A bird shaped silhouette eases into view, casting a shadow on the dusty brown planet in the distance. The shape came into the light as it rose further, revealing it as a ship of a darker shade of brown. With a shape resembling a boxy “W”, it was unadorned save for a few red marks on the three engine collars and the blue cockpit glass
With a faint crackle, a voice breaks the endless silence of space. “I'm in position.” It was a gruff, low tone, yet still a touch ladylike.

“Copy that, Baker.” the radio replied. “We don't have much time, so burn in sixty to point Alpha.”The responding voice was an older male, and it carried with it an unspoken authority.
“I'm lining up for entry too, Roddy.”, a third voice chirped in. It had a boyish quality, with a healthy dose of enthusiasm. “Copy that, Vee, and for the last time, don't use my real name. Just call me 'Ace'”
“R-right!”, he reflexively answered.

A second ship came into view. It was a pale green, shaped like a slim diamond, with two engines towards the rear. It was thin in contrast to its wingmate, and it was equally spartan in livery, with just a thin yellow stripe to break up the endless slate of green. Despite these differences, however, both ships had one thing that was identical. In bold, tall letters, they each had the same callsign, emblazoned proudly on their hulls:


“C-166”


“Time to burn,” Baker commanded. “Go in as fast as you can without melting your armor off, we're going to need it.” A pale blue energy roared from the trio of engines, followed by a shimmer as the bulky brown ship was shoved through space. The more agile green ship kept pace easily as they descended through the atmosphere, both decelerating as the heat became intense from the friction of air. Slowly, a few traces of civilization came into view. Machinery and warehouses, placed in a snailed pattern, leading to a nearby mountain.

Roddy broke in: “There it is. Both of you remember to go in low. Just because they're gone doesn't mean you want to get spotted first.”

“Hear that Vee? I'll take point, try to stay on my right so I know where the shots are coming from.”

“Understood, Captain. I'll call out if I'm blocked.”

As the surface closed in, the ships eased down to an altitude below the shallow canyon walls that lead to their target. The roar from the engines had quieted down to an almost inaudible level, now only emitted a pulsing, plasmic hum that rhythmically rose and fell in tone. As they drew slowly into the canyon, the sand gently parted, leaving a smooth, shallow wake as they advanced. The ships moved like helicopters without rotors, their slight pitches and rolls telegraphing which direction they intended to move. They seemed to carry momentum as well, the larger ship seeming to take longer to respond to these motions.

After a few moments, the curve of the canyon broke to reveal the first structure. Baker immediately edged backwards, breaking the line of sight. “I see it. Let's go Vee, weapons hot.”

“Weapons hot, Captain.”

The noses of both ships opened small hatches, revealing large bore energy cannons, with wisps of green energy swirled and gathered lazily around their tips. Other small ports and hatches popped open along their fuselages, revealing smaller weapons of various types, including missiles and smaller lasers which were held with claw-like devices. The now far more deadly looking ships resumed their approach at a brisker pace, sand spraying to either side as it was now being forcibly pushed away in channels underneath them.

“Charge your cannon, and wait until we're within four hundred meters to fire. Save the rockets for the ones that shoot back.” Baker said this calmly, and then, followed with a snarl of contempt, spat, “We are finally going to get them back, Vee. Starting with THIS!” And before Vee could reply, she released the trigger. The ship visibly lurched back as the comet of energy erupted forth. A bright green streak quickly closed the distance to the building, the heat and impact leaving a gaping wound in the structure. Vee let loose his own volley, his cannon leaving a more needle-like puncture right at the corner, causing it to buckle.

As the cannons recharged, Baker's ship twisted right, pointing down the path ahead. “No one's here, finish melting this one down and hurry ahead,” she said. They both fired once more, and the roof collapsed down into a pile of twisted metal and rubble. Still pointing at the wreckage, they started charging up their weapons a third time.

“Clock's ticking,” Roddy chided them coldly. “Knock them down and go!”

“Okay Ace,” she gruffed out, “we're moving.”

