Jesse

by on March 10, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Jesse James commanded the heaviest defensive fighter formation on Serenity for months. He, Dawn DeMarco, and their twenty-four Avenger-class starfighters represented Serenity’s most powerful strike force until the Alliance could rebuild her fixed defenses. Yes, the Alliance did send battleships, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and fighters to hold the orbitals, but Jesse and Dawn were the Cowboys that helped saved Serenity in the first place. So they were forced to accept the well-deserved praise and thankfulness of an entire planet. I understand the boys and girls were throwing themselves at their feet. Figuratively speaking of course. Or maybe not. It was several months of time away from the front that gave Jesse’s soul time to recover. And once Serenity’s defenses were rebuilt, the Fox came out to play again with all the capability we knew he had.

 Comment 

Jesse

by on March 9, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Jesse James was a good flight leader from the very beginning. The Peloran named him Fox, and it really fit him. He wasn’t as flashy as people like me were. He was perfectly happy to sneak around and hit people where they didn’t expect to be hit. Now Louis Mattioli was Jesse’s second wingman. Louis was a Martian lawyer. Jesse was a Kansas farmer. Wouldn’t normally expect them to work well together, but they did. All the way up to Epsilon Reticuli. We lost an entire fleet there. And Louis. I did not notice at the time just how hard that was on Jesse. He’d lost two wingmen by then, and he was truly starting to doubt himself. It was a good thing I left him to hold Serenity. It gave him a chance to slow down and recover his balance. He needed that time a lot more than I realized.

 Comment 

Into the Light

by on March 8, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I recently reread Out of the Dark and read Into the Light, two books by David Weber. Out of the Dark started as a short story in the Warriors anthology, and involved vampires fighting in an alien invasion. It has since morphed into a two-book series with a strong hook for far more in the future. It is a good read, and I have enjoyed every version of it so far. If you like to read science fiction, I truly think it is worth your time to check it out. Even if you usually avoid David Weber.

For the full review, please check out https://pryderock.substack.com/

 Comment 

Two Weeks

by on March 7, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Two weeks ago, Ukraine had plains, trains, and automobiles. They had high rise apartments and indoor plumbing. They had smart phones and easy internet and social media access. They had nice coats and baby carriages. These conveniences are all things we equate with the modern Western world we built in the last century. Two weeks ago, Ukraine was a near-modern European Western nation. It had some serious corruption problems, and the government wasn’t very popular, but that often goes with the territory. Today, many of their cities are bombed out ruins, and over a million civilians have evacuated to other countries. Never think this can’t happen where you live. They did not think it would happen to them. And now we see the difference two weeks can make.

 Comment 

Jesse

by on March 6, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Jesse James blames himself for the death of his first wingman early in The War. He could have saved her, you see. It just would have killed him. He has always wondered if he saw how to do it at the time and just didn’t because he didn’t want to die. I did not recognize his doubts at the time, but I pulled him onto my wing, along with our good buddy Ken Banno. The two of them covered my butt rather well and I was quick to give him good marks on all the paperwork we had to do. Then we managed to recruit some replacements for our losses at Alpha Centauri, and he got a new wingman. Louis Mattioli. He passed all of my tests, and everything suggested he and Jesse would be good wingmates. They were. Jesse commanded him well all the way up to Epsilon Reticuli. Yeah. Epsilon Reticuli.

 Comment