This world is dead. Our homes destroyed. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make a new home among the stars.

C. 25 days, 13 hours since the assassination of rebel leadership

As Uuchantuu waited with Araana, crouched in the shadow of one of the towering stacks of shipping containers, she had never been more grateful for their mundane, short-range comms. It made her feel just that much better as her teammates checked in periodically. Made her feel less exposed and alone in the middle of an Imaia military installation.

The casualties from Memfoso had brought them down to sixteen from their original twenty-four. Uuchantuu had divided them up into four teams under herself, Naruuna, Jaran, and Luuhuuta. Luuhuuta's team were their air support, as usual, and while Jaran's team planted explosives at strategic locations, Naruuna and her team worked to disable the anti-air batteries and ships they would destroy, and prime those they would steal. Uuchantuu and her people would keep watch and be ready to support the others when needed. Despite Uuchantuu's fear of flying, she'd made everyone practice as well as they could the past few days—thankfully, all strike team members went through basic pilot training, just in case—and had stressed Edendo's escape plan. The transports were for supplies, and wounded if necessary. Everyone else would steal a vehicle and leave on that. This raid needed to make up for their failure at Memfoso and leave them with enough supplies to be able to stay underground for weeks. She hoped the transports' modifications were everything Naruuna had said they would be.

"Uuchantuu," Jaran's voice crackled in her ear. "We're ready whenever you give the signal."

She nodded, scanning her surroundings. There was no one in sight. The sun's light was a constant on Lightside, but people still needed to sleep. Uuchantuu had chosen a time between watch shifts, where those up during the first half of the day would be going to get some rest, and those who had just woken up would be taking their places. Both would be tired, and less likely to be as thorough in their duties just yet.

What Uuchantuu had told that lieutenant back at Memfoso had been true. Despite the Imaia's famed efficiency, its people were still just people.

"Stand by," she whispered, then changed the channel. "Naruuna, how much longer?"

Silence for a moment.

"Five more ships and three more batteries," Naruuna said. "About five minutes, max."

Uuchantuu nodded. Everything was going right on schedule. Luuhuuta and her team would be waiting nearby, ready to drop in when she called for them.

Wetting her lips, Uuchantuu broadened her signal to reach the entire team.

"We're almost ready," she told them. "Stick to the plan, and remember, this time we don't hold back."

Her stomach twisted a bit at that, but it needed to be done.

"We can’t leave anything to chance, and we're not trying to win sympathy anymore. Don't go looking for a fight, but run if one comes to you."

After a round of hushed affirmatives, Uuchantuu switched over to Luuhuuta.

"Are we still clear?" she asked.

"No signs of unusual activity," Luuhuuta confirmed. "Just a sleepy port. We're—"

"You!"

Uuchantuu tensed at the shout, eyes wide as she turned toward it.

Two guards had spotted them and were running toward her and Araana, hands on their holsters.

Shit.

"Naruuna, how much longer?"

"Two and a half minutes."

Too long.

Gritting her teeth, Uuchantuu drew her firearm even as she switched to Jaran's channel. Araana drew with her.

"Jaran?"

"Yes?"

Uuchantuu took a deep breath as the guards stopped, drawing their own weapons.

"Detonate."

Uuchantuu fired. Center mass. Her sidearm's report split the air, gaining a metallic quality as it echoed off the towering walls of stacked containers. The other guard dropped a moment later. The discharge from Araana’s weapon pierced the air. Then the ground rumbled, a loud crack reverberated through the port, and Uuchantuu shivered as the stacks of containers shook with the force of the explosion.

Shouts rang out as five more explosions cracked the air, clouds of dark smoke billowing into the red sky.

"Luuhuuta, you see that?"

"Affirmative, Uuchantuu. We're on our way."

"Jaran, make sure none of the batteries are useable. Remember, we need to get out of here with at least one fighter intact."

"Got it."

"Naruuna, take those ships and get out of here."

"I'm staying, Uuchantuu."

Uuchantuu blinked. "What?"

"You might still need me. I've told my team to go, but I'm staying. I'm going to disable these last two fighters. After that, I leave when you leave."

