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Chapter Four "Damage report, Storm Leader," Cooper identified breathlessly, he had dropped in behind Chambers, covering her tail soon after he had seen Meg's jet going off in a blaze. His heart still pounded heavily and he took in a deep breath to steady himself.
"HUD's gone and my propulsion is jammed!" Meg answered wearily. "Can't get enough power ..." She hit the digitals with her gloved fist but the readouts remained dead. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to chase away the dizziness and tried to restart her propulsions. The Hammerhead rocked forward and she braced herself for the familiar impact of the thrusters going off. Nothing happened, the databars telling her that the propulsions were malfunctioning.
Great, she thought and squinted her eyes against something running down her forehead and cheek. Through the reflection on the Plexiglas rebreather of her helmet she could see that the sticky, warm liquid was in fact her blood. She tried to focus her thoughts on what it meant but somehow she couldn't. Suddenly, laughter rose in her throat. She had seen it coming all along those passed three months and the realisation that she would join her dead crew-men at last made her light-headed.
Black circles appeared in front of her eyes and she tried to raise the others over her com. Ever so slowly she raised her hand to push the button but as she tried to reach out, black unconsciousness engulfed her and her head fell back against the Plexiglas pane of her canopy.
The other pilots could see that her Hammerhead was rocking to and fro and Wang squinted his eyes at the sight of the damaged Hammerhead.
"Stay clear, Storm Leader," Wang announced, knowing full well that without full energy on the propulsions she was not able to escape any Chigs.
The remaining Hammerheads turned on the Chigs and after some more mikes, they had shot most of them down and the others had retreated.
All the while Urquhart had stayed out of the fight, keeping clear. When Shane asked for the damage reports, he announced that his com had been jinxed but no-one believed him. As they got back into arrow formation, Nathan noticed that Chambers' jet trailed behind, buckling like a young filly.
"Storm Leader, King of Hearts here, do you need any help?" he inquired and he cut back his speed to go alongside her craft. He did not get any reply and when he turned towards her Hammerhead, he could see that her helmeted head had lolled back against the cockpit window.
"Storm Leader, confirm!" he demanded again but still there was no reply.
"Flight Lieutenant, do you copy?" Mullen asked, clearing his throat.
"Storm Leader, here Queen of Diamonds, report your status!" Shane asked, her voice full of concern. The pilots waited, straining their ears to receive any message from Chambers' intercom.
"Meg, do you hear me?" Hawkes inquired as he dropped his jet to the other side of her Hammerhead. "Get your ass over the com or I report to McQueen you've been taking a nap ..."
A groan was the only answer to his challenge and Wang who had tailed Meg's jet, cursed beneath his breath.
"Joker speaking, Chambers' got severe damage to the hood. Either her intercom is smashed or ..." his voice trailed away.
They all knew what this meant. If the hood of the cockpit was damaged she could be low on oxygen and unconscious. Vanessa who had stayed on Chambers' six and Cooper swapped places, rolling over each others hoods in perfect synchrony and Cooper set low above Chambers' Hammerhead.
"Does anyone know about the emergency procedures?" he inquired.
"Affirmative, Jack of Spades," Firth announced over the intercom. "We have to track her in. Parsons, can you find something Coop can lock on?"
"On the top laser guns," Parsons said. "But you'll probably ruin your lower lasers when you lock on. But there's no other way ..."
"Shane?" Cooper asked.
"Copy, Coop," she answered. "We'll back you up ..."
"Positive," Nathan and Wang announced in unison. Slowly, they edged their way towards the damaged Hammerhead, their wings almost touching the damaged jet. The Storm wing covered them, only Urquhart trailing behind.
Cooper slowly cut his speed and dropped towards Chambers. It was a dangerous task to lock onto her Hammerhead while the others were so close at hand and if he did not fly at a precise angle, he would risk not only Chambers' and his own life but also the ones of his squadron.
But given the choice no-one was better acquainted of hitting a target first time around as himself. Except perhaps for Chambers.
