much time to do so and all he wanted right now was to get back to base. Not being there was making him antsy. It wasn’t just the fact that he wanted to be there to keep his eyes on her, he also wanted to be there in case Shive or that slimy M’Agunt tried anything.
They were getting a little too close to her for his comfort. He didn’t know exactly what Shive’s intentions were but M’Agunt’s were as clear as day, and that made him livid.
“If there are any beings on board, I sense none...” Yce trailed off, the glow in his eyes growing with intensity.
“Deep stasis...” Xul murmured.
“Wait...” Yce frowned, as he moved closer to the vessel. “There is one I sense. Confusion. Fear. Insanity...” He tilted his head.
Kyro felt his shoulders stiffen. “You sense a being inside? He is awake?”
Yce’s eyes met his. “She. She is awake. And she is terrified.”
As they all turned to look at the dark metal that was exposed, the air felt heavy.
To be locked in a prison for so long, awake, and unable to move...it could break the strongest of men.
“Insanity...” Yce stretched out his hand, his brows furrowing in pain. “Her mind is frayed. I cannot calm her.”
“Stop, brother.” Xul grabbed Yce’s arm. “Do not try to connect.”
Kyro gulped, staring at the dark metal. He had to do something. He couldn’t let the female suffer in there any longer than she needed to. He knew what it was like being imprisoned. He knew how it could break a person.
“I can open it,” he said. All eyes moved to him, even the Mukkians’. “I can open the carrier. I can get her out.”
Xul was about to say something when Yce’s mind pulse hit them all.
“Danger in the skies. Incoming!”
They had just enough time to look up before a Hedgerud fighter jet, commissioned by the Tasqals, appeared in the sky above.
The Tasqals didn’t fight fair. But that was no surprise.
The ship seemed to materialize out of thin air and began firing immediately.
Chaos ensued.
The Mukkians ran for their serpents, mounting them with practiced ease while Crex raced for the top of the mound.
It was clear what he was trying to do. If the ship came in low enough, he was going to leap onto it and attempt to take it down. If any one of them could do that, he could.
A roar from Xul swept across the desert in between the sound of the laser bullets coming from the ship. As the bullets connected with the sand beneath them, it caused particles to fill the air, reducing visibility.
But the Hedgeruds piloting the vessel didn’t need to see their target. They had the upper hand.
And they kept firing.
“Evade!” he heard Xul roar, but they were already splitting up, each moving in a different direction. With them all in one spot, they were asking to be shredded to bits.
Crex still crouched atop the sand mound, his eyes completely gone black as he channeled the terror within him.
Dark terror. He understood now, the thought coming to him as he, Xul, Rokan, and Yce crouched behind different dunes.
“These won’t hold up for long!” Rokan shouted.
“And they’ll wake the zehmips underneath!” Yce added.
The zehmips. Those man-eating plants that slept underneath the dunes would only add more chaos to the mix. It was best they didn’t rouse them.
As the vessel passed over them, the sound of the engine cut through the air as the firing stopped. They were going to turn around and do another pass. There was little time to hatch a battle plan.
“I can disable their vessel! Breech the system! Bring the vessel down!” Kyro shouted, his eyes on Xul. As Xul nodded, Kyro brought out his datapad, typing in a string of commands as fast as he could.
“Here they come!” Rokan’s shout cut through the air just before the vessel began firing again.
“I will need some time!” Kyro shouted.
“Got you,” Yce’s voice sounded in his head. When Kyro glanced at his brother, he saw his gleaming eyes tracking the ship. For a second, the ship dipped as if the pilot was experiencing difficulty controlling it.
Jerking his chin down in a nod, Kyro set to work.
The fighter jet was one he’d seen before and he remembered reading the manual for it in just one day. He knew everything there was to know about the vessel without ever having set foot in one.
There was a design flaw in the AI engineering. One that allowed him to transmit a code