Chapter One - Getting Off of the Ground

When they came I had the duty and was on ready status for the weekend. My plane, a brand spanking new F-35, was in one of the new revetments and protected. The others were not so lucky or else did not make it far into the sky. All the others tried to make tactical takeoffs where they use the quickest power-up and start possible. That is typically done in practice for emergencies because you are taking a risk in the plane or situation not being ready. This did not make any difference. They were all lost either during the start or takeoff roll. Some of the losses were due to the EMP (electro magnetic pulse) that happened just before the attack. The planes that were out in the open had their electronics affected and some would not even power up. I can't imagine the frustration of those pilots sitting in what appears to be a perfect aircraft but is completely impotent. After the first wave of the attack I decided to wait for what looked like an opening, or at least a quieter moment, and make a run for it.

With the 35 I had the choice of standard or vertical with transition to normal flight takeoffs. Vertical seemed like a bad idea because it is slow and I would leave a hot spot on any IR (infrared) system looking in my area. At least with a standard takeoff I would be moving and not leaving a searingly bright spot on some scope. Since we had never seen anything like this before I had no idea what sort of sensors that they used but I was taking no chances. I wanted to be as low and fast as I possibly could be. Hopefully, this would help me blend into the background while they were busy killing my friends. It is hard to say that so matter of factly but I could not think otherwise at this point.

I was lucky, if that is appropriate, to be fully armed and fueled since I was on ready standby status. My fuel load was the most possible given that I had external tanks mounted. This meant that I had the most time possible in the air and could hopefully do something effective while there. If I had chosen the vertical takeoff route it would have reduced my time before, one way or the other, I was going to be back on the ground. Being in the air is safe and I wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.