This story:
<Spoiler= A Lasting Legacy: Legacy of Honor>I find this separation from you to be
even harder than the many sorties I
fly each day. My love for you is such
that I would endure anything to see
you safe, and I know that is what I
am doing, but that doesn't make it
any easier...
The fighter banked hard to the left and ejected chaff and flares. A steady stream of missiles penetrated the cloud and detonated. The pilot crowed in triumph as the sudden sharp bank left him safe from targeted attacks, and brought his foes into range. His cockpit erupted in the scream of a target lock. Without thinking he hit the button that launched a salvo of two missiles. The missiles screamed into both targets at nearly five times the speed of sound, but he didn't have time to watch them impact, because he had rolled the plane in the opposite direction and banked away from the incoming missiles again. [Target Destroyed] appeared on his Head's Up Display.
He swung the plane back around to the east, hoping to catch his opponents as they spawned in, but the match ended suddenly and the round score screen popped up. Blue team consisted simply of Spade, known in every day life as Mark, who had 17 kills and 8 Deaths, and Green Team consisted of Apolo, who had 5 kills and 8 deaths, and Krede, who had 3 kills and 9 deaths. Mark looked over at his opponents and smiled.
? Good game guys.? He was smiling because he hadn't just won the match, he had won a tournament.
Ubisoft had held a match in Des Moines, just sixty some miles from where Mark was living, to determine the best fighter pilot in the state of Iowa. When Mark won that, he advanced to regionals in Cincinnati, Ohio. While there, he spent time with his friend Stephanie, and he realized that what had started as a crush had turned serious. He had loved her a long time, but the weekend they spent in each others arms had sealed it for him. He was in love. What he was doing now would cement himself in her life forever, because the prize he had just won was over a million dollars. He could finish his doctorate in Astronomy at his leisure, which he intended to do, because he didn't have to work until he had finished school. He could also afford to take care of Stephanie and her daughter while he did it.
The other players frowned at him. Starfighter: The Avenger was supposedly the most realistic flight simulator game on the market, and he had just embarrassed them by outflying them in ways they didn't believe were physically possible. He shrugged, he knew he hadn't cheated. They would just have to deal with it when the judges made their ruling.
The review of the match took nearly an hour, which was surprisingly long considering the match had only been ten minutes. When they announced that Mark had won, he roared in delight. He was the best. He could prove it. He knew it wouldn't matter tomorrow, except for the money, but today it was his greatest victory.
When he was escorted to the back of the Las Vegas convention center to sign his legal waiver, he was taken into a large meeting room. There he was met by a man who looked terminally congenital. That was how he thought of the man, anyway.
?Greetings, I am Onlar Blever from Igners Corporation. I was wondering if I might take some time out of your day to speak with you about a most serious matter??
?Yeah, I have some time, what do you need??
?Well, first of all, let me say that I am most impressed with your skill in the simulator. I haven't seen flying like that in nearly one hundred fifty years.?
Mark stared at the man skeptically. ?Right. What is it you wanted?? He was seriously doubting the man was in his right mind, and began to wonder if he was safe alone with him.
?How would you like to fly a real starfighter??
?Gee mister, can I?? Mark's sarcasm was vehement.
?Yes, Igners Corporation has created the most advanced starfighter to date, and it will handle better than anything you have ever flown in one of your video games.?
Mark was even more skeptical. But, being as how this man was radiating openness and honesty, Mark decided to give him a chance. ?Okay. Show me this starfighter of yours, and if I like it, I will give it a shot... But you better not be fucking with me, or I won't be happy with you.?
?Follow me, I promise you won't be disappointed.?
The man led Mark outside to a waiting limo, which took them to a private airport, and a large hangar at the end of the runway.
They entered through a side door, and Mark just stopped and stared when he saw what awaited him inside the hangar. The starfighter, for there was no other word to describe it, was long and graceful, with sleek, forward swept wings, and two maneuvering fins on the top that came out of the fuselage at a 38 degree angle. ?This is the Death Stalker! I designed this fighter for my novel, the one I have been working on for the last five years!?
?Well, we didn't take it from your drawings, but the design is very similar to the ones you posted on your Facebook page about 4 1/2 years ago, yes. We only found out about your drawings a few weeks ago when we realized you were a candidate for the Pilot program. The design is the most modern in combat fighter technology, and far outstrips our opponent's fighters. We estimate they are a decade or more of your years from finding the specific design components that make this fighter so powerful. We want you to test it out for us, maybe take it in to combat a bit, then train others from your planet to fly them as well. Would that interest you??
?YES!? Then he realized his mistake. ?Okay, fine, you had me at first starfighter in Earth history, but what about money, I can't survive without some kind of pay.?
?We are prepared to offer you one hundred thousand dollars, plus an equal sum in Galactic Spesars. Per year.?
?Done, but I want to talk to someone about this, and you need to do me a favor...?
