EarthFall

Chap 5 Phoenix under Fire

The Phoenix, the smaller Scout ship was one deck below.

Carson miscalculated the extra gravity once again and slid too fast down the sides of the ladder, landing in a painful mess. It took all of 30 seconds to pick himself up, load up some medical supplies, extra ammunition batteries, some stun grenades, and his personal emergency bag.

He flipped the U.S.F.S. bay door switch, and as the massive steel sheet retracted in front of him, he was afraid he might have been 30 seconds too late. The green field they had landed in was now dotted with so much red. So much blood.

In some distant part of his head, he acknowledged most of it had to have been horse blood. There was just too much of it.

Arrows began to clatter against the glass of the Phoenix scout ship. He snapped to attention and hit the thrusters, thundering out of the U.S.F.S. with explosive speed. The roving bands of horses under him reared and panicked, throwing off their riders and scattering.

Where was Brianna? Where was Tucker?

The savages clumped together by the dozens around the ship. He zoomed in a circular arc swooping down closer to the ground. The thrusters spat up clumps of dirt and dust, scorching the earth and blasting the riders off their beasts. They thinned under the onslaught and began to disperse, dropping their weapons and sprinting in retreat.

Where was Brianna? Didn't she say something about the lake? Carson tried the Comms again, but they still seemed to be jammed.

Then, he could see it in the distance. An angel in black, right at the lakes edge, firing her phase rifle again and again, knocking the savages with bloody efficiency off their beasts.

Carson floored the thrusters at max capacity. He soared through the sky like a comet. A hundred yards later he did a hard rear spin, dropped elevation and reversed the thrusters, swooping down the Phoenix between right between her and the herd of rushing savages.

He lowered the ramp, killed the rear thrusters, eased on the back throttle gently, and scooped her up.

"Carson!" She screamed over the engines as she jumped up the ramp. "You're getting a special surprise tonight if we live through this, I promise you that! Chief was northeast last I saw, I spotted his signal flare near the base of the mountain!"

"Roger that" Carson hit the thrusters and lifted the phoenix off the ground a good 15 feet, then soared directly over the mob of savages. He left a trail of smoking death in his wake. Melted hooves, charred and smoking humans, all distorted and mangled together.

"Right there! It's Cornelius!" Brianna exclaimed.

Carson looked where she was pointing. She was right.

Cornelius's exo suit was now a bright red, covered in blood. He had his phase blades out and glowing, extending from his forearms. He slashed viciously at the legs and sides of the horses attempting to stampede him. He was surrounded by dozens of corpses, both man and beast. Even as Carson watched he took the heads off 2 fallen savages.

Carson cut a hard arc in the air, then circled around Cornelius in a spin with both rear and front thrusters slammed hard into overdrive. The resulting thunder thinned the herd of horses. Some threw their riders off and trampled them in a panic. Others galloped away in fear.

He lowered the phoenix a few feet from the ground, door open and ramp already extended. The lower thrusters were scorching the ground, cooking something. Carson smelled burnt meat as Cornelius came stumbling up the ramp.

"Carson! Brianna! Where's the Chief? Is the ship still secure?"

"Corn! Are you ok?" Brianna turned her head in horror as she saw him.