Another hand popped up in the front of the assembled pilots. "Captain Heller," Wills said. Geun leaned forward. Heller was the commander of Dragon Squadron and the seniormost squadron commander under Wills. He also flew one of the few Striker-18 fighters, which he'd brought with him when he defected.
"Sir," Heller began. His voice didn't quaver. All business. Good. "What kind of defenses have been set up?"
"Good question, captain." A rectangle appeared around the Douglass Cluster and zoomed in. "Most of the base's Marine complement was flown out before the alarm was even sounded. One ship at a time, to avoid letting the bastards think they spooked us. They've set up torpedo launchers and heavy blazers and have been deploying mines." He paused. "Which leads me to the squadron assignments."
***
Tammy watched Geun and Brad head off to their fighters. It was a good thing their craft were well apart. Even though Geun hadn't said a word, only an idiot couldn't tell he didn't like Brad. She frowned. Was Geun jealous? He'd had a girlfriend back home, but she was Korean like him. And she'd sent him a Dear John letter not long after he'd joined the Imperial Navy. He'd never mentioned another woman as long as they'd known each other, and although some men's main interest seemed to be sex, his seemed to be religion.
Buddhism does teach you to reject attachments. Although his faith's meditative techniques did allow for a closer communion with the Suns Trinity, that was a sticking point. Attachments — friends, lovers, food, flying —made life worth living. Why simply exist?
She sighed. This wasn't the best time for relationship drama. They were going into battle against a much larger Imperial force than the one that had bloodied Raptor and Dragon Squadrons a month prior. The bastards had killed Jackie then. Only the Suns Trinity knew who'd come back alive from this one, if any of them did.
Breathe. The Xerikesh didn't have many martyrs, but it had a few. Those who'd taken a stand against cruelty or massacre. The Imperials had that in spades. Worst-case scenario, the saints of the Suns Trinity would welcome her, Geun, and Brad alike. She frowned. Okay, she did wonder a bit about Brad. That might be something they'd need to discuss.
"All pilots to your fighters," a sterile voice announced over the hangar's intercom. "Doors will open soon. All non-suited personnel, evacuate to pressurized areas."
Tammy ran a finger around the metal ring sealing her helmet to the rest of her suit. The seal was intact, but she didn't want to get sucked into the vacuum when the enormous hangar doors opened up.
She spotted Max heading to his own fighter. Although some Alliance pilots preferred to leave their Strikers unadorned, he'd painted his kills onto the nose of his fighter. Two Imperial fighters and three freighters, the ones carrying war materials to the enemy shipyards they shared the belt with. He'd raided escorted convoys, but this would be the first time he'd gone into battle against a purely military target.
Tammy waved. Although his helmet limited his peripheral vision, he turned her way. She waved again. He waved back, then continued on toward his fighter. He probably didn't know just what he would face, but she did.
Doing her best to ignore the slight trembling in her hands, she turned and headed for her fighter. Raptor Squadron was flying cover for Dragon Squadron. It was the Dragons who would fly the first strike package against the Imperial capital ships. They would need her prayers far more than Raptor Squadron.
Chapter Three
Raptor and Dragon squadrons hurtled through the outer edges of the Douglass Cluster like two overlapping scythes. On asteroids above and below, if he looked carefully, Geun could see shuttles landing parties of Marines. Some shuttles even disgorged digging equipment. Although the Alliance had planned for the possibility of Imperial intrusion since they'd set up the base, it seemed Admiral Banerjee didn't think the existing defenses sufficient.
He swallowed. They'd need to buy the men on the rocks time to set up heavy weapons if the fighters and the frigates Freedom's Fire and O'Rourke bringing up the rear weren't enough to see the Imperials off. He looked behind him. He wished Banerjee had sent all three frigates instead of keeping one in reserve. He'd never said why, but Geun suspected that the battle with the Achilles and Sarpedon had made the commander leery of deploying bigger ships against fighters. Geun scowled. Surely Banerjee remembered that nearly half the fighters who'd gone after those cruisers were space dust by now.
"Keep alert, ladies and gentlemen," Heller ordered. "ETA to the Imperial attack force is three minutes."
