Peligia, the shadows come for me now, but I must write this, before I am swallowed whole by the darkness.
Peligia is a sickness, its search a disease that has destroyed my life, and I will die knowing that I will never see that world. But I die knowing that any who follow in my footsteps will be consumed by the darkness of obsession.
HMS Prometheus Unbound - Adehraog System - Amsus Hegemony
It had been a delicate manoeuvre considering that the Raptor had no functional manoeuvring systems, but they had managed to get the Raptor docked to one of the Osterburg Hunter Killers, rather ominously named Prometheus Unbound.
Squadron Leader Katz sat, bored, in the small mess hall, his back to the large forward windows that looked out over the stars. Turning the small thermal mug in his hands, he reflected on how bad it tasted compared to the stuff Darien always kept on the Excalibur. Soldiers and Marines didn't know how to make coffee.
Prometheus was crawling with them, mostly Kardiac troops, mixed with a smattering of Karin Marines maintaining the small, highly agile strike craft. At most there was a crew of about twenty-five, adapting to their new roles of operating a starship as best they could. Combine that with the fact that there were close to a hundred Osterburgs forming the 242nd Apilon Rift Light Horse, it was an impressive feat indeed.
Colonel Ramsey had a sense of humour when he had put together his 'light cavalry'. The ships were teamed in tandem pairs, always flying close together so that one of the two ships could always keep its jump drive in reserve. It was a good strategy; it meant that the 242nd was capable of rapid assault with the capacity of withdrawing again if they ran into trouble. Few things in the Amsus Armada, aside from Raptors, could keep up with the Osterburgs, and that gave the outnumbered Imperial forces an advantage.
Katz settled back into the metal chair, shifting down into his nylon flight jacket, undone and hanging loose, waiting for some news from General Riley. However, ever since they had come aboard, Riley had been up on the bridge in deep conversation with Ramsey, the two men working out how best to use the information Excalibur had gathered from the A-IX outpost.
Even Kyr had disappeared, the doctor having his patient moved to the Prometheus's small medical bay, anxious and worried about the Gorean Ambassador whose life hung in the balance, dependant on getting back to his people for proper care. Apparently it was a wonder that the doctor was able to keep him alive at all, and Katz mused that perhaps the small Kaynin Doctor had 'mad skills'.
His thoughts were interrupted by a mischievous-looking twenty-something-year-old wearing the Kardiac uniform. "Squadron Leader?" he asked, leaning with a confident smile on the back of the chair across from Katz. He wore the black wool wrap tunic common for most Kardiac officers. The tunic's left front fastened over the right almost to the full width of the torso, with broad lapels and a short hem cropped at the waist. Blue piping, with the blue armband with its golden lions head picked out in gold embroidery. They all seemed to wear them, and Katz couldn't work out why. It seemed uncomfortable when compared to the uniforms they had adopted on the Excalibur, especially to a fighter pilot who hated anything that would hamper his mobility.
"Lieutenant?" Katz asked, sitting forward and looking up at the dark haired youth.
"Sir, I..." The new comer entered the small mess hall and sat down, bracing his chin on the back of the chair and smirking at Katz knowingly.
"What?" Katz asked, setting his mug down and giving his full attention to the young man.
"Mio amico, you probably remember me, I am Alessandro, I was aboard the Excalibur after she left Tempus. I came aboard with the Kardiac Army." His heavy accent flooded his words, provincial Tempus, a blended mix between a French and Italian accent. He nodded with a smirk at Katz.
Katz grinned in amusement. "I remember you, I think. You were pulling double duty with Colonel Mayfair's Marines, a communications tech."
"Sì, sì il mio amico," He grinned, a smile that curled one side of his mouth quizzically, like he had a question to ask, and Katz noticed the deep hazel eyes and the way his dark hair sat just right, carefully styled. He felt a light flutter and smiled back as the Kardiac Lieutenant continued, "Riguardo. We managed to establish contact with the Excalibur, we've been trying to find a way to break through the Amsus jamming of our communications, but we constructed a hyperspace relay..." he produced a flat data reader and pushed it across the table, "Angelina asked me to deliver this to you," he gestured with his hands, "We're not supposed to relay personal communiqués without the Colonnello Ramsey's permission, but I bent the rules for her."
