'Buck.le up tight then. OK, I see the missile armed icons have just come up. Ammo ready?'
'Yeah. Going for a slow missile flight time. Will launch when we are 300 metres behind the last one. Will shout when I get them to climb.'
Nico ramped up the power and watched his optical screen, seeing the range closing fast. From below and behind him he felt the soft thuds of the missiles launching and a moment later saw them far ahead of the Maul, hugging the terrain as Viggo actively controlled them which he was allowed to do under the articles and rules of war as they were classed as non-lethal weapons. Just when Nico considered that the range was perfect, he rammed the throttles open and the Maul leapt ahead.
The guided missiles quickly accelerated and turned upwards, flashing up in front of each of the Saluki dispersing the tiny bomblets in a cloud which detonated, forming a dense fog of chemicals which snatched the oxygen from the rich atmosphere for hundreds of metres around each of the Saluki. Nico watched on his tactical screen for the effects of the bombs, flying the Maul straight up and over the tops of the areas as Viggo's guns started firing on the rearmost autorotating helicopter, splattering the thick viscous etching paint over the upper parts of the canopy and the targeting AV sensors.
The Maui's speed was increasing as they quickly overhauled the second Saluki, which was caught in an updraught lifting the powerless machine close to the sheer rock walls. Nico quickly brought the Maul's oxygen turbine feeds online and flew straight into the cloud using the machine to push the helicopter away from the rock walls as Viggo also covered it in paint like the first. The Maul then rolled away again, roaring up the cliff faces as the third Saluki, even as it was autorotating towards a clear spot on the ground for a hard landing, fired on them, punching holes down the centre of the aircraft and crazing the canopy over Viggo. He calmly swung the guns around and covered every surface of the helicopter he could see with paint, ensuring that it was out of the battle.
Viggo could hear Bravo seven and eight congratulating them on an amusing way of taking out the Saluki, but ignored them to listen to Nico instead.
'We gotta go home. Vig! Hope like shit none of these other fuckers want a piece of us as we have no antigravity power available. Top turbines are out. One rear port-side turbine is stuffed and the other running rough.'
He looked over at the friendly forces' tactical screen. He could see that the two Mauls of Anneke and Traci were still in the fight.
'Bravo seven. You have the ball. Play loose and don't break anything, OK?'
Anneke grimaced, hoping that Nico had survived the encounter, but also secretly glad that she was able to have a little play at being the OC, even if only for a short time.
'Bravo two, Bravo seven. Understood.'
Nico flew the Maul up above the mountain tops and swung it towards the carrier. He watched the turbine in the port rear engine pod starting to overheat, so he shut it down and closed the fuel feeds to the pod as well. He brought up his navigation screen and saw that he could either take the aircraft out of the designated battle area by turning south and flying a relatively short distance - ensuring they would not get shot at once outside the battle area - or fly directly for Haast, which would cut their flight time by forty minutes.
'Wow! Earthquake! Big one! Shockwave coming in at your five o'clock, Nico.'
Nico looked down through the starboard-side lower cockpit window to see the massive shockwave travelling through the ragged terrain below them: a huge billowing rising cloud of ice dust and snow was being created right behind it, as some of the mountainsides slipped into the valleys below.
'Shit! That's fucking enormous!'
He tapped his comms icon for Haast. 'Haast! Huge earth tremor coming in your direction! This is Bravo two. We are 140 klicks north of you.'
The communications officer on Haastacknowledged immediately. 'Bravo two, Haast. Seen!'
Alarm bells were ringing throughout Haast as it flew sedately above a long deep valley in moderately light winds. Nick Warne had been relaxing in his command pod, but now quickly looked for the threat to the carrier.
'Navigation! Up 300 now!' He hit the ship-wide comms. 'All crew: brace! Emergency climb!'
The huge turbofans immediately went to full power, rotating until they were vertical. The antigravity units in the centre of the ship were also powered up, forcing the carrier to climb quickly into the local midday sky. Everyone who was not seated and locked in struggled to hang onto whatever they could to stop themselves from being thrown around by the harsh manoeuvres. Those who were close to windows saw the shockwave rip through the ground underneath them, generating a huge cloud of finely powdered ice, dust and snow.
