Phillip Tanaka
Swabbie
Banned
Hey all. I thought I'd write a story for Christmas. Tell me what you think.
The Spirit of Christmas
A Wing Commander story by Phillip Tanaka (not my real name)
Wing Commander and all associated trademarks are copyright of Origin 1990. All Rights Reserved.
The Scimitar looked like one of the space fighters crushed under the foot of a giant robot in the old Star Wars movies. It's shields and armor were being shot away, every missile had been either used or destroyed, and the computer was displaying all diffirent dates.
'2653.339,' the pilot thought. 'Last sortie before leave. Did the cats know this?' Lieutenant Mariko 'Spirit' Tanaka had no idea what possessed her to wonder whether or not the Kilrathi on her tail had targeted her specifically because she was about to go on leave. All she knew was that she had to fight, or die. Spirit and Captain Chen 'Bossman' Kien were on a simple patrol in the Gimle System, her tenth sortie as a pilot on board the TCS Tiger's Claw, and had just come out of jump at Nav. point 2 when they were jumped themselves. A wing of Jalthi and a Lumbari had set up what looked to be an ambush. If they were flying Hornets, they'd be dead. As it happened, Bossman's Scimitar had virtually no shields and was now trying to evade, while Spirit's had one of it's two guns, a Mass Driver, blown off. Spirit was now trying to contact the Claw.
"...need assistance. Unsure we'll survive on our own." Spirit fired a volly at a closing Jalthi, trying not to panic. Then she saw Bossman fly towards the Lumbari, and knew she had to help him. Without a word, she tried to match the flight path of one of the Jalthi after Bossman and fired, the shots nothing like the slow and steady ones she normally used. Her breathing had increased noticeably, and she tried to think of the training that had got her here and, she hoped, out of this conflict, rather than the fear of dieing that despite her best efforts could not be suppressed.
"Spirit, pull out," ordered Bossman. "You're heading towards the Lumbari, it's firing."
"No time." But she tried anyway, trying to do a tight turn left and down to go under the thing. The Scimitar was not nimble under the best of circumstances, this was going to be close. The Lumbari shot at Spirit. Spirit knew better than to try and fight back. Instead, she kept trying to evade. In desperation, she hit the brakes. This action have her a small gap that she could squeeze through. Ignoring the Lumbari's fire, Spirit was able to avoid crashing. She felt the jolts of the enemy fire and hit the afterburners, planning to try and wear the Lumbari down. A quick glance at the computer, however, told her that the other Mass Driver had been shot off, and she was now defenceless. Bossman noticed this.
"Spirit, return to the Claw. I'll try and hold them off." Spirit didn't want to leave the fight to Bossman alone, but under these circumstances she was willing to take 'yes' for an answer.
"I will report your bravery," she said. "Good luck."
"Roger." Spirit then tried contacting the Tiger's Claw again.
"This is Spirit. Returning to base." This time she was able to get through, and a blinking, fuzzy image of Colonal Halcyon was on screen.
"Roger Lieutenant. I'm sending out three other fighters to bring you and Bossman home."
****
Spirit was the first to land, her badly damaged Scimitar not impressing the flight crews one bit. Colonal Halcyon was waiting for her on the Flight Deck.
"Welcome back, Lieutenant. I'll hear from the others, but since they'll be a little delayed as they fight off the Kilrathi, I'll hear your report."
"Yes sir. Nav. point one was clear. At Nav. point two, me and Bossman were ambushed by five Jalthi and a Lumbari. I was able to destroy one before Bossman ordered me back to base. He chose to stay and help me escape."
"Okay then. This ambush has us concerned. We'll be stepping up security in this sector. You will still be able to get leave, however. Except in the case of an emergency Captain Sansky has approved two weeks leave."
"Yes sir, thank you sir."
