Action and reaction: Chapter 1 completed (25/04/2007)

[Dragoongfa]

Prologue
Chapter 2

This is the first chapter, hope you enjoy it...

Chapter 1:

Battle of Omicron Lyrae, one Jajura earlier...

"Delta 5 they are on to you, go evasive now!".

"These Bakas are everywhere Delta 1 can't shake them, shields 60% and falling." The Nova seemed to be dancing in the middle of a Kyon beam storm, few of the kyon beams actually scored hits but those were more than enough to cause panic to anyone.

"Delta 1 I am going try a barrel left and go through them." The Nova barreled left and dropped its speed, the pilot hoped that the Kha’ak would not react fast enough but that did not happen. The swarm surrounded the heavy fighter, the Kha’ak ships moved in perfect coordination, as if they were a single body, hundreds of kyon beams struck the argon fighter, its shields failing almost instantly

"Delta 5 eject, eject." The Nova did not explode, it simply disintegrated under the seer firepower of the swarm.

"Too late, lead his gone." In a matter of sezuras the swarm found its next target, as one they moved and as one they would strike.

"This is Delta 2 they are on to me, need some help here or I am a bug food."

Delta 1 tried to gain control of his fighter wing, the swarm was everywhere and a decision had to be made; he rammed and destroyed a scout that was in his way and made his decisions.

"Deltas suppress these scouts, ignore their heavy fighters, the scouts are the killers here, cover Delta 2 now!!!."

"This is Epsilon 4 belay that order, the fighters are the main target repeat the fighters are the main targets." A new argon Nova heavy fighter, suddenly appeared and entered the fray.

"What...who the hell are you? Deltas remain on the scouts...."

"This is Argon One ASF Detachment pilot Jenai Sammers, Intel shows that the fighters are coordinating the clusters, shift fire to them now!!!"

"All right Deltas you heard the lady, shift fire to the fighters." Delta squadron was quick to follow their new orders, most of the Argon heavy fighters on intercept courses with the Kha’ak heavies.

"Glad to see the ASF in a real fight." Delta 1 commented.

"They are just testing us now Delta 1 their real guns haven't arrived yet...break left cluster jumping behind you". Jenai screamed as a new medium Kha’ak cluster jumped in and broke up, adding numerous scouts and a single heavy fighter into the melee, to make things worse they were all aimed against Delta 1.

"Shit these guys are on to me." Kyon fire against Delta 1 was sporadic but it was intensifying by the sezura.

"This is Delta 2 Shields are 50% and falling I need back up now." Delta 2 seemed to be in a real thunderstorm , where every drop was in fact a Kyon beam, it was impossible to avoid them all.

"Delta flight cover Delta 2, I will cover your lead, Epsilon 4 out."

"1 Kha'ak heavy down three more to go."

"Watch out Delta 6 you are their main target now."

"Roger that Epsilon 4." She watched as the scouts, too many to count by eye alone, shifted to face the new threat while leaving Delta twos nova vanguard alone.

"Thanks Six."

"Save me now and thank me later two."

"Roger that targeting closest Fighter now."

These pilots are good but not good enough."Watch out Delta lead I am coming face to face with you, break right on my mark...mark." As delta 1 broke right the scouts turned to its new direction almost instantly but the cumbersome fighter couldn't follow their pace, giving an excellent shot fo Jenai. The Nova raider trembled as 4 AHEPTS and 4 Mass drivers fired instantly, the Kha'ak Fighter blew up in sezuras.

"Deltas now they have targeted me, there are only 2 Kha'ak fighters left target them, Delta 1 you still out there?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Same manouver as before but take down as many Scouts as you can in a single pass ok?"

"Roger that." The two Argon heavies, altered their course in order to repeat Jenai’s maneuver, this time though Jenai was followed by a swarm of Kha’ak scouts.

"Ok...wait for it...Mark!" The same maneuver by the Novas, the same perfect shift of direction by the scouts...this time a rain of plasma from Delta 1 was in their path, 4 AHEPT were more than enough to blow some of them instantly.

"4 Scouts down, approximately 10 remain on your tale Epsilon 4."

"Thanks Delta lead, tend to your men, I will take care of these bakkas."

"This is Delta 4 a Fighter is on my tale can't sake this bakka...I need help now." The Fighter was nearly at point blank range from the Nova taking fire from the rear APAC turret but it was firing three Beta Kyons back, if this continued the outcome was clear.

"Delta 4 try and bring him to me I will take him out." Jenai was the closest one, Delta flight seemed to be in disarray but so far they had stood their ground admirably.

