by Per Holbo
Chapter 10: The Escape
There wasn´t much room in the fighter, as it was meant for no more than three people. Roeskva and Tjalfe had to curl up in the rear, where a small cubicle was designed to hold prisoners of war, while Loki and Sif sat in the front with Freya squeezed in behind Loki. She held a gun to Loki´s neck in the event that he would try something crazy. At the same time she kept a close eye on the console and regularly checked the data on the front screen.
Loki started booting all systems that did not make any noise. That way they would have the best chances to get out of here before the Yetten figured out what was going on. Then he held his hand over the console and looked crookedly over his shoulder eyes fixed on Freya.
”Ready?” He asked. Freya approved with a nod of her head.
”Here we go!”
The engine started up with a humming sound as he touched the console and soon the Farbauter was on its way. They didn´t get very far before the entire hangar was teeming with Yetten warriors working experienced together to get their fighters on the wings and in almost no time at all every internal gun inside was manned and began firing wildly in the direction the stolen ship. Loki threw the Farbauter from side to side while he steered toward the closed hangar door coming inexorably closer and closer.
Sif and Freya stiffened as the door grew in size before them and Roeskva squeezed herself as close to Tjalfe as she could. He responded like a good big brother holding her and assuring her that Loki would get them safely out of there.
It was not an empty promise. Shortly after there was a loud bang as Loki hit the hangar door with a well placed shot on each side and the door broke loose from its huge hinges and disappeared into the void outside. A storm of air pushed everything in the hangar that had not been securely strapped to something solid and the Farbauter was no exception. The hull shook with a deafening noise equalizing the tremble as they approached the hole where the hangar door had been only seconds ago with ever increasing speed. Peeoow! Something flew past them in a deadly pace and Loki once again had to make slalom maneuvers, as several fragments from destroyed platforms and small tools passed them by only inches just outside the window. Even the otherwise cool Freya had instinctively ducked, even though she knew the shield would bend off all the deadly fragments. Shwoosch! Shoouw! Schooit! Zah! Feeoow!
Roeskva, who had been sitting with her head covered under Tjalfes arm, looked back and Tjalfe marveled at the calm expression she had in her eyes.
Suddenly they were out through the hole and everything was quiet.
”It's not over yet,” Loki warned them as he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Roeskva had gotten up and was now squeezing her way in alongside Freya. She didn´t respond to his warning, but just stared out the window trying to spot the Alfheim, which she expected was out there somewhere. Tjalfe came up to her and tried to pull her back, but she made a small twist of her shoulders and wriggled free. He decided to let her stay, but moved as close to her as he could, so that he would be able to intervene if something dangerous happened. A group of fighters washed out of the great ship like water from a water fall and regrouped in a formation like a dragon with a long tail just behind them. Then every Yetten fighter started firing and everything outside the window lit up like a bonfire as the bursts passed by, some of them being dangerously close. A few shots hit the Farbauter in the rear and they felt a jolt as one of the engines suddenly went out and decreased their speed significantly. A few Farbauters, who´s pilots hadn´t paid enough attention, rushed right past them and had to make a couple of sharp turns in order not to smash into the stolen ship. They quickly counter turned and approached the fleeing prisoners with guns on full roar in a wide arc from both sides.
”Sif! The cannon, ” Loki yelled as he pressed the Farbauter away in a downwards curve. Sif quickly jumped into the gunner seat, started up the gun and began shooting expertly at the enemy fighters, although she found it quite the challenge. She was accustomed to the speed of the Skarfi and it wasn´t easy getting used to the somewhat cruder method, the Farbauter´s much heavier gun presented. It spat out rays on both sides of the Farbauter and a few of them hit its target making the Yetten fighters catching on fire. Now to the other fighter! Sif threw the gun around and tried to get him on the gun sight, but he swung unpredictably from side to side making it almost impossible to get a clear shot.
”Sif! The first fighter!” Freya suddenly cried as she realized that the pilot in the burning fighter to the right had apparently decided to revenge his own death even before actually dying and was now on a collision course against his enemy. Sif swung back the cannon to the right and struck with unerring certainty and soon the vessel exploded into several pieces and spread out wide like a net trying to catch the renegade Farbauter...