Astra Pt. 04

Ash chimed in, "The fighter wreckage has been taken to Terra-5 military Dock. He was warned off, 2 others listened. One did not. I would start docking the Admirals pay for every weapon he is forcing us to destroy. You might be able to afford a new set of ships the way he is going."

The President walked over to the Admiral and was yelling at him. Jack called out, "Terra fighters, Call signs." There were four left. "Wildcard and Eightball are together. Weasel and Magnet are together. We are having our asses handed to us.

Correction. Weasel and Magnet are both tore up. They are covered in black soot and pink pain and headed for the dock." Jack called out, "Lancer-1 and -2 are dropping down to 1x speed and engage last remaining pair."

He hit the private channel, "You go High, and I will go low, just like we practiced." Lancer-1 went under Wildcard and past. Wildcard tried to line up a shot on Lancer-1 when Lancer-2 flew over and painted his canopy pink. Crazy Eights went to invert to avoid Lancer-2 and did not catch that Lancer-1 had spun and moved underneath him and splattered his canopy pink. Astra jumped on the comm channel, "3 more fighters have joined into the fray and one has green scales painted on it."

Wildcard yelled out, "Fuck I cannot see shit. I got pink paint all over my canopy. Crazy Eights was screaming. "They were like two vultures. circling and just painting my ship pink. They missed the canopy because I inverted. Then one came around underneath and blasted the hell out of it. I am out of it."

Jack looked at the 3 fighters and used the public channel, "Stay at speed Lancer-2 you clean up the 2 stragglers. Dragon Lady is mine, She will be a Pink Lady when I am done with her!"

He heard back, "Bring it on asshole. I am not firing fucking paint!"

They broke off and she tried to stay on his tail when he jammed it in reverse. Getting hit by her lasers but took minimal damage to shields. They went to 85%"

He lit up the nose of her craft with PD lasers in the process. While this occurred, Lancers two went into a reversing spinning climb with her nose pointed down and blasted the canopies off her 2 targets.

Dragon Lady flew by Lancer-1 who unloaded his rounds straight into her engines. One cut out before she inverted and flipped. He slowed down and retro'ed right on the thrusters while inverting. He shot out her canopy with pink paint and then both sides of her aircraft from bow to stern until it was covered. He left no scale untouched. "'Dragon Lady' is now a 'Pink Lady.'"

He heard her scream, "God damn it! I will have your license for this!"

Ash called out, "Lancer-1 and Lancer-2. Tell the last pilots your call signs."

Jack chuckled, "Lancer-1 this is Merlin."

Lauren chuckled, "Lancer-2 this is Death Blossom. Off to rearm for the range."

Jack called out, "Sorry guys, Merlin knows how to work his magic. I hope you enjoyed seeing 2 of the Lancer heavy fighter's I designed."

He took off while Crazy Eights groaned, "Man that was brutal and with a rookie wingman even."

Wildcard groaned, "At least we were the last 2."

Jack corrected him, "Your Wing Commander was the last one standing. That rookie took out her 2 wingmen. New call sign Pink Lady."

She yelled out, "That is not my call sign."

Wildcard asked, "What is the third fast mover?"

Jack laughed, "There was a third and a fourth; both with live weapons. The third was Lancer-3, "Call sign 'Maid Marian' She worked at being a distraction to the 2 battleships and helped their missile racks eat themselves for lunch. Then returned your wounded fighter that got into the battleship fight. It was not like they could hit her." The fourth was my own scout after the ravager failed to produce a workable model. That is a model Stingray Scout, TAR-2 King Arthur. Call Sign Phoenix. As the lady flying has risen from the ashes. Is that not right Ash?"

She laughed, "I like the call sign, Merlin."

They laughed at that. As he landed on the ship. He got out and they popped the covers to the weapons compartment. He used telekinesis to lift the covers off. "Pull the locker pins."

They pulled them and he lifted out the four barrels with telekinesis as Ash and Grace worked to bring in the next set. He got up on the stairs and looked down and pulled all the ammunition cans with telekinesis. Then lined up the first two cannons. "Lancer-1 locked in."

He grabbed the next two and put them into place, "Locked in. Rearm both. Set breakers on for pulse laser Gatling cannons."

Tim opened the maintenance hatch and ran the program for the PD systems showing them green now and repeated it for the other.

