//------------------------------// // The Game's Ahoof // Story: Innavedr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// From the upper deck of the Noble Jury, Eagle peered over the railing's edge. His expert eyes narrowed—then promptly widened upon seeing the spiraling airship up above where Rainbow Dash was currently stranded. “Oh no...” Wincing, he spun and galloped to the cockpit. Curious, Imre and Tweak followed him. Bursting through the open doorframe, Eagle leaned against the back of Floydien's seat and exclaimed, “Rainbow's in trouble! She's stranded up there!” Clark spun to face her. “Stranded?” “You're certain of this?” Tweak asked. “Eagle Eye's sight is not to be questioned,” Pilate remarked. He tilted his head in the stallion's direction. “Where was she, exactly?” “A lone skiff, elevated above the rest at about ten o'clock high!” Eagle Eye pointed out the cockpit window. “If you bring the ship hard to port, you'll see it too!” “Nancy Jane isn't about to exposed herself to the stabby stabby!” Floydien grunted. “Our cover is flimsy enough as it is! An exit from this mess, Floydien must help Nancy Jane find!” “Mr. Pilate, you're in contact with the adventurer, yes?” Pilate spoke into his soundstone. “Rainbow Dash, this is Pilate. Are you okay? Eagle Eye says you're stranded.” Silence. His striped muzzle contorted in concern. “Rainbow Dash, please respond! You're in the enemy's open line of fire!” The airwaves were still silent. “This is not good,” Eagle Eye murmured, fidgeting. “If she goes down...” “Maybe she's having another one of her dizzy spells,” Imre droned. Pilate's ears twitched at that. “You know about that?” “You're not the only stranger she's forced to open up, you know.” “Can't we fly towards her and save her?!” Eagle Eye asked. “Floydien's got a point,” Clark said with a nervous twitch. “Right now, we have the other ships masking us. If we expose ourselves to save her, we may ruin our chance to fly off unnoticed.” “Well, screw that plan!” Eagle Eye stomped his hooves. “Rainbow Dash needs our help!” “Nopony's suggesting we abandon the lady. So simmer down.” Tweak trotted in and spoke. “Could we get one of the Nightshade ships to save her?” “They're in even less of a condition to expose themselves than the Noble Jury,” Pilate said. “Rainbow Dash was heading towards the three battlecruisers to give us a distraction. Now, we're all sitting ducks.” “And once they blow up the rest of this 'fleet' around us...” Tweak spoke aloud. “Floydien needs a decision soon!” The elk grunted as flak exploded not that far from the hull. “Nancy Jane's sky stone isn't made of steel, boomers...” “Roarke...” Imre said. Clark glanced over. “I beg your pardon?” “Roarke. Let's call Roarke in.” “That'll blow our cover completely!” Tweak grunted. “Besides, it's suicide! She's better off flying to meet us in a rendezvous elsewhere!” “Imre, we appreciate the thought,” Pilate said. “But your good friend has put herself in danger with Blue Nova's defenses enough as it is—” Imre practically shoved her horn in the zebra's face. “In Roarke's case, there is no such thing as suicide! I'm telling you, if there's a pony in our party who's qualified to do a tough task, it's her! She will gladly save Rainbow's life, and all our necks in the process!” The cockpit was silent. Pilate shuddered, smiling bashfully. “Who am I to question such wisdom and intuition—?” “Ungh! Just give me the damn stone!” Imre grabbed the communicator and spoke into its glowing surface. “Roarke. Roarke, this is Imre. Answer me.” Far to the west, beyond the eastern walls of the city, beyond the billowing smokestacks of the industrial district, beyond the gardens and courtyards of downtown Blue Nova, Roarke's manaship spun and twirled between skyscrapers. Many of the gliders that were chasing her had put a great deal of distance between them, perhaps out of caution or maybe out of fear. “Yup! I think they've pissed themselves!” Josho shouted into the winds rushing through the open window. “Can we call it a victory now?!” “The forces of Ledo do not give up easily,” Crimson muttered, hanging off the metal grips of the gun turret. “They'll regroup and attempt to overwhelm us with vast numbers.” “Damn! And here I thought there'd be a surplus of drinks since I ditched their lame-ass ranks!” Crimson glared at him. “Why haven't I bucked you out of the ship yet?” “You're welcome to