Magnus
Magnus looked at the ‘Greymark’ in the Steadfast Shipyards, and let out a sigh. He had been in the cockpit of the new Star Lance starfighter for over thirty hours. The first few days had been fun as they learned the limits of the newly acquired starfighter. Now he would give almost anything to be back on board the ‘Greymark’ as it received much needed upgrades.
Green Flight Two was on watch while Green Flight One of the squadron slept in their cockpits. Commander Vex had them on a strict training schedule while the ‘Greymark’ was in the shipyards, as though all pilots were making up for time lost while in transit from Bastion.
“You see that?” Lydia asked over the comm system.
“See what Green Twelve?” Sub Lt Milburn asked.
“I don’t know,” Lydia replied. “There was something on the sensors for a moment, but it’s gone now.”
“Anyone else see it?” Lt Yoke asked.
“Negative,” Magnus replied along with the rest of Flight Two.
“I saw something, I swear,” Lydia replied.
“Okay,” Lt Yoke said. “Green Nine, take Green Ten, and Green Eleven, and check it out. I’ll wake the Major,” the Lt told the Sub Lt.
“Roger that,” Sub Lt Milburn said. “You heard her, ten, and eleven on me, Green twelve, send us a ping to your sensor ghost.
Magnus heard the sigh from Lydia as she acknowledged the order.
“I want Jump drives spun up, and ready to withdraw if required,” Sub Lt Milburn said.
Magnus brought his Starlance into formation with the Sub Lt, and Edwyn as they matched speeds. He had to admit, that he enjoyed the new Jump Drives. They were the only Commonwealth Starfighter with the feature, and one of the few small craft in the fleet that had it. They couldn’t match their Furse counterpart, but it gave them options they didn’t have.
The three starfighter flew in formation towards the sensor ghost of Lydia. It took them well over twenty minutes before they were within what would be close range, still several thousand kilometers away.
“Anything?” Sub Lt Milburn asked.
“I’ve got nothing,” Magnus replied from his cockpit as he looked at one of his display screen, and tapped a few keys to launch a fresh scan instead of the standard passive scans.
“I think I got something,” Edwyn replied. “It doesn’t have power reading, but I don’t know what it is. It’s not moving…”
“It’s a probe,” Sub Lt Milburn replied as all of a sudden space filled with the arge hull of a starship, and Magnus’s display, sensors, and alarms went off in his cockpit.
“Fuck,” Edwyn replied.
“Jump,” Sub Lt Milburn shouted.
Magnus hit the jump command, but his display died, and a voice came over the Comm system. “Green Nine, Ten, and Eleven, you are dead. Remain in position until end of war game exercise.”
“Fuck!” Magnus shouted, and hit his cockpit but knew that no one could hear him. At least not his squadron mates, a safety officer or intell officer over looking the games maybe, but he was now cut off from everyone else, and all he had gotten was a sore ass.
