Domino

8 Intercepted

Lannister sat within the confines of the crew deck on the Skimmer, staring at the image of Sarah displayed on the pad he held before him, his mind running through the possibilities that may arise once her memories make the surface once more.

From his conversation with Captain Harrison, he understood that he was staring at the face of a mercenary, or assassin as Harrison had referred to her. A person whose existence was to carry out jobs for an unknown power, dealing with people who caused them problems in order to eradicate those problems as efficiently and discreetly as possible. He brought his right hand up to stroke his chin thoughtfully.

His hand didn't make contact, as part way through the travel the Skimmer lurched violently and each member of the crew bucked violently in their seats, only held in place by the seat straps each of them had secured against the turbulence of re-entry through the atmosphere.

"What the hell was that?" Lannister barked out, demanding answers of the pilot and his crew who were already fighting to regain control over their vessel in a flurry of frenetic activity.

"Energy bolt," a voice shouted back over the groaning sounds from the fuselage as the pilot threw the ship into a twisting manoeuvre to bring her level once more. "Hold on! More incoming!"

On cue, the ship lurched twice more and then almost bucked as a breach in the superstructure caused a sudden decompression of the cabin, the air whipping past the occupants in a frantic attempt to escape.

"Get us down near the deck!" Lannister shouted above the howl assaulting his ears. "Can anyone see who is shooting at us?"

"Trying Sir!" the pilot growled back, obvious frustration in his voice as he fought with the ship to bring her back under his control. 

"Vessel on our six, small scout by the looks, maybe one or two person? Closing fast!" Another voice added.

"Send immediate location and distress call to Helios," Lannister shouted back in the vain hope that whoever was on their tail had not decided to flood the area with ionic disturbance. "Nearest friendly?"

"Coming up on Berlin Commander, should I request aid?"

"Yes!" Lannister shouted back, pulling at the securing clasp on his seat harness in order to release the buckle and free himself. "Meanwhile, let's give them back some of what they're dealing," he grumbled as he pushed himself free of the seat and fought against the rushing air and bucking deck plating beneath his feet to make his way to the aft section of the Skimmer, activating the release cover on the hatch which slid away to reveal a short ladder leading up to the main turret controls.

Quickly ascending and taking up the seat before the controls, he activated the panel before him and brought the hull mounted weaponry on-line, rapidly twisting about to face their immediate rear where the aggressor was still making ground on them.

Gritting his teeth, Lannister quickly checked the targeting scope before depressing the trigger, sending blue lances of energy streaming back towards the scout ship, but to his dismay it was quite obvious that the pilot was not only ready for retaliatory action, but damned good at flying too as the small ship swerved and swooped about the shots.

Maybe he couldn't hit them, but he could at the very least make it more difficult for them to line up and strike at his own ship.

Gripping the yoke once more, he twisted the turret through a very narrow arc and distributed lances of energy across the path of their wake, forcing the small vessel pursuing them to divert quickly and take a tangent to avoid being struck.

"Distance to Berlin protectorate?" He asked over the comm to the flight deck.

"We're roughly thirty miles out at present Commander, but Berlin are scrambling two Skimmers as we speak to intercept us, and thus that ship on our tail. Helios has launched patrol fighters who are currently on a descent through the atmosphere."