There was a general hubbub as everyone commented at once until Kendra broke in.
“Guys, it’s already starting. I got a lot of blips on scanners, a lot closer to Earth...wait...some of these were already here. I got transports appearing all of a sudden, like they came out of the ground. No...lakes. They’re coming out of large bodies of water...Lake Victoria, Lake Michigan...they’re scattering in different directions. This looks like the real thing.
“We’re on the way,” Franklin said.
“Hold on a sec, let’s see where they’re heading. You might have to split up and engage on several fronts. Remember what we said about the ground troops. Just disable them if you can. Whoah...”
“Whoa?” Franklin asked, “What was that about?”
“I guess the military was paying closer attention than we were. They’re scrambling fighters. This computer system is picking up orders going out from the Air Force, the Navy...one of the transports is close...fighters are deploying...Wright Patt...”
“You’re cutting in and out,” Franklin said, “I’m not catching everything.”
“Jamming...messing with our comms...”
The line went dead.
“Okay guys,” Franklin said, “You still reading me?”
The other pilots all answered in the affirmative.
“Well, it looks like they’ve picked up on our communication and jammed everything between here and Earth. We don’t know where all they’re attacking, but she said one was close, and I thought I heard her mention Wright Patt. That means the Air Force is deploying jets to try to take out the threat. I think we need to go down and take a look. Let’s split up in smaller wings and see if we can find out where the other attacks are taking place as well.”
“Roger that,” Morrison said.
“I’m heading for Ohio. Keep an eye on Europe, Africa, the Middle East...let’s try to find out where they all are and how we can attack them.”
Franklin and his wing came out of the clouds in time to see one transport slow down and open a set of large doors in its belly as a squadron of fighter jets approached. The transport launched fighters which engaged the jets and the fight was over in seconds, every one of the fighter jets losing all control and dropping like a rock.
“They didn’t even eject,” Franklin said, “What gives?”
“Probably fried everything. Canopy didn’t blow and the ejection seat didn’t go either. What the hell can do that?” Curtis said.
Another three fighters approached and wasted no time in engaging the fighters from the transport. They managed to take two of them down before they suffered the same fate.
“I think that would be our cue,” Franklin said, “Those jets don’t have shields like we do, so they’re sitting ducks. Let’s go.”
They flew into the fray and found out that these fighters weren’t the mindless drones they had faced in space. Franklin took one hit and noticed that his shields dropped by more than half.
“One more hit like that and I’m a goner,” he said.
“You got another one on your tail. You need to evade,” Curtis said.
“I got him,” Fiona said, just as Franklin saw the fireball erupt behind him.
“Thanks, I owe you one.”
“How about now? I got two on my butt.”
Franklin took one out and Curtis got the other.
“Thanks guys, guess we’re even now.”
“No time to pat ourselves on the back. They got more of them coming. I don’t know how long we can hold out against these guys,” Curtis said.
“If we can keep them busy, we can give those guys a fighting chance,” Franklin said as three more F-22 jets came roaring in, launching missiles. The missiles were useless, bouncing off the shields of their targets. The pilots came around and this time fired their 20mm cannons, having more of an effect. Two took extreme shield damage and two more were taken out, exploding in spectacular fireballs. One of the F-22s flew close to Franklin, saw that he was firing at the same targets, and gave him a thumbs up gesture. Franklin, Curtis, and Fiona stayed in close formation and targeted any fighters that seemed ready to go after the jets, and before long they had destroyed over fifty. The F-22 pilots abandoned the missiles for the 20mm cannons and were having success by coming in at high speed passes and zooming away before they could be taken down by the weapon that had destroyed the others.
Eventually they exhausted their ammo and left the area, reporting what was going on and that there were some other craft helping them with the hostiles. The transport seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of fighters and two more arriving fighter jets were downed before they could take out the next wave.
“Guys, I can’t shake this one...he just took out my shields,” Franklin said, “One more hit and I’m a goner...yep, losing power...engines gone. I’m outta here.”
Before he could even look for the eject button, the ship’s computer said, “Prepare for evacuation,” and the next thing he knew he was in a pod that had formed inside the cockpit and the pod was gliding toward the ground. He looked out a small window and saw the ship explode seconds later, before he came to a gentle rest on the ground. With a small hiss, the door of the pod opened, and he climbed out.
“You guys need some help?” Walter’s voice came over their comms.
“Yeah,” Fiona said, “What took you so long?”
“Helping your friends. It’s the same in each location. These transports are launching more fighters than they can deal with.”
“You need to be careful. You know what happened the last time.”
“Yeah, I’m staying away from the front end of them. I can dodge their fire well enough if I pay attention and don’t let them surround me. It should be different with our new friends here.”
Walter flew by the cockpit of one of the F-22s and waved at the pilot, then shot ahead toward the enemy fighters. He destroyed two of them and another came after him. The fighter was so focused on going after Walter that he never saw the F-22 come up
