A Galaxy in Peril
Book One: World War III
Chapter 1: Homeward Bound
May 5, 2196, Jarofan Star base Jarofu 1:
First Lieutenant Benjamin Blattenburger made his way through the crowd of about 700 of his fellow Terrans, and out of the briefing room, while the full weight of what Brig. Gen. Larikan, had just told them. The General, commander of the Jarofan Star Foreign Legion's Terran Fighter Wing, had essentially disbanded the unit until the war that had recently broken out on Earth was over. The unwritten part of the deal was that the Terran pilots were to return home and fight against the Alliance for Humanity, and the other terrorist factions that were waging war against the Terran Union.
They couldn't come out and make that statement, since the intra-galactic treaty recognizing the Terran Union as a legitimate power in the galaxy stated, in no uncertain terms, that outside intervention was off-limits in a Terran civil war. The treaties further stated that in the case of such intervention, the offender would be dealt with "in and appropriate manner" by the other members of the Galactic Consortium. Therefore, the Jarofans, who were hoping the Union would win, disbanded all Terran Foreign Auxiliary Forces, with the hope that this influx of experienced veterans would tip the scales in favor of the badly out-matched Union forces.
Ben's musings were cut off as he arrived at the Star base's massive hangar bay. "Well, I just hope we make it there in time to make a difference," he thought grimly to himself, as he looked down the rows of parked starfighters for his familiar craft. He came to his A-20 Mako presently, and began to go through pre-flight checks, just like he had in the hundreds of routine, and not so routine patrols before now. This time, something was different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Perhaps it was the fact that this time the battles would be fought over his home, and the lives of people he'd grown up with depended upon his piloting skills. Then again, it could be the fact that this was the first time he'd be participating in a full-scale war, one in which his chances of survival would be slim to none.
Going over the weapons load outs, fuel levels, and anti-matter reactor fuel levels for the third time, he was satisfied that the fighter was going to be as ready as it would ever be. After completing the final check, he began the reactor power-up and engine start sequences. Soon he felt the satisfying rumble of the twin ion-turbine engines vibrating through the back of his seat, and he smiled to himself. The Alliance terrorists may have caught the Terran governments with their collective pants around their ankles, but they were going to be the ones getting a nasty surprise, this time! It was more than likely that any given member of the Star Foreign Legion had more actual combat experience than half the entire Alliance forces put together, and he planned on using that factor to its fullest advantage.
Ben returned to the present as the engines completed their warm-up, and he kicked in the repulsors, and began floating his star fighter toward the line of other fighters awaiting takeoff clearance. As he nosed into the queue, his subspace transceiver crackled to life.
"Was ist los, Ben?" a familiar voice queried.
Ben smiled as he replied, "Fritz!! Nicht ist los.... Ist Hans mit du?" Before Fritz could reply, however, another voice broke in on their conversation.
<"First Lieutenant Blattenburger and Second Lieutenant Diehlmann! You two should know that the use of a non-official language on a government frequency is unauthorized,"> a female Jarofan voice indignantly declared.
<"Forgive me, Mitaki-chan, I thought we were on a private channel," Fritz quipped, and before Captain Tagalima could comment on his reply, quickly added, <"Oh, and Ben, in reply to your question, yes, Hans is right behind me in line. I take it you want us to be your wingmen, again.">
Ben shouted, <"Heck yeah! Of course I'd want two of the best fighter pilots in the galaxy on my wing! I mean, we do make one badazz team... Remember that time when it was just the three of us at Orion IV when those space pirates attacked and...">
<"Hey, pirate boy," Mitaki said, interrupting Ben's anecdote, "You're cleared for takeoff, and Larry and Curly are next, so move it or lose it!">
<"Yes, MA'AM!!"> Ben grinned as he jammed the throttle open and roared out of the hangar. Presently, Fritz and Hans joined him, in a classic "Vic" formation, with Ben's fighter in the lead, and the other two on both sides and somewhat to the rear. As soon as they were in formation, Ben said, "Okay, you guys know the drill: dual fire on the autolasers, and single salvo on the missiles, 'cause those terrorists shouldn't have anything that would take more'n one missile to kill. Oh, an' try to save the gauss cannon for when we REALLY need it, 'cause there ain't no tellin' when we'll get a reload."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Hans queried.
