Smoke on the Wind

by Sean Benjamin

  Once clear of subspace, the OrCons moved toward the derelicts as the Zeke base defenses swung into action. Floaters began to put out a steady flow of missiles and cannon fire, but the attackers intercepted the missiles and absorbed the cannon fire on their shields with minimum damage. There were two light cruisers and three destroyers in low orbit in front of five freighters while another destroyer immediately took cover behind Little Drifter, a floating rock in orbit around Wanderlust. There were three ships in repair docks, one a battlecruiser.

  Pervak directed attacking fires at the base. The majority of the attackers’ ordnance was sent at the base defenses, but he had his flagship begin to hit the base repair docks and the three ships there. He had to give the Zekes credit. They had reacted very quickly. The one destroyer behind the floating rock were now popping out, firing, and ducking back behind cover. The five warships in low orbit were clearly intent on staying in front of the freighters. All the Zeke defenders were firing interceptors with only their gun floaters engaged in offensive operations. The fight was a stalemate at the moment as the enemy interceptors were taking out the majority of the Orion missiles, but Pervak wasn’t worried. As the base defenses were worn down, there would be fewer defensive fires, and the battle would shift his way. His conclusion seemed confirmed when two Zeke floaters suffered multiple missile hits and went silent.

  As Bundestag fired on the repair docks, Pervak scanned the three ships there. All three had their engines on line and were now beginning to increase their defensive fires. They did not break out of the docks but were clearly using them as cover. A feeling of unease crept across Pervak’s mind. Those three ships shouldn’t have been able to get engines up this quickly. In fact, it would have been reasonable to assume they couldn’t get engines on line ever. They were in a repair dock, after all. Pervak frowned as he watched the three ships put out a high volume of defensive fires. A battlecruiser and two heavy cruisers were not supposed to be part of the defenses, but there they were. The fight was much more even than Pervak wished, but he could not withdraw now. He was in close on a major enemy base with a chance to inflict severe damage. An opportunity like that didn’t come along every day. He had to take full advantage, regardless of the damage his force might take in return.

  “Get tight on the derelicts,” he ordered over his command net. His force closed on the twelve freighters and two barges and got in tight behind them. Five destroyers did not get a ship of their own to hide behind so stayed behind one of the ships that did have a ship of her own for cover. The opposing sides continued to trade volleys of missiles and gunfire.

  ~ ~ ~

  Admiral Barrett sat in his command chair on the flag bridge of Cockeyed Bob. He watched as the enemy moved to take cover behind the two trains of old freighters. He smiled and shook his head slightly. He was so happy Raferty Hawkins was on his side. The pirate was a devious man who had a devious plan. Barrett watched the enemy slide into cover and then spoke over his command net. “Cease firing guns at the enemy. We cannot hit our freighters. Prepare to go all offensive in fifteen seconds with directed missile fire.” He paused and then asked, “Captain Takahashi, are you ready?”

  Riki Takahashi of Dragon immediately replied, “Ready to go, Admiral. All offensive.”

  “Excellent.” Barrett spun in his chair to bring his OpsO, Captain Luther Norton, into his view. “Call it when you want, Luther.”

  Norton nodded, pleased the Admiral was letting him run the timing. Many commanders would want to do it themselves.

  Norton talked over the command net. “Captain Takahashi, shoot at your convenience.”

  Riki acknowledged the call and then ordered over her squadron net. “All ships, shoot now.”

  The five covering warships in front of the pirate freighters rose out of the way as the five freighters opened all cargo bay hatches and sent over four hundred missiles downrange. All Zeke warships at the base now began to put offensive missiles out at the cyclic rate.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Son of a bitch!” Admiral Pervak heard the same expression from three different positions around the flag bridge. He said nothing as he followed the swarm of missiles back to their launch point. He had seen the five freighters close to the planet when his force had emerged from subspace but had dismissed them as a nonthreat. He now realized his mistake as he knew immediately who they were. The two large freighters were new to him but the other three merchantmen were well known. His mission just shifted from destroy a major enemy base to force survival. “Get in tight on our cover! Go offensive for two volleys at the freighters and then defensive.”

  “Ninety-two seconds to impact,” the operations officer said. They would have time to cut down the incoming barrage and, hopefully, the derelicts so thoughtfully provided by the Zekes would take a percentage of the remaining missiles. His ship’s shields, gun cannister rounds, and lasers would do their jobs and damage should be minimal. Pervak knew he could stay in his current position for a few more minutes because he also knew those pirate freighters had one large weakness in that they need two minutes to send another salvo downrange as their hatches had to close and the cargo bays had to pressurize to allow the next round of missiles to roll from the overhead magazines into the launchers. Pervak planned to absorb this round, counterpunch to inflict damage on the freighters and the base, and then pull out before another large freighter salvo was launched. He would still be well within range when the second salvo was sent out, but he would be running away at flank speed, giving his defenses plenty of time to whittle down the pursuing Zeke ordnance. But first, he had to survive this initial volley. His ships moved in tight behind the derelict ships and continually slid with the derelicts to maintain cover behind them as the two trains moved to maintain their positions above the base.

