by Calista Skye
Gamma Raiders:
Storm Squadron Alpha
By Calista Skye
***
The Gamma Raiders series continues with another exciting installment packed with action, adventure, humor, and romance! Can a BBW pilot and a sexy alien warrior find love in the midst of war?
One curvy pilot ...
Kira Thorne knows it’s time to take life seriously -- and with the Rebellion against the Kamaran Empire in full swing, she’s eager to do her part. Kira’s an ace pilot ... but when she auditions for the elite Storm Squadron fighter unit and chokes at the crucial moment, it confirms all her worst insecurities.
She doesn’t think she’s good enough -- for the Squadron, or the impossibly hot Kamaran who leads it. When he makes her a member anyway, becoming her commanding officer, it’s time for Kira to conquer her fears … and face her desires.
One sexy warrior ...
Commander Ja’al leads the Storm Squadron. He knows the Rebellion needs Kira’s instincts and leadership skills -- but Ja’al sees her beauty, and has to fight the instinct to claim the spirited BBW for his own.
His role is to mentor her, not seduce her … but since Kira wants him just as badly, it’s not long before temptation proves too much for both of them.
And a life-or-death battle
When the rebels’ location is betrayed and the Empire attacks, Ja’al finds a way to keep Kira out of the fight ... but she’s not about to let him risk himself alone.
With not only their lives, but the survival of the Rebellion at stake, Kira can’t let herself crack under the pressure -- she must find a way to summon the strength Ja’al knows she possesses. Can the lovers lead the Squadron to victory … or will their happy future be cut short by the Empire’s tyranny?
Gamma Raiders: The Storm Squadron Alpha is a full-length, standalone sequel. The roller-coaster ride leads to an HEA and no cliffhangers!
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Gamma Raiders:
Storm Squadron Alpha
By Calista Skye
Chapter 1
The targeting computer flashed green, illuminating the cockpit of Kira Thorne’s fighter. “I’ve got lock on.”
She popped off a burst of cannon fire as she weaved through the debris of the asteroid field, tailing the enemy through the treacherous Dennegar belt. But her shots missed their mark and the enemy fighter dipped behind the pocked surface of an asteroid.
“Cannons won’t do it, Thorne,” Ja’al’s voice crackled through her headset. “You’ve got to hit ‘em with the plasma torpedoes.”
He was right. The Imperial JRV class fighters were too agile to pin down without the assisted targeting. “Copy that, Commander,” she said.
She had missed her chance to take the shot. The enemy dropped behind the surface of a massive spinning asteroid, shaking the lock. She kicked the throttle and weaved around the rock, rolling her fighter starboard to reengage the enemy on the far side.
Kira mentally kicked herself. She shouldn’t have hesitated. It this game, hesitation was fatal. She needed to seize the opportunities when they appeared. Luck wouldn’t always be on her side. She couldn’t let doubt control her.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her instincts. Kira had a keen sense of when to act, and she knew what needed to be done. She knew better than to listen to the demons in her mind. But that was easier said than done.
Besides, what if the enemy evaded her shot? She didn’t want to settle for second best. She needed to prove to her commanding officer that she was worthy of the pilot’s chair. She had to make this shot count. Ja’al was watching her every move, and she felt the weight of his judgment affecting her performance.
Of course, Ja’al wasn’t officially her commanding officer yet. But that was why she needed to prove herself to him. Today’s training mission was part of the Battery of Tests, a grueling series of exercises that determined her place in the fledgling Rebellion.
She wouldn’t get a second chance. To make the cut for the Storm Squadron, she needed to prove that she was up to the task. And that meant she needed to perform.
She steeled her nerves, glancing down at the console. Three more enemy fighters stood between her and her goal. She wasn’t about to let them beat her. She would prove that she deserved a spot among the elite.
Kira was no stranger to space flight—she and her best friend Lana were the best cargo pilots on their home planet, Tarksis.
Former home planet, she reminded herself. Since the Rebellion began, there was no going back. When the Kamaran Empire learned of the upstart, their retaliation was swift and brutal. It was a miracle they had been able to evacuate the Rebel forces before the Empire decimated them.
But Kira was glad to be gone. She had never considered Tarksis her home. Not really. None of the human colonists on Tarksis could ever call that place home when the Kamaran Empire controlled their lives. Forced to work in the Tarkanium mines, the people were little more than slaves on a hostile desert wasteland.
Thankfully that life was behind her now. She was part of the Rebellion. She had a new chance at life; a chance to prove to the Rebel leaders that she deserved respect. Not just some poor human girl along for the ride, but a vital part of the team. A woman worthy of admiration. A woman who deserved to live the life she was fighting for.
And soon Commander Ja’al would see it, too.
Kira barreled around the edge of the asteroid, waiting for her adversary to reappear on the far side. The glowing dot on her nav panel showed the ship right on top of her.
But she had lost the visual. The ship should be right ….
The screech of a warning alarm tore through the cockpit as her radar flashed red.
Shit.
