She immediately disengaged the locking hook of the left auxiliary fuel tank, jettisoning the burning tank, then swiftly adjusted the output of the two vector thrusters, struggling to maintain balance as she wobbled towards the cloud layer above.
Only at this moment did she have the time to check the status of the two wingmen.
"Harrier 02, signal lost."
"Saber 03, signal lost."
The cold text on the communicator screen sent a chill through her heart.
They had been careless after all... The energy beam cooling time of Chimera 17 was no longer what the previous data had described... Even after the last round when faced with a barrage of projectiles, the energy beam had only fired a few times before falling silent. Who could have expected that in less than five minutes, it would recharge completely and its power had only increased.
Was this a trap specifically set for them?
