Redman and Speedy conquer Mars, and other shenanigans.
This is a snippet from my final project for Fantasy and Sci Fy for college.
SF 57 Stike Fighters, Call Sign Badger 41 and 42, orbiting 10 kilometers from LZ Chosin, Mars.
Lieutenant Commander Jacob “Redman” Daniels and Lieutenant JG Natalie “Speedy” Walters orbited at 6000 meters over Mars; awaiting the call to support the Marines at LZ Chosin.
Red Man’s radio sounded off with, “Badger flight, immediate mission for India 26, north side of LZ Chosin. Need this one quick, grunts in contact, over.”
Red Man got inside his cockpit and went over the graphics package that command pushed to his computer showing targets, line of attack, and icons for all friendlies in the vicinity.
If this crap were easy, they would let the Army do it…”
“ANGLICO 63, Badger 41. Will be on target in less than 30. Will call BDA after first pass. Per the graphics, will exfil from LA to NY and start our racetracks 10 klicks off target, over.”
Badger flight would hit the targets on the ground in from of Inda 16 and fly out of the action east to west and start orbiting waiting for the next ground attack mission.
“Roger Badger, make it quick, you know how the grunts are.”
“Roger 63, yanking and banking now, on target in 20. Badger flight, out.”
The Northrup Grumman SF 57 Shrike attack fighter contained the best technology available for the air to air and air to ground role for combat. The fighter could take off with rocket assist from earth, go to space and break orbit, perform any mission, and return with power to spare. The engines were advanced Space X designs that breathed air in atmosphere and burned propellant mixed with liquid O2 in space. Advanced military grade artificial intelligence reduced pilot workload and operated the defensive suite that protected the fighter. Internal and External hardpoints carried a massive amount of ordinance, and two hardpoints on each wing could be filled as well with more rockets, missiles, and bombs.
“Speedy, follow me in on the first pass and put your ordinance to the north of mine on the target. Friendlies are danger close to the south, so let’s do this one by the book.”
Speedy responded with two clicks of her transmit button.
Redman Firewalled his engines and felt his G Suit inflate as he pulled a 7 G turn to get lined up with his target. The Shrike leaped forward with the added power and threw his body deep into his ejection seat he felt all 40,000 kilos of thrust as the spacefighter followed his commands. The onboard AI fire control system gave him queues to his target and icons for friendly and enemy forces. All the meat sack had to do was fly the fighter.
“Speedy, Redman. First pass will be with rockets; I’m shooting a ripple of 16. Follow that up with 16 of your own just to the north.”
Speedy answered with two more clicks of her transmit button and set up her Shrike for the ground attack pass. It was annoying working with Redman, sometimes. Like any other Naval Aviator, he was a precision control freak and got on her nerves.
Wish Redman would just let me fly his wing without micromanagement. I passed all my classes in the top third and qualed for carrier landings in space in the first three days, well ahead of my peers. Not my first trip to the rodeo.
Speedy got in formation with Redman coming down the pipe, about 75 meters off to his left and one klick behind him. I guess I’m the lucky nugget that gets to keep the PILs heads down while he pulls off target… and I get to eat the ground fire. Such is the nugget life!
Redman got in the groove on target; he was 3 clicks out going over 750 knots of indicated airspeed. On mother earth, he would crack the sound barrier. Here on Mars, he could barely be heard by the ground pounders as he passed. He was detail focused, being a narcissistic control freak. Eyes out of the cockpit, he was following his queues projected on his helmet’s viewscreen giving him an updated release point for his rockets to saturate the poor suckers on the receiving end.
Suddenly, Redman’s fighter started evasive maneuvers. The PILs on the ground had launched High Velocity Missiles at Badger flight.
The AI onboard the Shrike violently moved his fighter all over the sky as he approached his release point. His G suit was already tight and just got tighter as he huffed and puffed in his helmet to fill his lungs with oxygen and maintain consciousness. This was standard for Redman.
Speedy’s reaction was very different. The AI started releasing flares and countermeasures with thumps she could feel through the ejection seat. The violent zigs and zags the fighter was making caused her G Suit to inflate more, forcing blood back into her brain to keep her from passing out. Speedy started huffing with explosive exhales from her lungs to help the g suit to keep her conscious. If that wasn’t enough, she felt real fear for the first time in her career as a Naval Aviator, more than training flights on earth and the moon.
These shit birds are shooting at me… sims didn’t simulate the glowing lances of the HVMs going past my cockpit in full Technicolor. Her fighter’s AI was handling the zigs and zags while keeping her fighter online for the rocket run. These actions forced immediate trust in the AI to keep her alive. In her field of view, her computed release point wound down as she saw Redman launch his rockets on target.
“Redman off clean.”
Now it was her turn. The explosions of Redman’s rockets sparkled over the landscape as her bullseye was 75 meters north of his strike. She was sweating profusely, still under pressure from her G Suit as her fighter closed with the target at over 800 knots. Things were happening fast in real time.
Speedy was operating with her brain overclocking the experience. The adrenaline dump hitting her system gave her the ability to go in slow motion relative to the 800-knot attack speed. Her brain was processing the action, and her body was playing catch up. The pipper is coming, don’t want to screw this up. The AI is zigging and zagging in overdrive. My suit is squeezing me with more force than I ever felt in training. I wonder what’s for midrats on the Enterprise. I’m going to kill humans, what if one would invent the newest cure for cancer. FUCK, more HVMs, that’s great… release point in 3, 2, 1…. And fire. I need to roll out before I slam into the ground… pull the stick into my gut and roll left away from the PIL positions. Firewall the throttle into military power and feel the kick of the afterburners forcing me deeper into my seat. NO lighst on the dummy panel…
“Speedy off clean.”
That was the longest five seconds in the life of LT JG Walters.
Looking over her shoulder at the target, That was fun, let’s do it again!
damn. just damn.