"If you want me to fly, I'll have to get to the pilot's pod, won't I?" Nova said, shouldering past the guards and Toro.
This wasn't how she'd imagined her reunion with Crusader. She couldn't stop to enjoy the familiar smell of the engine room, or run her hands along the rusted walls. She couldn't even say hello to Cal properly because he was nowhere in sight. She stomped through the ship to the pilot's pod and sat down. The front screen was filled with the lab and the solid walls on every side.
"How exactly am I supposed to fly you out of a closed room?" Nova yelled over her shoulder.
A second later Toro appeared, smiling in the doorway.
"That wall is a door," he said, pointing to the far wall.
Nova frowned. It certainly looked like a wall to her.
"Do you have speakers to the outside?" Toro asked.
Nova nodded and pressed a small green button near her thumb.
"Open side door," Toro said.
A section of wall slid away to reveal the city beyond. The towering buildings reflected the midday sun. Smoke billowed up out of the city, creating black smog in the air.
"Hurry up," Toro said.
Nova sighed and pushed forward on the throttle. She could have let autopilot take over, but she didn't want Toro to know that she had that technology. The less he knew, the better.
Crusader and the other ships lifted and moved through the lab, knocking over benches and glassware, and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake as they shot out into the open air. Nova was tempted to slam her elbow into Toro's throat and be done with him, but she could feel his guards just behind her, their guns trained on her back.
She pushed Crusader forward and then hovered outside of the building. The streets below were filled with people running and guns shooting. At the outer edges of the city flames flickered through the smoke.
Some people stopped in the streets and stared up at them, shouting and pointing, but most of them were too consumed with the battle for survival.
"Buta's main force is coming this way from the main gate. Go there," Toro commanded.
Nova leant against the controls and guided Crusader towards the thickest gunfire. The further they went, the more dead bodies they passed. Buildings on either side had been reduced to smoking rubble that spread out onto the street.
"He'll pay for this," Toro said softly.
A red bolt the size of a car shot out of the smoke below and slammed into Crusader's underside. The ship rocked to the side and Toro and his guards sprawled against the equipment. Nova only just managed to keep Crusader in the air.
"What was that?" Toro said.
"They've got anti-aircraft weapons," Nova said. "You could have warned me."
"I don't know what they have," Toro said.
Nova pulled the controls to the right and Crusader spun around, flying away from the mayhem.
"What are you doing?" Toro said.
"Two more hits like that and we're going down," Nova said. "The shields are already at sixty percent."
"You will fly down there and take out Buta's forces."
"They'll shoot us down before we can even see them."
"Take us down now, or I will kill one of your companions."
He gestured to his guards and a second later they thrust Tanguin into the pilot's pod. She landed on her knees with a grunt. A guard stepped forward and pushed his gun into the back of her head.
"Take. Me. Down," Toro said.
Nova's face flushed red. All she could imagine as she turned Crusader around was smashing Toro's face into a brick wall, over and over again. She could picture each one of his teeth falling out as she crushed him into a bloody pulp.
She wasn't exaggerating. If they got hit by another anti-air blast they'd be in serious trouble. She could already feel Crusader's engines shuddering beneath her.
Nova opened her mouth to warn Toro again when a familiar buzz filled the air. She slammed her hand into the auto-pilot button and spun in her seat. She ripped her gun off the control board and fired. Cal had already taken down the man who'd had his gun pushed against Tanguin's head and three other guards.
The noises coming from the engine room suggested that Gus had got the jump on a few of them as well. Tanguin snatched the gun off of the fallen soldier behind her and fired twice, taking a guard in the chest.
Toro lunged at Nova and Tanguin, knocking Tanguin sideways so that her head slammed against the controls and she slumped to the floor. He grabbed Nova's arm and twisted it up so that she fired into Crusader's ceiling. Smoke twirled out from the blackened hole.
Nova grunted and kicked Toro's knee. He collapsed, his weight falling against her and they fell to the floor of the pilot's pod, the air pushed out of Nova's lungs.
Sounds of fighting echoed from the engine room but the door to the pod remained empty.
Nova strained against Toro, trying to twist the gun back down, but his muscles bulged pinning her to the floor. Her legs thrashed and she caught him between the legs. His grip on her arm wavered and she twisted free, bringing the gun down, and fired at Toro's face. It exploded in a shower of red that coated the pilot's pod, and rained down on Nova and Tanguin.
Nova wiped the goo out of her eyes and reached for Tanguin, gripping her arm.
A flurry of movement caught her eye and a guard burst into the pilot's pod, gun raised.
Nova's wrist flicked and she fired. The guard collapsed to the floor with a dull thud and Nova let her head fall back.
Cal hovered in the doorway with his small pistols still extended.
Nova breathed a sigh of relief that caught in her throat. "Cal."
"Thought I'd play some hide-and-seek," he said.
Nova burst into laughter and then covered her mouth. She was surrounded by dead bodies, in the middle of a war zone. Probably a bad time to be laughing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
"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.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
When Meeka burst past the wall to the Capital she stopped dead, giving Nova a chance to catch up. Nova came to a stop at Meeka's side.
"I never knew," Meeka whispered.
"If we're going to do this, we have to go now," Nova said.
She glanced around, they were like sitting ducks standing in the open. She grabbed hold of Meeka's arm and dragged her to the road where a four-wheeled quad bike was parked up on the curb.
Nova threw her leg over the bike and pulled Meeka on behind. "Hold on," she said.
Meeka's arms wrapped around Nova's waist and Nova threw the bike's ignition. The engine roared to life beneath them and they shot off down the street. Nova had grown up riding abandoned bikes across Tabryn's desert; riding on a street was chil
d's play in comparison.
The bike screamed across the pavement and weaved between abandoned cars and ships. Bodies lined the sidewalk, some of them civilians and some of them soldiers. Nova tried not to look too closely at their faces, afraid that she might recognise someone. She pushed the bike as hard as it would go.
Meeka's arms were so tight around her waist that Nova could barely breathe but that could also have been the panic rising inside. As they raced through the streets towards the main building, the sound of gunfire and screaming got louder. People ran past them in the opposite direction, shouting.
A soldier on the side of the road saw them coming and knelt, resting the butt of his gun against his shoulder and his finger on the trigger.
Nova kept one hand on the steering wheel and with the other she held out her gun. She pointed it at the kneeling man and fired. A volley of plasma blasts shot out of the gun, creating a line of black marks along the building they were passing and slamming into the soldier. He crumpled into a heap.
Nova put her hand back on the steering wheel and kept on driving. There were more soldiers as they got closer to the Capital. She managed to kill some of them, but others ducked out of the way and fired at them as they shot past. One blast caught the side of the bike and sent the back end skidding off course. Nova tapped the brake, bringing the bike back under control, and then pushed the throttle harder, desperate to get out of range.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she wound through the streets. Pieces of collapsed buildings spread out over the street and she was forced to drive up on the footpath to get past.
They shot around a sharp corner onto a straight road, at the end of which was the central building, still gleaming white. A crowd of people gathered around the base of the stairs, watching something. Nova didn't have time to think; she cranked the bike and held her gun firmer.
As they got closer she could make out people in white coats kneeling on the stairs. Some of them were crumpled lumps while others had rolled down a few levels, to lie tangled across the steps. Someone was standing behind the scientists with a gun. Nova recognised him from Toro's lab; Buta.
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