"Are you out of your mind?" Jasper blurted, the words coming out before he thought better of it. Around him, people shifted, reacting. "What happens if-"
Boom. The ground shook. Along the cafeteria shelves, plates and cutlery clattered noisily. There were exclamations of surprise and fear.
"Quiet!" Reyal shouted, cutting through the noise. Her eyes unfocused for a moment as she checked her feed. "It's one of the attacking fighter craft. They were just knocked out, crashed down on a nearby island."
"The pleasure cruise took one out?" Someone asked. People began to chatter again, a collective wave of surprise.
"That settles it," Annika spoke up. "Clearly, the ship seems to be able to handle itself."
"It's still a warzone!" Jasper found himself protesting.
"Yes, it is." Annika answered, locking him in with her gaze. He managed to maintain the connection for only it for a moment before looking away, displeased.
With a sniff, she turned to address the whole group. "I'm going to ask for volunteers first, before selecting."
Riko stepped forward almost immedietly, the gills along his neck flaring out. "I'll go. You need a pilot." Jasper eyed him with a tinge of admiration. Riko had been born and raised on this planet, and it made sense he would volunteer himself to keep it safe. Still, Jasper couldn't even fathom that willingness to put one's life on the line, not these days.
Armed with her booming voice, Reyal quickly assembled a group: Riko would pilot and act as security, assisted by another member of his team. She also managed to rope in Edin as a technician on-hand; he stepped in after Arden eagerly offered himself.
Then, finally, she turned to Jasper, who, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, knew what was coming next.
"You said volunteers first!"
"I did."
"Okay, well ask, then!" Jasper didn't care how he sounded. Right outside the complex, just a few leagues away, was a smoking, mangled husk of a ship. There was nothing stopping the same from happening to him.
"Okay, then." She looked around. "Would anyone like to step up? Someone who thinks they can fill in for the head of the Medical Department? It wouldn't be ideal - you'd have to carry your own equipment, unlike someone with a Factor."
Jasper gritted his teeth, very aware of his subordinates' silence. They failed to meet his look, Reyal's intimidation far stronger than any influence he had over them. Hannah, one of his physicians, gave him a weak, timid smile.
Jasper threw up his hands, stomping towards the assembled squad.
"Fine! I get it. I don't have a choice, right?" Ardern reached out to give him a sympathetic pat as he passed, but he shrugged it off.
Coward, the Old One sneered. You've gotten so, so soft. Jasper clenched his hands into fists, fear and rage tearing his brain in two. Undeterred, Reyal took advantage of his preoccupation, quickly shepherding the group out of the hall and through the resort. They were almost halfway to Aquatime's shipyard before Jasper had the sense to complain again. But even as he opened his mouth, Jasper felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Edin, his brow furrowed with concern.
"What's going on, Rift?" He asked. "I've never seen you like this before..."
Jasper shook his head, unable to form even the ghost of an explanation. "You don't know what's waiting up there," was all he said. "Reyal doesn't understand what she's making us do."
"Hey, it'll be fine, right? She wouldn't be willing to send us up if it wasn't - even with the law." His tone was inquisitive, but Jasper went silent, unwilling to give him the reassurance he seemed to want.
She'd be going with us if she felt that way, he thought.
She's obligated to do this, the Old One answered. Just enforcing the rules. It's unfortunate that your Factor makes you valuable... but this may be a good thing.
How could this possibly be one?
If you get killed, I may find someone who aligns more with my needs.
Great. There was no need to express himself further; he simply sent a surge of disgust and anger down the channel they shared.
Although, the Old One continued, seemingly ignoring his burst of emotion. Something's wrong here.
He broke their connection for a moment, his attention on a narrow flight of stairs. The group had reached the dockyard by now, a semi-exposed warehouse that sat along the complex's side like a barnacle on the larger building. It was attached by a structural network that included the stairs and a walkway that arched above the water.
Pay attention, the Old One insisted as he stepped through the doorway and out onto the catwalk. A craft like that shouldn't have the firepower to take down a small, nimble fighter craft.
Still annoyed, Jasper ignored the entity in his head. Instead, he, along with the others, craned his neck for a view of the pillaring tower of smoke that sat a few leagues away. Already he could see figures in dinghies like his own making their way across the water towards the unseen wreak. The smoke was too thick to see the source. He felt a flash of worry for them, but belatedly remembered that most could simply slide below the waves at any sign of danger.
They were in the dockyard now, taking an identical set of metal stairs down to the warehouse floor. With walls and a roof constructed of light, corrugated metal, the space felt hastily constructed - and it had been. Aquatime was relatively new, and growing quickly. They had needed a space for their new fleet of vehicles; the dockyard was a temporary space to keep up with demand.
Reyal led the group towards the far end of the warehouse, away from the enclosed dock. While aquajets and dinghies bobbed in the water, moored in place, the dry-ground space hosted a set of flight-capable shuttles. Sometimes, cruises stopped at Alto II in orbit and never landed; the resort would ferry tourists to the surface with their own craft.
