Thank you once again to Bob Rijke for reviewing. If you go to Freeport Nine in the Omicron Theta system you can see what an Eagle looks like.
Chapter 3: Test of character
There was a seemingly endless pause after the LSF officer had given his report, Valerie's eyes were glued to her contact list with almost religious zeal but she was too far behind for her sensors to register anything.
Her eyes were brought to the view screen when she saw the ships at the front of the group come to an abrupt stop. After a moment of shock she halted her own vessel and checked her contact list once again. What she saw was impossible.
A Liberty battleship, listed as the LNS Valiant was sitting just four kilometres ahead of Valerie and the other ships. It was surrounded by forty Bloodhounds and five Wolfhounds.
"What the hell is going on?" Spoke a quiet voice over the radio.
"This is the Liberty Rogue battleship Valiant." The voice that had appeared on the radio only seconds after the question was filled with smugness, and what sounded like repressed laughter. "You stand no chance against us, lower your shields and prepare to be boarded, or, if you prefer, fight us and die by the hands of your former ship."
The radio fell silent for a moment, after which it was buzzing with various, nervous questions.
"How'd the Liberty Rogues get a battleship?"
"Why weren't we warned about this?"
"What now?"
"Shut up!" Kendra Peterson's voice cut through the others like a knife, "West point group 14 patriot Alpha three, (Mathias' ship), retreat to a safe distance and call for re-enforcements. When you're certain that enough ships are on their way, join the fight, everyone else, let's get 'em."
Mathias fled the scene as the other fighters charged at the wall of Liberty Rogue fighters that were already moving to intercept them. Mathias was furious that he had been ordered to run whilst his friend was fighting for her life; it was all he could do not to turn back round and fight.
"Lucky git" whispered Valerie to herself as she saw Mathias' vessel fly away to safety. This thought was quickly banished however as the enemy fighters entered firing range. She had a much harder time dodging the enemy's fire this time, as did everyone else. In spite of the odds however, the Navy's technological edge remained, and it was this that led to the early deaths of four enemy fighters.
The Navy vessels almost constantly had to dig into their supplies of shield batteries and nanobots. For every enemy ship they destroyed, two more Liberty Rogues seemed to appear behind the ship that had destroyed a pirate.
Valerie tried as best as she could to block out the chatter and screams that plagued the intercom, a single second of distraction could result in a fiery end for her, hence she found herself unusually focused on her duties, until she heard a familiar scream that almost stopped her heart. Janet Carter was dead. Valerie spent a handful of seconds, which to her felt like hours, doing nothing except staring blankly at the view screen; once again, it was a few hits on her shields that brought her back to reality.
Nathan was slightly better then Valerie at blocking out the voices remained in blissful ignorance of Janet Carter's death. His attention was focused on the battleship that was steadily creeping into firing range, once it was close enough, things would get a whole lot tougher.
"Come on Mathias."
Valerie, having recovered as best as she could from the shock of Carter's death, was trying to destroy an unscathed bloodhound while at the same time trying to dodge the two behind her that were firing at her. She had used up her ship's compliment of shield batteries and her supply of Nanobots was dwindling. Her ship rocked as another round of lasers smashed into her hull, forcing her to abandon her previous target. She was not so lucky as to loose her pursuers in the process however. She deployed the three mines that she had left, and as they were harmlessly blown away, Valerie watched as the impossible happened.
The surviving Navy pilots cheered over the radio as the guns of twenty-five Liberty Defenders tore at the Bloodhounds, many of which were destroyed almost instantly, having already received battle damage. Others fled to the Valiant for support.
Valerie stared at her contact list with a mixture of confussion and joy, unable to understand how so many ships had reached the badlands so quickly, as the Valiant came into view however, she suddenly stopped caring. Now was the time for vengeance.
The remaining fighters burned and exploded as Navy fighters dropped in behind them and fired. The Valiant did not have the firepower to defend itself against so many torpedo carrying vessels, and as the last of the Liberty Rogue fighters died, the surviving 39 Liberty fighters opened fire on the battleship with everything they had.
Gun turrets and sections of the hull peeled away from the main body of the ship and incinerated. As the fire from the Valiant became more sporadic, the bright blue explosions that signified torpedo hits became a more and more frequent occurrence. Within minutes, the Valiant was reduced to a crippled mass of metal.
The voice of the Valliant's captain re-appeared on the radio, the smugness seemed to have given way to coughing, and there was no image on the HUD, which suggested that the enemy's communications were damaged.
