Late Saturday afternoon. The sun was shining bright through parted, white clouds. The breeze cool as it whipped up trees green leaves into the air. All was calm and peaceful... except for an area of tarmac. The ground cracked in various places to make way for uncut patches of grass. Where two young, female aircraft; an olive green AH-64 Apache and a small grey F/A-18/E Super Hornet both taxiied along at a relatively quick pace.
"Come on Sara! What's the worst that could happen? It's not like I haven't tried it before or anything." The excited jet said while smirking slightly, showing off white, little canines. Coming to a stop in front of the other female.
Sara, the sturdy built Apache. Rolled her dark hazel eyes at her friends amount of eagerness.
"Yeah. I know. But last time you almost ended up running into some old Cessna lady!"
Lily pouted. "Still. I missed her. You're my BEST FRIEND Sara and you're not even really supporting me. I'm gonna be breaking records here! You just watch!"
"Yeah, yeah. I just wanna see you almost hit those trees over there." Sara's serious expression turned to one of playfulness.
"Sara! I'm not gonna almost hit the trees this time!" Tabeth-Lily rolled past her friend, slapping the helicopters rotor blades with her slightly folded wing as she passed to position herself on the runway.
She readied herself for a smooth and fast take off. Bright blue eyes narrowed in sheer concentration, wings straight and steady, and then slowly eased on her twin afterburners. Flames of yellow and purple flicking out behind her in a swirl of heat and colour.
Sara jumped back with a soft yelp. Surprised by the sudden heat and thunder-like roar of the F-18's engines.
Tabeth-Lily took a fleeting glance back at the Apache before suddenly accelerating into speeds beyond 100kph in under a few seconds.
In a split second, she was already quickly ascending up into the air. With her landing gear fully retracted, Lily whizzed past a row of tall trees, making them lean hard to the left from the force of the wind.
"Yo Sara! Get up here and watch this!"
The olive chopper in question started her rotors to follow the adrenaline-filled fighter into the sky.
She watched as Tabeth-Lily inclined into the clouds as she began to lift off the ground. Sara had seen this move all before... her friend would fly as high has possible before falling back down to earth in full afterburner. After breaking the sound barrier, Lily would level out and hopefully reach speeds beyond possible. Or that's how the Hornet explained it.
With her eyes still narrowed in determination. Tabeth-Lily reached her desired altitude and rolled backwards, beginning her speedy desend.
The air was pushing hard against her as she tore through the puffy clouds and started to create a Mach cone around her sleek, feminine frame.
If Sara was any closer, the thunderous 'BOOM!' that shook the ground from Lily's sonic boom would've left a severe ringing in her ears.
"Come on Lily! You're almost there!"
The jet didn't hear her yelling as she plummeted below the line of clouds. Almost in a few hundred metres of hitting the ground before pulling up and soaring past at speeds beyond 1,915kph.
Lily's face was obviously screwed in concentration. Trying so hard to get over at least 2,200kph.
So close.
I could beat world records doing this! Just a bit... faster...
"OH SHOOT!!!!"
It was already too late when Sara heard the ear-splitting squeal and saw the fighter only just miss a bunch of neatly cut trees for the 2nd time...
There was a certain smuggness written on the copters face as they then proceeded to land on the runway after Lily got over the initial shock.
With all three wheels safely on the ground, she made her way over to the Super Hornet who skidded rather easily across the tarmac as a way of quickly slowing down.
"What did I tell you? I KNEW you'd almost hit the trees!"
Lily snorted and rolled her eyes. Hot air blowing out from nostrils like an enraged bull. "Stupid trees. If they weren't there I would've totally done it."
Sara was contemplating whether to send a snarky comment back at her when Lily nodded for them to leave. The burning sun already partially setting over the large, rocky mountains far off in the distance. Creating a fire-like blaze through the sky.
The town they lived in was nice to say the least. Built out in the state of Nevada, a little whiles drive from Las Vegas. Lily had been to the large, full-of-life city before only a few times in the last couple of years as it brought much needed excitement to her normally drab life.
She'd grown up in the small town with her parents and alongside her feisty little brother she ha- no, very much disliked.
Both girls didn't speak much on their way back home from the little 'airport' until Sara suddenly broke the dull silence between them.
"So... I heard you were leaving for the Navy in a little while? Don't think I'll be seeing you much then, will I?"
If Tabeth-Lily was drinking anything at that moment, its contents would've been spilt all over the pavement.
"What? Oh come on Sara. You've been my closest friend since- FOREVER! Distance won't change a thing! Do you really think there'd be anything worth distracting me from calling you up every once and a while?" Lily said.
