A/N: No notes yet- Too long without input. Gee, I should fix that.
-Five Hours Later, Outer Kharak System-
Hours later, the ship lurched suddenly, and the infinite depths of hyperspace vanished before our eyes. Our exit was just as violent as our entry, our ship was propelled away from the Mothership in a fierce flat spin. I had just righted the ship, when I noticed a grey blur careening towards LCS-4. "Lieutenant- Break left!" Ahlera shouted over the Comms, almost before I gave her the order to.
"Sir, we've lost control of our maneuvering thrusters- Oh no, it's going to... SHI-" LCS-4's Comms Officer's final scream was covered by a burst of static, as the wrecked hulk of LCS-5 collided with LCS-4's cockpit, rolling off of the other Corvette and almost appearing to cause little damage.
Then the vacuum of space almost instantaneously sucked out the bodies of the three crew members, and lacerated them with the shards of the protective canopy. All that remained of LCS-4's crew was a fine red mist, and the arm of an Ensign- never identified by name.
"Damnit... Get Two, and Three's Status Ensign." I said, and she slowly complied "Right, sir... LCS-2, LCS-3... Status Report?" LCS-2 responded quickly "All systems operational- but we've got a slight power supply error with our upper-" she quickly cut LCS-2 off "We've got that too, Seems like a design flaw." She clicked her end shut for a moment, but received no response from LCS-3. "LCS-3, Respond."
A small flash of light caught my attention from LCS-3's cockpit- it happened a second time, and I realized it was quite the opposite- their lights flicking off caught my attention. "Ensign, know Morse code?" I quickly cut off her continued attempts to raise LCS-3 on the comms. "No sir, wh- Oh..." She said, and spotted the same thing I had. "They're saying 'A. O.K.', Ensign" the Lieutenant supplied.
"We read you, LCS-3," she quickly returned over the radio, and their light flickering immediately ceased. "LCS 1, come in." Fleet command's voice came through- still perfectly clearly. "Damn," I mumbled to myself, or rather, tried to- Nihrus gave me an odd look in response. "Reporting." Ahlera responded over the Comms. "Report group status." S'jet's voice said almost without emotion.
"We've lost two Corvettes, and LCS-3 has a Transmitting problem- Both LCS-2 and LCS-1 Craft are reporting Power faults in our weapon batteries." She reported shortly, and looked like she wanted to continue, but I held up a hand. "We are still go for tests, if that's what you're asking, Command." I stated loud enough to be heard over the Comms. "Understood, Fleet Command out."
"Still good for tests, sir? We've lost 40% of our operational strength- And six of ours just died, and we're still good for-" Ahlera started, in an almost panicked voice, I quickly cut her off "Only tests, Ensign- then we re-dock. Nothing more." I stated as evenly as I could muster. "Yes sir." She replied after a moment, quietly. "Two, Three, form up on One, we are go for tests." she called over the Comms.
"Two, Acknowledged." Two's Comms replied in an even tone. "Three, Confirmed." Three's voice cracked halfway through. I quickly pushed the throttle to 90%, and started taking the craft through a series of harsh maneuvers. The other two craft stayed with my heavy-handed maneuvering, but only just- any sort of formation was found impossible to keep with such heavy maneuvering. We ran simple target practice on a bit of dust- or rather, large chunks of rock that were too small, or to useless to be picked up by our resourcers. The power fault persisted in our weapon-systems, no malfunctions or jams occured with our weapons, although we did run out of ammo very quickly.
"Alright, Ensign, have them dock." I ordered, and aligned us on a return course for the mothership. "LCS-2, LCS-3, Disengage, and Return to dock," she stated over the comms, "Roger, Docking with mothership." two responded, "Docking Underway." three confirmed.
-half an hour later, Mothership Bridge, Outer Kharak System-
"Probe Away" I heard Fleet Command state, and I turned my view towards a large screen mounted towards the rear of the bridge. The screen was set up to relay the visual feed from the probe, and although a little interference came through, the view was one of the utmost clarity. Asteroids seeming to either stand still- or closely miss the nimble probe, blocked our view of the Khar-Selim, but as we came up to a large asteroid, and the probe swung wide- the very front of the support vessel came into view.
"There she is! I never thought I'd be so glad to see such a piece of shi... uh.. Are you all seeing this?" ScOff. 3rd class Arisa Paktu said- first elatedly, then almost in a tone of disbelief. "We're all seeing it, Techie." I replied calmly. Inside I was both surprised and furious. The front end of the Khar Selim remained almost intact- but just behind it's fat snub-nose, only the spine of the ship remained. The aft sections of the bridge still looked aflame then- a sign ignored by all that the damage was fresh, and the attackers could still be near.
