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April, 30, 1999: Milky Way: Earth: High Orbit: Galileo
Harry calmly walked into the pilot briefing room. Thirty pilots sat in their auditorium-like seats, some playing around with each other and some being extremely serious. Even the intent ones didn't notice him enter.
"CAG on the deck," Harry called from behind the podium. Everyone jumped up surprised. Or rather, twenty-nine of the thirty pilots jumped up. Larry Folk just casually stood up. Harry smirked as he placed his mission briefing on the podium. Still looking down, he said: "In the future it would be smart of you to pay attention to the doors for when the CAG or the Captain of the ship enters. If I ever have to announce my presence again, the entire squadron will be grounded for a week. That goes for you, too, Pix. Alright, sit down; we've got quite a bit of work to do."
The CAG opened his briefing and scanned over the information that he'd written earlier in the day. Inside were the names of everyone in the squadron, nicknamed Snake Skinners. Officially they were the 83rd Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Sixth Air Force. Harry looked up addressing the pilots.
"Alright, in an hour and a half, the Galileo will head into hyperspace for P2C-414," Harry explained. "This is the ship's first shakedown run. From 414, we'll head for P3X-687 before heading for the Alpha Site." He looked around at the eager faces. "For this cruise, your squadron will be on alert. As the Galileo approaches its destination, you are required to be in your Raiders. If you are not, you will be removed from the squadron and sent back home. Is that understood?" He received thirty nods.
"Alright, there is not supposed to be enemies over 414," Harry continued looking down at his briefing. "The alert status is just a precaution. Provided that no enemies are at the target, Hotdog, Brisk, Pixie and I will launch as Combat Air Patrol. Sanderson," Harry looked over at the pilot call signed Hotdog. "You'll be flying Element Lead over Brisk. Pixie, you'll be flying as my number two on my wing. I've gotta keep an eye on you or who knows what you'll get yourself into?" Pixie smirked.
April, 30, 1999: Milky Way: Earth: High Orbit: Galileo
"Alright, we're coming out of hyperspace… now," Harry reported. The ship slowed down immediately. "Radar from the bridge detects no enemies in an eight hundred thousand mile radius. Alright, Snake Skinners, you're free to go. CAP, follow me." Harry's gray MF-1 Raider launched from the deck of the ship out into open space followed closely by Pixie's identical plane. Brisk and Hotdog followed.
The four Raiders broke away from the Galileo and headed off into space. The planet, a forested world, had a Stargate but the SGC had been unable to enable a wormhole. Therefore, the Galileo chose 414 as its first destination.
"So I said that I was a General and she believed it!" Sanderson laughed over the radio.
"I'm beginning to regret that I made you a flight lead, Hotdog," Harry shook his head as he and Pixie banked around towards the planet. Silence filled the com for a brief moment. "Alright, how many of you bozos can pick off a Glider at eight hundred yards?"
"Yo buddy, how are we supposed to know that if we've never fought in combat against them?" Pixie wondered.
"It's a trick question, Pix," Harry explained. "The answer is 'anyone who can shove an AMRAAM up their asses'." His laidback wingman laughed it up. Harry smiled, enjoying the moment. He'd just glanced down at his instrument panels when a flash out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
The CAG looked up quickly looking out his cockpit window. On the planet below, flashes darted across the sky like bullets in Africa. All of the shots were centered on one general area.
"Galileo, this is the CAG," Harry said into his radio not taking his eyes off the planet. "I've got unidentified bursts of energy coming from the planet. I'm gonna go check it out. Hey Pixie, follow me!" Harry banked off on a collision course for the planet.
"Yo buddy, these things can survive reentry, right?" Pixie wondered, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Of course they can," the CAG laughed. "It's getting back out I'm not so sure about." Pixie shook his head as the duo entered the atmosphere.
April, 30, 1999: Milky Way: P2C-414
As one, the element of Raiders descended into the troposphere and into a heavy cloud bank. The MF's radar took a few moments to adjust to the planet's foreign atmosphere. Their speed, roughly Mach Eight, put them in a very vulnerable position seeing as how they didn't know their altitude.
The cloud bank ceased revealing a Hatak Mothership hovering just below. "Oh shit, Pixie pull up!" In any, ANY other plane, the duo would have died. Thankfully, the Raiders responded immediately. The two planes changed direction and attitude entering the miniscule area between the pyramid and the outer structure. Rapidly decelerating, the pilots pulled away.
Harry and Larry pulled up, used their side maneuvering thrusters to dodge a pillar, Split S'ed out of the bottom of the ship and pulled up. For three brief seconds at Mach 4, the element flew through the Goa'uld outer structure before catapulting into the free sky.
"Why the … didn't the Galileo detect that … thing?" Pixie screamed into his headset as the two Raiders ducked beneath a mountain. "I thought that was what it was there for in the first place!"
Ignoring him, Cipher cried: "They're launching Gliders! They'll catch up to us in about twenty seconds, buddy!"
