The Aatarr

ALLIANCE BATTLESHIP “AATARR” CLASS: T-PLUS 8 HOURS
  Two million kilometers away the Aatarr continued to bear down on the ship. The commander of the vessel looked at the readout on his main drives. They were on the verge of failing, due to being pushed so hard in their attempt to capture the fleeing vessel. He weighed his options carefully. If they broke off the pursuit and saved the engines and his crew, he knew he’d likely pay for the choice with his life. The Jackal did not care about people or machines, only the accomplishment of the mission. Those who failed, paid dearly. It was that simple. Yet, if he continued the pursuit, he’d condemn himself and his crew to death with the failure of the main drives. As it was, he wasn’t sure they’d survive now. He hoped a long shot would suffice. 
  “Tactical, status of the fleeing Adventurer?” 
  “Sir, the vessel continues in a ballistic trajectory away from the fifth planet. It has not so much as made a single minor course correction in the past hour after making the trajectory change, sir. At our present course, we will be in range within twenty-five minutes.” 
  He walked over to the officer’s station. “You say, it hasn’t maneuvered at all?” 
  “Not a bit, sir. As near as I can tell, their main generator is in running at a high level since we transitioned into this system. Yet, they are completely silent in their emissions, sir.” 
  “So she was hurt badly?” 
  “Yes, if I were to guess, their power busses are damaged forcing them to rely upon their reserves. By now those are so depleted, they don’t have the power to shoot back, nor drive their shields, nor maneuver. I doubt they can even power a sensor. If they have any power at all, they’re hoarding it to make a jump.” 
  “A jump? How?” 
  “Their trajectory, sir, it’s a perfect shot at Beta Hydri or will be in about twenty minutes.” 
  “Have we gotten anything on Remora yet to indicate an exact jump coordinate?” 
  The man shook his head, “Not yet. Normally, Republic vessels transmit within the hour before jumping. This one hasn’t. But we can still identify where they must jump to hit the Beta Hydri system.” 
  “When will they be aligned to jump?” 
  The man studied his display for a moment. He keyed some data in and looked at the results. 
  “Beta Hydri is fairly close, so they have a fair amount of leeway in their jump zone.” 
  “I don’t need the lecture.” He smiled reprovingly as he spoke. 
  “Sorry, sir, they have about a ten second jump window. They’ll enter the window in about twenty minutes.” 
  “So, twenty minutes to cross two em-clicks?” 
  “Right, at this range, energy weapons will be too dispersed to be effective.” 
  “But a fast solid…” 
  “Yes, the Stiletto.” 
  “Can it reach them in that time?” 
  The commander nodded as he assimilated the data. He thoughtfully stroked the tip of his beard. The Adventurer’s condition was poor consolation for the vessels that had been crippled or destroyed fighting her. He’d never heard of a warship used like this. He marveled that a small fleet escort bested so many capital ships. He marveled even more that such a consummate warrior had been relegated to such a menial ship. He held any further thoughts along that line in check. That commander, no matter how gifted, was a member of the Republic and therefor an enemy of the Alliance.  
  “When’s the latest we can engage the Adventurer with Stilettos?” 
  Ker’rhoam glanced up at him from his station. He pursed his lips as he thought for a moment. A faint grin flashed across his face. He looked down and typed vigorously into a keypad for a moment. His brow furrowed in concentration. Then a smile appeared in his face. 
  “If the main drive holds up, we can launch in three minutes. Using its engagement drive as a booster, a Stiletto will then get to the Adventurer just before it jumps; however, we’ll only have terminal aiming of the penetrator so they could easily evade it.” 
  “True, but I’m willing to bet they don’t have the power to do it. Prepare a volley of… how many do we have?” 
  “Twenty, sir” 
  “This commander has done the unexpected repeatedly today. I think he knows what he thinks we’ll do, so launch fourteen of them configured as I’ve said. Stack the engagement drives of the other six into two missiles, so each of the last two have three engagement drives.” 
  “You want to have two missiles with the ability to respond to a course change on his part?” 
  “Yes, the extra engagement drives will be needed for the extra mass, but it should leave them with enough maneuvering capability to catch anything except a major velocity change.” 
  The old tactician nodded his head in agreement. 
  “Then launch all of them as soon as we can. Reprogram them for this different mission profile and then set them for a proximity burst, spread for maximum coverage of the Adventurer’s jump corridor.” 
  “Yes, sir,” he answered and repeated the order before leaving. 
  The orders were given. The minutes ticked by. The commander watched the number of ready missiles count up on the status panel. Ten-seconds before the time ran out, he gave the fire command.  
  “Weapons, fire when ready on the count.”  
  The remaining seconds ticked down. 
  The ship trembled slightly as sixteen missiles volleyed away from her. The flares of their drives showed as a cloud of rapidly fading stars on the display. Then, as their motors burned out, the stars winked out. The engagement drive of each missile flared for a moment and then all of them were dark. 
  “Helm, stand down from the pursuit. Engineering, you may begin repairs on the main drive.”