Spacecobra flight
Earth’s solar system
The six F-28s had been on patrol for three hours now and had recently split into groups of two to cover their large patrol sector.
“It’s real quiet sir, not a single contact on the screens,” Captain Ulrich said.
“My radar is clear as well with the exception of Spacecobra 2,” Colonel Spyker commented.
“Spacecobra 1 this is Spacecobra 3, all is well on my end.”
“Good copy. Spacecobras 4 through 6 report status.”
“Spacecobra 4 here, nothing on radar.”
“This is Spacecobra 5, the only things I’m seeing apart from my wingman are the distant stars.”
“Same here boss,” Spacecobra 6 reported.
“Roger, continue your patrols.”
Captain Ulrich was busy surveying the surrounding space outside the cockpit when one of screens made a quick beeping sound.
“What’s going on back there?” Spyker asked.
“We just got a urgent message from Space Command saying that the Tulanian ship has just passed Pluto and is now in our solar system but it’s still in hyperspace. This message has been sent to all space forces and instructs anyone close to enough to intercept it when it emerges from hyperspace to do so and establish communications.”
“Heads up guys, our Tulanian friends have just entered the neighborhood.”
“Solid copy boss, we just got the same message from Space Command too,” Spacecobra 4 replied.
Tulanian shuttle
Hyperspace
Ten minutes later
“Emissary Varosh, we’ve traveled well into the human solar system and we’re still on course to their planet.”
“Excellent, I suggest we exit hyperspace soon and continue on at current speed. I have no doubt that some of their ships will be in the area and we must be ready to answer any hails we get from them.”
“We will do so once we reach an optimal dropout point,” the pilot replied.
Spacecobra 1
Thirty minutes later
“Contact Colonel, one of our Space-eye satellites just spotted the Tulanian ship emerging from hyperspace in our sector approximately 200 miles east of our position and is making a beeline for Earth,” Ulrich reported then sent the data to one of Spyker’s screens.
“I got it and it looks like we’re the closet ones to do the meet and greet. Spacecobra 2 break right and go to max thrust, we’re going to meet our guest. Spacecobras 3 through 6, continue your patrols but be ready to cover us if necessary,” Colonel Spyker ordered as he made a right turn.
“Spacecobra 3, roger.”
“Spacecobra 1 to Space Command HQ, the Tulanian ship has emerged from hyperspace in our sector 200 miles east from my position and I’m moving in for a visual with Spacecobra 2.”
“Copy Spacecobra leader, we’re watching you on our screens and the President has already been informed. Be advised, when you establish communications with the ship, the president will be listening in too,” General Heinz said over the radio.
“Understood.”
Thanks to the high rate of speed at which they were traveling, the two fighters gained radar contact on the Tulanian ship at 132 miles and Spyker opened a communications channel once they got within a hundred miles.
“Tulanian vessel, this is Lieutenant Colonel Flynn Spyker of the United States Air Force Spacecobras Fighter Squadron. You are currently in Earth territorial space, if you can hear this hail please respond.”
“Greetings Lieutenant Colonel Spyker, I am Varosh, the joint emissary to your planet on behalf of Tulania and Sathia. It is imperative that I speak to those who form your EDA because there is an important matter I must discuss.”
“What does this matter pertain to?”
Suddenly, another voice came over the radio.
“Colonel Spyker this is President Hayes. We can worry about that when he lands but for now, your orders are to ensure Varosh makes it safely to DC.
“Roger that Mr. President, but where will the exact landing point be?”
“That depends on the size of the ship.”
“Hang on sir, we have a visual on the ship and preparing to take up escort positions.”
Colonel Spyker and his wingman flew by the shuttle then circled around to get into position on both sides of the cockpit and make eye contact with the pilots.
“Okay, the ship is actually a shuttle with a purple and black colored hull and it’s half the size of the space shuttles we used to have.
“Then in that case, the landing destination will be the Pentagon and the other members of the Earth Defense Council will be ready by time he lands. And Varosh, instruct whoever is flying your ship to follow my fighters.”
“Thank you for the escorts President Hayes, we will follow their instructions.
With that, the shuttle continued its flight towards Earth with the two F-28s leading the way and Spyker was quick to designate the shuttle with the callsign Chariot 1.