"You know," it croaked, "I thought this might happen, call me a bad loser if you must but I've set the ships autodestruct to detonate, soon. Also, I made sure that the ship's cargo holds were jammed full of explosive gasses before we left, this ship was meant for a different role, but I won't go into that…"
"Run!" Shouted Kendra Peterson over the radio. Valerie was sceptical at first, this seemed like a trick that would give the Valiant time to escape, but the results of her cargo scan quickly changed her mind however.
"This is Ensign Jennifer Baird, my cruise engines are damaged and I will be unable to escape the blast, good luck to all."
Valerie stared in sudden shock as the distance between her and Jennifer Baird's crippled Defender steadily increased.
"This is Lieutenant Peterson, the battleship is going to explode in a matter of seconds and we barely have enough time to escape the blast radius as it is. Do not attempt to go back for Ensign Baird."
Valerie knew that there was nothing she could do, she even shouted it to herself, but she reversed her course anyway.
"Valerie, what the hell are you doing?" Screamed Mathias
"Get back into formation cadet!" Screamed Peterson.
"I'm sorry Mathias," she replied, "get clear with the others."
Before Mathias could say anything, Valerie shut down her radio and continued towards the defender. Within seconds, she was within tractor beam range.
"Ma'am, eject and I'll tractor you onboard."
"Are you crazy?! Get out of here cadet before…"
"Just do it!" The fire in Valerie's voice, and the realisation that this was her best chance at survival, however slight it may be, got Jennifer Baird moving, within seconds she was in an escape pod in Valerie's cargo hold.
Valerie was able to fly for ten seconds before the Valiant exploded.
"She's waking up." Came a soft, yet at the same time exited voice, which Valerie recognised as Eliza's. Taking a few seconds to wake up properly, and realise where she was, she began to ask questions.
"What…" A sharp pain in her side forced her to stop speaking.
"Easy, you've got some pretty nasty injuries." That voice belonged to Mathias.
What ha…" The same pain cut off Valerie again.
"I think you mean what happened right?" Nathan Remington asked, suddenly appearing on Valerie's right, "well let's see, you saved the life of a naval officer, disobeyed a direct order, got caught in the explosion of a commandeered battleship of all things, are to be given the rank of Lieutenant after graduation and posted onboard the battleship Missouri along with Mathias here, and finally, you're to be given the 'Lone star' for bravery, not bad mate.
Valerie grunted in a mix of amazement, joy and pain that came when she tried to move.
"It was close," Mathias began, "your ship's so badly fucked up that it'll be lucky to avoid getting shoved in the Detroit Debris field. As for yourself, well, I doubt I need say anything. Oh by the way, Jennifer Baird sends her thanks, she'll need a new arm but otherwise she'll be fine."
"Good to hear," groaned Valerie, "how long am I gonna be stuck in the infirmary?"
"Three of your ribs were shattered, and you received a concussion. Not to mention some internal bleeding."
Valerie stared at Eliza in sudden panic,
"Don't worry, they've fixed the worst of it. But it looks like you'll be stuck here for a week at least."
"Fucking hell, staring at these four walls for a week is going to bore me to insanity."
Nathan, who had disappeared from Valerie's sights for a reason that was known only to himself, spontaneously re-appeared in Valerie's line of vision.
"You'll be amused to hear," he began, "that the LSF was able to dig up some information on the Valiant. Apparently, it was decommissioned five years ago; the Liberty Rogues found it, dragged it into the badlands and filled it with ancient parts and equipment so that it was barely flyable. They were planning to fly it into Newark station before we showed up."
Valerie was silent for a few seconds, her semi-conscious mind was having a hard time accepting the information that Nathan was spurting at a ridiculously fast speed, once she realised what his message was, she spoke again.
"And now they're dead. So, anything interesting happen on your trial Eliza?"
"Not really, the Liberty Rogues were somewhat reluctant to show up after they got their arses kicked so thoroughly by you and the others."
Grins broke out on the faces of Valerie, Mathias and Nathan. 'The trial', as it would appear, had succeeded in preparing them for whatever the future held.
"We'll be back first thing in the morning Valerie," Eliza said, placing her hand lightly on Valerie's shoulder, "by the looks of things, you need your rest."
"Goodnight." Said Mathias,
"Sleep well." Followed Nathan as the three walked to the door.
