As the group of Taken rushed forward at the newly-transformed Isolde, the one in the lead immediately paid for its enthusiasm by taking a quick punch right between the eyes as the girl met its charge with one of her own to close the distance between them. Before it knew what was happening, her fist collided with the crystal figure just hard enough to send a thick spiderweb of cracks through it. The Taken stumbled backward awkwardly, while she stepped forward and ducked under its flailing arm, pivoting in the process to put herself directly behind the thing.

  From there, her hand caught the side of its head, lifting and pushing in the same motion to literally pick the Intruder off the ground and send it flailing sideways into one of the others.

  Even as she was shoving the Taken that way, Isolde was still continuing her pivoting motion, twisting all around while snapping her leg out to kick the one that had been trying to grab her shoulders from behind. The impact made the thing stumble backward, just before she launched herself that way, rising into the air to kick it twice in the chest, one with each foot while using the impacts to literally climb up its body like a set of stairs. Then her final kick collided with its face and knocked it onto its back. She landed on its chest as it fell and rode the thing down. The impact of the fall, with Isolde standing on top of it, was enough to shatter the crystal figure.

  By that point, the Taken she had lifted and hurled at the other by the side of its head had just slammed into its target. Both broke into a dozen pieces from the impact. Three seconds into it and three Taken were shattered. Nor did the rest fare any better. Isolde wasn’t thinking anymore. She wasn’t planning. She was acting, taking two steps away from the remains of the one she had just landed on before leaping right into the middle of the main group. She wouldn’t wait for them to come to her. Isolde didn’t have the patience for that right now. She wanted to hit things.

  It worked, the Taken were surprised by her sudden arrival right in their midst, and Isolde took full advantage of that. In moments, the fight was over. The shattered crystals from that group lay scattered across the ground. Meanwhile, another group that had just been approaching from the front had stopped short, and were simply standing there without actually getting any closer.

  Only belatedly did Isolde realize they hadn’t stopped out of fear. Which was obvious, since she wasn’t sure Taken could be afraid. The mindless troops were entirely too simple for that. They’d been called off by someone else, as a tactical move. The Ostrich from earlier had landed, long legs extending to touch the ground as it loomed over them. Those weapons charged up, and--

  And then Isolde was already leaping away to yank Yukiko out of the bush where the girl had been crouching to stay out of the way. “Kala!” With that shouted warning to her Kite, she bent her knees just a little before leaping as high as she could. The jump, coming just as the Ostrich opened fire on that whole area, took the two of them all the way to the roof of the school, and nearly far enough to come down on the ground on the other side. Instead, they landed right near the edge, stumbling a little. Now they were at least somewhat out of sight for the moment, safely hidden from the Ostrich mech by several large pieces of machinery and the roof access door.

  Kalaratri hovered in front of her in hummingbird form, as she let go of the other girl. Isolde! Are you okay? Right yourself, take a breath, and then we’ll take the fight right back to the bastards! We’ll take the eyes from their sockets as a mercy first, so the abominations don’t have to watch as the rest of their bodies are broken apart, piece by piece! They wanna threaten our people, we’ll break the fuckers and teach them never to come anywhere near our friends again!

  In almost any other situation, Isolde might’ve taken the time to appreciate how funny it was to hear words like that come from a tiny, hovering gold and purple hummingbird. But this wasn’t any other situation. She might’ve thrown herself into that fight with some real enthusiasm back there, but this was still a lot to take in. It was a lot to… to even feel. A Freestyler, she was an actual, totally real Freestyler. And this-- this was her Kite. This was real, it was really happening. She’d had dreams about this sort of thing, because who hadn’t? But she never thought it would actually happen. She never thought--

  Which was the moment when the sudden high-pitched sound of the Ostrich shifting to its fighter form so it could lift off the ground reminded Isolde that if she didn’t do something right now, it wouldn’t matter how real this was, because she would end up having the shortest career of any Freestyler in existence. That thing would kill her. It would kill her. She could actually die here.

  That realization, the fear of just how bad this could be, made Isolde freeze up for a moment. A cold sense of panic began to swell in her stomach. No, no, no, she couldn’t do this. She wasn’t a soldier, she wasn’t a hero. She could die here. One shot from that Intruder mech and she would be erased, vaporized, turned to a cloud of dust. She would die, actually, really, permanently die.

  The fear didn’t get any better as that Ostrich fighter rose into view, weapons trained right on Isolde. She heard Kalaratri trying to say something, frantically warning her to move. But that panic had taken over. The Kite’s words were just noise in the back of her head as she stared up at the rising alien ship. It was taking its time, lining up a good shot, clearly savoring the moment.