Katz frowned. The young Kardiac lieutenant's Italian roots were showing, much like Masconi's did whenever she got really mad. He picked up the data reader and frowned. "I thought the Amsus were blocking all our FTL comm. traffic?"
"Sì, sì, they are trying, but we have been trying to bypass it, we created relays to boost the signals. The relays don't last long in hyperspace," he tapped his temple, "But the Amsus cannot block something transmitting there. I used a relay, attached jump pods to it and I was able to get the signal strength above their jamming range, strengthening the signal," He gestured proudly, "e qui, splendido." He beamed as he picked up Katz's mug and drank the coffee. "The reply..." he snapped his fingers, "Appeared on the bridge with supplies. I think the Excalibur liked getting the message." He shook his head in wonder, "Propylons, meraviglioso!"
Katz blinked, "How did they..." He shook his head, "Wow, didn't... I mean... How did you know to bring it to me?"
"Ahhh!" The Kardiac Lieutenant blushed a bright shade of red, his olive cheeks darkening noticeably, "I had no choice, Colonello Ramsey wanted to know, and I read it to be sure..."
Katz pulled the data reader across to him. "Great, you read my mail."
"I am sorry, I was expecting an official... communiqué," The Lieutenant shifted uncomfortably, still a shade of red, "I only read the header.' He reassured.
"Thanks, I think," Katz grinned, turning it on, smiling at the short letter from Masconi, written with her concise manner, telling him that Ashley and Darien were both listed as Missing in Action. And he felt a cold stab in his chest, 'I regret to inform you...' He swallowed and looked up, trying to find something to steady him, his old instincts and training snapping in, as he dealt with pain the only way he knew how. "Your name is Alessandro?"
"Sottotenente Alessandro Mandola, sir," The lieutenant smiled, "Don't worry, I will...err, explained it was a test message when Colonello Ramsey asks, sir."
"Stop calling me sir," Katz said evenly, reading more of the message, the details of the battle at Yeji-Sola, that Ashley had been part of a boarding mission. Playing at being a damn marine again, Darien counting on his luck to get them through. And luck had just ran out. "I guess I owe you one, then."
"Sir," Alessandro smiled, his eyes lighting up in anticipation, "You wanna reply?"
Katz swallowed grinding his teeth, rereading Masconi's promise that they were doing all they could. But reading between the lines, with the war escalating. The attacks on Sentinel and Taïr imminent, there was no time to go after them. Excalibur would have no choice but to leave their fellow crewmen behind. "No, I don't... no." He shook his head slowly.
"Are you okay? You wanna talk about it?" Alessandro asked a bright smile, folding his arms, setting Katz's coffee mug down, "It would be a pleasure, I am a good listener."
"No," Katz replied feeling cold and empty inside, reaching up with a finger to brush the tear from his eye as he tried to turn away. He wasn't going to get emotional... why? Why couldn't he get emotional? Ash and Darien, in the same day, at the same time? That wasn't fair... war wasn't fair...
"I should leave you alone?" Alessandro asked standing uncomfortably, reaching out to touch Katz's shoulder.
Katz leaned against the hand, and steadied himself, blinking back the tears. "No, I'll be all right." He vowed, smiling despite the fact he felt torn in two.
"Okay Ragazzo," Alessandro replied, concern on his beautiful face as he stood there squeezing Katz's shoulder, trying to reassure him with presence and touch. A little uncertain as to what to do to make him feel better.
* * *
The two men walked through the length of the Osterburg Hunter-Killer; the compact ship was built for power and strength for the Marines and Soldiers used to fighting with tanks and infantry Mechs. Armour plating saved lives, and while the ship still retained its speed, the Kardiac forces had steadily applied structural reinforcements designed to add strength to the ship, sacrificing space to add in braces and support beams.
"The hyperspace relays work," Colonel Ramsey said as the descended one of the gangways, "we received a message from the HMS Excalibur via their Propylons, Captain Shale was relieved to find out that you made it safely."
Riley nodded his head with a grin, "As am I, personally, but this is good news right, the relays that is?"
