Warpath

by Randolph Lalonde

  “Helm, follow our pre-determined path through the asteroids, make as few adjustments as possible,” Jake ordered.

  “Sticking to the plan, moving ahead.”

  “Launching fighters,” Stephanie announced from above. “Ordering Samurai Wing to begin their patrol.”

  The main hangar began launching four fighters and two gunships at a time from the front and rear of the ship. They stayed together in groups of three, with a gunship in the middle and two uriel fighters flanking it. The three groups spread out, increasing the Revenge’s scanning range.

  The Clever Dream was the last out, and after it moved three hundred metres away from the Revenge, it cloaked. The hangar doors closed, and the Revenge’s combat shielding began to fortify its charge. “All right, let’s get the best sensor readings we can,” Jake said. “Kadri, set to maximum power active scanning, three hundred cycles per second.”

  “Aye,” Kadri replied. “Maximum power to all sensors, three hundred cycles per second.”

  Jake’s tactical screen began populating quickly, and with extremely high detail. He sent what he was seeing to the larger holographic projector that filled the middle of the bridge with an expanding image of the white and brown asteroid belt. Light from the massive distant star cluster reflected and refracted through the ice, painting the area in hues of white and gold. The sensors picked up more detail further out as their signals travelled.

  “We have energy readings,” Kadri said. “There are fighters in the asteroid belt.”

  “Tactical, ready point defence and make sure our fighter screen is aware,” Jake ordered.

  “Aye,” Frost replied. “Safeties off, point defence ready.”

  “Samurai Squadron are aware of the fighters. Scanning confirms, twenty five fighter class ships, Tyri Raider Class, definitely Order of Eden, three generations behind their top fighters. Ronin is looking for a go on pursuit,” Stephanie reported.

  Jake looked at the large tactical map in front of him, the fighters were in groups of five, scattered throughout the field ahead. “Denied,” Jake said. “Fire only if they have a clear line of sight.” He looked at the private tactical screen on his command seat and verified where the Triton was supposed to be. “All right, these groups,” he said, marking four of the locations of the enemy fighter groups ahead. “We’re going to hit them with shard missiles while they’re a good distance out. Launch five at each group as soon as you have a firing solution.”

  Frost’s mate at tactical, Ensign Surelle, activated the missile turrets on the belly of the Revenge and began marking the targets. “Confirming, targets marked according to tactical display.” Jake watched as the marks he put on the tactical map turned red with the number of missiles and the type of projectiles linked beside it. “Launching, missiles are away.” The rapidfire rocket launchers on the bottom of the Revenge sent eight high speed projectiles weaving between the slowly moving asteroids. “Retracting rocket pods.”

  Instead of striking any of the fighters, the rockets exploded into thousands of white-hot flak shards in front of the fighter groups. Their countermeasures were ineffective from where they were hiding behind icy asteroids.

  “Updating the number of active fighters based on power readings and scanned integrity,” Kadri said as nine of the enemy fighters turned grey on the tactical display. It was an indication that the fighters or their pilots had taken critical damage according to their scans.

  “New contact at the edge of our range,” Kadri announced.

  “Ronin here,” Minh-Chu said through their communications link with him aboard his gunship. “Sixteen fighters are moving to intercept us. Tell me we can break and take these guys out.”

  Jake checked the nearest group of five fighters and saw that most of them were damaged. “You are free to engage the enemy fighters. Make it quick. We’re getting a large energy reading ahead.”

  * * *

  “It’s about time,” Jinx said through the communicator.

  Minh-Chu set his course for the nearest enemy group. He had Sticky and Maid with him. Sticky he could trust with every system in the craft, so she monitored their systems, their sensors, helped with navigation and operated their rear turret and heavy munitions. Maid was brand new to the Squadron, and a heavy set fellow, so he had the pleasure of manning the top turret.

  Both of them sat in the cramped space behind him, Sticky facing port side, and Maid facing starboard. “All right, we’re going to wolf pack these bastards. All fighters, all gunships, attack the nearest fighter group. We need to wipe them out before the rest move in.”

