SODIUM:3 Fusion by Stephen Arseneault Page B

fighters of their own. A29 had not been so lucky and had taken a death blow from a fighter. Whip quickly began conversion of two more missiles. We were down to three sensors but all other systems were in perfect working order. I moved out to a safe distance from the main ship while awaiting the conversion.
    By the time we were ready, A22 had also been destroyed and A26 was fleeing for its life. I turned our Defender towards the big craft and punched it to full throttle. When we were within missile range Whip let fly the two new conversions along with two of our nukes. She then pulled the first missile up on her holo-display and gave it a new mission. The first missile turned and made a direct assault on the larger ship.
    The alien ship made every effort to deflect and destroy the incoming missiles but the black holes worked their wonders. All three mods hit their target and soon disappeared into its hull.
    The two nukes were easily knocked from their trajectories and destroyed without detonation. I could not see it but I knew the others had big smiles on their faces. We turned and headed for a safe distance.
    It only took moments for the other three fighters to abandon A26 and focus their energies on us. We radioed the secret of our missile mod to A26 and they began immediate alterations of their own.
    We could easily keep the three alien fighters at a distance while we worked. As I watched the large alien ship on my monitor I wondered why it was not in pursuit of us. I wondered if perhaps the BHD missiles had done some damage.
    It took Whip and Bigg 12 minutes to alter another four missiles which we immediately launched. This time we targeted the alien fighters that were in pursuit. The first two missiles found their targets while the third and fourth were broadsided and destroyed by the third fighter. All three ships continued their charge.
    I made a flip turn and headed towards the closest fighter. When we reached the one kilometer range Whip fired all four coil guns. The fighter was able to deflect the rounds but not until it was knocked into a spin.
    On our next pass close to the second fighter we again fired all four coil guns at the one kilometer range. The cost was two more of our sensors, but the fighter was eliminated.
    Just as I turned to make a run on the third fighter it blew up in a bright flash of glory as one of the BHD missiles had again found its mark. Whip quickly reprogrammed the remaining BHD missile to target the last alien fighter.
    We turned back towards the fighter and lined up for another run. This time we weren't so lucky. We lost our last sensor and our holo-displays quickly went dark. The DSim then did a reboot which told us we were dead.
    A26 had managed to mod six missiles and launch them towards the big craft. All six hit their marks and drilled their way into its hull. After the first missile exited, turned and came back in the alien craft got wise. The other missiles were easily destroyed as they made their way out the other side of the ship from where they had entered.
    The commander of A26 then called a retreat and returned to base unscathed. The scenario had lasted nearly two hours from beginning to end. No other set of teams had made it past 20 minutes.
    Red then came on-board to congratulate us. The usually quiet and soft spoken man was grinning from ear to ear. Four DSims had managed to take out four fighters and had done substantial damage to a medium sized enemy ship. We were immediately called to a debriefing with the Battle Tacticians.
    The briefing was long and detailed. Every command and action was dissected and questioned. The scientists and their technicians were all over our missile modifications in an attempt to apply them to the real Defenders. When the briefing concluded we were given our third invitation to General Buck's office. This time I hoped for a better outcome than the last.

Chapter 8

    General Buck was in a much better mood. He wasted no time in congratulating us