Chapter Three

"Alright Banshees, listen up!" Commander Ursani Jelka ordered over her squadron's general frequency as the Queadluuns under her command approached their mission area. The Meltrandi squadron leader had given her pilots a detailed mission briefing just prior to their departure from Battle Frontier, but she wanted to make absolutely certain everyone knew what she expected from them. "The objective of this mission is the same as the objective of our last one: reconnoitre an asteroid belt and destroy any hostile units we come across while doing so. Reports from RVF patrols indicate that there has been a suspiciously large amount of enemy activity in the vicinity of our assigned search area, so I want all of you to be on your guard. I expect you to stick close to your wingmen, keep in contact with the rest of your flight, and call for back up if you run into trouble. Let's do this thing and do it without casualties, just like we always do. You got that girls?" A chorus of ayes rang out over the communications channel. "Then let's get to it!"

Without further ado eleven black Queadluuns and a single white one dove into the asteroid field and the dangers that awaited them within it.

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This is awesome.

Richard felt like a teenager who had just been given access to a brand new sports car as his newly Super pack equipped VF-171 departed from one of Battle Frontier's launch catapults alongside the rest of C Flight's Nightmares. The aspiring ace could positively feel the difference the Super Pack's boosters were making to his valkyrie's performance as he opened his throttle and began to pull away from the big flagship. Combined with the more responsive handling the new thrusters provided it was almost like he was flying a completely different fighter. One that he couldn't wait to put through its paces.

The better performance wasn't the only thing he had to be excited about either. In addition to increased speed and agility the Super Pack also boasted improved offensive and defensive capabilities. New energy conversion armour had been added to several key locations, and two large containers full of micro missiles had been mounted above the engine intakes just aft of the fighter's cockpit. The new containers carried a substantially greater number of munitions than the usual underwing pods could, and they had the added advantage of not taking up valuable external stores pylons. Their presence had allowed C Flight's Nightmare's to increase both their micro missile load and their long range missile load at the same time.

Thinking about all the ways in which the new Super Pack improved his valkyrie's performance and combat capabilities, Richard found that he was almost eager for another run in with the Vajra. He'd had a close call with the convoy escort mission a few days prior, but that was partly due to the limitations of the stock Nightmare he had been flying at the time. Things might have gone differently if he'd had access to his current equipment.

An asteroid field came into view in the distance as C Flight flew towards their rendezvous with the patrol group they were supposed to be relieving, and Richard found himself eyeing it hungrily during a pause in his efforts to get a feel for his fighter's new handling characteristics. He'd heard there had been a lot of Vajra activity around some of the asteroid fields recently, and his mission briefing had specifically mentioned the belt he was looking at as a possible trouble spot.

Richard unconsciously licked his lips as he thought about the possibilities. Maybe if he got lucky he'd be an ace by the end of the day.

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First Lieutenant Orla Mithos' HUD beeped at her as her Queadluun's sensors detected something moving among a group of nearby asteroids. Glancing quickly at the readings she was getting, the Meltran pilot frowned and sent a transmission to her squadron leader.

"Banshee Nine to Banshee One," she reported. "I've got an unknown sensor contact in my search area. It may be a Vajra drone."

"Copy that, Banshee Nine," Commander Jelka promptly replied. "Investigate and verify the identity of the unknown. If it's a Vajra drone then destroy it before it gets a chance to report our presence."

Orla nodded.

"Roger that, Banshee One."

Orla issued orders to her wingman and the rest of her flight so that they would be ready to back her up, then readied her Queadluun's heavy beam cannon and moved in on the suspect asteroids. The "unknown" indicator on her HUD flickered sporadically as she did so, momentarily splitting into two before immediately merging back into one again. Orla was just about in position to try to take the contact by surprise when a warning alarm sounded in her cockpit and a small type Vajra drone raced out from behind the asteroid in front of her, its head mounted beam emitter glowing with yellow energy as it bore down upon her. Reacting quickly, the Meltran took aim with her own beam cannon and fired with deadly accuracy, destroying the incoming drone with a single well placed shot. It exploded, and as it did so she saw two additional small type drones dash out from behind the asteroid and make a break for it. Her wingman managed to destroy one of them with a burst of cannon fire, but the other one evaded the attempts to destroy it and made it to the cover of the next asteroid.

"Damnit!"

Putting full power to her Queadluun's engines, Orla took off in pursuit of the fleeing drone.

"Banshee Nine to Banshee One. We've destroyed two hostiles and are in pursuit of a third."

