Chapter 15: Chapter 5 ( Crash site)

Izzy suspired and closed her eyes; she had realised that no one was coming to rescue her so she decided to repair her craft herself; if I do a decent job, I might be able to limp my way home.

As ugly as class one fighters were, Izzy knew that she was fortunate to be flying one because repairs would have been more difficult if it had been a class three or four. Note to self, never moan about being given an old graft. The gods knew what they were doing

She had just repaired enough of her craft to take off when suddenly some dark dust was on her helmet, and so was debris; she turned around, and a strong wind was blowing everything not attached to the ground her way.

It didn't take long for a buzzing sound to get closer and closer; A chill went through her spine, her heart started beating faster, and her stomach turned into knots.

No, no, no, no, please Freya, no, not them, she thought.

But the buzzing just got louder. That was not the sound of any Alliance vessels; it was the enemy, and they were landing.

The pace of her heartbeat sped up so much so that she thought it would jump out of her body. Her entire body, especially her hands, shook uncontrollably, making it impossible for her to hold the tools anymore.

She threw the tools and ran as quickly as possible, got inside her craft, and prepared to take off.

The wind intensified outside, the Gliders' wheels came out, and the two Gliders landed.

Quick scans can tell if a craft is suffering any malfunction and her scans of the Gliders confirmed her fears. They didn't land because their engine was faulty, they landed after spotting me, and they are fully armed; what am I going to do?

Panic grew, and her shaky hands kept pressing the scan button, hoping that what she saw was wrong. Ok, Izzy, no need to panic just yet. Maybe they won't come near you, she told herself.

She peeped outside, and the pilots were still in their craft. Her heart was beating so fast and so intensely that she felt like they could hear it all the way to Valhalla.

What on earth are they waiting for? Come out already, she thought, but nothing.

Her head started to spin; her fear had grown to the point where she was almost hyperventilating. She slid and sat on the cables; I am going to die she thought.

While she was waiting for death, she started singing to calm her nerves:

Death, you are only a journey

With the blood of my ancestors spilt in battle

With the swords of my mother and father drawn for us

With the Gods of Asgard watching over their children

I know that victory in death is victory indeed

It works, thank the gods. Her heart lightening, her headache was disappearing, a warm feeling had started to course through her body, and she felt invisible solid arms embracing her.

In military school, they learn a lot of comforting songs, but it was the first time she had used them during combat. She decided to take a quick look outside and refrained from screaming; one of the Glider's doors was opening, and a shape was getting out of it.

The pilot was advancing toward her craft. The second pilot also came out of his glider and quickly joined his colleague. After exchanging words in sign language, they approached her fighter.

Unlike the new models, the old crafts used the same power cells to power their engine and fire at the enemy which meant that the more they would fire, the less power they had to return home.

She corrected that mistake later but that wouldn't be at help to her. She had enough power to either launch a single assault or use it to get as close as possible to the Alliance's border and send a distress beacon. I guess I don't have a choice, I have to try and take them down. She sighed, note to self, ignore your previous note to self.

She waited for them to be as close as possible, then started her engines; they both jumped and started running toward their gliders, their suits slowing them down. The first pilot had almost reached his glider when Izzy opened fire.

His plane exploded, the blast killing him. The second pilot turned around and headed toward Izzy's fighter. Pulling out his weapon he started shooting at her craft.

It did not take long for him to reach her door and soon it started heating up with tiny red-hot flecks of metal flying all over; Oh, my gods, is he trying to get in.

She hid at the back of her craft, picking up in passing her Syngun and waiting for him. Yans' weapon of choice are swords but due to their impracticality not to mention the weight of traditional ones, they had to rely on Synguns and Streak-guns.

A Syngun main purpose is to immobilise a target by administering an electric shock to avoid causing serious injury.

The Petronians have a similar weapon called a Blast-gun; except for the fact that the Petronian gun discharges a powerful blast that can send the receiver flying across the room.

Yan soldiers prefer the Petronian blast-gun to their Syngun but have so far failed to convince their government to allow its use. The council was worried about the elevated level of casualties when using a Blast-gun.

Izzy heard a loud sound; he is here. The tall Petronian walked in, and she pulled the trigger, hitting him twice. Petronians are resistant to the Syngun and it takes at least two discharges to incapacitate them

Not this time, however, the pilot fell but was still conscious. He started moaning so she slowly approached him, leaned down and then she saw it, his Blast-gun. He fired, and the blast sent her flying across the cockpit.

