Chapter 19 - The Condor, the Fledgling and the Nimrod
November 13th 2204 - Sulrethea Region
In the vast empty expanse of space, a large black Zoellugut-class super dreadnought, decorated with the symbols of the ancient Akerius civilization, was being towed by three Kelkapia-class strike cruisers as smoke poured from her wounds from a previous skirmish. Around the giant black super-battleship, nine other ships were guarding the damaged leviathan, including seven Cosmo Navy ships which consisted of the escort frigates Javelin, Monssen, Ikazuchi, and Shinonome; the cruiser Manchester; the Kongo-class Thunder-Child, and finally the Audacious herself. From above, the thirteen ships were screened by six Cosmo Tiger II fighters which provided vital cover from potential strikes from enemy fighter bombers.
Inside the Manchester's dark CIC, Commander Vivian and his CIC staff were on constant watch over the numerous radars, space sonar, and sensor scopes and displays on their respective consoles. With nearly twenty-five percent increased detection range over the radars of most ships of the Cosmo Navy, the patrol cruiser was the eyes and ears of the entire flotilla.
"Commander, I'm picking up something! Bearing 036. Distance, about 5 light seconds away," reported one of the radar operators. "Possibly distortions of the gravity waves that correlate to ships warping in!"
"Put it on the main panel," ordered Vivian. "Maximum magnification."
On the viewscreen, a dozen jagged-like warp wormhole signatures began to form and spin rapidly just seconds before light-green and white ships made their entrance.
"Unknown contacts have been identified as Gatlantean ships!" cried the radar operator.
"Confirmed!" replied another radar operator. "Two Nasca-class carriers, four cruisers, and fourteen destroyers."
"All hands to level 1 battle stations!" ordered Vivian before turning to his comms officer. "Transmit data link to the other ships and tell Commander Lee that we got company!"
"Yes sir!"
Aboard the Audacious' bridge, Eddie called out from the radar console to Jonathan regarding the arrival of the enemy ships.
"Captain, we've received the telemetry data from the Manchester. We've got a clear and accurate fix on the enemy force!"
"Acknowledged," Jonathan nodded before turning his attention to Anika. "Lieutenant Commander Welmer, put us forward of the Kerberos VII's starboard bow. We need to get between that decommissioned Zoellugut and the enemy fleet."
"Yes Captain," replied Anika before she turned the Audacious to starboard, passing directly overhead the black Garmillan superdreadnought.
"Captain, four Lascaux-class assault cruisers and eight Kukulkan-class assault destroyers are approaching us," reported Eddie. "They'll get into their firing range in less than two minutes at the speed they're going. Also, we're detecting a flight of Deathvatator fighter bombers heading towards us, most likely from the enemy carriers."
"Very well, let's pick most of them off before they get a chance to fire," said Jonathan. "In the meantime, we'll let Osprey Squadron deal with those horseshoe crabs."
"Targets acquired," reported Josiah. "Turrets one and two opening fire!"
The forward shock cannon turrets of the Andromeda-class battleship began lashing out six blue beams of wave motion energy towards the enemy ships on the horizon in a seamless cycle of three seconds. The Gatlantean ships tried to evade the oncoming shots but their efforts were futile as three Kukulkan destroyers were destroyed in the first minute. Meanwhile in the cockpit of the leader of Osprey Squadron, Kaito Asuka leads a Shotai Formation of three Cosmo Tiger IIs which consisted of Osprey Seven flown by Takagi Mitushiko, and Osprey Eight. Their plan was to fly high above to do a diving attack on the enemy formation of Deathvastators while another Shotai formation led by Konno Yashiro in Osprey Two with Osprey Three and Kazunobu Genta flying Osprey Four as her wingmen, to engage in a head on attack to distract the Deathvatators from the other formation's approach.
"Osprey Two to Osprey Squadron," said Konno from her radio. "Enemy bandits have spotted us and are moving to intercept! They've taken the bait."
"Copy that Osprey Two," replied Kaito. "We'll start our attack run and hit them before they've got a chance to fire their missiles at you!"
"Osprey Seven to Osprey Squadron," said Mitushiko. "I see six Deathvatator fighter bombers in the lead formation followed by another with five more. I recommend we perform a strafing attack from their rear to maximize damage on both formations in one swoop."
"Good idea Mitushiko," replied Kaito. "Osprey Seven and Eight, follow my wing!"
The three Cosmo Tigers banked to the left and then dove down on their unsuspecting foes like birds of prey, ready to snatch a few fishes from a school near the surface of a shallow lake.
The strafing attack was effective as three out of the five Deathvatators were gunned down by the rapid bursts of pulse lasers from the trio of Cosmo Tiger IIs before the lead formation also suffered two fatalities. As Kaito's Shotai formation pulled out of its attack, two Deathvatators broke from their formations and went after the fleeing Tiger IIs. Before the rest of the Gatlantean spacecraft could absorb what had hit them from behind, a salvo of air-to-air missiles fired from Konno's formation raced towards them from the front, forcing the four remaining Deathvatators to take evasive action. Although only one missile struck home on its target, the psychological effect was enough to make the enemy Gatlantean fighter bombers scatter in panic just as Konno, Genta, and Osprey Three entered into the dogfight frenzy, eager to mark more kills on their scoreboard.