The surfaces of the nearby asteroids began to blur as the chase picked up speed, and Orla found her sensory perception being pushed to the limit as her target dashed over, under, and around the large chunks of rock. At one point during the chase the drone released a string of sphere–like countermeasures that exploded into masses of spikes, but Orla weaved her way through them and continued the pursuit without slowing. Throughout the chase she fired off quick bursts from her Queadluun's arm guns, but could never keep her target in her sights long enough to score a hit.

"One-One, help me box this guy in!" Orla ordered the leader of her flight's second section as she and her wingman raced after the fleeing drone. The section leader confirmed the order, but didn't have time to execute it before Orla finally got lucky and managed to hit the drone with a burst of fire from one of her arm guns.

. "Gotcha!" the lieutenant snarled as she shot by the exploding drone and the asteroid it had been trying to weave around. She didn't have long to savour her victory however because a moment later her HUD was flooded by new contact indicators.

What the hell?

Orla's eyes widened as she realised she'd just flown into a veritable hornet's nest of Vajra drones.

"Yack! Deculture!"

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"Yack! Deculture!"

Talsha knew the moment she heard Orla screech those words that something had gone seriously wrong. The term "Deculture" on its own no longer carried the same implications it once had due to its adoption as a piece of positive slang among humans, but the full "Yack! Deculture!" still had weight as the ultimate expression of shock and awe among Zentraedi. If a normally level headed officer like Orla was using a phrase like that it meant something.

"Banshee One to Banshee Nine! Report!" Commander Jelka's authoritative voice demanded over the squadron's general frequency. Talsha chose not to wait for Orla's response or the orders she knew would be coming. Instead she found her fellow Flight Lieutenant's position indicator on her HUD, pointed her Queadluun towards it, and took off at full throttle with the rest of B flight following close behind her. A grimace formed on her face as she listened to Orla's status report and steeled herself for what she had to do.

It was time for the Angel to make an appearance.

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Richard was checking over some engine performance indicators on his cockpit's Multi Function Display when his Nightmare's communications system picked up a transmission on one of the fleet's emergency communications frequencies.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Banshee One!" a female voice barked. "My squadron has encountered a large group of Vajra in asteroid field E476 and is currently engaged in heavy combat. Request immediate reinforcements. I repeat, my squadron is engaged in heavy combat with a large force of Vajra in asteroid field E476. Request immediate reinforcements."

Richard gave a start as he realised where the transmission was coming from.

That's…

He turned his head to look out his cockpit canopy's port side viewport.

right next to us.

"Lieutenant! We're right next to E476!" Tristan exclaimed over the flight's communications frequency.

"I'm well aware of that, Ensign!" Lieutenant Hunter replied in a stern voice. "I'm contacting Command right now. Hold tight and wait for further orders."

His instructions may have been to "hold tight" for the time being, but even so Richard felt a surge of excitement course through his veins. The memory of Boomerang Squadron's valkyries swooping in to save the day during the convoy escort mission was still fresh in his mind. On that mission it was his flight that had needed to be rescued. Maybe this time it would be their turn to do the rescuing.

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There was a saying in military circles that no battle plan survived first contact. Talsha had heard that saying dozens of times since joining the NUNS, and unfortunately it proved all too true in the case of her plan to assist Orla. Said plan had called for her flight to fly in through the asteroids and destroy as many of the attacking Vajra as possible in a surprise attack before linking up with Orla's flight and dealing with the remainder. The problem with that plan was that it didn't account for the fact that the Vajra also had reinforcements coming to join the battle.

The first sign of those incoming reinforcements was the missile warning alarm in Talsha's cockpit going off.

"Heads up!" the Meltran yelled over her flight's frequency as she spun to face the oncoming barrage. Dodging to the left, she opened fire on the missiles with her Queadluun's arm guns, thrusted away, opened fire with her arm guns again to destroy the remaining warheads, and then used her beam guns to blast the small type drone that had launched them as it flew by overhead. She had no time to gloat over her victory however as several more drones were already bearing down on her and her flight. One of the large types among the group was destroyed by a shot to the face from Mira's beam cannon as it dove in, but that was the only shot the sharpshooter had time to take before cannon fire from a group of small types forced her to concentrate on evasive manoeuvres.

