Redemption

Chapter Eight

The Marines were not alone on their flight back to the USS Saratoga, thwarting the chance for conversing on the impending mission but they were not in the mood to make conversation anyway.

During the last week the Marines had prepared the mission meticulously, visiting family and friends. Nathan had wanted to ask Kylen to marry him but after he had thought about the impending mission he had simply said good-bye to her. Too many things had happened and he was still not sure if he had done the right thing when he had rescued Kylen only to let the others die ... When he had joined McQueen and the others again, he had been aware of the tension between Chambers and Hawkes. He had tried to ask his friend about it, especially after he had detected the fading black eye on Meg' s face and Cooper nursing his ribs but all he had gotten out of Coop had piqued his curiosity rather than laying it at rest and even asking Chambers hadn't helped much. She had been as tongue-tied as Coop. Wonderful, Nathan had thought after that. It was always a pleasure to go on an Op when your mates tried to kill each other rather than the enemy.

After McQueen's warning, Cooper had been determined to keep his distance from Meg. He knew he should concentrate on the impending Op but in order to do that he needed to make up to her. Each night he had walked up to Megan's room, determined to work it out with her but he just couldn't find the courage. He didn't know which words to use. Her anger had bothered him to no end because she had hit a soft spot. She hadn't told him anything he had not told himself over and over again and yet all he wanted to do was take her into his arms and kiss the hell out of her.

As they arrived onboard the USS Saratoga, the newly-established five-eight retreated to their quarters to await their orders from McQueen and Ross. Nathan and Meg had just inspected their lockers when McQueen limped in. The determined look on his face, telling them far more than any words.

"Listen up!" he announced and gave every one of them a curt nod. "The window to 2063-Yankee will only be open for forty-five mikes tomorrow, Cdr. Ross will sent out the four-six for cover and bait, but as soon as we are in the vicinity of the planet, we are on our own!" he said matter-of-factly.

The Wild Cards looked at each other, then directed their gazes in unison to the Colonel again.

"Hawkes and Chambers, your callnames will be Spades and your Hammerheads will be covering the ISSCV. In case of an attack you have to shoot down as many Chigs as possible because we don't have a regular bord-sniper." He directed his gaze towards Nathan.

"West and I are the Aces, as soon as we have landed on the planet, about three klicks away from the alleged POW camp, you and I will advance from the Southwest, whereas Chambers and Hawkes land in the north and advance from there."

The young Marines nodded. They had gone through the attack plans more than once and they knew them by heart now.

"Any questions?" McQueen inquired not expecting any questions.

"Sir, no, Sir!" The Spades answered.

After McQueen had left, the Marines prepared their gear in silence. Everyone haunted by their own thoughts about the impending mission.

Hawkes switched the digital readouts on again, checking his HUD and LIDAR. For several moments he stared at the readouts, then he realised that he had done so over and over again for the passed ten mikes. With a sigh he punched the buttons off again and turned his head over to Chambers' jet. Meg's hood had not been slid down yet and she was arguing with one of the techies.

When the canopy slid finally into place and they were given their thumb's up, Cooper switched the digitals on again, this time for good.

Never before an impending mission he had felt so nervous. It was as if he was slowly going mad, confined to the small space of the cockpit. He felt the deep fear of confined spaces rising in him again and he took a deep breath, reminding him that his head was inside a rebreather flighthelmet.

"Ready?" Meg inquired over the com and Cooper closed his eyes for a moment.

"Ready, Ace'o'Spades!" he answered.

Slowly, the cockpits were lowered into the pits, awaiting their connection to the Hammerheads. As soon as they were connected, both pilots hit the propulsions and they were shot out of the hull of the Saratoga. In a low dive they headed away from the space-craft carrier, decreasing the distance between them and planet Anvil.

"Boss Ross, here Spades. Are on our way to 2063-Y ..." Cooper stated over the com.

"Affirmative, Spades," Ross acknowledged. "Good luck!"

Cooper switched to his own channel, contacting Chambers.

"Arriving at the rendezvous co-ordinates in three-hundred MSKs, Ace'o'Spades!" Cooper said and checked his HUD. "HUD and LIDAR all clear, so far. Friendlies on three, four, seven, eight and ten!"

"Copy, Jack of Spades!" Meg answered, slowing her propulsion to go alongside Cooper's jet. "We should remain CS for the time being. As far as we know the Chigs can turn up any minute."

They had travelled for half an hour, avoiding all skipchatter when another voice was heard over the intercom.

"Spades, here Queen Six," McQueen acknowledged over the com. "Enter Anvil's atmosphere in thirty mikes!"

"Affirmative, Queen Six!" Chambers replied. She turned her head to see the ISSCV on her ten.

McQueen switched off the com-channel to keep CS. He was still not sure if Hawkes and Meg were able to work out their mixed feelings for each other but at the moment he had other things to consider. He slowly turned his head and watched West at his side. The young Lieutenant was concentrating on the displays ahead of him but when he noticed his CO's glance he turned his head slightly.

"I don't like it, Sir. We should have at least encountered a Chig patrol by now..." he said.

"Perhaps they're taking a nap," McQueen replied sarcastically.

Both men laughed at that, but it wasn't a cheerful sound. Their chatter was interrupted by Chambers' voice when she announced:

"Aces, bandits on four, seven and ten! We are going in!"

