Iron Angels
an excerpt

“What's your status?”

Lena gritted her teeth as her fighter shook from the impact of almost constant hits. She could have kicked herself for being in the same situation she had been in just fifteen minutes ago, but she didn't have time for that. She was too busy fighting to stay alive. “Shields at forty percent and falling,” she said after a spared glance at the panel that displayed her fighter's damage assessment, somewhat surprised at how calm her voice sounded. Her brain must be in overload. It was ignoring all emotion. “I can't take much more of this.”

“Hang on,” Liza replied, pushing her craft to its limits in attempts to get to her friend faster. “I'm coming.”

Yeah, Lena thought to herself, glad that she was too busy to actually say the words. Like I'm trying to get my butt kicked. If she hadn't been under so much pressure she would have laughed at that thought for just moments ago she was wanting to do that very thing.

Acklin did her best to keep up with the two planes she was following and was worried by the fact that it was getting easier and easier to predict which way Lena was going to move. Her friend was beginning to panic and she wasn't thinking.

Kelton winced as the dreaded tone of warning that said her enemy had switched to missiles and was attempting to acquire a good lock came through her cockpit's speakers. This. Wasn't. Good.

“Calm down, Lena,” Liza breathed quietly to herself. “I'm almost there.”

The tone went solid and Kelt knew she was dead. A moment later, all went black.