Tick. Tick

Tick. Tick

AVA

Dinner at Rayan's ended on a quiet note, and when she tried to call James to get him to come over, he never answered. Outside of the back window, the sun set behind a twilight horizon and slipped out of existence. James left her on read, and she sighed. "He's not answering me," she mumbled as Rayan loomed beside her.

"Do you... want to play a game of Starcross?" Rayan asked. "Try to get your mind off everything and see if he calls you back?"

Ava glanced at Mrs. Falae, who stood on the back patio who spoke through her compearl. Is she talking to Mom? Or Dad? Ava took in a breath, then nodded. "Okay. I'll play. You're going to have to teach me though."

Rayan led her outside, past Mrs. Falae, who stepped to the side to scoop up a datapad on the table. Ava caught the netbat he tossed to her, along with a starball and joined Rayan on the makeshift pitch.

Green waves fluttered through the grass. Rayan clicked his tongue. "Ready?"

Ava nodded and readied her weapon of mass Starcross destruction.

It went back and forth for another half hour, with her failing to grasp the basics. Ava shook her head when Rayan scored on her goal, where the starball bounced along. "Darn," she teased. "I guess I just wasn't meant for Starcross. Jon will be disappointed in me."

Rayan laughed and swung his bat across his shoulders and rushed to retrieve the starball. Ava moved to help, but stopped when a sharp explosion shuddered the ground, with the outside pool water shivering. Ava listened, but tipped her head at the continued quiet.

Everything went still, but Mrs. Falae snapped to her feet with her hand to her compearl.

"What was that?" Ava questioned and turned to the rising smoke.

It went quiet.

Rayan pursed his lips. "It sounded like someone setting off starfires — or a generator explosion." He moved past her goalpost. "Want me to teach you some shots that'll really knock Jon's socks off?"

"Rayan Falae," Mrs. Falae bit. "Get yourselves over here now."

Ava frowned at Mrs. Falae's behaviour as she hopped off the patio steps. "Mom?" Rayan asked as she ran for them, then shoved them back towards the patio before travelling deeper into the yard. Ava drew her attention to the night sky, where stars lit up in rainbow colours and dancing movements. It set the astral heavens in a faint glow. Chills crawled through her spine as Rayan tugged her onto the patio. Ava clung onto Rayan as Mrs. Falae paced the backyard, a mother dragon searching for an unseen intruder in her nest. Moments stretched onto eternity as Mrs. Falae turned to the direction of the Eastpoint generators, then to the opposite end. Her eyes widened, and Ava jumped when she hurried over to them.

"Get inside," she hissed, firm and authoritative. "Get inside, now."

"Mrs. Falae?" Ava headed into the mansion, pushed with Rayan. Mrs. Falae kept them against the wall before racing to the SAI panel. Darkness overtook the manor in a sweeping wave, with the lights fluttering without power above her head. Mrs. Falae ignored it to click the lock button, where things in the mansion clicked and locked in response. Ava clung onto Rayan when Mrs. Falae returned to them, then tugged them to the basement stairway.

"Stay," Mrs. Falae ordered and urged them to sit on the ground. Metal shutters rolled closed behind her. Ava stared up at her as she turned her back to them, a shield to the darkness as she unhooked a compearl off the SAI unit, then clipped it to her ear. "This is Unit: Alpha Star — all Elites, confirm locations and posts. Any nearby Strike units converge on the rendezvous point and respond."

Silence.

Mrs. Falae scowled. "I say again," she said through her teeth. "All units acknowledge immediately."

Quieter than the vacuum of space.

"Mrs. Falae, what's going on?" Ava whispered.

Mrs. Falae turned to her. Whether to reassure her or answer her question, the world never gave her a chance to respond.

Ava screamed with a world-tearing screech which blasted through the air. Light, brighter than their son, turned the night back into day. It peeked through the metal shutters while the screech continued unabated, and then an explosion rocked the planet. Broken, wailing sirens joined in the destructive orchestra with the groaning of ship engines. Purring roars entered the fray as Ava held on to Rayan for balance.

Another explosion joined the painful cacophony. Ava jumped when the manor swayed with the pressurised air blowing to them.

Mrs. Falae breathed out deep and steady. "Rayan, take Ava downstairs and hide." Her eyes went from ice blue to crimson. Her pupils dilated into wide, almost cat-like moons. White, energetic stars cracked around her as she took a single leap, and left a faint shimmer where she was moments before. Ava gaped when she reached the second landing with a single jump, and balanced on the railing. Another blast caused Rayan to wrap his arms around her.