"Hans, you should know that I'd NEVER forget that!" Ben shot back, "If there are no other questions, let us pray.... LORD, may you grant protection over us so that even if 'a thousand may fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand, it will not come near us. We will only observe with our eyes and see the punishment of the wicked' In Jesus' Name, Amen." As the other two said their 'Amen's', the deflector shields around their fighters glowed as a surge of holy energy boosted their strength, and granted immunity to magical damage.
"Okay, guys, I'm transmitting the jump coordinates, prepare to enter hyperspace on my mark!" Ben said, flipping up the safety cover over the hyper drive activation switch, "5...4...3...2...1...MARK!" With that, he punched the button, and the field of stars in front of the fighter blurred, and gave way to the chaotic, swirling colors of inter-dimensional space, as he completed the transition. Soon Fritz and Hans were beside him again, as the three fighters made the journey to the outside of the Ort Cloud.
After 45 minutes of travel through hyperspace, the "tunnel" of colors opened up, and the three fighters emerged just outside of a vast field of comets and asteroids. This Asteroid field, known as the Ort cloud, formed a natural barrier around the Solar system, making approach to the planets rather dangerous, to say the least. Fritz, Ben, and Hans opened up the throttles on their fighters, and flew toward the entrance to one of the four safe passages through the mass of rock and debris.
This entrance, unlike the others, did not have a line of ships backed up for half an AU, waiting to go through the customs checkpoints. The reason was that this particular route was restricted to military and emergency traffic only. Sitting outside the opening in the vast asteroid field was a Jarofan Miraku class planetary defense platform, with a Cragonian Ch'karr class destroyer sitting nearby. At the approach of the three A-20's, six fighters broke off the swarm of Gravitchian AF-20 "Blade Falcons" patrolling the area. Soon, Ben and his comrades were surrounded by the six fighters, and the leader demanded, "Pilots of the Jarofan Star Foreign Legion fighters Green 1, Green 2 and Green 3, identify yourselves, and state your business."
"C'mon, Falrich, I thought we knew each other better than that," Ben said, half jokingly, "and of course, Fritz and Hans are here with me."
"Ben? What brings you here? The last I heard, you guys were assigned to the Orion sector, patrolling the border with the Brugellian Empire.... Unless the rumors I've heard are true," Captain Falrich Mof Grugen replied.
"Yeah, the Governor just 'disbanded' all Terran units in the Jarofan Foreign Legions, so that we could go home and take care of some 'personal business.' By the way, I don't remember the Ort Cloud access being controlled by the Jarofan Federal Republic, unless certain things I've heard over the past few weeks are also true," Ben said, smiling.
"Ah, I thought as much," Mof Grugen replied, "And yes, Alpha Centauri and outer Solar system colonies voted to defect to the Jarofan Republic within days of the war's outbreak. It looks like I can be expecting to see more people from the Jarofan Foreign Legions in the days to come."
"Yeah, Falrich," Ben said casually, "Mind getting us clearance through the passage, 'cause me 'n' Fritz 'n' Hans are in a bit of a hurry. Last news we got from home was pretty grim, and we'd like to get there while there is still hope of putting a stop to those Alliance terrorists."
"Yes, I've already transmitted your request, and have just now received permission, you three may go. May the light of Yahoveh guide your paths, and may He keep you from harm," Mof Grugen said, as the fighters broke off from Ben's formation, and returned to their patrol of the sector. Ben smiled as he waved at the departing fighters, and made for the passage through the storm of rock and ice.
As the three fighters entered the passage through the cloud, they could see the various asteroid-based quantum missile launchers, autolaser batteries, ion cannons, and rail guns surrounding them, insuring that only invited guests made it through alive. Since this part of the journey would take about four hours at top speed, Ben decided to alleviate the boredom by tuning in some music over his hyperspace radio. After finding a station that played classic 20th and 21st Century rock, he sat back and watched the asteroids bumping, grinding, and swirling around the gravitational anomaly that kept the path clear of debris.
About three and a half hours later, right in the middle of a song by a group called "The Beatles," the DJ broke in saying, "We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special live bulletin. We go now to our field anchor, Rodrigo Diaz, who is in Washington, DC with this story."
