Excerpt: ETHER: The Last Starfall

Some things in life are unquestionably worth dying for.

Unfortunately, this had to be one of them.

Two streaks of silver light darted in and out of the mist, their quick disappearing acts quickly becoming their greatest trick. Not nearly as sleek, a large cruiser skimmed the treetops below, golden reflections bouncing off of the blue paneled wings.

The buzz of the crafts echoed throughout the forest and sent birds airborne and creatures scurrying to safety. The twin scouts were faster than the cruiser, rapid in their movements and impulsively instinctive. They couldn’t contemplate room for error on their part, nor could they comprehend the quickly changing minds of their human adversaries.

The bullets they shot ricocheted off the hull of the Dragonfly cruiser as it swerved to and fro, avoiding the fray. The pilot and her crew, however, couldn’t be shaken –there was too much experience on their side.

A shining Brig scout sped just over the cruiser’s port side, sending down a shower of bullets as she banked and changed direction. Although the battle appeared fierce and strategically planned from the outside, the crew of the Dragonfly cruiser was at their limits.

“Put that fire out!” It was needless to repeat, but the sting of the smoke in her throat put her at an edge. She received no answer as the two gunners below worked to stop the source of the asphyxiating smell, still rising from the open hatch below.

“We’ve got one more coming up on the starboard side.” A rough voice next to her bounced with the movement of the craft. His words interrupted a shrill beep sounding from the controls before her.

A small screen with the cruiser’s layout blinked, one of the wings highlighted in red. “Second Port Wing’s been grazed.” Adrianne glared through the curtain of rain at the foliage passing by underneath as a green streak. “Figures.” She did not even bother to keep her voice down to a whisper as her anger reached its pinnacle.

“Keep trying to get a hold of Twig,” She ordered needlessly. Meanwhile, the cruiser banked to its starboard side, sweeping underneath the new enemy before righting itself once more. “Even if he can’t get out here, we need to tell him Steele is—” She paused, cursing while trying to keep the aircraft just skimming the treetops. “Well, he’d better get out here fast then.” She muttered to herself.

You know he’s already on his way. The thought came and passed, unbidden and not her own.

“I know.” She answered it aloud as the man in the cockpit half smiled down at her, his sharp features almost laughing despite the situation.

She glanced at the radar, biting her lip as one scout disappeared though they had not shot even one bullet. “Never know what these things are up to…” She whispered quietly as the two remaining increased their speed to a dangerous level for their size and closed in on their stern.

She began to notice a cluster of trees ahead was taller than the rest — a bump in an otherwise flat green playing field.

“Spence.” Her voice carried easily over the radio through drone of the engines and down to the lower level. “Any chance we’ll be on offence soon?”

The radio attached to the ceiling of the cockpit buzzed as he replied from below. “That’d be a negative. We’ll just have to wait it out ‘till someone comes.”

Her eyes narrowed at the view before her as the cruiser turned quickly around the group of trees. The silver scouts followed faithfully in a line, making the turn with grace. Yet, the cruiser did not break her harsh turn as she came to her starting point.
Adrianne pulled up sharply, the craft barely missing the top of the last scout in line. The scout behind her, however, smashed into his comrade in a fiery blaze.

The two gunners below let out a whoop that could easily be heard without the radio as the man beside her laughed. She would have preferred they work on repairing the aft gun — the only one that seemed to be able to damage these new models.

The man seated next to her smiled as well as she caught his glance, her young blue eyes meeting his aged ones. Still, she couldn’t help but allow a slight grin at their short glimpse of success.

The glimpse, it seemed, lasted but a moment.

The radar blinked as something new came into view — the third scout reappeared. It flew up from the treetops ahead of them, breaking through a blanket of fog. The wave of shock had still not passed, yet her fingers gripped the wheel without a thought — but, the cruiser’s size and speed hampered it from pulling away.

The horrifying sound of metal upon metal vibrated throughout the cabin and lower level.