Untold Stories of a Galaxy - Kysaek: The Beginning
Carefree - 2

The command centre was hastily cleared, taking everything tangible in weapons, while Inoie put the hangar image on the core console projector.

“Are many defences destroyed?” asked Kysaek, confronted with the approaching PGI transports and the devastated hangar.

“The unprotected ones almost all,” reported Inoie, but there were more defences. Unfortunately, they had a catch. “The hidden ones all made it through, but because of the network interference, I may not be able to activate every weapon.”

Re’Lis examined the video footage shown. She didn’t find what she was looking for, though, and instructed. “Forget about the weapons for now! Everyone in the hangar is dead ... Seal it off from the base!”

The wide bay entrance could not be closed, after all, but there were heavy gates at the two entrances leading from the hangar into the base and they were now slowly descending.

Contrary to her claim to need Kysaek’s help, Re’Lis seemed to know what she was doing and used the console to make contact. “Jor, Ela’Riin, do you read me?”

“We’re here,” Ela’Riin replied in a heated voice. “We’re just putting on our gear and we’re on our way to the hangar.”

“Let Jor handle it!” ordered Re’Lis. For Ela’Riin, she had a task of her own. “You go to the base entrance! There’s no activity there yet, but I hardly think we’ll be attacked from only one side.”

Ela’Riin obeyed the order. “Will do,” she replied, and Jor added, “Don’t worry, no one can get beyond the hangar.”

Just then, PGI’s Bolt droppers reached the bay entrance and opened their front. Despite the daylight, it was dark inside the aircraft, but the two dozen or so combat-ready Stormbots per transport flashed their aggressive red eyes in the shadows and leapt out of the aircraft while still on approach. They swarmed into the hangar, while at least in the last of the three Bolt droppers the first PGI soldiers stood by and sought a safe position.

“Inoie, I think now wouldn’t be a bad time for you to activate some weapons,” Kysaek commented.

“My turn,” Inoie replied curtly and did what she could. Unfortunately, she didn’t even manage to unlock half of the crates from which magnetic machine guns drove and attacked their targets independently. Inoie controlled one of the guns manually.

However, PGI’s Stormbots had extra-strong armour on the front, making them robust opponents, and it was only when the Disciples’ simple combat bots emerged from their guard stations in the walls that PGI suffered casualties. Still, the Stormbots were superior, and not only because they could withstand more, but were better programmed and more skilled despite their frontal armour. In line with their numerical superiority, they exploited these advantages and advanced far enough in the bay for new transporters to land and drop off PGI soldiers.

It was only when three Guardian bots of the Disciples entered the fray that PGI’s attack faltered significantly, and no wonder. Such bots were designed for defence and cover, sedate machines that could take a beating and even had energy shields, but there was more. They had two arms, but instead of two hands, they had a large shield made of Eldar steel, behind which they could hide while running, and a mini-gun, called a Gatling Gun, which they could place next to the shield and safely use to unleash a powerful barrage, as they were doing now.

With this tactic, and because two of the Guardian bots could fire on the unprotected attackers from high positions, the heavy machines decimated the enemy enormously. They even shot the engines of a Bolt Dropper that was about to fly out of the hangar. The damage caused it to fly into a fully loaded transport that was just arriving, and their flaming explosion, along with the burning and smoking wreckage, blocked further reinforcements.

Re’Lis was relieved. “That should slow them down.”

“We shouldn’t just fixate on the hangar, though,” Kysaek said, for there was another theatre. “What about at the base entrance?”

Re’Lis’ initial, apparent routine evaporated a little. “You’re right,” she agreed. “Show us the entrance, Inoie.”

“If I can,” the Talin replied. She directed the camera to the projector, but the display still flickered, with no clear view. Every attempt to fix the error failed until Inoie had an idea. “Maybe there is another way,” she said, before taking away the disturbing image and replacing it with blue outlines. It was a 3D map, which was constantly criss-crossed by rhythmic waves, as if something was sending out a signal to make everything visible, similar to a sonar.

