Goliath One-Status: K.I.A.

Prologue

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are all gathered here today on this fine evening to pay tribute, to a soldier known as Michael Ivan, also known as Goliath 2 of the Goliath squadron” Said Lt. Colonel James Watson.

He and the other U.S.A.F. pilots stood tall in place on one side of the massive and decorative coffin, the evening sun’s rays turning their black uniforms a light shade of grey. None of them moved a muscle, even though the sun shined right in their eyes, but looks of sorrow were easily visible on their faces.

  “Michael was not only a friend, but a hero. He lived as a hero, and he died as one too.” the Colonel continued, “Michael has achieved an incredible feet bringing our country to where it is today. His heroic final action in battle, left us all something to learn from, but mainly to be thankful for. And with that said, let us all salute to him once more, and let him know that wherever he may be, he’ll know that we all honor him greatly. Amen.”

As James stepped aside, his place was taken by former U.S. Army veteran, Sgt. Major Carson Brownway.

  “ATTEN-TION!” He shouted.

As he did so, he and all the other pilots raised their hands to their foreheads in a salute. And another group on the other side of the coffin, a firing-squad, did the same.

  “HUT!” He shouted.

The firing squad each raised their rifles upward.

  “HUT!” He shouted again.

The firing squad each fired a single round into the evening sky, this was repeated until the firing squad had all fired three rounds each. The pilots kept their salute throughout the rest of the ceremony until they were dismissed by the Colonel.

Everyone, including some of the pilots, went home somberly and teary-eyed. Some of the pilots hugged loved ones, while others just got into their cars and headed for home. That is, everyone except for Sgt. Marcus Ivan, he just stood there above the buried coffin while his eyes welled up with tears. After he was sure almost everyone had left, he got down on his knees, put his face in his hands, and began to cry softly.

Shortly after, Marcus felt a hand on his left shoulder, he turned to see Major Veronica Stellic, a bomber pilot for the Special Deployment Unit, standing behind him. He looked closely and saw some tears in her eyes also.

“God, she has the most beautiful eyes...” Marcus had to force that thought aside.

  “I’m, so sorry Marcus. I really am...”

  “Thanks.” Marcus said as he got up and wiped some tears from his cheeks and sniffled. “Life hasn’t been the nicest to me lately so, it’s been tough for me.”

  “Hey, you wanna join me and Jones (a retired U.S. Marine who served in Afghanistan for three years) at the bar? Maybe some friends time will help cheer ya up a bit!" Veronica said as she nudged Marcus with her elbow.

Marcus sighed deeply.

  “Sure. Got nothin else to do so, why not? Heh heh.”

  “Great!” she turned to Jones, who was on the other side of the field, and gave him a thumbs up. “And I’m driving!” she shouted to Jones .

  “Oh hell no!” He replied playfully and sprinted to the car.

  “Oh hell yes!” Veronica shouted after him as she too ran to the car.

Marcus simply jogged to the car as they all headed to find the best bottle of Sam Atam’s they could get their hands on.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Marcus headed over to the airbase on the outskirts of town. When he got there, a few minutes after he stepped inside and was headed to his part of the camp, he was stopped by Colonel James.

  “Woah James, easy does it!” Marcus said as James almost knocked him over.

  “Sorry man, hey, I’ve been lookin’ all over for ya! The commander wants you to have this. James handed over a small piece of paper with the Commanders’ handwriting on it. It read: REPORT TO RUNWAY 4 A.S.A.P. THERE’S SOMEONE I WANT YOU TO MEET.

Marcus read the note, and looked up at James nodded, and took off in the direction of the runways. But before he could get far, James stopped him. “And Marcus,” he said in a calm voice, “sorry about yesterday.” And with that, James pulled him into a quick hug, and Marcus took off running.

Marcus, jogging now after the long run, finally got to runway-he checked the note- 4 was it, and sure enough, the heads-up advisor and commander in chief was waiting for him. Standing next to him was a, teenager? Marcus slowed to a walk as he approached the commander.

  “Commander, good to see you.” Marcus said with a quick salute.

