airframe as the engines keened.
“Hang in there, you suffering bastards. Don’t you disgrace the Phoenix name.”
“This isn’t a Super Sylph, you know!”
They were now in visual contact with Banshee. It was black, massive in scale, with broad flight decks and huge, angled wings that made it seem as if it were flying upside down.
Munch kept his distance and flew around it.
“Wish we had some binoculars. Shit, can you see anything?”
“Careful. The point defense system is activating.”
Radar-linked machine guns opened fire, narrowly missing them as Munch kept them out of range.
“Jesus, they’re throwing 20mm rounds at us. They all gone nuts in there? They damn well know who we are. Now I’m starting to get pissed — ”
“Short-range missile, closing! Break, starboard!”
They juked to the right.
“No good! It’s got us!”
The missile’s VT fuse activated and flames burst from Munch’s starboard engine. The fuel supply automatically cut off and automatic fire extinguishers activated. The black smoke pouring from the engine changed to white. It held out only for a moment though, and then caught fire again. The fire warning alarm began to wail.
“Captain, we have to punch out!”
The EJECT warning lit up on the display.
In the backseat, Lieutenant Chu checked the ejection control lever. It was in the pilot command position, which meant that if he pulled it only his seat would be ejected.
“Captain!”
Chu slid the control lever to the flight officer command position, and the eject indicator changed to FO command mode.
“Wait!” yelled Munch. “We’re still going too fast. I’ll do it!”
If the pilot executed the eject command, both seats would be ejected. The lieutenant obeyed his captain. The plane was barely holding level.
“Here we go.” Munch raised his fist, the sign that they were going to eject.
He reached up behind him and pulled the face curtain down over his head, which automatically initiated the ejection process. The kinetic inertial reels of their restraints activated, slamming them back into their seats. The sill lock released, the canopy blew off, and the catapult gun ignited.
Lieutenant Chu went first, rocketing up and to the right, followed a half-second later by Captain Munch, up and to the left. The IFF and ECM equipment self-destructed. Under each ejection seat, a gas generator activated, igniting a rocket that hurled the men far from the disintegrating plane.
The drogue guns on the ejection seats fired out their chutes. At the same time, the harnesses and lap belts released. The small drogue chutes opened, and after a programmed time delay drew the main chutes out of their canisters. The shock of the main chutes opening released the sticker clips, separating the men’s bodies from the seats. As Captain Munch descended, he glanced back at the Sylph, now engulfed in flames. He said a silent farewell to his beloved plane and watched as it exploded, the fragments scattering as they fell.
Munch was suddenly aware of how cold it was. His radio beacon was operating and he had his survival kit, but he still prayed that the search and rescue team would find them soon.
The black bulk of Banshee-IV disappeared from sight. All he could hear now was the sound of wind. He wondered if they had just been attacked by a ghost.
HIS TACTICAL RECONNAISSANCE mission complete, Lieutenant Rei Fukai returned to Faery Base. Not long after, he was summoned to appear before the SAF deputy commander, General Cooley.
When he entered Cooley’s office, she didn’t acknowledge his salute, but he didn’t take offense. Her attention was fixed on a display linked to the main strategic computer in the SAF’s mission control room. He stood silently at attention until she spoke at last.
“Banshee-IV’s entire fighter squadron was destroyed,” she said slowly. “Is that what you observed, Lieutenant?”
“I recall observing the reverse. I saw them destroy the JAM squadron,” Rei replied. “But if Yukikaze’s data file says that wasn’t the case, then it wasn’t the case.”
“You are correct. So is Yukikaze’s data file. The incident occurred after the air battle.”
“Incident? There was an ambush or something?”
“I wish I could say otherwise.”
The general relayed to him what they knew so far about the situation, indicating the elements on the display as she spoke. It showed analysis results of the aircraft positions, comm records, armaments used by Banshee, radar frequencies, top secret ECM and ECCM, IFF operational conditions, and so on at the time of the incident.
“You’ve got a lot of electronic warfare data there,” Rei said. “Yukikaze could have collected the same intel easily, though.”
“This is all data obtained from crew members of Banshee-IV who managed to escape. Banshee was attacked by a single JAM aircraft just after it launched all of its onboard fighters. The incident began right after that aircraft was shot down. Banshee’s crew lost control of all electronic equipment. Since the nuclear reactor was unstable, the captain ordered all hands to abandon ship. Banshee continued flying unmanned and then attacked its returning fighters. Miraculously, nobody was killed.”
“So what does this have to do with me?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I said, what does this have to do with me?”
The general sighed. “We need to find out what happened to Banshee-IV. The FAF Intelligence forces suspect that one of the crew may have sabotaged the onboard electronics systems,” she explained.
“The JAM aren’t the only enemy the FAF has. An agent from Earth may have infiltrated us in order to prolong the war here,” Rei said.
“That’s ridiculous. Our enemy is the JAM.”
“Then the JAM have taken over Banshee-IV. And if that’s the case, we have to bring it down.”
“Taken over by the JAM? Seriously?” she asked.
“First you don’t believe it’s an agent from Earth and now you don’t believe it’s the JAM. Don’t jerk me around, General. This isn’t my problem, and I couldn’t care less what’s happening aboard Banshee. And besides, Banshee’s air team were idiots. If it was shooting at them, they should have shot back. If it was me, I wouldn’t care if it was a carrier, or a plane that looked like a Sylph, or someone wearing a general’s rank insignia. Anyone who fires on Yukikaze is an enemy, and if she says it’s an enemy, I’ll pull the trigger without a second thought. That’s war. You think too long and you die. But you wouldn’t understand that.”
“Watch how you speak to me, Lieutenant.”
“All right then, General Cooley,
Rei coldly watched as she visibly struggled to bring her anger under control. Although she was irritated by his insubordinate attitude, he had no intention of changing his behavior and had little sympathy for her in having someone like himself under her command. He knew she had never tasted the bitterness of wondering during a takeoff whether you were ever going to land again. She’d never experienced combat with the JAM, who had no morals and no sense of honor. Rank meant nothing out there. Neither did emotions.
Whatever anyone might feel after he died was none of his concern. His sole concern was fighting the JAM and getting back alive. As far as the general’s feelings went, he couldn’t care less.
“Lieutenant, I’m ordering you to investigate the Banshee-IV incident. You’ll be assigned an analysis expert to
