Summary:Skyward

This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of Skyward. We hope this summary will make it easier to find specific areas of the book, as well as providing a quick plot refresher for anyone who doesn't want to take the time to reread the entire book.

Prologue

Spensa, age seven, reflects upon how her mother claimed that "Only fools go to the surface" due to debris falls and krell attacks as she climbs to the surface with her father, a pilot. She attempts to climb to the surface of the planet but slips and is caught by her father. Using a light-line, she climbs to the surface of Detritus and marvels at the sky. Her father explains that Krell live above the debris field surrounding the planet, attacking the people on the planet anytime their population grows too large. As Spensa recalls how her descendants, a part of a fleet of space vessels, were chased by the Krell onto Detritus, her father points out the location of Alta Base. Spensa proclaims her dream of becoming a pilot so that everyone will love her. Immediately afterwards, her father points out that the stars are visible because of a hole in the layer of debris ad remarks that he always wondered if he could get out to the stars. After the hole closes, Spensa notices debris begin to fall, and after radioing base learn that a very large group of Krell are invading. After calming some dissenters, Spensa's father and his flight decide to fight the Krell head on and he makes Spensa promise to head back, tossing her his pilot's pin. Spensa waits until she sees starfighters streak into the sky and then runs back to her clan, hoping to hear the broadcast of the fight. As she was attempting to get back home, imagining the battle, her father broke ranks and fled from the enemy, and was shot down by his flight in retribution. When she got back home, she learned that the battle was won, her father was dead, and that she was now known as the daughter of a coward.

Part One

Chapter 1

Nine and a half years later, Spensa hunt rats in a cavern, imagining her speargun to be a rifle, nearby rocks to be fortifications, and the rat to be an enemy. She checks the clock on her light-line, and decides it is getting late and she needs to head back to avoid missing too much of the school day. She comes to an intersection with old machinery, where she collects some water from a tube, before heading forward again and reaching Igneous, her home cavern. She stashes some of her supplies in a obscure maintenance locker. Spensa comes to a check-in point where two ground soldiers make her wait for verification and authorization to enter, even though they know each other. She resents having to go through this every day. Alukos, one of the soldiers, calls her a coward after he finishes searching her bag for contraband, and Spensa tells him that someday he will be grateful for having known her, which he dismisses contemptuously. Spensa heads towards her neighborhood, the Glorious Rises of Industry, passing by a statue of the First Citizens, before reaching her family's apartment. While Spensa's mother isn't home, her grandmother, Gran-Gran, is. Gran-Gran is making algae rolls to sell, which is done since Spensa's mother can't get a job due to them being the family of a coward. She greets Spensa as the latter delivers her rats. Spensa notes that Gran-Gran has forgotten about her needing to attend school, something she misses a lot of due to it currently being about job opportunities she doesn't care for since Spensa is set on becoming a pilot. As they prepare the rats, Gran-Gran starts telling a story about Beowulf. Afterwards, she talks about the history of their clan, the Motorskaps, and tells Spensa to do her exercises, which she has been neglecting. Following her grandmother's instructions, Spensa closes her eyes and tries to listen to the stars and imagine herself flying, even though she finds it boring. Gran-Gran talks about their people, who worked on the engine room of the fleet's flagship. They were considered strange by the other crews, but were able to make ship move, said to be because they could hear the stars. For a moment, Spensa thinks she can hear a "distant, pure sound". She asks Gran-Gran why the engine crews were important, rather than firing the weapons, which Gran-Gran dismisses, saying that ship movement is also important. She tells Spensa that she will tell her about Sun Tzu tomorrow, though Spensa wants to hear about Genghis Khan. Gran-Gran then mentions Queen Boudicca, who she claims is another of Spensa's ancestors. Spensa's mother interrupts, saying that all of those people being her ancestors is implausible and telling Spensa that she needs to go to school.

Chapter 2

Mrs. Vmeer, Spensa's Work Studies instructor, introduces Citizen Alfir, a man from Sanitation Corps, asking him to discuss his job. Spensa's classmate Dia taunts her, telling Spensa that cleaning waste would be a perfect job for the daughter of a coward, and Spensa has to restrain herself due to Dia being Mrs. Vmeer's daughter and already having gotten into trouble for fighting before. Alfir continues speaking, saying that even though his job doesn't seem significant, it is still vital to keep their society running. Spensa notes that several of the other speakers have said the same things about their roles, and finds those attitudes not passionate enough for Defiants. Citizen Alfir finishes his presentation, and the students stand up for a break. Spensa avoids to Dia to try to stay out of trouble, and instead approaches her friend [[Rodge Mccafrey|Rodge]. They discuss their wishes to become pilots, and review some material they need for the pilot test. Just then, Mrs. Vmeer approaches Spensa with Alfir, who tells Spensa that they need people like her in Sanitation, offering her a guaranteed spot there. Spensa turns him down, and Dia tells her that the authorities will definitely prevent her from passing the pilot's test, even though everyone is allowed to take it. Spensa notes that Dia doesn't seem to care if she believes her, unlike her usual taunts. She goes to confront Mrs. Vmeer on the topic. Mrs. Vmeer tries dance around on it, claiming that Spensa's father being a coward makes it a delicate situation, but is eventually forced to partly admit that she won't be allowed to get in, though she doesn't say that the admiral specifically ordered her to be kept out. Mrs. Vmeer then tries to coax her into taking another job. Enraged and humiliated at being lied to about being able to get in, Spensa storms out of the room.

