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“Once we've all organized, send us to the nearest PLA Corvette!”

[color=f7941d][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QB7xjBKGss]“Yessir!”[/url]  [i]Now to figure out when[/i] that[i]’ll be while falling many metres per second through the air![/i][/color] Callie thought, falling many metres per second through the air.  She tore Charter away from the flying ship and her gaze with it, abandoning the last portal (two circles, one for the muzzle of her rifle, one for Charter, connected by a minutely thin length along the barrel) of the half-dozen she’d made to pick off as many targets as she could from a hundred kilometres away.  Instead, she refocused her Arm towards the ship directly below, speaking all the while into her radio: [color=f7941d]“Antique is diving Snapper – repeat, [i]diving[/i] Snapper!”  [i]Why would – doesn’t matter –[/i] can’t let it.[/color]

She hoped that the muffler on her radio was doing its job and that they could hear [i]her[/i] down below, not just a torrent of rushing wind.  For now, she took note of Qingshe’s requests ([color=f7941d][i]Okay, give me a second![/i][/color]) while she scanned the deck below.  The flashes of heat at the stern she recognised as Nil’s staves, the air rippling with heat from their passing as they soared towards one of the nearer PLA craft in the group; the construct standing above her, echoing her shots, she recalled from a visual sweep across the battlefield at Lingayen.  As for the others…  Now she saw them – Noel, Nico and Indra gathering on the deck.  

Then she redirected her vision across the water, to the nearest ship.

[color=f7941d][i][b]No.  Bad.[/b][/i][/color]

[color=f7941d]“Negative on near corvette, sir – thing’s going down in flames!”[/color]  Callie scanned the waters again (constantly adjusting as they rushed up towards her).  [color=f7941d][i]Not Nil’s target – other craft in the group moving to cut them off – need dealing with – doable.[/i]  “Diverting conveyance against multiple threats approaching Milkfish vanguard!”[/color]

[color=f7941d][i]Now – don’t push your luck[/i][/color], a voice in the back of head sounded.  Setting her jaw, Callie brought her arms and legs together and fell into a dive, accelerating, accelerating, [i]accelerating[/i]…  Intuition built on practice told her the right moment to form first one portal, the vertigo of gravity suddenly inverting familiar and [i]thrilling[/i], then another to send her back up to the height of her original vantage point, flanking the lead ship of the attack group.  Now another, connecting her own position to a point angled as far back as possible relative to its side bridge window, so she could use Charter to peer in...

[color=f7941d]“Looks like just officers – unarmed.  Possibility of antiques but no confirmation.”[/color]  She turned off night vision, then grimaced – even at this angle, interposed bodies and the reflectivity of the screens made it hard to tell their contents.  [color=f7941d]“Got a wheel – could crash it into the others.  Unsure on weapons control.  Maybe point defence?  Likely most is deeper inside.”[/color]

She breathed.  Cut off the portal.  Looked again through the same window from so far up above, vision projected through Charter.  [color=f7941d][i]Closer, closer…  Gotcha.[/i][/color]  Eyes on a lower corner of the back wall, where few if any would be looking.  It was enough.

[color=f7941d]“Prepare to engage!”[/color]

Zooming out – holding that now [i]tiny[/i] sliver in view – recalling their position on the [i]Ramon[/i]’s deck – adjusting for the geometry of her fall – both locations now visible…

Energy harnessed.

[color=f7941d][i]One.  Two.  Three.[/i][/color]

Callie felt the familiar wave of tiredness.  She swivelled Charter to the [i]Ramon[/i]’s deck, saw the last foot of one of her allies stepping through.  A brief flash of light shone through the portal before she let it close.

[color=f7941d][i]Alright, night vision and heat vision on, let’s see what’s happ- CHRISSAKES, GIVE A GIRL WARNING![/i][/color]

The sloop’s deck was ablaze, her eyes struggling to adjust even after turning off the vision enhancement.  The crew had remained below deck, leaving…

[color=f7941d][i]Huh.  She [/i]wasn’t[i] a decoy.  Already wounded – good sign, with Myron’s intel.  Well, if you’re going to dress for a costume party rather than the battlefield…[/i][/color]

Callie fiddled with the settings on her radio, reaching Qingshe.  [color=f7941d]“Targeting the antiquarian – get ready to catch!”  [i]If that shadow of yours is half as versatile as I’ve been told…[/i][/color]  A new portal a few metres behind Mei, positionally anchored to her undershirt, stretched once more between Arm and muzzle.  Callie checked the shot through the flickers of fire – not that there would be too much need, given her effective lock on the target.

Then, deciding to make sure of overwhelming the foe’s natural resilience and whatever enhancement she may have been provided rather than risking overcautious burst fire, Callie laid her finger on the trigger of her rifle and squeezed, confident that by the time she released it the enemy Arms Master would no longer be standing – and lacking a deck to stand on.

[@Letter Bee][@Lewascan2][@Sniblet][@Creative Chaos]