Coalition Defense Force Boxed Set: First to Fight

by Gibbs, Daniel

  A holographic blue light formed on the periphery of a heads-up display. It increased in size as Miri guided the turret toward it. A Tash'vakal-built fighter came screaming in from that angle, looking like a shovel blade mounted with missiles, weapons, and engines burning with yellow light. Ruby light lit up space before her from the fighter's attack, and the Shadow Wolf's deflectors absorbed it. Her fingers squeezed the triggers in response. Pulses of sapphire light erupted from the four barrels and streaked toward the fighter. A couple of the pulses hit before it twisted out of view. Miri doubted she'd done more than degrade the deflectors on the craft.

  More lights were forming on the periphery of the holoviewer as the ship's targeting systems determined the presence of more enemy fighters. Given the limitations on the budget of an independent trader, even that amount of connection was something of a luxury. Miri reached back through the decades to her early life, when she was barely an adult, for the training she'd had in using these kinds of weapons. She picked one of the growing lights and lifted the controls to lower the gun from her perspective, her left hand twisting to turn it as well. Even before the fighter became visible, her fingers found the firing triggers.

  This maneuver served her well, as it put a stream of pulses dead on target. The full barrage caught the enemy in the rear as it was finishing an attack run when it came into her sights and blew through whatever deflectors the craft had. Her efforts were rewarded by the explosion of orange and red that consumed the heart of the fighter and blasted its exterior pieces in all directions. "Enemy fighter down," she reported into the ship intercom.

  "Nice shooting, Ms. Gaon," replied Felix. "Got another one coming your way."

  She saw it a moment later, coming from below the Shadow Wolf. Pulse fire from the turret below was following it as Miri tracked her gun mount to open up on it. The twin streams of pulses defeated the pilot's efforts to evade, and that fighter also exploded.

  The brief rush of victory she felt was immediately dampened by the shuddering of the ship. A heavy impact, likely a missile or a mag-cannon round, was the culprit, straining the moorings of the ship's deflectors from the transferred kinetic energy. It was a good reminder that the ship was still in danger as she brought the pulse turret to bear again on another approaching enemy craft.

  * * *

  On the bridge, Piper checked the status display. "Direct missile hit, aft starboard quarter. Deflectors strained but intact. Two more missiles inbound… now none. Auto-turrets got them."

  That was good to know. The auto-turrets were the one weapons system that was basic to the ship, a purely defensive system for shooting down missiles and projectiles with magnetically propelled interceptors. They could do some double-duty as anti-fighter weapons, but the quad turrets were far deadlier against enemy fighters, as they were proving as another small red dot disappeared from the holotank in front of and to the side of Henry.

  He triggered the intercom. "Pieter, time to jump?"

  "If you still want a double jump, I need another ten minutes!" Being rushed brought out Pieter's Afrikaans accent strongly, adding "ooo" sounds to "double" and "another." "I have to finish treating the drive for the heat spike. Remember that overhaul!"

  "I will," Henry promised.

  The ship rocked hard. "Missile impact, port side. Deflectors are degrading." Piper shook her head. "The auto-turrets can't keep up with them."

  "Distance to the ship ahead?"

  "Still closing. Eight minutes to maximum cannon range."

  Henry nodded with his attention on the holotank. The fighters from the other Tash'vakal ships were closing rapidly. He guessed five minutes, maybe a little less before they were in combat range. We can't jump out before then, at least not if we want to be ready for a double jump. He took that into account as he issued an order: "Prep for fusion drive burn, time four minutes."

  "Pieter's not going to be pleased," Tia noted as she implemented the order.

  "That's why it's a good thing he's got Brigitte helping," Henry said. "And also why we automated the changeover so much."

  Tia accepted the point. "If we make range with that Tash'vakal ship before we can jump, it's going to hammer us."

  "That's why we're not giving them a chance."