I hope you know that I am
doing this for you. Yes, I know
it looks like I am in this for the
glory and to get my name in the
history books, and I won't lie, I
like those things, but to be
honest, I am doing this for you
and Jessica. I love you more than
anything, and this is the only
way I can keep you safe...
The limo took him from the airport to the address he had given the driver in a matter of an hour or so. He was too excited to concentrate. When the limo pulled up to the curb, he jumped out before the driver could even get the door for him and marched solemnly up to the door, trying not to show his excitement. He pressed the doorbell and stood there nervously, trying to think of what he was going to say. As soon as the door opened, the whole world changed. Stephanie made a noise somewhere between a squeal and a shriek of joy, and threw her arms around him. Then they were kissing, and he lost track of time. Well, that solved the first problem, now for the second. He broke the kiss and stared into her beautiful eyes. ?Stephanie, something has come up...? Before he could finish his sentence, she looked shocked and scared. ?It is nothing bad, just... Different. Can we talk inside??
She led him into the pantry and said, ?My parents are out right now, I assume what you have to say, you don't want them hearing?? The edge in her voice was obvious.
?You will need to consult them eventually, but, uh, yeah, I want to break this to you first, and let you see where we are going to go from there. Stephanie. I am, going to be a starfighter pilot.?
She laughed. ?That's it? You came all the way out here to tell me you are going to be a starfighter pilot? I figured that, you are obsessed with that game.?
He looked deep into her eyes and tried to make her understand. ?No Stephanie, I am going into outer space, and I am going to fly starfighters for a galactic civilization that has a need for my unique skills. I have seen the starfighter they designed, I flew it here from Las Vegas. It really works.?
Now she looked at him as if he were crazy. ?I don't believe you.?
?Come with me to the airport. Let me show you.?
?Okay, but only because I love you.?
The limo ride was filled with an awkward silence, with Stephanie sitting opposite Mark, facing the back of the car. At the airport, Mark had to show his special pass to the guard, and Stephanie went from skeptical to doubtful. Then the car parked before a hangar, and Mark helped her out of the car and led her to a locked door. He touched the lock with one finger, and it beeped back at him. The door swung open. Stephanie stepped into the hangar and looked the fighter over. ?Isn't this your design??
?Wow. I didn't know anyone paid any attention when I posted those pictures. Yes, this design is nearly identical to the F-37 ?Deathstalker,? but it has some differences, and goes by a different name. I am the first human to fly one, and within a few months I will be training human recruits to fly them as well. Now, do you believe me? Because I have a proposal for you.?
?Yes? she was still taking in the fighter, running her hands over the lines and contours of it, making sure she wasn't hallucinating.
?Stephanie, come with me to space.?
?What? I can't leave here, what about my school, and Jessica, and... There is just so much here. I can't leave.? She was too taken aback to seriously contemplate his offer.
?They will train you to be a nurse for them. We need you. There is a war on, and the Earth government is... Well, it doesn't exist. Within 20 years this planet will be under attack from an alien race that wants us dead. What kind of life will you and Jessica have if we don't do something about this now. If you come with me, I will know you are safe, and I won't be distracted while I am out there flying. This is going to be dangerous enough without me being worried about you, too.?
She nodded, slowly. ?Do you have to go? You can't just stay here with me, like we talked about??
?I love you, I want nothing more than to be with you, but now that I know I am uniquely suited to this, I can't back down any more than you could walk away from one of your friends in need. Please, you and Jessica can come with me, benefit from a culture that has had superluminal travel longer than humans have been walking upright, and maybe, protect that same culture in the process. We need you.?
She stared at him for a minute, not moving, barely blinking, before she looked down, shook her head, and then said ?No. I can't leave here. I just don't have the type of personality to go running off across the galaxy.?
Mark just nodded. ?Okay, well, I better go then. Just tell the driver to take you home.? He turned back toward the fighter, grabbing a helmet off a starter cart that was obviously left over from the Air National Guard Fighter that usually inhabited the hangar.
?Mark, wait!? She ran up to him and kissed him. ?Come back, okay? Just because I can't go with you doesn't mean I don't love you.?
He caressed her cheek, and without saying a word pulled himself up the side of the fighter. He pushed a button and the steps folded into the fighter's side. He pushed another button and the canopy retracted, then slid forward, sealing itself against the coming vacuum of space. The engines kicked to life with a whine, and Stephanie stood there watching as Mark taxied the fighter out onto the runway.
Stephanie ran out to the side of the hangar and watched as the fighter reached the end of the runway. There was an incredible roar as the fighter was throttled up to full. The canards swept up to an incredible angle, and then the fighter leapt forward. Within five hundred feet it was off the ground and Mark pulled hard into the sky, ascending at 500 miles per hour. He waggled the wings as he passed five thousand feet, and then was gone.
A single tear ran down Stephanie's cheek.
I dreamed of you last night.
I was running toward you
and Jessica, and the faster
I ran, the further away you
got. I fear this war may never
end, and we may never know
peace. God help me, I would
do anything to be in your
arms again...
