Chapter Twelve
Once again Daniel and his pilots sat in the cockpits of their Pouncer Air Guns. He stared out of his windshield at the sands ahead and contemplated briefly on what was to come. Fourteen aircraft sat at his back. Again he had chosen the best pilots for this mission. Rikki, Ezra, Nehemiah, Thor and Minerva were amongst them. This strike had to provide results. Lamp and Rydel had been left out of this strike in case it did not. This was definitely the riskiest strategy that he had ever tried, but this mission called for unorthodox thinking and definitely risk. By its very nature, this whole campaign was a far risk. Coming to that epiphany, he powered up his Pouncer. The engines revved and roared before settling into their familiar hum. Around him the sequence of sounds repeated themselves as the fourteen aircrafts behind him followed suit.
Daniel tapped his com. “Fly with me. Today we challenge risk and take our destiny into our hands. All of you are skilled pilots. I require that skill today. But, it’s not about me, your Wing Commander. It’s about taking your destiny in your hands. That compound that we race to challenges your authority to control it. Prove it wrong. Hold your sticks tight, watch your elevation, and showcase the sum total of all the expertise you’ve accumulated over the years. Fly with me.”
“Into the pits of hell, Wing Commander,” Rikki’s voice replied to him in his com.
“If that be our end, then that is our destiny,” Ezra finished.
“Let’s go get us a compound,” Daniel ordered.
He pulled back on his stick and his Pouncer lifted off the sands. Fourteen aircraft lifted off behind him, soared into the air, and raced toward the compound.
For the first fifty miles, they soared at normal flight altitude. As they got closer to their target, they dropped down to half that height. A short twenty miles later, a beep sounded from Daniel’s dash letting him know they were approaching their attack run distance.
“Time to get low, people. This is the longest you’ll ever be this low in the weeds,” Daniel said.
“Roman really pulled this off back in our reality?” Nehemiah asked.
“Yeah, it was impressive too,” Daniel said.
“So you were actually there to see it, Commander? This ain’t one of those exaggerated pilot tall tells we hear about?” Nehemiah asked, the nervousness obvious in his voice.
“Yeah, me and Lamp both. We were running the war games from the command room. If you want to be reassured it works, I’ll admit it this one time. The reason we know is because we were the team he tried against. That bit of flying is what won the game.”
“So he whooped your asses with that strategy is what you’re saying, Commander?” Rikki prodded Daniel.
“I thought that was implied, Rikki, but leave it up to you to make sure that point is clear,” Daniel said.
“My pleasure, Commander. I’ll make sure the rest of the Wing knows it too when we get back,” she said.
Daniel laughed.
“Too bad he ain’t here to put his risky maneuver to the full test,” Nehemiah said.
Daniel’s dash beeped as they approached radar detection distance.
“Here comes the approach line, people. Let’s get low,” Daniel said. The planes dived hard for a long drop. As the sands raced their way, they slowly leveled off and started a gradual descent.
“Anybody else getting nervous?” Nehemiah asked.
“Nah, I’m not getting nervous,” Rikki said.
“Palms not getting sweaty, either,” Thor added.
“Me neither,” Nehemiah said.
“Start your radio silence here, pilots. Just hold your sticks steady and balance the wind flow,” Daniel instructed.
The group of Pouncers gradually got lower until the sand visibly kicked up around them. Daniel watched his altitude display slowly drop to 20 feet. Sand pummeled his windshield and he could feel his Pouncer threatening to be pulled in many directions by the wind that gushed over it. Daniel calmed his nerves and held his stick firmly.
“Ok, everyone. Turn your Pouncers perpendicular to the ground. That’s what makes this all work. You got ten feet between the ground and your wing people. Gauge it and yourselves appropriately. I don't want to see none of you bouncing off the ground."
"Or one another," Nehemiah added. "I like you all, but don't care to hug any of you right now."
"Worry about your own stick Nehemiah." Minerva said. "I hope you had enough recovery time."
"I'm good I'm just saying…"
"I remember myself saying radio silence. That means shut the hell up." Daniel stated.
"I'm just saying commander…"
“Shut the hell up Nehemiah. You'll be alright."
All of the planes began to turn sideways as they raced through the air.
“Jeez,” Nehemiah said as he tilted his Pouncer slowly. “This is what it’s going to be like for the next sixty miles?”
“Yup. Just a couple of bumps, that's all. Just a couple of bumps. Hold it tight, people,” Daniel responded. “If Roman did it, we can all do it.”