The sound of explosions and distant laser and gunfire came from the speaker, as the field anchor said, "You all, no doubt, know about the situation in Europe, Africa, and the rest of the Solar system, but the war has finally came here. Even as I speak, Alliance troops are landing in the capitol, and have taken over much of the city, as the US government evacuates. So far the only serious resistance to the invaders has been from street gangs and armed citizens trying to protect their turf. Reports have come in elsewhere of more Alliance troops making amphibious landings from Labrador down to New Orleans. If these reports are true, then this is the lar....."
"Ben, You hear that?" Hans broke in.
"Yeah, Hans, I did," came Ben's terse reply, "I'm already calculatin' a single-jump trajectory from the exit to Earth. I just hope we make it in time."
Half an hour later, the three A-20's emerged from the Ort Cloud, and Ben beamed the jump coordinates to the other fighters, and they made the jump to Earth in about 3 Minutes. As the fighters completed re-entry over Washington, their radios came alive, with a frantic voice screaming, "MAYDAY! MAYDAY! This is Air Force One; we're under attack by enemy forces, and need assistance. Any friendly units in the area please respond!!"
Ben looked to his right, and saw Fritz nod, and as he turned to his left, Hans gave him a "thumbs up," so he keyed the microphone on his hyperspace radio, and said, "Air Force One, this is ex-Jarofan Foreign Starfighter, Green One, my partners and I will gladly assist, over."
"Roger Green One, we'll be glad to have your assistance, Air Force One, out."
"Roger, out, Air Force One." With that, Ben firewalled the throttle, and streaked off toward the president's beleaguered Patrol craft. Within moments, the one hundred yard long patrol craft came into view, as did the firefight going on around it. Three out-dated F-29 Peregrine starfighters were doing battle with a dozen Brugellian made 'Wasp' class fighters, while the autolaser turrets on Air Force One itself blasted away at the darting enemy.
"Mark One!" Ben shouted, as he achieved a solid lock on one of the Alliance fighters, and launched a quantum missile at it. Soon the missile reached its target, and the matter-antimatter reaction reduced the fighter to its component atoms.
"Zwei ist gestorben!" Fritz exclaimed as one of his missiles found its mark, filling the area with a brilliant flash of light as the Wasp disintegrated.
"Auf wiedersehen!" Hans said as he, too, destroyed one of the enemy craft with a missile. As the three A-20's closed into dog fighting range, he said, "I just wish the Brugellians were this easy to frag!"
"Cut the chatter, Green 3," Ben said, "Green 2, Green 3, this is Green 1. Accelerate to attack speed. Let's show these rookies how the pro's do it in the JFL!" As soon as he said that, the three fighters split up, going after the three nearest bogeys. Fritz pulled into a high-loop maneuver, dropping in on the rear of a Wasp that was chasing one of the F-29's. The Alliance fighter turned into a fireball as Fritz repeatedly blasted its rear with twin bursts from his quad 40mm autolaser cannons.
"Help! I've got a bogey on my tail, and I can't shake him!" screamed the pilot of the Peregrine designated "Eagle 5," seconds before the twin plasma cannons on the Wasp blasted his fighter apart. The Alliance pilot did not have long to gloat over his kill, as Hans came up from below, and he shared the same fate as his victim.
"Green 2, this is Green 1, drag and bag, over," Ben said as he flew towards two Wasps ganging up on one of the remaining Peregrines.
"Green 1, this is Green 2, drag and bag, roger out!" Fritz grinned, as he matched speeds with Ben, who had reached the two Wasps by this time. Ben quickly fired two shots into one of the Wasps as he flew past it. The Wasp's pilot, thinking that Ben had made a mistake, broke off his attack run on the Peregrine to chase Ben's A-20. He pulled up on Ben's rear, and right into Fritz's sights. Two seconds later, he to joined the ranks of the dead. Ben and Fritz then prepared to chase the Wasp that was still on the Peregrine's tail, only to find that the pilot had used a similar maneuver to lure her pursuer into the sights of one of Air Force One's twin autolaser turrets. Ben turned toward one of the Wasps, who also came straight at him for a head to head engagement. Ben pulled his craft to avoid the lasers and plasma bolts from the Wasp, while returning fire. Just as he scored a fatal hit on the Wasp, he took a plasma bolt to his forward shields. The A-20 shook violently as the plasma charge enveloped it with a sheet of fire, but Ben's divinely enhanced shields managed to hold under the punishment. After checking to make sure there was no serious damage, Ben balanced his shields, and boosted their recharge rate. Looking around, he discovered that the others had finished off the rest of the bogeys.
