This reprieve for the much-harried Hawk was short lived, however, as yet another group of fighters launched at least ten missiles at the one Hawk. The bugs were fighting smart, but all eight Hawks in that squadron were close enough to support each other, and moments after the bug launch, nearly forty 15’s appeared, targeted at over fifteen separate fighters. It was getting very interesting for Charley Squadron.
Alpha Squadron had launched its 65’s from almost six million kilometers, but they made a last minute change of plans and kept their jammers off. This had been planned for, should they, or another group, have to launch from further out than anticipated. Their missiles were still moving in, still undetected. I radioed to them to angle over and see if they could take Charley Squadron’s fighters from the rear. They accelerated to six G’s, but were still fifteen minutes away from being of any use to Charley, which was still launching 15’s, and still killing fighters.
Charley Squadron reported that one Hawk had been lased very hard and it’s rotary launcher was jammed. It was still firing both lasers and the squadron was still coordinating its defenses well, but it was getting dicey. Finally, inevitably, the bugs managed to get numerous fighters into close proximity of that one Hawk. They took it under energy fire, and were in turn targeted by at least ten missiles from other Hawks. The missiles struck their targets, getting five kills within the space of ten seconds, but it was too late. The Hawk lost its engines and began drifting. Within another few moments, three bug missiles were launched at relatively close range. All three were destroyed by laser fire, but more bug fighters were arriving on scene, and launching their own missiles. This fighting was taking place at what was effectively knife range.
Charley Squadron rolled the dice and made a massive launch of what must have been every single missile they had left. Forty-five Dash 15’s streaked out at twenty-nine fighters, all of whom were within twenty thousand kilometers or less. It became a holocaust as fighter after fighter exploded. Amidst that incredible destruction, we almost missed the explosion of the Hawk. We counted eighteen more bug fighters blow up. In less than five minutes twenty-four fighters and one destroyer were destroyed, but all I felt was despair and agony over the loss of four friends.
The seven remaining Charley Hawks went to max acceleration and moved in closer to each other. Now that they had expended their missiles, their lasers were their only weapon. The squadron reported that two Hawks had lost one laser each, and one was running on three bottles, meaning it could not accelerate at max G’s and fire its lasers simultaneously. The squadron maneuvered in a complicated fashion that resulted in placing the wounded Hawk inside their protective coverage. I was deeply impressed at the intelligent and calm way they fought their craft. Despite our doubts, these crews were performing superbly.
Alpha Squadron’s capital missiles finally went to sprint mode. Charley’s missiles seemed to be the closest, but by our count, they had lost ten out of the sixteen launched, and they still had a million kilometers to go.
Bravo Squadron’s missiles were getting picked off faster than expected as well. I had no idea why, but whatever the bugs had come up with, it was working. I radioed to all squadrons to pull back toward our location. Charley reported the appearance of over forty fighters, coming in as one solid mass, from almost ninety degrees to our plane of attack. It was clear that the bugs had massed at least one and probably several groups of fighters in the hope we would attack in the same way as before. We had, and now Charley Squadron was running for its life, shot dry of missiles and in danger of getting cut off by a huge flight of fighters coming in from the side and trying very hard to cut the Hawks off from escape. They weren’t going to make it, but it was going to be close enough to allow them to launch their missiles.
I decided to scrap Plan A and ordered Delta to accelerate at six G’s toward a point that would take us in just behind that huge phalanx of fighters. I had to balance the desperate need to get into position quickly against the need to not prematurely advertise our presence. I didn’t see a destroyer among them, but if one was hiding in wait in our path, it was going to be interesting for us, and deadly for it.
I radioed Charley Squadron to change its course slightly, cutting several minutes off our rescue time, but putting them in range of bug missiles for a longer period of time as well.
I decided to hold the Genera a little back from the Hawks, who were spreading apart to form a disk. We were now entering extreme missile range and able to target the fighters who were spreading out in an effort to prevent the escape of the seven Hawks. Their superior acceleration had finally nearly overcome the bugs’ initial velocity advantage. Within moments, the gap between the bug fighters and our Hawks would begin to go back up. In seven minutes we would be in position, but the bugs would be in range well before that.
The bugs could count as well as we could and they launched over sixty missiles in a ragged salvo at the seven Hawks. It appeared that they targeted just two of them, but that tactic was not as effective as they might have hoped, because the Hawk defensive laser fire was tightly integrated and simply targeted the closest missiles, regardless of where they were heading.
We swooped around behind the fighters and on my command we began launching missiles. We targeted two missiles for each of the forty-one bug fighters. Our missiles came streaking in from their starboard quarter, at a relatively long range, but the bugs didn’t have anywhere to go. They turned their laser fire on our missiles but they were facing missiles that accelerated two and a half times as fast as their own.
