That was all the urging anyone needed. The battle was fifty seconds old, but the enemy escorts had responded quickly. A hailstorm of incoming fires was engulfing all the pirate ships. Several projectiles of all types had penetrated the pirate defenses and were depleting shields. All pirate ships moved past the burning carriers and slid in front of them to complicate the engagement parameters for the rear escort warships. Flot 1 moved toward the five front escorts as they veered toward each other to join into a single formation while retreating in front of the pirates to ensure the intruders couldn’t get past them. They wanted to maintain a crossfire with the rear escorts as long as possible. The rear escorts were speeding forward to shorten the distance to target.
“Rebel taking damage,” Baby Doll reported.
“Move to cover her,” Rafe responded immediately.
Predator moved to block incoming missiles to allow Rebel time to recharge shields, but this proved of limited value as the incoming fire was from all directions. Either by design or due to plain bad luck, two Orion ships from both the front and rear groups of escorts had targeted Rebel. Missiles from the four ships had hit the pirate corvette from every direction and overwhelmed her defenses as she protected Predator during the carrier attack. Now Raferty tried to return the favor, but it was a losing battle. Rebel lost an engine and slowed. Predator and Renegade slowed also and went entirely defensive.
They weren’t the only group being hit hard. Gunfighter had taken many hits and was sluggish in the withdrawal. Cottonmouth stayed with the wounded ship as Rogue took the lead for the trio as they angled to join Predator’s group while continuing toward the front escorts. Outlaw was venting atmosphere from multiple leaks, and three compartments flared with fire as they were opened to space.
Shane Delacruz led his trio of ships toward Predator with the enemy focusing on Scoundrel. Captain Axel Buckner of Scoundrel had gotten target fixation as he was intent on his mission to engage the front escort group, so had lagged in keeping pace with his two companions as they moved past the burning carriers. Now his ship was out of position by being behind the pirate formation as the four groups closed ranks. The OrCons wasted no time in targeting this single trailing ship. The three rear escort ships not hitting Rebel focused on Scoundrel as it was the lone pirate vessel closest to them and not covered by being in front of the carriers.
In the wake of the departing pirates, explosions shook all four carriers. Their own ordnance and fuel stacked in the tunnels were adding to the conflagration. The four ships were done. Explosions rolled through all the attack craft tunnels and engulfed the center structure of each carrier. Escape pods were on the center structure only, and began to depart all the vessels. The problem was the pods had to blast through the inferno from the tunnels to get to open space. Escape pods were not motorized. Many pods made clean departures from their cradles on the main structure, but a few were launched right into a raging fire or were not launched far enough to clear their ships, so these pods were consumed in the blasts surrounding their vessels. It was clear that only a small minority of the crews of each ship would be survivors of this battle. From the pirate point of view, they wished all the pods had gotten off. It would complicate the rear escorts firing solutions.
The escorts were no longer interested in protecting their dissolving charges, but were now after the attackers. These were veteran ships with veteran captains. They knew a lost cause when they saw one. The enemy had succeeded against the carriers and that could not be undone. All that could be done now was to make this enemy success as costly as possible. The five rear escorts were coming up from astern of the pirates. They were about to pass their fleeing supply ships. As they closed the range, the pirates could no longer maneuver to place the burning carriers between themselves and the rear group. All five of the escorts were undamaged and not interested in self-defense as they flung offensive missiles at the intruders. Flot 1 put up a good defense but missiles impacted the shields of all their ships.
Predator shook under a series of hits. Shields held but a quick second succession of hits collapsed a shield section amidships. The pirate flotilla leader staggered from two hull hits and then a penetration hit. Hawkins briefly went to a hull camera. The starboard amidships’ section had two compartments open to space. There would be casualties. The compartments belched smoke from a quick fire, and the contents of the compartments blew out into space.
“Medical responding to the hits.” Baby Doll’s report confirmed casualties. “Doc Windsor also giving medical advice to several other ships over the med freq. We got casualties on all ships.” She paused as she listened and then added. “The Doc has been wounded but is still doing his job.”
