Torian nodded and was about to leave when he noticed Agent Tass had extended his hand, “Good luck out there.”
A little surprised, the pilot took his hand, “You’re still an asshole. Thanks.”
--
Admiral Bennion faced a dozen floating screens with faces of other starship commanders as he gave out orders, but Captain William Chen’s hard dark eyes pleaded with the flag officer, “Marty, please put the Titan in line! I’ve still got two working turrets and shields!”
“Bill, you need that tunnel drive up and running, I have ordered Spacemasters to evacuate your non-essential crew …”
“It doesn’t matter where you put me, we’ll still be doing repairs.”
Martin sighed and rubbed his temple, “All right Bill, put the Titan in line next to the Prometheus.”
“Thank you, Marty.”
“The rest of you, I want a tight line formation with the God of War class cruisers on the far end flank. When I give the orders, you will tunnel out stating with the Juno. The Europa will be the last one out, and we’ll recover the fighters.”
“You’re the flag, Marty …” Brynn Mostyn, captain of the God of War battle cruiser, Camulos, began to object.
“That’s right Brynn, I’ll be passing that to you until we rendezvous.”
“It’s dangerous Marty, you can’t take all those fighters …”
“We’ll make room, those are my orders.” He glanced at Lars and then the floating screen with Colonel Benjamin Trilling, “I’m sorry Ben, we’re going to leave you high and dry.”
“I understand Marty. We have the Intel from the girl Siiri about the tunnels under the city, we can dig in.”
“The Immortal Fleet can field 10,000 troops. Have you secured the northern perimeter?”
“Almost, we’re on it, but we have several hundred prisoners, wasting our resources, and we have the coordinates for the civilian villagers, what do we do about them? I wouldn’t want them to fall into enemy hands.”
“I know. Ben, hold the city until relieved. Understand?”
“Yes Marty.”
“I know that you’ll be facing odds of 5 to 1, and that those are crappy orders, but there they are.”
“We’re marines, Marty, you can count on is.”
The Admiral nodded and then turned away, but he was not so sure, signing the man’s death sentence.
--
As Torian walked up to the sexy Starhawk fighter, coated in blue and white with the newly painted squadron logo on the tail, a Black Knight riding a horse with a lance, he saw a man in a combat utility suit with blue skin, curly blonde hair and a playful grin.
“You always wanted to fly Starhawks,” Tristan flashed him a grin.
“But not to my death.”
“What better way to die? I went out on a Hawkeye, now you’re going to one up me!”
“I hope you’re not going to give me a running score while I’m dodging black Solvairs …”
“Nah, I see you already got your gong!”
“Thanks to your stories of exploits, so I guess I owe you one.”
Then Tristan became solemn and reflective, “Friend, the only thing you owe me is staying alive.”
Torian nodded and noticed Monica approaching in her combat utility suit holding her helmet, “You better get your gear,” she cautioned.
“I’m on it.”
“I should be your wingman.”
“You have more formation than I do.”
Then they stood staring at each other before she spoke again, “Torian …” she hesitated.
“Hey!” he grinned and slapped her shoulder, “Let’s go kick some Solvair tails!”
She forced a smile, “You go see her?”
“Yeah. You got someone?”
“Had.”
He shrugged and then they both saw Dekker waving them to their fighters. Ground crews removed charging cables and the metal clamps from the landing skids as the pilots strode to the Starhawks lined up by flight. Torian nodded to the young female technician snapping a panel closed on Starhawk 532.
“Good luck, sir.”
“You, too,” he snapped on his utility belt, slipped on his helmet, and then climbed up the footrests into the tiny cockpit. He touched a few panel controls and the transteel shielded bubble canopy closed down over him tightly. The whole enclosure was a separate unit from the rest of the spacecraft to ensure maximum protection for the pilots. Starhawks were the most advanced fighters in the war, but Solvairs were more rugged, but both with equal weaponry and targeting.
“Charlie flight, check in.” Came Dekker’s voice over the intercom.
“Tang, all systems go.
“Valkrie, all systems go.”
