A Hero’s Sacrifice

“They’re already closing on Brun,” Jak said. Brun, Iotha’s third moon, was too close for comfort.

“Where’d these interlopers come from?” Tal asked.

“No idea,” Jak said, apparently forgetting all about his former statement about keeping radio silence unless being chased by an enemy.

“They must want something,” Alton said. “People don’t just invade others for no reason.”

“What makes you think they’re people?” Jak asked. “For all we know, they could be bulbous headed, lizard skinned, sentient robots.”

Tal cleared his throat. “Uh, sir? A little less banter, please. Gotta keep the channels open and whatnot.”

“Tal,” Jak said with not a bit of mirth in his voice, “you’re an idiot.”

Tal grinned. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Jak chuckled, and his squadron of eight fighters soared out of the atmosphere and into the blackness of silent space.

•••••

The first group of enemy fighters flew in formation near Brun, as if waiting for Tal and his comrades to come closer. Fury unleashed from both sides when the two groups finally met. Beams of red and gold laser fire illuminated the darkness, some scoring hits while others vanished into the void of space. The enemy starfighters looked like arrowheads as they sped through the battlefield, and Tal spun his ship in a corkscrew to avoid a flurry of laser blasts from the enemy ranks. It was their eight fighters against ten of the enemy. Good odds, as far as Tal was concerned.

He blasted an enemy ship, fire erupting in its cockpit before being snuffed out by the vacuum outside. His scanners blinked and beeped, alerting him of an enemy lock. Tal juked back and forth, trying to get out of the enemy’s sights.

“Uh, Flight Leader Jak?” he asked.

“What?” his commander asked tersely.

“I’ve got an enemy locked on to me. Is now a good time to break radio silence?”

Jak swore into the comms system. “Where are you?”

“Seven-nine-two-four.” Tal pulled up hard before pushing his ship’s nose down, flipping himself around with a blast of thrusters to face his pursuer. The enemy didn’t have time to react before Tal pulled the trigger and sent a golden bolt of hot energy through the enemy’s front viewport. The enemy’s arrowhead ship listed lifelessly away from the battle. “Never mind,” Tal said into his comms. “I’m good now.”

“This is too easy,” Alton said. “Why do a sneak attack then release an insignificant amount of fighters?”

As if on cue, Planetary Defense radioed in to the entire squadron. “We’re under attack! I repeat, Kinshaltar is under attack!”

“They’re attacking the capital!” Tal said, although he knew the others had understood the message the same. “This is a decoy!”

“Back to the city!” Jak said. “Break off all attacks immediately!”

Tal slammed his thrusters into high power and sped off toward Iotha along with his squadron.

What were we thinking? Tal chided himself. We were too eager for a fight. We should have seen something was wrong with the whole situation.

“What reinforcements do you have?” Jak asked Planetary Defense through the comms system. By all accounts, PD should have plenty of starfighters stationed nearby.

“Half a squadron,” PD replied. “The rest were either on an escort mission or training with the Kern. I’m sending up what we have, but we could use assistance.”

“We’re almost there,” Jak said.

Tal shook his head. Whoever’s attacking us knew this precise time would be when we were weakest. Who knows our schedules like that?

Iotha grew larger and larger in Tal’s viewport. His ship would toast a bit during reentry at his current speed, but at this point, he would have to risk it.

“This is Planetary Defense,” came the same man on the comms. “The attacking force has broken off and are retreating back into space. No other blips on our radar, so you may want to stay where you are rather than risk reentry.”

“Copy that,” Jak said. “You heard the man. Let’s clean up this rabble!”

A few hoots and cheers rose up from the other pilots. It wasn’t long before Tal saw the retreating enemy arrowhead-ships leaving Iotha’s atmosphere. “Alton, form up with me. Let’s relieve that mothership of some of her burdens.”

“Right with you, Tal,” Alton’s cheery voice piped in.

Alton caught up to Tal, and together they stalked the fleeing ships. While they took shots, Tal saw the half squadron of friendly ships exiting the atmosphere, ready to join the hunt. “Nice of you to stop by,” he said to the newcomers.

“Didn’t want you to have all the fun,” came a woman’s voice, sounding anxious yet excited to join the fight.

“We have more incoming,” Jak said. “Looks like double on approach from the mothership. I’ll take my squadron ahead to meet them at the second moon. The rest of you folks hang back near the first moon and clean up any fighters we let through.”

