The Cimalian Princess: Invasion
by AJ Marks
Chapter 4
John walked down to his fighter. Pam, his longtime wingmate, walked beside him.
“So, combat patrol, right?” she half-asked, half-said.
“Yeah, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on but there’s definitely something happening,” John replied.
“Well,” she said giving him a bump with her hip. “Watch yourself otherwise I’ll be mad at you.”
“I will,” John answered.
“I know how you fly,” Pam replied.
He glanced down into brown eyes looking back up at him.“When we get back how about a nice dinner for two,” he asked.
“A romantic, gee, didn’t think you had it in you,” Pam replied.
“What, no romantic streak. I’ll show you,” he said. He quickly picked her up.
“Well flyboy, you’ll have to catch me first,” Pam said wiggling out of the embrace easily. “However, business first, then we can have dessert.”
“You drive a hard bargain girl,” John said. “But Randy wouldn’t enjoy us ignoring out jobs. So let’s get this over with.”
They split up each going to their fighter. John quickly climbed into his fighter as Ben handed him his interface. Heading though the checklist he waited for clearance to launch. Seconds later his fighter had been released as he flew through space. Pam formed up on his wing.
“Ready,” he asked her.
“Ready and willing,” she replied.
“Always were,” John said. He turned his fighter towards his patrol zone.
Kim watched from the bridge as the crew went about the duties. The Akagi had gone to yellow alert causing everyone to scramble. Hans had notified the civilian stations about the possibility of strange activities. She’d heard some grumbling by the stations captain but relented to the request. Now the patrol had launched sending John and Pam out looking as well.
“Commander, incoming message from Captain White,” Hans said.
“I’ll take it here,” Kim said. It seemed too early for a progress report so she wondered what Randy would be wanting now.
“Commander, we’ve been ordered to stand down for now,” Randy said. “High Command wants time to investigate everything.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Kim said. “What’re your orders?”
“At the moment, stand down,” Randy replied. “But be ready for anything as well.”
“Yes sir,” Kim said. The conversation ended leaving her looking at the rest of the crew. The captain hadn’t said anything about recalling the patrol, just to back off from the alert. “All right you heard the captain, stand down from yellow alert.”
“And the patrol,” Yvette asked.
“Leave them out there for now,” Kim replied looking out the window. “Relay the message that they’re on training.”
“Yes commander,” Yvette said. She relayed the message to John.
John switched over his communicator listening to what Yvette told him. Their mission had changed to a training exercise. He really hadn’t been that surprised after hearing that High Command had told them to stand down. He hoped nothing else would happen.
“Pam, change of plans,” he said gaining her attention.
“What’s up?”
“I’m now training you on patrolling,” John said to her.
“Training, but you know that I know how to do that,” she stated.
“I know, but they don’t,” John said.
“Oh boy, all right, but you’re going to owe me when this is over,” she said to him. ”
“When don’t I owe you,” John asked.
“And you’re so good at repaying debts,” Pam said. “I can’t wait.”
“Well, let’s work our way though this training then go from there,” John said turning his fighter slightly to head closer to the Akagi.
Meia banked her fighter in a hard turn. She felt the g-forces pushing her back into her seat. Sure she didn’t have to make the turn but she wanted the practice. She could still the rush of the first time she had ever flown for real.
She had been in a training fighter with the instructor behind her, a red-haired man who watched everything she did. The instructor hadn’t said much only pointing small mistakes that she had made resulting in punishments depending on the severity of the mistake. The instructor had rarely said if she’d done anything right. That fueled her desire to be the best. She had to work twice as hard because of her class. If she’d been a delta or beta her grades would have been even better, more praise, and she’d probably be the leader of the First CF fleet.
There had been one other blue in her class, and he now headed up the Second CF. She’d been able to defeat the man in single combat on many occasions. Each time it seemed she’d done something wrong, some part of her technique missing while he barely got scolded. Of course he’d been an Alpha which she was sure had a large part of their assignments.
She remembered upon graduation, there was one man standing in the back who seemed to stare at her. He’d made her uncomfortable for some reason. She hadn’t been able to see the man clearly but his outline seemed familiar as well.
“Meia,” the intercom said interrupting her thoughts. “Head back to the Kitakim at once.”
“By your will,” she replied turning her fighter. She saw a couple of ships come out of hyperspace. The Fourth CF had arrived. Now they would be leaving for the next Alliance target.