Sparing just the briefest of moments to make sure that Jarnika was okay, Talsha commenced her counterattack. The enemy was too close for her to use her missiles, so she relied heavily on the rapid fire capabilities of her Queadluun's arm guns as she weaved her way through the swarm, flying upwards, downwards, forwards, backwards and sideways as she fought to gain the upper hand against her foes. A short distance away Jarnika was doing much the same thing as her leader, and the two pilots soon found themselves circling around each other like two partners in a dance, each one working to cover the other as they twisted and turned their way across the battlefield .

Good job, kid, Talsha mentally complimented her wingman as she took out a large type Vajra with a pair of beam cannon shots. Taking a moment to check on Mira and Waria's status, Talsha saw that her flight's second section was holding their own against the attacking Vajra. Unfortunately holding their own wasn't going to help Orla's flight very much.

Glaring angrily at the threat indicators on her HUD, Talsha redoubled her efforts to eliminate the Vajra reinforcements and link up with her besieged comrades. There was no way she was about to let a few overgrown insects prevent her from protecting her sisters in arms!

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The moment Richard had been waiting for finally came.

"Raptor Nine to Flight," Lieutenant Hunter announced. "We have been granted permission to assist the friendly forces that are currently engaged in combat within Asteroid Field E476. One-Zero and I will take the lead, One-One, you and One-Two are to follow us at a distance of one hundred meters. Sensor range is going to be pretty limited in there so make sure you keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel."

"Copy that, Nine," Richard acknowledged as he watched the lieutenant and his wingman break formation and begin accelerating towards the nearby asteroids. Altering course to follow the two fighters, he gave them a moment to gain the necessary distance then began to accelerate himself.

It was time to see what his newly upgraded fighter could do.

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Commander Jelka and her A Flight were racing through the asteroids towards Lieutenant Orla's location when the Meltran squadron leader received an unexpected transmission from NUNS Command.

"Banshee One, this is Command," the voice of one of the Command Centre operators aboard Battle Frontier informed her. "A Flight of VF-171s from Raptor Squadron is in your area and has volunteered to assist your squadron. They are currently en route to your C Flight's location. Estimated Time to Arrival is approximately ninety seconds."

Ursani swore under her breath.

"Banshee One to Command. Did you just say there's a flight of fighters coming to assist my squadron? A single flight? Not the entire squadron?"

"That's correct, Banshee One. It's just a single flight that's coming from Raptor Squadron. But we've also scrambled two full squadrons from their carriers to assist you. They should be-"

Ursani cut the operator off before she could finish her sentence.

"Tell the flight from Raptor squadron to break off! Right now!"

"Huh?" The operator's surprise was clearly evident. "Why?"

Ursani was about to reply to the operator's question when she saw a flash of light on the surface of a distant asteroid and broke right just in time to avoid the searingly bright beam of energy that a large type Vajra had fired at her Queadluun. The surprise beam cannon shot was quickly followed by a massive volley of missiles, and Ursani and the rest of A flight were forced to scatter as scores of orange-tailed Vajra warheads raced towards them from at least four different launch sites. Dodging and weaving her way through the nearby asteroids, Ursani managed to evade or destroy all the missiles that were pursuing her, then circled back and launched a devastating counterattack. Using the cover of a group of asteroids to get close to the Vajra launch sites, the veteran squadron leader took out one large type Vajra with a missile volley then strafed another with her Queadluun's heavy beam cannon, hitting it several times and destroying it as it attempted to leave its suddenly vulnerable perch.

Lost in all the chaos was her answer to the question of why she wanted the fighters from Raptor squadron to break off their attempt to aid her subordinates. Had she had time to answer the question however her answer would probably have been something along the lines of "Because they're going to get themselves killed!"

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Talsha threw her Queadluun's arm to the side and opened fire on the small type Vajra that was trying to race past her, filling the fast moving alien's flight path with a barrage of bright blue cannon fire. There were several small flashes as the volley of armour piercing and high explosive shells slammed into their target, then a much larger one as it disappeared in an explosion. Spinning her Queadluun around, the Meltran ace immediately acquired a new target and attempted to destroy it, but found her efforts frustrated by a nearby asteroid that her target decided to use as cover. She responded to this development by blasting the asteroid to pieces with her Queadluun's heavy beam cannon, then scanned the sensor readouts on her HUD to update herself on how the overall battle was progressing.

She and her comrades must have been putting up a pretty good fight, because the large and aggressive force of Vajra that had initially attacked them was now a much smaller and more cautious one. The insectoid aliens had begun the battle by attacking directly and in large numbers, but now seemed to be favouring small scale hit and run attacks, darting out from behind nearby asteroids just long enough to fire an energy beam or a volley of missiles before breaking off and dashing back behind cover. It was an extremely annoying tactic, but it was also one that indicated weakness. Sensing that the Vajra were trying to buy time with a delaying action, Talsha decided to get aggressive.