“Not that we plan on it,” Tal chimed in.

“But we’re here for you, just in case,” said the woman, a hint of mockery in her voice.

Tal ignored the jibe and slammed his fighter forward, blasting the two remaining arrowheads on his way.

•••••

“Shield generators!” Alton said as two of his shots absorbed into an enemy ship’s invisible barrier.

“There!” Tal announced. “In the middle of the arrowhead formation is a larger fighter, one with antennae connected to additional orbs. Most likely engines or even a shield generator. Take that out and the other ships will lose their shields.”

“You sure?” Jak asked.

“No, but it’s my best guess and our best shot.”

“Then let’s take it out!” Jak seemed more than happy to do some damage.

Tal pointed his ship toward the shield-granting enemy and blasted forward. The enemy arrowheads swarmed around him, Alton, and the others as they tried to get near the shielded ships.

“Mal!” Jak yelled into his comms. “Take Bree up and around. Jem, you and Tyrese head toward the moon and cut in from that direction. I’ll take Bethanie and attack from the other side. Tal and Alton, scatter the enemy as best you can.”

Tal smiled through gritted teeth. “With pleasure, sir. Alton, let’s go stir some soup, shall we?”

Alton giggled, the sound he frequently made when nervous, yet excited. “Screwball?”

“Screwball,” Tal acknowledged.

Tal and Alton screeched into the midst of the fighters and, just before attacking, they pulled off in opposite directions, looped around, then spun their ships in a corkscrew while unleashing deadly laser bolts into the enemy formation. Tal and Alton criss-crossed each other, one going above and the other below, back and forth, up and down, spinning while veering in seemingly random patterns.

To the enemy it would seem random, but Tal and Alton had done this sort of thing plenty of times. Tracking a spinning ship wasn’t easy, as the enemy couldn’t read the ship’s bearings to determine which way it would bank next. Likewise, the incessant firing bred confusion among the enemy, as nobody wanted to be hit by a stray laser bolt. The arrowheads tried to counter, but didn’t know which way to go. Their shots all went wide, some so far away that Tal couldn’t help but laugh.

“Target absolutely annihilated!” Tal announced into his comms. He shot more laser blasts into an arrowhead, which promptly disintegrated and became space debris. “Shields on the smaller craft are also gone. You can thank me with a drink once we’re all done up here.”

Without shields, the smaller arrowhead-shaped starfighters fell apart quickly. Despite having superior numbers, the enemy didn’t stand a chance. Soon, all but a few enemies remained near the moon. Unfortunately, the feeling of victory never came.

“Mothership is moving,” Jak said, then cursed. “And it’s releasing more fighters. Two, three…looks like five squadrons of fighters, possibly more. Looks like this party’s just getting started!”

Tal brought his starfighter into formation with the others. “We may want to call up our reinforcements.”

“Yeah,” Jak said through static. “I think you’re right.”

•••••

“Don’t let any of them through!” Jak urged as the onslaught of enemy fighters raced toward Tal and the others.

Tal broke into evasive maneuvers as enemy laser bolts flashed dangerously close to his ship’s hull. One ship barreled toward him, and he juked away just in time before the massive ship could ram him. At such a close range, Tal could see the ship looked to be about three times the size of his.

“Whoa!” he called out in alarm. “Too close, buddy! Hey, Jak! We’ve got a new type of ship. It’s big, and it likes to smash into things. Namely us.”

“Shields?” Jak asked.

“Don’t know,” replied Tal. “But a ship that big might not need shields to stay in the fight for a long time. Looks like it has thick plating. Trust me, I got a good, close look at the thing.”

“You heard the flyboy,” Jak said. “Watch out for the big fighters. Finish them off if you can, but focus on not letting anything through our position, no matter what!”

Confirmations came through the comms, and then the silence of the deep-space battle permeated Tal’s cockpit. He piloted his ship with skill and, admittedly, a bit of luck at times, insomuch that the enemy fighters had a difficult time getting a lock on him, much less land a shot. But, like any battle, if something could go wrong, it would.

A bright beam scorched Tal’s right wing. He cursed. “I’m hit! Still intact, but landing this hunk of junk might be more difficult than it’s worth.”

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes,” said Jak. “You still good to fight?”

“Of course!” Tal said, feigning hurt. “I only said that so you hot shots would know I’m also human at times.”

“Thanks for the reassurance,” Alton said.

“I can’t shake this guy!” Tyrese called out. “He’s on me good!”