"Roger that Epsilon 4, I am bringing him to you now..."The scouts behind her were beginning to make a dent on her shields but the rear APAC was giving them a beating too, 2 scouts were already down while 3 were registering hull damage.

"Delta 4 i will shoot in your direction, cut your speed and strafe left." She fired a constant stream of plasma seemingly in the novas direction.

“Mark." Jenai’s intercept was almost 45 degrees to the right, by cutting his speed and strafing Delta 4 practically changed his position with the Kha’ak’s, it never saw the plasma rain coming until it was too late.

"Fighter down, one remaining." Jenai reported to the open frequency.

"Fighter down, payback is a bitch Kha'ak, Delta 2 out." With the Fighters down the scouts became apparently uncoordinated they wouldn’t change targets anymore but they still pursued the biggest threat against them.

"Epsilon 4 you have more than 30 Scouts on your tale." The game was on for Jenai, it was possible for here to dodge fire from a few scouts but not from an entire swarm.

"Deltas 1 want you to group one kilometer in front of me and I want a wall of plasma on those Scouts before I even go through you..."She used every trick on the book, she even used some maneuvers that the navy had no books for but her shields were still falling and she was still 800 meters away from the massed delta flight, they stood there motionless, the only way for them to shoot down as many scouts as possible.

"Shields 30%." The onboard computer commented.

"Come on just a few sezuras." Replied.

"Shields 20%."

"Shut up I know."

"Shields critical."In that very moment the 5 nova vanguards opened fire at the same time, sending a reign of death at her pursuers, she suddenly realized that the diminishing Kyon fire was the smaller threat, at this rate she would become yet an other friendly fire incident.

"That one makes me an ace boys and girls." The argon heavy fighters were in their element, having a multitude of targets and ample firepower to use on them, scouts were exploding all around Epsilon 4, which miraculously avoided all plasma fire.

"Hey that was mine you stole my kill."

"Finders keepers three, finders keepers..."

"Cut the chatter you lot, we have a war to win."

"Yes sir." They were down to the last 3 scouts when a transmission from the Argon One carrier came in.

"This is Argon One to all flights we have inbound Kha'ak, Cover Argon one, I repeat cover Argon One."

* * *


Bridge of Argon One, flagship of the Argon Fleet.


The bridge was a hive of activity, every station, every crewmember was overwhelmed with combat data and in the middle of all this, Ban danna shat on the captains chair trying to turn the situation in their favour.

"Tactical report." He ordered.
This battle is still in its opening stage and we are already overwhelmed, we have to come up with something or we are going to have a new President's end.
The voice of one of the tactical officers broke his thoughts.

"Sir, we have 20 Kha'ak clusters in bound from all directions, Intel shows that’s more than 300 scouts and at least 20 fighters, their attack pattern is as this: 7 clusters are coming on our front, 5 clusters on each side and 3 are aiming for our rear and below, nothing on top yet."

This is not looking good.

"What is our fighter strength?" Horribly outnumbered for sure.

"Sir we have 2 flights of Buster Sentinels with 6 fighters each on CAP patrol around Argon one, designated Alpha and Bravo flight's they are supported by 3 ASF Nova Raiders from our ASF detachment, we also have 2 Nova Vanguard flights designated Charlie and Delta, Charlie was sent to a distress call by a freighter convoy and is supported by 2 ASF fighters, Delta flew Long range perimeter CAP when it was engaged by multiple Kha'ak clusters one ASF pilot was detached to assist, they lost a fighter but are currently finishing up the rest of them, the ASF are designated Epsilon flight, 6 in total."Ban danna thought for a moment.

"Can we count from any in sector assistance?"

"Negative there are sector wide skirmishes reported, no in sector support can be offered. No ignore the last, we have 2 corvettes that are currently not engaging any Kha'ak forces, they are 2 mizuras away, problem is one of them is just out of the shipyard getting field tests and training with the other on support duty. The new one is not even named sir.”

"What’s the ETA on those Kha'ak?"

"3 mizuras sir."

"Ok call those corvettes in we need them or Argon’s flagship will be going down, also recall all flights. What do we have in the Hangar?"

"Not much Sir; 8 Discoverers for recon duties, 4 busters on maintenance, 4 Elites for training purposes and a Nova but its marked inoperable, the problem is we don't have enough pilots sir..."

"Get everyone that knows how to fly a fighter in those ships now...Inform me when they are all ready for launch."

"Yes sir."

