Submitted for The 6-Pack Challenge by action
Round 5: To Infinity & Beyond
Prompt: < 500-word story feat. human-vs.-alien dogfight ca. 1919
499 words

At first, the radio team at Yeşilköy airfield thought it must have been a joke. Amid laughter, they confirmed the situation. A "flying dish" had indeed sunk the Vikelas—an armored cruiser of the Royal Hellenic Navy—right in the middle of the Bosphorus river. It was a direct violation of the Armistice of Mudros, except nobody was sure who controlled the vessel.

The Naval Air Service units were meant to be on stand-by. No sense keeping all the planes fueled unless there was a serious threat from Ottoman insurgents in nearby Occupied Constantinople. They weren't expecting an air raid from a platter that fired "disintegration rays".

There was no doubt about who to send in: Niketas and Nektarios Angelidis. Their British counterparts called them "The Angels". Without hesitation, the brothers took command of the one available Sopwith Gun Bus.

Their biplane followed the billowing smoke towards the city, where the unknown craft was hovering in a loop between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque of Sultan Ahmet. Blinding lights flashed around the mystery vessel as they closed in.

For a brief moment, they considered turning around and disengaging. Who knew what kind of super-weapons it might have? But no! That would practically be treason.

They veered upward, attempting to get above the saucer, when it launched a beam of energy towards the Sopwith. Niketas hit a quick break, turning 90 degrees, narrowly dodging the blast. Nektarios sighed in relief, knowing their opponents' arms still followed some of the laws of physics.

They had to draw out the saucer above the river if they wanted to minimize the causalities—the Turks may not want them there, but they were duty-bound to protect them anyway.

The Sopwith rushed toward the dish again, this time at an angle. Seconds before the biplane rammed into it, the saucer maneuvered out of the way, gliding towards the water. Just as well too—the Angels didn't know if they would have survived the impact.

As soon as the plate was above the river, Niketas swooped below it. Nektarios swiveled the Lewis machine gun upwards, firing wildly into the underside of the enigmatic craft. The conventional bullets seemed to bounce right off the hull of the vessel.

He loaded the ammo pan with Buckingham rounds; filled with explosive phosphorus; normally reserved for taking down zeppelins. That seemed to get a response. A quadrant of the disc burst into flame—only to be extinguished moments later. It gained speed, hurtling towards the Sopwith.

The biplane was dragged down by the weight of the collapsing disc as both machines crashed into the water. Not like this, thought Nektarios, holding his breath, even as he reached out for his brother.

Nektarios gasped and opened his eyes. He woke up in his bed at Yeşilköy. That's when he felt the massive hangover. His brother was snoring away in the bunk above him. Next to his bed was the bottle of homebrew ouzo they emptied, and a broken saucer from yesterday's feast.