LAUNCH MISSION
ABOARD S-DOW
STANDARD HMS TIME: 06:02
DATE: 05/06/2020
LOCATION: NORMAL SPACE 1500,000
METERS AWAY FROM THE SHE-EAGLE
MAJOR GENERAL ASI
"Listen up major and listen up good," I heard Tetrass drawl in my
earpiece, "We're going to show you the hyber maneuver. Chase? Are you
ready?"
"Yessssss, sssir!" He yelled, I almost yanked out my earpiece; he
didn't have to shot this loud.
"Do you mind?" I heard Rex ask Chase, "Next time you want to say
yes, direct to empty space okay? We wouldn't have to hear you and our senses
wouldn't be stunned."
Chase hooted loudly.
Tetrass and Rex both groaned.
"Going hyber…one fifty-one, one-fifty-two, two- fifty-two,
two-fifty-three…" Chase counted.
I watched from my open view port, the windshield, and behind the green
goggles of my mask. The green filters were for night-vision, and they filtered
out light from explosions as well.
In addition to my usual uniform I had a dark green jumpsuit on, it was a very
nice addition, comfortable, it was very similar to the military uniform back
home, only the material was different.
I saw the two S-Dows head for each other as if they were on a collision
course. At the very last second, they both changed angles so that the wings
interlocked –without snapping- and twirled round, the tip of a wing of each
fighter was held by the other's curve, the force and momentum of the ships
stopped them from spiraling in the wrong direction.
"How is this useful?" I asked.
"You will see soon." Rex answered.
I watched the fighters as they twirled round each other in a slanted
axis, watched as both of them broke away and were flung out so fast that one
second I was looking at the devilish sharp edged whirling curved irregular
sphere, making a blurred S shape, and the next, nothing.
I saw that one of the S-Dows had stopped completely but the other twisted
and kept its momentum, it raced towards the test-fighter, they were practicing,
and showing me some attacking techniques.
The test fighter, a somewhat new, old model 22, Andalite fighter, was
stationed a distance away, I watched as Tetrass, glided his fighter in, swept
up, and changed angles so that his wing tip was sure to meet the fighter's
arched main shredder and…
Cut it off.
Not blown, but cut. With his twin shredders he stunned the ship and
glided swiftly away, all done flawlessly in seconds.
"Why not just blow off his weapons?" I asked, "Why cut it, then jam
the engine?"
"Because there are times when we wouldn't be hunting in space." He
replied casually, "Most of our work would be done in atmosphere of a planet.
We're much faster than them in atmosphere," He paused, "And you know how
shredders are in atmospheric conditions, what it there was a mist? The flash
back could damage our ships."
"I see," I said. "Whoever deigned them must have thought really
hard and long about all this."
"I did." Narl replied.
"You designed these?"
"Yes, Rex helped out with the assembling and the technical part," he
replied, "Captain here and Chase wouldn't know a thing about making
fighters, just ruining them."
"What?" Tetrass said, mocking offense. "Are you saying I fly
recklessly?"
"I'm saying you're a killer." Narl muttered, "How many ships
have suffered under your grip? A lot, the Sasi aren't very happy."
"When are they ever happy?" Chase said in exasperation, "A bunch of
long faces, that's who they are."
"I wanted to call them Shadows, because they're sleek and all." Rex
said to me, apparently the others knew the story, "But Narl said S-Dow was
better, it's almost like shadow only no 'h' and no 'a'."
"Does it really mater what you call them?" I muttered, "I'd have
given them a number."
"What? After slaving away for months?" Rex said, surprised, "A name
gotta reflect who this fighter is."
"And you're saying S-Dow is good?" I asked skeptically.
"It isn't bad." Narl said defensively.
"I'd have called it, oh I don't know, how about
Seven-seven-hundred?"
"Seven-seven-hundred?" Chase snorted, "Yeah, and I'd like a pizza
order with that. Don't forget the soda."
"Seven-seven-hundred," Tetrass mused, "It has potential."
"I can't see how." Narl said.
"Yah, I see it," Rex said, "It's the double S and the zero's,
man I love double zero's." he laughed.
"Undred." Tetrass continued his mussing, "Seefen-seefen-dred."
"I called it S-Dow," Narl commented, "It's staying that way."
"Seef…Senf…dread." Tetrass played with the words.
"Where I come from, Seef means sword." I said. "Sayf. Actually,
that's how we say it."
"Seef-dread," Tetrass beamed, "I like it!"
"S-Dow, it's S-Dow." Narl's voice had a sight hint of anguish in
it.
"Sure. S-Dow it is." Tetrass said, sounding distracted, "Seef-dread."
"Oh, no." Narl moaned.
"Aren't we supposed to move out?" Rex said. "We're wasting
time."
"Not until we show Ausi here another maneuver." Chase said.
"No, we have to go, Rex is right." Tetrass said, "I'll call the
transport that's going to trail us."
"What for?" Chase wondered.
"To keep our hunt's game in you dodo." Tetrass snapped, "What are
we going to do? Draw a line and hang them on it?"
"Now that's an image from dodo times. I'll hang on that." Chase
said laughing, "Any of you picturing antelopes strung on sticks carried on the
shoulders of African hunters wearing leopard skins?"
Yes I was.
Only the antelope was blue, it didn't have horns, it had stalk eyes and
a blade stuck on a thick tail. And the captors wore exotic black skins; their
gaze was that of a predator.
The dead stare of the antelope was replaced with the desperate gaze of a
doomed warrior.
Not ours, theirs.