As soon as they had attained a safe altitude and were high above the roiling clouds, the carrier's turbofans slowed and the antigravity was powered back to neutral buoyancy.
'Comms, this is Warne. Get me the Games Board director and make contact with the Aquila. Inquire as to their status and say that we are standing by to give assistance if required.'
'Mr Warne, the director.'
The comms screen lit with the pampered, haughty face of the director looking at him.
'Major Warne. Yes, yes, I know about the earthquake. I am about to sit down to my lunch. Why is the commander not talking with me as the Aquila brigadier is? Are you his minion for today?'
Nick Warne felt his hackles rise and used every shred of self-control to not allow his face to colour. He smiled, hoping that it looked genuine as he nodded to the screen. 'I am sorry for the interruption, Director John. The commander is on the upper flight deck getting suited up and I am duty officer.'
The director scowled at him. 'Well? I suppose like the Aquila, you also want a pause in the battle to assist in the rescue of the trapped Saluki pilots? Stupid fools if you ask me. Six machines all lying in wait in deep ravines waiting to pounce and put your miserable Mauls out of the game. What a ridiculous name ... for all they are worth they should be called nadel hammer. Miserable performance with a few exceptions. Very well. Battle is ended. Oh, yes, I have been reliably informed that those two damaged monitors you still have onboard have been repaired by your Sergeant Major Kyle. Tell him he can keep them as pets! I have had enough of this ghastly boring place. I am going to see what interesting sights the local gas giant has to offer. A few nature programs might balance the books on this otherwise pedestrian expedition.'
The connection severed as Nick was about to reply. He tapped the blank screen with his fingers and silently wished the director a horrible total death. Seconds later, the screen lit up with icons, everyone wanting to talk to him. He quickly prioritised, shunting various reports and requests to other members of the bridge crew, while in the back of his mind he wondered who had told the Games Board about the secret repairs to the monitors.
'Navigation. Take us at best possible speed to Bravo seven's position.'
'Acknowledged. Bravo seven's position. Best speed.'
He looked over the other situation summaries as they came up on the boards. Nick then tapped the commander's icon.
'Commander, Games Board is bugging out. The monitors currently onboard are leaving on their sleds. Their systems airship is dropping all of ours, plus the damaged Aquila craf t, and crews down onto the ice below them, so they are reneging on the original agreements.'
Bob Thompson was climbing into the Aurora recon aircraft. 'OK. Good! Bloody good! Pleased to see the back of that lot. Right. Send the two Hawks over to orbit the drop zone. Get yourselves over there and grab everyone before more earthquakes arrive, then move over to Bravo seven. I see that the Aquila carrier was on the ice when the quake struck. I wonder if he has damage? I will find out then go start looking
for the missing Saluki.'
'Bravo two, Haast, battle is finished. Give assistance to Bravo seven and eight. Six Saluki at their position are under a landslide.'
Nico grimaced. 'Haast, Bravo two. Be advised we have no antigravity and port rear engine pod is severely damaged
.'
The duty controller said, 'Stand by, two ... um, just been told to tell you to check your instruments and go for restart on simulated damage.'
Nico swore to himself and shook his head. He brought up the readouts on the unserviceable units and saw that they were all in nominal states so started them up and swung the aircraft around while opening up the throttles.
'Haast, Bravo two. It's a miracle! We're showing real holes in the fuselage and engine covers, but they are running sweet. Someone owes me an explanation. En route to Bravo seven.'
'Bravo two, Haast. Acknowledged. Yes, miraculous recoveries are occurring all round. Well, apart from a few where real damage occurred. Like use of etching paint.'
Viggo had been listening in on the conversation and burst out laughing. 'So! There really is something on the boil, eh. Wonder what that is, but I bet you a dollar to a pinch of goatshit that it's something nasty, waiting for us on Storfisk.'
Nico gave Viggo's image on the screen a small tight smile. 'How much water are we showing in the atmosphere, Vig?'
