Last Bastion, Kahje

Day 1, 1740

"Whoa. That's, ah… that's not pretty. Come take a look, ma'am."

Sarah glanced over, eyebrow rising as Irving waved her over. The marine was dangling out of the open door of the shuttle, one hand clutching the doorframe to the left. Slowly, and somewhat reluctantly, Sarah unbuckled her harness and stood up, grabbing the ceiling rail as she shuffled over to join him.

The sight that presented itself through the open door really wasn't pretty. Tall, silver towers were looming up out of the ocean, and would probably have been majestic, but for the debris floating around them, the gentle plumes of smoke still drifting up from several gutted buildings, the shattered scar-marks in several of the towers' sides. The spaceport, a great circular construction on the edge of the city, had been holed by debris, and one side had slipped away into the sea. Just beneath the surface, Sarah could see roadways sinking into the water, debris floating like islands…

"Whole damn thing looks like it's sunk," Irving grunted.

"It's… actually meant to be like that," Solara murmured, stepping up between them in the doorway. "Partially, anyway. The hanar are ocean-dwellers, after all - the towers extend for several miles below the surface, the upper sections are just there for surfacers."

"They ain't meant to have that many holes in 'em, though," the big marine noted.

"No…" the drell admitted.

"Which one's the administrator's complex?" Sarah asked, nervously fidgeting with her pistol.

"Circular tower on the north side," the drell replied, pointing at the building in question as she did. "The administrator's office is three or four floors down from the roof."

"Wendy!" the lieutenant called, through the open cockpit door. "Can you get us over there?"

"Should be easy enough," the pilot confirmed. "I'm not seeing any automated defences…"

"They're all in orbit," Solara nodded. "If an enemy gets through the fleet and the defence stations, we've lost already. No sense in defending the cities, the hanar would just flee into the oceans in a situation like that…"

"Then we shouldn't have a problem. Taking her around."

Skree!

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Irving growled, reaching for his rifle with his spare hand. "Arness, you get that on scope?"

"Negative. I don't know where it's… where the bloody hell is it?"

"What is it?" Sarah snapped, fingers digging into the doorframe anxiously.

"You really have to ask?" her colleague rumbled. "Harvest-"

Wham. The shuttle bucked and rolled as something hit it. Sarah caught a flash of leathery wings, and a deathly screaming filled her ears as she tumbled. By the time she regained her senses, she was flat on her back, one arm hooked through the open door to the cockpit to stop herself from slipping out - because somehow, the door was now below them, blue ocean visible beneath. Irving was clinging to the outer door, roaring angrily at the situation in general, and Solara had made a saving throw off to the left, wedging herself beneath the seats. Ekris, Saffiya and Mac'Tir were still safe on the opposite row, dangling from flight harnesses.

With a lurch and a whine, the shuttle rolled two-seventy, spinning around and levelling out just long enough for Sarah to pull herself up on the doorframe, bringing Wendy into view - the pilot was almost hanging out of her seat, working frantically at the controls.

"Wendy!" she screamed, over the roar of the wind now whipping through the open door. "Can you take evasive?"

"I'm trying!" the pilot replied, desperately. "But we're over open ocean, and that thing's got us beaten for speed!"

Wham. Some impact caught the back corner of the shuttle, and it bucked, a worrying view of the ocean filling the cockpit window as they went nose-down. Wendy managed to level them out, fighting with the controls, but another unearthly screech and a flash of movement drifted through the shuttle door as the Harvester circled again…

"Altitude?" Sarah asked, as loudly as she could.

"Fifty feet, and I'm taking her lower," Wendy murmured, with a calm belied by her panicked actions. "You lot need to jump."

"Jump?"Irving roared. "The hell d'you mean jump?"

"Bail out, and I'll try to set her down somewhere in the city. I can't stay airborne while that thing's around."

"Seriously, jump?"

"Chief!" Sarah snapped. Off to the side, Solara was picking herself up from the floor, as the rest of the squad extricated themselves from their harnesses.

"Alright…" he grumbled. "Say when!"

"Twenty feet, taking her down to ten!" came the reply from the helm. "Harvester's circling-"

Wham. Through her narrow view of the helm, Sarah saw a flash of obsidian talons, closing tight around the cockpit window. The whole shuttle twisted, swinging wildly as the Harvester tore it off course…

And Sarah's grip on the cockpit door slipped. In the corner of her eye, she saw Irving torn out of the precipice, helmet and rifle and other peripherals pinging off in separate directions from his body as he bounced once off the doorframe and disappeared. A moment later, the lieutenant went sliding too, down through the doorway, flailing madly-

Her hand caught the frame, only to bounce off painfully, and then she was gone, falling into open air. She dropped for all of a second, then hit the water feet first, and the ocean rushed up from her boots to her hips, her shoulders… and over her bare head. Without the aid of a breather, warm water flooded into her nose and mouth, salty needles stabbed at her eyes, and she still found herself descending, momentum carrying her down...

The dull roar of the shuttle passed into the distance, followed by the muffled scream of the Harvester. The jet wash kicked and churned the water, currents twisting and turning around her, and it was all she could do to keep her bearings, some vague sense of up.

And then it faded, to silence, and the sound of her own heartbeat. The light above… narrowing. She kicked out, lungs burning, and made towards the light. Because, you know, that was always a good plan…