The brief few seconds of static cleared to show an image of the lead elements of the Bardomil strike force. Once again it was the classic formation with Flying Devils up front in a ragged cordon with more forming a protective perimeter around the M-Cruisers. Wryly, Chulling noted that the M-Cruiser complement was back up to full strength. The M-Cruisers in the invasion force convoy had been brought forward as had the Imperial Fighter Carriers. The Bardomil commander was trying to crush this Alliance flotilla as quickly as he could. Scanning down the lanes of the invasion convoy, Chulling noticed that several thousand supply and troop transports were missing, and theorised that they had been detached to occupy the two planets that the Alliance had to abandon. For a huge sacrifice in blood, the Bardomil had gained two large ice-bound lumps of rock. Not a very fair trade, Chulling considered, even if they were strategically important.
Tracking back through the War Table image, Chulling could see the Imperial Fighter Carriers clustered to the rear of the formation with the M-Cruisers making their way forward to challenge the Alliance Star-Cruisers once more. In the centre of the Bardomil formation, large numbers of Harpoons and Flying Devils were being launched under the soft warm glow of the pink and orange planet where Chulling had chosen to make his stand. With a shake of his head Chulling recognised that the Bardomil were still attempting to draw his Eagles out into a fighter-on-fighter contest with the more numerical Flying Devils and Harpoons.
“WATO, make ready,” Chulling ordered, “get the pulsar-cannons warmed up.”
“Sir!” the WATO replied.
On the War Table image, Chulling watched as the M-Cruisers started to move into their formations and the Bardomil fighters slotted into their positions in the feared and infamous Big Wing. The Bardomil commander was taking his time deploying his forces, Chulling considered and watched as the distance between the M-Cruisers and the Big Wing started to grow. This was not what Chulling wanted and urged the Big Wing to close the gap on the M-Cruisers. For his plan to succeed he needed the fighters much closer to the M-Cruisers and much further away from the Fighter Carriers.
Watching impatiently, Chulling could see more and more Harpoons and Flying Devils emerge from the Fighter Carrier bays to join up in the Big Wing.
“Come on, come on,” Chulling urged the Bardomil fighters to move further forward.
“Enemy opening fire, sir,” the Scanner Officer chimed as Chulling watched the M-Cruisers start to make up their trio formations and fire their first salvo at the Alliance position.
Almost immediately, the Memphis shuddered under the impact of the strengthened laser weapons from the M-Cruisers.
“Return fire, WATO, and tell the gunners to anticipate!!” Chulling ordered knowing that every shot was going to have to count in this battle.
Within seconds, the first salvoes from the Alliance high-yield pulsar-cannons were hurtling downrange to find the deadly trio formations. On the War Table image, Chulling was pleased to see that the gunners’ aim had improved. Six of the trio formations burst like ripe melons in deep red, fiery plumes of destruction. Two more groups, just forming their trios, were also hit and the power feedback reached out like a deadly tendril to engulf all of the members in a cataclysmic explosion.
“Better WATO,” Chulling praised and waited for the inevitable Bardomil response whilst the Alliance pulsar-cannons went through their fifteen second cooling procedures.
Keeping a steady eye on the positions relative to the Big Wing and the M-Cruiser formation, Chulling could see that the M-Cruisers had slowed their advance to allow the fighters to catch up. Without fighter support the M-Cruisers were vulnerable to Alliance Eagles and Grattus Darrien knew that if Chulling wanted to stop the pounding he would have to commit those fighters.
“Come on, that’s the ticket,” Chulling smiled wolfishly as the Big Wing crept closer to the M-Cruisers’ position.
“Enemy firing again, sir,” the Scanner Officer announced.
On the War Table, Chulling could see the tiny yellow laser streaks emerging from the front of the M-Cruiser trios. An instant later, Memphis and most of the other Alliance Star-Cruisers were shuddering from direct hits.
“Damage!?” Chulling yelled.
“We’re holding up, sir!” an Engineering Officer called out.
“No major damage reported from the rest of the flotilla!” a Comms Technician added.
They’re still too far away to really start to harm us, Chulling considered. If the M-Cruisers got close enough to the Alliance vessels they might be well able to overwhelm the force-shielding with the increased intensity of the laser weapons. It was an idea that Chulling chose not to dwell upon too closely. Short stabbing raids with the Eagles could keep the M-Cruisers away for a brief time. But Chulling knew that unless he did something to break up the M-Cruiser and Big Wing formation then his flotilla would be pounded to oblivion.