Viggo queried a few of the sensors. 'Moderately high, Nico. You want me to start collecting and processing?'
'Yeah, ta. If there is something that requires killing on Storfisk and the Hauler Rose Foxtrot is not back, guess how we are going to get there?'
Viggo tapped various screens and the small high-speed compressors on the outside of each of the engine pods all came to life, sucking in the atmosphere and processing it.
Nico looked out the front of the Maul, searching for any sign of Anneke's or Traci's machines. He glanced up at his HUD, seeing where they were supposed to be, then down again into the still-rising clouds of powdered snow and ice. He tapped Bravo seven and eight's icon comms links.
'Bravo seven, eight, two,' Nico said. 'Orbiting above you. Looks a bit crappy down there.'
Traci's voice sounded in his headphones. 'Two, eight. Crap still tumbling down the slopes. We are non-tactical, right?'
'Yes, sure are. Now search and rescue.'
'Go to full mapping radar, Nico. Found two. Anneke is blowing the rubbish off them. I think I see another one under a few metres of ice. Swing down onto me and move out towards the west.'
Nico switched on his full radar and sensing systems, units that would not normally be allowed in any of the sanctioned battle arenas. The effect was dramatic as he could see every detail of the surrounding area.
'Seven, two,' he called. 'On station. Have we any assistance coming from the Aquila?'
'Two, this is Aurora one. Inbound. At your location in six minutes. Heavy salvage on way from Aquila. They have sustained damage to the carrier and will be able to lift to orbit in four hours. Games Board has left for orbit. That is all the time we have.'
Nico looked down at the shattered landscape, wondering how deep the other three Saluki would be and if their pilots would still be alive. He tapped the commander's icon.
'Aurora one, Bravo two, understood.'
An unfamiliar accented voice sounded in Nico's ears. 'Haast, Bravo two, this is Aquila flight control.'
Nico gave a mental shrug, trying to remember the last time an opposition force command had directly contacted him. He gave up, keying his microphone.
'Aquila flight, Bravo two. How can we assist?'
'I am seeing you hovering in a tight orbit above the last known positions of our six Saluki. I note that three have been located. Stand by for the last transmitted transponder coordinates of the other three.'
Nico called out on the intercom: 'Viggo!'
Viggo looked at his screens, overlaying the data with what his sensors were seeing below them. 'OK, got the points, overlaid and transmitted to the commander and the Mauls. We are just about on top of the nearest. See the point?'
Nico saw the point on his HUD, pulled back on the control columns and descended under power down against a long sloping avalanche of mountain debris. He flew forwards a few metres, rotating the engine pods forwards and washing off speed to hover right above the last known spot of the Saluki. He ramped up the antigravity, flipped its inertia system so it was pressing down, making the unit much heavier, and at the same time pushed all the throttles of the turbines up, so producing a huge jet blast which immediately began blowing the powdered material away. He worked the Maul around and around carefully, watching the effects of the blasting as it very effectively created a deep crater.
'Nico! Lif t up! I see the Saluki. Nose high. Severe damage. Rotors are gone. Appears that the pilot is alive. Waving. Do we lif t it out or just grab the pilot?'
'Good! No way the others will be that easy. We grab the machine. Hold on.'
Nico switched the camera view on his main HUD from forwards to straight down, looking through the camera that was mounted between the landing gear. After ramping the antigravity back to neutral, he gently flew the Maul back down into the crater, deploying the two front landing gear and extending their claws out to their maximum.
'Vig! I will hover us and you go for the fine control and pickup, OK?'
Viggo tapped the small joysticks on either sides of his seat and they folded up. 'Ready.'
'You have control.' 'I have control.'
He extended the landing gear, legs out as far as they would go, and then lowered the Maul and at a walking pace moved it forwards until the claws were on either side of the Saluki. Using feedback from the ends of the claws in the fingers of his gloves, he gently grasped the fuselage of the battered helicopter, feeling the individual claws sliding around the outer, inward curving, sides of the turbine covers. Knowing that he had a good grip, he lifted it slightly by retracting the undercarriage, feeling the Saluki groaning as it was pulled up a metre through the ice and snow.