Back on the Audacious, Jonathan continued to observe the battle on the main viewscreen. So far, the battle had proceeded very well in their favor as did the previous engagement a week ago prior to the flotilla being assigned to escort the black Zoellugut. With the addition of the Manchester, the Audacious now had complete control over the battlefield as the patrol cruiser was able to identify enemy targets well beyond the Andromeda-class battleship's own radar and sensors with the added ability to track them with impeccable accuracy. This meant that it gave their ship, their allied ships and space fighters more than enough time to react appropriately whenever the Gatlanteans tried to attack their flotilla.
However, this enemy force like the last one they previously encountered, was just a small raiding fleet which didn't have any battleship support unlike their previous engagements they had fought before being attached to the Manchester's group. So far, these two skirmishes had been rather easy and painless. A bit too much for Jonathan's liking.
Speaking of discomfort, Jonathan still couldn't get used to Nerge's presence on the bridge. The former Imperial Guard officer stood beside him on his right without moving a muscle. So far, Nerge hadn't really made much contact with the crew aside from routine visits to Otto's workplace in the analytical lab. Unfortunately, those said visits had somehow traumatized and distracted the poor bespectacled Garmillan officer from his work even if Nerge himself didn't speak that much. However, the crew member that was probably affected the most by Nerge's presence of the ship was none other than the Audacious' comms officer: Johanna Gibson. The poor girl was assigned to report to Nerge whenever his superiors were contacting him to come to the secure comms room to speak with them. Her encounters with the intimidating looking ex-Imperial Guard officer… To sum it up, it had affected her professional work and confidence.
"Enemy fleet now down to five ships and are now opening up their impulse cannons," reported Eddie calmly as several shots from the Gatlantean ships bounced off the wave motion shield of the Audacious harmlessly. "The Thunder-Child and the Ikazuchi are moving in to destroy them."
"Understood," replied Jonathan. "Continue bombardment on the enemy ships and provide cover fire for our allies."
"Roger that," said Josiah as he continued targeting the enemy vessels.
"Honestly, this doesn't feel like much of a challenge does it?" the junior tactical officer added. "Compared to other previous battles at least."
"Be careful of what you wish for Lieutenant Anton," Anika warned. "You may end up eating those words."
Back at the radar console, Eddie noticed something particular from the shared data link with the Manchester. One of the Nasca-class carriers had launched an unidentified fighter escorted by two Deathvatators which was now heading towards their task force at high speed.
"Captain, I'm picking up three more hostile spacecraft being launched from one of the enemy carriers," said the radar officer. "One of them is of unknown design."
"Unknown design?" asked Jonathan as his eyes narrowed. Although three new enemy fighters couldn't possibly pose a serious threat to their flotilla, especially since Osprey Squadron was wreaking havoc on most of the previously launched Deathvatator, Jonathan couldn't ignore them.
"Ensign Gibson, contact Osprey Leader. Tell him that there is a possibly new type of Gatlantean fighter entering the combat zone. Send a few of his available pilots to intercept it."
"Yes sir," replied Johanna as she went to contact Kaito.
In the middle of the dogfight brawl, Konno was busy trying to chase down yet another Deathvatator when suddenly Kaito called her over the radio.
"Osprey Leader to Osprey Two do you read?"
"Just a second," replied Konno as she downed her target with a quick burst of pulse lasers. "You were saying?"
"There's another trio of enemy Gatlantean fighters coming this way," Kaito continued. "Can you three intercept it?"
"Where?" asked Konno. "Give me a bearing."
"I see it," said Osprey Three on her radio. "Coming in fast at seven o'clock!"
Sure enough, a trio of Gatlantean fighters were heading towards the brawl at high speed.
"Alright boys," cried Konno. "Osprey Three and Four, form up, let's go and greet those newcomers!"
As Konno swung her Cosmo Tiger II around to get on the tail of the new Gatlantean spacecraft with both Osprey Three and Genta on her wing, she noticed that the middle fighter in the enemy V formation was radically different in appearance compared to the Deathvatators that flew as its wingmen. Instead of having a horseshoe crab design, the new Gatlantean spacecraft had a disc-like shape with a long narrow nose in the front with two sleek forewings on each side. It also had a wedge shaped cut in the rear of the disc-like fuselage which contained the engines with twin stabilizers at the rear edge. And unlike the Deathvatators which were painted in lime green and white, this new fighter was painted almost completely white with either sides of the disk fuselage painted with a pattern of black lines which almost seemed to evoke the feathery wings of an alien bird of prey. It also had a black arrow stripe that went from the tip of the nose to the cockpit with a pair of glaring red diamond-shaped eyes painted on it.
"Hey, is it just me or is that a new fighter the Gatlanteans got there?" asked Genta.
"Who cares. That one is mine!" cried Osprey Three as his Cosmo Tiger II went after the lead unidentified spacecraft fighter.
In response, the three Gatlantean fighters split up into their own directions with Osprey Two chasing after the new interceptor which had turned to the left.
"Wait hold on!" cried Konno who was about to assist her impulsive wingman but realized that one of the Deathvatators that had broken off from the right was now coming about to attack her.
"Damn it!" Konno cursed to herself. "Osprey Four, stay with Osprey Three's wing. I'll handle the other two Horseshoe Crabs!"
"You got it sister! I'm on it!" replied Genta as he banked his Tiger II left and accelerated to join Osprey Three in hot pursuit of the new canard interceptor's tail.
"Osprey Three, wait for me!" cried Genta as he tried to catch up with Osprey Three.
"Negative!" replied Osprey Three as he struggled to match the violent maneuvers the new interceptor was making. "I got this handled!"