She landed on a piece of metal that pierced her side. Blood started pouring out, but due to the shock she wasn't in much pain; she became light-headed, and her muscles felt heavy.

That quickly changed when she attempted to crawl to a panel nearby. She screamed at the intensity of the pain and with her trembling hand tried to take out the metal, but it only worsened the pain. She could see the Streak-gun but with it so far out of reach it was useless. Why didn't I join the ballet like Pam?

Streak guns are laser guns, with the potential to be lethal and it was also her last chance. The fight is over, he has won.

The Petronian started to get up slowly, Izzy's gun had managed to hurt him but not knock him out.

He took a few shaky steps toward her, but she had grabbed a piece of metal and was pointing her weapon at him what the Hel am I doing? This stupid piece of iron won't scare him.

He casted a disdainful look at her weapon and smirked "look, let me take you to my craft; we have great doctors in Petra."

She tried to let out a fake laugh but coughed out blood "Yans .... never.... get...... taken."

Suddenly, he clinched his chest; he felt a sharp pain and his breathing was slowing down.

A faint smile appeared on her face at least I have hurt that cocky beast a little.

He sat back down and said, "Oh yes, I forgot. you guys kill yourselves rather than be captured."

Her face was pale, and her hand could no longer support the weight of her weapon; she dropped it and whispered, "Shut the Hel up."

The Petronian watched as her grip on the iron piece loosened. A smile brightened his beautiful face and he started crawling toward Izzy.

She could see him approaching but was too weak to move; she had lost too much blood. I guess that's how it ends; they say the kill chip is painless, I hope it's true, I can't take any more pain. Three, two, one......

A shadow appeared over the Petronian; her vision was blurry, but she recognised the blue and gold Inuksuk symbol on the midnight blue SAF (Space Air Force) uniform.

It was Yuka, pointing a Streak-gun at the enemy pilot. She said, "Drop your weapon." He slowly turned, looked up, turned back to look at Izzy and smirked. Yuka took a few steps toward him, placed her weapon on his head and said, "Obedience is not mandatory but trust me, it is HIGHLY recommended."

He finally pushed his weapon toward Izzy while Yuka took a few steps backwards, picked up a wrench and hit him on the head.

She ran to look at Izzy's injuries, "Oh my gods Izzy, I don't think I can move you."

Izzy nodded, but her breathing was getting even slower. She whispered, "Adrena......"

Yuka nodded, pulled an adrenaline pen from her uniform, and injected her.

She screamed, but it boosted her strength "Take him; his Glider is still outside. Take him to his Glider and fly him to Alliance space."

Yuka shook her head "what about you? You will bleed out."

Izzy forced a smile "we need his Glider to study it and I want him questioned; i think he was here for me, I was targeted, I want to know why."

Yuka gasped "Izzy, I can't leave you here. Forget about him, we will capture another pilot. I am taking you with me."

Yuka held out her hand to her Yerima but Izzy pushed it away "I am expendable; if I die I will be replaced. They are after me and my family; we need to know why. Take him, quickly."

Yuka shook her head again "no way; I am not letting you die here. besides, we probably already have some of those Gliders."

"If they had one, they would have shown us a plan of the drop's mechanism, but they didn't. We have a chance to fill this gap. Take the bloody Gliderdrop to our people."

Yuka was shaking her head, and tears had started running down her cheeks. She took her Yerima's hand and was sobbing, "please don't make me do this. Please let me stay with you, Yerima. I will send out a distress beacon; we will be rescued."

"Or Petra will find us first, and all will be lost. I am not asking anymore; grab him and take his craft to our space. This is a direct order from your Yerima."

Yuka started, "please...."

"Enough. I have made my decision, and it is final. Go...., now," said Izzy

Yuka raised Izzy's hand to her mouth and kissed it, "May the gods clear your path to Valhalla."

The last image Izzy saw before losing consciousness was Yuka shooting the Petronian with a Syngun to ensure he did not wake up during transport.

Everything was spinning, Izzy couldn't get up. She opened her eyes, she was on a bed, a bandage on her waist; she attempted to get up, but an intense pain hit her. She smiled, pain meant that she was alive, and the bandage meant she had been rescued.

