Speaker in the Circle [work in progress]

Chapter 3: To the Sky

  The men all rendezvoused at the entrance and took count. 24 men went on the mission. 15 came out. One of them was in Bobby's squad; the other fatalities were in the other squads. All the scouts made it out alive.

   "What do we do now?" A soldier asked. Before anyone could answer the heard the shouts of Sporks. They all ran on the outskirts of the forest, trying to stay hidden. They were careful of landmines. They knew they were out there, but didn't know where.

   When the soldiers made it back to the camp, the Staff Sergeant knew something was wrong. At first glimpse he knew there weren't enough men. He approached them and paced his arms behind his back.

   "There are 17 of you.  What happened?" The Staff Sergeant looked around slowly. Bobby answered.

   "We don't know sir. It seems they might have picked up our radio signal. They knew when we were in and out of the jail. All the watch towers were empty. It's the only thing that makes sense." The Staff Sergeant nodded.

   "Joseph," he pointed to the sniper, "Go tell the hangar to ready three bombers. Allen, Mason," he pointed at the two solders, "Prepare a large squad, 50 men maybe, on my order. The rest of you get into the Jet Puffs. Those bombers are going to need an escort. Those bastards want war, fine. Take off on my command." The Staff Sergeant turned and walked away. After a few seconds the men were still standing there. Bobby stomped his foot. "Come on then. You have your orders." The three groups took off in separate directions. It was time to go aerial.

    When they made it to the hangar they could see all the pilots hustling and bustling around. They were loading the dark gray bombers with M80 bombs and filling the gas dropper with gas. Others were loading the defense chambers full of nails so the co-pilots (well, defense men) always had the advantage. There was a defense gun behind the cockpit and a defense gun in the back.

   The men nodded their heads at the bomber pilots and they acknowledged them with a nod, then the men headed towards the Jet Puffs.

   When they approached the men working on the planes they all formed a straight line and saluted Bobby and the other men.

   "What's the state on these planes," Bobby asked.

   "Loaded, clean, and ready to fly Captain." The man gave him a second salute.

   "Alright. Go help prepare the bombers. Get in one of the defense guns if you need to. My men, load into the planes."

   The troop of 75 men had left 20 minutes ago. Staff Sergeant had made the order for the planes to take off. Bobby knew he was a higher rank then Staff Sergeant by at least four ranks, but he followed his orders all the same. Bobby had taken off first and then another plane, then another. Soon all 14 men had made a ' V ' formation, and then the bombers made a smaller ' v ' behind them. They looked like a flock of metallic geese migrating. The roar of the engines reverberated through the plane, causing a humming sound in the cockpit.

   Bobby looked out his floor window, a window that gave the pilot a view of the battle field so they didn't shoot the wrong team. He could see the Marshmallows marching in, but he couldn't see any Sporks. He picked up his radio

   "Jet Puffs to ground. Jet Puffs to ground. There is no visual of the Sporks. Over." Bobby set down the radio.

   "Copy that. No visual on the Sporks down here. Over" The announcement boomed through the plane. 

   The fact that the Marshmallows were marching in a wide open field and there were no attacking Sporks struck Bobby as strange. Sure they could be waiting in the dense woods for them but the Staff Sergeant wasn't that stupid. They should know better. Bobby picked up his intercom microphone that would allow him to communicate with all the planes and people on the ground.