— Hurray! — Happy squeal from Helen we all almost burst out of my head.
Okay, stop the market, it's time to prepare for landing! — Rights commander stopped this farce I responded to the request of the nearest orbital fortress: the Key one! I'm a Demon five, I can Hear you perfectly. The five ships on course for Lagos-two. Code seventy-six — thirteen. Accept the confirmation! — I pressed the key activation system of recognition and tried to take control of the ship Igor. To overcome the slight resistance Semenova, took a little longer than milliseconds. And then I suddenly realized that feel both ships. And almost without problems are able to control their maneuvers!
Immediately breaking the connection, I disconnected from BK-Ashkali and heard the end of the message orbital fortress:
— ...-five. Confirmation was received. I give you the Tower. — The feeling that you are becoming a cog in a huge machine, and nothing depends on you...
The spaceport of the military base Lagos-two was Packed with ships of the Sixth fleet, and the corridor of one hundred and forty-provided to us by the Manager, ended on the outskirts of the airfield, twelve miles from the Tower. Wait for the arrival of the boat at any military base it's a death trap, especially for crews of other ships, so I, and after me and the other guys stuck their "Merlin" on the small free patch, a hundred meters from the building control room. Before we could get out and close the hatches as from the door of the Tower ran thick legged man and the funny Bouncing on the run, raced to us. Surprised looking at convulsions, which he considered a run, I barely held back laughter. And after thinking about it, told everyone to do the same thing: judging by the facial expression, our joy would hardly liking raced to our major.
— What thugs throw your fucking trough right into the Parking lot of the Admiral's boats? barely taking a breath, he shouted. It's a military base or a public house?
I lurched and instantly faced stunned by my speed and the growth of short, barked with all his might:
— Sir! OU "Demon" CCA ATT has arrived for the operation of the command! Do you have any objections?
— N-no! startled bleat staff rat.
— And about public houses while did not understand, sir!
In my head there was laughter standing at attention boys.
— Permission to speak, sir?
— D-Yes, please! — lose all the aplomb officer just in case took two steps back, apparently, to not have so high to lift my head.
— Can you tell me, sir, where can we find Colonel Ridley, sir?
— It needs to be in the officers ' mess, Lieutenant! That green building!
— What is it, sir? They're all green! — making uncomprehending eyes, I said.
— In the building with number six!
— Thank you, sir! Allow to go?
— Let!
— Unit, e.g.-a-in! For me, on the double!
Ran from stunned considering our ships major one hundred meters, I gave the command to move a step, and laughed.
— I don't like tylovikov who consider themselves navel of the earth.
— You are... — Igor beamed with satisfaction. "Still out, sir!" — he mimicked. — What a face he had!
— Well, I can't say that I'm too lazy to come all the way here from across the field. Okay, finish talking aloud. Profit. Wait I now...
...After hearing my report, Colonel Ridley thoughtfully examined me from head to toe, finished off the remnants of juice and sullenly asked:
Where are the others? Probably sat in the square one hundred and fortieth — the one hundred and fiftieth?
— The personnel of the units built at the entrance to the dining room, sir! We sat down at the control room, sir!
The Colonel looked concerned at me:
— Major Volovich, probably a heart attack?
— No like! — with a straight face, I replied. — He met us very warm and even kindly told me where to find you, sir!
Don't be silly, boy! Volovich and courtesy? It's impossible... — the Colonel pushed back from his empty glass, got up and left from the table. Okay, humorist, lead me to your boys. Let's see what kind of bandits was sent to me...
