Chapter 5 : Out of the frying pan...
"Comm intercept from the dreadnaught Captain, sir!" exclaimed the navigator "Their orders are to capture us, sir, and take us back to their base. They want us alive" she finished, somewhat uneasily. Scarran interrogation was not smooth and gentle; it was brutish and unsubtle, just like Scarrans. "Calm down, Officer Leeuwin" stated the pilot. Though he projected calmness outwardly, he was very uptight indeed. These next enemies aren't a couple of unarmed recon craft, he told himself, they're heavily-armed war vessels, and we are vastly overmatched in all areas except speed. We're just lucky this particular Scarran doesn't know what kind of ship we are, he mused, or he'd have been screaming for reinforcements. "We need all the help we can find to get out of this alive. Fetch the prisoners. Let's see if they can make themselves useful".
Harrigan had felt the Harbringer lurch about as the first stealth capsule was destroyed and had a fair idea as to what was going on. This was proven right in the worst possible way, when the door opened abruptly and the nav stepped in. "Come with me" she ordered "The Captain wants to speak with you". She turned about-face and marched off towards the bridge. Harrigan, Mary and the corporal followed. "We're moving up in the world, Harrigan, aren't we? Going to see the Captain, an' all?" joked the corporal. "It's good to see you still have a sense of humour, corporal" replied Harrigan "But our social status is still at rock bottom. All that wild manoevreing was this ship on an attack run. Whoever our captors shot at obviously had buddies around. This ship is short-handed and the Captain may intend pressing us into service to fill out the gaps in the crew"
The small group arrived at the bridge door, which was open. "Ah" the pilot said, somewhat ironically "Our guests have arrived". The corporal drew breath to object, but an elbow in the ribs from Mary silenced him. "As you may have guessed, we're in a little trouble right now". Harrigan cut in with "We've just been in combat, I do know that". Then, in a more subdued tone of voice, he continued "My guess is..." he looked over at Mary, who nodded "And my colleague's guess too, is that your recently departed target had friends close by, who are rolling out the steel welcome mat even as we speak, just for us". The Captain chuckled a little at that. "While I do not pretend to understand exactly what you just said, you are correct in the major details" he stated. "Are you familiar with a race known as Scarrans?".
The corporal stepped forward. After a hastily whispered "Be careful" from Mary and Harrigan, he spoke up. "Begging your pardon, sir" he replied. He thought it best to treat the Catptain the same way as an officer back home, in order to avoid problems. Harrigan and Mary nodded. "But we aren't. We aren't familiar with your race, or any other one out here either. You look like us, but aren't like us. This is the first flight our race has intentionally sent outside our home system". He neglected to mention the other one, and the Captain was sufficiently anxious over the coming combat that he didn't notice. "I see" he drawled. The corporal continued "When we arrived in the neighbourhood, all we were trying to do was find somewhere to fill up on food and fuel. Then, what happens but this thing" emphasised the corporal, poining around at the Harbringer, "popped out of nowhere, where you proceeded to blast us and take us prisoner. Not exactly what we expected first time out, hmmm?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "First contact, sir" replied the nav, surprised. "Indeed" the pilot replied "The Commandant will find this very interesting indeed. But first we have to get back alive. I don't suppose any of you have any combat experience, by any chance?". His tone of voice betrayed his view of the likelihood of this. Mary quickly changed that when she replied "Extensive, sir. I trained in the infantry, with the rank of Second Lieutenant. Harrigan here" she said, pointing at him "is in the Air Force, with the rank of First Lieutenant". She did not say exactly what they did in their respective militaries, and the Captain noticed this time. "I see you aren't telling me everything" he probed "Well, there will be time enough for that when the Commandant gets to see you. And this one?" the pilot finished, pointing at the corporal. "We brought him alomg to watch the dials and gauges" said Harrigan cheerfully "and, of course, to yell out if anything's about to go bang, sacrificing himself so we can escape".
"Ah, yes" smiled the pilot primly "You seem to have mastered satire and irony, even if you haven't mastered spaceflight. Since you have piloting skills, sit there" he commanded, pointing to the copliot's chair. Harrigan wandered over and sat down, bouncing up and down on the seat, testing the upholstery. After a couple of seconds, he settled down. "Good seat, anyway" he grinned. "Hmph" muttered the pilot "You" he ordered, pointed to Mary "will take the top gunner's position. Nav, you'll have to take the tail gunner's position, and as for him" he grumped, leaning over the corporal "Sit there". "What's that place for?" the corporal asked. "Flight engineer" was the reply. "Redundant really, as both pilots can read the same information. But the powers that be in First Command decided the position has to be there on a ship of this size, and who am I to argue?". It was obvious to all of them that the pilot had better ideas for uses of the space. "Where's the gunner's chair?" asked Mary. "First on the left, up that short ladder" the pilot replied. The nav ran down the corridor to the tailgunner's chair.
"Sound off!" the pilot ordered. "Tail gun" replied the nav over the comm "Hot and ready". "Where's the 'on' button?!" demanded Mary from the top turret "I can't see it!". The pilot shook his head in exasperation and was about to let loose when the nav cut in "Should be by your right leg. Jab it with your knee" she explained. "Ah, yes" she continued, relieved "Doesn't seem to be anything wrong. No red lights or strange smoke and crackles. How do I shoot though?". "Trigger's on the right stick" explained the nav again "That bar on the left is the temp gauge – keep to short bursts or it'll overheat and we die. The computer will help a bit, but you'll need to be quick on the trigger". In the meantime, Harrigan was getting an accelerated course in Harbringer piloting. Much to the Peacekeeper's surprise he caught on fast. "Quite a lot like Harrier controls back home. No problem". "I just hope you pick up the peculiarities of space combat as quickly" replied the pilot.
The surviving stealth capsule pilot had just crash-landed in the Scarran frigate's launch bay. She had just managed to open the canopy and stagger out of her capsule, heaving and retching all over the runways, when the frigate Captain stomped up to her. "Report!" he barked. "An unidentified vessel just turned up out of nowhere. The first I knew of it was when it opened fire on my flight leader. He had barely enough time to scream before it blasted him to atoms" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "We gathered that when he failed to report in" barked the frigate Captain "Can you tell us anything else we don't already know?!". "The vessel didn't show on any sensors, Captain" she replied, still recovering from combat and a hard landing. "No radar, MAD, IR, thermals, nothing. It was painted some strange blackish-grey so we could barely see it unless it was right on top of us, too". "A Peacekeeper stealth craft, Captain" explained his intelligence officer "Previous examples haven't been this well armed, though. This is something new, a first sighting, sir". "Yes, Lieutenant" the Captain replied "I figured out it was a new kind of ship myself. I can do that, you know, I am the Captain! Pilot?" he said, speaking to the capsule pilot. "Yes, sir?" she replied, staggering a little. "Bring your sensor logs to the CIC, and we'll see what we can make of this". "Yes, si—BLEEEUGH!!" she groaned, as she threw up all over the frigate Captain's freshly polished boots.
Barely controlling his fury, he bent down and removed his boots, coming to face level with the puking capsule pilot "Clean yourself up and report, with your sensor logs, to CIC" he whispered "As you've just come out of combat, I'll ignore this particular problem this time". He heard a muffled laughter from one of the maintenance crew. Turning and hurling his soiled footwear at full speed all at once, he landed his boots dead-center on a crew chief's forehead, knocking him out. "CLEAN THAT UP!" he bellowed "NOW!!!". Another crewman hurried to comply, not wanting to risk their Captain's wrath further. "Get CIC ready for those logs, Lieutenant" the Captain ordered "Hopefully, we'll find something on them". He then stomped off to get a clean pair of boots, while his command staff busied themselves readying the CIC for the analysis.
Back in the Harbringer, Harrigan had just been through a few basic manoevres. "Not bad" Harrigan said, pleased "I could really like this ship". He promptly proved this by pulling a tight roll, causing the corporal to puke over his console. "Harrigan, did you have to do that?" the corporal groaned, sweeping the puke off the console with his sleeve. "Yep" Harrigan grinned "I've done stuff like that in every craft I've flown once I've qualified in it". The Peacekeeper pilot brought the festivities to a halt "Enough" he ordered "Let's get out of here without any more theatrics". Harrigan fed in more throttle and eased the Harbringer out of the asteroid field. "What the hezmana have we got ourselves into?" the Captain exclaimed. "What's up?" asked Harrigan. "Sensors show one Scarran frigate out there in the open. That's where that capsule's wingman went, I'm sure. But there's probably a dreadnaught around somewhere, but we can't see the damn thing. Either it's out of range, hiding in the belt, or the damn sensors are out again". The nav came in over the intercom with "It shouldn't be the sensors. I fixed them just after I picked these guys up. More likely he's in the belt where the clutter's hiding him. Even our sensors can't see in there too well unless we're close". Harrigan yelled at the corporal "Everything in the green over there?". "Seems to be" the corporal replied "I can't read the writing, but there haven't been any flashing lights or verbal warnings yet". "Good" Harrigan replied "Mary?". "Fine. This stuff's really good. Way more advanced than what we've got. Easy enough to use, though. Just took a couple of pot shots at one of the little rocks. Perfect" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "Sir!" reported a signals tech in the CIC on the Scarran frigate. "Yes?" responded the senior Lieutenant. "Bridge reports an energy blast at approximately 026 dash 345, forty kilometras, consistent with what the capsule's sensor logs show the enemy vessel to be armed with. Probably testing their gear after the skirmish".
