Kieran was dreaming of piloting.
It wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He always woke up from those dreams biting his teeth together so hard they gritted, spending moments just turning his anxiety and grief into anger and determination. Reality crashed against him like a land rover.
But that night Kieran didn’t dream for more than one hour, nor did he have time to feel sorry for himself after waking up, because he woke up to the sound of the alarms blaring.
“Bloody hell, can’t they pick a better time to attack,” he groaned as he rolled from the bed and reached for his clothes. The PA repeated the orders. All operators to the command centre. All active pilots to the hangar. This is not a drill. I repeat…
Marshal was a tall man, towering above everyone at his frightening two metres. Kieran managed to arrive just a moment before the briefing started.
“A new rift has opened only twenty kilometres away from the base,” he announced. “As everyone knows, this is well past the third line of defence, which means that we will be mobilising all available units immediately. The pilots are being briefed as we speak. Those of you whose pilots haven’t passed the simulator training phase, I want you on standby. In the worst case scenario, we will need everyone who can form a link. Dismissed!”
Kieran performed a hasty salute with the others, then made a brisk pace towards his operating desk. Orders were barked and calibration sequences started around them. Pilots appeared next to their fighters on the other side of the glass. Kieran frowned lightly at the realisation that Tiger was still undergoing repairs.
No wonder they were preparing rookies for the battlefield.
As he started the operating system he watched Interceptor being rolled out of the support cylinder. He saw the siblings, both wearing their pilot harness, jogging towards their fighter. Then, instead of waiting for the mechanic to open the latch, both of them hopped to climb the maintenance ladder and made their way to open the latch entrance manually.
Kieran blinked. They were in before anyone could react and tell them off, and the mechanic who ran to the spot could only stare in offended disbelief, before collecting the ladder away. Kieran grinned and opened the voice channel as soon as he saw Interceptor coming online.
“Making quite the impression on your first mission,” he chimed as soon as the connection formed. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes.” Zoya’s focused voice was now less meek than during their initial meeting. Ildar remained silent.
“Ildar, do you hear me?” Kieran tapped at the microphone until he heard an impatient sigh.
“Yeah, I hear you.” He decided to ignore the disgruntled tone for now.
“Startup sequence completed,” Zoya announced. Kieran watched as their brainwaves started to sync on the monitor with almost no spikes. It was just as beautiful to witness as it was terrifying to think how fast it happened.
“Interceptor, good to go,” Zoya announced as soon as the system notified Kieran of the same.
“Copy that. Move to the entrance,” he instructed. “Phantom will be joining you in the vanguard, so you will have fire support from behind. That being said, they want units to the field fast, and you are among the fastest; you will be at the first contact with the enemy. Try to stay safe.”
“I think we’re going to be just fine,” Ildar noted with a dry sneer. “Okay, Zoya. Time to misbehave.” Mechanics startled out of the way when Interceptor moved, but they managed to detach the support frame just before Interceptor took off towards the large hangar doors, one heavy step at a time.
“Operator.” Marshal had stopped next to Kieran and eyed at the screen. “Is Interceptor ready to go?”
“Yes, sir,” Kieran replied. “They finished calibrating and are currently moving to position. What are the orders?”
“The primary goal of this mission is to make sure there are no anomalies left inside the third line of defence. Interceptor will be the vanguard, Phantom will follow behind and take care of anything the Interceptor misses. They will also offer fire support. We’re having three separate units heading to secure the rift, and others to scan the areas behind the second and first lines of defence.”
“Copy that, sir.” Kieran adjusted the volume of his headset. “All right, Interceptor, the orders are search and destroy. Prioritise any anomalies you see, others will take care of securing the rift. Proceed with caution, because other fighters aren’t there yet.”
“Just means nobody will be in our way,” Ildar commented.
“The priority is to protect the base,” Kieran continued after a very firm decision to himself to have a very strict talk with these two. Interceptor had made its way to the exit and set off to a low-speed flight, heading straight to where the rift had been marked on the mission map. Kieran copied the scans of detected anomalies and their locations from the operation channel and sent them to Ildar.
“Looks like you got a pair of some kind of miracle children,” Phantom’s operator noted dryly next to Kieran. Phantom was still going through the calibrations.
“Let’s hope they really are,” Kieran replied and allowed himself to grin confidently. Have faith, he told himself. On the map he saw Interceptor picking up speed.