Detailed contours were not, but at least the surroundings, objects and moderate images of the defenders in front of the entrance were displayed. The door was closed and a long staircase, which grew wider towards the bottom and which every visitor had to climb, led down. Strips of surface interrupted the steps at regular intervals and on the highest strips, near the entrance, stood the women disciples.

“What about the semi barriers?” , Ela’Riin rightly asked, for all the defenders were without cover.

Inoie explained the current situation. “The shafts are unlocked and the barriers have power, but you will have to open the crates by hand and pull out the barriers yourselves.”

“Great!” said Ela’Riin wryly, and the disciples at the stairs dispersed.

Using the sensors, however, Kysaek became aware of intruders entering the complex, only minutes away from the stairs. “You’d better set up a complete line of barriers, not just a few pieces on each intermediate strip,” she recommended, as Kysaek knew how difficult it was to pull out the pieces one by one. “Otherwise the shields will be too weak to withstand a mass like that for long.”

“Should we?” it came back from Ela’Riin.

Re’Lis looked increasingly overwhelmed. “Should they?” she inquired. It wasn’t clear whether it was the dangerous situation or the hurried pace, possibly even both factors, but even as the oldest disciple, Re’Lis wasn’t exactly the best commander.

Kysaek was not much better, but she was certain of the instruction. “Yes, they should. A closed line is stronger!”

“Okay - just pull the semi barriers out of the top area!” ordered Re’Lis, earning an “Understood” from Ela’Riin.

On the map, all the female disciples gathered at the top, exposing narrow crevices in the bottom. From these they pulled, with clear effort, flat slabs, about as thick as a clenched fist and about half the height of most of the local disciples. Once one slab was out, the next followed right next to it, and so a closed barrier gradually formed. It stretched along the stairs from right to left and small green energy fields appeared in front of the protective wall. Their shape was identical to honeycombs and together they built up into a large, slightly transparent force field that even extended beyond the panels, up to the ceiling and the sides of the wall.

“That looks good,” Kysaek remarked, watching the disciples move into position at the semibarrier. Their advantage was that the defenders could easily shoot through the barriers from their side, but as long as the energy field was maintained, not one shot from the front would get through.

“Here they come!” reported Ela’Riin and, as in the hangar, PGI went for assault bots in the first wave. They couldn’t be seen on the graphics, but the detection sensors relayed enough information. At the stairs, however, the machines had the long climb ahead of them, with no intermediate stop or protection, which made them vulnerable to the Disciples’ considerable artillery, and even their improved frontal armour did not help. They did not gain a yard of ground for the PGI soldiers waiting around the corner.

Meticulously, Kysaek, Re’Lis and Inoie in the command centre kept track of the fighting, and whether it was in the hangar where Jor and her people were resisting, or at the base entry day gunfight, PGI’s troops seemed endless. The Disciples were holding their own, suffering only scattered casualties in the hangar so far, but every death there was a setback and gave the enemy a boost.

Things looked much better at the base entrance, even if the lower levels were now bristling with scrap. Above all, the shining spiders, those bots that walked on four metal spider legs and created an energy shield in a small radius around themselves, lined the way up. Dead soldiers were few, however, and the many living made use of the remains of their machinery as protection against the attacks from above.

“There’s no end to it!” growled Jor grimly. “What is the further plan?”

Re’Lis answered awkwardly. “We must delay them as long as possible. Perhaps then they will retreat.”

Jor liked that. “Kill more of them? I can do something with that!”

Kysaek had considerable doubts about the plan and muted the comms briefly to avoid unrest. “Doctor Askar - this will never stop. PGI has a large private army. Do you seriously think the corporation wouldn’t use it?”

“What else are we going to do?” asked Re’Lis helplessly, but despite her difficulty in commanding a fight, she did not panic.