Chapter 3

Still upset over being denied the chance to become a pilot, Spensa runs off to the caverns, seeking refuge there. She uses her light-line to make her way down a cliff and into another cavern with kurdi mushrooms, which attract rats. She turns off her light-line and settles down to hunt. She notes that while exploring usually helps take her mind off her worries, it's not working this time. The cavern shakes a bit, and Spensa realizes that she is quite close to the surface. She checks her clock, seeing that night has already passed, and it is near noon of the next day, almost the time for the pilot test, which takes place in the evening. She dismisses it, thinking that the test is pointless since she won't be able to get in anyway. Spensa climbs up to the surface, marvels at seeing the sky again, then realizes that she is quite close to Alta Base, though she only watches from a distance, since getting to close would make the guards mistake her for a scavenger. Suddenly, some debris starts falling towards her. Scrambling, Spensa takes cover in another small cavern. After the debris lands, she gets up checks around. While Spensa is fine, her speargun is broken, and she chastises herself for being impulsive. She hears a scrabbling sound, which causes her to check for more rats, or a water pipe. Instead, Spensa finds a ship in the corner of the cavern, surrounded by rubble.

Chapter 4

Spensa examines the ship, realizing that it is a starfighter, though she doesn't recognize the model, which surprises her since she has memorized every DDF, Krell, and nomadic trader ship model, as well as some older ones. The ship is buried in rubble, but appears mostly intact. Coming closer, Spensa finds the manual release panel with English written on it, leading her to conclude it is a human ship, as well as an incredibly old one. There is no skeleton in the cockpit, so the pilot either escaped, or the crashed ship is old enough that the bones turned to dust. After trying to pull the release lever manually and failing, Spensa separates her the rope of her light-line from its bracelet, attaching one end to the release lever and the other to a boulder. She shoves the boulder, causing the lever to be pulled. The door to the cockpit opens, and Spensa climbs in, noting that the controls are similar to others that she's seen. Sitting in the pilot's seat, she starts thinking about her father, and what he would be thinking. Spensa thinks that he might be disappointed with her for running from the test, then thinks about whether being told she would be rejected anyway was part of the test to see if she's a coward. Changing her mind, Spensa decides to head back and take the pilot's test anyway.

Chapter 5

Spensa rushes into the testing room, getting in just before time is up. A woman in an admiral's uniform frowns at her, and everyone in the testing room is staring as well. Spensa makes her way to the single available desk, which unfortunately happens to be right in front of the woman, who she recognizes as Judy "Ironsides" Ivans herself. Spensa tries not to show her pain and embarrassment as she walks. She hears Rig express relief at seeing her, and she winks at him before going back to suppressing her pain. Ironsides starts speaking about how everyone is worthy in different ways and that she is proud of them all for coming. Seeing how aloof she seems, Spensa hopes that she won't be discriminated against. Then, she sees a short man in glasses pointing her out to the admiral, who frowns at her, and Mrs. Vmeer in the corner shaking her head in seeming disappointment, and her hopes drop again. An aide gives her a test, but Spensa doesn't have a pencil in her pocket, only her father's pin. Rig tosses her a spare pencil, and she silently thanks him. Looking at her test, Spensa realizes that the questions are all about algae preparation, something she didn't study for due to having to miss class to go hunting, and her obsession with becoming a pilot making her only attend piloting-relevant classes in the time she has left. She peeks as fellow tester Darla's paper, and sees questions about piloting on it. An aide announces that everyone has different tests, so cheating is useless. Angry, Spensa realizes that they gave her a special test designed to make her fail. She continues working on her test, which asks questions relating to other fields the adults tried to put her in. She tries her best, but is unable to answer about two-thirds of them. The test ends, and Ironsides comes over and looks at her. Spensa shows her her father's pin, saying that she would like to petition to enter flight school due to being the daughter of a pilot who fought at the Battle of Alta. Ironsides says that she isn't accepting the pin of a traitor and grabs it, asking where she even got it. Spensa tells her he gave it to her before he left, and Ironsides tells her that letting her in would be a public relations nightmare, before turning to leave. Spensa tries to ask her to give the pin back, but Ironsides tells her that the families of cowards aren't allowed to keep the pin, and walks off. Rig comes over and asks her to go to the post-testing party with him, but Spensa tells him to leave her alone.

