Post by Larke on Jan 31, 2006 0:53:44 GMT -5
The Blackness of space was all consuming. The light reflected from Saturn, now just a distant indistinguishable orb behind them, did little to illuminate the three crimson interceptors as they darted from the launch bays of the UEN Cruiser Heart’s Fury. Forming a tight vee formation they banked into an easy left and rolled out of it.
From above the interceptors were the shape of an Arrowhead, the fuselage begun at the point of the craft and widening for the cockpit before thinning again and ending at the rear of the craft. Underneath each wing were two quad barrelled Vortex laser cannons, the hard points at the end of the wings would normally have had a missile attached but they had been left off.
Flight Captain Victor Salathiel checked his instruments and panels of his Interceptor once more. Ever since the major refit his bird, Ultima One, had received after taking a salvo of laser fire through the fuselage that had nearly ended Victor’s twenty-year career. Ultima one had suffered from constant faults, but today the machine seemed to be behaving itself.
Victor felt the restraints of his grav suit press against him as he opened up on the throttle slightly feeling the nuclear powered engine accelerate accordingly. A simple recon mission was on the cards today for Victor, Hans and Magill. The last from his original Ultima squadron of ten. Magill was a damn fine Aviator and a near perfect wingman, something of a rarity in the Navy for a female to be a pilot and she had proved her worth to survive this long. Glancing at his radar Victor frowned and opened a Com. channel.
“Ultima One to Ultima Three you are drifting out of formation slightly correct it now you copy?” Victor’s husky voice echoed through the void.
“Roger that Ultima One she’s a bit jerky today, coming back into formation now.” Hans voice crackled in Victor’s ear as the blip on Victor’s radar that represented Hans’ bird pulled back into the vee.
Out of the blackness ahead of him Victor watched as the remains of the Frigate Lionhearted materialised; a large lions head accordingly formed the prow of the vessel, which had remained intact. The remainder of the Lionhearted however had a series of holes along its port side side; Victor assumed they had been caused by Bomber launched ordinance. Forming a debris field around the vessel was the frozen corpses of the crew mingled with pieces of hull and anything that hadn’t been bolted down inside the Lionhearted.
The Lionhearted was just the latest casualty to the Wolf Packs, a band of Pirates that attacked vessels arriving and departing from the Saturn Jump Gate. If one believed the rumours they were based on the moon of Titan, Despite numerous investigations by the UEN they still hadn’t found a single trace of activity on Titan. Victor smiled, and if one believed rumours then the UEN should be shaking in its boots about the forty thousand pirate vessels that hid on Titan.
“Ultima Two to Ultima One, I’m picking up Fighters launching from the Frigate.” Magill’s soft voice came across the Com, breaking his reverie.
“Roger that Two.” Victor said before flicking his Com to the command frequency. “This is Ultima One come in Operations.”
“This is Operations what is it One?” The Com Operator on Heart’s Fury sounded rather bored. There were small flashes along the port side of the vessel, Victor fiddled with his view screens as he tried to work out what he had seen. “Ultima Flight come in.”
“We have detected fighters launching from the Frigate Lionhearted, Requesting orders.” Victor watched as the blips begun to appear on his radar.
“Ultima flight repeat.”
Victor adjusted his heat sensors, the monitor displaying a haze of reds and yellows fine-tuned itself until it narrowed down the sources to two dozen single engine craft. All accelerating towards his three-man wing.
“Wolf Pack.” Hans said through the com.
“Ultima Flight break right and head for home.” Victor shouted into his Mic as he dipped his right wing low and went into a sweeping turn, giving more power to the engine as he came out of it.
“Operations, there’s at least twenty-four hostiles on our ass and were coming right for you” Victor said.
Dropping Ultima One slightly as a burst of laser fire scorched past his canopy Victor pushed Ultima One’s engine as hard as it could go, but the Wolf Pack Fighters were still gaining. Ahead of him he could see the glowing interior of Heart’s Fury’s launch bays already spewing forth reinforcements in the form of another Seventeen Interceptors, that were beginning to form up in a single line as the first shots from Heart’s Fury weapons batteries zipped above Ultima One and exploded in the midst of the Wolf Pack Fighters.
“Ultima Three you’re slipping behind catch up!” Victor shouted as he franticly glanced down at his radar.
“Can’t she’s losing fuel somewhere!” Hans shouted back. Victor glanced quickly to his rear right view screen, perfect timing to watch as a laser round round hit Ultima Three in the right wing. A second later the wing exploded as another laser round tore through it. Victor was helpless to do anything but watch as Ultima Three began spinning uncontrollably before the nuclear power core became unstable and exploded in a brilliant blue ball.
Seconds after the demise of Hans and Ultima Three the Interceptor formation swept past Victor loosing volleys from their Vortex cannons and unloading missiles into the Wolf Pack formation. Swinging round Victor came up well behind the main line watching as formations disintegrated into dogfights.
“Ultima One, we have four on our behinds.” Magill’s calm voice came over the Com.