Kysaek hated that this was the only plan she could think of again, but anything else was doomed to failure in her eyes. “Make the retreat. We must flee.”

“And how are we going to do that? Every entrance is under siege.”

“Not the secondary hangar. There’s just a few blusters flying around there. I think we’d have a chance there.”

“You think or you know?” questioned Re’Lis with mixed feelings.

“Right now everything is uncertain - all we have left is faith and to reinforce it with a little firepower.”

Re’Lis seemed at her wits’ end and looked at Inoie, but she remained silent and attended to operating one of the last cannons in the hangar.

Jor shouted, “Attention!” and although PGI still had its own bots and soldiers in the hangar, new projectiles from the land cruiser flew into the bay. Once again they caused destructive damage, regardless of friend or foe.

During the ensuing tremors from the explosions, Re’Lis came to a staggering realisation. “Yes, I’m afraid we can’t win this battle,” she said audibly only to Kysaek and Inoie before giving orders over the comm. “Everyone, we’re getting out of here! Gather in the hangar, we’re escaping via the secondary hangar!”

Jor was still alive, but there was a stricken rasp in her voice. “And what’s going to hold us up for long?”

“Another time,” Re’Lis promised, contacting the secondary hangar. “Dios, Kuren, get everything ready for our escape!”

“We only have one transporter,” Kuren replied. “It’s going to be very tight.”

“Never mind, get it ready!” repeated Re’Lis, following the retreat everywhere.

The defensive line at the entrance was still completely intact, and yet the enemy was making slow but steady progress, as they relied on a new manoeuvre: side by side, PGI sentinel bots formed an impenetrable wall with their steel shields, while their mini-nukes rotated non-stop, weakening the energy field of the semibarrier. You could see it very clearly because the more powerless the shield became, the more the honeycombs degraded from the outside in.

“You must come into the base immediately!” said Kysaek vehemently, but by then it was too late.

From the back of the sentinel bots, PGI soldiers fired shell casings in a high arc, and although many of them landed in front of or struck the energy barrier, some made it across the diminishing energy field. A series of explosions took place in places right at the defenders’ feet or behind them, ripping many of them apart.

“They’ll pay for this!“, Ela’Riin screeched. “We’ll leave them another parting gift!” She apparently placed explosive devices behind the barriers before she and the surviving defenders fled into the base.

“That will buy us time,” Kysaek agreed, weaving the idea further. “We’ll need some of that for the escape.”

Inoie contributed. “We still have our Little Lady and she works,” she said, and without waiting for a command to do so, she armed the weapon.

Kysaek had only ever known her from sketches, and this was the first time she’d seen the Little Lady in the flesh as it charged in its secret hiding place on the hangar ceiling.

Its basic structure was characterised by a broad base, like a thick mushroom, except that the Little Lady had six heads, and they were all absolutely flat. These smooth surfaces were swiftly infused with enormous vibrations and a very deep bass note rumbled up from the Little Lady, which possessed a weapon that was difficult to ward off - sound.

“What is the status of the missile batteries?” inquired Kysaek.

“They’re operational, but they won’t be able to fire for long if I deploy them,” Inoie opined, considering the amount of enemy air units.

“We won’t need them for long either. Once the hangar is cleared, you can use the batteries and shoot down the land cruiser. If Ela’Riin’s bombs go off outside and the cruiser crashes, the resulting chaos should give us the time we need to escape.”

“I knew you’d be a help,” Re’Lis said gratefully. “Turn off the camera sound and let the Little Lady scream, Inoie!”

The fighting in the hangar had ground to a halt and PGI dominated the scene with its forces, at least fifty figures. None of the Disciples, on the other hand, were still on the scene and PGI began to work on the locked basistor. Transporters continued to bring in fresh troops despite the blockade, but even without sound on camera it was clear that the emerging noise of the Bolt droppers, the blazing fires and the black smoke were quite a distraction. Apparently so much so that no PGI soldier or bot noticed what was happening over their heads.

