Hawk Fleet (14.3)

Laurie's taxi reached the hangar parking lot at the Shuttle Landing Facility just as the flight school's bus was unloading. Laurie met Chris as he was getting his duffel bag from the storage compartments in the side of the bus. They walked into the hangar with the other graduates, where they had been told that they would be given a briefing on their assignment.

Once they were inside, one of the officials instructed the graduates to place their bags on a cart that was quickly wheeled away. Laurie was pulled aside by a second official and led into a small office. The Flight Coordinator sat behind the desk.

"Sir?" Laurie asked in confusion as her guide left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Ah, yes Laurie," The Flight Coordinator answered, looking up from some papers on his desk, "You've seen the new graduates?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Good, they are new to this sort of thing; you, on the other hand, are not."

"I don't understand, sir," Laurie frowned, still confused.

"I want you to lead them to Exandra."

Laurie's frown deepened.

"There is an EC ship leaving Earth today. We have decided, due to the attack on EC 20, to send the next ship with an armed escort fleet. Your orders are to protect the EC ship in the event that the Platonians decide to attack again."

"Yes sir, I understand."

"Good. Your bag is aboard the EC 8, leaving today. You will be briefed along with the graduates on the stats of the fleet's ships."

"Sir, how many are traveling aboard EC 8 today?"

"Typically, the EC ships carry sixty passengers, however the destruction of the EC 20 and the death of its crewmembers put us in a bind. EC 8 has been retrofitted to host a compliment of 120 passengers, not including the EC ship's captain and Mr. and Mrs. Hagan."

"Very well," Laurie said with a nervous nod.

"Come with me; I need to brief the others on the assignment."

Laurie followed the Flight Coordinator out into the main room of the hangar, where the graduates were standing 'at ease' in a straight line.

"Graduates, you were chosen for this assignment because you are the best. You will be flying a new class of ships designed to protect the EC ships and Exandra. There are no control panels on the interior of these ships. To save cockpit space, everything will be directed using these virtual helmets and gloves," the coordinator pointed to the black suitcase-like boxes on the wall behind him.

"Your leader for this mission will be Laurie Kingston," he said, motioning for Laurie to come forward. "She has seen the Platonian warships in action and knows their flight capabilities. She is also a practiced and accomplished pilot. You will follow her lead in the event that the Platonians do decide to attack. The threat of an attack is a very real possibility. Ms. Kingston, would you please provide us with some perspective of Platonian strategy?" The Coordinator nodded towards Laurie, and then allowed her to take his place in front of the group while he passed out the black boxes.

"Yes, well," Laurie began, "the Platonian war ships maneuver extremely fast and fire with a ninety percent accuracy. They can fire from just about any angle in any direction. Because of the possibility that they will attack, you should be on guard at all times. If they do attack, you can't react; you must be proactive and think two if not three steps ahead. They are good, and they are heartless, they will think nothing of destroying one or more of our ships." Laurie cautioned. "Any questions?"

"We've been through the flight and defense training but is there anything else that you would suggest we do if the Platonians do show up?" A young man asked.

"No matter how much training you go through, it can never totally prepare you for experience in the real world. I would advise you to get into defense positions around the EC ship and let the Platonians act first. Only then will you be able to decide your move. We will have to co-ordinate our defense, don't let them isolate you and pick you off!"

"Uh, yea… I have a question," a red-haired eighteen-year old challenged. "Why are we taking orders from you? You're a good deal younger than most of us here!"

"No, I was not expecting to be assigned as your leader, or your guide. But since I have I can assure you that I know this route well and I have experienced multiple conflicts with this enemy, both on the ground and during flight. Trust me, when I say that I never give less than one hundred percent to any task at hand and I expect the same from you all! If we can't work as a team, the Platonians won't have any trouble finding a few weak spots and picking us off one by one. It is our duty to get the colonists safely to Exandra," Laurie reminded them all.

After each person nodded, the Flight Coordinator stepped up beside Laurie, handing her a black box.

"Alright, then. Let's get you all off the ground!" The Flight Coordinator exclaimed.

He pointed towards the back, where the large hangar door was opening to reveal 21 small black, one-person ships. Resembling the Star Traveler only in outer design, the Hawk ships were scaled down in size, with only enough room on the inside for the engines and the cockpit. The cockpit could only be entered through the top of the ship by sliding a transparent dome top backwards. The ships were each six-foot-tall by eight-foot-long with a different colored band around the opening of each of the cockpits.

Laurie and the others walked over to inspect the new ships. Laurie brought out her MTD and scanned the Hawk ship. The device remotely accessed the ship's onboard computer and downloaded a list of commands available for her use. She gave the command to open the cockpit, and the transparent dome slid back. Laurie reached up; pulled herself up onto the edge. The Coordinator passed her the black box and then she climbed down into the seat.

It was now obvious to the team that this young lady knew exactly what she was doing. The other graduates quickly caught on and followed her actions. Typing in the appropriate commands, each one accessed their own cockpit seats.

Half an hour later, the crew of the EC ship and the escort fleet were near ready for liftoff. The captain of the EC ship and each member of the fleet carefully followed through with their final checks.

