Taking one for the Team- Part II
#2 of Skyguard
Taking One For the Team- Part II
None except Celeste herself, could remember what exactly happened the following day. Some would call it a tragic mistake...whereas some would call it a heroic and noble sacrifice...but the only ones who would remember the day, were those who witnessed it as it truly happened.... one thing was for certain...the lives of both Celeste and those who inhabited her beloved city would never be the same again.
Celeste had awoken with a rather dark mood that morning...the irate little silver discus-shaped alarm clock's hologram of the numbers "5:00 AM" quickly disappeared as she slammed chucked it halfway across the room, causing it to rebound off of her closet and into a door noisily. Her alarm had awoken her several hours too early and it was the perfect time to be completely hateful to life itself and everything that was an inanimate object around her...Random trinkets were the first to be subjected to her seething rage, being tossed carelessly from her shelves as she looked for her mirror....next came several outfits as she scrambled to find her leather skin-tight flight suit, which she promptly dressed herself in, marveling in the pure white color.
Though it was morning, she seemed to have an extra reserve of energy. It was the day. It was the day that she would finally strike down a group of mercenaries that had been a pain in her side for too long. They were hardly mercenaries, but more on the lines of hirable gangsters...their ruthlessness being a quality that everyone quickly recognized when they were in the presence of those ruffians. It was uncommon to see any sign of courtesy out of them, unless they were being paid a hefty price.
Thus, it excited her to know that she would finally be responsible for apprehending them and placing them in a long period of incarceration within the cell-block of the city, where all nefarious and dastardly criminals were held up, some for even a permanent time plan.
Even so...she found herself brought back to reality as she tripped over her pack, which was lying upon the floor lazily. Groaning, she picked it up and strapped it over her back. It weighed a ton! Or at least that was how it felt at that hour in the morning. Finally tossing it onto a couch, she picked up a small remote and aimed it at what appeared to be a wall, clicking the green button. As the little button was pressed, panels instantly began to slide, revealing a nice skyline view of the city and its early morning traffic, which mainly consisted of a few small personal vessels and several large frigates that were bound to large businesses with imported goods.
She smiled and slowly walked from her room and into the mess hall, where no one except the vending machines seemed to be lively. There was only one person, and he seemed to be completely out like a light, judging from how many whiskey bottles were surrounding him on the large white table.
She grumbled to herself and groggily banged her fist against the vending machine before pressing all the buttons at once with an open palm, grinning as a satisfying thumping sound was heard throughout the machine. At last, a large can of an energy drink emerged from it. "Too easy..."
Grasping it, she took it in her hands and flipped open the top, which was a press-to-release button, sending the cap flying several feet in the air before she caught it with her hand and threw it in the trash. Next, she motioned at a dormant robotic waitress, who quickly was alerted of her presence and tossed her a glowing stick.
Nodding in thanks, she looked at the stick and peeled back a transparent wrapper before throwing it away as well, biting into it and beginning her return to her room, the nutrient-rich energy bar reinforcing her extra reserves of energy that morning with the help of her sweet tasting power drink.
As she returned to her room, she noticed that the door had been left open.
"Odd..." she said, remembering that she had indeed closed the door, but dismissed it as a simple mistake of loss of train of thought.
As she bit into the energy bar again, she slowly made her way to a couple of glass doors that closely resembled windows, and stepped onto a balcony-like structure that overlooked most of the city, the higher tiers still casting a looming shadow over her.
She smiled and took in the fresh, unpolluted air of the morning. The use of fossil fuels for energy had been outlawed and banned in the distant past, having turned for a new source of energy that had been discovered with the birth of the new star, its abundance being renewable and cheap. It was known as Electriconal Plasmidium, or Electricon for short. It was then that she found herself beginning to warm up to the rude awakening she had recieved, taking another deep breath before taking one last bite of her energy bar and drinking the last of her power soda, which she threw in an outside bin near her.
Turning back to the sight of the city at dawn, she began to see the golden light of a sun slowly creeping up ever so cautiously over the horizon, illuminating the sky with a deep red. She had always enjoyed the sunrise...but she had never had anyone to share it with except herself, the mystifying colors of the sun's rays upon the clouds slowly but surely changing as the twin suns began to rise higher over the horizon.
It was then that she felt a firm grasp upon her shoulder, causing her to whisk around and gasp in fright, her eyes growing wide before she felt her body quickly losing balance and leaning over the edge of the balcony railing. For a moment there she thought she was doomed before a gloved hand caught her, holding her in a hug-like way before drawing her back from over the railing and helping her collect herself once again. It was Richard. "Hah...No need to make me rescue you princess..." he said with a smirk. "I may be skilled but I cant guarantee I will always be around for things of that nature."