"That was some piece of flying, boys," a voice said over their radios, "America and I owe you guys a debt of gratitude. I was wondering if I might have your names, so that I have something to put on the medal certificates."
"This is Green 1, on behalf of my partners and myself, I just wanna say that we're just glad we could be of assistance. I'm First Lieutenant Benjamin Blattenburger, recently released from active duty in the Jarofan Star Foreign Legion," Ben replied, "My two partners, Green 2 and Green 3 are Second Lieutenants Fritz and Hans Diehlmann, respectively."
"Well, Ben, Fritz, Hans, I'm faxing the paperwork for you three to be commissioned in the U.S. Air Force at your current ranks," President Garcia said, "Now repeat after me: I do solemnly swear to uphold and defend the Articles of the Terran Union and the Constitution of the United States of America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; to obey the lawful orders of my superiors, and to conduct myself in a manner befitting an officer and a gentleman; so help me God." After Ben, Fritz and Hans finished repeating the President's words, he then said, "Good, I've got another group of three A-20's that will arrive here in 10-15 minutes. Since there aren't any enemies nearby, I have a mission for you three. About half an hour ago, three divisions deployed along the Potomac River and the old C&O canal to try and hold the invasion force there. Since they were made of mostly green troops, and were heavily out-numbered to boot, the defense turned into a rout within minutes. What I want you boys to do is hit the enemy column from behind, and destroy as much of their heavy equipment, tanks, and artillery as you can. I've also got word of local police and construction workers dynamiting selected bridges in an attempt to force the enemy to go against defendable positions. When you've done all that you can, I want you to meet up with one of the local National Guard regiments, and get word back here, if possible. Good luck, and happy hunting! President Garcia, out."
"Affirmative, sir, Green 1, roger out," Ben said as he and his wingmen wheeled away from the president's patrol craft. "OK, Fritz, Hans, we'll follow Interstate-81 north. I'm sure that they'll be takin' that way up the Cumberland Valley."
"How the hell do you know what route we're taking, I've just now loaded the GPS map of the area," Hans demanded.
"Simple," came Ben's deadpan reply, "I grew up around here. Right now, we're over Interstate 70, heading west. We'll arrive at the junction with I-81 in about 1 minute. I want you and Fritz to try to get the police band on the radio, and let them know that we will assist them in blowing up the bridges, and I'll try to get hold of the local National guard units and let them know we're coming."
"Roger!" came both Fritz and Hans' replies. The three fighters banked high over the cloverleaf where I-70 and I-81 crossed. As they turned north, they dropped altitude until they were less than 200 feet above the ground, and hopefully below enemy sensor cover. Soon, their own target search and tracking sensors registered a large number of enemy contacts immediately ahead of them.
Fritz broke the silence: "Green 1, this is Green 2, I have hostiles dead ahead, it looks like there is about.... Himmel!! There are over 500 mechanized units alone, and a whole shitload of infantry, best guess about 5000 or so. What are the local military assets?"
"I see them, Green 2," Ben replied, "I'm guessing a few local National Guard regiments, as well as a number of local volunteers, probably about 500 Infantry and 6 or 7 tanks at most. That means we got our work cut out for us. We're in missile range, so Green 3 hits the left side of the column, Green 2, you hit the right side, and I'll take the middle. When you're out of missiles, switch to your gauss cannon, but only use it on the armor. When you run out of rounds for the cannon, switch to lasers. We aren't leaving until our antimatter reactors are down to 5% fuel remaining. That should be enough to get us to the Chambersburg Spaceport. Okay, guys, let's hit these Alliance scumbags where the sun don't shine!"
"Roger, Green 1, Green 2 out," Fritz replied as he banked right to begin his attack run.
"Green 1, this is Green 3, roger wilco," Hans said as he began his attack on the left side of the enemy tank column.
