Chapter 5

“Hit the deck!” she yelled, slamming herself to the floor and putting her hands over her head.

The air lit up above her head, energy arcing in lightning patterns around the room. Luckily, they all missed her, but the blast left a scorched smell on the air and the residual energy in the room rippled over her skin.

She cautiously lifted her head and surveyed the damage. Mostly everyone had managed to hit the ground in time to avoid the blast, but a few pilots were groaning on the floor and holding their heads. Sae had slumped a bit as her energy output had drained her slightly, but the field around her was still swirling with light.

“Sae, stop it,” one of the sources pleaded. “You’re making my ports buzz!”

“You’re hurting Kaede!” a tall, willowy source added. “You know we’re not supposed to link up like that; you could interrupt the regular flow of her energy.”

“She’s power-drunk. We need to knock her out.”