  Just as she started to hyperventilate, absolutely certain that she could feel the thumb of that Eighty-Seven monster starting to press against the trigger, something arced up from the side. It was a loose brick. The thing flew right up to the bounce off the side of the Ostrich cockpit. It did no damage, of course. It didn’t accomplish a single thing… other than to make that Intruder stop momentarily. The lasers that Isolde had braced herself for didn’t come, as the front end of the ship seemed to shift almost microscopically. It turned a tiny bit to see what-- who had just thrown that brick. Its pilot was probably feeling just about as incredulous as Isolde herself did right then.

  Yukiko. It was Yukiko. She’d pulled away from the other girl after they landed, and managed to run to the far corner, where the fire escape was. But instead of going down it and escaping, like she’d clearly planned, she had… stopped there. She saw Isolde freeze, and… and then she threw that brick. She threw the brick to get that pilot’s attention. Not to beat it, not even to survive. She gave up the chance to escape in order to buy Isolde a second to snap out of it.

  That time, when something hit the side of the Ostrich cockpit, it wasn’t a brick, and it didn’t simply bounce off with no effect. It was Isolde herself, who launched herself that way a bare instant before the thing would have incinerated Yukiko. Twisting in the air, she slammed both feet into the lower part of the ship’s cockpit with enough force to knock it sideways just a few inches. That was enough to send the twin lasers from those cannons sailing just over the screaming Yukiko’s head and off through the sky, while the girl herself threw her arms in front of her face and cringed backward. Which meant she almost stepped right off the edge of the roof.

  Even as the other girl started violently windmilling her arms, giving a squeak of terror, Isolde was crashing into her. She wrapped Yukiko up in her arms while leaping forward off the roof, just as the Ostrich adjusted its aim and fired again. And once more, for the third time in terrifyingly few minutes, the two of them very narrowly avoided being utterly atomized by that same alien ship.

  Landing on her feet back on the grass, this time on the opposite side of the school from where they had been before, Isolde had to use one hand to catch herself against the nearby wall. The only thing she could think about was how desperate she was to not throw up. “H-he-he’s gonna kill-- he’s gonna kill us, he’s gonna kill us, oh my God, oh God.” They were out of places to run to. The Intruder ship was above them, already starting to circle around so he could line up the perfect shot. They couldn’t jump back to the roof, and running anywhere else would put them right in his line of fire. They were stuck, and it was obvious even the Eighty-Seven pilot knew it.

  Just as her panic was starting to completely eclipse everything else, a shot of pain ran through her leg. Someone-- Yukiko had kicked her, while laying sprawled out on the grass where she’d dropped the girl. As she looked that way with a yelp, Yukiko snapped, “You could’ve done better in the debate, and you can do better now! You were chosen, you’re a Freestyler! Do something!”

  That… worked. Oh, sure, the first thing Isolde felt was anger, that Yukiko was dumping this on her. But she was right. Isolde had been chosen. She was a Freestyler. And she could do something about that goddamn Ostrich, which was even then circling lazily into view. Looking up that way, imagining the arrogant smirk on that alien’s face, she snapped, “I’m really fucking sick of that guy! So you know what?” Walking forward a few steps, arms outstretched, she stared up at the hovering ship. “You wanna shoot me!? You wanna shoot me!? Do it, cocksucker! Man up and pull the fucking trigger, you worthless piece of alien shit coward motherfucker!”

  The cannons adjusted, aiming down at her while she ranted. And then something hit the alien ship. Like the brick on the roof. But this wasn’t a brick. It was Kalaratri, doing exactly what she’d wanted her to do. While Isolde held the alien’s attention, the Kite, still in that hummingbird form, had flown all the way up to get above the Ostrich. Then she grew, abandoning her animal shapes entirely in favor of becoming what she was meant to be: a starfighter. And that, in her full ship form, was what slammed down into the Ostrich from above. The sudden impact clearly took the distracted Intruder completely by surprise, sending the ship straight down into the grass with enough force to snap the whole Ostrich in half and half-bury the thing in a ten-foot-deep crater.

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  The shockwave from the force of that impact was enough to throw Yukiko to the ground, and would have done the same to Isolde before this… this Freestyler thing. As it was, she stood in place as the dirt and hurled grass sprayed over them. Not that she noticed any of that. Nor did she pay any mind to the yelp the other girl made as she was knocked down. All of her attention was focused on the shape hovering in front of her, the shape that had collided with that Ostrich. The shape of her Kite, her own Kite, in ship form. Her own actual, real starfighter, right there.