“Interceptor, closing in on a target,” Zoya’s voice appeared in Kieran’s headset. The last word of it was swallowed by Ildar’s voice adding: “Interceptor engaging.” Just like in the simulations, the data spots of Interceptor’s targets appeared one second after the announcement.
“Phantom, Interceptor has engaged,” Kieran reported. “There might be some stragglers around, so pick up the speed and--”
“Kieran, they are still going through the calibration sequence,” the operator replied to him, now with audible annoyance. “If they want backup, then they will have to either wait up or manage with missiles.” Kieran licked his lips. An apology wouldn’t do much good here. The data spots started flooding in, first three red spots, then six, all of them small but fast except one that was larger.
“Do we have a match for these in the database?” Kieran asked as he relayed Interceptor’s visual data to the operating channel. The larger creature was a bipedal one, and Kieran could hear its deafening roar through the headset. There was confused murmur in response, until one analyst said uncertainly: “I think they have last been spotted five years ago? The smaller ones, I mean. They are fast, but should go down pretty easily.”
“This should be in your ballpark, Interceptor,” Kieran announced to the headset. “You should be able to match their mobility…” He regretted the words upon glancing at the visual feed. Interceptor was already matching them step by step, and at a pace that seemed to either required clairvoyance or very good understanding of what exactly was up against them.
He felt like he was the one slowing them down.
“Interceptor, target down,” Ildar replied to Kieran, then repeated: “And one more. And down. Interceptor moving to engage.”
“Well, aren’t you talkative,” Kieran observed with a sigh and leaned back, running his fingers along his face.
“Zoya’s focusing,” Ildar noted as if that would explain everything. “How many targets are on the radar? She saw four.”
“We can see six on the radar. Four you have a visual on, one in front of you, one behind you. Phantom will be ready in just a...”
“Zoya, one got away,” Ildar snapped. Kieran blinked several times at the screen when he saw Interceptor taking a wide swing at its opponent, pinning it between the ground and its arm, before its lights went down. He exhaled a hoarse curse upon seeing the restart sequence. Seeing it in a real situation was even more terrifying than in the simulators.
He thought about death reports.
“Are you out of your damn mind? I just told you Phantom can take care of it,” he snapped loudly. Interceptor finished the start up and immediately turned back towards the base at full speed.
“There, can you see it?” Ildar seemed to ignore Kieran in favour of talking to Zoya, and Zoya seemed just as set on ignoring Ildar. Kieran watched Interceptor gaining on its enemy, closing in and an attack sequence forming on the inputs. The anomaly turned around just in time to be pierced with a sword, then impaled with bullets - exactly six, as if they were carefully counted. Interceptor lifted the anomaly from the ground, bleeding and twitching, almost as if to observe it before tossing it to the ground.
There was a heavy, hoarse snarl on the voice channel Kieran couldn’t quite place. The anomaly?
“Good job,” Kieran said, forcing himself not to curse as Interceptor headed back in search of the sixth target. “Now, there’s a big target as well, and we don’t have a database match. I didn’t think I would have to say this, but do not engage it until Phantom gets there. That’s an order.” Adrenaline coursed through his veins like an electrifying beat.
As long as he couldn’t pilot, this was the second best thing, and it was only ruined by these two ignoring his orders. So many needless risks for no damn reason.
Just like those two who died.
There was another snarl on the channel, but no other response.
“Interceptor,” he urged. “Did you receive my order? Do not engage the big one without Phantom.”
“Affirmative,” Ildar stated, slightly out of breath. Kieran could almost feel the strain of handling the pedals, reaching out for attack sequences, the movement, the mental strain of the fight. Every pilot was happy with every warm meal.
By the time the last red dot dimmed from the map, Phantom had made its way to the vanguard and headed past the Interceptor towards the rift. Interceptor followed after a few seconds. Kieran estimated it would be five minutes until they would reach the large target. Now that there were no more sounds of fighting, Kieran could hear Zoya’s exhausted breathing through the mic.
“Interceptor, situation report. How are both of you doing?”
“We’re good,” Ildar replied.
“Good, Ildar. Zoya? How are you doing?” There was no immediate response, just breathing. It came out in heaving gasps and audible inhales, then some throat-clearing and shifting.