“Assign a corvette on our left and right, each buster flight is to cover a corvette, I want 3 ASF pilots on each of our two sides with the Nova flights covering them, the corvettes are to suppress the scouts while the ASF pilots are to engage the fighters, we will use our main guns to isolate the kha'ak on our sides from the ones on our front, we will take on the kha'ak that are to engage our front, instruct our pilots about this; Also get as many Hornets as possible on our Elites…And where the hell is the rest of our fleet, we need the fleet here now."



* * *

"Delta flight you heard our orders, we cover Epsilon 4,5 and 6 which are to engage the fighters, the corvette is to engage the scouts with Bravo buster wing to cover it...Delta 1 out."

"Fighting besides an unnamed ship sir? It’s bad luck."

"Stow it three."

"Yes sir."

They reached their assigned location at least 1 mizura before the estimated time the Kha'ak would arrive, the corvette in front with the Buster sentinels in delta formation behind then the ASF Nova raiders and last were the Nova Vanguards, each successive formation a little below the one in front of it, this would allow them to focus their fire without much risk for friendly fiie incidents.

"All flights this is Epsilon 4, remember do not engage the kha'ak in front of Argon One, only engage the Kha'ak force we have been assigned. The kha'ak scouts don't take evasive actions for missiles but they are fast enough to outrun silkworms, launch as many missiles as you can in the head on approach, dumbfire first, seekers last for the fighters", acknowledgments came from all flights.

"Still playing the lead Jenai...one of these days you will be in trouble just for that."

"I know Mik but we don't have room for mistakes here and you know it."

"I know Jen, I know...Epsilon 5 out." A tactical officer from Argon one opened a channel

"10 kilometers untill the Kha'ak are in firing range." Although every argon ship was motionless anyone could guess what was going into the minds of each pilot onboard.

"7 kilometers. Clusters breaking up; registering 100 scouts and 5 fighters." If we do this wrong, everything will go to hell. Jenai thought.

“6 kilometers...all flights launch Dragonflies...", A wall of dragonflies, hundreds of them, were launched against the incoming swarm, the dumbfire missiles although they lacked the tracking abilities of more expensive missiles made up for it for their seer numbers

"5 kilometers..."

"4 kilometers...all flights launch silkworms, fighters as targets...", again a wall of missiles headed for the Kha'ak but this time they would hunt down their prey. The silkworms were designed to be used against the M4 class of fighters, the interceptors, the M3 class, the heavy fighters were able to absorb multiple hits but this time there were a lot of them in space.

"Dragonflies made contact, 23 scouts down, 16 registering haul damage."

That should even the odds a bit, still it might be bloody.

"3 kilometers until firing range." An observer could now see the obvious tension of the pilots just by looking at their formations, minor movements with the strafe drive, last mizuras adjustments to their weapons; even the three ASF pilots were tense

"2 kilometers; silkworm contact, 1 fighter down, 3 registering shield damage, 10 missiles shot down."

"1 kilometer, all flights; good hunting."

The corvette accelerated right into the middle of the swarm spraying plasma death on any scout that was unfortunate to be caught on its sight, it also took severe shield punishment for that audacious maneuver.

"Look how these suckers blow." Someone commented on an open channel.

"Bravo flight, shields are down to 60% requesting assistance, corvette out!" The busters jumped into the frame giving the corvette valuable breathing space and most importantly time.

"Epsilons you have your opening, go in and take down those SOBs, we will buy you as much time as possible, Bravo 1 out."

"Roger that, 5 and 6 stay close, delta flight take down anything that come after us."

The corvette and the busters were holding their ground but the scout swarm seemed endless, they were already down to 55 scouts but the corvette was their main target and no matter how many were destroyed there were always others to take their place.

"I have a fighter in my sights."

"Alright Epsilon 6, delta flight as soon as that Fighter goes down cover Epsilon 6."

"Roger that Epsilon 4." She watched as hunted down the Kha'ak, the Kha'ak fighter pilots were far better than the scout pilots but nothing is a match for an ASF pilot, this Kha'ak was good, better than good, but Epsilon 6 stuck to his tale and with carefull AHEPT shots took down its shields, right then he launched a silkworm and broke right, the fighter never had a chance.

"Fighter down...shit here they come, cover me delta flight."

"Roger that."

"5 take out the fighter that’s nearest the Corvette, I will take out the one that’s closest to 6, epsilon 4 out."

After epsilon 6 shot down the fighter, the Kha’ak ranks were in a momentary disarray, most of the scouts targeted epsilon 6 but some remained on the busters.

The melee continued around her as she closed on her prey, the scouts futile attempts to destroy epsilon 6 met a rain of AHEPTs by delta flight’s heavy fighters, while the corvette although down to 40% shields was still firing at every Kha'ak in range, there weren't any casualties for their side, yet, but that’s because of the awkward tactics the kha'ak used and the fact that they were facing argon’s finest pilots and the ASF.