"It should be," Ramsey agreed, "We're currently transmitting the design specs for the hyperspace relays to all Imperial assets, that should stop the Amsus embargo on our communications."
"Cool," Riley sauntered, hands in his pockets, looking about him uncomfortably as they made their way towards the bridge. "Look, Colonel, You can't seriously be planning to attack the Amsus fleet. Couldn't you concentrate on their supply lines, cut off their supply of happy burgers, maybe they'll go home?"
"We are left with no choice," Ramsey stated calmly. In his hands was the other part of the 'message' from the Excalibur. He had been glad to see General Riley; it had given them a chance to test his nephew's hyperspace relay, and co-ordinate some kind of strategy with the Excalibur. He hadn't expected the response to be so fast and so poignant.
His fingers ran over the heavy black greatcoat with its rose clasp and royal blue lapels, a legacy from a greater time. A time when the House of Kardiac had been strong, strong enough to be the sword of the Empire with a fine warriors' tradition that the traditionalists on Tempus III had fought to maintain. He wasn't about to sacrifice all that tradition and allow the mistakes that Kardiac had made occur again. Religion had its place, but the House had been more than one man's insanity.
Ramsey was faced with impossible odds, and a daunting task. Hold the Amsus Armada at bay long enough to allow a proper defence of Sentinel to be mounted. To buy time for the Excalibur...
Excalibur was too far away to make a difference, Propylons or not.
Both Riley and Ramsey knew that.
Ramsey knew reluctantly that there was only one-way to ensure that the Amsus were delayed long enough. He swept the greatcoat on over his shoulders. "Have you ever witnessed a rolling cavalry charge, General?" he asked, moving forward through the ship and out into the cramped command centre.
"No," Riley admitted, watching as the Colonel, the leader of House Kardiac, took his chair, "I didn't get to see many cavalry charges in New York, though I think some of the clearance sales they had at the local department stores were pretty damn close... ever seen a thousand mothers charging to buy the latest Nicholas Denver action figure?
Ramsey smiled. "That is something we don't have on Tempus. No, the rolling charge... I witnessed it in action once," the old colonel smiled at one of his officers, patting her on the shoulder as he looked back at Riley, "It was Major Rousseau's idea in a war game exercise, he was a brilliant mech commander, he could do things with mobile infantry that dazzled the senses..." he shook his head at the senseless waste, at Rousseau throwing his life away on a cause that should have been centuries dead. His tactical mind would have been invaluable, as well as his experience in fighting the Amsus. "But I learnt a lesson that day, on how effective the strategy is, and I can guarantee you this," he looked up, "I will stop the Amsus armada from reaching Sentinel."
"How long until the Raptor is fixed?" Riley asked, "I have orders to make for Sentinel Station, we might be able to..."
Ramsey checked a holographic report. "My engineers will have the Raptor operational before we commence the attack, but I am going to need a favour from you, General." He activated a holographic display and indicated the areas around the Haligonian and Sentinel systems. "Highlord Taine chose to reposition the Jump Nexus in a strategic bottleneck. There is only one hyperspace approach to the Sentinel System, forcing the Amsus to cluster their ships together for the assault." He highlighted the approach vector. "If I attack the Amsus fleet as it begins its series of approach jumps to the Haligonian system," he lit up three systems, "I should be able to force them to halt their advance before they can jump to Sentinel. They won't risk assaulting the station with my force still behind them; they'll engage me first, or leave a vanguard at Haligonian to protect their rear flank. Either option is good for the Empire."
"Another ship that stays behind to fight you is another off the offensive." Riley murmured, "But..." He sighed, "You're gonna miss out on all the fun. Maybe I'll ask Excalibur to whisk a Kegger over to you with the next 'test'." Riley grinned, stepping back to the doors.
Ramsey smiled as he sat in the Prometheus's command chair. "I don't know General, I think I'll be quite content with my own private party..." Ramsey smiled, his fingers brushing his beard, "What I am going to need is that Raptor of yours. My engineer noticed it is outfitted with a pretty sophisticated sensor system, and with some modifications we can use it for AEWACS support. I want to be able to bring an advanced electronic countermeasure system as well as command and control support into play. If we can use that on the Amsus fleet we'd have a better chance of succeeding."
