Ayla was already taking off when Edmund walked into the cockpit, she had been carefully monitoring the external cameras to watch him go inside. She briefly glanced at him as he tapped on her shoulder<span style="color: red">"Get us the fuck out of here, pilot. Our best bet is probably planetside, plot us a course down to the surface and try to avoid any hitchhikers on the way out or getting shot down."</span>She nodded, feeling more certain with a clear idea of what she was supposed to do.<span style="color: green">"Aye aye, Lieutenant. Everyone strap in tight! This is going to be a VERY rough ride!"</span>With the flick of a switch she closed the shuttle's doors and started to take off. One hand was on the shuttle controls, the other was busy activating and toggling various switches and buttons. As the escape shuttle began to take off, she finally send the opening command to the bay doors.<br/><br/><br/>She bit her lower lip as the gate opened, enemy drones already squirming to get inside. The shuttle hovered inside the bay while the doors opened, drones of various sizes already using this new entry to invade the burning carrier. Behind them drones cut open the airlocks. Red laser fire announcing the urgency to leave.<span style="color: green">"Fuck! Hang on tight now!"</span>Ayla pushed the control forward, and the shuttle leaped forward with it with a sudden burst of speed. A wing scratched briefly against the ground, leaving a trail of sparks as the shuttle flew low to dodge a red beam. A grunt drone got knocked outside as the shuttle flew through the open hangar bay doors. Triumphantly clearing the gauntlet and leaving the drones closing in behind them.<br/><br/><br/>Ayla kept the shuttle close to the hull of the crashing carrier, throwing off the Grey sensors while keeping out of reach of the tripods crawling over the fallen carrier's hull. She had a small moment of calm to watch the enemy forces tear through the fallen carrier. For the first time that day, the full gravity of what had transpired wore down on Ayla and she felt tears forming in her eyes. Grimacing and pulling herself together, she gripped the ship's controls tightly. Hostiles had noticed the fleeing shuttle and were now giving chase. Ayla let her instinct take over, engaging evasive maneuvers.<span style="color: green">"Come on baby, nothing we haven't survived before." </span>She whispered softly to the shuttle, guiding the drones chasing them on a wild goose chase and giving them no clear shot, one drone even crashed against another. The ship rolled, dodged and weaved back and forth in a manner no computer could accurately predict, causing the enemy drones no small amount of trouble.<span style="color: green">"Come on girl..."</span>she whispered as red laser fire missed them completely.<br/><br/><br/>She had the planet below set squarely in her sight now, everything was going fine until the first warning's beep pulled her out of her focus. Sensors were going mild, and the shuttle was sluggish to respond to Ayla's directions. "<span style="color: green">No no, come on girl, pull on through. We can make this."</span>She pulled frantically on the controls, trying to maintain control over the shuttle as it began it's descend into the planet's atmosphere. Warnings messages and errors blaring at her.<span style="color: green">"Hold on TIGHT!"</span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>