by J Palliser
Jacen slept for two full days, barely comprehending the fact that he had won the war nearly single-handed. Finally, he got up and went down to the hangar deck after a quick sonic shower and trim of his beard. Delaara had taken over Wing Commander duties while he was out cold. She realized how emotionally and physically exhausted he'd been. He grabbed a bacon double cheeseburger from his office replicator and chowed it down in less than two minutes. Delaara got up from his desk and hugged him tight after he'd finished the burger.
"I'm sorry that I was out so long," he said, kissing her lovingly.
"It's okay. Nothing I couldn't handle, you know," she replied with a wink. "I know. That's why I wanted you as my executive officer. You have way more experience as a Wing Commander than I do," he grinned.
Rash came running into the office and gave Jacen a huge hug. "Man, we're docked at Outpost 19 now, and Captain Ascher and Admiral Raeder are up in Rachel's Ready Room. Come on!"
"Okay, okay. I'm on my way. Let's go," he said to Delaara.
They all went up to the Ready Room, and entered when Rachel said "Get your ass in here, Commander!" As he entered, Ascher stood up and shook his hand, as did Admiral Raeder. He knew he looked like death warmed over, but he felt great.
"Commander, you have been given your choice of duty assignment for you and Delaara. Anywhere in Reich territorial space." Rachel said by way of explanation.
"Anywhere you want, son. You name it." Admiral Raeder was smiling.
Jacen glanced at Delaara, and she nodded with her glorious smile. "Sir, we would like to be posted to Kriegsmarine Academy as combat flight instructors for the Luftwaffe Star-fighter Pilot program, if possible," he said.
Slightly surprised, Raeder smiled. "That sounds like an excellent idea, Commander."
Delaara jumped into his arms, kissing him lovingly. "Now we can start a family," she said with a grin.
"And now I can retire," said Rachel, grabbing Rash's hand and squeezing it warmly as he leaned down and kissed her.
"In that case, sir, I have one more request." Jacen said, grinning at Jacob.
"Anything, son," said Raeder.
"That Lieutenant Commander Jacob Becker be assigned as a Combat Flight Instructor along with us, sir." Rachel gasped, and Rash grinned. "Rachel, there's a house a few doors down from ours that's for sale if you want it", Jacen said.
"It has a great view of the beach, too", said Delaara with a warm smile.
"Then we'll take it!" Rash grinned. "But first thing's first, Commander," said Ascher. "You, and every member of Strike Wing, are hereby ordered to Outpost 19 and Queeg's for celebratory party and/or carousing for the remainder of the week. This war, unlike most others, was not won with firepower. It was won by a man who had everything to lose, but proposed a bold and insane plan to win."
"You can give all the credit to Delaara, sir. She was the one that gave me the idea. It just took a while to click in my mind." Jacen shrugged.
"How so?" Raeder asked. "She was the one who told me that Wraiths have no honor, and are only motivated by money," Jacen replied. "I don't remember exactly when it clicked, but it woke me up and I had to call you."
"You were running on pure adrenaline. I had Doc Tavok run a diagnostic on you at our quarters while you were unconscious. He said your endorphin levels were through the roof, which means you were running on pure adrenaline before that." Delaara had been worried after he continued to sleep through the next day and day after.
"Well, tell Doc that I'm good to go, now." He grinned. "Let's go party!"
*** As they partied and had fun, Alexei introduced Jenny to his dad and step-mom. They loved her and were glad he'd found someone special. Mari and Gabby stayed with Roy, and transferred with him wherever he went for the rest of their careers. He was the only man who could keep them both happy. They ended up moving to Eden, where polygamy was legal, and all got married.
Rash joined Jacen and Delaara as a combat flight instructor at Kriegsmarine Academy, and he and Rachel bought the house down the street from Jacen and Delaara's home in Lake Walker. Alexei and Jenny came to visit, and were introduced to Big Ron and Karlla, who approved immensely of their relationship.
Stra'tal and Dom were married soon after the war ended, in a ceremony performed by Captain Lizabeth Shelly. Every surviving member of Condor Legion, past and present, was in attendance that day.
However, their adventures were far from over.
16
Fifteen
New Blood...
