By David C. Daoust
High in the skies of Twin Crown, the small speck of what was known as a Sky Screamer soared through the clouds. Piloting the small vehicle was a tall red headed teen by the name of Charles, to his right, clutched precariously to the side of the vehicle, was his brother, Ratchet, one anti-gravity clad boot wedged into the lower manifold as he stood, gripping makeshift handholds.
“Go down lower,” the younger brother yelled to Charles as the engine screamed, leaving a massive plume of blue flame in its wake.
The core of the vehicle was an anti-gravity engine, like that found within any land speeder. This one though, had been modified, which allowed it to hover much higher into the air than the regulated three feet of a standard land speeder. The modifications that turned the illegal vehicle into a rocket, is what caused the shrill scream, the plume of fire was mostly for show.
If you could keep the vehicle at high enough speeds, the noise was a non-issue, at least for those piloting the thing. Honestly, if you could hear the scream of the engine, you weren’t doing it right. Something both boys had said many many times, though was currently the cause of Ratchet’s narrowed gaze directed at his brother. Ratchet could totally hear the scream of the engine, thanks to Charles slow piloting of the vehicle.
“We don’t know what’s going on down there…” Charles cautioned, yelling back over the wind, “You know what Mom would say…”
“Yeah, I know what Mom would say,” Ratchet said back darkly, too low to be heard, if she were still alive to say it that is. He also knew Charles wasn’t nearly so cautious before their mother died, and then yelled louder, “I know what she’d say, if she knew you took me up without a glider-pack too…”
“What?” Charles suddenly jerked back on the controls, a reaction that sent Ratchet clutching for a better grip. “I told you to grab it before we left!”
“Just drop down lower and it won’t matter,” Ratchet reasoned with his brother, whom was already descending to a safer distance from the ground.
Ratchet’s heart raced as his ploy to get them lower, almost got him dumped off the one-man vehicle. Of course he had his pack on, but that didn’t mean he wanted to use it at the moment.
Why did he have to take my Screamer…? Ratchet thought to himself as the boys came within sight of Grady.
The port town was a disaster zone. Giant mechanical spiders were still hard at work tearing the structures down. Ratchet couldn’t believe his cousin, Craiden, had gone through with it. He thought it was just a bunch of bluster. In truth Ratchet had enjoyed the thought of it, a massive fist of justice smashing the villains that had cost them, and their family, so much.
Something didn’t feel right about it now though.
The two boys were in pursuit of their grandfather, Charles Haul Sr., known to them as simply, Grandpa Haul.
Grandpa Haul had slipped away shortly after Craiden and their Auntie had vanished into the desert. The old rogue took off on Ratchet’s Sky Screamer. Taking the vehicle wasn’t really the issue. The real issue was that Grandpa Haul was very rarely mentally cohesive, which meant, there was a real good chance he could hurt himself.
The two had tracked the missing vehicle to Grady, they still had no clue what their grandfather was up to. They could only hope he knew… and continued to know…
Ratchet spotted the small red vehicle on the outskirt of Grady just as Charles pointed it out.
“I see it,” he yelled, “Get me lower.”
Charles brought the vehicle low enough to the ground that Ratchet could kick off. The anti-gravity boots on his feet created a cushion beneath him, he leaned into the forward momentum, able to skate through the air like he was on ice. Ratchet could tell his older brother was not happy about him not waiting for the vehicle to slow down a bit first.
Ratchet had done it a hundred times before… Charles was just turning into a little old lady or something. He kept his head down as Charles reacted to the pack on his back as well…
Ratchet skated away before his brother could say anything. He did a quick lap around the abandoned vehicle, as Charles scouted up higher. They were on the far side of the torn down walls, the drone wave having passed through here some time ago. Ratchet did not hesitate to glide over the rubble and into the town. Charles had no choice but follow from above. There were not many buildings left standing, not fully anyway, a few corners stubbornly reaching for the sky; precariously leaning piles of debris.
Ratchet didn’t know where he was going, or where his Grandfather could be, but he kept searching around. He could hear the scream of the engine above him as his brother circled the area. Charles suddenly brought the vehicle down to hover directly next to him; the boosters fell silent now that it was no longer flying high.
“I don’t see anyone, it’s like a ghost town,” Charles said as they hovered along. “I’m not sure we should be messing around in here…”
“What?” Ratchet asked as though absurd, “The drones are long gone… I seriously doubt they’ll be back this way…”
“What if one of these piles decides to collapse?” referring to the precarious structures that surrounded them.
“…Um, then fly away,” Ratchet suddenly shot back as he leaned forward and skated through the rubble.
“At least grab your Screamer…” though the younger brother was long gone, and Charles continued to himself, “so that you can fly away too.”
Ratchet wasn’t going to take his grandfather’s only ride! What if he came back this way…? that was his reasoning anyway. Ignoring his brother he began to be a bit more reckless, gliding around and jumping through the debris, make-shift ramps were everywhere.
Ratchet was having so much fun he forgot himself, the darkness that clouded his mind of late, alleviated thanks to the exhilaration of the exercise he was getting . He snapped back to reality as the scream of the engine returned, his brother flew off overhead.
Ratchet watched as his brother, hovering some distance away, peered out over the wrecked town. Not to be outdone, Ratchet skated further into the disaster zone. Slowly Ratchet closed the distance, somewhat curious what his brother was looking at. He found a half collapsed wall that held up a good three stories of rubble, and immediately built up the speed needed to reach the top. He streaked to its apex easily enough, though was then startled by the sudden drop off as it appeared on the other side.
Before he could soar to his death, Ratchet leaned back, throwing his weight in the opposite direction, and flexed his foot. The foot movement caused the small boosters at his heel to fire, bringing him to a quick halt.
On the very edge of what could have been a disastrous plunge, Ratchet spun about loosely as he regained control of his momentum.
From the height, he was able to see the entire town.
The town was torn down almost all the way to the center, the only structure completely untouched, was the Star Port. The Star Port did not count as part of Grady in the minds of the First Wavers; this affected the drones’ commands when it came time to program them.
Ratchet and Charles both watched as the barracks ship, parked within the central walls of the capital landing base, some distance from the star port, suddenly launched from the ground. Something that could only make Ratchet grin from ear to ear… as he shot a look back to his brother, who still hovered some distance away. He suddenly heard his grandfather’s voice cheer in the distance.
Ratchet followed the noise and spotted the somewhat senile old rogue hoot’n and hollering as the barracks ship fled the moon.
Ratchet could not help but laugh as he spun about and slid back down the makeshift mountain of debris. He made short work of the distance between him and his grandfather.