“Roger that Two. Spilt on three count, Three!” Victor pushed his stick down and to the left cutting the engines power by half for a moment as another craft flashed past. Victor had enough time recognise the craft, it would be hard for any Combat experienced UEN pilot not to be able to pick this make. The downward curving wings and bulb nose were iconic with the Wolf Packs main fighter type, The Swiftdeath. They were faster then the Interceptors used by the UEN although they had only a single Vortex Cannon mounted in the front of the nose.
Pulling his Interceptor into a tight turn Victor felt the hard buck as he fired all four of the Vortex cannons when he got a partial visual on Swiftdeath. Victor regretted his hasty move however as not one of the sixteen individual laser rounds touched their intended target, The Swiftdeath simultaneously dived and barrel rolled away. Victor and his slower craft were hard pressed to follow the manoeuvre, taking a gamble he pulled out of the roll and angled himself down to the left of where he had originally been facing. It paid off for him as the Swiftdeath appeared below him, its pilot expecting to have lost Victor. Waiting until he got the fighter well into his sights Victor fired a single cannon at the Swiftdeath this time, the four laser bolts sliced through the wings and rear of the fuselage almost tearing the Swiftdeath in half.
“Ultima One you have picked up two more on your tail.” Victor heard Magill shout over the Com as he pulled out of his decent.
Swearing loudly as five craft swept in front of his, laser rounds illuminating their hulls. Victor pushed his stick hard to the left and sent Ultima-One in a roll for a second before cutting the engine power again. Losing most of his speed the two Swiftdeath fighters shot above him. Taking only a second to bring Ultima-One around Victor let the Swiftdeath’s coast into his sights before releasing a volley from his Vortex cannons. The pair of Swiftdeath exploded as the laser rounds ripped through wing a fuselage alike.
“Heart’s Fury to all Interceptors, Withdraw to the safety of our guns.” The Operator from earlier sounded panicked.
Ultima-One went into a tight loop as Victor searched for the Carrier, rolling out of his loop when he could see the light from the launch bays ahead of him. H should have been paying attention to his monitors and radar however as a Laser round tore through his left wing. Warning alarms blared to life and red lights flashed across his controls as systems were torn to shreds, Ultima-One pulled hard left as another salvo of laser fire scorched past his canopy. His rear cameras blinked out of existence as more laser fire swept past him, more alarms notified him that his engine had been hit. Shutting down all power to the engine Victor watched as the lights of a million stars began circling him.
“This is Ultima One, I’ve been hit, need assistance!” Victor screamed into his Com as every icon in his cockpit died. “God fucking damn it.” Victor swore as the rear section of his Interceptor passed him, the part of the Interceptor that had all the radio equipment. The air tanks were seeping out their content in wisps of vapour, realising that was air he should be breathing Victor switched his supply over to the emergency tank underneath his flight chair. It would give him another hour tops, what he hoped to achieve in a dead ship Victor had no idea.
From above the interceptors were the shape of an Arrowhead, the fuselage begun at the point of the craft and widening for the cockpit before thinning again and ending at the rear of the craft. Underneath each wing were two quad barrelled Vortex laser cannons, the hard points at the end of the wings would normally have had a missile attached but they had been left off.
Flight Captain Victor Salathiel checked his instruments and panels of his Interceptor once more. Ever since the major refit his bird, Ultima One, had received after taking a salvo of laser fire through the fuselage that had nearly ended Victor’s twenty-year career. Ultima one had suffered from constant faults, but today the machine seemed to be behaving itself.
Victor felt the restraints of his grav suit press against him as he opened up on the throttle slightly feeling the nuclear powered engine accelerate accordingly. A simple recon mission was on the cards today for Victor, Hans and Magill. The last from his original Ultima squadron of ten. Magill was a damn fine Aviator and a near perfect wingman, something of a rarity in the Navy for a female to be a pilot and she had proved her worth to survive this long. Glancing at his radar Victor frowned and opened a Com. channel.
“Ultima One to Ultima Three you are drifting out of formation slightly correct it now you copy?” Victor’s husky voice echoed through the void.
“Roger that Ultima One she’s a bit jerky today, coming back into formation now.” Hans voice crackled in Victor’s ear as the blip on Victor’s radar that represented Hans’ bird pulled back into the vee.
Out of the blackness ahead of him Victor watched as the remains of the Frigate Lionhearted materialised; a large lions head accordingly formed the prow of the vessel, which had remained intact. The remainder of the Lionhearted however had a series of holes along its port side side; Victor assumed they had been caused by Bomber launched ordinance. Forming a debris field around the vessel was the frozen corpses of the crew mingled with pieces of hull and anything that hadn’t been bolted down inside the Lionhearted.
The Lionhearted was just the latest casualty to the Wolf Packs, a band of Pirates that attacked vessels arriving and departing from the Saturn Jump Gate. If one believed the rumours they were based on the moon of Titan, Despite numerous investigations by the UEN they still hadn’t found a single trace of activity on Titan. Victor smiled, and if one believed rumours then the UEN should be shaking in its boots about the forty thousand pirate vessels that hid on Titan.
“Ultima Two to Ultima One, I’m picking up Fighters launching from the Frigate.” Magill’s soft voice came across the Com, breaking his reverie.
