Thunkin's heart is beating heavily. When he accepted the invitation to join the
Snow arrow crew, he was hoping that he wouldn't have to actually do something.
Maybe tighten a loose screw and make sure that there was enough energy to fuel
the ship, but he'd never expected to actually do any flying. Well, it wasn't
quite flying. He had to take over Trickle's position as gunner. The canine had
eaten something odd, and was now struggling with stomach aches and occasional
cramps. When he first heard that, Thunkin wondered if he had been poisoned
somehow, but he shook that thought away. No one believed that this ship would
advance past this round. After all, the crew consisted of two elemental kids, a
canine that acts more like a butler than a battler, a crippled old woman and her
daughter, and then himself. A jobless mechanic with absolutely no aetherspace
experience whatsoever. Thunkin sighs heavily and turns to look at Trickle who is
sitting behind him. Even though the blue hyena is in obvious pain, he manages to
send Thunkin a killing glare, and the rat quickly turns his attention back to
his job. A gentle mental presence brushes against his mind, and his mind links
fully to the network of the aethership. He can feel the thoughts of Trickle, the
Winterfurs and the two smaller ones. Ista and Ester who, despite their age, are
better gunners. A small fact that Thunkin finds annoying, but nothing he cares
too much about. Not that he has a chance to do so. A hum of energy flows through
the ship as Emirie powers up the Snow Arrow, and his focus is drawn towards the
console before him. "Remember to listen to my instructions. Thunkin" Thunkin
frowns slightly, as he feels that Trickle places too much emphasis on the name
"may be filling in for me, but you'll still be shooting as I command. Ester,
when I demand a power move, that'll be you. Ista, if I tell to deploy a mine,
then do it. Thunkin... just try to hit the target." Thunkin growls slightly. The
way Trickle insinuates that Thunkin is dead weight is highly annoying, but the
rat-like furrikin decides that the best way to solve this problem is through
proving his ability.

"Any specific modules you want me to blast to smithereens?" Thunkin asks. A
shudder runs down his spine as his thoughts resonate within his mind, before
they are broadcast through the ship.

"Yes." The response is chilling, even for a water-elemental. "If you feel
capable, assault the empath module. But keep your patience until I say so. We do
not want to draw attention too early."

"If you say so." Thunkin snorts in response, before he focuses his attention
back onto the console before him. The humming that echoes through the ship
becomes stronger, and Thunkin's mind is forced to pay attention to the other
ships. The sight of all the magnificent yet dangerous machines is almost
hypnotic. What he wouldn't do for a chance to tinker with them. A chance to
examine how the spherical Crystal Tear manages to fly, or study the interesting,
bulky design of the Blood Dragon. But the thought process is interrupted when
the loud, piercing voice of the announcer yells out for the contestants to be
prepared. Thunkin's ears perk up and he waits for the countdown. The numbers
echo through his skull, before there is a loud explosion of light and sound. The
Snow Arrow, along with all the other ships, launch of the dock. Thunkin watches
the other ships fly southward, where they try to navigate the narrow passage out
of the facility walls. However Emirie turns the ship and starts to fly out
through the north-western exit. "Wait, what are you doing? Xion is the other
way." Thunkin objects as he watches the other ships glide away from them.

"Correct, but do you recall that there would be "surprises" along the way?"
Just as she finishes the words, a loud boom is heard in the distance. "That was
the first surprise."

"I can't sense the Blood Dragon anymore." Kristen echoes through the ship.
"They must've been at the ground zero of the detonation."

"What the. How did you know that they had planted mines there?" Thunkin asks in
surprise.

"Intuition." Emirie responds flatly, silently stating that there would be no
further discussion on the matter at this point in time. Thunkin stills his
tongue and watches Emirie navigate the ship out of the Facility. Loud explosions
can be heard from far off, and according to Kristen, at least two more ships
have succumbed to the powerful bombs hidden along the southern passage. Once out
of the narrow Facility-pathways, Emirie takes the ship out into the
aetherstorms, where the Snow Arrow flows smoothly past beasts and arcs of power.
When they finally reach the southern exit of the facility, Thunkin notice that
only a few ships have managed to get through the minefield unscratched.

"But... it looks like the lead is quite a ways ahead of us. I don't think we'll
be able to catch up." Thunkin mutters to himself, yet the thoughts are heard
clearly by the rest of the crew.

"Eh, dun worry Thunky. We don't hafta win. We jest gotta be number eight or
better. We still got a shot at that ne, Kristen?" Ista proclaims with confidence
that Thunkin hadn't expected from such a quiet creature.

"We should. We are on sixth place currently."

"Focus." Emirie yells through the mind-link as the ship makes a sharp turn into
the tunnel leading out of the storms. "We'll be entering the flux and slipstream
surrounding the rift to the elemental planes any moment now. Keep on your toes.
Things will happen fast."

Thunkin swallows loudly. The surroundings visibly darken as the walls of solid
aether seems to constrict around them. In the distance, he can see the calmer
flux aethers, and he breathes a sigh of relief. The calmness is violently
interrupted though when a strong blast causes the ship to shudder violently.
Thunkin is thrown backwards from his console and onto the ground from the blow.
The room spins and everything becomes a blur. "Ms Winterfur, what happened?" He
hears Trickle yell.

"We hit a rupture. Shield module disabled. Chair heavily damaged. Grid, light
damage. Gunner station one and three at moderate damage, while gunner station
two is at light damage. Hull integrity is at 43%." Kristen responds through the
link.

"Okay. Kristen, drag power from the gunner stations to the empath grid. Repair
the grid, hull and then chair. I'm cloaking us."