Geun drew a breath. The enemy was more powerful than the two Imperial cruisers had been. Even frigates, vulnerable as they were to single torpedoes, could overlap their flak screens with those of bigger ships. But virtually the entire base's fighter force had turned out for the battle, along with almost all the remaining torpedoes. The enemy was stronger than they'd been before, but the Alliance was stronger still. And bloody-eyed Begtse, wrathful protector of the dharma, would surely judge the right.
"Two minutes." Geun's eyes sank to his LIDAR display. The first Imperial contacts had already appeared. Every second there were more and more. Geun's heart began to pound. Breathe. "I have done what is good," he whispered, a sutra that was ancient even before men had left Old Earth. "I have done what is skillful. I have given protection to those in fear." He stole a glance at the LIDAR display. The Imperial formation was all there now, with no new craft appearing. At least intelligence had gotten that right, this time.
"One minute until contact."
"And I have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel." His fears receded a bit, but did not leave him entirely. He drew one breath, then another. It wouldn't be long now.
Bright lights flashed in the dark emptiness ahead. Geun looked up. "By the Buddha," he gasped.The situation was worse than he'd thought. Three Imperial frigates, smaller than the Achilles and the Sarpedon but still dangerous to a fighter, floated in a triangular formation directly ahead. The space between them and one small gray asteroid seethed with explosions and red-orange blazer beams. Two smaller craft hurtled away from the asteroid, heading back through the gap in the center of the formation toward the more distant but no less intimidating Imperial battlecruiser. Through the gap Geun could see the two cruisers. The formation was like a funnel, a funnel of protection for the Imperial fighters deploying from the battlecruiser and a funnel of death for pursuers.
Already they're learning. Less reliance on heavies, more on fighters.
A second asteroid floated below and behind the frigates, its surface still glowing from energy fire. Geun squinted. He could see shattered metal and broken bodies. The remaining bastion was giving the Imperials hell — the frigates' armor was scorched and pocked in many places — but it looked like they would soon go down like the other.
"Raptor One, this is Dragon One," Heller said. "Dragon Squadron and our frigates will be flying a strike mission on the Imperial frigates, to clear a path for Viper, Taurus, and Swordfish Squadrons to go for the big boys. Raptor Squadron will cover us and deal with any surprises that pop up. In case they punch our ticket, make sure your torpedoes don't go to waste."
Geun nodded. "Aye aye sir." He switched the signal to Raptor Squadron. "All right everybody, we're flying cover for the Dragons. We go in in three, two, and..."
Geun's Striker-13 leaped forward, pushing him back into the seat. Raptor Squadron's other Strikers hurtled forward alongside him to form an arrowhead out of ten smaller arrowheads. Out of the corner of his eye Geun could the ten Strikers of Dragon Squadron rocketing toward the fray in groups of five, each escorting a frigate.
Geun kept an eye on his LIDAR. There didn't seem to be any Imperial fighters in their path. If it turned out that all the Imperial fighters were back at the battlecruiser for rearming and refueling, they might be able to launch a strike package of their own.
"Captain," Geun began. "If no fighters appear, can we make an attack run?"
"Only on my mark," Heller said. "Keep watching for fighters."
"Aye aye sir
."
Streaks of blue-white erupted. Dragon Squadron, the Freedom's Fire, and the O'Rourke were breathing fire now, torpedoes racing for the frigates pounding the remaining Alliance bastion. Geun watched them eat up the distance between the Alliance fighters and the smaller Imperial warships. Begtse willing, the enemy defenses wouldn't be able to eat up too many of them.
Five new contacts appeared on Geun's LIDAR just behind the leftmost Imperial frigate. Five more appeared from behind the rightmost one. They leaped forward over their bigger brothers, hurtling straight for the oncoming Dragon Squadron and the torpedoes they'd launched.
Geun's hand tightened around the stick. Bloody-eyed Begtse! Those must be Imperial Strikers, hiding in the frigates' drive plume so they'd be harder to spot. They'd shred the oncoming torpedoes before tearing into Strikers still on the torpedo-launch vector. And if they carried torpedoes of their own, they'd be a threat to the Alliance frigates.
"Raptor Squadron, this is Raptor One. Time to earn our nonexistent paychecks. On me!" The engines of his Striker-13 shoved him deeper into his seat.
