Page 76 of Princess

The flight was smooth for the first two hours.Then a tense silence took over as we waited for the first sight of the enemy.

“Ahead,” crackled over the speaker.

I stood with King, and we walked to the flight deck to see out the front windows.

The vast, open ocean stretched before us.The heavy, lumbering bomber, its belly loaded with missiles, flew to our right.

There was nothing King or I could do at this point.The Warriors’ lives depended on our pilots’ abilities to steer the planes clear of bullets from the Federation’s ships, and we knew the large lumbering jets couldn’t avoid them all.

"Target acquired!"came the crackle over the comms from the passenger plane on our left."Three o'clock, five ships in formation!"

Nokita’s voice came over the radio next.“Alpha 1, 2, and 3 disengage.We have this.”

Our pilot steered the nose of the plane upward into the clouds.Alpha 4 and 5 would support Nokita in the attack.

We could not afford to lose the majority of our men, and splitting our forces was paramount.King and I returned to our seats.The men stared out the windows or looked straight ahead.No one spoke.

Behind us, the first explosion went off, rattling our plane.King lifted my hand and kissed the backs of my fingers.I clenched his hand tightly.

Another explosion, this one fainter.

The plane leveled out, and we resumed the flight to the Louisiana airstrip.King kept hold of my hand.

An hour later, we reached land and made a wide circle around the Federation camp so they wouldn’t see us.At least if we were lucky.

∞∞∞

Nokita

The bomber gave a slow, steady gurgle that was the best I could get out of the old engine.The enemy was below, and I banked sharply, lining up for the first run.Alarms would be blaring aboard the Federation ships, and men would be scrambling to their posts.I watched the lead ship’s turrets swiveled in our direction.Bullets pummeled the sky.

“Now,” I yelled.

A missile dropped and plummeted toward the lead vessel.It was a miss.Our six-man crew had no practice.This was a learn-on-the-fly scenario.

I made a sharp turn and went back in.

“Ready!”yelled one of my men.Below us, the bomber's internal systems hummed, and the bomb bay doors cycled shut.We were ready for another pass.I wouldn’t keep the Federation waiting.My eyes locked onto the lead ship again.

I pushed the throttle forward, feeling the surge of power as the old engines strained.We were coming in low.Tracer rounds erupted from the ship’s weapons system.They peppered our wings.I focused on the target.

"Damage?"I yelled out.

"We’re good, Captain!Just cosmetic!"one of the men yelled back; his voice was a little too cheerful.

“Bombs away!”I shouted.

He hit the release.Another missile detached, tumbling toward the ship below.

A few seconds later, a blinding flash, followed by a loud boom, ripped through the air.A geyser of water and shrapnel flew skyward.The lead ship shuddered as several smaller explosions in the same vicinity rocked it.

“Fuck yes,” I yelled, realizing we hit stored fuel.

A cheer went up from my men.

“Can anyone see a sign of our sub?”I yelled over the roar of the engine.

“Negative.”

---