INCOMING TRANSMISSION
DESIGNATION:GATES
DECRYPTING... DONE
STANDBY FOR PLAYBACK_
CHAPTER 1-EVASIVE MANEUVER
"Hey-Davis, c'mere," I heard Droz call out, holding his datapod. "Selfie?" Droz stood there awkwardly with his arms out. He waited a moment and said, "Eh?" While cocking his head. Davis laughed and pushed down on his knees as he stood. He punched Droz in the arm playfully (as playful as a pilot's devastating punch can get) and posed for the picture. They were both giggling like kids. I shook my head slowly and rolled my eyes inside my helmet.
"Hashtag 'selfie before serious kicking of-'" The Crow dropship
lurched, and Droz took the selfie before falling to the ground. I was laughing hysterically at the two.
"Watch your mouth, Davis," Oliver, our pilot [not named in game] joked.
Davis rubbed his head (though his helmet was in the way) and sat up. "Screw you. Ya Get the picture?" Davis asked. Droz grunted and pushed himself onto his side to look at his DP.
"Yeah. Heh." He went to get up, but the ship lurched again, albeit more violently. Droz landed flat on his face. "Hey!.." He yelled at O.
"That wasn't me!" Oliver screamed. "We got a bogey, five o'clock!" My mind raced. I stood to stare out the starboard window, but Oliver stopped me. "Might wanna sit down for this one," he said. Bear grabbed his EV-8 from the shelf and checked the safety and ammo. I guessed it would be smart to do the same, and strapped myself in again, checking the ammo in my R101 and P2011. I ordered Droz and Davis to grab their K-STARs and sit on their K-STARs. Despite the situation, everyone laughed at that one.
The Crow was being showered with shots from the enemy ship, causing it to rumble. "Damn..." Oliver said. "This thing's tearing us to shreds. I don't think the Corps has ever seen anything like it!"
"Get a scan!" I ordered.
"Yes ma'am- it is what it seemed! Unidentified. The rounds they're using seem to be similar to that of a reaper's."
"Evade it!" I told him.
"Yes ma'am!"
Droz was drinking from his canteen when the ship began pulling up. I would have laughed when I imagined how wide his eyes were if I weren't within spitting range. Panicked, he put his lips around the thing and hoped he doesn't drown himself. He let out a muffled scream as the ship began to angle past 100 degrees. The gee force almost knocked Oliver out. I had felt nothing, however, because I could fall several hundred stories and be fine. But I wasn't so sure about the height we were at in the ship. My CO never told me. As the ship neared upside-down, it began to roll so it was facing up. Droz took his mouth off of the canteen neck, gasping for air. Finally, he calmed himself down and said, "how's that for backwash?"
Oliver came over the loudspeakers and sighed. "I think we've lost the bogey." A wave of relief came over the crew as the realization was made that they were safe. We clapped and whooped for O. But then he said, "Hang on, I'm getting something." The bay became quiet. Everyone looked at everyone else. "It's below us. I don't understand. How could it stop that quick? And-Jesus Christ, how could it MOVE that quick?! Crew we have three seconds until impact."
"Shit," I said, squeezing my eyes shut. Here it comes. But it never did. I opened my eyes to black and white. I was nauseous. But this wasn't from adrenaline. Suddenly, my stomach flipped and color came back. I sighed. "Nice phase shift."
"Thanks," Oliver said, breathing hard. It was then I noticed Davis was still screaming. It took a sock from Droz to snap him out of it.
"Jesus, Droz," Davis said. "A slap would be nice?" [shut up about the way I used the question mark.]
I spoke up. "Our best bet is to engage on the ground. O. We got titan support?"
"No ma'am," he replied.
"That's alright. We're pilots, after all. Oliver, look for a sort of box canyon."
"Yes ma'am," O replied curtly.