Chapter 25
The skies over Huston Spaceport.
Terresa Cole let the smile reach her eyes as she came around to go head on with Emily Calisto. The two women had thrown all thoughts of the war out the window. The war had boiled down to just the two of them. They each had their own reasons for their fight to the death.

For Emily, this was a fight for her peoples’ way of life. She knew that as a whole the Warrior class would be stripped from the Amazon people but that didn’t mean they would be forgotten. This was her last chance at becoming part of legends.

For Terresa Cole the reason was far more simplistic. She was here for revenge. Her only goal in this fight was the death of Emily Calisto. She would pay with her life for all the men and women she had so coldly shot down and killed as they ejected from their doomed fighters. Gone was the professional fighter pilot that was once Terresa Cole. In her place was a winged Fury by the name of Tisiphone. Terresa was no avenging angle out for justice. She was there for vengeful destruction.

The two opponents met head on for a fly-by salute before climbing for the heavens. With each passing second Terresa felt her blood boil in anticipation of destroying her enemy. With each beat of her heart the adrenaline flowed like water in her veins. With each passing second her long held rage struggled to free itself. With every foot that flew beneath her wings Terresa’s blood lust grew.

With a hand that was barely under control Terresa reached forward and flipped a switch only used during routine maintenance. It was the switch that would disable her ejection pod. Terresa hadn’t joked when she said that only one of them was going home alive this day. For some strange reason Lilly who could have overridden the disabling switch left it alone.

“I take it that you’re of the same mind as I am, Lilly?” Terresa asked quietly.

“You made the choice to live or die, Terresa. I will always back your choices. I do wonder why though? After all there is no dishonor in living to fight another day. We can always come at her again. If we have to bailout.”

“Lilly, if we fail that bitch will kill the rest of the squadron. She knows far too much. We either kill her or she kills us. That is the only way to protect the Wraiths at this point. Besides, I don’t think I could live with myself if she got a chance at going after our brothers and sisters.”

“Understood, Terresa. This is our Alamo moment. Glory or Death!” the AI called out.

“Glory or Death, Lilly.” Terresa turned her undivided attention on the black KV-81. Even now, Emily Calisto was banking hard to port trying her best to get onto Terresa’s starboard side. Seeing this Terresa increased her flaps kicked hard on her rudder while pulling back on her stick. The sudden roll placed Terresa on Calisto’s portside rear at the eight o’clock low position. Squeezing the triggers for the twin Gatlin’s and gauss rifle Terresa sent a hail of armor smashing rounds towards the KV-81’s portside. Terresa wasn’t surprised when Calisto flipped hard over and avoided the attack.

At less than three-thousand meters Terresa knew that her missiles would be next to useless in this fight. Unless she could force Calisto to open the range she would be forced to rely on her main guns for the fight. With a wide range of direct fire weapons Terresa had a varied range of attack now. Thanks to the hard work of Chief Daily the Claymore no longer suffered the close-range problem. From point blank to one-thousand meters the Gatlin’s and gauss rifle were more than enough to down any fighter in the current inventory. One-thousand to three-thousand meters were covered by the PPCs and PPLs. Anything over three-thousand meters could be handled with missiles or the other weapons with the exception of the Gatlin’s. Not that it would matter as the real killers for anything beyond those ranges were the anti-aircraft missiles of the Claymore.

For the next five minutes the two antagonists cycled each other. Each trying to get into that all-important position to kill the other. Pulling in tighter and tighter to each other. Both knowing that to open the range between them meant instant death for the other. Each woman knowing that one simple mistake would be fatally their last. The skill of the two showed as each pushed the other to newer and higher extremes of combat endurance. The two women were showing the other the respect they had earned as the deadly rivals that they were. To those who could see their deadly fight in air it would become one of legend. Not for just one side either. They would be witness to a deadly ballet between two great warbirds. One of the purest black edged with the darkest of blood red. It’s opponent the color of deepest purple edge with the blackest of night.

Even from miles away the colors of the two aircraft alone would let a person know their deadly purpose. The occasional flash of weapons fire between the two just reinforced this perception. To the men and women on the ground the dance between the two warbirds became all consuming. Slowly at first the men and women who had been running for air raid shelters came to a stop in the streets. Soon the fight in the skies over Huston Spaceport became all consuming. Even as the two fighters slowly moved out away from the Spaceport no one on the ground realized the importance of this fight between them. Nor would they realize just how deadly the fight had become. The pure beauty of the fighters’ flight was all they saw.

