Imperial Orders

♕The Attack♕

"Hugo!" Tuofah screamed as the ship listed to the side. She reached for the edge of a window in hopes of using it as a handhold, but was pulled away by the ship's quickly shifting center of gravity. Despite her heavy boots, her feet slid out from underneath her and she tumbled to the floor, sliding down the smooth, metal panes to the far left corner of the ship. Just when she was beginning to gain her balance, something hit the left side of the ship, sending her flying to the right. She felt like a rag doll as the mysterious force that surrounded it toyed with the ship, continuously shaking it and its passengers.

"I'm here!" the leader of the Peenutz called out. He clung firmly to a decorative barrel that was, thankfully, fused to the ship's floor, and his legs were wrapped around its base. His eyes were wide with terror, and the muscles of his exposed forearms were taut from the strain of holding onto the barrel for dear life.

Hugo reached out, leaning past the side of the barrel in an effort to reach Tuofah, who was sprawled on the ground several feet away from him. She certainly didn't want to receive any kind of help from the person who had just used her as a living shield against his enemies, but by this time, she was sure that Hugo was preferable to whatever was outside the ship. She kicked her legs out from beneath her, extending her body to its maximum possible length, and reached up, her fingertips lightly brushing against Hugo's.

"Hold on!" Hugo screamed just as Tuofah's fingers clamped down around his wrist. She was about to ask him what had happened, but she soon understood.

The deafening screech of grinding metal echoed in her ears, and she glanced behind her in horror, only to see that a section of the ship's back wall had popped off and was waving wildly in the wind. Thin droplets of rain blew freely through the gaping hole in the vessel, covering Tuofah in a light mist.

The precipitation quickly brought the Nardyskian mechanic to a startling realization.

Midwinter rain in northern Celatys could only mean one thing.

Tornado.

A powerful crack of thunder resounded through the air as if to confirm her thoughts as a nearby lightning strike caused the ship's floor to vibrate. Tuofah yelped softly as a strong gust of wind blew through the hole in the side of the ship, lifting her off the ground and toward the fatal gap. Her grip on Hugo's hand tightened, and she gave him a pleading look. She half expected the devilish Djaren to let go of her hand, sending her flying into the eye of the storm, but he held on as faithfully as ever, giving her a look that told her he wasn't about to give up.

"We're going down!" came a high-pitched shriek from the cockpit. As the gale's direction changed, lowering Tuofah back to the floor, she peered through the half-open door to the ship's command center, only to see a very determined Nut standing on a stool over the console. Koot and Dot stood on either side of her, curiously observing her actions as she pointed at a flashing, red light at the top of the console.

The kids. Tuofah had almost forgotten about them. She wasn't the only innocent who had become embroiled in Hugo's battle...

"She's right," Hugo hissed. "We have to go down! The ground's Imperial property. They won't risk attacking us there. We'll just have to hope the girl's watched me do it enough times to know how to properly land this thing." He rotated his head to the left as far as he could without slamming it into the barrel and cupped his free hand to his mouth. "Nut! Land!" he yelled.

"Yes, sir!" came the Peenut's shrill reply.

"Wait...who's they?" Tuofah frowned.

"Them," Hugo darted his eyes at the hole in the ship. A shivering Tuofah brought her knees up to her chest, afraid to release her grip on Hugo's hand and view the attackers. Trembling, she ignored the sensations of warning and death that the floor was sending into her and turned around so that she was level with Hugo's barrel.

The sight that awaited her outside scared her out of her wits.

The pointed nose of a pitch black spaceship, at least three times the size of the one she occupied, was inches away from the hole in the wall. The rain slid off its polished exterior, giving it an ominous, obsidian look. A Djareny man crouched on the ship's hull, his dark gaze fixed on Hugo.

"Kiiiilll!" he rasped as his hand shot away from his side, pointing straight at the leader of the Peenutz. "Suuufffer and diiiiiie!" His muscular arm was covered in black tattoos, and what was left of his vest hung in tatters at his sides, revealing the ornament of human bones that hung around his neck.

Tuofah felt Hugo tense up at her side as he took her hand for reassurance. She was too deeply in shock to wrench away.

"Nut! Go!" Hugo yelled. When the girl didn't respond, he made a move to get up and help her. Yet, he was quickly stopped by the Djaren's fearsome roar.

"Move and you diiiiie, fiiiilth!"

The boy froze in his tracks, dropping back to the floor. The Djaren laughed at the sight of his terrified expression.

"Miiistress will be veeerrry pleeaased," he drawled.

"I c-can be of n-no use to Lady Serpis," Hugo stuttered, forcing his mouth to produce the shapes of the words.

"She saaaays otherwiiise," the Djaren snickered, raising a short, wide knife. "Kiiiill," he purred, before bursting into a fit of maniacal laughter. He rose from his squatting position, raising the knife above his head as more rain poured into the ship, increasing the weight of its load. Tuofah and Hugo exchanged a long, forlorn glance as the Djaren prepared to leap into the ship. He bent his gnarled knees, his knife still raised as he sprung up, prepared to jump into the ship.

And then, he leapt...

Into nothing.

His foot grazed the side of the hole, but the waterlogged vessel no longer had the capacity to stay airborne. Before he could swing himself into it, it pitched forward, throwing him straight into the storm.

"Those Imperial orders won't saaaave you!" he yelled as his voice began to fade. "They've condemmmned you!"

The Djaren's tortured scream nearly wrenched Tuofah's ears in two as the tornado consumed him, and the Auricle beside her grunted in discomfort. The ship, now destroyed beyond repair, tumbled to the ground, taking its passengers with it.

"Sorry!" Nut screeched as it began to fall forward, spinning through the darkness.