Chapter 38
Any doubt that the slowly moving Congress class battlecruiser was Citizen was removed by the ship herself. As O’Hare’s group closed on the ship to get a positive identification, the large OrCon vessel opened fire with missiles. O’Hare smiled. Apparently, there were several crewmembers on that battlecruiser who had been in the Badlands campaign and now had identified the four small ships closing on them. They knew a reckoning was in the offing, and decided to get in first licks. “So much the better,” thought O’Hare. The battlecruiser firing first made it easy for them. They could justify their attack now. If the pirates had fired first, many of the surrounding ships might think this is some sort of kill-the-wounded mission and would have done all that was possible to defeat the intruders. Now it would look like a response of self-defense by the pirates.
“Nemesis will go offensive. Outlaw, offensive. Corsair and Renegade, go defense.”
Reese Patrick reported from his ops station. “Rogue is abandoning Gunfighter and coming hard. Gunfighter following at a slower pace.”
O’Hare nodded even though Patrick didn’t see her do it. Hawkins’ group was behind Gunfighter and there was no threat near the damaged Gunfighter, so it was reasonable for Rogue to move out. O’Hare had to get the battlecruiser before the four Lodnyy destroyers got into the mix so Rogue was a welcomed addition.
Wolfpack opened fire and Citizen answered with continuous fire. Missile strikes were exchanged and intercepted by each side. No hits were scored but O’Hare’s group took cover behind a number of Orion shipwrecks with escape pods floating nearby. O’Hare wasn’t intending to put the pods in danger, but she wasn’t going to sit in the open to make it easy for the OrCons either. All four pirate ships went offensive and their missiles slowly fought through Citizen’s defenses.
“The two OrCon ships on the starboard side are altering course. They want to play this,” Patrick warned from his station.
O’Hare had seen this coming. She reacted quickly. “Renegade, take the heavy cruiser. Corsair, take the destroyer. Outlaw go defensive. Nemesis will continue the attack.”
The three Orion ships would have beaten the four pirate ships in a straight-up fight, but those three ships didn’t have all their weapons, and the pirates were under cover. The fight proved to be a standoff as no major hits were scored by anyone. O’Hare was content to keep the engagement going. Her reinforcements were closer. Vengeance was at hand and she was damned if she would let it slip away. Killian O’Hare was never timid, and there was not a chance in hell she would start here and now. Even as she considered how to attack and destroy, Patrick said, “Rogue is launching. She is going offensive on the destroyer as that is the nearest ship to her.” O’Hare gave the rote reply. “Very well.” Corsair could use the help. O’Hare knew this was Corsair’s first fight and it was a big one. She wished it could have been different for them but there was nothing for it.
Corsair rocked under three shield hits. “Move around the cover!” Colfax yelled at his helmsman, much louder than he intended, but the man was not offended as he was shaking right along with the ship. Corsair shifted position to put the drifting wreckage of an Orion destroyer between her and the active destroyer shooting at her. “Rogue shooting at the destroyer,” reported Dallas Keitel from her ops station. She was probably the calmest person on the bridge. “We are open to shots from Citizen now.”
Colfax answered, “I know but they are further away. We’ll slide back and forth as needed.” He was talking to helm as much as to Keitel, and the man there noted it and prepared to execute the maneuver. “We’ll stay defensive until Rogue’s missiles arrive; then we will go offensive to augment her attack. Call the shot so our missiles will arrive on target with Rogue’s.”
“Roger,” Keitel responded.
The small scrimmage continued in slow motion as the pirates were staying behind cover and the three Orion warships were all trying to move away, but at a reduced speed. The pirate reinforcements had the first effect. Rogue’s missiles hit the lone destroyer’s defenses as Corsair added her attack. Corsair shifted back to the other side of the wreckage to avoid Citizen’s missiles. Surprisingly, once the OrCon destroyer saw the maneuver, she went offensive despite the incoming attacks on her. Missiles pounded through Corsair’s guns, lasers, and decoys. Four missiles collapsed a shield section and three missiles hit the hull. Two of those penetrated. Corsair rocked under the explosions. Three compartments were opened to space.
The OrCon destroyer got little satisfaction from her attack. The missiles of Rogue and Corsair blew through the guns-only defense and hammered the small ship. Explosions followed explosions and the destroyer rolled over as large pieces began to fly off the hull. Escape pods followed in small numbers.
Now the slowly arriving Gunfighter added her missiles to the battle, and Hawkins’ detachment was not far from missile range as he was coming at maximum speed. His four ships were almost to Gunfighter when they let loose a full salvo of missiles. O’Hare knew the incoming support barrage had to be interceptors to cover her ships as none of the five oncoming pirate ships were close enough to engage the OrCons. She could live with that. She would go all offensive when the interceptors reached her position.
She turned to eye Patrick. “Time out the incoming support so we can go offensive.”
“Already done,” replied Patrick. “Outlaw will stay defensive and we will all hit Citizen.”
“Works for me.” O’Hare and her wolf hallie smiled together.