Jack jumped into his as Lauren jumped into hers after both covers were locked in after rearming. Danyelle jumped into Merlin, "Bay is cleared."

Jack saw Grace pull into the co-pilot seat next to Ash who looked over, "Buckle in."

The 3 fighters launched 90 degrees down. Merlin launched next and was followed by King Arthur. Jack called out, "Keep some space. Lancer-1 is first up so follow me into the Death Valley approach. Death Valley Tower. We have 5 fast movers coming in to run the course."

He heard, "Course is cleared by Presidential direction. Go, fast movers. We are timing you."

He was focused. He corkscrewed the entire length of the course and shot out the other side only using retro thrusters for his turns. He heard, "What in the hell were those craft?"

Ash called back, "The first 3 were Lancer heavy fighters. The first 2 are headed for the Mojave test range. Lancer-3 was Sprits Travus the record holder and she will be holding and waiting while 1 and 2 pulverize the course. They were followed by the Shuttle Merlin and the last one is the Stingray class scout TAR-2, King Arthur. Why?"

He laughed, "Your lead pilot set a new course record. He never banked. Not in the traditional sense. That was fucking beautiful."

Jack laughed, "Pilot Jack Travus, callsign Merlin. Thank you for the use of your course."

The guy laughed, "All 5 of your ships blew away the old course records and that last ship was huge by comparison. You flew a massive scout through our course!"

Jack called out, "Would you like to see the Excalibur run your course?" Jack laughed. "Heading into Mojave, just Lancer-1 and -2, others hold back out of range."

The tower responded and laughed, "They were all fast especially the first 3. The Merlin shuttle, we have seen before. We recorded it all for the news."

Jack hit the button and the President was there and he shook his head, "I just accepted the resignation of the Admiral. After I ripped into him. There are several badly wounded on Terra-5 and aboard the battleship, you lit into."

He sighed, "Get shuttles to get them to Terra-5 Astra tell Dr. Carol to help out where she can. Save the people, especially from the station as they were not stupid enough to fire on my ships."

He looked at the President, "We were 5 for 5 in completing the Death Valley course Merlin went as well with all 3 Lancers and our Stingray. Believe it or not, my fighter now holds the new course record but all 5 blew the previous record away; including my Scout. That record was held by Spirits Travus, who flew Lancer-3 when she used her single-engine rocket. I corkscrewed my way through the course and never let up. Lancer-1 and -2 are in the zone."

They went in and neutralized all the anti-aircraft batteries at the range and then missile batteries. Flying over them and letting the PD lasers rip the missiles to shreds as they exited the tubes. They blew away every standing and every flat target on the range and left nothing firing back at them." Jack called out, "This is Merlin, we have run out of targets other than ones he stashed away for another day.

Lancer-1 and 2 are heading home. I think Lancer-2 killed a family of bunnies as the last things moving on the course. Exercise terminated."

Ash talked with the President, "That was at least 55 fighters we disabled and 2 Battleships."

The president nodded, "I know. I have the 2 battleship commanders en route to the Capitol. Along with the Admirals replacement. Lady name Porta Gonzales."

Jack called out, "She should do your military a world of good. She has what another 15 years to go before retirement?"

He laughed, "16, You know her?"

Jack laughed, "Of her, if things stay on course, she will be taking over for you in 18 plus years. Another good leader according to history."

Jack looked down, "Ask the general if he is admitting defeat, I am pulling us back but everything down there is ready for a trash truck and right now nothing is moving. Except for the twitching leg on one of those rabbits."

The President laughed, "He is satisfied. He was satisfied after you trounced all those fighters and you got that scout of yours toe-to-toe with two battleships."

He smiled, "We are recalled, ladies. Job well done. One last thing for you Mr. President. I am making a presentation at Terra-5 military docks."

The President laughed. "I will let their wing commander know."

He sighed, "I'd like to see how a few of those pilots are doing. Especially the man who ran into the point defense weapons."

The President nodded, "How did your scout stay undamaged?"

He laughed, "I hooked those fighters up with enough power and two shield generators, as in the specs. The scout has more power and three shield generators. As one got low, they switched to another to let it recharge. Rinse and repeat. Not that they had too. The scout switched over once. Same with my fighter after getting hit by the battleship heavy laser bank.

