Wolf's Run: The Chase of War (Star Wolf Sqaudron Book 2)

by Shane VanAulen

  They had both been friends back at Harpers Academy and fellow midshipmen. Along with their classmates they had helped to steal the Star Wolf from under the Karduans’ blue noses and have been fighting ever since. Both of them had jumped at the chance to serve under Lt. Collins on the Randori and to be star fighter pilots.

  “Everyone got that? They are in a three fighter V formation,” Lt. Grinder repeated looking at the data readout on his helmet visor screen.

  The transparent visor screen allowed him to see outward while at the same time gave him a critical data flow. He still had the fighter’s readouts, scope and 360 degree cameras on monitors but with the helmet he didn’t need to look down. They were there as a backup as his fighter had crystal optical cameras installed around its fuselage with each camera covering a separate direction. The fighter’s onboard computer would weave the incoming vid into a live action feed so that the pilot can virtually see through his fighter in all directions. If the pilot lost track of his wingman, he could check his scope but if he is being jammed he could just look around his fighter seeing through the walls and visually spot his wingman or an approaching bandit. This was often called Battle View.

  “Yellow flight tighten it up,” Grinder said looking around at his squadron.

  “Here they come boss,” Ensign Rabb said who was his wingman.

  “Missiles, then hit your thrusters and close with guns. When they break stick with your wingman as we split into pursuit.”

  A choirs of “rogers” followed his orders.

  The holographic tactical map in the left corner of his visor showed that the enemy formation was still on a direct course towards them.

  “Five seconds until missile range,” Lt. Grinder announced, “fire as you come in range and good luck.”

  A few seconds later the Wasps let loose with their missiles. Almost a second later the enemy fighters fired missiles as well. It was now all down to target locks, ECM jamming and the skill of their pilots as to who would survive and who would die.

  “Flight leader, enemy bandits breaking from the main group,” Yellow three announced.

  Lt. Grinder turned his head as both the images from the built in cameras and his maser scope streamed onto his visor.

  “They are sending half their force after the Randori,” he stated realizing this as a standard tactic to draw off a ship’s protecting fighters or combat space patrol while another group launches an attack on their real target the fighters’ mothership.

  This wouldn’t save them from the missile locks unless they zig zagged and burned up the missile’s limited amount of fuel. That’s if they even knew that the missiles were on them. The TPA coated casings of their missiles may not even be registering on their scopes.

  “Randori, did you copy that? You have inbound enemy fighters,” Grinder repeated on the command channel.

  “Roger Random leader,” the familiar voice of Midshipmen Jansen replied.

  “Grinder, what should we do?” Green flight leader asked.

  “Yellow flight leader, take your four fighters and set a pursuit course. Blue and Green flights let’s plow the road!” he ordered just as their missiles started to hit their marks.

  Even with TPA the enemy still had guidance jamming to throw off their missiles. Despite this half of the fourteen remaining enemy fighters were hit and either damaged and destroyed.

  “No locks on the TPA missiles,” Rabb said with a laugh.

  “Incoming missiles, use active jamming and go to guns,” Lt. Grinder calmly said pulling his happy men back to the task.

  The Karduan missiles had the same problem as the knock off SF-18 fighters when they tried to shoot down the Confederation missile attack. They just couldn’t get a decent missile lock on the enemy fighters. The Wasp fighters’ active jamming made matters worse as their tight formation lit up the area in front of them with gauss cannon fire.

  Missiles exploded as they flew through the enemy fire and closed onto a head to head attack course. For the Karduan fighter pilots this meant a dogfight in which they couldn’t rely on their sensor locks and would have to depend on visual firing.

  The remaining seven fighters thought better than having an even up fight with their human opponents and they quickly decided to break and run. Two fighters set off on a heading to pass them by, hoping to at the right moment to outturn the older Wasp fighters pursing them. Two more pulled up into an Immelmann or a vertical loop trying to reposition and use a reverse escape maneuver. The last three went into a diving roll under the plane of attack.