She was behind the fighter now, loaded the four AHEPTs, aimed and squished the trigger, the recoil shook the ship slightly but she watched as the plasma headed for its intended victim, the kha'ak strafed but she anticipated him, she switched to the four mass drivers and this time the kha'ak felt the punishment; she just flew behind it and kept the trigger pressed and left the aiming assistance do the rest. The kha'ak was dead in space, its shields blown up leaving it an ideal target for a dragonfly.

"Fighter down, the kha'ak are behind me now; 2 fighters remaining, epsilon 4 out."

The scout swarm made her their main target, ignoring all the incoming fire, taking casualties at every step. She passed above the corvette, giving its turret crew some clean shots at the scouts.

"Scout numbers are falling rapidly, less than 40 remain, corvette out."

Epsilon 5 was still trying to take out his target. The bug was good by Michail was better. He stuck on his rear no matter what maneuver the Kha'ak attempted taking opportunity shots at it, trimming down its shield, the kha'ak attempted an overshoot but it was its last mistake.

"Fighter down, only one remains, deltas I need cover, now."

By that time the clusters in front of argon one were already engaged with it, Flak artillery arrays gave a beating to anything that came too close, while the PPCs were cutting them off by the rest. Jenai analyzed the situation.

Pincer maneuver, once the sides are clear we are to move up front for the kill...those clusters on the rear though, they are giving her a beating but...wait fighters launching, thats it make them regret coming too close. She pushed her thoughts aside and was back in the fight again.

This is a slaughter, don't these kha'ak think, they just keep taking the beating.

Epsilon 5 was in trouble, 9 scouts were behind him and the deltas were still away.

"Epsilon 5 I will get behind those kha'ak shortly, fly by the corvette to get some breathing, epsilon 4 out."

No need for an acknowledge everyone knew what they were doing, she was closing behind the scouts, she kept the mass drivers and fired short bursts at them, mass drivers had the unique property of being able to bypass any shield, any shot landed on their engine cutting down their speed making them a more than just an ideal target for the turrets.

"Scout numbers are diminishing, only 24 remain, corvette out."

Epsilon 6 did not waste any time, he was coming face to face with a fighter dodging Kyon fire with the strafe drive while firing a constant stream of plasma against it.

"Last fighter down...the kha'ak are still behind epsilon 5, all flights cover Epsilon 5."

There was no need for that order, especially since epsilon 5 kept dancing around the corvette, not even bothering to open fire at the Kha'ak. The busters were in perfect coordination with the corvette, kept sweeping down the scouts leaving Delta and epsilon pilots nearly no opportunities for a kill.

"Last scout down, who said that fighting besides an unnamed ship is bad luck?, corvette out."

Laughter filled the comm...she reviewed the tactical situation once more, both sides were clear with no casualties, mainly because of the corvettes, the front Kha'ak force was still at large giving a beating on Argon one, its shields were down to 80%, the fight on the rear was going badly, most of the kha'ak were still concetrating on the capital ship the rest kept the launched fighters at bay, what was to be expected from a few discos, busters and obsolete elites.

This is too easy. Something in the back of her head told her this is a trap and her ASF training made sure it surfaced; A trasmission from argon one broke her thoughts.

"Epsilon 3 and 4 cover support vanguard flight on argon ones rear, the rest of the flights are to move in and destroy the front Kha'ak force, Argon one out."


* * *

Argon One bridge


The fight could not go better, but Ban danna thought otherwise.

This is one of the best tactical traps I have ever seen, but what are they planning? Are they trying to fool us away from something or are they trying to make us complacent? Can't do anything but wait.

"Tactical, report." He continued his thought's.

These Kha'ak where sent as cannon fodder, they didn't even used their missiles...they fullfilled, no they are still fulfilling their purpose admirably, the answer still remains, what sort of a trap is it?

A tactical officer reported breaking his train of though.

"Sir Kha'ak forces left and right have been destroyed, no casualties on our side, front kha'ak force still at large with more than 100 scouts and 7 fighters, the PPCs have effectively cut them off by the rest of their forces but they remain outside of our FAA range, Shields are down to 74%, Rear kha'ak force still intact, the support vanguard flight we launched doesn’t seem to do any significant progress, no casualties from their side yet."

"Dispatch 2 ASF pilots, to support vanguard, the rest of our flights are to move forward and destroy the front Kha'ak force, same tactical engagement as before..." Ban danna was back in his thoughts.