Chapter 6

Spensa sits alone for hours in the empty testing room, starting to feel empty and defeated instead of angry. An aide comes in and tells her to leave, but Spensa doesn't listen. She walks over to where Ironsides left the tests from the children of First Citizens. The tests are all empty other than the name, since they are guaranteed entrance into pilot school due to their parentage. Spensa picks up the first test, belonging to Jorgen Wright, and starts writing in it. It is full of detailed questions on piloting and related fields, though Spensa doesn't really think for the intent and preference questions, since she isn't getting in anyway. As she finishes, she hears janitors outside. She starts sketching a W-shaped ship, similar to the crash she found earlier. The janitors come in, and one asks Spensa why she is still here. She tells him she didn't feel like celebrating, since she never had an actual chance to pass, and asks if he ever felt like he was forced into his role. He asks her why she wants to be a pilot so much, since it's a dangerous job, and Spensa replies that not all of them die, citing a statistic she studied. The man tells her he knows, and she spots the glint of medals and a pilot's pin on the chest of his silhouette. Spensa then hears the two janitors joking in the hallway, which makes her realize that the man is not a janitor. He walks, limping, over to her in the emergency lighting, asking her again why she wants to be a pilot as he flips through her test. Spensa tries to say that because she wants to prove herself and clear her father's name, but instead tells him that it's because she'll get to see the sky. He comments that even though their people named themselves Defiants, Ironsides is still surprised at being defied. He puts the test down with something on top of it, then starts walking away. Spensa asks him who he is, and he turns around, revealing his face more clearly, and tells her he knew her father. Spensa suddenly recognizes him as Mongrel, her father's old wingmate. He tells her to show up the morning of the day after tomorrow at pilot class and gives her the location, telling her to use her pin to get in. Spensa realizes the object he put on her test is a cadet's pin, and grabs it while asking Mongrel about what Ironsides would do about it. He replies that he can handle it, since Ironsides is too highly ranked to manage cadets. Mongrel comments that Spensa got 17, a question on what to do in overwhelming odds, wrong, saying that she should fall back and await reinforcements, which she disagrees with. He stiffens a bit and Spensa quickly stops herself, trying to not anger the man who'll let her in. He tells her that even though he admitted her, it won't be easy on her.

Part Two

Chapter 7

Elevator doors open, giving Spensa a view of Alta Base. She stays in the elevator as everyone else leaves and is approached by Kimmalyn. She's confused by Kimmalyn's friendliness as the majority of people in her life treated her like a pariah, but heads towards the base with her, gaping together at a fountain. While walking towards the base, they learn that they are both part of the same flight. They discuss possible callsigns, and Kimmalyn tells Spensa she came from Bountiful cavern. They walk through an orchard and Spensa marvels at the size of the trees. Together they walk towards Flight School, a building near the launchpads. Kimmalyn leaves to talk to a friend, and Spensa tells herself she'll have to get used to the sky and how much more open space there is above the planet. When Kimmalyn returns they find their classroom and open the doors.

Chapter 8

In the room sits ten mock cockpits, arranged in a circle facing inward. Spensa and Kimmalyn enter the class, realizing they are the first to arrive. Spensa walks around the cockpits, noticing they resemble the layout of a Poco. Two cadets enter, an athletic girl (Hudiya) and a Yeongian with blue hair (Bim). They are then followed by a Vician (Freyja). Kimmalyn introduces herself and learns the names of the cadets. Three more boys enter, and Spensa recognizes one as the son of a First Citizen she saw at the exam (Jorgen). Jorgen attempts to order the cadets to stand in formation, with is met with derision by the other cadets. When Jorgen insults Kimmalyn, Spensa calls him "Jerkface." Jorgen recognizes Spensa, and they soon begin to insult one another. Spensa then realizes that none of the cadets knew her as the daughter of a coward. As Spensa and Jorgen are insulting one another, Mongrel, their instructor, walks in and tells them to refer to him as Cobb. He then proceeds to name Jorgen flight leader, which upsets Spensa. He then takes Spensa into the hall and informs her that she needs to control herself so that she can remain a cadet, explaining that he chose Jorgen as flight leader because of his flight experience. Spensa apologizes and heads back into the room.

