Reyes

Why do they have to make those so freaking loud? We all know what’s going on. Were the words Pilot Mercedes Reyes was thinking as she ran through the metal maze of gangways that formed the inside of the airwing El Chupacabra Embarazada. The klaxon alarms were signaling to all those living within El Chupacabra Embarazada that it had reached the shores of Mexico with another 159 miles until their destination, Mexico City.

There were 63 pilots running behind Reyes, making up the Frida squadron of V-Wing fighters named after the famous Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. El Chupacabra Embarazada carried four squadrons, each with 64 pilots and 4 Bay Workers to each squadron.

“We’re ready for this. Time to show the Synedría tou Sotíra, who's the boss of this planet.” Shouting to her squad in hopes of pumping them up and getting them charged for the raid that was ahead of them.

Throughout the world, the Alien Resistance or what most supporters called “the resistance’ was coordinating a massive air assault against the Synedría tou Sotíra occupying the major capitals around the world. At exactly 8 am Central Time, the world would erupt with fighter pilots bombarding the upside-down triangles floating over their cities. While majority of the world had accepted the new world order of the Synedría tou Sotíra, there were a few million that had banned together, creating the Alien Resistance and fighting back against the occupation.

They had been training for this day for two years. They had been building the V-Wing aircraft for this day. They had been planning for this day. This was the day of reckoning.

The Resistance hadn’t officially announced the attack until six hours ago, and then only to the top brass within the militia, in hopes of preventing any type of betrayal. But Reyes and her squad had been biting at the chomp to take Earth back and fight the Synedría tou Sotíra.

As squad leader, it had taken great discipline of herself to keep her squad from becoming lazy in the last year and a half. With never knowing when they would attack, many pilots and squads have laxed in their training. “Lack of discipline will be the downfall,” Reyes spouted frequently to her squad. She hadn’t picked the best pilots from training camp, but the most diligent, passionate and flexible.

Her mother, Master Sergeant Reyes of the Idaho Air Force, had taught her at a young age that to be the best you must have diligence and grit. The willingness to put in the time every day of every week of every year without reward. Reyes choose the most passionate because she knew that they would be the ones willing to work with no reward and work through the slumps of their jobs.

As Reyes rounded the corner from the gangway into the hanger that made up the bottom of El Chupacabra Embarazada, she took notice that the hanger doors had already been pulled back into the walls. That’s out of protocol…they weren’t supposed to pull back the doors until all 256 pilots were in their V-Wings, strapped in and ready to go. What is going on? She thought.

“Fridas, Halt!” Shouting as loud as possible to be heard over the roar of the airwing flying over Mexico, with her right arm lifted to the square and hand making a fist to signify halt. All 63 of her squadron halted immediately. Reyes’ eyes were surveying the hangar, 25 feet away was the first row of 16 Fridas V-Wings, dangling above the open air, the scenery of the cost flying beneath them as El Chupacabra Embarazada continued to Mexico City. The V-Wings were gently moving back and forth with the sway of the airship as they hung from the two arms attached to the ceiling that grasped the mechanical locks on the back of the wings.

The Synedría tou Sotíra had extremely advanced technology, coming from space and the center of the galaxy they would have to. In the early days of the occupation, the Synedría tou Sotíra used EMPs on the attacking forces, killing thousands of pilots and crew as their jets came crashing down to the Earth. Since then, the Resistance has built nonelectric, all manual airplanes, airships and submarines. The only major electrical component was the stolen Synedría tou Sotíra engine technology, which was immune to EMPs. Repurposed and called the Qureshi Drive, named after the famous Pakistani aerospace engineer and the leader of the undercover female team of guerrilla fighters who stole the engine from the Synedría tou Sotíra

She so badly wanted to climb into her brightly Mexican colored V-Wing painted in the fashion of a Chiapaneco dress and allow her squad to do the same, but something was wrong. “Bahia Fridas, close those hangar doors now without going through the hangar! Be cautious, something is suspicious.” Reyes said and signaling the instructions at the same time.

