*
Mas’s heart was pounding, her limbs within the body suit warm and limber. Her eyes were fixed on the body of Zelda at rest in a patch of bloody snow. She was trembling with anger. She cut the weapons capsule from the eagle’s foot. Drone images returning to her tech goggles informed her of Kaptu’s progress down the mountain. She fired the capsule’s entire twenty dart-missiles that way. As the explosions ripped through the valley, the ground began to shake and the real weapon was unleashed: an avalanche.
Mas took off her goggles to view the spectacle. It occurred to her, however, that the massive wall of snow might have been unleashed her way as well. She turned sharply to look behind her and that was when she noticed the four distant vapour trails against the pale blue sky. They were moving fast and spreading out from different directions. They ended with explosions and were so high that it took a long moment for the booms of thunder to follow. Mas swore under her breath and put her goggles to her eyes to see that they were blank again. This time she knew it was going to be permanent. The Hurt World technician had been able to knock out her drone for a couple of minutes, but his backup could obviously do things on a much bigger scale. With a sense of foreboding she knew well they would now be coming for her.