The two women had become consumed by their fight, especially Emily. Emily Calisto had lost herself in trying to kill Terresa Cole. Gone was the professional military pilot. In her place was nothing more than purely emotional woman hell bent on killing her rival. This worked in Terresa Cole’s favor as she slowly drew Calisto away from the Spaceport out over the open ocean. Before Calisto realized it, they were miles out to sea and she was nowhere near position to support the defenders of the Spaceport. The fight between the two women had come down to who made the first mistake. That mistake would come but not from where one of them expected.

The death of the three Monolith class dropships would be herald by the sonic booms of three Mark 48 aerial drop torpedoes. Only Emily and Terresa were already too far away to hear those booms over the thunder of their own engines. It would be the flash of three simultaneous explosions and raising mushroom clouds that would announce the death of those ships.

“Sweet mother of the goddess! What the hell were they carrying?” Emily failed to realize that her mike was open and transmitting.

“Those where Mark forty-eight aerial drop torpedoes, Emily. Ship killers of the first order. Be thankful we were not over the top of them when they struck. If we had been. We would both be dead. Instead of it just being you.”

Emily’s momentary lapse in concentration allowed Terresa to finally gain enough distance between the two of them to use her missiles. With a double pull of the trigger two AIM 7 Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles leaped from their launch rails. Emily had mere second to react to the new and unexpected threat. Firing off chaff and flares Emily evaded the first two missiles by the skin of her teeth. Even as she evaded the first two Terresa was getting a lock for the next two missiles. Terresa heard the tone for a hard missile lock not once but twice and fired.

Once again two AIM-7 Sparrows leaped from their launch rails and screamed across the skies at super sonic speeds. Emily Calisto once again did her best to avoid the incoming deadly missiles. With the skill born of countless hours behind the stick of a KV-81 she was able to avoid the first missile. But like all things in life even Emily’s luck had finally run out. Terresa’s second AIM-7 slammed into her portside thruster exploding. The explosion sent heavy pieces of shrapnel through her number one engine. Effectively killing it and any chance that Emily had against Terresa. Emily slammed her hand down on the auto-ejection override.

“I’m not going down without a fight damn it!” Emily screamed into her mike.

“I never thought you would Emily. It has been an honor.” Terresa told the woman just before she fired two more AIM-7s.

Emily saw but knew that with only one engine running and the other smoking like a cheap cigar that she was dead. Popping flares and chaff once more in a vain attempt to throw off the super sonic providers of death. Emily knew that the situation was hopeless, but she had to try. She had given her all in this battle with Terresa Cole and wasn’t about to just give up. Emily knew that her luck had finally and truly run out went not one but both AIM-7s slammed home on her starboard side thruster. Terresa added insult to injury by firing the gauss rifle at almost maximum range. The twenty-pound slug smashed its way through the tail of the KV-81. That one impact finished the death of the heavy fighter.

Emily reached to slap the auto-ejection override one more time only to find that she was too late. As her fighter started to tumble from the impact of the gauss round her canopy blew itself clear. The ejection seat rockets fired slamming her down into the cushion with several g’s. The sudden, unexpected, and violent ejection hit Emily like a sledge hammer. As the air rushed passed her Emily’s last sight before blacking out was the death of her fighter one more time.

Terresa Cole sat back in her cockpit as she watched the solid black KV-81 Sturmgewehr almost come to a stop in midair. Terresa knew the fight was over the second that Emily let her get some range for the missiles. When the Sturmgewehr started to tumble from her gauss rifle hit Terresa knew the fight was well and truly over. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief that she had survived the one-on-one battle. She was even more surprised to see the ejection of Emily Calisto from the doomed fighter. For the briefest of moments Terresa was tempted to give into her blood lust. With her fingers stroking the trigger for the lasers Terresa contemplated killing the helpless Emily Calisto. Moving her fingers from the triggers for her weapons Terresa Cole showed both respect and mercy for enemy.

“Lilly get me a connection with Fleet Command. Those sorry assholes should have a carrier somewhere that can pick her up.” Terresa called out to her AI. Terresa quickly began working out the position for her downed rival. “Merry Christmas my friend. I hope you enjoy the stockade.”