The Apache's lips upturned in an oddly mischievous smile before responding, "Who knows Lils? I heard the Navy's got some pretty good studs if ya know what I mean-"
"Hold up. Is that where you're going with this? The only guys there will be a bunch of roudy, sailor-mouthed jets whos egos are bigger than the ship itself." Lily spoke while taxiing next to the helicopter. The soft breeze cool against her grey coated fuselage.
"Well lucky you! You'll fit right in!" Sara beamed back.
The jet just smiled, "I probably will Sara. I probably will."
After stopping to say goodbye to her best friend when dropping her off at her family's hangar. Tabeth-Lily fell into a brisk taxiing pace as she made her own way home.
The small fighter glanced up as the sun sank over the large mountain ranges behind her. Lights on the now fairly empty street flicking on to light up the way with their hazy, yellow glow.
Lily's family's hangar wasn't the most grand in the surrounding area. Only just having enough room to fit her mother, father, brother and herself in comfortably without being confined to one or two rooms.
The lights were on inside as she came up to the two main doors. Nudging them open with her elongated nose, she wasn't surprised to find herself enormed in the smell of hot food wafting through the room.
It smelt like soup. Maybe including some sort of spice?
Shaking herself from the slight daze set upon her by the smell, Lily pulled up past her little 14 year old Super Hornet brother by the name of Reece. The jet barely acknowledging her with a slight flick of his wing as she passed. Completely imobilised by the SkyPad situated in front of him on the ground.
Her mother was the complete opposite. Randomly appearing behind the small jet and accidently freaking her out with a holler of her name.
"Mum! You don't need to yell. I'm already here." Tabeth-Lily turned to face her mother, Joyce. She was a relatively tall F/A-18, beautiful sparkling blue-grey eyes and the most generous smile. She loved her two kids as much as anything but disliked the idea of her eldest staying out far longer than necessary.
"Oh good! You're just in time for dinner."
Food wasn't exactly a necessity to the aircraft inhibiting the world. Except more so something to fill themselves with other than the same old oil sold literally everywhere it could be.
The stuff set out on a low wooden table seemed to be a variety of soup, oil, and a sort of 'cake' filled with a mixture of seeds and layered in cinnamon.
"Look who finally decided to return home. Done with trying to shatter all the windows in the neighbourhood?" Lily's father, another F/A-18 painted a dark tone of grey with blue outlines along his twin vertical stabilizers, said as his left eyelid rose in question.
Tabeth-Lily tried to hold back the small guilty feeling consuming her innards by putting on a slight smile. Of course she knew a sonic boom at such a low level would have the ability to shatter glass. She just didn't really think of it to be a huge deal while in the middle of doing an extreme manuvour.
Taking no extra time to wait, Lily tried as carefully as she could to eat the food served out in front her. Her parents had taught her enough in the way of manners.
Her brother though, having finally retreated from his device, was continually eating anything he could reach in a rather messy fashion.
While halfway through downing the freshly-made cake filled with a variety of seeds. Joyce randomly spoke up in her high pitched, enthusiastic voice.
"Ooooh Lily's leaving tomorrow! I'm so excited, aren't you?"
In an instant, the little grey jet almost choked on the contents of food still in her mouth.
"Wait. Tomorrow!? I thought I was leaving in like, 2 weeks!?" Lily responded from across the wooden table in shock.
Her mother just stared back questioningly, "I thought you knew. I told you they moved the day forward."
"S*." Lily cursed under her breath. She'd completely forgotten. Not just that but she hadn't even said a proper goodbye to her bestest of all friends, Sara.
"Language." Joyce said back in a relatively calm tone.
"I'll be able to talk to her later when I'm there. They probably won't mind." She though to herself as she finished off the remaining pieces of food scattered about in front of her.
Once done, it was goodnight to her family and off to what most would classify as a 'bedroom'. A fairly spacious room built off from the main hangar. Light blue paint covered the walls and a single window overlooked a field of long grass and flowers outside.
Tabeth-Lily took a long glance through the slightly dusty window. Sighing softly, her thoughts finally started to settle as she stared out upon all the flowers barely visible in the moons light shining down.
It was going to be a long day tomorrow, she just knew. But that didn't stop her from staring out the window for a few more minutes. Taking in all that she'd known and loved and where she'd spent her whole life since the very beginning.
Finally breaking from the trance-like state. Tabeth-Lily slowly moved back from the moonlit window and practically fell into the matress set out near her.
Lying in a heap, slender frame entwined in the warm, fuzzy covers. She's miss this. A lot. It was only then that she truly realised she'd probably not come back for years to come. She'd have to live side-by-side with her teammates. Out on a boat. In the middle of the ocean.
But somehow she felt it was worth it as she drifted from consciousness. It was her duty to protect and fight. It was in her blood.
And there's no way she'd back down.