“The Deserters”
This is the story of Leutnant Jochem Wiede and Oberstleutnant Holger Schmidt, the Rheinland deserters.
Part 1: The Green, the Goblin and the Top Gun
Border World: Omega 11 Asteroid Field Near Solarius Station
It is chaos. Pure unadulterated chaos. Laser and tachyon fires, exploding bombs and exploding ships lit up the asteroid field. Watching the ships firing, dodging, killing and escaping is somewhat gracefully deadly. Some killed by weapons while some killed by asteroids, smashed into tidbits, an undoubtedly humiliating death. These modern Teutonic Knights are locked in a killing spree with no holds barred.
To some observers, it is like watching fireworks of the annual celebration of exodus-the escape from old Earth.
Different colors, same death.
Nobody knows it better than a young pilot who found himself in the center of the hurricane of deaths. His name is Leutnant Jochem Wiede, aka Green Archer, of the Rheinland Space Force. He is part of the squadron tasked in protecting a very influential Rhineland political figure visiting Solarius Station.
They were ambushed by Bundschuh fighters before reaching their destination. The Bundschuh are a populist political faction that has been declared “enemy of the State” by the Rheinland Reichstag.
Lt. Wiede destroyed three of them, the last with great satisfaction. It was the ship that killed his wingmate, Leutnant Karla Hienz, aka Griffin, privately he called her sweet Karla. He knew she’s dead, he never saw her ejected. Her destroyed ship added to the growing debris of metals in the asteroid.
His grim thought about Karla was interrupted by strong hits of tachyon weapons and a glancing blow of missile, his molecular shield almost redlined. He managed to evade the enemy’s follow up strafing run and tried to return the favor, and failed. The enemy pilot is good, awfully good. The one sided duel isolated them from their allies and took them farther from the fray.
Drenched in salty sweat and hyper ventilating, Lt. Wiede managed to dodge another missile fired by a Bundschuh pilot, extending his life to another seconds. The enemy pilot has been tailing him for minutes, strafing tachyon and firing missiles with pure abandon. He knew if this goes on for another minute he’ll be dead. Though his missiles are almost full his counter measure droppers are almost empty, and counter measures are what he needs most because no matter what he does he can’t shake the enemy pilot, he can’t even take a shot. He knew the one tailing him is a veteran. Judging from its piloting and firing skill, overmatched is not even enough to describe the disparity.
As if sensing that his prey is green and fresh from the oven (academy), the enemy pilot renewed his firing run with pure mayhem. Dodging, reversing thrust, accelerating and using the asteroid field as obstacle course did no good. In the end, everything he learned at the academy and simulator is not enough to save him, the enemy pilot is just too good, overwhelmingly good. As if punctuating his fear, a good combination of tachyon and missile fire overloaded his molecular shield.
“That’s it then. Sorry mom, I did everything I could, but being top 3 in class and the best in simulator is not enough, experience beats them all.”said Lt. Wiede
“Remember what I told you in the mess hall son? ‘What should you do when the odds turn against your favor?”, as if waking in a bad dream, the calm voice of the Squadron Leader Oberstleutnant Holger Schmidt aka Collector dissolved his acceptance of death. If there’s a person he admired and loved most other than his mom and dad, it’s Oberstleutnant Schmidt, the top gun of Rheinland military, with a hundred and nine confirmed kill in dogfighting. Disappointing him is like disappointing his parents.
“Turn tail and live to fight another day, sir.” answered Lt. Wiede. It just came out of his mouth with no effort at all, as if the answer to his dilemma is there all along.
“Then do it boy! Besides, by speaking your mind in our secure channel, your defeatism is starting to infect us. I’ll find a way to save you, but right now I’m busy.” said Oberstleutnant Schmidt.
Without waiting for another word, Lt. Wiede fired his thruster and activated his cruise engine. It took only seconds to its full activation, the advantage of using Banshee, the light fighter favored by young pilots in Rheinland Military.Two seconds after achieving full cruise engine velocity, the enemy pilot fired a hyper velocity cruise disruptor.