“Terresa, I have the Ark Royal on channel three, love. Before I open it I just want to say that I’m proud of you.”

“Why?”

“Because you could have given into your blood lust and killed Emily Calisto in cold blood but didn’t. I was starting to worry about you there, sister.”

Terresa Cole started to laugh. It was not a normal laugh. It was the laugh of someone on the raged edge of hysteria. “Trust me, Lilly. You don’t know how hard it was for me to not pull the trigger one last time. Now, open that channel, please. I don’t Emily to have to spend too much time in that water.”

The radio crackled. “This is the Ark Royal, who is this? Over”

“Ark Royal this is Scorpion, Over” Terresa smiled as she gave her call sign. Knowing that the Air Boss would be demanding a better id shortly. Terresa was greatly surprised when instead of a challenge for id she was greeted with a welcome.

“Good to hear from you Glenda. I take you have need of support?”

“What the hell? How the hell did they hear about that name? What the frack is going on here?” Terresa asked of no one before keying her mike. “Ark Royal, don’t you want to at least go through the challenge and password? Over”

“Sorry to disappoint you Scorpion, but nobody in their right minds for twelve parsecs is going to lay claim to your call sign. Other than you. Over” the was a laughing tone in the Air Boss’s voice.

Terresa just laughed as she keyed her mike. “Copy that Air Boss. Are you in position to provide recuse operations for a downed pilot? Over”

“Give me the location Scorpion. Over”

“Twelve miles due east of Huston Spaceport. Grid nine-nine-three by two-seven-six. How copy? Over”

“Good copy Scorpion. We’ll have to pass that off to Akagi or Hiryu. They should be coming down right on top of that grid shortly. In fact, you should be able to see their contrails now. Over” The Air Boss’s reference to two of the four Super Carriers that escorted the Royal Battle platform made Terresa look to the heavens. Not in wonder but fear. If they were here, then so was Ryuk and the Royal Couple.

“Oh shit! NOT GOOD. Why didn’t I let Emily blow my ass out of the sky?” Terresa to the empty air of her cockpit.

“Because you just love pain and punishment. If I didn’t know better, I would swear you were into S-n-M Terresa.” Lilly said pocking fun at her host.

“Oh shut up you. Let me finish dealing with the Air Boss.” Terresa keyed her mike. “Ark Royal when you pass on the information for the rescue please inform whoever’s in charge that this is a hold until further notice. No contact with other prisoners. Over”

“Copy that Scorpion. High priority prisoner. Will pass on the info. Is that all? Over”

“That is all Ark Royal. Scorpion Out.” Terresa slowly circled down to pass over where Emily Calisto landed in the water. She was strangely happy to see the woman climbing an inflatable one-man raft. “At least she’s alive. It would have been a real pity for her to have died for nothing.”

“I thought that you wanted her dead Terresa?”

“Lilly, of all the pilots that I have fought in this war I never wanted to kill any of them. I know that in war death is part of the deal. But if you look back at the eighty-seven aircraft that I have shot down. I never shoot at a single pilot after they ejected. If they were still in their fighter that was something else. I never killed a pilot in free fall on the chute.” Terresa argued quickly.

“You’re right. I’m sorry Terresa. You never gave up that part of your moral code.”

“Lilly, I have fought like hell to keep from becoming the monster that other Death Dealers fear. I will never let that happen.” Terresa chuckled. “After all, you were the one to point out that we’re still human.”

For several minutes the AI remained silent as Terresa circled the downed pilot. When the rescue birds broke over the horizon Terresa turned her aircraft towards the Spaceport and the battle that still raged there. “Time to get back to work.”

“Indeed, it is Terresa. Both squadrons have completed their missions. The Monolith dropships are destroyed and so is the Spaceport. All that remains is the destruction of the remaining aircraft.”

Terresa shoved the throttles of her Claymore to the stops and let the twin demons, that were the engines of the Claymore, howl with rage. Terresa knew that by the time she got there the fight would be over. Yet it was still her duty to ensure as many of her people made it home.

