Chapter 15

"Looking good, Benny, looking good." Don smiled as his falcon friend made the proper adjustments to Keeler's bunk.

"Test it, Don!"

"Righto." Don picked up one of the heavy cargo boxes and placed it on the bed. "OK get clear!"

There was a soft click as a small mechanism just above the bunk's pillow flipped up and locked. It was the sort of automatic soap dispenser one would find in the ship's lavatories.

"Brill!" said Don. "OK Benny, now get me the soap cartridge."

The falcon grinned and retrieved a small pink bottle. It was designed to fit inside the dispenser and squirt when the dispenser was activated. Benny was just handing it to Don when the thing exploded, showering them with its contents.

"GAAH!" Don exclaimed. "What was that?!"

Benny sniffed the air. "It wasn't soap."

Don groaned. "Stinkbomb. The little squirt did something to this bottle."

"Someone's been informing him of our favorite routines." Said Benny coldly.

"Well they're not going to get away with it!" Don announced proudly.

"But first…"
"FIRST!"

"TO THE SHOWERS!"

The last two squadron members, Huskies 3 and 4, arrived to the briefing at 1455. Both of them immediately started glaring at Husky Six, who was grinning quietly to himself. Bill chose to sort out what that was all about later on.

He glanced around at the assorted faces, gauging morale. The officers were all ready for the mission, as always. Don and Benny were just talking and grinning. They were planning something, but at least they didn't look tired or stressed. Matt was looking very eager to go. Bill hoped he wouldn't become reckless. Blaze wore an expression of utter impassiveness. Quite normal for him. Terry was also grinning to himself. Well, he was happy about something, what it was exactly, Bill wasn't sure. Leena was chatting casually with Robin and Fuzzy, as per usual. Overall morale was good.

"All right pilots, listen up everyone. Contrary to some rumors, our mission today won't be for Venom. Our target is Macbeth.

"We will be striking at the enemy fleet there first, which is not as good as it was before, since they've moved their forces to attack Titania. After that we'll run cover for our landing ground troops. On our way in, One flight will engage fighters, Three flight will help suppress the enemy carrier and Two flight will help deliver the killing blow."

Don Mossini raised a paw. "Sir, what intelligence info did we base this on?"

Bill almost hesitated. Very unreliable, very risky intelligence info. "The sources are classified and none of your concern at the moment Mossini. I want you concentrating on the mission. Now One flight…"

Following the briefing, all of Bill's pilots had the usual ritual of recording a message to friends and relatives, having a drink of water, and for some, a quick prayer to whatever gods they believed in. The PA system was blaring "Twelve minutes to arrival, all crew to battle-stations." No doubt most of the crew were already there.

Bill was just running last minute checks on his own fighter. All systems were running at 100% and the new shields were functioning normally. A half second later he gave a thumbs up to the crewman beside his fighter, and felt himself start getting elevated to the launch deck. He flicked two switches, activating his fighter's artificial gravity and inertial compensators. As he ascended past the atmosphere containment field and out onto the deck, Bill let the colors of warp-space calm him.

Now I have to let go of any reservations I have about this mission, and just do my job. If something does go wrong, just deal with it.

The other fighters of the Archangel were also rising onto the launch deck, awaiting the drop into Macbeth space and the battle that was sure to come.

Bill's headset counted down the drop.

"5…4…3…"

Fuzzy powered up his shields and weapons systems. "2…1… All fighters launch when ready."

The vivid colors of warp space dimmed to the black, starry background of normal space. Ahead, the mission objective was a large gray-green orb, Macbeth.

Fuzzy felt a slight shake as his fighter detached from the Archangel. A quick boost combined with the deck's repeller pushed him off and away, straight towards the enemy fleet, at this distance a number of black specks against Macbeth's cloudy mass. Husky Nine's voice came over the comm.

"Three flight, report."

Fuzzy reported a fully functional fighter, just like Robin and Leena. Lieutenant Leahy reported the flight status to Bill, then gave the order to form up with the bombers of Lightning squadron.

The four fighters of Three flight made their way to the front, leading the bombers by one mile. Fuzzy's sensor screen showed One flight forming up half a mile behind them and Two flight assuming escort formation around Lightning squadron.

"Huskies, we have enemy launch: one squadron is off the carrier and incoming."

"This is Husky Nine, we've got it. Mark up and go one for three."

