She felt as if she was drowning in this alien atmosphere. It was thick, humid, and seemed to surround and engulf her, causing her to struggle for each breath. The intensity of the light given off by the enormous sun further increased the feeling of disorientation, obscuring visibility and encompassing the entirety of the horizon in a brilliant array of reds and yellows. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the environment (of course, not taking into account the vicious and ruthless pirates and outlaws who had settled in the uncharted wilderness of the planet) was the tentative warning issued by the debriefing team of the planet's "sometimes unstable" magnetic fields. Basically, it was a poor justification to explain why her equipment might fail at any given moment, potentially stranding her in hostile territory.
"The things I do to save humanity," Trudy muttered to herself as she stepped into her Scorpion gunship. She sighed as she sat down. Sure, she recognized every control, function, and dial on the screen in front of her, but it wasn't her bird. When she was transferred off Earth, despite her very vocal protests, they made her leave her old Scorpion behind. They fed her some bullshit about the logistical nightmare that would result if every pilot got to keep the same vehicle for each mission, especially when those missions were spread across the galaxy. "They're just lazy," she thought as she fired up the rotors and strapped in.
She turned around and smiled at the two marines manning the turrets behind her. "Buckle up boys!" she shouted above the loud roar of the rotors and engines. Her fingers danced across the varied array of dials and instruments in front of her, instinctively operating the complex mechanics. "This is Raven-5 taking off from landing bay," she said into her headset as the Scorpion hovered slightly and began to lift off the ground.
"Roger that Raven-5. Remember, you're just on patrol today. Don't do anything crazy out there. It'll take you some getting used-to." the radio operator cautioned.
"Me? Do something crazy?" She replied, "No, you must've read some other girl's file!" She kicked the rotors into full gear and the vehicle lurched into action, leaving the landing bay and compound mere details on the plains below. She tried to make out some of the surroundings as they appeared under her. This world was named Virgil, after the great Roman poet. Besides that, Trudy knew little else, besides that no-one really knew much. Well, she did know however, that the sun was very, very bright. Below her, an endless sea of amber-brown ferns and grasses stretched on endlessly in all directions. There were some precious minerals located somewhere in the recesses of the planets complicated caverns, but apparently the real goal lay ahead. Virgil was just an important stop on the shipping lanes to a large planet named Pandora, where a very valuable recourse was plentiful.
"Everything's looking good..." she muttered as her fingers danced across the main control screen, which displayed all sorts of figures about the functionality of her ship and about the surrounding environment. The base was far behind her now as she soared across hastily charted territory. The plains were beginning to give way to rocky spirals that broke the intensity of the suns glare and cast shadows for miles. "You boys up for a scenic detour?" she shouted back. It was a rhetorical question of course, as she already thrust the cyclic hard to the left, operating the anti-torque pedals with the diligence of a veteran.
The Scorpion found its way into a small valley between the blood-red cliffs and jagged mountains. As it was dark, she flew slowly, always assuring she had enough clearance on either end. She noted with dismay that her comm link had gone dead, and a lot of her readings from the surroundings were going in and out. "Is that a cave?" she pondered, squinting in the distance. She withdrew from shock when she saw what appeared to be a person dash into the entrance. "Hey keep your eyes open, I think I saw someone!" she shouted at the two men on the guns. "I'm taking us out of here, it might have been a pirate," she continued, and the ship slowly rose, until once again the unbearable light of the sun surrounded her on all directions. She was maneuvering the Scorpion so that it would get back on route, when the dull roar of engines emanated from the valley below.
"What the hell is that," she demanded, as three ships emerged from the darkness below. Two were small, not capable of fitting more than one person. The cabins were almost rectangular, and two sloping wings branched off from the middle of the cockpit. On the wings were laughably antiquated thrusters and traditional rotary machine guns. But the third ship was a bit more intimidating, having a domed cockpit, and then a long flat, open space behind, with multiple gun crews. All three ships were rusted and worn from use and age, and painted with emblems that were distinctly recognizable.
"All right boys, looks like we have some company! Open fire!" She commanded, and suddenly the whole ship vibrated from the barrage unleashed by the gunners. Trudy deftly maneuvered to dodge the opening shots fired off by the ships down below. She dove down, and launched a stream of missiles at the nearest ship. The tracking technology assured a grim fate for the pirate ship, and it was engulfed in a large explosion, debris flying everywhere. The other small ship attacked from the side, laying down a line of strafing fire that punched wholes in the Scorpion, as well as one of the gunners.
"Oh, you bitch!" Trudy growled as she began to pursue the small ship, despite the warning lights flashing from the ship's instruments. The small craft weaved around the red rocks with daring speed, but Trudy felt confident matching the pirate's bold theatrics. Her tracking would be useless, but she fired a volley of missiles anyways. Chunks of rocks sprayed from the sides of the cliffs, and through the dust Trudy could see the plane had entered a downward spiral, one of its wings blown off. "That's two for two!" She added with grim determination, though to her dismay her long range comm channel had not opened back up.
Suddenly she felt a small twinge of panic run down her spine. She swiveled her head around, desperately trying to locate the larger ship, which had gotten lost in the haze of the battle and intensity of the light. "See anything?" She asked her remaining gunner.
"No, nothing," he spat. Suddenly, the ship erupted with multiple loud thuds; machine gun rounds hitting the top of the vehicle. "Above!" he shouted, before pointing his gun up and unleashing hell on the incoming pirate vessel. By the time Trudy tried evasive maneuvering, it was too late. One of the rotors had been completely destroyed, and she struggled violently with the collective and cyclic in order to assure it was the safest crash she could muster.
"Hold on to something, we're going down!" She screamed back as everywhere around her lights and screens were flashing one warning or another. "Mayday, Mayday!" She shouted into her malfunctioning comm set. The ground was fast approaching. She instinctively covered her face with her arm as her brand new Scorpion collided with the alien ground. Perhaps she should've stayed on course.