Tal looked out from his viewport, searching for his friend’s position. To his right, not too far from his current position, Tal located Tyrese’s ship being pursued by an arrowhead fighter. “I see you. On my way.”

Tal banked right and lined up a shot, careful not to hit Tyrese in the process. Before he could take the shot, however, the arrowhead did, and Tyrese’s ship spun out of control.

“Tyrese!” Tal yelled. “Ty! Do you copy? Ty!”

Silence.

Tal clenched his teeth and fired at the fighter that killed his friend. He blew a dozen holes in the ship’s hull and continued firing at it until it fell apart into hundreds of pieces. Enraged at the loss of Tyrese, Tal blasted his way back into the main fight and gunned down two more ships. Then, noticing a shield-ship, he went after it.

As soon as it became apparent that the shield-ship was his target, a swarm of enemy fighters attacked Tal, trying to blast him out of the fight. Or at the very least, cut him off. Tal, however, would have none of that.

He cut his main thrusters and activated his reverse thrusters, slamming himself forward in his restraints, his ship zipping backwards. Three of the enemy ships darted past him and were slowly cooked with laser blasts from his own ship. Three more ships still tailed him and took some shots, but they all went wide. Using his sensors and display, as well as the old- fashioned shoulder check, Tal reversed his craft through the mess of fighters. By now, the three that had been chasing him had looped around and were continuing their pursuit, although this time their ships faced forward while his flew in reverse.

Tal opened fire, cutting up one, two…almost three of the other ships. The third one broke off its attack and swung around to come in from the side. Activating a side thruster, Tal flipped his ship around to face the enemy and then, initiating his forward thrusters and cutting his reverse ones, jolted toward his target. The enemy fired, two shots going wide, but one scorching his other wing. Tal pulled the trigger and, disappointingly, only his right wing’s laser gun fired.

It was enough.

The blast seared through the hull of the enemy ship and hit its engine. Tal raised an eyebrow as the ship split in two, the back propelling itself forward, while the front cockpit drifted aimlessly in space.

“They’re breaking through!” Jak called out.

Tal looked around. He had been so focused on avenging Tyrese that he hadn’t kept tabs on the rest of the battle. Only a dozen or so ships remained among the enemy’s forces, and they all barreled towards Iotha, uncaring as to who was firing at them. Tal realized this was their last ditch effort to inflict damage on the city.

They had to be stopped.

Tal pushed his ship as hard as he could, trying desperately to gain on the enemy. Their ships were fast, and Tal could only do so much. An idea popped into his mind, and without stopping to think if it was a good idea or not, he went to work. Tal flipped a switch, pushed some buttons, and watched as his shield display fell from yellow-green to dark red. Rerouting power from shields to thrusters was dangerous during a battle, but Tal knew if those arrowheads–and one of the suicidal ramming ones, by the looks of things–reached Iotha, they would destroy much of Kinshaltar, and worse, kill countless innocent civilians.

“Where’s Mal?” Tal asked as his ship picked up speed.

“Gone,” Jak said. His response was terse, but Tal still sensed his pain.

“So’s Tyrese,” Tal said. “I tried to save him, but I was too slow.”

“It’s not your fault, Tal,” Jak said. “These things happen.”

“They shouldn’t,” Tal said, and closed the distance on the closest ship.

He fired.

The ship split into four uneven pieces and drifted in all directions. Tal sped past the wreckage, moving too fast to see who–or what–was piloting it. He shot another ship down before reaching one of the larger ships that had tried to ram him earlier. One of his blasts hit it, but it continued its course without so much as flinching. Another shot landed, but still the ship hurtled away.

Tal cursed as he realized Iotha was coming up fast. “I can’t enter atmosphere!” he called into his comms. “My wings are damaged. I’m sorry.” He took one last pot shot at the larger ship—missed—and pulled up.

“Fall back, Tal,” Jak said with worry in his voice. “It’s not worth losing your life over. Stay up here and help clean up. I’ll take the others in with me.”

Tal turned his ship around and watched as the five remaining starships of Iotha’s capital scorched into the atmosphere. He couldn’t see much of the action, but by the smoke that started rising from Kinshaltar, Tal knew the city had taken a hit, quite possibly a big one.

His sensors beeped, and he flipped his ship around. The mothership was moving again, this time much faster and heading right toward him. Well, most likely Iotha, but he was between the planet and the mothership, so whether or not he was the intended target, he would be if he didn’t move out of the way.