Without question, the two of the Bahia Fridas or Bay Workers that worked the doors and locks for the V-Wings turned around and ran back into the hallways, weaving their way to the adjacent wall of the hanger, where the pulley system was located for the doors. The other two began jogging to the nearest pulley system and began closing their half of the hangar doors that made up the Fridas bay.

Who opened the bay doors and where were they now?

Reyes was not going to compromise protocol now or her squad’s safety. Protocol was created for a reason, after years of minimizing procedures to make this the most efficient and as possible, safest day in history. After five minutes the two triangle hanger doors were now closed and shielding her squad’s V-Wings from the outside.

“Pilots, to your V-Wings” Just as they had trained, all 63 of her pilots and herself jogged information to their V-Wings, standing on the gangway facing their V-Wing cockpits.

The other three quarters of the bay doors for the other squads were still opened. She had kept her squad in the utmost shape and had arrived ten minutes earlier than the planned arrival time. The other squads were now entering the hangar and to Reyes’ disapproval they were running out on the gangways without first closing their bay doors. In a matter of seconds all four squads were standing next to their V-Wings, waiting for the final order to climb into their cockpits.

Trailing the three other squads came their bay workers who climbed the stairs and headed straight to their positions at the release hooks.

All 256 pilots and bay workers were facing the command wall where a red sign told the pilots to wait before climbing into their cockpits. Through a set of mirrors, the general of the ship could see that all the pilots were ready. Pulling a lever that manually flipped the sign from red to green, commanding the pilots it was now time to climb into their V-Wings.

In perfect unison 256 pilots climbed into cockpit seats as if they were getting into an SUV. Once all the weight of the pilots were in the V-Wing, all the release hooks holding the planes in place broke free. 194 pilots and their V-Wings fell from the open belly of El Chupacabra Embarazada.

As Reyes climbed into her V-Wing she experienced the same fall, except her’s was only a foot. Having commanded her Bahia Fridas to close the bay doors, she had saved herself and her squad from falling out of the airship.

Because of their V shape, their airplanes were called V-Wings. Near the center where the two wings met, housed the cockpit for the pilot and directly opposite was the Qureshi Drive. Each pilot had weighed that morning to ensure proper balance of the planes.

Everyone was seated as they fell to the bay doors. Reactively Reyes quickly and forcibly sliding the cockpit closed with her right hand and pulling a lever at the same time with her left, locking herself in and pivoting the seat 90 degrees towards the nose of her plane. She was now looking down at a slightly crushed nose of her plane on the bay door. Slowly her V-Wing began to tilt left from the force of her climbing into the cockpit. Looking to the left she saw she was about to collide with the V-Wing next to her.

Someone had opened the bay doors and tampered with the release hooks to kill her fellow pilots! To prevent further damage to her V-Wing she pulled the green tag called a Go Cord that hung over her left shoulder, flipping a panel on the back of the V-Wing from red to green, indicating that she was ready to be released.

Hoping that after years of training and the rigor she kept her squad in that all her pilots would react the same way by assessing the situation and pulling on their Go Cords. She also hoped that her Bahia Fridas were following protocol and were in the process of opening the bay doors.

To her relief, she felt a rumble then the screech of metal on metal as the bay doors were being pulled open. From her peripheral vision she saw the other squadron’s bay workers running to help her Bahia Fridas with opening the bay doors. It would take all 16 workers to open the doors with the weight of 64 V-Wings resting on them.

Estimating she had a minute before she dropped into the sky, Reyes thoroughly but quickly checked her cockpit to ensure there was nothing askew. Only had four buttons and a lever for the engine, everything looked right and tight. Pulling on her two control sticks and moving her foot pedals she saw in her mirrors that all flaps were also working properly.

Her V-Wing was laying on the leading edge of its left wing and on the V-Wing next to hers. Looking at Pilot Rodriguez, she gave a thumbs up, which he returned in likewise.

The bay door was almost to her nose. A few more cranks from the pulley and she would be spinning out of control miles above the ground.

This is going to be fun. She thought to herself gleefully.