Explosions pocked space, each one a little closer to the fleeing Hawks. We were too far away to help, but I ordered my Hawks to open up with their lasers anyway. Our missiles got in amongst the bugs and they began exploding in an orgy of light and fury. I had never seen anything remotely like this. Seventeen bug fighters were blotted from space in the matter of a few seconds. The Hawk defensive fire kept reducing the number of incoming missiles, but there were a lot of them, and it didn’t look good.
The fleeing squadron had changed its course to run directly away from the missiles, giving it a little more time to kill them, but they ran out of time. They killed thirty-eight missiles, but three got through, and hit two Hawks, exploding them both.
I stomped on my feelings of absolute rage and ordered another launch of missiles at the twenty-four bugs that survived our first launch. Sixty more missiles went scorching in. We were still out of effective laser range, but at our closing velocity that would change shortly. I wanted to eliminate every single fighter. I also wanted to keep a few missiles on board my squadron of Hawks, so we began firing from the Genera. The missiles flew through our Hawk formation and added to the general confusion that was besetting the remaining fighters, who now had another target. Well, they were now the target.
The second wave of missiles struck home and amidst savage boils of light four bugs emerged unscathed. We already had twenty more missiles in flight, fired from the Genera.
Those last remaining fighters disappeared forty seconds later.
We went to max acceleration and came around behind the five remaining Hawks of Charley Squadron. Alpha and Bravo Squadrons were both getting away Scot free and were converging on us from two angles.
I glanced at our count down timer and saw that our 65’s, if there were any left, should now be hitting their targets. I could not figure out how the bugs were able to kill our capital missiles. Carolyn reported that out of the total of sixteen missiles fired by Charley Squadron, only three remained. Alpha’s missiles were faring better, but they were still down to seven. Bravo had eleven still in flight, but as she reported that, two were hit.
Incredibly, all three remaining missiles from Charley were destroyed before reaching their target. Alpha managed to get only two hits, causing enormous explosions. We were too far away to be able to observe damage but we already knew from experience that two hits was effectively a win for the bug team.
Bravo succeeded in getting three missil
es in to explode against the mother ship. We had only managed to dent their ships, but we killed an amazing sixty-five fighters, plus one destroyer, so the mission should prove to be successful, despite the loss of three Hawks, the first to be lost to enemy fire in this war.
We raced away at max velocity for ten minutes, then I ordered us to slow down to ten G’s. I still hoped that we could take some more fighters out, but we didn’t see any following us.
I speculated that they were also surprised by the number of Hawks, and by the appearance of the Genera. War is a contest of surprises. The last surprise wins the day, usually.
We noted an absence of larger vessels, and that worried me greatly. Where were they? I kept our three groups separated but close enough to support each other. Alpha and Bravo still had their full complement of defensive missiles, and the Genera still had over one hundred as well. I talked it over with Elian and we decided to change plans once again. We ordered Charley to shut down their drives for one hour, and then head for the second rendezvous at no more than three G’s.
I sent Alpha along to shadow Charley, just in case, and reversed course with the Genera and Bravo. Our scouts still remained in contact with the enemy mother ships, but well away from the fighting. I was getting tired of hit and run. I wanted to hit and hit, then maybe run. Well, definitely run. I’d seen how easy it was to get swamped and go under. I liked living, so I was going to be careful, but I felt that we had an opportunity to surprise the enemy. Always before, we had hit and run, hit and run. This time, we were going to hit them again.
We slowed down to a gentle three gravities. It would take us the better part of six hours to begin moving back the other way, but that was fine. It gave us time to analyze our sensor readings and allow our crew to stand down from battle stations and get something to eat.
Nine hours later we crept back into the vicinity of the three bug mother ships. I sensed a change in their disposition and after looking for another hour we saw a definite shrinking of the gap between the mother ships. Our destruction of so many fighters had caused them to rethink their strategy. Moving closer meant they were better able to support each other.
We maintained a close lookout for their missing destroyers and cruisers. We began to see them on our screens as they accelerated into a new alignment. As the number of large ships we could see began to mount I felt a lessening of tension. They had been held in close to the mother ships and had simply not maneuvered enough for our sensors to spot them.
Elian and Carolyn put their heads together and after another hour said, “Robert, it looks like they have about as many larger ships in close proximity to their flotillas as we believe they have. So, if there are any missing ships, there aren’t very many, and their scouting missions would account for at least a few.”
I had them plot the positions of those destroyers and realized that they were moving them into the shrinking area between the three monster ships. This made good sense, as they would be in close proximity to any single ship.
I talked to the two civilian missile technicians who had volunteered to come along for the ride. I asked them if we could launch the Dash 15h missile, the long range version, shut down its drive shortly after launch and let it coast into the general region of all those destroyers and cruisers, where it would ignite for a short sprint and hopefully take out a few more ships.
They did some calculations and told me that if we could get within five million kilometers of those destroyers, the 15’s might be able to get in amongst them and cause some minor havoc.