The Captain and the capsule pilot looked up at that. "That craft is next to impossible to detect, Captain" the capsule pilot replied. "So it appears" the frigate Captain replied. He turned towards his comm officer "Order the Intruders to herd it towards us. We'll immobilise it and take it aboard". The comm officer forwarded his order to the CAP flight.
The Intruder pilots immediately headed for the Harbringer's last known position, muttering darkly. "What's going on?" one pilot asked his wingleader "If those logs are even halfway accurate, this thing's harder to find than anything else in flight". "All we have to do" replied the wingleader "is draw it out of the belt and over to the frigate. Where they get to receive all the glory by reeling that damn thing in, and we do all the work by trying to find an invisible ship". "Oh well" another pilot replied "that's the military. Kept in the frelling dark and fed---"when he was cut off by the wingleader. "Button it!" he barked "Just do your job and keep your eyes open!". The entire patrol of four Intruders headed over towards the Harbringer.
"L-T!" yelled Mary over the intercom. "Yes?" Harrigan replied. "Four fighters inbound" Mary replied. "The Peacekeeper pilot added "They probably picked up your gunfire on their sensors". He shook his head from side to side at the folly of that. "Since those fighters are between us and the escape route, we'd better get them fast. Guns, you copy that?" he asked over the intercom. "Tailgunner copies" stated the nav. "Top gun copies" replied Mary "At last I get a bit of stress-relief. Being in that bunkroom with a quesy corporal was trying my patience". "At least you don't have to smell the bridge" Harrigan replied "Our corporal puked those rations over his console". "Less chitchat" ordered the Peacekeeper "Straight ahead, half speed. We'll blow straight through and keep going. Gunners, get ready!".
Harrigan shoved the throttles forward, grinning to himself. Here I am, in a ship I hadn't even seen two days ago, about to take on a capital-class warship and escort, he mused. The only way this could get any better is if we get out of this alive, or that ship out there forgets about us. Fat chance of that, he thought, aiming straight between the two pairs of fighters. "Your gun crosshairs are up there on the HUD. The display's the same as the ones in the top and tail positions. Let's go Scarran-smashing" the Peacekeeper growled. Harrigan centred the lead fighter in his crosshairs as they flew on "If you use the fire-control gear, you'll get a much easier chance of a hit, but they'll detect it. Aim manually, and while you lose some potential accuracy we stay undetected until they die". "I'll take the first one silent" Harrigan replied "They can't fail to notice us then, so we'll go hot from then on".
The Intruder pilots hadn't had the chance to confer with their comrade in the stealth capsule. In addition to their lack of first-hand intelligence, they were not piloting stealth-capable vessels. Harrigan fired as soon as passive sensors reported the lead fighter within range, leaving nothing but scattered fragments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "Scatter!" screamed the senior remaining pilot. "Back to the frigate!". They immediately applied full power and turned for their mothership. But they hadn't reckoned on their adversary's extraordinary speed and acceleration. "Next one's mine!" yelled Mary. "Just don't miss!" shouted back Harrigan in return. Mary immediately activated her fire-control gear and locked on to her target.
The Scarran pilot immediately got a screeching noise in her headset. "They're on me!" she wailed "I can't shake them! And this damn jamming gear's useless!". The flight leader responded with "Three, break right. Attack from behind. Two, keep dodging for as long as you can. I'll come from over the top". Mary chose that moment to fire. The Scarran pilot managed to dodge two volleys, before the third one found the lower left engine. There wasn't even enough time for a scream before her fighter was blasted to fragments.
"So it's like that, is it?" growled the Scarran flight leader. With only one other craft surviving, he had only one option; both wingman and himself would attack simultaneously. "Burn hard!" he yelled over the comm "Attack!". He positioned himself to come up from below his target and applied full throttle.
"Two targets inbound" declared the Peacekeeper. He was impressed at the skill these people had shown. If they made it back to base alive, he would ask the Commandant to recruit them into Peacekeeper service; they would be a valuable addition to any navy command. "One behind, one above. Officer Leeuwin, get ready! One's on you. Top gun?" he asked. "Yes?" replied Mary. "You have the other one. But it's coming from slightly below; we have to roll to see it, so you'll probably need to hit it on the move" the Peacekeeper finished. "Got it" replied Mary, "Copy that" added Officer Leeuwin. "I hope so" cut in Harrigan. "As soon as you've fragged that bad boy, sing out. I'll barrel roll this thing, leaving Mary free to dust the other one. Got it? We'll be waiting on you". Though she found his speech confusing and his manner lacking in discipline, she replied "Got it" and turned to her instruments. This pilot was obviously over-eager; he wasn't making even a rudimentary attempt at evasion. "Six kilometras..." she reported "Five... four...he's speeding up, three point five...firing!". After quickly looking around, she yelled "Target destroyed!"
The sole remaing Scarran pilot stared in wonder at the vessel he was rapidly approaching. If three tours in stealth capsules had taught him anything, it was that he could never be too paranoid. The fact that this mystery ship had just smashed his entire command to pieces in less than 150 microts just increased his caution. He started jinking back and forth, hoping to confuse the gunners on board the Harbringer long enough to reach attack range. Just before he came in range, the Harbringer rolled over. The flight leader could see the upper gun turret traversing in his direction even as the craft rolled over, so he threw his Intruder over to his left and headed back for the protection offered by his frigate's guns.
"You ain't getting away from ol' John Harrigan, no way" muttered Harrigan "Mary, you ready for more up there?" he yelled. "Always!" she replied. "As soon as you're in range, get 'im!" Harrigan continued "I'll try with the fixed guns from here, but you'll have more chance from up there in the turret". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- He immediately increased speed to two-thirds, closing the gap again.
What the frell is that thing? wondered the Intruder pilot. I'm at full throttle here, and that nightmare vessel is still gaining on me! He quickly flipped his comm to fleet command. "Intruder patrol to Starbreaker. Please respond!" he yelled, with some fear. After three repeats, and much frantic dodging, the frigate Captain replied. "Is that ship coming in?" he growled "Fleet Command is anxious to get this over with and RTB". Harrigan chose that moment to send a blast from the Harbringer's front guns his way. "Aaaaah!" the pilot screamed. "Well?! Speak up!" probed the frigate's Captain. The Intruder pilot quickly threw his craft away from another blast, this time from Mary's turret. "I'm a bit busy here, sir! Under heavy fire, lost half my directional thrusters and one main engine! What do YOU THINK?!" he screamed, cutting the call.
"This guy's good!" exclaimed Mary, back on the Harbringer. "We've sent enough fire his way to kill three hundred elephants, and he's still there!" "But not completely unharmed" cut in the corporal "If I read this right, he's only flying on one engine, and less than 40% manoevreability". Officer Leeuwin added "You are reading that right. I just took a look as well. It's just as well for him he's so good, otherwise he'd be smeared all over the system". The Peacekeeper pilot spoke up "We will have to eradicate this last enemy before he gets close enough to the frigate for its guns to cover his landing. Increase speed to three-quarters. Pursue and destroy"
On board the Scarran frigate, the duty comm officer was trying every sensor mode she had to try and locate the Harbringer. All had failed. The Captain chose that moment to come stomping on to the bridge. "Lock on to the enemy vessel and fire an immobiliser pulse as soon as it moves within range" he ordered. He slumped into his command chair, shaking his head in frustration at the way Harrigan and the Peacekeepers kept eluding him. "Not possible, sir" replied the gunnery officer. "What?!" responded his Captain, half-rising from his chair in shock. "Can't lock on, sir" he continued "Comm officer can't lock on to him, sir, no matter what she tries".
"Well you'll just have to aim manually, won't you" snapped a very irate Captain. He ordered the comm officer to patch him into ship's comm. "All gun crews, this is the Captain" he stated "Target is a Peacekeeper stealth vessel not registering on any sensors. Engage manual targeting overrides and disable the enemy for immediate retrieval". The gunnery officer piped up "But, sir" he explained plaintively "Our effective range will be cut in half. The gun crews aren't elite troopers trained for adverse conditions – they're regular soldiers used to letting the computers do a lot of their work for them". "They'll have to get better fast" barked the Captain in return "If the fleet commander calls me onto the carpet for an explanation, I'll make sure his wrath percolates down to your gun crews. And you as well!"
The Intruder pilot was currently still alive. He only remained so for three reasons : his piloting skill, stout Scarran engineering, and blind luck. Manoevreability was almost gone now, his sole remaing engine could only operate on 33% power before causing a major explosion, and what's more - disturbing cracks were beginning to register on his canopy. He guessed he had approximately 240 microts to get back on board the frigate before the canopy let go completely. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Harrigan was getting very impatient and irritated at the Intruder pilot's continued survival. "Grab you gizzards, people!" he yelled "Full speed – no waiting!" and shoved his throttles to the stops. This was the first time the Harbringer had been taken so fast. There had been no gentler breaking-in period beforehand. However, the ship responded magnificently. Already going faster than most ships could achieve, the Harbringer accelerated well beyond recorded Peacekeeper speed maximums for any known vessel.
