her knife through the flexible
glass, taking out another large section like peeling skin from an overripe
orange. In answer, the Vosaia pilot pushed her controls down and to the right,
the grim determination flashing across her features causing Serros to take a
quick survey.
Maybe not my best day cracked into Avara’s mind as
she spotted a weather–scarred advert strut closing in at a breathtaking rate.
Gripping the boarding bar with both hands, Captain Serros
deliberately swung herself out and then into the half–torn, flexible
side–glass. She made the vehicle’s interior in a spray of glass just before the
strut would have diced her in half. Upon entry, Serros’s booted feet struck
Z’arr, causing a suppressed groan and a slip on the sky–car’s choke. The result
was an ear–rending screech as the side of their transport scraped another STV
in the adjacent sky–lane.
An instant later, K’llan Z’arr’s right elbow struck out even
as her left hand stabilized their trajectory, only to be caught, deflected, and
the blow returned by Serros. The next thirty seconds or so became a dizzy,
vomit–inducing exchange of speed–defying blows, parries, half–kicks, and
attempts by both women to keep the vehicle stable.
“Captain Serros, we’re closing in. Situation?” Lieutenant Dane
Rygel’s voice came in over full audio through her CPA rather than her ear
piece, which had evidently been lost at some point during the evening’s gymnastic
endeavors.
“A little… uh … occupied right now.” Serros answered
as one of Z’arr’s blow’s slipped past her guard to smash into her solar plexus.
“Any time you wish to join your friends… is fine with me.”
Z’arr commented acidly, attempting four more strikes before her sentence was completed.
Catching each effort, Avara grinned wolfishly. “But we seem
to be getting along so very well.”
Before the Vosaia had a chance to retort, something large
slammed into the side of their transport, causing the vehicle to careen down and
out of the appropriate sky–lane and rake its already damaged side against a light
azure and steel colored glass building. The result was yet more shattering sheets
of glass, the glittering shards tumbling from view into the traffic lanes below
like falling stars.
Turning her head, Avara spied a gold and red colored
transport vehicle at three o’clock and a stony–faced Major Goyan Hadarr behind
the controls. Serros also noted Excalibur’s ES2 shuttle was
visible, currently maintaining a nine o’ clock position.
Z’arr swore and wrestled with the choke to regain control, Captain
Serros instinctively reaching out to help her to ensure their mutual survival.
For the span of a slow heartbeat, the two worked in concert then,
just as the transport leveled some, once more Hadarr’s gold STV slammed into
their battered green vehicle. The impact smacked loose Serros’s half–grip on
the choke as she was hurled bodily to the rear–interior of the transport, then
half out of the busted glass siding she’d originally entered in through.
Reacting quickly, Z’arr floored the STV straight down,
swerving the transport to avoid the other Vosaia who was so close to her tail
that the two sky–cars were practically kissing. With another twist Avara, who’d
literally been clutching with all of her might onto the battered doorway and,
lying flat against the STV’s side due to the very real constraints of gravity,
finally lost her grip entirely. Despite her best efforts, she slid across the plane
of the transport and then out into open air.
* * * * *
As the night and lights enveloped her like a swimmer caught
and swept under the languidly warm yet potentially lethal waves of her
childhood home on Kylos, Captain Avara Serros was struck by the momentary
thought that the failure of her mission would be ‘
" One Hell of A Mess " for Marcus to explain
in a report to the Quorum and Naval HQ. Then suddenly, she could see him,
glass, taking out another large section like peeling skin from an overripe
orange. In answer, the Vosaia pilot pushed her controls down and to the right,
the grim determination flashing across her features causing Serros to take a
quick survey.
Maybe not my best day cracked into Avara’s mind as
she spotted a weather–scarred advert strut closing in at a breathtaking rate.
Gripping the boarding bar with both hands, Captain Serros
deliberately swung herself out and then into the half–torn, flexible
side–glass. She made the vehicle’s interior in a spray of glass just before the
strut would have diced her in half. Upon entry, Serros’s booted feet struck
Z’arr, causing a suppressed groan and a slip on the sky–car’s choke. The result
was an ear–rending screech as the side of their transport scraped another STV
in the adjacent sky–lane.
An instant later, K’llan Z’arr’s right elbow struck out even
as her left hand stabilized their trajectory, only to be caught, deflected, and
the blow returned by Serros. The next thirty seconds or so became a dizzy,
vomit–inducing exchange of speed–defying blows, parries, half–kicks, and
attempts by both women to keep the vehicle stable.
“Captain Serros, we’re closing in. Situation?” Lieutenant Dane
Rygel’s voice came in over full audio through her CPA rather than her ear
piece, which had evidently been lost at some point during the evening’s gymnastic
endeavors.
“A little… uh … occupied right now.” Serros answered
as one of Z’arr’s blow’s slipped past her guard to smash into her solar plexus.
“Any time you wish to join your friends… is fine with me.”
Z’arr commented acidly, attempting four more strikes before her sentence was completed.
Catching each effort, Avara grinned wolfishly. “But we seem
to be getting along so very well.”
Before the Vosaia had a chance to retort, something large
slammed into the side of their transport, causing the vehicle to careen down and
out of the appropriate sky–lane and rake its already damaged side against a light
azure and steel colored glass building. The result was yet more shattering sheets
of glass, the glittering shards tumbling from view into the traffic lanes below
like falling stars.
Turning her head, Avara spied a gold and red colored
transport vehicle at three o’clock and a stony–faced Major Goyan Hadarr behind
the controls. Serros also noted Excalibur’s ES2 shuttle was
visible, currently maintaining a nine o’ clock position.
Z’arr swore and wrestled with the choke to regain control, Captain
Serros instinctively reaching out to help her to ensure their mutual survival.
For the span of a slow heartbeat, the two worked in concert then,
just as the transport leveled some, once more Hadarr’s gold STV slammed into
their battered green vehicle. The impact smacked loose Serros’s half–grip on
the choke as she was hurled bodily to the rear–interior of the transport, then
half out of the busted glass siding she’d originally entered in through.
Reacting quickly, Z’arr floored the STV straight down,
swerving the transport to avoid the other Vosaia who was so close to her tail
that the two sky–cars were practically kissing. With another twist Avara, who’d
literally been clutching with all of her might onto the battered doorway and,
lying flat against the STV’s side due to the very real constraints of gravity,
finally lost her grip entirely. Despite her best efforts, she slid across the plane
of the transport and then out into open air.
* * * * *
As the night and lights enveloped her like a swimmer caught
and swept under the languidly warm yet potentially lethal waves of her
childhood home on Kylos, Captain Avara Serros was struck by the momentary
thought that the failure of her mission would be ‘
" One Hell of A Mess " for Marcus to explain
in a report to the Quorum and Naval HQ. Then suddenly, she could see him,
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