Invasion Wars 1: Crimes of War
Page 16
The fighter swung away from the group, following through with VALKYRIE’s orders. The rest of the ships continued their attack on the Muspell, firing off their payload where Emich had just escaped from. Valerie could see the explosions from the ship’s rear cameras. What she couldn’t detect was the ship that was heading right for them — hidden unless she switched to thermal, which there was no reason for. Being smaller and not limited by any human means, the fighter was coming in fast.
“Looks like the ERA are trying to claim victory for themselves,” Valerie remarked, seeing the Muspell slowly crumble away with each bombing run. Flashes of missiles and turrets continued as they flew away from the end of the cannon’s mouth.
“Let them. Everyone can think it was them.”
“They have no idea that you were in there. Once word gets out that it was due to the new Siegfried Exoframe, there’s no way the ERA can take credit. All they are doing is making it so there is one less shadow in the sky for tomorrow.”
Emich grunted, the painkillers being pumped into his system still not having any effect. His immune system seemed to break it down still, even with him stuck in the suit. “The sky… I hope I get to see the sky again.”
“You will. Just stay with me. We’re coming into Earth’s atmosphere. You’re almost home.
Home, Emich thought bitterly. Where is home? I’ll never be home. Never again.
The cabin shook violently, waking him up the second he closed his eyes. Red lights flashed, the alarms going off. “What happened? What is going on with the ship?
Valerie was aiming the ship’s turret backwards, locking on to the fighter at their tail. The side rocket homed in on the ERA ship, blowing it up from the center. Huffing, she moved the controls with no response. Checking the ship’s status on the side, the map of it showed the back engines in red. She let go of the controls, taking a second to clear her mind.
“This is terrible. The ERA is out to get you. They got the back pretty good. Too good. There’s no way to steer the thing back to base.”
“What?!”
“This is bad, this is very bad.” She typed up on her handheld in a panic. “Earth’s gravitational pull already has you. There’s no way to stop it.”
Emich tore off the tubes the robots had put into his suit’s ports. Pushing his way through the medical drones, he limped his way down the lines of beds, the pilot seat all the way at the other end. He fell, the shaking of the ship going beyond what the GCB could handle. Outside, the main thruster was off, partially blasted off by the small rocket that hit it. Emich slid across the ground, the ship spinning out of control from its ruined engine.
He tumbled all the way towards the driver’s seat, bracing himself against the back of it so he doesn’t get stuck on the ship’s front. Crawling around the seat and strapping himself into place, the ship’s gravity was completely offline, everything behind him starting to float. Turning on the frontal screen, all he got was static, having no idea where he was going to end up. He tried to stay conscious through the incoming pull of G-force, his suit squeezing his chest and legs. It wasn’t enough.
From the recent blood loss and fatigue, his eyes were already getting blurry again. Breathing was harder than ever. But as he blacked out, he saw it. His mind took him to the Vanir Plane, away from his body. The Song of the Niflheim was in a different verse, telling him more of what they had planned.
Earth was not their only target.
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