Uzbecka

A break in the dense forest ahead of the pair of battlesuits came into view. Uzbecka was relieved, as she struggled to dodge rogue branches in the shadowy canopy. A few meters above the canopy, the Swirl became too dense to see, so the safest path, other than walking, was to fly just below the canopy, where the forest branches were less dense.

"Actually," Uzbecka muttered to herself, looking at the ominously gloomy undergrowth in the clearing Rio was rapidly approaching, "maybe the canopy is safer than the ground."

Rio executed a precise tight turn, followed by a quick kick to decelerate, and then landed in the clearing with an acrobat's agility, hands on her hips. Or rather on the hip plates of the green Manta suit. Uzbecka continued muttering to herself. Dodging canopy branches as they appeared out of the gloom was one thing; landing on the ground without breaking her neck was another thing completely.

Moving in a straight line was not the hard part, because the Manta's strongest boosters were the ones located in the small of her back, and they could only propel her in a single direction: forward; even so, steering was accomplished by shifting her body weight, particularly her arms, which bore shoulder and forearm blades that were quite heavy, and by repositioning her legs, which had much more precise boosters, which she could use for more surgical adjustments in direction and velocity. At least in theory, and perhaps "surgical" was not the best word to describe Uzbecka's control over the Manta. "Flailing" might be more appropriate.

Uzbecka had been carefully observing the green Manta from behind, how Rio was able to use small adjustments to effect impressive course corrections and changes in altitude; but Uzbecka was not yet ready to emulate Rio's quick kicks and flips. Several times, she had watched Rio pull her limbs together, but not close enough together to activate the transformation to flight mode, and then crouch into a kind of hover, allowing the heel boosters to slow her motion. At the last moment, Rio would slide her legs back slightly, cutting the boosters and alighting on a tree branch. She made it look almost elegant.

This seemed easier than the rolling landing Rio had just executed, so Uzbecka muttered a quick prayer, pulled her legs and arms together, but not close enough to trigger the transformation to flight mode. The heel boosters did in fact slow her down, but the ground was approaching very quickly, and Uzbecka ended up sliding on her backside into the soft earth for about ten meters before coming to a stop, at which point, her remaining momentum rolled her forward onto her arms in a half somersault. Any landing you could walk away from...