8 days after the arrival of Kaitlyn and Amy the base has been quiet, but they are soon getting an unexpected visit from some unwanted guest.

War of the Skies

Chapter 2

Beep beep beep beep click. I look over at the clock, 6:30 am. I lay back down on my bed.

"C'mon get up" Chris groaned as he got down from his top bunk. I threw my covers to the side grabed some clothes. As i'm finishing up in the bathroom Chris leans against the door. "So what do you think of the new pilots".

I shrug and continue back to brushing my teeth. Chris rolls his eyes then leaves our room.

I splash water on my face then let the water drop from my face. I go to leave then forget to grab my smokes. As i'm leaving my room I grab a lighter which is on the shelf next to the door then quickly catch up to Chris.

By the time I reach him he is already out the door. I reach him and we walk slowly to the hanger to do our usual routine. As i'm enjoying the nice warm breeze I look up to the sky and see small black shadows appearing and disappearing.

"Chris," as I tap him on the shoulder.

"What is it," he responds. I point up to the shadows. He looks up and for a few seconds we just stare at the sky, when one of the shadows is more revealed our eyes widen. We look to each other then run to the nearest alarm station. We make to the alarm button smash the glass and as were about to hit it, the ground next to us explodes, making us fly from that spot. I hit the ground hard and black out.

I awake to explosions and Chris shacking me. His head is bloodied and his jacket is a little ripped up.

"Glovanni, Glovanni wake the hell up" he's shouting over the noise of the bombs dropping. I nod my head to him and he lets go of me.

"Glovanni i'm going to get the plane started, go push the alarm button and get back to me asap, got it" I nod "Good now get up and get moving" he begins running to the hanger, covering his face from debris flying from everywhere.

I get up and look around; many of the pilots are running to the hanger to get to their planes. I spot someone lying on the ground. I recognize the hair, it's Mathew, Riley's partner, I'm about to walk over to him when I see a pool of blood underneath him, he's already dead. I look to my left and see Brett crouched over his wife shaking her and shouting at her to wake up. She's dead to.

I hear a scream and turn around to see Amy flying through the air and land on me, knocking me over. I turn her over and half of her face is gone, also an arm. Kaitlyn comes out of nowhere and starts towards us then stops as she sees Amys condition. She starts to cry then curls up in a ball and swings back and forth.

I go to her to try and get her out of here but she just pushes me away so I leave her and run to the alarm system. I reach it and punch it. A loud noise begins to sound and the automatic turrets come to life and start blasting at the enemy planes. I then run to the hanger and see Chris and the plane start to fly out of here. Somehow I make and get in the backseat while putting on a headset.

"What took you so long; I was beginning to think you got killed".

"Try and help others"

"Leave that for the medics". I can feel the plane lift and where flying through the air. I begin to analyze what we're up against. 4 Colosos bombers just circling our hanger, some of our planes are trying to shoot down the enemy planes but are having no luck; there are just too many fighters. 2 Thunderbolts; they're the ones stopping our planes, those planes are light weight and faster. Also there are 4 Arbocs as well which are roughly the same grade as ours but are also causing problems.

A few bullets come whizzing by our plane. "What are you doing, we got a plane on our ass; shoot it down," Chris says as he dodges the bullets. I get my mind back into action and start unloading on the plane. Eventually the plane flies off, knowing we're no easy target.

"All pilots, all pilots we need immediate assistance with home base, we are taking heavy fire and need back up, I repeat we need backup," Layne's voice rang in our headsets.

"Copy that were coming back" Joseph and Megan responded.

"I'm going to try hitting the bombers" Riley said.

"Copy that. Commander will be joining you Riley" Layne responded

"Umm...did I hear you correctly?"

"I believe you did hear correctly otherwise you wouldn't be responding" cut in Commanders voice.

"Roger tha," Riley said.

"When was the last time the Commander went up?" I ask Chris.

"Probably a year ago" Chris responds while shooting down an Arboc.

The fight progresses on and all of a sudden the commander's voice pops up. "Mayday mayday i'm going down took too much to the back of the plane and i'm smoking, can't...control...her" Her voice ends in a loud explosion. I look around and see in the distance an explosion and what's left of the plane falling to the ground.

"GOD DAMMIT" Riley yells.

After about twenty minutes the few remaining enemy planes retreat. Chris turns the plane around and heads for the base. We arrive in five minutes and my breathe catches in my throat. All the buildings have been bombed including the communications outpost in the distance. The damage is bad but not too severe.

We finally land and get out of the plane. We see ambulances and fire trucks zooming past dealing with everything they can. Kaitlyn is still balled up where I left her. I look to Chris and nod to where Kaitlyn is, he looks then shakes his head and nods to a group of about five people standing around medics who are dealing with a dead body; M's dead body.

We reach the group and look to find a blanket over Emily and Brett crying over her. Megan's comforting him as best as she can. Joseph, Kody, Taylor, and Layne look to Chris and he nods to the living quarters.

As we are making our way to the quarters when Riley finally sets down and pulls into the hanger. We arrive at the living quarters or what's left. Half of the place is destroyed and a piece of the front wall is gone. We all try to get as comfortable as we can and just sit there.

After a few minutes of silence Joseph asks the question we've all been waiting for "So... who's going to take charge".

"Before the comms outpost was destroyed" begins Layne " I managed to contact the main HQ and they said it's our choice. We either get a new commander or we assign the highest ranking pilot here".

"Well the highest ranking pilot now is Kaitlyn Morrow but she isn't in any condition to lead the base, let alone fly a plane," Taylor points out.

"Then it has to be you Joseph," Chris states. Joseph looks up then looks around at everybody then back to Chris.

"Does that mean...," Joseph begins.

"Yes you won't be the pilot of your plane anymore. Your brother Kody would take over," Chris says.

Joseph looks to Kody and he nods his head and smiles.

Joseph stands up and looks at everybody "Then i'm your new commander," Everybody stands and salutes, Joseph returns the salute.

At that time Riley and Megan return and are quickly notified of Joseph's promotion and quickly do a salute.

"How are Brett and Kaitlyn?" Taylor asks.

"Kaitlyn was sent to the hospital and Brett is taking it as best as he can," Megan says.

"Will he be able to go back to work?" Chris asks.

Megan gives him a dirty look. Chris just sits there unaffected. "He says he has to take a break then he will come back to work," Megan finishes by giving Chris another dirty look. Again Chris is unaffected.

"What about Kaitlyn" Kody asks.

This time Riley answers "Yes she's just in shell shock and will be able to report back in a week at most"

Joseph nods then gets up and begins his first speech "Friends," everybody immediately pays attention, "I know we have suffered greatly but I will try my best to get this base up and running again. But before we do any of that we are going to bury our dead and take a week of vacation for mourning and revitalization". Everybody looks to each other and nods.

Joseph begins to walk out the door leading his team outside to begin preparations for the funeral and to continue on, no matter what.