Dravin 4 - Kriegsmarine/Luftwaffe Training Center The morning sun broke over the clouds in the far horizon of Dravin 4, the rays shining upon an assembly of buildings nestled among the planet's giant crystal formations. Stenciled alongside one of the rounded buildings were the words Luftwaffe Pilot Training Center and beneath that the soaring Iron Cross crest of the Kriegsmarine.
Inside the main hangar of the Center, doors in the floor split apart to reveal a repulsorlift platform that began to raise a T-31 Skyhawk into the hangar. Inside the Skyhawk, a young brownhaired pilot finished his pre-flight check. He wore a grey flight-suit and light model helmet. He glanced around himself eagerly, noting that there was another Skyhawk parked ahead of him.
"Yo hayseed. Aren't you forgetting protocol?" asked a distinctly female voice over the comm. The young pilot, Aiden Hunt, frowned a bit at the Skyhawk ahead of him, the source of the transmission.
"Just making sure everything's in order, Jada. Not all of us are always hurrying." He then switched the comm channel before she could retort to the base's control room.
"Rookie One to tac-com control, request clearance for departure." "This is Tac-Comm Control, clearance granted. Is that you kid?" responded a rough-sounding voice, one that caused Aiden to split into a wide grin again.
"Hack! Good to hear ya!" "So you're running your trials today? Wish I could be with ya. You shouldn't have any problems though; this isn't half the stuff of the runs we used to do. Good luck!"
"Thanks!" replied Aiden as he powered up the Skyhawk's repulsorlifts and gently lifted it into the air.
"All right Jada, you ready to go?" he asked his companion as he nudged his Skyhawk to float next to hers. "You know it! Let's see who can come out of this with the best score," she shot back. Suddenly, her Skyhawk shot out of the hangar.
"Hey!" Aiden cried out. Technically he was lead pilot and "protocol" deemed that he should have been first. But that was Jada; constantly driving him closer and closer to insanity. He immediately goosed his throttle, not wanting to be left behind, and roared out of the hangar and into he bright morning sunlight.
A few minutes later they were flying over a patch of flatland that were free of Dravin 4's subiquitous crystals. Ahead of them they could see two more T-31s and the faint outlines of Ryders Canyon, the first part of their flight trials today.
"Green Leader to Rookie 1 and 2, are you ready?" came the voice of their flight leader, Captain Sim Merrick .
"Yes sir!" they chorused.
"Good. We'll begin with basic flight maneuvers. Stay tight and keep clear of the walls." And with that they dove into Ryders Canyon. Jada immediately increased her throttle and jumped out ahead of Aiden. He growled softly to himself; he'd keep watch for a chance to get back ahead. Technically they weren't being scored on who finished before who, but it had always rankled him how Jada was so competitive with him. Not that a little competition between pilots was a bad thing but Jada almost seemed to make it personal, trying to show that the bumpkin from the fringes of known space couldn't keep up. Well he'd show her.
Ryders Canyon wasn't impossible to navigate just on its own; what made it a challenge was the fact that the walls were so close together. You had to keep on eye on how they were maneuvering; otherwise you might just end up as scrap on the side of the canyon. As they flew into one of the rare straight segments, Aiden saw his chance. He pushed the throttle and the engine in his T-31 responded, leaping out ahead of Jada.
"Hey!" she cried over the comm,
but just then, Green Leader broke in. "We're coming up to a fork in the canyon. Green Two will go left. You can go with him but if you're really a hotshot, follow me to the right."
Aiden immediately knew what he was going to do and suspected it was the same thing that Jada was going to do. He pulled hard right on his flight stick, arcing through the fork right on Green Leader's tail, Jada in close pursuit. Green Leader hadn't been kidding; this part of the canyon was much more tight and winding than the previous part.
"You're just lucky I can't pass you right now," grumbled Jada. Aiden chose not to respond; he was too busy trying to follow Green Leader through the serpentine course.
"Now get ready, this is the hardest part of the course up ahead. Rookie Two, follow Rookie One's lead. You're going to have to pull hard left, then right, and then either go up and over or through a short tunnel. Get ready for it… NOW!"