Chapter 9

Spensa is distraught when faced with the possibility that she won't get to fly. Cobb informs the cadets that the cockpits are simulations, and that they will need to pick a callsign sometime in the next few days. As he is saying this, Rig bursts into the room. Spensa is elated, and Rig explains to Cobb that he was late because the elevator was down. Cobb announces that Rig received a perfect score on the exam. Cobb begins to turn on the simulations as Spensa climbs into her cockpit. Spensa marvels at how realistic the simulation is, sticking her hand outside to make sure it isn't real. Cobb informs the cadets they will be practicing takeoffs, and Jorgen volunteers to teach them. Nearly half the cadets crash when attempting to take off for the first time. For the next three hours, the cadets practiced taking off and landing ships. Cobb informs Jorgen he needs to get a confirmation of readiness from each member of the flight, and Bim asks Cob what happens when a cadet ejects. Cobb grumbles about rumors spread that acclivity rings are worth more than the lives of the pilots. The cadets give verbal confirmation of their readiness, and declare their callsigns. When Jorgen learns that his desired callsign has been taken, Spensa says that the cadets can call him Jerkface. As the cadets begin to learn how to move forward, the attack warning began to go off. Admiral Ironsides told Cobb to send the cadet's flight, dubbed flight, into the air. Cobb sends the cadets to the launchpads.

Chapter 10

Spensa wonders why the admiral is sending her flight into the air as Cobb shuts down the simulations. As they leave the training room, Spensa talks to Rig about how they can't believe they made it. The cadets then boarded into their ships. Spensa turned on her ship and lifter her Poco off of the ground, as did the rest of her flight. After taking roll call, they engaged their boosters and sped towards the battlefield. Cobb informs the cadets that they won't be fighting, and will soon be relieved by a reserve flight. Spensa, Jorgen, and Arturo discuss Krell attack strategies and the plausibility of the use of a lifebuster. As Spensa wonders why Cobb isn't flying, the cadets discuss a callsign for Bim, who hadn't yet chosen one. While watching the battle, a Krell ship suddenly began streaking towards the cadets. The cadets inform Cobb and he clears them to engage. Jorgen and Nedder break formation to chase it, and Spensa and Hurl follow. As they approached the ship, it turned around and began to head straight for them.

Chapter 11

As the ship rounds towards her, Spensa realizes she isn't afraid despite her lack of experience. She attempts to maneuver her way behind the Krell but almost hits Hurl instead. The Krell ship attacks Jorgen as Spensa struggled to get in position, and Cobb warns him that the Krell attack the pilots who fly the best. As Jorgen continues to maneuver, the Krell ship sends some destructors towards the rest of the cadets, and a few hit Rig's ship. Jorgen asks Cobb when the reinforcements are coming, and he realizes that his shields are down. Spensa flew up towards Jorgen in the hopes of racing him, but she began to fall unconscious due to G forces. Just as the Krell was about to take out Jorgen, a long-range destructor shot by Kimmalyn beamed upwards and destroyed the Krell ship. The cadets assess headcount, and note that all are safe, but Rig is badly shaken and threw up in his ship. Cobb orders the cadets back to base, and the cadets land safely. Hurl and Kimmalyn celebrate while Jorgen admonishes Spensa and she restrains herself from fighting back. Cobb both disparages and compliments the flight on their performance and tells them to wash themselves and eat. The admiral compliments Skyward flight over the intercom, saying they "With possible exceptions, are a group to be admired," which Spensa believes to be directed at her. As Spensa reaches the bunks, she realizes that there is no place for her to sleep. When she goes back into the halls, Cobb tells her that the people who run flight school have decided not to allow Spensa to sleep or eat there. As she is leaving, she overhears Jorgen complaining about how the cadets don't respect him, and Cobb tells him to accept it. Annoyed, Jorgen walks to his hoverer and left. Spensa left the compound and headed to the elevators. Considering the long commute, she decides to look for a place to stay closer to the base. Leaving the elevators behind, she walks to the cavern with the crashed ship in item and bunks down there for the night.

Chapter 12

Spensa wakes up in the cockpit of the crashed ship, and is impressed by how much room the cockpit had. She is checking the time when she notices a flat, blobby, yellow creature (Doomslug) that reminds her of a chipmunk. After deciding not to eat it, she looks for some rats to hunt and eat. Looking over the ship, Spensa recalls her visions of fixing the ship and realizes how farfetched those dreams are, given the disheveled interior of the spacecraft. Spensa decides to look at the interior of the ship, and sees some parts that she doesn't recognize, such as a sleek and reflectivee black box. Looking back up at the ship's wiring, she sees a slug in the wiring, a wonders if it is the same one as before. When she crawls out, she notices that her snare had caught a rat, which she skins and guts. While eating, she conceives a plan to use the lavatory at the base to cleanse herself and eat rats and mushrooms for food, so that she won't have to commute.

