by Ryk Brown
“Shields are at maximum,” Leta replied. “Four inbound hostiles to your left. Also two friendlies; one circling east, the other west.”
“This sure isn’t an air show,” Talisha said under her breath as she pulled into a tight, rolling, left turn.
Lieutenant Commander Cardi dove behind the cargo truck as energy blasts slammed into the ground nearby. Two more explosions rocked the surface under her as Lieutenants Rado, Bilak, and Garmon landed beside her, finding cover to protect themselves from flying debris.
“We’re never going to reach the flight line!” Lieutenant Garmon yelled as more energy blasts rocked the area. A Sugali fighter streaked over their heads, rolling to the left and turning away as it climbed.
Samita tapped her comm-set. “Sugali fighter departing! Target raiders to the left so we can reach the flight line!”
“I’m on it!” Talisha replied, her voice somewhat shaky.
“Who the hell was that?” Lieutenant Rado wondered.
“I think it’s the lady who delivered the fighters!” Samita replied.
“I thought she was a stunt pilot,” Lieutenant Bilak said.
Lieutenant Commander Cardi peered around the corner of the vehicle, watching as the Sugali fighter opened fire, causing the four attacking raiders to cease firing and break formation. “Not today,” Sami insisted. “Today, she’s a fighter pilot.”
“Hell yeah, she is!” Lieutenant Garmon agreed.
“Let’s go!” Sami said, taking off across the compound again.
Commander Prechitt quickly bounded up the boarding ladder built into the front, lower half of the Nighthawk’s cockpit surround, spinning around and falling into the pilot’s seat as he reached the top. “Start this thing!” he yelled. Nothing happened. “What the hell?” He quickly scanned the console, finally selecting what he thought was the activation switch for the Nighthawk’s PAS.
“Good morning,” a male voice greeted over the cockpit speakers. “Please identify yourself.”
“Commander Prechitt, commanding officer of the Karuzari forces assigned to Casbon as protection and to help with the training of Nighthawk pilots!”
“Pleasure to meet you, Commander,” the AI replied. “How may I be of service?”
“Fire this thing up and get us airborne, and make it quick!”
“My apologies, Commander, but my current programming only allows me to follow the instructions of Talisha Sane. Is Miss Sane available to release control to you?”
“She’s out there, fighting enemy raiders!”
“Again, my apologies, Commander, but without…”
“Oh, for crying out loud! Do you see her ship on tactical?”
“One moment,” the AI replied. “Affirmative. She is currently attempting to evade pursuit by three hostiles.”
“Precisely! Now fire up this ship, so we can help her!”
“Again, my apologies…”
“Christ! Can you raise her on comms?” the commander asked, becoming more frustrated.
“One moment, please. Nighthawk AI Seven, calling Talisha Sane. Are you there, Miss Sane?”
“I don’t believe this shit,” the commander cursed as a nearby explosion shook the ground, threatening to collapse the cave on top of him.
“This is Sane!” Talisha replied over comms. “Who is this?”
“Miss Sane, this is Nighthawk AI Seven. Commander Prechitt is requesting control over this ship, but I am unable to grant his request without…”
“For Christ’s sake, do it!” Talisha screamed.
“Understood,” the AI acknowledged. “Commander, I stand ready to assist.”
“Finally!”
“Powering up all systems and preparing for combat launch,” the AI reported.
“Great.”
“I assume you wish me to close up the cockpit surround?”
“That would be preferable, yes,” the commander replied, rolling his eyes.
“The ship will be ready to launch in twenty seconds,” the AI assured him as the upper and lower halves of the forward cockpit surround began to close.
“What should I call you?” the commander asked.
“I have not yet been assigned a name, Commander.”
“How about Max?” the commander suggested as the cockpit surround sealed shut, and the cockpit walls around him became as if transparent.
“Max will be fine,” the AI replied. “The ship is now ready for departure, Commander. What are your orders?”
