Categories > Original > Sci-Fi
/LAST LETTER/
By
Gregory P. Wong
From: Major Jacob E. Stenson
To: Shelley Garsha
C/O Colonel Maria Santas
March 18, 2408 March 18, 2408
Dear Shelley,
I just wanted to say hi, love. Sorry I've been out of contact for so long. We had a couple of assault cruisers chasing us around the Centauri Arm, but the Saratoga met up with 84th and blasted the bastards to hell.
It's been a tough three months, sweetie. I'm losing more and more pilots to those new counter-fighter frigates the Spiders have been fielding. We lost Colonel Delson last week, and I was elevated to the commanding officer of the squadron. I miss him, Shell. I hope I can be half the officer he was.
Well, as you've probably heard in the news, we've managed to retake New Israel and Terra Nova last month. It was a hellish battle over Terra Nova. Sixty-seven alien capital ships were holding defensive positions in orbit, nearly a fleet of heavy ships. Even though we had 50th, 72nd, and 84th fleets, we still took heavy losses. Spider fighters have taken to kamikaze attacks, and we lost nearly a dozen ships to those attacks, including the flagship of 50th fleet flagship, the ultracarrier /McKinley/. The capital ships got their act together and wiped the Spider fighters with massed torpedo volleys.
Then, after the fighters were apparently annihilated, we were ordered to go out. My squadron, along with forty-four others, were ordered to engage the capital ships. The upper echelons thought that we would have an easy time penetrating their fire and destroying or disabling a bunch of capital ships. So our V-98a starfighter were loaded out with HKM-44 Sunfire fusion anti-ship torpedoes. Besides anti-capital missiles, each fighter only had a pair of terrawatt lasers. It was because of flawed recon the 540 fighters went out with one hand tied behind their back. As we neared the enemy fleet, ambush fighters poured out of the supposedly empty carriers.
We had only destroyed a small fraction of them a few hours before.
Clint and Anna died in the first five minutes. Clint took a missile up his jet chamber, and Anna was nailed by a plasma cannon from one of the capital ships. To counter missile-armed alien fighters, each fighter only had a pair of terawatt lasers to work with. Soon, the leadership got their heads out from their butts, and some relief fighters engaged the enemy, allowing the original task force to disengage. Lambert died on the way out, victim to an anti-fighter torpedo.
We redocked with the Saratoga and got some rest and new hardware. After a bare thirty minutes to munch on something, we were sent into the teeth of the Spider's fighter forces, this time prepared. We slaughtered them. Polymer-steel titanium is nothing compared to the power of Falchion-107 plasma lance missiles. My squadron racked up two disabled cruisers and a vaporized frigate, since we still carried anti-cap-ship torps. The rest of the Spider fleet was flayed into wreckage by massed torpedo fire. Nothing can stand up to 100-megaton antimatter ship-busters.
Then the hard part. My squadron of nine, along with several other battered units, was assigned to the effort of retaking the surface. We had to shepherd down transports, and fly cover for armored divisions. We had a rough time on the-
Dammit. General Quarters just sounded. Looks like we finally found that carrier battle group we'd been chasing. I'm off to the Great Beyond, again. I'll finish this letter when I return, sweetheart.
*File Ends Here*
*Addendum*
Dear Ms. Garsha,
We are deeply grieved to report to you that Major Jacob E. Stenson, of the 84th Battle Fleet, was lost in action on March 18, 2408. He was a fine young man, and the fleet misses him. As his commanding officer, I extend my condolences to your loss. He was lost defending the fleet flagship from a kamikaze attack, and was lost when the explosive-laden suicide fighter detonated. If it were not for him, a much larger loss of life would have ensued.
He lived a soldier, and died heroically defending the planet Earth. We are all proud of him.
Colonel Maria Santas, 84th Battle Fleet
By
Gregory P. Wong
From: Major Jacob E. Stenson
To: Shelley Garsha
C/O Colonel Maria Santas
March 18, 2408 March 18, 2408
Dear Shelley,
I just wanted to say hi, love. Sorry I've been out of contact for so long. We had a couple of assault cruisers chasing us around the Centauri Arm, but the Saratoga met up with 84th and blasted the bastards to hell.
It's been a tough three months, sweetie. I'm losing more and more pilots to those new counter-fighter frigates the Spiders have been fielding. We lost Colonel Delson last week, and I was elevated to the commanding officer of the squadron. I miss him, Shell. I hope I can be half the officer he was.
Well, as you've probably heard in the news, we've managed to retake New Israel and Terra Nova last month. It was a hellish battle over Terra Nova. Sixty-seven alien capital ships were holding defensive positions in orbit, nearly a fleet of heavy ships. Even though we had 50th, 72nd, and 84th fleets, we still took heavy losses. Spider fighters have taken to kamikaze attacks, and we lost nearly a dozen ships to those attacks, including the flagship of 50th fleet flagship, the ultracarrier /McKinley/. The capital ships got their act together and wiped the Spider fighters with massed torpedo volleys.
Then, after the fighters were apparently annihilated, we were ordered to go out. My squadron, along with forty-four others, were ordered to engage the capital ships. The upper echelons thought that we would have an easy time penetrating their fire and destroying or disabling a bunch of capital ships. So our V-98a starfighter were loaded out with HKM-44 Sunfire fusion anti-ship torpedoes. Besides anti-capital missiles, each fighter only had a pair of terrawatt lasers. It was because of flawed recon the 540 fighters went out with one hand tied behind their back. As we neared the enemy fleet, ambush fighters poured out of the supposedly empty carriers.
We had only destroyed a small fraction of them a few hours before.
Clint and Anna died in the first five minutes. Clint took a missile up his jet chamber, and Anna was nailed by a plasma cannon from one of the capital ships. To counter missile-armed alien fighters, each fighter only had a pair of terawatt lasers to work with. Soon, the leadership got their heads out from their butts, and some relief fighters engaged the enemy, allowing the original task force to disengage. Lambert died on the way out, victim to an anti-fighter torpedo.
We redocked with the Saratoga and got some rest and new hardware. After a bare thirty minutes to munch on something, we were sent into the teeth of the Spider's fighter forces, this time prepared. We slaughtered them. Polymer-steel titanium is nothing compared to the power of Falchion-107 plasma lance missiles. My squadron racked up two disabled cruisers and a vaporized frigate, since we still carried anti-cap-ship torps. The rest of the Spider fleet was flayed into wreckage by massed torpedo fire. Nothing can stand up to 100-megaton antimatter ship-busters.
Then the hard part. My squadron of nine, along with several other battered units, was assigned to the effort of retaking the surface. We had to shepherd down transports, and fly cover for armored divisions. We had a rough time on the-
Dammit. General Quarters just sounded. Looks like we finally found that carrier battle group we'd been chasing. I'm off to the Great Beyond, again. I'll finish this letter when I return, sweetheart.
*File Ends Here*
*Addendum*
Dear Ms. Garsha,
We are deeply grieved to report to you that Major Jacob E. Stenson, of the 84th Battle Fleet, was lost in action on March 18, 2408. He was a fine young man, and the fleet misses him. As his commanding officer, I extend my condolences to your loss. He was lost defending the fleet flagship from a kamikaze attack, and was lost when the explosive-laden suicide fighter detonated. If it were not for him, a much larger loss of life would have ensued.
He lived a soldier, and died heroically defending the planet Earth. We are all proud of him.
Colonel Maria Santas, 84th Battle Fleet
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