She heard a knock at the door, oh wait, what if I was rescued by the Petronians? She looked around and it looked familiar; she frowned, but said in a tired voice, "come in."

A guard wearing the Korsning colours, gold, rosewood red and Egyptian blue came in and she felt relieved. He read her a list of people requesting to see her; she noticed Yuka's name, and her face lit up.

"Guard, what's your name?" asked Izzy

"Sean O'Connor, your imperial highness"

"You are not a northerner. Who gave you this assignment?" she asked

"Your imperial highness, it came directly from the council of war."

Izzy nodded "Oh, must be my aunt then, makes sense. Well, Sean, it's your lucky day; your assignment is now your holiday. Go, have fun; your guard duties are no more."

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He opened his eyes in shock but kept quiet, smiled, bowed, and started to walk backwards when she said, "Oh and please do me a favour, let Yuka Jakobsen know that I will be delighted to see her. And please stop calling me your imperial highness, Yerima will do"

He smiled "Agreed, your imperial ...., I meant Yerima", she laughed and waved him away

A few minutes later, there was another knock

It was Yuka!

"Yuka! you are safe. You made it," said Izzy

But Yuka was still standing at the door, staring at her. Her eyes started to fill, and she let out a sob. Izzy tried to get up, but a sharp pain crippled her, and she let out a moan.

Yuka ran to her side and gently pushed her back on her pillows. She pushed Izzy's hair back, sat on the chair next to the bed, took her hand and kissed it while still weeping.

Izzy caressed her hair gently "I am so sorry, I had to send you away. Do you understand? Please tell me you understand why I had to do that"

Yuka was silent, Izzy asked "Who rescued me?"

Yuka raised her head and looked at Izzy. Her jaw was tense, and her bottom lip was trembling.

Izzy frowned, "what happened after I lost consciousness?"

Yuka took a big breath "I tried to carry him, but he was too heavy. I couldn't even drag him out, so I decided to strip him of his uniform."

"What? Why?" asked Izzy and she burst out laughing, despite the pain; she could not help herself.

Yuka continued "I was hoping he would be lighter that way." She raised one brow and a shoulder then added "Plus I had never seen a naked Petronians before. People are right, they are a beautiful race with those scales of them."

"Oh, my gods; did you take pictures?" asked Izzy

Yuka giggled, "you bet I did."

She pulled an HPA which is a holographic photo album shaped like a glass tile and switched it on for her Yerima.

Since the war with Petra, Yans had learned a lot about their enemy's physiognomy. They had discovered that like chameleons, Petronians' skin has a few layers; crystals called selective mirrors made the layers.

Petronians' skin also allows light to travel through their skin; it hits the crystals and bounces through pigments in the layer above.

The colour changes depending on how the light's angle hits their skin; it serves them well when they want to hide.

But being able to admire it from all angles was beyond what Izzy expected. She was so busy admiring the Petronian's skin that she had forgotten to ask about his craft or as Yuka called it, 'the northern girls' spoils of war.'

Izzy said, "continue, how did you get him into his craft?"

Yuka smirked "Believe it or not he was easier to drag undressed. I restrained him and went to check his glider; it did not take me long to be able to open it. Remember the old gliders?"

Izzy nodded, and Yuka continued "the Gliderdrops have the same mechanism. I must admit, the Glidersdrops are even more beautiful up close. Its black coat has silver shimmering; is a work of art. It also has random specks of glitter and glass, making them sparkle in the light just like their skin; these people have thought of everything,"

"Maybe I should get myself one," said Izzy

Yuka giggled, "You and me both. Anyway, when I boarded it, I was not disappointed. The interior is light grey and cream, gorgeous, but the most impressive part was the pilot cabin. The technology is much more advanced than anything they ever had. It has plating changes, interface driving and scanners three times more powerful than their previous Gliders."

She then hesitated then added "then I went back and got you. I'm sorry, I just couldn't leave you there to die."

Izzy smiled and said, "thank you for saving my life."

Yuka turned red and nodded.

"What happened next?" asked Izzy

"I got curious and checked their database. Oh, and I also found an auto stretcher which I used to get you and the pilot on board"

Izzy frowned, "Hold on, what about his venom; did he release it?"

Yuka shook her head "no, he didn't have time."

Petronian secrete a venom that burns their target. Some of them can turn their venom into a mist, creating and infect an intimate space of two by three metres. The venom stings the eyes causing temporary blindness; the skin suffers burning pain and blister.

