Recently in Chapter 17 Category

Sienna then stepped forward, and handed Tobias her pistol.

"I never actually used it before, it should still be loaded…"

Tobias shrugged, and aimed the piece at the motor.

"Everyone stand back," he warned.

We all stepped back, and he began firing at the motor. He carefully aimed after each shot, trying to hit the same place every time. Finally, on the 8th shot, some of the casing of the motor flew up and off. He then picked up the remaining half of my snapped sword, and began to dig around inside of it. With a loud snap, Tobias jumped, hitting his head on the top of the ventilation shaft.

"What the heck are you doing, Tobias?" I asked mockingly.

"The stupid thing shocked me!"

"Well I guess so, it doesn't run on fairies and rainbows!" Jonathan chimed in.

Tobias scratched his head fervently where he bumped it, as the sound of the vent fan slowly waned. It seemed that the haphazard disassembly Tobias was performing had done the trick. The wind began to die down in tandem, although so gradually as to make us wonder if it would ever truly stop.

Finally the fan had nearly stopped. Tobias and I grabbed Michael's stretcher, while Jonathan hobbled his way up front.

"Don't touch those blades till they're completely stopped. They're a lot heavier and stronger than they look; they'll toss you," Tobias warned.

"No kidding," I added, remembering the sword-snapping incident.

With Sienna and Anna in the rear, we proceeded through as soon as it was safe.

Further and further we walked, shuffling along as fast as we could in the narrow chamber. Then I saw light. It wasn't too bright, which would coincide with the fact that it was now early morning, but that light might as well have been the sun itself. It welcomed me home.

I considered for a moment the idea of home, as it was a feeling I had been unfamiliar with for some time. The gender farm was no home, of that there was no doubt, but it seemed odd that I would grow attached to the refugee city so quickly. In any case, it made me happy, and I took that as proof of how my life had turned around.

We breached the dome's surface only moments later. Tobias kicked out the grate covering our escape, and led us out onto some scaffolding that ran along the outer surface of the dome. The scaffolding creaked and moaned under our stress. The rusted and windswept metal had not seen use in many decades. We carefully spread out on the platform, while Tobias consulted his notebook one last time.

"This is where we stop," he confirmed.

"Stop? Way up here? Some escape this is! How are we supposed to get down?" I demanded.

"The original plan was for Michael to call the ship in. That plan is obviously dead," Jon explained.

"And my alternative was to do a base jump with some parachutes, which is also now dead," Tobias added, looking at Jonathan.

Jon grabbed his head and looked down dejectedly.

"It's alright Jon, we know you've done all you can," Sienna consoled.

"The only other choice, then, is to climb down," Tobias said.

"From way up here? Who is going to do that?!" I asked exasperated.

"You are, of course," he replied plainly.

"Easy for you to say! We have to be over 500 feet in the air! There's no way I can do that," I cried.

"You have to! You're the only one that can reach the ship fast enough to get us out of here. If you wait for me, the military will have plenty of time to catch up!"

I looked down below us through the scaffolding. Fortunately there seemed to be numerous ladders and stairs for the next couple hundred feet, but the last few hundred were devoid of any scaffolding, leaving only various pipes and supports for footholds.

"This is insane. There's no way I can do that," I said again.

Jonathan reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"Yukari, you can do it. This is the final stage, once we're on that ship we're home free. We're counting on you," he encouraged.

"I don't even know how to sail the ship," I explained, trying to find a way out of this nightmare.

"That's why Anna will be riding on behind you," Tobias replied.

"Oh no, no way. It's bad enough to risk my own life, I'm not risking hers as well," I insisted.

"If there was another way we'd do it! You have to take her, she's light enough that you can carry her to the ship. From there, she can fly it back and pick us up."

I kept shaking my head furiously, having run out of words to convey how I felt. Anna walked over and tugged on my now-ragged shirt.

"I trust you, Yuki. I believe in you!" she said, in such high spirits I couldn't help but smile back through my fear and anger.

She continued to look at me, until suddenly a bright flash lit up the early morning sky. We jumped, and looked at the origin of the flash. In the distance, I could just make out what seemed to be a few of our attack skids. They were engaging a couple destroyers off to the right of our field of vision.

"The RDF, they must have intercepted the ships that were being deployed to chase us down…" Jon guessed.

"If that's true, we need to get moving now! We're putting the whole camp in danger here," Tobias demanded.

He turned around to look at me intently, his eyes narrow and focused. He meant business now. I had never seen him with such a serious face as he had at this moment. I knew what it meant, I had to stop delaying. I had run out of time for nonsense.

