“The destroyers are gone,” Violet replied. “And… we’re…” Her voice finally broke. She cleared her throat. “You can’t begin a climb if they’re on you anyway, right? They’ll be on you faster at that point.”
“Yeah, but… even if I lose them, I need somewhere to go.” Andrews checked the topographical map. He needed something high… trees, rocks, anything that he might use as a means to slow his opponents down. There was nothing. Maybe if I strafe the ground. “I’ll try some things. Let me know the second I can come up.”
“Will do.”
Andrews dropped them down until they nearly touched the ground. They had to be flying no more than two hundred feet above the surface. Their proximity tossed dirt into the air, a fair sized dust cloud, but it wouldn’t mean much to those following him. It wasn’t the old days of blinding an aircraft.
Modern sensors made such tactics pointless. However, forcing them to give chase and to get low might save him. It all depended on their skills as pilots. Could they react quickly enough to changing elevation in the land? Hell, can I? Andrews didn’t feel entirely confident in his own abilities. I haven’t had to fly like this in a long time.
He didn’t exactly practice low altitude flying like that.
“What the hell are you doing?” The new guy again. “Do you realize how close you are to the damn ground? Come on, man! This isn’t safe! You’ve never flown here before!”
“Get your ass up here,” Andrews called. “You’ve been here a while. Tell me where I can go to lose these bastards.”
“Lose them?” He came onto the bridge, flopping into the co-pilot’s seat. He strapped in immediately. “How fast are they going? I’m Alon, by the way.”
“Fast. I need rocks. Hills. Anything that might foul them up. Hell, a quarry would be fantastic. Come on. What’ve you got?”
“This part of the… wait. We’re really far away.” Alon looked at the scanner. “We don’t come out this far. It’s not even settled yet!” He sighed. “Um… I guess you could… go east! Thirty degrees. That’ll take you over some trees. We surveyed them for harvest but hadn’t gotten around to installing an appropriate… whoa!”
Andrews veered hard to the east, banking hard enough to jostle them in their seats. Alon gripped his seat with a hiss. At least he kept his mouth shut.
Unfortunately, the turn lost them some distance to their opponents. As the two shuttles came around behind them again, they opened fire. Beams blasted the ground around them, throwing chunks of dirt high into the air all around them. Andrews risked a climb to gain a few hundred feet then went full-on again… straight for their destination.
“How far to the trees?”
“Uh… I dunno. A hundred miles, I guess?”
“Got it.” Andrews engaged the lasers, powering them up. That was one more thing to tap the engines, to slow them down but this was an essential risk. One of the energy attacks struck them from behind. He glanced at the HUD, wincing at the shield percentage. They were down to fifty percent after a single hit.
Okay, so evasive maneuvers are essential. I get it. Andrews dropped then veered to the right. He jostled the stick, keeping them in constant motion while climbing as well. Additional attacks filled the air around them, coming way too close. They’re damn fine shots. I hate this kind of thing.
“This is nuts!” Alon shouted. “What the hell are you doing, man?”
“Narrowly keeping us alive,” Andrews replied. The HUD showed their shields were up to seventy-five percent. “We can basically take two hits before our defenses go down completely, so I can’t let them catch us again. Hold on tight and don’t puke. I can’t handle a mess on top of everything else going on.”
“Was that supposed to be funny or something? Cause it wasn’t!”
“Nah. Just being straight up, man.” Andrews frowned at the forest ahead. They’d be on it in less than two minutes. Come on, baby! The ship rattled, panels sounding like they wanted to pop off. Even his seat vibrated enough to be a distraction. His ass went numb, his legs aching from pins and needles.
This is literally the worst day of my damn life. Another shot caught them, this time on the top. I wonder if I should shoot back. The thought appealed to his offensive side. Unfortunately, he recognized the futility of it. Taking either of those ships out had a one in a million chance. My best chance is losing them.
Shields were at forty-percent.
Come on! Recharge!
“We got hit!” Alon shouted, far too late.
“Dude…” Andrews shook his head. “Just be quiet.” He opened fire, cutting into the forest. Flames immediately engulfing the trees, greedily devouring the branches while sending up dark smoke into the air. He didn’t let up, cutting a swath of destruction through the woods before jamming on the forward thrusters.
Alon screamed as they jostled to a stop. Dropping the ship down low, he backed them into the raging fire. Shields could withstand the heat, they couldn’t handle being shot. If I’m right, they won’t pick us up through the fire. Our heat signature won’t help, and this should interfere with finding tech.
Even if it only bought them a few moments, it would be worth it.
The enemy ships whizzed by them, becoming small in a matter of moments. Okay, that’s at least five minutes of living. Andrews turned to Alon. “How bad are the people back there?”
“I mean, they’re hurt.” Alon shrugged. “There were only two of them who made it.”
“Jesus…” Andrews sighed.
“What’re we doing?”
“Hiding until our ship lets us know we can make a run for orbit.” Andrews shrugged. “I don’t know how long this’ll last, but we’ve got a few minutes.”
“They must have sensors. How’d this