"You can't use one of your Osterburgs?" Riley asked uncomfortably, realizing what Ramsey was asking for. The 242nd Light Horse had, at best, hundred to one odds. And a Raptor would last five minutes in the kind of shit storm that was going to erupt the moment they began a charge.
"It would take too long," Ramsey said, "The modifications to the Raptor can be done with existing equipment. And considering the pilot..." Ramsey raised his heavy eyebrows expressively.
"Right, see now that is another problem," Riley murmured, "I kind of promised Darien I'd bring the kid home in one piece..." He sighed, looking about him at the Osterburg and down at Ramsey, knowing that there wasn't much of a choice; the Raptor would greatly increase Ramsey's odds of pulling off a miracle. So many lives depended on it. "Okay," he rubbed his brow knowing that Ramsey needed him, "Okay, just for the love of god, it's my ass in a sling when Darien finds out." He looked up, "But I still need to get to Sentinel, the Gorean Ambassador..."
Ramsey inclined his head. "You're two days out of Sentinel, if you take the Spirit of Tecumseh. I'm assigning everyone I can spare and I'll place the ship under your command. It'll get you to Sentinel quickly. I will encode some dispatches for Colonel Churchill and Captain Zoran, if you would be kind enough to see that they are delivered."
"Naturally, I've gone Postal a few times..." He grinned, and stopped, snapping a salute. "Good luck... Highlord Ramsey."
"Good luck as well General, Sentinel is going to need your... charm." The two old soldiers bowed their heads to one another and the General took his leave, knowing full well that he would never see the Kardiac Colonel again.
* * *
Katz had been surprised at the instructions. "I'm being given command of my own ship?" He asked, hurrying to keep up with the General as he walked back to the Osterburg's hangar bay and the small four-man transport that would whisk him across to the Spirit of Tecumseh.
"It's only the Raptor, don't get too excited," Riley replied, rolling up the tan sleeves of his uniform shirt, "And it's only as long as you remain attached to the 242nd. You'll be back to your fighters in no time. Colonel Ramsey just needs a good pilot to fly the Raptor for him, and since he couldn't find one I told him he could have you, sort of a consolation prize."
"I don't like this General," Kyr protested, coming around the small shuttle looking annoyed, "My patient isn't bulk cargo, I can't be expected to care for him when he's stuffed into a space barely big enough to hold him."
"It's for a short time doctor, then he will be back into proper medical facilities," Riley shook his head. If it wasn't one then it was another. He did his best not to appear frustrated with his new role of babysitter as he climbed up beside the pilot of the shuttle, leaning up to pull down the gull wing door of the small shuttle, "You," he bobbed his finger at Katz, "Don't die!" he said, chewing his lip as he pulled the hatch closed.
Katz saluted the VonGrippen General, still uncertain as he exited the bay and they began launch procedures. It wouldn't be his first command; he'd commanded numerous recon missions out of the Excalibur and he held command of VF-54 Paladin Squadron, but this was going to be his first independent command.
His hands felt clammy as he found the ladder up to the Raptor's underbelly hatch, climbing up and aboard the ship as if for the first time, seeing not the rusted pile of metal he had written the Amsus junk pile off as, but a fighting machine. His ship.
R-403 had a fighting history, serving first the Amsus on innumerable patrols and interdiction missions, then under Darien when he had captured the frigate, taking him... Amsus ships were always a 'he', Katz had to remind himself of that... off in search of VonGrippen's lost fleet. Now R-403 had passed to a new master...
He took a tight breath, biting his lip as he climbed up into the main common area, smiling at a couple of Kardiac soldiers who were unpacking their gear into the footlockers of the bunks.
The conversion of R-403 to an AEWACS platform required the installation of the most powerful Electronic Warfare System they could find. It was an impressive combination of old Imperial technology and new Imperial ingenuity. In the hands of an experienced Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) operating from the sensor console behind the pilot's chair in the Raptor's cockpit, it would be an invaluable asset to a battlefield. They sacrificed space on the Raptor, emptying out the now useless hangar bay to pack it full of defensive sensors, radar discriminators, jammers, and offensive/defensive tracking systems. Finally they were in the process of installing a complete set of defensive countermeasures and rigging an enhanced jamming pod along the ship's centreline.