Despite her annoyance at Naruuna's defiance, Uuchantuu was proud of the resolve in the woman's voice.

"Fine," she growled. "Just get to me and Araana as soon as you can."

"Uuchantuu!" Akseli shouted over the radio. "Imaia soldiers incoming. We heard the explosions. Do we engage?"

"Yes, you're with me—toward the docks where all the freight vehicles are." She turned to Araana. "I'm going to distract them. You go help Jaran, then Naruuna. We can still make this work. Just… on an accelerated schedule."

Araana nodded, then ran off toward Jaran. Uuchantuu looked after her for a moment before taking off to meet Akseli and Chanuuk.

Imaia soldiers and guards nearly caught her twice on the way there. Uuchantuu hated using her side-arm, but she'd trained for precision with all sorts of firearms. Between that and her hardlight, dropping those who attacked her took barely any effort, though it left her feeling cold.

Just as Uuchantuu came in sight of the docks, massive Imaia barges docked there to ship resources back and forth across the ocean, another explosion split the air. Uuchantuu couldn't help but grin as she tracked the column of smoke. That one came from near the dockmaster's offices. Stealing records and destroying their digital backups should set the Imaia back a few steps.

Uuchantuu turned her attention back to her surroundings and brightened her gemcrest even as she raised her firearm.

Three guards had come into range, rifles leveled. She picked them off as they unloaded bursts of rounds toward her, cracking and straining her hardlight, then ran over and picked up one of rifles and spare magazines before closing in on the docks.

Akseli and Chanuuk were already there, under fire from Imaia soldiers and guards at various places. That was what she'd intended, but they needed help. She didn't want her distraction to end in any of her people dead.

Taking off at a sprint, Uuchantuu slung the rifle over her shoulder and brightened her gemcrest, forming her tonfas. She came up behind a batch of soldiers and struck them from behind. Her training allowed her to take out all six before they could react, leaving them limp or moaning on the ground.

That encounter had slowed her, however, and she cried out as Chanuuk stumbled back into Akseli just as she came within range.

Pushing herself to her limit, Uuchantuu sprinted even faster, then leapt toward her companions, throwing a hardlight barrier around them as she landed next to Chanuuk and crouched over him.

"I'm fine," he breathed, wincing as he tried to sit up, clutching his left arm. "Through and through. Just need to patch it up."

Nodding, holding in a smile at seeing Chanuuk alive, Uuchantuu fished a roll of bandages out of one of the pouches at her waist and wrapped the wound tight, straining with the effort of tending to Chanuuk while keeping her barrier from shattering under the rain of bullets.

Once she was done, she rose and looked to Akseli. He held an Imaia rifle and cocked his head at Uuchantuu, mask covering what was likely a bewildered expression.

"Why in darkness did you want us to meet here?" he asked.

"We're the bait," Uuchantuu said. "How long do you think we can hold out if I drop the barriers?"

Akseli’s antlered head swiveled as he looked around. "I think we'd be cut to pieces."

"What if we had a distraction?"

"I thought you said we were the distraction?"

A keening reached Uuchantuu's ears, one that grew louder by the second.

"We are," she said, smiling. "For that!"

Uuchantuu pointed to the blood-red sky and beamed as three transports came into view, an old Imaia fighter at their head.

"Down!" Uuchantuu shouted, pulling Akseli to the ground with her as Edendo opened fire.

Uuchantuu whooped as Imaia soldiers ducked and ran for cover, yet the fire from the old rotary guns drowned out her voice, and even the sea.

Clouds of dust, rubble and sparks flew into the air as Edendo tore up the docks. Columns of smoke and bursts of flame followed as he strafed over the assembled Imaia aircraft Naruuna had disabled.

Edendo's attack ripped the planes apart, but he didn't stop there. His guns kept firing as he flew over a section of containers, and Uuchantuu's eyes bulged. The massive towers toppled. Containers fell from fifty meters up to crash into the towers next to them, shaking and toppling them, and on and on down the rows of containers.

Imaia soldiers and dockworkers scrambled, and Uuchantuu dropped her barriers, yanking Akseli and Chanuuk up by their collars as she rose to her feet.

