Schrader's head reeled as the effects of hyper-grav change over buffeted his ship. For a moment he feared he would lose consciousness, but slipped past the turbulence with a bright
flare of luminescence. His navigational systems out, he had no idea where he might come out and had prepared himself for the worst. Still he was a bit surprised to find himself in the middle of a wedge
of Wyzenhymer Shudburner tactical fighters rapidly advancing on a similar force of Space Fleet ships, despite their ailing flagship's laborious departure.
The pilots of the ships to either side were clearly distressed by his arrival. Schrader smiled, breaking slightly to allow the Wyzenhymers to blow past before unleashing a burst of fire from his laz-cannon,
taking out both ships and scattering the remaining assault team.
From that point the superior skills of the Space Fleet pilots made the battle a short, but spectacular one. Hound
dog spotted a number of Wyzenhymers in pursuit of what looked out be a Space Fleet transport
vessel, and broke off to investigate. The transport was fending off the assault as best it could, it's smaller weapons keeping the Wyzenhymers out of reach temporarily, yet Schraeder could see them preparing
an attack which the small ship had little chance of surviving.
He jammed the stick hard to the right, throwing his fighter into a spin, and let loose with his cannons, creating a vortex of destruction which struck the center of the amassed fighters. Three ships went
immediately up in flames, while the others swung around to confront the new threat. Elvis righted his ship and broke to the left pulling the fighters away from the transport vehicle, and toward the main battle.
Six Wyzenhymer fighters focused their energies on Schrader's ship with a vengeance, forcing the pilot into a series of evasive maneuvers. He was eating fuel up rapidly and hoped that he had enough to last
out the battle. His fuel indicator light began to blink as the thought passed through his mind, and he felt destiny's icy, cold fingers run down his spine. Two of the fighters exploded behind him and
his pursuit scattered as a Space Fleet, Snog Hyper-Grav 2 blasted through their formation.
"Thanks, brother.", Schrader said over Space Fleet frequency.
"No problem.", Ghostrider replied as he chased down and slew another of the Wyzenhymer crafts.
Schrader checked his six and noted that the enemy fighters were retreating in the direction of the flagship. He set his sights on the distant USS Escort and punched his engines, hoping he would have enough
juice to make it back to the ship. His engines flared for several seconds then sputtered and died. He suspected his momentum would be suffice to get him close enough for the tractor beam, and settled
back to enjoy the ride.
"We got 'em on the run, Escort.", someone shouted over the radio.
"Roger.", Mr. Schultz replied blandly, "All fighters return to ship."
"Tower, this is Ghostrider", Jennings announced, "requesting a fly-by."
"That's a negative, Ghostrider.", Schultz responded, The pattern is full."
Nonplussed, the pilot rocketed past the bridge, coming within inches of impact, before setting course for the docking bay. Mr. Schultz, who had been sipping a hot cup of coffee, was relatively unaffected
by the young pilot's wrath, though the bridge shook violently. He looked at his feet, to where Ensign VanTedly lay curled in the fetal position, and dumped his coffee on the young officer for effect.