The interceptors arrived at Wolfpack’s position to take on the incoming enemy missiles. Wolfpack went all offensive. The missiles honed in on Citizen. The battlecruiser went defensive and fought the initial onslaught to a standstill. O’Hare switched Outlaw to the offensive and Rogue, as the closest oncoming warship, also went offensive as she came in range of the lone battlecruiser. The Orion heavy cruiser joined in defensively to save the battlecruiser. The pirate missiles slowly fought through the defenses. Then Predator’s group were in range and joined in the offensive barrage. They aimed at the heavy cruiser. She would have to withdraw her support from Citizen if she wanted to save herself.
The oncoming four Lodnyy class destroyers launched interceptors from maximum range. The onslaught would not arrive for several minutes. Minutes that Citizen did not have. Pirate missiles began to hit her shields. These shields had already been weakened in the initial assault from the three freighters and were now the flimsiest of barriers. They vanished under the assault, and missiles pounded the hull. More missiles forced their way through the defenses and the ship’s fuselage was punched through along its entire length. Explosions rippled along the port side. Citizen rocked back to starboard. The disintegrating battlecruiser rolled back to port to settle with a pronounced port list. Only two engines were on line, and they died as more missiles hit her. Pieces blew out from her midsection as fires blossomed and died. She was finished and everyone knew it. Pods began to blow off her starboard side. The destruction meant very few pods would come off the port side. Wolfpack ceased fire on her, but missiles already in flight continued to pound the dying warship.
O’Hare had the victory that Flot 1 wanted so desperately, but was not content with the one kill when there were so many other possibilities at hand. She really didn’t want to dance through the wreckage field looking for ships to fight, but would take on any nearby targets.
The heavy cruiser was trying to get away now that the fight over Citizen had ended. That damaged ship was now a little more damaged and was about to absorb the incoming missiles from Hawkins’ group. O’Hare decided to wait to see the results of that attack. She knew the magazines on all her ships were almost empty of missiles. There were more missiles stored in various spaces throughout all the pirate ships, but not enough to refill all the magazines. No point in wasting missiles.
The heavy cruiser was moving away as fast as she could. She was not interested in continuing a fight she was sure to lose. She had done what she could to save Ci
tizen, so the consciences of captain and crew were clean. The missiles from Hawkins’ ships were met by a reduced defense from the heavy cruiser. Most of the missiles were intercepted, but some impacted the shields, and three burned through the shields to hit the hull. Explosions pierced the port side and opened five compartments. The ship did not lose speed as she continued to move toward Lilitu. None of the pirate ships followed up with continuing attacks. The departing ship was not a threat, and they had business elsewhere.
Wolfpack held in the debris as the four oncoming Lodnyy class destroyers continued to close the distance. They realized their original mission was over before it had really started. They slowed down and started to spread out in the debris field well in front of Wolfpack. They clearly intended to protect the rear of their battle line from pirate infiltration.
Hawkins spread his force out next to Wolfpack’s position and waited for Gunfighter to join them. He looked at his tactical display and saw all was clear behind him toward Lilitu.
“What are the odds some of the destroyers from the carriers come forward for a recon?” he asked of nobody in particular.
Tactical moved next to him. “Baby Doll and I evaluated their battle damage and think they have three ships that could be a threat due to limited damage to them. They don’t know the base had been evacuated so would have to go around the engagement zone or risk a fight by going through it. They’ll maneuver to get the planet out of the way of direct comm and will call their battle line or talk to that running heavy cruiser to get an update and probably send a couple ships forward.”
Hawkins frowned and nodded. “Yeah, I think so, too.” He looked back at his screen. “I’ll have Gunfighter and a couple of ships follow us at a slower speed to protect our rear. We will maneuver around toward the right of the debris field and move toward Buckler. We can at least look threatening as we come up on the rear of the starboard end of the OrCon battle line.” He turned to his command net. “All Captains, I’m dividing our force. Nemesis, Vindictive, Rogue, and Renegade will follow me. We are moving up the starboard edge of the debris field to threaten the starboard end of the Orion battle line. All other ships will follow us at a reduced speed to protect our rear from the four Lodnyy destroyers or any ships from the carrier position if they come forward. Captain Landry of Gunfighter has command of the rear security force. Let’s move.”
Hawkins half expected Tarrant to complain but there was only silence. Tarrant must have realized she had the firepower to help in any potential fight with the big boys, but not the speed to keep up with the pirates as they moved to contact.
The pirates split up. The three destroyers, accompanied by Renegade and Rogue, turned to their right and moved through clear space at maximum speed toward the edge of the debris field on the far right. Hawkins, at top speed, was fifty minutes away from missile range on the Orion battle line. Gunfighter turned slightly right and led the other ships through the debris field at a reduced speed toward the right edge of the destruction. They were “cutting the corner” as their slow speed allowed them to pick their way through the wreckage while Hawkins’ ships could move at top speed in clear space. The corner cutting also put them between Hawkins and the four enemy destroyers. If the destroyers moved toward Hawkins, they would have to fight through the Gunfighter group to get at him. The debris field provided instant cover for the Gunfighter group from the enemy destroyers if they decided to take up the fight. The danger to the four enemy destroyers was that if they got tied down in an engagement with Gunfighter’s group, Hawkins could come in on them from a different direction, and it would be four of them against ten pirates.