The spinning free fall was awesome. Reyes was having a blast as she was spinning clockwise in the free fall. Before the bay door opened enough to let her V-Wing fall, she had noted her altimeter reading. Once she was 1,000 feet below El Chupacabra Embarazada, she turned on her Qureshi Drive, while also moving the joysticks and pedals, turning the V-Wing counterclockwise. Both actions allowing her to gain complete control over the craft and leveling it out.

Once in control Reyes pushed the control sticks down to lower her altitude, allowing more room for her squadron to gain control of their V-WIngs. As she was facing down towards Mexico, she was relieved to see hundreds of parachutes opening from the fallen pilots.

At the altitude of 2,500 feet Reyes pulled up on her controls, flying in a large half circle and coming out underneath El Chupacabra Embarazada. She wanted to get a good look at her squadron and see who was missing.

Following protocol, Reyes saw three groups of 20 V-Wings in formation, with their group leaders above and behind each one. All 64 of her pilots had the green panel flipped over on the far right and left of their wings, signaling the “ok.” As the only squadron left, it was now their duty to complete the mission of taking back Mexico City. With less than 75 miles left to their destination, she would know within the next hour if they would be victorious.

The Synedría tou Sotíra had mostly taken over Earth peacefully. One-minute things were “normal,” the next ten minutes their upside-down pyramids were over every major capital city on the planet. Millions of people watched in horror as their ships slowly descended from space. The silence of their invasion was the most nerve reckoning thing about the occupation.

Reyes remembered the event clearly; the fear that ran through her parents and into their children. At least once a month the nightmare and the gut-wrenching fear attacked her in the middle night, causing her to take up drenched in sweat and afraid all over again.

The only reports of violence from the Synedría tou Sotíra was when they were directly attacked. But even then, they just set off an EMP, halting the attackers in step.

What had happened to the Intergalactic Space Planets, formally known as the ISP? They promised Earth that they would be safe from the Synedría tou Sotíra and their unfounded religious war on the people of Earth. Our solar system was to be a haven, a sanctuary from any type of danger in the galaxy. But as far as Reyes knew, Earth’s leaders had lost contact with the ISP minutes before the Synedría tou Sotíra arrived. They had done something to the ISP, but no one knew what since space travel outside of the Solar System was forbidden by Intergalactic Law.

Mars still had two base camps but were only being maintained by a few hundred people. The Synedría tou Sotíra still allowing the transportation of people and goods to and from Earth, the Moon Colonies and Mars.

Even though the people of Earth had been declared murders, the Synedría tou Sotíra decided to occupy Earth to convert its people to their way belief instead of causing genocide. The Synedría tou Sotíra didn’t want the ISP or other groups of aliens having pity and eventually liberating Earth. We were but a small conquest on the chess board of the galaxy.

There had been talk about a new Messiah coming to Earth to stop the Synedría tou Sotíra and their occupancy, but Reyes felt that it was all farce. A fairy tale made up to give a false sense of hope. The only people that would save them would be themselves. No one in the galaxy cared about the freedom of Earth, so it was up to people like Reyes to work every day to save the people that didn’t know they needed to be saved.

When the Fridas were five miles out from the Synedría tou Sotíra upside down pyramid, Reyes saw the blue sphere of light shoot out from its top. The EMP blast traveling up to 20 miles if needed, but this was just a small blast. The Synedría tou Sotíra didn’t want to disrupt their followers’ lives that were on the ground in the shadow of their occupation.

Reyes felt the shock slightly rock her V-Wing. For a split second she thought her Qureshi Drive was going to fail her, but it kept on pulsing, pushing her craft closer and closer to her target. Reyes was in the front of her 64-pilot squadron, leading the charge. This is where she was meant to be, her life’s choices leading to this hour.

It was now their turn. In less than a minute the Fridas along with every Resistance group around the world would be besiege the Synedría tou Sotíra’s pyramids with bombs, in hopes of killing their oppressors and freeing the people of Earth.

40 Seconds to go.

“What the heck is that!?” Reyes screaming out loud in shock as a door was opening on the top of the upside down pyramid and from that hole, tetrahedral drones came spewing forth, shooting at Reyes’ V-Wing.