This had not gone unnoticed on the Scarran frigate or the sole remaining Intruder. "Sir!" screamed the comm officer. "Yes?!" replied the Captain. "Enemy vessel has just increased speed again, sir" she responded more quietly "Drastically. We can't tell exactly how quick it is, but most of the bridge crew concur in saying approximately hetch 12". "Are you sure?" queried the Captain sceptically "No previous vessel has been able to get over hetch 9.5, comm officer. Intelligence reports don't show anyone else being able to do it either, even the Nebari". Just then the inter-ship frequencies lit up on the comm console. "It's the fleet commander" explained the comm officer, in response to the Captain's unspoken question.
"Our sensors show a massive heat bloom in your area" the dreadnaught Captain stated "What is it? And have you captured that Peacekeeper ship yet?". "No sir" replied a wary frigate Captain "We haven't captured the Peacekeeper ship yet. It won't register on sensors at all, so we're reduced to manual targeting. That heat trace is the only trace of the ship we've got. It's the engines going hot, because whatever that thing is, my gunnery officer say it just went to hetch 12. We'll just have to saturate the area with pulse fire and hope we hit something". The dreadnaught Captain couldn't believe his ears! "Hetch 12?!" he exclaimed in surprise "Are you sure your gunnery officer hasn't been at the raslak or fellip nectar again?! You know as well as I do Intelligence hasn't reported any race having a vessel capable of more than hetch 9.5!" "Looks like Intelligence got it wrong, sir" replied the frigate Captain. Again, he added in the privacy of his own thoughts. "Or, more likely, no- one decided to tell us" he added.
The Intruder pilot had spotted the speed increase. He immediately gave his ship as much speed as it could take in it's current state, which wasn't much; and initiated evasive manoevres, which didn't amount to much either as almost all directional control was gone. The canopy cracks expanded markedly, causing the pilot's estimate of his life expectancy to drop even further. He was almost in covering range of the frigate's guns. Then he'd eject and hope they came to get him before the suit's air supply gave out.
Harrigan went to manual targeting and lined up on the badly shuddering Intruder. "Damn thing" he muttered "stay still!". Then he unleased a three-second blast from the front guns, completely destroying the Intruder's last engine, mortally wounding the pilot, and sending the Intruder pinwheeling through the frigate's open launch bay doors. After bouncing a few times along the runway, the badly mangled and steaming fighter came to rest on the far side of the launch bay.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The frigate Captain immediately rushed down to the launch bay and up to the mangled remains of the fighter. The canopy shuddered and rose slowly, but the hydraulics gave up. The Captain ripped the whole thing off and threw it down the bay. The pilot was by now beyond even Scarran medical reconstruction, but was holding on by brute willpower. "C...C...Captain" he whispered. "U...Unknown vess...vessel closing in. W...Well armed, and e...extremely fast. Very s..skilled crew. I h..hope you can r..retrie..ve them now. Signing off". He gave his last breath, and died in his cockpit. The frigate Captain mulled this over, then pressed the wall comm for the bridge. "Stop that ship and retrieve it's crew! By any means necessary!" he howled "NOW!!" Then, after calming down, he continued "That pilot is to receive a military funeral with full honours"
After stomping back to the bridge, he got on the comm again. "Gun crews, this is the Captain. Disable that ship! Our pilots gave their lives to ensure it's retrieval. To honour their sacrifice, we cannot fail! We WILL NOT FAIL!" Sirens started blaring all across the main decks "General quarters, general quarters. All hands to your battle stations". Gun crews were rousted from their bunkrooms, bleary-eyed and grumbling, but soon picked up their pace when they heard the sirens. The gunnery officer saw that all crews had reported in. "This is the bridge gunnery officer" he growled "Enemy vessel is stealthed, so fire-control is useless; you'll just have to use your eyes. Orders from fleet command are clear however – disable and retrieve. Do not destroy it, or you'll answer to the fleet commander! Get to it!"
"Harrigan!" the Peacekeeper yelled "You're coming inside the frigate's gun range, pull out!" Harrigan responded a fraction too late. A full broadside from the frigate's AAA emplacements flew past the Harbringer. Harrigan slung the Harbringer in a very tight turn over the frigate's bow, screaming down the other side at at least hetch 7. Unfortunately, a combination of the sharp turn and a close pulse burst from the frigate broke the Peacekeeper Captain's chair in half, snapped his restraining straps and threw him head first into the aft wall of the cockpit, just missing the corporal. "Check him!" yelled Harrigan, dodging another pulse blast. Dammit! he thought. I'll have to cut this short or we're all dead! "Dead!" replied the corporal "Neck's snapped like a twig!". "Stay low to the floor and stash him in a storeroom somewhere!". He then got on the interphone to pass the bad news on. "The Peacekeeper pilot has been killed in action" reported Harrigan "As senior remaining officer, I have command. Strap down tight. Officer Leeuwin, we're going to have to take this thing out. What are it's weak spots?"
Officer Leeuwin was stunned. The Captain down, and now she was put on the spot. "Sir" she pleaded shakily "I'm just out of nav training!" "Calm down" Harrigan responded firmly "We're depending on you. How can we take it down?" She took a deep breath and thought a little. Images from training came back to her. She spoke up "The only chance we've got is a gun run straight on the bridge. Our weapons can't penetrate the frigate's hull anywhere but through the bridge window. It'll still take sustained fire to penetrate the thick plastic". In spite of the situation, Harrigan grinned nastily. "I'll have some of that!" he yelled. "People, prepare for gun run! Hold on!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The coporal scrambled back in and strapped himself in, just before Harrigan pulled a tight inside loop and headed back towards the frigate's bow and open space. The Harbringer had taken some damage from the occasional close blast – thankfully minor, they were still at full effectiveness, except that the long range comm was down.
In the frigate, there was some confusion at this latest move. "What's that pilot doing now?" the Captain asked his senior staff on the bridge. "Running away? Trying a better angle of attack? He must know we're not vulnerable to his weaponry by now". However, no one had bothered to ask the Chief Engineer, who already had a fairly good hunch as to what was going to happen, and as a result was shutting the door on a lifepod at that very moment, as were many of the engineering staff. The nav was watching the Harbringer's every move carefully through the bridge window, and saw it turn to face the bridge and accelerate. "Uh, sir..." she said fearfully. "Yes, nav?" the Captain replied. She just pointed out at the Harbringer, about ten kilometras out on an intercept couse. "Frelling Peacekeepers!" he muttered as the forward sensors were jammed by Officer Leeuwin on board the Harbringer. "Bring it down!" he screamed. "Can't sir" the gunnery officer "It's moving too quick to target manually, and forward fire-control is completely jammed"
In the Harbringer, Officer Leeuwin had returned to her console, and was busily using all her newly-acquired electronic warfare skills to make sure that the frigate's guns stayed down. "Five kilometras... Four..." she stated. Just as she was about to say "Three" Harrigan let loose with the front guns. Mary saw this and joined in with the turret guns as well. The extra weight of fire was telling now. The damage to the frigate's bridge window was increasing significantly; three seconds of constant fire had gone by. There must have been defective window plastic, or long overdue maintenance required, because the build-up of energy suddenly overloaded the window, which spontaneously imploded. The bridge crew were spared a death by asphyxiation, as a torrent of heavy pulse fire swept the bridge, atomising all those present, leaving nothing but blood vapour on the walls and floor. Harrigan immediately slowed down and pulled away, stashing the Harbringer temporarily behind an asteroid on the edge of the belt.
Officer Leeuwin turned from her console. "Excellent effort, sir" she said warmly. Mary immediately slid down the turret ladder and burst through the door. Flinging her arms around Harrigan's neck, she added her own "Good one, John" before Harrigan managed to extricate himself. They all looked at the corporal. He just shrugged and replied "I'm just glad I didn't have anything else left to puke up". "Speaking of food" Harrigan responded "We'd better get something down our throats now, before we go on. There's still a dreadnaught out there between us and our mission, which we'll have to avoid and outrun, because even my luck doesn't stretch that far" Officer Leeuwin wondered what frelling mission he was on about, and resolved to ask him about it if they got out of this alive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Harrigan made sure they all ate at least two full ration packs. Though the corporal whined a bit over this, saying that it wouldn't stay down long, Mary silenced him with "But you'll be better off while it does". By the time she'd talked the corporal around to her point of view, Harrigan had polished off his fourth ration pack. "Right" he said, mouth still full. He swallowed his last mouthful, then went on. "Officer Leeuwin, plot us a course towards the nearest inhabited planet; preferably one that's understanding towards newcomers. Mary; back up the ladder to the top gun. Corp, you'll be on the tail gun as I'll need Officer Leeuwin in here. Everyone clear?". All responded in the affirmative.
