As dawn broke over Northern Green Earth, the five helicopters of Beta Unit
began their daily recon.
The helicopters had a peculiar shape. Instead of a single cockpit for two pilots, there were two small cockpits. One was situated at the front of the helicopter; the other was above and behind it.
Beta One scanned the horizon. "Beta One to Central Command. All clear."
"Roger that, Beta One. Recommend you check the mountain range at two o'clock."
The pilot of Beta One sighed. He heard his gunner mumbling to himself. "Recommend you blah blah blah. We know what we're doing."
Beta One angled toward the mountains and the forest on the other side. It was doubtful that anyone was there, but protocol demanded he checked the entire area. His unit followed in perfect unison.
Beta One flew over the mountains and the forest on the other side. Everything seemed ok. Suddenly the radio came to life.
"Beta One, this is Beta Four. I'm seeing a group of vehicles on the road ahead."
Beta One's pilot squinted and could make out a small vehicle on the road. He heard his gunner powering up missile systems.
"Beta One, this is Beta Three. It looks like an APC."
Beta One's pilot looked harder. It sure did.
"Beta One, this is Beta Two. I have a missile lock on me!"
"Beta One, Beta Five. I'm reading the same thing. But I can't tell where it's coming fro-"
The sky behind Beta One lit up, and Beta Two and Beta Five disappeared from Beta One's radar. Beta One's gunner fired on the APC.
Suddenly Beta One's missile lock alarm went off. The pilot began evasive maneuvers, but the missile hit the underbelly of Beta One and it erupted in a ball of flame.
Green Earth Central Command was bursting with activity. Main screens powered up as radar transmissions from Beta Four, the only helicopter remaining, came in. Officers radioed bases to see what units could respond to the attack. Beta Four came over the main radio.
"I need backup! Now!"
The communications officer put his headset on. "Beta Four, this is Central Command. Can you identify the forces?"
"They appear to be Orange Star-" Static hissed in the officer's headset.
The control room doors slammed open and an extremely annoyed Eagle barged in. "Status?"
The senior radar officer looked up. "Beta Unit Three was ambushed during their routine recon."
Eagle walked up behind the junior radar officer and looked at his consul. "Any idea who it is?"
The senior officer paused. "Orange Star."
Eagle gave the officer a look that suggested he was crazy. "You're serious?"
The communications officer stood up. "Radio encoding is definitely Orange Star."
Eagle stared at the main screen. Nell didn't have the guts to do this. "Have Delta Base send out Delta Units One and Two."
The communications officer shifted uncomfortably. "Delta Base is not responding."
Eagle slammed his fists on the nearest console. "WHAT?!?" The communications officer jumped. His response was a little bit shaky. "We lost contact with Delta Base a few seconds after Beta Unit was ambushed."
Eagle gave the officer a hard stare. "We lost an entire base without warning? Are you guys asleep or something?"
The senior intelligence officer stood up. "Sir, Alpha Units Two and Three report heavy anti-air fire. Four jets out of commission already."
Eagle's jaw dropped. Alpha Unit's Two and Three were some of his best fighter units. They were also stationed two thousand miles away from were Beta Unit had been ambushed. "How'd that happen?"
"The were responding to a spotting of bombers by Epsilon Unit Three. Here -"
The officer pulled up a map of Green Earth on the main screen. Two dots blinked red - the spots were Beta unit and Alpha Units Two and Three had been ambushed. A new dot blinked three hundred miles east of where Beta unit had been ambushed.
Eagle stared at the screen. Three separate groups of Orange Star forces along the northern border. Enough missile units to suggest that this attack had taken a while to set up. Orange Star would have had to cross Blue Moon territory to get to his northern border. How did they manage to sneak up on him"
The senior intelligence officer cut through his thoughts. "Sir, Alpha Two Four request a direct communication with you."
Eagle walked over and took the headset from the officer's outstretched hand. "Eagle here."
"Sir, this is pilot Brandon of Alpha Two." Eagle remembered him. He was the one with the nervous twitch in his left hand. Eagle had spent weeks helping the pilot overcome his twitch so that he could be certified to fly.
"This is Eagle. Go ahead."
"Sir, Alpha Unit Three has been completely destroyed, and I am the only pilot remaining from Alpha Unit Two."
Eagle felt his throat tighten. He had personally taught every single one of those pilots how to fly. He had done more than that; he had helped them overcome their difficulties and become some of the best fighter pilots in Green Earth and all of Cosmo Land.
"I managed to escape the missile units and can see the bomber up ahead. It appears to be heading toward one of our airfields. Unfortunately, my missile system was damaged by shrapnel so I won't be able to shoot it down."
Eagle looked over at the communications officer, who was already radioing airbases. He looked up. "Gelstop Airbase reports visual confirmation of a bomber. Estimated arrival time is four minutes.
Eagle swore. "Order Omega Units One and Two to get of the ground."
"They can't, sir. Omega Unit Two is having a routine maintenance check-up, and Omega Unit One is in the middle of having their fuel tanks replaced."
Eagle clenched his fists. "Who ordered that?"
The communications officer winced. "You did, sir. They were factory built with normal tanks, but last week you ordered larger tanks so that they could make longer bombing runs."
Eagle slammed his fist into the intelligence console. Ten of his best bombers were going to be caught sitting in their hanger and there was nothing he could do.