It was going quickly; Ramsey had obviously placed a high priority on getting the ship ready for combat. His engineers were making the modifications under Katz's watchful eye, offering whatever advice he could, usually "Bolt this one here, wire this to that and for the love of god don't pull the spatula out of the fuse box, it's the only thing keeping this all running."
Usually that earned him some raised eyebrows from the Kardiac engineers, and some chuckles from the Karin ones knowing full well their "Skipper" was playing dumb.
He was burying himself in work, dealing with his loss the best way he could. But there was still a feeling of complete emptiness echoing within him. Wasn't he supposed to be inconsolable? He'd lost both men who meant the most to him in the world in a single, bloody stroke. The man that had paved the way for his dream to escape the slave pits was missing and presumed dead. The man that had picked him up and brought him out of a life working street corners scratching out a living appeasing twisted tastes, gave him a purpose and a life. Instead of pain, he felt emptiness, loss instead of anger.
There was an unshakable feeling of dread seeping into him as he continued to work. Without Darien, what chance was there?
His mind circled around that, and with a pang of regret he tried to think of Firlotte, Ash and his bumbling denial of his feelings. But Katz had compartmentalized his feelings, locking them off from him, closing the chapter, as he had on so many men in his life. There was sadness and lingering regret. But men came and went, that was life.
Darien had been someone special, kind and proud. Strong and indestructible at times, that strength was what kept them all going. Long hours just sitting alone in his stateroom working, unaware that the pilots of the Excalibur's squadrons would watch him through he great stern windows. Sharing his solitary watch.
Katz walked through into Darien's cabin, his cabin now. He was Skipper of R-403. It was his command now, the trusty Raptor ready to carry on its fight against his brothers in the Amsus armada. He didn't care that his Captain had changed; he still held his purpose, a keen edge ready to be wielded. Katz steadied himself again and returned to his professionalism.
They had a few days, and Katz had been familiarizing himself with the new ship's systems when he'd been introduced to his new EWO. Somehow he hadn't been surprised to see Alessandro grinning at him from the doorway to the cockpit. Tall, intellectual, and intuitive, the Kardiac officer, technically his Exec, had volunteered for the job. Katz had presumed it was because they'd hit it off aboard the Prometheus, but inside of an hour of watching Alessandro work the new systems, Katz realized, with a bit of shock, how effective the man was. He had an almost intuitive understanding of the electronic warfare systems, and a patient manner that made explaining the vagaries its intricacies so that Katz could understand seem easily. There was so much to it; Katz almost went cross-eyed a few times.
"K, you screw up their RADAR, and I keep us... not dead." Katz said, finally putting up his hands.
"You are a simple man, ragazzo!" Alessandro grinned at him, spinning in the Raptor's chair and setting his feet up on the console, hands behind his head, smiling happily.
"Okay," Katz said, falling into the pilot's chair, "what does ragazzo mean?"
"Boy," Alessandro replied cockily, "I say because you are a ragazzo, sì?"
"But so are you," Katz pointed out.
"Sì, sì, but..." he tapped his temple, "I thought up Ragazzo first."
"All right," Katz said laughing for the first time since the letter had arrived, "You have to be the happiest guy I have ever met..."
"Handsomest too," Alessandro bobbed his head, "My momma tells me so, sì?"
Katz flushed as he shifted around in his seat. "I'm going to fire up the engines, we'll be jumping soon and we should take up our station with the..."
Alessandro sat up and leaned forward across his console, clapping Katz's shoulder. "Good luck mio amico," he said, reaching out to take the communication headset from its mount and slipping it on.
Katz turned into the touch, shaking it off as he began his pre-flight routine, listening to Alessandro talking into the headset as he attained clearance for their departure. Firlotte was gone, the world moved on. Yet he still felt guilty that he had responded to the touch... temptation to just forget in the form of a lanky handsome guy who was genuinely just... nice, if odd with the whole personal space thing.
