“Vo! I require assistance! Ship is down, hostile vok are approaching! Come in! Vo! Vo!”
That was the third time Elkay had called for help in the last ten minutes. There had been zero response from anyone.
“Help! I require assistance! My transport is down and I am surrounded! Is anyone there?”
He rephrased his distress call, widening the signal for all races. Vo was generally only understood by Rethans anyway, and if his would-be rescuers were anything like his body guards, they would probably just try to kill each other. It was as if some sort of madness came over them.
The last few weeks had been awful for the Vice General. While he was probably more popular now than he’d ever been, Elkay was in constant pain. Assassination attempts, fixing the fuck ups of other Generals, the imprisonment of his Ksa, the only beings he considered family, and the death of his own mother had driven him right to the edge. Stressed out didn’t quite cover it.
Elkay tried to think back and work out what had happened. They had landed outside Kolasia City, with a plan to get to the port and head home, when his pilot and co-pilot opened up the doors only to find that the soldiers waiting to meet Elkay’s group had become aggressive. Rather than just close the doors and remain on the ground, the pilot panics and takes off again. That was where things started to get hazy. Both in Elkay’s mind and in reality. There must have been something in the thick fog that had been looming over the city, because the pilots and everyone in the front half of the ship had become aggressive too.
As he peered through the one window in his room, Elkay realised how lucky he was. His room on the ship had always been hermetically sealed, just in case, but what was more amazing was how it wasn’t completely damaged. The only cracks were at the entrance, which he was holding shut with his telekinisis.
Yet another distress call yielded no results. It was no use. Elkay would have to help himself. Find his own way out. One more try though…
After three more failed distress calls, he called it quits. He couldn’t wait for rescue. There might not BE a rescue. So what were his options?
Elkay looked around. He didn’t have many choices here. He wouldn’t be able to hold the seal on the room forever. He would need food, water and rest and he had access to little of those there. A quick check revealed that he had enough food and water for a day. A single chocolate bar and a half-finished bottle of water. Pointless. There were several gas masks, with oxygen and nitrogen for up to a day and a half though. Not to mention that the aggressive hostiles outside were still a threat and knew he was hiding in that room.
Fighting the hostiles and escaping wasn’t an option either. Elkay was still recovering from recent injuries, the sort you’d expect from having a building dropped on you. Plus, he had no idea how many enemies were outside, waiting for him. Still, a wide open space was always better than him being pinned in his room.
Bashing on the window distracted Elkay. It was one of the aggressive Rethans. Foaming at the mouth and clawing at the glass. It was starting to crack. The other Rethans were now kicking and clawing at the door as well.
“I can’t stay here.”
The only way was out. A day and a half of breathable, safe air wouldn’t last him that long though if he had to fight his way out. Wouldn’t last that long either if he exerted himself too much. But if Elkay made a hole in the roof with his powers, then flew out of there, he could glide his way to safety, without having to fight.
East was probably Elkay’s best bet. Head back to Kolasia City. They can’t have flown far before they crashed.
As quickly as he could, Elkay equipped one of the gas masks, and grabbed as many gas canisters as he could carry, attaching them and anything else useful he could grab to his belt. Just in time, as two Rethans broke in through the now shattered door. A blast of telekinisis sent them back. A second blast dropped a piece of ceiling on their heads.
With a flap of his wings, Elkay was free from the confines of his crashed ship, not noticing the small break in the seal of his gas mask…