"Oh Rich....You just startled me is all," Celeste replied. "I would have had you killed if you had forced me to use my emergency rocket boosts! You know those dont come easy!"
"Hah! You wouldnt...." he scoffed playfully before making his way to stand next to her, gazing upon the city himself. "Quite a nice view you have from here...if I do say so myself...."
"It is quite nice isnt it..." She said softly before shifting feet uncomfortably and biting her bottom lip. "My question is why did you come into my room unannounced?"
"I was trying to find that bloody little bugger of an alarm clock you have! It woke me from my sleep a tad too early as well. I dont think it alarmed the others, but seeing how I bunk right next to your room, it can be picked up with my sensitive ears you see," he said, smiling slyly.
"I see...did you experience an unusual side effect of hating all life as we know it as well?" She asked, giggling softly to herself.
"Aye...I did...for a moment until I saw quite a beauty walking down the hallway to the mess hall. It was then that I thought I could sneak in and do yah a favor and hurl that thing halfway across the city from up here for you... " He said cheerfully before gazing to her with a rather warm smile. " Anyways...How are you, besides tired? I know we both are."
"Anxious..." She said, collecting herself as her joyous face faded once more into that of a battle-hardened veteran. "Do you think this is a good idea Richard...? Me and my father had squabbled over it. He said that it was too dangerous, but I brought up the fact that this was another great opportunity for me and that he shouldn't suppress my will to go on and make a name for myself as well. Him, being naturally defensive, wanted me to stay, but I convinced him otherwise. Do you think we should really go...?"
"There wont be another time like this. His method of dealing with things are sending an elite crew of soldiers to handle them on foot. This is a scenario that calls for subtlety, not mass of weaponry and an army. Bringing those two elements into the field would simply scare off our enemy and completely snuff out our leads and ties to those in the lower tiers of this city. If we can somehow get there without causing too much noise we will have them in our grasp. Even if this is a trap, we cannot be certain until we spring it, and it is our duties, as members of the Skyguard, to help one another in time of need. We probably will never be able to get another good solid lead on this again once they know they have been ratted out." he replied sternly.
"Your words ring true. We must strike them while we still have the element of surprise," She said, nodding to him before looking over back at the city, the twin suns slowly rising higher and higher into the sky. "Even so...we could just go on your orders...and keep you safely--"
"No, Richard!" She cried, something finally snapping within her. "I want to go....I want to be there....with you....I want to be with you..."
Richard simply stood there, gaping next to her as she turned and hid her face from him, a gentle tear dropping from her face, speeding towards the ground and to be never seen again.
"Richard....I'm sorry....I came on too strong...." She said, but before she could say anything more, she found herself being hugged tightly by the fox, her arms slowly wrapping around his torso as well before she felt a warm muzzle pressing to hers, her eyes closing the moment she felt his mouth part hers with his tongue, which began to gently slide over hers in a passionate and warm kiss.
She closed her eyes and indulged herself in the blissful moment, allowing herself to become lost in the world of uplifting euphoria as she finally recieved what she desired from him the most, love and affection. She found herself idly rubbing his uniformed back, his tail swishing to and fro behind him as hers slowly wrapped around the bushy length.
"Mhhh..." she mumbled out softly to him, opening her eyes halfway to find herself staring into his own beautiful amber ones.
"Gods...I've waited for this for so long...and now it is finally here...is this a cruel dream? A respite from what is soon to come as a rude awakening ...? Or is this indeed heaven on earth....?" She thought to herself before reluctantly breaking the kiss and gazing into his beautiful eyes.
"Wow...." he muttered, speechless before blushing bashfully. "I...would ask for another but..perhaps that is asking a bit too mu---"
Without warning she lept onto him and he instantly caught her in his arms, showing no struggle as she forcefully pressed her muzzle to his once again, her eyes closing as she felt time escape her once more...the kiss lasting a blissful lifetime in her mind, but only lasting several minutes in reality, at which he broke it and rubbed his head against hers affectionately before setting her down.
"I never thought that you would truly accept the fact that I feel and care for you more than a friend..." She said, looking down.
"It is fine...we are over that now...it's just us now...remember..?" he said, smiling warmly.
"Richard....thank you...." She said, hugging him before looking up. "I have an order for you."
"What is it my captain...?" he replied sternly.