"Banshee Five to Flight: form up on me. We're going to force our way through."

Pointing her Queadluun towards Orla's still distant position, Talsha put full power to her engines and accelerated, the rest of her flight following close behind her as she did so. A trio of drones attempted to block the flight's path, but all three were quickly eliminated by an intense barrage of rotary and beam cannon fire.

Talsha's Queadluun flashed by the last of the exploding Vajra, and the Meltran pilot felt a grim sense of satisfaction as she resumed her headlong rush towards Orla. Her enemies were going to need to try much harder if they expected to stop her from getting to her besieged comrades.

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With luck on their side, C Flight was able to launch a counter attack that caught the Vajra attacking their Banshee squadron counterparts completely off guard, destroying several of the insectoid aliens before they were even aware of the threat they were facing. Richard's first kills of the engagement were a pair of large type Vajra that he spotted on the surface of a nearby asteroid as he and Tristan prepared to join the battle. Taking advantage of the element of surprise, he hit the first of the two drones with the pair of anti-ship missiles his Nightmare was carrying on its outermost hardpoints, then unleashed the entirety of his remaining underwing ordnance –a full dozen general purpose long range missiles- on the second drone as it prepared to take a beam cannon shot at one of Banshee squadron's Queadluuns. The first drone was destroyed almost instantly by the powerful anti ship missiles while the second disappeared behind a cloud of explosions as the multitude of less powerful long range missiles slammed into it one after another. The cloud made it difficult to tell whether the second drone had actually been destroyed or not, so Richard strafed it's now obscured position with his valkyrie's gunpod and beam cannons for good measure. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened the last time he fought a large type Vajra.

Flush with triumph from his easy initial victories, Richard attempted to use his valkyrie's guns to score a third kill as he swooped in to join the main battle but his target –a small type drone- dove downwards and disappeared behind an asteroid before he could score more than a minor hit on it. Undeterred by this development, Richard shifted his VF-171 into Battroid mode and dove right into the thick of the engagement. His new kills had just earned him ace status after all. Surely an ace could handle this kind of situation.

"Raptor Nine to Banshee Nine –we are here to assist you," Lieutenant Hunter informed his Banshee squadron counterpart as Richard and Tristan's battroids joined the melee. Almost immediately the pair of wingman found themselves surrounded by a maelstrom of twisting and turning friendly and enemy targets. Shifting position so that their battroids stood back to back, the two pilots picked a pair of hostile drones and opened fire on them with their gunpods. Richard was able to follow his target and destroy it, but nearly paid for it with his life: a flicker of blue and the flash of an explosion somewhere behind him was the first and only sign he saw of the small type drone that had been about to nail him.

"Watch your sixes, Raptors," a female voice advised as a black painted Queadluun passed by overhead, its chest mounted beam guns already firing on its pilot's next target. Richard called out a thanks, but was too busy engaging another target of his own to pay much attention to the other pilot's advice. Besides which it would have been virtually impossible for him and Tristan not to leave some openings while fighting in an environment as chaotic as the one they found themselves in. The Vajra seemed to be everywhere.

The drone Richard was engaging managed to escape his fire by disappearing behind the cover of a small asteroid, but that was probably to his benefit as losing one target gave him a chance to notice that he had another one coming straight at him from his left side. Spinning to face his new opponent, Richard opened up on the small type drone with his Nightmare's gunpod and point defence guns and managed to deliver a fatal series of hits just in time to prevent the alien from annihilating him with the energy blast it had been preparing to fire.

Raising his Nightmare's arms and activating its pinpoint barrier system in an effort to shield his cockpit and main sensors from the exploding drone, Richard quickly recovered and began to scan the surrounding area for his next target. As such he was the first to spot the barrage of blue cannon fire that heralded the arrival of additional reinforcements.

"Banshee One to all units," a new voice announced. "Good work holding out."

Even as the voice spoke four black painted Queadluuns burst out of the asteroids and began laying waste to the attacking Vajra. Working in pairs, the Queadluun pilots concentrated their firepower and applied it with devastating effectiveness, destroying one large type and several small type drones in a matter of seconds.

