Alpha One - Chris Burton [19]
“Battle Cruiser Pacific, to port, sir. She is deploying PBA and launching torpedoes.”
“Co-ordinate our attack priorities with the Pacific, Number One.“
“CAG, what’s our jump ship status?”
“All ships deployed and engaged.”
“Two more Alpha vessels in range,” said the Comm Officer.
“Number One, coordinate.”
“Shields are down to twenty percent, both main drives offline,” the bridge operations officer shouted. “CAG advised a dorsal attack is ineffective. Two ships lost already.”
“What about the Sabres?” asked the commander.
* * * *
The three Sabres launched first. Flight Lieutenant’s Obeya Temsouri and Carson O’Brien were the team leaders in Blue Sabre 1. The slingshot mechanism propelled the Sabre into space at high velocity. Obeya expertly brought the jump ship around and assumed pole position at the front of the three vessel ‘V’ shape formation.
Obeya was the Aurora’s Sabre lead. She was a veteran in her third full tour and she was good. She was also the current mistress of a certain Jonathan Hoskins.
This didn’t prey on her mind. She was fond of Jonathan, but she was a professional pilot first and foremost. The relationship between her and the ship’s commander was not something she broadcast. Born on Seta 9, Obeya was the product of a specialist breeding program which Earth was reluctantly involved in for twenty-five years. She was part-human, part-Dactorian, and part-Barcudian. This gave her increased strength, stamina and intelligence. She was ostensibly human, and looked human.
She was accompanied by Carson O’Brien, an Irish Titan immigrant. He was a good jump ship pilot but preferred to take control of the Sabres’ offensive capabilities when in a two crew member sortie.
The three Sabres accelerated briskly away from both the Aurora and the Sentinel vessel before tuning and assuming an attack posture. They launched their offensive at maximum thrust and swept past the Sentinel vessel from bow to port and then under and over the enemy vessel before starting the whole maneuver again. The Sabres stayed in formation and continued this close range assault while their blast cannons and short range PBAs attacked the enemy vessels shield systems from all angles. They were blasted by the Sentinel ships huge laser cannons and ATA missile systems. The ATA was the most feared weapon in the Sentinels armory from a jump ships perspective. They were accurate; launching, locking on and never letting go. Deadly because they nearly-always penetrated the jump ships’ limited shield capability.
Obeya just avoided one ATA missile when a second one locked on. She pulled the ship upwards at maximum thrust and headed straight for the Sentinel vessel, pulling up at the last minute. Luck was on her side today and the missile got caught in the Sentinel’s shield system and exploded, knocking both the Sabre and a nearby Rapier into a flat spin before both pilots recovered and Obeya pulled the ship out of danger. Unfortunately, the Sentinels laser cannon targeted the Rapier, and the damaged Rapier limped off in space, only to be hit by a further ATA missile which destroyed the Rapier and her pilot instantly.
The three Sabres returned to formation once again and continued their close range offensive. However it wasn’t long before one of the other two Sabres was in trouble, having been hit by the aftershock of an ATA explosion. She started to spin, and her pilot temporarily lost control before recovering and straightening up. She was clearly in trouble, and Obeya advised her fellow pilot to pull out of the next attack and return to the Aurora 5. The Aurora’s CAG immediately launched the reserve Sabre which quickly joined the Sabre hunting pack in attack formation.
All around them, the carnage of a space battle was evident. The size and power of the Sentinel Vessel was telling and although the jump ship pilots were doing their best, it was inevitable that some would be lost. The Sabres continued their offensive and were joined by three