Version 2006 - Ch 31

WOLFCRAFT

Midshipman duty was not just intensified learning but mainly rotated to different duty stations on the ship. Security, Navigation, Science, Medical, Engineering and so forth and worked alongside experienced officers who instructed us often by example. One morning Har Hi and I had to report to the Main fighter deck and a lean and tall Commander wearing a flight suit even in his office greeted us." A few Midshipmen get more flight training in their final year. You two have been picked because of your good scores and I noticed no one spends as much time in the simulators on their own free time. You are to serve the next two weeks in my squadron. Each of you will get your own Wolfcraft Fighter for this time and I want you to get to know your craft to the last bolt and everything it can or can't do. If I think you have what it takes I might even recommend you for Fighter school." Wolf-Craft fighter pilots where considered an elite among Navy Officers, and especially the pilots themselves believed that and had a collective arrogance and pride. He then looked at Har-Hi." I sure would like to hear your opinion comparing the Wolfcraft to the Karhi-Da Fighter of your people. Only fourteen other space faring cultures we know of developed small fighter craft and Dai are among the best." "Sir, the Karhi was developed by Su-Hi a legendary designer among the Dai, he wanted to create a machine that is able to counter the Wolfcraft and I think he succeeded and made a superior fighter to the Wolfcraft IV series. But it takes a space born society much longer to develop and built new ships. The new V series are as good as Karhis and I heard the VI is soon ready for serial production." "Well it will still be a few month before we see the first VI's. But I don't think there will be much improvement over the current ones." Har-Hi sighed." The Karhis are faster; better maneuverable than the Wolfcrafts but nothing we have compares to the fire power the Wolfcrafts have. Especially the Transloactors!" The Commander leaned forward and made an ominous face." I heard a well founded rumor that your famous Su-Hi is now working alongside Heinrich Steinmann and Steve Anderson the chief designers of the VI series to built a brand new class." Har Hi's eyes literally glowed with pride and anticipation. "I really would like to fly whatever they come up with, Sir!" "I can see we have a lot to talk about Mr. Hi." The Commander wasn't paying much attention to me at all but that was fine with me. A Lt stuck his head into the commander's office. "Sir we have an escort request and Bill, Jim and Duncan just went to sick bay. Do you want me to call Eckbert, Zimmerman and Heiden down?" "Why are three of my stand-by pilots in sickbay? " "They ate something Duncan grilled and got the runs, Sir. I was on my way to tell you, but they were in a hurry." The Commander checked his screen and then said."Teaches them to try Duncan's cooking! No need to call off duty pilots down..." He pointed at us." You two can go with me. It is a simple escort request, nothing spectacular, but it gets you behind the controls and out there!" We were each assigned to a fighter. Wolfcrafts looked like elongated discs with two huge Impulse thrusters looking like missiles on each side of the cockpit. The pilot seats lowered on a hydraulic arm and we strapped ourselves in, wearing flight suits. Special designed space suits halfway between Quasimodos and normal space protection garments. My seat rose into the cockpit and I began a system check. I had never flown a real Wolfcraft but spend many hours in the simulator so the controls were quite familiar to me. Through my earpieces came a voice. "This is Commander Cotton. Pilots do not call each other by rank or name but by a call sign. That is an ancient tradition and is also faster. My call sign is Wildcat. Mr. Olafson you are called Viking and Mr. Hi you will use the call sign Pirate. Now perform a preflight test!" I acknowledged and Har-Hi did the same. "Our mission is to jump to Algeri System and escort a convoy of freighters to the Nobane System. This is a routine mission, but we are coming close to Nul-Nul space. This is why we are called for escort duty. We have a full squadron of fighters and the Devastator is only 12 Light years away in case we need her." "Any questions?" "Viking here, preflight tests completed, all boards are green." I said and slaved my Computronic to the Nav-system of the leader. "Alright then! T-5 for launch!" There were four fighters to a wing and 5 wings to a squadron and using the revolver catapult launchers we got pushed near LI threshold right from the Devi and went super luminal towards the Algeri system. After we arrived we immediately found six large Gulliver Class freighters and 2 Container Chain tugs already on their way. The tugs accelerated very slowly and their super luminal speed was also minimal, but we would reach Nobane 12 hours. There was nothing to do at the moment. Our