"That'll take too long." Thunkin objects, but he's cut short by a sharp glare
from Trickle. Dissatisfied, Thunkin slumps against the turret while Kristen
starts repairing the ship. Through his opening into aetherspace, he can see the
Arrow of Taint quickly closing in on them. The rat mutters a silent curse to
himself, before he stares down at the console. He looks up again and grins as he
turns the turret and focuses his eyes on the black and red ship. Although the
turret is weakened, he stills wants revenge for the unfair treatment. And this
is an opportunity he can't pass up.

"Okay, the grid and chair are repaired and... Thunkin. Why are you charging
energy to your turret?"

"I'll make sure we keep our position as number six." He responds through the
aether. As energy is built up in the turret, he scans the opponent ship for the
location of the enemy grid. He smirks widely as the target becomes clear.

"Thunkin, you will stop. We can not." But Trickle is cut short. A beam of
scintillating energy flares out of the turret and strikes right home. The Arrow
of Taint shudders for a moment, as if they're trying to slow down, but before
they can come to a complete stop, there is another, greater explosion that
shakes and rattles the Arrow of Taint into scrapmetal with barely any hull
integrity again.

"What... happened?" Emirie's voice is filled with mixed amounts of wonder and
surprise.

"Before they could repair the damage from Thunkin's direct hit, they hit a
rupture. Their empath grid collapsed and the hull is almost broken. They stand
no chance of winning now."

"Wow... no." Thunkin waits for Emirie to say more, but nothing more is said.
Rather, the ship is quickly pulled out of stealth mode and once again the Snow
Arrow whizzes through the aethers. With grace and style, Emirie manages to lead
the ship into the narrow canal leading into the elemental rift. Thunkin's heart
begins to pound loudly as the ship dives down into the seething mass of aethric
energies. The ship seems to shudder and shake for a small eternity before they
finally come shooting out into the elemental subspace. Wasting no time
whatsoever, Emirie guides the ship through the passage water and earth towards
the outer void, where the ancient workshop of Xion is hidden. Along the way,
they pass several clouds of dust. The remains of aetherbeasts disintegrated by
the ships that passed through here before. It is truly an eerie sight, and
Thunkin finds himself shivering, despite the warm temperature of the ship.

"Hey guys. Look ahead. Do you see that?" Ester suddenly chimes in on the
aethers.

"Yeh... t'looks like... a black dragon!" Ista exclaims, and the silence that
follows afterwards is deafening. Until Trickle takes command of the situation.

"Very well. Gunners get ready. I want rupture mines to be dropped when I say
so, and I want blasts to be fired as quickly as possible. Emirie, speed us up.
Is the dragon chasing us?"

"No... wait. Yeah it is, and it's coming towards us quite quickly."

"Okay. Drop a rupture mine now!"

The ship hums with energy before a small orb of energy floats out from Ista's
turret. Thunkin watches as the small orb flies into the chest of the colossal
beast, where it explodes into a huge rupture of aethric energies. However,
dragons are made of more resilient stuff. The beast roars loudly and takes off
after the Snow Arrow. "Trickle. I don't think that mine did much."

"Silence. Take aim. Get ready... FIRE!" Three arrows of energy fly into the
dragon and pierces through his wings. The beast howls in pain and rage. Mostly
rage would be Thunkin's guess as he flies even swifter now. "Take aim. Get
ready... and FIRE!" Trickle yells out, and this time the arrows of energy strike
into the chest of the black beast.

"Awright. Da eye o da bull." Ista cheers loudly.

"No time to celebrate. He's still approaching, and fast. Keep firing." Emirie
yells across the waves.

"Okay. Another blast, coming up." Thunkin responds as he starts to charge
energy in his turret.

"No wait." Trickle commands. "Ista, prepare another mine. Ester, charge up a
repulse wave. Thunkin, you shall aim for the heart of the beast."

A dull dryness forms at the back of Thunkin's throat. His fingers itch. He
wants to shoot, but Trickle is keeping a close watch now. Thunkin turns back.
The aquatic canine is standing behind him with the same regal grace that always
seems to be there. Yet the clenched fist and gritted teeth signify that the Snow
Arrow lead Gunner is doing his best to ignore the pains of his illness. Trickle
looks down at Thunkin, and for a moment, the rat locks eyes with the canine.
Just for a moment though, before Thunkin turns his head back to the dragon
chasing them. "Fine. I'll trust you." He murmurs.

Behind them, the dragon approaches at a rapid pace. Despite pushing the engine
to the limit, Emirie just can't get enough speed to shake off the hungry
aetherbeast. "Trickle. What exactly are you planning?"

"Just a little more Ms Winterfur. A few more moments."

"Trickle!"

Trickle doesn't respond. His eyes are locked on the beast, which is now close
enough that Thunkin can make out the individual scales. Then it happens. The
beast opens it's massive mouth, as if to swallow the Snow Arrow whole. "Ester,
Fire. Ista, Fire. Thunkin, NOW!" Trickle exclaims.

The three turrets of the Snow Arrow glow with energy. The repulsing wave from
Ester's turret strikes first, stunning the beast long enough for Ista's bomb to
disappear down the throat of the beast. Finally, Thunkin takes careful aim and
fires off his blast. The beam strikes straight into the chest area of the beast,
causing the bomb inside to explode. The black dragon disintegrates in a violent
explosion of aethric energies and dust. Thunkin is knocked to the ground by the
incredible force, and his nervous paws fold together as he starts to pray
fervently.

"I can't believe it. I am seeing this and I do not believe it. The Snow Arrow
has done the impossible ladies and gentlemen. For the longest time it seemed
that the Snow Arrow would come in sixth, but now it has sailed past the
competition and crossed the finish line as number three. This is just so
incredible. I'm at the edge of my seat folks."