The Colonel switched on the VR-displays for the bord-sniper and adjusted the VRGs. Squinting his eyes to the virtual reality horizon of the goggles, he looked for a prey to lock on.

The Chig patrol consisted of five fighter jets, immediately engaging on the two Hammerheads and the ISSCV. Hawkes put the propulsion to maximum thrust and criss-crossed between two Chig jets. He banked hard to the left, almost colliding with a third jet who had been tracking him. The LIDAR told him that the remaining two jets had been engaged by Chambers but at the moment he directed his gaze directly to his weapon systems' readout.

He immediately engaged his lasers onto one Chiggy fighter. He strafed the jets' thrusters, hitting the hind fuel tanks with a perfect shot. The jet exploded in in-numerous pieces of scorched metal.

The patrol leader veered around, turning head-on to Cooper and he had a hard time riding in a steep rise to avoid a head-on collision.

"You bloody sucker," he said through clenched teeth. He jinxed hard down again and rolled away, scanning his LIDAR and HUD.

Chambers had locked onto one of the Chig fighters, easing her gloved finger over the trigger of the laserguns. The excitement and anticipation she felt every time she sat in an endo-exo transatmospheric fighter jet released a rush of adrenaline into her body. She felt one with the Hammerhead for the moment, intent on coming down on her prey like an eagle with deadly talons.

Soon the Chigs had been shot down and the Marines resumed their course towards the planet. Shortly, before the Hammerheads and the ISSCV reached the atmosphere of Anvil, the crafts split up.

"Aces, rendezvous at four-four-eight on 1400 hours," McQueen announced over the com. There was a long pause before the Colonel continued: "Watch your six, Queensix out!"

Meg switched off the com and punched the landing co-ordinates into her computer. Since the last time she had been in a Hammerhead, she had improved her skill with it. For months she had read every manual concerning the Hammerhead's controls and now she felt as at home as in her Spittie.

She turned her head to see Hawkes' jet on her ten and she tipped her wings when she noticed that he was looking out for her jet as well. They entered the planet's atmosphere smoothly, without any detection of Chigs which made both pilots edgy.

"Ace, here Jack," Cooper announced over the com as they glided through the highly dangerous atmosphere of Anvil. "Do you copy?"

"Copy, Jack," Meg answered. "Go ahead!"

"It's strange but the last time I got here, uh ... there were more patrols around. This is the planet where they hatch their offspring for crying out loud," Cooper groaned. "Sorry, I think I kinda get paranoid ..."

Chambers understood his feelings, from what she had learned of the classified reports Ross had given her, she had at least expected that they would encounter heavy attacks and defensive lines but there was nothing. Only the odd satellite probes which were so far spaced in orbit that they were not able to pick them as targets.

"Then make that two, Coop. I've got this bad feeling creeping up my back. It's as if they are awaiting us ..."

"Yeah ..." Cooper replied and probed his HUD. "Reaching landing co-ordinates in five mikes!"

"Copy, Coop," Meg said and adjusted her HUD and NAV. She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she nearly missed the readouts on her LIDAR. Two Chig fighter jets were quickly advancing towards Hawkes' and her own co-ordinates.

"Shit, Chambers, look out!" Hawkes yelled over the com and at the last possible moment she jinxed the on-coming jet and missed its laser fire only by inches.

Megan clenched her teeth when the Hammerhead rocked under the impact of another canon of bursts. She hit the thrusters hard, forcing the jet into a steep rise. She grimaced as the force of several Gs threw her back into her seat and she propelled the jet towards space again.

The databars were all flashing red lights at her and a computer-voice announced: WARNING: THRUSTER CONTROL MALFUNCTIONING! HULL INTEGRITY DOWN! AUTO-OVERRIDE IN FIVE SECONDS!

She angrily punched the off-button and the databar flickered into darkness and the voice ended abruptly. She had almost reached the stratosphere of the planet when the Alien fighter had caught up with her and the LIDAR acknowledged that he had locked on.

"Not if I can help it," Chambers murmured and killed the thrusters, letting the jet drop down towards the ground head-on as the natural gravity of the planet caught the jet. The Chig fighter who had been trailing her from behind almost collided with her as she dropped down on him and when he tried to jinx she got the target lock on and with a mocking salute, she engaged the laserguns on him.

Cooper had watched after he had taken out the remaining jet and he shook his head angrily as he noticed her dare-devil manoeuvre.

"Shit, Chambers, you're not a kamikaze!" Cooper shouted, barely hiding the fear in his voice. "If ya do that shit again I gonna kill ya!"

"Oh-uh ..." Meg mumbled over the com, concentrating on her HUD. She had switched the databars back on, but the flashing lights commenced.

WARNING: THRUSTER CONTROLS MALFUNCTIONING!

"Shit!" Chambers exclaimed and almost ripped the flight-stick out of the panel. She desperately tried to force the jet back into a level position to the ground but as the swamps of planet 2063-Yankee gradually filled the window of her hood, she knew she had just one chance to get out of the Hammerhead alive.

"Coop, have to get out with the standard emergency exit. Repeat: Engaging STANDARD emergency exit!"

She let go of the stick and securing her rucksack firmly to her chute harness, making sure in her haste that nothing would entangle the strips, she engaged the emergency button.

"NO!" Cooper yelled and witnessed as the canopy of her Hammerhead was blown away and she was shot out of the cockpit.