Rafe knew that, but was glad to hear it from another commander. “Thanks. I’m glad you’re here.” He seemed on the verge of saying more, but then paused before adding. “Of course if we get killed I reserve the right to take that back. I wouldn’t wish that on you.”
“I am glad I’m here too. Regardless of the outcome, I won’t let you take that back.” The two exchanged smiles.
Time clicked down as Rafe visited Tactical and Baby Doll. He took his seat. Nobody spoke on the bridge. Every station had the ops display up and it showed their progress along their attack vector. The crew throughout the ship would have this screen up. They watched as the screen showed their closure on the outer moon. They moved below it, paused seven minutes to adjust harmonics, and then moved toward the inner moon.
Tension clicked up slightly as the hidden squadron closed on target. They were using the inner moon to shield themselves from the planet, but there were two sensor systems covering their route, one on the planet side of the outer moon and one on the space side of the inner moon. They were closing on the latter system.
Raferty had known Blondie was the most important member of his crew in regards to this mission, but right now, that point was driven home with a purpose. He was comfortable with his choice. She was an excellent engineer and a brave officer. No wonder the Aurora Empire was losing the war; they did not have their best people in the right positions. The Empire often got lucky and ended up with the Mallorys and the Barretts in the right place at the right time. Hawkins smiled ruefully. However, luck was fickle, and you sure couldn’t win a war on that alone.
The ships closed on the inner moon and stopped near the South Pole. They made their adjustments and slowly passed below the moon and moved to their firing points.
Two minutes of eternity passed and Tactical announced, “Five minutes.”
Everyone started strapping in. Blondie rushed onto the bridge and assumed her station as flotilla ops officer. Hawkins ensured everyone was tightened down in their seats before he strapped in last.
Seconds ticked by. Madison Hopkins stiffened at her white phones position. Rafe picked up on it immediately, but said nothing as she intently listened to the outside environment. He knew she would report when she could, and speaking would interrupt her concentration. After a few seconds, she looked up. “The battleship’s engines are hot. I think all six of them. They just came on line in sequence.”
Worried glances bounced around the bridge, and all of them quickly landed on the Captain. He hardly noticed. “Time to firing points?” He didn’t waste time looking down at his screens as he continued to look at Maddie for any updates.
“4:15… hack,” spoke Tactical, giving a precise timeline.
Rafe spoke to everyone to help calm imaginations running wild right now. “If they just came on line with engines, they will not be clearing space dock in the next four minutes. Also she is not at battle stations, so will not be an immediate threat.” He spun to face Tactical. “We know exactly where her space berth is in the harbor. We can’t damage her because she will have shields up in a nanosecond, and we can’t waste time or ordnance trying to pound through them. Shuffle the target list and put her berth at the top for our missiles and guns. We will hit her dock, and if we can destroy her dock around her, she will be trapped for several minutes. The dock will block her missiles for sure and, depending on the type of dock, she might not be able to get guns on us either. By the time she gets out, we should be long gone.”
“On it.” Tactical’s fingers stabbed at the air of her floating screen in a whirlwind of motion.
The four minutes remaining time hack came and went. People tightened seat harnesses and ensured their personal breathing apparatuses were secured to their bodies and in easy reach. Everyone looked around to ensure all gear was stowed away and would not become flying projectiles if the ship were hit. Everyone scanned their screens one more time to ensure pertinent information was displayed.
Three minutes remaining. Baby Doll lowered the shutters over the bridge windows. The gray of subspace slipped away as the bridge became a metal cocoon. The outside view now was dependent on hull cameras and sensors.
Two minutes came and went. All the bridge crew gave each other a nod and a smile. It always meant the same thing: we’ll get through this together, but if the enemy gets damn lucky and we don’t make it, well, it’s been a pleasure serving with you.