Three-dimensional model of the system Pronin encountered in the tactical room of the headquarters HQs Lagos, looked ominous. Star, spectral class M with a temperature of the order of two thousand degrees Kelvin, it seemed to Irina bright red eye of some crazy God of war. Vaguely listening to the story of the Colonel about the history of the conquest of the system by the Cyclops, she was staring at a little dot on the orbit of the third planet and tried to imagine a space station of the enemy, illuminated by a red light hanging in the air light. Not a joke raging imagination painted her a huge, indoor heavy armor Orb, studded with turrets of argentoratum, emitters, force fields, dotted with mines, launching missiles, target lifts repair docks and hundreds of other add-ons required to perform the functions of protecting the planet. Sensitive antennae, continuously scanning the surrounding area, analyzed the sources of any gravitational anomalies and at any moment were ready to give team fortress iskino to meet the intruders insane barrage of fire. And somewhere nearby, in the shadow of the monstrous size of the colossus was hiding a cargo terminal with the orbital storage of ore, which had a huge dock space transport capacity with powerful engines capable of accelerating to the speed of care in the Hyper tens of thousands of tons of cargo...
— ...At first glance it's simple... grimly looking at the model of the system, then carefully listened to his Demons, told Ridley. — To go from Hyper outside the radius of destruction of the fortress, to catch up with the convoy, shoot down all four fighters and capture the transport. If you believe the data that I obtained an hour before you land, the Cyclops are extremely punctual, and we can operate the exact time of docking, the beginning of the acceleration and transition to Hyper. However, one should not forget that a good third of the boost trajectory of the transport takes place within the affected area orbital fortress. And immediately ran into a great angry rebuke to the Colonel:
— What are you smiling about, miss? I think they scare the look of your boats? Or the name of your unit? The best pilots of the Confederation... Yes there are pilots entire compound was destroyed during meeting with small pennants in five or ten groups of enemy fighters! Yes, I can not challenge the order of the CCA HQs! And will generate you the most favored to prepare to sortie. But rejoice in the fact that the idiots in politics are sending another group of talented young pilots to death, I WILL NOT! I got acquainted with the tactical plans of your analysts and you can tell they are not feasible! And written in them, the probability of a successful outcome — a measly ten-twelve percent — I think sophisticated mockery of the opinion of those who understand what the battle in space. Yes, even against SUCH an enemy...
— We will try, sir. — tried to kill his Hasek, but even more inflamed reddened with suppressed rage of Colonel.
— I know you will try! You bravely rush to the enemy and honor to die for the Confederacy! But the word "honor" in this case — just a word! The term corrupt politicians who are willing to write off the lives of hundreds of young men to so-called "combat loss". Yes, my opinion does not interest anyone. But I — AGAINST!!!
— Excuse me, sir... — got up from their seats, gave a vote Victor. — Our authorities have some reason to believe that we are able to cope with the task. So if you don't mind, we'd like to plan operations...
— Yes, of course... — Potetnev face Ridley with pain in the eyes looked at everyone in front of him the Demons All the intelligence that I received from the staff of the VCS, and materials on the performance characteristics of the ships of the Cyclops on the tactical computer. You have two days to prepare for the operation. All you need will be brought here. The regime of secrecy. Codes call of my komma I now throw off. Good luck...
With a heavy sigh, he turned and left the room...
The wolves looked at the hologram and turned to sitting next to Harry.
You and Helen take on
the penetration of the system. Igor, Helmut! I need comparative analysis of the capabilities of our "falcons" and fighters Cyclops. Wolf and Ricky — analyze plans from headquarters. Yasha and mark will review the Colonel's tactics Cyclops. Suddenly there is something, what we are told in the Complex. I'm with Ira I will try to estimate the scope of the new features of BK-ashek...
Two days later the plan was ready. Rather, the plan and its preparation — a lot of what seemed possible, required testing and verification. In addition, the model concocted by dozens of Demons, dropouts, any side did not fit into the scheme recommended by analysts of the force. Therefore, to believe that their version of a viable, were not even allowed Igor calculated the probability of a successful outcome. Tired, unhappy with themselves and each other, the boys sat in their seats and waiting for caused by Volkov Ridley tried not to meet glances.
