Angel in the Badlands: space opera sci fi romance (Sons of Amber Book 1) by Bianca D'Arc Page A
Authors: Bianca D'Arc
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their bow, narrowly missing them due mostly to Zeke’s highly creative maneuvering. The dogfight was on.
Although…a small cargo hauler against a shuttle wasn’t much of a dogfight. Both ships had their limitations maneuvering in atmosphere. Still, Zeke’s ship was armored and armed better than the usual ship of its class, as was the shuttle, based on the way they responded to attack.
Angela fired both pulse cannons and missiles at the shuttle, but it took her a few moments to adapt to both the strength of the shuttle’s shielding and the skill of its pilot. And the shuttle was armed as well, getting off a few shots which Zeke mostly dodged. A few connected, but the shields and armor held, as they were designed to.
Zeke led the shuttle subtly away from the colony as the fight continued. Time slowed as the two ships dove and dodged, shooting at each other when trajectories permitted. The shuttle pilot was good, but Zeke was better. Eventually he lined up the perfect shot and without hesitation, Angela took it.
The fireball was spectacular—and directly in front of them. Zeke tried to evade most of it, but the microfreighter ended up skimming through the top of the fire and debris cloud, giving the hull a flash fry for a moment before clearing the area. Angela watched on her scope as the shuttle was reduced to tiny, flaming shards that were burning up as they rocketed through the atmosphere. It was highly unlikely that even a microscopic virus would survive that kind of high-velocity, high-temperature trip through the atmosphere.
“Uh oh. Looks like mama bear wants to come out and play,” Zeke muttered. Angela shifted the focus of her board and realized the warship in orbit was starting to make a move.
“Can they go atmospheric in that thing?” she wanted to know.
“Unfortunately, yes. That isn’t your typical jit battleship, used to the luxuries of space docks and orbital stations. These guys are pirates. Scourge of the galaxy. They’ve modified their ships to be able to handle going planetside on a regular basis.” Zeke tapped a few commands into his console. “But wait a minute. What do we have here?”
Chapter Six
Angela tried to figure out what he was looking at, but she wasn’t familiar enough with the systems to be able to make them sing like Zeke did. She’d have to wait for him to explain.
“Praise the Lord and hallelujah! Looks like mama bear is turning to face an even bigger predator. Hot damn! The cavalry has arrived.” Zeke was grinning and as she finally figured out the display, she realized he had every reason to grin. A much bigger warship was taking on the battleship that was desperately trying to break orbit and maneuver away. Just not fast enough.
Before long, patterns emerged on the screen that indicated the two larger ships were firing on each other.
“ Regulus to Zeke, do you copy?” The male voice came over the speakers built into Zeke’s command chair.
“Bram, is that you? This is Zeke, reading you loud and clear,” he replied.
“Good to hear your voice, brother. Captain Litus sends her regards and wanted me to liaise with you. She’s sending out the fighter squadrons to run orbital patrols. We arrived in time to see you toast the shuttle. Was that the only attempt at the surface, or is there more mopping up we should be doing?”
“As far as we can tell, that shuttle was the first foray and as you saw, it’s been taken care of. You arrived just in time. Please pass along my compliments to the captain.”
“Will do, Zeke. She’s a little tied up at the moment, but this pirate shouldn’t take too long.”
“We’re watching progress on our sensors. Looks like she’ll have him in another quarter-standard or less,” Zeke said, pride filling his voice. Whoever this female warship captain was, Zeke definitely respected the woman.
“You’re clear to return to your new friends and let them know what’s going on. We’ll be in orbit until the
Although…a small cargo hauler against a shuttle wasn’t much of a dogfight. Both ships had their limitations maneuvering in atmosphere. Still, Zeke’s ship was armored and armed better than the usual ship of its class, as was the shuttle, based on the way they responded to attack.
Angela fired both pulse cannons and missiles at the shuttle, but it took her a few moments to adapt to both the strength of the shuttle’s shielding and the skill of its pilot. And the shuttle was armed as well, getting off a few shots which Zeke mostly dodged. A few connected, but the shields and armor held, as they were designed to.
Zeke led the shuttle subtly away from the colony as the fight continued. Time slowed as the two ships dove and dodged, shooting at each other when trajectories permitted. The shuttle pilot was good, but Zeke was better. Eventually he lined up the perfect shot and without hesitation, Angela took it.
The fireball was spectacular—and directly in front of them. Zeke tried to evade most of it, but the microfreighter ended up skimming through the top of the fire and debris cloud, giving the hull a flash fry for a moment before clearing the area. Angela watched on her scope as the shuttle was reduced to tiny, flaming shards that were burning up as they rocketed through the atmosphere. It was highly unlikely that even a microscopic virus would survive that kind of high-velocity, high-temperature trip through the atmosphere.
“Uh oh. Looks like mama bear wants to come out and play,” Zeke muttered. Angela shifted the focus of her board and realized the warship in orbit was starting to make a move.
“Can they go atmospheric in that thing?” she wanted to know.
“Unfortunately, yes. That isn’t your typical jit battleship, used to the luxuries of space docks and orbital stations. These guys are pirates. Scourge of the galaxy. They’ve modified their ships to be able to handle going planetside on a regular basis.” Zeke tapped a few commands into his console. “But wait a minute. What do we have here?”
Chapter Six
Angela tried to figure out what he was looking at, but she wasn’t familiar enough with the systems to be able to make them sing like Zeke did. She’d have to wait for him to explain.
“Praise the Lord and hallelujah! Looks like mama bear is turning to face an even bigger predator. Hot damn! The cavalry has arrived.” Zeke was grinning and as she finally figured out the display, she realized he had every reason to grin. A much bigger warship was taking on the battleship that was desperately trying to break orbit and maneuver away. Just not fast enough.
Before long, patterns emerged on the screen that indicated the two larger ships were firing on each other.
“ Regulus to Zeke, do you copy?” The male voice came over the speakers built into Zeke’s command chair.
“Bram, is that you? This is Zeke, reading you loud and clear,” he replied.
“Good to hear your voice, brother. Captain Litus sends her regards and wanted me to liaise with you. She’s sending out the fighter squadrons to run orbital patrols. We arrived in time to see you toast the shuttle. Was that the only attempt at the surface, or is there more mopping up we should be doing?”
“As far as we can tell, that shuttle was the first foray and as you saw, it’s been taken care of. You arrived just in time. Please pass along my compliments to the captain.”
“Will do, Zeke. She’s a little tied up at the moment, but this pirate shouldn’t take too long.”
“We’re watching progress on our sensors. Looks like she’ll have him in another quarter-standard or less,” Zeke said, pride filling his voice. Whoever this female warship captain was, Zeke definitely respected the woman.
“You’re clear to return to your new friends and let them know what’s going on. We’ll be in orbit until the
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