“Just don’t let me crash, Max,” the commander instructed as he twisted the throttle handle just enough to cause the ship to raise a meter off the deck, and then slammed the throttle forward, accelerating out of the cave.
“Breaking right!” Lieutenant Shan announced as he pushed his ship into a tight, right turn.
“I’m turning inside you,” Ensign Garson reported.
The lieutenant glanced at his tactical display, then back over his shoulder at the Ahka raider who was attempting to get behind him. “I cannot believe this guy thinks he can out-turn me in that hunk of junk.”
“Set him up, and I’ll knock him down,” the ensign bragged.
“You’d think the fact that I’m not simply jumping away would clue him in.”
“Locking a slammer on him,” the ensign reported. “Firing!”
The lieutenant held his turn, luring the doomed raider toward his demise. He watched his tactical display as the icon representing the missile quickly closed on the hostile, then, just as it was about to hit him, the lieutenant pressed his jump button, transitioning his fighter a kilometer ahead in the blink of an eye. His tactical display quickly refreshed, now showing a debris field where the raider had once been. “Sucker!”
“What a dumbass!” Ensign Garson exclaimed, almost laughing.
“Coming around,” the lieutenant announced as he pulled up into a half loop, rolled over level, and pressed his jump button to return. As he came out of the jump, he spotted Eagle One Two, coming about to slide in behind him again. “Let’s see if we can do something about the grunts on the ground,” he told his wingman.
“You go in, and I’ll cover you from above,” Ensign Garson replied. “Tear ‘em up, Deshi!”
Commander Verbeek covered his head as he ran into the open cave containing his Super Eagle fighter as bombs detonated just outside. Debris fell from the ceiling of the cave, causing the few ground crews who were already inside to scramble for cover. A large crack appeared in the ceiling, threatening to come loose and crush the fighter beneath it, at any moment.
“She good to go?” the commander yelled to the nearest crewman.
“Her reactor’s already hot, sir!” the crewman replied, still covering his head from the falling debris. “You’d better get out of here! That ceiling is about to go!” he added, pointing at the massive crack overhead.
“Get the hell out of here!” the commander ordered the ground crews as he scrambled up the side of the ship and jumped into the cockpit.
Another explosion rocked the cave, and the crack directly over the commander widened. The large section of rock shifted, threatening to fall, held in place only by the carbon fiber webbing that covered the cave walls.
The commander activated his canopy, putting his helmet on while it closed. He slipped his shoulder restraints on as his engines spun up. Another bomb exploded outside, and the cave shook one last time. The commander looked up just as the carbon fiber netting broke free. His eyes wide, he slammed his throttle all the way forward, rolling out of the cave just as the roof gave way.
Ensign Topetti stumbled into the cave containing her Super Eagle, knocked to the ground by the nearby explosion. There was a terrific rumble; the ground continuing to shake long after the detonation. She turned around, spotting a growing dust and debris cloud spreading from right to left. “Oh, my God,” she exclaimed.
“Get up there, sir!” the crew chief yelled, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her up. “You gotta get up there, and get those ass
holes off of us!”
“She ready?” the ensign asked as she got to her feet.
“Reactor is hot, and engines are ready!” the crew chief replied. “She just needs a pilot!”
“Get to safety, chief!” the ensign ordered as she headed toward the waiting fighter.
“Safety, my ass!” the chief argued. “I’m grabbing a gun! They got boots on the ground!”
Ensign Topetti quickly climbed up the side of her fighter, dropping smoothly into the pilot’s seat and grabbing her helmet from its storage position atop her forward console. She activated the canopy, donning her helmet as it began to close, quickly fastening her shoulder restraints as the canopy sealed shut. She eased her throttle forward, rolling her fighter slowly out of the cave and into the cloud of dust outside.