Turning his attention away from the group of Queadluuns, Richard looked upwards and spotted two small type drones passing by overhead. Selecting one as his target, he opened fire on it with his gunpod but was forced to watch in frustration as it dodged his fire and managed to make it to the cover of a nearby asteroid. That frustration vanished a moment later when a burst of beam gun fire streaked in from somewhere above and to the right of his position, striking the hidden drone and causing it to explode in a satisfying fashion.

Almost immediately the space above Richard's valkyrie was alive with flashes of tracer and beam cannon fire as an additional flight of Queadluuns made their presence known. The Vajra drones replied to the newcomers in kind, and soon the area was awash with criss-crossing streams of yellow and blue weapons fire.

"Banshee Five to all units. Sorry we're late," the leader of the new group of Queadluuns informed her allies.

The arrival of Banshee Five's flight marked a decisive shift in the tide of the battle, hastening what had already begun with the arrival of the flight led by Banshee One. Deprived of the significant numerical advantage they had enjoyed earlier in the battle the Vajra were quickly put on the defensive by the counterattacking NUNS forces. Leaving the enemies in his area to the newly arrived Queadluuns, Richard turned his attention to helping Tristan only to find that his wingman didn't actually need his help anymore. The Vajra force they were fighting had completely collapsed, and those drones that were in a position to retreat were doing so. Only those few that had become trapped by the fray were continuing to fight in it.

Richard felt a twinge of disappointment as he observed the scene that was playing out in front of him. He felt like he should have been able to accomplish much more than he had. He hadn't really taken full advantage of his Super Pack's capabilities yet, and he still had a considerable quantity of ammunition left. He ought to be able to score at least one more kill before the battle ended. That would give him five kills –enough to make ace status even without the ones he'd scored on his previous missions.

Turning his attention downwards, Richard spotted a group of Vajra drones as they attempted to slip away into the nearby asteroids. There were at least four of them, including a large type. They made for a very tempting set of targets.

Coming to a decision, Richard shifted from Battroid mode to Fighter mode and pointed his valkyrie's nose towards the disappearing Vajra.

"Raptor One-One to Raptor One -Two," he radioed Tristan. "Let's go after these guys."

Throwing open his Nightmare's throttle, Richard dove towards the enemy.

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Talsha and Jarnika had just finished off a large type drone with a barrage from their beam cannons when Talsha noticed one of the Raptor Squadron VF-171s make the transition Battroid mode to Fighter mode and dive towards a group of escaping Vajra.

What the hell is that guy doing? the Meltran wondered as she watched the variable fighter swoop downwards at full throttle. The other pilot might just be hoping for a chance to catch a straggler as it tried to get away, but something about the way he flew said otherwise. His actions were too aggressive for that. Too committed.

Too dangerous.

Those guys are going to get themselves killed, Talsha realised as she watched the VF-171 pilot's wingman transition to Fighter mode and follow after his leader. Taking stock of the situation with a quick scan of her HUD, Talsha came to a decision.

The Vajra's numbers had been reduced to a point were dealing with them would no longer require an entire squadron. Commander Jelka and Lieutenant Mithos' flights were in a strong enough position to handle the aliens on their own. Which meant that Talsha was in a position to go after the pair of Raptor Squadron fighters.

"Banshee Five to Banshee One," she informed Commander Jelka. "I'm going after a pair of friendlies that look like they're about to get themselves in over their heads. B Flight, form up on me."

Pointing her Queadluun towards one of the now distant Raptor squadron fighters, the Angel of Number Sixty Four Squadron took off in pursuit of those she intended to protect.

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Utilising the extra thrust provided by his Nightmare's Super Pack it took Richard less than ten seconds to get within point blank range of the rearmost of the fleeing Vajra drones and open fire on it with his Nightmare's beam cannons. Dodging and weaving at high speed, the small type he was targeting managed to avoid the shots that were being fired at it, but Richard was undeterred. Even a sudden burst of speed from his target wasn't enough to shake his dogged pursuit. Switching over to his Nightmare's micro missiles, Richard set the warheads to their autonomous Lock-On After Launch mode and let rip.

Eat this! he glowered as dozens of miniature munitions leaped from their launch tubes and containers in a veritable torrent of blue exhaust contrails. Their seekers active, the cylindrical weapons locked on to their targets and began to chase after them, twisting and turning as they got closer and closer to their fleeing prey. Some of the missiles fell victim to Vajra countermeasures while others lost track of their targets or slammed into asteroids, but at least some of them found their marks. Richard was pretty sure the barrage had claimed at least three or four enemy drones, but couldn't confirm anything due to the number of explosions and criss-crossing contrails that were obscuring his flight path. It took all his concentration just to keep from crashing into anything as he barrelled through.

