Chapter 6: Apsis Intelligenx

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“All Gave Some, Some Gave All”

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-Howard William Osterkamp

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Mid-21st century, near the end of The War.

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The War raged on for years and both sides were cut to the bone…

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Vampire pilots were flying sortie after sortie after sortie with stolen human fighter jets, trying to bomb the humans’ secret research facility back to the stone age. The research facility was enormous. Although it was built to survive a nuclear explosion, it was starting to crumble under the vicious bombardment. Human fighter pilots, which outnumbered the vampire pilots ten to one, were mounting a fierce defense. The humans were also firing antiaircraft guns at vampire planes from the roof of the facility. The sky was a firestorm of jets, missiles, bullets and exploding debris. Bodies were falling from the heavens. Chaos itself was erupting in a catastrophic battle foretold of long ago as the end of times.  

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“Cap, I’m almost bingo fuel, requesting RTB!” Gucci said.

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“Bug out Gucci!” Cap replied.

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As Gucci turned back towards base, a missile slammed into the tail of his jet, downing him instantly.

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“I knew that grape was toast from the get-go,” Deigo cursed.

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“Zip it, Diego!” Cap snapped.

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“Damn they’re fast, Cap. Why are they so fucking fast?” Malone spat.

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“Superior visual acuity, better reflexes and more resistant to G-Forces,” Cap responded.

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“So, what’s the bad news?” Malone asked.

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“Some of their pilots used to be on our side,” Cap concluded.

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More explosions claimed the sky in a chaotic cacophony. Vampires were shredding human fighters at a fearsome rate. They were pushing their planes up to 15gs, well beyond what any human operator could match. As the vampire pilots breached these extreme thresholds, some of their planes literally ripped apart midflight. Although the humans had outnumbered the vampires significantly at the start of the battle, due to their inability to keep pace with the vampire pilots, they were losing far more fighters.

 

The humans were hard pressed to hold their own.

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