Tsunsong

Sasha Captured (Part II) - [05:05] May 4, 2355

Jason carefully painted the finishing touches on the nose
of his model Apache helicopter and put the pilot in.
Finished. He smiled as he held the plastic war machine up
to the light and examined it from every angle. Perfect.
He looked around to make sure no one was watching and
allowed himself a small amount of nostalgia by flying the
little helicopter around the air above the
table. "Neeeoowrr..." He made quiet little shooting
sounds as he also took down a little attack motorcycle from
his shelf and started chasing the cycle with the chopper.

Just as the helicopter was about to catch and kill the
motorcycle, something dark flashed by his bedroom window.
Puzzled, he set the models down and went to see what it
was. As he made his way across the room, there was a
sudden thundering rumble that shook the very foundations of
the house. Then a bigger shadow passed his window. He
looked outside and saw the unmistakable form of a Comanche
attack helicopter - no, two - flying by, chasing something
much smaller.

At first, he couldn't believe it, but then he ran out into
the living room and called out to his friend, splayed over
the sofa, watching TV. "Mark! You've got to see this!
Come on!"

The other seventeen-year-old sat up and looked at his
friend curiously. "See what?"

"Come on!" Jason grabbed his friend's arm and dragged him
out of the front door onto the porch.

The helicopters were gone.

Mark looked around the empty street, then stared at Jason,
an eyebrow raised. "What?"

Jason was shocked. "But...but they were just here! They
can't've...?"

Mark looked back up the street. "Who?"

Jason ran out into the street. "The helicopters! The
helicopters and the...the whatever they were chasing! They
were-" Suddenly, the two smaller shadows appeared again in
the form of a pair of hoverbikes, nearly a mile down the
street, but coming up quickly. "There! Them!" Behind the
two bikes appeared a pair of Comanches, firing wildly at
the two cycles.

Jason ran back up to Mark. "See! I told you! There they
are!" He turned to watch the scene unfold. Suddenly, the
Comanche on the left clipped a lamppost and spun out,
smashing into a house on the other side of the street and
exploding. The remaining chopper released two Hellfire
missiles at the bikes as a last-ditch effort to kill them.

"Hit the deck!" Jason and Mark dove to the ground and Mark
covered his head his with his hands, but Jason was too
interested in the fight. One Hellfire caught the tail end
of the bike in front, and it exploded, removing the last
third of the hovering craft. Its partner missed its target
and hit another house, blowing it to scrap metal and
timber. The remaining hoverbike continued on down the
street until it was out of town, then swiftly turned and
released four missiles into the pursuing helicopter. It
fired back at the same time, but the smaller craft was able
to spin around and take off again before it could be hit.
Within the next two seconds, the chopper was a heap of
scrap, and the second bike was gone.

The first bike, though, the one that had been hit by the
Hellfire missile, had lost control and flown directly into
an alley between two houses across the street from Jason's
house and exploded. Jason looked at Mark. "Come on!"

Mark looked at Jason disbelievingly. "What do you mean,
come on?"

Jason stood and started across the street. "The pilot
might still be alive!"

Mark started to protest, but Jason didn't listen anyway.
He shook his head and followed his incorrigible
friend. "Unbelievable..."

(Cont.)