Two weeks later….
Connor Alpha didn't relaxed until all of his massive wheels were safely down on the tarmac, but still even then he didn't fully relax. He wasn't safe here, he didn't want to stay longer than needed; at least the darkness helped hide his immense airframe.
He had landed at the base at midnight, his gray camouflage paint hid him against attacks from the ground. He had flown in with every light off, but he was still a huge target, and he couldn't risk being seen by enemy ground forces. Still, the massive roars of his turbines was deafening, and carried across the whole basin. Everyone within miles of the runway could hear him.
Even here, in the middle of the sprawling base, he felt vulnerable.
The massive C-5 Galaxy quickly pulled in to his designated spot, safely between two large buildings. He opened his cargo hatch and his crew quickly pulled out several bulky pallets of supplies, and a brand new rotor assembly. They needed to hurry. He wanted to be up and out of the base before first light.
Once everything was out, it was time for the next payload. But this time, it was something much more important than freeze dried snack rations, laundry detergent and a half a ton of baking flower.
"Well, well, well if it isn't the Aluminum Overcast."
Connor looked down to see a green and gray forklift grinning up at him. "Good evening to you too John." He said, rolling his eyes. His voice was surprising light, and quiet for a plane of his size. "Now, are you guys read to load up? I need to leave before dawn."
"Yeah, we can get you out by sunrise." He said. "We just need to be careful… Don't want to cause more problems than there are already." He said.
Connor snorted. "But it wouldn't help if we were all shot out of the sky." He said, giving him a look.
"I know, I know…. Just be patient." John said, before disappearing in to the hanger to the Galaxy's left. A few minutes later, as ground crew were inspecting Connor for any damage, the hanger door slowly opened.
Connor had gotten some of the medical details of the plane they wanted him to carry back to Alaska, but he hadn't expected this. A young Raptor, maybe in her early twenties, he couldn't see anything past where her wings should have begun, because she was covered in a large white cloth. But it didn't take a surgeon to figure out how bad the damage was. Connor flinched. John had told him he had a plane who needed to be flow back to Anchorage, who had lost her wings in a crash… But he hadn't told him the extant of the damage.
The team of mechanic slowly pushed her up the back ramp, and in to the cargo hold. Connor let out an anxious sighed, and waited. His eyes watched the clock in the open medi hanger. "Please hurry…." He said, this time hoping not only for a quick take off, but for the young planes quick recovery. He knew if she had lost her wings and crashed, yet was stable enough to endure a long flight, it had to have been at least a week since the crash, in her case probably more. He wonder what the chanced of her ever being able to fly were, he guess that they couldn't be real great.
"Stay strong." He whispered.
Epsilon's eyes shot open as she was woken up by a deafening roar all around her, and for a moment she felt as if she was falling again. She panic, trying to fire up her after burners and pull out of the dive…
"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down! You're alright! You're going home!"
Epsilon seemed to calm a little when she noticed she wasn't falling. She looked around, two other mechanics sat with they're equipment nearby. She could tell she was inside a large planes, she should couldn't tell what type, but that didn't matter.
She noticed she was still hooked up to several monitors, and guess they were there as a safety precaution. They had told her they weren't too worried about her anymore, that all she really needed now was a few repair parts, her wings and a lot of time to heal.
"Don't worry, they're just there in case the air pressure, or things of that nature start causing you any problems." John said calmly, putting away a few of his tools.
Epsilon swallowed. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.
"Well, first and foremost, we just recently decided you were well enough to transport. We wanted to make sure that you weren't in any danger." He said. "Also, I contacted your mother, and she wanted it to be a surprise when you woke up in Anchorage, but that wasn't real high on my priorities." He got out a notepad out of a bag. "Plus, the faster we get you home, the faster you can get your wings back, and the faster you can fly again."
Epsilon bit back a quiet whine. She hadn't really thought about that, part of her didn't want to fly again. She kept thinking about the crash, and the pain and the feeling of pure helplessness. Part of her wanted to never go through that again…
She looked away from John and to a spot on the floor to her left. She felt miserable, not only because of the damage from the crash, but mentally as well. She was the first Raptor to be shot down in combat, that wasn't supposed to happen! They were supposed to be unsurpassed, unstoppable…..