Fuzzy set his HUD. Ahead, a faint glow from starfighter engines could be seen flying from the enemy carrier. He armed his first three missiles and went for a target lock. A few seconds later, red crosshairs superimposed themselves over the enemy fighters. Ignoring the shrill alarm in his headset reporting an enemy lock on his own fighter, Fuzzy fired his three missiles at the last trio of enemy fighters to come into range. Immediately after that, his HUD reported two enemy missile launches at him.

Piece of cake. Just time it… Fuzzy came straight in at the enemy missiles, as the distance indicator ran dangerously close to zero. As the enemy missiles came within thirty feet, a quick burst of electromagnetic countermeasures and a long boost up and away from the incoming warheads were enough to cause them to lose their target. They automatically detonated harmlessly behind Fuzzy's fighter.

"Three flight, this is One. Go on straight ahead, we'll take care of the rest."

Fuzzy smiled. They hadn't left much for One Flight. Only six of the original twelve enemy fighters had survived the first run, and they were so disoriented that Husky Leader and his team could easily pick them off.

Ahead, the enemy carrier came on quickly, its huge size even dwarfed the Archangel. But something was wrong with the picture.

Why aren't they firing? Why aren't they launching any additional fighters?

"Husky Twelve here, does anyone see anything wrong with this?"

"This is Nine, I agree. Approach at speed with caution."

Three flight broke into two pairs, one going above, the other going below the enemy carrier. Fuzzy adjusted his shields and began firing his lasers at the carrier. The Lightnings should be in range soon… Wait a second!

"ALL FIGHTERS BREAK OFF!" He suddenly yelled. Fuzzy rolled left and boosted, with all power from his lasers dumped into his engines. The protrusion he had spotted on the side of the carrier, a plasma hyper-battery, sent a beam of brilliant white-purple energy searing through the space a couple of meters behind his ship. A couple of transmissions came through, but they were cut short before half of a word could be said. Fuzzy didn't stop boosting until the beam faded away.

"This is Husky Leader! All fighters commence evasive maneuvers!" The purple beams continued to shoot out at the Huskies and Lightnings, disintegrating one bomber which got caught at the fringes of the beam. "Three flight, report in!"

Fuzzy waited a moment to take his turn. But no-one else from his flight reported in, and a few sickening seconds later, he transmitted a message back. "This is Husky Twelve, I'm OK." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Sensors show no sign of Huskies 9, 10 or 11."

The comm remained silent while the rest of the Huskies and Lightnings got out to a safer distance. Bill began issuing orders again. "Lightnings, fall back! Francine, join up with me, we're probing for weaknesses. Husky 12, link up with Two Flight."

"Yessir." Fuzzy thought he was going to be sick. Wally, Robin and Leena all gone in a matter of seconds. Just because of a single surprise attack.

Fuzzy resumed formation, watching two of the Huskies fly out at the monster which had just devoured his best friends. Now, only two fighters would try and draw all its fire in the hope of finding a weakness. "Go get them, Sir." He said quietly.

Francine pulled away from another purple beam sweeping towards he fighter. "Bill, I'm not reading any shields. From the looks of it there's around eight plasma batteries set around the ship. Knocking out, say, the frontal four gives us a window of attack."

"All right, I'm going in for a run. Cover me, Francine." Bill's fighter weaved in-between four of the deadly beams, dancing around them almost playfully. Of course Bill was doing anything but playing.

Francine cut in low behind Bill, drawing two of the beams after her. Out of the corner of her eye, Bill looped, narrowly avoiding another beam, and sending a pair of missiles down onto a plasma battery. The battery vaporized, leaving only three more firing at the two Huskies. As Bill lined up for a shot at another battery, though, they stopped firing. The missiles Bill launched crashed into the ship's energy shield, doing no damage.

"Bill, this thing DOES have shields!" She fired a stream of laser bolts across one of the plasma batteries but they dissipated a couple of inches away from the enemy vessel. Suddenly the purple beams began shooting out again, and one was sweeping inexorably towards her fighter. But an explosion blossomed from the base of the beam and it ceased to exist. Bill's fighter flashed across the surface of the enemy carrier. "Thanks Bill."

"No problem Fran."

Francine glanced at her readings again, just after sending her fighter on a looping turn to avoid more plasma fire. "Bill, I think this thing doesn't have enough power to fire all its batteries and power its shields at the same time."

"So we should knock out the batteries while it's firing?"

"No!" Francine checked her readings. "No, if we get all the batteries it'll just turn turtle and pull all power into the shields. I'm going to look for its power source." Francine spun in towards one of the batteries and intentionally fired her lasers wide of it, to keep the enemy gunners guessing.