But the worst is what it does to the respiratory system; the inhaler feels a burning sensation in the nose and throat as soon as they inhale the mist. Coughing and shortness of breath follows; although not fatal, the effect last for five to seven days.

She continued, "I had already e-cuffed his hands and feet, so I wasn't worried about him waking up. I engaged the autopilot and directed it to Alliance space. As soon as we got there, I activated the distress beacon; two vessels showed up; a Huginn/Muninn battlecruiser and a Space Dragon."

Huginn/Muninn or HMs are the Alliance all-black vessels in the shape of a raven. They are heavily armed, as much or even more than Petronians battleships and faster than any other cruiser in the known galaxy; the only problem is that Petronians battleships are more protected and therefore harder to destroy.

Space Dragons or SDs, however, are science vessels. They are in the form of the blue dragon, a sea slug.

They dressed the SDs impress; it symbolises the Alliance's superiority in science and indicates the Alliance's love for advancement in all fields.

They have bright blue undersides and a silver backside and are floating science stations. They rescued the girls, and the air force took the Gliderdrop to be studied.

Yuka then started to look around the room; "By Freya Izzy, your cabin is so pretty and big compared to mine."

Yuka was right about that; officers and Members of the Tens cabins are spacious with a separate dressing area, a full bathroom, and a double bed. It also has an adjacent living space with a sofa and a desk.

Izzy also looked around and said, "Yes, it is, I can hardly believe we are in a battlecruiser."

Yuka was not that lucky; the navy crammed cadets into tiny cabins with grey walls and only one porthole; each cabin housed two cadets.

The trip took ten days rather than the usual three days; the ship was still trying to find more survivors. Izzy asked Yuka to share her cabin allowing the girls to bond even more.

Izzy found a packed recreational room when she first walked into the room; even the captain was there. They had set it up with Yuka; the students wanted to thank their princess for saving them.

Izzy oblivious to it was still chatting away when she heard claps; everyone was clapping for her. She turned red, made a face at Yuka, placed her hand on her heart and bowed. Tears of gratitude fell on her face, and she hugged her friend.

And the staring continued but for another reason. The Members of the Tens usually had separate living spaces and never interacted with anyone else. Commoners relaxing in the same room as the Yerima was unheard of.

Cadets surrounded Yuka when she went to get the drinks "Hi, you are Yuka, right?"

Yuka smiled and nodded; the girl added "We remember you from the presentation."

Another cadet said, "you seem to be really close with the Yerima."

"Yes, I am," replied Yuka while crossing her arms.

"Could you introduce us to her imperial highness?" asked another one

She raised one shoulder, "I'll think about it;" she then picked up her drinks and made her way back to her table.

A giggle escaped Izzy's mouth, "what was going on there? You look pretty pleased with yourself."

Yuka laughed, "more people wanting an introduction."

Izzy raised a brow "and...."

Yuka shrugged, "I told them I'd think about it."

Izzy gasped "what? I am fine with it; I don't mind."

Yuka leaned back on her chair and stared at Izzy; "Please let me enjoy my newfound power"

Izzy shook her head and burst out laughing.

"Yuka, why did you choose the armed forces?" asked Izzy

Yuka shrugged "I didn't choose the armed forces; I chose to be an engineer with wings, and you can't be one unless you join the air force."

Izzy shrugged and raised a brow "true"

Yuka then jutted with her chin at the other cadets "Is it bad that I enjoy having girls like them being envious of me?"

Izzy glanced at the girls, "What do you mean by 'girls like them'?"

"Children of essentialists"

Izzy nodded; she knew what dynasties meant to the empire. The empire started as a monarchy/meritocracy but over time skills that were considered essential for the growth of the empire kept changing. After a few civil wars, the Yans decided to move from a strict meritocracy to a social meritocracy; it worked but it was not perfect.

The essentialists, a group just below the aristocrats, are people working in a field that is vital for the growth of the Yan society.

Izzy placed her hand on Yuka's "and now you are one of them"

Yuka giggled "Yes, I am a big bad essentialist. I intend to be the most sought after one" and she winked at Izzy.

By the time they reached Yanar, Yuka had yet to introduce Izzy to anyone, but she knew she would have to eventually and that idea filled her with dread. She didn't want to lose the person who had now become her best friend.   

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