Chapter 12
I stare up at the large white underbelly of the Space Splitter, my entire body buzzing with anxiety and fear.
The momentary panic causes me to freeze but Lucian pulls us inside the ship immediately and starts firing up the engines.
"Strap in," He instructs as his fingers fly across the control board in a flurry of motion.
A clap of thunder rocks our ship from side to side and I look out the window to see the space splitter completely obliterating a staircase of rocks and all the makeshift houses that were lying there.
There are people running around frantically but some have got onto the other ships, some have already started lift off.
Our aircraft hovers for a mere second and Lucian pushes a lever making me fall back in my seat as the space craft zooms upwards, just in time to avoid another shot from the space splitter.
Lucian speaks into his communicator barking a dozen commands by the minute.
"We need back up! Send in five troops."
"Evacuate! Save as many ships as you can!"
"LX Squad? Are you clear?"
Remulus replies, telling us he is with Altair and the others and Lucian tells them he will confirm a location once we are clear.
"We'll try to evacuate as many as we can," Commander Rigel's voice booms through.
I stare at the hundreds of aliens and people who have not boarded any ships yet. Some are still running around frantically for a place to hide but the white beams of death from above are relentless.
They fire at our moving ship but Lucian swerves and avoids each shot expertly, like an insect escaping the rays of the sun.
I clutch the seat as my body swerves from side to side, there must be something I can do. I look around the ship we are in.
A bottle craft, small, oblong and easy to manoeuvre, my brain racks through memories of my training and if there is a weapon system.
Lucian shoots me a look of annoyance when he notices that I'm not strapped in but then I remember the weapons system in the in built computer.
I jump up, much to his dismay and activate the screen in the wall. I then load up the computer and wait for the laser handles to activate.
"Aria! Sit down and strap in!" Lucian shouts. He swerves again and I nearly fly to the back but I grab the handles which warm up in my hands once they have been activated.
"Go nearer to the ship," I say. I strap myself to the wall, my boots digging into the floor to keep steady.
"You're so stubborn," Lucian complains but he zooms up, avoiding two beams from smaller attacking crafts. He flies around the space splitter and about a dozen attacking crafts start pursuing us.
They shoot out smaller laser beams, but Lucian skirts around them and some of them hit the space splitter instead.
They stop shooting, some back up and fly away but Lucian remains flying along the underbelly of the massive craft.
"We'll be passing the engines in about five...four..three..two.."
My fingers clutch the handles so hard they begin to sweat.
"One," He says and I press down, firing at the engines repeatedly. The laser beams from our ship hit the smooth underbelly but they bounce off instead.
"They have their protective shields up," Lucian says in exasperation.
"I've got it covered," Remulus's voice suddenly crackles through the communicator.
"Me too," Luna adds and I feel a rush of relief when Cat and Joon agree in the back ground.
"Stay where you are. We'll give you the signal," Joon shouts.
I look at Lucian and see the same determination in his eyes that is currently flooding through my veins. He dodges numerous shots from smaller ships and I shoot down a few but then another group starts pursuing us.
My heart sinks when I see them zoom at us from all directions and for a moment my breath stills, wondering if we are about to be shot down. Just then a larger beam shoots one of them down from above the gap in the ceiling and then I see about six ships fly down towards us.
Two of them zip our way, firing at Lazarus's ships that are surrounding us and I turn to Lucian who looks just as relieved.
"Your squads?" I ask.
"You didn't think I brought my entire fleet here, did you?" He smirks at me and then refocuses on avoiding an onslaught of shots from a nearby ship.
He turns so that our guns are aimed its way and then I press down. I smile in triumph when our laser beam hits it in the side, sending the air craft hurtling down towards the ground. It lands with a loud crash and I am about to concentrate on the space splitter when our ship flies to the left violently.
I'm flung to the side, my body hitting the wall of the ship. If the straps weren't holding me in place, I would have flown across the room.
The alarms in our ship start blaring loudly and I turn around to see Lucian desperately trying to keep the ship under control. He pulls levers and pushes buttons, getting our ship under momentary control but the alarms blare profusely, indicating that our ship is damaged.
"The protective shields are down! You have a few seconds till they back it up!" Luna shouts through the communicator and both Lucian and I look at each other.
"I don't know how long we can keep this thing up," He tells me honestly. "Maybe just enough to fly out of here."
So we have two choices; escape or shoot down a space splitter.
I look around at the chaos surrounding us and all the damage that one ship has done. I don't know about Lucian but my decision has already been made.
"Let's take our chances," I grip the handles tightly as I stare at him and his eyes light up with equal ferocity.
"Cover me," He instructs his squads and I as he turns the ship around and heads back up.
I shoot as much as I can but Lucian is flying like a mad man and now I regret not strapping my self in while sitting down. The laser beams from our ship fly in all directions, some hitting a ship, others mostly flying through the air.
His soldiers help to keep us from getting shot and soon we are underneath the space splitter again.
Lucian flies across the underbelly like lightning and my fingers dig into the handles as I hold my breath in anticipation.
All we need is one window, one shot.