As the enemy interceptor continued jinking left and right, Osprey Three decreased his speed slightly by doing a flat scissors which gave him enough distance for a possible missile shot.
"I have you now!" grinned Osprey Three just as his fire-control radar received a lock.
But a split millisecond later, the enemy interceptor suddenly pulled violently up and performed a Kulbit maneuver which took Osprey Three by complete surprise.
"What!?"
It would prove to be Osprey Three's last words as his fighter was quickly strafed by the multiple pulse lasers that fired from Gatlantean interceptor's nose guns just as his opponent was in the middle of his high vertical loop.
Genta dropped his jaw in shock as he watched Osprey Three's Tiger II burning furiously before exploding into a ball of fire. But before he could mourn the loss of his wingman, the Gatlantean pilot performed a half barrel roll which brought his sleek interceptor right on the chubby pilot's behind, forcing the latter to take evasive action.
"Mayday! Mayday!" screamed Genta as he began jinking his Tiger II violently to evade the enemy interceptor that was trailing behind him. "This is Osprey Two! Osprey Three was taken down by that new Gatlantean fighter! I'm full defensive and need urgent help!"
Back in Osprey Two, Konno was trying to finish off the other Deathvatator when she saw her wingman's plight.
"Hold on Osprey Four," cried Konno as she blew up her target. "I'm coming!"
"It's no good!" moaned Genta as all his efforts to shake loose the enemy interceptor had failed. "He's all over me! I can't shake him off!"
Genta tried to pull a last ditch roll to the right, but the enemy Gatlantean interceptor perfectly out turned his Tiger II and fired a burst of lasers which pepped his right wing and hit his starboard engine.
"I'm hit!" screamed Genta as his Tiger II went into an uncontrollable barrel-roll.
Konno watched powerlessly as the Gatlantean interceptor moved in to deal the killing blow. But before he could fire, another burst of lasers shot near the interceptor's right side from above which forced it to break off its attack and go on the defensive.
Konno looked up and saw a green Cosmo Tiger II diving in with guns blazing.
"Hold on Osprey Four," yelled Kaito on the radio. "I'm on it! Shut off the starboard engine and try to regain control of your fighter! Osprey Two, watch over him!"
"Roger!" cried Konno as she flew towards Genta's badly smoking Tiger II that was trying to regain trim.
After several agonizing seconds, Genta's Tiger II stabilized and finally got back into a normal flight path.
"Osprey Four, are you alright?" asked Konno. "What's your status?"
"I'm fine," replied Genta on the radio. "I think I want to puke though…"
"Sorry I couldn't help you in time," apologized Konno. "Wasn't quick enough."
"It's okay," replied Genta. "I don't think it would have made a-"
Suddenly a warning sign flashed up on Genta's dashboard inside the cockpit.
"Uh oh! My portside engine's overheating!"
"Shut it down!" cried Konno.
"I can't!" yelled a hysterical Genta. "My instrument panel is not responding! Engine pressure is rising rapidly! It's going to blow!"
"Eject Genta!" yelled Konno on the radio. "Eject damn it!"
Konno watched as the second engine of Genta's Tiger II caught fire and began to emit more smoke and flames. Seconds later, the cockpit canopy blew open and Genta's seat was ejected just mere moments before the Tiger II exploded in a large fireball which seemed to consume him.
"Osprey Four! Are you there?" cried Konno anxiously as she flew around the cloud of black smoke and debris for any sign of her wingman. "Please respond! Genta!"
Seconds ticked by, but there was only static from the radio.
"No…" Konno bit back tears that were forming in her eyes. She had failed to protect her wingman.
"Osprey Leader to Audacious and Manchester," came the voice of Kaito on the radio. "I can't seem to take down this new Gatlantean interceptor. He's making a beeline straight for you guys."
"Copy that!" replied the voice of Commander Vivian from the Manchester. "We'll let the Audacious' AA-defences swat that bug down. Break off your pursuit to avoid friendly fire."
"Roger, pulling out now. I hope they can kill it because this guy is as nimble as a dragonfly!"
Konno gritted her teeth as she glared at the direction the Gatlantean interceptor had gone. With rage building inside her, Konno brought her fighter about and accelerated towards where the Earth and Garmillan warships were grouped together, eager to avenge Genta's demise.
"Captain, unidentified Gatlantean fighter is now in range of our cluster missiles," reported Eddie on the bridge of the Audacious.
"Acknowledged," replied Jonathan grimly before turning to Josiah. "Let him have it!"
Josiah nodded as he unleashed a barrage of cluster missiles from the Andromeda's starboard quad mortar missile launchers. Despite facing nearly twenty-four of these miniature warheads, the Gatlantean interceptor effortlessly flew through them while shooting down a few in the process with its own guns.
"Shit!" cursed Josiah. "It didn't get him!"
"Enemy interceptor is making a run on our ship!" alerted Eddie.
"Fire pulse laser batteries!" barked Jonathan. "Take him out!"
The Audacious opened up the hatches of her multiple pulse laser AA-turrets and let loose a storm of red energy lances at the defiant Gatlantean interceptor. In response, the Gatlantean interceptor dove down and avoided the lower arcs of the pulse lasers' barrage.
"Damn it! He's going right under us!" grumbled Josiah in annoyance. "But it won't matter! Firing dorsal missiles!"
"Hold your fire!" yelled Jonathan. "It's too close! They'll never have time to achieve a positive lock!"