“Skydemon, all systems go.”
“Ok, do exactly as I do and you’ll live. I have 53 kills and not one hit on my kite for a good reason. Don’t leave formation for anything!”
--
Tass brought up a holo, but with all the fighters forming up along the line of cruisers, it was difficult to tell which squadron or fighter was which. He could zero in on one or a small group for more information, “I have an audio feed from the Black Knight Squadron, and I can isolate it to Charlie Flight, where your boy is.”
“Thank you,” she replied with a tiny voice, fingering Torian’s dog tags around her neck.
“The Europa will collect all the fighters and we’ll be the last out, so he has a chance.”
“How close are we to the rings?”
Puzzled, Agent Tass danced his fingers across the holo and brought up a view of the 11 battle cruisers and the colorful ring of crystals and ice chunks, “Right behind us, the scanners detected some sort of radiation interference and the Admiral is using that as a screen for their scanners, though it’s a low yield, but a nice try.”
Siiri glanced out the porthole, opposite the rings she could not see, but the corners of her mouth formed a slight smile.
--
“All fighters in formation, Admiral,” Sergeant Thomas Mal reported, “Enemy fighters have been launched.”
“In coming request from the Camulos, sir,” Specialist First Class Rhonda Birk glanced up and Captain Brynn Mostyn’s red wavy haired face appeared on a floating screen near Admiral Bennion’s command chair.
“What is it, Brynn?”
“Marty, let me take the Peron and the Mars into a flanking position, our guns have greater range and can take out an entire cruiser in 2 or 3 shots.”
“Those God of war cruisers are vulnerable to fighters …”
“But we’re fast. We can hit them hard and pull back, drawing a considerable force of fighters off our Starhawks and give them breathing room.”
“It’s risky, Brynn.”
“We can go in and get out, and take out maybe half a dozen of their Emperor class cruisers. It will make them think and give us more time to tunnel out.”
Lars peered over at the Admiral, “I think it’ll work.”
“All right Brynn, move in.”
“Thanks, Marty!”
“Admiral!” Thomas brought his holo up to main viewing area, enlarged for all to see, “The Immortal Fleet is firing on one of their own!”
The bald metal skulled XO frowned as he walked up to the large 3 dimensional display that showed distant images of 2 dozen battle cruisers surrounding one lone silver colored vessel and firing repeatedly invisible plasma bursts causing red and orange hits. The other cruiser fired back disparately and scored a direct hit causing an explosion producing a flare of light. One of the Immortal Fleet’s battle cruisers ripped apart.
“An older Sultan class …” Thomas commented, but then his words cut off as another blinding flash clouded the holo, and he glanced at his flat panel display, “That was the Imperium sword class cruiser, it looks like they destroyed it.”
Gruffly Lars snorted, “I guess they’re not a big happy fleet.”
“No.” Admiral Martin Bennion replied, “The honor of the kill has to stay
with the Immortal Fleet. So we won’t give them that.”
“Their fighters are advancing …” Sergeant Thomas Mal sighed.
--
“Keep it tight, Skydemon you’re drifting!” Dekker chastised Torian over the radio.
Torian saw the images and vectors of enemy fighters in his HUD and used eye lid blinking to change screens, all of which was so fast he wasn’t aware he was becoming separated.
“Charlie Flight!” came the CAG’s voice, “A squadron is breaking through, plug up the hole!”
“On it!” Dekker replied, “Follow me, and stay tight!” The deadly Starhawk with blue-ringed stripes rolled and the others followed with Torian staying close on Valkrie’s wing.
Dekker steered his fighter towards the center of a dozen Solvair fighters heading for the 4th battle cruiser fleet. The other three fighters stuck close and like an arrowhead, they charged the enemy formation.
“Um …” Tang called with a worried tone, “We’re going to collide!”
“Stay close and fire when I say!” the fighter ace growled.
Skydemon turned and saw Valkrie peering at him through her cockpit bubble, and he swallowed.