There was at least one target that he knew hadn't fallen victim to the missile barrage however, and that was the lone large type Vajra. Its armoured body virtually unscathed by the attack, the big insect could be seen a short distance away as Richard's Nightmare passed out of the fiery maelstrom his missiles had created.

Destroying it would make for a perfect finale.

Switching back to his cannons, Richard put his target in his gunsight and let loose, literally spraying the big alien with energy beams and high explosive shells. The drone responded by going evasive, dodging and weaving surprisingly well for something so large. Unwilling to give up, Richard held his trigger down and stuck doggedly to his target's tail, scoring multiple hits in spite of its manoeuvres. The counter on his Nightmare's HUD that showed the valkyrie's remaining gunpod ammunition was dropping rapidly towards zero, but even that didn't make him cease firing. His target had taken a lot of hits. Its energy conversion armour couldn't possibly hold up for much longer…

The ammunition counter on the HUD struck zero, and Richard's gunpod abruptly ceased firing. The beam cannons did not however, and a moment later the large type Vajra finally succumbed to the onslaught and exploded, scattering pieces of debris as Richard's Nightmare rocketed past.

Richard could hardly believe what had just happened. How many kills had he scored on this mission? Eight? Ten? Only in his fantasies had he ever imagined he could score so many in a single mission. It was like he had suddenly become the hero of one of the Variable Fighter movies he'd watched while he was growing up, only instead of destroying cannon fodder Regults and Nosjadeul-Ger's like the movie pilots he had destroyed much more agile and formidable Vajra drones.

Flush with the heady feeling of victory, Richard was about to turn back and rejoin the rest of his flight when a warning alarm sounded and a set of red indicator triangles appeared on his HUD.

What the-

Richard's eyes widened as they caught sight of the massive volley of tracer rounds that was heading his way.

"Shit!"

Yanking back on his flight stick, Richard shifted into GERWALK mode and pulled a tight vertical loop, shifting direction a full one hundred and eighty degrees as the deadly barrage of cannon shells ripped through the space around his valkyrie. Shifting quickly back to Fighter mode, he reopened the throttle he had reigned in following the large type Vajra's destruction and took off like a bat out of hell, half a dozen and possibly more Vajra drones following close behind him.

Suddenly everything was far too clear. The Vajra drones he'd been chasing had concentrated on running rather than fighting because he'd started the chase in close proximity to his allies. The small group of Vajra knew they wouldn't be able to win if he called for reinforcements, so they had lured him away from his comrades and into a trap. One that he'd fallen for hook, line, and sinker.

The fact that he'd just exhausted pretty much his entire supply of ammunition just made the situation that much worse.

"Tristan, I could use a little help here!" Richard yelled as a burst of cannon fire flashed by on his Nightmare's starboard side, followed a moment later by one that passed by on his port side and one that passed by just below his fighter.

"Sorry Richard, I'm afraid I can't help you very much right now! I couldn't keep up with you through all those explosions, and now I'm being harassed by a pair of small types. I'll be there as soon as I can get rid of them. Just hang on!"

His eyes flickering to Tristan's position indicator, Richard was shocked to see just how far away from him his wingman was. He hadn't realised that he had left the other pilot so far behind.

He was in really, really big trouble.

The missile warning alarm in Richard's cockpit began to sound as several of the pursuing drones launched volleys of warheads at his Nightmare, and he found himself cursing as he switched the valkyrie's point defence beam guns to their Fully Autonomous Targeting and Engagement setting. Almost immediately the pair of rear facing weapons began to fire on the pursuing missiles, but Richard knew that they alone would not be enough to protect him. There were at least three or four dozen Vajra warheads chasing after his fighter. Even a rapid fire gunpod with the fuses on its shells set to proximity mode would probably prove inadequate for dealing with such a large number of missiles. A pair of beam guns didn't stand a chance against such an onslaught.

Richard had no other choice. It was outfly the missiles or die.

Gritting his teeth, Richard pointed his Nightmare's nose towards a particularly dense cluster of asteroids and flew directly into it, careening through the deadly chunks of rock at full throttle as he sought to escape the pursuing swarm. Sheer terror gripped his heart as obstacles flashed by mere meters from his speeding fighter, but he did not reduce thrust for even a moment. Relying as much on gut instinct as conscious though, he flew to the limit of his abilities and beyond them, well aware that even the slightest error could have deadly consequences.

