THREE: Surrender, Belisarius!

They emerged from jump space in what seemed to Victor only a fraction of a second. In reality it was closer to four seconds total transit time, but the complexities of jump space travel and the related time distortion was lost on him. There was a large gray looking planet that loomed in the distance and limping away from it were the transports. It was Cygnus Prime. They had arrived on station.
“Command, this is Alpha Two, we have arrived on station approximately fifteen hundred meters from the convoy.” Vellum said as he quickly assessed the situation.
There were two Vasudan Sathis transports ahead and slightly below their position. They were badly damaged and trailing plasma. Two equally battered Vasudan Serapis fighters were also limping along.
“What the hell? These guys got mauled.” Victor said as he surveyed the damage.
Vellum switched to the local combat frequency from the command frequency and contacted the Vasudan Transports.
“Iota Transports, this is Alpha Wing of the 53rd Hammerheads, GTD Aquitaine. We have orders to protect your convoy. What’s your status over?”
“Alpha Wing, this is Epsilon One,” The pilot was Vasudan and the translators kicked in instantly to convert the Vasudan’s speech to something the Terran Pilots could understand.
“We are grateful for your assistance. We have repelled a heavy NTF assault and are down two fighters. We have lost three transports to the rebel attack and the surviving transports have sustained moderate damage. We anticipate the rebels will return in greater force,” the Vasudan stated matter-of-factly.
“I copy, Epsilon One.” Vellum replied. He was not all that crazy about the Vasudans but slaughtering defenseless refugees was something only cowards did. He had friends that went over to the NTF because their hatred of Vasudans was that strong. Vellum was proud to be a Terran but he couldn’t make the leap to traitor, despite the fact that he really didn’t trust the Vasudans.
“Alpha Four, take the forward cover position. Keep you eyes peeled and make sure nothing gets through.”
“Roger.”
Victor advanced the throttles on his Myrmidon and slipped forward of the lead Transport. He could see through some of the viewports as he passed her and saw that there was a fire raging within. They were attempting to vent one of the cargo hold to space to get the inferno under control. One of the cargo bay doors gave way and the compartment decompressed, sucking a few unfortunate Vasudan crewmembers out to their deaths
“Jeez, one of the cargo bay doors let go!”
He could hear the Vasudan vessels chattering back and forth, clearly agitated. They couldn’t rescue the victims even if they were capable of doing so. They had no available support ships. If they could secure the sector, they might be able to recover the bodies later.
“Potshot, we might want to call for some backup. They are fighting fires in there and their engines are leaking plasma. They won’t be able to maneuver and fend off another raid. Judging from the damage, there are bound to be severe casualties.”
“Good idea Alpha Four.”
Vellum switched frequencies over to the Command circuit, “Command, we have a lot of friendly casualties and we are requesting priority emergency assistance.”
“Command copies, Alpha Two. We do not have any one available at the moment to send your way. We are sending your request up the line. We will send a recovery vessel as soon as one becomes available. We will know more in a few minutes.”
“Command, we may not have a few minutes. I suggest you emphasize the fact that the Vasudans have already lost three transport ships and two fighters. I don’t know how long the other two can hold out.”
“Alpha Two, we copy your transmission. Stand by; we will be back to you shortly.”
Neither Pilot liked it, but they what else could they do? They were on their own for the time being. He could hear the Vasudans calling each other for status requests. They were nervous and had every right to be. There were still close to seventy-five thousand refugees stranded on Cygnus Prime and the NTF had clearly demonstrated that they had no reason to leave any of them alive.
Exasperated, Vellum switched back to the local frequency.
“Hang in there Iota. Command will send a recovery vessel as soon as possible.”
There was a strange warbling sound coming from Victor’s radar display. It took half a second for him to realize what it was.
“Inbound hostile at two seven zero mark one one five!” He called out. He instantly pumped his throttles to the stops and transferred some of the power from his defense shields to his engines to coax a little more power from them.
“I see them,” Vellum called out. “Epsilon, stay close to the freighters, we’ll handle these guys.”
“We copy Alpha Two.”
Victor’s Myrmidon was quickly approaching one hundred meters per second and when he kicked in the afterburners the distance between the inbound fighters and his fighter vanished.
“Potshot, looks like we have a wing of NTF Hercules fighters, designating Leo.”
“I copy. Weapons free.”
Victor didn’t even bother to respond. He whipped his fighter into a tight roll, rising above the fighters, who didn’t seem to notice his presence yet.
Too bad for them.
“Hello friend.” He muttered through clenched teeth.
He opened up on the lead Herc from less than two hundred meters, dropping his speed as he fired off a pair of Rockeyes.
They were great for close quarter dog fighting.
Small and agile, they didn’t require a lock before you could fire. They went after what ever was centered in your HUD, including you if you weren’t careful. The tiny missiles had a short distance to cover and he fired his Subach cannons at the Herc just before the missiles impacted, collapsing the shield and allowing the missiles to penetrate the fighter’s hull before they vaporized it in a cloud of expanding gases, plasma and molten metal.
