You mean the fact that he's not a house? No, but I'll get to it eventually.
This is a huge, long part. Ugh.
"This is Two, can I get some assistance over here!"
"Hold on Two," Dyria said as she heeled her fighter over, dodging the warhead that had just been fired at her. "I'm on my way." Comm chatter filled the cannel.
"Watch out for those warheads, Four."
"Copy, Six. Quicklance is at half shields, she's almost gone!"
"Five, evade! You've got a warhead on your tail!"
"I can handle 'em, watch that fighter, Nine!"
"I can't see him! Someone cover me!"
"I copy, I'm on him - "
"Five, pull out! Five!"
"I can take him, Three; wait - oh no - "
"Five, evade!"
"Can't - my engines have been hit, I've lost control - "
"Five! Oh blast. We've lost Five."
"Someone cover me!"
"Copy, Two," Dyria said, and nosed down to open fire on one of the two fighters attacking her wingmate. It pulled out just before one of her shots hit an engine. The fighter exploded.
The other fighter continued attacking her wingmate as he dove towards the Cambion. Two pulled up suddenly; his attacker did not, and collided head-on with the Shellian freighter.
"Thanks, Lead."
"No prob."
"This is Nine, I can't shake this fighter!"
"Where are you, Nine?"
"This is Four, I've been hit!"
"I'm under the Twister, Eight, where are you?"
"I'm coming to your aid, Nine. Are you damaged?"
"Yeah, my targeting computer's out."
"This is Twelve, Quicklance's shields are out!"
"This is Nine, I've got a missile incoming from the Twister - "
"Copy, Mariva is launching warheads!"
"This is Nine, I'm ejecting - "
"Nine? Nine, do you copy?"
"This is Eight. Nine didn't make it."
"Quicklance is down!"
Dyria could see blossoms of fire playing over the doomed freighter.
"Good job, concentrate fire on the Cambion!"
"Copy, this is Three. Cover me, I'm going in."
"No, Three, you're too close!" Dyria saw her wingmate below her, dwarfed against the bulk of the Cambion.
"Ah no, I'm caught in a tractor beam - "
"Three! Pull out!"
Before Three could ovey, the Cambion targeted him with its weapon systems. He never even saw it coming. Dyria groaned.
"Blast. Three's gone."
The Talios attacked the Cambion with a vengeance. The clumsy freighter was almost helpless after a few well-placed shots took out its weapon systems.
"C'mon, guys, Cambion's shields are out!"
"Anyone got warheads?"
"Yeah, want me to use 'em?"
"Yep."
Seven fired off three missiles at point-blank range. A moment later the Cambion exploded violently. They had no time to rejoice, though.
"This is Six! More fighters incoming from the Mariva!"
"Copy Six, we're on our way."
"Eight here, I've got a Protector that I can't shake."
"I'd help you, Eight, but I've got a Guardian hot on my tail!"
Dyria spun her fighter, knowing that Talio Squadron couldn't afford any more losses. She was too late - Six exploded seconds before the attacking Guardian came into her sights.
"Six is gone."
"Will somebody help me over here? Oh, no, Twister's opened fire."
"Four is gone, I repeat, gone!"
"Chalk up another kill for Two!"
"Negative, Ten, this is Four. I'm still here."
"Who was that, then?"
"It was Eight, he's not in my scopes."
"This is Lead, I've got a coupla determined Shellians here I can't shake."
"Copy Lead, I'm on it."
Dyria threw her fighter into a dizzying spin as Two came to her aid, firing on one of the Shellians. The other clung tenaciously to her tail until she managed to invert and loop under her attacker. A few shots from both herself and Ten and the Shellian was destroyed in the crossfire.
"This is Twelve, Eleven is gone! I'm damaged and I've got a missile locked on, I can't eject - oh my go- " a static burst ended the transmission.
"This is Ten. Twelve is gone."
"Lead, there's five of us left. We can't keep this up."
"I copy. Okay, if the Outrider and CASD don't come through like now, we're pulling out."
"I copy, Lead."
"Good. Talios, report in. This is Leader, minimal damage to my port engine."
"This is Two, shields at half, all systems green."
"This is Four, I've lost my starboard engine and have sustained significant damage to the port. My shield system is down, and my hull is heavily damaged. My hyperdrive appears to be okay."
"This is Seven, my weapons system is out, my steering has been damaged, but my shields are charging at max."
"This is Ten. I have beam damage to my engines, and my sensor array has been knocked out."
"Okay. I - "
"Lead, Two. More starfighters incoming from the Mariva, and Twister is headed our way. Orders?"
"We can't take them. I'm transmitting coordinates."
"I copy. Ready to engage hyperdrive."
"Lead, this is Seven! I have a CASD patrol craft in my scopes!"
"Oh, thank God." Dyria let out a long sigh of relief. "It's the Outrider. Talio Squad, form up. Outrider, this is Talio Leader. I request permission to withdraw from combat."
"Talio Leader, what is the squadron's status?"
"We've lost seen pilots. The rest of us are damaged and unable to continue engaging the enemy."
"We copy that, Talio Leader. Return to the Outrider immediately. Repeat, return immediately."
"This is Talio Leader. We copy, and thanks, Outrider. Your timing couldn't have been closer."
The Outrider moved to intercept the Twister, the patroller easily outmatching the Shellian freighter. The Mariva's fighters couldn't touch the patrol craft, protected as it was by supereior weaponry and two full squadrons of vengeful fighters.
"Talio One, this is Kothor Leader. Dyria, what happened?"
"I'm not sure, Symrith. They kept ganging up on us, one by one. They're troop transports, except for the Mariva. Watch out for that one."
"Will do, Dyria. Who'd you lose?"
"Three, Five, Six, Eight, Nine, Eleven and Twelve. We almost lost Four, too."
"Ouch. You did pretty good though - two freighters down. We'll take care of the rest."
"Thanks, Kothor Lead."
The Outrider was sliding between the Twister and the Mariva, firing on both with its side cannons. The Twister nosed down, shields dropping in great spurts. Abruptly a pair of Kothors took out the Twister's shield generators. Shieldless, the Twister was quickly destroyed.
"Outrider, this is CASD battle frigate Starstrider. What's the situation?"
"Starstrider, we have Shellian troop carriers, one escort craft, and various fighters. You are welcome to them."
"Thank you, Outrider. You are authorized to recall your fighters and withdraw from the combat area at will. Of course you could always stay and help."
"Will do, Starstrider."
The Starstrider and her sister ship Starfinder moved in purposefully.
Talio's battle was over.
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