"Come on! Let's get to the pick-up zone."

Uuchantuu and her companions ran through the chaos that had enveloped the docks as even more explosions went off. A glance told her it was the Imaia soldiers trying to use the anti-air guns. Naruuna and Jaran had rigged those to explode if someone tried to fire them.

She, Chanuuk and Akseli stopped occasionally to take out Imaia soldiers that dared pay attention to them, shooting at them from behind hardlight barriers before moving onto the next target, closing in on one of the untouched groups of containers, these not stacked as high.

As they ran, the keening grew deafening once more, and Uuchantuu glanced up as Edendo's fighter soared low overhead. This time it fired on the yard of forklifts and cranes, then moved onto the smaller military watercraft.

Uuchantuu glanced at his path a few times as he looped back around. By that time, Uuchantuu, Akseli, and Chanuuk had made it to the transports, as had Araana and Jaran's teams.

“Akseli, get in there," she ordered. "Help with getting the supplies in order. Muuzuuri, make sure he's alright."

"Yes, ma'am."

The roar of engines made Uuchantuu whip around, and she looked to Edendo's fighter. It was still far off. Then she looked to the airfield and laughed as three shining, modern Imaia fighters, all in different shapes, soared off into the air.

Whooping, Uuchantuu radioed Voranda.

"You gonna be able to fly those things?"

"Looks easy enough, ma'am," Voranda said. "Landing will probably be the hard part. You want us to stick around? Cause a little more mayhem like Edendo?"

"No. Get back to Wolfden. Radio if you see any reinforcements, and make sure you're too fast to follow. Let them know you're coming once you're in range."

"Got it, ma'am! See you back at the base."

Uuchantuu smiled. It was working.

As Jaran and Araana helped move the anti-air battery they'd recovered into the hold of Luuhuuta's transport, and everyone else moved the supplies and records they'd stolen from the buildings into the other two transports, Uuchantuu scanned the area for soldiers, and found a few forming up, rounding a toppled mountain of containers.

She brightened her gemcrest and raised her rifle, letting out a sharp whistle for her team to fall in behind her, when color from above caught her attention. She looked up to see Edendo's fighter losing altitude, one wing smoking.

"Edendo!" Jaran cried.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Uuchantuu watched horrified as the plane careened toward one of the massive barges, barely remembering to throw up a barrier between her people and the approaching soldiers.

At the last moment, just before the plane sailed over the water and into the ship, something flew out of the top of the fighter. Moments later, a parachute popped open above it as the plane exploded.

"You crazy idiot," Uuchantuu breathed into her radio.

"I've got a plan," Edendo shouted over the radio. "Just secure the containers."

Uuchantuu started in that directions, then tensed, realizing the Imaia soldiers hadn't fired on her. They were looking at Edendo.

Dropping her barrier, Uuchantuu sprinted toward him. "Araana, Jaran, with me! The rest of you, get the containers out of here."

Uuchantuu didn't have to go far.

Jaran and Araana unloaded their stolen rifles at the Imaia soldiers, dropping most and scattering the rest. Uuchantuu didn't stop, though.

She conjured a hardlight barrier behind her just to be safe, and ran toward the Imaia soldiers. Even as they trained their rifles on her, Uuchantuu lunged for them, forming her tonfas over her arms.

Though Uuchantuu had been trained in it, she didn’t fight in an acrobatic style. She was a brawler. That training, however, meant she knew how to move quickly, and how to put as much power behind her strikes as possible. And Koruuksi once told her that she knew how to use hardlight even more intuitively than his father had.

Uuchantuu tore through the Imaia soldiers. Bones cracked and joints snapped under her assault. Each sound sickened her, but she didn't have a choice. She had a mission to complete.

At some point, one of the soldiers got a lucky strike in, and Uuchantuu sprawled back as her cheek lit up with pain. She threw up a hardlight shield before her, vaguely aware she was almost at two-thirds capacity.

More Imaia soldiers closed on her, but gunfire erupted behind Uuchantuu, and several of them dropped, the others falling back or ducking behind cover.

