//------------------------------// // Raider Down // Story: Storm Hawks : Equestria. // by Royal //------------------------------// 'Note to self: Next time DO NOT wear a female ID badge!’ I thought to myself as I dodged the incoming fire of the Cyclonian battle cruiser closing in on me. My Skimmer began to groan as I pushed my boosters to their max output, it wouldn't take long for my boosters to burn out if I kept this up. I flicked on my radio and activated a distress beacon. "Mayday mayday, this is Raider 2-3, if any Sky-Knights are in the area I need immediate assistance!" I shouted into it as another blast landed a bit too close for comfort. "This is the Absolute Zeroes, what's the situation, eh?" I gave a slight smirk. If they could reach me I'd be fine. "Absolute Zeroes, I need you to hone in on my beacon, I have been engaged by a Cyclonian battlecruiser. Need immediate assistance-"  I saw flashes in the clouds ahead of me and reflexively pushed my Skimmer into a sharp dive. A volley of shots whistled over my head as another battle cruiser emerged from the clouds! “Make that TWO battle-cruisers!” I veered to the left and punched it once again. Great, now there were two. I felt a shock-wave as the blasts from their cannons zeroed in on the range. A shower of sparks blinded me momentarily as the emitter on my radio exploded, quickly followed by my port crystal booster blowing up. I was down to 50% speed with no way to contact reinforcements. I felt my skimmer shake as smoke began to spew from the engines, quickly followed by my altitude beginning to drop. My radio emitted a squeal of static as a commanding voice barked though it."This is Fleet Commander- *Static burst* of the Cyclonian Empire. This is your only chance to surrender.", I was now very angry I couldn't properly respond to the Commander. I drew my Energy Blade. If they thought their Talons could take me down without a fight, They thought wrong... "Commander, the target’s engines are crippled, shall I deploy the Talons to capture him?"  The Fleet Commander smiled broadly as he watched the pilot of the damaged Skimmer draw his weapon. 'This will be entertaining' He thought as he turned to address his second in command. "No, prep the weapon for firing. I want to demonstrate its potential.", he said to his subordinate. The Talon shrank back. "But sir, that weapon is experimental. I don't think..."  The Commander silenced him with a wave of his arm. "Exactly. You don't think."  The soldier took a step back and saluted. "Yes sir." A large metal hulk of a cannon slowly emerge from the bowels of their ship and almost dropped my sword from the shock, I had never seen anything like this weapon. I sheathed my sword, I knew it wouldn’t help against this form of assault anyway. The darkened metal of the behemoth began to glow dark purple as its energy source ignited. Clearly this commander had no interest in capturing me. I was at fifty percent power with my missing engine and moving slower than them, so I was gonna be target practice if I stayed at this altitude. A crazy idea shot into my head, and without any consideration I acted on it. I pressed down hard on the controls sending my skimmer into a nose dive. I heard their ship emerge from the cloud cover behind me as I pulled up to avoid a collision with the wasteland below, I kept as close to the ground as I dared. I had to admit, I was hoping they wouldn't follow me into the wastes at all, but now that they had, I had to lose them. I considered swapping into my skimmer bike mode, but the ground below was just patches of broken rock amidst streams of lava. Odds were I'd hit lava before I escaped, it’s a shame I wasn’t in an area with canyons. I felt shock-waves around me as the second gunship descended from the clouds above me, keeping me from evading to the right or left by laying down a constant stream of fire on my flanks. I heard the cannon charging behind me, I glanced back, there was a dark purple light glow coming from inside barrel. I had no way out, no way to escape. I never thought I would go out like this. I thought I would have at least become a member of a Sky-Knight squadron before my time. Instead I was destined to be shot down by these Cyclonian dogs... I took a deep breath, I glanced left and right, only to see fire from their energy cannons. Below me was nothing but lava. I looked above, beyond the gunship to the sky I couldn't reach. I felt a tear come to my eye when I thought about what I’d never get to do, but this was it. This was how it ended. A blinding light engulfed me. In a desolate wasteland stood a lone figure, her eyes glistening as she gazed at the stars. "That day was going to be perfect..." She whispered to the wind, her melancholy voice echoing into the darkness. Slowly she turned, pulling her gaze away from the stars to forlornly gaze at a black spire in the distance. She flexed her wings, her body still sore from being expelled from Canterlot. Just before she was about to take off, she heard a large explosion, followed by a flare of brilliant lights in the night sky out of the corner of her eye. Turning her eyes to the starlit night, she saw an object falling from the sky, trailing crimson and smoke behind it. Taking to the air she went to investigate.