The Little Lady appeared from her den and her six flat heads jerked uneasily as if they were about to burst open. Suddenly a violent blast went through the weapon, the sonic force of which was so tremendous that a visible shock wave emanated from all six heads. Mercilessly, the invisible force swept through space, ripping wreckage from the ground as well as enemy units and turning crates into deadly projectiles. Hovering and straight-approaching bolt-droppers were easily smashed out of the hangar or against the solid walls of the building, if they did not collide with each other.

What fell down after the big bang of the Little Lady also stayed there - motionless, bleeding from the helmets, spraying with sparks and clearly over.

But that was not all, for now the land cruiser came under fire. Nimble missiles flew from the previously hidden batteries in the front of the house, next to the bay, towards the ship, revealing its weaknesses. Manoeuvrability was the first, for the land cruiser was as sluggish as a snail in dodging, which is why the projectiles slammed unabated against its hull. The resulting explosions and flames cracked the ship open, revealing yet another disadvantage - it had no energy shields to speak of. A severe list was beginning to show on the land cruiser and it was no longer able to maintain a stable position, which degenerated into a sinking backward flight, at the end of which it smashed into a turret building, giving the building a distinct scar.

“Time to go!” said Re’Lis seriously, leaving the command centre with Kysaek and Inoie.

In the great hall, the connecting point of each base area, there were also active semibarriers with their green honeycomb-like energy fields and the remaining female disciples had gathered here. It was no longer quite half the original size of the organisation.

The coming of Kysaek, Re’Lis and Inoie was accompanied by a detonation that took place beyond the base entrance.

“Is that all of them?!” asked Re’Lis, startled by the number of survivors.

Jor made one thing grimly clear. “There could be even fewer.”

“And there are still more than enough of us,” Ela’Riin interjected belligerently. “Why should we run away? We kill them and lead them before the face of Dealith! That’s what we always do!” Her words were heard by some of the sisters.

Re’Lis, in turn, appealed to everyone’s reason, but without stern authority. “Right now, our lives matter more than more death. Enough people have died today.”

It had no effect on Ela’Riin. “We are to let the deaths of our sisters go unpunished?”

“Ela’Riin, this is not the place or time for a discussion!” sighed Re’Lis in an attempt to get her way. But right now, the age order she was in command of hardly counted. The atmosphere was too heated for that and Re’Lis was not convincing enough.

Even Kysaek noticed that and was about to speak up, but who was she? She was the newcomer, the burden, the reason why all this was happening. In the end, the others might punish her for standing out now, and so she kept silent out of fear.

Impassive, Ela’Riin goaded everyone. “What do you say? Let’s show it to PG.... argh...!” Out of nowhere, the Galig was struck by a massive piece of steel that had fallen from the ceiling. Surprised, the rest backed away and looked up, terrified, at a hole. It was wide enough for someone to slip through, and more of them sprang up all over the ceiling, causing a veritable rain of falling debris.

One of these fragments came down in close proximity to Re’Li’s, but Kysaek saw it in time and pushed the doctor from behind without consideration, landing with her coming up on her stomach at a safe distance before the steel hit the previous spot.

“Kysaek,” Re’Lis bristled. “I...”

“Later, Doctor!” interrupted Kysaek. She hastily picked herself up with Galig and tugged her towards a semibarrier.

Meanwhile, untargeted plasma shots hailed from the holes, not offering much of an attack radius, but still the attacks hit a disciple. Grenades fell into the hall, explosive and blinding, enough anyway to scatter all the sisters on the floor.

It was a preparation for the invading PGI soldiers, who did not jump out of holes and fall uncontrollably, but flew - an ability they owed to their aether packs - and stayed in the air to attack from there.

Thanks to the semibarrier she was behind with Re’Lis, Kysaek was spared the explosions and sight-stealing effects of the shells. “Now we have no choice, Doctor,” she said firmly, “we must fight!”

“Unfortunately yes,” agreed Re’Lis and like Kysaek she picked up her pistol.

