The Big Year

powell99

Aviation Junkie
Okay, I've been playing around with the idea of a fan fic for a long time, but I figured I'd actually go for it now. It's 2669, the Big Year in the Terran-Kilrathi War, and the TCS Saratoga and her crew have thier work cut out from New Years to the end of the War and after the Treaty of Torgo

Sabre 412
Enigma System
2669.001

"Alright Kids, that's the last leg of our patrol, now let's bring it on home shall we?" Major Keith Hale slumped back slightly in the ejection harness of his Sabre. It was one more mission for the log books and another five hours of his life he wouldn't be getting back any time soon. No Matter, just as Colonel Mills says 'Every Mission Counts, wiether or not you realise it at the time'. Keith flipped through several VDU screens, checking the foreward facing scanner, Systems Reports, and Wing Reports. Everything was normal and uninteresting, and as much as Keith wanted excitement, he knew damned well that no news was infact good news.

He looked over his shoulder at his Weapons Systems Officer, "Well Lieutenant, what do you think of your first mission?"

"Well Sir, I was expecting a little bit more excitement, like a Kilrathi Scout or something. I mean we are on the front lines are we not?" Keith could hear Lieutenant Lysenko squrim uncomfortably in her position.

"Enigma is on the front lines, but between the Black Hole and all the asteroids in this system, our sensors are damned near useless. So that's why we have so many CAPs out today. The Colonel has to send out a fair ammount of ships if he hopes to make contact with the Kilrathi if they're here. Even then, we're lucky if we figure out what they have." Keith liked Lysenko, she was an okay WSO and a likeable person, but she lacked heavily in real world experience, all she had to go on was a crash course duirng flight training.

"Oh, I see." She peered into her Sensor scope and squinted her eyes slightly. The Sabre was entering another Asteroid Field and it was all she could pick up on her scanners. No IFF Contacts, just the grey marks that represented Asteroids.

"Viper 1-2 to Viper Lead, I think I have a contact in this debris field." First Lieutenant Allan Ryan's voice filled Keith's Headset. "I had him last at eight High, it might have been some Debris, but judging by the way it was moving, and it's position, I think we might have picked up a trailer."

"Wilco Viper 1-2, Let's go check it out." Keith immediately straightened up, and turned his ship to the position that his wingman called out. "Lysenko, I need you to take the weapons safties off and keep looking through those sensor readouts, If you see anything, patch it into the Targeting system. Got it?"

"Yes si-" She jumped slightly in her seat. "Sir, I think we have two targets, IFF reads them as Dralthi IV Class Medium Fighters. I'm patching them through now." She quickly ran her fingers over a series of buttons in her fighter and the Sabre's Forward Radar locked onto the two Targets. Whoever the pilots were, they were damned good pilots. They had managed to get with in 10 klicks of the Confederation Fighters without getting spotted.

"God damn, Nice work on picking those out Lieutenant," Keith hauled the heavy Sabre straight towards the two Kilrathi Fighters, "Viper 1-2, Break formation and let 'em have it! Watch out for more hostiles though."

"Wilco Viper Lead." Ryan's Sabre began to dodge and weave through the asteroids, he was going to try and hit the Kilrathi in the left flank and hopefully catch any other bandits on the way. Hale took the more direct route and slammed on his Afterburners, making a direct line for the lead Kilrathi Fighter. Both Dralthi fired off a pair of DF's at Hale's fighter. Yeah, I figured that's what you were going for. Hale pushed his Sabre's nose down and looked over his shoulder as the Two Missiles passed harmlessly behind him and impacted against a large asteroid, sending more debris everywhere.

Both Dralthi Swung around onto the Sabre's Tail and almost instantly Sergeant Keller opened fire with his twin Neutron guns. The Second ship in the Formation broke off from pursiut, but the Kilrathi Flight Lead was still hot on the Sabre's Tail. The Cat fired a burst from his guns, and Hale could hear as the bolts of energy collided with the Sabre's sheilding. The VDU showed that the rear shields were knocked down about half way.

Hale pulled up on his controls and found himself in front of the second Dralthi. With a quick movement of the hand, he armed full guns and gave the Kilrathi Fighter a quick burst. The Dralthi's sheilds glowed blue and crackled, but sensors said that they were still up, and in the back, Hale could hear the Neutron Guns still firing and his shield still taking more damage. Now they were down to 10 percent. "Lysenko, where the hell is Ryan?"

"Uh, Lieutenant Ryan appears to have been taken up with a Gothri. But I think he can take him."

Hale grunted unhappily, that meant he was on his own, and the sound of energy pinging against the Sabre's Armor wasn't particularly reassuring. He slammed his after burners again and continued to spray the Second Dralthi. Several Particle Cannon rounds peirced the Dralthi's shields and a solid line of Mass Driver rounds impacted the port wing which caught fire and sheared off. Hale had to pull away hard as the Dralthi impacted an asteroid. He could hear fragments of the Dralthi imbed themeselves in the bottom of the Sabre.

The Lead Dralthi continued to hammer the Sabre with everything it had to offer, sending a stream of Meson Gun bolts into the Sabre just behind the cockpit. Lieutenant Lysenko screamed in pain and utter shock. Hale swore loudly as the radar, left VDU, and Armour readout blew out. He pulled out the throttle and flipped his wounded Sabre onto his back. Now the Kilrathi fighter was facing him headon, where the fighter still presumably had shields and armor left. Ignoring the various alarms, he fired off a pair of DF's and sprayed out a solid line of Mass Driver and Particle cannon fire into the Dralthi. The Kilrathi Fighter spun out of control and exploded dramatically. Hale could make out the Pilot getting blow out of the cockpit as his fighter exploded.

Keith Hale looked over the shattered cockpit of his Sabre, it was time to head home as soon as possible. "Lieutenant Ryan Report Status!"

"I'm okay sir, got a couple burn marks on my ship, how about you?"

"I wish I had it that good. My ship is shot to all hell and my WSOs hurt. The Nav Computer's shot so I'll need you to lead the way back to the Saratoga." He looked back over at Lysenko, she was still moving, but moaning in pain. He couldn't qutie make it out, but it appeared as if she took some shrapnel from the explosion in the back of the fighter. God only knew what kind of shape Sergeant Keller was in, but the ship's internal comms were offline and the passage way to the turret was blocked with a massive ammount of wires and debris.

"Yeah, I have your ship in visual range now, I'll see what I can do." Ryan took his Sabre and stopped it directly in front of Hale's. "Just follow me sir, and this will be over."
 
Excellent work! I was drawn in to your story form the get-go. Was wondering what CAP stands for though.. anyways keep it up, and I'll be right here when the next portion comes out.
 
CAP is Combat Air Patrol, so the majority of missions you fly in WC games that aren't Strike or Escort.
 
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