A smaller ship starts pursuing us from behind and Lucian curses under his breath. He increases his speed and our ship starts shaking like a leaf, not able to take the speed under damage.
We both stare at each other for a brief second, wondering if this is about to be our last moment together and then we reach the part where the engines lie.
"Fire!" He shouts and I press down repeatedly. Numerous beams shoot out from our ship and I hold my breath as it hits the surface of the Space Splitter. Our first few shots create a large gaping hole but I continue shooting incessantly, my heart as frantic as my fingers.
A ship next to us starts shooting into it as well and then another one joins us.
"Good shot," Luna teases from the communicator. "Mine was better though."
"PG Luna, I built that system specifically for your skills." I hear Pollux say proudly in the background and then she shushes him.
The large ship suddenly grunts loudly, the squealing of metal grates my ears as it fills the entire terrain and Lucian begins backing up quickly.
The others do the same just as the engines burst out in blue flames. The space splitter turns to the side and hits a stone wall, sending shards of rock to the ground and then it falls to the ground slowly.
My eyes are wide as it hits the floor of the terrain with a loud boom, leaving a trail of blue fire in its wake.
"We did it!" Remulus, Deneb, Sirius and a chorus of voices erupt through the communicator.
Lucian and I stare at each other in disbelief and triumph but then our ships booming alarm suddenly comes into focus.
He presses down on a few controls but we seem to have lost most of the control of our ship. It rattles with the wind and sways in the air like a drunk person.
"Our ship's going down," Lucian says into his communicator.
"Thirty seconds till obligatory shut down," A loud mechanical voice chimes through the alarms and then she begins counting down, as if it weren't already stressful enough.
Lucian tears his straps open and rushes to do the same to mine.
"Twenty seconds."
He grabs me and looks around the ship frantically.
"Why are there no parachutes!" He almost screams in frustration.
"Lucian, we're heading your way. Hang in there," Luna says.
"We'll cover you," Remulus adds and then I see two ships flying our way.
The ceiling is still in chaos with Lazarus's squads in the smaller ships firing at Lucian's squads and vice versa. Some of them start following Luna's ship but Remulus and the rest help to cover her.
"Ten seconds."
We head to the escape hatch and he pulls it open letting a gush of wind rush in.
"Five seconds."
"Hold on tight," He says and I notice he is clutching my arm almost painfully, his fingers digging into my skin.
My hair whips in my face as I stare at him. I peel his hand off my arm and then intertwine my fingers with his. He turns towards me and looks down at our hands, his eyes filled with worry but I squeeze in reassurance.
It's weird, the floors shake under my feet, the ship's alarms blare in my ears and I have no idea how we are going to jump out of this ship and survive.
But destroying an entire space splitter with Lucian has filled me with satisfaction. It is the first time I've felt like the old Aria in a while and for a second I feel like I can defeat anything.
Even death.
Luna's ship stops below us and the emergency door by its side opens as well. I see Pollux huddled by the side with a device in his hand.
"Obligatory shut down initiated," The system announces and our ship stills. The alarms shut off and the ship suddenly falls, dragging us down with it.
Lucian wraps his arm around me just as Pollux fires a rope like device at us. It wraps around our waists in a loop and then tightens quickly.
My body is flung upwards as the rope retracts, pulling us up with it. We reach the side of the ship just as Luna takes off and Lucian hurls me inside first. He hangs on to the side and Pollux and I pull him in.
He is almost halfway inside when the ship swerves, throwing him back out. I scream just as he grabs onto the handle of the door and Pollux shoots out to get him.
There is a ship chasing us and firing our way repeatedly. We grab onto Lucian and pull him in with great effort and then the three of us collapse to the floor in a heap.
Lucian grunts loudly and rolls to the side. He winces in pain and I see a deep wound on his left arm, oozing with blood.
I grab him and inspect the gaping wound, it looks like someone slashed his skin.
"You've been shot," I mumble in panic.
"It was just a graze, Aria. I wouldn't be here if I was shot," He offers me a weak grin and proceeds to get up but I push him down.
Pollux rushes to us with a long piece of cloth and I take it from him and tie it around Lucian's arm to reduce the bleeding.
"We need to leave," Lucian says tiredly, his face going pale. "There are two many of them and they will send in more back up now that the Space Splitter is down."
"Will send out instructions," Pollux says as he looks at his leader worriedly.
"Tell them to lay low till we give word on a meeting place," Lucian struggles to get out the next few words.
I help him to the wall while Pollux rushes to carry out his instructions as the ship swerves upwards and out of the gaping hole leaving the terrain behind.
I tighten the tourniquet around Lucian's arm and rush to look for a medical kit. I find it in the pantry and hurry back only to see him limping into the control room. Luna, Pollux and I stare at him as he collapses onto a chair and looks out the window.
We follow his gaze and my heart sinks in my stomach when I see the remaining ships from Lazarus's squad pursue us while firing down into the terrain.
Right before we escape into hyperdrive, I watch the entire rebel base blow up in shards of white light.
Destroying everything and everyone who was left behind.
Heyy, alot happening in this chaper. Cant wait to hear what your thoughts :) :)
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