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Chapter Goblin Days (Pt. 2) — The Pilot and the Knight 

Word count: 12799
Released on: July 28, 2024, 11:46 p.m.
Last edited: Sept. 5, 2024, 11 p.m.
Book: Unreleased (0)
Most mentioned character
181 mentions
Most mentioned class
37 mentions
Most mentioned skill
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Most mentioned location
23 mentions

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She had about eighty miles of fuel in the tank, and she was headed down through a rocky canyon pass with the enemy on her six. Fightipilota overrode the warning sounds and forced her craft to down in an insane dive, flaring the wing flaps at the last moment to abort the dive from ‘death’ to a mere snap-glide.
A second, shrill whine came from her aircraft, and Fightipilota guessed she’d reduced the durability of the wings and overstressed the hull, but she had no choice. The enemy was right behind them, and—she glanced over her shoulder as she wiped at condensation on her glass goggles—
Three of them. Two regular Wyvern-class fighters and what looked like a green Wyvern-bomber with a payload that was spitting constantly in her direction. The globs of acid landed well short of her, but she saw pitting where the acid had landed, releasing huge gouts of steam from the melting ground. One shot might be the end of her, so Fightipilota urged as much speed as she could from her aircraft as they headed for the canyon pass.
Fightipilota swung up her dorsal turret and fired once, then twice. A [Double Tap] that missed both times given the speed and distance between her and her pursuers, but kept them wary. She grinned as the wind blasted her face, and the canyon mouth approached. It was so narrow it would barely admit her aircraft wing-tip to wing-tip. But she knew the specs; she was operating a Wyvern-class aircraft at exactly thirty-seven feet’s wingspan. The canyon? Forty feet if she was a judge.
Fightipilota swung up her dorsal turret and fired once, then twice. A [Double Tap] that missed both times given the speed and distance between her and her pursuers, but kept them wary. She grinned as the wind blasted her face, and the canyon mouth approached. It was so narrow it would barely admit her aircraft wing-tip to wing-tip. But she knew the specs; she was operating a Wyvern-class aircraft at exactly thirty-seven feet’s wingspan. The canyon? Forty feet if she was a judge.
All the room in the world. Fightipilota’s aircraft came screaming at the canyon walls as her pursuers dived, still death-shrieking as they followed. The [Fighter Pilot] was reloading her turret when someone kicked her in the head. She ignored the blow, triggering the reserve fuel and urging the airplane to keep dead ah—
All the room in the world. Fightipilota’s aircraft came screaming at the canyon walls as her pursuers dived, still death-shrieking as they followed. The [Fighter Pilot] was reloading her turret when someone kicked her in the head. She ignored the blow, triggering the reserve fuel and urging the airplane to keep dead ah—
Fighti, what are you doing?”
The second kick to the back of her head made Fightipilota break out of her trance. She looked up, and the [Beast Tamer] clinging to his Wyvern’s back screamed at her. The Wyvern, Coldcream, screamed at her.
The second kick to the back of her head made Fightipilota break out of her trance. She looked up, and the [Beast Tamer] clinging to his Wyvern’s back screamed at her. The Wyvern, Coldcream, screamed at her.
Their two Hobgoblin passengers were deathly silent, clinging to their seat straps. Fightipilota broke out of the haze of concentration as the Wyvern tried once again to abort its flight into the narrow canyon mouth.
“Keep going straight! [Aerial Boost]!”
A sudden jet of speed pushed the Frost Wyvern forwards against its will; it was still trying to flap its wings and fly up. The [Beast Tamer], Chickenruler, roared back.
Fightipilota ground her teeth together as she sensed their forwards progress slow. They were engaged in wing-mode! It was a huge problem for Wyvern-class aircraft and all fliers operating on similar organic models, frankly.
Damn. At least the other Wyverns were hesitating on following them into the canyon. Fightipilota fired again and winged one of them; she heard a scream as she yanked her aircraft left, avoiding a protrusion in the wall—
The [Beast Tamer] howled at Fightipilota, and Coldcream shrieked again, but right now, the Goblin didn’t have time for niceties.
The [Beast Tamer] howled at Fightipilota, and Coldcream shrieked again, but right now, the Goblin didn’t have time for niceties.
She knew she was half-dreaming. The dream was that these were aircraft instead of angry Wyverns and that she was in a Wyvern-class fighter instead of…well, an unhappy Frost Wyvern being steered by a [Beast Tamer].
But the chase was real enough. Three Wyverns had objected to the presence of the Frost Wyvern entering their territory and decided it was time for a good old-fashioned beatdown. They were a tiny pack led by a green Acid Wyvern…it was a big sucker, and Fightipilota hadn’t liked the odds of taking it, even with her Thunderbow—before the other two appeared.
Maneuvering the Frost Wyvern was hard. The controls were nothing like what Fightipilota imagined and had seen examples of in Kevin’s sketches. She had reins, her feet, and verbal commands that Coldcream half-knew instead of a throttle and controls at her fingertips. The Wyvern would resist some commands, like heading into this canyon, or just react slower than she needed.
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