"That's all, Lieutenant. Dismissed." Spirit headed straight for the Berths, where her locker was, and opened it. It was neat and tidy inside, fairly sparse. There was a wallet with money inside, which she grabbed, and a photo album. She took the album out, close the door, and sat on her bed to look through it. The first photo was of her with her father and one of his wingmen, Steve 'Hollywood' Barkley. Spirit felt the pain of seeing her dead father and turned the page. The photos here were more uplifting, of her at the Acadamy with friends and instructors. Spirit smiled and turned the page, where the photos here had her shaking her head. She was here with her boyfriend, Philip, and his brothers Paul, Sean, Jessie and Billy, before she went on the Tiger's Claw. They had chosen to go to the place known as Hell's Kitchen in New York. She watched, and smiled a lot, as she watched Philip and his brothersmade utter fools of themselves having fun. Still, she enjoyed herself. She just went shopping whenever they got a bit much for her. One photo had, of all things, Paul holding a cat by the scruff of the neck. Philip was with him, and the caption read 'In New York City with the Kilrathi Emperor.' She'd missed him terribly after he took his healing hands and left to work for the Medical Corps in Epsilon, and was excited about seeing him again. Having to buy Christmas presents for family was the perfect excuse to get leave, and if only for a little while, the two of them would be together.
****
Lieutenant Philip Chambers seemed, in every sense of the word, normal. Apart from the military guile in his face and the gift to heal almost anything he touches, there was nothing that set him apart from everyone else. He worked with a gentle manner, but he had a shorter fuse than once might expect when it came to politics or the military. Today he felt tired, the long period of quiet eating at him and making him rub at his dark blue jumpsuit.
'Still,' he thought, 'ninety nine percent of war is waiting.' He excused himself to step out into the hall, where it was cool and he could get a drink, when he noticed a shuttle arriving.
"Humph, wonder who that could be?" he asked aloud. No medical emergancy had been called, and as far as he knew no one had anyone booked in. He paid it little heed and went to get a drink. On his way back, he heard someone come through the front doors of the medical centre. Cold air came through, and Philip decided to go and see if they needed help. He went to the front to find that nobody was there. Just space and the dark rock that the space station and medical centre were built on.
"Bang,"a female voice called out. "You're dead." Philip turned around, recognising the voice.
"Mariko? Geez, don't scare me like that."
"It's good to see you too, Philip." Spirit came out from behind one of the cabinets.
"Sorry. It is good to see you again." Philip walked over to her. "You seem...diffirent somehow."
"I have leave," she explained. "Since we don't have to be concerned with the war at the moment, I thought you might like to come with me to Epsilon Prima."
"Yeah, it'd be great to forget about the war and spend some time with you. How come you're going?"
"Christmas. I hadn't even started shopping yet. I've been...a little busy."
"Haven't we all?" Philip led Spirit the way out, and put an arm around her shoulders. He wasn't altogether much taller than her, and they could possibly look like brother and sister. Then again, he thought, maybe not. Spirit was Japanese, with shoulder length black hair. Philip, on the other hand, had short light brown hair and was an American descendant from the Peron System.
"Is something on your mind?" Spirit asked. "You seem...tense." Philip thought about it. He did feel strained, and what he'd been hearing didn't help at all. But he didn'twant to worry Spirit at all.
"Probably just work."
****
The shuttle ride to Epsilon Prima didn't seem to take that long to Philip. He'd fallen asleep, Spirit leaning on him and snuggling up against him. He woke up as they flew over Chimaya Contal, the city Spirit had chosen to go to. Philip didn't argue. It was a nice, smallish city unlike New York on Earth, but big enough for there to be a large hustle and bustle. There was a Christmas Parade on today, and Spirit intended to see it. Philip decided to pretend that he was still asleep so as not to disturb Spirit at all, and looked outside at Chimaya Contal, thinking. The shuttle landed soon enough, and Spirit and Philip walked out.
"How about we go and watch the parade over there, when it starts?" Spirit pointed to a spot across the road from where the shuttle had landed.
"Sure, it doesn't bother me. It's not for a while yet though so maybe you want to get some shopping done first."
"Sure, okay." Philip smiled. Spirit was much more lively than before. He supposed it was because they weren't fighting the Kilrathi. They went, litrially arm in arm, to see what they could see. As they walked down the street, Philip saw something he did not particularly want to see. On a pole holding up a street sign was a small poster someone had put up, protesting the war against the Kilrathi. Sure, Philip would have wanted peace with the cat like race, or at least not to be at war with them, but he knew that was not possible. He shook his head in disgust.
"What's wrong?" Spirit asked, before seeing the poster. She paid it no heed and hurried Philip along.
"Sure, let the Kilrathi run roughshod," Philip was saying. "Let yourself be captured and taken to a slave mine."
