August 7th, 004 SDE; 1100 Hours; EFS Enterprise:
Countryman settled into his seat, moments ago they’d received a coded message from Eri. It seemed her recon patrol had found something, which is why they were moving to high alert. Additional fighters were being prepared for combat patrol, as the engagement was monitored. So far nothing significant had happened. Eri had started jamming the frigate, but no combat had taken place just yet.
Recon Flight 16 was currently in a standard attack formation, and as he could see on the display was moving in for an attack run. They were already getting full telemetry from the small squadron via tight beam FTL transmissions on a frequency they weren’t jamming. Everything else was jammed to prevent the hostile frigate from transmitting a distress call, and the open frequency was rapidly shifting. That way if the Valorians did identify one, it would be closed before they could transmit.
Greyman leaned over the console. “Hmm looks like she took a beating.”
Countryman agreed, “Yes I saw that too, multiple hull breaches, system failures and shield damage. I suspect she got caught out in yesterday’s storm.”
Kaori commented, “Yeah I wouldn’t have wanted to be out in that either. Not with an open hull, makes me glad we found this safe harbor.”
Countryman had to agree with that sentiment. Frozen Oasis certainly made a good harbor for making repairs, but it wasn’t a place he’d want to live. The local ground was largely frozen, and the temperatures were low, making farming difficult at best. One couldn’t forget the weather either, freezing winds and snow storms were common. “Our fortune aside, we do have something more pressing to focus on.”
Kaori gestured at the screen, “I don’t think we have much to worry about, Eri has that.”
Countryman gave her a look. As a group they certainly had learned each other pretty well, but it seemed professionalism was starting to slip after four years in space. “It’s nice that you have confidence in your fellow officer, but don’t let it affect your duties.”
“Yes sir.”
Misaki, who’d been watching the tac plot, reported, “Hostile launching fighters.”
Countryman nodded and noted the twelve Valorian Lancers now moving onto the field. It was a staple of their fleet, fast and agile. The Lancer mounted two light pulse cannons, and four plasma missiles, along with a double-layered shield for protection. However the design was somewhat dated and it lacked the maneuverability of the X-1204. That Valorian shield did provide half-decent protection, but as past engagements had shown it wasn’t impenetrable.
It seemed Flight 16 saw them too, as both escort fighters locked on and fired missiles, as the ships were launching. Eight missiles were fired, each seeking a different target, sending the just launched formations into chaos and giving Recon Flight 16 time to reload her missile launchers and move into closer range.
Energy bursts registered on the sensors as the missiles found their targets, eliminating four fighters before they could fire a shot and damaging another two. However, the Valorian fighters still had over half their effective strength. They returned fire with missiles of their own at the same moment Flight Sixteen fired the second salvo.
“That’s it, Flight Sixteen is out of missiles.”
Countryman nodded, he’d been keeping track of that himself. They’d been outfitted for recon duty, which meant a standard missile rack of four missiles and one reload. They were also only carrying a standard payload of torpedoes. Still they did have one bomber in the squadron which Eri was flying, according to the tac plot tags.
On the plot as the missiles flew from both groups, he watched both sides attempt evasive maneuvers with flight sixteen breaking formation. The seconds passed tensely before the first energy bursts registered on sensors.
“Minor damage to flight sixteen, Pell reports he took a minor hit to his starboard wing, one cannon not responding. Otherwise fine. White reports taking two hits, but her energy web took care of it. Eri reports she is now in range to attack the Frigate, no damage.”
“Lancer status?”
“Two destroyed, four damaged. That leaves them with six damaged fighters, now moving to intercept Eri.”
“Pell and White are moving to intercept.”
Countryman nodded, as he watched them move in on the damaged fighters. At the same moment, the frigate opened fire with her cannons, firing defensively at Eri’s bomber. Most of the shots sailed harmlessly into space, but they scored a few glancing hits, just before Eri fired her pulsars. Two glowing energy rounds streaked across space, as Eri twisted her fighter in space to avoid another barrage of fire from the frigate.
Elsewhere, the remaining six Lancer fighters were bogged down in a dogfight with White and Pell. Countryman watched White shake two off her tail in a maneuver that brought her in line to fire on a third. Her cannons fired, discharging several high-energy bursts into the rear shield of the damaged Lancer. It flared, then buckled, the craft being ripped apart by the powerful energy rounds. In that moment, new dots entered the Tac plot.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Recon Flights, 14 and 15 entering combat sector. Alpha Squadron reports ETA to combat zone in two minutes.”
Countryman nodded, but he wasn’t sure the extra fighters would be needed. It did seem that Eri had this in hand. Still, he didn’t regret ordering extra ships to the combat zone.
Eri’s pulsar torpedoes slammed into the frigate. “Direct hit, the frigate has lost shields.”
