by Ryk Brown
The alert klaxon inside the mess hall sounded, and everyone in the room jumped from their seats and headed for the door.
“I didn’t,” the commander assured her, jumping to his feet as well.
Casbon pilots and ground crews poured out of the doors of the mess hall, barracks and training buildings, as alarm klaxons blared all around the base.
Commander Prechitt and Talisha Sane burst out of the mess hall as a series of blue-white flashes of light appeared a few kilometers to the east, low on the horizon.
The commander tapped his comm-set. “Control, Prechitt. Sit rep!”
“At least twenty small contacts just appeared in high orbit. First wave of them just jumped in low! Eight fast-movers inbound from the east!”
“Raiders?” the commander assumed.
“Negative,” the controller replied. “Unknown types.”
“Any radio contact?”
“Negative,” the controller replied. “Their shields are up, and their weapons are hot!”
The commander spotted the incoming ships, skimming the treetops as they approached. “We need to get airborne,” he said, breaking into a run. “Scramble all Nighthawks!” he ordered over comm-sets as he ran toward the flight line. “Notify the Aurora that we’re under attack, and recall the trainees! We may need them!”
“Aye, sir!” the controller acknowledged.
Automated surface-to-air batteries opened up on the incoming fighters, sending streams of red-orange plasma bolts toward the approaching line of targets.
“Max!” the commander called over his comm-set. “Spin up for emergency combat launch! I’m on my way!”
“Already started,” his AI replied. “We’ll be ready to launch by the time you strap in.”
“They’ll be past us by the time we get in the air!” the commander yelled to Talisha as they sprinted across the open ground. “Go vertical as soon as you get off the deck! Get some altitude, so we can dive on the next wave when they jump in!”
Energy bolts fired by the incoming fighters slammed into the ground around them as they neared the flight line.
“See you up there!” Talisha exclaimed as they separated toward their respective Nighthawks.
* * *
The intercom on the ready room desk beeped. “XO, Comms: Flash traffic from Casbon.”
Cameron reached over and pressed the intercom button. “Go ahead.”
“Casbon is under attack by unidentified forces,” Naralena reported.
“Sound general quarters,” Cameron instructed, switching off the intercom afterward. She immediately rose and headed for the exit as the alert sounded throughout the ship, calling her crew to battle stations.
“Any activity on the surface?” Cameron asked as she entered the Aurora’s bridge.
“Negative,” Kaylah replied from the sensor station.
“Threat board?” she asked the tactical officer.
“Nothing but our own Eagles flying cover over the captain’s Reaper,” the tactical officer assured her.
“Comms, raise the captain.”
“Aye, sir,” Naralena acknowledged.
“Mister Sheehan, plot a jump back to Casbon,” Cameron continued.
“Already plotted and ready,” Loki replied.
“Mister Hayes, prepare to take us out of orbit and head for Casbon.”
“Aye, sir,” Josh replied.
“I’m unable to hail the captain,” Naralena reported.
“Try his Reaper,” Cameron suggested.
“I already did, sir,” Naralena assured her. “I can’t raise them either.”
“What about our Eagles?”
“I have contact with flight lead.”
“Have them try any of our people on the surface, and alert them to the situation.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Kaylah,” Cameron said. “Have there been any arrivals or departures since our arrival?”
“Only the original six raiders the Ahka had launched against us,” Kaylah replied. “All of those are presently accounted for.”
“Eagle flight leader reports negative on contact with any and all ground forces,” Naralena reported.
“What the hell?” Cameron said in frustration. “Are their comms off or something?”
“I am picking up some odd frequency shifting in the area of the Ahka’s city center,” Kaylah reported.
“Is it possible they’re jamming our comms signals?”
“Not in a way that I’m aware of, but I don’t have an explanation for the anomaly.”
“Try to break through to them,” Cameron instructed Naralena.
“I’ve got all transceivers at maximum power,” Naralena assured her.
Cameron thought for a moment. “Did the message from Casbon include a force count?” she asked Naralena.
“Message read: Twenty plus fighters appeared in high orbit; eight in low atmosphere on attack run,” Naralena replied.
“Great,” Cameron said, taking a seat in the command chair and pressing a button on her intercom panel in the right armrest. “Spec Ops, XO. How many men can you have hopping into Reapers in two minutes?”
“Four teams of six, including myself,” Lieutenant Sonoda replied. “Mission?”
“Find and secure the captain on the surface, possibly against hostiles,” Cameron explained.
“We’ll be wheels up in two,” the lieutenant replied.
Cameron pressed another button. “Flight, XO. I need Four Reapers ready to depart for the surface in two minutes, full of Ghatazhak. I also need another flight of four Eagles launched immediately to reinforce those already flying cover over Ahka city.”
“Aye, sir,” the flight operations officer acknowledged.
“And have all remaining Eagles ready for combat launch as soon as we jump back to Casbon.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Josh, as soon as those Reapers start rolling toward the transfer airlocks, you break orbit and head for Casbon,” Cameron instructed.
“You got it,” Josh replied.