Lt. Wiede heard the warning sound from the onboard sensor, the sound of an incoming disaster. He fired his counter measure dropper to confuse the tracking system of the cruise disruptor.Nothing happened, not a hissing sound of counter measure release. He knew what it means even before checking his onboard counter measure inventory, which is blinking red.
Empty.
“Damn!” It’s the only word he managed to speak before the cruise disruptor found its mark.
It’s both a blessing and a curse. Unlike missiles where its sole purpose is obliteration, cruise missile is designed not to kill, but rather prevent the intended target from escaping by disabling the cruise engine, for either capture or easy kill.
Either capture or kill, the intention of the enemy pilot was clear enough when it fired its missile two seconds after the cruise disrupter hit.
“Missile lock, missile lock, missile lock”, the repeating and unemotional warning sound of the onboard computer is a herald of doom, announcing the approaching death. In that instant, he remembered the words of his father about asteroid fields.
“Blessed are the asteroids for they can save lives, curse them if they take yours.”
“I’m tired of running, tired of being shot at. Well, let’s see if you’re right dad.” said Lt. Wiede.
Maneuvering on spinning asteroids is no walk in the park, timing is essential, especially if the asteroid is located in a highly radioactive system. You have to watch the enemy at your tail while watching the movement of the asteroids around you, not to mention watching your nanobot supplies essential for the repairs of your ship while the radiation is busy slicing your ship like butter. Like juggling three antimatter grenades, one false move and you’ll die.
Using thruster impulse, he started evasive maneuver using the spinning asteroids as cover. Seeing a looming and spinning asteroid in a distance, he quickly formulated a strategy to even the odds. Concentrating on the distance of the enemy ship, the incoming missile and the large asteroid dead ahead, he executed his plan. The plan is simple yet brilliant, it helped that the enemy pilot is using Moonstalker missile. The Moostalker missile has a lesser payload, but has an onboard intelligent tracking system. It will follow its intended target even on evasive maneuver.
At the last instant when the enemy missile is near, he turned right using the large asteroid as cover and dropped a Tadpole mine. The missile hit the asteroid and exploded including the Tadpole mine. The resulting explosion is spectacular, a double booming explosion. Hidden at back of the large asteroid, he reversed thrust and executed an “about face” maneuver, facing the incoming enemy without the enemy knowing it, killed his engine to simulate a dead ship, kill the communication kit to prevent escaping signal emission, reprogrammed his firing control to manual firing and waited to spring his trap.
The ship with a picture of a sexy goblin riding a large missile is flying leisurely, thinking its target destroyed, the enemy ship came to collect some loot and salvage.
“Wait, wait, wait a little more for the goblin, Now!”said Lt. Wiede
A double barrage of tachyon weapons and double missile impact shredded the enemy ship like dry cheese. The grin in the face of the enemy pilot turned into horror when it realized it had been outsmarted by its prey. The pilot managed to eject the cockpit escape pod before the darkness of the void claimed it.
He saw the escape pod drifting farther and about to smash to a large asteroid. He saw it riddled with holes and escaping air. He have an overwhelming desire to see it smashed into pieces or let the pilot die of suffocation, but there is also a feeling of good justice to let the pilot stand for trial, and curiosity to know his adversary, the pilot who almost killed him on his first combat mission.
“I’m not like you enemy of mine, whoever you are. I joined the military to bring justice to those who needed it, and to correct the wrongs of the universe.”Lt. Wiede activated his tractor beam.
Satisfaction and vindication are the two emotions that run amok on the mind of Lt. Wiede, the victorious survivor of impossible odds.
“You’re right all along dad, you’re right all along. Asteroids can save lives, it saved mine. Thank you.”
"I miss you dad”. , and he cried, cried for a long time like he never cried before, for the universe, for surviving, for life itself and for his dead father.
The hurricane subsided, the deaths still unaccounted, time to lick the wounds and collect the bill.
End of Part 1
Hope you like it guys. 