Chapter 13

Spensa heads up to flight school and cleanses herself in the lavatory. When she gets back to the classroom, she notices that Rig's seat is again empty, and wonders why he's late. A few moments later, Rig appears in the doorway, a pack over his shoulder. When Rig turns to leave, Cobb comments that one always leaves, and Spensa chases after him. He informs her that it was never his dream to become a pilot, and he was only along for the ride. After Rig walks away, Cobb tells Spensa she has to come back to class, and when they arrive he tells the cadets they'll continue to practice the fundamentals of flight. They spend the morning practicing how to turn in unison, despite Bim's persistence in asking about weaponry. Cobb stresses the fact that when you go into an uncontrolled descent, the pilot should always eject, and Spensa thinks to herself she can only think about ejecting after she becomes a full pilot. Spensa walks around the base, as she isn't permitted to eat in the mess hall. After a time, she heads back to the classroom and talks to Morningtide, but is annoyed when she doesn't respond. When the rest of the students return, Kimmalyn brings Spensa some food, and Cobb tells the students they'll be learning to turn the other direction. He then asks each student their feelings about the instruction so that he can fill out a required form. Afterwards, the cadets resume instruction.

Chapter 14

Cobb lectures the cadets about how they are the limiting factor of their ship. He then proceeds to inform the cadets about gravcaps, devices that negate the effects of G forces and the three types of weapons, a prospect that excites Bim. They begin with destructor practice, but only Kimmalyn is able to fire with accuracy. When the Krell in the simulation begin to fight back, the cadets suffer a terrible loss due to their lack of experience and the higher quality of the Krell shields and weaponry. After the destructor practice, Cobb tells Arturo to demonstrate how to use IMPs, and Cobb explains that they are used to negate shields. He explains the best way to fight the Krell is in pairs, with one wingmate using the IMP to give the other a clear shot, as the Krell fly individually. After the IMP lesson concludes, Cobb tells Spensa to show off the use of Light-lances, an energy lasso that connects your ship to whatever you spear it with. Cobb expresses his feelings that the light-lances are the most important of the weaponry, and that the cadets will be spending the next month learning to use them.

Chapter 15

Spensa tries to fix the crashed ship with materials she scavenged. Doomslug the Destroyer, the slug she has dubbed her mascot, repeats whatever she says to it. The materials she gathered aren't sufficient to power the ship, and she leaves to go to class. In the simulations, Spensa has gotten better at dodging debris, but is still not especially proficient with light-lances. She finally spears a peace of debris, but crashes as a result. The cadets continue to practice with light-lances, and Spensa explains some terms to Morningtide, who doesn't speak english fluently. Before booting the simulation back up, Spensa feels the inside of her helmet, which had been chafing her. Cobb explains that the medical wing insisted that her helmet have sensors that monitored her bioreadings, and that hers was the only helmet to have such features. After Bim complains that the other flights have been practicing dogfighting, Cobb starts a game involving flying through golden rings. When Spensa realizes that Jorgen, who waited until the other cadets finished, would easily defeat her, she speeds her ship into his, freezing his score below hers and winning the game. This annoys Jorgen and frustrates Cobb, but Spensa merely grins. During the five-minute break, Bim flirts with a confused Spensa, who flirts back once she realizes. Jorgen, still angered over Spensa's actions during the game, reveals that she is the daughter of Chaser. This makes Spensa feel sick with anger and embarrassment through the set of drills, as she had liked being able to make her own way in life. Hours later, Spensa walks past the mess hall and sees her flight eating, and as she walks out she spots Jorgen's hovercar. She then slips into the hanger and steals his power matrix so that she can power the crashed ship.

Chapter 16

Spensa wakes up in the crashed ship, groggy and sore. When she looks around, she sees the power matrix she stole from Jorgen and recognizes the holes in her plan from last night. She walks to Alta, expecting not to be allowed in, but makes her way to the classroom. When class begins as usual, she wonders if Jorgen isn't going to turn her in. Kimmalyn asks if being the daughter of Chaser is why Spensa is always so "bellicose". When the day ends and she still hadn't been turned in, Spensa feels much better. She returns to the crashed ship and plugs in the power matrix. Immediately the ship begins playing audio and Spensa wonders if it is a recording. When the voice grows less robotic and begins to ask Spensa questions, she realizes that the ship is talking to her.

