Alon passed them by, breaking into a sprint. “We’ve got plenty of trees now!” He shouted. “Run for it, guys! Run!”
Tiller cursed, motioning for Vesper to go first. He knew she had to be on the verge of arguing but did as she was told, dashing after the sergeant. A couple more shots told him he wouldn’t do much back there alone but he did get one that was limping. One shot near his leg got him to dive left. Before he hit the ground, another shot blasted him in the gut.
Nine left according to the scan. Tiller broke cover, pushing himself into a sprint to catch up to the others. When they got to the clearing, if Andrews wasn’t around, they’d be in serious trouble. He doubted they’d find much in the way of cover. This plan either meant escaping miraculously or dying horribly.
Can’t wait to find out which I’m dealing with today. Tiller risked a glance over his shoulder. Beams cut through the bushes to his left, near his former cover. They don’t know where we are right now. That’ll slow them down for a minute. Come on, Andrews! This is your time to shine!
***
Andrews dropped his passengers off, then rocketed away, gaining some quick altitude. He hoped for a leisurely flight around the trees though he knew better than to believe it possible. The enemy ship would be like him with nothing to do and after his last encounter, he planned on a confrontation.
These guys are way too aggressive to just be support for their troops.
He engaged the shields of his craft, keeping a sharp eye on the HUD scanner. Wherever his opponent happened to be, it must’ve been under the scanner’s ability to detect. Visual didn’t help at first either. He swept his gaze over the treetops, focusing on the area near the blown out temple.
Nothing stuck out, not for a good two minutes. Then trees rustled, at least a dozen of them as the Kahl ship burst from the forest floor, cutting a wide loop from their LZ. Scans picked them up immediately, anticipating their course as directly toward him. He kicked on the turrets, turning to meet them.
I’m not running this time, you pricks!
Andrews pressed himself into his seat in anticipation of the increased g-force. As he slammed the throttle forward, engines letting out a belch of thrust. They came at him straight on, like they wanted to play chicken. He let the turrets rip, updated beam weapons turning the humidity in the air to steam.
His opponent’s shields came to life, a blue and red oval surrounding the vessel as it flared bright enough to cause the cockpit to dim. They retaliated, casting shots at Andrews that missed. A little adjustment brought the weapons hard to bear. He took the first couple directly in the nose.
The fixed weapons on his wings kicked off next, remaining on long enough to contact the enemy before winking off. Those allowed for strafing runs where a shuttle might cut the ground rather than stagger the blasts. The tech manual suggested they had a seriously draining effect on enemy defenses but required a brief recharge.
They were both at top speed, barreling down on one another. Andrews flinched first, hitting the top maneuvering thrusters. His vessel dropped ten feet, flying directly under the target. Turrets continued to track the enemy, tearing at their tail as he veered hard to the left in order to keep after them.
The exchange dropped his defense power by twenty percent in the first pass. Not as bad as he anticipated. That gave him some confidence, enough to become more aggressive with his flying. Pulling the throttle back, he bought himself some maneuverability but not enough to get on their six.
Both ships danced in an effort to acquire a better position, flying around one another as their turrets did the majority of the work. Getting away from the constant fire meant trying to flee, a tactic that might’ve worked but he really wanted to get a solid shot with his fixed weapons again.
An alarm went off, indicating the defenses dropped below fifty percent. Real time scanning on the enemy ship showed they were close to the same. If I can get around on this asshole, I can finish this off. But the pilot proved incredible at evading, pulling wild maneuvers to keep Andrews from a decent solution.
They climbed suddenly as if rushing to break atmosphere. Andrews gave chase, coming up behind them. The fixed cannons were ready. His finger hovered over the trigger when his target suddenly dropped right back toward him. He spun to the left to avoid their descent, trying to level out.
A hit from behind jostled him in his seat. Shields dropped to thirty percent and now, the Kahl had a perfect shot at his thrusters.
Andrews plunged the stick forward, pushing himself into a dive. As he careened toward the ground, he picked up speed, buying some distance. The computer started complaining about the drop. He rolled to the right as a series of shots whizzed by him. Pulling up at a thousand feet, the ship’s thrusters kicked on high, making his whole body feel constricted.
The enemy ship skimmed the trees before managing to get back into the air. This gave Andrews his chance. He came at them from the top, letting his fixed weapons go. They caught the enemy on the top, holding the shot for a good three seconds before they pulled away. With their shields dropped below thirty percent, they