Right now, the dreadnaught Captain was positively fulminating at the failure his junior comrade on the frigate to apprehend the enemy vessel. However, he thought in a brighter moment, he paid for his over-confidence and failure in the most appropriate way. In addition to ridding Scarran High Command of one self-important idiot, it set a valuable example to all upcoming officers as well. "Very well" he growled to a meeting of his senior staff in the dreadnaught's situation room "That ship will be no easy catch. It is heavily stealthed, and its crew is of a standard not matched even by your" he said, turning to his air group commander "pilots. If it was up to me, I'd either call for more backup, or wait for a weaker target. But the base commander wants additonal experimental subjects fast, so neither option is available"
The previously maligned air group commander spoke up. "Begging your pardon sir, but from what we've seen of this craft from its engagement with our frigate I can only see one option available to us". "Yes?" the Captain queried. The officer in question took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He didn't like this option he was presenting, but their orders left no other way. "Launch the entire fighter complement. Swarm this ship, herding it towards the dreanaught. You grab it in your docking web and yank it aboard. Bad news : fighter casualties estimated from battle footage to be approximately 50%. We will definitely have to replenish our complement thereof as soon as possible, sir". Definitely not good, the Captain thought to himself. But our backs are to the wall on this one – there's no room for creative order interpretation at all. It has to be done.
"Do it" he commanded. "Prepare the entire air group for launch. Direct them as you have explained to me. Bring me that ship. We'll do the rest". The air group commander stepped up and gave a stiff formal salute, which the Captain returned. "See you on the other side, sir" he said bleakly, after which he turned and marched off to the pilot's ready room.
The Captain turned to his other officers. "Helm, prepare to move us to intercept the enemy when necessary". A quick reply of "Sir!" from the helmsman and the Captain continued "Guns, you have the docking web. The instant we are in range, latch on to this vessel and yank it aboard to hangar bay 3. Our enemy has very powerful engines, so you'll need to use full power to prevent it breaking free". Another reply of "Sir!" and , one retreating gunnery officer later, the Captain continued again "Infantry" he stated. The biggest Scarran officer in the room stepped forward. Of all those present, this was the only one who came dressed in full battle gear.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "Sir" he replied. "When the ship has been brought in," the Captain explained "you will move to secure both the ship and its crew. The crew have to be passed on to the scientists back at base unharmed; so subdue them if at all possible. We can keep the ship ourselves for study at our leisure. Much can be learned, I'm sure". The infantry officer saluted, said "It shall be done", turned about-face and returned to the infantry barrack nearest hangar bay 3. "Let's go!" yelled the Captain. The remaining officers, including the Captain, immediately ran to their posts on the bridge. The Captain, back in his command chair, put himself through to the air group commander. "Full group launch, Lieutenant! Bring me that ship!" he ordered. The only response was the roar of Inturder engines, and the occasional scream of a tech still too close to a fighter powering up.
"Sir!" shrieked Officer Leeuwin, on board the Harbringer. "Yes, Officer?" Harrigan replied. "Fighters!" she continued "The dreadnaught's launched on us. Still can't see the dreadnaught itself – which means its Captain is smart, and has hidden his ship in the belt. Suggest we go to full speed and run, sir" she added in a more subdued voice "Even with your good luck against the frigate, you can't take on a dreadnaught. It's just too big a nut to crack. We'd need at least one command carrier to destroy a ship that big". Harrigan replied with "Grab you gizzards! We go to full speed. Please secure all loose items in the boxes by your feet – and remember the barf bags are on the console in front of you". Then he slammed the throttles all the way forward. "Guns!" he yelled over the muted roar of the engines. "Here" replied Mary and the corporal. "Keep the gnats off our back, guys. We can't fight the dreadnaught ourselves, so we'll make for the nearest populated system. When we're there, we'll resupply, and keep our heads down for a while until this blows over. Then we'll continue the mission". What mission? pondered Officer Leeuwin. That's the second time he's said that, and I'm probably the only person on this ship who hasn't a single frelling clue what he's on about!
In the dreadnaught's launch bay, sirens wailed. "Scramble!" yelled the launch controller; this order was immediately followed by an entire wing of Intruders flinging themselves at full speed from their mothership. Then the launch catapults were reset and the sequence continued again and again until the Lieutenant's entire command was spaceborne. The Captain had split off two thirds of the fighter force to wait in the belt, and finish the job of herding the Harbringer aboard under his personal command.
"Pilots! Scarrans!" shouted the air group Lieutenant as he addressed those under his command prior to battle. "It is our appointed task to bring the target vessel to our mothership intact! We must herd it in, with little to no damage to it, so it's crew can be taken back to base for the scientists. We of the military will have that ship!" he continued "We will study it in depth, learn its secrets, and improve on them in our uniquely Scarran way for use in our own craft. Glory awaits us, should we succeed! Shame, misery, and death await those who fail!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The Scarran Intruder squadron split in two; one half to come from the Harbringer's left rear quarter, the other half to come from the Harbringer's right rear quarter. The corporal spotted the portside group as they started their first run.
"Bandits!" he yelled. "Sensors report position as 145 dash 340, range 20 kilometras, closing fast!" He barely had time to take a breath when Mary sang out. "More bandits! Position 235 dash 335, range 25 kilometras, closing fast!" "Identify!" he ordered Officer Leeuwin. "Intruders" she replied, without even checking the computer. "Yes, I know that" Harrigan replied irritably "I meant what kind of fighters are they?". "That is their name, sir" Officer Leuuwin replied "Intruder-class fighters. The mainstay of Scarran naval aviation. Slower and less manoevreable than our Prowlers, but mounts slightly bigger pulse cannons and more armour. Normally just carries a pilot, but variants exist that carry two, generally for anti-capital ship attacks"
Harrigan mulled over this for a while, and didn't like the situation one bit. Vastly outnumbered by well equipped craft, it wasn't going to be an easy ride. He knew their own guns had vastly superior range and power – but the Scarrans had numbers on their side. All they needed to do was wear me down, Harrigan knew, then pounce. "People" he declared "You may fire when ready. Kill as many as you are able. The more you kill, the easier it'll be to escape. Strap in and prepare for war" he finished ominously.
The Scarran fighters closed rapidly. Half a dozen of the Lieutenant's portside group were a little too eager – they paid the full price for their stupidity when Mary and the corporal opened fire at maximum range, killing all but one who retreated to the dreadnaught for repair and refit. "All at once or not at all!"the Scarran lieutenant screamed "Our mission is not simple destruction, we must force this craft to move in the direction our Captain requires. We must retrieve and capture! Not pulverise!" He paused for a few microts to take a deep breat and calm down a little. "Senior Officer Hral!" he barked. "Yes, sir!" came the reply. "Make your run from the enemy's left side, straight on." the Lieutenant explained "I will come down from above you at the same time. This should force our quarry towards the dreadnaught. If they were Scarran I'd expect a counterattack to whittle our numbers down, but Sebaceans will undoubtedly cut and run" He didn't know their quarry was not Sebacean – and this lack of knowledge will soon cost him the lives of many more of his pilots.
Officer Leeuwin had spotted their next attack forming, and had used her ELINT gear to determine the position of the flight commander. She passed this information on to Harrigan. "They expect us to run, whimpering, with our tails between our legs, do they?" Harrigan sniggered "We will show them just how wrong they are. Mary!" he yelled. "Yes, sir?" came the reply. "Prepare to attack! We'll give these guys a bloody nose that they won't soon forget!". He immdiately pulled a tight left turn and headed straight towards the upper group. A small blip popped up on his HUD. "That's the flight commander's ship" Officer Leeuwin explained. "Then I'll kill him first" Harrigan replied.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The Lieutenant could barely belive his eyes. They were turning to attack! A most un-Sebaceanlike turn of events indeed! He was still pondering this new thing when a blast from the Harbringer's forward guns atomised his craft, leaving nothing behind. The rest of his flight immediately turned for the safety of their comrades, believing that Senior Officer Hral would lead them out of trouble. Harrigan pursued, with both his own and Mary's guns pouring a withering volume of fire into the panicking pilots, killing a further six, before the Scarrans' superior numbers drove them off.
"What's going on?!" barked the dreadnaught Captain over them comm. "Where's the Lieutenant gone?" he finished, already suspecting what happened. He was proven right when Senior Officer Hral replied with "Killed in action, sir. The enemy vessel counterattacked and blew him to pieces, along with six of his flight. I now command the remainder and await your orders, Captain". The Captain scratched his chin, pondering what to do; then having decided, replied with "Sweeping runs from behind, Senior Officer Hral". Then he explained more "Keep moving from side to side. Hit and run. The reserve fighter craft will come from directly above and below the enemy vessel and box it in. Then, under you command, move in formation back to my dreadnaught, where this enigma will be brought in and secured for transport back to base"
This change of tactics mystified Harrigan. "What do they hope to achieve by this?" he asked rhetorically, bewildered, as the recent run swept past "We kill one or two each time, suffering no damage in return". Then two additional groups of fighters popped out of the belt simultaneously; the one above him pulling out shortly above him, and the other underneath, boxing him in. Harrigan tried everything he could, but each time he looked like escaping a blast of pulse fire would force a retreat. "Damn!" Mary replied over the comm. "Caught like fish in a barrel. They must want us alive"
Officer Leeuwin's eyes were riveted to her screen as the dreadnaught emerged from the belt. "Dreadnaught!" she screamed, scared. "Dead ahead. These guys are herding us in towards it!". "They want us alive" Mary replied flatly "Don't know why, but it can't be for anything nice". The Harbringer shook slightly as the dreadnaught's docking web locked on and drew them inside the hull. Harrigan growled "We will NOT go down without a fight. Officer Leeuwin, take us to the armoury". Everyone converged from their various positions and were led by Officer Leeuwin to the infantry armoury just opposite the bunkroom to prepare for the coming battle.
