"Command - Retina: new contact" The voice announced over the bridge A-Comm system. "Unidentified vessel bearing Zero, Nine, Zero mark Zero, Three, Eight."
Aboard the bridge of the MANTIS battlecruiser Shadowfall, Captain Aurixx looked at the central Real-Time-Navigation-Array display.
"Definitely a ship?" Aurixx asked.
"Yes sir." The voice replied. "It's in a controlled descent."
Aurixx cast his mind back to the reports detailing the MANTIS operations in the area. Damn it! He thought. The Shadowfall had been part of the MANTIS core fleet for months but had now been ordered to depart for New California to support the corporation's new presence there. That was six days ago and the report detailing MANTIS operations had only arrived two days ago. He had digested what he could but... Whatever it was on the scanner was descending down what had become a 'no fly zone' between the Shadowfall and the nearest gaggle of Octan vessels. It could be Octan. He thought. Trying to gather intelligence, or push the boundary and see what happens. He needed to know what it was, and quickly. "Interceptor prepped?" he asked calmly, turning to the Deck Officer who had instinctively checked their battle readiness at the news. "Yes sir. She can be gear up in seven minutes."
"Get her out there." Aurixx replied. "I want eyes on this thing."
"Aye sir." The deck officer replied, turning to the Comms officer who relayed the instruction.
"Bay two, this is command: Launch interceptor."
On the underside of Shadowfall, the second of its three docking bays suddenly became a flurry of activity. Personnel on the deck were disconnecting the fuel and power lines from the vessel that sat there and the maintenance cranes were retracted to the edges of the bay. In the cockpit of the vessel, Pilot Vashin Tulka quickly followed his carefully memorised pre-launch sequence. Once complete, he waited for the deck to clear and launch authorisation to be given. He steadied his breath and tried not to notice his heart beating so much. Focus, focus. A voice came over the A-Comm. "Wraith One, this is launch control. The light is green, you are clear for launch."
"Roger that launch control." He replied.
With the gravity in the bay deactivated, a minor thruster burst gently raised the Wraith class interceptor off the deck. A second burst stopped it as the bay lights flashed, indicating that the ship's position was central to the opening. "Engaging main engines." Vashin announced as he advanced the throttle levers and the ship surged forward out of the bay. The ship shuddered as it pushed through the atmosfield that protected the interior of the bay from the hazardous vacuum of space, signalling Vashin to begin his turn towards the target. Keeping the engines at full burn, he angled the ship, curving his trajectory away for the planet below and back up towards outer space.
The Wraith class interceptor was undoubtedly quick and heavily armed. It was designed to arrive first, assess a situation and if necessary, deal as much damage as it could to the benefit of a follow-up fighter squadron. It wasn't designed for prolonged engagement. A fact that prayed on Vishen's mind. Shadowfall was a cruiser, not a carrier... There would be no follow-up fighter squadron.
"Three minutes to target." a voice said over the A-Comm. Vishen made some adjustment to his course to ensure he came up behind the unidentified vessel. On the edge of his scanning range, two new blips appeared, they were in a similar orbit but were approaching fast. The computer registered their ident signals... Then it hit him, He was in a heavily armed fighter heading at high speed straight towards... Octan.