computronics where linked to the commanders fighter and kept automatically in formation. Har –Hi and the commander exchanged conversation regarding the pro and cons of Dai fighter tech so I called up what information GalNet had on Algeri and Nobane. "Algeri was a seven planet system without a garden world. One planet was a pure mine colony and the other a Navy base. Nobane was a new system and only recently colonized. It was dangerously close to Nul-Nul space and since there was no officially determined border line between Union and the Nul-Nul Empire it might already be in what the Nul-Nul considered their space. The border was not shown as a clear line as it was between Union and GC but a red dotted area. I couldn't help myself thinking why the Union placed a Navy Base so close to Nul-Nul Space even risking the chance to be actually in Nul-Nul territory. It was without a Garden-world as the GalNet entry said and not all that important. The mines on the sixth planet produced Bismuth and Zinc, not exactly the most valuable or rarest elements. It almost seemed to me as if the system was used to provoke the Nul and have a reason to retaliate if they did something. The Nul-Nul considered by many to be among the fiercest warriors and even Terrans spoke of them with respect. Their technology was according to Intel behind Union Tech but not by much. The report I read indicated that the Nul-Nul however had nothing comparable to the translocator cannon or the Para Dim shields. The text however warned of their Gravitation bombs and Graviton gun technology was quite effective and even against Para Dim shielded ships by trapping it between two gravitation wells of incredible strength. Nul grav bombs had a very short duration but two well placed bombs could rip even a well shielded ship apart. Of course Terran arsenals included Grav bombs as well and we had trained to avoid them in Simulators. "We had almost reached the system when the threat indicator went red and a Nul-Nul Carrier came from behind the sun releasing fighters to engage us! Commander Cotton's voice was clear and calm." Wildcat to Dev flight control. We encountered a Nul- Carrier and we are outnumbered 5 to one. Request immediate back up." "Flight control to Wildcat. Protect the freighters if possible and keep the Nul busy. We cannot send any additional forces as we just flew into a hornets' nest and we are currently under attack by a very large Nul force! Reinforcements are on their way as soon as possible." "Damn! Alright everyone this is not a drill. This is the real thing. Bravo, Delta, Echo and Foxtrot wing stay with the freighters. Alpha wing and Golf wing break formation and engage at will. Keep them of their toes!" I was Alpha wing and so was Har-Hi. Wildcat called us." Viking, Pirate. I wish I could hold you back, but I need you. Take it easy and stay as safe as possible and free attack is easier than coordinated defense. So get them and stay away from their grav guns!" "Aye Sir!" I broke formation and gunned the accelerator to max, arming all weapon systems. Wolfcraft fighters had a deadly array of weapons. Two Translocator Gatlings, Faster than light Forced Energy cannons (FTL-FE's) and 4 Loki II torpedoes. There, a quasi space signature and another Nul-Nul carrier dropped into Planck- Space. I couldn't allow it to launch its fighters." Viking here, I got another carrier on my board I am going for it!" "Alright! Try it, more fighters would be very bad news for us but be careful!" Wildcat replied. I programmed a micro jump, the Computronic refused to execute so close to a star. I had to manually over write the lock out. My Wolfcraft came dangerously close to the local star, 200,000 clicks closer than I wanted to be and my fighters engines screamed to get out of the gravitational pull, my shields where bombarded with heat and radiation and the system warned." Shields at forty percent!" Instead of fighting the gravitation changed course slightly and used the gravitation to accelerate me further and I became so fast approaching the second carrier that its target systems recognized me too late. It had just dropped into real space and launch bay opened. I was glad the Nul did not use the rotating Revolver catapults the Navy now used. The carrier had to drop shields to launch its fighters. I released all four Loki torpedoes right at the open launch doors and pulled my fighter away. Again my engines went past red line and the inertia damper alert beeped in a frantic rhythm some of the gees came through and pressed me deep into the seat and for a second I saw a narrow tunnel before my eyes and tasted blood. The Auto doc of my suit reacted and injected stimu and pain drugs. The Carrier exploded behind me but two of his fighters made it and where hot on my tail. My shields where still recovering and could not handle a direct hit. One of them did manage to pepper my aft shields almost collapsing it. The main weapon system I had was my Translocator gatlings, actually six