Left Behind

Left Behind, Part Two

Subspace spat her out again in the shadow of the planet's only moon, just as the Hellcats must have done days before. She took one deep scan of the system and put her fighter on course to swing past the moon and aim for Smoker Three before powering down again. The Sadit would know something had arrived, but one fighter could hide where a dozen couldn't, and she hoped they'd dismiss the momentary contact for an unmanned probe. She rested her head against the backrest and watched the moon's red surface slide by until Smoker Three crested the horizon. Perpetually covered by black clouds, the planet reminded her of some ancient vision of the underworld.

She closed the distance to the planet without a single contact on her passive scopes. The Demon's nose glowed red, then gold as it penetrated the atmosphere, sending a deep shiver through its frame. She shifted in her seat and rolled her shoulders. This was where the fun began.

Not until she passed through the cloud layer did she power up her systems and pull up from her hurtling descent. The fighter leveled off just above the treetops, a sea of dull purple racing past below. The Sadit command post was seven minutes away. She still remembered the mission data from last time, when she'd made the determination the attack was suicidal and turned her squadron around. The Sadit had set up in a valley, taking over an ancient bastion belonging to a long-gone civilization, and fortified it with anti-air missiles, rapid-fire quad laser emplacements, heavy orbital artillery, and point defense guns. Electronic defenses likely included signal distortion and active radar scrambling. At least two wings of short-ranged Spider defense fighters would be available to protect the base. If she wanted to last more than a few seconds into the fight, she'd have to even the odds a little.

She armed her missiles and torpedoes, released power to the wing lasers, and set the fuel mixture to combat ratio. One minute out.

At thirty seconds, her scopes warned of missiles attempting to lock on. The last ridge before the valley loomed before her, where mission data told her a missile emplacement had been hidden. She sent one of her missiles streaking across the short distance, igniting a fireball among the trees. The lock warning vanished.

She cleared the ridge with inches to spare and aimed down. The fortress sprawled across the valley floor, a conical tower rising above a complex of squat buildings. She located the block where the fighter squadrons had been housed and fired one of her two torpedoes at its wide outer doors. The explosion blew through the roof and sent chunks of ancient masonry flying through the air. She pulled a tight curve around the valley, weaving her ship as it shook from superheated air left behind by laser guns firing at her.

Her scopes blared and displayed thirteen signatures bearing down on her. She grimaced as she adjusted her course to minimize the profile she presented. The Sadits had had ships on patrol. The Hellcats' attack had made them cautious.

She'd never expected to come home after this, but the point was to blow up the command post and supply dump. Turning away from the approaching Spiders, she dove back into the valley. The main complex's walls were too thick for one torpedo to penetrate, but the fortress had a small courtyard within the central tower, lacking the protection of the thick outer walls. To hit it, she'd have to approach from almost directly above. She'd have to get rid of the Spiders first, and hope she'd survive long enough to make the run.

More missile lock warnings. She waited for the launch alarm, then dumped chaff and hugged the treetops. Explosions buffeted her craft from behind. A damage alarm sounded in her ear, but the engines didn't change pitch and her guns still worked, so she ignored it and tore the Demon through a corkscrew to evade more ground fire. Coming out of it, she lined up her sights with one of the quad gun emplacements and liquefied it with a burst of laser fire.

But now the Spiders had caught up. Bright bolts of plasma flashed past her cockpit, setting fire to the purple jungle below. She snap-rolled and tried to put the fortress's tower between her and her pursuers, but more ground fire forced her to turn away. "Come on," she muttered. "Not yet."

She reversed thrust, dumping her speed and straining the inertial compensators. The pursuing Spiders scattered, but two didn't curve sharply enough. As the engines propelled her forward again, she tracked a burst of laser fire across the multi-limbed craft in her sights. It flared out of existence as her missile reached a firing solution for her second target and raced after it. Her scopes confirmed a kill as she pulled up at the other end of the valley.

Her left control panel exploded, shards slicing through her flight suit and into her flesh. She could only see from one eye, and her left hand became reluctant to move, something to do with the two-inch panel fragment sticking out of it. Jaw clenched, she rolled into another dive. Another hit shook the ship, and now her port engine had a rattle to it. Multiple missile lock warnings buzzed in her ear. "Sorry, Hellcats," she muttered. "I tried."

The locks disappeared. Fireballs erupted all along the valley rim, and a voice spoke in her helmet: "We ain't done yet, Top."

It was a voice she'd known she would never hear again. "Crackerjack?"

"The one and only."

She looked to her left, and there he was, in his Demon with the eyes painted on the nose. She looked to the right and saw another Demon, and that was Deadeye Alice, giving her a thumbs up. More Demons zipped across the landscape below, giving chase to the Spiders.

"How...?"

"Stay on task, Major. We'll handle the Spiders and the ground fire. You set up for the attack run."

She soared skyward with glory in her heart, laughing through the pain. They were here! She didn't care how, or why. The Hellcats would finish the job they came to do. At the zenith of her ascent, she aimed the fighter at the fortress below. The tower's gaping opening rushed towards her. She saw crates stacked high, barrels, loaders moving around-

The torpedo crossed the distance in less than a blink. Fire erupted across her vision, surrounding her ship. Alarms blared, then went silent. She flinched as heat rolled over her.

She must have done something right, because when her vision cleared, she'd left the planet behind, heading into the black of space. Crackerjack flew by her side, as did Alice, as did all the Hellcats. "Crackerjack, how are you here?"

His voice came calm and clear in her ear, free of comm distortion. "We ain't, Major. Not exactly."

Sonya chuckled and shook her head. "I don't know how I'm going to explain this one."

"You're not going back, Top."

"What do you mean?"

Crackerjack's voice turned sad. "You ain't here, either. Not anymore."

Alice said, "We didn't want you here, Major. Didn't need the company. Why'd you come?"

Sonya closed her eyes, the last traces of stress and worry slipping away. "I should've known you were all right," she murmured. "But I wasn't. I needed the company. Didn't want to stay behind." She gave a carefree smile. "So lead the way, Crackerjack. Take me home."

Fighter Command regrets to report the complete loss in combat of the 19th Assault Squadron, led by renowned ace Major Sonya Leroy. Though severely outnumbered, the unit engaged and destroyed a fortified enemy command post and numerous enemy fighters. The 19th Assault Squadron is hereby nominated for the Medal of Merit, for courage and determination in the face of overwhelming opposition.

End