Shaking herself, Uuchantuu drew her sidearm and fell back, firing when those behind cover poked their heads out.

She'd taken out two by the time Jaran stepped up beside her.

"They've almost got the containers," he shouted between bursts. "Let's fall back."

Uuchantuu nodded, then caught something out of the corner of her eye. She grabbed Jaran's arm and whirled, yanking him after her as she threw up a hardlight barrier just as one of the gun placements opened fire.

The effort of keeping the shield whole as she and Jaran ran was like a punch to the gut every time one of the rounds hit the hardlight.

"I thought you took care of those!" she shouted.

"We must have missed one."

"Obviously!"

Uuchantuu continued to run toward the transports, but didn't see the point. That battery would tear them all to shreds, ships included. Just protecting her and Jaran for this long had nearly brought her Auroralight down to half capacity.

The barrage stopped. Uuchantuu nearly stumbled and let her barrier fall in shock. Jaran caught her, but they came to a stop, and Uuchantuu whipped toward the gun placement, tense.

It was turning.

Ice formed in Uuchantuu's stomach.

It's going for the transports. They won't make it. It—

—was turning in the wrong direction.

Uuchantuu followed the weapon's line of sight as it rotated on its stand, then looked toward the airfield where Imaia soldiers rushed toward the untouched aircraft.

What?

The massive gun opened fire.

Uuchantuu shrank her hardlight shield, watching in awe as the gun tore through a few of the fighters Edendo had missed, sending the Imaia soldiers running.

"Who's manning that gun?" Uuchantuu breathed, opening her radio to the whole team.

"Sorry I didn't get to it sooner," Naruuna said. "I wanted to wait until the soldier was too focused to notice me."

Grinning, Uuchantuu shook her head and looked back toward the transports. They were done loading the supplies and getting Chanuuk strapped in. The transports had their doors closed and were rising into the air, facing the untouched containers Uuchantuu's team had come for.

"Araana," Uuchantuu barked over the radio/ "Get to Naruuna for support. We might need her in a minute, and I want someone on that gun."

"On it."

"The rest of you, split up. I want half on the transports, the other half of you, get to those fighters and get out of here. Do a pass around the port just in case the transports need support, but if you don't see anything, get back to base."

Uuchantuu looked to Jaran, saw the tightness in his jaw and the worry in his eyes.

"Edendo, where are you?"

"About to be soaking wet. You look in the harbor yet?"

Uuchantuu glanced toward the docks, but mountains of containers blocked her view.

"No, why?"

"Are you kidding? Ugh, just make sure you look on your way out of here. Let's just say the Imaia have two much bigger problems to worry about right now."

Uuchantuu exchanged a puzzled look with Jaran, who shrugged, shaking his head, then took a deep breath. "Just get to a fighter and get out of here."

"Yes, ma'am."

"What about us?" Jaran asked as half their team sprinted past him toward the airfield, rifles in hand.

Uuchantuu looked toward the fighters, just to make sure she didn't need to shield her people, then back to the transports.

“We’re going to steal some fighters of our own.”

She grinned as one of them, hovering above two stacks of three containers each, deployed two sets of jointed hooks from the bottom. Her people rushed to slide the flat ends under the containers, then activated the emerald georaurals.

"Uuchantuu! Left!"

Uuchantuu shielded them without looking. She winced as bullets pelted the hardlight, but kept her eyes fixed on the transports.

This is it.

She really hoped Naruuna had known what she was doing.

The transport lifted higher, hooks going taut beneath it. They strained for a moment, then the containers lifted off the ground.

"Ha!" Uuchantuu cried as they kept rising, held together as though they were a single piece rather than six separate containers.

"It worked," Jaran breathed.

Uuchantuu had no idea how their informant had arranged to get those specific containers stacked that way, but if she ever saw him, she would kiss him for it.

As the other two transports moved into place, Uuchantuu turned back toward the soldiers that advanced on them. She was getting low on Auroralight—below half, now, but that should be enough.

"Cover me," she told Jaran, then sprinted toward the soldiers, pushing her hardlight ahead of her.