Everything in space was just the opening act. Now they must prepare for the main event.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
"Comm intercept from the dreadnaught Captain, sir!" exclaimed the navigator "Their orders are to capture us, sir, and take us back to their base. They want us alive" she finished, somewhat uneasily. Scarran interrogation was not smooth and gentle; it was brutish and unsubtle, just like Scarrans. "Calm down, Officer Leeuwin" stated the pilot. Though he projected calmness outwardly, he was very uptight indeed. These next enemies aren't a couple of unarmed recon craft, he told himself, they're heavily-armed war vessels, and we are vastly overmatched in all areas except speed. We're just lucky this particular Scarran doesn't know what kind of ship we are, he mused, or he'd have been screaming for reinforcements. "We need all the help we can find to get out of this alive. Fetch the prisoners. Let's see if they can make themselves useful".
Harrigan had felt the Harbringer lurch about as the first stealth capsule was destroyed and had a fair idea as to what was going on. This was proven right in the worst possible way, when the door opened abruptly and the nav stepped in. "Come with me" she ordered "The Captain wants to speak with you". She turned about-face and marched off towards the bridge. Harrigan, Mary and the corporal followed. "We're moving up in the world, Harrigan, aren't we? Going to see the Captain, an' all?" joked the corporal. "It's good to see you still have a sense of humour, corporal" replied Harrigan "But our social status is still at rock bottom. All that wild manoevreing was this ship on an attack run. Whoever our captors shot at obviously had buddies around. This ship is short-handed and the Captain may intend pressing us into service to fill out the gaps in the crew"
The small group arrived at the bridge door, which was open. "Ah" the pilot said, somewhat ironically "Our guests have arrived". The corporal drew breath to object, but an elbow in the ribs from Mary silenced him. "As you may have guessed, we're in a little trouble right now". Harrigan cut in with "We've just been in combat, I do know that". Then, in a more subdued tone of voice, he continued "My guess is..." he looked over at Mary, who nodded "And my colleague's guess too, is that your recently departed target had friends close by, who are rolling out the steel welcome mat even as we speak, just for us". The Captain chuckled a little at that. "While I do not pretend to understand exactly what you just said, you are correct in the major details" he stated. "Are you familiar with a race known as Scarrans?".
The corporal stepped forward. After a hastily whispered "Be careful" from Mary and Harrigan, he spoke up. "Begging your pardon, sir" he replied. He thought it best to treat the Catptain the same way as an officer back home, in order to avoid problems. Harrigan and Mary nodded. "But we aren't. We aren't familiar with your race, or any other one out here either. You look like us, but aren't like us. This is the first flight our race has intentionally sent outside our home system". He neglected to mention the other one, and the Captain was sufficiently anxious over the coming combat that he didn't notice. "I see" he drawled. The corporal continued "When we arrived in the neighbourhood, all we were trying to do was find somewhere to fill up on food and fuel. Then, what happens but this thing" emphasised the corporal, poining around at the Harbringer, "popped out of nowhere, where you proceeded to blast us and take us prisoner. Not exactly what we expected first time out, hmmm?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "First contact, sir" replied the nav, surprised. "Indeed" the pilot replied "The Commandant will find this very interesting indeed. But first we have to get back alive. I don't suppose any of you have any combat experience, by any chance?". His tone of voice betrayed his view of the likelihood of this. Mary quickly changed that when she replied "Extensive, sir. I trained in the infantry, with the rank of Second Lieutenant. Harrigan here" she said, pointing at him "is in the Air Force, with the rank of First Lieutenant". She did not say exactly what they did in their respective militaries, and the Captain noticed this time. "I see you aren't telling me everything" he probed "Well, there will be time enough for that when the Commandant gets to see you. And this one?" the pilot finished, pointing at the corporal. "We brought him alomg to watch the dials and gauges" said Harrigan cheerfully "and, of course, to yell out if anything's about to go bang, sacrificing himself so we can escape".
"Ah, yes" smiled the pilot primly "You seem to have mastered satire and irony, even if you haven't mastered spaceflight. Since you have piloting skills, sit there" he commanded, pointing to the copliot's chair. Harrigan wandered over and sat down, bouncing up and down on the seat, testing the upholstery. After a couple of seconds, he settled down. "Good seat, anyway" he grinned. "Hmph" muttered the pilot "You" he ordered, pointed to Mary "will take the top gunner's position. Nav, you'll have to take the tail gunner's position, and as for him" he grumped, leaning over the corporal "Sit there". "What's that place for?" the corporal asked. "Flight engineer" was the reply. "Redundant really, as both pilots can read the same information. But the powers that be in First Command decided the position has to be there on a ship of this size, and who am I to argue?". It was obvious to all of them that the pilot had better ideas for uses of the space. "Where's the gunner's chair?" asked Mary. "First on the left, up that short ladder" the pilot replied. The nav ran down the corridor to the tailgunner's chair.
"Sound off!" the pilot ordered. "Tail gun" replied the nav over the comm "Hot and ready". "Where's the 'on' button?!" demanded Mary from the top turret "I can't see it!". The pilot shook his head in exasperation and was about to let loose when the nav cut in "Should be by your right leg. Jab it with your knee" she explained. "Ah, yes" she continued, relieved "Doesn't seem to be anything wrong. No red lights or strange smoke and crackles. How do I shoot though?". "Trigger's on the right stick" explained the nav again "That bar on the left is the temp gauge – keep to short bursts or it'll overheat and we die. The computer will help a bit, but you'll need to be quick on the trigger". In the meantime, Harrigan was getting an accelerated course in Harbringer piloting. Much to the Peacekeeper's surprise he caught on fast. "Quite a lot like Harrier controls back home. No problem". "I just hope you pick up the peculiarities of space combat as quickly" replied the pilot.
The surviving stealth capsule pilot had just crash-landed in the Scarran frigate's launch bay. She had just managed to open the canopy and stagger out of her capsule, heaving and retching all over the runways, when the frigate Captain stomped up to her. "Report!" he barked. "An unidentified vessel just turned up out of nowhere. The first I knew of it was when it opened fire on my flight leader. He had barely enough time to scream before it blasted him to atoms" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "We gathered that when he failed to report in" barked the frigate Captain "Can you tell us anything else we don't already know?!". "The vessel didn't show on any sensors, Captain" she replied, still recovering from combat and a hard landing. "No radar, MAD, IR, thermals, nothing. It was painted some strange blackish-grey so we could barely see it unless it was right on top of us, too". "A Peacekeeper stealth craft, Captain" explained his intelligence officer "Previous examples haven't been this well armed, though. This is something new, a first sighting, sir". "Yes, Lieutenant" the Captain replied "I figured out it was a new kind of ship myself. I can do that, you know, I am the Captain! Pilot?" he said, speaking to the capsule pilot. "Yes, sir?" she replied, staggering a little. "Bring your sensor logs to the CIC, and we'll see what we can make of this". "Yes, si—BLEEEUGH!!" she groaned, as she threw up all over the frigate Captain's freshly polished boots.
Barely controlling his fury, he bent down and removed his boots, coming to face level with the puking capsule pilot "Clean yourself up and report, with your sensor logs, to CIC" he whispered "As you've just come out of combat, I'll ignore this particular problem this time". He heard a muffled laughter from one of the maintenance crew. Turning and hurling his soiled footwear at full speed all at once, he landed his boots dead-center on a crew chief's forehead, knocking him out. "CLEAN THAT UP!" he bellowed "NOW!!!". Another crewman hurried to comply, not wanting to risk their Captain's wrath further. "Get CIC ready for those logs, Lieutenant" the Captain ordered "Hopefully, we'll find something on them". He then stomped off to get a clean pair of boots, while his command staff busied themselves readying the CIC for the analysis.
Back in the Harbringer, Harrigan had just been through a few basic manoevres. "Not bad" Harrigan said, pleased "I could really like this ship". He promptly proved this by pulling a tight roll, causing the corporal to puke over his console. "Harrigan, did you have to do that?" the corporal groaned, sweeping the puke off the console with his sleeve. "Yep" Harrigan grinned "I've done stuff like that in every craft I've flown once I've qualified in it". The Peacekeeper pilot brought the festivities to a halt "Enough" he ordered "Let's get out of here without any more theatrics". Harrigan fed in more throttle and eased the Harbringer out of the asteroid field. "What the hezmana have we got ourselves into?" the Captain exclaimed. "What's up?" asked Harrigan. "Sensors show one Scarran frigate out there in the open. That's where that capsule's wingman went, I'm sure. But there's probably a dreadnaught around somewhere, but we can't see the damn thing. Either it's out of range, hiding in the belt, or the damn sensors are out again". The nav came in over the intercom with "It shouldn't be the sensors. I fixed them just after I picked these guys up. More likely he's in the belt where the clutter's hiding him. Even our sensors can't see in there too well unless we're close". Harrigan yelled at the corporal "Everything in the green over there?". "Seems to be" the corporal replied "I can't read the writing, but there haven't been any flashing lights or verbal warnings yet". "Good" Harrigan replied "Mary?". "Fine. This stuff's really good. Way more advanced than what we've got. Easy enough to use, though. Just took a couple of pot shots at one of the little rocks. Perfect" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "Sir!" reported a signals tech in the CIC on the Scarran frigate. "Yes?" responded the senior Lieutenant. "Bridge reports an energy blast at approximately 026 dash 345, forty kilometras, consistent with what the capsule's sensor logs show the enemy vessel to be armed with. Probably testing their gear after the skirmish".
