“Thank God somebody knows what the hell they’re trying to accomplish,” thought Blondie as she watched her ship slide to a stop next to the Moon. Jib was in a prime position between a strike carrier and a destroyer.
“Spin us 180,” ordered Blondie to the helm, and then she switched her attention to her gunner. “Forget the floaters for now! Hit the strike carrier!”
The gunner looked back at her. “Captain, we are right on top of her! We’ll take some debris hits on our shields from our rounds impacting that ship!”
Blondie briefly stared at the gunner. There was a prime target right in front of him and this guy was worried about catching some shrapnel from explosions and depleting the shields. She spoke in a low growl, but it still carried to the gunner across the bridge. “You shove those guns up that carrier’s ass!” She turned to the laser operator. “Lase the hell out of that destroyer. Engines first!” Then she turned to the OpsO. “Put missiles on the ships moored just far enough away to allow the missiles to arm.” Missiles were armed by acceleration force caused by exiting the launcher tube. They required two hundred meters of range to ensure the warhead would detonate on impact. Jib began throwing out munitions from all her systems.
All but one of the Royal Navy ships managed to get in tight on the Moon. The destroyer Lateen had been the furthest ship out from the Moon and then had been hit by missiles from nearby floaters as she made her way slowly toward the Moon. As the other Royal Navy destroyers got in tight on the Moon, enemy floaters switched their fires to Lateen as an easy target. The destroyer was hit numerous times from all directions. Shield panels began failing.
Jack Wilson talked calmly over the command net. “All ships that have eyes on Lateen out in no man’s land will provide supporting fires.”
Seven Zeke destroyers and three pirate ships on the edge of the pirate formation switched targets and hit all the floaters firing on Lateen. The floaters were knocked out, but the damage was done. Lateen staggered as an internal explosion took out engine number one. She slowed.
Jack Wilson spoke rapidly. “Lateen, head out on departure heading. Prepare to abandon ship. I’ll call your pod launch so you spend minimal time in the pods. If circumstances force you to abandon ship earlier, do so after informing me. We’ll get your pods on the way out. Discharge your mines on the way out. Do not activate them. I will do that. Set ship demolition charges for remote activation.”
Lateen turned and struggled as she headed outbound. Three destroyers covered her with missile fire to ensure she got away.
Wilson reviewed the situation. It was chaos now. His Royal Navy ships were in tight on the Moon. They were shooting at everything in range. Missiles hit long range targets. Guns were chewing up near targets and lasers were burning into the Moon and nearby ship engines.
Only the enemy floaters had reacted to the attack at first, but now all defensive positions in the Moon were taking up the fight now. Hatches flipped open and missiles and gunfire erupted from the openings. Royal Navy ships were in tight on these positions so the defensive fires hit ship shields as the range was too close for the Zekes to use interceptor missiles for defense. The Royal Navy destroyers immediately responded with guns and lasers on the open hatches. They had to destroy the position or force the hatches to close to keep from taking close-in fire that could significantly damage their ships.
Above the shattered docks, O’Hare had Alpha Squadron continue to hit ships and tugs floating in the harbor while the other pirate ships moved on to shooting ships tethered to the Moon. They hit engines and moved on to other targets. The enemy ships needed to be immobilized to ensure no pursuit and to limit their weapons’ response. Ships without engines were limited to battery power and whatever power they could draw from the Moon. It wouldn’t be enough power to drive targeting sensors and computers, weapon systems, and life support. Some of those systems could be brought online with limited power but not all. The enemy ships were at their most vulnerable and the attackers needed to exploit that. The pirates had the ruined floating docks between them and the Moon, and this provided perfect cover as the pirates could shoot through the openings within the dock structure while it was difficult for the Moon’s defenses to fire up at the pirates without hitting the docks and their own ships moored there. The pirates could see down to the equator of the Moon so started their firing at the North Pole and worked their way down. Whenever defensive fires from the Moon were detected, the position was taken under fire. If the hatch closed, a gun or laser would continually fire on it to keep it shut.
O’Hare turned briefly from her screens and rotated her chair to look at the comm position. Petty Officer Chou felt the eyes on her and looked up from her console.