But Jonathan's words came too late, as the lower weapon silo hatches on the bottom of the Audacious' hull had opened and released eight missiles which flew toward the Gatlantean interceptor. Predictably, the missiles missed the target, leaving the white disc shaped fighter with black markings to freely pass underneath the Andromeda-class battleship and pull up to attack the Garmillan cruisers that were towing the black Zoellugut.
In desperation, the three Kelkapia-class strike cruisers fired their positron beams at the Gatlantean interceptor, hoping to shoot it down before it got a chance to strike. But the agile fighter easily dodged the beams which went on to hit the Audacious instead which was thankfully absorbed by the Andromeda's resilient wave motion shields.
"Hold your fire!" cried the Garmillan captain that was commanding the middle Kelkapia-class cruiser. "The Terron battleship is in the firing line behind the target!"
But before the other Garmillan cruisers could respond, the Gatlantean interceptor fired a pair of missiles directly at the bridge, killing the captain and his bridge crew with him in a fiery demise.
"Good Gosh!" gasped Jonathan in disbelief as he watched the middle cruiser careen out of control and slam onto the left side of her sistership which disengaged both towing cable beams from the Zoellugut.
"Who's flying that thing?" cried Eddie as the they watched the mysterious but deadly Gatlantean fighter strafing the black Zoellugut's forward gun ports and later her thick neck with its guns and two more missiles before peeling off from its stern to harass the other escorting ships as they tried desperately to blast the pesky fighter into oblivion with pulse lasers, positron guns and missiles.
"Damn," muttered Josiah angrily. "Engaging portside pulse laser batteries!"
"Hold your fire damn it!" Jonathan yelled just as the Audacious got struck by another friendly fire hit from a fellow allied ship.
"But sir, we must knock that enemy interceptor down!" argued Josiah just as the escort frigate Shinonome was strafed by the said Gatlantean fighter.
"I know," replied Jonathan who was also frustrated with the current events. "But if you haven't noticed that interceptor is flying way too close to all our allied ships. If we try to use our pulse laser batteries, we might hit a friendly ship by accident."
As if to make Jonathan's point, a stray missile that missed the enemy interceptor flew out of control and exploded on the black Zoellugut's side armor which thankfully did little damage.
"I agree," added Nerge. "That interceptor is just trying to cause chaos among our ships. It may be piloted well but he can't cause any serious damage to the Zoellugut himself as he doesn't have the firepower to do so."
"But we can't just sit here and do nothing," protested Josiah when suddenly another alarm sounded from the radar.
"Sir, we're picking up another space fighter on an intercept course with our fleet," reported Eddie.
"Great," Jonathan groaned. "Is it another Gatlantean interceptor?"
"No, it's one of ours!"
On the tactical display, a friendly IFF signal rapidly approached the clusters of ships. A very familiar IFF signal which made Josiah frown in displeasure.
"Oh no… It's her again!" Josiah grumbled.
"What the heck is Osprey Two doing?" asked Jonathan. "Tell her to back off or else she will be hit by our allied ships!"
"Osprey Two, stay clear of our ships!" warned Johanna on the comms. "I repeat stay clear of our-"
However Johanna was violently interrupted as a high pitch scream of rage yelled back into her ears. "Die Gatlantean Scum!"
Inside the cockpit of Osprey Two, Konno's red eyes burned with rage as she flew straight into the melee of AA pulse laser and shock cannon fire in-between the allied Cosmo Navy and Garmillan warships. She quickly spotted the Gatlantean Interceptor as it flew right behind the Manchester and immediately gave pursuit. Despite her prey's agile weaving and jinking in between all the allied ships and friendly AA-fire, Konno was just barely able to keep on the Gatlantean Interceptor's tail. There were a few moments where Konno thought she had a good lead on the enemy spacecraft fighter. But when she fired her pulse laser guns, the white interceptor would just skid to the left or right which let the lasers fly harmlessly by the fuselage. There was the temptation to switch from guns to missiles, but Konno knew that if she attempted to do so, she might accidentally hit a friendly ship instead.
Damn this guy is really getting on my nerves! Thought Konno gritting her teeth in frustration as the Gatlantean Interceptor continued to counter her every move. But I won't back down! I won't let my wingmen die for nothing!
Back on the Audacious, the bridge crew watched the Gatlantean pilot in his white and black nose interceptor buzz pass the bridge windows with Konno's Cosmo Tiger II chasing right behind. Eddie suddenly called out from the radar console.
"Captain, the Manchester is picking another gravity distortion near the enemy carrier battle group! It's much bigger than the others."
"Put it up on the main panel," Jonathan replied. "Maximum magnification!"
On the main viewscreen, another visible Gatlantean warp out was forming. As the newcomer exited out of its warp wormhole, Jonathan nearly froze as he recognized it.
"Calaklum-class," Jonathan muttered to himself, before glaring at his old tormentor.
As he gaze upon the Gatlantean battleship, he noticed something unusual about her. Unlike the previous Calaklums they encountered, this ship was painted in mango orange and dark grey with black markings instead of the standard dark green. Jonathan recalled that during the Battle of Planet 11, the Yamato reported sighting of another Calaklum with that paint scheme pattern but the colors it had were dark grey and white. But before Jonathan could ponder about the meaning behind the radically painted enemy battleship, Nerge interrupted his train of thought.
"Commander Lee, I suggest you eliminate that enemy ship before it fires its super weapon."