A desperate struggle began, a struggle in the beginning of which half of all the surviving Disciples died again, for the element of surprise was too much on PGI’s side, and on ropes foot soldiers lowered themselves into the hall.

Jor was among those still alive and hissed animalistically. “I can’t see you, but I can smell you!” Her weapon resembled a bazooka, except she didn’t carry it on her shoulders and there was no missile in the large launch tube. Instead, Jor held the cannon in one hand and discharged bright red bullets, almost like fire, from the lush barrel. Many of her attacks hit their target, but other than the bullets fizzling out in steaming clouds on impact and the PGI soldiers being knocked back or wincing violently, nothing happened - no enemy died.

Still, the attacks were a help, distracting the enemy and allowing counterattacks by Kysaek, Re’Lis and other survivors.

Kysaek in particular, driven by anger, showed that she had improved her shooting technique, as well as her prismatics. She created lanky balls of white energy at the holes in the ceiling, but they grew in size in seconds and became small bombs.

This further hindered PGI’s entry, and just as no new units were following, Jor really cleaned up. Not only did the bullets from her weapon now have an effect, melting the armour of the enemies and partially their bodies - now the Hishek leaned forward from her reasonably straight posture and started to run. Her speed was high, something one would not have suspected at first for a creature of Jor’s mass, and she ran over her targets effortlessly, trampling the soldiers, pushing them aside or lifting them high into the air and over her with her head bowed. Yet the Hishek had absolutely no problem in suddenly slowing down and using its tail to fatally bludgeon a number of enemies.

One of the flying soldiers took aim at Jor. Kysaek spotted it and wanted to intervene, but there was no need.

The soldier was not flying far from the ground and yet it was impressive when Jor leapt at him. What was remarkable was the distance of several metres and that her leap originated from a standing position, with which Jor took the soldier out of the sky. He lay buried under her predatory feet, which she used to slice open the armour like a tin can and disembowel the man. Painful screams escaped his mouth, but were silenced when Jor grabbed the soldier’s head, ripping it from his body and shooting a bloody fountain from the open neck.

This sent a shiver down Kysaek’s spine and at the same time conveyed the maddening hope that she could win after all. On the other hand, she was confronted with reality. Around her, one sister after the other was dying and even Jor, that beastly fighting machine, was getting hit more and more often. That was why Kysaek could hardly believe that the Hishek could still stand, run and fight back. That was all over when a half-dead PGI soldier pressed his shotgun to Jor’s eye, brutally ending her life.

The last of the disciples were about to die and Kysaek’s strength and courage left her in equal measure, even as she wished she were stronger and able to protect those who had given her refuge. “Doctor! Come!” said Kysaek, dragging Re’Lis with her. The Galig was the last sister Kysaek might be able to save; possibly Dios and Kuren were still alive. That was why she dared to try to escape to the hangar, the last straw.

“Not like that, bitches!” a flying soldier insulted the fugitives loudly and threw a grenade that landed some distance away from the targets.

Still, the grenade was close enough and put an end to Kysaek and Re’Lis’ escape as the blast caught the women and knocked them down.

Kysaek felt the pain, but she could still move and crawled along the ground. There was smoke around her, a saving smoke for the moment, for no one was firing at her or Re’Lis, who was also still alive and rolling onto her back.

Out of the smoke, the grenade launcher came towards Kysaek and Re’Lis, standing on her feet, slow and appraising. She probably wasn’t sure if her targets were dead.

Time enough for Kysaek to stealthily slide her hand to her pistol, which had slipped from her hands in the blast. She pulled her gun close to her hip, ready to raise it at any second and put a bullet in the PGI soldier.

She was close enough now to realise that her targets were not dead yet, but the soldier turned her head towards the ceiling.

Kysaek did the same, as she perceived a scramble from one of the holes in the ceiling, and suddenly a PGI soldier without an ether pack tumbled through the opening.What was that!