Still intently focussed on the War Table image, Chulling also knew that the time for that action was quickly approaching. The Big Wing was moving closer to the M-Cruiser formation whilst another Big Wing was forming around the fifty Imperial Fighter Carriers towards the rear of the strike force.
“WATO, make ready to launch the Star-Cruiser contingent,” Chulling said calmly.
“Sir,” the WATO responded, ready to implement the plan Chulling had outlined before the Eagles had been launched.
It was a bold plan, a risky plan, but, Turthus Chulling knew that you didn’t win battles by playing safe. He had to take the risk or his flotilla was certainly doomed.
“Very well, release the Star-Cruisers,” Chulling ordered.
High in the pink and orange atmosphere of the far side of the planet Valnarim, protected from the Bardomil scanners by the heavy gases and swirling radiation tides, five Alliance Star-Cruisers set off on their dangerous mission. The Clemenceau, Agamemnon, Light Brigade, Liberty and Sherman emerged from the atmosphere of the planet, on the Bardomil right flank, and began their attack runs on the Imperial Fighter Carriers. It was a desperate gamble by Chulling to try to damage the Bardomil strike force’s fighter capacity by eliminating as many of their mother ships as he could.
On the War Table image, Chulling watched as the tight ‘V’ formation, led by the Liberty, swept towards the vulnerable Imperial Fighter Carriers.
“Comms,” Chulling ordered in the War Room, “jam them!”
“Sir,” the Communications Officer responded and hit the small blue button on his console.
From the nose of the Memphis, a huge burst of Cedrian radiation pulsed out into the emptiness of space and fried every Bardomil communications circuit in their strike force. The Bardomil communications personnel, who were screaming warnings into their equipment to the fighters around the Carriers, suddenly found all the channels were gone.
The Liberty formation quickly closed the range on the Bardomil Imperial Fighter Carriers, and, at extreme range, they began to fire on the vulnerable three-decked mother ships. With the Fighter Carriers in a close rectangular box formation, the first white-hot high-yield pulsar-bolts found their targets and began to carve great chunks of metal from the lumbering Carriers. Only the front turrets of the Star-Cruisers could effectively target the Carriers on the approach. But, once they were within the formation, all five of the twin-gunned turrets on each Star-Cruiser could wreak havoc amongst the big Bardomil Carriers.
On the War Table image, Chulling saw the first of the Bardomil Imperial Fighter Carriers start to fall slowly out of the formation as its huge stabilisers failed against the blast from the explosions. Falling with graceful, almost painful, slowness, Chulling watched with satisfaction as the doomed Carrier crashed into, and then through, the vessel beneath it in formation. That was the kind of collateral damage Chulling enjoyed seeing as two more Bardomil Carriers lost stability and fell from their positions in a crumpling and exploding mass of metal and flame.
The fighters massing around the Carriers in a second Big Wing quickly reacted to the intruders and began t
o turn their vessels to block the Alliance formations progress. As they were turning, the five forward turrets of the Star-Cruisers let fly with another deadly salvo at the stricken Carriers.
This time, three more Carriers sustained multiple hits from the savage hissing pulsar-bolts. The first Carrier exploded almost immediately throwing great chunks of devastation out into the cold empty darkness of space. The neighbouring Carrier was struck by the flying debris like a game-bird hit by shotgun pellets. The great chunks of metal ripped through the second Carrier, killing, maiming and destroying everything in their paths until they struck the huge electro-magnetic power generators that drove the vessel. Then, the second Fighter Carrier succumbed to its mortal wound and disappeared in a colossal explosion. With four carriers down in a matter of seconds and no communications, the Carrier commanders started doing what they had to do to save their vessels. Like large lumbering sheep, scattering before a quick and nimble fox, the Imperial Fighter Carriers began to break formation and run for safety.
Meanwhile, the five Star-Cruisers started to run into the Flying Devil and Harpoon fighters that were creating their own Big Wing formation, ready to be flung forward at the Alliance position. With no shortage of courage, the Bardomil Harpoon pilots and Flying Devil crews desperately threw their machines at the pathetically small looking intruder force. Hundreds of Flying Devils and thousands of Harpoons flew straight for the Star-Cruisers their laser weapons blazing. But, with cool professional calmness, the Star-Cruiser crews waited their moment and allowed the Bardomil fighters to overfly them.
