Of Pens and Swords

They had been in training for this mission for a few years. Everybody knew it was coming down the pipe eventually, nobody knew when though. The pilots had flew many missions, in all rolls and all conditions. They felt they were prepared for anything.

The rollcall one mid December called out 4 names. The four will fly the assault package. They were briefed on the mission scope, the pitfalls to avoid and the valleys to follow to sneak in. Mounted in their transports, they flew formation after formation, in bad weather, in rough terrain, against fighters bent on knocking the juicy transports out of the skies. The lack of sleep drove some to make slight mistakes, drove others to concentrate harder.

The 3rd week in January, the mission was put in a hot status, the pilots and assault troops given a go. The final briefings were given, final situation updated, final course to take laid out. There was a front of bad weather in the middle of the flight plan, and though the pilots had trained for such situations, this one looked twice as bad as any had trained for. The enemy locations template was updated as well, and from the imagery, it looked the the ‘stani’s had peppered a few more anti-air emplacements throughout the sector, mainly in the valleys the transport pilots were slated to use. This looked like it was going to be a bit more hairy than previously thought.

The transports lifted off one early Monday morning with the assault package, mentally prepared for the fight, juiced up on coffee to help keep alert. The formation flew for a while in bad-guy territory, relatively unscathed and unnoticed. Then the weather front hit. Immediately, the flight lead went down, hit by a tremendous down draft that couldn’t be seen, couldn’t be predicted. The 2nd flight lead and two wingmen almost went down as well, barely pulling out at tree top level. One of the 3 pilots started to crack under the pressure, watching one go down, being taxed with stress for weeks of training.

The initial front was passed, and now the storm. The storm made the winds through the valleys hard to navigate, hard to maintain an altitude. 2nd flight lead decided the best way to fight this was to pull a little more altitude. It would expose him and the assault package to potentially more anti-air assets and enemy fighters, but it would give him more room to play with if another downdraft was hit. 2nd flight wing decided to follow suit, though 1st flight wing decided to stay low and on the planned target. 1st flight wing was also the one that was cracking under the pressure, and was using the ground for more reassurance than safety. it proved to be a critical error in judgment for for the remaining 1st flight. the storm battered the transport hard, drove 1st flight wing into the trees a few times, though he barely pulled out at the last second. The hitting the trees, however, damaged the structural integrity of 1st flight wing’s ship, and after one last major air current pushed the bird into tree’s again, he was forced to set the bird down, sit out the fight.

2nd flight lead and wing were the only ones left for the assault. They kept their altitude a little higher, and finally pulled out of the storm. Once it was realized that the skies were a little clearer, 2nd flight decided to hit the deck again…a second too late.

2nd flight attracted the attention of some lonesome air defense gunner on a hilltop. He lobbed a rocket towards the two attacking transports, and watched…..2nd flight wing calls out a May-Day alert seconds later. He’s been hit by rocket, left side engine is on fire. A grueling few seconds pass, and the wingman says that the engine is dead, fire is contained, and can continue on the flight on one engine. He’s got a full package of troops however, and has to gain altitude to make sure he can maneuver. Flight 2 gains altitude.

The objective is within sight, after the transports come out of the valley complex. A quick scan on the forward radar shows what they expected to see…enemy fighter coverage over the OBJ. Damnit…

Flight 2 hits the deck once again, ready for the final assault. The troops in the assault package are given the “1 Minute” call, prepare for jettison. Everybody is tightening harnesses, locking weapons systems, getting amped up….Flight 2 wing is all of a sudden on fire, visible out of the right window of leads cockpit. Lead calls to wing, no answer. He sees flight 2 wing pitch up violently, stalling his airspeed, and sees the assault troops jettison out of the bottom, flying towards the OBJ. A fraction of a second later, Flight 2 wing ejects, shooting skyward, while his bird rotates on it’s tail axis and makes its final decent to mother earth, a ball of fire.

Flight 2 lead, seconds away from the OBJ, pulls up, gains altitude, positioning himself over the target area to jettison the troops. He’s in position, calls Launch Launch Launch over the comms, and feels the 6 thuds of jettisoned assault pods from the bottom. 2 lead now only has one mission in life, to survive, and help his troops survive. He pulls into a steep left turn bank to provide door-gun coverage for the assault troops, running a tight racetrack around. He looks on the radar and sees two gunships closing quickly. Ahh crap.

The assault troops call, say that the OBJ is seconds away from being taken, give them a few more seconds of coverage….A missile screams past 2 Leads windscreen, followed by the tracer fire of a very close fighter.

Flight 2 lead calls back, HURRY THE HELL UP! to the assault package, reverses pitch and puts his transport head on into the attacking fighter. He’s hoping to cut down on the time the bad guy has to fire a solution on him….As he is turning, the transport ship violently bucks, skids sideways through the air. A quick look at the dummy lights shows that right side engines are out, right side sensors are down…Altitude is being bled away at a maddening pace….Two choices to make, go down with the ship or eject…..Damnit.

Lead pulls the yellow striped handles beneath his seat, and immediately feels is feet and shoulders being yanked in to the seat, and the launch. Below his feet, he sees two more missiles impact his bird, and watch it fall to the ground in pieces….

His chute deploys, seat falls away. The last thing Flight 2 Lead hears is, Mission Accomplished, OBJ secure, over……