Chapter 7 Part 2

The Bandit and Storm barreled straight at the enemy. Their shields were at full strength and weapons were primed. Thunder, the ship's commander and pilot muttered an invocation for his ancestors and the Samurai code of the warrior that had taken him to his present status. His oriental heritage was laying beside him in the VR module. A katana blade, passed to him from his grandfather on the day he was promoted to the command of a combat crew, lay on the featureless floor beside the console mockup.

Ahead of them, four battle craft and a hoard of fighters reminiscent of Genghis Khan's Mongols closed rapidly on them.

The four Devil-Ray fighters that had rushed our to meet them had not even gotten a volley of fire off. The two VRADs' particle cannons had hammered the smaller craft to rubble before the fighters could get close enough to attack.

The other fighters were much more patient. They followed under the formidable firepower of the huge gunboats bearing down on the VRADs.

Already, the long range of the gunboats was getting uncomfortable. Though still missing badly due to the VRAD ECM systems, the gunboats were closing the distance and with their superior firepower and heavy shields, may very well herald the end of the attack drones.

"Bandit to Storm. Those fighters are forming up to make a pass at us." Highwayman, the other ship's commander was off their port flank.

Thunder had indeed noted that the enemy were performing a half pincer. "Okay let's entertain our guests," he answered. "You break to the left and we will burn right. come about after twenty seconds and let's strafe the heavies. Then we can swat the flies."
Thunder's instructions were cryptic, but understood and no sooner had they been concluded did the Bandit peel off and pull away to the left.

Simultaneously, Thunder rolled the Storm around to the right and gunned the thrusters. The VRAD jumped out and began to accelerate.

Lightning, his gunner, busily programmed the missiles in their weapons bay to the home in on the schematic detail of the Syndicate's gunboats. The fruits of years of intelligence work was about to pay off. The SRAM, or Simulated Radar Attack Missile, used an active radar to fool enemy vessels into concentrating their countermeasures on radar jamming. In truth the missile was guided by digital optics. The missile homed in on a given hull configuration, in this case, the shield generators, power production and power distribution centers.

"Lightning, as soon as we complete our attack run, I want the chaff net dropped. Lets throw as much confusion into the fray as we can." Thunder wheeled the ship around and lined it up on the leading gunboat.

"All right lets rain on their parade. Bonzai!" With that, Thunder slammed the thrusters to their maximum.

"Weapons on line," Lightning announced. "Bay coming open."

"They are lining up on us," Cyclone, the EW officer warned. The screen flashed red. "That was a deflected hit form their forward laser battery," he added.

"Reactor holding steady at ninty-five percent," the flight engineer muttered. His call sign was Sleet. They called him that because he never got excited. He was always ice cold.

"Bay coming closed," Lightning announced. "Clear for evasive."

"Jink left," Cyclone ordered.

Thunder fired the lateral thruster and the Storm slipped several hundred feet to the left. A pair of bright green plasma beams illuminated the area they had just vacated.

"Jink up," another order came. and the space they were crossing came alive with dozens of red lines.

"Several deflections, but no hits," Sleet yawned.

"Recover to course," Cyclone ordered.

As Thunder complied, Lightning began to make adjustments on the KW4 rail gun. "We got four SRAMs out," he reported.

The closest gunboat loomed ever larger in their view screen. Cyclone snickered. "They are throwing every watt of jamming power they have at the SRAMs," he told his crew.

The action was for naught, though, for seconds later the four missiles slammed into the larger ship's hull. The explosions wrecked tons of hardware and disrupted vital control systems. This was evident when the gunboat began a slow yaw and ceased to fire its smaller guns at them.

"Hold this attitude," Lightning urged. "I want to get one shot in before we pass this turkey."

"Make it quick," Cyclone pleaded. "Flying in a straight line makes us very vulnerable."
Lightning's targeting system aligned, and he hit the firing stud. "Clear for evasive," he announced as the weapon fired.

"Come about to 110 mark 70 and extend," Cyclone ordered. That course would carry them out of the lethal range of the gunship's weapons as rapidly as possible.

Even as Thunder adjusted the course, a gaping hole opened in the upper hull of the heavy battle craft in a blossom of bright orange.

"That is a good hit with the rail gun," Lightning whooped. "Most of that explosion is coolant from their reactor deck."

"Congratulate yourself later," Cyclone warned. "We have company."