In the one-man survival raft of Emily Calisto
Emily woke to the splash of water hitting her face. She had no idea of where she was at first, but then trained reflexes kicked in. With sure hands Emily hit the quick releases for her parachute. Next came the life vest auto inflate. Once she was above water Emily searched her vest for the inflatable one-man survival raft. Once she found it Emily held it out at arm’s length and pulled the cord. As the raft inflated Emily held tightly to the pullcord.

With the raft inflated she struggled to climb into the flimsy thing that would be her only chance at long term survival. Once inside Emily noticed that her prosthetic leg would have to be replaced. With a sigh she flapped back against the side and looked up at the sky. She could clearly see the contrails of where she and Terresa had fought for their very lives. “Damn. I lost. Then again, I never really had a chance against that woman. She’s just too fracking good.”

Emily was drawn out of her sudden depression by the sounds of Terresa’s fighter flying overhead slow and steady. Raising her right arm Emily waved to let Terresa know that she was alright. The wag of Terresa’s wings let Emily know that she wouldn’t be dying this day. Once past Terresa climbed for altitude. Making a hard one-eighty turn the purple and black suddenly rocketed off towards the west as if kicked in the ass by a pissed off giant. Emily marveled at the display of speed.

“MY GOD! If her fighter has that kind of power at its disposal. It’s a fracking miracle that I was even able to last for as long as I did against her. She could have blasted me out of the skies in seconds. Yet Terresa Cole showed me enough respect to battle me as an equal. Gods how I wronged the woman.” Reaching into her survival vest once more Emily pulled out her emergency beacon. Placing the beacon at her feet Emily hit the activation switch that would send out a constant radio broadcast of her position. “Might as well get the inevitable over with. I’m sure that Von Bencher is just going to send me to the recyclers after this FUBAR.”

With that done Emily just leaned back and waited for the arrival of the recovery team. “If they even come. The High Command isn’t known for rescuing pilots that fail to do their duty. Hell, I doubt that the base even has the helos or shuttles to spare right now for rescue operations. If I understand Terresa, which I’m pretty sure that I do, that second squadron was there to destroy Hutson Spaceport. From the way those Monoliths went up. It’s a sure thing they succeeded.”

The sight of three hundred heavy contrails appearing on the horizon drew Emily’s undivided attention. There was one though that stood out among all the others due to its sheer size. It had to be five miles wide if not more. That one contrail could only mean one thing. A Shinigami battle platform was making planet fall. The ten slightly smaller contrails on either side had to be the battleships and super carriers of the battle group. The thought that there was now two Death Dealer Battle Groups on new Texas sent a chill down Emily’s spine.

“You wanted the attention of the Empress, Von Bencher. Well, it look’s like you got it and in spades. You won’t be dealing with just eighteen combat divisions shortly. You get to face down fifty-four divisions.” Emily rummaged in her vest pockets to find the plastic case that held her cigarettes and liter. Once she found the waterproof case and lit up a cigarette Emily used the binoculars that were part of her survival kit. With the practiced eye of a season pilot Emily spotted the bold shield and crest on the battle platform first. “Well, shit fire and save the matches. Death’s own Daughter has decided to come out and play. I hope your affairs are in order Von Bencher. Because your time is short.”

Emily Calisto let a small smile come to her face as she finally pulled off her helmet. With a look of disgust, she tossed the vile thing into the water. “Good ridance to worthless rubbish. At least this time I stand a good chance of being captured by the Empire. I just might survive this fool’s folly after all. At least as a POW I’ll get decent medical care for a change. Not to mention a hot meal for once. Three and half weeks of field rats can only go so far. I just wish I’d filled my canteen with the rest of that brandy. I sure could use a stiff drink about now.”

The sounds of heavy thrusters caught Emily’s attention and drew her eyes to the southeast. She knew that the Amazons didn’t have any carriers in that direction. In fact, the only carriers they had left were far to the north. Those thrusters belong to a HD-FXDWG and only the Empire used those bad boys. Sure, enough the heavy rescue shuttle lowered into the sea less than fifty meters away dropping its rear hatch. The rescue team lowered a speed boat with a diver and driver. The rescue team quickly reached Emily and pulled her into their boat. With a smile the two-man crew raced back to the heavy rescue shuttle and straight up the lowered ramp. Once inside the ramp was raised and the shuttle lifted out of the water.

A medic helped Emily out of the launch and over to a stretcher. “Welcome aboard Flight Leader Calisto. I take it that your stay in the water was not one of your choosing.”

