Darklight: Precipice

Part 6: Impact

Ana gripped the arms of the command chair as the ship lurched in the air, throwing everyone up and causing an instant of weightlessness.

"Ana" Draz's voice chimed in her inner ear as the screens of the bridge began to flicker and go dead. 

"We're losing power on the bridge" She told Draz. Looking out of the observation window she could see Utopia City on the horizon far below. There was another lurch and she almost slipped out of her chair as the nose of The Roc veered downwards towards the city.

"Draz - you need to evacuate the city. There's no way I can stop this" She said. "I've tried interfacing with the power grid myself but the problem isn't a lack of power - its too much".

"Stay calm" Draz's voice told her. "Soran's here along with the best minds in Utopia. We'll save you".

"Soran?" Ana asked sarcastically. "He's inhibited - he can't stop a ship of this size that is on a collision course and traveling faster than the speed of sound". 

"Is there any way that you can jettison the artifact?" Draz asked. 

"No, all systems are overloaded and it seems to have frozen all mechanical operation in the cargo hold, so we can't even force the doors open. Alex, please - just get out of there".

***

Draz lowered his hand from his ear as he finished his conversation with Ana. The Roc was a rapidly growing black spot in the late morning sky. Draz looked at Soran with a concerned look.

"Can you stop it?" He asked. Soran remained silent for a moment.

"I don't know" He replied. "But I can try".

In front of the Corporation HQ was a circular couryard, half of which was raised and there was a large circular pool in the middle with a high, sprinkling fountain. The plaza was made of out slabs of grey stone and the entire construction was a monument to Master Kisa and the work that he had put into a peaceful world. A monument to a Skry leader in Utopia - how times had changed. There was a crowd of people now looking up at the black spot in the sky. They weren't running, they were curious. But Draz didn't tell them to run as he watched Soran descend the stairs to the lower front half of the plaza - the impact would take out a large part of the city and there was no way that they could escape now. He considered the Darklight Axe - but there was no way that Draz could stop the ship. The Darklight was like a muscle - if you didn't exercise it regularly it becomes weak. And Draz hadn't kept up his regime.

"This is it" Soran said inside his own head. "Don't fuck this up".

He held out the Darklight Sword between both of his hands and closed his eyes. He had repelled an entire Coronal Mass Ejection that Rammchandra had rained down upon the planet - this should be easy. But that was years ago now, and Soran wasn't only out of practice - he was physically and Arcanely weak.

But he had to try.

He opened his eyes again and looked at the Roc. The ship was large enough now to make out its sleek shape. There was smoke billowing behind it out of the over-charged engines. And he willed the light to spring out of the Sword.

***

The entire ship shook violently as a transparent blue hue appeared over the observation screen. It was a torrent of blue light that sprang from the ground at the impact site. 

"Soran!" Ana shouted out loud. "Hang on everyone!" She ordered her bridge crew. The men and women were cowering now, some of them screaming in terror as others around them wept at the thought of their fiery end. 

Ana rose to her feet on the steeply inclined floor. She had to try and help. She had tried to arrest the ship within an electromagnetic field before now but their speed was too great. But even with Soran's efforts the ship was still careering towards the city, albeit at a slowed pace.