The Run

The Run

Speeding across the desert at 350kts and 70ft over the desert. They were answering a call for assistance as the pilot and his four-ship element was on the way back to the barn. The call came and took precedence.   A  Special Ops element was in the withdrawal process when they were attacked by a hidden enemy directly behind them while waiting for dust-off. The adversary was visibly approaching from the east in strange-looking tracked vehicles and some exo-suited personnel in the lead holding large cannon-like weapons firing on the move. As one of the rescue elements approached, they diverted to the west as the four-plane element made its run. Having a successful mission before the call, they knew that there was still ordinance available for this rescue mission.  

   After being cleared hot on target, the choice was to hit the personnel in the suits 1st. They were dark metallic robotic shapes standing approximately 10ft. Tall. Inside they contained oral human-size operators. Three of them approached, followed by three tracked vehicles. The spec ops troops lazed the large running machines so that the missiles could find their way.   Three rockets were released, the smoke from their launch made them visible to the attackers. Armored attackers threw smoke chaff, and other electronic noise to evade the attack. Too bad for them, the missiles were command guided and struck with a blinding flash three times, one for each target one was stopped cold by the hit it paused, started smoking, then exploded. This event repeated three times by creating three smoldering wrecks in the sand.

Switching to bombs, the flight released the four remaining 1000 pound bombs amid the three pursuing tracks. As the smoke cleared, one heavily damaged track moved in the direction from which they came. It was not moving very fast. It was indeed out of the fight. The rescue elements returned to pick up the team and were heading south in the direction of the base. The Carrier in the distance waited for the returning ships. The flight circled until the troop carriers landed and unloaded their passengers, they were moved off the flight deck, making space for the returning flight. The landing was pretty much uneventful except for one thing. The Carrier was hovering about 2000 ft above the landmass they were fighting over. After stowing the gear, securing the planes' large, mighty doors closed, and the landing deck sealed. All ships company strapped themselves into acceleration chairs for transport to another destination. The lights dimmed to amber, and the sensation of motion began on which trip took about another 30 mins. Rising to a point approximately 200,000 feet above that planet that these men and women were departing. They were being docked into another ship in low orbit. After securing the Carrier within the gigantic transport, they were heading out. Going back home, it was over; for now, their rotation was over. It was 39 months to home at light speed to Proxima Centauri. It was a good thing they were going six times that fast. Home in about 6.5 months. Messages home were sent on a drone ship traveling at 15 times light speed, which would be only 2.6 months travel time. These messages included the after-action report in an encrypted portion of the ship's memory, with personal messages taking up all available message space. 

The crew never thought that within five years of 1st contact, they would be involved in an operation to secure this part of the galaxy. They considered how much the pay would be for being gone, 24 months travel, and mission time. This would blow the mind of someone born in the 2020s