In the Queen's Service

[LancerZero]

Cmon, buddywhat could go wrong?

Famous last wordsthus had Martins wingleader spoken on the flight deck, before they launched on that fateful patrol. Martin was an Ensign relatively fresh from training, and his wingleader was rather optimistic. Hed strapped himself into his Crusader that day grinning ear-to-ear, because today was his big chance to prove what he was capable ofto prove that he could lead a wing of his own. On this patrol, the wingleader Henry would be taking a figurative backseat.

Unless something happened, of course. In the event of enemy contact, command of the little fighter wing would switch right back to Henrybut enemy activity wasnt expected that day, and certainly not in the shadow of the Battleship MacDuff. The Gaians were still busy picking up the pieces after a destroyer group raided their base the previous week, and the Kusari had yet to make a major push into Tau-31.

It was a simple patrol route; the wing would fly a roundabout path to the Leeds jump gate, to Holman Outpost, to the Tau-29 jump gate, and back to the MacDuff. Long, but expected to be uneventful. And so it was. A few small patrols of Gaians in Startrackers, and a couple of Kusari scouts flying Drakes. Nothing to get worked up about, and nothing requiring Henry to take over from Martin. The only tense moment was when they passed the Tau-29 jump gate, and the Ensign half-expected a Kusari strike force to come barreling out of it.

Nothing.

He breathed a sigh of relief, pointed his Crusaders nose towards the MacDuff, and turned on the autopilot. The relief was painfully short-lived, howeveras wingleader, his Crusader was the first target for the two wings of Chimaeras that popped out of the Tau-29 jump hole, right next to the path from the Tau-29 jump gate to the MacDuffhe didnt even have time to evade or shout a warning into his radio. His fighter disintegrated around him in a ghastly symphony of rending metal and escaping atmosphere just as his escape pod finally activated, flinging him clear of the flaming wreckage.

And thus it was that Ensign Martin Barclay had nothing to do but watch and listen helplessly as the wing was torn apart. Henry responded quickly, and managed to rally one of the other surviving fighters for long enough to pick up Martins pod as well as a few others and high-tail it back to the MacDuff. Had it not been for a gunboat on patrol nearby providing a welcome distraction, theyd never have made it alive. As it was, two pilots died, Martins escape pod had activated just a fraction of a second late; and as a result, one of his legs was badly burned and partially mangled.

When he woke up in the MacDuffs medical ward, he was informed that he would probably never fly in combat again.

And when he went to sleep in the medical ward, he couldnt erase from his memory the images of the pilots that had trusted him to be a leaderHenry assured him thered been nothing he couldve done, but there was still that lingering guilt. It drove Martin all throughout his rehabilitation, and ensured that he was more determined than ever to remain in the Queens Navy. He owed a blood debt, and the only way to repay it was in kind. He owed it to those pilots to be the kind of leader that would know about that jump hole, that enemies might come from itand he owed it to the Kusari to deprive them of victory over his country.

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"Keep firing, lads! We've got them on the run!" The Defiance shook with each firing of the massive cannon mounted atop the gunboat's spine, followed by a creaking rumble as the ship's structure absorbed the recoil. Martin - now a Lieutenant Commander - adjusted course just a hair...with a massive and thoroughly satisfying bloom of fire and debris, the Kusari destroyer was no more. A few muffled cheers erupted from the two crewmembers on duty on the bridge with Martin at the defeat of the Defiance's first serious foe.

"Gunnery, take a break. Good shooting. Navigator, set us a course back to Leeds, if you please."

"Aye, sir."

"I'll be in my cabin writing the report for this encounter. Let me know if you need me." With that, he stepped off the bridge, walked down the narrow corridor, and into his tiny cabin. Well, tiny by terrestrial standards, but spacious to the point of luxury by gunboat standards. His bed didn't even have to fold into the wall for him to enter the cabin! He undid a small latch, and a control terminal slid out from the wall, right in front of his bed. Using the bed as a chair, he set about writing the report, letting his mind wander a bit as he did so.

A year ago, I never would've imagined that I'd ever fly a fighter again...and still less that I'd get to captain a gunboat! I have a crew! Martin grunted, and smiled; then his smile fell a little as he remembered the conditions placed upon this ship and crew. Deep immersion officer training...I'm not sure whether to be excited that I've been chosen to participate, or terrified. I took part in one such course before, but that was one course. This is a whole 'nother matter...and I hear it's so grueling at times that some officers have been known to resign rather than face another day of it.

But then, since when have I listened to pessimistic estimations of my chances? Not for quite some time...certainly not since I proved the doctors wrong by not having my leg amputated, and managing to walk on the blasted thing a few weeks later. Oy...hmm. I wonder if Henry will be there, too? I haven't seen him in months. Or maybe that cute Lieutenant I saw at Southampton Shipyard when I took possession of the Defiance? I think she said she was entering some sort of officer training program... Abruptly, Martin shook himself, and continued typing up his contact report. We shall see.

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Current Stories
Linus' Lackadaisical Logs(upd.3-1-10)
Archived Logs
In the Queen's Service(upd.4-21-10) | The Finer Things in Life (upd.4-8-10)
Silvy's Story(upd.2-29-08) | Conrad's Flight & Fight(upd.1-14-08)