Then, when the first of the Bardomil fighters was overflying, and strafing, the two rear Star-Cruisers, the Alliance Ship Commanders unleashed the full fury of their self-defence turrets. Built into every Alliance Star-Cruiser were close to a thousand twin-gunned, low-yield pulsar-cannon self-defence turrets. The Bardomil commander, General Darrien, had carefully avoided attacking the Star-Cruiser formations because of this close-quarter, self-defence capability. But, now, the Bardomil had to try to protect their vulnerable and valuable Fighter Carriers with the only weapon at their disposal.
Aboard the five Star-Cruisers, the WATOs unleashed the terrifying power of the self-defence turrets. The low-yield pulsar-cannons; targeted and controlled by the Tactical Computers, blasted five bolts per second at the swarms of Harpoons and Flying Devils that tried to strafe through the Alliance force-shielding. On the War Table image, Chulling watched as the tight ‘V’ formation cut its way through the great cloud of attacking fighters like a hot knife through butter. On the image, Chulling could see the fiery explosions of hundreds of fighters as the Star-Cruisers scythed a path of devastation and death through the serried ranks of the enemy.
To Chulling, each Star-Cruiser looked like a huge harvesting machine that relentlessly cut down the Bardomil fighters in great swathes. All round each Star-Cruiser, the desperate Bardomil fighters were vanishing in the red roaring death blooms that were the lot of the fighter pilot. In their formations, the Harpoons and Flying Devils attacked from all angles, trying to distract the relentless Alliance Star-Cruisers from the Imperial Fighter Carriers. And, in their hundreds they died as the Star-Cruisers belched out the deadly white-hot pulsar-bolts like sparks from a firework.
Aboard the Star-Cruisers, the Tactical Computers coldly, dispassionately and mercilessly calculated the threat potential of every Harpoon and Flying Devil; whether alone or in formation, hundreds of time per second. The Tactical Computers then passed the firing instructions to the self-defence turrets, which rapidly sent each target to a burning and screaming oblivion. The stolid courage of the Bardomil fighter crews could never hope to compete with the relentless computer-driven slaughter of the self-defence turrets.
With the Bardomil Imperial Fighter Carriers under attack and the second Big Wing being torn to ribbons, Chulling turned his attention to the M-Cruisers.
“Release the Eagles, WATO,” Chulling ordered.
High in the pink and orange atmosphere on the near side of Valnarim, three thousand Alliance Eagles lay in wait for the attack order from the Memphis. In the War Room, Chulling, satisfied that the attack on the Fighter Carriers was progressing satisfactorily, let loose the Eagles on the M-Cruisers and first Big Wing. Sweeping round the face of the planet at full speed, the Eagles were amongst the right flank of the Bardomil Big Wing before any of the Bardomil could respond. The first volleys from the Eagles were deadly, the six low-yield pulsar-cannons blasting out five bolts per second hacked mercilessly through the astonished Bardomil fighter formations. Hundreds of Harpoons and Flying Devils were simply annihilated in those first moments of combat; their pilots dying before they realised what was happening.
On the War Table image, Chulling quickly discerned that the attack was going to plan. Having scythed their way along the edge of the Big Wing’s heavy right flank, the Eagle formations split into three groups. The first group of fifteen hundred Eagles was to take on, and pin down, the Big Wing’s right flank. The second group of five hundred was to sweep around the Bardomil rear and smash through the centre of the Big Wing to get at the M-Cruisers. The final group of one thousand Eagles was to attack the flank of the Bardomil left wing and drive them off. Once again, it was a bold and risky move by Chulling, who had committed the vast majority of his Eagles to this adventure. He knew that he dared not fail with this attack. If he did, then he would lose almost all of his Eagles and the Bardomil would pound his position into oblivion.
From the War Table image it appeared that the plan was succeeding. The first group of Eagles had burst into the formations of the Big Wing’s right flank. With the initial contact inflicting savage losses on the Bardomil fighters, their advance was slowed by the stiffening resistance of the Bardomil. Within moments of making contact, the Eagles were caught up in the swirling, snarling scratching maelstrom of the fighter-on-fighter dogfight. Twisting and turning desperately, the Harpoons and Flying Devils locked horns with the Alliance Eagles in a fight to the death.
