Novu Sol

Chapter 9

Uno Star System
TriStar Systems
TSS Pavone

"Commander, they are bearing down on our starboard side! They are trying to get behind us!"

TriStar System Commander Aminta Caccia of the Pavone looked at her data of the enemy trying to close the distance to her ship. Her ship was a light cruiser, fast and agile, which also meant it was fragile.  She had decided to engage her the older heavy cruiser that had taken a few terrible hits and looked lamed enough for her ship to finish them off at close range.

She had been wrong, whatever had been hit in those initial first moments of battle had not been enough. Suckered into close range, the heavy cruiser had swiftly launched missiles that had found their way to her ship's engines, only her shielding prevented her outright destruction. Now the enemy was going for the kill, slamming energy weapons hard into her weakened shields, maneuvering their ship to try to get a clean hit in the already damaged engines, which could either completely disable the ship, leaving it drifting with only maneuvering thrusters to work with, or cause an unstable feedback into the reactors which would be the end of her ship.

Either way this fight was heading south fast and she racked her brain trying to think of something she could do.

"Helm, can we outrun them?" Caccia asked.

"No Ma'am, the damage is light but it's enough if we strain it it might cause worse damage." The officer at the helm station replied. Caccia couldn't help notice how young he was at this moment, wielding the power of moving an entire ship at his hands and not having the long years to suggest something. She didn't have the experience to think of something.

A thought suddenly struck her as she gazed at the movement of her opponent, it would be dangerous, and timed wrong it would cost her her ship but she input a few commands into her controls, watching them come back green across the board and grinned. She could do this.

She hoped.

"Helm, we are going to flip our ship. End over end." She snapped at the helm officer who just looked shocked. Ships normally didn't do that, preferring to turn, or 'bank' around in larger arcs, or twisting headings, as it eased the load on inertial dampeners. Flipping end over end was something ships avoided because while it could get you facing backwards quick, the second you lit off your engines you were fighting your momentum in the complete opposite direction, it slowed you down considerably, strained the dampeners quite a bit and if you had taken damage, like Pavone  had, it could mean turning your crew into paste if even one dampener with unknown damage buckled under the stress.

"Tactical, line up your forward energy weapons on the spot where that cruiser is going to be when we flip over. Helm, we need to flip fast and accurately. We cannot lose a second or we will be in a bad position in terms of weapon engagements. Got it?" She snapped and the helm officer nodded fearfully and turned back to his station, working with the ratings for a moment.

"23 seconds to flip!" He called out and the tactical officer, sweat gleaming on her forehead gave a shaking affirmative reply. The seconds sped downwards as everyone waited, an endless eternity of time as the heavy cruiser crept closer to where it would strike its killing blow against the engines.

" Now!"

The command perhaps unnecessary as the ship went into a controlled tumble, Pavone's thrusters pushing her front up and swinging the engine quickly away and bringing her forward energy mounts and missile batteries to bear. The pressure leaking through was like a solid mass sitting right on her lungs and she was well aware of the tin-y sound more felt than heard as the dampeners strained to keep the force from killing the crew. The engines lit up, slowing them just a touch for the perfect shot. Caccia was very keenly aware of the very high pitched, barely audible whine that climbed out of the first noise of the dampeners as they bore the stress of the maneuver.