Sure enough, the Calaklum began dispersing multiple lighting rotation gun projectors as they began to move into three spiral rings that formed a cone shape of spinning lights with its smallest aperture aimed at the allied flotilla. Jonathan grimaced as he remembered briefly about what went down during the Battle of the 8th Floating Continent when the Indefatigable and other ships of the Cosmo Navy and Garmillas first faced the terror of the Calaklum's super-weapon and its devastating impact on their allied fleet.
"Is the enemy battleship in the range of our shock cannons?" Jonathan asked Josiah.
"Negative!" Josiah shook his head. "We have to close in the distance to get within the maximum range of our main guns."
"Very well, Lieutenant Commander Welmer!"
"I'm on it!" Anika nodded as she turned the Audacious to starboard.
"Ensign Gibson," Jonathan turned his attention to his comm officer. "Inform the Manchester that we're breaking off from the task force to get the enemy ship within firing range of our main guns."
"Aye sir!"
Meanwhile, back inside the cockpit of Osprey Two, Konno noticed that the Gatlantean Interceptor had made a beeline straight towards the bow of the Zoellugut and went after him. As the two fighters skimmed just above the surface of the massive black super dreadnought's armoured bow, the Gatlantean pilot fired another missile directly into the third and highest mounted quad positron beam turret of the battleship which exploded in a ball of fire and dove straight into the fire. Sensing a trap, Konno cut power to her engines and flew into the black column of smoke at a slower pace. When she got herself clear, Konno caught a glimpse of the enemy interceptor flying over the saucer command section of the black Zoellugut. Instinctively, Konno chose to fly under the saucer command section, bypassing the thick neck of the super-dreadnought. When she came out of the other side, the Gatlantean interceptor was still flying above and forward of her, seemingly oblivious to Konno's presence.
He expected me to fly high to avoid the fire and smoke and attempted to ambush me from below Konno thought.
As if to confirm her thoughts, the enemy interceptor pulled up in an Immelmann turn, trying to find his determined pursuer. Konno followed to match his maneuver but stayed close below him to stay in his blind spot so she could get her opportunity to finally kill her slippery prey. To prevent him from noticing her presence, she had switched off her fire control radar in order not to alert him.
Halfway through the loop, Konno finally got her guns close to bear on the Gatlantean interceptor. She immediately switched on her fire control sights and fired at her opponent. Caught off guard, the enemy pilot banked hard to the right to avoid being shot to pieces, but a few lasers clipped the left side of his spacecraft, blowing one of its fins off of it.
With smoke trailing from his left side, the Gatlantean pilot made a hasty retreat with Konno in hot pursuit.
"How long more before the enemy Calaklum fires its lighting rotation cannon?" asked Jonathan as he anxiously watched the enemy Gatlantean battleship begin spinning its rings faster on the viewscreen.
"One minute and twenty-three seconds!" replied Eddie.
"Damn, we're not going to make it!" Jonathan gritted his teeth.
"Captain, we should use the graviton launchers instead!" Josiah called out. "We won't be able to destroy the Calaklum but we can disable it instead."
"Good thinking!" Jonathan nodded in approval. "Anika, reduce speed to 12 space knots! Fujimoto, transfer wave motion energy to graviton launchers! Set burst mode type to detonation!"
"Captain!" cried Eddie from the radar console. "There is a friendly Cosmo Tiger II closing in fast to the predicted blast zone! It's Osprey Two! She's still chasing the Gatlantean Interceptor"
"What!?" exclaimed Jonathan. "Hold your fire! Tell Osprey Two to pull back!"
"Osprey Two, break off your pursuit!" Johanna called out on the comms.
"Negative Audacious Command," replied Konno's voice firmly on the radio. "I almost have him!"
"Oh, for crying out loud!" exclaimed Josiah in frustration.
"Osprey Two this is the Captain," Jonathan barked. "Withdraw immediately! That's an order lieutenant! Pull back at once!"
"Twenty seconds till the Calaklum has fully charged it's lighting rotation gun!" yelled Eddie. "Fifteen seconds! Fourteen, thirteen-"
As Eddie began counting down, Josiah decided that he had enough and quickly armed the graviton launchers, locked their sights on the Calaklum, and pulled the trigger.
Back in the seat of her Comso Tiger II, Konno chased down the Gatlantean Interceptor like a falcon pursuing a swallow. Although the enemy pilot's spacecraft was damaged and had left the allied flotilla, Konno wouldn't be satisfied until she had finished her enemy. As the chase drew her further away from any allied support, she soon took notice that the enemy interceptor was leading her right towards a large orange and black Gatlantean battleship with three rapidly rotating rings of lights. The Gatlantean interceptor suddenly ignited its engines and accelerated rapidly away from her Cosmo Tiger II, as if daring her to continue the chase into the jaws of the enemy battleship.
"Oh no you don't!" Konno cried as she fired both her air-to-air missiles at the fleeing interceptor, hoping they'd finally finished the job.
Suddenly, the Gatlantean pilot pulled a feint to the right and then dove down to the left, fooling the missiles to shoot off harmlessly into space. Just before Konno could curse at another failed effort to kill her foe, eight very familiar blue pulses of light flew to the right of Konno's cockpit and detonated right in front of the Calaklum, vaporizing the lighting rotation gun formation and striking the enemy battleship with a gigantic white and blue shockwave that was now expanding and heading straight for her Cosmo Tiger II.
