Beyond Sol

Chapter 5

I awoke in the night to bark snapping. Lake was on his back snoring. I slowly moved, Walking out of the nest onto the branch that connected us. I walked fast, I kept hearing it. It came from the base of the tree. I ran down the small branch steps. I was at the base. A massive crack was forming, The tree would tip soon. "F^#%" I said, running up the branches. I started screaming "LAKE! LAKE! LAKE!" I pushed a button on my waist, As an alarm sounded on the Spectrum. I un-holstered my side arm, Firing 2 shots into the air. I heard dragons getting up from the nests. I shouted again "LAKE" As I saw Lake jumping from the nest, Diving down. I jumped on his back as he flew by. I saw the Jets launching, Heading towards this tree. I saw 60 to 70 Dragon's jumping from their nests. I heard a large snap. The tree starting to tip. "Up!" I yelled, Lake flying to the top. He grabbed one of the smaller branches sticking out from the massive branches. "Pull!" I yelled, The other dragon's also grabbing branches. They gave all their back into it, Trying to stop it from tipping. I saw the Jets hover by the crack, Starting to repair it. They implemented metal supports, Keeping it up. The dragon's detached. The tree held in its place. I patted Lake's neck. "Go back to the nest" I said, Sliding off of him, Falling. A parachute came out, I landed on an empty Jet. I slid in, The cockpit sealing. "Land it here" I said. The Jets landing. I slid out, the others meeting up. "The Bowser's found us here, We're gonna have to defend the thousands of thousands of thousands of creatures that live here." The others slowly nodded. "We are gonna have to, Assemble some force." I shook my head. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." I nodded, Running up the branch stairs. I reached Lake's branch, Walking to the nest. Lake was well asleep, I just lied on his stomach, Closing my eyes.

I awoke, Yawning as the sunlight battered my face. Lake was gone, Flying with what looked like millions of other dragon's. I got up, Stretching my arms and legs. One of the natives walked in, A plate of sorts in her hand. She seemed to understand English relatively well. "Breakfast." SHe set it down as I nodded. It was a replica of a chicken patty "Muhammed." I sighed, Biting down into it. I set it aside, Standing up. I started to walk to the branch steps, a bit wobbly. I heard the roar of Flagship engine's. I grabbed my radio, setting it to frequency 2718.27. "Do not pass the Crater wall, You have seen what we have done to your previous vessel's. Do not pass the Crater wall." I said into the radio. "Die in hell!" I got back, In broken english. I grabbed my radio "AETHER, Fire upon flagship target, Fire a wood board right into the Jet engines." I said into it. It crossed the Crater wall as a wood board got lodged into their Jet engines. Spewing flames, Exploding. It almost instantly banked out of the Crater as the echo of it dragging across the wall, Breaking up was heard across the Crater. I jumped off the branch, Landing as Lake flew below. "Farm's" I sighed. Lake flew about 4 Kilometre's to the farm's. I grabbed the rake from the pouch on Lake, Swooping in. The rake dragged on the grass, Creating a place for seeds to grow. "Alright Lake, Community Centre." Lake looped around, Heading back towards our home tree was. We arrived at the Community centre. Where there were a couple thousand native's talking, Doing Jobs, Or caring for the Dragon's and the Seeker's. Seeker's were essentially a mix of lion and tiger, Except longer and a bit wider. Lake landed right on a patch. "Later Lake." I said, Lake Departing. Muhammed and the others were sitting, Leaning on some wood on a patch of grass. "Hey" I said, Sitting down on the patch. "From the information we got from the hostages, They're gonna be here in, Jeez, A day?" I sighed. I got up, Walking off. I tapped a button on my watch, Lake arriving at the patch in a few minutes. I got on top of him now. "Nest, We're gonna put some, Safety on you." I said, LAke heading to the Nest, Just a tree over. The Spectrum had been moved to the pool of water, Floating gently. Lake landed in the nest. I put this cable in a loop in his skin. I attached a saddle to the back of his neck. I put my foot on the holder, Boosting myself up. "Let's go." I connected the cable to myself. Lake jumped, Doing rolls on the way down. "Laps around the crater." I said, Lake heading to the edge of the crater. A native pulled up beside us on a dragon, Standing, Leaning her elbow on its neck. "Hello?" I said. "You doing laps around the crater?" She said, "Mhm" I said back. 'It's a pretty big crater. How many laps are you and your buddy gonna do?" She asked. "10, 15, 20 Maybe?" I replied. Just then I heard a roar of hundreds of propellers and engines. "Crap" Lake dived, Heading towards the front small canal through the crater. I grabbed my radio, Hooked up to the loudspeakers that were set up. "All riders to entrance, Bowser's are attempting invasion, This is not a drill" I said over the radio as I put it away. Hundreds of dragons with riders joined up with me, Heading to the canal. I saw rider's on seekers below me. I grabbed my radio, "Tally 1 through $ Take on flagships, Seeker's will take out the ground troops and we will take out the gunship's." There were about 3 thousand dragons, 2000 seeker's We hovered just by the crater wall. The 500-600 Vessel's halting. "Fire" I whispered. about a hundred missiles launching from pod's in the crater. They flew over us, Hitting about 50 gunships and 7 flag ships. The Dragon's moved in, Landing on the gunship's, Taking out their engines or tying them together. The Bowser's had already taken out everything outside of the crater. Lake was equipped with 2 long blades on the tip of his wings. We flew in between 2 close together gunships, Blowing holes in both of them. About 70 Gunship's at the back lowered their bay, 8 Gunners on them. "Take those out!" I said, As me and Lake dived down. The Seekers were doing a pretty good job with ground but were getting heavy fire. Lake did a few rolls. He pulled up as he burned the heavy artillery to a crisp. I saw gunships and flagship's colliding. "There" I said, pointing at a gunship. Lake landed on the lowered bay. They ceased fire, In terror. I slid off, Firing shots into 6 of them. I elbowed one in the head, Lake grabbing the other and throwing him off. I grabbed a rope, Throwing it to the next gunship over, Grappling them together. The 2 Gunships smashed together in an epic explosion. Lake dived from the wreckage, Pulling back up. Lake landed on a flagship, Blasting fire into a vent. The ship lowered 2 heavy artillery cannons. They blasted holes into the crater wall, Eventually running out of ammo. "Engines." Lake ripped off the front 2 vertical engines, doing front flips. It smashed into the ground, It carried some weapons, Its explosion caused a massive EMP Which shut down every other vessel. The 200 remaining vessel's started to fall to the ground. "IN! GET INSIDE!" I yelled, the 2000 combined total left of us rushing inside the crater. Lake flew sideways going through the canal, A massive explosion following us. Lake was making turns every few seconds, The explosion was still chasing. We flew out of the canal into the crater, The explosion blasting through. Lake dropped me into his arms, Folding his wings around me. We hit the ground, I still felt the heat, I fell unconscious.