With a brief flare of energy, Baker's engines kicked up and jolted her down the canyon to the next target, Vee following closely behind. The next opening widened the canyon significantly. It had several smaller buildings scattered in the cleared area, and the sand was gone, a lane of hard packed earth in its place. Baker moved in steadily. As she did, flashes of motion became apparent around the area.

“Captain, we have turrets coming online!”

Immediately, several doors open both on the buildings and on the ground whirred open, revealing weapons similar to the ones on their ships which were coming to life, and starting to point towards them. Baker flared her engines again, yanking her ship to the right. A rocket sailed past her, exploding harmlessly into the canyon wall. With her cannon still charged, the offending turret was met with a brutal reprisal, but she was still surrounded. Vee shot the closest one, leaving four more, but the turrets recycled for another shot much faster than either of them could. Baker flared again, but the grab bag of weapons being shot at her was too much to anticipate. A flak gun found its mark, the right wing of her ship taking the brunt of the impact. “Captain, I can't target them fast enough!”, Vee shouted.

“Vee that's what the armor is for, just keep shooting!”

Baker flared backwards, putting the remaining foes in front of her. Her cannon melted the flak gun into slag, and she followed it with a rocket of her own to another turret. Unable to fire again so quickly, she turned her ship's damaged side away from the final attacker in an attempt to use her fresh armor. But just before the shot came though, a bright blue laserbolt ripped through her opponent, ending it with a dramatic flash.

“Pardon the delay, Captain. Damage report?”

“Barely a dent. Let's keep going.”

Baker tipped her wing down, sloughing off the flak shards. They clattered to the ground as they proceeded further into the valley. “It's a tight corner here, two seventy. Go above me, but stay below the walls, got it?”

“Got it.”

A singular turret greeted them at the blind corner, which was met with a quick swat from a rocket. As the corner was rounded, the canyon stayed narrow, only a single long building with tall doors running up alongside it. “Building materials, Captain?”

“Or a hangar. Blast it!”

Baker took aim at the first door with a series of rapid shots, her cannon spewing a series of much smaller globules of green with each trigger pull. For the final blow, a rocket kicked out bottom out, letting the door fall forwards to reveal its contents. A blue, rectangular craft was revealed, little more than a shipping container with a cockpit and two engines welded onto it. “I knew it. Mining ships. Same ones they use to terrorize the colony.”

“I'm on it, Captain.”

Vee took aim with his laserbolt, and shot right into the cockpit, destroying it. Baker turned to the next set of doors, blowing it open with far less precision that the first. Each of the four doors had a similar occupant, and each one met the same fate. “If only this was all of them,” she mourned. “They must have hundreds of them in the MF.”

“Three objectives left, Baker. Remember why you're here.”

“Right. Come on, Vee, the munitions bunker should be ahead.”

Baker flared left, rotating as the momentum carried her with speed further down . Still flying over-under, with Vee covering the top lane, they quickened their pace down the jagged walled trail. The walls had a bit of intentionality to them in some places, the natural chasm carved out with machinery where it was too narrow to fit a ship, but only just. “Ugh, I hate flying so close to the ground. I can't see what's coming.”

“Don't worry Captain, we know what's ahead. Remember the briefing.”

“I know, I know. But things can change. Fast.”
“Speaking of fast, here it is. Light it up so we can get to the real-”

Baker was cut short by a series of zinging sounds.

“Break right!,” she said frantically, while accelerating into the widening area ahead.

“I see three, no four, four drones! Vee banked wildly to the right, almost clipping the wall as he did. His cannon discharged wide, hitting the ground uselessly before he could stabilize his movement. The source of the shots became apparent in the distance, as four smaller craft resembling metal swans hovered menacingly at the opposite side of the arena.

“Calm down! I'm not afraid of these things, just line up the shot!

