Dynamic Patrol: Gel-Squad (Remastering!)

Chapter 23: The Storm

Just as soon as they were aboard, D1 shut the ramp behind them. She moved toward the bridge with Russell and Tommy. When Russell entered, he immediately looked out the window and examined the situation. This was at least a class five atmospheric disturbance; flying through such a thing would be impossible for the autopilot, which was a system that D1 had reprogrammed herself. Tommy and Russell strapped in while D1 threw switches, pushed buttons, and initiated the takeoff procedures. The bridge control surfaces bled with smoke from water condensing off the pipes behind the control panels. Russell brought the rest of the monitors online to continue tracking the storm and the rest of the ship's systems. "Prepare for launch," D1 announced before she moved to the helm, taking her steering controls with her graspers.

"Fuel level at 13 percent." The A.I started over speakers as the crew prepared to leave the city. "Is that enough..?" Tommy asked, "It will have to be. If not, we must use the reserve tank." Said factually. The vibrations of the storm began to radiate through the ship, even more so as D1 gave power to the engines, causing them to spool up immediately. D1 took to the skies, switched out of VTOL, and into traditional flight mode; despite the fuel level of the primary tank, she pushed past the redline to try and escape the storm. The turbulence was the worst part for them; D1 navigated similar things serving aboard the passenger ship, most notably the final time she and Tommy were aboard the vessel when she and Tommy crashed it; she would save time by cutting through the eye of the storm, which of course she'd never done. The ship pivoted to a 30-degree angle and continued to move forward. As she pushed for it, Freedom took a powerful electrical charge that cracked the forward windshield unapologetically. Alarms started blaring as the consoles exploded in firey sparks. "What was that?" Tommy asked, "It was the electrical pump for the reserve tanks."

"Wait..? Is that a problem?" Russell asked, looking toward D1, who gave pause. "We are unable to utilize the reserve tanks until we repair our electrical system." Tommy and Russell made eye contact as the ship kindly informed them that the fuel level had been reduced to 9%. The Freedom did not have enough fuel to climb altitudes, which was unfortunate because the storm would be rendered relatively benign from up in orbit. She was using enough fuel as it was trying to fly through the damn storm, and quite expertly indeed.

The ship was struck by another lightning charge, which caused sparks all across the entire bridge. Russell eyed his console. He recognized the low fuel alert. This ship was running on fumes; crossing the eye of the storm was like pushing through a massive wall of lard; rather than smoke, D1 pushed more power into the engines and continued to ride the turbulence. She climbed the altitudes. Russell noticed the stain on the engines and started to shut off all nonessential systems and divert all the battery power into the flight systems, leaving the ship mostly in the dark, save for the emergency lights and the displays being used to track the weather.

Russell opened up loudly, "This is just like when you and Tommy first met, isn't it?" D1 did not take her eyes off the controls. "Did he tell you that--?" D1 questioned as she continued to ride the winds. "Something like that," Russell said, his voice trembling with fear... he never liked to fly... he was designed for the ground. "Well... now, we've got a new memory... together." Tommy smiled weakly. Things were showing no signs of settling, and for a good ten minutes, the ship was struck continuously with waves of turbulence until it was struck by a massive shock wave, which caused another flurry of sparks from many of the consoles and the emergency alarm again. Tommy pressed a few buttons and flipped on the exterior cameras. He examined them for a moment. "What is it?" Russell asked as he saw Tommy flip between the sections of the ship. "Do you remember all of the crumbled-up buildings? Well, that storm has conjured up several pieces of it and is now sending it back toward us at speeds of over 700 miles an hour."

"I'm raising shields," Russell confirmed, operating his console immediately. D1 magnetized herself to the metallic hull of the bridge floor, "The ship took yet another barrage of lighting, and the power went out. They were dark. "What is it?!" Tommy asked in a panic; he braced himself against his chair, and Russell did the same, hyperventilating as the ship was quickly losing altitude. "We have lost all electrical power! Weapons, shields, navigation. Everything!"

Russell flipped the power core switch on and off, attempting to return their systems back to a functional state. "I can't power cycle. Hold on!" Russell yelled across the bridge, and so they did.