"Well...make that two." She said, smirking. "One, dont call me captain, call me Celeste. And two, rally the rest of our crew and tell them to get geared up and ready for our attack."
Richard nodded and winked at her. "It shall be done, sexy."
She gasped and growled playfully at him as he darted from the balcony and past the doors to her room. She had always marveled at how fast he was, able to sprint at great speeds without tiring. It was then that she realized that she, too, needed to prepare, slowly making her way back to her shelves where she had angrily chucked things over her shoulder from.
It was then that she reached for a small chrome pistol, placing it in the holster of her belt, several small round black metallic orbs, a small jet pack, and a small black rod, which she looked down upon with the utmost reverance and care before putting it at her side, its form hanging like some kind of short sword, the rod only being as wide as her palm.
She then reached for her last piece of equipment. A pair of black goggles laid on the highest shelf, which she promptly grabbed and placed upon her face, blotting out part of her vision. In a matter of moments, the lenses transitioned to the light, allowing her a perfect view as she slowly made her way out of her room and down the dimly lighted hallways.
Hearing the frustrated cries of her crew and several large crashes, she smirked and chuckled lightly to herself before going to lend Richard her aid.
Celeste collected her thoughts once again as she stood leaning up against the railing of a stairway down onto the smooth, polished grey floor of the hangar, which held several large hovering crafts that were humming softly to themselves as the clamor of tools was heard amongst everything else, yet found itself drowned out by her thoughts.
She soon snapped out of it and pulled the small hologram projector from her pocket and gazed upon it, punching a small green button with her thumb and dialing the numbers "4719312" into the three dimensional dial pad that burst forth with a shimmering blue light.
She gently set the projector upon the floor, and as she gazed down upon it, a blue, flickering form of her father sprang to life. It was evident that she had awoken him slightly too early as well, judging by his attire which consisted of his sleepwear and bagged eyes.
"S-sorry father...I did not mean to disturb you from your sleep at this hour...but it is time for me to inform you that we are being readied to launch," she said to her father in a soft voice, knowing how obnoxious it was to hear a loud person in the morning.
"Tis' fine my dear daughter....I knew you wouldnt heed to my concerns, but it would make you and your mother proud to see you going off on your own to do your own adventurous and heroic deeds...I'm just an aging hermit too afraid to venture from his shell..." he said before looking into her eyes directly. "I see you have forgotten your holo-map..."
"Oh!" she gasped before shaking her head and grabbing a spare from a rather large black crate next to her. There were several others, including small little comforts such as spare hologram projectors and writing utensils to the table to her left.
"It is such carelessness that I worry about my dear....it could be your end...." He said in a warning tone.
"I am sorry father...I'll keep my mind in my head today...I promise..." She said, smiling to him.
"Indeed you will. I have faith in you my daughter...remove this thorn from my side will you? And come back safe..." He said before the transmission ended, his form flickering and disappearing with a bright flash. Picking up the projector, she stowed it away ginngerly with a finger back into her pocket before rushing off to a group of similarly dressed humans and a bear and fox.
They were all gathered around Richard as she approached, the bashful looking fox rubbing the back of his neck with a huge look of utter embarassment as she approached him.
"Wow Rich...seems you finally hit the jackpot eh...?" Joe said with a rather peevish look upon his face.
"Heh...I s-s'pose so...heh..." he said as she approached.
Without warning, She grasped his face with both of her hands and planted a long, powerful kiss upon his lips before winking at him and walking away, swishing her hips playfully at him while looking over her shoulder.
"Whoooooooahahahahahahaha!" Xavier began to hoot in hilarity, leaving Jeremiah to chuckle to himself and Sarah to gape in utter shock that there was an official "Thing" between the two of them now.
"Heh....Alright crew...listen up!" Celeste called out. "Set!" With that command, they all tensed up and quickly formed a straight line facing her, their discipline being nothing short of stellar as she slowly walked towards them.
"I want no mistakes out there today! We must pluck this thorn from our kingdom's side and we must do it with whatever form means necessary! Do not engage unless fired upon, or finding yourself in a situation that not doing so would mean your life! We do not want to be called tyrants or give our elite corps a bad name. Secondly, we must do this silently, which means no turbo thrusters until we engage combat IF we are forced to do so. This is a simple roundup crew, nothing more unless the enemy decides they wish to be beliggerent and fight us. I can assure you our weaponry far exceeds their technology, but it is today that we will finally strike this force down. They are a nuisance, a gnat that must be dealt with underneath the iron fist of my father's city. They will see the flash of our weapons...they will feel the sting of our blades...and they will know our unrelenting courage that burns deep within our hearts! By the might of my father's kindom...The Nova shall fall!!!"