Chapter 17

The ship, which identifies itself as "M-Bot", continues to talk to Spensa, and reveals that its memory banks have been corrupted. The only record it possesses is it's most recent orders: "Lie low, M-Bot. Take stock, don't get into any fights, and wait for me here." The ship reveals that it has been 172 years since it deactivated, longer than the Defiant crashed onto Detritus. Given the long time, it concludes that it's previous pilot, Commander Spears, has perished. When it reveals it is saddened by this fact, Spensa is shocked by the fact it can feel emotions. It also reveals that it retained an open database of fungoid life forms on the planet, and desires to fill it in. It believes this to be the logical interpretation of it's pilots last orders, and does not believe Spensa when she gives the opinion that he is a warship. Spensa wonders if the answer to any questions her society has about the Krell might be stored within M-Bot's memory banks. The ship assesses its capabilities, and notes extensive damage. Spensa wonders how she could possibly fix it, and decides to request Rig's aid. She heads down to Rig's apartment and tells him to come with her despite the late hour. Rig agrees to follow her, taking a minute to sneak out, and talks with Spensa about how his life has changed on the way to the cavern. When they reach the cavern, Spensa illuminates the ship with her light-line, and Rig gapes in awe.

Chapter 18

Spensa spends a few hours helping Rig look over M-Bot, and attempts to sleep with little success. Right pointlessly asks questions to M-Bot concerning it's origins. Rig proposes that they show the ship to the DDF, and Spensa mandates that she'd rather fix it on her own, so that she can keep it and fly it if the admiral denies her a ship. She finally convinces Rig to help fix M-Bot, and h reveals that he is fielding an offer from the Engineering Corps, which would give him access to the required materials. Rig agrees to take an internship with them, and dedicating the rest of the day to fixing M-Bot. Spensa makes to head off to school, but M-Bot asks to talk to her in private. M-Bot says that Spensa cannot tell the DDF about him, nor anyone else. As Spensa attempts to argue, M-Bot detects attacking Krell, and Spensa decides to head to Alta base.

Chapter 19

Spensa anxiously begins running to Alta Base. She enters the base and dashes to her ship, where the ground crew helps her into her ship and informs her that the rest of her flight went into the air nearly half and hour ago. She rises into the air, and speeds towards the battlefield as fast as safely possible, listening to her flight fight. When she nears the battle, she decelerated quickly by spinning around, Jorgen orders Spensa to help Morningtide, who is being trailed by Krell. Spensa head towards her, but sees that Morningtide was being followed by three, and is taken out before Spensa has time to do anything about it. Spensa starts to cry, by Jorgen tells her to grieve later and to get into defensive position. As Spensa tries to cover Bim, she herself picks up a tail, which she loses with by looping around debris. As Cobb is congratulating her, Bim spots a lifebuster, and tells Cobb he can take it down, despite orders to leave it alone. Bim asks Spensa to help him take out the life buster, and she willingly agrees. As they approach the larger than usual bomber, four smaller Krell escort ships peel off of it. Cobb orders the two to fall back, but Bim instead charges up a long-range destructor. As he does so, the four guardian ships fire at him and his ship explodes. Spensa's ship began to spin and she nearly blacked out, but recovered. Soon afterwards, the Krell begin to fall back, and Jorgen asks the motionless Spensa if she is doing alright, then gets vocal confirmation of status from the rest of the cadets.

Part Three

Interlude I-1

Judy "Ironsides" Ivans, admiral of Alta base, reads the casualty reports, as she always tries to do after a battle. After she reads about the two cadets who'd died in the battle, Bim and Morningtide, she begins to type letters to their families. Halfway through, Cobb comes to visit her, but waits until she's finished to start talking. Cobb then berates the admiral for lowering the age of testing and sending inexperienced recruits into battle, and the Admiral responds by saying that it's all worth it to protect Alta. When the admiral points out that Spensa was late to the battle, Cobb retorts by mentioning the admiral makes her live outside city limits. Afterwards, the admiral tells Cobb that the bioreadings they took of Spensa indicate that she has "the defect," although Cobb denies the relevance of the topic. As Cobb leaves, he scolds the admiral's behavior, and the Admiral admits that she's trying to make Spensa quit.

Chapter 20

Spensa arrives late to class, noting the sense of wrongness she feels because of the death of Bim and Morningtide. After she walks over to Morningtide's model cockpit, she asks Freyja where the absent Kimmalyn is. Jorgen then stands up and reads some words from the DDF handbook regarding how Bim and Morningtide were models of bravery, which Spensa believes to be senseless. After Jorgen sits down, Cobb walks in and immediately tells the cadets to begin training. Spensa asks why he's ignoring the events of the previous day's battle, and they glare at each other until Kimmalyn enters. Spensa notices that Cobb thought she'd given up, and admires Kimmalyn's strength. Spensa gives a speech, beginning with the phrase "claim the stars." When she finishes, she notes that the sensors in her helmet are warm, and Cobb tells her that the medical staff believes they can determine if she will be a coward based on the readings they received.