One minute came and went. Some attended to personal rituals that guaranteed survival because they were still alive up until now. A few silently prayed. Tactical tended her screens. Baby Doll smiled at something in her thoughts. Blondie thought of her family. Sky studied Hawkins. Hawkins studied his crew. They were more keyed up than normal and they should be. Each knew this was a fight with long odds, not only the battle here, but also escaping from here and returning home. They had never fought this far outside the Badlands and saw there was still a long road ahead of them. Hawkins knew everything would be ready when the ships dropped into regular space and the shooting began. He suddenly turned and smiled at Sky. He knew she had been watching him. He gave her a nod. Pleasure serving with you. She returned the smile and the nod.
Tactical took up the count. “Five… four… three… two… one.”
They shimmered into space and all hell broke loose.
Chapter 32
2:00 Minutes
Enemy fire control sensors took slightly more than one second to lock on to the intruders. Gun mounts and missile batteries slewed to target in slightly less than two seconds. There was no lockout to be overridden. Missiles and gun rounds went downrange immediately. The nearest floating gun mounts and missile batteries were three seconds flight time away from the intruders. Missiles and gunfire hit the pirates’ unshielded hulls in six seconds, as they were almost free of subspace. All four ships absorbed hits for two seconds before shields went up. Damage was scored on all four ships. Compartments were opened to space, sensors damaged, gun mounts hit, and camera mounts destroyed. Pirates died. Bandit absorbed a direct hit on her port engine nacelle.
The four ships had planned to come out behind the supply convoy and use it for cover from the surface defenses, and from the harbor defenses closer to the surface. They emerged one kilometer above and two kilometers behind the single line of floating freighters. The attackers hurriedly dropped behind the stationary merchant ships for cover. Any hope the OrCons would not fire at the pirates for fear of hitting friendlies was quickly dashed. Ordnance continued to come from the surface or from near the surface at the intruders. Several missiles and guns rounds impacted the stationary supply ships. The large vessels absorbed several shots. This cover gave the pirates the opportunity to engage the defenses not blocked by the convoy, and reduce or eliminate the threat nearest to them. They fired back at the closest floaters with missiles, guns, and lasers, while decoys flew off all four ships in an attempt to confuse inbound missiles.
1:30
The four ships lined abeam each other and began shifting positions within the formation to present different shield sections to the enemy. As they changed positions, they also moved along the convoy as enemy fire decimated the supply ships. As soon as a pirate ship set up behind a freighter, a blizzard of Orion projectiles hit the friendly ship and quickly reduced it to junk.
The pirates were giving it back in kind. Munitions flew off the four ships. Bandit worked behind the formation to ensure a departure route. They hit the nearest moon and all floating batteries along the escape route.
“Engine holed in three places! She will run for twenty minutes max,” Bandit’s engineer at the bridge station spoke while working hard to sound low key. He anticipated the next question. “We can’t repair on the run and will need to go outside to do some of the work.”
“Noted,” Legrand replied. “Do what you can.” Her worrying about the engine would accomplish nothing. She was focused on her attacks. The moon they had just crossed under had sensor and missiles systems on the planet side. These syst
ems were shooting at the pirates now, but were further away so were not the most dangerous threat, but the attackers would withdraw toward the moon, jump it, and then mask behind the moon’s mass so those moon systems needed to be neutralized. Emily had her missiles engaging the moon while her guns and lasers took on targets along the escape route. All missiles systems located on the moon were offensive, so Bandit had no defenses to shoot through. Several hits were immediately scored on the launchers. Bandit’s guns and lasers got hits on several floaters nearby. Legrand was determined her ship would do its share and ensure a withdrawal route was secured.
“This is so annoying.” Killian O’Hare remarked in a tone one uses when referring to ants at a picnic. “Get fire on the closest gun batteries. We’ll take the incoming missile hits for now. Force the formation rotation faster. We are draining big time.”
Nemesis responded to her captain by speeding up the jumping of her companions and forcing them to speed up also. Vindictive and Nemesis switched sides over Predator and Bandit as those two ships switched underneath.
