The fleet disposition showed on Kelly’s tactical monitor. The fleet was still arrayed in gunnery formation. The Tenacious and Transcendent were still on the port side of the fleet against the asteroid field. They would not warp to their position in-spiral until CPT Chang’s flight advanced. The scout ship flew straight at the fleet.
“Kelly, do you think this guy is running at full power or is he sandbagging us?”
“I think he is powered back some. I expect him to do something to try and throw us off any second now. I am powering up two mini-seekers in case he should split us up. He may fool us, but he won’t get away.”
“Don’t shoot without asking for permission from fleet. Remember our orders.”
“You should power up two mini-seekers too. If this guy should get one of us, the survivor shouldn’t take a chance on him getting away.”
“Good idea, powering up. Here comes Chang’s flight.”
“Shadow Warrior, there are four more interceptor ships that have just appeared 20,000 km in front of us. We need five more seconds before our data is sent. I will inform you when the transmission is acknowledged.”
“Excellent, Shadow Technician. I will hold course until the data is sent. Then I am going to see how brave these humans are. I am going to fly right at them. If they destroy us, we have still succeeded in our mission. If we get through them, I am going to turn into the asteroid field. Let’s see how good pilots these humans are. If we make it into the asteroid field, I want you to shoot nearby asteroids to throw debris in their path. We may just live through this, M’Drek.”
CPT Chang led his flight forward out of the asteroid field. His flight was positioned to block the scout ship from reaching the fleet. He expected the scout ship to turn away any second. His flight were all seasoned pilots. They had trained together two years, and he knew their every move. As they advanced toward the scout ship, he spread his two-ship teams apart. He intended to chase this scout ship down himself. The lieutenants Shappelle and Blake would get to watch his flight in action. He would thank them afterwards for running the scout into his snare.
He keyed his mike and spoke to his flight. “Careful with this guy, I don’t think he realizes we are here yet. Prepare to shoot his engines once he comes in range. We’ll see if we can stop him without damaging the ship too much. LT O’Brien, you take the port engine, I’ll take the starboard one. LT Connell, you take out that turret on the roof. LT Obagwe, see if you can take out his life support. Aim carefully; we want these guys alive and the ship as intact as possible.”
“Shadow Warrior, the data transmission is complete. The transmission has been acknowledged. You may take any action you wish now. We have successfully completed our mission. Our names will be read in the scrolls of M’Drella.”
“Tighten your seat straps, Shadow Technician. I am about to test these pilots’ skills. Turn your sensor recorders on and prepare a data pod for launch if we do not make it. Maybe we can get some more data back to home world after we are no more. If you wish to send a personal message to your clan, you may do so. I will be adding a message to my Creche Mother.”
“Thank you, Shadow Warrior. They will sing of us during the fire festival. It has been an honor to serve under you.”
“Thank you, M’Drek. Prepare to fire on them if we make it through them. Perhaps we can slow their pursuit if they are not as brave as we are.”
Kelly watched the situation unfold on his tactical display. It looked like it was almost the end for the scout ship. The scout ship closed the distance on the flight of fighters. Suddenly, the K’Rang ship accelerated and aimed itself at the four-ship flight. The distance closed dramatically. The four-ship flight broke into two pairs of fighters and split apart as the scout blew through their formation. CPT Chang and his wingman had to execute a max-G turn to avoid collision. The move was so unexpected that none of the fighters had a chance to get off a shot.
“Kelly, CPT Chang’s fighter and his wingman’s are out of position. We need to go in after the scout or he might get away.”
The scout ship made a radical turn to port and headed for the asteroid field. If it could get deep into the field it would be hard to catch and it might be able to get away. Angie and Kelly followed hot on its tail. CPT Chang and his flight reorganized and followed Angie and Kelly.
“LT Shappelle, this is CPT Chang, turn aside, and make room for us to pass. We will take up the pursuit.”
Angie replied, “Negative sir, you won’t catch up until they are in the asteroid field. We could lose this guy if he gets too far into the field. You hold your position. We’ll turn him and send him back out to you.”
“LT Shappelle, this is Fleet Command, stay on the scout’s tail. CPT Chang, move your flight out-spiral and prepare to move into the asteroid field to block his retreat. We are jumping the Tenacious and Transcendent at this time. You have permission to disable the ship’s weapons and engines, if required.”
Angie and Kelly followed the scout into the asteroid field. They had to weave up and down, left and right to keep up with the scout. As they approached a congested part of the field, the K’Rang ship used its weapons to blast asteroids into big chunks swirling in their path. Angie and Kelly climbed, dove, and jinked to avoid the bigger bits and stay on the scout’s tail. Their ship’s shields repelled the smaller chunks away.
Kelly keyed his mike and asked, “Is it just me or is it getting crowded in here? Following this guy is not going to work. We need to get past him and turn him back out of the field and out-spiral again.”
“Roger, I agree, Kelly. Let’s see if we can get in-spiral of and past him.”
Angie made a hard turn to port around a large asteroid and increased power. A relatively clear path opened up on the far side of the large asteroid and Angie accelerated. Kelly followed her, one ship’s width away from her. Once they cleared the asteroid they were in-spiral and just ahead of the scout ship. The scout ship turned out-spiral again and Angie and Kelly stayed just 1000 meters off the port side and just ahead of the scout. The scout turned to fly out of the asteroid field. Angie keyed her mike, “CPT Chang, they are coming out your way.”
“I see them, we’re waiting for them.”
“Shadow Warrior, the four interceptors we blew through before are waiting for us just past the asteroid field. They have too much power and are too maneuverable for us to escape.”
“Shadow Technician, enter the final codes to arm the self-destruct mechanism. Enter them as Shadow Warrior M’Drek. You have earned the title. I am proud to promote you to Warrior of the Empire.”
“ I am honored, Shadow Warrior.”
“You may address me as K’tella, fellow warrior.”
“I am doubly honored, K’Tella. The preparations are complete. Self-destruct will commence when you push the omega button on your console. How long a time lag do you wish?”
“Make it a five second delay. I may need to maneuver at the last second to assure the most effect. Set the data pod to eject at three seconds.”
Upon exiting the asteroid field, the K’Rang ship turned out-spiral and ran toward the fleet, some 30,000 km away, at maximum speed. CPT Chang’s flight flew in pursuit. Angie and Kelly left the asteroid field, kicked it into full power and came up alongside the scout ship between them and the asteroid field. This blocked their escape into the field again. They both felt it was only a matter of time before CPT Chang’s flight disabled the scout or he surrendered. Knowing the K’Rang’s predilection of dying rather than live in captivity, he didn’t think they would give up.
CPT Chang increased his speed to close the distance to the scout ship. He wanted to get closer so his targeting computer could achieve maximum accuracy. The three other ships maintained formation with him. He was almost to optimum firing range when the K’Rang ship hit reverse thrusters and CPT Chang's flight shot past the scout. As the last fighter of the four-ship formation passed by the scout ship’s pulse guns fired, disabling LT Obagwe’s ship.