The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Hell Above the Skies
Page 61
* * *
The fighters Asotos sent to attack Gabrielle’s MueoPoros Fleet sliced through Terey’s collection of obsolete machines like a whirlwind in a wheat field. In ten minutes, half of them had been shot to pieces or driven off. But Terey and her squadron of 14’s were not so quickly intimidated.
It didn’t take long for the enemy to realize they were up against no ordinary commander. Pushing her ships to the limit, Terey’s squadron tore into the heavies, ignoring the enemy fighters. By the third pass, the telling effect of the 14’s solid projectile antitank guns had decimated forty percent of Asotos’ first wave of heavies.
Although the TKR-14 was of an older design, it was still a very deadly weapon in the hands of an experienced pilot. Slower and smaller than the Endikos 23’s, it still was a force to be reckoned with. Heavy armor and massive firepower made it formidable. It could out-maneuver outturn the 23’s in close combat. While Terey concentrated most of her fighters on the heavies, the twenty-four 14’s engaged in this battle took out six of Asotos’ 23’s.
Terey banked her ship hard to port, leading her fighters toward the second wave of incoming heavies. The majority of enemy fighters went in hot pursuit just as Terey anticipated they would. This gave an opening to the three squadrons of the much slower, ancient DTB’s and XTT-4’s. Although no match for any modern fighter, these ships could easily terrorize the slow, unprotected heavies.
When within range, the pilots of the DTB’s dove on the heavies, flying with a wild madness into the defensive fire of the enemy bombers. As the DTB’s distracted the enemy gunners, the XTT-4’s lumbered to within missile range and, continuing through scathing return fire, blasted away at the enemy with their two inch belly cannons.
An XTT closed in on a lead heavy just as the heavy’s upper cannons opened up on it. In an explosive burst, the XTT’s copilot and navigator were killed and the pilot seriously wounded. Smoke started pouring into the pilot’s cabin and the starboard engine ruptured, spewing molten liquid along the fuselage. The pilot veered away from the attack while she called into her headset, “We have a checkmate!”
The crew of another XTT watched as the ship’s port engine flared white-hot and the machine careened toward another oncoming heavy. At six thousand yards, the ancient fighter locked down its cannon as it spun in toward the heavy. A horrific, blinding fireball lit up the sky when the two ships collided head on.
Under the ferocious assault of these relics of bygone wars, the remaining heavies in the first wave faltered. They dropped their ordnance and attempted to retreat. The DTB’s put up a chase, wrecking four more heavies before being driven off by newly arrived fighters. Of the thirty-eight DTB’s and XTT’s in these three squadrons, only eight returned to their carriers. Over two-thirds of the fighting crews failed to survive the mission. The heroic actions of these brave crews saved hundreds of lives by preventing the first wave of over thirty heavy bombers from reaching the main fleet.
Terey’s squadron of 14’s was being quickly whittled down. Each time they made another dive on the heavies, one or more of Terey’s fighters would be taken out of action. Running low on fuel, she called for another pass. With her eight remaining 14’s, the major went in with a high-speed frontal attack, the squadron flaming two more heavies.
As she cleared the last heavy, a tail-gunner got a lucky hit on the aft section of Terey’s fighter, severing control systems and rupturing a thermohydrogen canister. Unable to control the side thrusters and leaking coolant, the commander wagged her wings, telling the remaining 14’s they were on their own. She slowly drifted off to the east, Q-north.
Reconsidering her death wish, Terey struggled with the controls to bring the ship around and return to fleet. It was at that moment that two Endikos 23’s spotted her. They swooped in, firing their 20mm cannons at the 14. Unable to out-maneuver them, Terey’s ship took several hits. Terey suddenly felt a sharp pain in her lower back. Sparks flew from her gages on the console. The Endikos did not pursue the chase. They were either called away or had run out of munitions. They roared past the 14, swerved to port and vanished into space.
With her ship’s fuel nearly gone and engines overheating, Terey set her sights on a large rogue asteroid some five minutes’ distance. If she was lucky…real lucky…she just might be able to set her fighter down there. Then, when conditions permitted, she could send out a distress signal.