  “I’ve got the bandits doing a head on pass. Blue Three and Four go after the two doing the Immelmann. Green flight, take the three in the dive and roll,” Grinder quickly ordered breaking his two fights into three attack teams.

  The Cody had already made a pass on the carrier having been ignored by the Karduan fighters. Her torpedo run had been both successful and a total bust. Closing on the old escort carrier they found that the old girl had some extensive upgrades since her retirement from the American Space Navy. She had been once sold as scrap but the planetary system that had bought her had done a total refit. They had opted for a larger fusion engine for their maneuverer drives and had removed her bender drives keeping her as an in-system defense ship.

  Once the breakthrough happened the Karduan force insisted that the carrier be turned over to them. The Blues then added bender drives by attaching engine pods and their own knock off fighters. Hence the Nathanial Green’s defensive systems were no longer those of a thirty-year old relic.

  Facing daunting defensive fire, the Cody made its desperate run and fired a pair of Blitzkriegs at close range. Amazingly one of the torpedoes was shot down and the second the blew up just short of hitting the ship’s portside bender drive. The Cody broke off its attack and started to pull out but the carrier’s heavy fire continued and the Vanguard sloop was repeatedly hit. Her maneuver and bender drives both taking critical hits, sending the ship away from the carrier from the momentum of their hits but nevertheless leaving them dead in space.

  Lt. Mike Collins watched it all from his captain’s chair as he waited for the three enemy ships to close in on his position.

  “Sir, five enemy fighters are closing on us and are ten minutes out, Random pursuit fighters are two minutes behind them,” the maser station called out.

  “I’m detecting torpedoes and multiple missile launches directed at us,” Stevens added from the computer and sensor station.

  “Source, number and time to target,” Mike calmly asked.

  “They are from the Green Machine, four standard torpedoes and thirty missiles,” Byrd said from his maser scope.

  Mike looked at the read out and nodded, “They are timed to hit us as their fighters start their attack run.”

  “Two minutes until the aft destroyer is in firing range, seven minutes until the ED and the DE are on us. Nine minutes until missiles and fighters,” Ensign Stevens called out from the computer station

  “Right, time to get back to work,” Mike said hoping everyone was ready. “Helm, full stop and reverse. Chief Baker, load Dashers and fire aft torpedoes. All aft turrets resume firing when in range. Target that damaged destroyer with a full barrage of missiles and open fire.”

  The damaged Q-ship had been rushing towards the two enemy ships but would not be halted as she opened fire on the damaged destroyer. The missiles fired first from the remaining missile turrets all over the ship. Their guidance system locked on the enemy ship and rocketed towards it. They were just the diversion but like the fighter the Randori’s missiles were treated with TPA and though normally the destroyer’s defense grid would have shot many of them down in this case eighty percent of the missiles launched hit home.

  The real attack though was the Dashers. These blitzkrieg torpedoes carried smaller pay loads then the standard Blitzens but were even faster and harder to hit. The Randori only carried four of them and now used fifty percent of them to finish off the destroyer.

  The
two Dashers fired off from the aft tubes and immediately blurred out of sight. Their ECW made them equally invisible to enemy fire and only a lucky hit from defensive fire could save the destroyer at this range.

  A pair of explosions erupted from the destroyer’s engine section. Even without engines, the destroyer’s inertia made it continue on as her turrets let loose on the up-armored express freighter.

  The ships now exchanged fire as they closed the distance on each other.

  “Load standard torpedoes and fire,” Mike called out as his ship shook from energy weapon impacts.

  “Firing torpedo tube three, torpedo tube four is damaged and inoperable,” Chief Baker reported from the fire control station and added, “Switching to tube two.”

  The two torpedoes fired a few seconds apart the first hitting a mid-ship and the second hitting the same spot a moment later. The destroyer turret stopped firing as she crumpled into the shape of a C amongst numerous internal explosions.

  The Randori’s bridge crew cheered but it was short lived.

  “Fighters and missiles in bound,” Specialist Byrd yelled for all to hear.