Konno's eyes widened in terror as she yanked her stick hard right to avoid the rapidly approaching shockwave that threatened to slam her fragile Cosmo Tiger II and break it into a million pieces. Konno succeeded in making the turn and pushed her engines to full throttle in hope that she could outrun the shockwave. But barely a second later, the wave caught up with her and slammed into the rear of the Cosmo Tiger II. The last thing Konno felt before her head struck the side of the cockpit glass was that her fighter was in an uncontrollable spin before she slipped into darkness.
On the bridge of the Audacious, there was a deafening silence as everyone watched the bright glare of the graviton pulse detonations begin to dim, showing the drifting silhouette of the enemy battleship listing and adrift. On the tactical viewscreen, Osprey Two's IFF signal had disappeared, leaving only the last known position of where her Tiger II was reported. After a long silent pause, Jonathan soon snapped out of his shock and glared at Josiah with both horror and anger.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!?"
Josiah shot back an unapologetic and defiant glare back at Jonathan. "I just saved our lives Captain! You should thank me for taking the initiative!"
Jonathan narrowed his eyes darkly at Josiah.
"Excuse me? What did you just say?"
"You heard me," replied Josiah. "That stupid pilot had it coming, her life isn't worth the safety of everyone aboard anyway."
Everyone on the bridge, except Fujimoto and Johann who remained silent and speechless, were aghast at Josiah's blunt reply. He had stepped a line too far.
"Lieutenant Josiah Anton," Jonathan snarled. "You're confined to quarters until further notice! You better pray that Osprey Two survived that blast or else I'll have you ejected out of the airlock to join her!"
"Are you kidding me!?" cried Josiah in disbelief. "You're worried for the life of just-"
"Utter one more word and I'll have you detained in the brig!" Jonathan angrily cut him off. "Do I make myself clear?"
Josiah cursed under his breath and simply nodded his head before leaving the bridge in dissatisfaction.
Jonathan shook his head in dismay at his weapons officer's remarks before turning to his comms officer.
"Ensign Gibson, call the starboard hangar crew to prep a Cosmo Seagull for a search and rescue for Osprey Two and get some fighter support from Osprey Squadron to cover them."
"Yes sir!"
Jonathan turned his attention to Eddie. "Radar, what's the status of the enemy fleet behind the Calaklum?"
"The Gatlantean ships seem to be turning away from the engagement zone," reported Eddie as he monitored his radar screens. "Looks like their carriers are recovering their spacecraft. Should we pursue?"
"That would be up to Commander Vivian's approval," Jonathan glancing to Johanna. "Could you contact the Manchester and ask whether we can finish off the enemy carriers and their remaining escorts before they escape?"
"I'll try sir," replied Johanna as she worked on her station. "Although they seem to be a bit busy. Something about the Ikazuchi picking up one of the downed Osprey Squadron pilots."
"Which one?" asked Jonathan.
"I think it was Osprey Four,"
"Captain! I'm picking up a faint distress signal from the graviton launch impact zone," exclaimed Eddie as Konno Yashiro's IFF signal came back on the tactical plot on the viewscreen. "It's Osprey Two sir!"
"Thank God," Jonathan sighed in relief before lowering his voice with a hint of anger. "Although Miss Yashiro is also going to get punished for this mess."
"Uh oh, guys we got another problem," said Eddie as a familiar enemy signal appeared on the screen. "It's the enemy interceptor! It's heading straight for Osprey Two!"
"Coming back to finish the job eh?" mumbled Fujimoto as he finally broke his silence. "Typical Gatlanteans…"
"Anika, full speed ahead!" yelled Jonathan as he quickly switched weapons control from the tactical console to his. "We need to protect Osprey Two before he gets a chance to strike!"
"Yes sir!"
"Osprey Two, get out of there now!" cried Johanna on the comms console. "The enemy interceptor is coming back! Osprey Two do you copy?"
Inside the crippled Cosmo Tiger II, Konno slowly regained consciousness as multiple alarms from her instrument panel and the static yelling from Johanna in her headset began to wake her up.
"Eh… What?" she mumbled as she opened her eyelids and looked around.
"Osprey Two Respond!" screamed Johanna's voice in her radio set. "Osprey Two!"
"Yeah, I hear you…" mumbled Konno as she was still in a daze. "You don't need to shout…"
"Yes I do!" yelled Johanna. "Listen! The enemy interceptor is coming back to kill you! See if you can restart your engines and get the heck out of there!"
Konno immediately shot up in her seat at the mention of the enemy interceptor. She looked around frantically and to her horror spotted the Gatlantean fighter coming towards her from eleven o'clock from up high. Konno immediately tried switching and activating any of her controls on her instrument panel to see if she could restart her Tiger II.
"Come on! Come on!" cried Konno hysterically as she tried flipping and activating her controls and buttons to see if she could restore power back to her crippled fighter. "No, no, no, no!"
But it was no use, the Cosmo Tiger II was completely disabled. Konno looked up and to her terror saw that the Gatlantean Interceptor was now right on top of her. Its guns' sights seemed to be aimed directly at her head. Konno trembled in terror as she tried to back herself away in her seat from the large white and black spacecraft that now shadowed over hers. She gazed into the cockpit of the interceptor and saw its masked pilot staring back at her with a cold gaze. She couldn't even look away if she tried as she felt like a terrified mouse that had been cornered by an approaching white hawk, waiting for it to inevitably tear her into pieces with its sharp talons. As tears began to well in her eyes, she realized that this was probably it. Gatlanteans never spared their enemies, and she had well-earned this one's personal grudge to come personally face to face and finish her off.
Seconds ticked by, but the Gatlantean fighter didn't pull the trigger.