try, muscle mass.” “That's it!” Roarke shouted from the cockpit. “The next time I hear so much as a growl from you two breeders, I'm slitting your bellies and tying you together by your entrails—” ”Snkkt—Cute stuff, Roarke,” Imre's voice droned through the glowing console. ”But we have something of a situation here.” “And I don't?” Roarke grunted as she veered the ship around, scaling the body of a skyscraper. “I'm running out of fuel and energy in the manaconduits. Our gun turret is nearly dry and there're still a crap ton of angry fighters on our tail. Have I mentioned that my priceless ship is shot to hell and spitting smoke?!” ”Roarke...” “Aren't we supposed to be meeting somewhere?! I need to tell Rainbow Dash face to face that she owes me a perfectly good manaship—” ”She's collapsed, Roarke.” Roarke's eye lenses shrank within their frames. ”She's lying dormant on a runaway hovercraft and is just a few seconds away from being blown to ashes by huge battlecruisers. We needed her for a distraction to get out of here, but she hasn't responded. Everything is going to go to crap as soon as she bites the dust. Roarke's jaw clenched tightly and she began shaking. ”Roarke, please. Don't make me beg you, girl. We need—” With a hiss of red steam, the metal mare's helmet snapped shut. Her projected voice grunted, “We're going in!” She jerked at the controls. Josho twirled around. “We're going where—Gaaah!” His body flailed as the entire ship swung violently east. If it weren't for Crimson's outstretched hoof catching him, the obese unicorn would have fallen out the open door. Both stallions clung to the bulkheads of the cabin and watched as Roarke throttled the ship east at a speed so monumental that it caused vaporous bubbles of air to burst one after another in a straight line. “I barely heard any of that!” Crimson shouted, squinting into the wind and g-forces. “What's wrong?! What's happened to Rainbow Dash?!” “Nothing...” Roarke rocketed the ship past the final line of skyscrapers. “At least not on my watch.” Past the east wall of Blue Nova, a dense swarm of hovercraft could be seen clustered around three humongous warships. The Ledomaritan forces fired blindly into the madness, whittling the crowd away, one smoldering hull at a time. “Looks like they're trying to overwhelm them.” “How'd they expect to get away?!” Josho grunted, struggling to see through the cockpit windows. “They'll kill themselves!” “Not without effective misdirection,” Crimson said. “I'm guessing that's what Rainbow had in mind.” “Looks like we're the distraction now, boys,” Roarke muttered. Her helmet tilted left and right. “If only we can find her first.” Josho pointed. “Ask one of them morons where she's at!” “Imre!” Roarke spoke into the console. “Which airship is Rainbow Dash lying on—” A chunk of the manaship's hull exploded. “Gaaah!” “Jeez!” Josho reeled. Crimson fell down to the floor. As flames and smoke spat out of a console above him, three dark shapes approached from the south. He looked straight out the door, his eyes wide. “Blessed Spark...” “What is it?!” Josho grunted as another manablast ricocheted off the beat-up manaship. “Ungh... The managaliders?!” “Worse...” Crimson peered his head towards the cockpit as the three shapes grew closer. “Roarke! I think your sisters are here!” Roarke flashed a look through the starboard side of the cockpit window. “Oh, for Goddess' sake...” Hundreds of meters south, speeding towards the air battle with screaming precision, three Searonese manaships zoomed towards one vessel out of the dozens upon dozens still left in the air. Inside the centermost ship, leaning forward across the cockpit with both hooves on the throttle, Terra grinned from ear to meaty ear. “Roarke Most Rare...” Terra licked her dry muzzle and hissed, “That's what they'll call you for centuries, because that's how I'm going to serve your flesh in the halls of my sisters...” The massive mare tilted her head back and shouted to the other bounty hunters at their stations. “Arm the weapons! Lock on Roarke's ship! Destroy everything else around her! The skies belong to us!” “Yes, Bloodiest Spear!” “As you command it!” “Blood for Searo...” Terra grunted as the ship accelerated to the breaking point. All three vessels pierced into the air battle like metal comets, serenaded by the war cries of the violent souls within, lusting for carnage. “Blood for Searo!”