  Mike open his command comm. channel, “Yellow flight ignore the enemy fighters and shoot down those incoming torpedoes.”

  “Roger that,” Yellow leader called back as his flight of four Wasps broke off their pursuit and moved engage the incoming enemy torpedoes.

  “Sir, the carrier is firing another round of torpedoes and missiles,” Ensign Steven reported monitoring the long range sensors from his station.

  “Random leader, when you get done with those fighters, try and pull that carrier’s fire away from us,” Mike ordered letting Lt. Grinder decide how to do that.

  “Wilco,” Grinder acknowledged with just one word as he was busy chasing down a Karduan fighter.

  “Missiles and fighters,” Jim Byrd called out as the Randori’s point defense laser and gauss cannons opened fire.

  “Missiles hits to aft torpedo tube three, deck E landing bay and a mid-ship,” Steven reported and added “four more turrets are out of action.”

  “Three fighters shot down by defensive fire and the other two are breaking off,” Byrd said and quickly added “One torpedo still in bound.”

  “Chief, lets shoot that one down please,” Mike said calmly. It was all he could do not to shout or run over to take the controls himself.

  The point defense lasers targeted and hit the torpedo exploding it just before it would have hit the bridge. Though the explosive force still had a concussive impact.

  Mike was thrown from his chair from the explosion as the bridge lights went to emergency power and the hull breech alarm was sounding. They had taken a rupture and were venting atmosphere.

  Pulling himself up he saw that his people were mostly unharmed. His combat space suit’s helmet was normally retracted and housed in his color panels had now automatically extended and sealed about his head.

  “Everyone all right?” he asked getting back into his seat.

  “Sir, the escort destroyer and destroyer escort will be in firing range in one minute,” the maser station announced.

  “Load our last two Dashers and fire at the escort destroyer. All guns, fire as we come into range,” Lt. Collins ordered and then opened a channel to engineering. “Cappillo, you’d better have some good news.”

  Engineering looked a mess as technicians ran about trying to make repairs or adjustments. Lt. Cappillo’s face suddenly filled the viewer blocking the scene of chaos behind him.

  “We’re good just try not to rock the ship too much,” he reported forcing a weak smile. At the same moment someone called his name and the screen went blank ending the transmissions.

  “Prepare to fire the particle accelerator cannon,” Mike ordered calling over to the helmsman.

  “One Dasher has hit the escort destroyer’s port bow armor,” Stevens called out “the other was hit by defensive fire.”

  “Spinal cannon ready,” Thornton reported.

  “Target the escort destroyer,” Collins ordered.

  “Missiles incoming and a second wave are two minutes behind them. Enemy torpedoes have been shot down by our fighters,” Steven called out.

  Mike couldn’t worry about that now, “Fire spinal cannon!”

  “The escort destroyer and DE are moving closer together,” Byrd announced from the maser scope.

  Thornton hit the fire touch pad and the particle accelerator cannon erupted sending its energy strike towards the enemy ships.

  The escort destroyer had fallen back on a parallel course but as the Randori fired her sensors detected the build up in their benders drives. The ship mistress was no fool and knew that the DE wouldn’t sacrifice herself to protect her so she purposely let the destroyer escort get ahead of her and then maneuvered closer and fell further back. She then ordered the DE to cross her bow to her other side to better protect her just as the Q-ship fired.

  Instead of the hitting the larger light cruiser sized escort destroyer the particle strike hit the frigate sized destroyer escort. The blast hit the DE as it was making its turn and blew a huge chuck out of the side of the ship causing internal explosions. If the Randori had a large spinal cannon like the Wolf’s she would have completely destroyed the enemy ship.

  “Damn it!” Mike swore in frustration at missing the larger ship. “Fire torpedoes and all remaining turrets continue to fire.”

  The two ships now moved closer and passed firing at relatively close range for space combat. Both ships had the fire power of a light cruiser but the Randori wasn’t originally designed for war and had taken more damage during the prolonged battle.

  “All torpedo launchers are down,” Chief Baker called out as he adjusted the ship fire control’s systems.