Before Countryman could acknowledge, Eri was taking advantage, her maneuvers having brought her back to an attack angle. Her twin forward cannons fired, raking the surface of the hull. Several turrets exploded as they took direct hits from the concussive particle bolts.
Other turrets rotated to engage her, sending numerous plasma rounds her way. As a bomber the Sparrow was well armored for its size, however, and she was able to take a few hits. Yet it was enough to force her to break off her attack run, just not before firing one of her photon bombs.
The high-yield unguided projectile careened into the frigate at high speed. Punching through her thin outer hull and penetrating three decks before exploding.
Footage of the attack played out on one of the upper monitors, but Countryman's gaze was on the tac plot watching the fighters. White and Pell had both scored a kill each, but Pell was taking a beating out there, his plating was failing and he’d taken a few penetrating hits. His fighter telemetry indicated several system failures. “Order Lieutenant Pell to return to base, he ain’t doing much good out there.”
“Order sent, Pell’s retreating, White shifting to cover him. Flights 14 and 15 are now in range to assist.”
Countryman nodded and glanced at the frigate, she’d taken heavy damage to her engineering section. They were reading multiple system failures, the ship was basically dead in the water, but not entirely out of the fight yet as evidenced by her continuing to fire on Eri, who was now stuck in a series of evasive maneuvers to keep the worst of the fire off her bomber as she made her way out of the arc of fire.
Bombers from Flights 14 and 15 broke formation, and beelined for the frigate a moment later. A lancer tried to break off to intercept, but that proved to be a fatal error and White scored another kill. That fighter going down plus the four reinforcements from 14 and 15 quickly led to the remaining lancers being mopped up.
The bombers from Flights 14 and 15 fired torpedoes which sailed toward the frigate, just as she started launching escape pods. “Hostiles are abandoning ship!”
“Maintain target on the frigate, classify the escape pods as noncombatants.”
“Aye sir, escape pods marked as noncombatants.”
As Alpha Squadron came onto the scene, the frigate was pretty much toast. Overwhelmed by a handful of bombers and fighters, the damaged Ranger class vessel was going down. Plasma fires and secondary explosions wracked the dying vessel, as the final escape pods were launching. Ranger class frigates were modestly sized vessels with small crews. That ship likely had no more than a hundred and twenty people on it. Over a dozen escape pods had made it off, accounting for at least eighty members of the crew, possibly more, if they’d doubled up.
“Alpha Squadron to Enterprise, target destroyed. Requesting orders on what to do with the survivors?”
“Monitor them for now, and maintain jamming. We don’t need any distress calls.” Said Countryman before glancing at the Tac Plot. This little bit of excitement had disrupted their regular patrols, but new recon flights were shifting into position to cover the gaps now. So far it looked like that frigate was the only ship in the area. However he knew that sooner or later the Valorians were going to miss that ship.
He turned to Misaki, “Ensign, I want you keeping an extra ear to any chatter.”
“On it sir, I’ll let you know if they start missing that ship.”
Looking around, he noted people relaxing, but Countryman had a feeling that they were now on the clock. He was already thinking about how to accelerate the repairs. They had made a lot of progress. Last he heard the engine repairs were nearly done, superstructure damage had been fixed. There were still holes in the hull and some minor systems that hadn’t been replaced yet.
Some of the work on the outer hull had been delayed in some areas due to weather, but with growing access to forcefield systems, they’d been able to work despite the weather. That same use however was revealing their limitations as well. Those forcefields worked really well, but nature wasn’t to be underestimated. They’d had a few cases where the icy local weather had overwhelmed a generator or two, leaving areas exposed.
If Vera had been available he’d have assigned her to looking into the issue, but at the moment she was busy helping Ruri with the current Mark III particle cannon project. Something he’d have to hurry along. Countryman didn’t want to be caught on the ground with multiple new arrivals, and he had a few questions about what brought that frigate out here.
Turning to the comms, “Eri, start scanning the wreckage, look for any surviving logs. I’d like to know what they were doing here.”
“Aye, sir. I’ll see what I can find, then head back.”
“When you get back, come straight to my office. I’d like to discuss this incident.”
“Understood sir.”
Turning away from the Tac Plot, he left his officers to clean up the incident as they stood down from general quarters. Countryman left Greyman with the bridge and retreated to his office, where he had a stack of paperwork to go through, filled with repair and logistical reports, production estimates, supply estimates and more. Some of it was also related to the next council meeting. There was a fair bit he’d have to discuss at the next meeting of the officer’s council. He sighed, and naturally, he was going to have to consider this incident. This world had just become slightly less appealing in the long term, then again it was never that suitable for a long-term colony. The minerals were good, but the weather was terrible. Not to mention it wasn’t easy to farm around here. Factors that would make any attempt at long-term colonization difficult. As far as Countryman was concerned, this was just a convenient respite to make repairs and resupply. Not a place to set down roots, but he knew some people didn’t agree. Given this incident, that might have just changed in his favor.