  Minh-Chu led his pair of Uriel Fighters, both fully loaded out for heavy combat, between massive ice asteroids, through white shafts of light, and under a large, rocky formation. He saw that the other two groups, each led by a gunship and flanked by two uriels, were approaching from the sides, so he passed under the enemy fighters, putting the large stony asteroid between them.

  “I can’t get a shot,” Maid said. He was a complainer, Minh-Chu had discovered in the minutes he’d spent with him in the small cabin.

  “Wait for it,” Minh-Chu said.

  They came up behind the enemy fighters before they could turn and compensate for their approach. “Now, shoot,” Minh-Chu said as he lined up one of the lead fighters and opened up with his pulse cannons. The shard turrets on his gunship, fired by Sticky and Maid, sent a hail of solid projectiles into the group of five fighters as they scattered.

  The uriels flanking Minh-Chu ripped into them as well, splitting to pursue the enemies closest to the edge of the asteroid as their foes accelerated towards cover. Minh-Chu took the middle enemies, flying near the two fighters that decided to try him head on, and opened up with his rotary micromissile launcher for a burst of three shots in one second. The nearest fighter exploded, sending shrapnel into the path of the second, which was getting pecked apart by Maid, who quietly giggled to himself, a disquieting sound for such a large man.

  “Five more coming in,” Jinx announced from his Uriel. “I just finished mine off, and Carnie is playing with the last fighter from group alpha.”

  “Got him,” Carnie said. “He has ejected.”

  “Leave him,” Minh-Chu said, looking at his tactical display. “Regroup, protect the gunships and don’t let anything past us to the Revenge. Use your heat seeking micro rounds.”

  “This early on?” Carnie asked. “The Uriels are twice the fighter those guys are flying, so their ten against our nine is a bad bet, especially with the gunships.”

  “Orders are to clean this up fast,” Minh-Chu said. “That’s what we do.”

  “Aye,” Carnie replied.

  The six Uriel fighters and three gunships formed a line for several long seconds as they marked targets and traversed an open area of space in the icy asteroid field. Minh-Chu marked three targets, fighters to the right of the centre, and saw that he shared them with the Uriels flanking him. “Time for you to earn your way out of that new handle, Jinx,” he said to his wingman.

  “Done, breaking right and high,” replied Jinx.

  They entered a vast cluster of ice asteroids. The enemy was ready, they were waiting on the edge of that complicated space. As soon as he passed across the top of one large asteroids, all ten of the enemy fighters launched missiles and broke in different directions. There was a wall of medium sized, high speed projectiles coming their way, and Minh-Chu evaded.

  “Activating high-temp flak,” announced Sticky. Minh-Chu cringed as he saw Hot Chow’s Uriel fighter weave through the tail end of their countermeasures, doing minor damage to his shields, but providing a target for a pair of missiles that were meant for his gunship.

  The missiles struck Hot Chow full on. His fighter spun away from Minh-Chu’s gunship into a broad opening, where several fighters opened fire on him. Minh-Chu pointed his nose into the group of three enemy fighters and opened fire with his guns, striking two of them several times. It took several seconds for Maid to start firing in the same direct
ion.

  To Minh-Chu’s surprise, Hot Chow got control of his ship and retaliated, raking the enemy with explosive shells mercilessly as he tried to evade. A pair of needle-like enemy fighters rushed to the aid of their comrades, falling into Jinx’s trap. They were greeted with a volley of gunfire and small missiles. Minh-Chu’s pair of targets burst, venting their atmosphere and coming apart in pieces. The third was completely Hot Chow’s kill, and the pair coming in to finish him off were split by Jinx, who killed one and thrust off in pursuit of the other.

  “Major strike on my ship, lost shields, down to two thrusters, I’m down to one gun,” Hot Chow said.

  “Retreat to the Revenge immediately and await orders from Flight Operations,” Minh-Chu said. “Good recovery there, Hot Chow.”

  “This is Carnie, I’ve been hit, had to eject my port missile pod, but I still have one gun and my other missiles.”

