"Come...on!!" Zac growled as he did his best to keep control of his ship. Shortly after his last skirmish, alarms had started to blare and he saw from the ship's diagnostics that not only was the left aileron straight-up gone, hydraulic control for the right was gradually leaking,
both secondary engines had failed, the primary one was stuck on full throttle, and the Stardust Core was malfunctioning. The last part wasn't a big deal, of course. It only powered everything in the ship from the engine to the shield and to the lights in the head (i.e. bathroom). No big deal.
"I only got hit a few times! You've been through worse without a complaint, why now?!" he shouted at his ship, only for it to reply with a shudder that did
not feel like a good thing. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a blue speck of light and glanced at it before checking his radar.
"A world. Perfect! Crash landing is definitely better than hurtling through space for the rest of my life," he remarked as he did his best to maneuver his ship toward the point of light, bracing one foot against the control console to improve his leverage. It resisted, but gradually obeyed as it slowly swiveled to the world.
"Just a bit longer, sweetheart," he muttered.
"It's gonna hurt, but I promise to patch you up as soon as I can."The ship began to shake and rattle as it approached the world, taken in by its gravitational pull as panels began to fly off of the ship, exposing the wiring and structure underneath. He winced and squinted his eyes as the cockpit was suddenly filled by a bright light as his ship ignited while entering the atmosphere, at least until the canopy automatically tinted.
”At least that still works,” he muttered as he pulled back on the flightstick, doing his best to pull the ship up. When the flames cleared, he saw that he was approaching a small island, surrounded by crystal blue water. He lowered the ship a bit, aiming for the water in an attempt to slow himself down so he didn’t end up a pancake if he hit the island.
At that moment, the primary engine suddenly cut out. Now gliding, it was all Zac could do to insure that his ship didn’t flip over as it hit the water, skipping like a stone. The ship bounced once, twice, then a third time before he realized he was still coming in too hot. As he hurtled toward the island, he bent over, his head between his knees just before crashing into a cluster of palm trees, not noticing the makeshift raft or the people working on it as he flew over their heads. The ship sat there, propped up by the palm trees as smoke billowed from the primary engine.
The canopy, still tinted from reentry, began to lurch open, the actuators whirring almost painfully. Zac leaned against the edge of the cockpit and let out a groan.
”Any landing you can walk away from…,” he muttered before finally noticing the other people on the beach. He smiled and gave a wave.
”Hey,” he greeted.
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