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getting near to the bigger ships.”  He pushed up the throttle and went straight at the lead gunboat.  Depressing the triggers, he sent a salvo of laser bolts stinging the shields of the enemy ship.  With a quick maneuver, his fighter flashed past the larger ship and he saw that two more of the Aploras made similar runs. 
                  “We’re wearing them down, Lead,” one of his pilots said.  “But those shields are strong!”
                  “We’re better,” Korqath snapped, bringing his fighter around.  “Hukriss, Karno, with me.  We’re going to hit that one together.”
                  There were a series of clicks on the comms in acknowledgement.  The three manta rays circled around on different vectors, but once they were all locked onto the same fighter, Hukriss launched a missile while Korqath and Karno peppered the ship with their cannons.  A nuclear fireball blossomed as the gunboat fired, detonating the missile just short of the front of the ship.  The energy of the blast diffused slightly, but not enough.  The nuclear energy washed over the ship’s forward shields, making them flare and the follow up salvo from the fighters caused serious spotting.
                  “One more pass,” Korqath ordered.  “Look alive,” he said, dodging his fighter under the incoming fire from another of the gunships. 
                  “Fire’s getting a bit heavy, Lead,” Karno observed.  “I have a shot.”
                  “Take it!” the zheen snapped.  “We don’t have time to szizzkz around.”  He brought his own fighter’s nose around, planting the targeting reticule on the ship’s ventral side.  He saw that the other Vision snapped off a shot from both its wing cannons and hit the gunboat in its forward section.  The ship shrugged off the blasts and returned fire. 
                  The medium laser cannons pounded the Zlk’vzn fighter, shredding the ship’s shields and punctured the fighter’s port wing.  The pilot Karno tried to get clear, but a second shot punched through the fuselage and the small ship vaporized.
                  “Karno’s been hit!” Hukriss shouted, his voice undercut by hissing and clicking.  “He’s gone!”
                  Both of the fighters vectored in on their target, energy weapons blazing.  The gunboat’s guns opened up and a quartet of missiles rushed off the racks.
                  “Turn!” Hukriss bellowed over the comms.  His fighter roared away from the gunboat, but Korqath didn’t break off.  Putting his fighter into a barrel roll, the zheen jerked the stick around in a random maneuver, causing the ship to jink crazily but in a very narrow cone.  It kept him on target for the gunboat but with his cannons firing continuously, he obliterated a pair of missiles heading straight toward him.
                  “Firing!” he cried, launching two missiles from his dwindling supply.  Only six of the weapons left.  The missiles closed the distance in less than a second and exploded against the paper thin shields of the gunboat.  He yanked the stick to port and forward, diving “down” below the gunboat as the nuclear fireballs blossomed.  The energy splashed over his shields and damage alarms blared.  If he was a human, he would have squinted his eyes against the flare of the energy bursts.  As he wasn’t his antennae curled as he flinched away.  A few seconds later, he was through, his fighter a bit singed but still functional.  He flipped a few switches, redirecting some energy away from his weapons to increase his shield recharge.
                  “Nice shot, Commander!” Hukriss said, his voice clicking.  “You nailed the bastard.”
                  “Stow it, Hukriss,” Korqath ordered, his voice harsh.  He’d never flown that close to a nuclear explosion