Chapter 7-> The Ships
Sopping wet, Soshika's claw tapped the pad on the heavily armored hanger doors. Light yellow raindrops dripped from the end of her nose, reflecting the dull gold colour of her fur.
The lock sang cheerfully and requested a password. Soshika knew it, as did all the pilots. The words came easily and almost carelessly. "Me drake."
The lock purred and began an ID scan, checking both Miron and Soshika for possible hazards before finally admitting them. The vaulted doors cried in protest as they were dragged apart, whining as both sentients slipped through.
Even in the low light Soshika knew the narrow fighters. Shaped somewhat like a cigar with both ends tapered, two angled wings jutted from the sides sporting small, albeit powerful engines. The Cat called them drakkenso, dragon fighters.
Soshika left Miron to change into their pilot suits, shucking the dark green cloths in exchange for the lightly coloured white and blue uniform that covered from shoulders to waist, tapering at the ends of the wrists and ankles and leaving only hands and feet free. The cuffs at Soshika's feet were torn, but of little importance to her. Bundling her wet cloths under her arm, the Cat re-sheathed the masyma and stalked towards her fighter. Across the hanger, Miron did likewise, he too sporting the pilot suit all Pagan flyers owned, although his was slightly baggier and in two pieces.
Soshika's fighter glared back with painted eyes and teeth, black scales covering it like an impenetrable hide. The scales weren't real, nor was the leathery appearance of the fighter's wings. Soshika had painted it in the likeness of a black dragon, a dragon only she was the master of.
The cockpit slid away as if the dragon had opened its mouth, and into that maw climbed the Cat. Stuffing her belongings in the compartment under her seat, the Cat pulled the communications headset over her ears and flicked it on even as she began the ignition sequence. The black dragon crawled onto the launchpad, and a giant brown bat appeared at its side. Miron's fighter grinned at Soshika with a comic certainty, its furry flat face laughing with childlike ignorance. The fighter sang beneath the Cat as her claws gripped the controls. She spoke into her headset, using her callsign. "Dragon Trainer on standby. Ready whenever you are Batman." She reflected again on how dumb Miron's callsign was, but it had been his choice and she'd had no say in it. Miron said it had something to do with a fictional Earth American hero, but naturally the Cat had no idea what he was talking about.
"Batman all set. Ready to do some sonar stalking." The bat's engines glowed orange.
"Roger that!" the felinoid's claws flew over the controls, the black dragon quivering as it prepared to leap into the sky. Leave the ground fighting to the ants- give me the sky any day! "Dragon Trainer off!" the fighter shot free of the platform, twirling and soaring into the clouds, the brown bat easily keeping pace with it. Miron's fighter was faster, but it could be unpredictable at points. Miron was the only pilot who dared brave those obnoxious quirks.
The two fighters kept a loose formation, that being safer should anything happen. Soshika checked her instruments and tapped the headpiece to clear static. "I got the line in my sites. Do we pull the Brushfire or the Drop-kick?"
Miron's voice came back with a soft crackle; his headset was failing. It took a moment before his voice was clear again. "I say Drop-kick. Brushfire's only good with a large group, and we're not that."
"I copy. Drop-kick it is." The drop-kick attack called for two or more ships coming from cloud cover, one falling back and using missiles while the other dove in with a suicide loop, guns on full. At the last second, the diver would pull up and the missile user swoop down, repeating the attack until the enemy was reasonably weakened. The Brushfire attack was about the same, only it called for a mass dive the more often then not resulted in some pilots crashing and sometimes colliding. Soshika had no desire to try it when they only had two ships. "I'll take the first dive. First one tailed helps the other."
"Got it. Don't cut and run on me, Dragon Trainer." Miron's voice held some fear, the Cat thought bleakly.
"I promise I won't, Batman. We're getting this line broken together, I swear."
"Right. I'm holding you to that."
Slowly and silently, the two fighters slipped below the clouds, ready for the attack.