translocator transmitters mounted on a rotating base feed by a conveyor system with 2 gram AM bombs. While the Nul-Nul or any other known species had no direct defense against the Translocator weapon system, the Nul-Nul where able to jam the sensors of the target acquiring system somewhat. While this was not very problematic with large targets, Nul Fighters where nimble and fast enough to make the targeting process required very difficult. I had missed twice already; my shields would not be able to deflect more than two shots before I had to shut them down to be reset. Resetting shields took only 5 seconds, but five seconds in a fight fought at these speeds was a life time. I reversed thrust and decelerated so fast that my suit auto doc warned of organ damage. I didn't feel any pain because of the drugs the Auto Doc pumped in me. This time they couldn't evade or jam targeting enough and screamed past me directly into my main fire cone, and I squeezed the trigger destroying one completely. The second Nul Fighter had moved enough so the explosion did not occur in its engines as I targeted but outside, still inside its shields rupturing them like a soap bubble. I didn't wait to see if that was enough and send another load. The threat board showed there were no bandits in my immediate vicinity and I had time to check the squadron status. There were 18 Wolfcrafts left! One showed as complete loss and one was severely damaged. One of the freighters was also damaged; one side was burning with the greenish glow of atomic fire consuming higher alloys. Of the 100 Nul fighters I still counted 50. The fight was intense. Translocator bombs exploding like mini stars and the faint bluish shimmer of Nul Grav bomb funnels flickering. Damage control of my fighter showed that my shields where still recovering and just barely above 40%, my left engine showed stress damage and my repair nanites where busy weaving structural bonds to fix that. I was almost 12 seconds away from the fight, so I shut down my shields to reset them, but could not fly very fast for 5 seconds because of the micro matter damage that would occur moving at high speeds without any shield protection. So I was able to take my time and aim the Transloactors carefully for long-range sniper shots and fire six times destroying six Nul fighters. Three Nul fighters abandoned their attack run on the other freighter and turned to take care of me. I managed to damage one more and take it out of the equation. My shields literally came on in the last micro second as two long range shots came close to my starboard side. Taking evasive maneuvers and now with full shields I could accelerate and maneuver at the peak of the fighter's abilities. I just lined one up and fired, when my starboard engine, red lined and the Computronic shut it down before it could explode. Despite the Nanite efforts a containment coil had come loose, without containment the antimatter produced from the molecular gas I carried as fuel would make contact with matter of the drive and the resulting explosion would completely destroy my fighter and me. The safety system shut it down automatically just before that could have happened and ejected the faulty containment coil along with the AM into space, where it exploded only a few meters of my side. Luckily there were no shockwave effects in space and the explosion did no damage. A Wolfcraft was designed with two engines for exactly that reason instead of having one bigger engine, and I could operate with one engine just fine, however my speed and maneuverability was cut in half. I targeted one of other fighters who saw their chance to finish me of and instead of relying on precision of automated targeting I aimed semi-manually with the Battle-sights of my suit and fired in cycle mode. Since the other fighter was approaching me dead on, this was possible; no human being could react fast enough to hit anything moving at these speeds. The Gatlings released 200 bombs per second and depleted my ammo reserves to almost empty but the barrage had the effect I hoped for. I expected most bombs to miss the target but one made it and detonated right in the cockpit area engulfing the Nul fighter in a blinding globe of pure energy. The doomed fighter fired one more time just before I destroyed it and its shot hammered into my shields pulling them down to 32 percent. The bluish glow of the dissipating Gravo bomb played over my entire ship. "Complete System failure warning, structural damage to base frame and armor due to gravitonics. Estimated Nanite repair time one hour." The readout showed that I sustained damage despite the shields and that I could not go superluminal. Weapons where still fully operational, my other engine also showed micro fractures in the containment module. I had to shut it down or lose it. I was now a sitting duck. The maneuver thrusters where no help in evading enemy fire. The possibility that I had to eject was very real and the thought alone was more