:: 29/12/2000 ::
Hiigara shone brightly in the view port. Now, after a month of soul searching, it looked more beautiful than ever. The other three humans, Lt. Cm. Liir Hra, Jacyn Naabal, and Nolan Hiilar, and the two robots 1R-D and 1R-F were sitting next to me, behind Commander Paktu, who was giving the eulogy. "Captain Kaar Naabal has served our navy for ten years. Many times he has faced death and lived and laughed to tell about it. His life was a fulfilling one, and has earned many honors.
"Giving his life, to save countless others, was no doubt a noble act. His memory will be honoured always. Which is why we not only have built a new Carrier fleet, Fighter-only, in his name, Kaar Fleet, but we also present him posthumously with the Kharakian Cross, the greatest award in the Hiigaran Navy." She laid an amber-studded cross on the podium. "Though we have no bodily remains, we will memorialise him in this ceremony by launching a torpedo from this ship. Hopefully, his soul will be encased within just like the plasma inside."
Sergeant Gaalsien's troops snapped to attention. "Ten hut!" he said emphatically. We watched from the bridge of the Avenger, the only surviving Assault Frigate of the battle. One blue torpedo shot out from the ship at an amazing speed, and as it quickly disappeared against the black of space beyond our home world, I truly felt the absence of his presence. I struggled to hold back tears; I suspect we all were. It was a brief ceremony, too brief to properly remember him, but we had to move on.
As we walked out, the Lt. Cm. stopped me. "Lieutenant?" I turned around, "Yes?" He slowly walked towards me. "I know we haven't spoken much since you entered the squadron." I nodded, knowing it was an insane understatement. We hadn't exchanged ten words, apart from battlefield chatter, for the whole stretch of the campaign. "I know."
"Well, you see," he said. "I sort of felt guilty about myself. I was one of the first Interceptor pilots in the service, and I went up against the four Assault Frigates that attacked the orbiting Cryo Pods. I understand that you were registered as Sleeper number 000001 on Cryo Tray 2, and your parents were on CT 1, under the registry 09999 and 100,000?" I nodded. "I was afraid to be frozen without my parents with me, yes." He looked at the floor. "I was unable to prevent CT 1 from being destroyed by the Taiidan. If I had reacted faster, maybe your parents would have not died, and…"
"And I wouldn't be here," I cut in. He looked at me with an unreadable face. I continued, "Because they died, I became interested in joining the Navy, to give something back for them. It wasn't revenge, per se, but wanted to make them proud. If I hadn't joined this squadron, and Jacyn hadn't captured a Turanic vessel as planned, no one would have known of the Ion Accelerator before it would be too late. Billions would be at risk." I put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm not happy that they're dead, but I believe that things turn out right no matter what."
He smiled. "Well, I'm glad we could come to peace before I left. I have been elected to head Raptor Wing, to retrace the route to Kharak. Without the Taiidan, it will hopefully be an easier 35,000 light years worth of journey." As we were shaking hands, he slipped something in my hand, and I examined it. It was nothing more than a holo plate. "His will," he explained. "He updated it just before the battle. Look it over when you have the time, but it basically says that you are the new commander of Angel Squadron."
I was stunned, and almost didn't let his hand go. I looked at him. "You mean I'm being promoted?" He grinned. "No, he thought that Lieutenant wasn't too junior to command eleven men. I know you will lead the new recruits to victory." And with a nod of his head, he was off.
Wow. Everything had happened so fast. Our victory, the Captain's death, my being given hold of the squadron. And if this weren't all enough, I turned over the holo plate, to be greeted with a note. "Rally the troops and head to the Lazarus' hangar. You'll see a welcome surprise."
From the ten original pilots of the squadron, the five remaining ones were waiting outside the hangar, eagerly waiting for someone to let us in. The other four just found out about my promotion. Jacyn said, "So, Leader. What changes will you be making?" I shrugged. "Well, Jacyn, I need a quartermaster. And with your background as a mercenary, I don't doubt that you know how to scrounge for materials." He nodded appreciatively. "What about me?" This last comment came from Nolan." I looked at him. "I need an Executive Officer, Major. Do you refuse?" He was just as positive as Jacyn. 'XO reporting for duty, sir!" I beamed. "You can still call me Jake."
Finally, old Tetral came up to us to unlock the doors. He turned to us. "While you guys were risking your butts in that last encounter, Fleet Command sent us some new construction orders to complete for you. You won't be flying your old ships anymore."
Nolan interjected, "You mean we won't be flying Interceptors anymore?" Tetral shook his head. "Not exactly. You see, up to this point, you've been flying Blade-class interceptors. Command decided that this concept, especially for an elite wing, was pretty dated, so they built a new class of Interceptor."
The doors opened, and we saw five of the most beautiful ships we had ever seen. "From now on," he continued, "you'll be flying Lance-class interceptors."
I walked up to my new fighter. The ship, no, the masterpiece, was built in a U-shape. The cockpit was elevated to be the apex of the wings, which curved outwards from it. At the tip of each wing lay the recognizable particle cannons, but underneath the cockpit lay an unrecognisable weapons platform. "What are those?" I asked to no one in particular. "They appear to be missile bays," answered 1R-F. "Yup," confirmed Tetral. "There are four missiles on these birds. They'll make you a much more threatening target." I heard Jacyn say, "Wow." The hull, which was clearly far more armored than our older craft, was built with a turtle-like scaly structure, which was accented by the white and black paint used to show our squadron colors. Underneath my cockpit on each side was a black sign stating, "SJET, JAKE LT," along with silhouettes of all my kills since the last mission.
"Can we take these things for a ride?" asked Nolan (I noticed that the artists of our cockpits didn't fail to add "NAPALM" on his fuselage.) A klaxon sounded, and the hangar was bathed in red light. "Warning," the PA system announced. "Taiidan vessels on an intercept course. All crews to combat stations." The dirty engineer looked at him. "I guess you have to." All of us grinned.
My cockpit was quite roomier than our old one, and the control interface was so simple that I could easily fly the thing even without training. "All ships report in," I said in my most leader-like tone. "Angel Four here," came Nolan's voice.
"Angel five on standby,"
"Angel Seven is also ready,"
"This is Ten, One. Pity we're not wing mates anymore."
"I changed my callsign, Jacyn, why not change yours?"
I looked at the Taiidan force. Only two squadrons of Bombers, followed by a trio of Support Frigates. I targeted the closest Bomber, and a more detailed-than-usual hologram of it popped up on my HUD. A red box circled it on my canopy, emitting a regular, but accelerating tone. Then a flashing sign confirmed that I had a target lock. I grinned. "You guys picked the wrong day to screw with us." I held down the trigger and a yellow streaking projectile raced towards my lumbering target.
"YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
