Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Far Beyond the World
Part V - Eyes Like a Hawk
On the outer edge of the Sol System...
The squadron of four Hatchet-Fighters raced across the ebony gap toward the disabled starship Searcher, and from the darkened depths of the Earth vessel's hanger bay shot two fighters, both eager to take the battle back to the Draconians.
In the lead came a one-of-a-kind Avian-Class attackship. Uniquely configured in the form of a massive bird-of-prey, her silvered hull was sleek, catching the rays of the distant sun on her port wing in a dazzle of sunshine. At the controls of the deadly vessel was Hawk, and his stark visage was a mask of focused concentration.
Behind him came the forked prow of a Thunder-Class starfighter. The backbone of the Earth Defence Directorate's space force, it was a technological achievement that had yet to meet it's match. Perhaps Hawk's Avian was it's superior in combat, but the definitive battle had yet to be fought.
The Bird-Man's piloting ability was legendary, his well honed skill set boosted by the natural flight instinct of a thousand generations of his race who proceeded his existence. But if ever there was a human who could hope to equal him behind the controls of a starfighter, it was Captain William 'Buck' Rogers.
"You get the big one, pal," said Buck over their personal channel, "while I get the ugly one."
"Their vessels are identical, Earth Man." replied Hawk in confusion, "And there are four of them, not two."
"Just an old joke."
"Ah. Perhaps we had better focus on defeating them."
"Whatever floats your boat, Hawk old buddy. But they're Draconians, their maneuvers are slow, this will be easy. They may have caught Searcher off-guard and nailed her with some lucky missile shots, but now they're playing on my court, and the advantage is ours."
"If you say so."
"You betcha I do. This'll be a piece of cake!" and Buck jacked up the speed and weaving around Hawk's ship he shot forward to meet the first Marauder.
There was no hesitation on his part, he was out for blood, his thumb drilled onto his control stick's trigger stud, sending twin blazing-yellow beams flying for the leader.
If they get past us it's curtains for Wilma and the others, so that ain't gonna happen!
But to his surprise the Marauder banked in a rush and his opening barrage missed. The other Draconians had dodged as well so the blast missed them as well.
Huh, he scowled, so they've been practising while I've been gone. Good for them...
"I thought this was supposed to be a 'piece of cake'." reproached Hawk over the link.
"Okay, so maybe it'll be a bit of a challenge. You're up for that, right?"
"Always!" and Hawk shot into the fray in a blaze of yellow plasma energy from his cannon, and the beam lashed across the narrowing gap and scored a hit on the starboard wing of one of the Marauders.
"Hah! First blood, as you Earthlings call it!"
"Go get'em, Hawk!" rallied Buck as he sent his starfighter into a tight barrel spin. Stars whirled around his cockpit, then he pulled out of it with a blast of thrusters and rose up behind a Marauder of his own. He weaved under a wave of enemy fire and another Hatchet-Fighter soared over him from port. But he managed to hold onto his position behind the first Marauder and dogged it as it soared downwards, it's engines blazing like twin suns.
It swung back-and-forth through his crosshairs and Buck leaned in, eyes narrowing for the kill shot. Then he had them, his thumb nailed the trigger and xanthic death shot from his cannons. The blast struck the rear of the Draconian and it shook and sparks flew. But it didn't explode.
Why didn't it explode?! Buck's mind whirled at the possibilities. Uh-oh, this is not good, not good at ALL!
"Rogers!" his alien wing-man yelled over the line, "These ships are incredibly sturdy! I have nailed one twice with my weapons, yet it still flies intact. They are fearsome adversaries indeed!"
"Time to get creative!" Rogers told him, then kicked in the afterburners and sent his starfighter surging forward. He hedge-hopped overtop his Marauder and dropped into it's sites, turning himself from the hunter into the hunted.
"Buck!" shouted Hawk, "What are you doing?! Have you gone mad?"
"Mad with a thirst for revenge, yeah! You do your thing, pal, and I'll do mine!" and he whipped his fighter up and to starboard, blasting thrusters at max release, sending himself into an incredibly tight turn.