Flying up from ahead and below a quintet of fighters flew in a classical V formation. Above and to the right five more dove on them.

"Twenty degree dive. Head straight for the lower flight," Cyclone ordered.

Thunder complied and closed the distance between the fleet fighters and themselves much too quickly for the smaller ships to line up their weapons.

Cyclone, being in control of the dorsal and belly laser turrets had no such difficulty. He aligned the optical sensors on the reflective surfaces of the fighters and allowed the auto tracking systems to guide the guns. When they closed into cannon range, Cyclone's lethal defense turned two of the five Devil-Rays into rapidly expanding blossoms of hot gas.

The other three scattered and turned in wide sweeping arcs to fall in with the five perusing fighters.

"Hard about, Thunder," Cyclone urged. "Let's play chicken."

Thunder wheeled the Storm around in a tight half loop. The turn radius was so tight, that the ship seemed to almost flip over from the indications on their control panels.

The fighters suddenly were no longer chasing a fleeing attack craft, but were in a head on collision with a vessel well over five times their own individual masses. The Devil-Rays flushed and scattered like a star burst with the VRAD piercing the formation's heart.

Again the dorsal and belly turrets belched forth lethal bolts, but this time the range was too great for effective accuracy and the prey escaped.

"Bay coming open," Lightning announced. "We are free to maneuver," he added indicating that he was not aligning a missile so they were not restricted in movement.

"Another gunboat is bearing down on us," Cyclone warned, "eighty six mark three forty-three."

"Chaff net away," Lightning countered. "Bay closed. That should confuse their laser and radar guided systems."

"They have optical tracking as well," Cyclone reminded them.

"That has a very limited range," Lightning pointed out.

"Let's put some damage on this new tub," Thunder ordered.

"Come to eighty mark zero," Lightning replied. "Hold her steady while I get these other four SRAMs out. Bay coming open."

Thunder held the course as steady as possible for Lightning to launch their remaining four missiles. Unlike the last time, he saw each missile streak out ahead of the ship as it was launched. Just as the last one fired, the screen flashed red twice and the image flickered.

"We just took a hit," Sleet said flatly. "The number four ventral shield was damaged."

"The open bay made us vulnerable to laser attacks, and a fighter sneaked in from below," Cyclone explained.

"Bay closed. Cleared for evasive," Lightning answered.

"Thunder," Cyclone urged, "adjust your course to fly across his bow and dive underneath him. We have to keep his heavy guns away from our belly."

Thunder nosed the ship into a steeper dive and dropped below the gunboat's flight plane even as the missiles tor gaping holes in the battle craft's armor. Then he leveled off and put the ship in a slightly nose up attitude.

"Hold it steady," Lightning muttered in a level tone as he sighted the deadly rail gun again. The gunner fired the KW-4. The aft section of the vessel ballooned and ruptured flinging bits of metal, and frozen fluids into the vacuum.

"That took out most of his belly guns," Lightning announced jubilantly.

"Fighters at six and closing," Cyclone warned. "Punch it boss. Zero mark three hundred."

Again Thunder put the Storm in a steep dive. Only this time the VRAD did not have a speed advantage. The fighters were already at maximum velocity. Before the Storm could outrun them, they had closed the distance sufficiently to launch their own missiles.

"Four uplink's," Cyclone shouted, warning his crew that four guided missiles were incoming. "I jammed two of them, but the other two are too close."

Again the screen flashed red and the flash was followed by static as the virtual reality cockpit winked out and then came back.

"We took two major strikes in the rear," Sleet casually announced. "The reactor is down to sixty percent of capability and both rear deflectors were lost."

"Come about and steer into the fighters," Cyclone ordered. "Don't give them time to line up another shot at out aft section."

"Reroute power from rear deflectors to forward deflectors," Thunder ordered as he adjusted the course.

The Storm streaked straight towards the seven fighters. As the distance closed, Thunder outlined his plan. "All right here is what we do," he said. "As we pass, I will bring us about in a high gee half loop. That should drop us in position just behind them. I'll line up on the lead ship. Lightning can take him out while Cyclone let's the rest of them know what for."

The fighters, broke just as they had before. And just as they flashed by, Thunder flipped the Storm around on the Devil-Rays' tails.

Almost instantly, Cyclone activated the laser turrets. The resulting fire lowered the count of fighters by two more.