Rico pointed at one of the smaller, sleeker ships. "We should take the Skywave. It's the fastest, most maneuverable." Jasper eyed the ship. It was a Mokoto-class shuttle, one of their standard models. Compared to a military-grade vehicle, the thing couldn't hope to outrace a missile.
"This is all we have?" Jasper was incredulous. "We're gonna get killed-"
"Enough, Jasper!" Annika's composure finally cracked, and he stepped back, startled. "Do you think I want to send you all up there? But this is what it means to live on the edge of space, to be a part of the Ferrum Rete. If they could take a ship down, it means those people have a chance. So we have to do what we can."
The others avoided looking at the pair, busying themselves with takeoff preparations. It was a standoff, one that Jasper knew he wasn't going to win. There was a time when he would have stood his ground, but the idea of fighting anything filled him with a sense of exhaustion. He sighed, looked away. After a moment, Jasper trudged forward, looking away. He couldn't help but feel like this mission was nothing but a death sentence. Rather than helping the others, Jasper stepped into the Skywave, finding himself in a cramped passenger space. Choosing a seat at random, he strapped himself in, moreso to prevent himself from bolting than anything else.
"Hey," a voice called out from the space ahead of him. Looking up, Jasper spotted Rico up front, already in the Skywave's cockpit. Jasper responded with a noncommittal grunt. Speaking would have probably belied a shakiness to his voice he wasn't willing to admit. He also wasn't in the mood for conversation.
"You've seen time, haven't you?" Riko asked him. Jasper sucked in a breath, surprised. "I know what that feels like," he continued. "Sometimes the fighting rattles people a little too hard."
"That was a long time ago," Jasper finally said, evasive.
"I enlisted in the Corps too, a while back. The Rete had me stationed on a base by Onyx, in Purica territory. I saw a few skirmishes back then, helped break up a major smuggling ring." Jasper grimaced, hating the self-importance oozing from the security head's voice. The people he fought with either didn't sound like that, or were dead.
"What about you?" Riko asked. He seemed eager to establish some camaraderie. "Where were you stationed?"
Jasper sucked in air, hoping the man didn't see him wince. "I served with a regiment on Valle," he answered.
"No kiddin?" Riko muttered to himself in Altonian. "Valle?" By now the others had joined them, and Riko called out to his subordinate, the other member of the security team. "You heard that, Mako? Apparently our resident nurse was on the battlefield!"
Mako glanced at Jasper as he strapped himself in alongside. Something in his face must have signaled to the man, because Mako grimaced. "I'm not so sure those are fond memories, Riko. Don't push the kid, yeah?"
Riko laughed, but turned back to the controls and his pre-flight checklist. Jasper sent Mako a silent thank-you, relieved. What he said was true - but it wasn't the Ferrum Rete he'd been fighting for. Maybe out here, away from all the conflict, people weren't as sensitive to things like that - but he couldn't take that chance.
With everyone in the Skywave, the group numbered four in total, which felt small, even in the shuttle's cramped space. Jasper reasoned that there was a point to that; Annika was trying to limit the amount of collateral damage this disaster could cause. Although he understood why she insisted he take part, he couldn't help but resent the rest of the staff who got to stay behind, safe and sound.
There was a jolt then, and his train of thought was cut off suddenly by the massive roar of engines. The warehouse's roof was jointed; it could unfold like the petals of a flower, and someone had done just that. Riko whooped as the Skywave left the ground. It hovered for a moment before the craft tilted up and took off with so much pressure that Jasper was pushed back in his chair. They shot out into open sky, the Skywave's angle growing steeper until Jasper was almost fully tilted face-up.
The passenger compartment boasted two, wide-paned windows that ran along both sides of the craft. Tilting his head, Jasper could see the curving blue horizon of the globe dropping away from him, the dots of land shrinking by the second. From his angle, he couldn't see the pleasure cruise, but he was sure they were headed right for it.
He could hear Riko shouting into a headset, trying to radio in the ship's communications. Judging by his tone, however, his efforts didn't seem to be successful.
Erin, who sat the furthest from Jasper, suddenly shouted, panic clear in his voice. Then Mako, too, was yelling, and Jasper turned to see a shadow fall across the window on the other side. As he watched, a sleek, dark form flashed by them, almost too fast to see clearly, and their view was clear again.
"That was a fighter craft," Edin's voice was low and somber." Next to him, Mako appeared shell-shocked.
They've seen you. The Old One said. It's all over now. Before Jasper could respond, the shuttle bucked violently, throwing everyone forward. Only their seat supports prevented the group from becoming splatters on the wall.
Lights flickered, then the cockpit went dark. Someone screamed; Jasper barely registered it. Outside, the deep blue of the ocean flashed by, replaced with the pale blue of sky. The fighter craft had hit them, and now they were rolling, spiraling out of control. The Skywave was falling.