"Don't worry about it," said Spirit. Philip knew she was right, and said as much. Still, he growled and glowered at the poster as they walked away.
The Spirit of Christmas
A Wing Commander story by Phillip Tanaka (not my real name)
Wing Commander and all associated trademarks are copyright of Origin 1990. All Rights Reserved.
The Scimitar looked like one of the space fighters crushed under the foot of a giant robot in the old Star Wars movies. It's shields and armor were being shot away, every missile had been either used or destroyed, and the computer was displaying all diffirent dates.
'2653.339,' the pilot thought. 'Last sortie before leave. Did the cats know this?' Lieutenant Mariko 'Spirit' Tanaka had no idea what possessed her to wonder whether or not the Kilrathi on her tail had targeted her specifically because she was about to go on leave. All she knew was that she had to fight, or die. Spirit and Captain Chen 'Bossman' Kien were on a simple patrol in the Gimle System, her tenth sortie as a pilot on board the TCS Tiger's Claw, and had just come out of jump at Nav. point 2 when they were jumped themselves. A wing of Jalthi and a Lumbari had set up what looked to be an ambush. If they were flying Hornets, they'd be dead. As it happened, Bossman's Scimitar had virtually no shields and was now trying to evade, while Spirit's had one of it's two guns, a Mass Driver, blown off. Spirit was now trying to contact the Claw.
"...need assistance. Unsure we'll survive on our own." Spirit fired a volly at a closing Jalthi, trying not to panic. Then she saw Bossman fly towards the Lumbari, and knew she had to help him. Without a word, she tried to match the flight path of one of the Jalthi after Bossman and fired, the shots nothing like the slow and steady ones she normally used. Her breathing had increased noticeably, and she tried to think of the training that had got her here and, she hoped, out of this conflict, rather than the fear of dieing that despite her best efforts could not be suppressed.
"Spirit, pull out," ordered Bossman. "You're heading towards the Lumbari, it's firing."
"No time." But she tried anyway, trying to do a tight turn left and down to go under the thing. The Scimitar was not nimble under the best of circumstances, this was going to be close. The Lumbari shot at Spirit. Spirit knew better than to try and fight back. Instead, she kept trying to evade. In desperation, she hit the brakes. This action have her a small gap that she could squeeze through. Ignoring the Lumbari's fire, Spirit was able to avoid crashing. She felt the jolts of the enemy fire and hit the afterburners, planning to try and wear the Lumbari down. A quick glance at the computer, however, told her that the other Mass Driver had been shot off, and she was now defenceless. Bossman noticed this.
"Spirit, return to the Claw. I'll try and hold them off." Spirit didn't want to leave the fight to Bossman alone, but under these circumstances she was willing to take 'yes' for an answer.
"I will report your bravery," she said. "Good luck."
"Roger." Spirit then tried contacting the Tiger's Claw again.
"This is Spirit. Returning to base." This time she was able to get through, and a blinking, fuzzy image of Colonal Halcyon was on screen.
"Roger Lieutenant. I'm sending out three other fighters to bring you and Bossman home."
****
Spirit was the first to land, her badly damaged Scimitar not impressing the flight crews one bit. Colonal Halcyon was waiting for her on the Flight Deck.
"Welcome back, Lieutenant. I'll hear from the others, but since they'll be a little delayed as they fight off the Kilrathi, I'll hear your report."
"Yes sir. Nav. point one was clear. At Nav. point two, me and Bossman were ambushed by five Jalthi and a Lumbari. I was able to destroy one before Bossman ordered me back to base. He chose to stay and help me escape."
"Okay then. This ambush has us concerned. We'll be stepping up security in this sector. You will still be able to get leave, however. Except in the case of an emergency Captain Sansky has approved two weeks leave."
"Yes sir, thank you sir."
