I struggle to regain vision. My head is pounding from the landing. My arms were weak and I can barely stand on my feet. The troops ahead start shooting at something. I can't tell what it is. Suddenly someone stands over me. They bend down and start checking my eyes and face.
"Are you ok?" They ask. "Are you hurt?"
A soldier runs up to the figure and calls out them.
"Princess, the jamming signal is down." he says
Princess Cadence? It's her?
"Good, where are we with Starfire?" she asks
"It has entered stage three and preparing to fire. We need to get you out of here, now!"
"Take her with us." she says, pointing at me.
"Ma'am."
The soldier grabs me by the arm and pulls me over his back. His arm goes through my legs and wraps around the other side, putting my weight on his shoulders. Darrin is with us too, calling over the radio.
"Stellar Flare, this is Ariel 2-1, requesting an orbital strike on my position. We have the Gridlock in sights, repeat, the Gridlock is in play!"
"Be advised Ariel, you are too close to Starfire. A strike may trigger an ignition in the area."
"I don't care about the risks!" Cadence's yells through the radio
"This is Captain Maverick. Cadence, this is too dangerous, we are not firing."
"I don't care. They killed my father, and you will do what you are fucking told! Initiate the strike, now!"
There is a bit of hesitation from the other end before they finally respond.
"Understood Ariel, beginning strike."
Starfire roars again. Exhaust doesn't leave its ports this time, instead a bright light starts to build up top. The nozzle expands wider than it has even been until it blocks the sun and all the light from it, casting a shadow for miles in all directions. Suddenly a light pours out of the engine. It's brighter than the sun and brighter than the moon and illuminates the darkened sky. An automatic alarm plays over the radios. A dreadful warning and reminder of what power Starfire creates.
"Warning," it says, "Starfire ignition detected. Please clear the area!"
"Everyone!" Cadence yells, "get to the space port!"
The soldiers scramble and run as fast as they can, taking cover behind buildings, crates, and debris. The soldier carrying me places me down behind an old truck, then takes cover himself. A red light shines from the Steller as it aims its weapons at the target. Judging from the angle of attack, they have the enemy ship right in their sights...as well as Starfire.
"Take cover!" Darrin yells.
In an instant, Stellar fires, blasting a hole through the Gridlock's port side. It bursts into flames, then detonates seconds later. The explosion shacks the very ground from which it is nowhere near. Any remaining glass shatters, and a wall of fire and dust expands at a rapid pace, crashing into the buildings and debris we hid behind. In that moment, the air becomes hard to breath, like bathing in lava, the very air burned my lungs. My skin starts to peel, and the pain becomes too much as I let out a loud scream.
As quickly as it happened, it stops. The ship has crashed into ground, becoming nothing more than the very debris we stand around. However as one problem is resolved, another reveals itself. I am the first to notice it. Starfire is no longer online, but it too has a gaping hole in its side. Bits and pieces fall off intermittently, but it was enough to worry.
"Good job everyone," Darrin says, "Call for evac, let's get out of here."
He sees me still laying by the vehicle and checks my right arm, which is currently burned.
"Are you ok? Let's get you to a doctor to check that out."
"Thanks." I said.
Suddenly the ground shakes. At first, no one cares, a ship just exploded, its expected. But then it happens again, and again. All eyes turn to Starfire, which has just tilted 10 degrees...in our direction. Excitement quickly turns to horror.
"Stellar, what's the status on that evac?"
"We are coming down, E.T.A. one minute."
"We don't have one minute."
The ground shakes harder. Starfire tilts another 5 degrees and more charred remains fall off the ship. The horror of watching this thing fall feels impossible to describe. Everyone looks to the sky as another roar is heard. The sound of a ship's engines. The ariel ships have landed just in time. Everyone quickly boards helping me on as well.
The ground shakes a final time. Starfire breaks through its chains and is now in freefall. The sun goes dark in an instant. Thousands of pieces of debris crash into the ground all at once. The shuttle lifts off the ground and boosts at full speed. We are not out of the woods yet. The ship tilts left then right then left again, dodging the incoming debris as the engine falls. We catch a glimpse of it as it grows closer and closer, clasping into millions of more pieces on the way down.
Our ship makes one final maneuver and tilts into the sky dodging the engine as it crashes into the ground. In a sigh of relief, everyone celebrates. The tension is finally released. I take a deep breath and smile at Darrin, who is sitting next to me.
"Thanks." I said.
"I have questions after this, but for now, no problem."
Of course, not everything is meant to last, and this moment of happiness is no exception. An impossibly bright light flashes the ship through its windows. No one can see anything, and everyone is calling out to each other. The light begins to dim, and everyone peaks out the window.
It's suddenly silent. A man gasps and other falls back into his seat. No one says a word. We all know what it is. The clouds have cleared the location of Starfire. A wave of fire sweeps in all directions from a singular point. The remains behind it are charred and black. As dark as space itself. As for Starfire, nothing but a ball of fire. Thousands of miles wide, and higher than cloud level. The wall of fire will go on forever, until there is no longer enough energy to carry it. It will burn hotter than its sun and destroy everything it its wake.
"That's a Starfire ignition." I said. "We just killed this planet."
"Yeah...In Meklar."
"Shit!"