The helicopters had a peculiar shape. Instead of a single cockpit for two pilots, there were two small cockpits. One was situated at the front of the helicopter; the other was above and behind it.
Beta One scanned the horizon. "Beta One to Central Command. All clear."
"Roger that, Beta One. Recommend you check the mountain range at two o'clock."
The pilot of Beta One sighed. He heard his gunner mumbling to himself. "Recommend you blah blah blah. We know what we're doing."
Beta One angled toward the mountains and the forest on the other side. It was doubtful that anyone was there, but protocol demanded he checked the entire area. His unit followed in perfect unison.
Beta One flew over the mountains and the forest on the other side. Everything seemed ok. Suddenly the radio came to life.
"Beta One, this is Beta Four. I'm seeing a group of vehicles on the road ahead."
Beta One's pilot squinted and could make out a small vehicle on the road. He heard his gunner powering up missile systems.
"Beta One, this is Beta Three. It looks like an APC."
Beta One's pilot looked harder. It sure did.
"Beta One, this is Beta Two. I have a missile lock on me!"
"Beta One, Beta Five. I'm reading the same thing. But I can't tell where it's coming fro-"
The sky behind Beta One lit up, and Beta Two and Beta Five disappeared from Beta One's radar. Beta One's gunner fired on the APC.
Suddenly Beta One's missile lock alarm went off. The pilot began evasive maneuvers, but the missile hit the underbelly of Beta One and it erupted in a ball of flame.
Green Earth Central Command was bursting with activity. Main screens powered up as radar transmissions from Beta Four, the only helicopter remaining, came in. Officers radioed bases to see what units could respond to the attack. Beta Four came over the main radio.
"I need backup! Now!"
The communications officer put his headset on. "Beta Four, this is Central Command. Can you identify the forces?"
"They appear to be Orange Star-" Static hissed in the officer's headset.
The control room doors slammed open and an extremely annoyed Eagle barged in. "Status?"
The senior radar officer looked up. "Beta Unit Three was ambushed during their routine recon."
Eagle walked up behind the junior radar officer and looked at his consul. "Any idea who it is?"
The senior officer paused. "Orange Star."
Eagle gave the officer a look that suggested he was crazy. "You're serious?"
The communications officer stood up. "Radio encoding is definitely Orange Star."
Eagle stared at the main screen. Nell didn't have the guts to do this. "Have Delta Base send out Delta Units One and Two."
The communications officer shifted uncomfortably. "Delta Base is not responding."
Eagle slammed his fists on the nearest console. "WHAT?!?" The communications officer jumped. His response was a little bit shaky. "We lost contact with Delta Base a few seconds after Beta Unit was ambushed."
Eagle gave the officer a hard stare. "We lost an entire base without warning? Are you guys asleep or something?"
The senior intelligence officer stood up. "Sir, Alpha Units Two and Three report heavy anti-air fire. Four jets out of commission already."
Eagle's jaw dropped. Alpha Unit's Two and Three were some of his best fighter units. They were also stationed two thousand miles away from were Beta Unit had been ambushed. "How'd that happen?"
"The were responding to a spotting of bombers by Epsilon Unit Three. Here -"
The officer pulled up a map of Green Earth on the main screen. Two dots blinked red - the spots were Beta unit and Alpha Units Two and Three had been ambushed. A new dot blinked three hundred miles east of where Beta unit had been ambushed.
Eagle stared at the screen. Three separate groups of Orange Star forces along the northern border. Enough missile units to suggest that this attack had taken a while to set up. Orange Star would have had to cross Blue Moon territory to get to his northern border. How did they manage to sneak up on him"
The senior intelligence officer cut through his thoughts. "Sir, Alpha Two Four request a direct communication with you."
Eagle walked over and took the headset from the officer's outstretched hand. "Eagle here."
"Sir, this is pilot Brandon of Alpha Two." Eagle remembered him. He was the one with the nervous twitch in his left hand. Eagle had spent weeks helping the pilot overcome his twitch so that he could be certified to fly.
"This is Eagle. Go ahead."
"Sir, Alpha Unit Three has been completely destroyed, and I am the only pilot remaining from Alpha Unit Two."
Eagle felt his throat tighten. He had personally taught every single one of those pilots how to fly. He had done more than that; he had helped them overcome their difficulties and become some of the best fighter pilots in Green Earth and all of Cosmo Land.
"I managed to escape the missile units and can see the bomber up ahead. It appears to be heading toward one of our airfields. Unfortunately, my missile system was damaged by shrapnel so I won't be able to shoot it down."
Eagle looked over at the communications officer, who was already radioing airbases. He looked up. "Gelstop Airbase reports visual confirmation of a bomber. Estimated arrival time is four minutes.
Eagle swore. "Order Omega Units One and Two to get of the ground."
"They can't, sir. Omega Unit Two is having a routine maintenance check-up, and Omega Unit One is in the middle of having their fuel tanks replaced."
Eagle clenched his fists. "Who ordered that?"
The communications officer winced. "You did, sir. They were factory built with normal tanks, but last week you ordered larger tanks so that they could make longer bombing runs."
Eagle slammed his fist into the intelligence console. Ten of his best bombers were going to be caught sitting in their hanger and there was nothing he could do.