The Imperial pilot was fast. They were tricky bastards, and unlike Kira, they had no reluctance to fire fast.
“He’s on me, Ja’al.”
“I’ve got you,” he said.
Kira gripped the yoke and broke hard to port, feeling the sweat pooling in her gloves as she whipped the small fighter around. She didn’t expect to outmaneuver the Imperial fighter, but she could at least buy Ja’al time to line up his shot. Teamwork counted for something, right?
Commander Ja’al wasn’t the most experienced pilot in the Raiders, but his warrior spirit and his commitment to excellence more than made up for the difference. His dedication to excellence propelled him to mastery in every endeavor he tried.
Men like Ja’al intimidated most people. But Kira wasn’t afraid of anyone. Besides, Commander Ja’al had taken a liking to Kira, and did everything he could to make her feel welcome among the crew. She had felt an immediate attraction to him. And it wasn’t just his firm, muscular, battle-hardened body, or the way his brilliant green eyes pierced hers. Ja’al exuded authenticity, and a calm, steady confidence that could only come from mastery.
But despite her attraction, Kira kept her distance. She prided herself on her ability to read people, but Ja’al’s motives remained hidden. She convinced herself that his friendliness was just that, and he was only doing his part to make her feel welcome among the crew.
And she was grateful for it. Flings with soldiers were one thing, but she wasn’t prepared to be with a man like Ja’al. He deserved someone worthy of him. A woman who defied all expectations. A hero in her own right.
Going off
of what she had heard, she would have expected the Raiders to be a bloodthirsty gang of space pirates. But Kira formed her own opinions. She refused to be swayed by whispered rumors and third-hand, propaganda news stories.
Then again, on their first meeting, the Raider crew had hijacked Kira and Lana’s cargo ship. So that was a strike against them.
But Kira refused to rush to judgement. And as their adventure aboard the Vendetta unfolded, she learned that the Raiders were not at all what the stories had suggested. They were a force against tyranny, waiting for a spark. The closest thing to a family she had ever known.
And they welcomed her into the fold. Now, under the leadership of their captain, Adaar, the errant Kamaran prince, the small band of pirates had become the nucleus of a galactic rebellion against the Kamaran Empire.
Kira admired their fighting spirit. And she had to prove, to herself as much as anyone, that she was a worthy addition to their crew. Someone they could depend on in a pinch.
And not someone who couldn’t take the torpedo shot to down an Imperial fighter.
Ja’al whipped around the far side of the asteroid, reappearing in her view as he sped towards her pursuer. “Keep ‘er steady,” he said.
Kira drew a sharp breath.
An explosion of fiery blue plasma erupted as Ja’al launched his torpedoes and the enemy fighter disintegrated into shrapnel.
“Wooo!” he said. “One more down.”
“Nice shot, Commander!”
“We’re not finished yet.”
Confirming his words, two more blips appeared on her targeting screen. She didn’t have visual on the fighters, but the glowing red dots moved steadily towards her.
“You’ve got this, Kira,” he said. “Just line ‘em up and fire.”
His manner was calm. Reassuring. As the First Officer of the Gamma Raiders, now second in command of the Rebellion, Ja’al had always taken special care to guide her and encourage her. Kira smiled to herself. He saw through her moments of self-doubt, and he wasn’t about to let her sabotage herself.
“Roger that, Commander.”
“Take ‘em from the flank and meet me in the middle.”
Kira pulled her visor down over her face, studying the display on the HUD to get a better sense of her enemy’s location. She quickly mapped out the best course to get her ship into position. The visor in front of her illuminated the optimal path, displaying her trajectory as a spiraling line through the asteroid field.
The guidance system was good, but her instincts were better. Like Ja’al said, she had to trust them. Piloting the nimble little fighters was all about flow. It was a feeling, not a cold and logical mathematical precision. But this time, their recommended course agreed with her assessment. She clutched the yoke and rolled right, leaning into the throttle as the accelerating craft pulled her into position.
The enemy fighters continued their trajectory straight into the fray. The small squadron would have their hands full; they’d never notice her sneaking in from the side as long as Ja’al kept them busy.
She gunned the throttle, dipping in close behind the cover of the whirling rock in front of her. Even though her fighter would be visible on the enemy’s targeting systems, the asteroid would block her position. An exercise in deception. Keep your cards hidden. Just like you’re playing Traps with the crew.
One of the enemy ships whipped along through the minefield of debris, heading straight toward Ja’al, just as they had planned. And the other ship should be right ….
She crested the surface of the asteroid, scanning the horizon for her quarry. The targeting panel showed his ship, but Kira couldn’t see him. She should be right on top of him.
A barrage of cannon fire lit up her shields. Then generators roared through the cabin as they diverted the all the excess power they could pull to strengthen their defenses, glowing bright blue as they deflected the incoming blasts.
The enemy pilot had expected her trick and circled around behind her. She should have known better. Even in the simulator, the Imperial pilots weren’t stupid. They were the best trained military in the galaxy, so the simulation pulled no punches. The Imperials would have seen Kira’s deception from a mile away. She was thinking two moves ahead when she should have been thinking three.
