Chapter Twenty-One: Launch Calculations
August 7, 2016. Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.
The fleet of cargo planes soared through the clouds on their way to…somewhere. As a way to throw off Alkaria, Director Mills had been deliberately vague as to where exactly they were headed. Still, it wasn't hard to figure out a general idea. Given their target was the Marianas Trench, they would have to be based somewhere nearby. Hopefully, Alkaria didn't know they were aware of her target.
"You know what's weird to think about?" said Ichigo. He was gazing out the window, looking down into the ocean far beneath them. Somewhere down there is the lowest point on Earth. It could be right below us. And here we are, as high up as most humans can get! Kinda crazy, isn't it?"
"I think you're kinda crazy," said Vargas, not even bothering to open his eyes.
"Yeah, funny thing about that," Sara said. "As high as we are now, some of us are about to get even higher."
"Oh, that's right!" said Ichigo, excited. "Hard to believe you guys are going into actual space! I'm almost jealous–no, scratch that, I am jealous! Just think: you all are the first members of BAINE to take the fight higher than the skies! I think." He turned to Daniel. "Hey, Danny, has anyone in BAINE ever been to space before?"
"If they have, it's classified," the captain replied. "But who knows? Maybe back during the space race, we sent in some guys to find out if any Gems were hiding out on the moon."
"Right, like a secret hidden Gem moon base," said Vlad. "...Wait, they don't actually have one of those, right? Right?"
During this, Luke noticed that Emett was lost in thought, staring down at the floor. "Hey," he said, "something on your mind? You nervous?" The other man looked up at him. He didn't need to say anything. "Right, sorry, stupid question. But still, is there anything on your mind?"
Emett shook his head. "Not anymore than usual. Just that sense of finality that comes before the end of the world."
"Ah, I'm sure we'll be fine!" said Luke, doing his best to sound chipper. "Think about it, how many end-of-the-worlds have we been through now? I mean, there was the Cluster, the Gem War… Okay, so that's only two, one of which was thousands of years ago, but you see my point! Humanity survived those ones, so we'll survive this one!"
James spoke up. "The thing is, both of those times it was the Gems who did most of the work, we only helped. Speaking of, where are they now? You'd think with the world about to end, they'd make the time to show up."
"I'm sure they have their reasons," said Hester. "But with or without their help, now is not the time to be doubting our abilities. We trusted the CGs to handle the Cluster, and that's exactly what they did. So now we have to trust ourselves to handle the Koh'i'Noor."
"Easier said than done," Leon said. "We took on SEEN and the CoH no prob, but these guys? From what I heard, they're bold enough to take on Homeworld. We have our work cut out for us."
"I agree that our odds aren't looking good," said Oscar. "But still, I know what each and every one of us are capable of. We can win, just as long as we–"
"Yeah, yeah, just as long as we believe in each other," interrupted Vargas. "Not like I've heard that before…"
"Oh, please excuse me for trying to stay positive," muttered Oscar.
Ichigo, who had once again been very intently staring out the window, suddenly turned around. "Hey guys, I think we're almost there! Put down each other's throats and check this out!" Everyone who could made their way over to a window to look at whatever had captured his attention.
The cause was not disappointing. On the island below them was a huge concrete building, complete with its own airfield. But that wasn't the impressive part. All around the base were armored trucks, helicopters, artillery platforms, even tanks. Out to sea was an enormous fleet of warships, destroyers, aircraft carriers, and Luke swore he could make out the deck of a submarine.
An impressed whistle from Vlad. "Looks like someone called the cavalry!"
"You're telling me," said Hester. "Look there: that's an American battleship, but the one right next to it is a Japanese battleship. Mills must have pulled out all the stops to get two militaries to guard this place, let alone one."
"Hang on, I thought Mills said we were on our own," said Sara. "Where'd he get all this from?"
"Guess Rowsdower changed his mind…" Daniel said quietly.
Emett gave a small chuckle. "And it's a good thing he did, too. We're going to need all the help we can get."
August 8, 2016. Secret BAINE Base, Ryukyu Islands, Japan.
