Board Thread:Fun and Games Forum/@comment-26355186-20150721115811/@comment-35609040-20150801181516

Zand had just received the message when a green ray of light zipped by in front of him. He shifted around the cockpit, trying every available viewport to find the intruder. This went on for a while, nothing but a straight path, the drone of the engine, and the darkness of the void. That's when he saw it. A small craft maybe 3 meters long, tall as a closet and narrow as a person. He didn't wait to examine it further. His fingers flew across the controls, setting up the HuD and, with a few typos, designating the ship as hostile. The canopy lit up with the display's statistics and a red shape appeared around the vessel while the word "Rnemy" floated above it.

He pulled his jumpship onto the hive fighter's tail, only for it to react with lighting reflexes and turn on him as well. They turned in towards eachother in a rapid spiral, each giving chase and being chased at the same time. This was a game of endurance. Who was going to give up? Immediately, Zand noticed the Hive ship turned far better than he did, and it was gaining ground, almost in a firing position. The hunter replied by angling his craft down while maintaining the turn, closing the circle tighter. To no avail.

He gave up on the turn-fight and tried to get away,  while the hive fighter stayed close at heels. He tried to look at the fighter behind him, but the canopy's shape allowed no rear vision. It was right behind him now, right on target, right in range. Right in his blind spot. It fired its weapons. Zand gritted his teeth and pushed the throttle forwards as projectiles silently glided past. The little more plentiful arc blasts looked like soild metal ping-pong balls, the void shots like bowling balls. Each going faster than the speed of sound. The flew just over the canopy, around the sides. Right to the starboard, just at the port, skimming his wings and narrowly missing the roof.

The hunter put the throttle into full power, pushing the lever to its limits, and still pushing on it out of fear and desperation. It couldn't go faster, but it might be able to. Right? Maybe.

The shots spread increased until there were only strays. Zand let go of the throttle lever and sighed in relief, only to be int interrupted by a horrible sound. Rata-tetetetetetetetetete-tat!  The entire ship shook with each hit as gasses and coolants sprayed around the interior. Wires burst and cables sparked. But was worse was the outside. Finally mustering up the courage, Zand looked to his port. The wing was merely a frame now. A metal skeleton with bits of muscle mass clinging on. Fuel form the in-wing tanks floated into space like green dew drops and clouds. Fuel was leaking. Fuel was leaking!

The pilot watched in horror as the HuD's barely functioning stats monitor showed the fuel amount jump from 82 to 54 percent. It takes about 60 percent of the fuel to fly back to Earth.

All was not lost. Zand pulled the throttle back all the way while charging the lasers. It worked. The Hive fighter zoomed past the stationary jump ship. Now Zand could get a clear look. It was shaped like one of those computer consoles from the golden age, with stubby little stabilizer wings protruding from the bottom edge. It was boney and decaying, the very metal seemed to be rotting away, exposing the interior workings of the craft. It was far too small to compensate anyone comfortably or naturally. Did the Hive even know what comfort was? It didn't matter now, Zand pulled the trigger and the laser hit the fighter dead center. The hull simply ceased to exist, while the small wings carried the inertia onward, forever soaring into the infinite beyond.