The other two fighters instantly split up, confused by the sudden and violent death of their flight leader. They never saw the Myrmidons. Potshot blotted the second one with a volley from his Subach cannons and tempest missiles.
“Woo hoo!” He shouted.
The third fighter was close enough to the transports that they opened up with their defense cannons. High velocity, depleted uranium rounds filled the space in front of the Herc and he dived straight down, accelerating, to avoid the anti-fighter cannon fire. He was hoping to flip his Hercules fighter around and get off a few missiles at their exposed underbellies. Victor, having killed the flight leader, had been right on top of him lining up a shot from about two hundred meters when he dove. He snap rolled the fighter over, inverting it, and yanked back on the stick.
The Herc after about six hundred meters turned, reversing course, and was starting its run. They were now closing each other at over two hundred fifty meters per second. It was over in the blink of an eye. The NTF pilot didn’t even have time to notice the Myrmidon bearing down on him before his canopy melted away in a hail of Subach cannon fire. The last thing he saw was the glow of a Rockeye fired from Victor’s fighter a second before.
A few seconds later the sky was clear again and they formed up to report to Command and check on the Vasudans.
“Alpha One, be advised that we have transmitted your co-ordinates to the GTV Psamtik. The vessel should be exiting subspace momentarily.”
“Nice shooting Alpha Two. Not bad for a newb.” Vellum beamed.
“We were lucky. They didn’t know we were here.”
“True. But I always say that it’s better to be lucky than good.”
Neither of the remaining Vasudan transports had sustained any additional damage, much to Victor’s relief, but he knew that unless they were reinforced soon they wouldn’t last much longer.
“Contact! Inbound hostiles bearing three one niner, mark zero one five. Designating Cancer.” Epsilon One called out. The two Vasudan fighters spread out a little as the anti fighter guns on the transports began tracking towards the incoming fighters.
“Looks like our friends with the Hercs are back again.” Vellum commented. Both Myrmidons were about three hundred meters above the NTF fighters, again giving them a clear firing lane. Victor was already sighted on the lead when Epsilon Three, the other remaining Vasudan fighter called out, “Hostiles inbound, bearing two two eight, mark two seven seven.”
This put the other flight on a perpendicular course to the Cancer group.
“Designating inbound as Gemini.”
Victor fired off three Rockeyes and pulled up, throttling up to full power and firing his afterburners. He reversed course quickly and headed for the new group of fighters closing on the exposed flank of the transports.
“Potshot can you baby sit these two while I greet our new guests?”
Victors target noticed the Rockeyes too late and dived just as the fist missile caught his starboard engine. It blew the engine clean off the rest of the fighter, sending it careening off, spinning wildly out of control. The second missile missed only because it was confused by the explosion of the first, continuing in a straight line. The third found its mark easily however leaving Cancer flight without its leader.
Potshot, hoping that Victor would be all right handling the new threat, tried to concentrate on the remaining Hercs of Cancer flight. They were still flying in formation, boring in on the two cripples Sathis transports. They began firing their cannons and missiles at about two hundred and fifty yards.
Idiots, Vellum thought with some relief.
The Hercs were using their Tempest dumb-fire rockets and had only a small chance of actually hitting their intended targets. The Vasudans got lucky. He lined up for his first shot, switching his secondary weapons to his Rockeyes. He needed to eliminate the fighters as quickly as possible in order to help Victor with the rest.
Hitting his afterburners to close the distance between his fighter and the slower moving Hercs quickly, he fired off a salve of three Rockeyes from less than one hundred and fifty meters. It was at the outer limit of their optimal kill range but the tactical situation was deteriorating quickly and he didn’t know how many more fighters the NTF were going to throw at them.
“Alpha Four, how’s it going?” He said as he bored in on the remaining fighter from Cancer flight. He almost panicked when Victor didn’t answer right away. The last fighter suddenly vaporized in front of him and Victor’s Myrmidon went blazing past him full bore.
“What the hell!?!” Vellum screamed. He was more upset that Victor had taken his kill, than at the fact that Victor went screaming by without so much as a ‘Tally Ho’.
“Are you insane?”
“We have more company. Less talking, more flying.” Vellum checked his screen and saw that Victor was right. Three more NTF Hercs had jumped in.
“Designating Aries.”
“Command, this is Alpha One, where the hell is our support?”
“Alpha One, Psamtik has been momentarily delayed. Be advised that the NTCv Belisarius, a Deimos class Corvette has run our blockade of the Sirius jump node. We are tracking the vessel through subspace and have vectored its course to your immediate vicinity, ETA two minutes.”
“Oh that’s just great!” Vellum growled.