Chapter 21

As the diodes in Spensa's helmet cool, Cool runs the cadets through maneuvers without pause for hours to take their minds off of what occurred the day before. Afterwards, the cadets engage in friendly banter, although Hurl ignores Spensa, they way she has since Jorgen revealed Spensa's identity. Talking with FM, Spensa learns that the girl is a Disputer, a person who objects to the way the government conduct society. As she walks out, she sees that Cobb is rewatching footage from the battle the day before. When Cobb notices, he compliments her flying, and gives her a personal radio so that he will be able to contact her in the event of Krell incursions. Afterwards, Spensa asks him why he doesn't fly, and he discloses that he finds it difficult to do so since having shot down her father. After insisting that her father wasn't a coward, Spensa asks what happened at the Battle of Alta in actuality. Not meeting her eyes, Cobb tells her the information written in the official report, but when she presses further, he refuses to confirm its veracity. Cobb then sends Spensa away when she asks further questions, but she leaves knowing that she'd been right about her father.

Chapter 22

Spensa lies underneath M-Bot, redoing the wiring and talking with Rig about the DDF's cover-up. Rig shows Spensa that M-Bot was constructed with components created with more precision, and that it should function better than any ships flown by the DDF. When Spensa inquires as to where Rig acquired the materials, he informs her that some schematics he drew of M-Bot were seen by his superiors at the Engineering Corps, and he is now given great leeway. M-Bot finishes conducting his diagnostic, while Rig and Spensa continue to discuss possible reason's for the slandering of her father. Soon, Rig tells Spensa that he should be able to get M-Bot in working condition as long as Spensa is able to acquire a new booster. Afterwards, Spensa uses M-Bot's cleansing unit to wash herself. Afterwards, M-Bot asks how he can trust her if she is willing to lie, and she responds that all beings have to live with that risk.

Chapter 23

Cobb announces that the cadets have reached an acceptable level of skill with their maneuvers and light-lances, and declares they'll now be working with IMPs. After trying to talk to Hurl to no avail, Cobb asks her to explain the function of an IMP. Afterwards, the cadets practice getting near enough Krell ships to take out their shields without catching their wing mate in the pulse radius, and Spensa talked with Nedd about his life and the personal lives of the other cadets. She talks to Kimmalyn when M-Bots voice emits from her headset, and M-Bot tells her that he is able to easily access DDF communication lines, due to his nature as a stealth ship. Spensa's turn in the simulation comes up, and Cobb decides to make her run more difficult by adding another ship. She succeeds when she IMPs the target, but "dies" in the attempt. Cobb assigns more work and leaves for dinner. After the cadets finish the maneuvers, Spensa decides she needs a break and removes her helmet before lineup. Jorgen chastises her for disobeying orders, and insults her father. Spensa, furious, physically assaults Jorgen. Need convinces everyone to ignore the incident, but Spensa believes that Jorgen intends to exact revenge.

Chapter 24

Spensa recalls other events when she'd lost control of her emotions and engaged in acts of physical violence. Eventually, she notes a faint buzzing emanating from her pack, which is revealed to be M-Bot patching into her radio, who asks about the Krell. Spensa futilely asks if M-Bot knows anything about human life before the Krell, and then heads to the Admiral's office to accept her punishment. She decides to wait to until the Admiral leaves her room to talk with her just before M-Bot plays theNew World Symphony. The Admiral leaves, and Spensa attempts to confess but Jorgen, who was talking to the admiral, interrupts. When she tells him of her plan, he tells her he isn't going to turn her in because he wouldn't want to lose another pilot. At this point, Spensa confesses that she stole his power matrix, and he reveals he hadn't even suspected her. Jorgen finally leaves, and Spensa realizes she considers his actions somewhat noble.

Chapter 25

Spensa straps herself into a real Poco with the rest of Skyward flight for the first time since the battle where Bim and Morningtide perished. Not knowing the reason, they head to specified coordinates and see several more flights in the air above them. As debris began to rain down from above, Cobb tells the cadets that they're present both to watch for Krell and to practice formations while tagging debris for salvage to investigate. Spensa begins working, and M-Bot taps into her headset soon afterwards. AFter Kimmalyn snipes three pieces of debris in quick succession, Spensa ask Cobb why they don't use her to snipe the Krell, and he responds that the Krell swarm any pilot who poses too serious a threat. When Cobb leaves the line, Spensa notes a Krell incursion, but he claims that the senior pilots will be able to handle it. The cadets continue to tag the debris, and Spensa asks M-Bot for information about the battle. After one of the pilots fighting the Krell enters a death spiral with ejecting, M-Bot finds the video feed for the battle. Suddenly, a ship with hundreds of acclivity rings decays out of orbit and sprawls across the sky, creating a massive shadow. The cadets increase their speed to move away, but are followed by a number of Krell. Spensa draws a Krell ship towards her, and after looping to generate some distance between the two, the ship is shot down from afar by Kimmalyn. The flight forms a defensive position, and M-Bot reports to Spensa that the Krell are attempting to prevent the humans from obtaining the starship. When two DDF fighters pass by, followed by a sizable group of Krell, Nedder breaks formation to chase the Krell. Spensa follows Nedd, and the two ships enter the falling starship, pursued by the Krell, Nedd, and Spensa.