"Can't we outrun them?" Pixie asked desperately as the duo banked into a large rocky canyon. "We were just pulling Mach Eight!"
"Gliders have unbelievably powerful drives plus we were using the planet's gravity!" Harry shook his head. "We can't outrun them… Though who said that we had to?" The two pilots looked at each other through their cockpit canopies and smirked at each other.
The Raiders' engines shut down and the maneuvering thrusters reactivated. The plane turned nose to tail in two point one seconds and the engines reactivated. The two pilots accelerated towards the oncoming squadron of Gliders nearing Mach Four.
"Pixie engaging," Larry reported as he armed two missiles.
"Cipher engaging," the CAG reported, doing the same. Simultaneously, four AMRAAMS shot from the Tomcat-look-a-likes. The Jaffa pilots never knew what hit them (literally) as four Gliders exploded on the merge. The two forces blasted past each other and turned to reengage. "Yo buddy, these guys don't stand a chance. Engage at will."
"Roger that," Pixie laughed as he fired a Sidewinder heat seeking missile.
Harry pulled above the Gliders and dived down upon them firing his guns. Twenty millimeter bullets slammed into the fighters killing the pilots inside. The pulsed energy weapons of the Death Gliders didn't stand a chance against the more advanced MF-1s. Within minutes, the two squadrons of Death Gliders were demolished. The two Raiders pulled up alongside each other in a light bank around the battle zone.
"I've got twenty one kills, buddy," Pixie reported happily. The fierceness of the battle had done nothing to dampen his spirits.
"I got nineteen kills," Harry muttered shaking his head.
"Yahoo! I got more kills than the CAG!" An enormous yellow blast of energy shot just over their canopies silencing him immediately.
"Okay Pixie, we've got one more bandit to take down," Harry laughed as he banked towards the oncoming Mothership. "This guy counts as two!"
"Cheater," Pixie screamed as he followed his flight lead. Immediately the duo became serious. "Okay, Buddy, how do we take down a Hatak? I've only got a sidewinder and eight rounds left."
"Look again man," Cipher ordered. Pixie complied as they dodged another blast of weapons fire. His eyes widened.
"Why the hell does this fighter have a tactical nuclear missile?" the wingman asked shocked.
"That's my point," Harry explained. "Pixie, you get the fighter bays and I'll get the Control Room." Nodding, the two fighters broke off for different sides of the ship.
Harry pulled up and over the Hatak while Pixie went in low. Slamming into the Raider equivalent of an afterburner, Harry came down into the Hatak outer structure directly in front of the Pel'tak. He armed and fired his missile into the room, banking away out the other side. Pixie came in simultaneously and fired his own weapon into the open fighter bays. He pulled up into the outer structure at the last second.
Time slowed down for a brief second as the two Raiders approached each other. At Mach Eight the two fighters shot passed each other, missing the other's cockpit by mere inches. The pilots pulled up immediately heading for orbit. Below them, the two Mark Three tactical nukes detonated.
April, 30, 1999: Milky Way: P2C-414: High Orbit: Galileo
Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter looked at the forward view screen of the control room down at the planet. Cipher and Pixie had dived into the planet's atmosphere twelve minutes ago and had not reported in. Sam theorized that it was due to the rather thick blanket of ozone in the planet's atmosphere that blocked the transmission, though they didn't really know for sure.
Their eyes widened as a nuclear explosion occurred on the planet's surface.
"What the hell?" Jack asked no one in particular as he saw the blast. His surprise knew no bounds as two red-hot Mf-1 Raiders shot passed the outside camera a split second later. A blood curdling 'YAHOOOOOOO!!' covered the radio for three seconds as the fighters shot passed.
Jack slapped his forehead. "Radio, get me the CAG immediately," he ordered. The aforementioned NCO went to work. A few seconds later Harry's face appeared on the screen. "Harry, why the hell did you just detonate your nuke?"
"Would rather that I left the fully armed Hatak Mothership roam free?" he inquired with a cheeky smiled. Jack scowled at his XO who unconsciously took two steps back.
"Why would there be a Mothership on this particular planet?" Jack asked in annoyance.
"Not my problem, sir," Harry laughed. "Cipher and Pixie returning to base: it might be a good idea to get the repair crews standing by. We took one hell of a pounding down there." Cheerfully, the former CAP turned back towards the Galileo, their damaged fighters barely flying.
(End Chapter)
Glossary:
CAPCombat Air Patrol
CAGCommander of the Air Group
NCONon Commissioned Officer
XOExecutive Officer
AMRAAMAdvanced medium Range Air-to-Air Missile
ARB: Alright people, that's another chapter under my belt. I do sincerely hope you enjoyed the dogfight even if it was a little bland. Eh, whatever… it's not my problem and I don't wanna hear your lip if it is. Anyway, please review.
And with some parting words from Graypheonix, Ja ne.