Ava held onto him and tried not to scream with the noises outside until Mrs. Falae returned, no longer wearing her casual clothes. A utility belt sat against her waist, while the uniform of pitch contrasted the red star on her breast pocket. Mrs. Falae adjusted the form-fitting gauntlets around her forearms, where several bars flashed on her two wristpads — shields and vital signs. Edevic energy flowed through the two scabbards on her utility belt, but she drew out a blaster, twisting its energizer to load it.

Ava dug her fingertips into Rayan's shirt when the screeching returned, and a wave of heat washed over them in a single plume.

"Rayan Falae," Mrs. Falae snapped when her gauntlets locked into place with an icy hiss. "I said downstairs, now." She rushed to the SAI panel. "I'm locking down the mansion—" Another siren wailed, but Mrs. Falae raised her voice. "Do not leave! Stay here! Both of you! Do you understand me? Follow the procedure we've been practising!"

"But, Mom—" Rayan reached out.

"Rayan Falae, I asked if you understood me," Mrs. Falae bit.

Rayan gave her a meek nod, and Mrs. Falae opened the front door.

Heat from the core of a planet crashed against her face, and she sobbed at the flames and smoke dancing in the air over Eastpoint and the forests all around them. It fell as rain over her home while unmarked ships surrounded their little town in the middle of nowhere.

"Wait!" Ava gasped as General Falae moved over the threshold without fear. "Wait! What's happening?"

Mrs. Falae faced them, and she reached for a button on her collar. Ava drew back into Rayan's arms when a mask shifted to block her face and gave her no features at all. Instead of crimson, the eye-sockets turned ice blue, while two, curled dragon horns stretched out of the side. "I said," Mrs. Falae's voice turned robotic. "Go downstairs. I will be back soon."

Rayan rushed for her, but Mrs. Falae closed the door on him. Every panel in the house flashed red in an instant.

"Mom," he rasped and stepped back.

"Rayan?" Ava rasped. "Ray, what's happening?"

Make this make sense.

Her panic screamed to know, but never comprehended the drowning fire and ash which sprinkled over the front yard through the metal shutters.

Rayan grabbed onto her while the planet rocked at random intervals. Orange light pulsed through the shutters. Sirens cried in dissonant, alternating wails. Her ears rang with the tumultuous crescendo. Rumbling purrs preceded the tearing screech of artillery which pierced Eastpoint with flames and smoke and bathed it in firelight crimson.

Ava winced when a single orange light whisked through the blinds, and a nearby explosion vibrated the manor.

"Ava, we need to get downstairs," Rayan whispered.

Her panic rooted her in place.

Mom. Dad. Janie and James... they were... still home when I left...

Ava contacted her brother — to hear his voice.

Again, and again.

"Jamie," she begged at the white noise. "Jamesy, please answer me."

It chirped and chirped.

It fell into wailing white noise each time.

James. James. Ava couldn't stop the ember tears escaping her as she sobbed into her compearl. "He's—He's not answering me. Ray, my brother isn't answering me." Her lungs crunched behind her ribcage while she fought to breathe. World's twisted and turned while Rayan steadied her. "Ray, he's not answering me."

Rayan grabbed her forearms. "Ava. Avie—"

"He's still home," she rasped and begged. "He's still home. They're all still home." Ava choked his collar. "Rayan, they're still there! The town—" Her chest heaved and stole her words away while prickled pain stretched over her skin and burned sweat into her blood.

Rayan pulled her close when another screech echoed throughout the air.

The universe burned outside the windows. Fire and brimstone strangled her.

"We have to do something," she rasped. "I want my brother. We can't just sit here—"

"Ava..." Rayan rubbed her shoulders.

It was all she could do, because she couldn't do anything.

Rayan frowned at her, then let her go to shuffle for the metal shutters. He peeked through them. "If we go out there the property might not let us back in with no one on site," he mumbled. "The Strike Forces have to send reinforcements. I trust my mom..."

Ava peeked along with him and wished she hadn't stolen a glimpse of hell.

