Wolf's Run: The Chase of War (Star Wolf Sqaudron Book 2)

by Shane VanAulen

  “Yes sir,” Dover replied and asked, “What about the Le’Insurgent?”

  “We’ll take care of her,” Hope said and then terminated the link.

  Lt. Allister Dover sent word to his makeshift force of borrowed ships. They had gladly provided crews for the captured ships and had quickly subdued the Karduans who had made up the skeleton crews.

  Watching his own viewer, he saw the two armored cruisers exit the field just as the defense ships opened fired. He knew the Wolf was there as well but with her stealth armor activated he couldn’t see or detect her.

  “Open fire,” he ordered to not only his destroyer’s crew but to those of the battle line.

  Just as they fired the Karduan system defense ships or KSDS all moved at the same time and turned to apparently escape. It seemed too soon for them to realize their dilemma as they had just opened fire a moment before. The six heavily armed defense boats headed right at Dover’s secondary line firing at them as they went.

  One KSDS targeted Lt. Peters’ destroyer escort. The John Andre was clearly out matched as the she took numerous hits from the remote controlled defense boat.

  “They figured it out,” Dover relayed to his ships as his destroyer fired at another passing KSDS.

  The operators of the defense ships did make one error as they retreated the KSDSs back toward the station and that was the three Confederation cruisers with their spinal mount were just as fast as the defense ships. They were also giving them a perfect ass shot as they turned to run.

  The defense ship attacking the Andre took a particle blast from a spinal mounted cannon right to its engine core, crippling it and putting it out of action. The Wolf then chased after another defense boat.

  The armored cruiser Heath also got off a spinal shot destroying a second KSDS.

  The four other KSDSs retreated back all of which had taken damage as they passed the secondary line.

  “Deactivate those ships!” Bie-Tor screamed realizing that she had practically given the enemy extra ships when she turned them over to the imposter Cia-Ta’s crews.

  Her bridge crew though was unsure what she meant and some were so confused that they thought she wanted the defense ships deactivated.

  “Mistress, what do you mean?” one of her officer asked.

  It was then that she realized what she had forgotten that she never revealed to any of them that for all of the ships she had ever repaired or restored had a failsafe shut down code placed into their computer cores. It was in case she would ever have to face them in battle not really for this human war but more for the day that her House fought the others for dominance of the the High Council.

  “Get out of my way!” she yelled running over to the communications station. Once there she pushed the operator out of her chair and quickly tapped in the override failsafe. It was doubly hard as she had to do it with just one hand.

  “Sir, our captured ships are all reporting that their ship systems have shut down and that they are dead in space,” CPO Parker announced.

  Hope made sour face, “What of the light cruiser Le’Insurgent?”

  “She is also inactive,” Ben Lewis reported from the maser station.

  He nodded his gray head, “Then this changes nothing. Order all ships to continue the mission and set pursuit courses after those defense boats.”

  “Aye sir,” Parker replied as he relayed the message to all Confederation ships.

  “Have the frigates - Vella Gulf, Bunker Hill, and the Hastings surround the Le'Insurgent and ordered her crew to surrender. Once they’ve done that have them send over boarding parties and secure the ship.”

  “Sir, the Vella Gulf took heavy damage to her maneuver drives from a mine and is out of action, the computer station officer reported.

  “Fine, have the New Orleans join them and have the Agincourt aid the Vella Gulf,” he ordered as he looked to the disposition of the rear of his fleet.

  “Aye sir,” the comm. officer said.

  The station mistress was not pleased as her remaining KSDS retreated from the overwhelming Confederation force but she was not yet done with this fight.

  “Have KSDS-3 target the transport docked at our center ring and destroy it,” she commanded as she returned to her command chair.

  “But Mistress if they blow up the transport that could cause severe damage to the station,” one of her remote operators pointed out.

  “The enemy controls that ship and it is probably where the interference to our systems is coming from so fire on that transport now!” she ordered waving her pistol around with her sole hand.

