Chapter 4
12 hours later the Prometheus had dropped out of hyperspace. They were hidden from the mother ship by thick asteroid belt that the fighters would use to make their escape. If the Prometheus were needed, it would just have to jump to the other side of the belt. Jack and the fighter wing were in the fighter bay getting ready to go. Teal'c was standing beside Jack fiddling with the P90 he was holding.
"I do not like this weapon, O'Neill. Can I not bring an automatic shotgun instead?"
"Sorry Teal'c," Jack replied, "we don't have room for it. If we have to board, shoot someone with it. It'll grow on you."
We're ready to go sir," Carter came over to say, "you should probably address them over the radio."
Jack hopped into his fighter and strapped himself in. He powered up his fighter and then keyed the mike button. "Alright kids, you know what is at stake here. If we have problems, it's going to be pretty tough to retreat. In other words, if we don't get this right we are screwed. Remember, attack from long range until you are out of missiles. Once you're out of missiles, try to draw the fighters back into the asteroid belt. That should split them up better. Now give a status report."
"Two reporting in," Sam said.
"Three, good to go."
"Four, good to go."
"Five, in the green."
"Six, ready and waiting."
"Seven, good to go."
"Eight is ready."
"Alright then take you positions. Don't move in until everyone has launched, and don't be a dumbass out there." Jack said.
Jack taxied his fighter out to one of the two launch rails on the floor. Sam taxied to the one next to him. His fighter was automatically locked into the rail. "Ready to go, Teal'c?"
"Indeed I am." Teal'c replied.
"Alright, here we go then," Jack said as he flashed Sam thumbs up then pressed the button that launched his fighter out the door. Jack felt. nothing. "Oh yeah, you have to love that inertial damper," he said happily.
Jack put the fighter into a circuit around the Prometheus and watched as others launched in the same way that he and Sam had. Once everyone was ready to go, they formed up and headed into the belt. Man, Jack thought, these things are pretty big. He looked at the massive asteroids that surrounded him on all sides, as he juked and dodged his way through them. Finally, Jack emerged on the other side. "Alright kids, there it is," he said over the radio. "Get close, but not close enough to get hit by the turret. Draw the fighters out."
Jack took a good look at the mother ship. It was still in pretty bad shape. It was listing to one side a little, and Jack could see numerous fire plumes coming from the hull. There were also little streams of atmosphere venting from a couple of places on the lower decks. "Damn," Jack said to Teal'c, "That thing took a huge beating. It's a wonder it got out of there."
"Indeed," Teal'c said. "The leaking air looks to be isolated to the lower decks. If we board, we should avoid those areas."
"Yeah, thanks Teal'c," Jack said rolling his eyes. Teal'c was an expert at stating the obvious.
"There they are!" someone yelled, "I count 22."
Jack looked at his sensors. They confirmed it, 22 Goa'uld death gliders. "Alright kids, get your missiles off now." As he said that, Jack locked and fired his missiles as fast as he could, making sure that they were fired at 4 different targets. The other 7 fighters around him were doing exactly the same thing. In 30 seconds, all 32 missiles had been launched. Jack watched as one of the approaching fighters was struck by a missile and engulfed in a huge ball of flame. Bits of death glider spread in every direction. The remaining death gliders broke formation, trying to escape from the streaking warheads. One of the death gliders was struck in the wing, and rolled out of control directly into the path of another missile. Missiles that missed exploded when out of fuel or in close proximity, creating shrapnel showers that did almost as much damage as the explosion. One death glider flew through a cloud of debris, and emerged scarred and pockmarked on the other side. This probably wouldn't have been a big problem, except that the canopy was shattered, and they pilot was drifting into space.
"4 here, all missiles have detonated. I count 10 death gliders destroyed."
Jack checked his sensors. They confirmed this. "Okay kids, head back to the asteroids, draw them in and take them down."
"Copy."
"Roger that."
Jack broke formation and darted back into the field, two death gliders giving chase. "Teal'c, tag the two fighters chasing us. Nail them first chance you get."
Jack weaved his way through the field, twisting and spinning to avoid the debris. One of the death gliders came within a couple of feet of a large, spinning asteroid, but avoided it at the last second. Somehow, the death gliders were still on his tail, although he had increased the distance between them. Jack winced as he saw energy blast miss his ship by meters. Suddenly, an idea crossed Jack's mind. Finding an asteroid big enough to hide the ship, Jack headed right for it and increased speed.
"O'Neill, we are on a collision course with that asteroid," said Teal'c calmly.
"Yeah Teal'c I know. Get ready to shoot as soon as you can see the fighters." Jack said confidently. Just a few meters from the asteroid, Jack slammed the stick forward and dove under the asteroid. As soon as he reached the other side he yanked the fighter up and around the asteroid. By the time he reached the other side, on of the fighters was right in Teal'c's sights. Teal'c pulled the trigger, and the two cannons mercilessly spat round after round into the helpless death glider. The fighter came apart like a piece of glass shattering. His wingman, turning sharply to avoid the debris and shower of bullets, ran straight into an asteroid. The body slammed headlong into the rock with enough force that the wings separated and kept flying. "Haha! Nice shooting Teal'c!" Jack said excitedly. "One here, scratch two," he announced to the rest of the fighter wing, "anyone else need a hand?"