Aiden immediately pulled hard on the stick, sending his Skyhawk into a tight left bank. Suddenly he noticed that the canyon wall was getting a little close on the right for his liking and applied a little etheric rudder with the right rudder pedal. His turn had been loose enough, however, to let Jada slip past him with a blast from her engine. There was no way he'd catch up to her, not now that they had to go into the right turn, the canyon walls oppressively close on both sides. They came out of the turn, hot on each other's tails. Ahead, Aiden saw the tunnel that Green Leader had mentioned. It had come up so suddenly and Jada had dropped so suddenly to head into the tunnel, that Aiden hesitated a moment. He tried to dip down to follow Jada, but he was too late. Cursing slightly under his breath, he bounced back up and over the mottled sand-colored stone. He pushed the throttle to its stops but found to his annoyance that Jada came blasting out of the tunnel, still ahead of him.
"Aw, was that a little too hard for you, Hunt?" she asked, derision dripping from every word.
"Nope, just surprised me a little bit," he replied through clenched teeth.
"Too bad you don't get do-overs," she quipped. Now they were flying through a relatively straight part of the canyon and Aiden could see ahead that Green Leader and Green Two had already made it out of the canyon, past some tall rock pillars that guarded the exit. To Aiden, they looked like the monstrous teeth of some ancient predator… and he suddenly had a very interesting, very dumb idea. It would be tight, but not impossible, according to his sensors. As Jada flashed past the teeth, Aiden drifted towards the right as he approached them.
"Hunt, what are you… " began Green Leader but by then it was too late to stop him. Just as got to the teeth, Aiden banked slightly to the right, stomped on his left rudder pedal and decreased thrust. At the perfect moment that he was lined up with the largest gap between the three teeth, he punched his throttle to full, feeling himself smashed into the seat by the sudden acceleration. He shot through the gap, his top airfoil scraping against one of the pillars. He immediately executed a snap roll to the left and came roaring out of the canyon.
"That was awesome!" Aiden cried, his face stretched into a grin so wide it almost hurt, blood and adrenaline thundering in his ears.
"You still clipped yourself coming out of there, a little more and you'd have been splattered," shot back Jada.
Aidan rolled his eyes and would have snapped back if Green Leader hadn't cut in. "Great flying out there you two. You've earned yourself a pair of actual starfighters. Now, let's see if you can impress Commander Farrell."
Aidan felt some of his good mood evaporate at that announcement. Commander Farrell was known for being the hardest of the hard-nosed instructors and Aiden had been hoping he wouldn't be part of the trials today. As the quartet of Skyhawks soared over the jagged Dravin 4 landscape back to the base, Aiden thought that the chance to fly an actual star-fighter was still worth it.
17
Sixteen
A pair of old, beat up Z-62 starfighters rocketed towards the the asteroid field that ringed Dravin 4. Millions of years ago it could have ended up as Dravin 4's moon, but it hadn't quite made it, leaving just a ring of rocks dust and ice chunks. It also made for an excellent space obstacle course.
In his Z-62, Aiden glanced nervously at the controls. There was a persistent rumble from the rear of the star-fighter and it was bothering him. These old Headhunters might just fall apart at any moment, he thought, and it was preventing him from keeping his mind on the upcoming course.
"Hey, Hayseed! Heads up, we have incoming," came Jada's voice over the comm. Aiden looked up to see that a glimmer of light was arcing towards them from the direction of the asteroids. Gradually it resolved into another Headhunter, a much newer one that resembled a Valkyrie.
"Rookie Flight, this is Commander Farrell, report in!" snapped a gruff voice.
"Rookie One, standing by," replied Aiden smartly.
"Rookie Two, standing by," added Jada. "Good. Get into formation with me. We'll be running through your space navigation course and then going through the asteroid field course. But let's get one thing straight right now: You want to impress me? Show me control and discipline. Without those, you'll never stand a chance against the enemy. Do I make my self clear?"
"Uh, Yes sir!" replied Aiden
"No problem, boss!" said Jada. " No problem, SIR, Rookie Two," snapped back Farrell. Aiden couldn't help but grin slightly. It was nice to see Jada put in her place every once in a while.