With a flash of light, Kestrel-3 was no longer sitting in her cockpit. And with another flash, she suddenly found herself several rooms away, falling onto a hastily-placed mattress. She sat up and examined herself, no worse for wear from the short trip.
"Well, it looks like the pocket warp system works," said Gina, observing from nearby. "Alrighty, thanks for volunteering! I'd get back if I were you, takeoff is in an hour."
As Kestrel-3 headed back to the hangar, Rhodes took her place in the old lab. "Everything going alright with the fliers?" he asked.
"Just fine," answered Gina. "And the Quartzbreakers?"
"Same here," he said. "We've got twenty-odd souped-up soldiers ready to engage. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but if–"
"Oh, it absolutely will come to that," Gina answered. "Once our planes are up in the air, Alkaria's gonna trace them back to us. I don't know how she does it, but she will, I can guarantee it." She absent-mindedly began fiddling with some papers in her hands. "I just hope there's enough firepower here to hold her off."
"There could be a silver lining to that," Rhodes said. "The more of her ships and troops she sends here, the less she'll have to protect that giant cannon of hers. Make it easier for them to get in with the shooting star. Speaking of which, who's carrying it?"
Gina frowned. "Leon."
Rhodes did a double-take. "W-wait, Leon Manning? As in, Falcon-2, Tailspin? Are you sure that's such a good idea? He's a bit of a reckless flier, from what I've heard."
"That's exactly why we decided on him," Gina replied. "By 'we' I mean Emett, Fitz and me. This way, he'd have more of a reason to hang back and follow orders. You know, keep him out of harm's way and all that."
At that point, the Quartzbreakers paraded past. Gina and Rhodes glanced at the white armored figures passing by. "I suppose that makes sense," the latter said. "If we can let Vargas be a Quartzbreaker after all that controversy, Leon having the bomb isn't too far off."
Rather than engaging in conversation, the super soldiers were relatively silent as they made their way to the armory. The other troopers they passed either watched them pass, impressed, or hastily looked away. Other than one, that is.
"Well, look at you!" Ichigo strolled up to Vargas' side, walking along with him. "Some pretty high tech gear you got there. I feel safer already with you guys around!"
A bit annoyed, but mostly just quiet, Vargas replied "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be preparing for battle?"
Ichigo shrugged it off. "Eh, I'm as ready as I can be. I mean, once you have your guns and bombs, you're pretty much set. I figured a quick break to come see you was worth it."
"To…see me?" Vargas turned to his squadmate. "Is something wrong?"
"I think so. Just…not with me." Ichigo averted his eyes, but only for a moment. "I just wanted to let you know that not everyone thinks any less of you for having been a member of the Children of Homeworld. I know that some people might think you're a bad guy, but…I don't. I just wanted to make sure you knew that."
Vargas was silent for a while. "I appreciate it," he said quietly. Ichigo waited for a moment for anything else he might have had, but that was it.
If only he had realized just how 'it' it was. For mere seconds later, a blaring sound began to reverberate through the halls of the base, starting quiet, and soon becoming deafening. Warning sirens. The kind that could only mean one thing: the enemy was here.
"Crap! They're early!" Ichigo took off sprinting towards the barracks, while the Quartzbreakers made their way to be armed as well. Gina and Rhodes looked at each other, and made their way to the control room.
Almost everyone inside the base was on the run, hoping to make it their station before the attack began. Soldiers rushed to their vehicles, troops rushed to their position, and the two scientists rushed through all the chaos to the room. Gina threw open the door, giving a shout of "Details, people, I want details!"
WIthin the control room, numerous technicians worked at just as many consoles with growing concern, monitors showing dozens of views of the sky. Among the people in the room was Valdain, who tuned once the two had entered the room.
"Doctors Packard and Rhodes! You have not arrived a moment too soon!" the robot said. Although he seemed calm on the surface, Gina could tell he was quite frantic. "Our radar has shown the arrival of many hostiles from the air! Alkaria's forces will be upon us in mere moments!"
Rhodes observed the monitors, which showed several specks appearing in the sky. Some were larger than others, but the sheer amount showed him that their enemy was pulling no punches to prevent their preemptive strike. "It's too soon, we aren't ready," he murmured. "We have to launch the fighters, now, right now!"
