What fears, anxiety, and doubts I had were torn away by the speed at which Wyrmpulse launched upwards into the night sky. I could feel the added weight on my body as the walls of her cockpit moved and twisted to help keep me in position. Not being able to see where I was hurtling towards was its own kind of terrifying, but I preferred it over the cold dread that crept up my body like an insidious vine whenever my acrophobia kicked in.

The altimeter stopped rising and the attitude indicator leveled out after a few minutes of blind rocketering. At the same time the feel of constant, heavy acceleration dropped as Wyrmpulse announced, [ We’ve reached cruising altitude, Ivan. Your vitals are in acceptable ranges. Would you care to see outside? ]

Gulping, I nodded and replied, “Sure. If I start freaking out then you know what to do.”

Wyrmpulse’s reply came in the form of her external feeds activating. However, rather than just her HUD displaying a new window of what her eyes saw, Wyrmpulse’s entire cockpit shimmered away. I could see beyond the horizon as the never-ending globe below that was Earth stretched on and on. To the east I could see the sky brightening as sunrise approached, while the west was still filled with countless twinkling stars. The clouds around us that were remnants of the earlier storm were rendered in such fine detail that I felt I could reach out and grasp hold of them like big globs of cotton candy.

It was as if I were suspended above the world with eyes surpassing that of the keenest bird of prey. I was certain she could read roadsigns at 40,000 ft, if not higher. And on top of that, Wyrmpulse was unhindered by the lack of light. Though the cloaked sphere below us only had moonlight to go by, Wyrmpulse and I could see the rolling fields and pastures below clear as day. If I really wanted to I could have counted the spots on each cow we passed by far, far overhead.

[ Either you’re about to have a panic attack or you’re giddy with joy, ] commented Wyrmpulse. [ I am wagering it’s the latter. ]

“It… It is,” I said slowly, drinking in the details around me. “I’ve read about certain aircraft that can provide their pilots this kind of comprehensive, 360-degree input, but I never imagined I’d experience such a thing myself. It’s… wonderful.”

[ I am glad to hear that. Would you like to try a few basic maneuvers before we go storm chasing? ]

“Might as well. How should I start?”

Wyrmpulse led me through several beginner lessons, including using her instruments, turning, and even how to do an aileron roll. I had the distinct feeling that I was more a conductor moving her to a given beat than I was an actual pilot. She definitely handled a vast majority of the work when it came to dancing in the air. That said, I at least felt capable of taking the virtual controls and angling us towards the first storm system to the southwest.

At Wyrmpulse’s cruising speed of Mach 0.85 we reached the preceding age of the storm front. The band of condensed, rolling, dark clouds stretched all the way down into the Gulf Coast and high up past our altitude. Sections of the front illuminated briefly as scattered lightning jumped from cloud to cloud.

“I’m starting to have second thoughts,” I admitted as we grew closer and closer to the thunderstorm. “Seeing something like this up close is freaky. Are you sure I’ll be safe?”

[ Indeed, ] replied Wyrmpulse. [ My stability is beyond exceptional and the cockpit is both insulated and radiation-shielded. I would break long before any harm came to my pilot. That said, the average lightning strike does contain over one billion joules of energy. You may experience a slight static effect as well as your hair standing on end. ]

“If this works we can sort out the disaster that is my hair later. Anything I need to do on my end other than fly us right into the middle of that stormwall?”

[ You will need to invert the polarity and partially charge my EML so it acts like a lightning rod. From there it is in nature’s hands. ]

“Got it.”

We were ready after I twisted a few of the holographic dials and tapped a few buttons on her holodisplay. We dove into the angry squall with the grace of an olympic diver. I was expecting violent turbulence, yet the cockpit around me barely bucked or jostled even as the violent winds outside did their damnedest to toss Wyrmpulse around like a paper airplane. Any commercial airliner in our position would have toggled the fasten seatbelts light and prayed that the rollercoaster ride they were on left their flight intact. She really wasn’t lying about her stability.

The first lightning strike happened without warning. Unlike before with the UTH-68 destruction, there was a lack of blinding light and deafening thunder. The virtual feed of inky blackness and rain automatically polarized as the lightning bolt connected with Wyrmpulse’s EML, providing a dimmed, brief snapshot of the clouds around us. The eardrum-shattering peels of thunder were more like popcorn popping in the cockpit. All the while Wyrmpulse’s reactor levels began to rise.

“Look at those meters climb!” I exclaimed. “A few more jolts like that and we won’t have to worry about finding another storm to plunder.”

[ Perhaps, though you may wish to see this. ]

A portion of my cocoon’s display enlarged and zoomed on a spot on the ground in the middle of the storm. Three UTH-68s were circling an area on the ground, unleashing rockets into what appeared to be a simple field in otherwise boring Oklahoma.

“Wonder what they’re trying to get at…” I pondered aloud. “They’re quite far from Invader territory. Whatever’s down there must be awfully important to send three units out this way. Though if our confrontation with the UTH-68 earlier taught me anything, it’s that these kinds of Air-Cores are drones, or at least unmanned. …unless you ate an alien without telling me?”

[ I can assure you I did not, ] Wyrmpulse snickered. [ You are correct in that these units are acting autonomously. Air-Cores are capable of operating without a pilot, though those that do have a pilot onboard experience a marked increase in responsiveness and maneuverability. It is the difference between a “machine” flying and a human/alien flying. ]

“Huh. I’m betting the closer the Air-Core is with their pilot, the harder it is to take them down. Guess that’s another reason Air-Core Aces are more valuable than nukes to the military these days, or says the nightly news. Anyways, we need to focus on these three drones. If my readout here is correct, your pulse lasers are operational once more?”