  Aboard Cockeyed Bob, everyone on the flag bridge smiled. The OrCons were doing just what was expected of them. They had no idea what was about to hit them. “Activating,” Norton said quietly. He hit several virtual keys on his screen.

  Admiral Pervak was following the missile barrage sent out by both sides. His two offensive volleys at the pirate freighters would soon merge with the incoming pirate missiles as all missiles sped toward their targets. Surprisingly, the Zekes were ignoring the Orion missiles as they seemed to be using all their resources targeting his ships with their fires. Perhaps they thought the Orion volleys were interceptors aimed at the pirate volley. They would see their mistake soon enough when the salvos passed through each other with few collisions. Pervak hoped their lack of attention to the threat would be to the pirates’ extreme detriment. If the Zekes did not engage the OrCon missiles in a continuous attempt to reduce their numbers, it would mean the pirate freighters were more likely to take hits as more missiles would get to them.

  The merge came and only two chance collisions occurred. The Zekes would realize their mistake now and would go defensive, but Pervak had his own problem. His follow-on interceptor missiles launched after the two offensive volleys were now hitting the forward edge of the incoming barrage. Pervak knew it wouldn’t be enough and many missiles would get through his interceptor shield. The engagement tables were on one of his screens, and he ran the numbers. His preoccupation with the incoming missiles and the math were momentarily ended as he now stared at his tac screen. It showed his ship was drifting closer to the derelict she was using as cover. Getting too close would cause the derelict to get in the way of the ship’s defensive weapons and their fields of fire.

  “Mind your helm,” he ordered over the flagship net to the ship’s captain on his own bridge one deck down.

  The captain immediately replied, “We are not moving toward it. It is moving toward us!”

  Pervak scanned the freighter in front of Bundestag with sensors. It was cold. There were no engines on line and no life support systems warming the hull from within. He didn’t know why or how, but he sensed the threat. “All ships, back away from-.”

  The twelve ships and two motorized barges det
onated in one large explosion. The fourteen Orion warships using the ships for cover had tons of explosives go off scant meters in front of their bows. Forward shields were overwhelmed as explosive force and shrapnel impacted the Orion ships. Three ships slewed sideways under the force. Two collisions occurred. Although no ships were destroyed or disabled, damage was extensive to the bows of these fourteen ships. The five destroyers in the second row were undamaged but had to adjust for the flailing ships in front of them so ceased fire.

  Just as important as the damage inflicted, the blasts disrupted the defenses of the raiders. All ships stopped firing as the front ships lost sensors, weapons systems, and situational awareness. The five back ships had to adjust their lines of sight due to the chaos immediately in front of them before their firing could resume. There was now a large gap in the flow of enemy interceptors aimed at the incoming Zeke barrage.

  Admiral Barrett smiled as he watched the explosions of the derelicts. He had to give Raferty Hawkins credit. The man had seen the new escape pod retrieval system in use as he watched the imagery of the Excandor fight. The ship hulls were magnetized, and that drew the smaller pods to them. He realized it would work in reverse as well. Instead of the pod being drawn to the magnetized ship, a magnetized ship could be drawn to another ship. A pod recovery magnetizing system had been installed in each derelict and the two motorized barges. When activated, the derelicts had been drawn toward the OrCon ships and the subtle closure rate had gone largely undetected in the busy heat of battle. The result was magnificent. All firing had ceased from the raiders. Three ships had large holes in their forward hulls. Barrett knew the defensive systems and weapons would be offline on all fourteen ships that had been next to the derelicts. He also knew he had just won the battle.

  Admiral Pervak was stunned by the sudden violence. His flagship had spun ninety degrees and now drifted aimlessly. All forward sensors were destroyed and a scan of ship weapons systems showed four forward missile launchers were heavily damaged and offline. Forward shields were down and wouldn’t come back. “Withdraw along our ingress route!” he ordered over the command net. Pervak knew the defense for his flotilla was interrupted and all engagement calculations were now moot. A large number of Zeke missiles would get through his defenses and start tapping on hulls. He needed to put space between his ships and the incoming missiles to gain time to deal with the threat. His attack was over and survival was paramount now.

  The Zeke barrage lead by the massive pirate freighter broadside reached the departing OrCons in their ragged formation as they turned to depart. The enemy ships had begun to put out interceptors again but at much lower numbers with no coordination between ships. Cannister rounds and lasers added to the Orion defense but the Zeke missiles blew through these obstacles and began to hammer the shields of the rear ships. The battlecruiser Diet was the first casualty. The pirate freighters could not designate targets for their missiles so the projectiles used their own active seekers in their warheads to home in on a target. The large battlecruiser attracted the majority of the incoming pirate salvo. Missiles impacted the rear shields and rapidly drained them. Then eight missiles impacted the hull before the first one got through. Then it was a free for all. Multiple hits on both engines quickly shut them down, and the ship began to slow. More impacts caused explosions throughout the stern area. Diet was doomed. She was powerless and blind. Her companions were too concerned with their own defenses to coordinate a force-wide defensive plan. Escape pods began to come off as the disintegrating ship performed her final duty as a missile magnet. The battlecruiser absorbed a continuous stream of hits. Only a quarter of the crew got off before she dissolved in three near simultaneous explosions.

