Planatae

Risk

A few minutes later, Jasper found himself once again gripping the sides of an aquajet as he perched in the seat behind Akion.

They carved through the water, dodging higher waves as they approached the flagging ship. Although he couldn't see its dark shadow, he knew that there was a submersible tracing the same path as them, racing towards the ship to relieve it of its passengers.

But as they drew ever closer, and he faced the deep roar of the swooping fighters, Jasper was filled with a deep sense of dread. Was this worth risking his life for; returning to that dark, awful place he had been within once before? Life with the Old One was not so terrible that death was preferable. And yet she had saved his life, and so he was in debt to her. When it came down to things, there really wasn't any choice.

Suddenly, there was a deep ripple in the water ahead, and Jasper traced its origins to the pleasure craft, which had finally touched down upon the water.

"Took you all long enough," he murmured, gazing at the smoking mess as it floated.

Although the ship was a good distance away from the resort complex, it was well within the bounds of the underwater city below. Jasper imagined Altonians gazing up as they went about their day, one that was suddenly darkened by the huge shape above them. For most, the battle was an annoyance, a conflict of land-dwellers. They could sit in their pressed-shell houses and simply wait it out.

Not for the first time, Jasper was deeply thankful for the vigor and sense of adventure that Akion and his fellows seemed to possess.

Jasper pulled his gaze away from the murky streets and structures far below, and was startled by how the ship was now looming above them. They had eaten up the distance quickly.

The air grew hazy; clouds of smoke were being thrown into the air by the damage inflicted by the fighters, and Akion and the others had to navigate around debris that had ripped away from the main body, scattered throughout the area.

"You understand the plan?" Jasper had to shout over the chorus of aquajet engines, the roar of the fighters overhead.

But Akion didn't answer, for the fighters had noticed their approach, and did not take kindly to it.

With an unspoken command, or perhaps a message over the feed, Akion's crew split apart, aquajets tearing off in different directions.

"Wha-?" Jasper twisted around, confused, but then there whoomp as something made impact a few leagues away.

The aquajet was tossed by the repercussion, a roiling wave that pushed out from the point of impact.

The fighter above them wheeled away for another pass.

They'd been noticed; while one of the fighters continued to harass the ship, the other had turned to address the newcomers. Jasper doubted that the pilot knew exactly what the aquajets were, but they apparently had decided that they weren't enough of a threat for both of them to address.

The projectile's force had launched them forward, and Akion whooped with the thrill. He leaned over, pressed a hand against the aquajet's hard carapace. A compartment popped open, and he pulled out a long, tubular object.

It was slim, aside from one end, where a trigger system sat, and evidently lightweight. Akion reached into the compartment a second time, and grabbed a wicked-looking spear, to which he slid smoothly into the other end of the weapon.

It was a harpoon gun; usually, the spear would be connected to the base weapon with carbon-fiber wiring, but there was no need.

Jasper watched as he expertly kept control of their vehicle while still aiming up at the darting ship. Although he couldn't see them, he assumed the others were doing the same exact thing.