Heartstone - Chapter 62: Chapter 62

Just as the AG59 Eagle began its slow descent to initiate the drill into the mountain, a thunderous roar echoed across the sky—but this time, it wasn’t from the enemy.
Another AG59—sleek, marked with modified insignias—burst through the clouds, engines blazing.
Dalen, crouched on the ridge with his infiltration team, looked up in shock. “That’s... another AG59?!”
Then he saw it.
The enemy jets scrambled to adjust formation, but they were too slow.
BOOM!
The newcomer unleashed a barrage of precise, devastating plasma rounds. Five enemy jets exploded in flame, spiraling down into the valley. Chaos erupted among the enemy lines.
From its cockpit, Ashen grinned.
“Miss me?”
The comms buzzed on Dalen’s belt. Ashen’s voice came through.
“I told you I’d come through. This bird’s ours now. Let’s give Ryker hell.”
Dalen laughed under his breath. “Glad you showed up.”
The second AG59 roared over the village, providing aerial support to the defenders. Turrets on its wings picked off chemical soldiers in deadly arcs. It dropped care packages—ammunition, grenades, new tech—right into the defenders' hands.
Avera stood atop the cliff, her eyes glowing faintly gold, wind sweeping through her hair. She looked to the sky and saw the AG59 bearing Ashen’s symbol.
She whispered, “Hope... has wings after all.”
Down in the valley, Ryker turned his attention skyward. Fury twisted his already altered features. His voice growled through his jet’s channel.
“Bring him down. No mercy.”
But Ashen had already locked onto Ryker’s vessel.
And the battle in the sky was just beginning.