Her warning system blared in her ears as the enemy locked onto her ship. And with Ja’al on the other side of the asteroid, she was alone. Nothing but her instincts to save her. No time to think. She had to act.
Kira killed the throttle and slammed the yoke forward, dropping the nose of her fighter straight down towards the asteroid spinning beneath her. The sudden deceleration slammed her back into the seat as her ship dropped like a stone.
The Imperial pilot blew straight overhead, unable to react quickly enough to catch up. The maneuver would only buy her a moment, but a moment was enough.
She reengaged her thrusters and juked her ship around in a tight arc, spotting the enemy ship through the cockpit. “I’ve got you now, you bastard.”
Two searing pulses of energy leapt from her ship and banked through space as the Imperial fighter exploded into a sea of burning debris.
“One down,” she said.
“Nice shot, Kira.”
“It was dicey there for a minute.”
Ja’al’s fighter reappeared beside her. “I never doubted you for a minute. You’ve got more going for you than you give yourself credit for, Kira.”
She could never tell him how much she appreciated hearing his kind words. Kira grew up alone, an orphan on the unforgiving desert planet Tarksis. She had never had the encouragement and support that most children received. It didn’t bother her, really. She never knew anything different. It never even occurred to her that something was missing. But damned if she didn’t appreciate hearing it now. And someday, she might even feel like she deserved it.
“Thanks, Commander.”
“Don’t thank me, Kira. You’re the one with the skills. You’ll see it for yourself one of these days. And when you do, you’ll be unstoppable.”
As much as she appreciated it, the complement still made her feel somewhat uncomfortable. She wasn’t anything special. Just an ordinary girl, trying to prove herself to the world. Proving to herself that she deserved the good life she so desperately wanted. And now, by joining up with the Gamma Raiders and taking part in the galactic rebellion, she’d earn it.
“Let’s finish this and get home,” said Ja’al.
Home. Such a strange and foreign concept. Ja’al was referring to the Rebel base on an asteroid deep inside the Dennegar belt. She’d only been there for a few months, but it was still the closest thing to a home she’d ever known.
“Right,” she said. There was still one target left. The most critical one.
Just outside the perimeter of the Dennegar belt, an Imperial destroyer sat waiting for their scout fighters to return. The formidable floating battle stations were almost impossible to take down. Heavily armored and defended, they had few weaknesses. Not even the most skilled pilots in the galaxy had found a way to defeat them. But that was the point of this exercise. To find a way.
The pair of Rebel ships broke out from the cover of the belt into the void of blackness beyond, approaching the destroyer at breakneck speed.
“What’s the plan, Ja’al?”
“Same as always,” he said. “I’ll divert, and you go for the kill.”
“You make it sound so simple,” said Kira.
Ja’al laughed into his headset, his voice bringing her comfort. “It is simple, Kira. That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. Just trust yourself. Trust your instincts.”
“That’s not a strategy,” she said. “That’s winging it.”
“Which you seem to be good at. So don’t worry about it.”
Kira wasn’t so sure. Ja’al was right about one thing—she did trust her gut most of the time. She had learned to rely on her felt sense of a situation. Not because she rejected logic and analysis. Quite the opposite. B
ut she processed the environment and all the subtle cues so rapidly that it was all nonverbal. I guess you could call that instinct, she thought.
But the thought still wasn’t much comfort as she flew towards the Imperial destroyer. At least things seemed to be going smoothly so far. Maybe she would have a stroke of good luck, and they wouldn’t have time to launch any more fighters before she got her shot off.
The destroyer mocked her optimism. The gaping maw of its fighter bay opened and four Imperial fighters leapt out into the black, engines burning bright as they sped out towards the rebels.
“Shit,” she said. She knew Ja’al would be watching closely to see how she responded to the new threat. He needed to make sure his Storm Squadron pilots could handle surprises. But she didn’t expect the task to be so impossible. Here in the open blackness, she didn’t have the cover of the asteroids to hide behind. Her only option was to use the destroyer itself.
She hammered the throttle and sped towards the floating battle station, hoping to close the distance before the enemy fighters could get their bearings. She couldn’t let them get a lock on her. If she positioned herself close enough the ship, she’d be able to use the enemy’s fear of hitting their own ship as protection.
It was a crazy plan, but it was the best she could come up with.
“I’m going in,” she said.
“I noticed,” said Ja’al. “I’ve got your wing. Just hang close and I’ll cover you. I’ll do what I can to distract them and divert their fire.”
Fortunately, the enemy’s torpedoes took a minute to come online, and that would buy her enough time to get into position. If she played this right, she could be safe by then.
Safe, she thought. That’s a good one. But it was still her best shot. She kicked the overdrive, diverting everything the ship could handle into the thrusters.
But she didn’t have as much time as she’d hoped. The cockpit lights glowed an ominous red as the enemy fighter banked out around her and secured its target lock on her ship.