“What’s the comm traffic like between the destroyers?” asked O’Hare quietly.
Chou knew she meant the Royal Navy destroyers. At Excandor, Chou had watched everything go to hell in a hurry so was not in a forgiving mood regarding her comrades-in-arms. “The long time in subspace did them no favors, so they were slow and sluggish to their firing points with lots of confused chatter. Captain Wilson is verbally kicking people in the ass. Lots of comm talk about nothing consequential. Captain Wilson is getting that under control. It’s coming around.” She thought for a moment and added, “I’m keeping the Royal Navy ships informed on our situation and doing the translating for our ships.” She smiled at her last remark.
O’Hare returned the smile. She knew Chou would keep the other pirate ships informed on the information that was passing between the Royal Navy ships in Zeke slang or Royal Navy code that some of the Zeke captains would use to bypass the pirates listening in. She briefly smiled again at Chou’s mention of “our ships” when referring to Flot 1 vessels.
Reese Patrick spoke up in an excited voice. “Row two! That heavy cruiser! It’s Zadornyy!”
O’Hare stopped her battle management. She didn’t bother with questions. She trusted Patrick. She snarled, “Hit that goddamn ship! Hard!”
Zadornyy had been one of the ships in the OrCon squadron that had invaded the Badlands at the beginning of the war. She had been a shooter at Ulatar and had fought against the pirates and Skyler Mallory’s ships during the Badlands campaign. She was one of six OrCon ships to depart the Badlands after their defeat there. Two of those ships, the battlecruisers Republic and Citizen, had been dealt with in the Electra System. The other four ships had not been found. Now the pirates had gotten lucky and Zadornyy had gotten unlucky. She would not survive the night.
Patrick redirected missiles at the defenseless ship tied to a berth in row two. The heavy cruiser was trying to get engines on line and blow mooring lines, but she would never make it. Eight missiles from Nemesis hit her in rapid secession. A second salvo hit her two seconds later. Without shields, all the pirate missiles hit the hull and five penetrated. Explosions shook the warship, and she was badly hurt. It wasn’t enough for O’Hare. Indeed, it wasn’t enough for any of them.
“Switching to guns,” Patrick intoned in a business manner. He knew how to do this. The ship’s four 125 mm guns began hammering the heavy cruiser as Nemesis’ missiles moved onto other ship targets. The gun rounds started at the bow and worked their way aft. Suddenly, a large volley of missiles impacted along the length of Zadornyy. The ship went up in a series of explosions. No pods got off. The explosions flung debris in all directions and fragged the ships on each side, above, and below the unlucky heavy cruiser.
Reese Patrick answered before anyone could ask the obvious question. “That was Renegade, Marauder, and Vindictive.”
O’Hare was not surprised. Marauder and Vindictive had had families at Ulatar and Ringo in Renegade just liked to shoot. Killian was glad no escape pods had gotten off Zadornyy. The temptation to tag them might have been too much to resist for some of the pirates, and that action would have complicated this mission and its aftermath.
Patrick switched to wrecking other ships moored to the Moon. He calmly remarked, “The six floaters at Zavodila are
finally shooting at us now. Three minutes to impact on us. Eighty-eight seconds for our volley to get there.” He paused and then added. “Now there are missiles coming from the planet itself to protect their floaters.” The floaters protecting Zavodila that were in range of the attackers were getting into the battle. Zavodila itself was out of range of the intruders but were in range to cover their floaters so were shooting interceptors to attrite the incoming pirate volley.
“Roger that,” O’Hare absently replied. She knew the floater missiles were coming at her force as the Royal Navy ships were tight on the Moon and could not be isolated for targeting. She also knew she had to protect against the incoming missiles, but there were minutes to spare and things to do in the meantime. The pirate contingent went on with their systematic destruction.
