The Jennings Brothers burst out of the Escort's docking bay, followed closely by the rest of Spam Squadron. "Form up on me", Ghostrider instructed from the cockpit of his
Snog Hyper-Grav 2. His fighters expertly turned their swarm of small ships into a precise, defensive wedge, creating a deadly protective shield on the starboard side of the Escort.
"Gun it, guys", Triple J mumbled to his team over a mouthful of gum, jamming the stick forward and accelerating toward the alien threat.
His wing of fighters followed suit, pushing their vessels to their maximum speeds, racing one another in a rush to meet their combined fates.
The Wyzenhymer ships were still scattered some distance from one another, due to the distance traveled through hyper space, and hastily began to reform in reaction to the fast approaching onslaught. The lead
fighter, a wicked, sharp angled replica of the standard Wyzenhymer G-4 Yodeler, fired his multiple engines and let go with three seemingly random plasma bursts from its oblong, energy cannon.
Each of the projectiles found a target, reducing Triple J's squad by three. He had to act fast. "Uh...turn everybody", he instructed his unit, "or go up, or something."
On his command, they did, turning the blackness around them into a confusing panorama of aerial destruction. Wings were damaged and hulls scraped as the pilots tried to wrench their crafts out of the chaotic
cloud of friendly fighters. When the proverbial dust cleared, two of triple J's ships were left undamaged. His and Lt. Maybaugh's, a rookie fighter jock whose first taste of combat was occurring at
just that moment. The rest of the fighters were hobbling back toward the Escort, un pursued primarily due to the Wyzenhymer's poor organizational skills.
Triple J formed up beside Maybaugh's unscathed vessel, looking through the younger pilot's cockpit window to gauge the lieutenant's stress level. The rookie flyer seemed un phased by the initial assault and
wagged a thumbs up at his commanding officer. Triple J grinned back as he thumbed his mike. "Let's do some...kggk-kahaaakk!"
Maybaugh looked over at his superior with concern, who waved back with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry", Triple J remarked. "Choked on my gum."
"Bridge to engineering", Reed's voice shattered the silence.
Ensign Hibbard, who was attempting to ignore the overly rich dialogue of the couple saying their "good-bye's" near the door, keyed his communicator. "Engineering here. Go, Commander."
"I need you to feed auxiliary power to the shields", Reed relayed. "I don't want anything getting through."
"Copy, sir", the ensign acknowledged, already working at his keyboard.
"What's the hub-bub?", Jeffy asked from across the room as Nurse Yahbo stepped out the door.
"The Commander just wanted us to bolster up the shields, sir", Hibbard explained. "Just in case the Wyzenhymers get through our outer defenses."
"That figures", the engineering chief muttered peevishly.
"What does?"
"That we get attacked just when me and my Smoochie-Bear", he turned his love filled gaze on the departing Nurse Yahbo, "get some quality time together."
Hibbard eyed him dubiously. "Are you suggesting that the Wyzenhymers waited for just this moment to attack in order to foil your love life?"
"Well", Jeffy considered Hibbard's remark momentarily, "not exactly." He turned his head in all directions, scanning the empty room for interlopers. "What I'm really saying is that
the Commander is so jealous of me, that he goes out of his way to make my life difficult."
"Sir", the ensign replied, mildly stunned by his superior's accusation, "I can't imagine the Commander doing something like that."
Jeffy chuckled mirthlessly as he shook his head. "So young. So naive." He placed a condescending hand on the young officer's shoulder. "Stick with me, Hibbard. I'll open
up a whole new world of possibilities for you."
