Familiar Maneuvers
Posted on July 1st, 2015 by Kathryn Harper

Ian Blackthorne pulled hard back and to the right on the Boudica’s controls, pulling the fighter into a steep turning climb. Another Mustang chased him, and hesitated in its reaction to the maneuver, shooting under him before also beginning to climb. Seeing the mistake, Ian applied full reverse thrust, flipped the fighter one hundred and eighty degrees, and then threw the throttle forward again. It was the sort of maneuver that only worked in space, but it produced results – an immediate microtorpedo lock on the pursuing Mustang. Staring down into its cockpit, since he had attacked from above, he could see his opponent slam the console in disgust. “You’re dead, Firefly,” he said over the commlink.

Kathryn Harper swore elaborately in her native Risan tongue. “Yes, yes, it has been a while since I’ve flown, you know. What is the point of this check-out flight again?”

The two fighters settled into formation alongside each other. “I told you, I need all able pilots qualified on the Mustangs. Your piloting experience came up in a review of the crew roster.”

“Lucky me.” Harper suddenly climbed hard, hoping to catch Blackthorne off guard. If she had to do this, she figured that she might as well enjoy it and at least try to get a shot in on the Admiral.

—

Lucky me indeed, she found herself musing several years later in Boudica’s cockpit, now under her control instead of Blackthorne’s, and surrounded by a sea of Tzenkethi fighters. That day had led Kate from a comfortable and largely safe, but generally boring, job as beta shift CO to her current predicament. The intervening years had certainly been more exciting and a far cry from her start in the fleet as a science officer aboard the USS Federation. Today, whatever today still meant after endless hours of combat, fitful attempts at sleep, and overwhelming odds, might just be the end of that excitement.

The realization that her death may be imminent had danced on the edge of Kate’s mind several times through the course of the battles, but the sheer number of enemy fighters now surrounding the Atlantis made it come rushing back into the center of her thoughts. Not allowing herself any time to dwell on the macabre notion, she dropped in behind a Tzenkethi fighter and fired her phasers as its maneuvering thrusters activated in an attempt to evade her.

—

Ian’s reaction was near-instant, and he pulled up hard in pursuit. He guessed that she would try the same flip maneuver on him, and would turn out to be correct. As soon as he saw her maneuvering thrusters fire, he dove hard, and she was left looking at empty space.

In the one second it took for Harper to locate him on sensors, the enemy weapon lock tone alerted her that she was once again dead. After the dive beneath her, he had flipped his Mustang to face her as she flew past, ending up below and behind. She swore in Bolian, and then opened the comm channel. “I know, I know, I am dead.”

Smirking, he replied, “Good try though, but now you see the counter to that.”

She cut the comm and muttered, “I have seen it before.” Harper watched him come alongside and vowed that she would get at least one kill on him before this flight was over. Determined, she flip-turned the Mustang again, and then flipped again two seconds later, this time keeping an eye on the sensors to track her adversary.

—

The Tzenkethi flip-turned as she had done against the Admiral years ago, and Kate instinctively executed the counter that Blackthorne had demonstrated, diving the Boudica hard and turning to catch her opponent off-guard. It was a predictable response on her part, but ultimately a successful one, since her microquantum found its target. Several more bandits fell in rapid succession to her weapons, the Tzenkethi fighters not being as heavily armed or shielded as the Mustangs, instead relying on overwhelming numbers.

Several minutes later, Kate found a target whose pilot obviously had great skill. She had never allowed herself much time to humanize those she had to face in combat, but she couldn’t help but to admire the display of mastery demonstrated by her current adversary. The opponents found themselves locked in a tight spiral as Kate tried to out-turn the Tzenkethi to gain enough of a targeting lead to fire. Mustangs did have the advantage in the turn, and right as she was about to fire, the adept pilot responded with a move that she had seen once before.

—

Blackthorne had reacted, but was still within sight, turning hard to the right. She matched his turn, trying to cut inside to get a lead on him for the target lock. Just as she thought she might succeed, he flipped and yawed his fighter, ending up on a course opposite and above the plane of her turn. This time, she reacted immediately and rolled left into a steep banking climb, ending up behind him. “Firing solution, Great White,” she said through a smug grin.

With a measure of surprise in his voice, he responded, “Great move, Firefly! Don’t think that after that, you can still use the, ‘but I’m rusty!’ excuse with me.” Ian looked out of his canopy and could almost see a trail of self-satisfaction behind her Mustang as she eased into formation on his wing. “Let’s return to base, you’re qualified.” He had briefed her on the omnidirectional phasers and multiple shield configurations earlier; the torpedo-lock exercise was purely maneuvering and tactical practice.

A few minutes later, the Mustangs eased to a landing in Atlantis’s assault bay. Once their shutdown sequences had completed, the canopies opened and their pilots climbed down to the deck. Harper took off her helmet, and as she shook her red ponytail loose she saw Blackthorne approaching with his helmet tucked smartly under his left arm. When he reached her, he offered a handshake and a smile. “Congratulations, Commander.”

—

She hadn’t immediately known why Blackthorne had offered congratulations, but he’d made it immediately apparent by offering her the position of Commander, Air Group. It was a job she had approached with enthusiasm, thriving instead of merely existing as she had done through most of her career. Being the CAG had let Kate make a difference in a way she never was able to before, allowing her to project force beyond the range of Atlantis’s standard weaponry, or if necessary, to stay nearby and defend the ship – her home. It was that home that was now threatened as her console delivered the harsh notification that Atlantis had just lost her shields.

The tactical sensor readout displayed a wave of incoming boarding shuttles heading directly for Atlantis. As her phasers finished off the expert pilot, Kate rolled Boudica to the right and turned toward the boarders. In the process, she flew directly over Atlantis’s saucer section, and the bridge caught her attention, standing proudly at the saucer’s apex while seeming oddly vulnerable. Kate Harper knew very well what the consequences were of a boarding party reaching the bridge, and had several new internal organs to prove it. The Admiral of this entire fleet was on that bridge, but the fact that her best friend was also there seemed to be more important to her right now. Kate couldn’t let these boarding parties reach Alexis, or anyone else aboard, ever again.

She gave the order without being prompted; this was why Kate had accepted the position of CAG. “Sharks, Firefly – your number one priority is now the boarding shuttles. Do not let them reach Atlantis, no matter the cost!” Boudica, battered and scarred from the battle, moved to intercept at full speed, pursued by several enemy fighters.