I talked this over with Elian, Carolyn and the chief. We had been together long enough now that I deeply valued their input.
We decided to send the Genera in, keeping the Hawks back as a reserve. I went over my not-quite-a-plan with the Hawks and they began decelerating relative to the bugs, while the Genera forged ahead, now just coasting along. We had enough relative velocity that it would only take us six to seven hours to get close enough to launch. We couldn’t be exactly certain of the time frame, however because the destroyers were moving around unpredictably.
Time dragged by agonizingly slowly. I grieved over the loss of my crewmates, and burned with hatred for my enemy. At four hours to our planned assault we went back to battle stations. It was felt that the launch of so many missiles would probably be spotted, despite the great distance, although the bugs would be puzzled. We had always targeted the mother ships with our huge capital missiles, and only went after destroyers with the smaller ones, and only then if they got in our way. Now, we were well outside the range for our small missiles, so this launch would cause them to wonder, but hopefully, not enough.
We finally drifted into the outer limits of the hoped-for Dash 15h range, but I held off for another thirty minutes before giving the captain the go-ahead to fire.
Four by four, the missiles popped free of the ship and went to minimal acceleration, then shut off after only fifteen seconds. Inside our missile bays, heavy machinery moved the short ranged 15g out of the queue and replaced it with the long-range 15h.
The odds were decent that the bugs would see the launch, but I had no idea how they would react. We retained forty 15g missiles on the ship, enough for a short engagement, but nothing more.
We went to 6 G’s and our velocity relative to the bugs began to drop quickly. In approximately thirty minutes we would begin to increase the gap again. We kept a maximum sensor watch, knowing that the bugs liked surprise visits. So did we, but we generally preferred ours to theirs.
Time dragged so slowly I thought it was going to not only stop, but also reverse itself. Part of that was due to fatigue, but not all of it. We had been at battle stations for a very long time now, but our crews were catching some sleep at their posts, so I wasn’t terribly worried, at least about that.
We began to increase the gap between us and the bugs, who had not reacted in any way we could see. I didn’t like that, it worried me. On reflection, I worried about the bugs no matter what they did or didn’t do.
Finally, the time frame for our missiles to have arrived in close proximity to those destroyers counted down to zero We watched avidly and then, we saw one then many of the 15’s drives come up. They didn’t have far to go in most cases. We began to see blossoms of ugly light on our screens as the small warheads exploded against the flanks of destroyers, which had virtually no time to bring up their defenses. We counted nine different destroyers get hit, some of them multiples. This was very, very good considering the extreme range they covered. In fact, they performed just as well as the Mark 65’s had done poorly.
We saw no evidence of the destruction of any ships, but nine or so destroyers now had battle damage to fix, and a puzzle to solve.
We remained at 3 G’s for the next twelve hours. I took the crew off battle stations after three hours, by which time they were beginning to make mistakes. We had been at a high state of readiness for far too long, but the alternative could have been worse. I now saw the wisdom of larger crews.
We moved as a compact group for two entire days before we jumped, going in three quick jumps instead of the usual six.
We entered Lubya and learned that Charley Squadron had arrived safely, and was on the planet itself, getting repairs performed to their ablative shields, which had been hit repeatedly. The remaining squadrons were ordered to the main moon base. The Genera we parked in a moon orbit and I got a shuttle ride down to the base. I wanted to see my crews.
I asked for and received permission to have the five remaining Charley crews get shuttled up to moon base, where we could debrief everyone, and mourn our twelve lost brothers and sisters.
As soon as they arrived I reserved a meeting room large enough to house all our personnel, including those on the Genera, save a few for a skeleton watch. We had about two hundred and eighty people now, a large increase from our original four.
After a good night’s sleep, we convened in the hall. I asked for friends who knew the lost crews to talk briefly about them, tell
us a little about who they had been. This was not usual Fleet practice, but I wanted it, and the crews responded very well. The dead were transformed from casualties into people; even more, into loved ones.
At first, we had been two, then four, then forty-eight, and at each stage we developed a very strong bond. Now, we were almost three hundred, and I wanted to create that same intense link. The battle just ended was the force that brought us together, the three lost crews the glue that held us together.
It took almost two hours to conclude the memorial. At its conclusion, one of our crew who could play the French horn played Taps.
We broke for a meal, but we didn’t leave the room. I brought in some bread and simple ingredients and our crews made sandwiches. We ate together.
An hour later, I reconvened the meeting, and we talked our way minute by minute through the mission. When we completed that stage, we discussed bug tactics and tried to discover by what means the bugs had managed to kill nearly all our capital missiles. Unfortunately, we didn’t come up with a definitive answer. It was generally agreed that we needed to develop a new strategy that would increase the percentage of missiles that made it all the way in. We universally agreed that the Mark 65’s we launched were for an unknown reason not capable of inflicting much damage to the bugs.
Hawk Seven (Flight of the Hawk) Page 41