R-403 swept up and off of the back of the Prometheus Unbound, his wings unfolding and locking into cruise position as he swung to port. The Polian enhanced engines easily matched the speed of the Osterburgs. Katz enjoyed the liberating feeling of flying again, even if it was in an Amsus clunker. Of course he patted R-403's console when he thought it, a term of endearment. He remembered reading Lieutenant Elias's notes about R-403 being a bastard when he felt like acting up.
Katz shook his head; he'd been in space too long. The madness of the war made them all do weird things; life was just too short, how many friends had he lost? How many fighter pilots had been chewed up as they launched from the Excalibur's flight deck? It seemed that, as the number of pilots on the Excalibur's roster had dwindled and the number of bodies in caskets in one of the cargo holds of the Ark-Royal had grown, that life really was too short.
"All ships, this is Prometheus-Actual." The radio crackled, and Katz threw a glance behind him to Alessandro, who was sitting upright, hand over his earphones listening intently, "Slave all NAV computers and standby to execute jump, set Condition One, we will intercept the enemy in the Kolifeu system, conditions will be favourable and current intelligence reports that the Amsus fleet has just executed its jump into the system."
Katz reached out and flicked a switch sounding General Quarters through the small frigate, watching the Karin Marines springing to their stations, manning the two auto-maser turrets as a corporal slipped into the gunnery console, pulling on her own headset and powering up the Raptor's dual plasma cannons.
They weren't expecting to engage; their job was to jam the search radar of the Amsus fleet, co-ordinate the attack and keep an eye on things, remaining out of range for most of the action. But Katz knew from experience that Amsus Predators, especially the Polian hybrids, could cause problems if they noticed what R-403 was up to.
"Remember your objectives," Ramsey stated calmly, "fly in tandem and cover your wing mate. Faith and luck should see us through this. Prometheus-Actual out."
Katz felt nervous as he activated the NAV Computer, slaving it to the Prometheus-Unbound's navigator. A well-timed jump would ensure that the small fleet would emerge from hyperspace still in its attack formation; independent jump calculations had the potential of scattering the ships across hundreds of kilometres, which could prove disastrous in battlefield situations.
The trill from the NAV Computer indicated that the jump co-ordinates had been inputted and the Prometheus had control of the jump drives. Katz guided the Raptor in tight with one of the Osterburg Hunter-Killers, each ship flying closely with another. The plan was bold; one of the two ships in tandem would engage its jump drives to arrive in the system, then once the attack was over the other wing mate would engage their jump pods to get the attacking pair out again.
R-403 was the only ship that would remain in the system throughout the attack, hoping to evade detection and cover the attack by baffling the enemy's search radar. Katz glanced at the NAV computer, relieved to see its status was still red; they would be ferried to the system, Ramsey knowing full well the importance of R-403 surviving the attack. The best chance of that lay with the Raptor holding onto fully charged jump pods.
There was a burst of light and they were away, arriving moments later in the Kolifeu system, an average and unremarkable place, the backdrop of the Haligonian Nebula painting the sky in brilliant hues of blue-whites. Katz glanced at his sensor panel, already guiding the Raptor away from his escort, the Osterburg shooting for the far edge of the system and deep space, evading detection from the limited range of the Amsus fleet, its survival dependant on keeping hidden and allowing the Raptor to do its thing.
The Amsus Raptor was a versatile design, a modular deployment platform serving a variety of roles in the Amsus Navy. Everything from combat dropship through to escort frigate. Typically it boasted a mediocre weapons package, formidable armour plating and sub-standard sensor package. Its advantage had always been its speed and the carbon composite hull. Not quite a stealth vessel, the low RADAR profile and IR-baffles on the engines made spotting it on search Radars difficult, and next to impossible on IR scans.
Katz stared at the full military might of the Amsus Hegemony, arrayed in terrifying splendour before him. Four command carriers, fifteen hundred cruisers and thousands of support ships surrounded by Raptor and Predator escorts. Katz began to sweat, taking the Raptor in, climbing up above the elliptic plane of the Amsus fleet, banking the Raptor so that it sat on the edge of the system's asteroid belt, guiding the manoeuvring thrusters as he powered down the engines, tilting the nose of the Raptor downwards so that they had a clear perspective over the fleet, dull olive green bird shapes standing stark against the bright nebula, a morbid fascination sweeping over him as he wanted to see what was about to unfold.
