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All Heroes Fall
When the door slammed shut, I had to run. I spun on my heel and launched off down the hallway, ignoring the cries of my teammates behind the door. Pleas for me to stop. I nearly did. Only as the ground suddenly shuddered beneath me did I hurry forward. I stretched out my stride, feet pounding against the ground, and hurled myself recklessly around the corner. Guided only by the flickering white light above and my memory of schematics I’d studied only days ago.
Doors flashed past me, no marking inscribed. A staircase, too, as I turned again. Down a long hallway I was barely halfway when the ground shuddered again, sending me hurtling forward. I slammed into the wall, gasping as pain lanced through my shoulder. With a curse I pushed myself clear and resumed running, making it to the end without further issue.
I slammed my fist into the door, blowing it clear off the hinges. It shattered apart, shards of wood falling to the ground. I leapt over it, propelling into the bridge. Consoles flickered precariously around me, struggling to display the battleship’s systems. I continued past several, heading straight to the navigation console. It sat in the middle of the bridge, right before an enormous window.
Without hesitating I sat down in the chair and touched my ear piece. “Yo, Cami, you there?”
“Leila! What the hell! What are you doing?”
“Saving everybody – isn’t that obvious? Now, I don’t have time to argue. This ship is on a collision course with the city. I need to get it off manual control now.”
“The ship doesn’t have enough power to get out of the dive. You have only a few minutes-“
“I know. I need control to guide it off the city to the mountains. Let it absorb the shock.”
Silence on the other end.
“You won’t survive that.”
“Yep. Now, ideas? Rather not spend my last moments arguing.”
“Ok, ok. You just need to put your ear-piece on the console. I can use that to wirelessly hack the auto-pilot. Once free, it’s all yours.”
I had the ear-piece the second she finished and set it down. As it connected the console flashed red for a moment and a series of boxes full of code popped up, scrolling rapidly down. I barely had time to process before the console flashed green. I slammed my palms down onto the console and felt the ship respond to my touch. The ship’s power, what little there was left, came to me, and funnelled it all into the auxiliary thrusters. Then, praying to every god I knew, slammed it into one direction, aiming for the ground that was rapidly coming up. I urged the ship, cursing and praying as the ship slowly groaned, nudging left.
It continued to hurtle downwards. The city, once briefly in its path, slowly veered out of the way. The ship, yielding finally to me, moved and the mountains came into view. Seconds left. The fear fled my body as a cold calm settled inside, a resolution I clung to. I was determined to be brave, even as all I was leaving behind flashed before my eyes.
I let go with one hand, shoved the ear-piece in, as the sight of trees filled the display.
“Tell Tash I lo-“
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