Massive ships shadowed the town and forests. Lazers zoomed throughout the forest to create walls of flames. Railcannons unloaded their strikes into Eastpoint and the roads, blocking all avenues of escape. Clouds of smoke blocked the view of the town, where fire curled and danced in wicked motion above it. Ava examined the bulkhead Titan connecting to the rest of the ships, unmarked.

"Pirates...?" Ava whispered. "I don't get it, we've got nothing of worth here."

Rayan clutched her shoulders, then leaned closer to her. "I'll go get James. I'll go get all of them. I'll guide them here if they're not on their way here already. I know the back-up routes through the forest."

Ava's heart dropped. "The warning system activated too late."

Rayan turned back to the shutters, then eyed the front door. Ava jolted in realisation at what he planned to do. "Rayan, you can't go alone!"

He ignored her. "I can get into the property's defences, but if I step out, I need you here to let me back in," he explained. "It'll shut down for a time, but you should be able to lower one of the back entries."

"But, Ray—" Ava rasped.

"Ava." He tightened his grip on her. "Trust me, but tell me you'll stay here, in this safehouse. It's safe. I'll bring your family here. I'll bring your brother. I promised I'd protect him, didn't I?"

Disbelief choked her heart when Rayan unlocked the SAI unit through tapped patterns. Every panel glowed blue, a last remnant of what she knew. Thirty seconds counted down.

"Ava, look at me," he said.

This won't be the last time. It won't be the last time I see you, or Meryn, or Dad, or them...

Or James...

Coldness pushed out the stifling embers in her heart.

"It'll be okay." He gave her a heart-rending, genuine smile while the clock ticked down. "I'll bring him back. I'll make him stay for once."

Tick. Tick.

Ava nodded and returned his smile. "Yes... I know you promised me."

"WARNING: SHUTDOWN IMMINENT," the SAI called through the manor.

Which is why... I can't let this door close on me.

Ava hugged him deep, tight. "I am so sorry."

Hellfire drove her forward, and Ava flipped him onto the ground with her own momentum. He grunted when his back hit the ground, and she used her moment, slapping the SAI panel to speed up the clock, then sent her elbow into the panel. He reached out to her, but she rushed out the front door when it slammed closed behind her. A magnetic wave pulsed through the property as she bounded off the front porch.

Too late.

Ava rushed to the barrier gate without a second glance. Ava climbed over the hedges, then tested the distance from Eastpoint burning to nothing. All I have to do is get home. I'll take the forest routes before the fire blocks my path.

Trees curled with falling stars on the tips of their leaves while embers chewed through them.

Sirens, purrs and screams of edevic railcannons shook her to her bones while she rushed into the quieter parts of the forest, though the wave of flames tailed her. Another world-shaking barrage sent her into the dirt, but she pulled herself back to her feet while the ground trembled with the cruelty of the world. Her ears rang into nothing but crinkled brimstone and twisting bark. Ash stumbled off the canopy in thick sheets of gray rain, but she ran up the ridges to get a better view of her surroundings.

Smoke blocked out the night sky, the only thing of comfort in her dark days.

Ava navigated the hellscape, and after a sprint through the forest, she reached the dirt-road to her house. Debris scattered along the route, and she slid to a stop.

The roof collapsed on James' bedroom side, while flames chewed on her childhood home from the fireball.

"No." Ava raced to the living room window. Her panic settled in a chilly space. Smoke cracked the edges of the window from trembling heat. Ava tried to peek within, but smoke answered her.

"Mom!" Ava screamed and brought her elbow up, smashing it. It crumbled without effort, and Ava vaulted inside. Smoke pushed into her lungs, and she coughed. Low to avoid the smoke, she called, "James!" Blinded in an ashen nightmare, she continued, "James! Janie! Mom!" Ava sobbed with the pain swirling in her lungs. "Dad!"

No one answered, or she could no longer hear them with the wailing sirens.

Tick. Tick.

Ava groped her way around and found the source of the noise. "Mom?" she asked through ash and smoke. "... Jamesy?"

Patches of fire blocked her route deeper into the house. Tears dripped down her face at the silence while the clock ticked, unabated by the desolation.

Tick. Tick.

Ava clutched her twin necklace, cold to the touch, a promise of reconnection no matter the time and distance.

Tick. Tick.

Another sound entered the fray of silent sirens and ringing ears.

A horrific, strangling screech drew closer, whisking through the air as it got louder and louder. Ava faced the clock, where the piercing reflection through the glass turned white.

Tick-

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