Niven System - Series 2 - Mission 2
| Niven System - Series 2 - Mission 2 | |
|---|---|
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| Fighter | Ferret |
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Mission Layout
- Nav Point
- 5 Sartha
Images
The Memoirs of Lieutenant Colonel Carl T. LaFong
Ordered to an immediate launch, I jumped back into a Ferret, hit space, and awaited my patrol route. As it turned out, communications had been lost with the colony on Niven. I was to deliver a communications packet to the colony's leaders, and was told not to deviate from my course. I would fly alone.
I was 19,105 kilometers from my first nav point when the five Sartha came thundering in. They were zipping all around and I was just trying to keep track of where each of the fighters was. I locked a target in the confusion, hit the afterburners to stay on his tail, and fired two shots from the mass driver. I saw the debris, but he wasn't finished yet. I kept maneuvering and trying to get a rear position. When I finally did, two more shots had the pilot screaming.
I engaged two more Sartha and took them down with the guns before I realized that I was straying off course. I punched up the nav cursor, centered my crosshairs, and stayed on the after burners until the last two Sartha dropped their attack. The nav point was clear. The rest of the flight was uneventful. I arrived on Niven, handed over the comm packet, and headed for a bunk to catch a few zees before my next mission.
As I tried to find sleep, I thought of how quickly my fortunes had changed. Just a few days ago, I'd been sitting behind a desk on a space station. Now, here I was on Niven, flying again, and meeting the Kilrathi in combat.
I wanted a permanent assignment on the Concordia, but I knew Tolwyn would fight me all the way. There wasn't any love lost between the two of us. Even though Angel was on my side, I knew I faced an uphill battle to get back into a fighter wing as a regular pilot. Stranger things, though, had happened before.
