Commissioned: Duel

"Changing the game, the Crimson Killer shifted direction, heading for a gap between two hefty boulders. The Habu rolled ninety degrees and slid between them.

Shit! Maya thought, somewhat hesitant at the situation unfolding. But she didn’t want to lose her target. The rocks were closing in rapidly. Her foot pushed in the left pedal, rolling the Shootingstar. The gap shrank and shrank, Maya’s heart nearly stopped. But at the last moment, she slipped through.

Something jolted the starfighter, the damage display popping up. The vertical stabilator had been scraped by one of the boulders, exposing the inner structure. But her target was nowhere in sight. Maya’s gaze shifted to her radar display.

Shit! She’s right beh-

A sharp jolt struck her craft. Projectile cannon fire.

“Warning, wing structural damage! Warning, wing structural damage!” Bitching Betty squawked. Nothing critical was damaged, but the Crimson Killer was on her tail, and the debris field was thinning out.

Maya juked right, pushing the flight stick frontwards to dive the Shootingstar as another e-mag gun burst just barely missed her. She actuated the reverse thrusters, all of those gravities crushing her chest and stomach, forcing the wind out of her. The Habu unconsciously dashed by, and Maya through the thrust throttle to full, lurching the SF-14 on a forward path once more.

Both pilots criss-crossed flight paths, each desperately struggling to gain the upper hand. Habu and Shootingstar scissored across the black, neither pilot was going to back down.

The Crimson Killer’s flying loss more and more finesse and became more predatory, while Maya’s grew more opportunistic. They were at a stalemate… one that needed a victor.

Suddenly, violet flame flared from the engines of the red Habu in a burst of acceleration. Maya’s Shootingstar couldn’t keep up, but she attempted to try. The Habu then pulled up and back over, nose pointed towards Maya. Each of them had gunlock. Each of them squeezed their gun triggers.

Hole’s from Maya’s laser cannons ate holes in the coffin cockpit of the Habu, but two e-mag slugs pierced through her Shootingstar’s canopy transparency, the pressurized oxygen atmosphere rushing out rapidly. Near-frantic, Maya checked her O2 levels and the suit pressure. Both were stable, but the depressurization alarms flashed in her HUD display, with Bitching Betty speaking audibly. Once more, the Habu passed Maya, and she shifted her head to see. She thought she caught a glimpse of a female pilot staring back at her, eyes narrowed and resolved. Maya froze, caught in the moment of the duel they had just fought in.

“Maya! Maya! Disengage immediately! You are battle-damaged! Return to the Challenger, ASAP!”

Colonel Espara’s voice snapped her back to reality. He sounded pissed. Very pissed.

“Yes sir,” she replied, breaking away from the engagement.

Her foe seemed to have received similar orders, the rose-red Habu racing away as fast as its twin engines could propel it.

The Colonel and Thunder oh-four had arrived, their friendly IFF signals were confirmed and shown to be mere klicks away from her position.

Maya exhaled deeply in relief. She had held her own against the Crimson Killer, and survived. She didn’t know if she would survive the Colonel’s asschewing."


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This is the conclusion to the 'Clash of Angels' picture colourbrand.deviantart.com#/ar… I did for

This was very hard to do - I wanted drama, action, terror, and respect the above story and I think I did it well. The blur effects were key.

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