The young Raptor blinked back tears as her emotions began building inside her like a pressure cooker. What would her parents say? She'd let her family down… I let Dad down… She bit the inside of her cheek and focused on the floor. She'd let everyone down.
Noticing her saddened expression, John rolled up in front of her. "Epsilon?" He asked.
Epsilon flinched, she had hoped he hadn't noticed her sulking. "Yes?" She asked, forcing down her emotions back up in the "bottle".
"If your blaming yourself, don't." He said. "Your just like your mother, something goes wrong, you blame yourself." His face turned serious. "I know you're beating yourself up over this, and I know you're worried about what your mother is going to think, what your father would think." His face seemed to soften again, he put a fork on his nose. "They're both proud of you, they always will be."
"How do you know?!" She demanded, she wasn't sure how to react other than that.
John chuckled lightly, giving her an optimistic look. "If I knew your father half as well as I pride myself in thinking, I know he'd be proud of you, Epsilon." He picked a few of his tools, and started organizing his bag, what he did when he wasn't sure what else to do. "And your IS proud of you, and I'm sure your little brother thinks you're the best big sister ever." He said.
Epsilon swallowed. Orion….
"From what your mother told me, he brags to all his friends that his sister is the best fighter on the planet." John said smiling up at her. "And he's been worried sick about you."
Epsilon glared at him. "That's not helping…" She snapped. She couldn't help but feel she had let her brother down too. He had always looked up to her, now she'd let him down. What was he supposed to tell his friends now? That his sister was he first Raptor to be shot down in combat?
John sighed, setting down a big silver wrench. "Alright, I'll stop talking." He said, he knew that it was usually best to let her calm down before discussing things like this. Still, it was worth a shot.
A shot… why didn't I remember to do that before we took off?! He mentally smacked himself multiple times over. He had planned on sedating her for most of the trip, because once they reached cruising altitude it was going to get pretty uncomfortable for a plane fresh out of the infirmary.
He sighed. Great, now get to try and sedate a 20 ton aircraft in another moving aircraft while still climbing. How fun…. The forklift thought sarcastically.
He took out the large needle and moved to where her wings should have been. "Okay, Epsilon. I'm gonna sedate your once more for the flight, because you're not going to be real comfortable during this flight, and I still have work left to do that will be messed up if so much as twitch." He said, laughing slightly.
Epsilon was pulled out of her thoughts one more, feeling a slight bit terrified, and forgetting the chaos of her emotions. "Wait, and you want to do that while still in flight? What if we hit an air current?!" She asked, giving him a panicked look.
He just laughed again. "I'm kidding, but it's going to hurt. So it's best if you're not awake for those adjustments."
Epsilon glared at him once more, but for a completely different reason. "I hate you."
"Yeah, I know that sweetie." He laughed. "Your dad said the same thing."
"I'm sure he meant it too." She snapped back at him. "And don't call me sweetie!"
He just chuckled. "Now, can I get this over with, or shall we spend this whole flight bickering about our feelings?"
Epsilon let out a mock irritated sigh, troubles forgotten. "Fine, just get it over with." She said.
John nodded, and injected the serum. After that it didn't take long before Epsilon fell back asleep once more.
O.O Why was this so hard to write?
A F-22 Raptor weighs around 21 tons, but because Epsilon doesn't have her wings or vertical stabilizers I would guess she weighs a little less, maybe 18 tons or so. Still, for a C-5 Galaxy that should be no problem. They can carry around 112 tons of cargo!
Sorry for any mistakes, I don't have a Beta's for this story... or for any of my stories for that matter. I had some, but not anymore. So, I'm (Please, pardon the expression) Winging it.
Some, part of my reasoning for having John sedate Epsilon for the light is that being up high with the different air pressure and things is not really great when your hurt. I learned this the hard way, while flying to Germany to visit my grandparents a few years ago, and all I did was fall of a trampoline and hit my spine on a rock. _ I don't even want to know how bad it would feel after damage like that, even if your an airplane!
Now, I have to go before my cat steals the rest of my Banana.