  With Diet gone, the remainder of the pirate volley locked on to Bundestag. The flagship put up a stout defense, but Zeke and pirate missiles steadily forced their way through the defensive measures.

  As the OrCon formation took their hits, the two offensive volleys shot at the pirate freighters were rapidly closing on their target. The warships in front of the pirates switched from the offense to shooting interceptors. The incoming missiles were steadily reduced in number, but it was clear some would get through. Suddenly, a volley of missiles came from the surface of the planet. They were quickly followed by a second and then a third. The Slingshot batteries on the planet’s surface now joined the battle. They were short range, but the enemy missiles had come to them. Slingshot missiles passed by the freighters and warships to take out more of the attacking wave. The warships held fast in front of the freighters and went to lasers and cannon fire. Enemy missile numbers were steadily reduced as the range shortened. The surviving enemy missiles were taken on the warships’ shields.

  Chapter 35

  Captain Maclyn Yardley had to admire her crew’s professionalism and bravery. They had been new to the ship, and she had spent a great deal of time on the voyage teaching the crew about the ship, its equipment, and the procedures required to keep everything running at top efficiency. She had not taught them anything about the missile system, as she knew nothing about it herself. It was now apparent several of them already knew how to make it work and had diligently prepared the system for combat.

  She and Kit Kinkaid had toured the ship before the fight and saw the crew doing all they could to make the ship battleworthy. Nobody needed to tell them what was at stake, so she decided that staying out of their way was her best course of action. Now Yardley was on the bridge for her first battle with Kinkaid in aft steering, ready to take command if the bridge fell off line. Yardley issued no orders of her own but merely parroted Riki Takahashi’s orders as they came over the command net. Her crew followed her commands with no hesitation. Yardley was glad of that as the fighting quickly mesmerized her, and she stopped monitoring her bridge personnel. There were times when the action caused her to stop and stare at the sensors floating around her command chair. She had watched the converging clouds of missile pass through each and the exploding derelicts deal wholesale destruction on the enemy attackers. Now the pirate missile volley to which Gawain herself had contributed was hitting the enemy formation as they tried to flee the area.

  Her attention switched to the incoming missile salvo. All the projectiles seemed to be aimed at her ship, but she was surprisingly calm about it. As they closed in, she had left her command chair and moved to the portholes to watch the action live. She was not scared even as the missiles grew near. There was a certain detachment to the events happening right outside the hull as she marveled at the organized chaos. It was grander than she had expected but wholly unreal. The enemy missiles came closer as their number dwindled. Explosions of attacking missiles being taken out by interceptors clearly marked the inbound path of the threat. Now her ship seemed to be engulfed in missiles as the Slingshot volleys from the planet behind Gawain drove past the freighters on the way to their targets. Dozens of explosions now lit up the dark space just in front of the guardian warships. The final remnants of the enemy attack were stopped by the warships shielding Gawain and the other freighters. Yardley marveled at the navy ships as they shot cannister rounds and lasers danced around them. She watched the final action of enemy missiles striking the shields and then the hulls of the five warships. One destroyer, Windlass, took multiple hits. One of her engines suddenly exploded, and she slewed violently to port and started to drift. The remaining four Royal Navy ships stood their ground as they took missile hits meant for the freighters. Yardley admired their courage to stand in the path of fire, especially after observing their comrade’s sacrifice. She wasn’t sure she was that brave. After the final enemy missile was taken out, Yardley was pleased no warship had disappeared in a stunning explosion, and Windlass seemed to have emergency power online as her navigation lights were still ablaze. The four undamaged warships immediately resumed shooting offensive missiles at the departing OrCon vessels.

  “Missile volley number two ready, Captain,” came a report from behind her.

  “Report it to D
ragon,” Yardley replied in a low voice without turning around.

  Silence took over the bridge as crewmembers talked quietly into mikes or attended to their duties in a subdued fashion. Yardley returned to her chair and renewed her viewing of the sensors returns on her floating screens. Just then, Riki Takahashi ordered the second volley downrange. The crewman manning the weapons station launched without waiting for Yardley’s order. She was not offended. This needed to be done right, and if staying out of the way helped that, so be it. Gawain shook as missiles departed their launchers and sped downrange.

  Chapter 36

  Fires raged through several compartments within Bundestag. The majority of the crew was breathing through their personal apparatuses while gamely manning their posts. Damage control parties were overwhelmed and several damage locations would receive no attention any time soon. The battlecruiser was still putting up a limited defense and two destroyers were assisting, but it was clear what the final result would be. Admiral Pervak was reviewing the damage reports to his ship and the others as they came in. Diet was gone. A light cruiser which had suffered greatly in the derelict explosions was defenseless and taking continuous hits out on one of the flanks of the formation. She started putting out escape pods.

  Pervak watched the second large pirate broadside coming at his force. His tac screen showed the time to impact was just short of three minutes. He estimated his ships would not make it through this onslaught. He would give them the best chance at survival.