***
Admiral Mothaal’s eyes narrowed as he gazed out upon the asteroid-city and the bolts of blue-white energy now streaming out of it. “I thought the city’s defensive emplacements were supposed to be disabled.”
“They have plugged their Flies into the power grid,” the Widow said, her eyes closed. “Curious. I’d assumed they would attempt to flee.”
“Well, you assumed incorrectly, dreega,” Mothaal growled. “Our fighters and transports are no match for those guns.”
“Then pull them back,” Minister Drathir ordered, stepping forward so he could stand between the other two. He would have liked to simply scold the other man, but siding that openly with a human in relative public like this would have repercussions later. It would be best to diffuse the growing tension more subtly, if possible. “We can destroy those turrets ourselves, if we must. According to sensors, that other Ghallar transport isn’t going anywhere soon. Time is no longer a factor.”
The admiral grumbled under his breath but turned towards the tactical officer anyway. “Order the transports and interceptors to pull back. I suppose we’ll have to do this the hard way.”
“Yes, sir.”
Drathir glanced down and studied the tac-holo. Defensive turrets or not, the battle was going as well as he could have hoped. The Mire cruiser had yet to fully commit itself to a skirmish, but the majority of the enemy fighters and support ships had already been destroyed or disabled. Coveri and Vale were looping around for another pass, but their psionic weapon had proven incapable of piercing the Unifier’s shields. Soon enough, it seemed, the Mire would be gasping for its last breath.
“Do not underestimate them, Minister,” the Widow warned. “I suggest we ignore the cruiser and concentrate all batteries upon that shuttle when it draws within range again.”
“Your unsolicited tactical advice is duly noted,” Mothaal replied caustically. “I don’t care if your former agents are on that thing or not—that shuttle is a decoy, nothing more. That abomination of a cruiser, on the other hand, is proving to be more resilient. If we have to engage those turrets, I would prefer not to have to deal with the Golem creeping up into our flank.” He tilted back towards the tactical officer. “Is Razeck squadron ready to launch?”
“Yes, sir,” the man nodded. “All bombers report ready.”
“Good. Order them to launch once the transports are back. The interceptors will escort them.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Their point defense platforms have proven quite effective,” Drathir pointed out. “I’m not sure fighters will be sufficient.”
Mothaal smiled, and his tongue licked across his bottom fangs. “They don’t need to destroy it, Minister. They simply need to occupy its attention while we make our own attack run.”
“As you say,” Drathir murmured. He was no tactician, of course, but it seemed a rather egregious waste of pilots and munitions if those fighters were shredded before they even reached their targets. But Mothaal had a long-standing reputation as being both ruthless and effective, and as long as he got the job done few in the Defense Ministry would question his methods. Most of the pilots were Baalir-caste, after all, and hardly worth losing sleep over.
“The Mire shuttle is coming around for another pass, sir,” the tactical officer reported. “What are your orders?”
“Tell the gunners to fire if they get a clean shot, but don’t let it distract them from the cruiser,” Mothaal said. “Spin the engines to full power, and I want effective firing solutions on all enemy defensive emplacements.”
The admiral locked his claws together and leaned forward. “It’s time to end this insurrection once and for all.”
The Spider and the Fly Page 63