  * * *

  The enemy ship continued its steady burn toward the Pahknabi. Ship-Lord Jastavi watched his display as his fighters continued their struggle against the human ship. "The anti-fighter defense for a ship like that is most impressive," he admitted. He turned toward a male manning his ship's weapon station. "Weaponeer, time to weapons range?"

  "Missiles are in range, but the enemy has demonstrated intercept capability," the weaponeer answered. "Magnetic cannon will gain accurate range in four tekams. Five tekams for particle cannon range."

  "Very well." Jastavi's upper and middle limbs clasped under his chin. "If these humans wish for a challenge, they shall get one indeed."

  * * *

  As the four-minute mark approached, the Shadow Wolf shook again, more violently than before. "Starboard hit, deflectors are failing," Tia warned. Another shake. "Aft hit, deflectors still failing."

  "Their second fighter wing is engaging," Piper said. "The auto-turrets are being overwhelmed."

  While it was a bit earlier than he'd wanted, Henry recognized they had to start immediately. "Cera, full burn on fusion drives, now!"

  "Aye!"

  With several keystrokes, Cera brought the Shadow Wolf's hidden advantage to life. Within the two aft holds, usually kept without atmosphere and sealed off as if damaged, tanks of deuterium and helium-3 started pumping their contents into a conventional reactor vessel. The two elements, given the right conditions, started fusing together at the atomic level, producing energy and other byproducts. The plasma generated by the reactor was drawn by electromagnetic fields into reinforced lines linked to the ship's rear-engine nozzles.

  The ultimate result of the process was thrust, and the Shadow Wolf's acceleration caught the attacking fighters by surprise. The shift in the hauler's delta-vee was such their targeting systems were completely thrown off, and with it, their fire. Many of the fighters altered their courses to avoid shooting at their own side or in a vain effort to adjust.

  Aboard the ship, everyone felt the increased pressure as the vastly increased thrust overwhelmed the hauler's inertial compensators. "We're at 2Gs now. Compensators are still struggling," Tia said. "Make that 2.1Gs!"

  "At this rate, we'll be in firing range in less than a minute," Piper added.

  "Fire when you've got the range," Henry answered.

  * * *

  On the Pahknabi bridge, Ship-Lord Jastavi was surprised despite himself. He'd known instinctively that the human ship was hiding something, but he'd expected something like heavy guns, not a more powerful engine system.

  "The fighters are beginning pursuit," his tactical expert commented. "But it will take them some time to get back into range."

  "I can see that," Jastavi hissed. The nimble fighters were indeed capable of high speed, but it would take time for the acceleration curve to overtake their foe's trajectory. The Pahknabi would be in engagement range long before that. "Put us on their course, astrogator. Weaponeer, shoot to disable! Their speed prevents them from breaking away from us!"

  He was answered in the affirmative as the distance to the Shadow Wolf melted away.

  * * *

  Henry eyed the distance and considered the gamble he was taking. It was a necessity—the fighters would overwhelm them if they caught up, but the Tash'vakal ship had a position where flying around them without coming into effective weapons range was unlikely. Added to that was the likelihood that they were tracking his vessel. He wanted to give them a reason to be wary of trying again.

  "Coming up on weapons range now," Piper said, "and I've got a good destination for our double jump as well."

  "Send it to the helm."

  "Doing so."

  After Piper hit several keys, Cera spoke up. "Coordinates loa
ded into th' drive, Captain. We'll jump when Pieter gives th' word."

  "Retracting cover plates," Piper added.

  She was referring to the plates at the bottom of the ship, just forward of the bow-facing holds. They covered the end of the extended section of hull plating that ran the length of the Shadow Wolf, stern holds to bow. It was an obvious modification compared to the standard Holden-Nagata Mark VII, and most would have presumed it contained a cabling trunk of some sort.

  When the cover plates finished retracting, they revealed the actual contents by uncovering the barrel of a cannon emplacement.

  "Neutron and energy capacitors at full," Piper said. "Shooting."

