//------------------------------//
// War Under the Stars 
// Story: My Own Wings 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

Sunset held on tight as her hover cycle bucked under her grip, the speed being much higher than she'd anticipated and nearly twice as fast as the one she'd ridden on Dinosaur Planet.  The others were all on their own bikes around her, taking whatever paths they were most comfortable with.  She could see Pris leaping off every slope, oversized log, or ravine she could, performing various flips and stunts while in the air and firing on gun emplacements that targeted the group before landing safely and shooting off faster than before.  Raquel was dodging in and around the rest of the group, using focused fire to clear obstacles for the group or create them for the gun emplacements, occasionally tossing a small device into the mechanism of an auto-gun that caused it to target other fortifications rather than themselves.  Jackie was right out in front, triggering the turbo on her cycle to bash through any obstacles to big to shoot through, and once or twice she kicked the barrel of a turret aimed at her, causing it to bend and explode with the next shot fired.  Faris stayed close to Sunset, carefully maneuvering over obstacles and keeping her med kit open and ready to use, just in case.
Diane was nowhere in sight, save for explosions that occurred randomly just when they were needed to let the group pass through.  Having seen some of what the poodle girl was capable of, Sunset quickly put that from her mind.
Glancing up, Sunset noticed numerous aerial drones flying about, and some were beginning to lock onto the group.  She checked the guns on her cycle, but found she couldn't make them point up without making a jump, something she didn't presently have the ground for.  Noticing one drone coming a bit too close to Pris for her liking, she reacted by launching a beam of flame into it.  However, as soon as she did, her cycle began sparking and slowing down.  "Ik-tosha!" she snapped angrily as she struggled to gain control.
"What happened?" Faris asked worriedly as she pulled close.
"I must have released more magic there than I meant to, and the excess is screwing with the cycle's circuits!" Sunset replied in frustration as she tried to maintain heading and speed, only for smoke to start leaking out.  "Dammit!"
"Hold us steady!" Faris instructed as she pulled in close, locking their cycles together as she pulled out a multi-tool and some circuitry.
"Wha?" Sunset began, startled, but quickly grabbed both controls as instructed.
For her part, Faris popped the engine compartment of Sunset's cycle and began switching out parts and repairing others even as they moved at high speed, only bothering to even dodge if a rock came between them.  Leaves she let brush her harmlessly, and branches broke against her armor.  Before long, the smoke stopped pouring out.  "That's the best I can do, but it'll just fry if you use magic again," she offered apologetically.
"Use this!" Raquel called out as she pulled close, handing Faris a bit of the ACSU fabric she and Sunset had studied when trying to apply the Diffusion Weave to her suit.  "Draw a circuit pattern on it and stick it in close to the main power converter!  That should let the cycle handle stray magical energy as long as Sunset doesn't try and pump energy into it directly...at least to the dorms!"
"Got it!" Faris replied as she drew the proper pattern on the fabric before slapping it into the engine and slamming the compartment shut.
Sunset grabbed hold of her own controls again, glad to find it responding properly once more.  "Thanks!"
"Don't mention it!" Faris called back as she hunched low over her own cycle as she took control once more.
"Good ta see you two alright!" Jackie called back as she lowered her arm, an energy barrier she'd been holding in front of the pair lowering as a disc on her wrist stopped glowing.  "Glad mah reflector held out as long as it did, but we got company!"  She pointed upward.
A strange, purple, butterfly-like creature was descending towards the group rapidly, easily large enough to squash the entire group through sheer mass.  Odd energy waves and beams of pure heat lashed from it, striking the area around the group as it pursued them.
"What is that?" Raquel demanded in disgust.
"Whatever it is, don't let it touch you!" Sunset called out as she felt a slimy sensation in her magic as she looked at the thing.  "There's something...evil about it!"
"Of course there is!" DIane called out as she zoomed in.  "It's an Aparoid!  Don't any of you pay attention in history class?"
"Don't take that course," Jackie pointed out.
"Puts me to sleep," Pris allowed.
"Excused from it due to my developments," Raquel added.
"Tested out of it," Faris and Sunset responded together.
Diane just gave them all a flat-eyed stare before blowing her poofy hair out of her eyes.  "Well, don't let it touch you, it might infect you!"  With that said, she turned her cycle into a hedge.  "Come on, we need to take a shortcut!"
Without hesitation, Sunset turned to follow Diane, as did the others.  The Aparoid shot past them, only to disappear as they took a few odd turns under an overhang, only to come out at the hanger next to the dorms.
Sunset quickly shut her cycle down as she turned into the hanger, looking up at the mass-produced Arwings that awaited them.  "Pity it won't work with my magic," she murmured under her breath, "but at least it'll get us into the air and out of danger."
"Move fast, everyone!" Pris called out as she leapt off her still moving cycle to land in the open cockpit of one of the Arwings, strapping herself in even as the cycle smashed into a tank that was turning to shoot at them, the resulting explosion disabling the assault vehicle.
"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Jackie called back as she clambered into another Arwing.  "Hope these are up ta snuff."
"We'll just have to deal with what we've got," Raquel pointed out as she vaulted into another.  "Beggars can't be choosers, after all."
Faris leapt into the only fighter that showed signs of customization, having bulkier shields and an odd sheath on either side of the cockpit.  "Oh good, Zeke remembered the field repair kits," she murmured happily as she worked the controls.  "I should be able to patch any damage we take, though not too much..."
"We'll just try to avoid damage, then," Sunset declared as she climbed into one of the last two Arwings.  Diane seemed to appear in the last one, and it was only a few moments before everyone was strapped and sealed in.  "Engines hot!"
With that call, all six Arwings shot out of the hanger and into the air, heading for space and - hopefully - away from the conflict.