Somwhere in Chugoku

[Thor]

Somwhere in Chugoku...

The LNS Valhalla hung motionless in space, almost indistinguishable from the debris that floated only meters from her dark grey hull plates. Suddenly the Tactical panel lit up alerting the Lieutenant that a situation was brewing out in the cold blackness beyond the transparasteel viewport. This was not good he thought.
TAC, new contactcorrection multiple contacts, bearing 129 mark 10, range 8K and closing. He called out as he scanned the screen in anticipation of the next question.
IDs? asked Captain Adamson. He called up the tactical screen on his own terminal but the Lieutenant beat him to the information.
I have three Dragon heavy fighters pursued by five Kusari fighters and a pause for confirmation, a Kusari gunboat. As he spoke the screen flashed red and one of the green blips winked out. Sir, make that two Dragons. The Lieutenant said. Captain Adamson turned in his chair.
COMM, he intoned, do they have us on scanner? The question was simple but the whole operation depended on the answer.
Negative sir, scanner returns are clear. piped in the Ensign at the COMM station. Captain Adamson inwardly sighed and turned back to the tactical screen watching the little dots swirl and dive in their dance of death.
Range now 6k. flashed the Lieutenant. Sir, Blue Flight requests permission to engage. Captain Adamson frowned. That was all he needed. It would be a simple matter to let his fighters assist the Dragon pilots. No doubt Blue Squadron could make short work of the enemy especially with surprise on their side. But all it would take was one mistake, one distress call and this whole operation could blow up and the consequences would be felt all over Sirius.
Tell Blue flight to stand by and maintain radio silence. he said. It was a shame he thought that he couldnt do more. But if he was going to succeed in allying the Dragons of Kusari with the Liberty Government and help turn the tide of battle before it began, he couldnt take chances. If Kusari found out his ship was here it would mean open war with them and maybe even Rhineland. He just hoped that the leaders of the Dragons understood that. TAC, where are they now? he asked.
Range now 3.5K, hold on his report was interrupted by the Ensign at COMM.
Sir, the Dragons are calling for help! Sir, theyre calling for us! he shouted franticly working the controls of this console. Theyre calling us by name!
Damn! Captain Adamson swore viciously. Do they have us? The Ensign whirled and looked his captain in the eye.
Active scanning on all channelsthey have us sir! he replied.
TAC, the Dragons have engaged cruise engines. he tilted his head. Theyre heading straight at us. He said. The Kusari are on their heels. the tactical officer called out.
Son of a but before he could finish the curse he was all business again. TAC, order blue flight to engage at point Alpha. Turning his head he looked at his screen. Bring all batteries on line and set shields to max. he said. Helm, engines to full, bring us out to 500m. the orders coming rapid fire now. Forward batteries concentrate fire on that Gunboat, Blue flight engage those fighters. Dont let them get away. COMM, jam all transmissions. I dont want anything to get out. He allowed himself a moments satisfaction as his crew executed his commands with expert precision.
The LNS Valhalla swung out of the debris field and moved quickly towards the flash of photon cannons. Blue Flight had caught the Kusari fighters off guard and had scattered them in all directions. They twisted and turned, trying to regroup but they were hopelessly out of position and were picked off by Blue Flight. The flashes and the explosions flared and died like small novas, taking life with them. The gunboat, however, had been tracking the Dragon fighters and had maneuvered out of Blue Flights charge path. It opened up with a deadly barrage and one of the fighters exploded like a small sun. However the captain of the Kusari gunboat had miscalculated his position and now had a Liberty Battleship directly ahead. The LNS Valhallas forward guns lanced out and rocked the gunboat sideways with its first volley and the second volley obliterated the Kusari vessel.
Back on the bridge, Captain Adamson watched in silent satisfaction as the Kusari ship disappeared in a plume of orange fire. Despite the victory he was not happy.
COMM, tell me nothing got out. He fumed.
The Ensign looked at his captain apologetically. Sir I have no idea. I dont think so. Theres no way to tell.
Thats not what I want to hear Ensign. His voice grated. Tactical, status report.
The Lieutenant cleared his throat. Sir we lost Blue 4. Security has tractored in the pods and Lt. Saras is ok. The Kusari are being processed and sent to the brig. All decks reported in. No damage to report sir. After a pause he added The dragons have retreated to the Sigma 13 jumphole.
Alright, thank you Lieutenant. Bring in Blue flight and see if you can get rid of some of that evidence. Keep an eye out for any more contacts. He returned. Turning to the helmsman he said. As soon as everyones home, set course for the Sigma 13 jumphole, best possible speed. This was a disaster. His calm demeanor belied the fact that he was fuming inside. The only way this could get worse was His musing was cut short by his Tactical Officer.
Sir, new contacts, bearing 80 mark 27, range 12k, closing fast. He said. Captain Adamson didnt even need to ask for IDs. It could only be the Kusari Navy coming to look for its lost squadron. He could not be found here. Must not be found here.
Helm, get us out of here. Turning to his COMM panel he flipped the switch. All hands brace for emergency jump!

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<span style="color:#CCCCCC">&quot;BOLT FROM THE HEAVENS&quot;

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&quot;Nobody ever won a war by dying for his country, you win wars by making the sorry SOB's die for theirs!&quot;