Fitzsquire squirmed in his seat. Everything about his plane was old, including the springs that seemed determined to poke themselves out of his mouth via his arse. His legs were already starting to show signs of fatigue as he constantly fought the rudder.

Thank God I don't have to worry about vector thrust, he thought as he fought the plane once more, viffing would have been fatal in such a beat up craft. He tugged at his flying suit. Straight off the hanger it was loose where it should be tight, and tight where is should be loose. Black as the night, it had thick white reflective bands around his biceps and forearms, thighs and shins, clearly marking him as a convict.

They'd all been issued with forage caps, to wear when not in their craft and these too had a thick white band running down the centre. Even their flying helmets were marked, totally white apart from the mask and visor.

"She's a beauty eh sir?" Piped Leopold, his assigned gunner, "Wait until we dive, you'll have a shit-eating grin all the way down!" The gunner laughed as Fitzsquire groaned at the thought of what was to come.

Fitzsquire’s comm crackled as Kingsley spoke over the flight channel, "All planes, target in sight, lasing now."

The target suddenly appeared on his head down display's map, whilst icons appeared on his HUD, counting down the distance to target.

Pilgrim's voice came back over the comm. "All planes, remember the brief. Dive down in formation, hit only the centre bunker with main armament, break formation and attack the enemy vehicles, then strafe the trenches. I confirm you are weapons free."

There was a bleep and Fitzsquire’s arming button flashed red. Reaching forward he turned his safety key, then flicked his fingers along the arming switches.

"Fitzsquire confirming armed. Testing." He lifted his nose slightly and briefly squeezed his trigger whilst pressing down with his thumb, sending a squirt of tracer cutting through the air. He jumped as his gunner tested his own weapon, still unused to having someone else with him. All around them there was a brief surge of gunfire as the others tested their main weapons. Acknowledgements of a successful test filled the comm.

Pilgrim came back on, "Prepare to dive by echelon. Dive!"

Fitzsquire pushed his stick forward, negative g lifting him slightly before normal g reasserted itself. He ran his tongue around his suddenly dry mouth, wishing it was as wet as his palms. Leopold screamed in obvious delight behind him as the dive got steeper and steeper.

His eyes flicked between HUD and the horizon, using the dive compasses on his side windows to ensure he stayed on the right path. As he pushed his stick further forward, he saw the target. It was roughly three thousand feet below. With a gentle nudge of the rudder, he placed the bomb-aiming reticule over it. The siren that gave the Banshee its name was screaming louder than anything he had heard in his life, it felt as if his teeth were going to shatter.

"Release at fifteen hundred, climb and bank left. Confirm.” Pilgrim's voice was ice cool. It was as if he was sat at home in the bar, rather than strapped into metal coffin hurtling towards the ground at hundreds of Kilometres per hour.

"Releasing!" Fitzsquire pressed hard on his thumb button, jumping as his cannon opened fire, the shells curving away towards the target.

"Release you fucking cack-head! Not strafe!" Screamed Pilgrim in his ear. Fitzsquire cursed, realising that not only had he selected the wrong weapon, he'd also thumbed the wrong button. He stabbed down on the bomb release stud, grunting as the plane bucked, suddenly lighter on the controls.

Pulling back on the stick he groaned as the g forces pushed him down into the worn seat, his flight suit suddenly inflating to keep his blood from pooling in his boots. Leopold was screaming at him, pleading with him to pull up and calling him all manner of names in the process, whilst alarms shrilled and beeped in his ears as the ground continued to get closer.

Just as he finally managed to get his nose up, the plane bucked, caught in the three explosions of his echelon's bombs. Debris pinged off his cockpit, whilst he fought to keep the nose up, desperately kicking at the rudder to keep them flying straight as the shock waves did their best to knock them from the sky.

80%BP flashed up on his HUD as the explosions took their toll on the jet. DIVE BOMBING LEVEL 1 immediately followed, as well as the sound of trumpets.

Finally he managed to pull level with Pilgrim’s jet , wiping at his face with a shaking hand. Pilgrim's voice came over the comm, "Flight leader to all pilots. Learn from Fitzsquire on how not to bomb a target."