--
Siiri squeezed against the transteel barrier glued to the hologram as Tass tried to track the jumble of fighters, clicking on the wrong squadron and trying to figure out where Charlie Flight was. He was not very good with holos she concluded, all they could see were dozens of black and blue fighters tumbling, twisting, shooting, and exploding. At least he got the audio feed right, and she cringed listening to the fighting.
Dekker: “Keep it tight! Stay on course!”
Tang: “He’s going to hit …”
Dekker: “Open up now!”
Valkrie: with a broken transmission: “Got one! He’s bailing!”
Skydemon: “Dammit just missed me, going after …”
Dekker: “Negative stay on Valkrie’s wing … got one.”
Tang: “There is one on my tail!”
Dekker: “On it, keep on my wing!”
Tang: “Can’t shake him! Hit my engine …” then there was static.
Dekker: “Valkrie … move up into Tang’s position!”
Valkrie: “One on my six …” static “Thank you Skydemon.”
Dekker: “You roll like that again Skydemon and you’ll end up like Tang! I’m on two, get in here Valkrie!”
Skydemon: “I count three coming … 3 o’clock …”
Dekker: “Burn one …”
Valkrie: “I got the other …”
Dekker: “Scattering … Alpha Flight is in trouble, moving up.”
Skydemon: “There are three on our six…”
Dekker: “Break Skydemon pull them away from me...”
Skydemon: “That was close! They’re all over me!”
Dekker: “Hold them for another second …”
Skydemon: breathing heavily …
Valkrie: “Hit one, but he’s still in the game.”
Dekker: “Finished him; on to the other.”
Skydemon: “Turning inside … all stop!”
Dekker: “Good move … now take him!”
Skydemon: “Got him!”
Dekker: “They’re moving off to the flanking cruisers; let’s get back with the others!”
There was silence for a moment on their frequency, but then Dekker broke in with a sigh, “CAG’s gone. I have the squadron.”
--
“The Juno has successfully tunnelled out, sir.” Thomas turned away from his holo and looked up at the Admiral who was pacing.
“Good, inform the Cordelia that she is next. How are the fighters?”
Lars cut in, “About 25 Starhawk losses so far and a dozen pilots floating out there.”
“Can we get to them?”
“They’re too scattered, sending in a Spacemaster in the middle of the battle would be suicide.”
A flash went off seen from the big rectangular shielded transteel windows of the bridge, and Master Specialist Rhonda Birk peered up at the admiral who was near her consul, “The Camulos just took out another Emperor class cruiser … that’s 5 in total for the God of War cruisers …”
Thomas added, “Several enemy cruising are veering course and heading towards the Camulos, along with dozens of fighters.”
“All right Thomas, call them back.”
“Aye, sir.”
--
Agent Tass watched the holo as the Cordelia tunneled out. Each battle cruiser required a great deal of space to create a big enough wormhole to encompass the entire vessel. He moved the focus of the holo to dozens a streaks and red and white flashes of the ongoing fighter battle. Then he zoomed in on a line three separate battle cruisers with huge guns protruding from their noses firing into an approaching fleet of a dozen enemy warships. He knew the three were in trouble.
Siiri sat with her knees to her chest in the corner listening with apprehension to the audio feed of the Black Knight Squadron. They had just lost their leader and the cocky ace pilot was taking the lead, driving them into the middle of the fray. He was suicidal, yet his vessel remained unscathed as he scored direct hits on enemy fighters.
“As long as he sticks with that ace, Torian should be fine.” Tass tried to reassure her.
“I’ve seen that one in action. He doesn’t give a damn about anyone with him.” She wiped away a tear.
“Really, you’ve seen him fight?”
“Over the city.”
Watching the action unfold between cruisers, he sucked in his breath, “Wow, those three cruisers are getting beat up badly!”
--
Thomas glanced at the admiral with a worried look, “The Camulos is in trouble, sir.”
Martin strode over to the sergeant’s consul, “Get out of there, Brynn!” He spoke aloud to himself.
On the holo, the Mars and the Peron were moving off, but fighters surrounded the Camulos and four Immortal Fleet battle cruisers were moving into firing range.