Farrell ran them through the space navigation course, which involved basic spaceflight and orbital mechanics and sub-light navigation, like a drill sergeant from basic training. Then it was time for the asteroids.
"Be careful in here. Unlike Ryders Canyon, the obstacles here are moving. Always dodge the rocky ones but feel free to shoot ice asteroids out of your way. But don't make a competition out of it!" ordered Farrell. And with that, the two rookies dove into the twisting shifting maze of tumbling chunks as Farrell flew over
SIXTEEN
the field's plane to observe them. Aiden found himself sweating slightly and gripping his controls more tightly. The Z-62 Headhunter's shields would be able to protect him from even moderate impacts with asteroids, but if he screwed up badly enough, he end up becoming orbiting debris himself! His finger twitched on the trigger as some dirty white ice asteroids tumbled towards him. The triple pulse cannons on each wing tip spat out hot red fire and the ice chunks burst into a thousand, million tiny shards that hissed against his shields.
"Hey, I got some!" he crowed.
"Great, don't get cocky," replied Commander Farrell.
Aiden grumbled some to himself but supposed that the Commander was right that it wasn't too much to boast about. It wasn't too much longer before Aiden was able to dive around a cluster of asteroids, blow two more ice asteroids out of the way and he was out. To his slight dismay, Jada was there ahead of him.
"There you are. I was beginning to think that I'd lost you," she said, slightly sarcastically.
Aiden was about to snap back a retort when Farrell broke in.
"Alright, knock it off! Now that you've completed this stage of the exercises, proceed back to Dravin 4 and the gauntlet for the final leg. Good luck, you're gonna need it."
"Um, how did we do on this part of the test, sir?" asked Aiden uncertainly. "You'll find out at the debriefing, Rookie One," replied Farrell with what Aiden could have sworn was a very grim tone to his voice. Maybe that was just because of Jada's teasing? Right?
18
Seventeen
Things go from bad to worse lately," thought Lieutenant Aiden Hunt as he walked down the corridor of the Kriegsmarine frigate, Vengeance of Dravin 3. Recently things had gone very bad for the Reich. First it had been the massacre at Dravin 3. A convoy that had been transporting materials absolutely vital to the Reich had been completely smashed by a Tungari ambush. Only a few months ago had been the battle of Dravin 7 and Aiden had fought hard in Wolf Squadron during that battle. The main Kriegsmarine base there had been destroyed which had been a serious, but not completely fatal, blow to the Kri
egsmarine.
"And that's why I'm here," thought Aiden. He felt that the task ahead would be more difficult than many of the battles he had fought against the Tungari Empire. He was going to convince Admiral Raeder to form a new flight squadron.
" Come in," called Admiral Raeder . Aiden entered the office that was Raeder's domain and delivered a crisp salute, which the Admiral returned wearily. The Battle of Dravin 7 was still affecting the man.
"Sit down Lieutenant. Have some ale. So what brings you to my office?" Aiden decided it would be best to get straight to the point with the Admiral.
"Sir, I request permission to create a new flight squadron sir." Raeder arched his eyebrows.
"Are you aware Lieutenant that supplies of such craft are extremely limited at this time?"
"Yes sir."
Then why ask Lieutenant?" "Sir our supplies are running low and so is morale. What I want to do is create a squadron with no specific mission objective, just like Wolf Squadron. I want to do this for several reasons. First we need as many elite and talented pilots out there, fighting the Tungari, as we can. Second we've been losing a lot of pilots lately and we need to bring newly trained pilots into the fold quickly. Finally I believe that I can better serve the Luftwaffe in command of my own squadron, since I think that my time in Wolf Squadron has prepared me for it."
"Wolf Squadron isn't good enough for you?" "Wolf Squadron will always be good enough for me, but I think that elite pilot/squad leaders would be… tactically wise." Raeder sat there, contemplating.
"Attention!" he said and Aiden sprang to his feet, "All right Lieutenant, I can see the sense in your idea, so consider yourself promoted to the rank of brevet Captain. You do realize that not many pilots are willing to join up within us after the aforementioned battles of Dravin 7 and Dravin 3? 'Cause if you want this squad you are going to have to borrow and beg and maybe even steal after a fashion. And that won't be pretty. Do you understand?"