Hawkins nodded and was secretly proud of Doctor Joshua Windsor. He was a damn fine medical man and someone you wanted with you in a fight. However, Hawkins said nothing as he looked over his tactical screens. Normally, this would be a straight-up fight. Twelve pirate ships against ten OrCons. The OrCons had a slight advantage in missile numbers per broadside with two light cruisers and eight destroyers against four destroyers and eight corvettes, but this was not enough to worry Raferty. The pirates were at a disadvantage by having four ships with major damage. Hawkins also had to consider the enemy had reinforcements in their main battle line just beyond Lilitu. It was the potential for reinforcements to be sent back to join the battle that influenced Hawkins. He had to get to safety as soon as possible, and it lay in the direction of the main fleet. “We move straight ahead and aim at the middle of the front formation. We have to give the appearance of trying to blast through the escorts. All destroyers will fire defensively to our rear against the closing escorts. Wolfpack corvettes go offensive to the front and other corvettes defensive to the front.”
The pirate force formed into one group, but at a slow speed due to the damage to their three ships. The OrCons focused their fire on the single formation. The three damaged ships moved to the center of the formation but the intersecting fire coming from multiple directions made this maneuver rather moot. The formation fought back with defensive measures. The effort was largely successful, but the OrCons were targeting the crippled ships and missiles leaked through. Three missiles hit Scoundrel. She had two compartments opened to space. Fires flared like a struck match but quickly extinguished. The pirates tried to shelter her but there was also Gunfighter, Outlaw, and Rebel to protect.
“This is not good,” commented Baby Doll. “We can’t cover all of them.”
“I hear you,” Rafe replied from his chair. “We’ll continue toward the planet. Get good targeting data on the light cruiser in the front escort, and we will all target her for a single offensive volley.”
“Scoundrel is going!” Maddie spoke from sensors.
She was not exaggerating. Scoundrel was falling out of formation. She had been hit in the rear by two missiles, and now three internal explosions in the stern of the ship rocked her.
“Someone took the safeties off the gun rounds in the aft turret,” Tactical guessed and then shook her head. “Stupid,” she added in a soft voice.
“Inexperience,” Raferty said just as softly to ensure the conversation stayed private.
“Yeah,” replied Tactical. “Doesn’t matter though. Either one will get you killed.”
Her observation was a guess but probably correct. Gun rounds and missiles had safeties in the warheads to ensure they would not detonate in case other explosions happened around the ammunition. The safeties in missiles could be removed manually or were negated by G forces when the missile departed its launcher. However, gun warhead safeties had to be removed manually. Veteran gun crews did this as the final step just before the shell was rammed into the gun breech. It took a few seconds, so some gun crews did this step to all the ready rounds in the turret to save time when firing the gun. The gun crews that did that were usually the young, inexperienced ones looking to speed up their rate of fire. Scoundrel was wounded, and this was the tightest spot the young and inexperienced capta
in and his crew had been in. Someone just wanted to speed up their firing rate. Good initiative, poor judgment.
The three internal explosions shook Scoundrel from bow to stern and she seemed to break apart in slow motion. The pirate formation drove around the pieces and continued toward the front escorts. It was just under three minutes since the pirates had emerged from subspace.
~ ~ ~
“The carriers are being incinerated!” The Ops officer’s voice hit all corners of the flag bridge of Fortress. Everyone glanced at nearby tac screens. It was happening before their eyes, but it was still unbelievable. Kupin measured the progress of the battle to her rear. Her heart told her to go back. She had never given much credence to that particular organ while in battle. Her brain told her the carriers were doomed, the pirates were on the run, and the escort would get them or would not. Sending ships back to assist was a waste of time and of her limited resources.
Going back was not an option. It would accomplish nothing and could be catastrophic to this entire mission. She spoke loud and quickly to override any such suggestion that might be forming among her staff around her. “We will continue to engage the Zeke force in front of us.” She turned to her command net. “We will press forward. Go offensive now!”
