscious and that her companion was desperately trying to free her from her straps. Their eyes met for a long moment, Kaly’s filled with a helpless horror, and the pilot’s with a pleading for help that she couldn’t give her. Then the cockpit was engulfed in flames. Kaly didn’t actually hear it, but she was certain that the womin’s scream had overridden the sound of glass popping, as the windows exploded. There was no time to process this horror however. Another silhouette had appeared over the roofline and a combination of chemical rounds and energy bolts was seeking her. She took a deep breath and ran towards an alley.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 03:02:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015