It was supposed to have been a routine maintenance test flight. Major Danar had no reason to think otherwise. Both the Marine base a local Serenity meteorologists had been unable to predict the true pattern and intensity of the storm responsible for part of her trouble. Another massive cell had rapidly moved in, totally blanketed the area surrounding the Marine base and was pounding it.
Aidan had flown some low level atmospheric Recon missions under some pretty hairy weather conditions but this happened to be a totally different animal. Various indicators on her fault, systems and caution and warning displays started to light up like a Christmas tree. She could only hope that her Emergency Locator Transponder (ELT) wouldn't go on the fritz like everything else. That assumed it had even working to begin with.
As if that wasn't bad enough Danar felt a significant jolt ripple through the fighter's airframe. Whatever had caused that certainly didn't have anything to do with ugly weather. Of course that only added to
"Mayday...Mayday...Mayday..." Aidan attempted to get her emergency communication out before things really went berserk. However she never got as far as, 'I'm going down,' before the fighter's comm system totally shorted out. Things honestly weren't looking good.
The Hellcats had been together as a squadron for only a short time, as those things were measured. Their move to Serenity didn't happen in a day or two. It had taken time to logistically organize, put in motion and finally complete. Barely a week ago they'd arrived at their final destination.
Major Danar's final transmission sent a chill up Caid Makan's spine. They were the words no pilot wanted to utter...the words none of them wanted to hear. Something had to have gone very catastrophically wrong for her to be sending an emergency communication of that nature. While she'd never actually said the words, he knew the Hellcat's CO had gone down.
Immediately Marine Captain Makan had vectored Lt Cheya well clear of the storm. That craft had been diverted to the spaceport in Serenity City. Normally Caid could remain a rather calm and collected individual....not today. Not when he'd just been on duty in Flight Control when Aidan radioed in.
Caid simply couldn't stand it any longer. The knot in his stomach grew exponentially as he bolted out of the Flight Operations Center headed for SAR Command. With the squadron now grounded he felt useless.
News about his Commanding Officer came out of Caid's mouth in a dazed jumble as he entered the SAR Operations Center. "Major Danar has crashed..."
Aidan valiantly tried to fight the sluggish controls of her fighter. Its aerodynamics however had become more like a brick turned in a flying projectile. Eventually Hellcat Zero One would hit the ground hard. Things had changed far more rapidly than anyone expected after the morning's weather brief.
When Danar had taken off with Cheya conditions were still well within safe operational parameters. Now they were rapidly slipping in the opposite direction. G-forces became too much for Aidan to withstand and she blacked out.
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