“You could say that Corman. You’re medical Corman correct?” Emily asked hesitantly.

“First Class Medical Corman Roger Young at your service Flight Leader. Why don’t I take a look at that leg of yours?” the Naval crewman said with a smile as he slipped his scissors under the cuff of her left pants leg. Emily watched in fascination at the professionalism of this young man. The way they were treating her was totally opposite of what the political officers told her. There was no cold ruthless uncaring scientific approach to her injury. Just one human caring for another.

“I don’t feel any pain Corman. That leg is a prosthetic limb. No need to hurry.” Emily tried to play off the fact that she wasn’t a whole person.

The Corman gave her a flat look. “I’ll be the one to decide that ma’am. Not you. I don’t care if it is a cyber replacement. These damned things can still cause you problems if not taken care of straight away. I’ve treated one too many dumbasses who thought their cyber replacements were just a piece of interchangeable hardware. Every time meant months of therapy in the rehab clinic. Now shut up and let me do my job. You got a bitch with the way I do my job. Fill a ten-seventy-eight with the Ships Surgeon. That’s Commander Benjamin Pierce be sure to tell I sent you.”

Emily couldn’t help herself. She started to laugh at the arrogance of the young man. No one had ever dared to talk to her in this manner that wasn’t of a high class. Yet here was an enlisted member of the Empire’s Navy giving her more than enough attitude to make any High-Class clone burst into a blind rage. Emily’s laughter though was cut off by a sudden screech of pain.

“Damn. Just as I thought.” Young called out to the copilot. “Skitter, we need emergency medical on the flight deck. Pass the word that to the Doc he’s got a class four replacement to do STAT.”

“Got ya, Casper. Anything else the Doc needs to know before hand?”

“Just that the old leg is a Hitachi nine-fifteen and from the looks of it long over due to be replaced. Multiple jury rigs and back patches.” Roger looked up at Emily. “Where was this leg obtained Flight Leader Calisto?”

“No idea. Only that it was provided for me seven years ago.” Emily was honest.

“That explains everything. These things haven’t been in production for at least the last five years. It must be getting hard to find parts for replacements and repairs.” Roger said.

The copilot called out. “Five minutes to touch down. Strap in.”

Emily sighed and leaned back. Her time on the front was over. She was finally able to see a chance at living to the end of the war. “Terresa Cole, you better make it out of this shit storm in one piece. I owe you a drink.”

A hundred miles south of Huston Spaceport.
James moved his White Tiger behind a four-story building. He needed to find cover to contact Command. For the past seven days he had been leading the 1st Regimental Combat Team for the 82nd Division. For those seven days he had been fighting to keep his RCT under control. James had been mostly successful in keeping the RCT from out running their support units and supply lines. Now he had problem that none of the other commanders could help with. One that he needed air support for, badly.

“Joker to Red six, come in Red six. Over”

The voice of Brigadier General McManus came over the radio immediately. “Red six here, Joker. What do need? Over”

“Six, we’re pinned down on the costal road hundred miles south of Huston. Requesting air support. Expedite that. Over” James and his whole unit had come under attack by a small group of IL-2 Shturmoviks and they were tearing up his light to medium armor units. He need those fighters taken out now.

“Hold what you got Joker. Bunker down. I’ll get you what I can. Hold in there boy. Red six out.” James want to scream but knew that it would do no good. The air assets for the 22nd Battle Group were stretched thin as icing on a cheap cake.

Keying his mike, he contact his unit commanders. “Joker to all Ghost Rider units. Hunker down where you are and hold people. WE got help coming. Make the River Sluts pay for every inch of ground they try to take. Joker Out.”

He knew that his command wasn’t going to be well received but these were Death Dealers. They would follow orders. They may not like them, but they will carry them out. He had proven himself to be a caring commander and they knew he wouldn’t waste their lives in a senseless fight to the death. Only his closest friends of the Command Lance would ever know how hard that order would haunt him.

To drive the point home James stepped out from behind the building to hammer a J-9 Jagger with everything his White Tigger had at point blank range. The T-92 Longbow that accompanied the Jagger joined it in death. James had once again lost himself to the blood lust that cursed his family. Just as his mother Maiha once rampaged across the battlefield while talking to Death James did so now. “Looks like I get to meet you a little sooner that I expected old man.”