  “Crane here, my Sensor Intercept Officer is dead. Nemo is dead. Ejecting,” he announced. Minh-Chu glanced at Crane’s signal on the tactical display in time to see two enemy fighters finish him and his Uriel off before he managed to get clear.

  A pair of enemy fighters broke off in pursuit of Hot Chow’s Uriel as it accelerated towards the opening they’d left behind. Minh-Chu marked them as his new targets and started turning around, making his way through the asteroid field as safely as he could so he could get a shot at Hot Chow’s pursuers. “I’ve got Hot Chow’s back, everyone else, clean this up.”

  Minh-Chu saw a missile launch from nineteen hundred meters above him and forced his gunship into a spiralling dive. His upper turret had a clear line of sight to fire on the fighters going after Hot Chow, who was flying backwards, firing at his pursuers.

  Maid was slow on the gun again, firing rounds at a fighter that had been marked by Carnie. “Get on targets beta two and three,” Minh-Chu ordered. “Maid! Targets beta two and three, now!”

  “What? Where?” Maid said as he struggled to turn his turret in the direction of the fighters firing on Hot Chow.

  Minh-Chu swung the nose of his gunship in the direction of Hot Chow’s pursuers and opened fire as soon as he had a good shot that wouldn’t stand a chance at striking his comrade if he missed. “These two,” he said as he raked the fighters with pulse fire and waited for a missile lock. The enemy fighters wove effectively, keeping Minh-Chu from locking on, and, in that moment he wished he was in the cockpit of a more manoeuvrable Uriel fighter.

  “We’ve got you, lad,” Frost said over the communicator. The forward countermeasure guns, turrets that fired three thousand rounds per minute dotting all sides of the Revenge, opened fire and the pair of fighters who followed Hot Chow into their range disintegrated.

  Minh-Chu spun his gunship back towards the active engagement and started to accelerate. There were three enemy fighters left, and Jinx was tearing into the closest. Carnie was closing in on another with the help of two other Uriels, and the last was being hunted by the rest as it took desperate measures to evade in a cluttered portion of the asteroid field. “Stay back,” Minh-Chu instructed, marking that fighter, theta three. “Let him kill himself, or catch him on the other side. Don’t follow him in.”

  “Twenty five more contacts,” Sticky said. “At extreme scanning range, fifty one thousand kilometres out.”

  “Why doesn’t the Triton come in on this?” asked Uppity from the back seat of her Uriel.

  “Because we are the fighter screen, the first line of defence,” Sticky replied. “And before you ask why the Revenge doesn’t just rush through here and tear it up with their point defence guns, I’ll explain it again. A fighter can carry a weapon that does a lot of damage to a big ship, but can be avoided by another fighter, so we take care of this kind of mess for them.”

  “Thank you,” Minh-Chu said. He managed to conceal his concern. The last three fighters from the defence the Order of Eden had in the asteroid field were destroyed, and his fighter squadron started to form up again. They moved carefully forward, ever closer to those five groups of fighters, which each had five fighters. “Resetting targeting labels, starting at alpha one and counting up,” he said.

  Sticky carried out the target marking for him. “Revenge Flight Operations, we’re about to be outnumbered here.”

  “This is Flight Operations. Stand by.”

  * * *

  Jake eyed the tactical display. There was a difficult to read energy reading in the distance and twenty-five fighters between them. The Samurai Squadron, which has been reduced to seven ships from nine, were between the Revenge and the enemy.

  “Jake, if there’s a larger ship here, they’re not going for us,” Stephanie said from above.

  He looked at the distant energy reading. It was large enough to be a destroyer or bigger, but the reading kept changing. “Signal the Clever Dream to get a scan on that,” he said. “They have two minutes. Tell Ronin and his squadron to fall back. I have a feeling about what we’re seeing.”

  “A base,” Frost said.

  “If it is, we’re in for more resistance than some fighters can help with,” Jake said.

  “This is the Clever Dream,” Lieutenant Garrison said. “We got close enough for a scan, were detected, on our way back. Those fighters are in our way. Forwarding data.”

  A shielded asteroid appeared on the tactical display, so high in iron content that it was black. “That’s a base, looks like a small repair and supply station,” Jake said as two Order of Eden battleships appeared well above the base, in a large clearing inside the asteroid field.

