Sky Riders

Attack on London

Okay, the next chapter is twice the length of this one, so tell me in the comments if you want me to split it into 2 parts, of if you just want one super long chapter!

Anna flew the Jenny Haniver towards battle. There was London, in the distance. Moving quickly towards the wall. From the Jenny, Artemis could see everything. People cheered on every tier, rooting for their city. Lights flashed, illuminating excited faces, eager for London's hunt of the millennium. The roof of Saint Paul's Cathedral was open to the sky, revealing the arm of MEDUSA. Huge and ugly, it interrupted the otherwise beautiful night sky, illuminated only by a sliver of the moon.

The only signs the air fleet was coming towards London were the tiny lights on each side of the ship and the soft humming of the engines that Artemis only heard because she knew to look for them. It was a sneak attack, an ambush. And it was going spectacularly so far.

The radio crackled, and Sathya's disembodied voice spoke. "Anna, are you ready? We will start firing soon!"

Artemis picked up the radio and replied, "Hey, I'm here too! Yeah, we are ready whenever you are."

"Great! May the Sky Gods favor you, my friends. We will start in three, two, one!"

Sounds of bullets released from the fleet of multicolored airships echoed through the formerly calm night sky. Screams of fear responded.

"Tom, ready to fly?" Anna jumped up from the pilot's seat and handed Tom the controls. "Drop us off as close as you can to the cathedral. See that platform over there?" Anna pointed to a landing dock on the second tier but on the same side of the city as MEDUSA. "That'll be a good place. Once we start, there's no going back."

Tom steered the Jenny closer to London, looking quite panicked as he did it. As promised, the fleet drew the anti-aircraft guns away from them, and no one noticed one small ship. Still, the ride was a little bumpy. Hester has stayed quiet the entire flight, gripping her dagger so hard her knuckles were white.

"Hester, ready to go?" Artemis shouted over the wind roaring through the door she had just opened. Poised to jump, Anna said, "We get one shot, don't blow it!"

"I'm ready," Hester breathed.

"Great!" Anna jumped from the ship, red jacket flared behind her like the Ancient Japanese god, Ninetails. Artemis waited for Hester, long auburn hair flowing behind her in the strong wind. Artemis jumped last, weapons clanking and coat flaring. The wind whipped through her blue-streaked hair, braid waving in the air.

She landed with a thud and rolled into a fighting stance. The sounds of gunfire echoed through London. They had landed on the second tier on the same side as the Cathedral, so it hopefully wouldn't be too far to get to the weapon.

Drawing her sword, Artemis said, "Let's go, shall we?"

Hester gripped her dagger and Anna held a katana in each hand, everyone ready to strike at a moments notice. Making their way through the nearly deserted streets, Artemis, Anna, and Hester were silent except for their footsteps. Everything went well, until an armed police officer came running their way. Ready for a fight, Anna and Artemis raised their swords, But Hester simply threw her dagger and embedded it in the guard's heart. Red splattered over the clean streets and stained his shirt.

Artemis looked at Hester, worried. The girl was... smiling. She had just thrown a knife into a man's heart and she was smiling. There was no denying that Hester was feral and terrifyingly bloodthirsty.

Artemis didn't want to be mean to the poor girl, so she only said, "effective!"

Hester smirked, "thanks."

Artemis grabbed the body from under the armpits so as to not get too much blood on her hands, and dragged the fresh corpse to underneath the awning of a nearby house. Someone would have to come home to this unpleasant surprise, but at least it wasn't the owner who was dead. Hester yanked her knife out of his heart, causing a fresh squirt of blood to ooze out of his still-cooling corpse.

It had been only seconds since the girls had dropped onto London, and there was already a body count of one. Citizens would probably soon flood the streets, and the trio had to get to the second tier before that happened. Tom has given the group a basic idea of London's architecture, so they should be coming up on an elevator in a few streets. There it was! The elevator to go to the next level was nearly the size of a bus, with rows of seats and handholds so people could stand up.

The small group walked into the elevator, standing in awkward silence as it ascended to the top tier. No one moved to sit down, which was probably a smart move, considering that there was a quartet of policemen with knives waiting for them when the doors opened to reveal the first level of London. Artemis unhooked her gun from her belt and shot. Bang, bang, bang, bang. All four were dead before they hit the floor, gaping holes in their chest.

They stepped out of the elevator, moving towards their goal. Behind the corpses, the floor that had previously been spotless was now slick with blood and insides. Stepping carefully around the worst bits, Artemis carefully avoided getting too much blood on her combat boots, but she still left red tracks behind her.

Walking in silence, the three girls approached the Cathedral. Before they could make another move, the sound of footsteps came from behind them. They whipped around, weapons at the ready. But they weren't needed. A blonde girl skidded to a halt when they turned around.

"You..." the girl panted.

She was pretty, about the same age as Hester, who stood in awkward silence, obviously not wanting to talk right now. There was something familiar about her, but Artemis didn't know where she had seen the girl before. Then Artemis knew. That girl... that was Kathrine. Kathrine Valentine, and Artemis had killed her father. Oh gods and goddess, Artemis thought. This isn't going to be good.

"Um... hi." Artemis chose her words carefully, not wanting to offend the daughter of the man she had killed. And she really didn't want to make this girl attract any guards, as she seemed very important. So Artemis stuck out her hand for a shake. Kathrine accepted, her palms sticky with cold sweat.