Kupin knew her only hope of salvaging this mission was to destroy the Zeke fleet, followed by hitting Buckler and the Signe hub. The loss of the four carriers would cast a pall over the victory, but it would still be a victory. She glanced at the four carrier returns on her sensor screen. Soon they wouldn’t be there as the ships broke apart. She briefly thought of Admiral Theo Chuikov. The two of them had been friends for many years. Now her friend was on the bridge of one of the burning carriers. She knew he would not abandon ship until he absolutely had to. The carriers could not be saved, but she hoped he could. She willed him to see the hopelessness of his situation and make his way to an escape pod. Regardless, she could not help him now.
Kupin frowned briefly. Goddamn pirates. The Badlands, the secret base at Naissance, and now here. They seemed to be personally trying to win the war for the Zekes. What could they possibly be getting from the Zekes for all their efforts? Money and support for sure, but was it worth it? Revenge for the Orion attack on their settlement? Perhaps. Lot of effort for revenge. Did they come all this way and join a major battle just to hit two ships? If so, they were the most dedicated people she had ever heard of. Or the craziest. There would be time to get into all of that later. No time now. She switched the path of her thoughts. She was back in the battle. Her ships pressed the Zekes as offensive missiles flew in a rapid stream at the enemy.
Even as the OrCons pushed their attack on the Royal Navy formation, Admiral Levant was giving orders. He had accomplished his objective for this stage of the fight. He had occupied the enemy’s main force while the pirates engaged the carriers from subspace. The maneuver had worked better than he could have hoped. On the edge of his sensors, he had seen the carriers taking massive hits. Now Flot 1 was engaged in a running fight with the escorts. As the Zekes moved away from Lilitu, the pirates would soon fall off his sensor scopes. He wished them well and hoped to see them after the battle.
Levant talked into his command net. “We will withdraw toward Buckler and make a stand there. Execute turn away from the enemy and go all defensive.”
The Zekes turned and moved at flank speed to allow maximum time to engage the incoming missile attacks as the OrCons moved against them. The three freighters had continued to move away while keeping the Zekes between them and the OrCons. Riki Takahashi knew the Zeke plan so had kept her trio of freighters continually moving toward Buckler at their maximum speed. They had to get as far ahead of the Zekes as possible. Once the Zekes caught them, the freighters’ slow speed would not allow them to keep up with the Royal Navy warships.
The oncoming Orion forces were shooting missiles at a cyclic rate as they chased their enemy toward Buckler. Admiral Kupin’s desperation had seeped down to all her squadron commanders and ship captains. With the loss of the four carriers, they knew what was required to make this raid a success. The Orion ships pursued with a single-minded purpose and were quite willing to empty their magazines to achieve hits. They had to press forward if there was any hope of salvaging something from this battle.
Admiral Levant called Riki Takahashi. “Shoot when able, Captain.”
Riki made to reply, but her helmsman heard the Admiral and the ship began to turn to port to allow for the shots. She replied to Levant. “Downrange shortly, Admiral.”
She ordered her bridge crew, “Open the bay doors and shoot.” She spoke to the other two freighters in line behind her. “Fire as soon as you are able. We need to get missiles out there.” As she concluded the last statement, her ship shook as seventy-five interceptors went down range. The other two ships fired seconds after Dragon. The freighters turned away from the enemy and again ran toward Buckler as they reloaded. The cargo bay doors closed to allow for pressurizing. The next two salvos would be interceptors again and the fifth salvo was offensive missiles. Then the overhead magazines would be empty and freighter crews would have to reload their missile firing racks and the magazines by hand. The time to do that would effectively take the freighters out of the battle for a time.
Orion missiles were closing on the fleeing Zekes. Aurora interceptor hits were closer and closer to the Zeke formation as the attack slowly overwhelmed the defense. Missile hits were scored on the rear Zeke destroyers and the momentum seemed to be swinging to the numerical superior Orion formation. Then the horde of pirate interceptors swept over the Zeke formation and hit the oncoming missiles. A huge gap was blown in the stream of offensive weapons coming at the Royal Navy ships. Now the Aurora ships got some breathing room. Their own interceptors sliced through the gap and started hitting incoming projectiles much further out. The Orion assault had lost headway and would have to batter their way through the Zeke defenses again.
