Page 95 of Blightfall

I glanced down at the slugs by the side of my seat and found that Hoid’s stripes had returned.

“How’s Bob coming on that permission?” I asked.

“On that permission!” Twist said, though I guessed we didn’t actually have it, because no one had hyperjumped.

“My light-lance broke during the fight,” I said over the radio. “So someone will have to connect to my ship when we’re ready to jump.”

“I’ve got you,” Nedd said, though at the moment he didn’t look like he had the ability to do much besides keep his ship steady as we cut through the atmosphere and neared the planet. I could make out Epiphany now, far below us, a white dot against the sea of purplish grey.

The enemy caught up to us and three ships flew up on my tail, all of them firing in a crisscross pattern, impossible to dodge. I tried anyway, throwing my ship into a twin-scissor, but I couldn’t avoid all the fire and my shield took a hit.

Nedd fared worse. He didn’t have the dexterity for complex evasive maneuvers. The enemy ships shot past me, hitting his shields once, twice. Three times.

“Nedder!” I shouted. “Amphi, Nedder’s in trouble!”

A final shot hit his wing, and his ship began to fall. My stomach flew into my throat as I watched Nedd scramble for control, but even the most dexterous pilot couldn’t have pulled their ship out of that uncontrolled descent.

“Nedder!” I screamed over the radio. “Eject!”

For a horrifying moment, Nedd’s ship began to spiral with him still inside it. And then Nedd’s ship split apart, the explosion catapulting his seat into the air while the wreckage continued to spin down, down, down. An enemy ship swooped toward him, continuing to fire.

Stars, he was completely unprotected. If they were going to keep firing on us even after we were down, then I couldn’t leave him to land in the forest. I swung my ship around in an Ahlstrom loop and fired at the ship that pursued him. It turned its fire on me, and I danced away, kiting the other enemy ships along with me.

Below me, I saw Nedd’s parachute open. If I could keep these ships off his back, he would hopefully make it okay.

“Sentry?” Arturo asked. “Sitrep?” On my monitors, I could see his and Gilaf’s ships continuing to speed away toward the city, swarmed by several more enemy ships. Arturo had Naga and I had Twist, so if Bob could get permission for two hyperjumps, we could still get out of this even if we were separated.

“I can’t leave Nedd,” I said over the radio. Nedd had a handheld radio, but if it was on his person, he probably wouldn’t be able to maneuver and use it until he’d landed.

“We’re coming back around,” Arturo said.

“More ships are headed your way,” I said. Stars, I didn’t think we could take them all together. I moved away from Arturo and Gilaf, flying lower, staying focused on avoiding enemy fire.

I couldn’t find Nedd against the backdrop of the forest anymore. It was possible he’d landed already. Stars, I hoped he survived impact.

Twist squeaked next to me. “Permission!” she said urgently. “Permission!”

Stars, it was about time.

“I think Twist has permission to hyperjump,” I said.

“Take it,” Arturo said. “Go.”

I took another hit to my shields as enemy ships surrounded me. “What about you?” I asked.

“Sentry,” Arturo said. “Go!”

I took a sharp turn to the right to avoid enemy fire, g-forces slamming me to the side in my seat as my GravCaps maxed out. There were four ships on my tail and more headed my direction.

“Okay, Twist,” I said. “Hyperjump!”

“Hyperjump!” Twist said.

She was waiting, I realized, for me to tell her where to go.

“Take me to Nedd,” I said to Twist.

And suddenly the world went dim.