“Sorry fellas, I appreciate the hospitality, but I really need to run,” Gavin said while commanding all the ports to seal up. The mechanic crew jumped clear as the auto-loaders stalled and backfired. Spare fuel rods fell from the gantry to clang loudly onto the tarmac. Gavin ignored the mechanics’ screams and warnings as he powered up the main engines. The mechanics couldn’t miss the ground-vibrating rumble of the massive Koenig engines powering up and ran for the trucks.
Gavin checked the supply statuses using his remote and nodded in satisfaction; the remote nodded awkwardly. He had more than enough supplies to get him where he wanted to go, but still, the whole plan was a little risky. Gavin couldn’t think of any alternatives, so his choices were few. Once he blasted off, he’d set course for Tal Rho’an, a black market planet on the very edge of Military space. But first things first, Gavin rationalized. He had to leave this dustball he was on before he could go anywhere.
The engine checks pinged off, and all boards reported green. Gavin remembered programming the VI’s that automated pre-launch checks and smiled inwardly in satisfaction over a job well done. Without the VI’s, it would have taken a human to complete the procedure, and he’d never get off the ground. The PDE’s were spinning up, their fingers splaying out over the wings, and everything was running smoothly. Checking his position, and using side-cameras to see where he was going, Gavin released the breaks and the massive plane began to roll. He needed to line the behemoth up with the longest stretch of runway the airfield could provide; the Praetorian had not been designed for short take-offs. Unfortunately, the best position for launch was on the opposite side of the field, and the fat plane moved awkwardly on the ground. It would take him a few minutes to get the bird into position, and time was one thing he didn’t have a generous supply of.
Hues stopped the jeep outside of Hangar 3. The chief mechanic met him at the entrance and saluted, but whatever the man was saying was cut off by the sudden roar from the huge plane. Hues beckoned the mechanic inside and led the man down into the special warehouse. Hues buzzed quickly past three security check points before reaching his destination in the cool basement.
“Chief, help me get this going,” Hues said as he started flipping switches. Lights crackled to life illuminating the large storeroom. In the center was a sleek, well-armed mech that looked every bit a bigger brother to the standard issue Cavalier. The machine was Hues’ personal Knight and it was the only weapon kept at Duckett’s Landing.
The mechanic quickly got to work and started working on truncated pre-operation check lists. Within a few minutes between Hues and the Chief, the Knight was fully operational. Hues pulled himself up onto the faring and then into the spacious cockpit. Signaling the Chief to open the bay, Hues buttoned up. The head-unit slid back off of the chest faring and into place between the shoulders sealing the Major up inside.
As soon as the hatch closed, Hues was in total darkness. It only took him a moment to activate the holo-displays which reflected in three hundred and sixty degrees around him the outside world. The illusion of the holo-display made it seem as if the pilot was floating twenty feet in the air. The Major was a veteran pilot, and quickly finished his checks completely at home with the strange illusion. He made the mech stand up, and the head-unit cleared the ceiling by mere inches. Hues took a few steps testing the balancers and then tested out the armature controls powering the hands. By the time the Chief had cranked open the main bay door, Hues was ready to go. He picked up one of the beam rifles on the massive rack against the wall and strode from the bay.
The large aircraft was still rolling to the other side of the field. It would need a long runway. He still had time. Hues popped the wheels from the recesses and took off after the plane, keeping behind the hangar so he wouldn’t be seen. He would just need to damage of few of the boosters on the wings to keep it on the ground. Anymore damage then that would probably come out of his hide. He would take his time, and aim carefully…
A loud warning buzzer sounded inside the bridge of the Praetorian. The remote started swirling around looking for the problem and caught sight of the sensor monitor. Someone had just locked onto the Praetorian with a targeting laser.
“What the hell?” Gavin said as he scanned for the enemy. He swore as soon as he found it. A mech, looking much sleeker and tougher then the Military’s standard-issue Cav was pointing a beam rifle right at the port PDE emitters. Gavin quickly engaged the plane’s self-defense systems and a flurry of movement rippled across the skin of the plane in response. Hatches and covers all opened up, clearing laser stubs and missile canisters. Gavin quickly locked onto the stationary target and let loose a blast of weaponry. Gavin didn’t realize it, but he had completed all of that action in a fraction of second, reacting with a computer’s speed and efficiency.
Hues had just brought the scope of the rifle up to the head unit and had just confirmed a lock when suddenly a series of bright flashes erupted from the plane. Immediately a half-dozen warning buzzers sounded in his cockpit and he reacted by pure instinct wheeling his Knight behind the corner of the hangar. The missiles that had been meant for him sliced through the corrugated metal siding of the hangar and the impact was enough to set off the impact detonators. His vision was blinded by a massive fireball that scorched the outside of his Knight. He was so close to the explosion that he could feel the heat inside the air-conditioned cockpit.
“That was close,” Hues said to himself angrily while wheeling behind another hangar. The plane had some nasty defenses. “So much for the element of surprise,” he groused. He’d have to take a different tact. He punched a few controls and the PDE flight backpack unfurled its wings. “Let’s see if you see this coming,” he said.
Gavin scanned the cameras closely, looking for any sign that he’d destroyed the target, or wounded it, but couldn’t see much through the smoke. He toggled through a few different spectrums, but didn’t see anything more. He waited a moment more and then goosed the throttle moving the craft a little faster down the tarmac. He had not been expecting a mech on the airfield. Apparently, he had even less time than he thought.
Before he could check the cameras again, the warning buzzer sounded again. Swearing, Gavin checked the sensors and saw nothing. Where was it coming from? He checked the alarm itself and had the VI yield the raw data. The alarm was caused by a targeting laser coming from straight above. Crap. He positioned the cameras vertically and coming straight down hiding in the sunlight was that same mech. Bad luck finding an elite out here. Dammit anyway.
Gavin again answered with a barrage of mini-missiles at the target causing the mech to move evasively. The round from the rifle went far wide of the Praetorian. This time, however, the enemy didn’t have a hangar to hide behind, and had to move quickly. The unit suddenly performed a beautiful aerial loop and then dived again pulling into a high-G turn dodging the missiles.
“Oh you’re good,” Gavin said as he launched another barrage and added the laser stubs into the mix. “Sorry about the trouble, but I really am not a fan of this place.”
Again, the mech initiated a series of complex twists and turns, out-flying the small missiles and forcing them to lose lock. It had more trouble with the laser stubs, however, and was unable to dodge the beams. Travelling at the speed of light, the lasers arrived instantly at the target destination. Gavin watched the sparks fly with the initial hit, but then was shocked to see the lasers reflect away from the mech.
“Holy crap, you have reflective shielding? You are good!” Gavin said impressed. He nervously checked his position on the tarmac again and realized his situation was not good at all. He still had quite a ways to go before he was in launch position. The elite in the air was spiraling down at him again, and Gavin watched several chunks of tarmac vaporize around the plane. The pilot was trying to keep him on the ground and was trying to do as little damage as possible. If Gavin could just get to the launch point, he’d be home free. “C’mon baby, just a little further.”
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