Dauntless - Chapter 2: Blue Milk Run

“Sigma Squadron, this is Flight Control. You are cleared for take-off.”

“Roger that, Flight Control. Sigma Leader, out.” Triple ion engines  roared to life; though all Flight Captain Viktor Kampani could hear was a  steady thrum through his helmet. Thank the Emperor they replaced that stupid headset with a semi-enclosed helmet.

“Another blue milk run,  Sigma Leader?” Kampani fought the urge to tell Sigma 7, Flight  Lieutenant Revak Veiss, to go fly into the nearest black hole. The man  had been complaining incessantly about being assigned “blue milk runs”  ever since he was posted to the squadron. This nerfherder really doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘Top Secret’.  

“I don’t make the orders, Sigma 7. If you have an issue, you can take it  up to Major Narado. I’m sure he’ll be glad to explain the importance of  following orders after kicking you down to Flight Officer.” There was  silence on the other end. Demotion was the only thing that could shut  Veiss up.

“Docking clamp detached,” notified his onboard flight computer. The  fighter ace eased the joystick forward slightly with his right hand,  whilst his left hand pushed the throttle forward. Kampani watched the  familiar surroundings of Hangar 12 vanish before his eyes, replaced by  the star studded void. He depressed the comms button on the throttle  with his left thumb.

"Sigma Squadron, comms check."

"Sigma Two, reporting in."

"Sigma Three, reporting in."

"Sigma Four, reporting in."

"Sigma Five, reporting in."

"Sigma Six, reporting in."

"Sigma Seven, reporting in."

"Sigma Eight, reporting in."

"Sigma Niner, reporting in."

"Sigma Ten, reporting in."

"Sigma One-One, reporting in."

"Sigma One-Two, reporting in."

“Sigma Squadron, form up on me. Formation Alpha Seven." Kampani looked  around him, the long cockpit The TRIEN/ph Phantoms of his squadron had  maneuvered into formation, spreading out into a thin zig-zagged line,  every flight element composed of a leader and trailer.

"Sigmas, make for the transports and the carrier at full speed. Gamma  Squadron will cover us and handle the corvettes." Without hesitation or  even so much as a glance, Kampani opened up his throttle, pushing it all  the way forward. The triple ion engines responded smoothly,  accelerating to the determined velocity within milliseconds; the veteran  pilot could feel the slick response of his starfighter’s thrusters from  the seat of his cockpit. Probably should have Muco adjust the inertial compensator up half a precent when I get back.

"A-Two-Seven," he ordered his onboard tactical assistant, "concentrate shields forward."

“Yes Master.” responded the droid brain. “Forward shields are now at full power.”

Right then, Kampani noticed a brilliant flash from the corner of his  right eye. He turned his head towards the right, looking for the source  of the sudden illumination through the plexalloy viewport. Though the brightness of the expanding fireballs were  neutralized by the phototropic coating, he could see each individual  explosion as they spread outward from the Rebel warships. Every Rebel  capital that tried to charge the Ravager had suffered the same fate.

“Emperor's black bones! The hell was that?”

“The reason why the Shadow Fury was docked at Tofen Station for the past 6 months.”

“Cut the chatter and stay frosty, Sigmas.” Kampani glanced at his sensor  display on his left. The twelve dots displaying Sigma Squadron drew  ever closer to the large blips that represented their targets. “Get  ready to activate cloaking on my mark.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Activate.” Kampani depressed the cloaking button on his throttle. Blue  lightning flashed before his eyes; an effect caused by the stygium crystals in the cloaking generator. Twelve red dots simultaneously  appeared on the screen of his targeting computer. Invisible to sensors,  scanners, and the naked eye, the TRIEN/ph Phantom had a built-in  positioning system, a curious device that used the comms unit on other  Phantoms to give their location. Still, it only gave a rough position  and a loose formation was required to prevent accidents.

“Sigmas, only attack your assigned targets. I don’t want any accidental  collisions.” His squadron replied in the affirmative and Kampani turned  his attention to the carrier.

“On your wing Sigma Leader!” chirped Sigma Two. There was a brief moment  of silence before the kid spoke again. “I've got missile lock on the  carrier.” Kampani suppressed a sigh. One of these days, this kid is going to charge right into his death.

“Hold fire, Sigma Two. Wait till I finish my pass.” Kampani opened wide  on his throttle, pushing his starfighter to limits of its triple  engines. The distance between him and the carrier was rapidly  disappearing.

"A-Two-Seven, deploy ion missiles once we enter effective range.”

“Yes Master. Ion missiles ready. Target lock on the Quasar Fire carrier.”  Kampani noted the symbol for the ion missiles turning green on the  munitions loadout screen. A familiar whooshing sound and the sight of  missile streaks leaving his fighter. Two became four, and four became  six before the auditory warning system indicated that he had expended  his payload of ion missiles. He watched as they impacted against the  Rebel carrier, the ion pulse knocking out its systems. They didn’t even know what hit them.

“Sigma Two, proceed with your attack run.” Kampani grasped both throttle  and joystick, pulling the former back and jerking the latter sharply to  the right. His starfighter performed a sharp horizontal turn to the  right, two of three engines automatically reducing power to allow the  third to adjust the trajectory of the drift before increasing power back  to normal levels. Sigma Two was similarly successful in his attack run,  the Rebel carrier now reduced to a disabled hulk. The other Rebel  transports were in a similar state, as were their escort. Not a single Phantom damaged or destroyed.

“Sigma Squadron, disengage cloaking and form up. We’re going home,  heroes.” Kampani allowed himself a smile before he pressed the button.  Blue lightning spread across his fighter, revealing two dozen other  Phantoms around him, flying back to the Shadow Fury amid a backdrop of Rebel ships drifting aimlessly through space.