  “Incoming second wave of enemy missiles,” Byrd yelled as the Randori was pounded by enemy fusion cannons on one side and carrier based missiles slipping past their weakened defense grid on the other.

  “Order all fighters to break off and knock out that carrier’s torpedo launchers,” Mike said also wanting them to get clear them.

  A blast hit the bridge’s armor and the once more the lights went out as the wall exploded and people went flying. A moment later the emergency lights kicked in illuminating the destruction.

  Mike pulled himself to his feet and felt a wound in his side. The pain wasn’t that bad and he knew his auto medical kit had kicked in with some non-addictive pain killers and Heal-X. His armored combat space suit also had a hole in its side and he was losing air. Reaching to his thigh he grabbed an emergency patch, pulled it out and slapped it over the bloody hole.

  Looking about his bridge he saw that Chief Baker was down and wasn’t moving. Lt. Thornton was slumped over his helm station. Ensign Stevens pulled himself back up to his seat and that the big Nord Mister Jansen at the comm. station was still seated. Jim Byrd looked to be badly injured and Chac-Ras rushed over and checked his friend’s auto med kit to make sure it was working.

  Mike hurried over to Thornton and saw that his face plate was cracked and leaking air. He again reached into a designated pocket of his space suit and pulled out a slap on patch. It wasn’t transparent but it would stop the air leak.

  “Get Baker and Byrd to sick bay,” Mike ordered and then looked to Barry Stevens and called out, “Reroute fire control to your station.”

  “Aye sir!” Stevens replied.

  At that moment Lt. Stanton along with Lance Corporals Nagle and Sanchez pried opened the bridge’s door and came in to help with the wounded.

  The ship was still rocking from impacts for another minute but then became still.

  “Enemy escort destroyer is making a slow return turn to make another pass,” Chac-Ras reported taking over the maser station from his wounded friend.

  More marines, repair droids and damage control teams entered the bridge and quickly threw up an emergency patch on the hull ruptures and worked to secure it in place.

  “All bridge personnel evacuate to
the auxiliary bridge,” Mike said and again ordered, “Get Specialist Byrd and Chief Baker to sick bay!”

  Lance Corporal Nagle shook his head, “Chief Baker is dead.”

  It was a traumatic head injury killing him instantly. No med kit or Heal X drugs were going to save him from that.

  The remaining bridge crew scrambled and fell back to auxiliary bridge deeper in the ship. Voice interface was down so Mike had to stay behind for a minute to manually set the Randori to turn and to lock the remaining turrets on auto fire mode from the computer station.

  Passing through an airlock and back into atmosphere he removed his helmet as he rushed through the corridors.

  “We have maybe twenty minutes as the escort destroyer turns and we come about,” he informed.

  It took time to change a ship’s trajectory as well as a lot of thrust to make an angular acceleration.

  “Sir, we could use my tanks,” Second Lt. Stanton suggested

  Collins looked over at him as they hurried down the hall.

  “We could send them out and place them along the hull. They have fusion cannons for their main guns as well as gauss cannon and anti-missile defenses systems. They could magnetically lock to the hull and act as turrets,” the young marine officer blurted out.

  Mike quickly considered his idea.

  “Your crews would be killed outright if they are hit by enemy fire,” he replied.

  “Sir, we can remote operate them from inside the ship,” Stanton said with a big grin.

  Collins stopped and looked a him.

  “Ok, do it but have them attached to the starboard side so the enemy can’t see them while we finish our turn,” Mike ordered and added “Hurry!’

  Lt. Stanton took off at a run already giving his marines orders to jump to it via his comm. link.

  The M45 tanks’ main guns wouldn’t be quite as powerful as a ship’s turret but they’d still be good at short range as well as having a gauss cannons and anti-missile capabilities. Hell, Mike would open a window and throw a brick at them if he could.

  Reaching the auxiliary bridge, he found it was as cramped as he remembered from when he first toured the ship. It was made almost as an after thought which shouldn’t have surprised him.