He activated his thrusters and, staring down the dark mass in front of him, hurtled toward the enemy mothership.

•••••

The closer Tal flew to the mothership, the more he regretted his decision. It looked to be the size of Kinshaltar, only Kinshaltar didn’t fly through space launching fighters. Well, technically Kinshaltar did launch fighters, but the mothership was something else entirely. The black, domed vessel sprouted tree-length, tentacle-like spires from its underside, and as Tal reached attack position, he realized too late what they were for.

Brilliant bolts of hot red laser fire erupted from the underside of the mothership. Tal clenched his teeth and pulled up hard, his ship twisting and writhing in random directions as it climbed.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

He should have stayed back and cleaned up like Jak had ordered. When would he learn?

He soared above and away from the enemy fire and was pleasantly surprised when the mothership stopped firing at him once he was level with the middle of the ship–the part that started to curve up and around into a dome. Did the mothership not have defensive weapons on her topside? If not, it was a silly mistake to make for such a massive creation. Leaving it exposed like that—

Blinking lights and alarms filled Tal’s cockpit. Missiles blasted from the mothership’s topside, heading straight for his ship. He banked hard to the left and swooped down, but not so far that the mothership’s laser guns would be a threat. He flew straight, watching his display as three missiles made their way to his position. At the last possible moment, Tal dove. As expected, the mothership opened fire with her lasers. The missiles overshot their mark, but quickly regained their lock on him and chased him below the mothership.

Spinning around and flying like one with too much alcohol in his system, he avoided the barrage of laser fire, some missing his ship by only a hair. The missiles weren’t so lucky. One was blasted into nothingness by the mothership’s lasers, and the other two struggled to maintain their lock on Tal. As expected, the heat of the lasers interfered with the missiles’ target lock systems.

Tal brought his ship up and away from the laser fire once more. Safe from that threat—yet expecting another one at any moment—Tal engaged his forward thrusters at full power. The mothership didn’t fire more missiles. Tal assumed they didn’t want to waste any more munitions than necessary one one tiny starfighter. What could he possibly do do a ship as large as that mothership? He didn’t know himself. That is, until he crested the top of the mothership and looked down into a vulnerable opening.

A massive gap sat in the middle of the mothership—like the hole in a donut—and left engines, generators, and other mechanical parts exposed. Grinning, Tal brought his fighter into a steep climb then flipped around and pointed his nose at the hole. He opened fire.

His lasers disappeared, gobbled up in the energy shield that kept the mothership’s innards safe from attacks such as his.

Maybe now PD will listen to me about upgrading these ships with missiles.

The mothership responded to his futile attack by launching four missiles at him, one from each side of the ship.

Great, he thought as his display screamed warnings at him. Then, an idea struck his mind so hard he reacted—once again—without thinking.

He pulled up as hard as he could, climbing higher above the mothership. With four missiles approaching from different sides, the risk of being shot down increased drastically. But, out here on his own (he chided himself for not waiting for help), he didn’t have many other options. He corkscrewed as he climbed, then weaved back and forth as well. Soon, all four missiles were approaching at once.

He activated his reverse thrusters while cutting the forward ones, slamming himself against his restraints.The missiles recalculated and, as hoped, all turned at him at nearly the same angle. Still barreling toward the mothership, he gave a blast of a side thruster and transferred power from his reverse thrusters to his forward thrusters and spun his ship so he once again faced in the direction he travelled, all while maintaining his current velocity. A few seconds afterwards, the mothership—more specifically the massive hole in the ship’s mid section—filled his viewport.

He hit the accelerator, blasting farther ahead of the missiles chasing him. They increased their speed as well, which Tal found odd. Missiles weren’t supposed to have varying speeds. He realized they must be controlled manually, like a drone with a camera. Was someone inside the mothership chasing him with radio controlled missiles?

He didn’t dare slow down again. Instead, he angled his course slightly so it didn’t look like the gap in the mothership was his target. Then, before he passed over it, he pushed up on his steering handles, which in turn flipped his ship down toward the mothership and around, heading the other direction.

As hoped, the missiles tried to follow. The first one slammed into the side of the mothership near the gap, and as Tal flew over the hole, he saw the shield ripple. The second and third missiles crashed directly into the shield itself, passing through without fizzling out. With nowhere to go, they struck the inner walls, which killed the shield altogether. The fourth missile, however, had a better operator on the inside of the mothership and avoided colliding with its ship.