With that, her crew shouted out in glorious triumph as they raised their fists to the air, to which she raised her own and pulled back in unison with them before charging towards her chrome-colored craft.
"Let us fly!!" She shouted, quickly approaching the side of hers before patting it on the side, causing a blue light to flash from one of the unseen panels, a lightweight staircase unfolding that led up to the cockpit.
As she quickly climbed it, it unfolded after each of her steps, jumping in with excitement as the cockpit's roof closed and sealed shut with that delightful new leather scent. She hurriedly pulled both belts from over her shoulders and clasped them tightly in the buckles to each side of her, tightly tucking her in the padded safety of her chair before she reached into a side compartment and retrieved a small glowing chip, inserting it into her goggles, causing a 3-d display of HUD to appear.
After doing such, she began to flip on small levers and ignite the engine, pressing a flashing white button which caused the thrusters behind her ship to burst to life, as well as several lighted displays within the cockpit itself, including an emergency release lever and several gauges. As she placed her hands on the dual-handled piloting wheel, she relaxed, the vibrations of the engine starting up feeling like a wonderful massage, something she always took pleasure in.
Celeste's ship was much shaped like a great big "A", but heavily armed and sleek in form, the chrome angel being one of the most beautiful things that had ever sped through the skies.
As the vehicle warmed up with a loud hum, several screens appeared on either side of her, showing the faces of her comrades and what was going on in their cabins. From Xavier's side, the loud obnoxious beat of an old techno song was playing, causing Jeremiah to swear and curse angrily.
"Alright! Get ready for launch!" She shouted over the com-link, watching as a golden light began to flood her vision as two large panels slowly parted, revealing the hangar to the city's public as the doors slowly opened.
"Ready check! Crew! Report!"
"Ready!"
"Gotcha!"
"Yeehaw!!"
"Pheh..."
"Lets do this!"
She smiled, and nodded to her own camera before pulling back the thrusters shift and surging forwards through the opened gates, followed by several zooming crafts that quickly broke into formation behind her, Xavier's quickly doing a barrel roll before falling in.
After several hours had passed of flight over the populated provinces surrounding the city, they found themselves flying into a large, lush area of greenery and flowing rivers, the twin suns having risen into the skies and it was nearly noon, the sky being illuminated with a pleasant lighting that allowed them to see for kilometers into the distance from where they were flying....it was surely a sight to behold...
There were lush forests in the distance...as well as a mountainside that had surfaced in the past, rivaling that of the rocky mountains themselves...each peak reaching into the sky so high that they seemed to threaten to touch the moon itself...metaphorically speaking.
"Wow! Your father never let you out here princess...?" Richard asked curiously as he gently cruised next to her craft, waving at her from his own cabin.
"Yeah...he's too worried that I'll get hit by some kind of enemy aircraft, even though he knows I'm the captain of this elite corps, that I've trained the very best," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Dont take it personally," Sarah replied, her lush, sweet voice ringing over the intercom.
"He just cares about you," the gruff voice of Jeremiah said, his face as stern as ever.
"I just want to feel important...I want to rid him of this...Have you seen him lately...? He is losing his luster..." she said, frowning.
"It is a noble deed, if it can be accomplished," Xavier said sceptically. "I somehow doubt these guys will honestly be there but hey...what am I to judge the fact that they "conveniently" ordered pizza from one of the restaurants in the slums I mean come on! I dont even think I'm that stupid!"
"Cut it Xavier....now isnt the time for witty remarks...we have an enemy to aprehend," Richard replied.
"Oh come off it!" Xavier piped up playfully. "You're just trying to impress your new girlfriend!"
"Oh you've done it now!" Richard said playfully with a hint of anger to his voice.
"Boys! Relax!" Celeste said, gazing upon her holo-map as a blinking dot slowly surfaced upon the gridded green map.
"What is it captain...?" Joe asked, casting wary glances at his camera.
"I've picked up a signal....It seems to be really small....like some kind of drone or traffic light...." Celeste said, raising her brow.
"It's probably just some blip, who knows," Sarah said in frustration. "I just want to blast some baddies out of the skies already."
"Cool it...we wont be blasting anything out of the skies if we dont get the jump on them..." As they zoomed over the area where the signal had been picked up, a camoflauged lizard-humanoid grinned slyly with an old communication device within his talons that closely resembled that of a phone.
