>>5162726"By the Empress, They are gonna be hosing the pilots out of these monsters…. What does that leave? Like three emp pilots left?" Kostya spoke, his voice grim as he stooped over the disabled unit. Trauma teams were already on stage, rushing to the novices Mortimer couldn't free in time. You only hoped they survived the fifth layer for so long.
You drive a heel into one of the spindly limbs, ignoring the pain and snapping it free from the girl.
She was way ahead of you, wading into the metal wielding the blade like forearm as a weapon. Seeing the thing off it vanished into the messy ground. You clutch the girl to your chest, her small body lighter than you had expected. You easily carry her. <span class="mu-g">"I'm sorry mama."</span> Anastasia speaks weakly as her mangled hand touches your cheek. You feel like you're dying. "Don't worry I've got you. It's gone." You mumble breathing weakly, eyes scanning the blood red mist for any other movement. She rests her head against your chest, you feel the beat of her heart. It lulls and falters. Her jaw works, trying to speak but no noise slips out. Her heart struggles again, your own matching it. Your legs buckle, body collapsing but you hold her tight.
She catches you in her arms. For just a second you see her face unveiled from the snatching shadows, for the fracture of a moment you see.
You didn't know the woman.
She wasn't Eskarrian, her face was not like your own.
She was foreign, like Haru and Ruki. Even though you knew
She wasn't familiar. Something stood out. Her eyes. You recognize them, you stare into them for every day of your life. At every moment you glimpse a mirror or a stray reflection. They were your own eyes.
She had your eyes. Or you had hers. Then you died, your heart stopped. Anastasia along with you. Dying was quicker than you had thought. The snap and hum was followed by blinding light as your dormitory suddenly burst into life. Chasing away any fragment of sleep you clung onto for dear life. Taking a deep breath you sat up in a bed that wasn't your own. The dormitory wasn't a dormitory. You were on a hospital ward. A tube down your throat, gagging you wrench it free. Taking in deep breaths while trying to get off the gurney you found your legs strapped down.
>What do you do, Pilot?>What do you say? Write in. >Rest in bed?>Unstrap yourself and explore?>Call out for assistance?>Do something else?Write in 