Through the Eyes of Warriors

Lt. JG Lakesha Lamb - "Scout-5"

October 10

    Lakesha Lamb was formerly a news helicopter pilot from Flaquilla, one of the first towns that the Trilani Union had annexed. She was grateful for the increase in wealth the annexation brought to her and her family but was quite surprised when she was conscripted into the Security Arm several months after the change in government. The need of VTOL pilots was apparently on the rise as the Union continued it's outward expanse.

    Lakesha found herself in an aging Ferret; unarmed, unarmored, and worst of all with orders to unexplored territory beyond the Union's current reach. Within one week from assignment to her "new" VTOL, she had helped secure an abandoned repair gantry in a joint operation of Directorate forces. The officers stationed at the gantry were brought into the command tent that had been hastily set up shortly after the facility had been seized. Even though she had only recently passed through the Security Arm's VTOL training center, she graduated with officer's bars and now found herself unintentionally near the front lines of a war between the Union, with her Directorate allies, and the Xanderlands. The commanding officer played a scout 'copter's camera feed for all to see. The bottom of the screen displayed the VTOL pilots name and rank, Lt. Kane, as well as the VTOL's type. Lakesha ground her teeth as she saw the pilot was lucky enough to be using one of the Trilani Union's advanced Oculus Scouts. She wondered to herself what would it take to get her in the pilot's seat of one of the pristine craft.
   
    Her attention was returned to the camera feed as the Lt. Kane spoke over general communications, offering the standard diplomatic trade greeting that was drilled into all forward observer pilots. However, several audible gasps were heard in the room as the VTOL suddenly came under aggressive laser fire from a pair of Aerospace fighters.

 The commanding officer cut the feed and turned to the group of officers crowded in the tent, "That feed was distributed to all elements of the Security Arm with the attached message, 'It is with great difficulty I now ask the brave men and women of the Security Arm to honor their oaths to the Union. Hostile forces belonging to the Xanderlands have attacked and attempted to capture Trilani citizens and our assets. As such, as of 1700 hours today the Trilani Union is at war with the Xanderlands. While we have the support of our allies, we will show Groombridge that the Union does back down due to hostile threats and actions. Signed, Maj. Gen. Kailen Shepard, commander of the Security Arm."

The command tent roared with the sound of 30+ officers shouting approval and while Lakesha joined in the cacophony, she couldn't help but wonder if this meant her ferret would receive any upgrades.



November 24

    A month after the war declaration Lakesha found herself assigned to the northern region of suspected Xanderland territory. Her requests up the chain of command for armor or weapon attachments for her Ferret had been summarily ignored.

    "You're a scout you should be far away from any combat Lt. Lamb," the requisition officer had chastised her, "your survival depends on your maneuverability and perception. Anything else will just hinder your primary mission."

    She replayed the conversation in her head, wishing she had more pull than that of a simple junior grade lieutenant. She sighed heavily as she continued to scan the horizon as she made her patrol. She had begun to drift the Ferret back West intent on cutting her patrol short when a glimmer of light reflected off something several clicks away on the rolling grasslands. She turned her head and activated her helmets magnifier with a flick of a switch at her control panel.

    "War God, this is Scout-5, I have what appears to be a small convoy of vehicles, just sitting in grid REDACTED, over?" she kept the communication swift and hoped she wouldn't be directed to investigate further. Maybe, she thought, maybe my job is done and they'll send a combat force to investigate further. Her hopes were cut short as the reply came back.

    "Scout-5, proceed at best speed and get visual confirmation of all convoy assets. We looking at bandits or the Timeless One's ground troops over?"

    Lakesha had already banked her Ferret before the transmission had finished diving low in an effort to obscure her approach behind the small rolling hills separating her from the convoy. Quickly she closed the ground and rose up over the last hill bringing her within 1.5 kilos of what she now identified as two wheeled ground vehicles. They quickly scattered on her approach, driving haphazardly in different directions. She focused on the one driving North and gave a close pursuit allowing her installed radar to scan the vehicle. 

    The viewscreen to her left flashed green as the scan finished and began feeding information back to War God in the event she didn't return. The vehicle was a Fox APC she read as she spun her 'copter around to locate the other. The instruments had indeed recorded a Xanderlands emblem emblazoned on the vehicles hood. She was sure it was the same model but hadn't had a good look, and War God would be disappointed with her after-action report if she passed guesses and assumptions back up the chain of command.

    "Where are you little on.." her sentence cut off by a flashing red light on her console before two green beams sliced through the air in front of her, "What the hell?"

    Simultaneously a fixed wing craft flew way too close for comfort breaking the sound barrier and sending a thundering boom through her cockpit. There were no warnings from the fighter and she attempted to climb her puny ferret further. The elevation increase brought another dot into view towards her East. An enemy VTOL closing fast, and with the weapons embankments necessary to knock her out of the sky if the fighter didn't first.

    "War Dog, Scout-5 I have P.I.D on Xanderland forces. I've kicked the hornet nest War Dog, I have hostile enemy air, requesting permission to disengage, over," her voice may have been calm over the comm but instincts had taken over as she swerved the Ferret around flying as erratically as possible. 

    "Scout-5, request denied, confirmation of second ground target required."

    She shouted an obscenity as she dropped the ferret closer to the earth, the enemy vtol, a Balac her sensors told her, was on her tail, but her Ferret was faster. She grinned as she made a pass over the other ground vehicle hoping that her 'copter's optics had picked up the requisite information. The enemy fighter has swung around and was fast approaching her from the East she could see but was caught off guard when lasers flashed fire across the grasslands to the left and right of her Ferret. The deafening sound of a fighter flying past could be heard again as she realized that she was now being hunted by two Aerospace Fighters. She wasn't familiar with the vast majority of equipment out there and relied heavily on the installed sensors to inform her that she was the target of two Sparrowhawks.

    Damn, Lakesha thought, is this how Lt. Kane felt? She pulled the stick hard to the right making a break for the West before opening the comms once more, "War God, Scout-5 confirms two Xanderland Fox APC's groundside, I've got two enemy fly boys on my six and need immediate support, over."

    "Roger Scout-5 dispatching interceptor squadron now, make best heading to grid REDACTED, over."

    "Wilco War God," she bit her teeth and hoped she could survive long enough to cross the open grassland and meet up with allied forces. "If this doesn't get me a new VTOL, I swear I'm going to steal on from that Req Officer myself," she spoke aloud as she operated the pedals and control stick just barely careening out of repeated laser fire each time.

    After the fifth pass and third kilometer she could see six dots on the horizon. She kept her flight evasive but noticed that the laser fire trailing her had stopped. Flicking her rear camera, she saw the ASF flight had spun around and was disengaging. Lakesha breathed out a heavy breath but was startled momentarily as her radio picked up a transmission from the approaching squadron.