Laurie took a mental note of the speed and order of each Hawk's sign-in over their connected radios.

Chris, being the first to sign in, took it upon himself to affirm that everyone was ready.

"We're 'all go', Guide Hawk," Chris replied over his com link to Laurie.

"Alright then, let's not go looking for trouble; let the trouble find us!" Laurie answered, acknowledging the hint of sarcasm in Chris' voice.

With that, all twenty-two ships lifted into the sky, twenty-one small black triangles surrounding a large silvery-blue EC 8 ship.

*****

After the fleet passed through the Asteroid belt, the ships adjusted their heading to leave the Orion arm of the Milky Way Galaxy and headed for the Lingiadom System of the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy. Nine hours and forty-five minutes after leaving Earth, the group found two Platonian war ships poised just inside the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy ready to attack.

"Steady," Laurie called over the radio; a moment later the Hawks began protectively encircling the EC ship.

"Steady and holding," Red Hawk answered, the meeting of reality apparent in the young man's voice.

The two Platonian ships rounded in and fired upon the group; landing a glancing warning shot on the EC ship.

"The EC ships were never given weapons capabilities because civilians would be flying them; let's keep that in mind, Hawks. Defensive maneuvers!" Laurie advised.

The Hawk ships flew into action, separating into two groups to ward off the Platonian warships. All the while, the EC ship was sitting like a duck in the middle of a pond, the hawk ships fighting to protect it. The Hawk ships battled incisively, darting all around the two Platonian ships, like a swarm of angry wasps knocked from their nest. Suddenly, and with no visible explanation, the Platonian warships retreated. Cautiously, the Hawk fleet resumed their defensive formation and the group continued their voyage to the Lingiadom system. Laurie sadly reported the loss of two of the Hawks. The Platonian ships had suffered only minor damage.

The fleet reached the Exandra system only to find four Platonian ships barring their way.

"Do you think they'd let us by if we said please?" Chris asked over the radio. His sarcasm was followed by nervous chuckling from the other Hawks.

"Very funny, Chris," Laurie answered, shaking her head, although no one could see her. "EC 8 ship, follow me. Chris, you and the others keep the Platonians busy."

"Roger," the captain of the EC ship answered.

"Alright then," Chris acknowledged. "Be careful, Laurie. Hawks, offensive form up!" he commanded, taking command of the Hawk fleet.

Just then, the Star Traveler emerged from the Exandrian atmosphere and a voice called over all the Hawk's radios.

"Star Traveler to Hawk fleet; do you copy? Over," Captain Mitchell called.

"Roger that, Captain Mitchell; Laurie is escorting the EC ship to the planet," Chris answered.

"Right then; Dr. Smith and I will help watch their backs; you and the Hawks continue running interference."

"I copy that; over," Chris stated, dodging a round of fire from one of the Platonian warships and sending back some of his own blasts in return.

The Platonian ships and the Hawk ships engaged in heavy combat. Chris noticed that one of the warships had broken away and was heading for Laurie and the EC ship. Closing in on the pair, the Platonian warship fired. Swiftly Captain Mitchell and Dr. Smith intercepted in the Star Traveler and received the near fatal blow intended for the EC ship.

Glancing over her shoulder, Laurie saw that the Star Traveler's engines were dead and five hawk ships coming to their defense.

"Don't worry about us," Captain Mitchell's voice called over the transmission static. "Get the EC ship to Exandra."

"Roger," Laurie confirmed, fighting the urge to go help her friends.

First order of business is to escort the EC ship safely to Exandra, Laurie reminded herself.

Just before Laurie and the EC ship entered Exandra's atmosphere, Laurie glanced once more at the screen showing the raging battle. Her radar system showed a Platonian warship firing on the Star Traveler. The ship vanished from the feed. All that was left where the Star Traveler EX-001 once flew was a field of debris. There was nothing but static on their communication channel. Laurie turned once again towards the front of her hawk fighter and called the EC ship for conformation of landing status.

Once Laurie and the EC ship were safely on Dirin City's landing field, Laurie turned off the virtual controls, tugged off her virtual helmet, and fought the persistent constricted feeling in her throat. She climbed out of her ship and went to verify that the passengers and crew of the EC ship were safe and unharmed.

High above Exandra, the Hawks and the Platonian warships were still locked in combat. The Hawks were not going to give up until they received word that the EC ship was safely in Dirin City. They were sustaining heavy losses. Captain Mitchell, Dr. Smith, the Star Traveler, and nine more members of the Hawk fleet had been destroyed.

Without any warning one of the Platonian ships extended a clawed mechanical arm and retrieved, one at a time, two small objects from the debris surrounding the battle. Then, all four Platonian ships retreated.

Relieved, yet a bit confused about the retreat in the face of certain victory, Chris advised the Hawks to fall back and head down to Dirin City. Upon entering the Exandrian atmosphere, the ten surviving Hawk ships flew in 'Missing Man Formation' for the Hawk pilots who had been killed in battle, as well as for Captain Mitchell and Dr. Smith from the Star Traveler.

*****