A/N: Chapter three, Reporting... Roger, Claw formation Set... Aggressive tactics set. Chapter three lost!
Disclaimer: Tee hee, i just love the puns. But no, I don't own Homeworld... YET! I have this wonderful plan involving a bucket of lard, Two lawyers, and a misused shovel. Don't ask what the lard or the lawyers are for.
The shovel is for uhm... Cleanup.
-1 BHL, Mothership's Bridge, High Kharak Orbit-
"Commodore Liirud Jaraci, Reporting in and my wing is awaiting orders, Sir!" came through my headset, slightly muffled by static, but generally loud and clear."Alright. Your current objective is the destruction of the nine Target drones, sitting approximately twenty clicks ahead of you." I started, and paused a moment, to look at the central sensors display hologram, in the middle of the bridge.
"Understood- Moving to en-" he started, and I quickly cut him off, "Negative- do not take a straight path towards the drones- You have seven craft, split off one group of four towards the left, and the other group of three towards the right- Best to start building good habits BEFORE you're under fire." A memory of bad intell, and an even worse insert flashed through my mind- five out of eight craft went down, because we were all too green to remember to stay anywhere but ahead of their fighters...
"Roger, A pair of delta formations, pincer attack." he reported over the comms, and I watched as the green dots split up, and annihilated the target drones. "Formation trial complete. Flight analysis shows a twenty-two percent increase in combat performance." the head Fleet Intelligence officer said, from a station rather near mine- It was odd hearing his voice twice- due to the very slight lag in the communications system.
"The next trial will test the effectiveness of tactics. Use aggressive or evasive tactics, and engage the Target Drones here." he said, pressing a few buttons at his station, causing a yellow Orb to pulse outwards, around a second group of target drones- 16 in all, this time.
"Alright, Set power settings for full weapon enhancement, And I want you to regroup, and hammer them along the outside, Spiral inwards, From one direction, coming in off their 3:00." I ordered, and quickly received a "Roger, Aggressive tactics engaged." I watched as they hooked around, and mopped up the drones, quite efficently, but a little slowly. "Tactics trial complete." The fleet intelligence officer reported.
"The next trial will test the..." he started, before I tuned him out, and spoke with my squadron. "Good job, Return for refuel, and rearm, but do not launch on completion. Stay docked for the hyperspace trial." I ordered over the comms channel. "Roger, Docking with mothership commencing. Wing two, you're up first." Cdr. Jaraci walked his squadron through the docking.
"Commodore- Have your squad assemble in Deck 18b, Hallway 34- I wish to speak with your lot on your oppinions of the Arrow." A science officer's voice cut in, just before the docking was completed. "Understood, sir." I then heard the destinctive click of a comm being shut off, while still active. I allowed myself a little smirk. I quickly checked the comm channel, to make sure the Science officer was still on it, before I clicked it thrice- to signal to him to keep his comms open.
"Science officer..." I started "Ular S'Jet, sir" he responded over the Comm. "Right. Officer S'Jet. I've noticed that these "Arrow" interceptors only have two guns... Why is this? Even my old Dagger class light interceptor had four..." I queried, over the comm. "My first impression from watching the arrow was that it might be too weakly armed, and armored, for it's pure speed to compensate for. It seems more likely that if we find another space capable race, it'll be relagated to scouting duties, and maybe supply unit harrassment at best. Complete disuse, and a waste of materials at worst!"
"Sir, With all due respect, you used a projectile weapon inside an atmosphere- That lended to inaccuracy, and reduced power at range. These Rail Mass Drivers are much stronger then your old average Machine guns. Our simulated laboratory tests showed us that there was no feasable armor that we could give that would sufficiently protect against mass-driver shots. The odds of us finding even ONE race that's capable of being protected from it are less then one in a million!" he said, with a slight hint of personal affront, and arrogance.
"I take it you were the lead designer of the Arrow, then?" I asked him, and he quickly responded. "Yes I was, and I would have to say that I'm very proud of the end result. It certainly performs better then the leading competing design- That 'Blade'. My Arrow's design NEVER killed one of it's pilots. But that Blade? HAH! They're nothing but flying Bombs, the whole lot of them." I could almost hear his grin over the comm.
"Alright, I'll hold you to that then." I said, and clicked my comm off. "Rear Admiral!" an officer called at me from across the bridge. "Yes... Lieutenant?" I quickly checked his shoulder-pip's for his rank. "Sir, I've been told to inform you that, since the design of the Vengance class is taking longer then expected, and your expertise may be needed at any given time, Fleet Command is putting you in temporary command of a wing of Light Corvettes." the Lieutenant quickly spoke, before saluting, "I'm to be your weapons officer, and the Ensign over there is to be communications." he said, before heading towards the bridge exit.