The bridge crew of the Akagi had gone back to normal operations. Kim could still feel the tense atmosphere from of the last couple of orders. She knew that it’d be her responsibility to make sure things ran smoothly. That thought terrified her.
“Commander,” Hans said. She looked over seeing his tense face. She gave a nod of her head waiting for him. “The civilian station is on the line saying they’ve just picked up something strange on their scanners.”
Kim quickly switched over to the Akagi’s scanners. The scanners confirmed something strange in sector K.
“John, new mission,” Kim said to John. “We have a faint contact in sector K. Head over and see what’s going on.”
“Sector K, on it,” John replied.
“Maintain scanner contact, I don’t want any surprises,” Kim told them.
The crew waited to for what would happen next.
John turned his fighter knowing that Pam would be right behind him. Sector K didn’t seem to show anything but that might clear up as he got closer. A faint contact appeared on his scanner that shouldn’t have been there.
“Heads up Pam, we have a visitor in the asteroid field,” John said to her.
“Right behind you,” Pam replied.
John kept a close eye on his scanner as they closed the distance. The two fighters continued to close on a small ship that seemed to be about the size of a patrol ship. The scanners still couldn’t identify it though which made John nervous.
“Power spike,” Pam’s voice said interrupting his thinking. Glancing down confirmed the power spike.
“Patrol one to Akagi,” John said waiting for Hans’ voice.
“Akagi, what’s the problem,” Hans asked.
“We have a confirmed contact in Sector K along with a power spike,” John said. “Pam, I think we should back off a bit.”
“Right behind you,” Pam said.
John began his turn thinking about what the next option would be. The unknown ship made his decision for him. Laser fire shot past him startling him for a second before he began evasive maneuvering. Yelling Pam a warning he maneuvered barely avoiding the enemy fire. A flash of light from Pam’s position and John knew. He didn’t need to look at the scanner. Pam didn’t’ make it.
“Akagi, this is patrol one. We’ve come under attack, Pam is gone,” he said. A burning anger boiled in him concentrating on the unknown ship. Revenge the only thought now in his mind. Activating his weapons he turned into an attack vector. A few seconds later he pressed the trigger opening fire on the enemy ship.
Kim listened to quietly to the report from the patrol. Whatever the contact was it had now cost the patrol a live. Glancing at Yvette the older woman confirmed that a fighter had been lost.
“No escape pod,” Yvette’s voice said. Kim absorbed the report before returning to her senses.
“Red alert, all fighters scramble,” Kim ordered making up her mind. She no longer cared who this new enemy was or even if they were the same one who attacked Dredius and Corrius. All she knew and understood occurred when then Pam died, they had come under attack.
The klaxons sounded as crew members raced towards their battlestations. Kim wished that Randy had returned but it appeared she would be the one to take command.
“Helm, take us to sector K. Yvette weapon status?” Kim asked looking at Yvette.
“Coming on-line now,” she replied.
Kim nodded her head. “Prepare plasma beams and hard lasers for action,” Kim said. So far there had been no sign of enemy fighters. She couldn’t take that chance, not now.
“Commander, the 116 is away, preparing to launch the 201 now,” Yvette reported.
Kim glanced down at the scanner watching as it indicated the Akagi moving away from Pacifica and towards Sector K. The weapon systems active as the second fighter squadron prepared for launch. The 116 already headed towards sector K where John fought the unknown enemy by himself.
“Commander, incoming communications from High command,” Hans said.
Kim blew out a breath of both relief and dread. She didn’t know what to expect or who. Activating her screen she was relieved when Randy’s face appeared.
“Kim, what’s going on,” Randy asked.
“What isn’t,” Kim replied. “The civilian station reported an unusual contact in sector K. Patrol one went to investigate then came under attack. We lost a fighter. FG-116 and 201 have been launched.”
“Commander, this is Admiral White, I’m ordering you to retreat and back down,” Jack said interrupting the conversation.
“Admiral, with all due respect we’ve been fired upon by an unknown force. My duty is to protect those under my command. I’ve got a pilot under fire by some hostile ship. I’m doing everything in my power to make sure no one else is killed,” Kim said.
“And I fully support her,” Randy said. Jack appeared to be angry over what had just happened.
Kim turned to Hans making a slashing motion with her hand. The communication was cut. “All hands, prepare for battle.”
“What the Hades is going on around here,” Jack asked turning to his son. “Are you trying to get the military dissolved for good?”