"Are there any survivors?" the voice of fleet Intelligence cut across the bridge, shocking more then one crewman out of their stupor. An almost furious pace of activity took hold of the bridge- though it died down just as quickly as it started. I stared at the image on the screen as if what I was seeing couldn't possibly be correct- but I answered almost automatically. "With damage of that type... No Defenses... No Fail-safes.. Sir, there won't be a single survivor out there."
"Alert! I have unidentified contacts on a closing vector- They're coming from a bearing of 090, 045 off of the Khar Selim- No Recognition codes, assume hostile!" a sensors operator's voice broke through the somber silence like a molten machete through half melted butter- and once more the bridge was in a frantic pace of action.
I quickly ran to the communications officer, and made sure that I had a clear view of the Sensors hologram in the middle of the room. "Scramble Group One, Get me a commlink with Commander Jaraci as soon as he launches!" I ordered, and counted the enemy ships mentally. 'three corvettes, and eight fighters... Hmm, that's an odd assortment.'
The comms officer shook my arm quickly, and snapped me out of my thoughts. "Sir, Jaraci is awaiting orders, all 16 Arrows have been scrambled, and are assembled in front of the mothership." the comms officer gestured to the headset, and vacated his seat. "We're counting on all of you." he said.
"Right, Commander Jaraci! Break into standard four man groups- Delta formation, Fighting pairs, One targets, One clears. Take out their interceptors first- and for gods sake, stay alive out there!" I ordered over the comms, and received a short "Roger, Delta formation, Evasive tactics." in return.
From there, the comms deteriorated into a scrambled mess of messages- "Delta lead- Nice shot!" - Ensign Abriel Manaan, 'Delta Two' cheered;
"Alpha One! Check your six!" - Ensign Ghurlak Tambuur, 'Alpha Four' cried over the comms;
"This is Alpha Two- I'm on him!" - Ensign Dolaar S'jet, 'Alpha Two' quickly responded;
"This is Alpha Three, I'm all over one, but he won't go down!" Lieutenant Commander Deera Paktu, 'Alpha Three' called;
"Beta two, Behind you!" - Ensign Hural Manaan, 'Beta Four' warned;
"Beta two here- I cant shake him!" - Ensign Jurgas LiirHra, 'Beta Two' called, panicked;
"Beta two- Hold on, I'm coming!" - Lieutenant Commander Ellia S'jet, 'Beta One' replied hurriedly;
"I got him! Finally." - Alpha Three reported shortly;
"Alpha One- Taking fire, where's my wing?" Commander Liirud Jaraci, 'Alpha One' called;
"Another one gone- Took light fire though." Alpha Three called quickly;
"Damnit, Taking HEAVY fire, Someone Clear my ass!" Alpha One barked over the comm;
"Got him! You're clear Beta two!" Beta One claimed one down- I quickly counted, 'that makes four...';
"Scratch One!" Lieutenant Junior Grade Leera Paktu, 'Beta Three' cheered. 'Five...';
"Yeah, well your sister's winning!" Beta Four called back;
"Yeah, shut it, sandbait" Beta Three snapped back;
"Quiet you two" ordered Beta One;
"I can't shake him- I can't sha-" the flash was visible from where I was standing, Alpha One went up in a ball of fire;
"Damnit- One is down!" Alpha Two called in; I silently bowed my head, Commander Jaraci was a good pilot;
"I'm on point!" Lieutenant Commander Siara Manaan, 'Delta One' called;
"I got the bastard!" Alpha Three reported, 'Six down.' I tallied;
"A bit late..." Alpha Four grumbled; "Their damn armor is too thick- I got him as quick as I-" Alpha Three started back;
"Can it- Take out the rest of these guys!" Delta One interrupted with a fierce tone;
"SHIT, I got one on me!" Alpha Four reported;
"I'm on him, Alpha Four" Beta three called;
"I can't take this fire!" Alpha Four cried out;
"Just a little longer, Pull him straight!" Beta three responded;
"Fuck- Reactor breech, Bye gu-" Alpha Four called out;
"Damn, too late!" Beta Three called.;
"Don't lose him, Three!" Beta Four reminded;
"Got him! Number Two." Beta Three called 'Seven... One fighter left.';
"Great shot!" Beta Four cheered;
"Beta Two- Help me out here.. Shit... REACTOR BRE-!" Beta One yelled;
"One is down! One is down! That Fighter's coming around for you, four!" Beta Two reported;
"I'm hit I'm hit! Da-" Beta Four shouted over the comms- Cut off by a burst of static;
"Wingman down! Where did that damn Fighter get to?" Beta three growled "Beta three! Behind you!" Delta Two called; "Shit- Taking fire!" Beta Three cried;
