Mia’s frigate had reached FXP-04 without issues and sped towards home as fast as her frigate was able. Its main thrusters had been overcharged and on full blast, which allowed it to careen forward at well over 215 meters per second.
Lagging behind her was Darius’ frigate, which struggled to maintain any speed beyond 210 m/s in atmosphere.
And swarming around them were their mecha squadrons, but they were hard pressed to keep up. Their power plants and thrusters simply weren’t as robust as the ones on the frigates. Many began to sputter even while they flew.
Darius flashed on Mia’s comms display, his face marred with concern.
“Slow down Mia,” he pleaded. “We’re not able to keep up with you. Our ship just isn’t as good as yours… if we keep going like this, we’re gonna-”
“Alert, Crusader,” interrupted an officer, “Wing Leader Delta is reporting power plant failure, and they’re falling back for auto-repairs.”