The second group, in the centre, found the Bardomil resistance bolstered by the extreme left of the enemy right flank.
The Bardomil squadron commanders realised that these Eagles would be after the M-Cruisers and threw in their lot with the centre. The Eagles, swarming in from the rear, once again inflicted grievous damage on the enemy in the first few seconds, but failed to punch through the protective perimeter to reach their primary targets. Once more the Eagles and Harpoons and Flying Devils started to fight it out.
The third group were far more successful than the other two. Having swept in from the rear, the Eagles had once more unleashed a deadly volley of rapid-fire pulsar-bolts that had swept hundreds of Harpoons and Flying Devils away in a savage torrent of red roaring destruction. And, caught entirely by surprise the left flank caved in completely within a few seconds. With orders to keep the left flank at bay, the Eagles gave chase to the Bardomil fugitives and began a savage running fight with the shattered enemy squadrons.
With the Eagles now fully engaged, Chulling turned back to the Star-Cruisers who were still carving a path of fiery death and destruction through the second Bardomil Big Wing to get to the Imperial Fighter Carriers. The Bardomil fighters, despite almost reckless courage, had no chance of stopping the juggernaut of the Star-Cruisers on their relentless progress. Formation after formation had thrown themselves at the five Star-Cruisers only to be savagely wiped out by the merciless fire from the Alliance vessels. The panicking Fighter Carrier crews had broken formation in the face of this almost certain death that was ploughing through the fighters to reach them. And, as they panicked, the great lumbering Fighter Carriers slowly began to scatter. Almost immediately, the clumsy and heavy vessels began to collide as they tried to escape the approaching death-dealers.
Many of the huge ships would ram into their neighbours, crushing and smashing through superstructures and critical systems. Huge explosions lit up the area as many of the fleeing ships met a fiery demise in the panic to escape. On the War
Table image, Chulling saw three Fighter Carriers collide. The first Carrier attempting to make a left turn slammed heavily into a neighbour who was trying to turn to the right. The third Carrier, attempting to reverse away from the situation was slowly sandwiched between the first two in a great scream of shrieking and rending metal. Unable to stop themselves, owing to the sheer size of the vessels, when the second Carrier exploded the first and third vessels were engulfed in the massive fireball of destruction. The great chunks of wreckage strewn out by the force of the combined explosions, cut another Fighter Carrier in half; throwing debris, flames, and crew members out into the cold, airless darkness of space. The two halves of the doomed Carrier were then flung out of formation onto another Carrier, which exploded almost instantly.
Amidst the panic and destruction, the Star-Cruisers finally reached the Fighter Carrier positions. Like a dog shaking off its irritating fleas, the Star-Cruisers continued to savage the swarms of attacking fighters through their self-defence turrets. But, having reached the Imperial Fighter Carrier positions, the Alliance formation started to break up. On the War Table image, Chulling watched as the carefully planned manoeuvre was executed. With the surviving Fighter Carriers trying desperately to escape, the Star-Cruisers broke formation and began their individual attack runs. The Liberty set her course to run straight through the centre of the Fighter Carriers’ rectangular box formation from bottom corner to opposite top corner.
This was the longest and, theoretically, the most dangerous assignment. Clemenceau and Light Brigade veered off to the left of Liberty’s run, whilst Agamemnon and Sherman swung off to the right.
Chulling knew that he was never going to reach all of the Bardomil Fighter Carriers with this raid, but severely weakening their fighter capability would help to even up the odds in this battle. And, as the Star-Cruisers fanned out for their attack runs, their turrets swung into position. The WATO aboard each Star-Cruiser had worked out the optimum course through the panicking Fighter Carriers to wreak the maximum destruction. For the Star-Cruisers it was going to be a one attack deal. With the high-yield pulsar-cannons set to rapid firing, Chulling knew that by the end of their attack runs the ten pulsar-cannons on each vessel would be totally ruined. Without the proper cooling protocols, the barrels would crack and the power transfer conduits from the proto-star reactors would start to melt. Chulling was effectively sacrificing five of his Star-Cruisers. But, he knew that he had to take that risk.
First Admiral 02 The Burning Sun Page 22