  “You to Sergeant.” He responded with a handshake.

  “So, your note said you wanted me to meet someone? Marcus stated holding out the note.

  “Indeed I do,” he said, and beckoned the teenager over. “this is Natov Vladimir. He’s an ex-Russian pilot, and he is one of the best. I’ve chosen him to be your new wingman.”

The Russian stepped forward and extended a hand.

  “It’s an honor sir.” Marcus was a little shocked at how Russian this guy sounded, but he still shook his hand with a smile.

  “Likewise.”

  “I’ll leave you two to talk things out.” the Commander said as he walked away.

  “So, what’s my new code-name sir?” Natov asked.

  “Well because you’re my wingman now, your new code-name is Goliath 2. And please, call me Marcus.” He replied with a smile

  “Yes sir!-Uh, I mean Marcus!” Natov said with a little laugh at the end.

  “Heh heh, it’s fine, now c’mon, I’ll show ya where you’ll be staying.” Marcus said as he wrapped an arm around Natovs’ shoulder.

“If the chief says he’s the best, I guess he is...” Marcus thought as he and Natov headed back to the camp sites.

It was then that Marcus noticed the large backpack that was slung over Natovs’ right shoulder.

  “Whatcha’ got in there?” Marcus asked as they stepped inside the huge main building.

  “Oh, this is just everything I need to get set up at the camp”

Just then, Raptor squadron, another group of trained pilots each flying an A-10B Thunderbolts IV, was seen approaching the runway.

Marcus chuckled. “I’ll have to introduce you to those guys, they’re a friendly bunch.”

That night was much more relaxing for Marcus, he was able to get some reading done on his book, and let himself really unwind as he sat on the sofa in his TV room. Marcus scanned the room for a moment.

“Damn it, did I really just loose the remote again? Fuck... Oh wait, here it is! Yay!”

Marcus sighed with relief as he pulled the remote out by the corner he saw from under the sofa. He clicked on the TV and watched some Hardcore Pawn. He laughed a little when some black girl trying to sell an old XBox 360 went totally ballistic when they wouldn’t pay her for it. He checked the time on the cable box, 10:27 p.m., it had been about an hour since he had gotten home. Marcus turned off his TV and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, as 10:30 p.m. was normally the time he went to bed. He climbed into bed under the soft blankets, turned off the lights, and drifted slowly off to sleep.

“That Natov guy seems pretty nice... I wonder how many other planes he’s flown before... I just hope he doesn’t end up like...... He did......”