I reworked your point defense software and adjusted the algorithms. It is more aggressive and more accurate. We were blowing away missiles as they came out of the tubes. The battleships fired missiles on Lancer-3 and they exploded inside of the tubes. Let alone the soot Lancer-1 and -2 left over all the fighters. I will send the new information along for your people to look at."

He nodded, "Thank you for that, you are cleared into Terra-5 military hangar bay. She will be expecting you."

They approached Terra-5. He hit the comms, "Terra-5 this is Lancer 1 2, 3 and King Arthur on approach for your military dock. Cleared by the President."

He heard, "King-Arthur. You are cleared. Your fighters really did a number on our fighters. Was there a point?"

He smiled, "Yes I gave the president the design for a heavy fighter, a replacement for your current fighters if you will. The admiral who ordered the battleships to intercede was relieved. He told us the fighter was 'too big' the fact that two was all it took showed why you needed better fighter aircraft, sooner rather than later.

A builder has been selected and after today's live-fire drills I can submit the patents for the new weapons as well. It was unfortunate the battleship hit Terra-5. I made sure the Lancers fired red and the Scout fired dark purple so we could identify who did any errant shots."

He had Lancer-2 and -3 follow him in. King Arthur landed behind the 3 fighters. There were smoking pink messes all over the deck." He got out of his fighter as Grace exited the Scout. The military guards showed up and shouted, "You are not supposed to be here." They had weapons aimed at them by these guards."

He laughed, "This is my lawyer. Those 3 fighters are my aircraft. Tell your wing commander Jack Travus is back at the direction of the President."

Lauren got down as the pilots gathered around and they took off their helmets. Wildcard walked out with Crazy Eights. He looked at her, "The Wing commander said she was going to have you cleaning ships for months."

Jack laughed, "No she is not."

They looked over, "She is especially pissed at you."

He nodded, "I was under orders from the President. Your Admiral insisted these prototypes were too big. He stands relieved after his battleships hit Terra-5. My doctor is over there helping."

He looked at me, "They were saying you did it."

He nodded, "Heard that as well. No blue lasers from my craft. Battleship heavy lasers hit it."

He walked over. Powered up his scout and turned it around. Then fired all the laser out of the bay after checking sensors. He landed. "I color-coded the enemy fighters red and my scout dark purple. The president knows as he watched the scout fire on the battleship's engines from the Terra-5 cameras."

They groaned. Wildcard asked, "What about those?"

As he pointed at the Lancers. Jack smiled, "I have plans for those. I found you a builder to build the new air-frames."

The wing commander came storming out to see the craft on her deck. She stopped and stared at the untouched fighter aircraft and looked at the other side. She walked over. "Not a fucking mark on them."

He pulled out his hollo vid and displayed them up and walked her through the design and what happened. How he got a rookie pilot and himself to kicked ass with superior technology.

She looked over his scout, "Damned. You went toe-to-toe with two battleships." He nodded, "Tried not to destroy them. They did not make it easy. Their captains were summoned to the Capitol. You were to have no idea what was coming or when. I alerted the President. Gave you 2 minutes to scramble and you had 4 in the air. Then 48 from your commercial shuttle bay area."

She nodded, "We were not told why. Firing into the hangar bay had my guys running for cover." Jack chuckled, "Was to get any fighters before they launched. You do not typically have 48 fighters in your shuttle area."

She laughed, "No. They were from other stations and brought in from training the day before. Was not told why though some of them might have been."

He looked at her, "The pilot our lancer brought in. How is he doing?"

She nodded, "She is alive thanks to you. She was shaken but told us what your people did to keep her from crashing into the battleship. Said it was her own fault for listening to the admiral to take you out like she had a chance."

He nodded, "Those machines existed in a computer 2 weeks ago. The builder who is picking up the fighters will have several every week being delivered. Crazy Eights and Wildcard were telling me how they loved cleaning up pink paint."

She laughed at that, as those 2 shook their heads, "After all Crazy Eights trained the rookie who trounces you. Of course, I spent 2 weeks teaching 5x flying to her. I had to fly one myself after all the grief those 2 have given me since my arrival. I had to demonstrate that with a fighter I would wipe the floor with them. Also, you 'Pink Lady'"

Her pilots tried not to laugh at that. She just growled at him. Wildcard looked at his wing commander, "He is the one who schooled me in the shuttle, his license called him out as a certified fighter pilot trainer. Think he showed it to us today."