The die is cast; now its up to the kha'ak for their next move.


* * *


"This is Vanguard 2, I need back up now, these scouts are behind me, can't shake them in this piece of shit."

The Elite was a good fighter in its time but now that it was obsolete, it was nearly useless in its role.

"I am on it, epsilon 4 out.” The elite was in trouble with 10 scouts on its rear; especially with no rear turret firing.

“4 I will organise the rest of these lot save this guy and be quick about it, epsilon 3 out."

The elite was trying to dodge the kyon fire but no maneuver in the book would keep it from all of them; she was behind the scouts now , she kept the mass drivers on and fired away, ripping through the scouts like a hot knife through butter.

3 down...7 to go.

She switched to the AHEPTs and fired a constant stream that simply headed for the scouts, they were packed so tight that there was no need to aim.

2 more scouts down...5 to go, the Elite pilot seeing the opportunity turned and headed to the nova raider for a head on pass.

That’s right bring them to me. She switched back to the mass drivers, firing full bursts this time, 2 more scouts blew up almost instantly, while her rear turret took out a third, the elite turned again but this time entered the fray, going for a head on with the two scouts, in a 300m distance it opened fire with 4 BPACs taking out both scouts.

"Thanks pilot, owe you some space fuel for that" His voice sounded familiar to Jenai

"Ernan is that you?"

"Yes who...Jen is that you?",He sounded as surprised as her.

"Off course it’s me what the heck are you doing out here?"

"Hey girl I may be a ground grunt ASF but I am still a trained pilot and don't think I would let my girl get all the fun out here." At that point Epsilon 3 broke in.

"Cut it out you two and get back to formation we have a battle to win.”

Epsilon 3 was busy organising the meager force at his hands.

"Ok all fighters listen up, I want 4 pairs of discos doing sorties on those scouts use your speed to dance in and out, take them out one by one, busters stay out of the fray and take out anything that comes after those discos and us, stay close to argon one, 2 pairs of elites each one supported by an ASF Nova raider will drive through the Kha'ak formation, for the first pass aim for the scouts thin them down before aiming for the fighters, Epsilon 3 out"

"Don't forget to go near argon one if you are in trouble but be carefull of those FAA they might take you out to if you are too close, Epsilon 4 out".

"Everyone mark your targets and engage."

The Discoverers went in first, four pairs giving a beating to any scout that made the mistake of separating from their main group and after the kill sped back out preparing for another run, the 4 Elites and the 2 Nova raiders although separated attacked simultaneously, spraying anything that was in front of them. They went through the swarm unscathed.

"I counted 14 scouts down with 2 damaged, what about you four?." The small force of heavy fighters sped away from the swarm that single mindedly kept firing on the carrier.

"Affirmative 14 scouts down, plus 4 from the discos, 36 remain, don't forget about the 3 fighters...We should make another pass against those scouts before taking the fighters out."

"One more pass against the scouts and then split up we will go against the Fighters the elites will fly cover."

The heavy fighters turned and faced the swarm again. The discos had already finished their second pass, this time though the scouts initially seemed to come after them but they turned and faced the Carrier again,

“Four did you see that?"

"Yes I saw it three, by the looks of it they plan to box us in."

"Elites brake formation and pull back, epsilon 3 out." The Elites broke off the formation but not without some grumbling from the comms.

"Whats on your mind Daran?"

"We will trap them in their own trap, have you used your SQUASH mines yet?"

"No but you are not planning what I think you are, do you?"

"You know the drill, we lure the Kha'ak after us, we drop the SQUASH mines, and when their fighters are in the kill radius, Boom!"

"This is going to be ugly but it might work...but we have to run to the carrier as fast as possible because those Scouts will be on to us all the time."

"Here goes nothing, try to keep up Jen." The 2 Nova raiders boosted to their max speed and headed for the swarm. When they were at a kilometer distance they both fired their AHEPTs, a long stream of plasma headed for the Kha'ak, when the first shots reached the scouts the entire swarm instantly formed up and faced the two heavy fighters, the Kha’ak managed to evade all incoming plasma fire.

"Jen they bought it."Both Nova raiders were speeding away from the kha'ak but the scouts were closing in.

"Jen eject your SQUASH mines on my mark; mark." At that moment each Nova raider ejected 3 inactive SQUASH mines.

"Six SQUASH mines are a little overkill you know."

"We have to get the job done Jen, now stay on course until those Fighters are in the blast radius."

