The Iron Hallway

Chapter 12

A shockwave of pain coursed through my body as my hindquarters collided with the uncushioned turret seat. Before I could fully recover from that impact, the ship above jolted violently. I tumbled about in my seat and cried out as my head collided with the side of the glass enclosure. That's gonna be a nasty bruise, I thought woefully. 

I achieved some semblance of relief when the ship's vigorous vibrations lessened, and I finally got a chance to attempt figuring out the turret's controls. On either side of the little panel stood two joysticks, each with a red button mounted on the tip. Between the two joysticks, nine square buttons were mounted into the control board. 

I inhaled sharply and grasped one stick with each hand. I held that breath as I pivoted my left hand ever so slightly to the right, and my eyes widened as the turret slowly rotated that direction. I pulled harder, and the rotation accelerated. 

With a sigh, I pushed the joystick back to its neutral position and shifted focus to my right hand. As could be expected, when I pulled my hand closer to my body, the turret moved to point at the ground below. My eyes widened as one of the Alcontean fighters darted into view right where the double-barrels pointed. I quickly smashed the red buttons on the joysticks down, and a rapid-fire stream of bullets pelted the fighter. 

Smoke began to rise from the fighter's hull, but it banked hard right to avoid my stream. Another turret finished the task for me, firing five strategic shots right into the sputtering thrusters. I squinted my eyes to see who occupied that turret, and indeed it was Jedrek. I should've been tipped off by the conservative shooting pattern. 

I rotated to face the Sand Dollar's rear, since most of the fighters lingered back there. When I saw one particular turret barraging the ships with a never-ending stream of bullets, I immediately knew it was Hannah. That girl has no subtlety. To be fair, subtlety would have been entirely inappropriate here, as Hannah's lack thereof had caused three of the fighters to unwillingly disappear into the clouds below. 

One bold fighter abruptly accelerated and raced for the underbelly of the Sand Dollar. Without hesitation, I spun a little to the left and aligned my turret with the spot I anticipated the ship would reach in a second or two. I had become peculiarly curious about the bright green button in the middle of my control panel, so I jabbed it with my finger when the fighter crossed my line of fire. 

My mouth dropped open in shock as a bright laser beam poured out of the turret and burnt right through the fighter. It burst into flames and crumbled to dust in midair. This is amazing! 

My grin vanished as one of the missiles sped from somewhere in the midst of our attackers' formation and headed for my turret. I frantically pressed the green button that...wasn't green anymore. Nothing happened. 

In panic, I pressed the orange button beside it, and a rocket fired from my own turret, destroying the missile seconds before it would've reached me. The explosion still shot blinding light into my eyes, however, and massive chunks of shrapnel flew everywhere. One piece of metal struck the glass of my enclosure and cracked it, along with my confidence. Sheer terror gripped my heart and caused a cold sweat to break out upon my body. 

While I caught my breath, I observed Keira firing a smoke bomb into one of our attackers. The pilot tried to barrel-roll to knock it off, but the object clung to the ship and spewed smoke over its viewport. Keira then launched a rocket into the smoke, causing the whole cloud of smoke to plummet to the ground below. 

I gasped again as one of the missiles raced for Keira's turret from behind. I attempted to destroy it with a barrage of bullets, but every shot missed its target. In desperation, I fired my second and last rocket, which one of the fighters immediately shot down. I could only watch in horror as the missile collided with Keira's enclosure and severed her seat from the rest of the ship. I felt helplessly terrified as she plunged into the clouds below.