Eighty-eight, heroes
The two small red dots continued to get closer, and the current position was just above the Great Rift where the fleet was hiding, Ressen's eyes didn't dare to blink, his heart had already risen to his throat, his palms were slightly sweaty, and his fingers had involuntarily placed on the start button of the fighter's ion engine. The previous two batches of Imperial Reconnaissance and Patrol Fighters were not so close to here, and Ryson's mind was racing, could it be that they found something?
"Tulip One," Risson's wingman quietly turned on the communication, her voice was very low, lest she speak loudly and be heard by the two Imperial Banshee fighter pilots, and the tension and anxiety in her heart were completely exposed, "Could it be that those two Imperial fighters have discovered the location of the fleet?" ”
To be honest, Risen didn't know, but he still tried to comfort Tulip II, "It won't be that easy, there are several kilometers of rock layers above the fleet to provide cover, and the banshee's sensors don't have perspective yet." ”
His words were not a guess, he spent much more time with the banshees than on lightning, he knew the banshees more than lightning, and in addition, the routes and status of the two banshees also indirectly confirmed Ryson's suspicions, they were flying at cruising speed along a smooth course, so that it was better to say that they had spotted the fleet to come close and observe, rather than to patrol according to the planned route.
If the Empire did know that the Alliance fleet was hiding underneath, the two Banshees wouldn't be at this speed and course.
Toot dood, dood doot...... The screeching sirens sounded, and Risen lowered his head to take a look, their standby time was up, and if they stayed any longer, they would be harmed by radiation, but the Imperial fighters were still here, and they hadn't left yet......
"What are we going to do? Tulip One? It's time to return. Jessica's frightened voice reached his cockpit.
"Keep waiting, we can't risk it, otherwise we will be discovered by the Empire The location of the fleet, Tulip II, concentrate all the energy of the lightning fighter on the shield, including the energy of weapons and propulsion systems, and turn off all other unnecessary systems, which should buy us some more time." Risen said calmly.
"Yes, Tulip One."
No, now is not the time to leave, and if you leave now, he and Jessica will survive, but surely at the cost of the lives of hundreds or thousands of members of the Resistance Alliance. Although Risen was also a little afraid of radiation in his heart, although he didn't want to die, he knew that at this time, the danger of exposing the target was that the empire's fleet was on the periphery of the radiation belt, and once the empire discovered the traces of the alliance fleet, the alliance would be involved in a battle that they were not willing to do now. Thinking about the last time the battle of the Agama base was forced to take place, maybe the Alliance fleet can defeat the Imperial fleet again, maybe the Alliance fleet can successfully break through, but the losses must not be small. He knew the importance of this valuable fleet to the Alliance, and the loss of two cruisers before was heart-wrenching, but the Alliance could still bear such losses, and the personnel on the ship were basically rescued, but if they suffered similar losses, even if they could completely annihilate that Imperial fleet, it would be worth the loss for the Alliance.
The empire can withstand these losses and attrition, while the rebel alliance can't, and this is the cruelty of reality.
His fingers quietly withdrew from the start button of the ion engine, and after making up his mind, he was not so scared, he just looked at the two little red dots calmly, and waited quietly.
He was waiting for the two banshees to leave, or, waiting, for the intense radiation of the red giant star to kill him and Jessica in the planet's outer orbit.
He didn't feel anything about his possible death, but his wingman, a young girl who had just participated in the battle for less than a month, he felt a little uncomfortable, after all, it was his own decision, his own order, and he imposed this seemingly cruel and inhumane order on her head, and Jessica didn't even have a word of questioning.
"Jessica, I'm sorry, but you have to understand that we can't let the Empire find out about our existence......" he said apologetically.
"Captain, I understand," his wingman interrupted him, "I know what to do. ”
"Okay." Risen didn't say much, he replied briefly with a word, and quickly shut up, there is no need for too much impassionedness, too much grandiose rhetoric, just some practical actions, it is enough.
The two continued to wait in silence, the cabin silent, the only sound being the occasional tick of the two small red dots on the sensors as they moved slowly.
He suddenly felt a trance, as if he had some headache and dizziness, the cockpit screen in front of him began to become a little blurry, Ressen blinked vigorously, and the objects in front of him became clear again, but the feeling of dizziness still existed.
Risen was shocked, this physical discomfort could never be accidental, it was the effect of radiation. He checked the screen to see the radiation intensity in the cockpit of the fighter's plane, and even with the shield being specially strengthened, the radiation intensity was still slowly rising.
He broke the silence on the communication, "Tulip Two, how are you feeling right now?" ”
"It's okay, Tulip One, it's not a big problem, it's just a little uncomfortable." Jessica's words remained calm, but her answer was reluctant.
They can't afford to delay any longer, now they're already starting to be affected by the radiation, and it's going to get worse later, so they'll have to get out of here as soon as possible. Resson glanced at the screen of the sensor, and the red dots represented by the two Banshee fighters were changing course and starting to depart towards the periphery of the radiation zone, and it seemed that the two damn Banshee Starfighter pilots were also at the limit of their patrol.
"Tulip Two, get ready to start the ion engine, let's get out of here and wait for my orders." He immediately gave the order on the spot.
"Ming...... Understood, Tulip One. ”
Risen looked at Tulip 2 not far to his right and gave a thumbs up, she saw his movements, and hurriedly gave a thumbs up to indicate that everything was OK. Resson turned his head and kept his eyes fixed on the two fast-moving Banshee fighters on the sensor screen, although they hadn't completely left the radiation zone, they couldn't wait now, as long as the distance between them was greater than the range of the Banshee fighters' sensors, they could leave here and return to the fleet.
"Now, start the engines, let's get out of here." The distance between the two Banshee fighters and them was just over the detection distance of the Banshee Sensor, and Risen roared.
