Starlight :||: Duty. Family. Honor. #1

Chapter Twelve

He gestured to me and I stood. "Thank you, sir. Ice."

"Yes, ma'am?"

"You and I will be sector two. Maverick."

"Yes, ma'am?"

"You will back us up with Merlin on Ready Five. The rest of you were assigned last night when I came round to speak to you all. Let's get on it. Rise!"

The room sprung into action, pilots heading to lockers to get changed into their suits. We marched out onto the tarmac, the crew already having the planes checked and warmed, working at the stabilising equipment. Ice stepped in line with me, barely containing his voice to a whisper. "Are you sure about Maverick?"

"Ice," I levelled him with a serious look. "Don't be unprofessional. Follow my orders or I'll ground you."

"Yes, ma'am," He nodded but pressed his lips together in a thin line, still not agreeing with my decision.

"Alright, let's get up in the air."

At the base, the runway had been on an airfield but as naval aviators, we had always trained to be able to take off on the limited space of an aircraft carrier. Deck crew members would attack catapults that would help launch the plane forward to help you take off within the 300-foot distance. That same distance had been set in the twelve weeks we'd been on land so we were prepared and confident to be able to fly off this ship.

"Starlight, ready for take-off," I relayed into the radio, securing my oxygen mask. The take-off on ships was a lot faster than on a runway.

A crewman on deck waved to me, gesturing up the runway and I gave him a thumbs-up, signalling I was ready. My body flung backwards as the plane launched itself and I opened up the take-off jets, then forwards as the wheels left the deck of the ship. Ice took off right after me, the two of us swooping round to the right and heading off towards the Layton. Mav would be back up, to wait on deck until I called for him.

"Alright, let's go boys."

"You've got a pair of bogies, twelve o'clock, fifteen miles." The radar officer on the ship spoke through the radio.

"090 radar contact fifteen miles. They're doing 500 knots." Slider reported, he and Ice were on my left wing.

"Dead ahead, fifteen miles, airspeed 600 knots." John radioed.

"We're a little too close together, let's take a wider split." Ice and I swung out gently, widening our attack approach. "They're at 15 000 feet now, dead ahead, ten miles."

"Airspeed is still increasing," Slider commented. "800 knots. Dead ahead now, eight miles. Starlight, do you see them?"

"Negative, no visual contact. Ice, take the lead, let's identify them."

"Bogies drifting to the left," John spoke.

"Let's bring it to the right, get a better angle on them." Ice instructed and together we turned.

"Whoa!" Slider yelled. "Starlight, we got a problem here, four aircraft, not one pair, two. I repeat, four bogies."

The alarms inside my plane started blaring and John spun around to look out at our tail. "Wrong! That's five!"

"Ice, I'm splitting," I swung the plane left as I spoke, the bogey following me, right on top of us.

"Five?!" The Enterprise asked.

"Maverick, get your butt off that deck and come cover our asses!"

"Affirmative, Maverick is ready for launch."