Almost as quickly, the proton cannons on the VRAD's wingtips flashed and vaporized the lead fighter sending all the surviving craft in a mad scramble of evasive maneuvers.

Taking advantage of the disarray, Thunder wheeled the Storm around and lined back up on the second gunboat. "Let's get a few more shots at this thing," Thunder urged.

They dove hard at the ship and Lightning fired the rail gun twice more with each shot opening gaping holes in the battle craft's hull. In addition, he opened up with the proton cannons as well. The SRAMs and the KW-4 had destroyed much of the gunboat's shielding and the charged particles from the cannons ripped deep gashes along the length of the ship.

"Fantastic," Thunder whooped as he guided the VRAD beneath the ship and passed under the larger craft.

His elation died in the air as they rounded to the back of the vessel. They emerged in a head on course with several dozen of the small fighters.

"Not good," Cyclone noted.

"Don't mix it up with them if you can help it," Lightning advised. "Let our own jocks take care of them. Get us back on course to hit that tub," he urged meaning the crippled battle craft.

"That thing is little threat right now," Thunder decided. "We need to beat up on the first one we hit first."

"Fly through the fighters at full speed," Cyclone ordered. We don't dare turn our rear to them without deflectors."

"I don't think we will be able to ward off too many of their shots from the front either," Sleet said. "We still only have sixty percent on the reactor."

"Open a hole in them, Lightning," Thunder ordered. "Make them get out of the way."
Lightning began rapidly pulse firing the proton cannons vaporizing several fighters and opening a channel directly in front of them. At the same time Cyclone had the dorsal and belly turrets running hard and six more fighters were destroyed by the time they made it through the swarm.

Cyclone checked his proximity scan and his fears were confirmed. "We have well over thirty fighters on our tail," he said, "and with only sixty percent on the reactor we can't outrun them. That plus the lack of shielding is going to make this a very nasty ride."

Thunder did not like where this was leading. "Sleet," he asked, "if we shut everything else down, can we outrun them?"

Sleet's answer was typically cold. "No."

Thunder was faced with a dilemma. Behind them were more fighters than they could possible handle. Ahead of them was a damaged gunboat. He was going to lose the Storm anyhow, but he wanted to squeeze as much value out of her as he could.

"Crew," he announced, "my ancestors believed in something called the Divine Wind, the Kamikaze." He lined the Storm up on a collision course with the gunboat.

"Those ancient warriors would crash their aircraft into enemy vessels to inflict as much destruction as they could. That is what we are going to do."

Lightning nodded and fired the rail gun again as they dove towards the gunship.

"When this is over, I will share a little something special with you," Thunder promised. "Before taking off, the Kamikaze were given a shot of Saki. And I just happen to have a small flask hidden in my quarters."

"I have never been so anxious to crash," Cyclone laughed.

The Storm accelerated as hard as its reactor could push it. As they closed on the gunship, Lightning got two more shots off with the rail gun and several shots with the proton cannons. The rail gun slammed into the forward armor severely damaging the vessel, but because the shield generators in that part of the ship were still intact, the proton cannons were ineffective.

Thunder watched as the ship swelled to fill their viewer. At the last minute, he recognized the unique structure of the ship's bridge. Instinctively he pulled the VRAD around and guided it straight into the battle craft's command center.

The screen flashed red and then went dark. The words "Terminal Impact" and "Link Disrupted" appeared on the inside of his VR helmet.

"Storm to Wraith," Thunder called over the intercom from module three to module one.

"Go ahead Storm," Spectre's voice replied.

"We are out of action at this time."

"Are you blind?" Spectre asked wanting to know if they were flying blind.

"Negative," Thunder replied. "The Storm was destroyed."

"Understood," Spectre replied at last. It sounded as if he had actually expected the squadron to fly in destroy all of the enemy ships and fly back out without a scratch. "Make sure we ge the intelligence summaries."

"Will do," Thunder agreed. He unplugged himself from the VR module and followed his crew out of the room. While they went to the locker, he walked down the hall to the control desk. The officer on duty was compiling all of the recorded data that the Storm had collected.

"You crippled two battle craft and destroyed eighteen fighters," the officer informed him. That information has been relayed to the other VRADs.

Thunder took a printed copy of their flight log and returned to the locker ready lounge where he and his crew began to review their actions.