The four Lodnyy class destroyers turned and paralleled the Gunfighter group of corvettes through the debris. Although in engagement range, nobody fired as it would be a waste of ordnance. Each side was content to wait for an opening to present itself.
As the Hawkins’ force reached the end of the debris field, they turned to port to run up the right side of the carnage, Maddie Hopkins spoke from her ops station. “Long-range sensors show two destroyers rounding Lilitu on the far side from us.” She paused and added, “They got two supply ships with them.”
Tactical and Baby Doll remarked at the same time. “Pod recovery.”
Hawkins smiled. “Good. At least those two destroyers will stay with the supply ships as escorts. Less OrCons to chase us around.”
The pirate warships pounded up the right edge of the debris field with engines at maximum. Soon the ships under Gunfighter would emerge from the field behind the destroyers and then follow them as a rear guard. The four OrCon destroyers in the debris field continued to shadow both groups on their port side.
Chapter 39
Admiral Levant was satisfied with the brief offensive attack as he watched Fortress fall out of the Orion battle line and other Orion warships move to protect the flagship. He went back on the defensive as he waited for the freighters to reload, and then he would repeat the attack. He pulled his forces into a tight web deep within the engagement envelope of Buckler’s missiles. The three pirate freighters were just behind the warships. The casualties were evenly distributed between the two sides. Levant knew he couldn’t win by defeating the invaders but he could win by merely not losing. He would hold this line for as long as it took to accomplish that mission. He would let the Orion ships hit him until their magazines ran dry and he would be content to go offensive when the freighters were ready to support him.
Captain Bond reported from his station. “Long range sensors show the pirates had hit a Congress class battlecruiser and destroyed it. It looks to be the same one the freighters hit with their first salvo.” He had a smile in his voice now. “Must have pissed them off somehow.” He switched back to his business tone. “Now they have divided up with some ships headed to the edge of the debris through open space while others are cutting through the debris field. The open space force got to the end and turned in this direction so both groups are headed this way more or less. They are being shadowed by four OrCon destroyers.”
Levant switched his screens to the sensors and watched the progress of the three impromptu squadrons. The pirate group moving through the debris were probably damaged and at a reduced speed so were taking the more direct route to his own forces. They had less distance to travel, but would still emerge from the wrecks behind the fast group in open space. That detachment of five ships in the clear were coming at fast clip. They would threaten the starboard end of the OrCon line in forty minutes or so. Levant allowed himself a small smile. If nothing else, the pirates seemed to love a good fight.
Captain Takahashi broke into his thoughts. “Freighters ready, Admiral.”
Levant smiled again. He spoke to all his captains. “Let’s do it. We will concentrate on the two battlecruisers on the starboard end of the Orion line. “We shoot in twenty seconds.”
~ ~ ~
Admiral Malinsky was not ready to give up the attack yet but she was prepared to adjust the tactics. She would go around the Zeke fleet and threaten Signe. The Zekes would have to abandon their cozy defensive position in front of Buckler in order to challenge her advance and save the trading port. Out in open space, perhaps she could achieve the elusive victory the Orion forces sought.
She spoke over her net. “All ships, we will slide to starboard while maintaining our battle line, and pass the enemy line in that direction so we can move on Signe.”
As she finished giving her orders, a torrent of projectiles erupted from the Zeke ships. The freighters shooting their single volley told Malinsky this was a repeat of the action that had disabled the flagship. “All ships, go defensive!” she commanded.
The Zeke missiles honed on the right end of the Orion battle line. Three brave destroyers moved up to place themselves in front of and slightly below the capital ships on the line. The defenses went to work but the results were the same as the previous attack. A small percentage of missiles did get through. The destroyers took the brunt of the hits. One was hit repe
atedly and then blew up. The other two took hits against the shields, then against the hulls, and then within the hulls. Explosions ripped at the port side of both ships and they staggered into a starboard turn to retreat behind the larger ships they had just helped protect. One of the battlecruisers was hit by nineteen missiles and lost two gun turrets and a missile launcher. She held her position in the line. The other battlecruiser was hit eight times and seemed unhurt.
Malinsky committed to her plan. “The freighters need time to reload. Move now!”
Her formation picked up speed as it shifted to starboard. The Zekes had no choice but to move with them to stay between them and the direct route to Signe. Both flotillas shifted around the planet. With the Royal Navy force having the interior position, they had less distance to travel but soon the Zekes would have to abandon their position to stay in front of the shifting Orion ships. Admiral Levant moved his forces and talked to Buckler base. “Buckler Command, go offensive on the destroyers at the end of their line. They will remain in your engagement envelope longest. We need to reduce the numbers.”
Echoes from Yesterday: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 4 Page 23