What are you waiting for? Konno thought as she was at her limit from the sheer tension between her and the enemy pilot. You got me where you wanted! Why aren't you pulling the trigger?
But then, the inconceivable happened, the Gatlantean interceptor backed off slowly before it veered away and flew off into the distance.
Konno gasped in deep breaths and let the tears flow down her cheeks, crying in relief that somehow, against all odds, she was spared. The young female pilot hadn't felt this hopeless since-
Suddenly a rumbling roar made Konno jump in her seat. Looking to the source of the sound, she saw that the enemy Calaklum had restarted its engines and was making its hasty retreat back to the rest of the Gatlantean ships just before a few salvos of shock cannons grazed it's damaged hull. As she continued to watch, the orange and black Gatlantean battleship jumped into warp and disappeared to wherever it came from followed by the remaining Gatlantean ships which also took their leave.
"Osprey Two do you copy?" came a familiar voice on the radio. "Osprey Two respond, over?"
Konno looked forward and saw Kaito's green Cosmo Tiger II coming towards her with a Cosmo Seagull transport right behind him.
"Osprey Leader," Konno muttered as she wiped her tears off her cheek. "I'm okay, thank you for-
"You idiot!" Kaito's voice yelled angrily at her. "What the heck do you think you were doing!? You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry," mumbled a remorseful Konno.
Inside the green and white Cosmo Tiger II, Kaito sighed, although he was impressed by Konno's ability to follow and match the maneuvers of that nimble Gatlantean interceptor, she still had much to learn.
"Save your apologies for later," sighed Kaito. "It's not just me who you should be apologizing to."
Inside the captain's office, both Konno and Josiah felt a sense of déjà vu as they were yet again brought in front of their senior officers. Kaito stood glaring daggers at both junior officers while Jonathan on the other hand had his back to them while he talked to Commander Vivian on the computer with a headset at his desk.
"Yes Commander, I'm sorry we weren't able to destroy the Calaklum before it made its escape," Jonathan sighed before continuing his conversation with his superior "Look, I had to make sure that my pilot wasn't killed in another friendly crossfire."
Jonathan turned briefly to shoot an angry glance at a remorseful Konno and an indignant Josiah who both tried their best not to look away from their captain.
"Yeah! Yeah! I know Jacob. Don't worry, I'll make sure that the pilot and my tactical officer will be appropriately punished. I'll call you back later once I deal with these hotshots. Goodbye!"
Jonathan terminated the call and sighed in disgust. "Why did my crew have to have two reckless, impulsive, arrogant, glory hunting morons!?"
Josiah immediately tried to defend his actions. "Captain I-"
"Silence!" Jonathan snapped as he turned his attention to both of his junior subordinates which caused both to flinch.
Jonathan took a deep breath and calmed himself before turning his attention to Konno.
"Look, as much as I appreciate your efforts in driving that new Gatlantean fighter out of our flotilla from causing more chaos, I do not tolerate disobeying a direct order and unnecessarily putting your own life in needless danger! There was no need to chase that enemy interceptor all the way back to its own fleet! If you had flown closer to the Calaklum, you could have easily been killed from the detonation of the graviton launchers!"
"Yes Captain," said Konno as she bowed her head lower in shame. "I have no excuses for what I did. But I just wanted to avenge the death of my pilots I had under my command."
"And does that require you to needlessly get yourself killed in the process?" asked Kaito.
"No… I'm really sorry…"
"Oh you better be!" Josiah fumed. "This is the second time you got in the way of my job! Honestly, we had everything under control until you Little Miss Tunnel Vision had to intervene!"
"Under control?" Konno, forgetting her guilt and turning to shoot back an angry glare back at Josiah. "Oh yeah, I see you were doing fine in failing miserably to shoot down one enemy interceptor! If it hadn't been for me, that fighter could have crippled more Garmillan ships and possibly one of our frigates too!"
"Says the pilot who got in the way of letting me save everyone's necks from being blasted to kingdom come by that Gatlantean battleship's lighting rotation gun!" argued Josiah. "After all-"
"That's enough!" Jonathan yelled, hoping to cut their argument short. "Both of you!"
"Captain, if that damn bird screws up yet again like how she did today, people will die!" protested Josiah.
"Damn it Anton, who do you think you're talking too!?" replied Jonathan angrily. "Of course, I'm weary about the lives at stake on both this ship and our allies twenty-four hours a day! Do you think that just because you made the correct tactical decision it gives you the right to say who lives or dies?"
"Yes, I do!" Josiah shot back.
"Oh really? Do you?" Jonathan asked. "Can you really accept that judgement? Especially if you had to go and personally tell their parents that you let their son and daughter die because you thought that person was expendable? Are you willing to make such a cold decision and live with the consequences just like that?"
Josiah stopped, as he was unable to answer Jonathan's question.
"Anyway," said Jonathan, adjusting his glasses before focusing his attention also to Konno. "As much as I really want to confine you both to quarters for the rest of the voyage, like how the late Captain Erickson promised. Since we're running in wartime conditions and are short on people, you'll be both assigned to janitor duty instead for the rest of the week."
"Also," Kaito added while glaring at Josiah. "Both of you will be working together!"
At that moment both Josiah and Konno's faces went red with rage and anger. But just as their mouths were about to open for them to protest furiously at that sentence, Kaito beat them to the punch.
"Shut it! I know what you two idiots are going to say," said Kaito firmly before breaking into a sarcastic tone. "Something along the lines of 'Absolutely Not!' or 'Why do I have to work with this trigger happy idiot?'"