  “Coming into range now,” the operator remarked not wanting to be shot in the back.

  “Sir, one of the defense ships is heading for the Culper,” Ben Lewis reported from the maser station.

  “Comm. open a channel to the Raven,” the Hawk ordered.

  “Channel open, sir.”

  “Time to earn your pay,” Hope said looking up at Cmdr. Bannon’s face on the viewer.

  “No problem sir, we got this,” the NIA officer replied with a smile.

  The ISS Raven had snuck in with the three captured Karduan ships when they had first arrived. The shadow cruiser had placed herself between the destroyer Nathan Hale and the DE John Andre. She had been in stealth mode and it was hoped that even if she was detected that she might seem to be a sensor glitch or sensor echo to the inexperienced Karduan maser operators. It was all an unneeded worry as the shadow cruiser’s stealth plating made her undetectable even to the enemy’s stolen maser net.

  The Raven then sat off the station’s port bow waiting for the attack to commence. She was the raid teams’ guardian angel in case things went wrong and was there to protect the Culper once the battle began.

  “Helm, lock spinal cannon onto the KSDS,” he said and then looked to his left, “Fire control, lock all energy turrets, torpedoes and missiles.”

  “Spinal mount locked,” the pilot reported having angled the ship into a firing solution.

  “Fire!” Bannon ordered.

  The approaching system defense ship took the spinal particle hit just under its bow. To all that saw the blast it was like a boxer hitting a man with an uppercut right under his chin. The KSDS’s front was blown off but the tough ship continued on course.

  “Fire all turrets and torpedoes,” Commander Bannon ordered.

  The Raven let loose with her particle and fusion turrets as four Blitzen torpedoes were launched from her tubes.

  The KSDS stayed on course closing to firing distance on the docked transport. The shadow cruiser pounded her, scoring missile and energy weapons hits as two of the Blitzen torpedoes were shot down by her defense grid but the other two struck home disabling her maneuver drives.

  “There is another stealth ship out there!” Bie-Tor declared in anger.

  “We should surrender mistress,” one of her ladies said.

  “No, it is time for some surprises of our own,” she said and then gave her orders, “Launch our drone fighters, open our torpedo ports and prepare our torpedoes to fire. I want a triangulation of where that stealth ship is.”

  “Yes, mistress,” several ladies replied as they hurried to carry out her commands.

  “Also have some of the fighters get those tanks off our sides,” she commented as almost an afterthought.

  “Captain, we are detecting fighters being launched,” the Wolf’s maser operator reported.

  “From the station?” he asked.

  “No sir, they are coming from the Ark Royal,” Lewis informed.

  The Fleet Carrier class was the second largest carrier class in the Confederation Navy. The Ark Royal normally could carry eight-six fighters in her two hanger bays. Since her capture the Karduans had worked to restore her starboard side. They had even gotten her starboard hanger bay restored and had filled her with captured and repaired fighters. These fighters didn’t need pilots as the station mistress had successfully reproduced the drone technology of her enemy.

&nb
sp; “Number and type?” Hope asked.

  “I’m reading forty-two fighters,” Lewis called out. “Mixed types including SF-18 Hornets, SF-86 Sabres, SF-37 Firestone strike fighters and SB-41 Typhoon star bombers.” They all knew that last two types carried anti-ship missiles and short range torpedoes.

  “Launch our fighters and signal the Nathaniel Green to launch her fighter groups as well,” he ordered. Thinking that they had thirty-four star fighters to counter them with. Using star fighters was always the best way to stop an incoming fighter attack. Hit them before they could get close enough to launch missiles and torpedoes.

  “Fighters launching,” comm. reported.

  “Signal the Heath and the LeBlanc to move up and finish off those system defense ships. Have the Beowulf and the Agamemnon support them and draw off some of their return fire,” the Fleet Captain ordered.

  “Aye sir,” comm. signaled back.

