Forrest and Sujay: On Top of Your Mom! (Horsemen Origins Book 2)

Part 8

"These are some of the saddest looking pilots I've ever seen!" Forrest shouted. The men standing in front of their ships were haggard and tired. Nightly bombing runs have kept the civilians awake, but these men still mustered the strength to stand at attention in front of their ships.

"Their ships are just as bad, if not worse," Sujay said. "A ragtag fleet with all kinds of different makes and models - makes setting up some kind of repair system damn near impossible!"

The pilots themselves were as diverse as their ships - ranging from civilian militiamen to mercenaries from every corner of the known regions.

"So what do you two think?" Riley asked.

Sujay sighed. "Forrest, don't get any wild ide-"

"Admiral Ivanov is going down!" Forrest shouted. "He's going down on me harder than Sujay's mother-"

"Really? At a time like this?" Sujay screamed. The pilots struggled to contain their laughter at Forrest's overconfidence.

"One more condition Riley," Forrest said as he turned to the Commander.

"Name it," Riley answered with his hands behind his back.

"I want the codename Dawn Leader," Forrest said. Sujay groaned and rolled his eyes.

"We can do that. However, there's still the matter of your ship to attend to. Yours too Sujay," Riley said. He led the duo through the shipyard.

"You didn't think we'd have fine men such as yourselves fighting in pieces of slag did you?" Riley asked.

"Well based on the ships your men were using..." Forrest replied.

"Oh, those ships are sturdier than they look. The men here are great mechanics, doing incredible things you wouldn't believe with their machines," Riley said. "There's yours Forrest."

Forrest stared, dumbfounded. It was a Nebular Scuttle class fighter ship, the sleekest, fastest fighter ship in the galaxy. It was equipped with rapid-fire twin blaster cannons on the nose. The wings spread out in the back like two golden plumes that channeled the fire of the engines and gave the ship her speed. The Nebular came into production right at the end of the Unification Wars, but Forrest saw one of them in action with his own eyes. The Coalition didn't have a chance in the skies.

"How did you...?" Forrest stuttered.

"We found it here, abandoned. It's been modified too. Goes faster than anything I've ever flown, I can tell you that," Riley said. Forrest didn't respond, he just walked over and hugged the ship.

"Did you just...? Okay. Yup.That is happening. Sujay! Let's go look at your ship," Riley said as he waved Sujay over.

Riley showed Sujay one of the more classical Core fighter ships. Known as the "Stingray", these ships were wide across the front, but the body was sleek. They had great lift and speed, but they couldn't maneuver as well as other fighters. Thanks to their heavy plating and shield tech, these ships could take a serious beating and could fly in every environment. The blaster cannons were on the wings and had been modified to deliver ion blasts, which would fry the circuits in enemy ships. Riley could tell that Sujay wanted this ship and turned to his fighter pilots.

"Atten-tion!" Riley shouted. The fighter pilots fell in line.

"I have here two men who have agreed to help us defend against Ivanov's invasion. These two are some of the best fighter pilots the Core has ever produced...and they let them slip through their fingers! I introduce to you quintuple Ace Fighter Jack Forrest!" Riley said as he riled up the haggard defenders.