By now the NTF realized that the Vasudans were no longer alone and the Hercs of Aries wing managed to get their shots off first. Victor rocketed his fighter high and Vellum dove below the group to envelop them or force them off the attack. Epsilon Four moved in as well, opting to cover Vellum’s wing. These fighters were better prepared for the Myrmidons and as a result Victor’s first pair of Rockeyes missed. That led to a muffled curse and full throttle with afterburners. Vellum watched with morbid fascination as the Herc Victor was chasing tried everything to shake him.
He couldn’t. Victor was all over him like cheap cologne.
Then, suddenly, the Herc reversed thrusters and Victor was going too fast to stop. They were going to collide. Vellum tried to call out a warning but it was too late.
Victor watched the Herc yaw and pitch wildly as it slowed down and grow incredibly large in his view screen, without really thinking, he switched to his Tempest missiles, never bothering to slow down. No less that eight of the tiny rockets hit the Herc center of mass, a full second before Victor’s fighter plowed through the fireball.
“Alpha Four! Vick! Are you all right?” Vellum couldn’t see anything through the explosion and felt sick to his stomach.
“Don’t worry about me and get that damned Herc before he fires on the Transports!”
Victor’s Myrmidon raced out the other side of the expanding explosion, trailing hot plasma.
“How in the blue hell did he survive that?” Vellum said in awe.
Victor had rolled to port to engage the other fighter, zooming below and out of Potshot’s view. Vellum and Epsilon Four quickly dispatched the oncoming Herc and by the time they turned back to the convoy Victor had nailed the last remaining fighter with an assist from Epsilon One.
“Contact! Large vessel dropping out of jump space, bearing one three zero, mark one five.!” Epsilon One called out.
“This could be the Belisarius,” warned Epsilon Four.
Vellum and Victor formed up, ready to put their fighters between the new vessel and the transports. A massive wormhole opened up and one of the largest warships Victor had ever seen in his life glided out.
“Negative, IFF transponder is green.” Epsilon One called out.
It was a Vasudan ship.
“Alpha Wing, this is the GVD Psamtik. We are on station, ready to assist.”
“Boy, are we glad to see you, Psamtik.” Vellum replied.
“Nice of them to show up, huh,” Victor said, smiling for the first time since he jumped in. Relieved that they had some help finally, he cut the power to his fighter and coasted next to the transports. With the Psamtik in system, he could take the opportunity to rearm his fighter in case some one else jumped in before the Psamtik could launch her fighters.
Less than a minute later the Support ship had docked with his fighter and was busy refilling his weapons stores. The GTVA fighters all had a sophisticated modular weapons system that allowed them to be re-supplied while on patrol without the need for a space dock.
“Contact! Inbound hostile,” the Psamtik’s CIC controller called out. A second later the corvette NTCv Belisarius, looking so completely mangled Victor wondered why it didn’t just fall apart, crawled out of subspace. They didn’t slip into the system unnoticed.
“Belisarius, this is the GVD Psamtik. You are ordered to power down and surrender.”
The voice of the officer in the Psamtik’s CIC was calm and devoid of emotion, completely professional. He was not offering alternatives, merely instructing the Belisarius what it needed to do to survive. Not that it made a difference with the NTF Corvette. The commanding officer of the Belisarius still thought his ship could fight and refused to surrender his warship.
“Negative Vasudan,” he spat the word Vasudan out like a profanity. “The NTF is the only legitimate authority in this system.”
The calm reassuring voice of the Vasudan officer crackled through the comm link again, “Surrender or be destroyed. This is your last warning.”
The Vasudan delivered the ultimatum with deceptive ease and civility, almost as if they were politely chatting over supper, would you like some sugar for your tea?
“Your posturing insults us both Vasudan. I will not give up my ship.” The Belisarius wasn’t even capable of maneuvering, Victor to see the ship’s reaction control thrusters shooting off sporadically to no avail. The Belisarius was floundering, she was dead in space.
“What’s to give up?” Victor wondered aloud.
There was no way that the Belisarius was going to surrender to a Vasudan warship. If the Aquitaine had been here, perhaps they might have considered it. But there were no Terran vessels available and so he was left with the Vasudan warship. And predictably, he had indignantly refused.
As it turned out, it was a poor decision.
“As you wish,” the voice on the Psamtik replied, sounding rather disappointed.
“Gunnery control, open fire.”
“All fighters stand clear of the Psamtik and Belisarius.” Epsilon one warned.
The Belisarius was game for the fight but even if she had been fresh from overhaul, she was nowhere near enough to handle the Psamtik. As it was she turned out to be what Vellum liked to call a one hit wonder.
The Psamtik’s main particle cannon fired a single shot, a brilliant amber bean that reached out faster than a bolt of lighting and touched the skin of the Corvette like an angry finger of god. It cut through the heart of the Corvette like a hot knife through butter. The Belisarius blew apart a fraction of a second later and just like that, Cary Victor’s first combat deployment was over.
“The Belisarius objective has been neutralized. Alpha wing, we are now deploying Zeta and Theta Wing. Thank you for your assistance. You may return to base.”