A/N - It's Fanfiction Friday again!

Yes, my fanfiction uploads will now be becoming a weekly thing, with all stories updated on Fridays. Hope this works for all you readers. It's because I've also got school stuff to deal with, not to mention keeping the youtube channel up to date!

Voltus in bad shape? Theros disobeying Shado's orders? More SBA bases taken by the Cloud Skimmers!? A climax is coming... *heistates and realizes what was just said* I mean in the story dammit! Gah, you all have such dirty minds... -.- ANYWAY. On with the story!

Read, enjoy and review as always!

- AxleMC131

Fourteen

Camp Aros airspace...

Voltus banked his plane to the left and tracked the target fighter's movement. It was maintaining a straight path, but there seemed something off about its rear gun turret. "I don't trust that turret!" Voltus said to Rick, rolling slightly. "Looks more like a fifteen mil..."

Rick grabbed his own spyglass and quickly took in the target plane, before going back to the controls. "Agreed, Volt. You've a good eye for planes my man. I'll distract the pilot."

Rick's plane fired a few cannon rounds towards the target CS plane, forcing it to dip its wings to avoid the warning shots, and it began to circle around to face him.

Voltus took the chance and pushed hard on the throttle, pushing Havoc to her maximum level speed, and prepared to fire. Before he could squeeze the trigger though, the target plane turned its back on him again, and a low-beat gun pelted steel straight at him.

"Ah!" Voltus slammed the joystick down, diving to avoid the fire which was definitely comprised of fifteen-millimetre shells, not the seven-mil. bullets that were standard. There was a rattling, tearing sound as steel struck wood and canvas, and Voltus looked back in horror to see Havoc's tailplane shredded by the heavy bullets. "Rick, I've been hit, tailplane!"

"Shit! Can you fly?"

Voltus pulled the joystick. The elevator flapped pitifully, then, miraculously, caught on the shattered cams and strained upwards. Havoc slowly pitched back up to level flight, but she had dropped a lot further than Voltus had been planning to... Three medium warships surrounded him.

"I can fly," Voltus responded in a worried tone. "But I've found airship central..."

SBA North Base HQ, Chief Commander's office...

Minecraftia's primary god stared at the report Jeb had sent him. It wasn't good. Two stations had been taken over, and the peaceful town of Raydown had been bombed to rubble before reinforcements could arrive from the nearest military outpost. Even now, refugees were being transferred to other locations within the SkyBorne territory, but at least the Cloud Skimmers hadn't launched a second attack. With the strained forces on the western front, they wouldn't have been able to hold back a second bombing run, and they would have penetrated further still. Fortunately, Alisia was sending four more airships and a heavy walker westwards to help them out, so the defences would soon be back at maximum potential.

Notch sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Outer Defence Unit 4B...

Watching the battle from a hidden window slot from the bunker, Shado decided she had had enough of Theros...

Outer Defence Unit 4B airspace...

Theros awoke to the sound of gunfire and propellers. He glanced around and realised he was still on the forward gun deck of the Nightfly. He must've only been unconscious for a minute or two.

Theros pulled himself to his feet and examined the wound in his leg. It still hurt, but it had been bandaged and the bleeding had stopped. Edging over to the window, he peered out to see ODU-4B before them, the camoflagued concrete bunker barely visible except for those who knew what to look for. And between it and Nightfly, was a Cloud Skimmer airship executing a tight turn towards them from below.

The traitorous spy froze as he saw his chance, but before he could do anything, Shado's voice crackled through his headset. "Spy, I know you're awake, and I know you're a traitor. So listen to me if you want to live."

Theros stuttered in shock. She knew! This would be his only chance then. A sly grin crossed his face. The Cloud Skimmer airship approached the front of the Nightfly.

"I'm listening," he said on the private channel.

"Step off the guns." The Commander spoke in a clear voice, each syllable tinkling into place like a key pushing tumblers in a lock, making her intentions pristine. "Lock them up and stay on the fore gundeck. Do nothing until the battle is over. Either the ship is destroyed and you die, or you land and survive. If the latter should happen, I will take you in before a service fleet can pick you up. After that, the military gets to decide what happens to you."

Theros grunted. He loaded a shell into the cannons against the Commander's instructions and aimed it near the bunker. "And why would that keep me alive?"

Shado laughed. "Remember that the SkyBorne alliance are the good guys. We don't like the death penalty."

The Cloud Skimmer airship loomed. Its canvas balloon envelope began to fill Theros' view, but the bunker was still visible.

"I assure you," Shado finished, "You will be quite safe in custody."

Theros put his hands on the trigger, preparing his injured leg. "Nice try Shado. But I've got other plans." And he fired, jumped up and leapt through the open window space.

The shell soared towards the ground, burying itself among the TNT that Theros had snaffled from the cannon and hidden in the foliage near the base. The small explosion of the shell washed over the nearest blocks, and suddenly the blast was magnified by a thousand.