She adjusted her sensors from a broad scanning detection mechanism to a tight beam more useful for finding out details about individual ships. She ran the beam over the length of the enemy vessel.

Let's see, high electric fields near the bridge and the prow, but nothing like a main reactor. My scanners penetrated pretty deeply into the ship in most parts, but here, a couple of decks in from the middle of the keel, there was too much armor to see through.

Francine nodded as she pulled around another purple beam.

It's the power core.

"Bill, three fifths of the way from bow to stern, launch nova bombs from directly under the keel."

"OK Francine." Bill's fighter flew past the ship's horizon. "Come from opposite sides and keep firing near the batteries to trick'em. Fire together, two bombs each, in twelve seconds."

"Got it." Francine swerved around the bridge, cutting in so close she saw a crewman/woman/thing (yes, definitely a thing) duck for cover. As she passed around the enemy carrier's engines, another purple beam almost went straight into the cockpit, but passed wide thanks to a last minute left turn. She planned her approach so that she'd reach the pre-designated launch point at the right time.

She counted down to zero, and upon seeing Bill's fighter aim directly at the spot she had mentioned, she fired.

Bill and Francine's fighters tore away from the enemy carrier as fast as their engines would take them. The two of them didn't need any warning. They both knew the consequences of getting caught in a nova explosion.

For a moment, the enemy gunners didn't catch on and just kept on firing. Then someone on the bridge realized it and all the batteries ceased fire.

The shields came on a second too late. The bombs managed to buckle the thick bulkhead wall that protected the carrier's main reactor, then caused enough of a shockwave to destroy control consoles, power couplings and coolant feeds. Faced with a catastrophic nuclear explosion, someone on the bridge shut down the reactor. The ship lights dimmed momentarily.

Of course, the two backup generators came online, but simply didn't have the power to sustain the plasma batteries. Instead sporadic bursts of regular laser fire shot out ineffectually at the attackers. Bill came back around towards the bridge, sending an order across the comm as he did so.

"All Huskies and Lightnings, this is Husky Leader. Enemy defences neutralized. Fire at will."

The remaining fighters suddenly moved in, firing Nova Bombs and missiles, tearing the enemy carrier apart chunk by chunk. Added to this firepower were the long-range missiles of Striker and Nightwing squadrons, which penetrated deep into the now-shieldless carrier. Finally, with the fires inside burning uncontrollably and the bridge smashed, with no power or any way to save the ship, the enemy ceased firing and escape pods started being jettisoned.

"This is Lightning One, thank you Huskies. If we hadn't had that cover from Commander Grey and Lieutenant Bastion, we'd have been history."

Bill's voice came through louder, though, and full of alarm.

"It's not over yet! Scanners report more enemy fleets jumping in! One from Sector Z, another just came in from Titania's direction and a group of cruisers have dropped in from Venom's side! We're surrounded!"

Francine gaped at her sensor board in disbelief. Their fleet was now heavily outnumbered and chances of survival were quickly running out.

"Transmission coming in." Said Husky 3. "It's from an enemy battleship."

"How did they get this frequency?"

"Beats me. Here, it's coming through."

A horrific-looking face appeared on the monitor, like a red vulpine face with an insectile exoskeleton, unlike any species Francine had ever seen.

"Cornerian Forces…" It began.

"… You are beaten. I am not speaking to offer you a surrender. I enjoy watching people like you die. I am simply speaking to make sure you understand that. You are caught in an anti-warp field, and we will start jamming you very soon. You have no chance." The creature smiled sadistically. "Have you any last requests?"
Admiral Hendrix hit a console button. "Yeah. Power up your shields." He narrowed his eyes. "This is no Cornerian Fleet. This is a fleet of the Katinian Defence Force, and you don't know a fight until you've come against us. Admiral Burton Hendrix, out."

Hendrix turned to face his bridge crew. "We're breaking out. All ahead full, towards Macbeth. Most of the fleet is still engaged with enemy destroyers down there, so we'll link up with them and then drive out past whichever fleet seems to be offering the least resistance."

His crew complied, all ready for the fight of their lives.

"Sir, all three incoming enemy fleets have deployed anti-warp fields. It seems that our best chance would be to head to Solar, since there's the biggest gap between enemy fleets there."

"All right." Hendrix stared at a holographic readout displaying the status of his fleet. Aside from some starfighter losses, it was still completely intact. "Link up with the battleships and press through the enemy forces trying to block us from Solar. Ensign…"

"Yessir?" Ensign Reeber saluted.

"Get me Commander Pontac. He's got a lot to answer for."