“There are more than thirty fighters on her!” Lars came up from behind.
“Get me the captain.” Martin ordered Thomas and almost instantly, a floating screen of the Camulos Bridge appeared o the main holo. Smoke and fire raged and Captain Brynn Mostyn barked out orders.
“Brynn!” Martin called, “Those cruisers are lining up for a broadside! Get out of there!”
Grinning, the red haired captain with a blackened face replied, “That’s why I’m turning nose first, almost point blank, they won’t have a chance!”
“You have fighters all over, your shields can’t hold! Put on full thrusters, we’ll cover you!” Martin waved to Thomas, “Order the Prometheus, Hyperion, and Iowa to break the line and move up.”
“Negative Marty, I only have maneuvering thrusters, they blew out our main engines.”
“What about your tunnel drive, you might be able …”
The beleaguered captain shook his head, “No, that’s gone …” Just then the bridge rocked and flames crept up the wall behind the red haired captain, “Well that’s it, just lost the gun ...”
“Brynn!” Martin stared in disbelief.
The welsh captain continued to grin, “They forget, we have half a magazine full of City Smashers!”
The Admiral strode up to the holo, “Hold out, we have reinforcements …”
“Marty, half my crew is dead, we’ve got breaches all over, there’s just one more thing I can do …”
“No!”
Then the captain looked solemn, “You know where my family lives.”
“Brynn …”
The red haired man shrugged, “It’s been a lovely war …” Then he flicked his hand on a screen and the holo went blank. A huge red flash lit up the space encompassing the entire battle. Shock waves forced the crew in the bridge of the Europa to buckle and the vessel shuddered. Screens and holos went blank and flat panels displayed static for a moment until systems came back on line.
“Damage!” Martin yelled.
<
br /> “Minimal!” Sergeant Thomas Mal responded.
The main holo came up and there was no more Camulos, but they saw three floating enemy cruiser glowing bright red and Thomas checked his readings, “He took out over 40 fighters and one Emperor class cruiser! Three are badly damaged.”
The admiral nodded, “All right, recall those cruisers except the Iowa, she’s next to tunnel.” He sighed and rubbed his temple and Lars gave him a knowing comforting look, then he turned back the sergeant, “What is the status of the Titan?”
Thomas shook his head, “Still no tunnel drive.”
--
Dekker: “Ok, break right, help out Bravo …”
Valkrie: “Three coming in 12 o’clock high and a whole squadron six low!”
Skydemon: “We’re getting jumped!”
Dekker: “Stay on my wing … and follow!”
Valkrie: “I’m right on top of them!”
Dekker: “I got the leader that should mess them up!”
Valkrie: “I got his wing!”
Skydemon: “You got one on your tail, Valkrie.”
Valkrie: “Busting left … dammitt, took a hit, not bad …”
Skydemon: “Got him …” static.
Dekker: “Skydemon get on my wing.”
Skydemon: “Valkrie is in trouble …”
Dekker: “Do it!”
Valkrie: “I got one on me … can’t maneuver… thruster hit …”
Skydemon: “I’m on him!”
Dekker: “Skydemon get on my wing, now!”
Valkrie: “I can’t shake him!”
Dekker: “There’s a flight below us, sitting ducks …”
Valkrie: “Almost got him …”
Dekker: “They spotted us! I told you to get on my wing!”
Skydemon: there was loud static, “I got him Valkrie you’re free! I’m coming Dekker.”
Dekker: “Four on me … I’m turning inside … Skydemon come at them head on!”
Skydemon: “I see the lead, here goes …”
Dekker: “Watch the one with the yellow nose … he’s an ace, on my tail …”
Skydemon: there was static, “I got the wingman …”
Dekker: “I got on that ace! Wait … I can’t …” then he was cut off.
Skydemon: “They got Dekker! Valkrie, I need help!”
Valkrie: “I’m coming around.”
Skydemon: “Hurry, this guy is good! Tracers right passed me!”
The Battle for the Ringed Planet Page 34