frightening to me than the possibility to die in an anti matter explosion. Commander Letsgo said I would never be afraid of space as I was, but somehow his shock treatment did not work. I was more afraid than ever! Somehow deep inside I wondered about my own panic and fear, it seemed almost unnatural and more intense than it should be. Then I noticed the orange warning lights of the Psionic Sensors. A Nul fighter approached. The fear of space became even more intense and I was even considering suicide! The Nul was using some sort of Psionic weapon! Then there was pain as if a sharp object was trying to push into my mind but somehow I was able to resist. The Pain intensified so sudden and so intense, I screamed at first and my sight failed. I thought of Narth and suddenly I saw his image, his true angelic face not the hooded shrouded figure and the pain ebbed off. I clearly heard him say:"You are Narth! Push!" Then it was gone! I felt numb almost paralyzed, barley heard the Auto Doc. The Nul-Nul used some sort of Psionic weapon on me I wondered how they could penetrate the Psionic shields every fighter space suit had ever since the war with the Piostla, especially since the Nul-Nul where reportedly psi inert and had as far as we knew no Psionic technology. From beyond that numb feeling that surrounded me like a padding of invisible foam padding I hear a voice and it became clearer."...king come in. Wildcat for Viking!" I coughed blood and said." Viking here!" "God heavens, he is alive! My master systems showed no life signs for almost a minute!" "I am sorry Sir. My systems are pretty messed up. I get you a status right away." The thread board was clear and I saw a wonderful sight on my scanners, the Devastator was there! "Pirate to Viking. You had me worried, very worried!" "Stay of the channel for a moment, Pirate!" Wildcat barked over Har-hi's voice. "Viking, my system master control shows you are inoperable. The Devi is launching Buffalos as we speak, hang in there. Your Auto doc transmits data I don't like very much!" "I am fine, Sir. I am just a bid tired!" "Stay with me Olafson, you have a massive shock! Your Auto-Doc is damaged and only partially functioning. It can't put you into cryo from here! Just stay with me! Do not fall asleep" I saw the Buffalo approaching and its claws taking hold of my ship. I tried to sound offended. "Sir .I won't fall asleep on duty." "That is the spirit, son." "The Buffalo is here now, Sir." After the Buffalo had towed me back and I was save on the landing deck. I pushed the system shut down and lowered the seat. I got up, tried to walk over to the others but my legs did not carry my weight, Met Bots and two Med techs rushed towards me and that's when I passed out. I woke in sick bay and a Medical officer with the MD logo on his chest grinned at me." Welcome back Mr. Olafson. How do you feel?" "I feel fine. Why is it always me that wakes up in med, while others are fine?" "You had a ruptured liver and internal bleeding, we also repaired a ruptured brain blood vessel, but you are fit for duty." "Thanks Doc!" "Besides you are not the only one that came to Sickbay. Two of your fighter comrades did not make it at all. So be glad you woke up!" I swallowed hard at that and didn't feel like complaining or saying anything. "They are waiting for you at Main Flight Control." Commander Cotton, Har-Hi and a group of pilots stood at the flight deck next to my Wolfcraft. It looked no longer shiny but was a torn wreck. There where scorch marks and parts of the armor had melted off. One of the Engine pots was almost completely gone; the other pot did not have the original alignment and hung there in an odd angle. I snapped in attention." Midshipman Olafson reporting Sir." Cotton made a waving gesture. "Pilots don't do that Viking! We are just inspecting your machine, before we repair it and now since you are here we can debrief you as well." I relaxed a bit and said."Was I the only one affected by the Nul-Nul Psi weapon?" He looked surprised." What Psi weapon?" I told him about my experience just before I passed out the first time. He listened with concerned expression." No one else reported anything like that, but your Psi shields are completely fried. Maybe that is why we were not affected. It would surprise me to learn that the Nul-Nul use Psionic weapons now." "Am I in some sort of trouble sir, for returning your craft this way?" "I trouble? Oh no Viking. It is not every day a fighter pilot makes ace, especially not on his first mission and now we have four new Aces! "Ace Sir?" "You killed 12 enemy targets. The Carrier counts as one but you also killed 11 fighters. Any pilot that accomplishes 10 kills becomes an Ace. That's a term with a long tradition. Pirate here blasted 29 during his first sortie, that's a new record!" Har-Hi grinned proudly and whipped on his toes." Wait till you see entire Wolfcraft squadrons with Dai Pilots, Sir." "That is a scary thought indeed. If we had one or two more like