This was a much less elegant way of fighting than she'd been taught—by either Matsanga or Aiteperit—but it was just so freezing effective.

Uuchantuu slammed her shield into the soldiers before her, throwing them back. She dismissed the shield immediately, taking the four on the right as Jaran took the three on the left.

She left nothing to chance, wielding a tonfa in one hand and her sidearm in the other. She broke jaws and ribs and ripped through armor and flesh. Putting down the soldiers with such brutality left her cold, but it needed to be done. They were so close—she couldn't let a dazed soldier regain his senses and surprise them at the last moment.

She and Jaran stood alone again in less than a minute. Her heart hammered, and she looked to the airfield. Her people were climbing into their fighters.

The air split with gunfire, and Uuchantuu looked toward the edge of the airfield just in time to see Naruuna's gun stop two armed Imaia vehicles in their tracks as they sped toward Uuchantuu and her people.

"Uuchantuu, we're done!" Luuhuuta called. "The containers are secure and we're taking off."

Uuchantuu grinned, then activated her radio. "Everyone get to the fighters and get out of here. I want three of you with the transports, but the rest of you, fly straight to your designated bases. We've kicked the hornets’ nest, let's get out of here before all of them come out."

"Might be too late for that," Araana said, voice strained. "We've got incoming. East of the airfield."

Uuchantuu whirled in that direction, eyes wide as she took in the mass of Imaia vehicles headed their way. Half looked like troop transports. The others were armored and had weapons mounted on the top.

Those could take out the fighters.

"Araana, open fire!" she shouted, sprinting toward the oncoming threat. "Jaran will take over. Once he does, get out of here."

"What will you do?" Araana asked.

Uuchantuu took a deep breath.

"Uuchantuu?"

Despite the ice in her stomach, the tightness in her throat, a calm resolve settled over Uuchantuu. The mission was more important than any one person making it out. Estingai needed the Remnant more than they needed her. Everyone did.

"I'm going to get you out of here."

And she would break as many Imaia toys as she could in the process.

Uuchantuu crouched as she passed a fallen Imaia soldier, plucking her rifle off the ground, then stopped, took a moment to aim, and fired at the closest gunman.

Two shots hit the shield, but a spray of red flew into the air with the third as the soldier whipped back.

These weren't tanks, thankfully—the Imaia had little use for those now that there were no cities to siege—but they were faster, and it would be easier for another soldier to climb up to operate that gun than it would be with a tank.

As the other vehicles started to fire back, Uuchantuu raise a hardlight shield, picking off the gunman and firing into the canvas of a few of the transports. That made her taste bile, but it meant less soldiers for her people to deal with, and that was all she needed to worry about.

Naruuna and Araana helped a lot.

The armored cars sparked as their plating resisted the bullets, but the heavy gun cut the troop transports to shreds. After it tore through three of them, the rest stopped, pulling in behind them, and soldiers jumped out and started running for Uuchantuu and the airfield.

"I've got the gun now," Jaran said. "Araana and Naruuna are on their way."

"Go for the tires on the armored ones," Uuchantuu shouted, sprinting toward the vehicles again. "Araana, Naruuna, go straight for the aircraft. We don't have much time."

"But you—"

"I'll be fine. Go!"

Uuchantuu hoped she wasn't lying. She probably was.

It took only a few seconds after that for the first of the armored vehicles to come within range. Uuchantuu had taken out its gunner, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. With all that armor, it could probably run through the fighters if it needed to.

Planting her feet, Uuchantuu took a deep breath, then brightened her gemcrest.

She formed a steep wedge about four feet high just before the vehicle’s front left tire, wincing as she held its shape and position against the inertia, then roared as she lifted it into the air.

It was just a small bump, but she'd done it right as the tire reached the top of the ramp. The vehicle's speed worked against it, and it flipped over, unbalanced.

Uuchantuu didn't give herself a moment to breathe before moving onto the next one. Even as she brightened her gemcrest, the roar of the fighter engines filled the air.

Her people were getting out of here safely. That was all that mattered.

