Part Two

"That's beautiful," whispered Tanya, inadvertently over the comms. Her green eyes grew larger as she drank in the awe-inspiring sight.

The triple suns of the Sigma 17 system captured her gaze, as the two smaller sister suns blinking in and out of the night spun and rotated in the eternal dance with the larger green sun at the centre of the system. They had passed Atka station a few hours ago, heading galactic east towards a waypoint and eventually docking with Planet Kurile, a sole planet at the heart of a gas cloud.

"Recon 2! Clear the channels. We could face enemy contact any moment," ordered Recon Leader Captain Montgomery, a hard-faced woman in her late thirties. "Focus on the job. Having good family credentials isn't worth a shield battery out here, rookie," she said icily. Tanya had taken an instant dislike to her when they met at the hangar; her Wing Leader was abrupt, bad mannered and grumpy. She was probably still single. Tanya switched to a private channel.

"Kenji, this is Tanya. Can you hear me, over?" she asked. There was a pause, just long enough for Tanya to be concerned but fortunately it was short-lived.

"Tanya, my dear, yes, is Kenji here. I am a poet, no?" he replied in his usual jovial way. "The Sigma 17 suns are a sight!" he said breathlessly.

"Why did you take so long to reply?"

"Hm. Must be the suns, solar interference. Let me boost the power to my comm. Is that better?" Kenji's replies were quicker and clearer now.

"Yes. Much. How is vanguard today? Any action?"

"All quiet, may the heavens continue to grant such peace," said Kenji in monotone as though he was praying. "How about up front? Anything happening there?"

"No. Just I resist the urge to fire my Lancers at Montgomery every time she opens her mouth. I swear, if I had my way I'd send her ship without power into the Tahoe Ice Field. At least she'd be at home there," she sighed. "Formation flying is boring, but I do get a great view of the system without needing to fly my ship."

"Good, good. Well, I'm hungry."

"Always hungry," laughed Tanya interrupting.

"Yes. As I was saying, I hear they do great shell food on Kurile. It's a water planet you know, like Junyo where I'm from. Except the water is green. Not blue. Hm. Maybe I don't want to eat shellfish now." Kenji heard Tanya chuckle.

"I wonder if.." Kenji was cut short by a sharp beeping from his HUD. "Wait, I have intermittent contacts. Bearing 300. Corsair heavy fighters, Legionnaires coming out of the asteroid field!"

"Kenji! Kenji! What's happening?" asked Tanya. She could hear the other pilots chatter across the comms.

"Tanya, I am fine. There are three corsair ships and we are four, hold on."

Tanya could hear the sounds of combat, missile lock beeps, countermeasure releases, the unmistakeable noises of gunfire and of course, the screams and voices of those taking hits and dying. Kenji's console was beeping louder now. She grinned when she heard Kenji shout his familiar battle cry across the comms.

"Banzaaaii! Die pirate! You die pirate! You want some too, pirate? Eat this pirate!" screamed Kenji now lost in battle-lust, adrenaline and instinct taking over. There was a raucous cheer when the Vanguard leader announced "All clear, no more enemy contacts." Tanya breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice job, young man," she chided.

"They didn't stand a chance, Tanya!" he replied. "Some nice salvage too, think I picked up a new gun."

Suddenly, the reverie was broken.

"Vanguard Leader, three more contacts at 2k and closing at cruise. Watch the flanks!" a wing mate shouted. "Three more approaching from Atka. They look like Corsair ships, but I don't recognise their configurations."

"We're in open space here and low on ammunition," said a concerned Kenji to his Wing Leader. "We should break and take evasive action!" he called. Tanya began to worry. The closest ships were still in formation twenty klicks ahead. It would be at least fifteen minutes before she could cruise back to his position.

"Vanguard 2, I issue the orders here. Not you, rookie," said the wing leader. "Unknown ships, this is Orbital Spa and Cruise, Vanguard Escort Leader. We are on a peaceful mission to Freeport 9. Please identify yourself."