[ Correct. Would you like me to generate a firing solution? ]

“Please. Let’s go save whomever or whatever is trapped down there!”

I took Wyrmpulse into a dive the moment a glowing line appeared for me to follow. Her EML receded into her arm as two trapezoidal pods emerged from both of her forearms near the elbow. Firing reticles began to spin rapidly around the drones below as the laser pods began to glow with azure light.

I tried to picture what must have gone through the drones’ “minds” in the seconds that followed. One moment they were attacking a ground target with impunity. The next they were disemboweled and blown out of the sky as Wyrmpulse’s directed-energy weapons discharged. Each laser strike had been calculated down to the micrometer to hit vital components and render the drones defunct before they could so much as squawk that they were under attack.

As the drones cratered into the ground, Wyrmpulse managed the final moments of the dive so that I would not pull too many G’s. I still could feel the cockpit pressing in on my arms and legs, but the worst effect I experienced was mild tunnel vision that quickly faded once Wyrmpulse was hovering over the area.

[ I believe I have found the drones’ target, ] announced Wyrmpulse as she swiveled around to face a portion of the field where the ground dipped six feet down.

My display changed colors as her sensor suite shifted through the EM spectrum and revealed a camouflaged object. Even Wyrmpulse’s advanced, high-resolution sensors couldn’t make heads or tails of what the two-feet-long, prismatic shard was. The best she could suss out was that the camo-tarp over the shard was made of the same threading that her stealth hull was made out of.

“What the hell is it?” I asked as I stared at the incoming data.

[ My best hypothesis is that it is a fragment of an alien vessel that could not fall into enemy hands. Simultaneously, it was too far from Invader territory to reclaim without alerting the USAF. The amount of gamma radiation it’s emitting would make it a beacon in the air, and only select models of Air-Cores possess the required shielding. None of which would have gone unnoticed flying this far into human territory. By sending three drones to attack during a storm at night, the Invaders minimized the chances of being discovered. ]

“What about you, though?” I pointed out. “You got as far as Nebraska without anyone seeing you, and no one’s come looking for you other than that one UTH-68. Maybe you were supposed to come pick this shard up as a sort of test run?”

[ You raise a valid point. Though I have no concrete data on the validity of my hunch, I believe your hypothesis may be correct. There is still much about me that I don't even know. It is… frustrating to say the least, ] replied Wyrmpulse with a measure of regret.

“That frustration is understandable, I think. We certainly won’t learn more staying here, though. Let’s take the mystery object with us. We can run all sorts of tests on it at home, and then we can take it to whomever would use it best once we know what it is.”

[ Understood. Acquiring and stowing fragment. ]

Wyrmpulse gracefully touched down next to the camo-tarp, then wrapped it around the shard before storing the bundle in a compartment in her left thigh. Once we both confirmed that the shielding would prevent us lighting up like a christmas tree, we took back into the air and headed home.

Along the way, Wyrmpulse pointed out, [ I neglected to shutter the cockpit on our second takeoff, yet you did not protest. I feel I should apologize all the same. ]

I waved her off as realization hit me. “Don’t worry about it. To tell the truth I was still hopped up on adrenaline from the lightning and the laser thing. Maybe my sister was right. Maybe the way I can get over this fear of heights is to subject myself to situations where I have to deal with it or face consequences.”

[ Does that mean you will take up skydiving again? ] Wyrmpulse asked slyly.

“Hell no. You couldn’t get me to do that again unless the literal world was at stake.”

[ Remember what I said earlier about tempting fate… ] she cautioned me. [ Hold on. We have a problem. There are multiple vehicles encircling the farmhouse. I’m detecting five unmarked SUVs and a single F-22 variant Air-Core with pilot. ]

True to her words, I could see both the SUVs and the Air-Core in the light peeking above the horizon as we flew high overhead. The ground vehicles were jet black with tinted windows, while the Air-Core towered over them like a glinting pillar of gray and blue-steel. Unlike Wyrmpulse, the F-22-Core’s wings and control surfaces were located at the shoulders and the forearms. She did not have a tail, and instead of talons she had heels with a five-inch wedge. Her eyes continually scanned the sky, showing no indication that she was aware of our presence.

In addition to all that, there were several men in full combat gear bearing assault rifles sweeping through the farmhouse and the surrounding area. At the center of all of them was a woman wearing a tight business suit and aviator shades. What I could see of her face from high above reminded me of a story I once read about kitsune and how a vixen fooled and manipulated royalty. Neither she, nor the armed goons, bore any insignia that indicated what branch of the military they belonged to.

[ What do we do, Ivan? ] asked Wyrmpulse.

“Well fuck. We’re in hot water now. If we land we’re likely going to be on the receiving end of a bunch of yelling. But if we take off and go elsewhere there’s nothing stopping this group, whomever they are, from finding us again. And I really don’t want to get them any angrier than they probably already are.”

[ That is pessimism talking. Perhaps they simply wish to ensure an Invader Air-Core is not flying around freely? If we tell them we are bonded, then that will eliminate that problem. ]

“Yeah, but there’s no way they’re going to let a civilian like me keep you as some form of super hotrod. If anything, telling them we’re bonded is the only way to prevent them from taking you away from me. Fuck. I don’t know what to do!”

[ Then allow me to assist. After all, we are a team. ]

I thought about that for a minute before taking my hands off the controls and telling her, “Alright, I trust you.”

Two minutes later we landed before the woman in charge as her help (including the F-22-Core) kept their guns at the ready but not actually pointed at Wyrmpulse and I. She stepped forward, looked over the brim of her aviators, and shouted:

“Mr. Ivan Miller, I presume? You and I have a lot to talk about. Mind joining me out here for some breakfast and face-to-face conversation?”