“Colonel Spyker, how much longer before we get to Earth?” Varosh asked.
“At our current speed our ETA is nineteen minutes but as we get closer, you’ll be seeing a lot more ships and fighters but don’t worry they’re just guarding our little piece of the universe.”
“Your worlds space defense posture sounds similar to mine in the way that we also send up ships and fighters on patrols,” Varosh commented.
After many minutes of flying, the Earth finally came into view along with the other fighter patrols, ships, ISB and the other space based defenses such as the ASTATs and orbital firebases.
Varosh walked into the cockpit to get a better look at the planet and everything around it.
“These humans have a very beautiful planet,” he commented.
“Indeed and by the looks of it, they have an amazing array of forces on guard to defend it,” the pilot commented.
“Initiating course correction now Colonel Spyker,” the pilot replied.
“Spacecobra 1 this is Andrews control, we got the heads up from Space Command about your arrival with our Tulanian guest and we’ve sent out a notice to all commercial aircraft and the Raptors conducting air patrols over the capital.
“Thanks Andrews, that should help minimize any airborne gridlock,” Spyker replied as they reached the spot that would put them on a direct descent to DC and dived into the atmosphere.
“I’m picking up some turbulence here, but it’s minor,” Spacecobra 2 reported.
“Noted. Chariot 1, how are you guys doing?”
“We’re fine Colonel Spyker, our ships are equipped with dampening systems that make them immune to turbulence.”
“Interesting,” Spyker commented.
At 70,000 feet, they went through a layer of clouds and entered DC airspace.
“Now for the next part of this trip, we’re going to do a wide circle around the city to get a better angle of approach for our flight to the Pentagon.”
“Chariot 1 confirms, we’re ready to begin on your command.”
“Now,” Spyker ordered.
After completing the wide circle they descended to 300 feet and continued towards their destination.
Varosh looked out of the right side window at the city below.
“It looks like a wonderful city from up here,” he thought to himself.
As they were flying along, people on the ground looked up in amazement at the Tulanian shuttle in formation with the fighters and many were even taking pictures with their digital cameras or recording on their cell phones.
“I got a contact sir, a single F-22 Raptor approaching from the left at high speed,” Captain Ulrich reported.
“Spacecobra’s 1 and 2 this is IronGriffin 7, don’t mind me but I heard you guys were escorting an alien ship to the Pentagon and I thought I would drop by for a quick snapshot.”
“Well get your snapshot then shove off, we’re on a mission,” Colonel Spyker said.
“Copy.”
The F-22 uses the thrust vectoring capabilities of its engines to slide in from behind a cloud and get alongside the shuttle. The pilot pulls out a digital camera from one of the pockets on his flight vest and takes a picture before returning to his patrol sector.
“Excuse me Colonel Spyker, but why was that pilot so interested in my shuttle?” Varosh asked.
“This is the first time a friendly alien ship has visited us and he just wanted to see it up close.”
The Pentagon
12:20PM
General Roy along with two of his aides walked outside and waited to welcome the emissary. Members from each branches honor guard were already in position and looked sharp as always.
Security was extremely tight for this event. In addition to the security guards, soldiers and marines armed with XM29 assault rifles, shoulder fired anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles were present on the ground and the rooftop around the entrance.
There was also an armored presence in the form of several joint light tactical vehicles, Strykers, and M1A3 Abrams tanks.
Everyone knew that the incoming visitor was no threat but they had to be prepared for any uninvited guest.
“I got a visual on the approaching shuttle and the fighters,” one of the soldiers reported as he looked up with a pair of binoculars.
The shuttle flew ahead of its escorts and proceeded to perform a vertical landing a few feet from the entrance.
After landing, the two F-28s made a low level pass over it kicking up some dust in the process then climbed to a higher altitude where they activated their rocket boosters for the climb back to space.
“Showoffs,” one of Roy’s aides commented.
“At least they’re on our side,” Roy replied as a ramp came down from the shuttle.
Two seconds later, Varosh emerged and walked towards the Pentagon as he looked at the honor guard members lined up on both sides of the carpet he was walking on.
“This must be one of their customs for welcoming foreign guest,” he thought to himself.
Varosh also took note of the armed guards, soldiers, marines and vehicles that were close by and figured they were present for security.
