Magnus
Magnus waited for the order to launch. The ‘Greymark’, and several other starships of Task Force Delta had been chasing the small force of Walhaz raiders for hours. They had never been able to get close to the seven small destroyers before they could jump, but each of their own jumps had kept them close starships as their course was projected.
Magnus let out a sigh. It was hard to keep his nerves down, he just wanted to do something, but even though the Starlance could jump, it had neither the range nor cool down speed of the ‘Greymark’ nor any capital starship for that matter. It was a useful feature that provided tactical option, or a last ditch effort to withdrawal, but if they launched before contact was made, and the raiders could still jump away, they would be left behind or have to be picked up, slowing the ‘Greymark’ down.
The Walhaz raiders had tried several times to flee across the border, only to pick up waiting forces on the border along Uhtred’s Line. It had forced them to change course again, and again as they sought to find a safe way back home.
If not for Uhtred’s Line, the waiting forces of Task Force Delta, and the strings of senor platforms, probes, and other devices, the raiders would have likely been lost long ago. Magnus had thought they were when they had three jumps in a row without them on the ‘Greymark’s own senors, but they can recieved pings from other nearby devices, and had almost jumped on top of the raiders before they fled.
The last two jumps had brought them closer to the seven destroyers each time. Walhaz jump drives were not nearly as advanced, but they had still had time to jump before the ‘Greymark’ could engage.
“This is the one,” Richard said over their squadron comm. He said it every other jump, he had to be right one time, Magnus figured, or at least they would get to enjoy if being wrong by it being the one he didn’t mention.
The ‘Greymark’ jumped through space, and in his cockpit within the hanger of the starship Magnus felt the familiar feeling of illness, and mild sickness from the Jump through space. He hated the lack of information more than he hated the lack of information more than the feeling. His own sensors only told him so much, even linked into the ‘Greymark’ as they were. What he wouldn’t have given to be on the command deck.
“Starfighters Launch,” the command came through the comm system, and Magnus launched his starlance through the lunch tubes that allowed the starfighters to safely fly through the hull of the ‘Greymark’ at great speeds.
More than a hundred starfighters launched from the ‘Greymark’ as four squadrons of starlances starfighters were joined by a squadron of heavy starfighters, and took up position, even as a dozen assault boats, four corvettes, a frigate were launched from the open hangar bays of the ‘Greymark’.
Space was filled with energy weapon fire as the ‘Greymark’, and it’s accompanied ships opened fire on the raiders. Magnus could see the missiles on his sensor display, even as railgun fire was launched from the ships.
“Orders coming through,” Lt Commander Arkwright, the wing commander of the ‘Greymark’ said as one of the destroyers, the closest to them began to explode with minor hull damage. The ‘Greymark’ didn’t field a full wing of starfighters, less than half a wing in fact, but she was the ranking officer in a cockpit as Commander Vex remained in command of Starfighter command on the command deck from the ‘Greymark’.
“Alright Green Squadron,” Major Oldseal called out through the comes. “Plot jumps, and get ready to take out weapons turrets, and minor systems on Bandit Two.”
Magnus nodded to himself as he figured out the quick course to Bandit two that would bring him within danger close to the starship even as their starlances raced through space as high sub light speeds. He watched as his display showed green for several starfighters as they keyed in their own approved face.
Richard was the last starfighter to switch to green before the Major gave the order.
“Jump,” Major Oldseal commanded, and Magnus hit the command.
Their short range jump brought Magnus within a few hundred kilometers of Bandit Two, and even before he realized it, he was moving the Starlance closer to the target, and deploying countermeasures as the destroyer began to open fire on him and other members of Green Squadron with close range fire.
Weapons fire ripped apart the destroyer from the twelve starlances as missiles, lasers, and railgun fire hit it’s target from close.
The destroyer of Bandit Two fell quickly as the surprise of close range jumps from the starfighters took it unaware before most weapons systems could come to bear on it.
Green squadron moved throughout the raider forces as it got in tight to avoid enemy fire before the remaining starships surrendered.