  “Order the light cruisers Montgomery and the Prescott to follow us in as we take out the next defense ship,” he said to the comm. station.

  “Sir, I’m reading a dozen torpedoes launches,” the maser station sang out.

  “Where from?” he asked.

  “The station, it appears to have built-in torpedo tubes just under the upper commanded deck,” the computer/sensor operator reported.

  “Captain, the torpedoes are detonating around the last location of the Raven,” Ben Lewis said.

  “Time to target?” he asked having to manage his battle as well as the battles around him.

  “One minute until we are in range of the system defense ship. She has turned to fight,” Midshipman Lewis at the maser system announced.

  “Lock on our spinal cannon and fire when in range. Helm, I want full impulse and all turrets fire as we close,” the captain ordered taking a sip from his coffee mug.

  “Sir, the Raven reports that she has taken heavy damage to her engines and her maneuver drive is down.”

  “Tell them we are coming,” Hope said and them ordered, “Have the Wolf’s fighter group cover the Raven.”

  “The station is launching more torpedoes,” Lewis called out.

  “Contact our raid teams and see what the hold-up is in taking the station’s command center,” Captain Hope said just as the Wolf’s spinal mount fired hitting the KSDS and tearing open her port side all the way down to her engines.

  “Firing torpedoes and missiles, particle turrets commencing fire,” Chief Burke declared.

  Hope watched as his attack cruiser pummeled the defense ship while he wondered what was going on in the station?

  Mike and the heavy weapons team had come up the cargo lift and were surprised when the door opened to a hallway full of Karduan guardswomen. This was clearly not the way that Cappillo’s team had taken.

  Collins immediately fired the thirty rounds that his powered armor had left in its arm mounted gauss rifle as he charged into the throng of Karduan soldiers. He had trusted that they were as surprised as he was and that his armor would protect him while he covered his weapons team from harm.

  Hitting them and just simply running through them like he was a gorilla on battle drugs was his plan as he flung them down the hallway. Several guardswomen fired on him but his armor held for the time being. One had actually leaped into his arms and fired her gauss rifle into his helmet’s face plate at point blank range. She had a Confederation copied gauss rifle and it was on full auto. Poly steel round after round hit his face plate until it started to crack. Mike grabbed her in his armored arms and simply squeezed, breaking her back and dropping her to the floor in a broken heap.

  Over his suit’s comm. link he heard someone say, “Lieutenant Collins, get down!”

  Mike dropped to the floor as the heavy weapons team opened fired on those still left in the hallway.

  After the sound of the man portable gauss cannon stopped firing he heard a voice yell, “All clear!”

  Getting up he saw the carnage he had helped create. Bloody and broken bodies filled the floor of the hallway as the Blue Karduan blood was splattered on the walls and floor along the length of the corridor.

  “Let’s go!” a Templar man-at-arms said running past him and shaking him from his shock.

  Their team was now down to five men as one of the men-at-arms had caught a stray round right in his forehead and died instantaneously. No med kit or shot or Heal- X could bring you back from that.

  Running over the bodies they moved though the hallways to the command center. Every now and then they ran into minor resistance and either Mike would run up as they fired at this suit of armor and then crush them or one of their grenadiers would lobe an AP round down the hall and blast them out. It was apparent that the guards didn’t have heavy weapons and were limit to gauss rifles and ship pistols. In the end it was apparent to all that they were just no match for the old suit of powered armor and the fire power of the heavy weapons team.

  After fifteen minutes of fighting and running they finally reached the hallway were Lt. Cappillo and his raid team waited. The team was made up of ten Werewolf commandos and two marines. They also had fifteen armed prisoners who had volunteered to help. Needless to say, the former slaves were all anxious for a little payback.

  Rufo stood up from his crouched position and scratched his head as Mike walked up in his oversized armor.

  “So what’s the hold up?” Mike asked through the suit’s external speakers.