Marcus started to dream , but those thoughts dwelled in his head.

~~~~~~~~~

One week before funeral

“Goliath flight, you are cleared to take off, go NOW!!” Shouted Lt. Colonel James Watson.

About 30 second after his order James watched as four F-35B Lightning II’s, also known as Goliath Flight, propelled themselves down the snow covered runway as a wave of bombers overhead were destroying the airfield. It was too risky taking off vertically as a plane could easily get hit by a bomb.

  “Alright team, you know what to do.” Marcus assured the team .

  “Right, kill bombers first, and escorts after.” Said Goliath 3

  “That would be correct.” Stated Goliath 2 in a joking voice.

  “Focus guys! If the bombers manage to destroy this base, than we lose our foothold here.” Marcus made sure of the two. “Alright guys, we discussed how to deal with the Lancers right?”

  “Yup, follow me 3! I see a good group!” Said Goliath 4 as he and 3 closed in on a  passing bomber squad approaching the base undefended.

  “2, follow my lead. Let’s take out that last group, you and me pal!” Said Goliath 1 happily.”

  “Alright, let’s have some FUN!” Replied Goliath 2.

After a few minutes, Marcus got a message saying that the group 3 and 4 were pursuing was destroyed. After that, 2 pointed out something to Marcus that made his blood go cold.

  “Marcus look, the bombers... They’re flying away... But why?”

Just then, a cold and deep Russian voice spoke through their radio frequency.

  “Ah, good to be back, isn’t it?” Said the voice in a devious tone.

  “Menshikov. What are you doing here?” Marcus demanded.

  “You haven’t changed a bit, have you Ivan? Heh heh heh.” That laugh made the hairs on the back of Marcus’s neck stand up.

Then Marcus got a missile warning on his H.U.D. (heads-up-display).

  “Enough chit-chat, you die today!” Menshikov said evilly.

He turned and banked the plane but by then Menshikov was right behind him in his legendary PAK-FA. They were both flying at top speed, when Menshikov started to use his cannon, he managed to hit one of his rear flaps and another part of his right wing: the parts that, when hit, would keep the plane from being able to turn for a short time. Then Menshikov just disappeared, and before Marcus knew it there was a missile headed straight for his cabin. Then he saw Menshikov bank and leave the battle zone in front of him. Marcus could only watch as the missile got closer, and when he just about knew that he would die, time seemed to slow down. Michael’s plane came from Marcus’s right and the missile struck him instead of Marcus.

“MICHAEL!!!” Marcus yelled.

Marcus could hear struggling.

  “I’m-I’m okay, I think... but, my plane’s not responding...” Michael said in a panicked voice.

  “Bail the hell out!!” Marcus ordered.

  “I just told you my plane’s not responding, AT ALL! Oh shit... I-I’m, losing oil pressure... I can’t keep her nose up...”

Marcus watched in horror as Michael’s plane suddenly dipped downward.

  “No, Michael, don’t worry! I need a rescue crew at his expected crash sight, NOW!!

  “No... No, don’t... Everything’s gonna be fine, just...”

Marcus heard a sniffle come through the radio.

  “Look... I can already see unidentified armored trucks moving on the desert, two of them are towing A.A. batteries. They’re russian. If they get there and I’m alive they’ll unlock every secret and tactic that I know of in the Air Force.” Said Michael slowly, his plane only gliding after shutting down his engine.

  “What are you planning on doing Michael?” Asked Marcus.

Michael hesitated, knowing that Marcus wasn’t going to like it.

  “Marcus... I need you to shoot me down...”

Marcus couldn’t believe his ears.

  “What? Michael, what are you thinking?!”

  “Think about it! I'm cornered now, what choice is there?! If they capture and interrogate me and I break it’s over for the Air Force! We can not risk an entire branch of the U.S. Military for one life!” Shouted Michael.

  “No Michael, I won’t do this!” Marcus replied as his eyes started to blur with tears.

  “Just do it, please... for the future...”

  “But... but Michael... No, I can’t... Please...” Marcus felt a tear run down his left cheek.

  “Marcus... for the United States, for our pride and freedom... Do it...”

Marcus looked at the right joystick, the one with the button for launching sabre-class A.A. missiles. He looked back to the rear of Michael’s aircraft which was slowly descending. As he flipped up the cover for the button, all his favorite times with his favorite wingman flashed in his mind.

The time Marcus gave Michael a fake lottery ticket and he thought he won $40,000, Marcus and Veronica both rolling on the floor laughing at the angry look on his face. The time Marcus had to leave the bar due to drinking three too many bottles of vodka, and how he threw up on Jones’s new jacket afterwards. The time Jones got a blindfolded lap-dance from Michael instead of a real girl on Jones’s birthday, man the look on his face when the blindfold was removed...

The world around him and Michael faded from existence, leaving only them in a black void. Marcus put a lock crossair on Michael’s aircraft before saying his last words to his best friend.

  “Goodbye Michael...” Marcus said with a sniff.

  “Farwell Marcus...” Michael replied softly.

Marcus’s hand trembled slightly as he put his thumb over the small, red button.

  “Forgive me Brother.” Marcus whispered to himself.

He closed his eyes, and pressed the button with a *click*.

~~~~~~~~~~

That was all Marcus saw in his dream before his eyes snapped open and he quickly sat up in bed, breathing heavily. He scanned the room for a second before putting his face in his hands. That was when he realized that there were tears streaming out of his eyes and his whole body, from the waist up, was beaded with sweat. The *click* echoing in his brain like someone was right next to him.

  “Am I ever going to get over this?” Was the one question he asked himself, that he couldn’t answer... ever...