It chased Tal, who was now completely out of ideas. But, one missile would be easier to evade than four. To his dismay, however, more lights blinked on his console, alerting him of a dozen more missiles launching from the mothership.

Tal didn’t hesitate. He climbed back up, flipped around, and made another pass at the mothership’s now-exposed interior. He waited for his warning sirens to go off, alerting him of the close proximity of the newly launched missiles, but they never came.

He tried all his favorite tricks to get the missile off his tail, but it was no use. Looking at his monitor to get a reading as to the location of the other missiles, he realized why they weren’t heading for him. Jak and his squad had come back! And they were chasing three arrowhead fighters.

Tal broke off his attack from the mothership and flew toward his friends. “Good to see you! Alton still around?”

“Wouldn’t miss this party for the world,” Alton replied.

“Good!” Tal said. “I’ve got a missile chasing me. Care to help?”

“With you momentarily,” he replied.

Tal shot forward. He watched as one of their ships was cut to pieces by three missiles striking it at once. These aliens weren’t taking any chances, that was for certain. The other pilots used each other to distract and shoot down the remaining missiles. One, however, still pursued him, and was so close to his rear thrusters that he couldn’t see it anymore when looking over his shoulder.

“Anytime, Alton!” Tal said, voice tense.

From his left side, Alton’s ship sped towards him, firing golden laser blasts dangerously close to Tal. Alton buzzed past Tal’s ship, so close that if there had been atmosphere or gravity in the mix, he would have been knocked out of the sky.

“You’re all clear!” Alton exclaimed into the comms system.

“I’m gonna need a new pair of pants when we get back to base,” Tal said.

Jak’s voice crackled to life over the comms. “Bogey count zero! Who’s up for attacking the mothership?”

The remaining squad members hooted and hollered into the comms.

“I may have found its weakness,” Tal said. “Above the mothership is a gap, past which lies its internal mechanics. I knocked out the shield protecting it so we can fly in there now and wipe it out.”

“And here I thought you were having a picnic out here while we did all the dirty work planet-side.”

Tal ignored his leader’s comment, but only because he had more important things to say for once. “Avoid the underside of the mothership. That’s where her lasers are. Fly up and over, but watch out for missiles.”

“Roger that,” said Jak. “You heard the man! It’s time to pay Mother a visit!”

The mothership had activated her thrusters and was now barreling at full speed toward the planet. “She’s moving fast!” Tal said. “Don’t let her overshoot you or you may miss your chance!”

Tal and the other fighters only had to wait a minute for the mothership to reach them. As it did, each pilot brought their ship up and matched speeds. Missiles poured from the massive ship like an army of angry stinger insects intent on swarming an unsuspecting fool who jostled their nest. Fortunately, no arrowheads left the mothership’s hangars. Apparently they had all be spent. Good. That was one less threat to worry about.

Jak was the first to attack the mothership and Tal watched as he unleashed a volley of golden bursts into the ship’s gap. The mothership rocked, but continued its flight path. Alton was next, followed closely by Tal. Tal came in above and beside his friend, and both ships pointed their noses at the gap and fired. No sooner had Alton pulled the trigger than a missile slammed into his ship from behind.

“No!” Tal screamed.

Alton’s ship smashed into the inside of the mothership. Alton, Tal’s friend and trusted wingman, lost in the crash. Tal narrowed his eyes and unleashed furry inside the mothership’s exposed innards. A missile followed him in, but Tal shoved his ship sideways with his thrusters, all the while firing his lasers. The missile careened into the side of the mothership, opening a hole in her hull.

“She’s breached!” Tal said into his comms, ignoring the tear that made its way slowly down his cheek. “Let’s finish her off!” Tal pulled up to start another pass, but he was moving too fast. His ship was moments away from smashing into the mothership’s side.

Tal flipped open a small dura-glass hatch and pressed the red button within. His ship’s cockpit detached itself from the ship’s body and blasted upward, just in time of avoid the edge of the mothership’s inner wall.

Tal spun in his engineless cockpit, working the controls to fire small blasts of emergency thrusters in order to stabilize himself. He eventually did, and watched as his squadron scrambled to finish the job.

Only three ships remained, but each one brought skill and firepower enough that the mothership didn’t last another minute. After two more passes and powerful volleys of laser blasts, the mothership pulled apart from itself and became another piece of floating debris amid Iotha’s four moons.