World On Fire

Chapter Nine

Pride filled her heart. Not only was Keela-Tel Loth piloting her own Mako bomber, but she was also the flight lead for the whole bomber group. Couple that with the fact that she was taking the fight to the murderous rebels and Keela-Tel was positive she was now returning her lost honor to her family. For the whole war, she had sat at an airbase on the continent of Australia, doing essentially nothing. In secret she blamed the poor leadership for not using her and her planes to the best of their capabilities.

But now...now they were doing their part for the King and Vasgyhrr.

"Pilot, adjust course three degrees south." Nor-Ta, the navigator told her. Unbeknownst to her, Druidth bombers were very much like Human ones. Two pilots sat at the nose of the plane with the navigator/radio operator behind them. Below and in the very tip of the nose was the bombardier who used their instruments to determine the precise time to drop the payload.

"Affirmative," She replied, tilting the control yoke just barely to the left. The large aircraft responded and drifted back onto the proper course.

Looking out the windows she could see the IFF tags of the other planes in the strike group, their bodies outlined and highlighted on the windscreen by the computers. Two other planes traveled with her, carrying similar payloads as well as nearly twenty tsi-tai fighters. What they could do if the enemy detected them early and sent a large enough force to intercept them remained to be seen. And if she had a choice, Keela-Tel would choose not to find out.

The night sky was beautiful at 40,000 feet; flying so high that there was essentially no atmosphere to blur her view of the stars. If she knew where to look, she could faintly make out her home star. She was getting stiff, shifting in her seat she tried to make herself a bit more comfortable. It was Royal Air Corps regulations that the pilot not leave her seat until the payload was delivered. After that the copilot could take over and fly them home. But until then, she remained where she was. No matter how full her bladder got.

Taking off from Australia, they flew across the great expanse of the largest ocean this planet had to offer. Below her it was nothing but endless black water. The Mako held enough fuel to make it to their destination but they would have to make a refueling stop shortly after striking their target.

Nor-Ta's voice filled her ears again, breaking the silence. "Pilot, we are approaching the target. Five minutes."

"Affirmative. Handing control over to Bombardier." Keela-Tel adjusted the settings on her console and the computer switched control over the aircraft over to the Bombardier, Nika-All Holf. He would bring them to drop zone and release the payload when ready.

Exactly five minutes later, a testament to the skill of Nor-Ta's navigational skills, she felt the aircraft get several tons lighter as the single bomb in the bay fell to the planet below. Immediately after control defaulted to her command and Keela-Tel pushed the throttle to the redline, turning the craft as hard as she could to escape the blast radius. When the powerful Graviton Bombs detonated it could snatch the craft out of the sky.

Three of the destructive devices fell to the surface, detonating at the same time. The overpressure killed every living thing around while the blasts leveled buildings for miles. One bomb could tear the heart out of a city. Three bombs could wipe it off the map, leaving only debris and death behind.

When they were far enough away from danger, Keela-Tel handed control over to her copilot and eased herself off to the lavatory to relieve herself. The American city of San Francisco, captured by Druidth shock troopers early in the war only to be retaken by Marines was now nothing more than rubble, the iconic Golden Gate Bridge a crumpled heap in the water.