“If my pilots are under attack then something’s going on,” Randy replied in the same tone as his dad. “What’s it going to take dad, a full scale attack on Corestar before you realize that something is going on?”
Jack watched as his son turned and walked out. He wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. He looked around noticing several people all watching him.
“Jack, perhaps you should stop trying to play in politics. Something’s going on and it looks like we’re going to need the military,” Greg said. “Corrius, Dredius and now here, if that doesn’t mean something isn’t going on I don’t know what.”
“Anything I do will be taken by the Constricts and turned into some sort of conspiracy by the military to keep their budget,” Jack said. “I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place here.”
“No, you’re not. Your duty is to protect the Alliance,” Greg said. “Now is the time to play commander. Let me play the political game.”
Jack thought about that for several seconds. Greg did make a point, Dredius, Corrius, the Griffen destroyed, and now some sort of attack here. He didn’t think this could be a pirate operation. The forces seemed too large, too organized and no profit could be gained by attacking Corrius or Dredius. That left him with little else to go on. The only other logical conclusion he could come up with was an alien invasion. That meant only one question, why? Then really he had only one option, find out who or what was being it.
“Chad, get me the Akagi, force the communications though if you have to,” Jack said. He turned to his scanner with purpose that hadn’t been there seconds ago. Commander Kim’s face appeared. He could tell from her expression what she thought. “Commander, what’s the situation?”
“I have a pilot under unknown attack. One pilot dead and one squad about to engage. The Akagi weapons will be in firing range in a few minutes,” Kim said. “I’m not backing down on this admiral, you may court martial me when this is over.”
“No need commander,” Jack said. “However relay your info down here as well.”
He had to wait a few seconds but once he had the scans he could see exactly what was going on. Greg glanced over his shoulder looking as well as fighters converged on the lone ship.
John fired a few times in between dodging enemy fire. The enemy weapons seemed inaccurate. Perhaps the crew members training didn’t cover battle, only spying. What ever the reason John felt himself lucky as another fighter joined up with him on the next attack run.
“Aim for the weapon systems,” John said to the reinforcements. He noticed the 116 insignia on the wings of the joining fighters. He fired again watching the impact on the enemy ship’s shield. Then he could tell when the Akagi’s weapon fire started. The larger weapons punched right though the shields of the enemy ship.
Seconds later the hull gave out as the ship shuddered once then exploded. He watched in satisfaction at the end of the enemy ship. He knew that nothing could bring Pam back but he’d had his revenge.
“116, return to base, 201 begin a sweep of the area,” Yvette’s voice said.
“Understood,” John said leading his squadron back to the Akagi.
Admiral Jezic reviewed the latest report for the next target. The last report said that it had a larger military presence than any other planet. The report also stated that taking out the target would confuse the Alliance military decreasing any cohesive defense the Alliance might put up. He had the feeling that loses would be higher this time for his forces. There had been at least one Alliance battle-cruiser of the Ticonderoga class. That class was the closest to the Yuliv class that the Cimalians operated.
Glancing down he ran though the specs of the Alliance ship. Eight hard lasers, two heavy plasma beams along with about a hundred and twenty smaller anti-fighter rail-guns. Each battle-cruiser also held a compliment of thirty-two fighters in two squadrons. The Yuliv actually seemed better armed, especially with the four Xeno missile launchers. Ten Plasma lasers as an additional anti-ship support and about a hundred and sixty anti-fighter lasers and rail-guns completed the rest of the ship’s weapons.
“Have all fighters landed,” Jezic asked.
“Yes admiral, the last one just landed,” Captain Diern said.
“Have the fleet move out. Also send Meia to my office at once,” Jezic said. He acknowledged the captain’s reply then headed off the bridge towards his office.
So far things had gone quite well with her. There had been some concern over her abilities seeing how she was an Epsilon class citizen. Her reflexes and abilities as a fighter pilot so far were without equal. He’d toyed with the idea of making Olin the flight leader but High Command wanted to see how Meia did. Jezic personally thought that the only reason for this had been if he’d failed High Command would have something to blame failure on.
The review of Meia told him that her father died before she had been born. Her mother had died as part of a terrorist attack by the Alliance. Something mysterious about her death haunted him for a few seconds. The door chimed tearing his thinking away from the past.