A large asteroid appeared in front of Richard, seemingly rising up to meet him as his valkyrie raced towards it. Switching to GERWALK mode, he skimmed across the asteroid's surface for a fraction of a second, then thrusted off of it, rocketing upwards as dozens of Vajra warheads slammed into the rocky terrain and exploded. Switching back to Fighter mode just in time to avoid a collision with one of the asteroids above him, he managed to make an additional group of missiles suffer a similar fate, this time more by accident than by design.

But even that stroke of luck wasn't enough to get rid of all the missiles that were pursuing his fighter, and to make matters worse the Vajra that had launched the warheads were still hard on his heels, pursuing him just as doggedly as he had been pursuing their comrades a short time before. For every missile that was shaken off by his manoeuvres or destroyed by his Nightmare's point defence guns, a new one showed up to replace it, and pretty soon Richard found himself trying to evade several different groups of missiles, each coming at him from a slightly different distance and a slightly different angle.

Bursts of cannon fire tore through the space around Richard's valkyrie, one of them passing within inches of his cockpit canopy as he weaved through the asteroids like a madman, constantly on the verge of losing control. Behind him his Nightmare's point defence guns were firing like crazy as they engaged missile after missile, never able to gain the upper hand in a battle they seemed destined to lose. In desperation Richard began purging parts of his valkyrie's hardware, jettisoning micro missile containers, add on armour, and even his empty gunpod in an attempt to shed weight and hopefully take out a few of the pursuing missiles in the process. The only parts of the Super Pack that he kept were the booster units, since he couldn't afford to lose the extra thrust they were providing.

Suddenly a large shadow fell over Richard's valkyrie as something dropped down from behind one of the asteroids he had just passed. Rolling slightly to port to compensate for the poor upper rear visibility of the VF-171's cockpit design, he glanced back through his canopy's starboard viewport and saw the massive red form of a large type Vajra, the lance-like beam cannon mounted on its back already pulsating with yellow energy as it prepared to fire on his fighter.

Richard knew that a large type Vajra's beam cannon was powerful enough to severely damage or even destroy a capital ship. Against a VF-171 in Fighter mode such a weapon was pure overkill. Even a Nightmare that was in Battroid mode –with its energy conversion armour fully charged and a pinpoint barrier available- couldn't survive a hit from a weapon that powerful.

He didn't have time to evade. He didn't have time to set his point defence guns to prioritise the large type Vajra either, and even if he had the low powered weapons wouldn't have done much damage to such a large and well armoured target anyway.

It looked like it was game over. His luck had finally run out.

Then, without warning a bolt of blue energy flashed past Richard's valkyrie and struck the large type Vajra's upper torso, followed a split second later by a second bolt that struck the alien just below its neck. Richard whipped his head back forward just in time to spot a third beam cannon blast being fired from somewhere in the asteroids ahead of him, and then a bright flash from behind his Nightmare announced the large type Vajra's demise.

"Raptor, break left!" a female voice commanded. "Switch to Battroid mode and use your shields!"

Richard wasted no time in complying with the voice's orders, yanking back his flight stick and then initiating the transformation from Fighter mode to Battroid mode. Spinning about as his Nightmare shifted forms, he caught a brief glimpse of blue tracers and explosions as a barrage of cannon shells with their fuses set to proximity mode ripped through the midst of the Vajra missiles that were pursuing him, then raised his valkyrie's arm mounted shields and hoped for the best as he projected a pinpoint barrier over them.

The first of the incoming missiles slammed into the pinpoint barrier and detonated in a spectacular fashion, obscuring Richard's vision as it did so. It was soon followed by several other Vajra warheads, at least some of which passed directly through the fiery cloud left behind by the missiles the cannon shells had destroyed. There were quite a few warheads left in spite of the damage those shells had done, and Richard feared his pin point barrier might be overwhelmed by their onslaught. The glowing green shield held fast however, refusing to give in to the bombardment even after being hit nearly a dozen times.

The after-effects of the missile blasts began to fade, and as they did so Richard caught sight of a small type Vajra that was approaching his Battroid at high speed. Realising that he didn't have enough time to shift into Fighter mode and get away, he turned to face the new threat, hoping he could somehow fight it off with just his valkyrie's fists and point defence weaponry. He was just about to lock on to his target when a burst of beam gun fire streaked in from behind him and struck the incoming drone, causing it to explode.

