… climb toward her HOVA. The remaining wave of drones, along with the CO/IN units they provided cover for, withdrew. Eager hands grasped her to draw her up the rest of the way. She sprawled on the ground to catch her breath and give her exhausted limbs a brief respite. Her people surrounded her to allow her a measure of peace to marshal her strength. Fela didn’t know how much time this firefight may have bought them. A massive butte towered nearly a thousand meters above them. She visored her hand to study the terrain. Several square city blocks in diameter, the Hughes perched atop it. Fela never realized how happy she’d be to see that battered clump of metal.

“Any luck reaching the Hughes? Command?” Fela drew up to a sitting position.

<Nothing. No response buoys from the R either. Or if there have been, it can’t get through the interference,> Chandra said. <From here, though, we can do a site-to-site transmission.>

“Clear the Hughes to land. Have them clear the cargo bay for … company.” Fela knew she’d be filing reports into the next millennium trying to justify her decisions. She turned to her remaining Hellfighters. “We need to board…”

“… and get the hell out,” Anitra said.

Epyc Ro relayed the orders to Chandra for official transmission. The Hughes’s engines rumbled the entire cliff as they powered up. Fela had missed the gurgling thrum of them.

A terrible shriek cut through the skyline. A deep roar threatening to cleave the sky in two.

“Take cover!” Robin yelled.

A wall of orange flame erupted from the Hughes. The ship lifted, determined to depart, shrugging off the series of explosions. It suspended in midair, and it tottered, unsure of what direction to turn. Fela had seen it before in gbeto. Carrying on despite the severity of their injuries until the adrenaline wore off and the body had enough. The Hughes convulsed in a massive shudder. A dying gasp before it exploded in a long-plumed fireball that trailed from the mountaintop. The metal husk toppled toward them, bouncing off the cliff side before careening toward them.

The Mzisoh scattered.

The Hellfighters could only stare at the engulfing flames. Only Ellis’s voice crying out jarred them from their horror. They pointed toward the ground.

“What’s that?” Anitra asked.

Smoke-and-dust halos slithered along the ground. The earth trembled as tendrils made their way toward the Mzisoh soldiers.

“Vortex weapons?” Robin said with uncertainty. “Those were outlawed.”

“Well, someone done un-outlawed them,” Anitra said.