  A thirty-foot long, ten-foot tall wedge shape formed the main part of the ship. The back was about fifteen feet across, narrowing as it went forward until it reached the front, which was roughly five feet wide. Two glass-like bubble shapes stuck out of the wedge, one on either side, about halfway along it. Each bubble held a visible seat that could clearly swivel in any direction, and wraparound control panel. A quad-barreled laser cannon stuck out of the front of the ship, just barely fitting within that five foot space it tapered down into. Finally, just behind the pair of cockpit bubbles, there was a four-foot wide, twelve-foot long metal pole. Six small laser emplacements were spread along the length of the pole, in both the front and back. And at the very end, there was what looked like the head of a sledgehammer, but was actually a heavy rocket launcher. The pole extended out to the right side of the ship at the moment, but was capable of rotating three hundred and sixty degrees around the entire ship to point anywhere.

  With a powerful humming sound, the ship slowly descended before landing right in front of them. As it did, a very different sound caught Isolde’s attention. More ships. More Intruder fighters. They were just some dots in the sky right then, but they were getting closer by the second.

  That was when Kalaratri’s voice spoke up in her mind once more. Isolde, we can stop them. We can fight the ships. We can beat them. But we need help. There’s too many to fight by ourselves. You need a navigator, a Squire. You have to pick someone to fight beside you!

  Standing there, Isolde heard the screams coming from all around them, across the schoolgrounds. The screams came from more of her teammates, and the other members of this school, staff and students alike. She heard gunfire, and the sound of those Intruder ships getting closer. She heard it all, and knew that by the time any other defenses made it here, it would be too late. The only chance they had, the only chance any of them had, was this ship right here.

  With the realization of that responsibility, Isolde slowly looked down, locking eyes with Yukiko, who was staring up at her in paralyzed shock, making weak little noises of disbelief and fear.

  “A-- a Squire?” Isolde echoed, a wave of dizziness washing over her. This was all so much, too much. What she really wanted to find a place to hide and wait for all of this to simply blow over.

  Except she couldn’t. These people needed her. There was no one else who could help them, not in time. She wasn’t weak anymore. She wasn’t a coward. She was a Freestyler now. She was the only one who could stop these monsters from taking everyone here. But Kalaratri was right, to do that, she needed help. She needed the very best help, even if she couldn’t stand the girl.

  “Yeah, I need a Squire,” she confirmed in a voice that was much more steady than before.

  “Wha-- me?” Yukiko couldn’t have sounded more surprised if Isolde had told her she wanted to go steady. “But you hate me! You--” She stopped abruptly, flinching at the sound of another desperate, terrified set of screams coming from the far side of the building. It was getting worse.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Isolde declared. “I could hate you with every fiber of my being, and you’d still be the best choice. I can’t save those people without your help. I… look, I really can’t do this without you.” With that, she extended her hand, offering it to the other girl. "Please, help me.”

  Cringing inwardly as more gunfire filled the air, and those enemy ships came even closer still, Yukiko whimpered. “But I’m not-- I’m just a… you’re really the…. I…” She closed her eyes, the terror still evident as her entire body shuddered. Then she opened them and took a deep, shuddering breath. Her hand rose, accepting Isolde’s. “O-okay. Okay. I’m in. Let’s do this.”

  Immediately, Isolde felt a tugging sensation in her stomach. Without really knowing exactly what she was doing, the girl lifted one hand and touched her companion, her rival, with it. That odd, insistent tugging feeling seemed to rise out of her stomach, becoming a tingle that ran down her arm, to her fingers. She could sense a connection of sorts form between herself and the other girl. Yukiko was her Squire now, her responsibility, her companion and partner. Whatever else she might be able to say about the girl (many impolite things), there really wasn’t any other choice she would have made, even if every person she knew had been there to pick from.

  The instant the connection was made, Yukiko was transformed into the Squire uniform of a jumpsuit, boots, gloves, and full helmet. All gold, with purple lines over the boots and gloves, and a matching purple visor. She gave a soft gasp of surprise while looking down at herself. “Oh. Oh, is this what you feel like? This is-- I feel strong. Oh, wow. That’s-- oh, that’s a lot. I think--”

  “Yukiko, focus!” With those snapped words, Isolde grabbed the girl by the arm and dragged her along as she turned to run to the ship. Overhead, those Intruder fighters were close enough to recognize three Shrikes, the fast and incredibly maneuverable Eighty-Seven ships. She was pretty sure they were the ‘weakest’ ones, but that didn’t exactly mean much if the two of them were standing out in the open. Weak was a pretty relative term when it came to starship weapons.

