Paladins everywhere and not a boat to fly…
Or at least, not a tub I would want to fly. With the sheer bulk of the Paladin force being prepped for the planned capture mission of a Basestar, a mission the Colonials were leading, that left the bare minimum craft available for day to day operations.
Not that that really mattered much to me as day to day operations wasn't something I was generally bothered with, except so far as I have to worry about hitting something.
Not that that was too much of a worry, the area of space reserved for flight tests was generally given a wide berth even when not in use, every since that incident where a Lancers targeting computer was miss-wired into the navigation systems…
Still, going back to tubs I didn't want to fly, witness the craft I now strap myself into, another Paladin variant amongst dozens. In fact, there seems to be an unwritten rule about modifying a Paladin if you need something new cooked up, but again, I digress.
This Paladin didn't have a central passenger or cargo compartment, no this Paladin had missile storage and a retractable launcher, not for anything halfway sensible like sidewinder or sparrow missiles, oh no, this launcher was for target drones. Missiles built… well rebuilt actually to have powerful transmitters that made them look like a bigger target then they actually were, lots of clever programming and viola, you have something your gunnery crews or hotshot pilots can shoot down and get some practise with.
Of course, some bloody bugger has to launch the damn things in the first place and control them… hence this new trick for an old bird.
Unfortunately, I got a glimpse of the disappointment in General O'Neil's eyes when he was informed that the bloody thing was not going to be rigged to fire ‘live' missiles so I rather suspect I know what the next modification is going to be… pocket gunboat anyone? Not a bad idea actually, some heavy support for fighter squadrons that capable of making its own way out of trouble if necessary but again I digress.
Lift off… pretty good. Tendency to tilt forwards slightly and certainly a higher load on the forward stabilisers then I would like so certainly some minor tweaks of the load and mass distribution to be considered but nothing major.
Clean exit from atmosphere to space, no pressure or integrity warnings… not that I expected any anyway, that would be a major safety breech. Besides, somebody else got the fun job of doing the basic flights systems checks; I'm just here for the fun part. Testing the launcher and how it affects the craft.
Chase craft now shows up on my high port, a Lancer Alpha . Hope I don't need him but space is space, if something goes wrong even if your friends have a good idea where you are… still no guarantees they will find you. Doubly so when you consider the debris floating around the system, some natural, some very definitely not…
Reach the firing range, run a last few systems checks and finger my rosary one last time. Then I reach forward, and flip a switch, my eyes resting on a monitor displaying feed from a camera mounted just below the cockpit, gazing backwards at the launcher deploying from the starboard side of the craft.
Clean deployment as far as the camera is concerned, system checks agree…
So no real point putting it off.
I reach forward and then curse, my eardrums ringing as the command for all non-combat craft to go silent echoes in my eardrums, along with hurried orders to operational units. Appears we have a trio of bogies…
A trio of bogies too concerned with moping up non-combatants and avoiding the main guns of Ravenbright, can't imagine why… Arseholes. Will be a few minutes however before all the systems defence craft and warships gather and counter attack and in the meantime those bastards are going to do some real damage.
What's the betting they flee as soon as they see our forces ready to move to assault them?
Well, that would not be too healthy for me see, if they want to avoid Ravenbright and avoid being heavily engaged then most likely vaped by the combined Earth and Colonial defenders then they are almost certainly likely to fall back in my direction.
Lucky me, this was just supposed to be an in system test flight so minimal naquedah in the reactor, certainly not enough for any kind of FTL jump.
I am so screwed; about the only thing that would stop my arse being grassed right now would be a friendly fleet just happening to appear around me in enough strength to make those bloody Ha'taks go elsewhere.
Wait…
I have six unfired target drones don't I?
Unproven drones, unproven launcher, unproven control software… Well, at least they got the varsity designing the setup this time not the hacks who have so far failed to create a workable drone, despite the Dauntless class having been intended to carry them since day one… But still, lets see what kind of havoc I can dream up for the Ha'taks, mustn't get too greedy though, otherwise they might figure something is up.
Lets see, the profile the missile can ape the best is the Dauntless class, Prometheus class currently lacks a lot of the low scanner return technologies of the Dauntless II and Britannica classes so drains the emitters limited power too quickly and the Battlestars are just plain too big.
Still, if six ships just appear where their sensors could only pick up nothing before or maybe just one small support craft, why then they might just get suspicious. Damn.
Can the drones fake a hyperspace jump point?
Huh.
They can, well at least according to the options on my menu here. Apparently this was an option created by Carter and Kalinda which completely burns out the missile…
Okay, set two to fake the arrival of the ships then four as Dauntless class and see what the Goa'uld do with that.
I type quickly, my hands darting over the controls then I grimly place both hands on the stick. I rather suspect the Paladin is going to kick when those babies launch.
I tap the launch key.
Bucking bronco baby!
Talk about your off axis thrusts, I am definitely going to have words with the engineers about that. Shouldn't have to redline the thrusters to regain control after one launch… this craft is supposed to do this day in day out in the future after all, no something will have to be done. Assuming I survive of course.
Warned and ready, I tap the launch key again, already firing the thrusters to oppose the jolt of the drones launch.
Then the third, the fourth, fifth and the sixth.
A minute later, a muted flash fills the screen and I know one way or another, whether I live or die probably just got decided for me.
“So, this batch of drones works then?” Colonel O'Neil grinned.
“Well,” Carter shrugged, “the Goa'uld certainly bought it. Finding themselves sandwiched between the real fleet arrayed around Galactica, Ravenbright and her defences and the sudden appearance of four destroyers in their path they didn't exactly wait to surrender.”
“Three more Ha'taks. ”
“Three more ships that are useless in their current condition and need a serious refit to be of any use,” she countered.
“True,” O'Neil shrugged, “still, you best get going, you got a craft to check out.”
Carter smiled and nodded, leaving O'Neil alone in his office, where he pursed his lips and then tapped swiftly at his phone, “Carter is on her way Colonel. Mind telling me why you didn't want her to read your report on the crafts launching characteristics?”
“Oh no reason General, no reason at all…”