Chapter 28
Captain Dan Sorenson of Rebel looked over his screens. He had damage throughout his ship, one engine was hard down, and the other had a very limited life span left. Five compartments were open to space, and three adjacent spaces had been burned out. He had no accurate count on casualties, but he knew it was in the dozens. His slow speed was keeping the entire formation from accelerating at the front escorts. Rebel shook under three hits. He knew the enemy had seen the damage to his ship on their own sensors and was singling out Rebel for special attention. He scanned the rest of the pirate formation. Every ship had damage. Scoundrel was gone and Gunfighter was not much better off. Outlaw was taking more than her share of hits.
He scanned the enemy forces. The five front escorts ahead of the pirates were taking punishment as the pirates were focused on them since these ships stood in the escape path. One destroyer was being mauled and the light cruiser was taking hits against her hull in a regular basis. The commander of these escorts was smart. The five ships were retreating in front of the pirates while continuing to engage. The veteran enemy knew they had a crossfire going and had no intention of giving it up by closing with the pirate ships and allowing them to slip through their circle. The pirate formation was joined together now, and was constantly shifting positions to present different targets to the enemy to allow shields to recharge. Fortunately, the fighting numbers were equal. If the OrCons had had superior numbers in the escorts, this would not be a long battle. The only good thing happening now was the Orion escort would not be reinforced. It was clear the OrCon Admiral Kupin was not coming back to her carriers but was continuing her chase of the Zekes.
Sorenson sighed. He now knew how Emily Legrand must have felt during the attack on the secret OrCon base. The future for his ship was short and bleak with damn few answers, and none of them were good ones. His ship’s slow speed was holding back the formation. His fighting power was diminishing by the second. He knew his one engine would not hold long enough to reach safety. He also knew Hawkins and the others would never abandon
him. Hell, they would probably win this fight. The upgraded Clan class destroyers were the equal of the light cruisers and the pirate corvettes could hold their own against any OrCon destroyer. Yes, they would win, but the cost would be high. Best to help out now.
He reviewed his screens to ensure the timing was right. What had been the Orion front escort of one light cruiser and four destroyers was now five damaged ships still retreating toward Lilitu and Aegis base. The pirates continued to press them. At this stage of the fight, the front escort was getting close to Aegis. The rear escort had been charging hard and rapidly cutting the distance to Flot 1. The rear escort was now closer to the pirates than the front escort.
Sorenson spoke to his helmsman. “On my command, we are going to come about and attack the light cruiser of the rear escort. We will go right at her.”
“Aye, Captain.”
The entire bridge crew looked at their Captain. Sorenson shrugged and gave them a wan smile. “Anybody got a better idea, I’m open to suggestions.” Even as he concluded the statement, the ship shook under repeated hits. The OrCons were still focusing on the cripples and his ship was at the top of that list with Scoundrel gone and Gunfighter and Outlaw making normal speed. Regardless of what Hawkins or any of the others did, Rebel was not long for this universe.
Sorenson took a deep breath and used his forefinger to push the image of Hawkins on the command net. Raferty was there immediately. “You’re taking a pounding, Dan. We’ll move around you to get you back in the middle of the formation.” Sorenson quietly marveled at how calm Hawkins always was in battle. One would think the pirate leader was watching the battle action on long-range sensors while eating popcorn. Sorenson was determined to match that demeanor.
“Thanks, Rafe, but it would only delay the inevitable and we both know it. We can’t make it to the objective. I estimate three or four minutes of power left and then my last engine goes down. I want to do something while I still got propulsion. We’re going to make a run at the light cruiser to our rear. They are closer than the other escort formation now. If I can occupy them for a minute or two, it might help the cause.”
Echoes from Yesterday: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 4 Page 18