A voice that only he heard answered James with a chuckle. “No. I doubt that very seriously grandson. Even now your Fury of a wife is winging her way to your rescue.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Death? I’m not married yet. And what is this crap about there being a Fury winging her way to my rescue?”

“Why I speak of the young lady that has captured your heart boy. That is the Fury I speak of. The Fury Tisiphone. The Fury of vengeful destruction. Look to the skies boy. Use those eyes of yours and behold the wrath of a pissed off woman.”

James did as the voice commanded and could not believe his eyes. The unmistakable out line of a FB-11 was streaking towards the fight. The purple and black paint scheme let James know that this fighter was one of the Wraiths. The triple sevens or Lucky Fools. There was his saving grace from the enemy ground attack fighters. It was not alone. Nineteen more FB-11s were hot on its heels. The full squadron was here and soon this battle would be over. The crackle of his radio drew James back to this moment in time away from his discussion with Death.

The voice that greeted him was one he had come to love. “Need a hand, Joker? A little birdy told me you could use some top cover over there, Joker. Over”

“More the merrier Scorpion. We got IL-2s strafing our lines and targeting the lighter armor. Would you be so kind as to change their minds please? Over”

“With pleasure Joker. With great pleasure. Out”

James lined up his sights on a K-9 Bloodhound heavy tank that had dared to show itself. The twin beams of man made lighting from his PPCs made short work of the tank’s armor. The explosion ripped the turret off. Keying his mike, James called out to his command. “We got ourselves some air cover, boys and girls. Time to sweep out the trash and head for Huston.”

In the skies above the 1st/82nd RCT
Terresa was joined by her squadron as they made their way towards home when the call came from General McManus. “This is Red six to any unit near Huston Spaceport. Come in. Over”

“Red six this is Scorpion. Over” Terresa knew that for General McManus to be calling for an all hands response that the situation was bad.

“It’s good to hear your voice Scorpion. I take it that the Black Witch is no longer a problem. Over”

“That is a big fat roger, Red six. She should be a guest of the nearest carrier about now. You got something for us before we head home? Over” the pride of success filled Terresa’s voice. Not just in her success but her squadron’s as well.

“Come to heading one-eight-nine. Ground forces in need of air support. This is an expedite mission Scorpion. Over”

“One-eight-nine, air support mission, expedite. We currently lack any ground attack ordnance six. All we’ll be able to give is strafe attacks. Over” Terresa felt that she needed to give McManus a status report before heading in.

“Understood Scorpion. This is a flyswatter mission. It seems that your fiancé has a problem with a swarm of IL-2. Over”

Terresa would have crawled into a hole if could just then. It was bad enough that people were already talking about her and James as a couple. That had been going on for the last two months and she was used to it. But now people were speculating on when they would be tying the knot. James hadn’t even proposed to her yet. Not that Terresa wouldn’t say yes but would at least like for the man to have asked first. Then again, Terresa doubted that would ever happen. James was the Crowned Prince for the Empire. His mothers would have someone else picked out for him. Someone from one of the High Families no doubt. Terresa may be newly come to womanhood but she had embraced it with her whole being.

For now, she would just do her duty and put a few IL-2s in the scrap yard. “Copy that, six. One mean pissed off flyswatter on the way. Out” After accepting the order from McManus Terresa switched over to her squadron frequency. “Wraiths we got a short detour before heading home. It seems that a group of ground pounders have a problem. IL-2s are swarming their position. Any one not up to mission speak now. I do not want anyone not at full combat readiness. Over”

All Terresa got back in response was a round of positive answers. “Okay people this is how we’re going to play this. Spider take Bravo flight and handle the far-right flank of the RCT. Rabbit you and Charlie flight have the far-left flank. Smoke, you, Alpha, and Delta flights are with me. We got the center. How copy? Over”

Spider answered first. “Good copy, Glinda. Pulling off now with Bravo flight. Good hunting. Spider Out”

“Breaking away now, Glinda. Good hunting. Rabbit out.”

“We’re on your six, Boss. I mark seven IL-2s and eight IL-4s. Over” Terresa wanted to smile at how fast Smoke spotted the threats.

“Good eye, Smoke. Let’s show them the error of their ways. Over” Terresa cracked.

