Explosions in space are weird. Tony thought, weaving his fighter through a maze of flaming blossoms.

Shields: 74% Hull Integrity: 100%

The twenty-one in Tony's Wits score was putting in the work. Auren had been reluctant to deploy the Haght'anak against the Pandinus Swarm blockade over Arach so, here he was. The ship talked with the I.A.A.M, or rather, the system directly, so Tony just needed to think and the ship obeyed within nanoseconds.

One of Jorogu's hands clamped down on his shoulder, "Do you think you could, maybe, weave a little less?" The normal blush of her skin was pallid and clammy. Space travel did not agree with the Arach queen.

A fusillade of half-organic missiles and slugs soared past the ship as Tony pulled it into a tight spiral and swerved between a pair of asteroids, breaking free of the projectiles' tracking. Jorogu's claws shot into Tony's shoulder and he let out a grunt of pain as she dry heaved.

"You did that on purpose," she gasped.

"I could say the same to you," Tony growled, "mind the claws?"

The razor nails withdrew and Jorogu slumped back into her seat. Tony couldn't see her since the seat was directly behind his, but he could feel her sulking.

"Look, the options are either continue evasive maneuvers or get blown up. If I could deal with it another way I would-"

Jorogu grumbled something in response.

"What did you say?" Tony's heart raced.

"I said, I'm sure you would have," she repeated.

Tony swerved through a pair of Pandinus warships and pushed the fighter into a steep dive, "And what is that supposed to mean?" he shouted, half out of frustration, and to carry his voice over the whining of the ship's engine.

"That it is evident you prefer to keep your options open!" she shouted back, Tony guessed, for similar reasons.

He mentally commanded the nose of the ship to pull up and over, cutting the engine for a split second as the fighter was "upside-down" and re-engaged them at full power pointing straight down to the planet avoiding barrages of missiles coming from both behind and the sides of the ship. They were through the bulk of the blockade now.

"I told you, it wasn't like that!" he protested, "it was a moment that I just got kinda caught up in-"

"And after?"

"I... I don't have an answer for that. I almost died four... maybe five times over the course of two days. I didn't know what to do, how to unwind. She offered to stay with me and one thing led to another. We went over this already?"

Tony banked the fighter side to side, dodging pillars of projectiles as the fighter streaked toward Arach. Once they broke the atmosphere, Jorogu's connection with the planet and her people would be cemented and she could protect them from there.

"We did..." she admitted.

"Then could you wait to grill me about the details until we're sure that we're going to make it to the planet alive?" Jorogu's silence was its own answer.

Warning: Hull Breach

For a split second, the cabin depressurized.

What? Shields are back at full, where'd the hull breach come from?

A voice, smooth as silk reached his ears easily over the screaming engines, "Ah, so this is the suitor that has everyone so enthralled. To be frank, Jorogu, I am not impressed."

Despite the curious part of his brain that wanted to turn and look, Tony kept his eyes forward. They were nearly there and he had to hope Jorogu could handle whoever had broken in. A flurry of clashing blades erupted behind him as Jorogu engaged the intruder without a word, no formalities, no terms, just violence.

Come on, faster... faster! he urged the ship

Warning: Engine Heat Critical

Meltdown Imminent

Would you like to disable the Engine Compressor?

Tony mentally affirmed and was pressed back into his seat with the surge of acceleration. The sudden shift must have disrupted the fight in the cockpit as well, as the sound of steel biting through chitin reached his ears alongside the intruder's grunt of pain.

"I'll see you on the surface," the intruder spat.

The burning re-entry gave way to the sickly orange skies of Arach as an explosion rocked the ship from the inside out. Tony's ears were ringing as the ship spun out of control, unresponsive to his mental commands. Manual controls folded out of the dash in front of him, a joystick and throttle, Tony pulled back on both with everything he had.

Another explosion rocked the vessel, taking out the engines and flaps. They were going down, there was no way to avoid it.

"Strap in! We need to eject!" Tony shouted.

He felt Jorogu slam into the seat behind him and start to fasten the harness. He reached under the seat for the release and gasped as the ship pitched to port from impact and something punctured his side.

HP: 10%

He fumbled with the release and ejected Jorogu's seat, the familiar blue-green grass filling the viewport. Tony activated "Fatal Resolve" as the ground rushed up to meet the ship. It was going to be an intimate acquaintance.

Fatal Resolve Duration: 2 minutes Effect: Upon activation, prevents the Dread Knight from taking further damage over the duration. At the end of 2 minutes, the Dread Knight heals for 50% of the damage received, to a maximum of 75% Total HP.

Is it too much to ask to just land somewhere? Does the "crash" part always need to happen?