“Dang it, dang it, dang it!!!” She yells again frustration. There were only seconds away from dropping their bombs on her enemies. “Where the heck did these things come from?” The Synedría tou Sotíra didn’t have any airplanes or air defenses other than the EMP. There were no known aircraft within their structures. Even at the beginning of the occupation and the first attacks there were no records of these things.

Taking defensive maneuvers Reyes dropped down towards the swarm of Tetrahedral crafts and pivoting left into a cork spin to get out of their line of fire. This was new territory, they never trained for any dog fights in the air. This was supposed to be simple and well planned bomb run.

As she continued to pilot her V-Wing downwards, she banked right, setting her sights back onto her original target. She was going to drop some bombs on the pyramid, even if it was the last thing she did in this life.

The fleet of tetrahedral drones were now past her and engaging with the rest of the Fridas, Reyes had managed to dodge their attacks and maneuvered around the entire enemy fleet. Above and behind her was a quickly losing dogfight between the Fridas and the Synedría tou Sotíra drones. The V-Wings were equipped with a rail gun, once again courtesy of the Synedría tou Sotíra, but it and the V-Wings were no match for the advanced tetrahedral drones of the Synedría tou Sotíra. Glancing in her side mirrors, Reyes saw the majority of the Fridas V-Wings falling from the sky, parachutes opening everywhere.

Returning her focus back at her target she had maneuvered herself directly above the pyramid; falling perpendicular to the pyramid’s opened door. Above her the dog fight was over, all 64 V-Wings falling right behind her. Behind them 54 parachutes were opened, carrying the surviving Fridas. And scattered throughout the 54 parachutes were one hundred tetrahedral drones hovering and guarding their prisoners of war, slowly descending with them to ensure their capture and safety.

The Synedría tou Sotíra hated Earthlings and everything they stood for, but they knew the best way to control them was to keep them alive and feed them constant propaganda, eventually in the hopes they would see the Synedría tou Sotíra’s belief to be right and repent. Ruling with an iron fist but making it look like charity. If the people of Earth saw the Synedría tou Sotíra killing their own, the entire world would rebel against them, and the ISP would be forced to take even more dire actions against them than they currently were.

Because Reyes’ first actions when the fighting began was to plummet downwards in a corkscrew spiral, the Synedría tou Sotíra pilots controlling the drones thought she had been hit, putting it on its to do list to swing back around when all the fighting was done and hover by her and her parachute. It was this mistake that gave Reyes’ the time she needed to complete her mission.

Only one hundred feet until she collides with the pyramid, she pulls her controls back into a spiral. This was her moment, her chance, her life. The drones unable to see her V-Wing through the rumble of the other V-Wings falling to the ground. She had cover; this was it, knowing this would be her only chance, she took it.

Screaming with all her might, letting out the years of frustration and pent-up anger, while pulling the trigger for her rail gun, emptying all the rounds, hoping for the maximum damage.

50 feet away from the top of the pyramid, Reyes pushes the release button. Four bombs release their grasp from the lower back of the V-Wing, spreading out, forming a square because the airplanes spiral.

40 feet away, Reyes pulls on her control sticks at the exact moment the V-Wing’s bottom is above the open door. Continuing to pull up, Reyes V-Wings staying in its spiral, heading West from her target.

Less than a second later the bombs collied with the top four corners of the upside pyramid. Debris flies everywhere into the city, into the pyramid and into Reyes’ V-Wing.

“Crap, crap, crap” Reyes is murmuring repeatedly as her right wing is being penetrated by metal shards from the pyramid, slicing through the wing and into her Qureshi Drive. While at the same time the explosions thrusting her craft to the left. Her spiral changes from a controlled one-directional flight to her craft uncontrollably tumbling out of the air towards the beautiful Mexico City streets below. She is too low in altitude to release her parachute and with the craft spiraling violently, she would probably die by being hit by the craft as well as the debris from the explosions. Staying inside was going to be her best chance at survival.

Closing her eyes, she begins praying “Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos, santificado sea tu nombre, venga tu reino, hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo.’’

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form on by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

First Edition: December 2022

Published by Cody R Peterson