Stellaris: Fire above Atrakh

Fire above Atrakh

The aircraft plummeted like a hawk chasing a rabbit, the deafening noise of the flying machine and the gun and laser shots were all part of a symphony of war in the skies. From the cabin of his SF-23 Albatross, Lieutenant Henri <<Gardener>> Garnier could see the blue sky of the arid planet Atrakh completely cloudless, but full of fighters of the Commonwealth of Man and the Tzynn Empire, in combat to dominate the air and protect their companions on land. It was his first real battle and that of almost every member of his squadron.

"... When the transport ships deploy the shuttles from the orbit of the planet then you will go to your respective aircraft." He remembered Major Liu's voice, recalling the instructions given by his superior officer for his baptism of fire. "I want you all ready inside your fighters, because once the air fortresses are 10,000 meters above ground, we will have to go out and do our job." Major Liu focused his eyes on Lieutenant Garnier and the other members of his group and continued his talk. "Your mission, Squadron 30, is to protect a formation of three AB-25 Spider bombers until you reach your destination." The officer fixed his eyes on the other group of pilots next to the 30 squadron. "Squadron 31 will support the units of the 4th Assault Legion on the ground; eliminate anything that wants to look for troubles to the army." After that Henri could see Major Liu' smiling as he looked through the faces of all the pilots in front as if he were examining their facial expressions. His tone of voice was calm and condescending, the expression on his face reflecting confidence. "You will do it well, rookies; it's almost the same as in the simulator." Like a good liar, what he said was a half-truth.

He was persecuting the Tzynn fighter who fiercely fled the human pilot. He was anxious, breathing a little agitated, his eyes were hard on the hunt, waiting for the signal that told him he could shoot but it was getting more difficult to line up with the copper-colored enemy ship. "What are you doing lizard?" He thought. Then he realized something, the enemy pilot was not trying to counterattack, it only limited itself to evade Henri and keeping the distance. Henri did not understand the purpose of that action, it was as if it did not know what to do and decided to improvise, or maybe waiting ... reinforcements. Suddenly one of the sensors on his board went on, an alarm was suddenly activated inside the cabin, another enemy fighter was now behind him, the shots of the second Tzynn fighter that passed like blue spears around his cabin gave proof of its veracity. He could hardly keep up the pursuit of the first fighter that tried to stand behind Henri; he maneuvered his Albatross making a 360 degree turn to evade the incessant shots of the second fighter, some managed to impact causing minor damage. Having fallen so easily into that trap frustrated him, he separated himself from the training in pursuit of a lizard that took him into a trap that any experienced pilot should have detected. A voice was heard in his communicator, just at the moment when he was going to ask for support.

"Gardener," was the voice of First Lieutenant Marcus Davies. "Here Pharaon, I see a lizard near your 6, I'll take care of it, over."

"Received Pharaon," Henri replied with some relief that his voice concealed without problem, "I keep chasing a second enemy hunt, out."

Fortune now began to favor Henri, who could still feel the torrent of adrenaline running through his body for fight for his own life, as in the simulator. He was not going to make those two aliens easy for him; he viciously evaded the constant shots of his opponent. He felt the sweat that impregnated his face and his hands, a cold sensation was passing through his chest, trying to control the frequency of his breathing. Far away, at a distance of approximately 10 kilometers was the formation of bombers being escorted by the rest of the 30 squadron.

"Cascade, to all the units of the 30 squadron", He recognized the voice that sounded in his communicator, it was Major Liu's. "Stay close to the Spider. The estimated time for the objective is 2 minutes, out".

In that instant he remembered something, whether that moment hidden in his mind had appeared by chance or something else was now irrelevant, that memory evolved in moments in a plan to get rid of those two hindrances.

"Hey Marcus, you remember that maneuver we did in the simulator." A smile was beginning to draw on Henri's face.

"Of course I remember, especially the part where the instructor told us that if we did that in real combat we would be dead." Davies replied sarcastically.

"Well, we've been this way too long and the others are defending the bombers."

"You know Garnier, sometimes I think you are nuts. All right, I'll try. "

"I trust you friend."

"Don't push me, Gardener."

Henri stopped following the first fighter and began to execute his plan. He noticed that Pharaon stopped chasing the second enemy fighter. "I trust you". He told himself.

He began to gain altitude by turning in circles, creating with his Albatross the impression that he was traveling an imaginary cylinder. He continued to climb it as he joined his hunt the two alien ships that sought also to gain altitude. The alarm went off once more, they had it in their sights but the shots missed. The pair of Tzynnian fighters could not continue rising, staying hanging in the air and then begin to descend uncontrollably to the ground. They had taken the bait completely.

"I have you!" Pharaon exclaimed through the communicator while a swarm of kinetic bullets were fired from his Albatross, impacting in a few seconds on one of the fighters still hanging in the air.

Now it was Gardener's turn.

"Target fixed." spoke the voice of the artificial intelligence of his Albatross, to which he, without losing a second, pulled the trigger of his command. Out of the mouth of the main cannon accelerated kinetic bursts, so bright that they traced flashing lines, which in moments hit the Tzynn aircraft. Only a few more hits were enough to turn that alien engineering work into a flaming junk in seconds, disintegrating into small pieces as it fell to the ground.

"Gardener here," Henri said as he watched his first combat victory break apart as it hit the ground. "I've knocked down a lizard, change."

"Cascade here, received. The other enemy fighters have been neutralized. Good job everyone".

He was proud of himself, his actions contributed to the achievement of his mission and, perhaps most importantly, to the glory of humanity throughout the known galaxy. He looked away to his left to look one last time at the arid and mountainous landscape of the Tzynn colony of Atrakh, one of many worlds that were part of the one that threatened the safety of humanity, and now it was one more achievement in achieving the manifest destiny of humanity, the goal of dominating the cold and wild space. His attention was diverted to a formation three Spider bombers discreetly flying over the target, a Tzynnian town.

Several objects with spherical shape began to appear inside them, so dark with a night without stars. It was not long when I noticed several columns of yellow smoke in the streets and buildings. As he enlarged the image he saw many Tzynn laying on the ground, writhing in a grotesque way, the scene was unnerving to see. There were others beside them, only with torn clothes, no weapons, no uniforms or armor. He was struck by one in particular, a very small, stood next to the body of a larger Tzynn before it collapsed on the floor, the little one eventually fell on the floor, without making a single movement.

Henri just limited to watch, he didn't felt empathy, anger, or joy, only indifference. "¿Why I should feel anything for them?" He though. It would be the same that to feel regret for varmints. He came to the front to contemplate the horizon what now was full of Commonwealth ships, ready to rain fire over Atrakh.

"END"