Jack held up his hands in surrender, "I advocated to get you better aircraft to do your jobs. That meant you could not tank the testing. That was why I was particularly vague."

She looked at Jack, "How did you get back to your ship and off the planet?"

He smiled, "When I left here, I went to my ship. Never went to the planet. I bounced my shuttle off the atmosphere and killed the power and floated out toward my ship. Then retros to get into the docking bay."

She shook her head, "Damned if you are not a clever man."

He nodded, "Conniving, determined, and working for the greater good. The reason I did not look to make my scout design known is I did not expect the Ravager program to be gutted. I built it for convoy protection duty for colony ships, it was not for the military. I wanted the airframe makers to make a better product. I have an interview to give as soon as the patents for the weapons hit the office."

She looked over the hulls, "What metal is this?"

He smiled, "Titanium-H on my scout. Titanium with Metallic Hydrogen. It takes a manufactured element to make them bind along with a few others. It is 10 times stronger than your titanium alloy. My scout includes that on the frame as well. All the modeling numbers were done with standard titanium alloy and in the case of the air-breathing test at twice the maximum speed. Getting the airframe manufacturers to finally see they had a problem only required one of them to die."

She looked at the ships, "You did a number on us but if the results are getting us some of these in our bays. We will be thankful. Still pink paint?"

He laughed, "You know how hard it was to come up with metallic paint that we could use in rail guns? She holds 4,000 rounds. If you think they did a number on you; you should see what the two fighters did to the Mojave range. Nothing left standing. I set a new course record on the Death Valley run. My first time flying it. Every craft we took down, beat the previous course record. They recorded it all. Lancer-3, my wife Sprits, held that record previously."

She laughed, "You had a scout on that course?!!"

He nodded, "Yes, I trained the Pilot myself. I flew through doing a corkscrew without slowing down."

She smiled, "I will have to check out the news."

He nodded, "We should go and get some work done. Everything goes according to plan, where you see my ship will be my new project. Space drydocks for retrofitting and building the next generation of ships. Destroyer class and up."

She smiled, "No getting rid of you."

He laughed, "Until we take off for Tau Ceti."

She looked at him, "When will you do that?"

He shrugged, "We got more work to do first. The first expedition is scheduled for 12 years from now but we are talking months away at most. With the FTL drives, we can get there in under 2.5 years. Back in 5-6 years if we push the return."

Everyone was headed back to getting back into their ships. He nodded to them, "Wing commander, you put Wildcard and Crazy Eights on paint clean-up and leave Death Blossom out of it. She did her job. I will leave her the fighter she used, and Crazy Eights Lancer-3. He can learn a few things from her."

She laughed, "What are you doing with the one you flew?"

He smiled, "Leaving it for Wing Commander Pink Lady. I heard pink was her color. If she shows. Have fun cleaning up you 2."

She looked at Jack, "You expect me to change my call sign?"

He shook his head, "If you do as I requested for the clean-up and aircraft assignments. I will leave your Call Sign, Dragon Lady. She now knows what it is like to be at the pointy end of a lance. As Death Blossom has one to fly in full time now her wingman would need one to keep up. You will get more in the coming weeks."

She nodded and shook his hand, "You really are a piece of work. You got a deal, Merlin."

He smiled, "I have been told that once or twice."

She looked at him, "You cost me, one rookie, Bug went back to flying air breathers."

He nodded, "Then I saved his life."

He looked over at Crazy Eights and Wildcard, "That is what you get for throwing your wingmen at Merlin. You got a new fighter Crazy Eights because Death Blossom needs someone to fly with on a regular basis. Those 3 units also have tractor beams. Not on the original designs or in what is being manufactured. They are special."

The commander stopped to talk with her pilots as they boarded King Arthur. He looked over, "Tower Tar-2 King Arthur departing from military docks."

They launched out, "Astra, Open the barn door for us."

They landed a moment later and Carol was back. They all got out and were met by the group. Jack shook Tim's hands and nodded, "We kicked ass everyone. Grace has some patents to send out. Use the Lancer blueprint without the tractor beam I gave you. Update the Scout blueprint with that last round of changes we tested."

She nodded, "What are you going to do?"

He sighed, "Bridge and check out the news. Then we will have to contact Terra News and set up an interview."