Chapter 6

Two days later, Bill was staring out at a launchpad, at the twelve fighters arrayed there. They looked vastly different now from the battle-scored metal buckets that had raided Macbeth nearly a month ago.

Each fighter was gleaming, freshly polished, with beautifully unblemished paint jobs. Most of them sported a large number of enemy fighter kills next to the cockpit canopy, a testament to the skill of the pilots who had survived this long. One, Jill's, still bore no kill marks. Time would tell if she was capable of keeping pace with the rest of the squadron.

Mechanics and technicians were running around, making final checks, while the pilots were in the adjacent ready room, gathering luggage and suiting up. Once again they were heading out to an uncertain fate at the hands of war, but this time there were no dreams of glory, nor any cold dread about what laid ahead.

Each pilot had now experienced the fury of battle first-hand, and now saw the deployment as a duty to the people back at home, above all else.

Some of the pilots began to filter out now, saluting Bill as they passed, some stopping for a few quick words before striding off to their spacecraft. All of them made quick checks on their starfighters before throwing their baggage into the back of the ship and vaulting in.

Bill started to make his way to his own fighter. He smiled as he caught sight of the rows of enemy starfighters painted onto the side of his ship, most of which were shot down during the war with Andross, the latest ones having been claimed in his first deployment of this war. He threw a green duffel bag behind the pilot's seat and jumped in, donning his helmet as he did so- the same helmet he'd been using for the last eight years, a green one with a thick yellow arrow pointing down the front towards the visor. As he strapped in he ran final checklists and lowered the cockpit canopy, watching the rest of his squadron doing the same.

The deflector shield above the pad was deactivated. "Husky Squadron is cleared for Launch. Good luck, guys."

Bill keyed his comm. "I copy, control. We'll bring some victory back for you."

Then, at a signal from a Great Dane on the ground, Bill gently eased his starfighter upwards, rising away from the pad and heading towards another besieged planet, another chance to cheat death.

"There it is!"

Blaze looked up. Ahead of the squadron, now completely visible over Katina's horizon, was the sleek, long grey-black ship that had been Husky squadron's home during the disastrous set of battles that took place around Macbeth, the Archangel. As the Huskies drew nearer, Blaze could discern a multitude of other ships, large and small, in a protective sphere around her. From what his improved scanners could tell him, four new escort carriers were in position, as well as the mighty battleships Decklon, Harton and Katina.

Most of the other ships he did not recognize, and couldn't spot some of the ships he'd known before.

They've either been destroyed, reassigned or are still in the repair docks.

Keeler's voice spoke through the comm. "That's a much bigger fleet than we had last time."

"Yeah." Blaze replied. "Must have rolled out a few ships since we last looked."

"Like that carrier." Said Benny. "That wasn't with us last time."
Blaze checked his scanners. "The Warlord. I've heard of her. Her keel was laid down last year. Looks like they sped up her deployment."

"That's enough idle chatter, people." Bill cut in. "We've been cleared to land on Archangel's main flight deck. Follow me on final approach. Watch for friendlies from ten-o'clock low, Fang Squadron's coming up from there."

The Huskies curved around a pair of destroyers, and vectored in towards the Archangel's Flight deck. Behind them, Fang Squadron took up position for approach.

Blaze had just positioned his fighter over the space allotted to him when he saw red sirens go off through a window in the ship. Had it not been for the vacuum separating him and the Archangel he might have heard alarms too.

That can't be good. He thought.

His thoughts were confirmed when Bill suddenly came through the comm. "This is Husky Leader. All fighters initiate rapid docking procedure."

Blaze didn't hesitate. He brought his fighter down on the deck with a light thud and felt it being lowered into the hangar as soon as the deck clamps took a grip on his landing gear.

The familiar sight of a bustling hangar deck filled his view as the elevator came to a stop, and Blaze pressed the 'canopy open' button on his panel.

Nothing happened.

He sighed and pressed the manual release, thrusting the canopy back as he did so. This new fighter's still a bit clunky. He jumped down onto the flight deck and fell in beside the other members of his squadron, now gathered around Colonel Grey.

"All right, now that everyone's here, I'd better tell you what that was all about." Said Grey. "On our approach, the bridge crew received a distress signal from Fortuna, barely discernable thanks to heavy jamming. The enemy fleet has struck again, and struck hard. This is one planet we can hold onto if we hurry, so the fleet is heading out at flank speed once all of Fang Squadron is secure. I suggest all of you get yourself something to eat and then some sleep ASAP. You'll be briefed on the situation one hour from when we leave warp- that's around twenty-four Cornerian hours from now. Tomorrow you'll receive orders for the day, in preparation for our exit from warp. I would also like to take an opportunity to inform the flight leaders here that we'll have a planning meeting tomorrow morning at 0930 CLT."

A few clanks further down the hangar bay caused a few of the pilots to turn their heads, but it was only the deck doors closing. A mechanical whine following this signaled the Archangel's entry into warp-space.

Bill continued; "This time, we know what we're up against. Flight Officer Keeler has programmed simulation scenarios of tactics we expect the enemy to use in future battles, so expect some heavy simulator runs tomorrow. That's all I have for you now- our original schedule is now officially fucked. So go off and be sensible tonight- you'll need to be ready to engage at Fortuna. Dismissed."

Blaze followed the other pilots away, while Bill spoke quietly to Captain Jackson. Blaze was quite aware that the Squadron had changed greatly. There were four new faces, and he had to force himself to consider them a member of the 'team'. In fact, his flight would be the only one that remained intact from the original squadron at the start of the war.

Of course, one of his roommates would be different. Don Mossini had been killed in action, and his replacement was a young Lynx named Randall.

I guess I'd better be more open with him than I had been with Don…

Blaze grinned at some memories that came back to him.

Ah, I guess I do miss that rascal. Even though he was the biggest pain in the ass I've ever known, I guess I do miss him.

Then it occurred to Blaze that Benny might take up young Randall as his protégé, training him to be the next 'Don' of the squadron. Still, I guess I should keep an eye on him… One Don clone is bad enough.