Before Valerie fell asleep, her mind conjured up one final thought,
'That was fun'.
The End.
Chapter 3: Test of character
There was a seemingly endless pause after the LSF officer had given his report, Valerie's eyes were glued to her contact list with almost religious zeal but she was too far behind for her sensors to register anything.
Her eyes were brought to the view screen when she saw the ships at the front of the group come to an abrupt stop. After a moment of shock she halted her own vessel and checked her contact list once again. What she saw was impossible.
A Liberty battleship, listed as the LNS Valiant was sitting just four kilometres ahead of Valerie and the other ships. It was surrounded by forty Bloodhounds and five Wolfhounds.
"What the hell is going on?" Spoke a quiet voice over the radio.
"This is the Liberty Rogue battleship Valiant." The voice that had appeared on the radio only seconds after the question was filled with smugness, and what sounded like repressed laughter. "You stand no chance against us, lower your shields and prepare to be boarded, or, if you prefer, fight us and die by the hands of your former ship."
The radio fell silent for a moment, after which it was buzzing with various, nervous questions.
"How'd the Liberty Rogues get a battleship?"
"Why weren't we warned about this?"
"What now?"
"Shut up!" Kendra Peterson's voice cut through the others like a knife, "West point group 14 patriot Alpha three, (Mathias' ship), retreat to a safe distance and call for re-enforcements. When you're certain that enough ships are on their way, join the fight, everyone else, let's get 'em."
Mathias fled the scene as the other fighters charged at the wall of Liberty Rogue fighters that were already moving to intercept them. Mathias was furious that he had been ordered to run whilst his friend was fighting for her life; it was all he could do not to turn back round and fight.
"Lucky git" whispered Valerie to herself as she saw Mathias' vessel fly away to safety. This thought was quickly banished however as the enemy fighters entered firing range. She had a much harder time dodging the enemy's fire this time, as did everyone else. In spite of the odds however, the Navy's technological edge remained, and it was this that led to the early deaths of four enemy fighters.
The Navy vessels almost constantly had to dig into their supplies of shield batteries and nanobots. For every enemy ship they destroyed, two more Liberty Rogues seemed to appear behind the ship that had destroyed a pirate.
Valerie tried as best as she could to block out the chatter and screams that plagued the intercom, a single second of distraction could result in a fiery end for her, hence she found herself unusually focused on her duties, until she heard a familiar scream that almost stopped her heart. Janet Carter was dead. Valerie spent a handful of seconds, which to her felt like hours, doing nothing except staring blankly at the view screen; once again, it was a few hits on her shields that brought her back to reality.
Nathan was slightly better then Valerie at blocking out the voices remained in blissful ignorance of Janet Carter's death. His attention was focused on the battleship that was steadily creeping into firing range, once it was close enough, things would get a whole lot tougher.
"Come on Mathias."
Valerie, having recovered as best as she could from the shock of Carter's death, was trying to destroy an unscathed bloodhound while at the same time trying to dodge the two behind her that were firing at her. She had used up her ship's compliment of shield batteries and her supply of Nanobots was dwindling. Her ship rocked as another round of lasers smashed into her hull, forcing her to abandon her previous target. She was not so lucky as to loose her pursuers in the process however. She deployed the three mines that she had left, and as they were harmlessly blown away, Valerie watched as the impossible happened.
The surviving Navy pilots cheered over the radio as the guns of twenty-five Liberty Defenders tore at the Bloodhounds, many of which were destroyed almost instantly, having already received battle damage. Others fled to the Valiant for support.
Valerie stared at her contact list with a mixture of confussion and joy, unable to understand how so many ships had reached the badlands so quickly, as the Valiant came into view however, she suddenly stopped caring. Now was the time for vengeance.
The remaining fighters burned and exploded as Navy fighters dropped in behind them and fired. The Valiant did not have the firepower to defend itself against so many torpedo carrying vessels, and as the last of the Liberty Rogue fighters died, the surviving 39 Liberty fighters opened fire on the battleship with everything they had.
Gun turrets and sections of the hull peeled away from the main body of the ship and incinerated. As the fire from the Valiant became more sporadic, the bright blue explosions that signified torpedo hits became a more and more frequent occurrence. Within minutes, the Valiant was reduced to a crippled mass of metal.
The voice of the Valliant's captain re-appeared on the radio, the smugness seemed to have given way to coughing, and there was no image on the HUD, which suggested that the enemy's communications were damaged.