More beam gun fire shot past Richard's battroid, and then an enormous white object sailed by, propelled by two brightly glowing streams of blue engine exhaust. The white object had a sleek, generally humanoid form with slender limbs and bulky shoulders, and Richard identified it almost immediately as a Queadluun type battle suit –specifically a Queadluun-Rhea since the anti capital ship beam cannon it had mounted on its right shoulder meant it couldn't be one of the older Queadluun-Raus.

The protective coverings that shielded the white Queadluun's shoulder mounted ordinance bays slid open, and a huge volley of micro missiles poured out, their exhaust contrails giving the impression of a pair of great wings being spread as they sprang forth. Shifting direction once they had reached a certain distance, the tiny warheads selected their targets from among the incoming group of Vajra and fell upon the aliens en masse, forcing them to break formation and scatter in order to have even a chance of survival. Meanwhile the Queadluun's pilot began to lay about the surrounding area with every weapon her machine possessed, using rotary cannons, beam guns, and even the shoulder mounted anti capital ship beam cannon to great effect as she singlehandedly scattered the enemy swarm.

Richard watched her in awe. This, he realised, was a true ace pilot. Whoever was piloting that Queadluun wasn't a pilot who just happened to score five kills through luck the way he had. She was a pilot who could change the tide of a battle -the kind who could be trusted to find a path to victory even when the odds were against her.

Realising that his staring was contributing absolutely nothing to the other pilot's struggle, Richard did a quick visual scan of the surrounding area and spotted a small type drone as it attempted to position itself for an attack on the white Queadluun. Painting the drone with his eyes, he locked on to it with his Nightmare's targeting computer and opened fire with his point defence guns. The hits he scored on the alien with his salvo didn't actually do very much damage, but they did do a good job of getting its attention. Concentrating his Nightmare's pin point barrier on its right fist as the drone shifted direction and darted towards him, Richard lunged forward just as the insect raised its flagellum. He somehow managed to intercept the incoming strike with the shield on his valkyrie's left arm, but failed to make his own attack connect, resulting in his opponent being able to slip past him.

"Damnit," he growled as he spun around, hoping for a chance to do some damage with his point defence guns before his opponent could come around and get back into melee range. That hope was dashed a moment later when a single heavy beam cannon shot slammed into the drone and blew it apart.

"Banshee Six to Raptor One-One. Stay close to me," an unusually young sounding female pilot ordered as a black painted Queadluun came into view. Richard felt a faint surge of resentment towards the newcomer for taking out his target, but knew he was extremely lucky to have been able to block that flagellum attack. It appeared his close quarters combat skills could use some work.

"Roger that," he acknowledged as he switched over to GERWALK mode. His Nightmare wasn't as durable in that mode as it was in Battroid mode but at least it gave him access to the machine's beam cannons rather than just the weaker point defence guns. He really didn't want to get into another melee fight if he could avoid it.

Turning to check on how the pilot of the white Queadluun was doing, Richard saw that she had already succeeded in driving off the bulk of the attacking Vajra. It looked like he might finally get a chance to catch his breath.

"Banshee Five to Raptor One-One," the white Queadluun's pilot hailed. Richard immediately recognised her voice as the one that had ordered him to break left earlier, which meant that she was most likely the one who had destroyed the missiles and the large type Vajra. "We're going to start falling back towards where the rest of our forces are. I want you to stick close to my wingman while I cover the two of you. No running off on your own this time –I'm very low on ammunition and from the looks of things you are as well."

Richard nodded, then gave a start as he realised he had forgotten something important.

"I copy that, Banshee Five, but what about my wingman?"

"The rest of my flight is with him. They confirmed that he's safe. We're the ones who are in the most danger at the moment."

Richard blinked for a moment, then sighed in relief. He was glad the Queadluun pilot was so on top of things.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me until we've rejoined the main group. Just follow my wingman. "

"Yes ma'am."

Richard oriented his Nightmare so that it was pointed in the same direction as the black painted Queadluun, then shifted into Fighter mode and prepared to follow the other machine's lead. It began to pull away, and he moved to follow it, but before he did so he took a brief moment to glance back at the white Queadluun that had saved his life. He didn't know who exactly was in that machine, but whomever she was she had some truly amazing skills.

I owe you one, Richard silently thanked the other pilot as he turned his attention back to his flying. He might have made ace status just a few minutes before, but at that moment pride in his accomplishments was the last thing on his mind. He might technically be an ace, but at that moment he definitely didn't feel like one.

Richard let out a sigh as he followed the black Queadluun towards the rendezvous with the rest of its squadron. He was going to have a lot to think about on the flight home.