  “I’ll be damned! Is that you in there boss?” Cappillo inquired bringing his hand up and knocking on the cracked face plate.

  “Knock it off,” Mike said and continued, “Why are you stuck out here?”

  Rufo motioned with his thumb.

  “Take a look but be careful we lost five guys who were the first around the corner,” he said still in awe at the sight of a suit of powered armor arriving from out of nowhere.

  Mike moved up to the edge of the turn and saw that the metal corner was all shot to hell and looked like a cheese grater had gone over it a few dozen times.

  “Ok give, what’s down that hallway?” he asked without taking a look.

  “You know just the door to the command center and a ceiling mounted gauss cannon turret,” the Italian engineer explained making it sound as it was nothing at all.

  “How far?”

  “Ten maybe twelve meters,” Rufo answered and then he got serious and grabbed Mike’s armored arm. “Don’t you think of running down there and doing some thing foolish. That cannon would tear this old suit to pieces with you in it.”

  “No worries,” he said and turned to his grenadiers, “Ten to twelve meters, you’ll need HEAP rounds.”

  “Roger,” one of the grenadiers said as they dialed in their automatic launchers.

  Mike would never say he was an expert with a M75 rocket grenade launcher but he knew how to fire one and had fired one several times back in his academy days. Watching these grenadiers, he saw that they were experts as they put on remote VR goggles so they could direct the rocket grenades while in flight.

  “We’re ready sir,” one of them said as they moved up to the shot up corner of the hall.

  “Fire in the hole,” the other one said as they both fired their rocket grenades. They took off and turned inflight heading down the hallway and exploded out of sight. The hall suddenly filled with smoke and debris.

  Mike moved up and took a quick look around the corner and nearly lost his head. The gauss cannon moved and fired not as fast as he would have expected but still fast enough. Ducking back, they watched as the wall was whittled away a little more.

  “You damaged its outer housing but it is obviously still functional,” he announced as the two grenadiers made faces and started to readjust their launchers.

  “Sir, we now have the distance to target and have set our next rounds to target. We’re each going to fire multiple rounds and that should knock it out.”

  “Great but don’t collapse the hallway as we need to get into their CIC ASAP.”

&n
bsp; The grenadiers both kind of shrugged as they moved to fire. Mike had seen it before it was the body language of - can’t please anyone and that’s not my problem.

  This time Rufo ordered everyone further down the hall to a safe distance and Mike was left with the two grenadiers. Both of them fired simultaneously but this time they each let loose with three high explosive armor piercing rounds. It was overkill but that turret had to come down now!

  As the dust and smoke cleared Mike saw that the turret’s housing was destroyed and its crushed and twisted remains had come crashing down blocking the hallway.

  “Demo team!” Mike yelled hoping they could quickly blow a hole through the massive wreckage.

  “Mike, what is your ETA to their CIC?” Martin Daily asked over the comm. link.

  “We are here but we've got a blocked hallway and an armored door to deal with. What’s the situation out there?”

  “We are finishing off the system defense boats but they have launched drone fighters from the Ark Royal. They also have a dozen hidden torpedo launchers that have knocked out the Raven’s maneuver drives and are trying to finish her off.”

  “Got it! We need to hurry the fuck up!” Mike said looking to his demolition team. “Blow us hole!”

  “Give us five minutes,” the sergeant-at-arms called back as he carefully placed explosives.

  Mike nodded his armored head but was uncertain if the Raven had five minutes.

  Gunny Masters’ team had just finished clearing the bridge when Commander Edmund Hunter and some of his surviving crewmen reached the CIC of the Star Tiger.

  He had already sent his engineers down to check the engines and remove any sabotage that his own men had worked into her repairs. They had kept careful track of any impairments that had been covertly installed to throw a monkey wrench into the Karduans’ plans to use the ship.

  “Power up all systems and do a level one diagnostic,” Hunter ordered moving to the helm station. A level one diagnostic was the fastest and that is all they had time for. Further shake downs would have to wait until later.