The swans moved unnaturally, strafing and changing altitude with sudden, jerky movements, and gazes unwavering on their opponents. They took aim with their lasers, shooting needle-like beams at Baker. The first volley all found their marks, each hit scooping out a shallow pit in the brown ship's frame. Baker's cannon flung its payload at the group, but it went wide, the erratic motions of her enemy foiling her aim.

“Okay maybe not afraid, but definitely annoyed!” Baker fanned the trigger, attempting to score any hit she could, even a weak one. Another laserbolt sang past her from behind, passing right through where a swan was just a split second beforehand. The exchange continued unfavorably, Baker only managing to avoid about half of the constant stinging with not a single meaningful hit of her own. By the third volley, her frustration was rising visibly as she flared wildly in an attempt to gain a better angle. “Vee, what are you doing? SHOOT!”

As she spoke, the swans had flitted a fourth time, another difficult movement for her to match. Then, a flash of blue split the horizon, lancing three of the swans in a single, fatal blow. She sat motionless as the fourth one flung its now paltry attack, a single small dimple in her left wing the only consequence of her inaction.

“Captain, they can't move twice in rapid succession! Wait until they move, then fire immediately!”

Her smile was almost visible, even over the radio. “Done.”
She watched the last one dart sideways, the tip of her cannon swirling in anticipation as she nudged her ship gently towards it. Though not fully charged, the timing was perfect. The plasma payload followed by a trio of smaller rapid shots putting down the final drone in a twisted heap.

Roddy interrupted the sighs of relief. “They know you're there. I've got movement and comms. Be ready to abort on my signal.”

“We'll never get a chance like this again! Come on Vee, burn to the next point. Roddy, we're going high!”

“Do it fast, Baker, you're running out of time.”

Now free from their artificial constraint, the engines shimmered with energy as it boosted them up above the canyons walls. The final two objectives lay before them, the first, a large clearing with many more mining ships, small buildings, and large machines who seemed capable of heavy mining. Past it, the mountain itself. More mountain that building, it had what amounted to a massive gated door, with some attached structures along the face of the rock. The humming of the engines grew louder as they sped high and hot over the final open area.

“Empty the ammo bins, hit as many as you can as fast as you can!”

Tipping downwards, she started laying a line of rocket and plasma fire as she pushed forward into a row of buildings. Vee turned right and took aim at the mining vehicles. They were too large to destroy outright, but a series of well placed laserbolts ensured they would never work again.
They moved quickly, and some targets were more damaged than others, but soon only the center strip was untouched. “More mining ships. Get down closer, Vee. If nothing else gets destroyed, we need to make sure THOSE never fly again.”

“Right, getting closer.”

“Full charge, right to the cockpit. Don't leave a scrap.”

“Copy. Firing!”

Both cannons exploded with fury, leaving the two ships devastated. Wordlessly, they moved up and over, taking position in front of the next pair of ships. The tips of their cannons riled up again and repeated the assault, leaving half their number still intact.

“Four more.”

As they took position in front of the third set, a shimmer appeared. As the cannons drew in a charge, the sand underneath the last four mining ships washed out in circles. “They're powering up?!” Baker belted out incredulously.

“They must have automation! Hurry, Captain, before they lift off!”

Vee loosed his partially charged cannon blast, chased by a laserbolt. The stationary target proved unable to withstand a pair of direct hit to its most vulnerable spot and became lifeless. Baker flared into point blank range of her target, allowing a moment to let her cannon charge fully before unleashing. Her target almost clipped her nose as it tried to rise up, but it was too late, the green comet crashed fully through the ship, grazing the one behind it as it pushed off the ground.

“Rockets! Rockets!” she shouted.

“I'm out!”

The octet of now empty claws on her ship clacked uselessly as she pulled every trigger in rapid succession.

“Damnit! Get the left one!”

The mining ships flared backwards and away from each other, tipping slightly upwards as they did so. A desperate volley of rapid plasma shots gave chase, with a single lucky shot easily absorbed by the thick underhull.

"Baker, you still have flak rounds, aim for their engines!"