"Six here. Sir, I got one on me and I can't shake him. I could use a hand."
"Roger that," Jack said tensely, "on my way."
Jack found six on the sensors and headed right for him. Damn, he thought to himself, he's pretty far. I hope I can get there in time. Jack streaked dangerously through the asteroids, trying to get there as fast as possible.
"Six here. Sir, I need help! He's closing in on me!"
"Damn it six stay calm! Don't fly straight, keep moving! Don't give him an easier target!" Jack said, now really worried. Six sounded too panicky. He better get there quick.
"Ahh!! I'm hit! Losing stability!"
Just as six said that Jack caught up with him. It was a pretty grim scenario. The death glider was just meters behind six, and his constant hits where picking the fighter apart. Jack could see a couple pieces were gone from six's right wing, and his left engine was blown apart. Jack immediately dove on the glider, Teal'c's bullets shattering the wing and cockpit.
"Six, you're clear. Status?"
"I'm breaking up sir! I can't control her. Ahh!"
The damaged fighter was rolling out of control and had scraped an asteroid. The fighter rebounded off the rock and spun out of control deeper into the field. "Six, ejecting!" Jack heard over the radio. Fortunately for six, the X-302's ejection capsule was a fully functional ship, and it was small enough that the death gliders likely wouldn't notice it. Jack saw the cockpit separate from the rest of the fighter and gain control.
Jack sighed, "Six, hide behind a big rock or something until I give the all clear. Then head back to the ship."
"No problem sir," the now timid pilot replied, "and sir, thanks for the save."
Jack dove back into the field and headed for Sam's location. "Guys, check in. how many kills?"
"Two has two."
"Three has one."
"Four has one."
"Five has zero."
"Seven has two."
"Eight has one."
Jack did the math. "There's still two more out there, people. Let's make them dead."
Jack couldn't find any more, but five got one, and another crashed chasing Sam. "Alright people, we're all clear. Form up and wait for orders." Jack switched his frequency and spoke again. "Prometheus, this is flight leader. All death gliders have been destroyed. We lost one fighter, pod's on the way home." Jack waited tersely for the answer.
"Copy that flight leader. The mother ship has refused to surrender. Your new orders are to board and capture it."
Jack sighed. Damn, I knew they'd ask that. "Roger that Prometheus." Jack switched back to the group. "Okay kids. They want us to board and capture the ship. Have your weapons ready the second you open your canopy."
12 hours later the Prometheus had dropped out of hyperspace. They were hidden from the mother ship by thick asteroid belt that the fighters would use to make their escape. If the Prometheus were needed, it would just have to jump to the other side of the belt. Jack and the fighter wing were in the fighter bay getting ready to go. Teal'c was standing beside Jack fiddling with the P90 he was holding.
"I do not like this weapon, O'Neill. Can I not bring an automatic shotgun instead?"
"Sorry Teal'c," Jack replied, "we don't have room for it. If we have to board, shoot someone with it. It'll grow on you."
We're ready to go sir," Carter came over to say, "you should probably address them over the radio."
Jack hopped into his fighter and strapped himself in. He powered up his fighter and then keyed the mike button. "Alright kids, you know what is at stake here. If we have problems, it's going to be pretty tough to retreat. In other words, if we don't get this right we are screwed. Remember, attack from long range until you are out of missiles. Once you're out of missiles, try to draw the fighters back into the asteroid belt. That should split them up better. Now give a status report."
"Two reporting in," Sam said.
"Three, good to go."
"Four, good to go."
"Five, in the green."
"Six, ready and waiting."
"Seven, good to go."
"Eight is ready."
"Alright then take you positions. Don't move in until everyone has launched, and don't be a dumbass out there." Jack said.
Jack taxied his fighter out to one of the two launch rails on the floor. Sam taxied to the one next to him. His fighter was automatically locked into the rail. "Ready to go, Teal'c?"
"Indeed I am." Teal'c replied.
"Alright, here we go then," Jack said as he flashed Sam thumbs up then pressed the button that launched his fighter out the door. Jack felt. nothing. "Oh yeah, you have to love that inertial damper," he said happily.
Jack put the fighter into a circuit around the Prometheus and watched as others launched in the same way that he and Sam had. Once everyone was ready to go, they formed up and headed into the belt. Man, Jack thought, these things are pretty big. He looked at the massive asteroids that surrounded him on all sides, as he juked and dodged his way through them. Finally, Jack emerged on the other side. "Alright kids, there it is," he said over the radio. "Get close, but not close enough to get hit by the turret. Draw the fighters out."
Jack took a good look at the mother ship. It was still in pretty bad shape. It was listing to one side a little, and Jack could see numerous fire plumes coming from the hull. There were also little streams of atmosphere venting from a couple of places on the lower decks. "Damn," Jack said to Teal'c, "That thing took a huge beating. It's a wonder it got out of there."
"Indeed," Teal'c said. "The leaking air looks to be isolated to the lower decks. If we board, we should avoid those areas."