“Sounds good to us, boss. Over” Ratchet called out over the radio.

“All right Wraiths. Mark your targets. And engage. Tally-ho!” Terresa put her Claymore into a steep dive that would bring her in on the six o’clock high position of an IL-2. At a little more than five-thousand meters Terresa heard the tone for a hard target lock by her missiles. Terresa didn’t hesitate for one second. She pulled the trigger twice, sending two AIM-7s rocketing down their rails. Seconds later the IL-2 disappeared in a rolling ball of flames and twisted wreckage.

Terresa did a fast count of her missiles and frowned. Out of twenty-four missiles She was down to two AIM-7s. The rest of her missiles were the older Mavericks and Sidewinder Rattlesnakes. With just fourteen missiles left with only two of those being sure fire killers. Terresa was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. Terresa had been so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed the second IL-2 that passed under her sights. As her sights flashed from green to red Terresa pulled the triggers for the Gatlin guns and gauss rifle. The IL-2 pulled up hard and banked left to try to escape Terresa’s weapons.

Even as the IL-2 maneuvered to escape Terresa pulled the trigger for her PPCs and PPLs. The four PPCs slammed into the IL-2 just aft of the cockpit to burn away the armor over the tail. In mere micro seconds the control linkages for the tail ruder were exposed to the blinding heat of the PPLs. The massive energy and heat of the ten PPLs burned their way through what was left of the tail. With its tail gone the IL-2 tumbled uncontrollably end over end. Terresa knew that the pilot was a dead man. Even before the doomed fighter fell out of the skies Terresa was already hunting for another target. She knew the time to find one was right after her last kill. Only Terresa’s next target wasn’t an airborne one.

Terresa keyed her mike and screamed over the radio. “JOKER! Four Assault Class APSs five-hundred meters due north of your position. Over” When she didn’t get any reply Terresa did the only thing she could. She flipped her targeting radar over to ground acquisition and targeted the four APS monsters. Dropping to just above the rooftops Terresa pushed her skills to the limit. She came in parallel to the frontline battle trace. Her targeting radar started to list her targets. The first up was a ninety-ton Thor. This was followed by another ninety-tonner an Atlas. The next APS was a true monster and one of the rarest. A one-hundred-ton Zeus. Yet despite these four monsters of the battlefield the last one was Terresa’s primary target. At ninety-five-tons the Mars wasn’t the heaviest, but it held the heaviest punch. The Mars lived up to its namesake as a god of war.

With their positions marked Terresa let Lilly run the target solutions for each one. When Lilly had them displayed on the HUD Terresa started her attack run. She was surprised when all six Mavericks leaped from their rails to speed over the battlefield towards the Mars. As she closed with the Thor the gauss rifle barked seven times in rapid succession. The seven twenty-pound titanium slugs slammed into the Thor at over Mach 2.5. The Thor’s chest armor was crashed along with its power plant. As the massive war machine was falling over face first the Claymore’s four PPCs sent ropes of man made lightning into the head and chest of the Atlas. The strange thing about hyper accelerated particles when they are fired in a controlled manner. The further they travel the faster they travel the faster they travel the more heat and kinetic energy they build. When they finally come to a stop all that heat, and energy has to go somewhere. The pilot for the Atlas died before he knew what hit his APS.

As Terresa crossed over the Atlas’ position the six Mavericks slammed home on the chest and head of the Mars. While the Mavericks were designed to be an air-to-air missile it could be used in a ground attack role. The pilot of the Mars was so take by surprise by the missile strike he turned into the attack. As the last Maverick hit home not even Terresa and Lilly could have calculated the odds of where it would hit. The last thing the pilot for the Mars saw was the Maverick slamming into his cockpit just before detonation. The man never knew that the end of his life was at hand and brought upon him by the Fury Tisiphone.

Only the Zeus remined as she continued on her strafing run. Terresa pulled hard on the triggers for her main guns. The gauss rifle, PPCs, and PPLs fired as one. To add insult to injury Terresa let the Gatlin guns spin up and fire besides their big brother. While not as destructive as the gauss rifle they still packed a punch. Much like a swarm of bees the much smaller rounds slammed into the cockpit of the Zeus. Like that swarm of bees attacking a bear the Gatlin guns would not be denied their rightful due on the battlefield.