"Yippie-ki-yay!" Tammy shouted over the squadron frequency. Her ancestors had been from the Old Earth region of Texas and sometimes things he recognized from history books or historical dramas popped up. Her Striker drew up on Geun's right. The other members of Raptor Squadron followed in quick succession, once more forming a flying V with Geun on the point. It wouldn't be long before they were in blazer range of the Imperial squadron, but the Imperials would be able to rip into the oncoming torpedoes seconds earlier. Bloody-eyed Begtse, skew their shots. Bring the torpedoes through the storm and right into their teeth.
"Hit the enemy fighters as soon as you can!" Geun ordered. "Prioritize the ones attacking the torpedoes, then get any that go after Dragon Squadron."
The Imperial fighters opened up on the torpedoes, red-orange spears of blazer fire striking them down one by one. A moment later, the Alliance flotilla returned fire. Shields flared blue-white. The fighters broke off their attacks on the torpedoes and rose to meet the Alliance attackers. Several Imperial fighters began attack runs on the frigates, while others hurtled straight at the Dragons.
"Not today!" Geun shouted. He opened up on Imperial Striker drawing a bead on Dragon One. Beams of killing crimson energy lanced from his fighter to flare against the enemy shields. The Imperial pilot curved away from Heller's Striker-18 and opened fire on him. Geun's own shields shimmered around him as blazer blots struck home. The space between the two oncoming squadrons turned thick with killing energies. With Dragon Squadron preoccupied, it was going to turn into a slugfest that would leave whoever won almost as spent as the losers.
Geun signaled Heller "Dragon Squadron...?"
"Copy, Raptor One," Heller replied. "We've still got torpedoes. We've got to make sure those frigates go down."
A quick glimpse showed the Imperial frigates redirecting their fire from the asteroid below toward the torpedoes. One after another the torpedoes fell to surgically-precise blazer beams. Dragon Squadron threw more torpedoes into the mix. The frigates launched more torpedoes, but the oncoming Imperial torpedoes kept them busy. One of Heller's Strikers leaped away from its peers, all its heavier weapons expended. Twin beams sliced into the belly of the oncoming Imperial fighter, passing through shields Geun's own fire had weakened. Within seconds the Imperial fighter disintegrated. One down, nine more to go.
A green light on Geun's console blinked red. The Alliance had gotten first blood, but the Imperials had just waxed Raptor Three. Lieutenant Maximus Thorpe. Tammy knew him better, but Geun had flown alongside him against one of the shipyard convoys. Thorpe was always quick with a joke. Hopefully the joy he'd brought to others would help him ascend toward nirvana.
"To hell with you!" Tammy shouted over the squadron channel. Her Striker spun between three oncoming blazer beams, her own fire drilling straight into an Imperial fighter. After two heart-stopping seconds the Imperial craft's frontal shields collapsed and her fire drilled into the cockpit. The enemy crafted hurtled past Raptor Squadron, its cockpit an open grave for an incinerated pilot. Maybe when the battle was done it could be salvaged for parts. Two down.
Five massive bright lights flared ahead. Two torpedoes had struck the bottom-left frigate, one the top frigate, and two the bottom right. Two of the three enemy vessels simply ceased to exist, boiling blue-white fire consuming them utterly. When the energies unleashed on the topmost frigate cleared, Geun swore. It was spider-webbed with cracks and leaking gases, but its engines and maneuvering jets flared. It flipped over and limped away to take refuge under the wing of its bigger brothers.
Shouts echoed across the squadron channel. Geun didn't join in the cheering. The bigger ships were advancing now to cover the retreating frigate. Torpedoes hurtled straight into the beleaguered asteroid bastion. "Raptor Squadron, break!" Geun ordered. "They're going to shotgu— "
He never finished his sentence. The small gray asteroid exploded, sending waves of shrapnel — some of which were larger than a Striker — hurtling in all directions. One retreating Imperial fighter was smashed to metal shards, but most of the debris hurtled toward the Alliance squadrons.