Flaring her gemcrest, Uuchantuu shifted to more aggressive tactics. Flipping the first vehicle had made for a good show, but it had sapped too much of her dwindling Auroralight. Instead, Uuchantuu focused on shields and spears.

She ran in erratic snake-like patterns, using her hardlight to block enemy fire when needed, but relying on her speed and the slow enemy guns to keep her safe.

A few of them surprised her. She'd thought most would have standard, high-caliber turrets. A few did, but one had a flamethrower, and she had to form a dome around her as bolts of lightning forked out from one. A coldflash bit away at her Auroralight, and for a moment, Uuchantuu found herself preparing for the worst.

The Imaia's own weapons worked against them, however.

High caliber rounds rained down upon the vehicles. They couldn't touch the bodies or the engines, but shredded the gunners and tires.

"Run, Uuchantuu!"

Uuchantuu didn't need to be told twice. She raced toward the airfield, trusting Jaran to protect her, though she had a thin barrier of hardlight trailing behind her.

Relief swept over her as she saw Naruuna and Araana getting into their fighters as two others took off. There were three left. One for her, Jaran, and—

Araana fell.

No.

Uuchantuu's heart pounded as she raced for toward Araana.

No. Please.

Naruuna had noticed and reached Araana just as Uuchantuu slid down next to her friend, throwing a wall of hardlight up between them and the approaching soldiers. They were more focused on Jaran, but a few rounds cracked her shield, straining her reserves further.

Araana was bleeding from her right shoulder. A lot.

Gritting her teeth, Uuchantuu helped Naruuna turn Araana over.

Uuchantuu breathed a sigh of relief.

Araana’s face was sweaty and pale, eyes squeezed shut, but she was breathing. Uuchantuu looked down, pulling open the woman’s jacket.

Shit.

There was no exit wound.

Ice needled her stomach.

Uuchantuu looked to Naruuna, and saw the same realization on her friend’s face.

This was bad. The transports were too far out, and they wouldn’t be able to safely get out.

No. I’m not leaving her here.

“Can you fit her on your lap?” Uuchantuu asked. Naruuna nodded. “Help me get her up.”

Araana cried out as Uuchantuu and Naruuna lifted her, carrying her toward the fighter.

Hang on, Araana.

Naruuna started up the ladder, then looked to Uuchantuu.

“Get into the cockpit,” Uuchantuu told her, brightening her gemcrest. She was running low, but she would not leave Araana behind.

Naruuna nodded and scrambled up as Uuchantuu scooped Araana up in a hardlight construct. She clenched her fists, breathing heavy with the effort of lifting Araana into the air, then tried to deposit her as gently as she could before dismissing the construct.

“Got her!” Naruuna called just before the engine roared to life. “Get out of here.”

Uuchantuu turned and ran toward the nearest fighter. Halfway there, she heard Naruuna take to the air. Uuchantuu gritted her teeth as she came within just a few meters of her fighter. Once she was in the air, she could circle around and use the plane's weapons to tear through anything that got between Jaran and his fighter.

"Uuchantuu! Down!"

Uuchantuu threw herself to the ground, covering herself with a shallow hardlight dome.

Lightning and high caliber rounds ripped through the fighters even as she hit the ground. Two caught fire, and the other lost a wing.

No.

That was their way out.

Uuchantuu scanned the airfield, frantic, but Edendo and Naruuna had been thorough their sweeps of the airfield.

"Jaran! What now?"

They were trapped. Uuchantuu wouldn't call back her people to try and rescue her. Not with those guns that could tear through aircraft so easily.

"Jaran? Any ideas?"

"We break shit. As much as we can. Maybe take one of the armored cars."

Uuchantuu felt cold, and not in the way she had before. That was something, but they would be chased through the desert, and if the Imaia sent out speeders or more aircraft, they would find them.

"Alright," Uuchantuu agreed. "We—"

"Get to the bridge!"

Uuchantuu blinked at Edendo's voice, looking around for the source, though it had crackled in her ear.

"Edendo?" Jaran yelled over the shared channel. Gunfire cut through the air in the background. "Where are you?"