“Roger that Two.” Victor said before flicking his Com to the command frequency. “This is Ultima One come in Operations.”
“This is Operations what is it One?” The Com Operator on Heart’s Fury sounded rather bored. There were small flashes along the port side of the vessel, Victor fiddled with his view screens as he tried to work out what he had seen. “Ultima Flight come in.”
“We have detected fighters launching from the Frigate Lionhearted, Requesting orders.” Victor watched as the blips begun to appear on his radar.
“Ultima flight repeat.”
Victor adjusted his heat sensors, the monitor displaying a haze of reds and yellows fine-tuned itself until it narrowed down the sources to two dozen single engine craft. All accelerating towards his three-man wing.
“Wolf Pack.” Hans said through the com.
“Ultima Flight break right and head for home.” Victor shouted into his Mic as he dipped his right wing low and went into a sweeping turn, giving more power to the engine as he came out of it.
“Operations, there’s at least twenty-four hostiles on our ass and were coming right for you” Victor said.
Dropping Ultima One slightly as a burst of laser fire scorched past his canopy Victor pushed Ultima One’s engine as hard as it could go, but the Wolf Pack Fighters were still gaining. Ahead of him he could see the glowing interior of Heart’s Fury’s launch bays already spewing forth reinforcements in the form of another Seventeen Interceptors, that were beginning to form up in a single line as the first shots from Heart’s Fury weapons batteries zipped above Ultima One and exploded in the midst of the Wolf Pack Fighters.
“Ultima Three you’re slipping behind catch up!” Victor shouted as he franticly glanced down at his radar.
“Can’t she’s losing fuel somewhere!” Hans shouted back. Victor glanced quickly to his rear right view screen, perfect timing to watch as a laser round round hit Ultima Three in the right wing. A second later the wing exploded as another laser round tore through it. Victor was helpless to do anything but watch as Ultima Three began spinning uncontrollably before the nuclear power core became unstable and exploded in a brilliant blue ball.
Seconds after the demise of Hans and Ultima Three the Interceptor formation swept past Victor loosing volleys from their Vortex cannons and unloading missiles into the Wolf Pack formation. Swinging round Victor came up well behind the main line watching as formations disintegrated into dogfights.
“Ultima One, we have four on our behinds.” Magill’s calm voice came over the Com.
“Roger that Two. Spilt on three count, Three!” Victor pushed his stick down and to the left cutting the engines power by half for a moment as another craft flashed past. Victor had enough time recognise the craft, it would be hard for any Combat experienced UEN pilot not to be able to pick this make. The downward curving wings and bulb nose were iconic with the Wolf Packs main fighter type, The Swiftdeath. They were faster then the Interceptors used by the UEN although they had only a single Vortex Cannon mounted in the front of the nose.
Pulling his Interceptor into a tight turn Victor felt the hard buck as he fired all four of the Vortex cannons when he got a partial visual on Swiftdeath. Victor regretted his hasty move however as not one of the sixteen individual laser rounds touched their intended target, The Swiftdeath simultaneously dived and barrel rolled away. Victor and his slower craft were hard pressed to follow the manoeuvre, taking a gamble he pulled out of the roll and angled himself down to the left of where he had originally been facing. It paid off for him as the Swiftdeath appeared below him, its pilot expecting to have lost Victor. Waiting until he got the fighter well into his sights Victor fired a single cannon at the Swiftdeath this time, the four laser bolts sliced through the wings and rear of the fuselage almost tearing the Swiftdeath in half.
“Ultima One you have picked up two more on your tail.” Victor heard Magill shout over the Com as he pulled out of his decent.
Swearing loudly as five craft swept in front of his, laser rounds illuminating their hulls. Victor pushed his stick hard to the left and sent Ultima-One in a roll for a second before cutting the engine power again. Losing most of his speed the two Swiftdeath fighters shot above him. Taking only a second to bring Ultima-One around Victor let the Swiftdeath’s coast into his sights before releasing a volley from his Vortex cannons. The pair of Swiftdeath exploded as the laser rounds ripped through wing a fuselage alike.
“Heart’s Fury to all Interceptors, Withdraw to the safety of our guns.” The Operator from earlier sounded panicked.
Ultima-One went into a tight loop as Victor searched for the Carrier, rolling out of his loop when he could see the light from the launch bays ahead of him. H should have been paying attention to his monitors and radar however as a Laser round tore through his left wing. Warning alarms blared to life and red lights flashed across his controls as systems were torn to shreds, Ultima-One pulled hard left as another salvo of laser fire scorched past his canopy. His rear cameras blinked out of existence as more laser fire swept past him, more alarms notified him that his engine had been hit. Shutting down all power to the engine Victor watched as the lights of a million stars began circling him.
“This is Ultima One, I’ve been hit, need assistance!” Victor screamed into his Com as every icon in his cockpit died. “God fucking damn it.” Victor swore as the rear section of his Interceptor passed him, the part of the Interceptor that had all the radio equipment. The air tanks were seeping out their content in wisps of vapour, realising that was air he should be breathing Victor switched his supply over to the emergency tank underneath his flight chair. It would give him another hour tops, what he hoped to achieve in a dead ship Victor had no idea.