The scouts were already on to them but the slow fighters were still 800 meters away from the SQUASH mines. Without evasive maneuvers they would be dead before the fighters even got close to those SQUASH mines but they are ASF trained to surpass anything that comes against them, they both evaded the Kyon fire with the strafe drive while using a panel to control the rear turret, on the normal fighters supplied on the free market and in the military, this would be impossible but not for a ASF pilot and his heavily modified ship.

"500 meters." She destroyed another scout that was too close.
"300 meters." The scouts were swarming them, her shields were down to 60% percent.
"200 meters." Yet another scout fell victim to her accurate BPAC fire from the rear turret.
"100 meters, Jen when they blow up brake left and head for the carrier, I will brake right."

The Three Kha'ak Fighters were in a tight Delta formation, unaware of the SQUASH mines ahead.

"Detonation." As epsilon 3 manually triggered the 6 SQUASH mines, the explosion swallowed all three of the Kha’ak heavy fighters, they never had a chance. At that moment both Nova raiders broke formation but the question still remained, who was their primary target.

"Jen they are after you, all of them." 30 scouts were after her, she had no chance of reaching Argon one in time; unless, she opened up the sector map, and looked at the positions of the Argon fighters, the 4 busters were the closest ones while the Elites were speeding towards her. She opened a comm.

"Busters I will come towards you first, take down as many of them as you can in the head on pass, elites position yourselves between the carrier and the busters I will come to you next, Discoverers stay clear there will be a lot of crossfire here."

The Nova raider sped towards the busters, the rear turret and the strafe drive made life and targeting hard for the kha'ak but they weren't enough to stop all of them.

"Busters when I go through you fire everything you have at those scouts but do not pursuit, epsilon 4 out."

As the nova went through the buster formation, they unleashed a rain of PAC and IRE fire on the swarm, taking out as many scouts as they could.

"Thanks Busters, 9 scouts down."The Elites were almost on their position.

"Scratch two more scouts for me Jen."Epsilon 3 made a shortie right after the busters. She kept strafing like crazy to avoid the Kyon fire while still manually firing the rear turret, destroying a crippled scout.

"Elites I am coming in hot, with 18 scouts on my tail take out as many of them as you can but don't pursuit." Her shields were down to 30%. Just enough to survive...Again the Nova went through the Elite formation, the scouts this time faced a hell of firepower from the Heavy fighters.

"11 scouts down Jen, we can take on the rest."

"Negative 3 we are too close to the carrier now, the Flak may take as out
too."

Normally 7 scouts would be a cakewalk for her but with her shields down to 26% she would take no chances. The turrets on Argon Ones rear were powering up, she would have to time it perfectly, a small flash from a turret and she broke left. A single barrage from the flak artillery array destroyed all of the scouts at once. She opened a channel to Argon one.

"Rear kha'ak force eliminated awaiting orders.” The fight on the front was almost over, the Fighters were destroyed and the scouts were being mopped up, still the sense of being trapped remained as strong as ever. A comm officer from Argon one opened a channel but before he could speak a Jump flash blinded her momentarily, when she opened her eyes she saw the hulk of an Kha'ak destroyer right on top of Argon one.

* * *

Argon one bridge

An explosion shook the ship.

"Tactical, what was that?". Ban danna was nervous on the captains chair waiting for a trap that could spring up at any moment.

"External explosion sir, multiple SQUASH mines by the readings, no shield damage, the explosion destroyed all of the rear kha'ak Fighters only scouts remaining."

"I want a full report of the battle."Ban danna was once again back in his thoughts.

So they had to use their SQUASH mines, special weapons for special forces, that’s the reason I authorized their use by the ASF...even if they are "banned" by most of the species everyone uses them to a degree.

"Sir front kha'ak force is disintegrating only one fighter and 27 scouts remaining, only one buster down, its pilot transported on board the unnamed corvette, the rear kha'ak force scouts are after an ASF pilot, by the looks of things the pilot is leading them to us, the busters and elites are positioned between us and them, crossfire tactic sir."

"Good instruct the rear turret crew to watch their fire, the ASF pilot will give them an open shot, all PPC turrets are to cease fire."

He watched the main screen as it showed the ASF pilot make a run for his life, leading the scouts into deadly head on passes through the busters and the elites.

"Rear turret crew is to make a fire test before firing the FAAs." Ban danna ordered.

I wrote this trick on the book after all.

The moment the turret charged a false test round the pilot broke left leaving a clear shot for the FAAs, the turret crew fired a full barrage destroying the rest of the scouts in a fraction of a sezura.

"Sir rear kha'ak force annihilated, no casualties on our side, front kha'ak force nearly destroyed, the buster is the only casua...". A blinding jump flash hushed the entire bridge.

