jeriendhal (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jeriendhal) wrote2010-10-03 05:51 am
jeriendhal) wrote2010-10-03 05:51 am
Entry tags:
Fic: Altered Trajectory (cont.)
Almost at the end now...
They emerged into a bright and shining Hell, as the little rescue fleet that had come after them went toe-to-toe with Blake's ship and another Human Federation cruiser that had apparently been escorting it. Rufus gritted his teeth and commanded his stomach to stay where it was, as he focused on his instruments to gain a picture of the situation.
It was hard to tell who was overmatched in this fight. The Federation cruisers were outnumbered two to three, but they were both modern, dedicated warships. By comparison the Scarlet Claw was merely a heavily armed merchant vessel, the Falcon Claw a small and very antiquated ship, with only the Galapagos cruiser anything close to modern standards. Nevertheless things seemed to be relatively even. The Galapagos had managed to launch a full complement of fighters, which were engaged with the ones from the second Federation cruiser, the fighters from Blake's cruiser trapped aboard thanks to the damage he had inflicted during their escape. That and the Galapagos ship was nearly twice the size of her opponents, with the increased armor and shielding that implied.
Rufus swallowed down hard as he pulled the White Knight away from a Federation fighter that had spotted it, calling out on the com, “White Knight to Galapagos fleet! White Knight to Galapagos fleet! This is Lord Ru Ofanious! We've escaped from Commander Blake, but Hazel is badly wounded and needs immediate medical attention! We need to land now!”
White Knight, this is Admiral Gisko. We are vectoring fighters to escort you back to my cruiser. Can you hold out for two minutes?
“I've got a fighter on my tail right now. I'll see what I can do!” Rufus jinked, shoving the White Knight from side to side using its maneuvering thrusters as the Federation fighter's beams splashed against his rear shields. Then he let go of his joystick and leaned over to pull the throttle back, killing his momentum as the forward thrusters fired. The enemy ship nearly clipped the White Knight's dorsal wing as it zoomed past, spinning around as it desperately attempted to bring its weapons to bear again. Rufus grabbed the joystick again and fired, and it disappeared into a cloud of incandescent gases and fine particles. Then he accelerated again, trying to find the Galapagos cruiser in the melee of fighters, warships, electronic jamming and counter-jamming.
“Hazel, how are you?” he called back, keeping his eyes focused on his instruments. He was answered by a low moan.
“Don't... do anything... really fancy...” she choked. “Feels like... my guts are falling... out....”
“I don't think I'm up to “fancy” right now,” he admitted. Even with focusing on just his instruments instead of relying on instincts and eyeballs as any normal Vulpine would, it still felt like he was about to puke up that awful meal she had fed him... Goddess bless, had it just been twenty minutes ago?
“Good...” Hazel said. She let out a gasp as something flashed brightly outside, almost overwhelming the windscreen's polarization.
Rufus let out a curse as he looked at his data feeds from the sensors. There was an expanding debris cloud emerging from the Galapagos cruiser, right near the engineering section, where one of the Federation cruisers had score a solid hit.
White Knight, our main power plant just went offline, Admiral Gisko reported. Can you go superluminal and find a safe port?
“Not with Hazel in her current condition,” he shot back. “We'll try for the Falcon Claw.”
Our recovery bay is heavily damaged, White Knight. We can't do combat landings right now, he heard Captain Sharpfang report. I'm sorry.
“Can we... get to the... Scarlet Claw?” Hazel gasped, then out a sharp cry and clutched her wounded belly.
“She's just a hopped up merchant ship, without recovery decelerators. We can't land aboard her at combat speed, and if we slow down right now we'll just be another debris cloud.”
He heard her bite down on another moan of pain. “Go.. superluminal... then.”
“You need medical attention, otherwise you'll die!”
“We're both corpses... if we stay... here, Ru!”
Rufus was silent for a moment, then said softly. “Not if we can end the fight.” He swung the White Knight around, pointing her back towards Blake's cruiser, which was pounding at the damaged Galapagos ship with missiles and guns. He did the awkward reach around to the throttle again, jamming it forward and flicking back the safety switch to bring the thrust past the safety margin. Hazel howled in pain as she was shoved back against the couch. He did his best to ignore the cry as he adjusted their flight path until they were vectoring directly on the cruiser.
“Ru! What the hell... are you doing?!”
“Old human combat tradition,” he replied. “I believe it was called “Kamikaze.”” Finally realizing their intent, Blakes' cruiser began focusing its fire on the little fighter, the beams skimming the edges of the White Knight's shields as they adjusted their targeting. Rufus jinked as they fired, keeping the nose of his beloved ship pointed directly at his target's engineering section. Ten seconds from impact, when they were too far close to be blown off course by even a direct hit, he reached down between his legs pulled the ejection handle.
Which refused to budge, the bright orange arming pin still in place after their hasty departure. Rufus frantically grabbed the pin's ring and yanked it free, then tugged again at the ejection handle. It pulled upward and suddenly he was kicked hard in the tail as the White Knight's cockpit section was blown free, just a second before its hull slammed into the Federation Cruiser, the explosion enveloping the escape pod and sending it tumbling off into the darkness...
TBC
They emerged into a bright and shining Hell, as the little rescue fleet that had come after them went toe-to-toe with Blake's ship and another Human Federation cruiser that had apparently been escorting it. Rufus gritted his teeth and commanded his stomach to stay where it was, as he focused on his instruments to gain a picture of the situation.