He reached the end of the carpet at the doorstep where he was greeted by General Roy.
“Emissary Varosh, welcome to Earth. I am General Roy of the United States Army and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
“Thank you for your kind welcome General.”
Roy extended his right hand to Varosh who quickly extended his for the handshake.
“President Hayes and the leaders of the other EDA member nations are on screen in the SFC command center, please follow me,” Roy said.
Varosh followed General Roy and his aides through the lobby to an elevator that took them to their destination thirty-eight floors below the surface.
While most rooms in the Pentagon shared floors with each other, Space Fleet Command was one of the few facilities that had an entire floor to itself. In fact it was a separate command center entirely.
“Well we’re here,” General Roy said as the elevator came to a stop.
They exited the elevator and walked through the SFCs automatic doors where they were greeted by Admiral Thornton.
“Admiral Thornton this is Emissary Varosh, he is the Tulanian serving as a joint Emissary on the behalf of his world and Sathia,” General Roy explained.
“Pleased to meet you Emissary Varosh and welcome to Space Fleet Command,” Thornton said as he shook hands with him.
“Thank you. Are your leaders ready to hear my message?”
“They’re already on screen, right this way,” Admiral Thornton replied.
“I notice your uniform looks different from General Roy’s, what branch of force do you serve?” Varosh asked.
“The U.S. Navy,” Thornton replied as they reached a group of wall mounted flat screen monitors.
After introducing Varosh to President Hayes along with the leaders of Russia, England, France, China, Japan, Korea and Sweden, General Roy and his aides took a step back and Varosh proceeded to address the leaders.
“Leaders of Earth, my kind and the Sathians have finished recovering from the damage inflicted on us by the Borgans and now we are ready to strike back and I’ve been sent here to invite you to join us by contributing ships to our mission.”
“That’s all well and good but before we can make a decision, we must see the data you have gained on the targets you intend to strike as well as the size and strength of your strike force,” President Hayes said.
“I have all the information you need on this tablet,” Varosh replied then placed it on the table and activated it.
A large holographic screen popped up for all to see and began showing images of the target areas that were discovered through extensive deep space reconnaissance
“The first image you are seeing is that of the system where the Borgan armada your ships helped defend us against came from. As you can see it is teeming with enemy warships and fighters. I will now show you the surface photos of the planets.”
Varosh pressed a button on tablet and it began flickering through the photos that showed that the Borgans had established either one base on some of the planets and multiple ones on the others.
The next photos showed another enemy held system with multiple bases on three of the nine local planets and the third image was of the planet where the Borgans were constructing their battlecarriers, assault walkers, and the orbital docks they were storing the completed ships in addition to the other warships and fighters in the area.
The last image to be shown was a projection of the joint Tulanian and Sathian taskforce at its standby point and the coordinates to reach them.
Admiral Thornton leaned in a bit to get a better look at the fleet.
“The combined strength of this taskforce is 368 ships which is pretty good in my opinion, but you still have a gauntlet of enemy ships and targets to deal with.”
“Note that we have also made significant improvements to our shields and weapons thanks to the info you shared with us at the meeting, we’ve even developed a new class of warships called dreadnaughts to replace our frigates.”
“I see,” Thornton said as he took another glance at the Tulanian fleet before Varosh switched off the tablet.
“The taskforce is currently holding its position but we cannot wait forever. I know we’ve made our ships more powerful but Queen Kiva and First Minister Irene think the chances of victory will be greater if some of your ships were to join us.
“This will be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the offensive power of our new alliance to the enemy,” Japanese Prime Minister Arashi said.
“And to inflict some more major league hurt on them in accordance to our anti-Borgan policy. Emissary Varosh, you have shown us a concrete plan worthy of our support and the United States will contribute four battlecruisers to the cause. Admiral Thornton, transmit deployment orders to whatever ships you see fit.”
“Yes Mr. President.”
“Russia will contribute three,” President Egor said.
“And Japan will send four,” Prime Minister Arashi stated.
“Please don’t take offense to the lack of contributions from the rest of us. You must understand that the rest of our ships must remain here to ensure a sufficient defense posture for our world,” French President Roche said.
“I understand completely,” Varosh replied.
Chapter 6 coming soon.