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Difference between revisions of "Summary:Skyward"
Chapter 45 Summary was woefully incomplete, especially for one of the most important chapters in the book.
(Chapter 45 Summary was woefully incomplete, especially for one of the most important chapters in the book.) |
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=== Chapter 44 ===
With graduation looming, Cobb arranges for spin, FM, and Jorgen to practice in different types of ships, such as Largo and Slatra-class starships. Spensa continues to find herself distracted, thinking about the eyes and her father's betrayal. When the flight lands, Spensa doesn't talk to anyone and goes straight to the orchard. She doesn't find solace there, and sees Jorgen preparing to leave via hovercar, so goes over and talks to him. She tells him about her learning the truth about her father, a fact Jorgen already knew, and then he tells her she's worried she might to the same thing because she exhibits some of the same symptoms her father had, such as the eyes and claiming to hear the stars. Jorgen asks her if she knows about the mutiny aboard the Defiant(ITALICIZE). She says no, so Jorgen tells her that in the final days of the ship's voyage, there was a disagreement about what the fleet should do, so half of the ship rebelled against the command staff, including Spensa's ancestors, the engineers, and Jorgen's ancestors, the scientists. Some people thought the engineers had colluded with the Krell to pun the last humans of Detritus, which is where the talk of the defect comes from. Jorgen then tells Spensa that she is amazing and that she inspires him, and Spensa's true feelings about Jorgen begin to boil over. He leaves, and she decides that with her half-day off, she needs to visit her family in Igneous Cavern.
=== Chapter 45 ===
Spensa heads down the elevator to Igneous, and when she exits, the people there part, letting her through, some soldiers even saluting her. Spensa goes to where her mother sells algae wraps to off-shift workers, her mother sees her, and runs over to embrace her. They go back to selling wraps, and Spensa realizes her mother thinks she's been kicked out of Flight School. Spensa shows her the jumpsuit and cadet pin and tells her that she'll graduate in two weeks. Spensa tells her mother that once she graduates, they can move into a bigger apartment and me rich, to which her mother tells her that the DDF made the same promise if she would simply publicly accept that her father was a coward. She opted not to, so remains poor and selling algae wraps as a show of public defiance. Spensa tells her mother of her fear of the defect, and her mother tells her it's made up, but that her Gran-Gran has a different opinion. Spensa goes to her old apartment and sees her Gran-Gran, near blind, sorting beads by color. She starts to help her, and her Gran-Gran asks her if she wants to hear a story about Alexander the Great, or Hervor, or Beowulf. Spensa tells her she is scared and confused and doesn't want to hear any more stories, and she asks her Gran-Gran if any of the people in the stories she tells Spensa are real. Gran-Gran tells Spensa it doesn't matter, as stories bring normal people hope. Spensa then tells Gran-Gran that she saw the holorecording of the Battle of Alta, and that it's true that her father turned coward. Gran-Gran considers this for a moment, then tells Spensa she's going to tell her a story. Spensa protests, but Gran-Gran tells her it is her own story, and Spensa stops, intrigued, as she's never heard a story about Gran-Gran before. Gran-Gran tells her a story about back when she was a little girl aboard the Defiant and her father, a historian, would tell her stories about great heroes from their days on Earth. It was Gran-Gran's mother who could hear the stars and power the ship to far away places. She then tells Spensa that Defiant and its small fleet became involved in an intergalactic war, and the Krell began fighting them. They fought back, and the Captain of the Defiant ordered Gran-Gran's mother to take the ship somewhere, but she refused, and used all of her strength to send the Defiant to Detritus. Gran-Gran believes this is why the others hate Spensa and her , because they control where humanity can ultimately travel to, and now that they have no communal starship capable of traveling great distances, the others have no need of Spensa and her family's ability. As Spensa begins to climb down the ladder, Gran-Gran forcefully tells her to stop, and tells her that if the humans are to ever truly win and escape the Krell, they need someone like Spensa who can hear the stars.
=== Chapter 46 ===
The remaining members of Skyward Flight are scouting out salvageable debris with Nightmare Flight. Their flightleader, Nose, tells Bog and Tunestone to take Spensa and FM one way, while he tells Sushi and Nord to take Jerkface. Bog and Tunestone start making fun of Jorgen, but Spensa and FM rush to his defense, telling the full DDF pilots that he's a good flightleader and keeps them focused on their ultimate goal. Bog and Tunestone then shift their mockery to Spensa and FM, and Spensa tells them to watch out for the cadets going after the full members' kills and ace. Bog and Tunestone try to show off their lightlancing, Tunestone overshooting slightly, thinking that all the cadet flights have focused on destructor play and dogfighting. Spensa and FM perform a two-fourteen with a double flatline at the end and a V-sweep, expertly playing off the rocks and even each other, leaving the two full pilots and Nose stunned. After a period of awed silence, Nose asks them if they're looking for a flight when they graduate. FM declares she wants to be a scout, and Sushi, Nord, and Jorgen rejoin the radio channel. Spensa, FM, and Jorgen climb to 700,000 feet and Spensa begins to worry the defect will overtake her, this close to the stars. The cadets see something gargantuan falling through the debris field, and Spensa recognizes it as the other half of the C-137-KJM orbital shipyard that took Nightstorm Six and Seven's lives. They see the shipyard's turrets firing at something they can't quite see, and Jorgen reports the shipyard to Cobb and Nose, who relay it to Flight Command, as the shipyard likely contains hundreds of acclivity rings, just as its other half had. Suddenly, a group of Krell fighters break through the debris and turn towards the flight.
=== Chapter 47 ===
Skyward Flight split off from Nightmare Flight, and normal dogfighting ensues. Spensa, FM, and Jorgen employ a defensive strategy whilst waiting for Riptide Flight and two other flights of reinforcements. Spensa spots a lifebuster and reports it to Jorgen, who relays the message to Flight Command. Ironsides herself answers, and Spensa, who is in range and has a clear shot, asks if she can shoot. Ironsides denies her the opportunity, and Skyward Flight flies away. Aces from Riptide Flight begin engaging the lifebuster and its escort, and eventually the lifebuster and its escort pulls out. Bog reports a mayday over the radio, his is down and he's being trailed by four Krell. Skyward Flight fire destructor blasts into the mix, and three of the Krell head left, the last one heading right, hoping to cut Bog off. Spensa goes after the one, while Jorgen and FM go after the three. Spensa gains a tail shield trailing the one, and is hit multiple times with destructor blasts, bringing down her shield. She is hit with her shield down, and her wing catches fire. She tries to land the ship safely, but her vision is going red from the strain of the g-forces. She capitulates to Jorgen's command to eject, and blacks out. She wakes up in her seat on the ground of Detritus to a medic asking her if she's alright. She says she's fine and asks about the ship. The medic says the acclivity rings are unsalvageable, and tells Spensa the in-seat GravCaps prevented her spine from crushing itself. The medic flies Spensa back to base, where she is met by Admiral Ironsides, and formally dismissed from the flight school. She retains her cadet's badge and is told she will be put on a roll if the DDF needs emergency pilots in the future. Spensa holds a salute as Ironsides walks away, consigned to the fact that Skyward Flight will in fact graduate with two members.
== Part Five ==
=== Interlude I-3 ===
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