(ω‖) Oh, crap!
"Warning!"
"Warning! Left engine damaged. Insufficient power!"
"Warning!"
"Left engine damaged. Insufficient power!"
The shrill alarm echoed through the landing craft's cockpit and passenger cabin, like countless blades stabbing into everyone's eardrums.
Of course!
They didn't need the warning. Anyone in the cabin who wasn't blind could see the engine outside the left porthole, burning and belching thick clouds of smoke.
"Warning!"
"Insufficient power!"
"Please make an emergency landing as soon as possible!"
"Warning..."
The ship's system chimed again in its icy voice, while the red alarm lights in the cabin flashed rapidly, like they were counting down to their deaths.
Boom—!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Whoosh—!
The airspace outside the landing craft was under a fierce barrage of enemy anti-aircraft laser cannons, solid rounds, and armor-piercing flak. Streaks of searing light, armor-piercing shells, and cannon fire arced across the sky from the ground like meteors. Some scraped past the craft with a roar, while others exploded in the air nearby, their shrapnel sweeping across and clanging against its outer armor.
"Warning!"
"Warning!"
"Ship targeted. Evade immediately!"
"Warning!"
"Ship targeted..."
Suddenly, the alarm sped up. Some piece of equipment aboard the craft seemed to have detected the ground-based anti-aircraft lasers taking aim and was urgently warning the pilot to evade.
"!!"
(へ╬)
Annie didn't hesitate. She gripped the control stick with both hands and yanked it hard. The landing craft, which could only glide a little and was far less nimble than a fighter in the atmosphere, lurched sharply downward again.
Suddenly!
A thick beam of light grazed the craft's right-side armor and shot into the sky. Its tremendous energy sent the temperature beside the hull soaring, heating the high-temperature-resistant glass in the porthole until it began to glow red.
Annie had reacted in time and maneuvered the craft