A claw on the right side retracted and quickly re-emerged with a metallic device that sported a short, wide mouthed barrel and a boxy protrusion underneath as Baker stared down her opponent. They slid in the same direction, gazes locked. A claw flexed, and a rocket flared towards her. A quick bank sent it wide, just as the second one rocked her right side. "Damnit, you'll pay for that," she cursed. "Vee, they're both on me, circle around behind!"

"Captain, you're hit! Can you-"

"I'm fine! Go, GO"

The three ships traded blows as Vee swung around. The red lasers from the enemy stayed hot for several seconds, making them difficult to avoid when working in concert. They left burning lines in the armor as they dragged across it, and as they cris-crossed the holes they burned were getting dangerously deep. The two ships split her attention, making it hard to return fire. After a few tense moments, she finally saw Vee in position. The bolt seared into the right one, striking the armor just above the engine. The armor plate broke away and tumbled, leaving only the thinner hull exposed, but it seemed otherwise unfazed by the damage. In response, it began to twist towards its attacker, putting its uninjured side to Baker as it did so.

"That won't save you," she grinned. Flaring right and hitting the throttle, she slid and twisted gracefully into the right one's side arc. Her cannon shot first, but before it hit home she loosed a blast from her flak gun while she was still lined up. At such short range it was hard to miss, and both attacks found their target. With the armor blown away, the shredding metal of the flak gun cored out the engine utterly. The ship sputtered and faltered as it now had only half the ability to move it did a moment ago. "Finish it off, Vee, I can handle this one!" Now facing neither of its opponents, Baker dismissed the wounded ship as she banked left towards her last target.

It was not sitting idly as its partner was being torn apart though. Its red hot sear already lashing her as she turned into it, the only saving grace was the lack of a followup rocket to the nose. A glance showed that it too, was down to just its main weapon, a duel Baker was confident she could now win. "Hold still while I shove some hot metal down your throat, you damn-" she reflexively flared back as she caught the green glow whizzing in from the foreground. It pounded into the left ship, buckling the impact site visibly, and was then immediately followed by a blue flash. This time the laserbolt bored deep inside, the melted armor unable to resist the focused salvo. The ship drifted slowly in the direction it was pushed, unresponsive."

"Captain! Hit it again!"

Now aware of what just happened, Baker responded. The target was no longer trying to evade her, so it was trivial to line up her flak gun with the cockpit and finish it off.

"Last one, light it up!"

The wounded prey was unable to retaliate as it was bombarded with a stream of rapid blobs of plasma fire from both sides, and it soon withered under the assault. Lining up to the large blast doors ahead and holding steady, Baker called out.

"Good job. My armor took a beating, but there's still plenty of meat left. Cover me while I reglaze it. Should only take a minute"
The engines hummed loudly, and the skin of Baker's ship began to heat up as the scars and craters in the armor began to smooth out at the expense of the overall thickness of the plates.

"Baker, abort. You're out of time. Abort final objective, get your burn vector lined up immediately."

"What?! No, there's still time, we can get this done. I'm not giving up!"

"You're out of ammo and your armor is torn to shreds. There are at least TEN fresh fighters coming planetside. You need to leave. NOW!"
"You go in that mountain and it's going to be your GRAVE. Grab something and get out. We'll get another chance."

"Captain, I'm ready to burn," Vee chimed in.

"Not empty handed. We need to salvage something, ANYTHING." Her ship turned back to the devastation they had wrought earlier as she wracked her memory.

"The drones, come on!"

"Y-yes Captain!"

They quickly retraced their steps. No longer bound by the canyon walls, it took only a few precious seconds to reach the four swans they dispatched.

"One of these!" she shouted, going over to the trio Vee has taken down expertly beforehand. Two claws that had previous been holding rockets extended out a short distance, grabbing ahold of the relatively intact drone, pinning it below the ship. Vee quickly followed suit, marking the one with the cleanest shot through the head as his prize.

"They're entering atmosphere, this is your last chance," Roddy warned.

"Okay, we're ready. Burning in..."
"Three"
"Two"
"One