Ira was just as excited as the rest. Only now, depression is not felt: two days of mental communication with Victor suddenly gave her the same share of confidence, which was lacking in the others. So, wait for the Colonel, she got up and launched an animated model of their common plan and putting holovideo on pause, turned to silent, even more deranged than two days ago, Ridley:
— Convoy Cyclops starts to move at three seventeen in the common galactic time. Thirty two minutes it reaches the speed necessary for this jump. This means that the entire operation we have half an hour. Here is a diagram of the ceiling system sensors for early detection of the orbital fortress. As you can see, the estimated point of departure of the transport in the Hyper lies within this sphere. That is, in any case, the fighters will receive information about our appearance at the same time ascent[13] our "Gyrfalcons". As you know, the possible configurations of protective fields that can cover the vehicle, only two. The plane and the hemisphere. To enter into a material object in a spherical box is not available. Thus, even if we can surface right in the midst of the convoy and each of us will take on one fighter, the one remaining not in the business of "Merlin" can't stop accelerates the transport. He just doesn't have time...
— It would be two of them and they attack from opposite directions... sigh Ridley, as one would gouge his protective field, the second would be shot off his engines...
Alas, the sixth vehicle we have. And the confidence that we will be able to pin down all four fighters at the same time, too... — Yasha muttered.
In General, in order to be able to allocate two vehicles to attack the transport, we must first halve the convoy... — according to nod, continued Orlov. — It's hard to say how the convoy will react to the emergence of five "Gyrfalcons" in their normal exit from Hyper, And what will be the relative scatter our ships. So we decided to force them to split up...
— I wonder how? — without much enthusiasm in his voice asked Ridley.
— We need some old, dead truck. A fraction of their transport. We come out of Hyper here in this place, at three twenty-three. That is, four minutes before the convoy will leave for the border of the sphere of reach of the fortress. It is unlikely that the appearance of a piece of iron fonyaschih, collapsing on the move the engine will cause the transport to begin braking.
Well...
After three and a half minutes one or two fighters will approach at a distance using missiles. Another thirty seconds pass before their torpedoes smash our truck. Thus, at this point, we will have the best possible time to attack a transport — exactly twenty minutes. If he tries to stop, to turn around and go back to the fortress. And twenty-two — if you continue the acceleration... — illustrating his words animations, telling the Ira.
Okay. Believe that you already received maximum time gap... — reluctantly agreed the Colonel. — What? Your pelvis is stuck a couple of anti-ship torpedoes, and you die... Then what?
— Wait a second... — grinned wolves. — A second before the explosion we close the "Merlin" of five concentric hemispherical protective fields. According to our calculations, they reserve absorbs the energy of the explosion four unique "Excalibur". And we afterburner will be able to attack the ships of the Cyclops, who at this time will remove from the truck...
— Son! Do you even understand what you're saying?.. — Navisnuv over the table, the Colonel stared into the eyes of sitting in front of Volkov. Five concentric protective field — this is nonsense! The slightest mistake in their configurations, not to mention the results of interference, automatically direct the ships of the Cyclops, and your "Merlin" will not survive until the explosion of the torpedo!
— Live -- Victor stood quietly furious gaze of the interlocutor and, having waited while Reedley drops to his seat, asked Orlov to continue.
So, since the release of the hold we will have four minutes to shoot down those machines of the Cyclopes, who will go to finish the truck. Because then will come others. If we bring down, you two "Merlin" go for transport, and the remaining three — tie those who remain... Eighteen minutes should be sufficient...
— Who is "them", girl? — barely holding back, not to raise his voice, hissed the Colonel. — Those who remain vs fighters? Three against two or three against three was not an option! The Cyclops will burn all three of your "Merlin" for a minute and a half, then rush to the fast and the furious pursuit of a runaway two and get it half way to the transport!
— Those who fly for transportation, you will need no more than three minutes head start... — muffled said Harry. And they'll get it...