I grabbed Anna and helped her onto my back, and we scurried down the narrow stairs without a word. I was careful not to jar her, and I chose not to employ my high movement speed until we were safely on the ground. As my eyes had promised me, it was easy travels for much of the first half of the descent. It wasn't until I finally reached the final set of scaffolding that my stomach began to churn.

I reached out from the scaffolding, and taking a deep breath, I grabbed a pipe that was nearby. Anna gripped tightly around my neck, nearly choking me. I was going to tell her to stay calm, that there was no reason to be afraid, but I remembered she could feel my fear. I did my best to calm my own self down, and it seemed to help her nerves as well.

Foot by foot we descended. I took my time, making sure that every hold was secure before moving another hand or foot. The slight curvature of the dome from this height helped, as I couldn't see the ground directly without turning around. With the fear of falling somewhat abated, we continued strong and sure.

The last 100 feet were the hardest. By this point, Anna was finding it difficult to hold onto me, so I constantly needed to stop and readjust her to keep her secure. Breaking the momentum we had built up significantly decreased the speed at which we were descending, and the time we had spent clinging to the side of the dome was taking a toll on my arms and legs. To add to the pressure, I could now see the ground through the supports and pipes, scaring me to death.

We trudged on, finally jumping the last few feet to the ground. Anna immediately let go without any prompting, and we both collapsed to the ground. After taking a minute to catch my breath, I slowly got to my feet, and helped Anna back on my shoulders. As weak as I was, we didn't have time to rest. My legs, which were already throbbing, tensed in anticipation of the additional workload I was about to ask of them.

I took off. I ran as quickly as I could. I knew it didn't matter whether I ran flat out or half speed, I was going to be dead tired either way. I decided it was best to just get there as soon as possible and get off my feet. Anna did her best to direct me to where the boat had been docked, luckily too, as I had forgotten.

It only took us about five minutes to reach the location at my top speed. The ship was docked in an old junkyard of the dome, with various ships and machinery strewn about. Although a keen eye would notice that it was in significantly better condition than the rest, it was a rather ingenious hiding place. I was also thankful that it was so close; I couldn't fathom running all the way back to camp. I would have died before I got halfway.

Anna slid off my shoulders again. Although at first I didn't think she was too heavy, it felt like I was given a new back once she was off.

"Navigation, recognize Anna Riggins!" Anna yelled at the ship.

"Navigation recognizes Anna Riggins, full controls available," the ship replied in its typical monotone voice.

"Open to ground boarding, and begin power on sequence!"

"Ship unlocked, powering on."

Once the stairs had lowered, we jumped aboard. Anna immediately ran to the controls on the deck of the ship, and pressed various buttons. The navigation responded as if she had spoken the commands anyway.

The ship lifted from the ground, and slowly turned to face the dome. She then grabbed a joystick that was on the control panel, and the engine inside roared to life. The ship jumped into action, causing my weak knees to falter and throwing me to the floor, something I was beginning to grow accustomed to.

I pulled myself back up, and looked at Anna. She seemed so serious, so unlike someone her age. It made me sad to see someone so young placed under this level of duress on a constant basis. She continued to glance off to the side of the control panel, unable to actually see over it.

"We're going to be there soon, and I'll need your help Yuki."

"My help? What do you need?"

"We're going to make the ship jump, and you need to balance it," she informed me.

It hadn't occurred to me until she mentioned jumping, that I had no idea how we were supposed to reach everyone 500 feet in the air.

"We're going to jump?" I asked, confused.

"Yep, it's our only option. We just make the boat's lift thing bounce us high in the sky. But I'm not good at doing it alone. So I need you to help me keep the boat level," she explained.

I still wasn't quite sure how the ship was going to jump, or especially how I was supposed to help keep it balanced, but we quickly arrived at the side of the dome where we had descended.

"Navigation, recognize Yukari Yamamoto, lift controls," she ordered the ship.

"Navigation recognizes Yukari Yamamoto for auxiliary lift system," it replied.

Immediately without warning, another joystick began to rise up from a recessed area of the control panel. A screen in front activated, and displayed a wireframe of the ship. I grabbed it instinctively.

"Careful, Yuki, it's very touchy. Depending on how you press it, it will tilt the boat in that direction. I need you to keep it as flat as possible, which is the green boat on the screen."

She pointed to the green wireframe. It was currently overlaid with a yellow one, which I assumed was how the ship currently laid.

"The red lines are the limits, if it hits those, the ship will roll…" she said worriedly. I didn't need to hear anymore to know that rolling was bad.

"Once we jump, the navi won't be able to keep it flat anymore, so you'll need to help it out. It'll try its best, but you'll need to keep touching it."

"Alright, Anna, I think I get it now, I'm ready," I assured her.

She nodded, and then gave the ship another order.