It was hard to tell who was overmatched in this fight. The Federation cruisers were outnumbered two to three, but they were both modern, dedicated warships. By comparison the Scarlet Claw was merely a heavily armed merchant vessel, the Falcon Claw a small and very antiquated ship, with only the Galapagos cruiser anything close to modern standards. Nevertheless things seemed to be relatively even. The Galapagos had managed to launch a full complement of fighters, which were engaged with the ones from the second Federation cruiser, the fighters from Blake's cruiser trapped aboard thanks to the damage he had inflicted during their escape. That and the Galapagos ship was nearly twice the size of her opponents, with the increased armor and shielding that implied.
Rufus swallowed down hard as he pulled the White Knight away from a Federation fighter that had spotted it, calling out on the com, “White Knight to Galapagos fleet! White Knight to Galapagos fleet! This is Lord Ru Ofanious! We've escaped from Commander Blake, but Hazel is badly wounded and needs immediate medical attention! We need to land now!”
White Knight, this is Admiral Gisko. We are vectoring fighters to escort you back to my cruiser. Can you hold out for two minutes?
“I've got a fighter on my tail right now. I'll see what I can do!” Rufus jinked, shoving the White Knight from side to side using its maneuvering thrusters as the Federation fighter's beams splashed against his rear shields. Then he let go of his joystick and leaned over to pull the throttle back, killing his momentum as the forward thrusters fired. The enemy ship nearly clipped the White Knight's dorsal wing as it zoomed past, spinning around as it desperately attempted to bring its weapons to bear again. Rufus grabbed the joystick again and fired, and it disappeared into a cloud of incandescent gases and fine particles. Then he accelerated again, trying to find the Galapagos cruiser in the melee of fighters, warships, electronic jamming and counter-jamming.
“Hazel, how are you?” he called back, keeping his eyes focused on his instruments. He was answered by a low moan.
“Don't... do anything... really fancy...” she choked. “Feels like... my guts are falling... out....”
“I don't think I'm up to “fancy” right now,” he admitted. Even with focusing on just his instruments instead of relying on instincts and eyeballs as any normal Vulpine would, it still felt like he was about to puke up that awful meal she had fed him... Goddess bless, had it just been twenty minutes ago?
“Good...” Hazel said. She let out a gasp as something flashed brightly outside, almost overwhelming the windscreen's polarization.
Rufus let out a curse as he looked at his data feeds from the sensors. There was an expanding debris cloud emerging from the Galapagos cruiser, right near the engineering section, where one of the Federation cruisers had score a solid hit.
White Knight, our main power plant just went offline, Admiral Gisko reported. Can you go superluminal and find a safe port?
“Not with Hazel in her current condition,” he shot back. “We'll try for the Falcon Claw.”
Our recovery bay is heavily damaged, White Knight. We can't do combat landings right now, he heard Captain Sharpfang report. I'm sorry.
“Can we... get to the... Scarlet Claw?” Hazel gasped, then out a sharp cry and clutched her wounded belly.
“She's just a hopped up merchant ship, without recovery decelerators. We can't land aboard her at combat speed, and if we slow down right now we'll just be another debris cloud.”
He heard her bite down on another moan of pain. “Go.. superluminal... then.”
“You need medical attention, otherwise you'll die!”
“We're both corpses... if we stay... here, Ru!”
Rufus was silent for a moment, then said softly. “Not if we can end the fight.” He swung the White Knight around, pointing her back towards Blake's cruiser, which was pounding at the damaged Galapagos ship with missiles and guns. He did the awkward reach around to the throttle again, jamming it forward and flicking back the safety switch to bring the thrust past the safety margin. Hazel howled in pain as she was shoved back against the couch. He did his best to ignore the cry as he adjusted their flight path until they were vectoring directly on the cruiser.
“Ru! What the hell... are you doing?!”
“Old human combat tradition,” he replied. “I believe it was called “Kamikaze.”” Finally realizing their intent, Blakes' cruiser began focusing its fire on the little fighter, the beams skimming the edges of the White Knight's shields as they adjusted their targeting. Rufus jinked as they fired, keeping the nose of his beloved ship pointed directly at his target's engineering section. Ten seconds from impact, when they were too far close to be blown off course by even a direct hit, he reached down between his legs pulled the ejection handle.
Which refused to budge, the bright orange arming pin still in place after their hasty departure. Rufus frantically grabbed the pin's ring and yanked it free, then tugged again at the ejection handle. It pulled upward and suddenly he was kicked hard in the tail as the White Knight's cockpit section was blown free, just a second before its hull slammed into the Federation Cruiser, the explosion enveloping the escape pod and sending it tumbling off into the darkness...
TBC
no subject
Ah well, if the ol' Knight had to go, at least she got to go in a fight.
no subject
Well, no I'm not. ;p
no subject
I agree with Lilfluff aboiut the scare. For a moment there I thought Ru had decided he and Hazel were toast anyway (he has to face detox again) and decided to go out in a blaze of glory. I hope that escape pod is well armoured.
Also... loved the fight sequnce with Rufus once again doing what he does best. I am glad you gave him one last battle.
no subject
no subject
...I do so hope they are able to buy a replacement one later on...
...though it won't be the same...
*restrains self from killing said author for the scare...* ;)
mjkj