"Yeah, thanks Teal'c," Jack said rolling his eyes. Teal'c was an expert at stating the obvious.
"There they are!" someone yelled, "I count 22."
Jack looked at his sensors. They confirmed it, 22 Goa'uld death gliders. "Alright kids, get your missiles off now." As he said that, Jack locked and fired his missiles as fast as he could, making sure that they were fired at 4 different targets. The other 7 fighters around him were doing exactly the same thing. In 30 seconds, all 32 missiles had been launched. Jack watched as one of the approaching fighters was struck by a missile and engulfed in a huge ball of flame. Bits of death glider spread in every direction. The remaining death gliders broke formation, trying to escape from the streaking warheads. One of the death gliders was struck in the wing, and rolled out of control directly into the path of another missile. Missiles that missed exploded when out of fuel or in close proximity, creating shrapnel showers that did almost as much damage as the explosion. One death glider flew through a cloud of debris, and emerged scarred and pockmarked on the other side. This probably wouldn't have been a big problem, except that the canopy was shattered, and they pilot was drifting into space.
"4 here, all missiles have detonated. I count 10 death gliders destroyed."
Jack checked his sensors. They confirmed this. "Okay kids, head back to the asteroids, draw them in and take them down."
"Copy."
"Roger that."
Jack broke formation and darted back into the field, two death gliders giving chase. "Teal'c, tag the two fighters chasing us. Nail them first chance you get."
Jack weaved his way through the field, twisting and spinning to avoid the debris. One of the death gliders came within a couple of feet of a large, spinning asteroid, but avoided it at the last second. Somehow, the death gliders were still on his tail, although he had increased the distance between them. Jack winced as he saw energy blast miss his ship by meters. Suddenly, an idea crossed Jack's mind. Finding an asteroid big enough to hide the ship, Jack headed right for it and increased speed.
"O'Neill, we are on a collision course with that asteroid," said Teal'c calmly.
"Yeah Teal'c I know. Get ready to shoot as soon as you can see the fighters." Jack said confidently. Just a few meters from the asteroid, Jack slammed the stick forward and dove under the asteroid. As soon as he reached the other side he yanked the fighter up and around the asteroid. By the time he reached the other side, on of the fighters was right in Teal'c's sights. Teal'c pulled the trigger, and the two cannons mercilessly spat round after round into the helpless death glider. The fighter came apart like a piece of glass shattering. His wingman, turning sharply to avoid the debris and shower of bullets, ran straight into an asteroid. The body slammed headlong into the rock with enough force that the wings separated and kept flying. "Haha! Nice shooting Teal'c!" Jack said excitedly. "One here, scratch two," he announced to the rest of the fighter wing, "anyone else need a hand?"
"Six here. Sir, I got one on me and I can't shake him. I could use a hand."
"Roger that," Jack said tensely, "on my way."
Jack found six on the sensors and headed right for him. Damn, he thought to himself, he's pretty far. I hope I can get there in time. Jack streaked dangerously through the asteroids, trying to get there as fast as possible.
"Six here. Sir, I need help! He's closing in on me!"
"Damn it six stay calm! Don't fly straight, keep moving! Don't give him an easier target!" Jack said, now really worried. Six sounded too panicky. He better get there quick.
"Ahh!! I'm hit! Losing stability!"
Just as six said that Jack caught up with him. It was a pretty grim scenario. The death glider was just meters behind six, and his constant hits where picking the fighter apart. Jack could see a couple pieces were gone from six's right wing, and his left engine was blown apart. Jack immediately dove on the glider, Teal'c's bullets shattering the wing and cockpit.
"Six, you're clear. Status?"
"I'm breaking up sir! I can't control her. Ahh!"
The damaged fighter was rolling out of control and had scraped an asteroid. The fighter rebounded off the rock and spun out of control deeper into the field. "Six, ejecting!" Jack heard over the radio. Fortunately for six, the X-302's ejection capsule was a fully functional ship, and it was small enough that the death gliders likely wouldn't notice it. Jack saw the cockpit separate from the rest of the fighter and gain control.
Jack sighed, "Six, hide behind a big rock or something until I give the all clear. Then head back to the ship."
"No problem sir," the now timid pilot replied, "and sir, thanks for the save."
Jack dove back into the field and headed for Sam's location. "Guys, check in. how many kills?"
"Two has two."
"Three has one."
"Four has one."
"Five has zero."
"Seven has two."
"Eight has one."
Jack did the math. "There's still two more out there, people. Let's make them dead."
Jack couldn't find any more, but five got one, and another crashed chasing Sam. "Alright people, we're all clear. Form up and wait for orders." Jack switched his frequency and spoke again. "Prometheus, this is flight leader. All death gliders have been destroyed. We lost one fighter, pod's on the way home." Jack waited tersely for the answer.
"Copy that flight leader. The mother ship has refused to surrender. Your new orders are to board and capture it."
Jack sighed. Damn, I knew they'd ask that. "Roger that Prometheus." Jack switched back to the group. "Okay kids. They want us to board and capture the ship. Have your weapons ready the second you open your canopy."