Read Online Sacrifice:The Shenkar War by Seth Libby - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Seth Libby
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practice maneuvering and firing your energy cannons. First team to go will be Lieutenant Brennan with Lieutenant Wellmo flying wing.”
Hearing this, Liam couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed that Tim was his wingmate and not Evan, whom he felt would be the better, more dependable pilot. There was no time to think about it now, though, as flight control was giving targeting information.
“ On your radar, you will see drones. You will pursue and engage.”
“ That’s an affirmative, flight control.” Then keying ship-to-ship: “Let’s go kill something.”
Liam engaged his afterburners, and his fighter pulled away from the rest. Only Tim’s fighter kept pace with Liam’s. Four blips showed on his radar the location of the drones. Liam maneuvered his fighter to set a flight path to quickly intercept the drones. The voice of flight control came over his speakers. “ Alpha-1, Alpha-2, you are clear to go weapons hot.”
Liam flipped the safety switch on his control stick, and the “Weapons Armed” indicator on his flight board lit up. Soon the drones came within range, and Liam lined up the targeting reticule and squeezed the trigger. Liam’s aim was true as the energy cannons blazed and the drone exploded. A burst of energy passed over and from behind Liam’s fighter, and a second drone exploded.
“ Nice shot, Tim!” Liam said over his headset.
“ You also, Liam,” came Tim’s voice.
“ Okay, now let’s see how well you do against targets trying to evade you,” came the voice of flight control.
The drones suddenly pulled away, zigzagging back and forth across a starry backdrop. Liam once again engaged his afterburners and closed in on the remaining drones. The drone maneuvered as best as it could, but with ease Liam anticipated the evasion tactics of the drone and sent a burst from his energy cannons into the path. The drone disintegrated in a ball of fire. Tim’s shot was not so accurate, and he missed his first and second attempt but not the third. True, it wasn’t a solid hit, but he did destroy the drone’s right wing, which was good enough.
“ Very good, Alpha-1 and 2. Please return to formation and then Lieutenant Maxis and Lieutenant McKenna will make their run, designations Alpha-3 and Alpha-4.”
Evan destroyed his drones faster than Liam thought possible; he made no mistakes that Liam could see. Crystal did fairly well also, better than Tim but not anywhere near Evan’s or even Liam’s times. Slowly, in pairs, the pilots took their runs against the drones. While no one came even close to the perfection of Evan’s run, they all did fairly well.
“ Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let’s try more aggressive targets. Your next targets are Shenkar light fighters, maneuverable yet still heavily armored. Unlike your fighters, Shenkar fighters lack energy shields. Furthermore, this will be a squadron exercise, so you’ll still have your wingmates but you’ll also need to watch your other squad mates. This exercise will begin in ten seconds.”
Liam made some last-minute checks to make sure everything was in order and then searched his radar for enemy contacts. Ten red blips showed on the edge of his radar and were closing fast. Keying his ship-to-ship comm channel, he spoke without thinking that he wasn’t squadron leader.
“ We have ten enemies inbound to port, estimated time to contact twenty seconds. Everyone, weapons hot, pick your target, and close to engage.”
No one questioned Liam’s order to engage; instead, ten Scorpion fighters turned to port as one afterburner
Hearing this, Liam couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed that Tim was his wingmate and not Evan, whom he felt would be the better, more dependable pilot. There was no time to think about it now, though, as flight control was giving targeting information.
“ On your radar, you will see drones. You will pursue and engage.”
“ That’s an affirmative, flight control.” Then keying ship-to-ship: “Let’s go kill something.”
Liam engaged his afterburners, and his fighter pulled away from the rest. Only Tim’s fighter kept pace with Liam’s. Four blips showed on his radar the location of the drones. Liam maneuvered his fighter to set a flight path to quickly intercept the drones. The voice of flight control came over his speakers. “ Alpha-1, Alpha-2, you are clear to go weapons hot.”
Liam flipped the safety switch on his control stick, and the “Weapons Armed” indicator on his flight board lit up. Soon the drones came within range, and Liam lined up the targeting reticule and squeezed the trigger. Liam’s aim was true as the energy cannons blazed and the drone exploded. A burst of energy passed over and from behind Liam’s fighter, and a second drone exploded.
“ Nice shot, Tim!” Liam said over his headset.
“ You also, Liam,” came Tim’s voice.
“ Okay, now let’s see how well you do against targets trying to evade you,” came the voice of flight control.
The drones suddenly pulled away, zigzagging back and forth across a starry backdrop. Liam once again engaged his afterburners and closed in on the remaining drones. The drone maneuvered as best as it could, but with ease Liam anticipated the evasion tactics of the drone and sent a burst from his energy cannons into the path. The drone disintegrated in a ball of fire. Tim’s shot was not so accurate, and he missed his first and second attempt but not the third. True, it wasn’t a solid hit, but he did destroy the drone’s right wing, which was good enough.
“ Very good, Alpha-1 and 2. Please return to formation and then Lieutenant Maxis and Lieutenant McKenna will make their run, designations Alpha-3 and Alpha-4.”
Evan destroyed his drones faster than Liam thought possible; he made no mistakes that Liam could see. Crystal did fairly well also, better than Tim but not anywhere near Evan’s or even Liam’s times. Slowly, in pairs, the pilots took their runs against the drones. While no one came even close to the perfection of Evan’s run, they all did fairly well.
“ Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let’s try more aggressive targets. Your next targets are Shenkar light fighters, maneuverable yet still heavily armored. Unlike your fighters, Shenkar fighters lack energy shields. Furthermore, this will be a squadron exercise, so you’ll still have your wingmates but you’ll also need to watch your other squad mates. This exercise will begin in ten seconds.”
Liam made some last-minute checks to make sure everything was in order and then searched his radar for enemy contacts. Ten red blips showed on the edge of his radar and were closing fast. Keying his ship-to-ship comm channel, he spoke without thinking that he wasn’t squadron leader.
“ We have ten enemies inbound to port, estimated time to contact twenty seconds. Everyone, weapons hot, pick your target, and close to engage.”
No one questioned Liam’s order to engage; instead, ten Scorpion fighters turned to port as one afterburner
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