"Battle at Vorik" by Joshua Price

Matthew Tigerheart, a fighter pilot for the United Federation of Earth, was part of a task force sent to the Vorik system where a vital Vanolian outpost was. Unfortunately, the Vanolians were prepared. The U.F.E. fleet entered the system and soon space was filled with streaks of red and purple.

"Fighters incoming at point 036! Blue squadron we need fighter support now!"

Without hesitation, a young man garbed in the tan pilot uniform of the United Federation of Earth piloted his T-shaped missile variant of the U.F.E Fighter, which was the same as the standard except it carried missiles rather than rockets, to intercept the inbound fighters. A shame though, he had already exhausted his ammunition, so he only had the dual wing-mounted Blaze Cannons to rely on. The U.F.E. fighters were much quicker and nimbler than the Vanolian ones, so him and the other fighters were able to quickly reach them. The Vanolian fighter craft had opened fire upon Matthew's mothership, a U.F.E. Carrier named the U.E.S. Lowell. Lance opened fire upon the hostile fighters. Streaks of red shot out rapidly from the chaingun style Blaze Cannons. However, Vanolian ships, despite being slow and poorly shielded, had strong armor. They also weren't going to let them just be shot at. They quickly turned on the U.F.E. fighter craft.

Across the channels came various messages constantly. Like other craft, Matthew had a special filter that somehow caused messages that he needed to be heard above all the others. He had no clue how it worked, nor did he care. He just focused on evading that rocket coming his way. He pulled up, just in time as it passed under him, missing being set-off by his shields by mere inches. A Vanolian craft attempted to chase him, but was quickly out ran. Matthew pulled back down and started firing upon more fighters, shooting one down in the process which spiraled towards the uninhabitable red planet below. The planet wasn't the objective, but rather the station on the other side.

However, as Matthew attacked more fighters, he was fired upon. And hit. First was a rocket that took out his shields followed by some neutron bolts to sear the belly of his craft. To not pull out was foolish. He pulled up and out of the immediate fighting. He quickly hailed his mothership.

"Blue 12 to mothership. I'm damaged and need both repair and rearmament. Request permission to dock. Over"

"Permission granted Blue 12, though be quick about it. We need all the fighter support we can get. Over and out."

Matthew sighed in relief. There had been a time before where permission was denied. He was almost killed in that battle. He quickly piloted his craft to one of the many bays on the U.E.S. Lowell. Moments later, he had landed inside and several automated repair droids had swarmed his ship, fixing it as fast as possible. Some others loaded fresh Hunter Missiles into his launcher. Minutes later, he was back out again, and just in time...

"Blue groups green groups, we have eliminated enough enemy fighters for you to get through. Destroy that station. Bombers, dock to reload first, we're going to need all the fire power we can get on that station."

Matthew quickly obeyed the order, piloting his craft in that direction. Moments later, he was flying through the Vanolian warships, which gladly opened fire upon him and his fellow pilots with their point-defense weaponry. Somehow, he managed to weave through it all without getting shot. How he did it, he would never know.

Once he was clear of the warships, it was some minutes of uneventful flying before the station came into view. As if on cue, shots from it's weaponry headed his way. They were too far for point-defense weapons, so it was larger shots meant for warships which were easy to evade. However, soon him and the rest of his fellow pilots were in range, and the heavy shots were replaced with a rain of point-defense neutron shots. Matthew quickly fired his missiles as fast as he could, having fell into a trigger-happy mood. He only took long enough just to lock-on. After that he opened fire with his cannons. So far, little damage was being done, as the bombers hadn't arrived yet. Around him U.F.E. fighters were being shot down...too quickly. Matthew began to worry. If they were going down this fast, how would they possibly destroy the station? However, he had his orders, he had to keep it up, no matter the odds.

Minutes later, most of the fighters were down. But the bombers arrived. They quickly began to dump their payload of Rose Shredder bombs. The results were great. Explosions ripped the station, tearing it apart. The more bombs that hit, the less incoming fire that came from the station. The less enemy fire, the more bombs. Matthew pulled away, knowing the station would go boom pretty soon. Soon, the rest of the U.F.E. fighters were retreating from the exploding station, headed to their flagships. As they reached the enemy warships again, the station exploded in a great flash of light and short lived fire. The Battle of Vorik had been won.