  A white-hot lance of blue energy stabbed out from the barrel. In the space of a second, the channeled, packed neutrons in the shot crossed through the void and slammed into the deflectors of the Tash'vakal pirate ship. The deflectors resisted the blast, mostly, but at the cost of straining themselves beyond endurance.

  Piper followed up with a second shot. Slightly weaker than the first, it was still strong enough to smash through the Tash'vakal deflectors and slice through the main hull of the ship. The beam worked its way up into the pylons attaching the upper starboard pod to the Tash'vakal ship, severing one and nearly the other.

  * * *

  The Pahknabi had never endured such a terrible strike, before or during Jastavi's reign on the vessel. The entire ship rocked like a wounded beast. He could only stare in shock at the result of the enemy shot.

  "Scanners confirm. The humans are using a neutron cannon, cruiser-grade," said the weaponeer. "Our deflectors cannot resist repeated shots."

  "Reroute all power, blast you! Begin evasive maneuvers!"

  "My Lord, the supply pod's connections are too severely weakened. Even with inertial compensators, we might shear it off!" protested his engineer, while the helmsman obeyed the order anyway to avoid his commander's wrath.

  "Then let it fail! We will reclaim it!"

  The Pahknabi was maneuvering hard when the third shot came, the weakest yet. It still punctured the weakened deflectors with enough power left over to carve another gash across the Pahknabi's starboard side, just barely missing the lower starboard pod. Jastavi watched the damage indicators and felt fury at the human ship and indeed their entire damned race. Chantavit Li had not warned him of this. His ship absorbing such severe damage would weaken Jastavi's political power. Lamat would never choose him.

  Still, there was pride. He was a Ship-Lord of the Mek'taman. His honor, the honor of the Pahknabi, and that of the clan demanded he retaliate. "To the ethereal wastes with Li and all humans. Weaponeer, hold fire until we have optimal range on them, then fire all available weapons on that ship! I do not care if it survives!"

  "Gladly, my Lord!" the weaponeer replied even as another shot from the humans carved another wound in the Pahknabi.

  Jastavi hissed lowly as the next shot came. I will return the pain in kind, human. I will make you pay!

  * * *

  Henry watched with quiet satisfaction as a fifth and final shot from the neutron cannon finished dealing another blow to the Tash'vakal vessel. That shot did the least damage of all, as it had little power left after penetrating the compromised deflectors on the other ship.

  "Capacitors are low," Piper said. "And heat buildup's at the redline. Do you want me to go for another shot?"

  Henry was looking over the holotank intently, judging the position of the other Tash'vakal ships. Finally, he answered, "Not right away. Cera, alter course, heading to three-three-five, degrees mark negative fourteen."

  "Aye, sir."

  "That should open up the range a little, just in case they try to return fire," Henry said. Looking at the distance on the holotank, he figured it wouldn't take them out of weapons range of the stricken ship, but it would keep them from coming under fire from other threats. We're committed to this run and have to see it through.

  "So far, I've got nothing from their weapons." Piper shook her head. "We may have knocked out something vital."

  "Reinforce deflectors to face them as we pass."

  "Doing what I can, but they took some hits already…" Tia gave him a worried look. "Jim, even if we took out some of their weapons—"

  "I know, but we're on the horns of a dilemma here, Tia," he replied. "Ambushes have a way of causing that."

  As soon as he spoke, Henry realized he'd touched an old wound for Tia, and it wasn't hard to guess what it involved. He could see in her stormy gray eyes the memories of urban battle, a revolution betrayed.

  "I see your point," she said.

  As their range to the damaged Tash'vakal ship came as close as it would, Henry got on the intercom. "I'd enjoy a jump any time, Pieter."

  "Stand by, Captain. Just a couple more minutes."

  Piper sighed. "We really need to hire him a—" Her instruments lit up and diverted her attention. "They're locking weapons and shooting!"

  "Evasive!"

  Given their speed and acceleration, they were in an excellent position to evade a lot of incoming fire. But the Tash'vakal ship, despite being wounded, was equally capable of throwing a lot of it. Missiles streamed from launchers while particle lances lashed out through space in glittering cerulean beams of murderous energy that stabbed at the Shadow Wolf.