During the soldier’s fall, there was clearly an exchange of gunfire in the upper rooms and a moderate glow filtered through the holes, masked by a familiar sound - the use of prismatics.

One of the flying soldiers climbed up to a hole. Another on the ground asked, “What’s going on up there?” However, it went quiet again above before the former reached the hole, but that did not stop the latter. However, he only dipped his head marginally through the opening when a shot rang out and his blood splattered on the edge of the artificial entrance and he fell down.

In their panic, the remaining eight soldiers fired at all the holes but achieved nothing.

Seeing the commotion as an opportunity, Kysaek gathered her aching body and nodded at Re’Lis.

Stupidly, this attracted the attention of the grenade launcher, who had to change her magazine. “YOU!” she said angrily, putting the gun on.

“Dammit!” Kysaek raised her pistol, fired - and could not believe her eyes, for the shot struck simultaneously with a powerful, unknown prismatic sphere!

The concentrated energy pierced the soldier from behind and left a considerable hole in her chest.

Thais was still alive and climbed through one of the holes in the ceiling, without her helmet, and her gaze was more than sinister. She dropped down and used her pistol during the free flight to kill some of the soldiers, but it was nothing. In the air, she assumed a posture like a sprinter taking off and surrounded her body with pulsating, prismatic energy. At her sole, the power of the universe gathered particularly conspicuously and suddenly she pushed off in the air as if there were no gravity. Thais shone so brightly with prismatic energy that she resembled a shooting star, and was almost too fast for a normal eye. She crashed mercilessly into one of the airborne soldiers and he was catapulted away so violently that he audibly broke every bone when he hit the wall.

Then all PGI’s firepower was directed at the new opponent, but she raced through the air again as a shooting star and finished off airman number two with one punch. That didn’t stop the surviving enemies, who continued to shoot at Thais as she landed firmly on the ground. But it didn’t matter how many hot plasma charges the soldiers fired at their target - none penetrated the prismatic energy that served as a shield for the enemy. “There’s no such thing! No one is that strong!”

The words of bewilderment did not touch Thais as she stomped at walking pace towards her next victim, who lunged at her with a gun. However, the intercepted Talin as if it was the easiest thing in the world and turned the gun on the soldier. Having killed him with it, she prepared the end for the onrushing PGI troop, forming a whip of prismatic in her right hand. As she lunged, the white thread hummed before she cracked it forward with lightning speed. Throw one cut right through three soldiers and their bellies slid off their legs before the last enemy, still flying, became the target of the second blow, also sliced in half by Thais, from bottom to top, lengthwise through the body.

There were no more screams, no noise of destruction or life - only the base’s alarm system was still doing its work and Thais had her back to Kysaek and Re’Lis.

Kysaek helped the Galig to her feet and couldn’t believe it. “You’re alive! I was beginning to think there...”

“Are you the only ones?” asked Thais almost too quietly. She didn’t care about her own appearance.

Feeling guilty, Kysaek didn’t want to answer the question, but Re’Lis did. “Possibly still Dios and Kuren ... They should get a transport ready to escape.”

If Thais had been unstoppable a moment ago, she now seemed completely introverted and simply walked past Kysaek and Re’Lis. “Then we should hope it is so, and not keep them waiting any longer.”

Humbly, Re’Lis looked down at the ground. She apparently blamed herself no less and now it was Kysaek who asked the question, “How did all this happen? Why?”

“It is of no consequence now,” Thais replied calmly, but there was stern displeasure in her voice. It was just not clear who or what it was directed at.

However, Kysaek accepted the answer, for the danger had not yet been averted and the hum of drills and the beeping of welding lasers could be heard outside the front door. It would be some time before the door was open and until then the base was clear of enemies.

In the secondary hangar, the transporter was already waiting and Kuren’s voice made it clear that the twins were sitting in the cockpit. “We were beginning to think no one was coming!”