"Then get 'em up there!" Gina interjected. "Those things are only a few minutes out, and if we aren't ready by then, they'll tear us…apart…"
The cause of Gina's hesitation was the alarms themselves: or rather, the lack thereof. One moment they were ringing loudly as ever, the next they began to lower in pitch. The blaring had soon turned to a wall-shaking drone accompanied by the crackling of static. And beneath it, was that…laughter? "No…don't tell me…" said Valdain.
The sound was indeed laughing, soon revealed to belong to a familiar voice when the static subsided. Alkaria had taken control of the speakers. "What a quaint little defense you all have mounted! I'm almost tempted to call the attack off! But unfortunately, this isn't up to me. You see, unlike my bleeding-heart comrade, I actually follow orders, and don't let sentimentality turn me against my own people."
As she spoke, the people in the base stopped to listen. Many had by now seen the approaching Koh'i'Noor armada in the sky above, the sheer number of dropships making a dent in morale. But Alkaria was not finished just yet.
"Though if there is one thing I have to thank Valdain for, it's leading me right to you." At this, everyone in the room looked at the robot, including himself. "You didn't think I'd have some preparations in place in case you decided to go through with your plan, did you? You thought that custom body of yours was so secret…but I know everything. And since I added some custom features of my own, I know even more! So Valdain, humans, I'll let you play hero for a bit longer. It won't matter in the long run anyway, and I'd hate for your last moments to be boring. You may take solace in knowing that your deaths are the necessary cost towards a greater victory for my kind."
As soon as it had begun, there was silence once more. The commotion continued as the incoming ships were now fully in view, only a few miles away. A storm of dropships, accompanied by fighters, gunships, and a large ship nobody had seen before all descended upon the base. In the control room, everyone continued to look at Valdain. "Uh, Val?" said Rhodes. "What exactly did she mean by that?"
Valdain continued staring downwards. "What if…what if what everyone said about me being the one informing Alkaria of our plans was true?" he said. "...But I just didn't know it?"
"Didn't know what?"
"There's no time!" Valdain hurried away, looking through a nearby closet. Apparently not finding what he was looking for, he headed for the door. "Somebody come with me, I will not be able to remove it myself?"
"W-wait a minute, remove what?" asked Gina following after him along with Rhodes. "You still haven't explained what's going on!"
With them gone, one of those remaining turned on the intercom. "All squadrons, this is Command. All fighters need to launch immediately. I repeat, we need all units in the air now! Head for the target, and do not stop under any circumstances!"
Down in the hangar, Emett was well aware of how dire things were. "You heard the man–all units, launch!" he ordered. The hangar door slid open, and slowly but surely, the armada of Lightrays took to the skies.
Falcon Squadron, Eagle Squadron, Condor Squadron, Kestrel Squadron, Vulture Squadron, and more still sped away from the base, mere feet from the ocean's surface. The Koh'i'Noor ships passed overhead, paying them no mind. "What's up with them?" asked Tailspin. "Can't they see us?"
"We most likely aren't the bigger threat," answered Jump. "Alkaria must be confident in her dreadnoughts' abilities to repel us."
"Then that means everyone back there is in trouble," said Mayhem. "Some of us should turn back, cover 'em from the air."
"That's a negative, buddy," said Rattler, her Lightray now bearing her signature nose art. "They can handle themselves. We've got a job to do."
"All fighters, begin ascent!" Kestrel-1 said over the radio. The pilots pulled back on their throttles in tandem, and every plane rose upward into the air. It was a gradual curve, but soon they were rising higher faster than they were traveling further.
"Woo!" Rattler hollered, doing a spin. "This baby handles like a dream! How're you all holdin' up?"
"As good as I'll ever be," Tailspin replied. "Y'all just watch my back, and I'll watch yours!"
Soon enough the planes were completely vertical. "Prepare for full thrust!" said Kestrel-1. "Afterburners at maximum in five…four…"
Vortex gripped the throttle tightly as his finger hovered over the button.
"...three…two…"
Vortex concentrated as his plane rose ever higher. "Here it comes, team! Get ready for the Gs!"
"One!"
"Ignition!"