The death of the Zeus marked a turn in the battle for the Death Dealer RCT. Even as Terresa continued down the line for the Amazon forces firing at whatever presented itself the battle was over. The Amazon defenders started to brake ranks as their air support was blown out of the skies over their very heads. When they saw their four heaviest APSs destroyed by just one fighter. Their already fragile wills snap under the pressure like twigs in fall.

Terresa pulled up out of her strafing run she double checked her airspace. Terresa was shocked to find that her squadron owned the skies. Keying her mike Terresa called out for a report. “All elements report in. Ammo count and kills. Over”

As each member of her squadron contacted her Terresa kept a tally of kills. When she added in her two air victories and four APS kills Terresa needed Lilly to double check her figures. “Lilly is that count correct?”

“Terresa, I have the individual AI accounts to verify those numbers. They are correct. The Wraiths have just wiped out a full squadron of IL-2s and half a squadron of IL-4s. Plus destroyed a full battalion’s worth of APSs and armored vehicles. All in a matter of ten minutes. Only one other time has such a one side victory been claimed in all of human history. Your Wraiths have truly earned their name on this day.”

The crackle of her radio followed by her call sign drew Terresa out of her stunned silence. “Scorpion come in Scorpion. Joker here. Over”

“Scorpion here Joker. Sorry, for the delay. Over” Terresa answered quickly.

“Good to hear from you Scorpion. We were a little afraid that we lost our Glinda. Thanks for clearing the skies and nailing those BFGs. Over”

Terresa was at a loss for the last reference. “You’re welcome Joker. Can you tell me what a Bravo Fox Gulf is? Over”

There was a chuckle just before James came back up on the radio. “That is grunt for Big Fracking Guys. What we call Assault Class APS units. Over”

Terresa was happy as hell that no one could see her just then as she blushed clear down to the edge of her bio-armor. “Copy that Joker. As much as we wish we could stay on site longer we’re going to have to leave you for now. My squadron is running short on go-go juice. As it is we’re going to need a gas station link up to make it home. Over”

“Wraith flight this is Akagi flight control. Over” the interruption by the Air Boss for the Super Carrier Akagi caught Terresa by surprise. “Come in Wraith flight.”

“Wraith flight here Akagi.” Terresa didn’t know what was going on but protocol require her to answer. “Authenticate, Thunder Struck. Over”

As few seconds later, the voice came back. “I authenticate, Back in Black. Over”

“Good copy, Akagi. Do you have traffic for me? Over” Terresa asked.

“New orders Scorpion. You and your squadron are to land on the recovery deck for the Ryuk. I say again the Ryuk is your new Lima Zulu. Over”

Terresa need to think fast. The FB-11 wasn’t setup for carrier landings. “Akagi, what is the length of the recovery deck over. Over”

“Long enough to handle your fighters Scorpion. Just over four-five-hundred feet. More than enough room for a soft touchdown. Come to heading zero-nine-seven at three-zero-zero-zero feet and squawk intent. Over”

“Copy that Akagi. Wraith flight out.” Terresa sighed and keyed her mike. “Looks like I get a command performance on the Ryuk Joker. Over”

“Looks that way love. Say hello to my mothers for me. Joker Out.” Before Terresa could say anything to James he cut the connection. Terresa was pissed.

“Gods be damned! I will not put up with that happy horse shit from him when we’re married. Not no but Hell no.” Terresa sat there fuming as she led her squadron on the new heading for the Royal Battle Platform Ryuk.

“Yeah boss, you never gave us your kills for the day. Over” Spider called out over the radio as he pulled in on Terresa’s portside.

“Five air victories, and four ground kills, Spider. Only one of them counts though. Over” Terresa said with pride in her voice. “Emily Calisto should be sitting in a nice cold cell right about now. Any word on who picked her up, Lilly?”

“The Akagi plucked Emily Calisto from the water just over an hour ago Terresa. She is in surgery to replace a prosthetic leg as we speak.”

Terresa sighed and leaned back as she led her squadron towards the carrier. “At least she’ll get a second chance at something better when this war was is over. How long until we reach the Ryuk?”

“Twenty minutes Terresa. Why?” A flip of a switch by Terresa, followed a shifting of her seat and Terresa was a softly snoring. “I’ll wake you when we’re ready to land Terresa. Sleep well.”

-----tbc-----