"Search RADAR, One O'clock low, one hundred miles," Alessandro called out.
"I see it," Katz called back, resolving the sensor display to highlight the small AWACs frigate leading the Amsus fleet. There were seven of them positioned to augment the Amsus fleet's RADAR range. An ugly looking vessel, it was a mass of spines, each with a strobing red light on the end, looking like a porcupine that had gotten into a fight with a Christmas tree and lost. They were lovingly called Hedgehogs by Imperial pilots.
It was time to go Hog hunting.
The Raptor mounted six SAK-II missiles. The search and kill missiles were designed with one purpose in mind: destroying enemy radar units. Katz's orders were conclusive - blind the enemy by whatever means necessary. He banked the Raptor to the left, skimming the outer edge of the asteroid field, firing the thrusters to angle for the best firing arc. They would be on the Hedgehog before he knew what hit him.
They closed on the target, Katz adjusting his grip on the sticks, knowing that if the Hedgehog suspected they were out there he could go to active LADAR, and that would bring all kinds of trouble down upon them. Behind him, Alessandro punched commands into the sensor console, punching their own RADAR suite into active mode as Katz ducked the Raptor in behind a large asteroid. It wasn't enough for them to obtain a missile lock, but the residual LADAR signal was cascading off of all the Amsus ships and reflecting back off of the asteroids. Since the surrounding asteroids prevented the signal from being reflected back to its source, it lit up the Amsus fleet without revealing the Raptor's location.
Alessandro's hands flew across his console, programming the SAK-II to follow the enemy RADAR and patted the back of Katz's chair.
Clear and set, the Raptor pivoted up on its thrusters, as the gunner thumbed the button on her stick. They all felt the thump as the weapon dropped free, watching the bright flash as the weapon ignited and streaked downwards. The Raptor powered down again as it slipped back into the shadows of the asteroids. Everyone on R-403 held their breath to watch what happened.
The missile angled its attack vector, shutting off its thrusters once it hit sufficient velocity, the Hedgehog switching to its active scans as it tried to identify the new contact speeding in towards it, signing its own death warrant as the powerful nuclear tipped cruise missile tracked the RADAR signal back to its source and exploded into it, the ship buckling as vanished underneath the powerful detonation.
The Amsus armada went crazy, rapidly redeploying its fleet assets protectively, moving the other Hedgehogs to cover the blind spot in its long-range sensor capacity. The command carriers launched their alert fighters and sent them out to search for the interloper that had dared attack them.
All precisely according to Amsus standard procedure.
"Colpo grande!" Alessandro breathed from behind him. Even though there was no way for the Amsus to hear them, everyone seemed to be speaking in whispers. Katz pulling the Raptor like a shadow through the darkness, looking for his next opportunity to strike. They just had to nail two more of the Hogs and the Amsus would no longer be able to maintain effective long range RADAR coverage.
Katz checked his watch; they were running out of time.
The RADAR Threat Display painted a series of small red cones, the Predators converging on the asteroid belt, trying to find them, trying to set up an intercept with the group of Raptors moving to a holding position between R-403 and the fleet.
"Ragazzo," Alessandro said, again tapping the back of Katz's chair to get his attention, "Left, heading three-zero-two mark three-four-zero."
Katz obliged the EWO, sighting in on the second of the Hedgehogs, a swarm of Predators taking up escort guard positions around it, the bat-shaped fighters each pointing out their auto-cannons, spinning up in anticipation of the next missile.
"Due," Alessandro said, holding up two fingers, indicating that he was going to fire two SAK-IIs this time. With the fighter cover, he was hedging his bet to ensure he got it. The EWO turned in his chair to adjust his equipment as he set to work.
Katz kept his eye on the approaching Predators searching for them, glad for all the jamming equipment aboard the Raptor; once they had succeeded, that equipment would be brought to bear and there'd be no chance of the Predator's finding them.
"Fuoco!" Alessandro ordered.