The Captain and the capsule pilot looked up at that. "That craft is next to impossible to detect, Captain" the capsule pilot replied. "So it appears" the frigate Captain replied. He turned towards his comm officer "Order the Intruders to herd it towards us. We'll immobilise it and take it aboard". The comm officer forwarded his order to the CAP flight.
The Intruder pilots immediately headed for the Harbringer's last known position, muttering darkly. "What's going on?" one pilot asked his wingleader "If those logs are even halfway accurate, this thing's harder to find than anything else in flight". "All we have to do" replied the wingleader "is draw it out of the belt and over to the frigate. Where they get to receive all the glory by reeling that damn thing in, and we do all the work by trying to find an invisible ship". "Oh well" another pilot replied "that's the military. Kept in the frelling dark and fed---"when he was cut off by the wingleader. "Button it!" he barked "Just do your job and keep your eyes open!". The entire patrol of four Intruders headed over towards the Harbringer.
"L-T!" yelled Mary over the intercom. "Yes?" Harrigan replied. "Four fighters inbound" Mary replied. "The Peacekeeper pilot added "They probably picked up your gunfire on their sensors". He shook his head from side to side at the folly of that. "Since those fighters are between us and the escape route, we'd better get them fast. Guns, you copy that?" he asked over the intercom. "Tailgunner copies" stated the nav. "Top gun copies" replied Mary "At last I get a bit of stress-relief. Being in that bunkroom with a quesy corporal was trying my patience". "At least you don't have to smell the bridge" Harrigan replied "Our corporal puked those rations over his console". "Less chitchat" ordered the Peacekeeper "Straight ahead, half speed. We'll blow straight through and keep going. Gunners, get ready!".
Harrigan shoved the throttles forward, grinning to himself. Here I am, in a ship I hadn't even seen two days ago, about to take on a capital-class warship and escort, he mused. The only way this could get any better is if we get out of this alive, or that ship out there forgets about us. Fat chance of that, he thought, aiming straight between the two pairs of fighters. "Your gun crosshairs are up there on the HUD. The display's the same as the ones in the top and tail positions. Let's go Scarran-smashing" the Peacekeeper growled. Harrigan centred the lead fighter in his crosshairs as they flew on "If you use the fire-control gear, you'll get a much easier chance of a hit, but they'll detect it. Aim manually, and while you lose some potential accuracy we stay undetected until they die". "I'll take the first one silent" Harrigan replied "They can't fail to notice us then, so we'll go hot from then on".
The Intruder pilots hadn't had the chance to confer with their comrade in the stealth capsule. In addition to their lack of first-hand intelligence, they were not piloting stealth-capable vessels. Harrigan fired as soon as passive sensors reported the lead fighter within range, leaving nothing but scattered fragments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "Scatter!" screamed the senior remaining pilot. "Back to the frigate!". They immediately applied full power and turned for their mothership. But they hadn't reckoned on their adversary's extraordinary speed and acceleration. "Next one's mine!" yelled Mary. "Just don't miss!" shouted back Harrigan in return. Mary immediately activated her fire-control gear and locked on to her target.
The Scarran pilot immediately got a screeching noise in her headset. "They're on me!" she wailed "I can't shake them! And this damn jamming gear's useless!". The flight leader responded with "Three, break right. Attack from behind. Two, keep dodging for as long as you can. I'll come from over the top". Mary chose that moment to fire. The Scarran pilot managed to dodge two volleys, before the third one found the lower left engine. There wasn't even enough time for a scream before her fighter was blasted to fragments.
"So it's like that, is it?" growled the Scarran flight leader. With only one other craft surviving, he had only one option; both wingman and himself would attack simultaneously. "Burn hard!" he yelled over the comm "Attack!". He positioned himself to come up from below his target and applied full throttle.
"Two targets inbound" declared the Peacekeeper. He was impressed at the skill these people had shown. If they made it back to base alive, he would ask the Commandant to recruit them into Peacekeeper service; they would be a valuable addition to any navy command. "One behind, one above. Officer Leeuwin, get ready! One's on you. Top gun?" he asked. "Yes?" replied Mary. "You have the other one. But it's coming from slightly below; we have to roll to see it, so you'll probably need to hit it on the move" the Peacekeeper finished. "Got it" replied Mary, "Copy that" added Officer Leeuwin. "I hope so" cut in Harrigan. "As soon as you've fragged that bad boy, sing out. I'll barrel roll this thing, leaving Mary free to dust the other one. Got it? We'll be waiting on you". Though she found his speech confusing and his manner lacking in discipline, she replied "Got it" and turned to her instruments. This pilot was obviously over-eager; he wasn't making even a rudimentary attempt at evasion. "Six kilometras..." she reported "Five... four...he's speeding up, three point five...firing!". After quickly looking around, she yelled "Target destroyed!"
The sole remaing Scarran pilot stared in wonder at the vessel he was rapidly approaching. If three tours in stealth capsules had taught him anything, it was that he could never be too paranoid. The fact that this mystery ship had just smashed his entire command to pieces in less than 150 microts just increased his caution. He started jinking back and forth, hoping to confuse the gunners on board the Harbringer long enough to reach attack range. Just before he came in range, the Harbringer rolled over. The flight leader could see the upper gun turret traversing in his direction even as the craft rolled over, so he threw his Intruder over to his left and headed back for the protection offered by his frigate's guns.
"You ain't getting away from ol' John Harrigan, no way" muttered Harrigan "Mary, you ready for more up there?" he yelled. "Always!" she replied. "As soon as you're in range, get 'im!" Harrigan continued "I'll try with the fixed guns from here, but you'll have more chance from up there in the turret". ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- He immediately increased speed to two-thirds, closing the gap again.
What the frell is that thing? wondered the Intruder pilot. I'm at full throttle here, and that nightmare vessel is still gaining on me! He quickly flipped his comm to fleet command. "Intruder patrol to Starbreaker. Please respond!" he yelled, with some fear. After three repeats, and much frantic dodging, the frigate Captain replied. "Is that ship coming in?" he growled "Fleet Command is anxious to get this over with and RTB". Harrigan chose that moment to send a blast from the Harbringer's front guns his way. "Aaaaah!" the pilot screamed. "Well?! Speak up!" probed the frigate's Captain. The Intruder pilot quickly threw his craft away from another blast, this time from Mary's turret. "I'm a bit busy here, sir! Under heavy fire, lost half my directional thrusters and one main engine! What do YOU THINK?!" he screamed, cutting the call.
"This guy's good!" exclaimed Mary, back on the Harbringer. "We've sent enough fire his way to kill three hundred elephants, and he's still there!" "But not completely unharmed" cut in the corporal "If I read this right, he's only flying on one engine, and less than 40% manoevreability". Officer Leeuwin added "You are reading that right. I just took a look as well. It's just as well for him he's so good, otherwise he'd be smeared all over the system". The Peacekeeper pilot spoke up "We will have to eradicate this last enemy before he gets close enough to the frigate for its guns to cover his landing. Increase speed to three-quarters. Pursue and destroy"
On board the Scarran frigate, the duty comm officer was trying every sensor mode she had to try and locate the Harbringer. All had failed. The Captain chose that moment to come stomping on to the bridge. "Lock on to the enemy vessel and fire an immobiliser pulse as soon as it moves within range" he ordered. He slumped into his command chair, shaking his head in frustration at the way Harrigan and the Peacekeepers kept eluding him. "Not possible, sir" replied the gunnery officer. "What?!" responded his Captain, half-rising from his chair in shock. "Can't lock on, sir" he continued "Comm officer can't lock on to him, sir, no matter what she tries".
"Well you'll just have to aim manually, won't you" snapped a very irate Captain. He ordered the comm officer to patch him into ship's comm. "All gun crews, this is the Captain" he stated "Target is a Peacekeeper stealth vessel not registering on any sensors. Engage manual targeting overrides and disable the enemy for immediate retrieval". The gunnery officer piped up "But, sir" he explained plaintively "Our effective range will be cut in half. The gun crews aren't elite troopers trained for adverse conditions – they're regular soldiers used to letting the computers do a lot of their work for them". "They'll have to get better fast" barked the Captain in return "If the fleet commander calls me onto the carpet for an explanation, I'll make sure his wrath percolates down to your gun crews. And you as well!"
The Intruder pilot was currently still alive. He only remained so for three reasons : his piloting skill, stout Scarran engineering, and blind luck. Manoevreability was almost gone now, his sole remaing engine could only operate on 33% power before causing a major explosion, and what's more - disturbing cracks were beginning to register on his canopy. He guessed he had approximately 240 microts to get back on board the frigate before the canopy let go completely. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Harrigan was getting very impatient and irritated at the Intruder pilot's continued survival. "Grab you gizzards, people!" he yelled "Full speed – no waiting!" and shoved his throttles to the stops. This was the first time the Harbringer had been taken so fast. There had been no gentler breaking-in period beforehand. However, the ship responded magnificently. Already going faster than most ships could achieve, the Harbringer accelerated well beyond recorded Peacekeeper speed maximums for any known vessel.