“Good,” she echoed in a single, short huff.
“Let her be, she’s focusing,” Ildar noted sharply. “Zoya, we have one more.” When Zoya let out a snarl, Kieran finally realised the sound he had heard earlier had been Interceptor’s female pilot. It was more an animal sound than a human one, but Ildar seemed to take it to be affirmative.
None of the operators, Kieran included, had forgotten what had happened to Tiger. He was grateful to see the big one far from the rift, so this would be clear, cut down and chop up. Three C’s, like Hannah used to say.
He dismissed the thought of her from his mind.
“Let’s get this done,” he said when Phantom confirmed a visual.
Phantom was not as mobile as Interceptor, but they didn’t rely on stealth and manoeuvrability. Instead, they crashed unceremoniously to the anomaly, head-on, and hailed its chest with bullets. Wasteful, but effective, at least in keeping its attention.
Interceptor joined the fight from the flank, stabbing the creature to its side and ducking just in time to avoid a swing of its arm. It was messy, bloody wrestling. Phantom battered it with bullets, and Interceptor took out its blade and started a repetitive, looping stabbing movement where their hit had landed earlier. Each stab reached a bit deeper. Kieran heard Zoya’s ragged, snarling breathing in his headphones, rhythmic with every stab.
Then the creature snarled and leaped off the ground, taking both pilot pairs by surprise and taking Phantom down with its wounded fall. Interceptor held on with its strong, pincer-like grip. The stabbing loop did not stop.
“Little help, Interceptor,” the operator snapped at Kieran. “Help us. Get its attention.”
"If stabbing isn't going to get its attention, I'm not sure what will," Kieran replied sharply. Interceptor didn’t hesitate nor stop the loop.
Stab. The creature was snarling at Phantom that tried its best to get back into upright position. Being pinned down against the ground was a helpless place to be; Phantom's thrusters lit up a couple of times, in vain.
Stab. If it had been just Phantom's own weight, they would have already been back up and standing - the thrusters were not designed to hold up both the mecha and a monster laying on top of it. From the visual feed, Kieran saw Phantom’s side denting up.
Stab.
"Kieran, tell them to get something done already." The operator wasn’t snappish anymore as much as panicked. Kieran hesitated for a moment. The stabbing was clearly doing damage, even when the progress was slow.
Stab.
"Give it some more time," he said curtly. "Try to hold on. Interceptor, can you hurry it up? Phantom is in a really bad spot."
"We're done," Ildar replied. Interceptor jammed its sword to the wound one more time, all the way to the hilt, and cancelled the loop. As the sword was pulled out with its left hand, the right hand moved in and emptied the clip in the wound, tearing its way through chitin and tendons, explosive internal damage.
This got the creature's attention. It pulled away from Phantom with a terrifying wail and spinned on its heels to face its new opponent, but it was too late: its core seemed to collapse, and it fell before the withdrawing Interceptor with a thud.
"Interceptor done," Ildar reported with an exhausted voice.
"Good job," Kieran replied and slumped down in his chair. Interceptor turned towards the shimmering rift in the distance.
For a while, there had been people suggesting that perhaps the energy of a rift could be collected and harnessed at the time of rift collapsing. Many lives of good pilots were lost in experimental technology because someone wanted to profit off of a crisis.
Washington base had become the centre of such political wrestlings after the Bermuda zone had been announced inactive.
Phoenix could close rifts. But could it also collect and harness the energy?
“I’ve never seen a rift being closed before.” Ildar’s voice caught Kieran by surprise. With a tap on the screen, he encrypted their channel to exclude anyone other than him and the two pilots. The rift closing team was approaching with their equipment via a land route, but it would still take time for them to get to their destination.
“Who closed rifts back where you come from?” Their confused silence told Kieran more than words could have.
“Nobody,” Ildar noted silently. “We’ve been repelling attacks, not closing rifts.” For a moment, Kieran could understand why these two had so much combat experience. As long as the root cause of the problem would remain, the anomalies would keep on coming.
“Well, in here we do things differently,” he sighed, “and you will get to see it now, too. All units are going to make sure the area stays secure and we don’t accidentally lose anyone into the rift. Keep a distance of 500 metres to the rift.”
“Yes, sir,” they exhaled in unison. Kieran smiled.
No, these two weren’t soldiers, far from it, but they would learn.
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