It was a mystery to Kysaek how the tall, conjoined Sororan women fitted into the cramped pilot’s seats above the small cargo bay, but it more than didn’t matter now. She, Thais and Re’Lis climbed into the Bolt dropper.

“We were listening in,” Dios said thoughtfully, still playing it safe. “But is there really no one else coming?”

Thais looked up at the ceiling of the Shuttle. “There’s no reason to wait any longer. Just get us out of here and far away from Cipi.”

“We will,” Dios said, and Kuren added, “There’s one last surprise for these butchers!”

The Bolt Dropper began to levitate and shut down. Inside, everyone could follow via holo-images what was going on outside, such as just one flap of the hangar door opening with excessive difficulty and white clouds of steam pouring out of the perimeter of the steel. They fogged everything in record time, which must have been the surprise I mentioned.

Outside, the clouds poured out as well, and although they obscured the gate, a lot of the gas dissipated rapidly.

Blusters of PGI paused in silent glide near the hangar, just waiting for something to happen, but still they failed to stop the Bolt dropper as it suddenly thundered out of the fake clouds.

“We need to gain altitude fast!” said Kuren, but her steep flight into the sky was hampered by the onslaught of the chasing blusters and she had to dive down between the marble towers of the city. “I can’t go full power like this!”

Even Kysaek, as an engineering laywoman, was aware that the Bolt Dropper could never go to full speed if it was constantly facing houses or other obstacles in a dense city. Unless, of course, one was keen on an imminent accident.

At least there was no traffic, absolutely none, as PGI had probably cordoned off the district, and instead of Hoverwheels, a new PGI land cruiser slid into the Bolt-Dropper’s route. It took the transporter under fire, but the twins lived up to their reputation as good pilots. They manoeuvred out the attacks so skilfully that one cruiser bullet blew a bluster away as they dived under the land cruiser and another of their pursuers crashed into it.

“That’s really a lot!” commented Dios as a new pair of pursuers appeared and deployed homing missiles. She was prepared for this, however. “Dud drop in three ... two ... one ... go!”

Drones that would have fit on the palm of Kysaek’s hand detached from the Bolt dropper and flew off on their own. The missiles veered away from the transporter and went after the duds, but they only had usable thrust for a few seconds before being destroyed by the missiles. Of the drones, however, one made its way to the pursuers and whizzed past them. The following missile caught a bluster only conditionally on the tail, however, and it was able to continue flying.

Dios opined. “They’re not bad!”

“We’ll see about that!” retorted Kuren.

Kysaek, like Thais and Re’Lis, was shaken violently despite safety scaffolding on his body and complained, “Please don’t tell me you’re going to ...!”

The Bolt-Dropper reached a district where the aero-zones were flown normally by hoverwheels, and apart from the two romps at its tail, there were no PGI pursuers left. Nevertheless, the Bolt dropper hurtled between the flight zones and sank beyond them at a murderous angle into the abyss, straight towards a tower building.

Daringly, the blusters replicated the action, only they had to fly closer together due to the tightening environment.

Perhaps a hundred metres from the ground, the Bolt Dropper suddenly straightened and disappeared into a tunnel leading through the tower.

New missiles were sent flying from the blusters and Kuren claimed, “Right on schedule!” She blasted another wave of duds off the transporter, protecting it from destruction.

The tunnel, however, got hit hard and the flames from the explosions spread rapidly through the narrow area.

For the pursuers, however, this was no reason to stop and they headed straight into the fire without being destroyed. The flames were quickly passed, but then it happened! The machines were heading for a sharp right turn and came in too fast. They were too close together and could not manoeuvre sufficiently in this environment. The romps annihilated each other.Without those pesky pursuers and with a clear trajectory after the tunnel, Kuren was finally able to let the Bolt dropper climb steeply and a few breaths later the transporter was so fast that no one could catch it easily. The city became the cloudless sky and the blue planetary blanket gave way to the blackness of space and its sea of stars. Kysaek and the survivors left Cipi behind.

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