Chapters
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Lucky was falling—falling straight up into the air. She squealed in surprise, though she needn’t have worried long. Around her, the suit rotated entirely on its own, tugging her along with it until she could see the horizon straight ahead. She was still rocketing upward, but not over land. Far below her was a clear blue ocean, and not at all far away, the black sandy beach of an island. She scanned the air around her, pushing the helmet out of the way so she could hear and see better. The familiar roar…-
515.2 K •
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Lucky had been mistaken—it wasn’t that the door had opened like a hinge. Somehow, it had been ripped completely free of the craft, and was now drifting slowly away as though they were out in space.Lightning Dust began to shake—though she didn’t move, Lucky could smell her fear. See the way that she wanted to run. To jump right out the new opening in the wall, maybe. However much she might want to flee, Dust remained standing, glaring up at the intruder. “W-why are…”“Oh come now.” Discord…
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515.2 K •
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It had been a long time since Olivia had been in Landfall base. She could tell from the way the Forerunner acted that it didn’t want her here—didn’t want anyone here, now that there was somewhere else for people to live.The less contact people had with Landfall, the less likely it would be destroyed as well, should something catastrophic happen to the rest of their crew. If they all died, the Forerunner could keep trying.For all she knew, they had been doing this same dance for a thousand years.…
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515.2 K •
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Lucky stepped out of the transit rail into a brightly-lit room with metal walls no different from the one they had left. Indeed, for all they knew, they could’ve spent the last two hours (plus who knew how long to accelerate) riding an unpleasant carnival attraction. They hadn’t even been killed by the chairs when they stopped.The interior of this second base had been built to the same design sense as the first one—metal and stone construction, tall rooms with wide hallways that got wider or skinnier…
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515.2 K •
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This was not the first time Lucky Break had felt this way. Her world stretched and reticulated, an endless slow-motion explosion of pain in every tissue of her body. She felt the pressure of a thousand eyes on her, as uncomprehending of her nature as she was of theirs. Thought things that made no sense to her after, and which she would not remember. Saw, for only an instant, something that scared her even more than that.Then she woke up. Fire in her lungs, limbs spasming and convulsing as she shot suddenly…
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515.2 K •
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James preempted her guest, stepping slightly in front of him. If the major wanted to attack him, she would have to hurt her first. Some small corner of her mind balked—this pony really had attacked her not too long ago. Major Fischer might’ve made some dumb choices, but she had never done anything to threaten James or any other member of the crew.“I haven’t disobeyed your orders,” she said confidently. As confidently as she could, anyway. “Deadlight isn’t escaping. I haven’t let him out of…
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515.2 K •
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It was not a pleasant trip. Getting out of the Crystal Empire wasn’t terribly difficult—there were no papers to be stamped, or checkpoints to pass through. Flurry Heart just had to wear thick enough clothing to conceal her identity (which she would have had to do anyway, thanks to the cold waiting for them), and they just walked out. Lucky wasn’t terribly worried about what school would think—now that she had her cutie mark, she wasn’t even required to attend.No, the real difficulty came once…
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515.2 K •
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James whimpered, moaned, then turned over. Her head felt like it was about to explode—the worst headache of her life. That probably didn’t mean much considering how old she was.She opened one eye. James was on the ground in the brig. There were thick bars in front of her, though the openings were wide enough that she could see through them easily. There was noise coming from the other side of the room, but it took her a minute to wake up enough to understand it.“Error—no implant detected,“ said…
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515.2 K •
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But as it turned out, they couldn’t. Olivia didn’t respond to her suggestion that a team should be sent, except to say that “There won’t be one ready for six months. I’ll put a pin in your suggestion until then.”Her clone was even less helpful. “We’re too busy building to go anywhere. This isn’t why I signed up.”The rest of their search that day turned up nothing useful—if there had ever been paint or other exterior writing on the ruins, it had long since worn off. There were no…
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515.2 K •
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They left the next day.Not the same way they’d gone during their last adventure—they weren’t leaving their home behind for good, carrying all they now owned on their backs. They had no need to abandon all their property this time—only to carry enough to survive during what Lightning Dust insisted would be only one day of flying in each direction. She hadn’t brought her armor—there was no way to fly in that. But she did have her helmet, hanging off her saddlebags on a length of bungie.Lucky…
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515.2 K •
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