Vindictive hammered the floaters nearest to her side of the formation. As the ships rotated positions, the targets remained the same. Rather than put a barrage of missiles on one target, Delacruz had individual launchers target individual floaters so they kept a continuous fire on all targets. His ship achieved two early hits on power units and the two floaters went dead. As he neutralized his targets, he gradually shifted fires to support Bandit’s efforts to ensure a safe corridor out.
Predator fired deeper into the harbor at the battleship and its dock. They had to immobilize the huge ship in its space dock to have any chance of completing their mission. Predator had locked onto the big battleship as soon as she sparkled into real space. The attackers had a side view of the goliath. Multiple missile tubes were set at intervals along her hull. Many gun turrets of varying calibers were clustered along her topside and along her keel. A name shone in her space dock lights. CITADEL was visible on the bow.
The ship was encased in a six-prong space dock. The prongs extended down the ship’s length from her bow almost to her stern. Dozens of lines hung from the prongs to the ships. Some secured the ship in place, but others passed data, monitored ships’ systems, or provided power. If that ship got out of space dock, she would be a formidable opponent.
Hawkins said nothing. He knew Tactical had it in hand. Missiles flew downrange at the space dock. Missiles impacted at the junction of the six prongs just in front of the battleship’s bow. The dock’s nerve center was located there. The missiles destroyed the power plant and dock controls located in the large box structure there. The dock started to drift and the navigation lights along the prongs winked out. The ship was now trapped in the powerless dock, and it would take time to free her. Hawkins noted in passing that the ship could not bring any weapons to bear on the pirates while encased. He moved on to other targets. Predator continuously shook due to missile launches and multiple hits on the shields. She switched positions in the formation.
1:00
Quickly the incoming fire from the immediate vicinity was dealt with, and the pirates gradually expanded outward. Sky was engrossed in laser targets, and had changed her target list to hit closer, more threatening missile floaters. After their suppression and ultimate destruction, she shifted to the freighters in the convoy. The attackers had taken cover at the end of the convoy, and now were moving forward as the incoming fire was destroying the supply ships and forcing the pirates to move. Several supply ships toward the convoy’s front were trying to get underway before it was their turn to take a pasting from friendly fire. Sky directed lasers at the sterns of several ships and burned holes in their engines before they could get moving and make laser targeting difficult.
Now Sky noticed the pirates were not targeting the surface at all. Predator and Nemesis were working against the defenses, and Bandit was working behind the formation with an assist from Vindictive. No shots had been fired at the surface as of yet. Predator now took several harbor structures under fire. Floating tanks were holed. Space docks were hit with hydra missiles, riddling the structures with small explosions and widespread damage. Regular missiles were targeted on the ships in the docks. The barrage started against ships that appeared completed. These ships, without shields, were easy prey. Missiles impacted engineering compartments and engines only. Predator rapidly nailed these targets; Nemesis soon joined in on neutralizing these prime targets. One battleship, two battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and five destroyers were in space docks closest to the attackers, and all had their engines hit and engineering spaces damaged. There were docks closer to the surface with ships in various stages of completion, but time was running short. Predator targeted a battlecruiser about half built, and put missiles deep into her hull. More missiles were sent against another battlecruiser just behind the first.
0:30
The construction space docks and the occupants were all hit in detail. The docks closest to the surface with ships still in the beginning stages had only the docks targeted. Missiles were put into the power boxes and power distribution junctions. All space harbor infrastructure support was hit by Nemesis and Predator while Vindictive and Bandit continued to hit defenses. So far, no surface targets were hit in the attack.