Chapter 26

Spensa flies through the falling ship, accelerating to catch up to Nedd. Using their comms, the two cadets form and begin a plan to IMP the group of Krell.. Soon, M-Bot announces that the ship they are flying through will hit the ground. Spensa light-lances an unwilling Nedd and pulls him back, and then follows M-Bots directions on how to escape. As they near the exit, the Krell detonate explosive charges, and Spensa learns from M-Bot that they won't escape the blast radius at their current speed. Both Spensa and Nedd accelerate as quickly as possible, narrowly escaping. Afterwards, Jorgen scolds Spensa, and she informs him that Nedd began the chase. Upon learning the name of the flight of the two pilots they chased, Jorgen tells Spensa that they were Nedd's brothers.

Part Four

Chapter 45

Spensa returns home for the first time since becoming a cadet. After speaking with her mother, she learns from her grandmother how humans first came to Detritus aboard the Defiant.

Part Five

Chapter 53

Ironsides observes in the command center as Terrier, flightleader of Riptide Flight, announces that the lifeburster bomb has been dropped and orders all nearby ships to pull out. She braces herself and hopes that the Defiants can rebuild after Alta Base is destroyed. Suddenly, she notices Spensa diving towards the bomb instead of trying to escape.

Spensa attaches the bomb to her ship via light-lance and flies away at full speed, far faster than any normal DDF ship, as the bomb's timer counts down, hoping to get it out of the death zone before time runs out. M-Bot notes that even though they can get it out of range in time, they themselves will get caught in the blast. Spensa is calm and feels as though she is part of the ship's processors. As the countdown reaches its final seconds, M-Bot lists off his functions. Just before the bomb explodes, M-Bot's systems report the presence of a "biological component" and that the cytonic hyperdrive is now functional. He tells Spensa to engage that system, and she utilizes her cytonic abilities, sending the two away from the explosion.

Chapter 54

Spensa feels herself entering a place of nothingness, and sees a field of stars or eyes that suddenly focus on her. She feels as though they not only see her, but know her as well. Spensa jolts out of the place and back into M-Bot's cockpit, stressed. The diagnostics report that the cytonic hyperdrive is now offline, and M-Bot tells her that they are 100 kilometers away from the blast site, despite almost no time passing, commenting that they must have used FTL travel. They contact Alta Base, to cheering. Suddenly, Spensa sees a hole in the debris field, leading to the stars. Ironsides contacts her after she puts her helmet on, telling her to come back and saying that she'll pardon Chaser and needs to talk to her about the defect. Spensa tells her that she won't be coming back to the base yet, and flies upwards into the hole.

Chapter 55

Spensa thinks to herself that choosing to fly through the hole is an unwise decision, but she feels an intense need to see what is up there. As they continue going upwards, she realizes that the debris fields are really a series of organized platforms. They eventually see a space station and some boxy Krell ships, and Spensa realizes that she can hear their communication, sent through the nowhere-place she can sense, and wonders if they know about the dangers of using it. M-Bot tells her that they are also using normal communications that he can decipher. Suddenly, Spensa is hit by something, and realizes that the Krell are trying to overwrite her vision. M-Bot engages his stealth and jamming system, and the sensation goes away. She tells M-Bot about the defect that she has, and that she thinks her father turned traitor on his flight because the Krell made him think that they were dead and that he was shooting at Krell ships.

Epilogue

Spensa shares the information M-Bot discovered about the Krell. It is revealed that, after humanity failed to conquer the galaxy, the other intelligent races deemed it too dangerous for mankind to possess FTL travel technology. The crew of the Defiant had remained neutral during the war and, after a mutiny, they crash-landed on Detritus. Since then, the race humanity knows as the Krell have worked as guards to maintain Detritus as a sort of prison/preservation for humanity. Only recently, there has been some internal disputes among the Krell over how much development they are to tolerate from mankind. The Epilogue ends with Spensa pondering the fact that the Krell know to target anyone who can use Cytonics and courageously choosing to 'Be Defiant'.

Notes

This meta article is complete, but has yet to be reviewed.