This had not gone unnoticed on the Scarran frigate or the sole remaining Intruder. "Sir!" screamed the comm officer. "Yes?!" replied the Captain. "Enemy vessel has just increased speed again, sir" she responded more quietly "Drastically. We can't tell exactly how quick it is, but most of the bridge crew concur in saying approximately hetch 12". "Are you sure?" queried the Captain sceptically "No previous vessel has been able to get over hetch 9.5, comm officer. Intelligence reports don't show anyone else being able to do it either, even the Nebari". Just then the inter-ship frequencies lit up on the comm console. "It's the fleet commander" explained the comm officer, in response to the Captain's unspoken question.
"Our sensors show a massive heat bloom in your area" the dreadnaught Captain stated "What is it? And have you captured that Peacekeeper ship yet?". "No sir" replied a wary frigate Captain "We haven't captured the Peacekeeper ship yet. It won't register on sensors at all, so we're reduced to manual targeting. That heat trace is the only trace of the ship we've got. It's the engines going hot, because whatever that thing is, my gunnery officer say it just went to hetch 12. We'll just have to saturate the area with pulse fire and hope we hit something". The dreadnaught Captain couldn't believe his ears! "Hetch 12?!" he exclaimed in surprise "Are you sure your gunnery officer hasn't been at the raslak or fellip nectar again?! You know as well as I do Intelligence hasn't reported any race having a vessel capable of more than hetch 9.5!" "Looks like Intelligence got it wrong, sir" replied the frigate Captain. Again, he added in the privacy of his own thoughts. "Or, more likely, no- one decided to tell us" he added.
The Intruder pilot had spotted the speed increase. He immediately gave his ship as much speed as it could take in it's current state, which wasn't much; and initiated evasive manoevres, which didn't amount to much either as almost all directional control was gone. The canopy cracks expanded markedly, causing the pilot's estimate of his life expectancy to drop even further. He was almost in covering range of the frigate's guns. Then he'd eject and hope they came to get him before the suit's air supply gave out.
Harrigan went to manual targeting and lined up on the badly shuddering Intruder. "Damn thing" he muttered "stay still!". Then he unleased a three-second blast from the front guns, completely destroying the Intruder's last engine, mortally wounding the pilot, and sending the Intruder pinwheeling through the frigate's open launch bay doors. After bouncing a few times along the runway, the badly mangled and steaming fighter came to rest on the far side of the launch bay.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The frigate Captain immediately rushed down to the launch bay and up to the mangled remains of the fighter. The canopy shuddered and rose slowly, but the hydraulics gave up. The Captain ripped the whole thing off and threw it down the bay. The pilot was by now beyond even Scarran medical reconstruction, but was holding on by brute willpower. "C...C...Captain" he whispered. "U...Unknown vess...vessel closing in. W...Well armed, and e...extremely fast. Very s..skilled crew. I h..hope you can r..retrie..ve them now. Signing off". He gave his last breath, and died in his cockpit. The frigate Captain mulled this over, then pressed the wall comm for the bridge. "Stop that ship and retrieve it's crew! By any means necessary!" he howled "NOW!!" Then, after calming down, he continued "That pilot is to receive a military funeral with full honours"
After stomping back to the bridge, he got on the comm again. "Gun crews, this is the Captain. Disable that ship! Our pilots gave their lives to ensure it's retrieval. To honour their sacrifice, we cannot fail! We WILL NOT FAIL!" Sirens started blaring all across the main decks "General quarters, general quarters. All hands to your battle stations". Gun crews were rousted from their bunkrooms, bleary-eyed and grumbling, but soon picked up their pace when they heard the sirens. The gunnery officer saw that all crews had reported in. "This is the bridge gunnery officer" he growled "Enemy vessel is stealthed, so fire-control is useless; you'll just have to use your eyes. Orders from fleet command are clear however – disable and retrieve. Do not destroy it, or you'll answer to the fleet commander! Get to it!"
"Harrigan!" the Peacekeeper yelled "You're coming inside the frigate's gun range, pull out!" Harrigan responded a fraction too late. A full broadside from the frigate's AAA emplacements flew past the Harbringer. Harrigan slung the Harbringer in a very tight turn over the frigate's bow, screaming down the other side at at least hetch 7. Unfortunately, a combination of the sharp turn and a close pulse burst from the frigate broke the Peacekeeper Captain's chair in half, snapped his restraining straps and threw him head first into the aft wall of the cockpit, just missing the corporal. "Check him!" yelled Harrigan, dodging another pulse blast. Dammit! he thought. I'll have to cut this short or we're all dead! "Dead!" replied the corporal "Neck's snapped like a twig!". "Stay low to the floor and stash him in a storeroom somewhere!". He then got on the interphone to pass the bad news on. "The Peacekeeper pilot has been killed in action" reported Harrigan "As senior remaining officer, I have command. Strap down tight. Officer Leeuwin, we're going to have to take this thing out. What are it's weak spots?"
Officer Leeuwin was stunned. The Captain down, and now she was put on the spot. "Sir" she pleaded shakily "I'm just out of nav training!" "Calm down" Harrigan responded firmly "We're depending on you. How can we take it down?" She took a deep breath and thought a little. Images from training came back to her. She spoke up "The only chance we've got is a gun run straight on the bridge. Our weapons can't penetrate the frigate's hull anywhere but through the bridge window. It'll still take sustained fire to penetrate the thick plastic". In spite of the situation, Harrigan grinned nastily. "I'll have some of that!" he yelled. "People, prepare for gun run! Hold on!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The coporal scrambled back in and strapped himself in, just before Harrigan pulled a tight inside loop and headed back towards the frigate's bow and open space. The Harbringer had taken some damage from the occasional close blast – thankfully minor, they were still at full effectiveness, except that the long range comm was down.
In the frigate, there was some confusion at this latest move. "What's that pilot doing now?" the Captain asked his senior staff on the bridge. "Running away? Trying a better angle of attack? He must know we're not vulnerable to his weaponry by now". However, no one had bothered to ask the Chief Engineer, who already had a fairly good hunch as to what was going to happen, and as a result was shutting the door on a lifepod at that very moment, as were many of the engineering staff. The nav was watching the Harbringer's every move carefully through the bridge window, and saw it turn to face the bridge and accelerate. "Uh, sir..." she said fearfully. "Yes, nav?" the Captain replied. She just pointed out at the Harbringer, about ten kilometras out on an intercept couse. "Frelling Peacekeepers!" he muttered as the forward sensors were jammed by Officer Leeuwin on board the Harbringer. "Bring it down!" he screamed. "Can't sir" the gunnery officer "It's moving too quick to target manually, and forward fire-control is completely jammed"
In the Harbringer, Officer Leeuwin had returned to her console, and was busily using all her newly-acquired electronic warfare skills to make sure that the frigate's guns stayed down. "Five kilometras... Four..." she stated. Just as she was about to say "Three" Harrigan let loose with the front guns. Mary saw this and joined in with the turret guns as well. The extra weight of fire was telling now. The damage to the frigate's bridge window was increasing significantly; three seconds of constant fire had gone by. There must have been defective window plastic, or long overdue maintenance required, because the build-up of energy suddenly overloaded the window, which spontaneously imploded. The bridge crew were spared a death by asphyxiation, as a torrent of heavy pulse fire swept the bridge, atomising all those present, leaving nothing but blood vapour on the walls and floor. Harrigan immediately slowed down and pulled away, stashing the Harbringer temporarily behind an asteroid on the edge of the belt.
Officer Leeuwin turned from her console. "Excellent effort, sir" she said warmly. Mary immediately slid down the turret ladder and burst through the door. Flinging her arms around Harrigan's neck, she added her own "Good one, John" before Harrigan managed to extricate himself. They all looked at the corporal. He just shrugged and replied "I'm just glad I didn't have anything else left to puke up". "Speaking of food" Harrigan responded "We'd better get something down our throats now, before we go on. There's still a dreadnaught out there between us and our mission, which we'll have to avoid and outrun, because even my luck doesn't stretch that far" Officer Leeuwin wondered what frelling mission he was on about, and resolved to ask him about it if they got out of this alive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Harrigan made sure they all ate at least two full ration packs. Though the corporal whined a bit over this, saying that it wouldn't stay down long, Mary silenced him with "But you'll be better off while it does". By the time she'd talked the corporal around to her point of view, Harrigan had polished off his fourth ration pack. "Right" he said, mouth still full. He swallowed his last mouthful, then went on. "Officer Leeuwin, plot us a course towards the nearest inhabited planet; preferably one that's understanding towards newcomers. Mary; back up the ladder to the top gun. Corp, you'll be on the tail gun as I'll need Officer Leeuwin in here. Everyone clear?". All responded in the affirmative.
Right now, the dreadnaught Captain was positively fulminating at the failure his junior comrade on the frigate to apprehend the enemy vessel. However, he thought in a brighter moment, he paid for his over-confidence and failure in the most appropriate way. In addition to ridding Scarran High Command of one self-important idiot, it set a valuable example to all upcoming officers as well. "Very well" he growled to a meeting of his senior staff in the dreadnaught's situation room "That ship will be no easy catch. It is heavily stealthed, and its crew is of a standard not matched even by your" he said, turning to his air group commander "pilots. If it was up to me, I'd either call for more backup, or wait for a weaker target. But the base commander wants additonal experimental subjects fast, so neither option is available"
The previously maligned air group commander spoke up. "Begging your pardon sir, but from what we've seen of this craft from its engagement with our frigate I can only see one option available to us". "Yes?" the Captain queried. The officer in question took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He didn't like this option he was presenting, but their orders left no other way. "Launch the entire fighter complement. Swarm this ship, herding it towards the dreanaught. You grab it in your docking web and yank it aboard. Bad news : fighter casualties estimated from battle footage to be approximately 50%. We will definitely have to replenish our complement thereof as soon as possible, sir". Definitely not good, the Captain thought to himself. But our backs are to the wall on this one – there's no room for creative order interpretation at all. It has to be done.