-Mothership's fighter bay, High Kharak Orbit-
The droning hum, and ocasional echos of work going on deeper in the bay seemed to permiate all other sounds- a voice would be rendered unrecognizable over the din of general noise in the background. Myself, the Lieutenant and the Ensign followed a winding series of catwalks, and corridors to where our Corvette was berthed.
"Here she is, Sir. The first of her kind." the Lieutenant gestured towards the craft, and I snorted to myself quietly, wondering if the small, slender craft was a serious attempt at a defensive capability. Ensign LiirHra's voice seemed to mirror my thoughts exactly, "It looks like a Deathtrap- Do we really have to g- uhm, I mean... After you, Sir."
We all climbed into the thin craft, and the first apparent feature of the corvette was it's incredibly cramped conditions. "Are you sure this isn't a Two man craft, sir?" Quipped Ahlera, as she ran through her systems check. A quiet double beep alerted us all to a minor fault with the communications array- some frequencies might come through garbled. "It looks like they didn't even finish this thing, before they crammed us in here. " the Ensign grumbled to herself, as she quickly pulled up a diagnostics menu. "This communications fault isn't all... Insufficient ammunition... Life support operating at minimal capacity... I don't like this thing at all..." she stated, a bit more shakily.
"Sir, the targeting system is incomplete- we'll be unable to account for ballistic trajectories around larger gravitational bodies- more simply put sir, we can't point at an angle near a planet or a star." the lieutenant started, "Plus, we have further troubles- Like the Ensign said, low ammunition, a minor feed fault appeared a moment ago, but I was able to recycle the weapon system, but it seems that the power draw for our top-side rail mass driver is-" he continued, holding up a hand, and ticking off fingers as he went.
"Don't worry, Crew- We're just going to put her through her paces for now. We probably won't see any action at all- We'll just test what DOES work, and get the mechanics to sort out the rest." I interrupted- more to reassure myself, then my new crew. I quickly waved over the engineering crew, to seal us into the small craft.
-1 BHL, High Kharak Orbit-
"You are cleared for launch, LCS-1. We'll be engaging the hyperdrive system in a minute, though, so get clear before engaging in trials," a Communications officer replied over the comm, and Ahlera clicked the comm twice to signal acknowledgement. "Sir, it's all yours." she quickly stated.
"Understood," I returned, and began start off procedure. "Maneuvering thrusters online... and operational..." the craft rolled slightly in response to my slight pulling on the controls "Ships gravity field... Engaged" I felt my stomach leap with the sudden feeling of first weightlessness, then very quickly, a return to gravity "Main power is at 100%..." I checked all my readout gauges, and placed my hand on the main engine switch "Main engine is..." I flipped the switch, and took a shallow breath "... Online..." I quickly let out the breath, and slowly eased up the throttle.
The corvette quickly lurched forwards- but I kept her under a tight hand, and within seconds, I was clear of the Hangar bay. "Report that we're clear." I quickly ordered Ahlera. "Yes sir- LCS-1 to Mothership- We are clear." she replied, and was shortly echoed by another pair of corvettes reporting in. "LCS-2, Clear," a high female voice first said- followed by "LCS-3, we are Away," a slightly deep female voice, "LCS-4, is out, sir." a baritone male voice, then finally "LCS-5 All Clear!" a chipper female.
"Alright- all units form up on lead and put on full throttle- we've got to get clear of the-" A sudden massive burst of static cut off our comms, and- I thought it then only a trick of my eyes, but I saw hundreds of hyperspace windows opening just as we were pulled in by the mothership's hyperspace field. As I would later find out, it was the Tiidan war fleet which would annihilate our homeworld which I had seen.
"Damnit. Report!" I ordered, and after a prolonged burst of static, Ahlera found out that all five Corvettes were pulled into the hyperspace field- But LCS-5's engines, main power, and even life-support had been left behind."Sir, with that kind of damage..." Ahlera started quietly. Lieutenant Nihrus just shook his head slightly. "I know," I responded. "They won't even survive the trip."
A/N: Yey! I got a review (and brown nosing- Err, A compliment) From Ana!
I aim to please. Myself. Which is very hard sometimes.
Go figure.
Remember to read [i]and Review- Or I'll send a Firelance after you!
(Tee-Hee... End rhyme.)
(sec)A/N: I am SOOO sorry for the delay- I had no internet for months, 'cause my 80$ A month package, which was guaranteed for 24 months at that price, went up to about 400 dollars, on the third month. /facepalm.
On the GOOD news, I've got a few chapters stored up, and I'll be shoveling them out, once a week, until I run out. :V