Jack Wilson let his XO command Topsail as he directed the overall fight. He scanned the ships closest to his position. Foreroyal had been hit several times and might suffer the same fate as Lateen. Crossjack, under her new captain, was doing well. Admiral Levant had been right about Utley. The man knew his business. He moved on to Jib. He smiled. He had to give Blondie credit for guts. She had her ship in tight and was working a carrier over with guns while slicing up a destroyer with lasers. Her missiles were shooting up a Paladin class battleship a row below her. If only all his captains were that aggressive.
He scanned the pirate force. They had suffered no damage. The wrecked dock facility served as an excellent shield from enemy ships and floaters and the pirates had some ships hitting all the free targets in the spaceport while the remainder worked on the Moon ships. Two OrCon light cruisers had managed to blow lines from the Moon and pushed clear of their docks as they tried to get underway. Both had been hit multiple times by pirate missiles before they could get going. The two warships were drifting now as their engines had been shot to pieces, and the pirates moved on to other targets. He knew the incoming floater missiles would require the pirates to defend themselves but, for now, they were creating havoc.
Wilson smiled again. O’Hare and her captains knew their jobs. Of course, years of fighting in the Badlands would make you good or make you dead. Wilson found himself wishing other Royal Navy captains had given up command of their ships at the briefing. More pirate captains would be a good thing. He checked the time. The attack had been going for almost three minutes. He figured ten minutes more at the most.
Onboard Predator, the situation seemed odd without Tactical and Hawkins at their customary places on the bridge, but business was business, and the usual efficiency prevailed. This was an experienced crew who knew their jobs. Mason Reed was confident all the enemy ships floating free in the harbor had been hit numerous times and were out of action. He directed Rebel II and Rogue to continue to search for outlying targets for missile strikes while switching Predator and Renegade to Moon targets. Of course, Renegade had already switched to the Moon while hitting Zadornyy and never switched back. Reed wasn’t surprised as Ringo only listened to Hawkins or O’Hare. Without either of them directing her, she did pretty much as she damned well pleased. Chain of command was a nebulous thing within Flot 1, and Mason Reed was aware of that so did not press the issue despite being the acting squadron commander.
“Rake the battleship that Blondie is hitting with missiles. Her missiles don’t have the angle to hit the whole target and we can’t have that ship underway and, in the fight,” Reed ordered calmly from the captain’s chair. Missiles immediately switched from a drifting wrecked freighter to the battleship. Reed nodded in satisfaction. “We’ll move to the second carrier next. Blondie is dealing serious damage on the other one.”
“Blondie is getting it done,” remarked Baby Doll from behind him at the ops station. “Switching to the carrier after the next volley.”
The battleship being pummeled by Jib and now by Predator had absorbed missiles from bow to stern and was holed in dozens of places. Three compartments were on fire as atmosphere pumped into the ship from her mooring lines to the Moon kept fires burning. The second carrier had attracted ordnance from several pirate ships and was shot to hell now. New targets were engaged.
“Back over the dock, Mia.” A brief order from Llewellyn Terrant over the command net showed she was watching the newest ship to Flot 1. The just renamed Ronan had slid out from over the dock wreckage as she shot at new targets further down on the Metal Moon. The ship was now a lone easy target out in the open and would soon attract enemy attention. Ronan slid back over the docks just as three streams of gunfire from the Moon crisscrossed on her former position.
Reese Patrick spoke from his ops station behind O’Hare. “We have merge in ten seconds.” The pirate missile volley at the far floaters was about to meet the floater’s volley coming at the pirate ships.
O’Hare talked calmly. “I’m betting those are offensive missiles coming at us from the floaters. The planet operators don’t give a damn about their floaters so are willing to absorb our volley before their planet’s protective fire gets there to cover them. They want to go offensive to save the Metal Moon.”
“No bet,” Patrick answered. “I think you are right. The floater’s shots are offensive, and the planet salvos are defensive protecting the floaters. After the merge, we will have two minutes and sixteen seconds until their first wave of missiles get to us.”
O’Hare’s prediction proved to be true. At the merge, the missiles passed through each other with only one collision. Patrick said, “The interceptors coming from the planet will get to their floaters nine seconds after our missiles arrive there. They will take out some of our follow-on volley, but the missiles in the forefront will hit the floaters. The OrCons on the planet are pulling the six floaters back toward them.”