  Some missed. Some hit. The Shadow Wolf's deflectors endured the impacts with decreasing capability until the shots started to cut through enough to scorch the hull.

  The missiles came roaring in behind the lances, hitting acceleration that quickly overtook the hauler even with her unique fusion drives pushing her along. The auto-turrets engaged them, as did the manned quad turrets, with the sapphire pulses and unseen strips of magnetically accelerated metal ripping into the approaching missiles. Between the ship's speed and its defensive fire, most of the enemy missiles were eliminated.

  Most.

  One missile, on the verge of missing, fired thrusters to correct its course, bringing it back around to the port side of the Shadow Wolf. An auto-turret round failed to destroy the warhead of the missile, which slammed into the deflectors and exploded. Another came in from below before it hit the deflectors, then two from starboard. Bursts of energy, courtesy of high-energy reactions from the xaser-pumped warheads of the missiles, pounded the Shadow Wolf on all sides.

  The abuse was too much. The deflectors failed.

  With the distance growing, more and more of the particle lance fire from the Tash'vakal was missing, but the successful hits told on the Shadow Wolf's dark-gray hull. Even glancing blows left scorched, half-melted hull material in its wake. One beam sliced through the mid-starboard hold into the mid-port hold, exposing both. Another carved a chunk out of the ship's aft section on the upper deck. One missile went off just before reaching the impact point, bathing the forward lower deck in enough energy to melt through and cause a hull breach.

  For all of their bad luck in these hits, the Shadow Wolf was fortunate. Her engines, still straining to keep her ahead of the approaching mass of fighters, hadn’t taken serious damage. The lances did nothing more than a single glancing hit on the rear starboard hold, ensuring her fusion drive systems went undamaged.

  That fortune was little comfort for the crew, however, as their ship shuddered under the repeated impacts. Alarms wailed, and Tia swallowed at seeing the red showing up on various sections of the damage control display. "We've taken multiple hits to bare hull, both middle holds are hulled completely, structural damage on both decks fore and aft." She glanced briefly at Henry.

  Henry knew she was thinking about her previous warning not to get too close and didn't begrudge her those thoughts as he fought his frustration with everything. He regretted having anything do with Lusitania in that moment. But regrets wouldn't get them through. His finger found the intercom again. "Pieter, we're taking hits! We've got to jump, now."

  "If you double-jump, I can't guarantee the drive will hold. I need at least a minute to finish heat-proofing this component!"
<
br />   The ship shuddered again. "Forward starboard hold hit and hulled," Tia said.

  Piper gave another warning. "More missiles inbound. The auto-turrets can't get them all!"

  "Pieter, I'm not sure we have thirty seconds!"

  "Stand by!" An invective in Afrikaans came over the line.

  "Maneuverin' as best as I can!" Cera said.

  After a glance at the holotank, Henry decided to take a risk. "Don't worry about my prior heading order, Cera. Evade in any heading you can!" He gave the order, knowing that to break from the general direction would drastically cut the time to intercept for the approaching fighters.

  "Aye, sir!"

  Cera broke the Shadow Wolf into a twist upward and to port. The maneuver threw off several shots from the Tash'vakal ship and further opened up the range. She ended up turning a full hundred degrees, which in turn meant that their new heading reduced their distance from the approaching fighters. Henry looked at the range and knew he was cutting it close.

  * * *

  Jastavi was pleased to see the damage inflicted on the human ship. He was delighted to see the ship panic enough to change its heading so that the fighters' intercept time shortened. It had the effect of making the Pahknabi's fire completely inaccurate, but the fighters could finish them off. And if they jumped, well, that would just add time to the chase. He triggered the tactical comm line and said, "Pilot-Lord Neshas, the prey is yours."

  "I thank you for this honor, my Lord," his lead pilot replied. "They will suffer for harming our home."