CROSSFIRE - Atlantis DSV - New Cape Quest

flying the mysterious subfighter did not want to be recognised, and she could easily
comprehend why.
In the short moment it had taken the strange craft to overtake her and assume the
lead, she had caught enough of its unmistakeable lines to know it was a Raptor. It was a
type unlike any she had ever seen – longer, wider and sleeker than her own supposedly
„cutting-edge‟ craft – but it conformed in every way that mattered to the iconic UEO
mainstay. Its sharp, hooked nose swept back over two blended canards that quickly
diverged in to a pair of swept wings either side of its tails, its black fuselage appearing to
absorb the light of the surface world above and melt in to the sea around it.
She hit her comms again. “Ghost leader, Rapier One, identify yourself!”
Another voice, this one being unmistakeable in its slurred, sing-song lilt of Captain
Corinn Roderick. “You‟re ordered to withdraw to the Aquarius, Rapier One. Copy on all
Rapier and Dark Angel flights – withdraw to the Aquarius immediately.”
Roberts watched as Roderick‟s Raptor appeared from the same vector as the
strange Ghost and settled in on the alien fighter‟s wing ahead of her. This time her sensors
made a positive return – her ID and callsign lighting up the board prominently.
“Captain Roderick?” Roberts nearly yelped in surprise. “Please confirm your last
order.”
“You heard me, Commander. You are ordered to return to the Aquarius immediately.
We will take it from here.”
Roberts was the last of the UEO fighters to break formation as the remainder of the
Rapiers and Dark Angels obediently broke away by flights and began speeding back
towards the Aquarius. Jane cursed inwardly as she followed them, noting only briefly the
emergence of more shadows from the fog that silently fell in to formation with Roderick and
her mysterious wingman.
A shuttle that appeared on Roberts‟ sonar moments later came as another surprise in
the increasingly intriguing exchange. Slipping away from the Aquarius DSV silently, the
assault speeder made good pace as it caught up with the mysterious fighters and settled in
on Roderick‟s aft quarter.
“This is Dragon Six-Two-Alpha,” the shuttle‟s pilot reported. “We‟re clear, Archangel.
You are authorized to ingress.”
James Banick‟s patience was at the end of its tether as he watched the high-speed
pursuit shuttle steadily draw away from the DSV that was hanging off his bow. His world felt
like it was ready to implode, and he felt impossibly alone on the command deck as he
continued to pace, waiting for word.
Banick had always admired Mark Ainsley, both as a friend, and as an officer. It
saddened Banick however that Commonwealth – and her first Commanding Officer, Captain
Jasper Edsall - had been the things that had taught him that. It seemed to Banick that
Ainsley had done little more than undermine that command ever since he had arrived. Why it
had come to this he couldn‟t yet bring himself to ask.
Banick‟s head shot around like the hammer of a pistol as his communications officer
faced him. “Captain, I have Commander Tannen for you on a secure channel.”
The Captain nodded silently as he pulled the headset back on. Banick had formally
promoted Nathan Tannen to command of the Griffons in the wake of Commander Harker‟s
death, and at the rate they were going, it wouldn‟t be long before he took command of the
entire sea wing. “Killjoy, this is Banick,” he announced, nodding to his ops officers as he
patched the channel through to their station.
“Captain, we‟ve got something strange out here,” Tannen replied, the noise on the
channel causing Banick to press the headphone closer to his ear.
“Time is a luxury you do not have, Commander,” he pressed.
“The shuttle has only one escort,”
Banick looked at the plot, tracking the movement of the speeder as it drew ever
closer – a single Raptor following in its wake.
“It‟s Captain Roderick. The Dark Angels and Rapiers have broken off their escort.”
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