"Kha'ak destroyer right on top of us distance 1 kilometer, 5 no 6 full clusters escorting it."A screaming tactical officer reported.

"Full reverse, face the destroyer with our nose, all PPC turrets fire on the destroyer, ignore anything else."A Gamma Kyon barrage hit home, the ship trembled by its force...Ban danna suppresed his panic and regained his calm.

"Our front force is to engage the clusters, our rear force Elites are to make Hornet sorties on the destroyer, the rest are to cover their approach."

An Kyon Barrage hit home.

"Sir shields are at 65% and dropping."




* * *


"Shit how are we going to stop that, Jen we have to come up with a plan." Epsilon 3 kept a calm voice but as everyone he was almost panic stricken. A single hit from a Gamma Kyon emitter could destroy any fighter, their odds of survival were low against that kind of firepower.

"You take 2 Elites , I will take the other 2, the discos are to run sorties on anything that comes against us, we are going to lead the Elites, the busters are to follow us." She quickly checked her missile supply.

"Damn I am almost out of missiles...3 we have to disperse our hornet missile fire we don't have enough missiles for baiting those turrets."

"Damn...Ok people listen up, I want a hornet barrage launched at a 4 sezura interval, keep the hornets away from each other at all costs, that Kyon fire is extremely accurate so use your strafe drive."

The 2 formations of heavy fighters quickly formed up and moved towards the Destroyer.

"Shit Argon ones shields are going down to fast, 50% and falling."Ernan said what everyone knew.

"We are in range, firing hornets." Jenai kept escorting the 2 elites...The first four hornets were already on their way for the Destroyer.

"Jen we have kha’ak heading our way."

"I see them 3, wait half of them are going for the hornets." 15 scouts were on intercept course with the hornets.

"Second hornet salvo away." An Elite pilot reported.

"Discos keep those missiles active, take out any scout that is missile hunting, we will take care of the rest of them." The 2 Nova raiders and the 4 busters turned and faced the incoming swarm.

"They are going for the Elites three."

"Cover them at all costs four, we need those Elites alive." She had a quick look in her cargo bay.

Almost out of Mass driver ammo, 3 silkworms and 4 dragonflies left, not good. The Kha'ak were almost in range.
"Silkworm that fighter Jen, then take out as many scouts as you can".
Both novas fired all of their remaining silkworms against the leading Fighter, right after that a rain of plasma, mass driver and kyons started.

Meanwhile the discos were closing in with their assigned scouts.

"No heroics people, if a scout is too close to a hornet let it take it out, it will go down with it...and by heavens grace don't get too close to those hornets". The discos opened fire against the incoming scouts.

"Scout down, it did not even had tim...AAAAAARGGHHHH..."

"Damn a scout just ramm...SHHHAARRGGHHH..."

"Evasive maneuvers these guys are going kamikaze"

"I have three behind me, can't shake them."Another discoverer went down, rammed by a scout.

"Shit, they are ripping us apart, pull back, we can’t stop them..." The remaining scouts ignored the retreating discos and headed for the Elites.

"Jen thats all of them...regroup with the elit..." a transmission broke in...it was from Ernan.

"Novas we need help, those scouts are after us."

"Sit tight, we are coming."

"Vanguard 2 we must brake and engage or we are dead meat!"

"Negative keep firing those hornets, we must take down the destroyer at all costs...If Argon one goes down, we all go down, every argon will go down you know what’s at stake."

Silence filled the comm.

"Roger that."The 4 Elites valiantly continued their attack, now a suicide mission, fire from the destroyer buzzing all around them

"Elites we won't make it in time, abort, abort." Jenai said, almost panic striken.

"Negative."

"Damn it don't play the hero with me." No response. There was nothing to do but watch...

"Scouts, closing in."

"Ignore them, keep firing those hornets." The scouts separated and opened fire on the elites. The alpha kyons were making a dent on their shields but not fast enough.

"Damn a scout just rammed me, it took out my shie...AAARRGGHHH"An elite blew up, the shockwave from the hornets onboard shook all of the remaining elites. Ernar was bathed in his sweat, but he was not afraid; right then a scout managed to ram him on the right wing...

"Lost my missile launcher...shit no weapons either," He thought for a sezura.

"Remaining elites cover me, I am gonna bring this bird up his bastu."

"Roger that..."The two elites broke up, trying to draw away the scouts from ernans M3. Ernan was calm, too calm for someone who went into his certain death.