"Masssster....the Sssskyguard approachesss....." he hissed.
"Well done...lay low...and wait for the signal...."
"Captain....!" Joe called out over his com, looking rather startled.
"Report" Celeste replied.
"There are several inbound blips upon my holo map...perhaps we should have payed more attention to that dot upon yours when we flew over! This may be our moment at last...they dont look too friendly either, they're closing in fast and are in formation..." he replied, causing Richard to grimace a bit.
"It must be them...there isnt another organized squadron within leagues of here....prepare your weaponry for combat! Remember do not engaged unless fired---"
She was interrupted by a large blast to the side of her hull, leaving a streak of ash and grey along the site of the blast, the blue laser having slammed into her hull and marring its beauty with a discolored patch.
"Break formation and engage!!!" She cried, her craft suddenly burting to life with rows and rows of turrets as they rose from beneath the chromed hull, her fellow pilots breaking off into seperate directions.
The sudden zooming of the enemy crafts were heard as they passed her, her own ship rocking slightly at the speed at which they were traveling. "Engage thrusters!"
As she looked upon one of them, the bright isignia of the Nova was shining brightly against the sun, each of their ships resembling those of the old Tomcats used centuries ago, but with upgraded technology and weaponry as they zoomed past.
Static began to fill her cabin as a sudden intruder filled one of the screens, the form of a large Coyote humanoid coming into view, his left eye covered by a single eyepatch. "Right into our trap....so soon Skyguard...?" He chuckled. "You have ventured too far from your daddy's hands princess... quite a mistake...one which we hope to exploit...."
The sound of laser weaponry firing filled her com-chat as she saw her allies engaging the enemy, suddenly snapping out of it and grasping her own controls, chasing after an enemy craft that zoomed past her.
"You have plagued our city for the last time! Tell me...who has employed you to do their dirty work this time...?" She growled, firing her blasters at the craft in front of her, only to watch it tilt sideways and dodge the oncoming blasts before pulling a sharp veer to her left.
"Oh...I assure you..he pays well....but it is not me who is going to be doing dirty work..." He chuckled, his foul grin never ceasing to fade from his face.
Angered, she let loose a frenzied volley of blasts at the craft she was pursuing, several of them landing and one of them bursting the thrusters of one its craft.
"Checkmate..." she said, grinning before blasting again at the other, this time with a large rocket. In a sudden explosion, the craft was sent falling out of the sky to its doom, the cockpit painted red with the blood of the pilot within. She watched with a sort of sadistic glee as she watched the unlucky pilot fall from the sky before becoming nothing more than a flaming fireball upon the ground, the ship being blown to smithereens.
"You'll pay for that...." he growled...
"Not as soon as you will, Coyote....You have just placed a vendetta upon yourself. You are marked for death, and I shall be your undoing..." she said through gritted teeth as she dodged a missile, watching two others zoom past her as she made a sudden nose dive follow up by a barrel roll, rising once more into the air and firing off two of her own at the source, one of them landing directly in his cabin and blowing the entire ship into nothing but scrap metal as flames rained from the sky.
"Captain! Theres too many of them!!!" Joe cried.
As she looked at the screens of her comrades, she noticed that Sarah was bleeding from her forehead, and Xavier was biting his bottom lip, hurriedly making desparate gestures to get away from what seemed to be an unavoidable scenario. He was being attacked from behind and front, being forced to push his craft to the limit as he nose dived and veered to the right, tilting his ship every time he could to avoid the fire.
"Hahahaha....that is right....you are vastly outnumbered..... Give in and we will spare your friends...." the Coyote chuckled menacingly.
"What is your name...." She growled.
"Just call me...Coyote....my name is of no concern to anyone...." he replied smugly.
"Well, Coyote, if you knew anything about the skyguard....you would know that we never give in!!" she roared, and from the top of her hull, several missile pods began unleashing hell, releasing guided missiles from each pod until all ten were used, the used weaponry slinking back underneath the panels that had risen.
"Skyguard! Evasive action!" she shouted as she watched the wispy trails of her missiles chase after numerous black jets, eight out of ten striking their targets, some of them landing a fatal blow to their targets whilst the remainders just crippling them.
"Nova! Attack! Unleash hell!" Coyote shouted, his own craft beginning to chase after Xavier's. Celeste frowned angrily and gave chase, firing volley after volley of everything she practically had, not wanting to lose him to her own mistake....
