Author: William "Raptor[K]" Lohrberg Viewing: Chapter 7  
 

I was right. At 0800 the alarm klaxons went off. The call went out for the 102nd to report to the briefing room. When alarm klaxons go off its usually irregular for a squadron to be called into the briefing room. The 102nd rushed in. In unison we said "Reporting as ordered SIR."
  "Ok Wildcards... this is going to be the biggest and hardest mission of your careers. It has been decided to run a mission to the Kilrathi homeworld of Kilrah." A collective gasp and questions go about the room and who the suicide pilot will be.
  The CAG continues, "Colonel Christopher Blair with 3 wingman has agreed to head through the home system and bomb Kilrah with the experimental Temblor bomb. I know some of you think Maverick is over rated." A collection of laughter erupts in the room. "But he now has 12 more wingmen. His ship was equipped with a cloaking device. You will watch his back because this mission will possibly be the mission that will end the war and you'll all be able to go home. So just watch his back and may you succeed in you mission. Your orders have been downloaded into your planes. You'll leave immediately."

  With the end of the CAG's presentation the 102nd leaves the briefing room and heads down to the flight deck. Solemnly each one climbs into his Excalibur and powers up. One by one the Excaliburs leave the safety of the Midway and head towards the jump gate, this would be a very long trip. I check my readouts and laugh because we have mace's again.

  ***

  Approaching the jump gate the Wildcards make the first jump ahead of Blair and his wing. It was time to clear the way. The 102nd cloaks their ships and make their way to the first hidden station. What little they had around a major system, but I guess they were overconfident. The small ships they did have we quickly dispatched without a chance for them to call for help. And quickly we landed at the first way station for a little rest.

  The next day at 0600 we headed for the 2nd way station. Again since we were in an asteroid field they had little if no resistance and we dispatched it quickly to land at the station for a little fuel and armament reload. 3 hours later we left and headed to the 3rd way station.
  The route to the 3rd way station was a lot more crowded then the other two. Guess the closer you get to Kilrah the more you'll have to face. Two kitty carriers and their fighters surrounding them were what we encountered. Naturally I relook over the mission specs, and then Blair's orders. He will not get his cloaking device till he lands at the 3rd station. It is now time to make a decision about that to do for the sake of the mission. Finally the thought comes to me and the safety standards on those kitty carriers are pathetic. Time for action.

  "Ok Wildcards we have to take out those 2 carriers. We are going to use the mace missiles they equipped us with. Knight, you and Hunter will go behind the one on the left. Viper and I will take the one on the right. The rest of you just get ready if those cats notice us. Put those blast visors down. We don't want you to go blind now." I order.
  All that is heard is a series of confirmations and then we go to work. Coordinating our attack with the Knight and Hunter we decloak behind the rightmost kitty carrier and launch 2 mace missiles at it. First one hits with destructive force and the resulting radiation bombards the carriers shields till they are nothing when the 2nd missile strikes it went right into the engines and detonated. The engineering section is gone and the resulting radiation starts pouring throughout the ship. Knight and Hunter had the same success as us, both carriers neutralized and their fighter escorts caught in the explosion. We cloak and head back on course to the 3rd way station.

  What little opposition there is we quickly and efficiently dispatch it and land at the third station for some much needed rest. I laugh to myself think how Blair might put this as a cakewalk when he comes through here being that we did most of the work. With those thoughts out of my head we re-load with a new set of mace missiles. I look around at the Wildcards. You can sense the tension of what is about to happen. If Blair is successful then we can all go on vacation and won't have to fight the Kilrathi.

  ***

  Resting till 1200 hours we climb aboard our planes again and take off for Kilrah. Activating the cloaks to remain undetected we set our autopilots and the only thing left to do is to wait. There is no radio chatter between any of us now for real fear of detection, I mean what are we supposed to do? Nuke the planet? That thought comes to mind too... if he fails were we the back up plan? Was there a backup plan? Wasting time, I think about the wedding that is going to happen. When this war ends we won't have to worry about fighting anymore or will we? Who knows at all?

  The other pilots pass the time either sleeping or thinking about what they are going to do after the war. As thoughts happen our alarms go off. The time is 1900 hours. We have reached Kilrah. As the first human eyes to see Kilrah without being slaves we are amazed that one bomb will take this place out. All around they have shipyards, massive fleets. Can Blair do it? Finally we wait for him to show up. The path has been cleared now all he has to do is walk down the lane. We power down all but essential systems.

  At 0200 hours our proximity alarms go off. Bringing all systems to full power we look to see what is happening. One blue dot is visible. It appears to be a lone Excalibur. We realize it is Blair and he is dogfighting 4 Kilrathi fighters. We gaze at him. He is nuts... fighting Prince Thrakath, 2 Vartok fighters, and a... a Confed Thunderbolt? What was a Confed Thunderbolt doing fighting... then we realized that happened, it was that traitor Hobbs. I am about to give the order to decloak when he blows up the Thunderbolt and launches missile salvos at the Vartoks, disabling them. I hold off on the order and watch with interest. I never saw Blair fight... it looked like he was as good as they say. Finally after a brief exchange he eliminates the Prince and heads down to the planet. I continue watching and then he disappears off the scanners. I grin slightly and remark that the old geezer does know how to use a cloaking device. Imagine my shock when I hear laughter coming over the radio and remember I left the COM open.

  At 0329 our sensors detect a massive shockwave beginning to swell up in the planet. I give the order to retreat to a safe distance and we move and watch. We see Blair's fighter coming up, but the shockwave is fast approaching. "He's not going to make it." Someone yells. At then the shockwave hits his fighter. Slowly it tumbles showing massive damage. And then the unthinkable happens... a Kilrathi ship tractors in his ship. My thoughts are they are going to kill him. I maneuver my fighter in for a closer look. I can see the Kilrathi surrounding him. Then my eyes go wide when I see the lead one bow before him. I smile... the war is over.

  "Ok Wildcards. This game of war is over. Let's head back to home plate." I say.

  ***

  We headed straight home to arrive 14 hours later. By the time we land there is a huge screen set up in the hangar. It is broadcasting the surrender of the Kilrathi. Underneath that display is: "Only the Wildcards could help Blair destroy Kilrah." Attached is the squadron logo with 4 Aces and an Excalibur replica going through them. Upon exiting, congratulations are exchanged, and we head straight for our barracks for some very much-needed rest. And I think to myself, "Now I have all the time in the world."