Turn of the tide (Part 2 - Conclusion)
17 Feb 2021Immehi
"Commander, that's a hostile spec op unit on our tail! Deploy the fighter, I'll distract him while you prepare the jump drive!" Zara yelled as all sirens and warning lights inside the cockpit scream for my attention. "I can't deploy another fighter right now! The last missile must've jammed the bay. Go and raise our own spec ops on the comms, see if they can help us!" Now I know that's an empty hope, just minutes ago I drew fire from the enemy's spec op units, all 4 of them. I did my best to boost away and led them to my own spec op team before the enemy's attacks reduced my hull to 50% and damaged my FSD drive; forcing me to reboot in the middle of battle. My heat signature must have disappeared during the reboot, cause I didn't sustain anymore damage. If I was a gambling man, I'd wager that I've led the hostiles near our own spec op units and they are in an all-out battle right now. When the ship went back online, I didn't see any of the hostile spec op units, except for this one who picked up my signature and is now on my tail.
Second enemy's spec op unit down. That kind of calm and succinct broadcast, in the heat of battle, that can only come from one of our own spec op units. I've never met them outside of the war zone, but Z has. When she's not piloting my fighter units or watching the dock crew load the cargo, she can be found in the station's speakeasy, gambling and drinking. She's ran into the spec op pilots in these places on a handful occasions, and she said that these guys stand out from the rest of the patrons. Unlike the mostly rowdy crowd, these guys drink their drinks and keep to themselves. They hardly show any emotions. I lost track of how much money she's lost on card games against these guys. On last count, I remarked that she could've bought an Anaconda with all the money she lost.
Suddenly a soft whine exist within the cockpit, a very welcome soft whine. I looked down on the display, and sure enough, my shield is steadily powering up again. The shield bank must have decided that now is a good time to be online. 41% hull integrity. FSD Drive is back online. This is it, the tipping point, fight or flight.
It must be the adrenaline that made me say "unjam the fighter bay! We're fighting back!" I can't tell if it was fear or excitement that I saw on Z's face, either way, her razor sharp focus has come back.
Four spec ops at once may have proven too much for Venus, but one at a time? I didn't spend countless hours collecting rocks, metals and scraps to engineer my ship and run away at the first sign of trouble (or second). This Gamma unit still has full hull integrity. No matter, Venus is a T-10 with engineered shield, boosters and hull. If this turns into a battle of attrition, she'd win for sure.
Minutes later and the battle is still ongoing. Venus is relatively unharmed, while the enemy's shield is down to 80%. One thing T-10 doesn't excel in is maneuverability, against a small ship like the Vulture, keeping the hardpoints aimed at the target is a challenge of its own. This is where having a fighter unit shines through. "Z! Hurry and unjam the bay, I need you out there!"
"I need another minute!" She responded without ever looking up from the array of sensors and buttons. "It's up! I'm ready to go!"
The hostile Vulture continued to strafe Venus, well, tried anyway, with my shield up these attacks are but mosquito bites. Amidst the fire, I could see the Taipan zoom forward, that must be Z. "Don't hold back, go all out on this fool!" I yelled to Z. As if I needed to tell her that, I don't think she takes the notion of retreat kindly, clearly she's out for revenge right now. It shows from the way the enemy's shield drops at a steady rate.
60%.
50%.
40%. She'll finish the enemy before I can fully turn Venus around.
30%. I see the enemy. Firing the laser.
10%. He's getting close, fire all weapons.
Muted boom, the enemy's down. Four laser beams and five multi-cannons would do that to any ship once their shield is down.
Nice going, ace. You're on a roll! Cheered one of the friendlies. Definitely not one of the spec ops.
We're going to win this one, I can feel it. Actually, me too. Now, let's find that one remaining spec op and finish this battle for good. I see a lot of activities happening ahead, hard to tell from the distance but the radar indicates that it's a hostile surrounded by friendlies. Let's see if it is what I hope it is.
It is! It's the enemy's last spec op, surrounded by friendlies. The target is still too far outside of my multis' range, but it is just within the laser beam's. Also the Taipan can move faster than T-10 can. "Z, hit that one, that should wrap up this battle."
"Roger!" Short and decisive. The Taipan is quickly getting smaller and smaller from my view. From the pilot's display I could see that the hostile is down to 43% hull integrity. It's not going to amount to much, but I must do what I can. It wasn't long after I fired the laser when the enemy's ship blew up, sending the rest of the hostiles to retreat, effectively handing us the win.
"Great job, Z. Return to the mothership, we'll head back for repair and resupply."
It's a short flight to the carrier, but it felt like a trip to the Sag A given how quiet the cockpit became, in contrast to the euphoria that filled it in the beginning. Clearly we're both reeling from the fact that we nearly blew up. It was only sheer luck that we didn't and actually turned the outcome in our favor.
"I got cocky." I broke the silence. "So far we've cleared many battles with nary a dent to our hulls. I was wrong to charge in the way I did, I put us both at risk, I apologize." Venus dropped out of supercruise and the carrier looms into view. Still another kilometer or two before we can request for landing clearance. Zara Wells finally spoke up, "commander, after we land I'm taking some leave time and head to Jones Terminal. I'm buying the spec op guys rounds of drinks. I owe them at least that little."
"You do that. Maybe they'll let you win the card games this time."
You are cleared to land, commander. Welcome to our carrier.