11 March, 2015
Dearest Stephanie,
I have learned so much about flying the fighter and commanding a squadron in these last six months. Sorry I haven't written you in the last two months, but I have been so busy flying sorties and working with my new recruits that I just haven't taken a minute to myself outside the cockpit. Flying is still every bit the joy it was to me when I left you last year, but somehow it seems hollow without you at my side. Sometimes I think having your stubbornness at my side would make dealing with these Air Force pilots easier. They think that because they were the best in Earth's atmosphere that they know more about flying the 'Angel' than me. Oh, that is what the fighter was originally called in it's native language. I named mine after you. I miss you so much.
Well, I don't have much time left,and I really haven't been up to much that would interest you, because I imagine you don't want to hear about my battles.
You are in my thoughts, and in my heart,
~Mark
Stephanie sighed. She missed him so much, but she knew she couldn't join him. As it was he was spending more time with her on his mind than was safe. He needed to concentrate on the war if he was going to win it and come back to her. Her daughter tugged on her arm then.
?Mommy, I'm hungry.? Then she realized that he was right. He was off protecting her and Jessica while she stayed at home, safe, pretending that nothing was going on. She resolved right then that she would write him back, and she would ask him to come back and pick her up, or at least have someone bring her out to him. She wasn't sure she wanted to be a part of the galactic conflict, but she definitely didn't want to miss out on the chance to see him again.
I am looking forward to
seeing you again, sweetie.
Some of the guys have been
teasing me about you
because their wives or
girlfriends came along with
them, and you stayed
behind...
Mark smiled to himself. It was a glorious day to fly. They were out by a rare Blue Supergiant Star, one that they had managed to defend for the last month and a half against the Vanasar. He had 148 kills in the last forty-two missions since the squadron became active. He had just gotten the letter from Stephanie and couldn't be happier. He had sent a dispatch to Command, and they should be sending her a shuttle within the next few weeks, if her visit was approved.
?Time to kick the tires and light the fires, eh boys?? Mark had a mischievous grin that everyone recognized immediately.
?Bit cliched, isn't that?? his wingmate asked.
?Oh fuck you, you just don't appreciate the classics. At least I didn't mention anything about the 'Final frontier!'?
?Oh God, you are never going to let me live that one down, are you?? Angel 2 asked.
?Nope.? Mark said. ?Star Trek is for nerds, I am more of a Star Wars fan.?
?Yeah, we have seen you practicing your 'lightsaber technique' in the exercise salon.? This came from Angel 4, one of Mark's longtime friends.
?Et tu, asshole?? Mark patted him on the shoulder to take the sting out of it. ?Alright guys, let's get off this God blasted rock and out into the glory of our precious blue sun.?
The base was in the rocky remains of a planet that had been literally ripped apart as the sun expanded to it's current size. The first pair of fighters were on the elevators already. After their walk-around inspections, Mark and Angel 2 climbed into their respective fighters and began their pre-start checklists. The computers stated that everything was ready, and they fired up their engines.
?Angel Lead to tower, requesting clearance to launch.?
I made 150 kills today.
That has made me a
local hero, especially to
the Breshtau, who hold me
up as an example that Earth
should be admitted to the
Alliance. I for one think we
could use the civilizing
influence...
Stephanie was surprised to hear the doorbell ring. It was 6:30, and her parents had taken Jessica out for dinner, leaving her alone to finish some homework she was having a hard time with. She had gotten Mark's letter just earlier that day, promising that the shuttle would be there to pick her up one week from Saturday, and that she would have a full two weeks with him to decide if she wanted to join the Sentient Alliance's struggle against the Vanasar.
The doorbell rang again, and it snapped her out of her revery. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see an Air Force Colonel standing there holding. ?Can I help you,? she asked, confused by his presence.
?My Name is Colonel Karth, of the 151st Experimental Fighter Squadron.? She froze in her tracks and her smile slipped as he mentioned the name of the squadron that Mark was leading. Or rather, the American designation for the fighter squadron Mark was the leader of.
?Are you here to pick me up already? Has something gone wrong?? She just stood at the door, unsure of what to do.
?Maybe it would be better if we talked inside,? he gestured towards the living room.
?Oh, yeah. Okay.? She escorted him into the living room, and sat across a low table from him in a recliner.
?Ma'am, we regret to inform you that Captain Garret was killed in the line of duty on the fifth of June this year. He was launching from the base when the enemy jumped in from all points of the system, there were over fifty fighters, from what we have been able to determine. He took out at least ten, but they got into launch range and nuked the base before a second wave of fighters could be launched. As they retreated he chased them, and some came back around. We aren't sure exactly what happened, but one of them got off a lucky shot that either hit the fighter, or cut a fuel line, and the fighter detonated.?
Stephanie was in tears now, her head resting against the back of the chair as she curled up into a ball and grieved for the father of her unborn child.
Came out as 59.11% Male. I am not sure what criteria it used, but it worked.