“Three ships coming from the far side of the planet. Two Ds and a heavy. Coming fast. They’ll be on our port side.” Maddie wouldn’t have spoken if they weren’t about to be an immediate threat. Sensors didn’t pick them up until they rounded the planet, so the ships were now within weapons’ range and would start firing as soon as they picked the pirates out of all the confusion. Undoubtedly, they were one of the area patrols who happened to be close. Probably coming in after a patrol. If they were on the way out, the pirates would have heard them depart while approaching in subspace. A second later Maddie added. “Four ships coming from the starboard side. They’re coming from the weapons range. Two D’s, one heavy and one light.”
“Noted,” Rafe responded. This would make things interesting. He had hoped they could get away without immediate pursuit, but they had planned for worst-case scenario and it was upon them now. Hawkins smiled wryly to himself. Well, it wasn’t exactly worst-case scenario. The worst case was they would be dead now. He waited a few more seconds to put more holes in defenseless ships, but it was time.
“We run now!” He announced to the bridge and over the command net. Bandit leaped out as the other three ships pivoted and ran straight at the moon. Once out from behind the convoy, the base defenses seemed multiple in numbers. But then it became clear the oncoming ship reinforcements had added their firepower to the assault. Missiles flew in from all directions. The four pirate ships fired their sixteen missiles each from the tacked on hull canisters facing rearward. The added defensive missiles, coupled with their other missiles, guns, lasers, and decoys were enough to get them out of the harbor without further damage.
Their last sight was two of the floating gun batteries had turned and began shooting at the trapped battleship. At first impression, it seemed the two batteries had gone berserk, but then Rafe saw the truth.
“Someone has directed the two gun batteries to destroy the dock to free up Citadel. I’m betting the ship’s captain. They’ll be after us shortly.” He added as an afterthought. “That is one dedicated, quick thinking individual.”
“Agreed,” said Tactical. “We need to kill him or her at our earliest opportunity.”
Chapter 33
The small flotilla raced toward the inner moon. The three ships of the Orion patrol were now on the starboard quarter in hot pursuit. The four ships from the range were further back on the port quarter. Both were within close missile range and kept up a continuous barrage of missiles. The pirates were on the defense except for Bandit’s constant missile assault on the moon’s systems. There were only two missile batteries shooting at them now and Bandit soon put them out of action as the group closed the distance to the moon. As th
ey got closer, Bandit and Predator put gun rounds on the moon systems just in case the OrCons were playing dead while waiting for a point blank shot. The withdrawal route was directly over those systems and those systems must be neutralized.
The battleship was coming out of harbor directly behind them now. She was picking up speed. Three space dock prongs still connected together in front of the ship’s bow were atop the hull, held in place by several lines, but the battleship was coming fast. As the speed built up, she did a quick nose up and then back down again. The prongs continued their momentum upward to the limit of the lines still connecting them to the ship. The battleship then fired several lasers to cut the lines and free herself. The battleship passed underneath the prongs as they drifted away. She followed directly behind the pirates and started to open fire. Her missiles could be the difference in penetrating the pirate defenses.
“Once we get on the other side of the moon, we hit the surface systems there, and then I want a hard pull to starboard. We’ll take a face shot on the heavy and two destroyers!”
“On it!” Tactical responded as she tapped furiously on her virtual screens and Baby Doll took over the ship defenses.
Hawkins was briefly going on the offense. The pirates would clear the top of the inner moon and drop down behind the body. The nearest pursuers were the heavy cruiser and two destroyers closing on the starboard rear from an angle. That trio would come around the moon at the equator.
Once hidden from the view, the pirates would destroy the systems on the moon surface and then turn hard to the right to race toward the oncoming OrCons.
“Programmed in,” Tactical reported. “Computer driven. Everyone is onboard.”
The fire control computers had the maneuver now. They would note the speed of all friendlies and foes. Since every ship was at top end speed, they would assume speed would remain a constant. Once Hawkins called the turn to starboard, the computers would matchup the closure rates of the opposing forces, and fire missiles to meet the three OrCons as they came around the moon.
Payback Is a Given: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 2 Page 25