"Do it" he commanded. "Prepare the entire air group for launch. Direct them as you have explained to me. Bring me that ship. We'll do the rest". The air group commander stepped up and gave a stiff formal salute, which the Captain returned. "See you on the other side, sir" he said bleakly, after which he turned and marched off to the pilot's ready room.
The Captain turned to his other officers. "Helm, prepare to move us to intercept the enemy when necessary". A quick reply of "Sir!" from the helmsman and the Captain continued "Guns, you have the docking web. The instant we are in range, latch on to this vessel and yank it aboard to hangar bay 3. Our enemy has very powerful engines, so you'll need to use full power to prevent it breaking free". Another reply of "Sir!" and , one retreating gunnery officer later, the Captain continued again "Infantry" he stated. The biggest Scarran officer in the room stepped forward. Of all those present, this was the only one who came dressed in full battle gear.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- "Sir" he replied. "When the ship has been brought in," the Captain explained "you will move to secure both the ship and its crew. The crew have to be passed on to the scientists back at base unharmed; so subdue them if at all possible. We can keep the ship ourselves for study at our leisure. Much can be learned, I'm sure". The infantry officer saluted, said "It shall be done", turned about-face and returned to the infantry barrack nearest hangar bay 3. "Let's go!" yelled the Captain. The remaining officers, including the Captain, immediately ran to their posts on the bridge. The Captain, back in his command chair, put himself through to the air group commander. "Full group launch, Lieutenant! Bring me that ship!" he ordered. The only response was the roar of Inturder engines, and the occasional scream of a tech still too close to a fighter powering up.
"Sir!" shrieked Officer Leeuwin, on board the Harbringer. "Yes, Officer?" Harrigan replied. "Fighters!" she continued "The dreadnaught's launched on us. Still can't see the dreadnaught itself – which means its Captain is smart, and has hidden his ship in the belt. Suggest we go to full speed and run, sir" she added in a more subdued voice "Even with your good luck against the frigate, you can't take on a dreadnaught. It's just too big a nut to crack. We'd need at least one command carrier to destroy a ship that big". Harrigan replied with "Grab you gizzards! We go to full speed. Please secure all loose items in the boxes by your feet – and remember the barf bags are on the console in front of you". Then he slammed the throttles all the way forward. "Guns!" he yelled over the muted roar of the engines. "Here" replied Mary and the corporal. "Keep the gnats off our back, guys. We can't fight the dreadnaught ourselves, so we'll make for the nearest populated system. When we're there, we'll resupply, and keep our heads down for a while until this blows over. Then we'll continue the mission". What mission? pondered Officer Leeuwin. That's the second time he's said that, and I'm probably the only person on this ship who hasn't a single frelling clue what he's on about!
In the dreadnaught's launch bay, sirens wailed. "Scramble!" yelled the launch controller; this order was immediately followed by an entire wing of Intruders flinging themselves at full speed from their mothership. Then the launch catapults were reset and the sequence continued again and again until the Lieutenant's entire command was spaceborne. The Captain had split off two thirds of the fighter force to wait in the belt, and finish the job of herding the Harbringer aboard under his personal command.
"Pilots! Scarrans!" shouted the air group Lieutenant as he addressed those under his command prior to battle. "It is our appointed task to bring the target vessel to our mothership intact! We must herd it in, with little to no damage to it, so it's crew can be taken back to base for the scientists. We of the military will have that ship!" he continued "We will study it in depth, learn its secrets, and improve on them in our uniquely Scarran way for use in our own craft. Glory awaits us, should we succeed! Shame, misery, and death await those who fail!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The Scarran Intruder squadron split in two; one half to come from the Harbringer's left rear quarter, the other half to come from the Harbringer's right rear quarter. The corporal spotted the portside group as they started their first run.
"Bandits!" he yelled. "Sensors report position as 145 dash 340, range 20 kilometras, closing fast!" He barely had time to take a breath when Mary sang out. "More bandits! Position 235 dash 335, range 25 kilometras, closing fast!" "Identify!" he ordered Officer Leeuwin. "Intruders" she replied, without even checking the computer. "Yes, I know that" Harrigan replied irritably "I meant what kind of fighters are they?". "That is their name, sir" Officer Leuuwin replied "Intruder-class fighters. The mainstay of Scarran naval aviation. Slower and less manoevreable than our Prowlers, but mounts slightly bigger pulse cannons and more armour. Normally just carries a pilot, but variants exist that carry two, generally for anti-capital ship attacks"
Harrigan mulled over this for a while, and didn't like the situation one bit. Vastly outnumbered by well equipped craft, it wasn't going to be an easy ride. He knew their own guns had vastly superior range and power – but the Scarrans had numbers on their side. All they needed to do was wear me down, Harrigan knew, then pounce. "People" he declared "You may fire when ready. Kill as many as you are able. The more you kill, the easier it'll be to escape. Strap in and prepare for war" he finished ominously.
The Scarran fighters closed rapidly. Half a dozen of the Lieutenant's portside group were a little too eager – they paid the full price for their stupidity when Mary and the corporal opened fire at maximum range, killing all but one who retreated to the dreadnaught for repair and refit. "All at once or not at all!"the Scarran lieutenant screamed "Our mission is not simple destruction, we must force this craft to move in the direction our Captain requires. We must retrieve and capture! Not pulverise!" He paused for a few microts to take a deep breat and calm down a little. "Senior Officer Hral!" he barked. "Yes, sir!" came the reply. "Make your run from the enemy's left side, straight on." the Lieutenant explained "I will come down from above you at the same time. This should force our quarry towards the dreadnaught. If they were Scarran I'd expect a counterattack to whittle our numbers down, but Sebaceans will undoubtedly cut and run" He didn't know their quarry was not Sebacean – and this lack of knowledge will soon cost him the lives of many more of his pilots.
Officer Leeuwin had spotted their next attack forming, and had used her ELINT gear to determine the position of the flight commander. She passed this information on to Harrigan. "They expect us to run, whimpering, with our tails between our legs, do they?" Harrigan sniggered "We will show them just how wrong they are. Mary!" he yelled. "Yes, sir?" came the reply. "Prepare to attack! We'll give these guys a bloody nose that they won't soon forget!". He immdiately pulled a tight left turn and headed straight towards the upper group. A small blip popped up on his HUD. "That's the flight commander's ship" Officer Leeuwin explained. "Then I'll kill him first" Harrigan replied.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- The Lieutenant could barely belive his eyes. They were turning to attack! A most un-Sebaceanlike turn of events indeed! He was still pondering this new thing when a blast from the Harbringer's forward guns atomised his craft, leaving nothing behind. The rest of his flight immediately turned for the safety of their comrades, believing that Senior Officer Hral would lead them out of trouble. Harrigan pursued, with both his own and Mary's guns pouring a withering volume of fire into the panicking pilots, killing a further six, before the Scarrans' superior numbers drove them off.
"What's going on?!" barked the dreadnaught Captain over them comm. "Where's the Lieutenant gone?" he finished, already suspecting what happened. He was proven right when Senior Officer Hral replied with "Killed in action, sir. The enemy vessel counterattacked and blew him to pieces, along with six of his flight. I now command the remainder and await your orders, Captain". The Captain scratched his chin, pondering what to do; then having decided, replied with "Sweeping runs from behind, Senior Officer Hral". Then he explained more "Keep moving from side to side. Hit and run. The reserve fighter craft will come from directly above and below the enemy vessel and box it in. Then, under you command, move in formation back to my dreadnaught, where this enigma will be brought in and secured for transport back to base"
This change of tactics mystified Harrigan. "What do they hope to achieve by this?" he asked rhetorically, bewildered, as the recent run swept past "We kill one or two each time, suffering no damage in return". Then two additional groups of fighters popped out of the belt simultaneously; the one above him pulling out shortly above him, and the other underneath, boxing him in. Harrigan tried everything he could, but each time he looked like escaping a blast of pulse fire would force a retreat. "Damn!" Mary replied over the comm. "Caught like fish in a barrel. They must want us alive"
Officer Leeuwin's eyes were riveted to her screen as the dreadnaught emerged from the belt. "Dreadnaught!" she screamed, scared. "Dead ahead. These guys are herding us in towards it!". "They want us alive" Mary replied flatly "Don't know why, but it can't be for anything nice". The Harbringer shook slightly as the dreadnaught's docking web locked on and drew them inside the hull. Harrigan growled "We will NOT go down without a fight. Officer Leeuwin, take us to the armoury". Everyone converged from their various positions and were led by Officer Leeuwin to the infantry armoury just opposite the bunkroom to prepare for the coming battle.
Everything in space was just the opening act. Now they must prepare for the main event.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------