“Enter,” he said expecting to see Meia. He wasn’t disappointed. He noticed nothing really out of the ordinary about her as she waited for her orders. “We’re headed to the next target. So far things have gone smoothly our next target though has at least one large warship. It’s a Ticonderoga class, I want it destroyed with minimal loss in return.”
“Fighters shouldn’t be a problem admiral, do you wish primary targets to be weapons or engines?” she asked him.
“Weapons, that’ll allow the Kitakim and Oi to fire at will,” Jezic said.
“The pilots will understand,” Meia said.
“Good! We have the best fighting record so far, I expect to keep that intact. If it slips you will feel the sting as well,” Jezic told her.
“Is that all admiral,” Meia finally asked.
“For now,” Jezic said. He thought he had seen something but didn’t say anything.
“Then by your will admiral,” she said.
He waited until she left the office before glancing back down at her file. He wondered if High Command made a mistake putting a low class citizen in charge of the pilots. Meia’s talent as a pilot seemed unmatched, but something in her eyes had caused him to pause. Perhaps her class orientation came though. Either way he would keep an eye on her.
Olin however he noted had another problem. The hot-shot young pilot quickly angered impairing his judgment. He seemed to demand a level of respect beyond his abilities. Jezic also noted that Olin wanted Meia’s job. That didn’t bother him as long as it benefits the Cimalian Empire.
Finishing up his report he noted everything that had happened. It didn’t matter if High Command knew or not he put it in. Sending the file off he began planning for the next target.
Randy walked onto the floor of the hangar. The usual banter gone, replaced by tenseness hanging in the air so thick he almost could see it. He quickly spotted John sitting near his fighter, head hung low.
Kim had told Randy that Pam had been killed in the battle. Pam had been John’s on-again off-again girlfriend for three years now. Randy knew he also bared some responsibility in her death. Shortages in manpower meant he didn’t separate the two of them upon learning of their relationship. Now responsibility weighed on his shoulders to build his friend back up. He had a feeling pilots and leaders he would need.
“John,” Randy said. He sat down next to John waiting to see what would happen next.
“She’s gone,” John said. Randy noticed his friend didn’t even look up from the hangar deck. “It’s my fault.”
Randy heard the sorrow in John’s voice, but also defeat. He couldn’t allow his friend to believe that. “Not true John,” Randy said. “We didn’t know what we’re fighting against. There was no reason to believe that contact would have been hostile.”
“But I should’ve,” John replied. Randy finally saw his friend’s eyes. Red with sorrow, fresh tears ready to fall.
“And how would you’ve know the difference between a hostile and strange contact?”
“I’ve been trained for this,” John said. Randy could see the beginnings of anger there in his friend’s eyes.
“That’s right, you’ve been trained, so had Pam,” Randy said.
“No, you’re wrong,” John said surprising Randy by the speed at which he got up. Randy felt John’s hands grab his color dragging him up to his feet. “She didn’t know, don’t you get it, I failed, I failed her!”
Randy quickly had to signal for everyone to back down. He saw Ben quickly make his way over to interfere but Randy wasn’t ready for that.
“She was a trained pilot, like you and every other pilot here,” he told John. “She had the same training, the same skill, the same intelligence.”
“I let her down,” John said in more of a whisper. Randy felt the grasp on his shirt lessen a bit.
“Pam wouldn’t want you to wallow in self-pity. We need you, I need your John,” Randy said. John seemed to have to worked a bit of the anger and self-pity out.
“Level with me Randy, what’s going on,” John finally asked.
“I don’t’ know John. I’m beginning to think this isn’t some random pirate attack. At least my father is now taking this seriously. With appearance of the patrol size ship here at Pacifica has my dad convinced Pacifica is next,” Randy said.
“Then this isn’t over,” John said. The tone in his voice left no question that he was talking about revenge.
“No, I think things will only get worse. The Hood and Bismarck have been ordered here. We’re to take our orders from Admiral Dredge,” Randy said. He glanced around at the rest of the group. Many had the same expression. A look of excitement, revenge, yet a tinge of fear he noticed. The key for the fighter squadrons would be John. He needed his friend focused on the task at hand.
“We’ll be ready then,” John replied. Randy watched as his friend got up and walked to the edge of the hangar looking out at space. “We won’t let you down.”
Randy nodded his head. He had his answer. John was focused. He almost felt bad for the enemy now. The pilots would not be a problem. Now he had to work on the rest of the crew.
End Chapter 4
Continued in Chapter 5
Comment below or send to AJMarks01@aol.com