  “The Triton acknowledges the scan,” Liara said. “Putting their low powered laser-link through.”

  “Jake, I don’t want to see the Clever Dream go down, I’m launching fighters,” Oz said through the audio system.

  “Re-cloak as soon as you can, we’re going to have to make a run for it,” Jake said. “But towards them.”

  “Can you do that? The Revenge is agile for her class, but-“

  “I can,” Ashley called back over her shoulder from where she cracked her knuckles at the helm.

  “Be sure,” Oz replied.

  “If she says she can do it,” Jake replied, looking at Ashley. “She can do it.”

  “All right, we’re launching all three of our fighter squadrons. They are under your command. Where will you need me?”

  “High and ahead. Try to stay out of that base’s line of sight, I think that’s how they caught the Clever Dream. They must have higher resolution scanners there.” Jake watched as fighters appeared on the tactical display, in the space of a minute there would be sixty three more ships on their side. “All fighters, you are to wipe out the nearest wave of bogeys, follow Ronin’s lead, then return to the Revenge, where you will follow us.”

  “Slick here,” replied the leader of the Triton’s Space Superiority Wing. “We are on our way, Clever Dream, hold tight.”

  “Helm,” Jake said. “Take us in, as fast as you can.” He reconsidered for a second and added; “But don’t try to impress anyone.”

  “Impressing people is just a by-product of my excellence,” Ashley said, her lisp very intentionally absent.

  The Revenge fired all its thrusters and rotated a few degrees as it began to weave between asteroids many times its size. Jake caught Frost making the sign of the cross out of the corner of his eye.

  * * *

  Slick had set his squadron up almost the same way Minh-Chu had, only he had one gunship to every six fighters, and one Uriel to every light Ramiel fighter. Sticky made a mad scramble to make sure that they were all locked into the tactical systems they were all looking at, and she had it finished in under a minute.

  “Welcome to the real show, ladies and gentlemen,” Slick said as another twenty-five fighters appeared between the initial wave and the base, trapping the Clever Dream in the midst of fifty enemy fighters.

  “Did the Clever Dream take fire from those fighters, or the base?” Minh-Chu asked Sticky.

  “That damage
is recorded as being from the base, the Clever Dream is about to come up on the wave of fighters nearest us.”

  “Garrison here,” the long-suffering pilot and Captain of the Clever Dream announced over communications. “We’re going to evade, put as many asteroids between the fighters and us as we can while we head your way.”

  “Good idea,” Minh-Chu said. “All fighters, we are going to form a moving wall, be careful not to fly too close to each other so we have plenty of room to manoeuvre between the asteroids.” He brought up the formation on his screen and made his adjustments by glancing at the different icons to control the size and shape of the formation he was ordering. When it was just the way he wanted, he sent the order.

  “Good flying with you again, Ronin,” Slick said. “Let’s make this look easy.”

  The enemy fighters decelerated and began to turn, most likely to join the wave well behind them before engaging the Triton and Revenge based fighter Wings. “Oh, no you don’t,” Minh-Chu said. “Scan for traps, mines, everything.”

  “On it,” Slick replied.

  Minh-Chu took a moment to focus on the view outside his ship using the direction connection to his ship. Their small warships wove around and between a field of slow moving giant ice asteroids, catching up to the enemy. White light flashed against the hulls of the Uriels and the icy surfaces around them, making the scene seem almost ghostly. Small jewels of ice deflected off their shields as they passed through a dense patch of particles, and the first fighter in their long wall of ships fired for a second then stopped as they saw an enemy appear in the open for a moment.

  The enemy was staying ahead, but according to Minh-Chu’s tactical display, they were about to hit an opening, and on the other side of that nine thousand kilometre opening, foes would meet reinforcements. The Clever Dream was staying well above, weaving between icy bodies, forcing the ten fighters after it to risk life and limb to get a shot off before they were outnumbered.

  “Something just launched from the base,” Stick said. “I can’t get a good scan at it from here, it’s not a fighter though.”