She heard the energy fire spitting against the outside of the ship's hull, she felt the ship lift off the ground and when the<i>Aurora</i>leapt forward Renaya went sliding across the cabin in her bundle of clothes and blanket. "Oh!" she cried, more from shock than pain. They were away! One leg was caught beneath her and she felt the rrrip of cloth before pushing herself upright and free of his tunic and blanket. The ship swung to the left and she almost fell out the door into the corridor, then tottered back to throw herself onto the bed. This seemed to be bolted to the deck, and so long as her hands and feet were locked in the mattress it was almost as good being strapped into a couch.<br/><br/>Almost.<br/><br/>The sun wept tears of fire, a rain of dropships descending from the high western skies towards the intact wing of the palace complex. From his cockpit Aodha could see glimpses of the fighting as the remaining Palace Guard fell back and back toward their inevitable end, but<i>Aurora </i>continued to claw her way towards high orbit and away from the madness below. The landing ships mostly ignored him, but a pair of aerospace fighters swung away from the descending stream and arced towards the rising stock freighter. One reverse-wing vessel drew ahead of the other, and a frequency-searching signal warbled over Aodha's communicator in the cockpit before it cleared into a clipped female voice. "Huntership Zet Three Four hailing unidentified craft rising from Throneworld wilds, come in please. You have no active Asaring transponder. Identify your craft, crew, cargo and mission or you will be fired upon."<br/><br/>Hunter (1c) Elumine Calcer - Hunter Zet Three Four - was a thirty year veteran in House Asaring's aerospace forces and this was the first time she or her wingman had ever seen battle. This was utterly unlike any of the ritualised exercises in the annual military games back in the Asaring worlds, with only brief brushes of combat in between long periods of almost mundane tedium circling the dropships on the way down. It felt different knowing that their enemies would not be meeting them at the lodge to hoist a few drinks, celebrate or commiserate. It felt visceral. It felt real. It felt good, and she was waiting impatiently for the last of the transports to get to ground so they could go back in search of the last Royal fliers. In and out, this whole attack had been a dream and she nudged reaction thrusters to bring drop the freighter's side profile into her crosshairs.<br/><br/>Chopping to her flight channel while she waited for the unknown ship to respond, she taunted the other pilot. "Four ships down today, Jessin. If this one gets froggy I'll make Ace before the sundown." She paused significantly, her smile broadening though no one could see it. "How is your count again?" "Two," the other pilot said with thinly veiled patience. Jessin shared Elumine's joy in the kill - all Hunters did - but she had qualms her senior didn't about this unheralded attack on Throneworld. Yes to strike from ambush was perfectly acceptable when hunting animals, but could the same be said for one who after all had been their lawful sovereign that same morning? She would carry out her orders and serve her House loyally, but in the back of her mind she hoped this freighter would prove to have a perfectly valid reason for boosting through contested airspace. At least it hadn't come from the palace, at least not directly. Their orders were clear in that situation.