Konno's jaw dropped at her SO's near perfect mimicking of her voice and turned red with embarrassment.
"Or maybe even 'I rather be detained in my quarters then spend the entire week working with her!'" continued Kaito dramatically in Josiah's voice as the said weapons officer looked away in extreme awkwardness and embarrassment.
"Am I not correct?" asked Kaito as he slipped back to his normal self.
Konno and Josiah were unable to answer as both were now either fidgeting or avoiding eye contact with their SOs as they realized how stupid they were when arguing in front of their SOs.
Jonathan, having recovered from his bewilderment, cleared his throat. "In any case, I suggest you start heading off to the starboard hangar bay and get to work! I already told the petty officer in charge that you were coming in ten minutes time. You better get going now."
"Yes sir," replied both junior officers as they shared a look of resentment and reluctance before turning to leave the room.
After Konno and Josiah left, both Jonathan and Kaito let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Good Gosh, I'm at my wits ends dealing with Josiah," mumbled Jonathan. "He's proven to be a good tactical officer, but his lack of respect for others is just unbearable!"
"I could say the same for myself with Miss Yashiro," grumbled Kaito in agreement. "She's an extremely gifted pilot but she's too reckless and needs to have some tactical awareness! But at least she is polite and caring to others… She was really concerned whether her wingman was safe and sound when she came back onboard."
"Speaking of which, how is he?" asked Jonathan. "His name was… Lieutenant… Erm…"
"Genta, Kazunobu Genta," answered Kaito. "He's fine, a couple of bruises, a swollen and twisted elbow, his flight suit was burnt but thankfully not damaged enough to be compromised to the elements of space. Unfortunately, he'll be in the medical bay for at least a week till he fully recovers."
"That's a relief," Jonathan sighed. "But this means Osprey Squadron is now down to eight active pilots. Damn it! If only we could get an additional squadron aboard the Audacious to provide enough air cover."
"It could have been worse Jonathan," said Kaito as his expression hardened. "If that Gatlantean Interceptor had chosen to attack the rest of our pilots instead of the flotilla... I think the squadron would have suffered more losses."
Jonathan turned to Kaito with a concerned look on his face. "Was it really that good? That new space fighter I mean."
"Yes," replied Kaito with a grim expression on his face. "I've never seen any spacecraft fighter move that fast or that nimbly from either Earth or Garmillas. Turns sharper and faster than the usual Deathvatators. Though its speed was still on par with a Cosmo Tiger II, its acceleration was quicker. However, considering Lieutenant Yashiro was barely able to match the maneuvers of that new enemy spacecraft, I think it was also down to pilot skill too. So who knows, maybe other pilots that are better in terms of raw flying skill and talent might be enough to match it."
"I hope so," replied Jonathan as he looked back at the computer screen where he pulled up a snapshot of the enemy interceptor taken by one of their cameras. "Or else we'll have another problem to deal with aside from those Gatlantean stealth ships which we still haven't been able to develop the means to detect or to counter them. Seriously though, how are these Gatlanteans upgrading their tech so efficiently? What else do they have hiding up their sleeve?"
Before Kaito could reply, the intercom inside the room began buzzing. Jonathan quickly transferred the call to his computer and answered it. "Commander Lee here, who is it?"
"Sorry to bother you Jonathan," replied Anika's voice. "It's me, Captain Nerge wants us to meet in the comms and radio room. It's General Dolmen, he has something to discuss with us."
"Okay," replied Jonathan. "Tell him that I'm on my way."
After switching off the call, Jonathan stood up from his chair and apologized to Kaito.
"Sorry Kaito, duty calls. In the meantime, could you send me your report regarding the new Gatlantean space fighter? The Garmillas High Command and the Earth Federation would want to learn about it before that thing begins massacring our fighters like the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot of the old Pacific War!"
"Sure, I'll send it to you once it's done," replied Kaito as he turned to leave the captain's office. "I'll probably get Konno's too once she's on break from her janitor duty."
"Thanks," replied Jonathan. "Be seeing you later!"
A/N: Hey guys, as promised the 19th chapter of my story has been released near the end of June! This one was a pretty fun one to write (especially when I'm listening to the song Sol Squadron from the Ace Combat 7 soundtrack at the same time XD) as I got to reintroduce a classical mecha/ship/fighter from the original Space Battleship Yamato series: The Gatlantean space-superiority fighter Eater II!
It was first seen in the film Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato and later in the TV series Yamato 2/Comet Empire alongside the original Deathvatator and another Gatlantean space fighter but didn't return for the remake in Yamato 2202.
The idea of reintroducing the classical space interceptor came about when I realize that there was clear need to give Gatlantis a space fighter that could match or counter the Cosmo Tiger II and the Garmillas' DWG 262s and DWG 109 fighters as it was clear that the Deathvatators just wasn't adequate enough to match it's rivals in combat. Especially since it was suggested that the fighters squadrons of Tiger IIs from both the Antares and to a certain degree the ill-fated Apollo Norm somehow survived to little or no losses against the Gatlanteans' Deathvatators during the Battle of Saturn and later the Battle of the Mars Final Defensive Zone.
However, since the name Eater is already taken in Yamato 2202 in the form of the swordships that Gatlantis uses and to avoid confusion with said Eater I, the formerly named Eater II will be renamed Condor after the bird of prey.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this action packed chapter and look forward to the next one in two or three week's time!