"Navigation, start jump sequence."

The ship began to shudder. I watched the displays on the control panel, and saw what looked to be an engine rotating downwards. Once it locked into place, I heard a high-pitched whine as the engine fired up.

"Jump system charged to maximum," the ship informed Anna.

"Hold on!" she yelled.

I grasped the panel as tightly as I could manage with my free hand, and Anna pressed a button. The ship rumbled for a moment, and then without warning, began to rise into the air. The engine roared to life, and dust blew out violently from below the ship. The higher we climbed, the faster the ship rose.

"Lift system unable to maintain automatic leveling control," the ship spoke again.

I gathered that was my cue, and I released my death grip on the panel to hold the joystick with both hands. At first it wasn't difficult, the ship only required a few taps to keep it level. But as we climbed higher, it became much more difficult. It was like trying to balance on a freestanding pole as it grew taller and taller.

In only a few seconds time, we were approaching the area where everyone was waiting for us. I risked a glance and saw Sienna waving at us. I didn't dare let go of the joystick to wave back, but I nodded, and returned to my duty.

Anna pressed another button on the ship, and the engine began to roar even louder. Despite this, however, the ship's climb now slowed greatly. Anna looked up at the gang, who were only about 50 feet away now.

"Jump on as soon as you can!" she yelled to them.

Only a couple more seconds and we were there. Jonathan tumbled onboard first, as the ship slowly passed the level where they were standing. Sienna then jumped on after, almost climbing as the ship was about 4 feet above them when it stopped ascending. She immediately turned around, and grabbed the end of Michael's stretcher. She pulled it forward to the ship, as it began to fall back to the earth. As soon as the ship fell to the point where Michael could be pushed aboard, Tobias shoved from the other end, nearly tossing Michael onboard. We continued to descend, nearly 10 feet below the scaffolding where Tobias still stood.

"Jump, Tobias!" Sienna cried.

He did just that, not risking a moment to prepare. He fell, finally reaching the deck that was close to 15 feet below him. He tumbled and rolled as he landed, but he grabbed his ankle once he stopped moving.

"Gah! I think I sprained it!" he yelled, wincing.

Anna then kicked me in the shin, and I looked at her.

"We're not on the ground yet, pay attention!" she scolded me.

I looked back at the display, and saw the boat was nearly out of alignment. I yanked the joystick, which threw everyone to the floor. Anna and I quickly got to our feet again, and we controlled the ship in its descent.

"The hardest part is the landing. Once we reach the ground, the ship will want to roll a lot! Don't let it!" Anna informed me.

The display rapidly counted down the feet as we descended. I fought back the urge to close my eyes, and held on tight. The air was roaring up the ship, as the ship itself shuddered under the stress.

Then, only a few yards from impact, Anna pressed a button, and the lift system created a deafening blast of force below. Dust and rocks billowed out in every direction, and the ship moaned. I struggled to keep on my feet, finally collapsing to my knees under the g-forces. As Anna promised, the ship bucked wildly like a bull. After a few scary moments fighting the ship to stay upright and still, the navigation computer was able to recover and take back control.

"Navigation, end jump sequence, head to camp, full throttle!" Anna ordered, with a sigh of relief.

The ship acknowledged, and the engine flared to life. We were on our way back.

I brushed myself off, taking a moment to check that I wasn't seriously wounded anywhere (well, more than I already was). Satisfied I was alright, I ran over to the others. Sienna seemed fine, as usual, though she was kneeled over Tobias's left foot, which as I suspected earlier, was sprained.

Jonathan was limping up from below the deck, pulling a cable behind him. He pushed passed me, and knelt behind Michael on the floor. Jon plugged the cable into Michael's back, and turned his systems back on. Then I heard Tobias speak behind me.

"I need to get in communication with the RDF. Anna, open authorization," he asked.

"Navigation, open recognization!" Anna called out. The system acknowledged, and Tobias asked the computer to get the first defense line on the radio.

"This is the RDF DEFLINE 1, who is this? Over."

"This is the Aeris Mk. II scout ship, Elena. We are returning from a mission inside the dome and are requesting escort as well as medical attention, over," Tobias replied.

"Understood Elena, unfortunately we're currently engaged with a few rapid deployment skids near our line and cannot spare any escort. We will however keep track of your transponder and alert the camp's medical team. What's the status of your crew? Over."

"We have four injured, including Major McCormick, over."

"Major McCormick is… err… injured? I didn't know that was possible! I'll let the team know, Elena. Anything else you need? Over."

"That's all, DEFLINE 1, we're moving as quickly as we can. We should be arriving at the camp within the next 15 minutes. Over."

"Copy that, Elena. Welcome home."