The ship descended in front of the Winters yard, right next to a plasma-ridden Nexus Corp transporter.
Jake had the defensive turrets online, just in case reinforcements were to be sent. "Lyra, let's go." Jake called the girl who sat in silence.
Lyra looked at Jake, with a determined and hopeful look on her face, she knew her father was capable of defending himself and her mother, but no matter, she still had a layer of restlessness and fear in her eyes, something Jake picked up quickly, advantages of The Atlas.
"Jake! It's too dangerous to go yourself and you're talking about taking Lyra." Elizabeth shouted at her son, unable to mask her concern.
"I know Mom, but it's not feasible for all of us to go and someone has to stay with the ship, Lyra has to go because it's her parents. Also looking at the state of the two shuttles that landed here, I am sure Uncle Clarence and Aunt Grace are ok." Jake spoke, his last few words aimed at Lyra to calm her down.
"I understand it's risky but I will keep us safe, I promise." Jake spoke in a resolute tone.
Elizabeth sighed before speaking "Alright, alright, fine you can go. Only because there's no choice. You have 10 minutes to get back here or I'm coming to get you."
Jake nodded before giving his mother a deep hug, he could hear her heartbeat rapidly beating, her short breaths. He knew how scared she felt letting her child go by himself, but he had to do it.
They separated before the ship's door began opening. Jake grabbed Lyra's hand and slowly stepped out, reminding her to stay behind him.
Jake while walking to the front gate looked at the damaged shuttle next to his ship.
(Plasma turret fire, these shuttles did not have any shields online. They must have taken the Winters too lightly as a threat. Those turrets chewed through that hull like nothing.)
'So you're saying they should be safe right?'
(I believe they both descended at the same time, with the shuttle in the rear of the house catching the attention of the turrets first. While the other is damaged and had its pilots killed, I still believe 10-15 of them made it to the courtyard, evidenced by the scorch marks on the walls and disabled turrets.)
Jake and Lyra walked through the front gate into the courtyard. Jake could feel Lyra trembling as he looked at the garden.
A few bodies lay strewn across the yard, the garden had become a battlefield, with Nexus Corp Soldiers using the trees as cover from the turrets in front.
Both kids witnessed death for the first time in their lives, for Jake with The Atlas suppressing some of his emotions, quickly got a hold of his bearings while Lyra started to shiver, tears pooling in her eyes 'I want my mommy' were the words that went through her head.
Jake wanted to hug her and calm her down but did not want to waste more time. He approached the body of the lightly armed soldier, picking up his rifle.
(HGW-207 Laser rifle. Issued to Special Forces for their accuracy, low recoil and high rate of fire. It seems they sent their experienced soldiers after the Winters. It doesn't overheat easily but may be a bit heavy for you.)
'Got it Atlas' Jake stood up, slinging the rifle on his back. He held Lyra's hand and moved forward "Just look at me, don't focus on anything else." He spoke as they moved forward.
Though those words might not look like they meant a lot, they allowed Lyra to get back on track to finding her parents.
They made their way past the garden, and to the front door, which was bullet-ridden and broken open. Lyra this time took the lead, heading upstairs, ignoring the bodies in the hall to the master bedroom.
Lyra felt at ease when she saw it was locked, hope in her eyes as she knocked on it.
"Mom, Dad." Lyra spoke as she banged on the door. "Lyra!" A familiar voice came from the room inside as tears fell down Lyra's face.
The door opened and Lyra dashed forward to hug her mother. The pair fell to the floor, their tears streaming down their faces as a wave of relief washed over them.
Jake also sighed in relief as he saw that Grace was unharmed 'At least they're alright Atlas.'
(Jake, they are both alive however, it seems that Clarence is not in a position to move) The Atlas bore bad news as Jake looked at Clarence who sat on a chair, gun in his hand and a small hole in his chest.)
'Shit' Jake could only say as he walked up to the injured Clarence, who had a face of relief as he saw Jake.
"Hah, you made it Jake." Clarence smiled as he spoke trying to sit up. Jake quickly tried to support him as Clarence inevitably gave up trying to stand and relaxed back "Ahhh, this is not so bad, at least I can see my wife and daughter. Looks like we got lucky ey, Victor." Clarence seemingly spoke to himself, Jake wondering why he had said that.
"Nevermind that Jake, listen to me." Clarence pulled Jake and spoke to his ear. "Both you and I know that I am not making it out of this chair. We neither have the time nor the adequate facilities to get me out alive, I'm losing blood fast and my spine is shattered below the hip."
"So you're gonna take that transporter and get the hell out of this system as fast as you can. The closest GOE-governed system is Iona, it's got a planet where you'll be safe too, the NCSF would not even think of entering GOE territory."
Clarence informed Jake of where he must run to before taking a deep breath and speaking again, this time in complete seriousness looking directly into Jake's eyes.
"Look after my wife and daughter Jake, you are the only person I can trust and someone told me to have complete faith in you, so as helpless as I am, please take care of them." Clarence asked Jake, his eyes slowly watering as Jake saw the helplessness and anxiety in Clarence's eyes.
"I promise you, Uncle Clarence, I will keep them safe, just as I will keep my family safe" Jake spoke to Clarence without a doubt in his voice.
"Good" Clarence spoke one word and smiled. "Now let me talk to my family one last time." Clarence spoke calling over his wife Grace who brought Lyra to him.
Jake stood behind them as Lyra hugged her father. Clarence understood that he could not waste too much time and quickly explained things to his wife and daughter.
"Lyra, I cannot come with you. If you were to try and bring me along you won't be able to escape and even if we were able to get out I will die from lack of medical care." It pained Clarence to say these harsh words to his daughter, but if that's what it took to get her to leave then he had to do it.
"Lyra, I'm sorry I can't watch you grow up to be a wonderful woman but remember this, I'll always be with you no matter what." Clarence who still kept his composure watched his daughter break down but heeded the words of her father.
A final family hug between the three would be the last moment of the Winters together, something Jake reminded himself to never forget.
"Now go, follow Jake, he will keep you safe." Clarence spoke as Grace pulled Lyra from her father. Even Jake was curious as to why Clarence had so much faith in him but was only met with a smirk and a playful wink.
Jake helped Grace and Lyra pick up their bags and make their way out of their house. Grace took the lead with the Laser rifle Jake took off the soldier's corpse.
(It was smart of Clarence to leave himself behind. Had he not, I estimate by the time we made it halfway to Serena B we would be shot down.)
'I know, he was completely calm, like he was already prepared for it and knew what we had to do' Before Jake could ponder some more, he heard his mother shout.
"JAKE!" Elizabeth yelled and sighed in relief as she saw her son unharmed coming out with Grace and Lyra.
They quickly got onboard with Elizabeth already understanding the situation based on Lyra's deadpan look.
Aria took it upon herself to watch Lyra as they strapped themselves in, Grace who knew the system better in the Co-pilot seat sitting next to Jake.
(Jake, they've shut down the airspace, we might have a problem. The moment we break out, all sensors, scanners and land-based defences will be pointed right at us.)