O’Hare nodded. By pulling their six floaters toward the planet and away from the pirates, the OrCons were giving their planet missile coverage more time to attrite the incoming pirate volley. O’Hare frowned. The initial volley might get some hits on the floaters but now, with the planetary defenses fully engaged in protecting them, there was no chance the pirates could destroy all six targets. O’Hare would have to settle for some hits on the floaters and then knocking down their incoming missiles. She knew she had to switch some ships back to intercepting the incoming volleys so did a quick calculation before talking over her command net. “All Flot 1 ships except squadron leaders, go defensive on the missiles coming from the planet floaters.”
The incoming floater missiles were coming close and had to be dealt with. Any substantial damage to a pirate ship would be her doom as the crew abandoning ship was never an option. Nine pirate ships switched all missile launchers to interceptors and began sending them downrange at the floater volley. O’Hare knew it was overkill against the incoming missiles fired from only six floaters but better to err on the side of caution here. One lucky hit was too much of a risk to be casual about.
Predator, Nemesis, Vindictive, and Wicked continued to shoot missiles at Moon targets. The other pirate ships had switched their missiles to attrite the incoming floater barrage while continuing to hit other targets with lasers and guns. Ross Landry in Gunfighter caught an enemy missile position on the Moon as its hatch flipped open to fire. A salvo of pirate gunfire straddled the open hatch and two rounds impacted inside the position. The explosions jammed the hatch open and Gunfighter poured gunfire and laser shots through the hatch. Shane Delacruz in Vindictive saw the opportunity and directed missiles into the opening. Missiles hit all around the target while several flew through the hatchway and exploded deeper and deeper inside the Moon. Nobody had any idea what was being damaged, but it didn’t much matter. The facilities within the Moon were all viable targets. The attackers had a general layout of the Moon innards and knew that the armored outer surface was the main line of protection and, once that was penetrated, the damage to the interior could be widespread. Soon two secondary explosions deep in the Moon indicated the success of the attack. Pirate missiles continued to enter the open hatch.
Th
e first pirate volley was arriving at the six planetary floaters just ahead of the planet interceptors. Missiles crashed into four floaters, taking out two of them completely while partially damaging missile launchers on the other two. The planetary interceptor missiles now arrived in defense of the floaters and took out the follow-on pirate missiles. The floaters were well protected now. O’Hare knew shooting at them would be a waste of time and ordnance. She still had to defeat the steady stream of missiles coming at them. The incoming floater projectiles would not slacken for several seconds as those missiles were in flight before the pirate missiles had arrived and hit the planetary floaters. When the incoming fire dwindled, O’Hare would switch more pirate ships to the Moon.
Wilson moved Topsail out from her cozy position next to the Moon. The ship being up against the Moon retarded comm and sensors. He had to get eyes on the entire situation and he needed open space to do that. As his ship slid out, Wilson could see the attack was proceeding well. The pirates were providing great overwatch and hitting all moving targets. The Royal Navy destroyers were tight on the Moon and shooting up all nearby enemy ships. The Moon’s surface defenses were largely neutralized now as any opening hatch immediately drew fire from any destroyer that saw the movement.
Wilson reviewed his force’s material condition. The pirates had no significant damage. That was partly due to the easier mission, but Wilson also knew it was due to their ability and experience in combat. His Royal Navy ships could not make the same claim. Lateen had limped out of the spaceport and was slowly moving along the escape route. Foreroyal was still in position against the Metal Moon but had been hit five more times at close range. Her weakened shields had allowed hits on the hull and two had penetrated. The ship’s captain had reported the damage under control, but Wilson had his doubts. Strake had actually rammed the Moon due to closing too fast while moving to a close-in position. Her shields had limited the damage, but she had a crumbled bow and some casualties due to the sudden, violent stop. Wilson shook his head. He was sure the captain would blame it on the effects of subspace on his crew. Wilson was also sure he would not believe that. He checked his chronometer. The attack should be ended now, but he wanted to press the advantage. He had Topsail slide back into her Moon position and the attack continued.
Smoke on the Wind Page 17