Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I catch the streams of Force stretching across space and accelerate towards the battle now raging right over the top of the Dreadnought. I let the speed sweep me right into the rampage, and then roar silently as I drag my claws through one of the bombers. Then I flip, kicking off the wreckage, and crash into another one. The hull crumples beneath my claws and I click my starters together in my throat. As soon as I break the integrity, air rushes out, and I set it aflame. When the spark catches, I shove away and the ship explodes.
Three X-Wings chase down a flock of TIE Fighters, raining blasterfire on the First Order ships. One explodes, spiraling down and crashing on the hull of the Fulminatrix. I twist, frozen in place for a moment, and then hitch a ride on a nearby Fighter for a boost towards another bomber.
The gunner below swings the turret towards me and unleashes a volley of blasts. They strike my chest and neck. There is no pain from burning, for the bolts cannot pierce my hide, but the pressure and force from the strikes ripples through my body. I bare my teeth wide and then lower my head, the pair of thick horns that line my skull primed as rams.
I hit, and the ship recoils, rocking backwards as air hisses out from the deep dents in the cockpit. I repeat the fire process and the ship explodes beneath my talons, metal scattering into space.
I swing my head as if roaring, but there is no sound. Only flashes of light and burning flame. From above, a movement, and I look up into the cockpit of an X-Wing as it dives down into me. The pilot is yelling, teeth bared, and I struggle as I'm suddenly shoved downward, pinned between the body of the ship and the wings. I get my talons against the mainframe, and then we hit the Dreadnought.
The ship collapses into pieces around me, and I lay stunned against the hull. The Fulminatrix is so huge it has a weak gravitational field, and I'm anchored amid the wreckage. Then I shake myself out of it, and twist around to launch again.
It hits me then... the delayed pain. I scream in silent agony. One of my wings is shattered, arched to the side and twisted in a way I could not do myself. The secondary tucked under it is also hurt, but I can still move it. To make the insult worse, the paw on the opposite side is broken, red blood trickling out in weird globules due to the lack of gravity. I curl my claws of my three remaining talons, and look up.
The battle is over. One bomber releases it's payload, bombs raining down onto the hull, and the dreadnought shudders, its integrity ruined. The bombs are doing to the Fulminatrix as I did to the bombers - lighting the air and causing a cataclysmic eruption.
"Oh no." I manage to think, and then I shove away from the surface as the dreadnought explodes beneath me.
The heat and power sends me spiraling away, and for a moment I think I'm in freefall, so I try to fly my way out of it.
"SHADE." Hux yells from the Finalizer, and I snap out of it, twisting to focus on the massive ship. I remember where I am and spread my secondary pair of wings, catching the breeze with a surge of pain from the wounded one. But I make it back to the ship, and kind of just... throw myself into the hangar bay.
The Rebellion ships launch into lightspeed behind, streaks of light vanishing as quickly as they appeared.
I wheeze slightly in sardonic laughter, and snap out of my form, wings and tail vanishing into wisps of shadow. Unfortunately, wounds sustained in either form come with, and I have a nicely broken arm and foot to deal with. And I'm bleeding on the floor. If Phasma were here, she would be mad at me.
"Whew, I need... to lay down." I feel like a weakling. I have not gotten wounded in a battle for a long time, but when it comes down to physical defense, I am just as strong as the next. My scales can only reflect blasters, not spears.
I sink backwards until my back meets the floor, and splay my limbs, my arm flopping sickeningly. I stare at the ceiling until the nausea retreats. For a brief moment I feel like I can't breathe, but that's absurd. I don't need to breathe.
The Finalizer races into lightspeed, stars blurring around us, and then Hux appears in my field of vision. I smile when I see him.
"Shade, you are... you need to get to the med bay."
"I'm fine." I manage. No, was I giddy from the bloodloss?
Stars and silver threads-
"No you aren't." Hux frowns, and then he picks me up, overcompensating for my weight a little. I'm light, made for flying. "We're going to the medbay right now."
"Okay, General Hugs."
He scowls lightheartedly at the name.
"Well, if you can be an ass then you must not be too badly hurt." He acknowledges.
"I have to thank Dameron for that one." I murmur. "That is never going away."