"I'm on him, Hold on." Alpha Three called;
"No wait- I got hi-" Beta Three started, only to be interrupted by a crackle of static;
"Last Fighter's gone- You're welcome, little Sis!" Alpha Three reported shortly;
"Damn, I wanted that one!" Beta Three moaned;
"Get to the corvettes- Our research ship is taking heavy fire from them!" Delta Lead interrupted the cheering;
"Roger! Gamma wing; engage!" Lieutenant Commander Taora S'jet, 'Gamma One' reported;
"Gamma two- My mass drivers are ineffective!" Ensign Abriel Manaan, 'Gamma Two' called quickly;
"Gamma three, No dice, their armor's too thick." Lieutenant Zhadara LiirHra, 'Gamma Three' confirmed;
"Concentrate All fire on the cockpit section of that Missile Corvette first" Gamma One ordered;
"Roger!" Ensign Draela Manaan, 'Gamma Four' responded;
"Two here- their armor's cracking, one more pass!" Gamma Two followed;
"Four here, I'm hit, I'm hit!" Gamma Four reported;
"Four- return to base, I'll cover your retreat!" Gamma Three called calmly;
"Crap- Main engine's gone critical- I ain't gonna-" Gamma Four cried out, before her ship exploded.
"Shit; Four's down!" Gamma Three called over the comm;
"Scratch the Missile Corvette!" Gamma One reported- followed immediately by static, and a bright flash;
"Alpha wing in Engagement range- We'll take the left Gun Corvette, Gamma, Take the right!" Alpha Three ordered quickly;
"Deltas, You heard her, hit that corvette!" Gamma One confirmed "Alpha Three here; That's got him, those engin-Cshhhrrk-re Weak!" Alpha Three called in, Partially covered by static;
"Got it, hits on their engine!" Gamma Two called, and swung her craft along behind the last corvette.
"Careful two, I'm coming in from the other side!" Gamma Three warned;
"Copy, Got hits, and pulling off... There she goes!" Gamma Two reported;
"We're all clear, Awaiting orders, Command." Delta One called in.
"Roger, Return to the mothership for repair, refuel, and rearm; but stay on standby, Command Out." I replied shortly, before clicking off the comm, and waving the communications officer back over to his station. I started off the bridge, but paused a second by the door. I turned my head around at the bridge, and made an angry remark "Not five hours ago, you all would have sworn by our new Rail Mass Drivers, as if they were unbeatable... And that arrow lived up to my expectations. Or rather- Died up to them. How many did we just lose out there?" I started to walk off, but the door shut in my face.
"Admiral, if you think that we deliberately-" Karan S'jet started first, before almost at once seven or eight people followed. I managed to hear the cry of "It's not our fault!" from Ular S'jet. At once, almost all the rest of the talking in the room stopped, and even one of the other Scientists on the design project of the arrow gave him a dirty look. He paid no mind, and continued spouting further defenses of himself and his pet project. "How could we possibly know that they'd be able to resist Rail Mass Drivers- The chances of-"
I saw red at that moment. I turned around, and backed the into a corner "How could you know... or even GUESS that..." I said in a low, mocking tone, and picked him up off the ground by the front of his uniform. "Maybe if you had payed attention in history. Every 'unbeatable' weapon is defeated. Always." I pinned him against the wall, and glared at his face. "But you paid no heed. Five good pilots just died because of YOUR incompetence!" I growled at him.
"ADMIRAL." Fleet Intelligence yelled. "CONTROL yourself." He shook my arm. I looked up at the Science Officer's terrified face, snarled, and dropped him, before turning on my heel and marching to the door. "Open this damn door, Get me a new fighter, and finish those frigate plans. Next time, I want to do more then sit by a damned console, and listen to our pilots die." I ordered, in a low tone.
The door opened quickly, and the room remained silent as I left. The officers on guard in the corridor towards the elevator gave me a wide berth, and the elevator stopped twice- Only to close in the face of frightened crew members, as I returned to my quarters. Only after I entered my room did I notice that, at some point, my radio had been knocked on, and that every word I had said was transmitted to the entire fleet.
A/N: No Reviews for Ch3, No responses. :V That's all folks!