Part 72

Kyril braced at the helm station, pulling up on the controls with all of the strength that his failing body could call upon, he could see the speed slow and the distance to the surface lessen it's aggressive fall, but it would only buy minutes for the escape pods. The ship would smash in to the surface.

The cloud blanket below made it seem almost peaceful if not for the roar of the engines and groan of the deck plating. "Eve, locate a reachable concentration of Pirate vessels." demanded Kyril, still pulling against the helm, "Captain, there are a concentration of Unknown vessels in the vicinity of Forgod. No Gryph vessels can currently be located in that area. Six vessels have been counted." explained Eve in a soothing voice, Kyril appreciated that, it took his mind off the very real death that sat in front of him. "Brilliant. Let's go and give them the middle finger. Put a marker on the screen, please." requested Kyril politely, and an orange blip appeared just to his left, he tried to angle the Evergreen best he could in that direction, almost breaking his arms in the proceeding turbulence. The blip eventually lined up to his instruments just as the Evergreen broke through the cloud bed. The safety of the cotton blanket of clouds soon fell away to reveal a harsh war-zone below. Fires could be seen and their plumes spread wide. Wreckages of ships and armour could be seen, even from this height, Kyril couldn't have known it, but he had just passed over the remains of Red Sector Zero-One, The Gryph had quarantined the base, formed a perimeter with tanks and soldiers where they were still waiting for the metal walls to arrive to be installed when the pirates came and commenced strafing runs with high explosive shells to decimate the forces below.

The curve of the island was on Kyril's left, he looked at the beach longingly, calling back to his days as a young officer on leave, spending long days soaking up the sun on the golden sand with his wife, he took a moment to remember her smile, which lifted his mood a little, soon he would see her again. The beach ran north to a steep cliff of harsh rocks where atop stood a large stone fortification, billowing smoke from most of the defence windows. From this vantage point, Kyril could see scorch marks and impact craters in the walls from an attack. This was the Gryph fortress Forgod, slightly north of the capital of Merriden IV, and now it had fallen. He could make out the six large ships hovering above the structure and surrounding city, smaller transports coming and going from each to inside the fortress or towards the war torn streets. "Eve, is there any form of combat taking place at Forgod City?" Kyrils voice was strained with effort, trying to keep the ship on its current course. Eve spent a moment to analyse the distant area for radio waves, heat signatures and life signs. "Negative Captain. No combat is currently taking place, but there is a lot of activity and movement. They appear to be trying to mass to intercept the distressed vessel we have broken away from." Kyril nodded absently as he steadied the Evergreen best he could, but still she descended towards the unforgiving ground.

"Well, here we go. For shits and giggles." sighed Kyril as he changed the course of his beloved Evergreen to its final approach of the collision.

"It's all for shits and giggles, until someone giggles and shits, captain." said Eve, "It's been an honour living with you Kyril."

Uh-gah ran through the blood spattered corridors of Forgod's main building, many bodies of fallen Gryph soldiers littered the floor, pooling blood beneath them, he cursed his heavily built body for its weight, never managing to run for more than a minute without feeling like collapsing, but forever useful in his favourite sport – brawling. Shielding his eyes from the blinding sun as he emerged from the large wooden doors that now sat bent and splintered upon their ancient hinges, he took a moment to adjust himself, and catch his breath. His radioman straddled a small beaten stone wall built just outside the main entrance, waiting patiently, enjoying the sun. "So." called Uh-gah, "Where is the useless bastard?" the radioman smiled a toothless gummy gap and replied, pointing to the black scorched ship falling from the sky, heading in their general direction. "I think the mad man's trying to land it near us and show off his crashing skills, like he did on Vienu Three, remember he nearly set the whole forest on fire?" Uh-gah nodded and consciously brushed his hand across his right leg, where he had burnt some skin in that particular landing. The darkened ship came closer. Uh-gah stared at it harder. "I don't think that's Zhou... it's the wrong shape..." he said slowly, scratching his chin. The radioman looked at him menacingly and eagerly, thinking of the loot they could plunder from this new arrival heading straight for them. Reckoning that they hadn't heard that Forgod had fallen to the pirates and was heading for what they believed was safety. Little did they know, that Kyril had murder set within his eyes, and a fire burning upon his heart. Commanding Eve to play his favourite song, and thanked her, for her years of service he was truly grateful, before shaking the ground of Forgod with an eruption of fire and earth. The explosion that ensued could be seen for miles, The tremors threw even the crew off their feet whom had landed in their escape pods half a mile to the south of Red Sector Zero-One. Solomon lay motionless. His eyes locked in an eternal stare. Unfocused. Unreachable.

The Evergreen was gone. And so was Kyril. Hopefully, everybody else got off, but there was no way of telling. Then Somebody remembered in the escape party. "What about the Pirate ship?" they called. "We still had some people on there!" cried another. Solomon remained motionless. His body and mind numb. Lyra checked his pulse every so often to make sure he was still alive.

The fire at Forgod subsided, the black smoke billowed into the sky, thick as ink and tar, truly a mesmerising sight to behold, it seemed impossible that something so dark and devoid of life and colour could float effortlessly, covering the ground in shadow. Lyra stood limply, staring at the pillar of smoke through tear filled eyes. Her face had become streaked make-up tear lines, her muscles shivered, not from the cold, the air was mild and the alien sun beamed with delight, not taking notice of the war torn planet.

Over the horizon, The city of Forgod burned, skeletal spires still reached for the skies, their windows blown out, the glass shattered and blown over the city, the battle that once raged through the streets had quickly came to an end as the pirates bombarded the Gryph positions, destroying their armour and defences, Forgod fell quicker than most of the various other positions, because the enemy hit Forgod harder than everywhere else. The Banshee threat could be kept under control in the eastern region with the Gryph Sonic Canisters that they deploy to keep the Mares away from their populated areas. Somehow the Banshee's learned to avoid the Sonic Canisters. The Banshee's only pushed attacks three times in total throughout the war before they gave the canistered areas a wide berth. But what's worse, is that they found a way out. They erupted like a violent water spout over the landscape. Tearing the local population limb from limb, creating more for their horde. Soon, their numbers were in the tens of thousands. The last fortified position that they hadn't taken now burned from the crashed star cruiser. The mainland of Merriden IV was lost. A swarm of predatory infectious entities now engulfed the once calming grasslands and rolling hills. Even the Mares fell to the disease. They created something entirely new and terrifying. Something that could hunt faster and more ferociously accurate.

Zhou's ship fell without grace, or a manageable vector, ever increasing speed on the decent of fate. The falling long vessel fell in to the ocean, just a few miles off the coast of the mainland. The ship, engulfed in the foam and liquid of the ocean sank to the cold dark depths of the planets crevices.