“If I was going to do something stupid, I’d better be smart first. I had Wanda, pull up all she had on K’Rang corvettes. I was looking for their weaknesses and capabilities.”
“These K’Rang missile corvettes are 150 meters long and 40 meters wide. The sensor probe out the nose gives it a faint resemblance to a dart. The ships have heavy armor on their nose, light armor from amidships to the stern but no shields. They're designed to run directly at their target, survive any defensive fire, fire their six missiles, and run for it. The Fleet tactical guide recommends getting behind them and shooting them aft of amidships where they are vulnerable.”
“Get in behind them and shoot them in the butt. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was a plan. Now all I had to do was wait for them to get close enough for the damage simulator to give me back control. The navigation light was probably giving my position away to the K’Rang. I tripped the breaker. I then turned my fighter around and moved parallel to the frontier in the direction I came. I wanted to move closer to the frontier. I had the idea to hide myself near one of the GR frontier sensors.”
“I moved as fast as my ‘disabled’ ship would allow me and sidled up next to one of the frontier sensor pods and waited. I waited about an hour. I figured the Bolivar recovery crew might have been wondering where I was by then. If they sent out ships to search for me that might be the best thing. At least they would be looking on the back side of the fleet and somebody might notice the three K’Rang ships out there.”
“Wanda told me that the K’Rang ships were moving toward the fleet. I checked the sensor screen and it showed them heading directly toward the Bolivar. It was obvious that they had my home in their sights.”
“My squadron commander told me when I reported in that we weren’t to engage the K’Rang unless we had superiority of numbers or a significant tactical advantage. I didn’t have superior numbers, but I did have the advantage of surprise. It would have to be enough.”
“The three K’Rang corvettes moved right up to the frontier and stopped. I had Wanda monitor them closely, expecting to see their engines surge for their dash to the Bolivar.”
“If they crossed the border, I was going to fire on them right away. If I got their attention, it might cause them to turn from their attack on the Bolivar to deal with me. If not, I’d at least gotten one of them out of the attack. Either way, it might draw the attention of someone in the combat information center.”
“I didn’t have too much time to wait, the K’Rang sprang across the frontier right in front of me. The battle damage simulator released its hold and the ship was under my control again. I activated my guns and moved in. I was on them before they knew I was there. I came up behind them and took out the center ship’s engine with a gun burst. It was hit with secondary explosions and the two other ships swerved outwards to avoid being caught in the explosion.”
“I turned to follow the ship to port. I fired and took out the port ship’s engines and secondary explosions destroyed it. Missiles from that ship fired off in all directions, none of them threatened the fleet.”
“The third ship turned back on course to attack the Bolivar. I pushed my throttle to the stops in pursuit. The K’Rang ship executed a series of evasive maneuvers to keep me from getting a target lock for my guns. Its turret guns put up an ineffective counter fire, but it was enough to make my aim even less steady. I activated my exercise missiles. They couldn’t do any damage, but the K’Rang wouldn’t know that.”
“I fired off all my exercise missiles in one salvo and watched the K’Rang ship turn hard to starboard and up to throw off their lock. That was all I needed. The K’Rang ship presented perfectly for me to rake it just aft of amidships. My guns cut into their hull. I saw atmosphere escaping into space. The ship’s one gun turret was pointed up and away from me. I sent a stream of gunfire into the missile launch tubes and watched the ship catch fire, burst open, and pinwheel through space.”
“I turned to head back to the landing bay. Fighters from the 34th Fighter Squadron met me halfway there. I waggled my fighter at them to signal I had no comms. Two flights proceeded to the frontier to stand guard. One flight pulled up alongside and escorted me to the Bolivar. At the landing bay, they pulled off and rejoined their squadron.”
“I landed and was escorted to my parking position. A Marine sergeant saluted me and asked me to accompany him as I stepped out of my fighter.”
“I was escorted to flag country and turned over to a stone-faced Fighter Force Lieutenant Colonel, wearing an aide de camp aiguillette on his shoulder. He told me to take a seat and wait. I waited. I waited over an hour before General Bugarov came in. She looked over at me with cold fury on her face. She had some short quiet words with her aide and went into her office. CPT Johnstone, her JAG, followed her minutes later. I waited an hour longer.”
“LTC Matthews and CPT Willis came into the anteroom and came over to me.”
“He asked me what was going on. Like me, they were met when they landed and escorted to flag country.”
“I told him the same had happened to me and that I had been waiting over two hours. I explained what happened with the three K’Rang corvettes and how I was able to get the damage simulator to release control of my ship. LTC Matthews went over to the general’s aide, but was told he was to take a seat and wait.”
“We were ushered into General Bugarov’s office after yet another hour of waiting. CPT Johnstone stood behind her. I was ordered to report in. I moved in front of her desk, saluted and reported.”
“She looked up stone-faced and began, “2LT Kelly Blake, you are charged with three counts of willful disobedience of a direct order. To wit, you did willfully disobey a direct order not to engage K’Rang units without a superior force. You disobeyed a direct order to maintain tight formation during this exercise. You also disobeyed a direct order from your squadron commander to maintain your position until a recovery ship came and got you. You are charged with lying to a superior officer. To wit, LTC Matthews, your squadron commander, when you reported that your ship was disabled. You are also charged with conduct prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the service and with conduct unbecoming an officer. To wit, the above named offenses. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be taken down and used against you. You have the right to counsel and to have them present at all proceedings. If you understand these charges and your rights under the Galactic Code of Military Justice, indicate your acceptance on the tablet in front of you.’”
“I was just about to protest that I didn’t know what she was talking about when Admiral Haddock-Halloway walked into her office. He looked around at what was going on and told Bugarov to send everyone away. He needed to talk to her now.”
“We were ushered quickly out of her office by her aide and told to stand by.”
“LTC Matthews came over and told me that this was bullshit. He would do everything in my power to get me cleared. He wouldn’t let her do this. There were safeguards in effect that would keep her from running roughshod over my rights.”
“Just at that time Admiral Haddock-Halloway stuck his head out the general’s door and told us we were all excused and there would be no charges pressed here today.”
We went back to the hangar deck and saw evidence tape securing my cockpit and a Marine standing guard. LTC Matthews called all of us into his office.”
“He remarked that the episode we’d just witnessed was interesting and that she was obviously overruled. He told me not to let my guard down and that the little drill in her office was personal. She sealed my ship, so no one could check out my story. She probably had every tech in the fleet pouring over my ship with a fine tooth comb.”