Chapter 9

Jump into Battle

0900 hours that day, back in the Femverse.

"Bingo I made it . To where I do not know. I seem to be in orbit
above a blue class M planet, " Ace blared via a tackyon beam which would last less than a minute. Her next words were cut off with an explosion that she could not hear but which rocked her one man ship hard to port.

The image that Deb Lister looked at blinked to black for a second
then came back, only now with digitalized moments of frozen images.

"Ace are you all right," Spanners hollered into the mike.

"That you Deb old fruit cake? The ship and I seem to be in one piece."
Another explosion rocked the ship, this time the picture took several seconds to return to the screen.

The head and shoulders shot that the Space Corps in her dimension
was receiving showed battle explosions reflecting off Ace's helmet.

"What in the solar nebula have I waltzed into? Base do you copy?
Looks like I jumped into a dance going at full swing without a invitation or a score card. "

Ace quickly saw the dog fight which was going on all around her was actually centered around a large red vessel, one which Ace recognized immediately.
The fight was four against one. But somehow despite the odds the one small black fighter seemed to have the advantage. With that quickly surmised the pilot could look after himself, she decided it would be prudent to leave the general vicinity, as not to be mistaken by anyone.

"I think I'll forget manners this once and be off."
Ace wrestled with the joystick and fired her main thrusters.
Nothing happened.

"Space Corps do you copy, I think I may have lost my thrusters trying secondary retros."

Ace flipped a switch and power returned to her strong feminine hands.
As she started moving the ship, another explosion rocked her craft.
But this time the explosion came from the small black fighter.
It wasn't completely down for the count, with an engine missing and half the flight controls the pilot kept fighting. It was three to one now.

"I'm heading into the fray. Computer plot me a tight interceptor course
old love."
"But Ace we're not armed. It's a suicide mission."

"Only manners old girl, be hardly sporting to leave with odds like that."

With that Ace's sleek ship veered towards the fracas.
The blackened ship was now being encircled by the three crafts.
Now closer, Ace could make out that all three ships were of different origins,
but had a common enemy.

"These three aren't giving that one a fair shake," she thought,
and accelerated towards the four ships. No one noticed her, or if they did they didn't care. These chaps were very serious about their work.

The small black ship's details started to become clearer the closer Ace got. The ship was not actually painted black, but the appearance had been caused by so many battle scars on it's hull that at a distance, they were
indistinguishable from one another.
The design of the ship was familiar to Ace too. But she couldn't quite remember where she had seen another ship like it.

"Within communication range," the ship's computer informed the salutary
sweaty pilot. Her firm hand gripping the control stick as though her life depended on it, which it did.

Her long fingers caressed the control panel until they rested on the correct buttons, then at the precise moment hitting the retros simultaneously with the afterburners. The Wildfire moved as a cobra striking and zoomed between the damaged lone fighter and two of the three attacking ships.

The sudden appearance of another ship which seemed to be an ally
of the lone fighter and might have their piloting skills was too much for the attackers. With to many unknowns the three ships from different origins regrouped and headed off towards the planetoid below. Perhaps to fight again one day.

"Well old friend seems like your playmates didn't want to stick around
and dance with us." Aces husky yet feminine voice transmitted over
the transmitter.

A voice answered. "Identify yourself." A voice and not a voice, more like a metal sound or rasp, perhaps his communication systems malfunctioning.

"This is Commander Rimmer of Star Corps. Friends call me Ace.
And what's your handle old love?"
The blackened ship answered.

Twice.

Then the WildFire exploded.

Within five thousand feet of the landing bay 7 Ace's ship was hit.

The explosion ended the tachyon transmission with a ball of fire.