“Once all three Reapers have launched, we jump,” she told Loki.
“Yes, sir.”
“What about the captain and Jess?” Josh wondered.
“If the Ahka are not involved in the attack on Casbon, the Ghatazhak should be able to reach them,” Cameron explained.
“And if they are?” the tactical officer wondered aloud.
Cameron sighed. “Then all hell’s about to break loose.”
* * *
“New wave at one eight five!” Commander Prechitt announced over comms as he pulled out of his initial takeoff climb. Anyone in the air, sound off!”
“Angels four and climbing!” Talisha reported over comms.
“This is Stoan!” another pilot reported in. “I’m at angels two and climbing.”
“Serossi! I just lifted off and am climbing!”
“That’s it?”
“Three more Nighthawks are about to liftoff,” his AI, Max, reported.
Commander Prechitt rolled his fighter to starboard and pulled back hard on his joystick to pull his ship into a sharp turn. “Sane! Stoan! Serossi! Turn to eight zero five to intercept!”
“Scans indicate targets’ shields are weaker on their dorsal surfaces,” Max reported. “This would indicate they are designed for air-to-surface attack, and not aerial combat.”
“Doesn’t mean they can’t,” Commander Prechitt stated. “Try to get above them and target their dorsal shields!” he instructed the other three pilots.
“Jehns is airborne and climbing!” another pilot announced.
Two red blips slid into the center of his targeting screen, and the commander rolled out of his turn, pushed his nose down, and backed off on his throttle as he began his dive. “Locking on
two at one seven zero, transiting east to west.”
“Muldon is up and climbing!”
The red blips began to flash.
“Light ‘em up, Max.”
“Firing,” his AI reported.
Staccato bursts of red-orange plasma bolts streaked toward the two ships ahead and below the commander’s Nighthawk. A split second later, both targets exploded, and the stream of energy ceased.
“Targets destroyed,” Max reported.
“Zenner is up!” another Casbon pilot reported. “Climbing!”
The commander’s brow furrowed as he rolled his fighter to port and leveled off. “That was too easy,” he said as he eased his throttles back slightly.
“Locking on two more,” Talisa reported over comms. “One six four, east to west. Firing! Targets destroyed!”
“I got two as well!” Stoan reported with excitement.
The commander’s targeting screen lit up again, with four more blips practically lining themselves up for an easy kill. “Either these people are the worst fighter pilots ever, or… Max! How many ships are still in orbit?”
“Two,” Max replied. “The remaining twenty-four fighters are now attacking the base.”
“Anything different about the two in orbit?” the commander asked as he lined up his ship with the four targets passing from his left to right.
“Slightly larger, and emitting an unusual amount of wide-band emissions in the direction of battle.”
“Denna is up! Bashwan! Corson just took a direct hit!”
“Denna! Shut up and start climbing and jump to angels five, before you get your ass blown off as well!” Talisha urged.
“They’re drones!” the commander realized. “That’s why they’re not trying to evade us!”
“Your hypothesis is logical,” Max agreed.
“All Nighthawks; attack the drones from above,” the commander ordered, as he slammed his throttles all the way forward and pulled his flight control stick back hard.
“Talisha, take command of fighter defense!” the commander ordered over comms. “I’m going after those two ships in orbit!”
“Understood!” Talisha replied as she dove between two exploding enemy drones.
“Bashwan is airborne and climbing!” Kareef reported over comms.
“Kareef!” Talisha called. “Did anyone else get off the ground?”
“Negative,” Kareef replied. “Banji and Gento are trapped in a collapsed hangar, along with their ground crews. Rescue is trying to free them.”
“Understood,” Talisha replied. “Leta; Determine targets and tactics.”
“Currently there are twenty-one active targets, flying in formations of two to four elements,” Leta reported. “Their tactics are simple. They jump in on final attack leg, fire their ventral weapons as they pass overhead of the ground targets, then pitch up slightly and jump away. Wide area scans indicate all groups are cycling around the compass points in ascending order, varying their attack angles anywhere from thirty to sixty degrees at a time, along a fifty-kilometer radius from the base. If they maintain this tactic, they should be easy to intercept.”
“Something tells me they won’t,” Talisha insisted, rolling her fighter into a turn to intercept. “All Nighthawks, this is Sane. Free-form intercept. Pair up with the ship nearest you, and stay within a ten-kilometer radius of the base. Do not pursue when they jump away. Protect the base, and remember; attack from above!”
* * *
“Reaper Six, away,” Lieutenant Haddix reported, as their Reaper cleared the forward threshold of the Aurora’s starboard flight deck. He immediately yanked his flight control stick to starboard, pushing it forward at the same time to nose down and away from the Aurora.
“Five and Six, form on me,” the pilot of Reaper Five instructed over comms. “We’ll jump in low, three points around the buildings at the center of the city. As soon as your troops are out, go to low hover to cover your fire teams.”
“Understood,” the lieutenant replied.
“I’m getting the jump coordinates from Five now,” Ensign Weston reported.
“Two minutes!” the lieutenant called back over his shoulder to the Ghatazhak in his cargo bay.