Everyone in the escort fleet waited with great trepidation. There was only silence. Some static.

"Wing Leader, they are in missile range. Please. Give the order to break, we are so tightly in formation one missile would hit us all," said Kenji.

"Silence, rookie! Anymore from you and I'll put you in the dock!" shouted the Wing Leader. "I am in command here and.." he stopped as his HUD started beeping. Everyone in the fleet heard the next few seconds in agonising detail.

'Shield disrupted' announced his HUD.

"Wait, what the..?" began the Wing Leader. He started pushing buttons.

'Shield restored. Shield disrupted. Warning, hull breach imminent.'

"Nooooo!" he screamed. Four missiles, the explosive warheads punching through his ship hull causing a shockwave that battered the three craft around him, had hammered into his ship. Kenji managed to wrestle control of his ship in time, but noted to his dismay one of the other ships was drifting crippled in space, her engines totally destroyed. Three more missiles slammed into the crippled ship along with a strafing run from what must be an incredibly powerful energy weapon, purple in colour.

Kenji cried out as he watched his wingmate be vaporised in a cloud of metal and flame.

"Vanguard 3, this is Vanguard 2. Engage the enemy, break and take evasive action. People, we need help. Now!" shouted Kenji. Again, a cacophony of battle sounds came over the comms.

"I'm on it," replied the last remaining wing mate. Tanya knew little of him, a Bretonian named Richardson but had heard from Kenji he was a capable, if unimaginative pilot.

Tanya had counted six total enemy ships earlier. She prayed the escorts would come out of this alright.

"Wing Leader Montgomery, permission to leave formation and assist Vanguard?" she asked quickly.

"Permission denied. Stay in formation and await further orders."

More screams. More gunfire.

"Richardson!" shouted Kenji. "Check your six! Your six!"

"Lost life support, lost everything!" shouted Richardson in vain.

Tanya heard a chilling scream. Then silence.

"Damn! By Kusari hells, damn!" cursed Kenji. "Wing Commander, this is Vanguard 2. I am alone. Four enemy ships remain. They are using weapons I have never seen before. Please assist!" An explosion rocked his ship. "Have lost a wing. Attempting to break for Atka!" he said. Tanya knew Kenji's fighter was a Dragon. The best Kusari space had to offer. It had a fast turn and wielded six weapon hard points.

"Montgomery, they're dying out there. Please. We should help them," begged Tanya. She felt useless.

"Denied!" shouted her Wing Leader. "Can't you take simple orders, girl?" Tanya turned her comms off. Then opened a private channel to Kenji.

"Kenji," she whispered. "I'm sorry. Are you there? Kenji?" More explosions. More gunfire. Then static. Then silence. Tanya waited. "Kenji? Are you there? Tell me you're ok. Please." Her connection was suddenly severed.

"All fighters, this is Wing Commander Leeson, Vanguard reported contact with the enemy, checking status now. Recon 1 and 2, continue on to Planet Kurile. Escorts 1 through 3 full cruise to Vanguard's last position. Rest of you hold position and await further orders. Get moving!"

The wings split up. Tanya shivered. Twenty ships were now split into three groups. And still no sign of Kenji. She choked back her tears. An image of one of her Recon wingmates, Travis from Planet Houston in Liberty, appeared on Tanya's HUD. The screen flickered as Tanya's light fighter passed through a solar ray.

"Hi Tanya, Travis here. I know you were close with one of the guys in Vanguard, the Kusari. He was a friend of yours, right?"

"Yes," she said sadly. She nodded, then cursed inside when she realised Travis could tell she was upset. She coughed and cleared her throat.

"Yes, he..is." she confirmed, her voice more resolute than before.

"I'm sure he's gonna be ok. He's a good pilot. He knows how to take care of himself. Just wanted you to know that everything will work out. Hang in there," he said comfortingly. He smiled then nodded.

"Thanks, Travis. I'll remember that."

The flight to Kurile would be a long one. And a sad one.

(cont'd)