like it was coming apart but I continued a tight turn and tried to lessen my profile to make hitting me harder. Sirens started blaring in my cockpit alerting me to loss of engine pressure and all kinds of other bad things that I barely had time to decipher.
“Flame, I’m hit. Losing pressure.”
“Hold on boss, I’m in range. Taking my shot,” Flame said.
I tried kicking the Swift over in a sharp jink but it didn’t respond. I had lost lateral movement, my control stick loose. More rumbling shook my fighter and my hands moved to the ejection handles. That’s when I saw debris flying over my head and knew she had nailed her second Fiver of the day.
Flame’s Swift moved in beside me and I could see her waving at me with two fingers. I gave her a thumbs up and then refocused on my own bird’s condition.
“You’re pretty shot up Rocket One. You’re backside looks like scrambled eggs.”
No shit.
I was leaking fuel like a sieve and my pressure was still dropping. I couldn’t turn right and I was unable to gain altitude.
We started back to base with Flame riding top cover for me.
“Lead Two, this is Rocket One, what’s your state?”
“They got Condor. I may have a probable. Coming up on your six, 60 to splash.”
I pounded my dash and swore at Condor’s death. It was a good fight and one that we appeared to have won, but I knew it came at a terrible price. Condor was well liked and one of our best pilots.
The flight back was uneventful until it came time for me to land. I had been losing speed and altitude the whole way back and by the time I could see the base ahead of me I was damn near skimming the waves. Emergency crews were scrambled but would probably have to bail me out of the water. I was not going to make the shore.
My big heavy fighter kissed the waves that had picked up in our absence. I heard something go bang behind me and then the engine quite all together. I set the fighter down with the nose up and managed to skip across the water like a stone until I hit the beach and came to a sudden halt that shook me hard in my harness.
I struggled to get out of my harness and pop the canopy open. I tripped over the side of the fuselage getting out and fell to soft sand below. Crawling fast to get away from the fighter I eventually pulled myself up and ran to the tree line. The ship didn’t explode but it was starting to burn. By the time the rescue crews arrived they were able to foam it down and keep it from being a total loss.
Medical personnel picked me up and handed me water as they checked me closely for injuries. I was fine. As we sped back to the flight line we picked up Flame and Karvuk. The ride back to Ops was quiet. We may have won the engagement but we had lost another good pilot.
We did our debriefing in my office and that’s when Katya told us who had shot down Condor. “It was the Red Ace. His Fiver was all blood red and shiny. He damn near got me too.”
I would have to wait and see the combat footage to verify that, but judging by Katya’s somber face, she was not kidding about it. I knew she wanted that ace dead more than anything else, and now more than ever.
“Okay, let’s not panic. We know they have a new fighter and we have a plan to take them on. The question I have for you is did you execute the new tactics?”
Katya nodded and so did Flame. I knew I followed the plan. I was still not entirely sure that Katya and Condor had.
“Flame and I had trouble with the plan. I wasn’t able to get my shot before they took off her wingtip. My systems were fine, I just wasn’t able to gain the angle I needed before the Fiver took his shots,” I said.
Flame managed a smirk and said, “A few more seconds and I would have been a lot brighter flame.”
Katya didn’t so much as grin at the joke. I stared at her a moment waiting for her to explain what happened to her and Condor. She finally spoke up.
“Condor was able to jink enough to buy me time to nail the one behind
“Flame, I’m hit. Losing pressure.”
“Hold on boss, I’m in range. Taking my shot,” Flame said.
I tried kicking the Swift over in a sharp jink but it didn’t respond. I had lost lateral movement, my control stick loose. More rumbling shook my fighter and my hands moved to the ejection handles. That’s when I saw debris flying over my head and knew she had nailed her second Fiver of the day.
Flame’s Swift moved in beside me and I could see her waving at me with two fingers. I gave her a thumbs up and then refocused on my own bird’s condition.
“You’re pretty shot up Rocket One. You’re backside looks like scrambled eggs.”
No shit.
I was leaking fuel like a sieve and my pressure was still dropping. I couldn’t turn right and I was unable to gain altitude.
We started back to base with Flame riding top cover for me.
“Lead Two, this is Rocket One, what’s your state?”
“They got Condor. I may have a probable. Coming up on your six, 60 to splash.”
I pounded my dash and swore at Condor’s death. It was a good fight and one that we appeared to have won, but I knew it came at a terrible price. Condor was well liked and one of our best pilots.
The flight back was uneventful until it came time for me to land. I had been losing speed and altitude the whole way back and by the time I could see the base ahead of me I was damn near skimming the waves. Emergency crews were scrambled but would probably have to bail me out of the water. I was not going to make the shore.
My big heavy fighter kissed the waves that had picked up in our absence. I heard something go bang behind me and then the engine quite all together. I set the fighter down with the nose up and managed to skip across the water like a stone until I hit the beach and came to a sudden halt that shook me hard in my harness.
I struggled to get out of my harness and pop the canopy open. I tripped over the side of the fuselage getting out and fell to soft sand below. Crawling fast to get away from the fighter I eventually pulled myself up and ran to the tree line. The ship didn’t explode but it was starting to burn. By the time the rescue crews arrived they were able to foam it down and keep it from being a total loss.
Medical personnel picked me up and handed me water as they checked me closely for injuries. I was fine. As we sped back to the flight line we picked up Flame and Karvuk. The ride back to Ops was quiet. We may have won the engagement but we had lost another good pilot.
We did our debriefing in my office and that’s when Katya told us who had shot down Condor. “It was the Red Ace. His Fiver was all blood red and shiny. He damn near got me too.”
I would have to wait and see the combat footage to verify that, but judging by Katya’s somber face, she was not kidding about it. I knew she wanted that ace dead more than anything else, and now more than ever.
“Okay, let’s not panic. We know they have a new fighter and we have a plan to take them on. The question I have for you is did you execute the new tactics?”
Katya nodded and so did Flame. I knew I followed the plan. I was still not entirely sure that Katya and Condor had.
“Flame and I had trouble with the plan. I wasn’t able to get my shot before they took off her wingtip. My systems were fine, I just wasn’t able to gain the angle I needed before the Fiver took his shots,” I said.
Flame managed a smirk and said, “A few more seconds and I would have been a lot brighter flame.”
Katya didn’t so much as grin at the joke. I stared at her a moment waiting for her to explain what happened to her and Condor. She finally spoke up.
“Condor was able to jink enough to buy me time to nail the one behind
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