"700 meters from target.” the computer announced
So this is how it ends.
"600 meters..."
"400 meters..."
"Come on just a little faster, come on..."
"300 meters..."
"200 meters..." The scouts were draining his remaining shields.
"100 meters..." A scout that tried to ram him blew up by PAC fire, the elite that saved him disintegrated by a gamma kyon beam.
"50 meters..." He aimed right in the center, in what seemed like a docking bay.
"Jenai I love you" He it said to himself, the comms systems had been overloaded, every warning siren in the cockpit sounded as every system on the ship failed, the ship itself kept moving from inertia alone; then the explosion silenced everything.

"I know it, Ernan." Jenai said; then the novas turned and went back into the fray...


* * *

Argon one bridge


"Sir the destroyer is going down, an elite just went up its bastu."

Cheers filled the bridge where just a moment ago it was quiet as a graveyard.

"What was the pilot’s name?" Ban danna asked.

"Ernan Baranesh, ASF Ground Spec Ops."Ban danna stayed silent for a moment.

"Tactical, Report."

"Sir the destroyer is down, the clusters that protected it are being mopped up, our casualties are: The Brilliance, 4 novas, and 5 busters from our front force, our rear force lost 3 of its elites and 3 discos, our shields are 9% and rising."

"Good bring in every fighter that needs repairs and rearmament."

Multiple jump flashes lighted up the main screen.

"Sir the Argon fleet just started to jump..."A Huge jump flash hushed the tactical officer, the monstrous shape that appeared was known to all of them, all around it Kha’ak clusters and destroyers appeared. Ban Danna broke the silence that followed the arrival of the Kha'ak fleet.

"Now the slaughter begins in earnest."

[Dragoongfa]

I posted this part earlier than i thought just to get some feedback from you guys.The rest of the chapter is coming soon.

Comment: feedback guys, i need feedback, how the hell am i suppoced to fix my writing style without some feedback???!!!!

[Warenwolf]

I posted this part earlier than i thought just to get some feedback from you guys.The rest of the chapter is coming soon.

Question:How do i link this thread with the prologue as i have seen with other stories?

Click it and it will come

I guess that this is what you are looking for...

[Dragoongfa]

Thanks warenwolf done it already.

[KiwiNZ]

Great fight there. I guess now Argoon One will have to earn her keep as well. 20 clusters are clearly too many for a bunch of Novas.

Looking forward to the next part.

[Dragoongfa]

Great fight there. I guess now Argoon One will have to earn her keep as well. 20 clusters are clearly too many for a bunch of Novas.

Looking forward to the next part.

Argon One will earn her keep, don't worry about that...
Thanks for the good words i was really nervous about how the fight would come up and there is still plenty to come.

[Dragoongfa]

Part 2 is out, i would want it to be bigger but i will complement it with part 3 .

[KiwiNZ]

That looks nasty indeed. I bet they wish they had a better standing with the Paranid and installed PSGs instead of IonDs.

The first paragraph reads a bit amusing with Ban Danna sh*iting in his seat.

Looking forward to the next part.

[Dragoongfa]

Part 3 is out, man i used half my day off for the translation...but it is fun.
Don't worry this fight is far from over.

PS:I have some doubts about how this last part came out, what do you think?

[KiwiNZ]

Cool battle. Looks like they got away lucky for now but you hint at the end that this has only been the beginning.

Looking forward to the next part!

[DarkWrath]

Very good story , can't wait for the next part

[Dragoongfa]

Thanks guys, i really need the encouragement
I will try to finish the first chapter with the next part, but it is really big.

[Dragoongfa]

Sorry for the 2 week absence guys but personnel shortages have cutted down my day offs from 5 to 1 in 20 days.

Anyway Part 4 is out, hopefully i will finish th first chapter tomorrow (unless they cut that day off too )As always feedback is greatly appreciated.

[KiwiNZ]

Hehe Reuinion in space. At least he wasn't stalking other girls ... only trying to get himself killed.

Good part.

[Dragoongfa]

Part 5 is out...
Man i need a day off...
Hope you like it...

[Dragoongfa]

Part 6 is out.
Ok now that i have some time off i will work on it more, the next part, will be the LAST part of this chapter.
Come on guys i need feedback (even if its bad).

[Dragoongfa]

So in order to prevent a please continue post (don't worry i have done it too) don't worry i am just writing the late parts and figuring how the main plot will develop...Because i hate posting the story part by part i will post entire chapters as they come.
Sorry if i made you nervous ...

[Dragoongfa]

ooopss
Forgot to finish the first chapter...

[joeone]

Ban danna shat on the captains chair trying to turn the situation in argons favour...

Hahaha that made me laugh, just thought I'd point that typo out