on my mark.^ Reese was all business as he performed his senior wingman duties. ^Mark.^
Martin engaged his FTL and watched as the space around him seemed to bend for a second then they were back in real space.
Reese came back a split second before Martin. ^Martin, I see four Koth light fighters eight o’clock low, six hundred kilometers.^
^Got ‘em^ Martin was interrupted by Brian signaling for a voice only hard link. ^Go Brian.^
^Dottie and I are just clearing the bays what is your situation?^
^Four Koth lights.^ Martin heard Reese reply.
^Ok, I want Martin to lead, Reese take clean up. Dottie and I will be there in a few seconds for cover. Copy?^
^Sounds good, Martin you are point.^ Reese confirmed.
^Roger, wingleader.^ Martin responded, hurling his ship toward the Koth fighters. So they want to see what the new guy can do, alright let’s all find out if I can fly this twitchy bastard in a fight. I don’t blame ‘em, I’d want to know if the guy guarding my back could get the job done. He mentally took a deep breath few seconds before engaging and tongued the button that released a minuscule amount of synthetic adrenalin into his container. He braced himself as the icy brightness welled up in his mind and everything around him settled into brittle crystalline clarity.
. . .
Dottie and Brian phased in and split to cover opposite sides of the combat zone in case any of the Koth broke out to make a run for it. Reese was following a few seconds behind Martin.
^Damn, he’s closing too fast.^ Dottie fretted. ^I’ll cover him on his exit.^
^Hold position Dottie. Let him have his run.^ Brian’s voice didn’t convey his growing excitement. Ok Martin, do your stuff. Commander Briton didn’t go into any details when he told me to give you some room to work, I just hope Briton knows what he’s doing. You’re too nice a guy to just feed to the wolves.
. . .
Two high, two low, cue ball time. Martin thought as he raced toward the Koth fighters holding his ship sideways, minimizing his own profile. He fired four missiles, one toward each Koth and grunted his satisfaction as they were forced to break formation to evade them. Two Koth fired missiles in return. Too little too late boys. He slammed the ship with maximum deceleration, snapping into a roll, the missiles streaked by.
He was on them. It’s party time, who wants to dance, you ugly twits. With a mental flick, his fighter cart wheeled sideways over the top two Koth fighters. All four of Martin’s thrusters screamed as they spun and danced on the strings of a gifted puppet master. Both turrets rained ion pulses on the hapless Koth. It’s raining, it’s pouring, all my guns are roaring. Bye, Bye. Martin again hammered his still wheeling fighter with deceleration while arching over his targets. The Koth fighters split to evade the ion pulses. Thank you. Martin drove his gyrating fighter between the Koth. For a split second he was endwise to both Koth and fired a pair of missiles from each side at point blank range.
One Koth took both missiles dead center and simply ceased to exist. The other Koth sensing the attack curled his three segment ship to flip out of the way, but was too late, one missile missed the other took off an end segment.
See yaaa , Martin thought peripherally as the damaged fighter reeled away then failed entirely, never taking his eyes off the two remaining Koth pouring energy pulses in his direction. He jammed his fighter to the side and arrested the cart wheeling, charging straight at the closer Koth. He ‘felt’ the dull thump of a single energy pulse hit on his ship. Oh very good, but no kewpie doll today, sponge head. He dove his ship around the outside of the Koth fighter using it to block the other Koth and kicked the trailing end of his ship around as he passed by keeping one turret locked on target. He didn’t need any missiles, his ion pulses liberally perforated the Koth, transforming the high technology ship into
Martin engaged his FTL and watched as the space around him seemed to bend for a second then they were back in real space.
Reese came back a split second before Martin. ^Martin, I see four Koth light fighters eight o’clock low, six hundred kilometers.^
^Got ‘em^ Martin was interrupted by Brian signaling for a voice only hard link. ^Go Brian.^
^Dottie and I are just clearing the bays what is your situation?^
^Four Koth lights.^ Martin heard Reese reply.
^Ok, I want Martin to lead, Reese take clean up. Dottie and I will be there in a few seconds for cover. Copy?^
^Sounds good, Martin you are point.^ Reese confirmed.
^Roger, wingleader.^ Martin responded, hurling his ship toward the Koth fighters. So they want to see what the new guy can do, alright let’s all find out if I can fly this twitchy bastard in a fight. I don’t blame ‘em, I’d want to know if the guy guarding my back could get the job done. He mentally took a deep breath few seconds before engaging and tongued the button that released a minuscule amount of synthetic adrenalin into his container. He braced himself as the icy brightness welled up in his mind and everything around him settled into brittle crystalline clarity.
. . .
Dottie and Brian phased in and split to cover opposite sides of the combat zone in case any of the Koth broke out to make a run for it. Reese was following a few seconds behind Martin.
^Damn, he’s closing too fast.^ Dottie fretted. ^I’ll cover him on his exit.^
^Hold position Dottie. Let him have his run.^ Brian’s voice didn’t convey his growing excitement. Ok Martin, do your stuff. Commander Briton didn’t go into any details when he told me to give you some room to work, I just hope Briton knows what he’s doing. You’re too nice a guy to just feed to the wolves.
. . .
Two high, two low, cue ball time. Martin thought as he raced toward the Koth fighters holding his ship sideways, minimizing his own profile. He fired four missiles, one toward each Koth and grunted his satisfaction as they were forced to break formation to evade them. Two Koth fired missiles in return. Too little too late boys. He slammed the ship with maximum deceleration, snapping into a roll, the missiles streaked by.
He was on them. It’s party time, who wants to dance, you ugly twits. With a mental flick, his fighter cart wheeled sideways over the top two Koth fighters. All four of Martin’s thrusters screamed as they spun and danced on the strings of a gifted puppet master. Both turrets rained ion pulses on the hapless Koth. It’s raining, it’s pouring, all my guns are roaring. Bye, Bye. Martin again hammered his still wheeling fighter with deceleration while arching over his targets. The Koth fighters split to evade the ion pulses. Thank you. Martin drove his gyrating fighter between the Koth. For a split second he was endwise to both Koth and fired a pair of missiles from each side at point blank range.
One Koth took both missiles dead center and simply ceased to exist. The other Koth sensing the attack curled his three segment ship to flip out of the way, but was too late, one missile missed the other took off an end segment.
See yaaa , Martin thought peripherally as the damaged fighter reeled away then failed entirely, never taking his eyes off the two remaining Koth pouring energy pulses in his direction. He jammed his fighter to the side and arrested the cart wheeling, charging straight at the closer Koth. He ‘felt’ the dull thump of a single energy pulse hit on his ship. Oh very good, but no kewpie doll today, sponge head. He dove his ship around the outside of the Koth fighter using it to block the other Koth and kicked the trailing end of his ship around as he passed by keeping one turret locked on target. He didn’t need any missiles, his ion pulses liberally perforated the Koth, transforming the high technology ship into
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