Prelude to War (PRIVATE)

((OOC: Sorry again, Fury..... I swear I thought it was your turn all this time >< ))


Still stumbling about from the lurching of the ship, Brix still managed to give her comedic companion a wild look over his comment of crashing parties as she grabbed for anything to help stabilize her balance. "I swear, man!! You got the shittiest puns, Dusty!"

After watching him swiftly take out the guard that was in their way, they were off again, with Brix wondering just what crazy scheme he had in his mind this time. As he tested the button towards each ship, she pretty much had a good idea, and was just about to offer her own hot wire expertise when the faint security system beep echoed to reveal what vehicle they were about to "borrow"

Releasing a long impressive whistle through her lips, Brix chased behind Dusty to their new ride and already staking claims. "I got dibs on the radio station!!" Just as she got in and was seat bouncing ready to go, Brix caught sight of Dusty looking around like a kid about to snatch the cookie jar. "Heyheyhey! What are you doing!? Let's get go....wait...WAIT! DON'T TOUCH....SHIT!!" Naturally, Dusty just HAD to push the damn red button before getting into the flying car with Briz repeatedly slapping him in the arm as he started up the engine and flew off. "What is it with YOU and fekkin' RED buttons!!"


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Seeing her brother's nod, Shade returned the same silent gesture before they watched Fury take off with his summons with Vex in their charge. Once Jayda and Shade reached the ledge to see the trio soar through the sky, Jayda released a scream of alarm when seeing Fury abandon the horse to soar through the air himself. "Dangnabbit!! Ah keeps fergettin' he's gawt wings too... gonna kill'im fer scarin' meh layk that!"


There came another explosion that severely lurched the ship as yet another alarm screamed through the intercom, followed by a robotic female voice declaring the self destruct sequence had begun with a count down of only seconds. Without warning, Shade wrapped her arms around Jayda and leaped from the ship with her wings erupting from her back only to wrap securely around them to dive bomb through the air to gain as much distance as possible. The explosion ripped through the air, rippling the vibrations and debris around them, but Shade made sure to keep themselves within the fire funnel Fury produced to block any debris from hitting them.


Once safely on the ground, Jayda rushed for Fury and Vex, first giving Fury a quick look over to be sure he fine, only to give a slight slap to his chest and a scowl across her brow. "That thar's fer bein' a dare dev'l!" She turned abruptly to her brother, carefully placing her palms on his cheeks and whispering his name in the hopes that he just might hear her. To their surprise, Vex began to blink slowly with a weak groan from his throat, sending another spike of hope through Jayda's heart. "Vex?? Can ya hear meh?? We gawt yew out! Yew hear? We gawt yew out an' we're goin' home!"


He took in a staggering breath and pried his eyes open one more time, only having to squint from the light, but managing to turn his head in the direction of Jayda's voice. "I think.... they mushed my brain.... I swear, Jayda.... I heard a damn horse..." Jayda's smile was beaming as she let out a sobbing laugh before gathering her brother into her arms and embracing him tightly. Even through his grunts of pain and the thundering engines of the Kestral approaching, she just couldn't bare letting him go just yet after suffering two years without him, or even knowing if he was alive. Finally, Shade approached quietly, placing her hand on Jayda's trembling shoulder to whisper their desperation to go before the enemy came after them with reinforcements.


Nodding quietly through her sniffling nose, Jayda gently released her brother so the crew of the Kestral could assist in getting Vex onto the ship. Without warning, Jayda found herself embracing Fury while struggling to restrain the tears wanting to fall and only able to repeat the same words over and over. "Thank yew..... thank yew fer finding him, Fury...." Seeing this, Shade proceeded to rescue her brother as well, gently tugging on Jayda's arm to let Fury go so they could get into the ship as fast as possible and get the hell off of this planet....

Fury touched down shortly after George did and while the summon hopped off his horse and gently pulled Vex from the saddle, he set the infra-red strobe up to signal to the Kestrel where they were. He dispersed his wings and activated the communicator in his helmet. ”Kestral, this is Raven. We need immediate evac at Echo X-ray Niner Five Yankee Niner Four. Pick-up for five plus one critically wounded VIP. Have the med-bay ready, he’s in pretty bad shape.”

”Roger that, Raven. Kestrel is Oscar Mike towards your position. ETA 3 minutes. I’ll inform Angel that she’ll have a patient soon.” Cowboy and Dizzy began starting the engines of the Kestrel and had the crew get ready for a hot pick-up before emerging from the hiding spot they had been parked in.

Fury activated his armor’s BLADE system and called his assault rifle to his hands. He walked over to where George was standing over Vex and nodded to the summon and saying, ”Thanks, George. I owe you again. At this rate you’ll be the one summoning me soon.”

The summon stared at Fury for a moment with the same expressionless look on his face as always. He slowly bowed his head to Fury before he and his horse dispersed into a thousand fireflies and returned to the golden cross around Fury’s neck. Fury knelt next to Vex and placed his fingers on his neck looking for a pulse. It was there and it was much stronger than before. He could see Shade and Jayda coming down to land. He patted Vex on the shoulder and said, ”If you can hear me, hang in there. It’s just a little farther till someone who actually knows what the hell their doing can help you. Just… hang in there.”

Fury stepped away from him and started to walk past Jayda and Shade when Jayda stopped him only to slap him across the chest and scold him. Fury’s brow furrowed in confusion, but he held his tongue and chose to instead just walk over and keep the perimeter secure. Fury aimed his gun to the sky as the Camaro came flying down straight for them. He was about to fire when the driver’s window rolled down and Dusty showed his head out of it to shout. ”Sweet wheels, huh?! Can I keep’er?Fury just shook his head and sighed.

The Kestrel landed behind all of them and the cargo bay opened to allow Sev, Angel, and Zeke to rush out to meet Fury and the others. Dusty rolled the Camaro up into the cargo hold and hopped out to go back outside to help secure the perimeter with Fury as the others helped Vex onto the ship.

Fury stood away from everyone and kept an eye on the area. He didn’t think the Fringe would make a counter attack, but one could never be too careful. If he were in their position, though, he would be retreating and licking his wounds. They sent a massive blow to the Fringe that day and He belie-

Suddenly Fury felt someone grab him. He looked down to see Jayda hugging him with tears in her eyes. She kept thanking him over and over again. Fury was dumbstruck for a moment before Shade quickly stepped in to save him. As Jayda pulled away, Fury grabbed her by her shoulder and turned her around to face him again. He tilted her hat back so that it wasn’t down over her eyes and said, ”He’s gonna be fine. Don’t worry, it’ll be ok.” He then turned back to his post.

When he looked back to the ship again, Sev and Zeke were carrying Vex onto the ship on a stretcher while Brix and Angel kept working on him. Both Shade and Jayda were walking into the ship behind all them. Dusty peeled away from his position on the line and tapped him on the shoulder to let him know it was his turn next. Fury kept his eyes on the horizon until he was sure Dusty had reached the ship to cover him. Fury then turned and ran back to the ship. He and Dusty both unfolded the gattling guns on the rear of the ship and aimed out the back. Fury activated his communicator again and said, ”Kestrel, we are green for take off. Get us back to Balamb.”