"Captain!! Help!!!" Xavier cried, his left booster suddenly bursting into flame as one of the three crafts that were pursuing him landed a lucky blow, bursting the thruster and causing his craft to sputter out of control for a moment before regaining a weak maneuverability.
Seeing this, she carefully locked on with her goggles and fired three well-aimed shots, each one of them hitting a craft.
In a cloud of fire, two of the tomcats were destroyed from her precision, the lasers having destroyed the engine whilst the flaming cabin of one of their ships fell to its fiery demise.
"Ahhggh!!! Coyo...te...." was heard from his end before a deep growl.
"You wench! Say goodbye to your friend!!!!" He said angrily before darting towards the crippled Xavier.
"NO!!!" She cried, giving the throttle all she had before watching as he launched several missiles at her beloved crew member....
It all happened slowly.....
She quickly rose up between the missiles and Xavier with her craft, looking back over her seat at the baffled Coyote before two deafening crashes were heard in her hull, one of them causing the internal heat of her cabin to rise to a painful temperature as she watched half of her craft simply burst into flames and detach from her cockpit, which was falling to the ground below now with a piece of flaming hull still attached. Luckily, her comlink was built into a battery within the front portion....
"CAPTAIN!!!! NO!!!!!!!!" Xavier cried, in tears as he watched her fall from the sky.
"No...NO!! YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" Richard shouted angrily over the com...
In his rage, he instantly broke away from the enemy craft he was pursuing and locked onto the chuckling Coyote, who only heard the warning of being locked on too late, several loud beeps being the last sounds he heard before a deafening roar, and darkness, several large blasts tearing his craft into numerous small blazing pieces as a cloud of flame engulfed him and his ship.
As she fell, she noticed that she wasnt simply falling from the sky, but gliding perilously with the remainder of her ship into a heavily forested area which was still many miles below...it was only a matter of time.
Angered, she tried to move her right arm, but it was stuck in between the metal of her dented hull and the door, her hand mere inches away from pulling the emergency release lever...but it was impossible... She cried out in fright, and tried with her left arm, still to no avail, cursing her straps for being so tight... then it donned on her....
She quickly grabbed her pistol with her left hand and began blasting at the interior of her craft, freeing her arm in a matter of seconds, feeling the blood flowing through it once again.
"I'm ejecting!!!" She cried before watching one of her own crafts fall from the sky, blasting into the ground several miles away with nothing but a great fireball..... On her screen, the space where Jeremiah would be, simply said "offline"...
Before she could say anything, she pulled the lever and was ejected into the sky,the straps swiftly falling off of her before the chair fell to the earth below, her jet pack being activated upon ejection and allowing her to safely speed towards the ground to where she deemed safe, which appeared to be a small forested area.
As the battle went on above, she noticed several more explosions, but none of the rest being her own crew, silently kneeling to one knee and letting a few silent tears drop from her eyes, mourning the death of one of her comrades....
Before long, the skies were cleared, and four fighters remained victorious, two of them having been shot down, and one of them causing a death to her friend and ally...Jeremiah....
As she stood, she watched them as they circled in triumph, hearing a beeping sound from her goggles before clicking on a side button, watching as several forms appeared within her field of vision, the four of them looking rather winded and exhausted from the battle.
"I am fine..." She said reassuringly before shaking her head..."Jeremiah will be missed...but he died with honor..."
"Sarah is bleeding profusely from her head, I dont think she's going to make it home conscious...." Joe said, frowning.
"I'll take her....my craft has a second seat...Normally I was planning on using it for pretty ladies that I--" Xavier began to say.
"SHUT IT! This is no time for jokes...My love...are you all right...?" Richard asked, his voice cracking with concern and grief.
"I am winded....but nothing more..." she replied, standing to her feet now. "Are you okay Xavier...?"
"I am...thank you for saving my hide..." He said solemnly.
Before she could reply, she felt a sudden blunt force against the back of her head, screaming loudly as she fell. The force of the object sent her goggles flying from her face before she found herself face first in the scratchy grass, the back of her head throbbing with pain as she peered up with blurred vision at a dark figure before her.
"Celeste..?!" she heard richard cry before they were stomped out by a booted figure.
"Give her another...sssssshe isnt out yettt...." she heard a snake-like voice hiss.
"Please...no!" she cried, but then all went black as another brute force hit her in the same spot....at least this time it was numb....
CLIFF HANGERS FOR THE FUCKING LOSSS.....but I'm tired...deal with it XD ...anyways....gonna write a bit tomorrow again for the final chapter of this series.