you we would have cleaned house before lunch!" A technician appeared on top of my fighter sticking his head out of an access panel." Sure enough Sir, the Sensor log shows a massive Psionic attack!" "Olafson I need a full report on your Psionic attack and what form it took. This is serious and we need to inform Intel about that." "Aye Sir." "I won't fault you for what you did, because taking out the second carrier was crucial and had to be done, but making a jump that close to a star is suicide." "Aye Sir, I try not to do that the next time." "There won't be a next time for a while. All Midshipmen are to report back to your main instructor tomorrow. I tried to request you both on permanent assignment but I was denied. But once you graduate there is always room for you right here!" I was a little disappointed and I could tell Har-Hi felt the same way. Cotton put his hands on our shoulders." Sorry lads. I am really sorry to see such talented pilots go and to be honest sometimes even I question the wisdom of Navy command." He turned his head and said." Blowdart, where are those jackets?" A Lt came running." Right here, Wildcat!" He handed each of us a black leather jacket, on the back of it was a large logo of a stylized Wolf jumping away from a rendering of the Devastator and the words around the logo read:" Devastator Fighter Wing 12" "You earned the right to wear those and if anyone especially your friend Lt Cmdr. Clusen gives you any trouble wearing those I give you the direct order to let me know." He then attached two ribbons on our chest display, a red ribbon with a small black cross." This is the Ace ribbon, you earned it!" As he did mine he stopped, turned and said."Attention everyone! Our friend Viking here is a Medal of Honor recipient!" Everyone saluted and as usual I didn't really like it." I thought Pilots don't do that, Sir!" Wildcat padded my shoulder and boxed Har Hi in the side."You are alright, you two! The Captain will decorate you both with the Flying Cross in about an hour from now. Olafson for risking his life to destroy that carrier and Mr. Hi for saving lives of comrades by disregarding his own safety and fighting like a banshee let loose from hell!" We thanked the Commander and felt quite proud of ourselves. Cotton's mood instantly changed." We also have a very solemn duty to perform Lt Homer and Lt Voglgard did not make it and we will have a ceremonial at 1400 hrs on the main flight deck. So get changed in Dress Uniform and be here." ---'''--- The ceremony was a somber one and while neither Har Hi nor I ever met the pilots we still felt touched and I knew how close I came to be in one of those flag draped metal coffins. Homer's coffin was empty. There was nothing left of him that could have been recovered. At least he had a quick end, Voglgard died with a ruptured space suit after ejecting. The Nul-Nul actually fired on him while he was helpless. Captain Harris read the Eulogy and after that they played taps and the coffins where released into space. The Devastator fired salute. Captain Harris was still in a somber mood as he decorated us with the medals and no one was breaking out in cheers but every pilot shook our hand. It was I found almost a religious experience. Harris said to me." Mr. Olafson, Mr. Hi it seems to become a habit of mine decorating you. I saw the report and your actions saved many lives. The Convoy was carrying defense equipment and now the system can be properly defended against future Nul attacks. Your contribution made this possible." To Har Hi he said." No one in the history of fighter combat destroyed that many enemies. Your incredible skills and bravery is duly noted." Wildcat stepped next to us and said."Captain, those Midshipmen would be a fine replacement for those good men we lost today." "I know Commander. These two are fine officers already in my book but I cannot grant your request." Captain Harris had given us day of R&R. We went back to our Dorm with no particular hurry. As we walked along a corridor Har-Hi said." How did you kill that last Nul fighter anyway? I saw you being without maneuver power, out of ammo, almost completely out of energy and your life signs where flat lining. Then it suddenly looks as if the Nul flew into a solid wall and exploded." "I don't even remember firing at the last one. All I could feel was that pain, are you sure I killed it?" "There was no one else near and I was out of ammo for the TL's too. I went as fast as I could to get into FE-FTL range but I knew I would not make it in time, then the Nul decelerated from 800 clicks a second to zero instantly at least that's how it looked at my instruments and then it was utterly and completely obliterated." "Maybe one of those grav bombs malfunctioned. I sure don't remember doing anything." "Well that could be. I am glad it happened no matter how. I would miss you." "Really? I thought you hate my guts!" I said with a smirk. "You know better than that!" ________________________________________