Small rocks bounced off her canopy like a hard rain as she brought her lift thrust up. Her ship rose up off the surface and began veering left, pushed by the dust cloud swirling around her. She felt her ship rolling to the left. Fearing she was about to lose control, she instinctively slammed her throttle to maximum as she pulled back on her flight control stick.
“I can’t shake this guy,” Talisha exclaimed, barely able to control her fear. “Every time I jump, he jumps with me!”
“You need to vary your jump distances more than just a few hundred meters!” Commander Prechitt told her over comms.
“Right,” Talisha replied, feeling stupid. “Leta, can you get a lock on him with our tail gun?”
“Sorry, Talisha, but the target is moving around too rapidly for the aft cannon to track accurately. Perhaps you should take the commander’s suggestion and jump clear.”
“Don’t jump just yet,” the commander insisted. “Do a half-loop and then roll level, so you’re headed back toward me. Then, on my command, pitch down ten degrees and jump ahead two clicks.”
“Got it,” Talisha replied, pulling into a loop. “What’s a click?”
“An Earth term for kilometer,” the commander replied.
“Right,” Talisha replied as she reached the top of her loop and snap rolled to level flight again. “I’ve reversed course!” she reported, glancing back over her shoulder. “He’s still on me!”
“Get ready,” Commander Prechitt instructed. “Max, target the raider on Talisha’s six and prepare to reacquire. Range of five hundred meters.”
“Commander, we do not have a clear line of fire to the target. Talisha’s fighter is between us and the target.”
“She won’t be,” the commander insisted.
“Also, the target is currently ten kilometers away. It is highly unlikely that our range will decrease over nine kilometers in only a few seconds.”
“You’re forgetting about the jump drive, Max,” the commander replied. “NOW, TALISHA, NOW!” The commander waited half a second, then pressed his own jump button. Suddenly, Talisha was gone, and the raider, which had been nearly ten kilometers away and coming toward him, was suddenly only five kilometers away and on a collision course.
“Collision alert,” Max warned.
“Reacquire target!” the commander ordered.
“Target reacquired,” Max replied in his characteristically unemotional manner.
Commander Prechitt pressed his firing button, waited two seconds, then pitched up and touched his jump button again. “That’s gotta hurt!” he announced gleefully as he noticed the icon on his tactical display changing to a debris field.
Eagle Eight rolled out of its bay in the side of the quarry as it attempted to get airborne and join the fight. As its nose cleared the cave opening, an Ahka raider jumped in from the opposite side of the base and opened fire, striking the top edge of the cave, causing it to collapse. The rocks fell on top of Eagle Eight, partially burying the fighter. A second later, the Super Eagle exploded.
“Eight is down!” Ensign Garson exclaimed. “Oh, my God, Esau is down hard!”
“Fuck!” Lieutenant Shan cursed as he rolled into a left turn toward the two raiders passing to port. Two seconds later, he rolled right and locked onto the trailing raider, launching his last missile a moment after. The missile slammed into the tail of the Ahka combat shuttle, blowing its starboard engine off its stern, sending the ship tumbling toward the surface.
Without regard to the fate of the raider, he checked his range to the next target and then adjusted his jump range to be slightly less. He pressed the jump button and suddenly found himself only a few meters behind and slightly below the remaining raider. He cut his throttles and set his control stick to docking-thruster mode, then pulled back and to the right slightly. His ship defied its aerodynamics, pitching up just enough to bring his plasma cannons onto the remaining raider. A quick touch of his firing button and the raider’s stern exploded as the lieutenant, again, pressed his jump button to jump ahead of the raider before it could fall and collide with him.
“That was slick!” Ensign Garson congratulated over comms. “How come you never taught that move to me?”
“I just thought of it,” the lieutenant laughed.
Commander Verbeek’s Super Eagle came out of its escape jump five kilometers away and six thousand meters above the surface of Casbon. He chopped his throttle, and brought his nose up and over, pulling into an unpowered dive in the direction from which he had come.
“Six is up!” he heard Ensign Topetti report. “Oh, my God, Jeudell is gone! Repeat! Eagle Eight is down hard!”