"Just get to the bridge!" Edendo ordered. "The one leading to the massive crane. Hurry."

Uuchantuu looked toward the anti-air gun Jaran had taken, then followed the raised platform over toward the sea. She saw it. The cars had passed under it, and soldiers huddled down among their damaged transports just below it. Jaran kept them at bay with wild sweeps.

"We'll do it. Jaran, keep up that suppressing fire until I get there."

"Got it!"

Limbs aching, Uuchantuu pushed herself up and ran for the stairs to Jaran's position. She'd always hated running and sprinting, especially when she had to do it in twisting tunnels that weren't anywhere near as long as a track, but she'd never been more thankful that Estingai and Svemakuu had forced the stupid routine onto her. Her heart would have likely exploded by now if not for that, or at the very least, her legs would have given out.

Uuchantuu raised her hardlight shield as some of the soldiers fired at her. She was dangerously low now, close to being lightless. She could fight without her hardlight, but fighting lightless was something else entirely.

Somehow, she made it to Jaran.

She didn't stop as she reached him, just yelled to get his attention, then pulled him along as she passed.

"Edendo, we're almost there!" Jaran yelled. "Where are you?"

"Coming in hot!" Edendo yelled. The man almost sounded happy! "Hold onto the railing and duck."

Uuchantuu crouched, gripping the railing hard as she and Jaran rounded the corner onto the bridge. It left them terribly exposed, and she hoped the flooring was thick enough to resist the soldiers' rifles at least.

"Edendo!" Uuchantuu cried. "Where—?"

She cut off as a loud rumbling split the air and a massive, shining Imaia fighter shaped like a trident swooped down from above and stopped at the last moment, hovering over the bridge.

"Hop on!" Edendo said over the comm. "There's handholds and footholds on the wings for some reason. One for each of you."

Uuchantuu's stomach clenched at the idea of clinging to the wing of a fighter as it sped through the air. Her head felt light for a moment, but as Jaran pulled her toward the fighter, Uuchantuu forced those feelings down and steeled herself.

Using the last of her Auroralight she threw up a barrier as soldiers began to fire from below, and the turrets on the armored vehicles turned around toward the fighter.

"Make it quick!"

Uuchantuu yanked herself up onto the wing, boosting herself up with a push of hardlight from below, then grabbed onto the grips and set her feet into little niches in the wing, crouching low. She released her hardlight, minutes away from being lightless if she had to block any more gunfire.

"Hold on!"

Edendo's fighter lurched backward just in time to avoid a barrage from the turrets, then angled up, causing Uuchantuu's stomach to lurch.

Uuchantuu squeezed her eyes shut, and her hands turned to titansteel, unyielding in their grip as Edendo sent the fighter climbing into the air.

Jaran whooped over the comms and Edendo joined in. Uuchantuu found herself joining as well as the fighter leveled out.

"Where did you get this?" Jaran called, laughing.

"Found a hangar near the water after I took out two Imaia barges," Edendo said. "Had a few newer fighters inside. Sorry it took me a bit to decide which one to take."

"You what?" Uuchantuu said.

Edendo laughed, then banked, angling the fighter. "Look over there."

Uuchantuu took a deep breath and forced her eyes open. They bulged.

For a moment, even the sense of vertigo didn't bother her as she stared transfixed at the two smoking barges, each one partially submerged in the harbor's red waters, containers falling off into the sea. Imaia personnel swarmed around it like ants.

"Told you they'd be busy for a while," Edendo said.

"You're insane," Jaran breathed.

"Isn't that why you love me?" Edendo laughed.

Uuchantuu squeezed her eyes shut again to try and ward off the vertigo and opened up her channel to the entire team—anyone who was still in range, at least.

"Everyone, we made it out!"

Excited cheers and whoops crackled through the channel.

"Are any of the transports still close enough to hear me?"

"I am," Luuhuuta answered. "Glad you made it out. You had us worried there for a moment.”

Uuchantuu smiled. "I want you and Akseli with me. Everyone else get back to your bases."

"Where are we headed?" Edendo asked.

"Last Shadow," Uuchantuu said. "I have a feeling Estingai might need our help."