“Use your shields; stun first, kill only if necessary,” Sergeant Kirschbaum instructed his troops as they waited in the utility bay of Reaper Six. “Our mission is to secure the Captain and Lieutenant Commander Nash, not start a full-on ground war with the Ahka.”
“And if they have different ideas?” Specialist Mauser asked.
“Introduce them to the business end of your assault rifle,” Corporal Mazzola chuckled.
“Reapers are clear and away,” Ensign Willette reported from the Aurora’s tactical console.
“Eagle Leader, Aurora Actual,” Cameron called over her comm-set.
“Go for Eagle Leader,” Commander Verbeek replied.
“Your ROE is fire if fired upon, use deadly force as a last resort,” Cameron instructed. “But no matter what, secure all our people on the surface.”
“Understood,” the commander replied.
“We’ll be back to pick you up as soon as possible,” she promised. “Good hunting.”
“To you as well, Captain,” the commander replied.
“Mister Sheehan, jump us to Casbon,” Cameron ordered.
“Aye, sir,” Loki replied. “Jumping in three……two……one……jumping.
The blue-white jump flash washed over the bridge.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported.
“Multiple contacts,” Kaylah announced from the sensor station. “About sixteen drones are attacking the fighter base on the surface. Six Nighthawks are defending. Two more targets in orbit, slightly larger. They are being attacked by a single Nighthawk.”
“Wide scan,” Cameron instructed. “If they were hauled here, I don’t want to be caught by surprise by the carrier ship.”
“Scanning wide,” Kaylah acknowledged.
“Flight, XO,” Cameron called over her comm-set. “Launch all Eagles.”
“Launching Eagles, aye.”
“Two minutes to orbital insertion,” Loki warned.
“Hold your course until our fighters are away,” Cameron instructed.
“Holding course and speed,” Josh acknowledged.
“New contacts!” Kaylah reported. “Twenty of them swinging around Casbon’s third moon.”
“They appear to be fighter-interceptors,” Ensign Willette added. “Unknown type or origin. They’re on an intercept course to support the two contacts in orbit currently being targeted by one of the Nighthawks.
“Flight, XO,” Cameron called over comms. “Vector our Eagles to intercept the new contacts coming around the third moon.”
“Understood,” the flight controller replied.
“Nighthawk attacking orbital targets, Aurora Actual,” Cameron called over Commander Prechitt’s helmet comms. “Identify.”
Commander Prechitt jerked his flight control stick to the right, putting his Nighthawk fighter into a roll to avoid incoming defensive fire from the two control ships he was targeting. “Max, lock two on each target,” he instructed his AI. “I’m a little busy right now, Captain.”
“You’ve got twenty fighter-interceptors coming around the third moon,” Cameron warned.
“Good thing you made it to the party, then,” the commander replied.
“Targets are jamming our targeting sensors,” Max reported. “I am unable to get a lock.”
“Aurora, can you help me out with these two targets?” the commander requested. “I suspect they’re controlling the drones attacking the base, and they’re jamming my missile targeting systems.”
“We’ll take care of them,” Cameron promised.
The commander broke his roll and pulled up sharply, taking
several hits on his ventral shields as he veered off the attack. He glanced at his tactical display, but saw no additional contacts. “Max, are you detecting the interceptors she was talking about?”
“Negative, Commander,” Max replied. “However, they may not yet be in our line of sight.”
Several red-orange streaks of plasma energy slammed into the two control fighters now off the commander’s port side and slightly below him, causing both ships to explode.
“Targets destroyed,” Ensign Willette reported from the Aurora’s tactical station.
“Approaching orbital insertion point,” Josh announced.
“Park us over the fighter base on the surface,” Cameron instructed.
“You got it,” Josh replied.
“Eagles have engaged the inbounds,” Ensign Willette reported.
“Inbounds are jumping,” Kaylah warned.
“Our Eagles got three of them before they jumped,” the tactical officer reported.
“Inbounds just jumped in off our port side!” Kaylah warned. “Five kilometers and closing fast.
“Point defenses,” Cameron instructed.
“Point defenses are firing,” the ensign assured her.
“Inbounds are launching anti-ship missiles!” Kaylah added. “Ten seconds to impact!”
“Escape jump; ten clicks; in five!”
“Ten clicks, aye!” Loki replied.
“Impact in three……two……”
“Now!” Cameron ordered.
“Jumping,” Loki replied immediately.
The blue white jump flash washed over the bridge, fading away a split second later.
“Retargeting point defenses,” Ensign Willette reported.
“Inbounds are maintaining course and speed,” Kaylah warned.
“Tactical; give the helm a hot pickle,” Cameron instructed. “Josh; end-over and give them something to think about.”
“You betcha,” Josh replied with a smile as he cut the mains and pulled the Aurora’s nose up hard.
The view of the planet Casbon filling the bottom half of the main view screen slid downward, quickly disappearing as the ship pitched over.
“Helm pickle is hot,” Ensign Willette reported. “Tubes are charged and ready.”