"That's all, Lieutenant. Dismissed." Spirit headed straight for the Berths, where her locker was, and opened it. It was neat and tidy inside, fairly sparse. There was a wallet with money inside, which she grabbed, and a photo album. She took the album out, close the door, and sat on her bed to look through it. The first photo was of her with her father and one of his wingmen, Steve 'Hollywood' Barkley. Spirit felt the pain of seeing her dead father and turned the page. The photos here were more uplifting, of her at the Acadamy with friends and instructors. Spirit smiled and turned the page, where the photos here had her shaking her head. She was here with her boyfriend, Philip, and his brothers Paul, Sean, Jessie and Billy, before she went on the Tiger's Claw. They had chosen to go to the place known as Hell's Kitchen in New York. She watched, and smiled a lot, as she watched Philip and his brothersmade utter fools of themselves having fun. Still, she enjoyed herself. She just went shopping whenever they got a bit much for her. One photo had, of all things, Paul holding a cat by the scruff of the neck. Philip was with him, and the caption read 'In New York City with the Kilrathi Emperor.' She'd missed him terribly after he took his healing hands and left to work for the Medical Corps in Epsilon, and was excited about seeing him again. Having to buy Christmas presents for family was the perfect excuse to get leave, and if only for a little while, the two of them would be together.
****
Lieutenant Philip Chambers seemed, in every sense of the word, normal. Apart from the military guile in his face and the gift to heal almost anything he touches, there was nothing that set him apart from everyone else. He worked with a gentle manner, but he had a shorter fuse than once might expect when it came to politics or the military. Today he felt tired, the long period of quiet eating at him and making him rub at his dark blue jumpsuit.
'Still,' he thought, 'ninety nine percent of war is waiting.' He excused himself to step out into the hall, where it was cool and he could get a drink, when he noticed a shuttle arriving.
"Humph, wonder who that could be?" he asked aloud. No medical emergancy had been called, and as far as he knew no one had anyone booked in. He paid it little heed and went to get a drink. On his way back, he heard someone come through the front doors of the medical centre. Cold air came through, and Philip decided to go and see if they needed help. He went to the front to find that nobody was there. Just space and the dark rock that the space station and medical centre were built on.
"Bang,"a female voice called out. "You're dead." Philip turned around, recognising the voice.
"Mariko? Geez, don't scare me like that."
"It's good to see you too, Philip." Spirit came out from behind one of the cabinets.
"Sorry. It is good to see you again." Philip walked over to her. "You seem...diffirent somehow."
"I have leave," she explained. "Since we don't have to be concerned with the war at the moment, I thought you might like to come with me to Epsilon Prima."
"Yeah, it'd be great to forget about the war and spend some time with you. How come you're going?"
"Christmas. I hadn't even started shopping yet. I've been...a little busy."
"Haven't we all?" Philip led Spirit the way out, and put an arm around her shoulders. He wasn't altogether much taller than her, and they could possibly look like brother and sister. Then again, he thought, maybe not. Spirit was Japanese, with shoulder length black hair. Philip, on the other hand, had short light brown hair and was an American descendant from the Peron System.
"Is something on your mind?" Spirit asked. "You seem...tense." Philip thought about it. He did feel strained, and what he'd been hearing didn't help at all. But he didn'twant to worry Spirit at all.
"Probably just work."
****
The shuttle ride to Epsilon Prima didn't seem to take that long to Philip. He'd fallen asleep, Spirit leaning on him and snuggling up against him. He woke up as they flew over Chimaya Contal, the city Spirit had chosen to go to. Philip didn't argue. It was a nice, smallish city unlike New York on Earth, but big enough for there to be a large hustle and bustle. There was a Christmas Parade on today, and Spirit intended to see it. Philip decided to pretend that he was still asleep so as not to disturb Spirit at all, and looked outside at Chimaya Contal, thinking. The shuttle landed soon enough, and Spirit and Philip walked out.
"How about we go and watch the parade over there, when it starts?" Spirit pointed to a spot across the road from where the shuttle had landed.
"Sure, it doesn't bother me. It's not for a while yet though so maybe you want to get some shopping done first."
"Sure, okay." Philip smiled. Spirit was much more lively than before. He supposed it was because they weren't fighting the Kilrathi. They went, litrially arm in arm, to see what they could see. As they walked down the street, Philip saw something he did not particularly want to see. On a pole holding up a street sign was a small poster someone had put up, protesting the war against the Kilrathi. Sure, Philip would have wanted peace with the cat like race, or at least not to be at war with them, but he knew that was not possible. He shook his head in disgust.
"What's wrong?" Spirit asked, before seeing the poster. She paid it no heed and hurried Philip along.
"Sure, let the Kilrathi run roughshod," Philip was saying. "Let yourself be captured and taken to a slave mine."
"Don't worry about it," said Spirit. Philip knew she was right, and said as much. Still, he growled and glowered at the poster as they walked away.