"You know," it croaked, "I thought this might happen, call me a bad loser if you must but I've set the ships autodestruct to detonate, soon. Also, I made sure that the ship's cargo holds were jammed full of explosive gasses before we left, this ship was meant for a different role, but I won't go into that…"
"Run!" Shouted Kendra Peterson over the radio. Valerie was sceptical at first, this seemed like a trick that would give the Valiant time to escape, but the results of her cargo scan quickly changed her mind however.
"This is Ensign Jennifer Baird, my cruise engines are damaged and I will be unable to escape the blast, good luck to all."
Valerie stared in sudden shock as the distance between her and Jennifer Baird's crippled Defender steadily increased.
"This is Lieutenant Peterson, the battleship is going to explode in a matter of seconds and we barely have enough time to escape the blast radius as it is. Do not attempt to go back for Ensign Baird."
Valerie knew that there was nothing she could do, she even shouted it to herself, but she reversed her course anyway.
"Valerie, what the hell are you doing?" Screamed Mathias
"Get back into formation cadet!" Screamed Peterson.
"I'm sorry Mathias," she replied, "get clear with the others."
Before Mathias could say anything, Valerie shut down her radio and continued towards the defender. Within seconds, she was within tractor beam range.
"Ma'am, eject and I'll tractor you onboard."
"Are you crazy?! Get out of here cadet before…"
"Just do it!" The fire in Valerie's voice, and the realisation that this was her best chance at survival, however slight it may be, got Jennifer Baird moving, within seconds she was in an escape pod in Valerie's cargo hold.
Valerie was able to fly for ten seconds before the Valiant exploded.
"She's waking up." Came a soft, yet at the same time exited voice, which Valerie recognised as Eliza's. Taking a few seconds to wake up properly, and realise where she was, she began to ask questions.
"What…" A sharp pain in her side forced her to stop speaking.
"Easy, you've got some pretty nasty injuries." That voice belonged to Mathias.
What ha…" The same pain cut off Valerie again.
"I think you mean what happened right?" Nathan Remington asked, suddenly appearing on Valerie's right, "well let's see, you saved the life of a naval officer, disobeyed a direct order, got caught in the explosion of a commandeered battleship of all things, are to be given the rank of Lieutenant after graduation and posted onboard the battleship Missouri along with Mathias here, and finally, you're to be given the 'Lone star' for bravery, not bad mate.
Valerie grunted in a mix of amazement, joy and pain that came when she tried to move.
"It was close," Mathias began, "your ship's so badly fucked up that it'll be lucky to avoid getting shoved in the Detroit Debris field. As for yourself, well, I doubt I need say anything. Oh by the way, Jennifer Baird sends her thanks, she'll need a new arm but otherwise she'll be fine."
"Good to hear," groaned Valerie, "how long am I gonna be stuck in the infirmary?"
"Three of your ribs were shattered, and you received a concussion. Not to mention some internal bleeding."
Valerie stared at Eliza in sudden panic,
"Don't worry, they've fixed the worst of it. But it looks like you'll be stuck here for a week at least."
"Fucking hell, staring at these four walls for a week is going to bore me to insanity."
Nathan, who had disappeared from Valerie's sights for a reason that was known only to himself, spontaneously re-appeared in Valerie's line of vision.
"You'll be amused to hear," he began, "that the LSF was able to dig up some information on the Valiant. Apparently, it was decommissioned five years ago; the Liberty Rogues found it, dragged it into the badlands and filled it with ancient parts and equipment so that it was barely flyable. They were planning to fly it into Newark station before we showed up."
Valerie was silent for a few seconds, her semi-conscious mind was having a hard time accepting the information that Nathan was spurting at a ridiculously fast speed, once she realised what his message was, she spoke again.
"And now they're dead. So, anything interesting happen on your trial Eliza?"
"Not really, the Liberty Rogues were somewhat reluctant to show up after they got their arses kicked so thoroughly by you and the others."
Grins broke out on the faces of Valerie, Mathias and Nathan. 'The trial', as it would appear, had succeeded in preparing them for whatever the future held.
"We'll be back first thing in the morning Valerie," Eliza said, placing her hand lightly on Valerie's shoulder, "by the looks of things, you need your rest."
"Goodnight." Said Mathias,
"Sleep well." Followed Nathan as the three walked to the door.
Before Valerie fell asleep, her mind conjured up one final thought,
'That was fun'.
The End.