Raptor Squadron managed to splinter, but Dragon Squadron and the frigates, reorienting on one of the cruisers,were caught in the barrel of an enormous shotgun. Shields flared as the wave of gray rocks swallowed them. For a moment the Alliance craft stood firm among the flying stones, their shields protecting them from significant harm. Standing like a stone wall amid the flying rocks. Geun allowed himself to smile. If the fighters could weather the stony storm, they could continue forward after the Imperials. That frigate wouldn't have the time to —
Then the first of the shields disappeared amid the swarming stones. Geun's eyes dove to his instruments. "Dragon Three!"
"Shields down," the pilot, a man who Geun didn't know well, stammered. "Shields —" The signal filled with static. Geun's gaze returned to his console. One of the green lights marking a friend was gone.
"This is Heller," the commander's voice echoed on all channels. "We can't —"
Then his voice dissolved into static. Another green light went out. Geun's heart sank. Heller was in charge of Dragon Squadron as well as overall mission commander. Geun felt his stomach tighten. As Raptor Squadron commander, that meant he was in charge. Another green light gone. Then another. Geun watched helplessly as karma's wheel turned for Dragon Squadron, grinding down pilot after pilot. The O'Rourke erupted out of the oncoming storm, gases streaming from rips in its hull, only to end up in the path of Imperial torpedoes launched from one of the cruisers. Blazer beams flashed to intercept two of them, but one struck home. The resulting explosion cast it back down into the surging sea of stones, which soon finished it off.
Geun searched for Heller's electronic signature. Had he survived? Maybe the flying stones had interfered with his signal or even damaged his IFF system. One of Dragon Squadron's Striker-18s was hurtling back toward the relative safety of Raptor Squadron, still carrying a torpedo on a wing. Was that him?
"First Lieutenant Choi, this is Wills," the CAG's voice echoed in Geun'searstar. "Looks like most of Dragon Squadron didn't make it. Captain Heller is dead. I'm consolidating what's left of Dragon Squadron with Raptor Squadron. You're in charge of both."
"Aye aye sir."
Geun's console flared an alarm. The oncoming debris field was thinner now, and Raptor Squadron was out of the way of most of it. That didn't mean they were out of the woods yet. "All pilots," he called out to the others. "Watch out for oncoming."
Tammy was the first to respond. "Aye aye sir." Geun raised an eyebrow. Was that sarcasm? It's not like Tammy needed him to tell her to avoid getting a rock through the canopy.
Geun's shields shimmered in front of him. More oncoming rocks. He tore his stick to the left, pulling his Striker out of the way of a particularly large chunk of debris. Another large rock soon bore down on him. He jammed the stick down, diving out of the way. A thi
rd piece of debris hit his rear shields. All the while he tried to keep an eye on the remaining pilots of the two squadrons, all of them now under his command.
He frowned. No Raptor pilot had fallen to the oncoming debris, but the flying stones were forcing them farther apart. His frown deepened. Scattered as they were, they couldn't run a strike on anything with a flak screen worth a damn. And they were vulnerable to being picked off in detail.
His shields shimmered again. Then his fighter shook. "Warning," his console said. "Hull penetrations."
Geun looked at the monitors on his console. He wasn't in any danger of losing his air and nothing important had been damaged, but the debris had punched some holes in his armor. Hopefully no Imperial pilot would find that. At least the oncoming debris was starting to thin out. His LIDAR didn't show anything bigger than an old-fashioned train car for thousands of kilometers around.
A green light representing one of the pilots under his command winked out on his console. It was Raptor Two, another man Geun didn't know well. Had he been caught in the oncoming debris wave? Last Geun had checked, Raptor Two's shields had been at 100 percent and there wasn't much debris heading in his direction. Then his LIDAR detector started pinging. The Alliance Strikers weren't alone.
"Raptor One, this is Dragon Five!" one of the survivors called out. "Watch out! The Imperials are riding the storm!"
Geun's attention snapped to his LIDAR. True enough, several red markers were there, coming in behind the oncoming debris. And they were coming in a group, wiping out individual fighters in seconds. The scattered Alliance fighters would be meat for their table.
"All fighters, this is Raptor One!" he called out. "We got a wolf pack! Form up on me!"
The remaining Raptor pilots hurtled his way. The Freedom's Fire continued toward the Imperial heavies, belching waves of torpedoes their way. That'd keep the heavies busy and out of the fight, hopefully.
Fallen Empire: Discovery and Flight (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Choi and Watson Book 2) Page 2