— You do know how to count? What overload should fly attacking transport deuce, you know? With those figures, which are given in your calculations, you smear the backs of the pilot chairs!!! — yelled Ridley. — I fly for thirty years, and I don't need the devices to determine this! I just look at the diagram to say that all of this is — nonsense! Fantastic!! Kindergarten!!!
— The figures provided here are taken not from the ceiling... — with difficulty keeping calm, Orlov continued, pulling from his pocket a coin in pacredit, tore it in half. We are not trying to mess with your brain! We are trying to solve the problem, proceeding from our real CAPABILITIES!
— Well! Let's say you have succeeded. You've shot down fighters, blew the engines of the transport, and sent him adrift. Then what? Don't forget — it crew. You will have to take the ship to Board, to deal with its control and... what? Jump into Hyper without engines? Or take a ship of a hundred and fifty thousand tons rest on the trailer?
We're not going with him to jump, sir! Irina shrugged her shoulders. For this there are experts.
One hour after the start of the attack you will have to send that to this point transport "Hercules." Wolves pointed a finger at the sensor, and models lit up the red dot. — In the worst case it will have time to go Hyper. In the best — in forty minutes after his ascent he comes to the transport of the Cyclops.
Okay. On the "Hero" will be planetary assault regiment with heavy weapons... Or better... — Ridley looked at the silhouette of the transport of the Cyclopes, spinning in front of him.
— No. If all goes as we plan, then the Board we take them for yourself... — said Conti. — We have a better chance to survive. Although... the landing does not hurt — you never know how everything goes...
— So, for me a truck? not taking his eyes from the hologram, asked Ridley.
And competent engineers, able to calculate the thickness of insuring our "Merlin" armor plates... — said Victor.
Okay. But until you can sleep.
The truck tumbled into the system Pronin in exactly the estimated time, and I immediately looked at the tactical screen. The convoy Cyclops was exactly where we expected — in a six-minute acceleration from the orbital fortress. Moreover, the transport continued the crackdown, and the two little dots, barely visible on the background of gravitational perturbations caused by powerful powerplant accompanied by their hulks have already started turning. Making sure that, in addition to the convoy and orbital fortress Cyclops, in the system no one, I activated the group mode, BC-of a Cup and using the same device the r
est of the guys joined the AIS all five "Gyrfalcons". In addition, it was found that to intercept all the functions of their pilots is not necessary — the main focus of my team was above and "joint" management of delay in the proper response of AIS to query the "Master-pilot" did not arise.
The latter term is spelled out in the instructions that worked on my nerves — calling himself so, even in thought, I felt shame. Because this concept for me was the measure of airmanship. Level, which I could only dream of, And although, according to the test results, Rodriguez and his company, I was flying better koshcheeva, feeling I did not want. However, the term is better I could not come up and therefore was forced to use it.
Part-time intercept liked not only me judging by the stories Semenov and Williams, the Conn under the point control of the smacks flights in doubles. Sitting somewhere behind the bulkhead instructor. And discomfort did not cause. Well, except those of the division of consciousness into "I" and "not me." Delays in the management and back-reaction on the evolution did not arise, opportunities, BC-of a Cup with a margin enough for a full-time job with the tactical unit, and the feeling of being "near" someone experienced gave the illusion of security from errors. However, if you ask me, from the latest sensation ought to get rid of, since in a battle it could play with the pilots a cruel joke. But the time for proper break in BC, we didn't have...
...Keep in mind the required configuration fields at the time of detonation of warheads of two torpedoes was very difficult — the strongest overloads, vismirnovite armor plates with printovannye[14] to her "Merlin" into outer space, nearly got kicked out of my mind. However, in a split second, I changed the configuration fields in the plane of the clip fasteners ships. And out of group mode. Rather, "released" Semenova, Williams and Hasek, while maintaining control of the car Krause.
Initial spurt awakened engines threw both of our "Merlin" directly to the rear hemisphere of the fighter Bonuses: into the transportation machine were covered by the protective field from the debris of the dying truck.
Hell's army officers Page 8