Difference between revisions of "Spensa Nightshade"

Spensa visited her grandmother, who told her that their family had been the engines of the ship Defiant. They could hear the stars and power the ship to far away places. Gran-Gran thought of Spensa’s ability as a gift, not a curse.{{book ref|skyward|45}}

When Skyward Flight was out scouting, when a large chunk of valuable debris fell along with a large swarm of Krell. They engaged, and during the course of the battle Spensa was shot down. Her ship began to go down, and she reluctantly ejected, blacking out in the process. She woke up on the ground, and Admiral Ironsides dismissed her from the flight school for ejecting. This left Skyward Flight with only two graduating members, FM and Jorgen.{{book ref|skyward|47}} Spensa attended their graduation ceremony, filled with conflicting emotions. Afterward she went to a restaurant with the other of her flight, and listen to a radio as a huge contingent of Krell, a full hundred of them, are making an attack on Alta. A bomber flew in, but was shot down. The anti-aircraft emplacements were damaged, and a force of Krell flew towards the weak point. Spensa realized that there was still one ship on Alta Base she could use.{{book ref|skyward|48}}

 

==== The Battle of Alta Second ====

Spensa got permission from the ground crew to use Arturo’s broken down ship, whose shield system was inoperative. She took off anyway, and announced her arrival on the flightleader channel. She spotted a second bomber, and tried to take it out. It was guarded by ace pilots, and her destructors became damaged. She planned to ram the bomber as it grew close to the death zone, but her acclivity ring failed and she fell into a dive. She crashed, but survived.{{book ref|skyward|50}}

Cobb arrived, flying M-Bot, who had re-written his programming to accept Spensa as his pilot. She entered M-Bot and flew after the bomber. After a brief dogfight, she heard a command sent to make the bomb detonate in one hundred seconds. She had Kimmalyn shoot the bomber’s clamps, releasing the lifebuster.{{book ref|skyward|52}} Spensa grabbed the lifebuster with her light-lance and flew away from Alta at full speed, bomb towed behind her. Right as the countdown reached its end, M-Bot noted with surprise that the cytonic hyperdrive was online. Spensa engaged her cytonic abilities, teleporting her and M-Bot out of the explosion.{{book ref|skyward|53}}

 

Spensa entered the place of the eyes, and they focused on her. She jolted back into M-Bot’s cockpit, and he reported that the cytonic hyperdrive was now offline again. She found that she was one hundred kilometers away from the blast site, and that almost no time had passed. Spensa called Alta Base, and heard cheering. Ironsides told her to return to base and that she’ll pardon Chaser, but Spensa saw a hole in the debris belt.{{book ref|skyward|54}} She flew up through it, where she discovered that the belt was a series of organized defense platforms. She saw a large space station beyond them, and could hear the Krell communication. They tried to overwrite her vision like they tried with her father, but M-Bot jammed the signal and kept her safe. M-Bot translated some Krell communications, as well as downloading some of their data. He discovered that the Krell are effectively there prison guards, keeping the humans contained on Detritus.{{book ref|skyward|55}}

=== Making a Plan ===

Over the next six months, Detritus progressed much, and so had Spensa’s skill. She grew adept at listening to the Krell communications and moving before they did, and as a result the Krell started sending aces in manned fighters to kill her.{{book ref|starsight|1}} In the midst of a dogfight, two Superiority battleships arrived, and Spensa was told by command that they were capable of possibly bombarding the planet.{{book ref|Starsight|2}} After returning to Platform Prime, Spensa was informed that the engineering team had discovered an old recording from the platform. After Spensa, Cobb, and a few others arrived, they played the recording. The recording showed a command room, with a woman panicking and saying that their defenses had failed and a [[delver]] had come. The delver enveloped them, and the screen went black, but Spensa saw an image of herself staring back at her in the screen, which nobody else in the room saw.{{book ref|starsight|4}}{{book ref|starsight|5}}

 

{{sidequote

|Jorgen! I need you to come her right now and talk me out of doing something incredibly stupid.

|Spensa to Jorgen after discovering Alanik{{book ref|sky2|8}}

}}

 

She was badly wounded, but used a translator pin to speak to Spensa before passing out. She told Spensa not to trust the Superiority, and cytonically implanted [[Starsight (station)|Starsight’s]] coordinates in her mind. M-Bot hacked the alien Alanik’s records and found that she was going to Starsight to join their star fleet. Spensa realized that it was her perfect oppurtinuty to go to Starsight in Alanik’s place, using holographic technology that M-Bot had to disguise her as Alanik. The coordinates began fading from her mind, and she had to make a rushed decision. She discussed the idea with Jorgen, who told her she should go. She climbed into M-Bot, then used the coordinates to hyperjump just outside of Starsight.{{book ref|starsight|8}}