"Yes, Tulip One." Jessica's voice sounded weak.
The tails of the two Lightning fighters erupted four pale blue ion tail flames, and the fighters immediately accelerated from stationary to high speed, and they broke out of orbit and dived towards the surface of the planet HD531E, which had no atmosphere.
As the engine was restarted, the energy of the guide shield was reduced accordingly, and the radiation level in the cockpit displayed on the screen was rising sharply, and Ryson felt that the degree of dizziness was becoming more and more obvious, and he even felt a bout of nausea, and he felt like he wanted to vomit, but he could barely stay awake.
"Tulip Two, what are you doing? We're about to enter the rift, do you want to hit your head against the rock wall? Decelerate. He glanced at his wingman, her fighter was heading straight for the ground, already ahead of him, and Risen felt that something was not going well, that this was no longer like the normal behavior of a wingman.
No one answered.
"Tulip Two, Tulip Two, Jessica ......"
"Answer me, Jessica, slow down immediately......" Risen yelled anxiously.
Jessica's lightning fighter was still slamming vertically towards the ground at high speed, without any change. Risen cautiously piloted the fighter plane close to Tulip II, and through the transparent cockpit canopy, he saw a painful scene: the girl's head was hanging down and motionless, the effect of radiation had made her faint, and it was only by pulling the seat belt on the seat that she did not pounce on the dashboard in front of the cockpit, and the fighter plane was completely relying on inertia to rush to the ground at high speed.
"Jessica, Jessica...... Wake up, wake up. "Resson was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, and if he continued like this, his wingman would be finished, and her death was all due to his orders, but he could now do nothing but roar loudly in communication.
"TMD, wake me up, Jessica......" Resson was already a little desperate, it seemed that it was difficult to wake her up by sound alone, maybe she needed to shake her body hard to make her regain consciousness, but they were on two separate planes, what should I do?
Just when he was almost helpless, the desolate surface of the planet HD531E was speeding towards them, and the originally tiny ground scenery became bigger and bigger in Ressen's eyes.
"There it is." In desperation, he finally thought of a solution, although it was a bit risky, but it was better than doing nothing.
His solution was simple, which was to attack Tulip 2 directly, and the shield on the Lightning fighter should be able to protect the fighter from several energy beams without taking damage. However, although it is not harmed, it does not mean that the fighter will not be affected at all, after being directly hit by the energy beam, even if the fighter will not be damaged, there will still be some shaking and shaking, and when the energy shield comes into contact with the beam, it will also produce a white dazzling flash, and Ruissen hopes that these shaking and flashing will make Jessica wake up.
Of course, the danger is not impossible, and the biggest possibility is that the fighter plane will lose control because of it, but Risen comforts himself that as long as Jessica can come to her senses and have the help of advanced flight control systems, it will not be difficult for her to successfully regain control of the fighter.
He set the aiming point in front of the nose of the plane, where the white flash of energy beam contact with the shield would illuminate the cockpit, and Resson shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly, not expecting that one day he would fire at his own people, and the purpose of the fire was still to save people.
Several red beams of energy hit directly, Ressen controlled it well, the beam met the shield in the nose of the cockpit front, the lightning fighter was as he expected, the fuselage shook a few times, causing Jessica's body in the driver's seat to shake for a while, through the white flash, Resson was pleased to see that the girl's head seemed to be trying to lift up.
It seemed to work, and Risen could not describe the ecstasy in his heart, and he carefully maneuvered the fighter plane to fire another beam......
"I ...... Where is this? Jessica woke up in a daze, she felt her body shake again, she felt a burst of white light in front of her eyes, she subconsciously stretched out her hands to block in front of her, at this time, she heard a loud voice in the cockpit.
"Tulip Two, Jessica, emergency brakes, pull up, pull up......"
This voice was very familiar to her, and it was also something she had always trusted and respected, and she didn't have time to think about it, regardless of her physical discomfort and nausea and vomiting reaction, she subconsciously followed that order and took action.
The two Lightning fighters finally pulled up at the last minute to avoid a collision with the planet HD531E, and the ionic tail flame from the tail of the fighter brutally swept across the barren planet's surface, stirring up large clouds of debris and dust......
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In the medical module of the USS Raider, a Medic from the Resistance League reports to General Martin.
“...... They have been cleared of radiation and injected with some anti-radiation drugs, and their discomfort symptoms have also been reduced, although sometimes they still feel dizzy, nauseous and want to vomit, but it should be out of the way, at least there will not be the scene of vomiting when they first left the fighter, but it will take two or three days to fully recover. These two people can really stand up, and if they are exposed to radiation for a little more time, they will die. ”
"They risked their lives to protect us from detection. Doctor, can I see them now? ”
"Yes, but they still need to rest, so it shouldn't be too long."
"Thank you, doctor."
When General Martin and Colonel Alfred and Lieutenant Colonel Taylor entered, Risen and Jessica were lying on their respective beds, and as the doctor had said, they were feeling much better, but still weak.
"General." "General," the two men greeted reluctantly.
"Lie down, you two, rest well, thank you for your bravery today, the Alliance is proud to have pilots like you, you are true heroes." General Martin sat down casually.
"Heroes? Heroic performance? But we haven't done anything great, have we? Jessica blinked in confusion.
"Sergeant, the so-called hero, does not have to make some great achievements in order to be called a hero." Admiral Martin laughed, "In my opinion, those who know the danger, but dare to risk their lives to stand up or take responsibility, are the true heroes, and you are worthy heroes who have fulfilled their duty and are willing to risk deadly radiation for the safety of the fleet." ”
Perhaps, unlike in legendary novels or stories, such heroes are much more ordinary. Resson thought, "I like it, though."