Ben acknowledged their replies, and gunned his engines, lining up the first shot. Within thirty seconds, the three fighters had each fired their remaining eleven quantum missiles at the heaviest concentrations of tanks they could find. The enemy armor wheeled their turrets around as they realized, a little too late, that they were under attack. Before they could fire a single shot, the missile spread slammed into their ranks, exploding into a great blinding flash of pure energy. Many of the tanks in the blast radius became part of the matter-antimatter reaction as their own reactors ruptured under the punishment of the initial blast. These ones, in turn, took out a number of other tanks that were only lightly damaged by the quantum missile blast. The remaining seventy-five tanks held their ground and began to fire at the fighters. Ben dodged their rail guns and lasers as he pulled a trigger on the left side of his control yoke. His fighter rocked back slightly as the 30mm Vulcan gauss cannon spit out 100 hypersonic rounds in a one-second burst. Five tanks exploded, as the super-accelerated steel projectiles sawed them in half. Fritz managed to take out two, but his fighter took a rail gun bolt to the rear shields as he circled around to make another pass on the remaining tanks. As he pulled back to balance his remaining shields out, his twin brother, Hans managed to take out a row of about seven others who were trying to line up another shot at Fritz. Ben went into a corkscrew loop, dodging a spread of rail gun bolts and laser fire in order to make a run on a group of about 15 tanks that were busy with Fritz and Hans. Ben's A-20 dove from out of the sun, with lasers and gauss gun blazing, and the tanks were vaporized before they even knew they were under attack.
Hans and Fritz made another pass, and came under small arms fire from the troops as they made another strafing run on the remaining 46 tanks. The three A-20's ignored the relatively low-power infantry weapons, and concentrated on the tanks. As they destroyed the last of the tanks, a sphere of dark energy expanded, surrounding the entire troop column. Almost immediately after that, bolts of red, fiery energy lanced out at the fighters, striking Hans as he attempted to dodge them. The divine energy enhancing his shields glowed a bright blue-white as it absorbed the magic missiles. "Green 1!" Hans yelled, "They've got mages in their group!"
"They're satanic sorcerers. Hang in there, I'm dealing with them right now," Ben responded to Hans, after which he began praying, "LORD, grant us strength, so that we may take our stand against the devil's schemes. 'For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, principalities and powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual wickedness in high places. *' In Your name, Amen." Then, he looked at the demonic ward surrounding the troops, and said, "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, Lord of Heaven and Earth, I bind you demonic spirits and cast you into the abyss to return no more!!" As he finished saying this, the black energy sparkled and dissipated, while the flagging deflector shields around Fritz, Hans, and his A-20's began to glow white. "Alright, guys, let's take down some of those troops!" Ben shouted.
"Ja Awol!" Fritz and Hans simultaneously replied, as the three fighters lined up, and began strafing the enemy troops. As they came around for their third pass over the fleeing infantry, an alarm started beeping in Ben's cockpit. He looked down, and saw the 'A/M React. Fuel Low' light flashing.
"Green 2, Green 3, what's you’re antimatter reactor status?" Ben asked.
"Green 1, this is Green 2, I've just got a low fuel alarm," Fritz replied.
"Green 3, here, I don't have an alarm, but my fuel is down to 8%," Hans added.
"Roger, form up and prepare to depart this area. We'll be going to the coordinates I've designated on your GPS maps," Ben said, "We should have power to get us there, but just in case, power down all weapons and non-essential systems."
After receiving affirmative replies, Ben led his wingmen toward the small city of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Maintaining a speed of mach 4, they reached the spaceport in about four minutes. As they began circling the Spaceport, Ben noticed a makeshift military command post had been set up in and around one of the unused hangars. He took note of this, then turned his attention to matters of more pressing importance. Keying the microphone on his hyperspace transceiver, he said, "Chambersburg control, this is United States Air Force Fighter Green 1. Requesting clearance for myself and my two wingmen to land."
"Starfighter Green 1, you and your two wingmen have permission to land on pad 2C," the tower controller replied.
"Chambersburg Control, this is Green 1, roger out." Ben, Fritz and Hans then brought their fighters over 2C, one of the four large commercial freighter landing areas, kicked in their VTOL, and gently touched down in perfect formation. Soon the three pilots popped their canopies open, removed their helmets and stiffly climbed out of their A-20's. Ben walked toward the impromptu military command post with the holo-vid of the battle with the enemy army in hand. As he worked out the stiffness from spending 6 and a half solid hours in his fighter, he allowed a small smile. Despite the dire circumstances, it was still good to be among the familiar sights and sounds of home.
*Ephesians 6:12