  The bubbles on either side of Kalaratri were already opening, short ladders descending from them. Isolde gave the other girl a push toward one of them, before rushing for the other. Her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest as she scrambled up the ladder, and all but threw herself into the seat. Just like that, the bubble closed once more, and she felt the thrum of power running through the ship. Her ship. Her ship, her Kite, her partner. Sadly, she didn’t have time to actually enjoy it, or even really think about it at all. The instant she was inside and the bubble had closed behind her, she was already shouting, “Take off, take off! Get us in the air!”

  Fortunately, Kalaratri had a much better head on her shoulders (err, cockpit on her fuselage?) and waited until Yukiko had actually made it into her own bubble before following those orders. Isolde hadn’t even realized she’d made it into the ship so far ahead of the other girl. But finally, the Squire was in, and the thrumming sound became a roar as the ship suddenly launched herself up and forward. There were no visible engines on the fighter. Instead, it was surrounded by a strong energy field projected from the reactor inside that propelled it in any given direction.

  How exactly she knew that, Isolde wasn’t certain. The knowledge was just sort of right there in her head.

  The incoming Shrikes opened fire, but Kalaratri was gone. She wasn’t the fastest Kite out there, her strength lying more in sheer firepower, but she was certainly quick enough to avoid that barrage. The force from that motion was enough to knock Isolde back in her seat, and she heard an audible yelp coming through what was apparently a communication channel linking the two bubbles.

  She had to take control. Kites couldn’t really fly themselves, not in anything more than very basic maneuvers. That was why they needed Freestylers and Squires. Quickly, as the knowledge of how to fly these things filled her mind, Isolde put her left hand against what looked like a quivering bit of gelatin set into the console, then pushed into it. The ship read what she wanted it to do through that connection, while her other hand grabbed the control stick.

  The Shrikes had fully committed themselves to that attack run, the point of only barely leaving themselves enough room to pull up before they would’ve slammed into the ground just behind their own shots. As those laser blasts tore up the grass and devastated even more of the school grounds, they flew through a cloud of dust and debris, the three separating to avoid crashing into one another.

  Which meant the first warning two of them had that the third was in danger was the rapid, staccato burst of laserfire cutting through the dust, followed by an explosion that rocked them violently. And then their sensors would show their companion blip out of existence.

  That was when Kalaratri soared upward, out of that cloud of dust that had blanketed the entire schoolyard by that point. They were right behind the Shrike that had flown straight up and forward, while the other one was off to the right. Shouting for Yukiko to target that last one and rotate the weapon arm, Isolde focused on the one they were behind. The holographic display in front of her showed a blue box around the enemy ship, which danced around several times before centering. There was a pleasant chime of a lock, and she pressed the trigger, sending a quartet of laser bursts from the cannons on the front of the fighter. The Shrike took two volleys before it finally went down, one wing entirely sheered off.

  By that point, Yukiko had managed to figure out how to control the weapon arm, the long metal rod sticking out of the fighter that could rotate around. She targeted the other ship, and the arm automatically brought itself into position, the sledgehammer-like rocket launcher twisting around to aim that way. As soon as it was set, Isolde heard the chime and instantly switched to controlling that weapon as she hit the trigger. Kalaratri and that Shrike were flying essentially side by side, though a few hundred feet apart by that point. But that didn’t matter to the weapon arm, which had rotated around and twisted until it stood straight up, like a flagpole, with the weapon holes pointed that way. Six separate lasers lanced out, driving the Shrike pilot to instantly use his ship’s incredible maneuverability to catapult himself upward in a corkscrewing maneuver, expertly evading every single shot.

  What he did not evade was the ‘rocket’ (it was actually more of an explosive and slower-moving ball of energy than a physical rocket) that launched without any target lock-on. The lasers simply drove the enemy ship into evading directly into the energy rocket’s path. A second later, that ship was gone too.

  Three Shrikes…. gone, just like that. She destroyed them, killed them. And it was so easy. They were just… gone. She… she…

  “Isolde, pull up, pull up!”

  The cry from Yukiko snapped her out of that, and she quickly yanked the stick, right before they would’ve flown into the side of another building. The ship flew up and over the roof, just as several more blips appeared on the scanners. With a yelp, Isolde immediately worked on targeting them.

  “Whoa, whoa, slow down there, Ace!” A voice, not Yukiko’s, called over the communication channel. “Check those scans again, we’re on your side! Thought you could use some reinforcements.

  “The name’s Limerick. And boy are we glad to see a friendly face.”

  JOKE TAGS