Alpha One - Chris Burton [90]
The suspension of jump ship flights was destined to last a lot longer. The order came from Admiral Shenke’ s fleet command just four hours after Commander Hoskins ordered the Halo 7’s jump ship status to be suspended. They were ordered to regroup and leave the battle, setting a course for the departing Betanica Sect vessels. Hoskins hadn’t realized at the time, but they headed for the Tri-Star region.
From the chaos of battle to the calm of deep space, Shenke’s task force pursued their prey at high velocity. They were joined by twelve reserve ships of the line, together with new supplies, munitions, new jump ships and personnel. The mini-fleet was whole again. They acted alone once more.
The Halo 7 was in a weary state. The repair teams continued to work their way through the damaged sections of the ship, but their relentless task had an ending. The ship was fully operational with a full complement of personnel, together with a full ammunition dock. It was time to take stock and to allow the crew to come to terms with their losses. Sixteen crew members died in the battle, twelve of them jump ship pilots, three CAG support crew and one member of the repair team. Their losses were felt throughout the ship, but the commander shouldered the brunt of the responsibility.
He had orders to send his ship into battle and issued the individual commands. It was he who put a face to those ordered to their deaths. He would do the same again in the name of protecting Earth.
Is it Earth? Hoskins began questioning the rationale behind his command in recent weeks. It was Alpha that was antagonizing the situation, and ECG and the people of Earth were removed from it. They were simply the cattle fodder, Alpha was the executioner and he was Alpha, or part of it.
Hoskins tried to put the losses behind him by doing what he did best. He walked the ship. His job was to restore morale and to bring the ship back to full combat readiness. He visited the mess halls, the repair teams, the medical center, the jump ship hangars and the crew recreational facilities. Each time he stopped and took time with his crew, he shared their conversations and their grief and he began the process of bringing his crew back to life. Shenke wasn’t attacking the Sect vessels so he had time.
The mini-fleet followed at a safe distance. The likely destination of the Sect fleet, the Tri-Star system, was six days away at current speed. What would happen when they got there was unknown, but it was likely there would be more bloodshed.
Hoskins returned to his quarters to find Obeya lying in his bed. He needed the comfort of a woman and Obeya was there for him. He went back on his word to his wife, but here he lived a separate life. He had needs and his wife could not help him. Jonathan Hoskins returned to his bed and to his mistress. He needed comforting again.
Chapter Forty
Christmas Homecoming
There were twenty remaining competitors in the South Downs Academy Top Gun tournament. By the end of this weekend’s event, the finalists would be known, with the final itself taking place in the early New Year.
Jake and Steve were neck and neck, with Steve edging in front at the end of the last event. They would next compete in Rapier 6’s, which definitely gave the advantage to jump ship students over the remaining candidates, as the jump ship pilots completed more than 300 hours flight time in the Rapier 6 variant. The elite pilots were already ahead of their non-jump ship student counterparts. The final twelve were expected to be composed of jump ship elite pilots only.
Now all the remaining candidates would be given their chance. With fewer competitors, six different events were scheduled to take place this weekend. These varied from speed trials to obstacle courses to wing-man