'OK, I have it! You have control.' 'I have control.'
Nico, who had been anxiously watching the slowly crumbling edges of their crater, wasted no time and with deliberation lif ted the Maul straight up, feeling the final resistance of the Saluki's tail section coming out of the debris. As soon as he felt it come free, he pushed the throttles forwards and slowly climbed through the slowly settling cloud back into the dull sunshine and started to look for a safe place to drop the Saluki onto the ground.
Another unfamiliar voice sounded in his earphones. 'Maul tail number zero niner. This is Aquila salvage. You have a most welcome cargo for me?'
Nico smiled. 'Affirmative, salvage. Excellent! Was wondering where to put the wreck.'
He looked up to see the large rectangular aerial sled slowly orbiting a few hundred metres above them.
'Pleased to serve. Your name? Me, Evan. You climb please, 100 and hold. I come under you. Yes.'
'I am Nico, my crew is Viggo. We are pleased to meet with you.'
'I am good. Yes. Climb now, please.'
Nico slowly climbed up the 100 metres and powered up the antigravity, holding still in the sky against the moderate winds, watching the commander's Aurora reconnaissance aircraft, which had more sophisticated sensors onboard, slowly flying overhead, looking for the other two Saluki.
They watched the flat-surfaced salvage craf t, flying mainly on huge antigravity units and small jet turbines, slide across the sky and under them, rotating slightly and then climbing up until the wreck made gentle contact with the deck. Viggo, feeling the thud, said, 'You have it, Evan.'
Cables snaked up out of the deck to search out and grasp the tie-down points on the helicopter.
'Work is good, Viggo. Let go him, please. I send one camera flyer with you. I help if I see right, yes.'
The claws pulled away and then the landing gear retracted as Nico lifted away from the salvage craf t on antigravity, He saw Anneke and Traci's Mauls also inbound for the salvage craf t with two more Saluki, one of which was barely hanging together. Looking at the state of the cockpit, Viggo thought that the pilot would be dead.
Nico keyed his microphone, but before he spoke the question saw another Saluki hovering above the cloud, its rotors damaged and its fuselage in need of repair, b
ut obviously able to lif t itself on antigravity.
They flew back down to an area on the edge of the huge avalanche.
Nico shook his head. 'Be hellish surprised if the pilot of that one is alive. That is just massive pieces of rock. I will fly us slowly up and down. You look closely for any sign, Vig.'
Viggo felt bad. 'Climb us out!'
Nico did not hesitate. He slammed the throttles open, ramped the antigravity up, and they shot up the side of the mountainous cliff face like a cork.
'Not just up! Out, Nico!'
A massive boulder tumbled past them, just barely touching the starboard front engine pod. There was a huge crash as Nico flipped the Maul over on its back, powering them away from the other falling rocks. His fingers flew over his controls, shutting down the engine pod that sounded like it was tearing itself to pieces as he adjusted the thrust from the other pods and ramped a little antigravity into the mix. Seconds later he managed to get the Maul under control.
Viggo saw that the engines were runaways and also on fire. He hit the extinguishers and shut the fuel feeds off, then swung one of the cameras around to look at the smoking ruin, hitting the extinguishers again to be sure. He found himself giggling and Nico joined in.
'One way to fuck a perfectly good set of engines. Dump a shitload of rocks through it. Nice work, Vig.'
'Brilliant fucking flying, Nico.'
Nico let out a long breath. 'So, let's go look for that Saluki again. Anneke is onto the other one. How the hell did you know, Viggo? Shit, man, I am so pleased that you fly with me. Can't remember how many times you have saved our arses.'
Viggo let out a long sigh, nodding. 'Enlightened self interest, Nico. I hate the fucking Tank. Dunno. Must have seen something on our way in. Just felt incredibly uncomfortable, so I yelled.'
Nico sat up a little straighter in his seat, peering at his HUD and then down at his screens. 'Just as well that you do feel bad sometimes, Viggo. Owe you another dozen beer. Hey! Yeah, wreckage. That giant fuck-off boulder cleared some of the rockslide.'
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