The pair of missiles streaked away, Katz pulling back on his sticks again; the Predators would have tracked the launch, and would be converging on their position. Twenty Predators were not something Katz had any desire to have a disagreement with, especially not with a half dozen Raptors sitting waiting for him to surface again.
The explosion of the second Hedgehog was gratifying, but Katz didn't have time for self-congratulations as the Radar Warning Receiver went crazy. The Predators had found them. Katz hammered the throttle, rolling hard to the right as tracers from cannon fire shattered the asteroid they were hiding behind.
The gunner returned fire, the plasma cannon getting a quick pair of shots off, batting one of the Predators out of the fight as Katz barrel rolled and pulled up, doing the best he could to turn inside them without ploughing the Raptor into the Asteroids.
"Two bandits, closing at left seven," Alessandro called as he spun in his chair trying to find the last Hog. They had to complete their mission, if they didn't, then... He looked up. "Splendido! Right zero-two-five mark zero-zero-four."
Katz grunted, heaving left and forcing the pair of Predator's to overshoot, then rolled back to the right as the reversed their turn, the plasma cannon firing again yet Katz had no time to see if they had hit ? the sky was filling with enemy fighters.
"Tiro tutto," Alessandro barked, "Fire everything!"
The gunner slammed her fist down on the missile fire control, her hands diving back to the cannons as she fought to keep the Predators off of them. Back in the body of the Raptor, the auto-masers came alive, raining death on the swarm of enemy fighters.
Katz stomped his left rudder and yanked the stick back and to the left, right throttle into afterburner, left to idle, he swung the Raptor into a graceful loop. Curling up against the disk of the sun as he swept down again, the cannons blasting away into the Predators as Katz tore through the middle of them. His radical roll had dumped them underneath and inside one of the Raptor's firing arcs. He skidded around behind Katz as he tried a max rate left turn, Katz continuing his roll. Debris tinked and thumped off of the canopy as the enemy raptor collided with the Predators, trying to copy Katz's tight manoeuvre.
"Ragazzo!" Alessandro called, pointing to the sensor display as the third Hedgehog detonated in spectacular glory. The EWO hammered on all the jamming equipment as Katz broke from the dogfight, leading the remaining enemy ships on a merry chase through the asteroid belt.
He clung on as off to the right of his vision he caught the first flash, the 242nd... the cavalry, quite literally, had arrived.
* * *
"They wouldn't dare!" Sephradon exclaimed, descending into a holographic tactical map that filled the centre of her flag bridge, walking around the cluster of fighters pursuing the small Raptor. Taine... it could only be Taine.
She looked up. "Reposition the..."
She gasped as one of her cruisers exploded, the pair of Osterburg Hunter-Killers sweeping in and breaking along opposite vectors, as another pair bore down on her fleet, repeating the same manoeuvre.
"Reinforce the port flank!" She gritted her teeth and ordered calmly, watching helplessly as the fast moving attack craft hammered her cruisers, cutting a swath of destruction heading towards one of her command carriers. Amsus ships were pulling around as they brought their cannons to bear, throwing up a flak barrier that would be wholly ineffective against the Imperial raiders.
"Missiles!" She yelled, "Deck salvos! Why are you not...?" She looked incredulously up at her Fleet Marshal.
"Mistress," the Fleet Marshal took a hold of the rail and looked down at her, "the Imperial forces have deployed electronic countermeasures that render our primary weapon systems ineffective. I am positioning more of our AWACs units into range..."
It wasn't going to be fast enough to save CVN-03. the command carrier struggled to get away, the Osterburgs sweeping through the fleet launching their Reefer missiles, wolves loose amongst the sheep, falling upon their prey as they tore the invaluable command carrier to pieces.
"Recall the fighters," Sephradon ordered, "intercept those..."
The Osterburgs broke from their attack run, peeling away from the Amsus fleet as they swept together, jumping away before the Amsus ships could mount any kind of resistance.
"Report!" She seethed angrily, watching the final flash, Taine's Raptor streaking after his fleet.
"Mistress," The Fleet Marshal shook his head, "Our units report zero kills on the enemy force, and we lost CVN-03, BC-14, BC-24..."
Sephradon held up her hand, "This is a minor setback," she said firmly, "Let them have their victory, they'll soon pay for their impudence."