}}

Spensa made it to Starsight, which is around 40,000 light years away from Detritus. She and M-Bot manage to gain entry into Starsight, her disguise and M-Bot’s faked information holding up.{{book ref|starsight|9}} At Starsight, she was greeted by [[Cuna|Minister Cuna]], who showed her where she was staying and explained the workings of Starsight.{{book ref|starsight|10}} She went to tryouts for the Superiority fighter force, in which the Superiority used drone ships with live fire. The Pilots had to survive for thirty minutes. Spensa saw a large ship floundering, and rescued it with the help of [[Morriumur]] and [[Vapor]]. The four ships worked together during the exercise and passed, and afterward they were put together into one flight, including [[Brade]].{{book ref|sky2|17}} Spensa met Mrs. [[Chamwit]], her housekeeper. Spensa was highly suspicious of Chamwit, believing her to be a Superiority spy despite her kindly nature. Spensa talked with Cuna a lot, learning about Starsight and its politics.{{book ref|sky2|19}} Spensa and her flight boarded their carrier ship, the [[Weights and Measures]], which hyperjumped them to their training location. As they hyperjumped, she heard a shrill scream that nobody else appeared to have heard.{{book ref|sky2|20}}

{{sidequote

|What do you idiots think you’re doing! That was the most embarrassing excuse of a hostile approach I’ve ever seen! Brade, you were ordered to clear the firing path, not fetch a fist of enemy nose hairs!

|Spensa trying to whip her flight into shape{{book ref|sky2|22}}

}}

They trained on a delver maze, but were wildly disorganized. Vapor recognized Spensa’s flight experience, and made her assistant flightleader so she could lead the group in doing drills. She found herself falling into the role easily, unconsciously copying Cobb’s mannerisms.{{book ref|sky2|22}} After learning the basics of fighting against delvers on the delver maze, Spensa worked on assembling a drone at the embassy, with M-Bot’s assistance. She learned more about Superiority, and about the taynix.{{book ref|sky2|27}} After M-Bot programmed it, Spensa released the drone aboard the Weights and Measures. After practicing with her flight, her drone was discovered, and Spensa was forced to hide it after much ensuing chaos. Spensa was discovered by Vapor and Cuna, who assumed her to be a generic UrDail spy. Spensa watched the drone’s video of the engine room, taken before they hyperjump, and saw that they were using taynix to hyperjump.{{book ref|sky2|33}} Cuna reveals Winzik’s plans, which are to use delvers to control rebellious planets, likely including Detritus. Spensa revealed herself to Cuna, who is amazed rather than angry. After the flight gets called into action, Spensa decided to reveal herself to Brade, who immediately started sounding the alarm, announcing that she had found the human spy.{{book ref|sky2|36}} Spensa was forced to escape in her Superiority starfighter, hyperjumping back to Detritus but leaving M-Bot behind on Starsight, who was trying to re-write his programming. After going to Platform Prime and briefing Cobb, then heard Brade screaming into the nowhere. Spensa realized that Winzik was attempting to summon a delver to attack Detritus, and she hurried to her starfighter.{{book ref|sky2|38}}

 

|The thing trembled with emotion I understood without needing interpretation. Horror.

|Spensa describing the Delver’s realization{{book ref|sky2|44}}

}}

In a completely white room, Spensa communicated with the delver, who took her own shape before her. She saw the delver’s point of view, which saw the humans on Starsight as annoying noises. Spensa showed the delver her own point of view, how the humans cared for their children and had friends and families. The delver was horrified at the revelation, not having realized that the noises were alive. It promptly disappeared, returning to the nowhere and leaving Spensa floating in space.{{book ref|sky2|44}}

|I have only the instincts of a warrior to guide me. You will not distract me from my current purpose, adversary. Though you have fought admirably, I will defeat you, then compose poetry for your funeral.

|Hesho to Spensa during their duel{{book ref|sky3|29}}

}}

 

|I could start as human, then allow myself to become something more. I was everything they feared. Because they refused to ever let themselves change, but I embraced change. It was the essence and nature of my strength.

|Spensa resisting the delvers in the lightburst{{book ref|sky3|43}}

}}

 

|I told you that I understood crazy. I was wrong. Thank you for the master class.

|[[Chet]]{{book ref|Cytonic|35}}

}}

Through their friendship, Chet experiences trust, betrayal,{{book ref|Cytonic|8}} and courage.{{book ref|Cytonic|41}}{{book ref|Cytonic|43}} At one point, he asks her to run away with him and be Nowhere explorers forever, and she is tempted.{{book ref|Cytonic|36}}