Rendel slammed into the side of the Carrier, taking out a fighter bay, and three docked Pheonixes.
"No!" cried Stastima. "He didn't have to do that!"
"Calm down, Ace 2," cackled the com. "We have work to do"
"Sure, Ace Leader, I'm going in," Stastima reported, holding back his tears. Rendel was one of his best friends.
Stastima piloted his Patrol Ship expertly, dodging railgun slugs, hail rounds, and fusion pulse fire. As he got closer to the flagship, an Auroran Carrier, the intensity increased. He was able to ionize the Carrier before he was forced to get out. He was not about to commit suicide.
A pack of Vipers came at the Carrier from behind, dispersing the last of the shields and digging into the armor. They were quickly broken up by point defense systems. The Federation Carrier Revenge recalled the pack, but one Viper was hit by a railgun slug, and crashed into an asteroid. The Revenge decided that enough was enough. It launched missile after missile, with alarming speed. The Auroran Carrier was hit over and over, and soon it was finished. The Carrier's hull exploded, sending large chunks of debris floating in space.
The Revenge called all ships back into formation, but Stastima didn't show up. Nor did he appear on any scanner. The fleet assumed the worst, and left the system, for refueling and repairs.
The system was empty, excepting debris, one or two disabled Auroran fighters, and a cloaked Patrol Boat. As it came back into reality, a Wormhole appeared near the other edge of the system. A massive ship, the size of a small moon, flew out of it. It was smooth, and yellow-grey in appearance. It had an extensive array of panels that were home to fighter bays, weapons, and scanners of all varieties.
"It's about damn time," muttered Stastima, used to using English by this point. "I was nearly killed."
The massive ship opened a large panel on the side, and Stastima made his way inside the ship. The ship turned slowly around, like a tortoise, and light shone from some of the devices on the bow.
At this moment, a relatively small independent trading vessel entered the system through hyperspace. As the massive ship left through another wormhole and seemingly blinked out of existence, the pilot of the trading vessel sat and watched with wild eyes. No one would believe his story.
(This message has been edited by moderator (edited 01-27-2003).)