The Marauder on his tail blasted shot-after-shot after Buck and he weaved and banked, but stayed on the course he'd created in his mind, the instinctive geometry the United States Air Force had drilled into him five centuries earlier whirling inside his skull, spitting out instant vector alterations like the mind of a champion Major League Baseball pitcher preparing to throw a perfect knuckle ball. The fuselage of Buck's starfighter howled at the tremendous pressure, but he stayed on course, knowing he was mere moments from straying into a perfect targeting lock, but this was his only chance so he kept going, bending over the controls, the stick in his white-knuckled grip bending into it's gears so hard it was threatening to break, then the Marauder achieved it's lock, the goatee'd Draconian grinned in triumph and squeezed the trig--Buck threw his ship down with everything he had and the enemy pilot was suddenly nose-to-nose with ANOTHER hatchet-fighter! Buck had lured them into a game of chicken and neither of the Draconians had even realized it until
BAAA-BOOOOM!
They crashed into each other and went up in a tremendous explosion!
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" grinned Rogers as he looped up-and-over the expanding orange-yellow fireball, then levelled out and headed after the two remaining Marauders.
Or one, actually, as he was just in time to bear witness to Hawk's Avian executing her most devastating maneuver. The bird-ship had gotten above one of the Marauders, who hadn't cared since Hawk's vessel had forward-firing weaponry. But from the undercarriage of the Avian twin landing legs had extended, with wicked claws hooking down at the Hatchet-Fighter. Hawk dropped his ship onto the Draconian and the Talons speared into it on either side of the cockpit, biting into the wings.
"Yeah!" cheered Buck as the Talons raked backwards and up and tore both wings right off the Hatchet-Fighter in a terrific wrenching of metal!
Hawk shot up and away from the Marauder, leaving it less then half what it used to be. With it's wings had gone it's thrusters and now it was just a bullet racing across space, trailing sparks and leaking atmosphere, but only for another thirty seconds as Buck was on it now and soaring up on it's port side he laid into it with his blasters, targeting the exposed section where the left wing used to be.
With no upgraded armor to protect it, the Draconian fighter went up like a firecracker! Buck looped away and sent Hawk his compliments over the line.
"Our victory is not yet complete, Rogers." replied the Bird-Man.
"Gotcha." said Buck as he dropped into position beside the Avian, and together they set off after the final Marauder.
But the Hatchet-Fighter's pilot wasn't stupid, he knew when he was beat, and he banked to starboard and flipped his craft end-over-end, coming out of the maneuver facing the opposite direction. His engines flared and he shot away.
"Coward!" shouted Hawk, "You shall not escape!" and he accelerated to full speed, following in hot pursuit.
"Wait!" called Buck over the comlink, "Searcher has to be protected!"
"You do that!" sent back his friend, "And while you are, I will make sure this Draconian does not survive long enough to report back to his superiors! I have intercepted his communications frequency and am jamming it."
Buck frowned, but Hawk was right. They needed as much time as they could buy by right now. If that Marauder got away it would probably come back with ten times it's number at least, and Searcher was in no state to mount a proper defence, far from it.
"Okay. Good hunting!"
"Indeed." replied Hawk and he cut the channel. His Avian vanished into the distance, while Buck reluctantly turned his starfighter around and headed it back to Searcher.
But his gaze narrowed as he saw something small jetting toward the listing starship. He brought up his Scanners and zoomed in, gaped in amazement.
"How in the--that's not possible!"
But it was. A figure in a self-contained flightsuit was completing a final maneuver with his rocket belt. Buck recognized his uniform, it was one of the Draconian pilots!
It must be the one Hawk stripped of it's wings! Buck's mind spun. He must have ejected just as I fired upon him! Damn!
With one last blast of blue belt thrusters, the Draconian pilot shot into Searcher's hanger bay. He landed hard, rolled across the darkened deck, then his magnetic boots made contact and he jerked to a halt. He staggered up onto his feet in the weak gravity and spotted the nearest airlock and set off for it, heavy heels clanking across the grilled deck plates. He reached the lock and slapped the controls, then ducked inside, the portal slid shut behind him and air poured automatically into the chamber.
He studied the control panel carefully, then found the key he was looking for and stabbed it. And back in the Docking Bay the outside doors slid shut, blocking any exterior access, including that of Buck Rogers, still en-route back to Searcher in his Thunder-Class starfighter.
A moment later the Draconian infiltrator was passing through the inner airlock door, energy pistol out and ready to gun-down any Earthlings or otherwise that dared to get in his way.
I shall make good on my oath, Lieutenant Bonengel grinned as he took off down the corridor, this wretched Earth ship shall burn!
To be continued...