He drew in his breath and for once he wished that the flightsuit he was wearing would not regulate his body temperature so easily. He felt the shudder of his jet as his lower lasergun scraped against the metal of Meg's hood, ever so slowly he felt for some nooks and when her laserguns caught with his own, he gave a sigh of relief.
Almost home, he thought as he slowly pulled up, firing his throttle and when he felt that he was locked to Chambers' jet, he pulled away from his squadron.
"HOO-RAH", the Marines shouted over their intercoms.
"Copy, Wild Cards, let's head home!" Cooper said and concentrated on the LIDAR.
The navigators on the Saratoga were surprised when they saw the double-decker Hammerheads on their NAVs. McQueen and Ross headed for the flight deck, checking their intercoms.
"Wild Cards, Queen Six, what happened?" McQueen inquired.
"Queen Six, here Wild Cards. Flight Lieutenant Chambers was hit by friendly fire during combat," Shane informed.
"Friendly fire?" McQueen asked hoarsely.
"Affirmative, Sir," she replied. McQueen and Ross exchanged a glance wit each other and the Commodore frowned.
"Sir, Flight Lieutenant Chambers is unconscious, can't raise her on the com. Request immediate medical care," Cooper announced.
"I'm dislodging now.", he put the propulsion into reverse and the second Hammerhead gently glided into the flight deck on its own.
As soon as the cockpits were disconnected from the jets and appeared in the pits, Cooper took off his helmet and switched off the digitals. His canopy slid back and he was out in a flash. Urquhart's cockpit had been raised in the row in front of him and before the pilot could leave the cockpit, Hawkes pulled him from it and punched him hard into his stomach.
"You bloody tanks!" Urquhart hissed, wiping off blood from his bleeding nose. "You're all the same. You should have been all killed before decanting ..."
Blinding rage swept over Cooper and he threw himself onto Urquhart. He wanted to kill this bastard real slow for what he had done to Chambers. Hawkes grabbed the pilot by his flightsuitcollar, unable to control the rage sweeping through his body, cutting off his mind.
"Bad choice for a man's last words, Urquhart. This tank's gonna kill ya!"
McQueen had rushed forward to Hawkes and Urquhart.
"Hawkes!" he shouted, yanking him off the RAF pilot.
"What's this all about?"
When Cooper stumbled a step backward, he felt a soothing hand on his arm and when he turned he saw Nathan standing behind him.
"Sir, Urquhart was the one who hit Chambers," Nathan replied and eight pilots nodded in unison.
"Sir, I saw that Urquhart engaged on purpose on the Flight Lieutenant's craft, Sir," Firth stated firmly. "The Flight Lieutenant was tailed by two Chigs and Wang shot one while we were prying the second off her back. She made a perfect clearing manoeuvre when suddenly Urquhart opened fire on her. There were no enemy jets in his field of vision ..."
"Sir, I can explain ..." Urquhart whined.
"EXPLAIN?" McQueen shouted. "There is nothing you can explain, Lieutenant! If it's true what your wingmen are telling, you have deliberately risked your CO's life ..."
"A tankbrat ..." Urquhart started but was stopped with a perfect blow on his jaw. Urquhart toppled over just as McQueen wiped off his hand on his flightsuit in disgust.
He nodded towards an MP guard and they took the young officer away. When he followed the gazes of the pilots, he saw that the medics were pulling Chambers from her cockpit. She was still unconscious and the medics took off her helmet and dropped it to the floor.
When McQueen came over, he could see the damage on the hood and canopy. The laser had not only hit the top half of the cockpit but the sides, too. There was also major damage to the inside of the cockpit and as he picked up Meg's helmet he noticed that it was scorched as well.
The remaining pilots stood silently as the medics wheeled the Flight Lieutenant quickly away and watched as McQueen followed them to the ER unit.
"McQueen will kill Urquhart if something happens to Chambers ..." Wang whispered.
"Not if Coop gets at him first," Nathan replied and nodded towards Hawkes who stared after the medics, his jaws firmly set.
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