“Nikki!” Commander Verbeek called. “Jump up to angels three and come over. I’ll jump in just in front of you, and we’ll make them pay for Esau!”
“Yes, sir!” the ensign replied.
The commander adjusted his dive, setting a course to intercept the ensign’s return track. As soon as he spotted her transition to three thousand meters up, he jumped forward, coming out directly in front of her. “You got me, Nikki?”
“I’m on your six, Verbee! Half a click, slightly high and right!”
“Eagle One One and One Two, Leader! Break off on my mark and jump clear! We’re diving in from directly above!”
“One One copies!” Lieutenant Shan replied.
“One Two copies!” Ensign Garson acknowledged.
Commander Prechitt watched his tactical display as he held his dive. The icon representing Eagle One One was almost motionless as it hovered over the base, hammering the Ahka troops on the ground; Eagle One Two protecting it from above.
“Two more raiders just jumped in from the east!” Ensign Garson reported from Eagle One Two.
“Perfect,” the commander said to himself. “Clear out, now!” The commander looked at his tactical display again. “I got left, you got right. Roll out toward your target.”
“Got it!” Nikki assured him.
The two icons on the tactical display representing Eagle One One and Eagle One Two suddenly disappeared, leaving only the two Ahka raiders who had just jumped in. “Jump!” the commander ordered, touching his jump button. A split second later, two raiders were directly below him, passing from right to left. He veered slightly to the left and opened fire, just as Nikki came out of her jump and opened fire on the raider to the right. The raider to the left exploded, followed two seconds later by the raider to the right.
The commander pulled his flight control stick back hard and shoved his throttle to maximum, coming out of his dive and skimming over the top of the quarry, only a few meters above the ridgeline.
The cockpit surround flashed as Talisha’s ship jumped. She pulled back hard on her flight control stick and rolled her ship to starboard, coming into a tight, right turn. Two seconds later, she rolled level, an Ahka raider directly in front of her. She pressed her firing button, unleashing a brief burst of yellow plasma energy that cut through the enemy ship with ease. The two halves of the ship tumbled through the air for several seconds before the aft section exploded. “Damn!” she exclaimed. “Awfully nice of them to just sit there and let me shoot them!”
“Two bandits, three o’clock!” Commander Pre
chitt warned. “Jump!”
Talisha’s threat alert went crazy as two fast-moving icons appeared on her tactical screen. “What the…” She tapped her jump button, instantly transitioning ahead three kilometers. “Why didn’t you tell me these assholes had missiles?” she barked over comms.
“They didn’t!” Commander Prechitt replied. “At least they didn’t last time!”
“Well, they sure as hell have them now!” she replied, pulling her ship into a tight turn to port to come back around and reengage.
“All Karuzari forces! This is Prechitt! Raiders have missiles! I repeat! Raiders have missiles!”
“Fucking lovely,” Commander Verbeek cursed as he skimmed the surface of Casbon in a wide turn to the right. “You hear that, Nikki?”
“I heard,” the ensign replied. “Just makes it more sporting, right?”
Commander Verbeek glanced at his tactical display, noting the ensign’s position. “We’ll merge in ten seconds,” he told her. “Slide under me and come in on my right side. Four more hostiles just jumped in from the south, three clicks out.”
“Commander,” Max said. “The new contacts have different energy signatures than the previous ones. It suggests that the recent arrivals are carrying low-yield nuclear weapons.”
Commander Prechitt felt a cold chill wash over him. “Prechitt to all Karuzari forces. Target the four targets to the south! Do not let them near the base! They’re carrying nukes!”
The commander turned toward the new contacts, adjusting his jump distance as he turned. “Talisha! Fall in behind me, half-a-click separation! Target all four, and be ready to launch after I jump clear!”
“What if they jump?” Talisha asked.
“Plan B,” the commander replied. “Verbee, you listening?”