"Play it your way," Bremerton said. "Weapons crews, open fire. Use the lasers and focus on their thrusters. Once we have a hole, I want you to fire every goddamn torpedo we have into it. Hopefully we can do enough damage to cripple his drive. I want to bring that cocky son of a bitch in for questioning."
"Do you mean to board his ship, Commander? Should I alert Sergeant Walker?" his XO asked.
"We won't need to board his ship, Wilson. After I'm done with him, he'll fly over himself."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then we'll tear the ship apart piece by piece until there's nothing left for the pirates and scavengers to salvage." He frowned inwardly at his own comment. It wasn't like him to lose his temper, but the simulation had pressed his buttons something fierce. Less than a week after graduation and he was already dealing with computer simulated international assholes.
The Endeavor's first round of fire was just as ineffectual as the Russian's as the lasers failed to penetrate the cruiser's heavy armor plating. Bremerton knew getting through the hull would be an arduous task, especially once the cruiser showed its speed.
On screen he noticed dozens of small flashes go off on the side of the battlecruiser as the enemy ship unleashed its array of gauss cannons on the Endeavor. He knew he was about to find out how thick the tungsten plating on his ship was.
The design called for six to eight meters of armor on all sides of the ship, with double that amount protecting critical components like the engines and bridge. Of course, the plating around the weapon systems was much thinner to allow them to fire without obstruction.
"Sir, the battlecruiser is targeting our laser batteries."
Bremerton beamed inwardly as the enemy ship was playing into his hands. Soon the Endeavor would be in position and he'd unleash the fury of one hundred of the best fighter pilots the NEC had to offer. He just needed more time to get into position so he wouldn't lose as many as they crossed the gap.
"Direct damage control crews to the laser batteries. Try to save as many of them as we can."
Before anyone could acknowledge his command another ship appeared on the screen just a few kilometers away from the battlecruiser, changing the game.
Chapter Seven
New Earth Station
Bridge, NECS Endeavor
"Change of plans," Commander Valarie Thompson said over the comm. "We're to run interference for the Endeavor. Keep as many of the enemy fighters away from her as we can." The change of plans was necessary the moment a Russian carrier hopped in and unloaded its full contingent of fighters. Two-hundred Russian fighters swarmed the gap between the ships, before Commander Bremerton gave the command to launch. By then they'd knocked out two laser batteries and were making their way around the ship to knock out more.
"You heard her boys. Form up on my flanks. Let's show these Russian bastards what happens when they mess with the NEC." Lieutenant Tegan Bradley pulled back on the throttle, sending her X-71 fighter blazing towards the enemy carrier.
"Roger that, Bobcat."
"Two bogeys approaching from two o'clock." The last voice came from Fireball, her squad's second in command. He formed up a few hundred meters off to Bobcat's starboard, holding a tight formation.
Tegan glanced at her visual display and noticed the ships in question, two older X-37 fighters, rare holdouts from their days back on Earth. They lacked the armor and weaponry of the new X-71s but made up for it with pure speed. With that speed came a lack of maneuverability, but considering they could kill you before you saw them coming, it wasn't a disadvantage.
"Copy. Lancer and Switch break off to the left. Fireball and I will take the right. Let's catch these two pricks between us."
"Roger," her squadmates replied in unison in the comm.
Gauss rounds and the occasional torpedo streaked overhead as she sped toward the enemy bogeys. She fought the urge to lift her head to watch the battle play out between the larger ships, knowing even a glance could lead to her death. She'd been a fighter pilot for five years and still had a problem with that. It was her vice. The one thing she had to battle every time she left the flight deck and out into space.
"You think the Endeavor can handle the battlecruiser and a carrier?" Fireball asked as he streaked to her side.
"Not our concern," she responded, as much to herself as to Fireball. "I do know if we can't keep these bogeys off her, she won't stand a chance against either of them. Now get your head in the game and focus." The warning came off more stern than she had intended, but it was as much a reminder to herself as to him.
"I'm sorry sir, I just..." Fireball didn't finish the sentence before a third enemy bogey closed in. The ship unleashed a torrent of fire, tearing into Fireball's fighter before turning to port.
"Fireball, you still with me?" Bobcat glanced around her cockpit looking for signs of Fireball's fighter. All she found was a small debris field off to her side where his fighter should've been.
"Bastards are quick, aren't they?" Fireball asked, voice strained. "Knocked out my starboard thruster. I'm a sitting duck."
Shit. Two minutes into the battle and her squad was already down a fighter. She wished there was something she could do to help him, but as long as the battle raged there wasn't anything anyone could do without risking their life as well.
"Power down your engines and anything you don't need. Make your signal as small and possible to avoid their attention. When this is over, I'll come for you."
The comm was silent for a long moment before he replied. "Thanks Bobcat. Powering down systems now. Kill a few of the pricks for me."
"I will, Fireball. Just stay alive."
Without her wingman she pushed her ship to the limits to catch the enemy bogey. She lined up her shot carefully, making sure the ship was in the center of her targeting reticle before pulling the trigger. Once it was, she unleashed a torrent of fire into the ship, shredding it in seconds. Debris from the fighter pelted her cockpit as she passed leaving a few dents in the otherwise new paint job.
Pulling back on the controls, she flipped the ship around in case a third ship came in to play. As it stood, it would be a miracle for the Endeavor to survive the fight it was in. If the commander jumped out of the system, she wanted to be close to avoid being left behind.
The sight of the battlecruiser filled her viewport as she made her turn. The Endeavor's lasers burned a hole in the side of the ship, causing it to belch fire and debris into the vacuum of space. Hundreds of smaller explosions lit up the side of the ship as the gauss cannons made quick work of the ship's armor.
"Keep it up boys. We have them on their heels," the CAG's voice said though the fleet channel.
Checking her readout she located the remnants of her squad. She noticed their blips five kilometers ahead of her, hovering alongside the Endeavor.
"Lancer, Switch, how you holding up?"
"Bobcat, you're alive," Lancer replied. "We thought you bit it along with Fireball."
"I'm fine. Bastard tried to lead me back towards the gate. How you two holding up?"
"Got two on our twelve and two on or six. Think you can give us a hand?"
"Be there in two shakes," she said. "Stay in one piece until I get there."
"Roger."
She punched the thrusters once again, willing every ounce of speed out of the little ship. Keeping up the pace, she twisted and spiraled through the debris fields littering the space between her and them. She caught up to the enemy bogeys and trailed the rear two, but held her fire. She needed to be quick and sure with the first kill. If her fire missed, one of the two ships would pull away, forcing her to chase while allowing the remaining bogey to harry her squad.
She followed the pair through another debris field, avoiding a body floating through the void of space. Holding her fighter true, she waited until she had a weapons lock and unleashed a volley of fire into the enemy bogey. The shots hit the engines of the opposing fighter, causing a chain reaction that took off the starboard wing, sendi
ng the ship into a tight spiral seconds before it exploded in a ball of fire.
"One down," she announced as she positioned her ship to take out the next bogey.
"Thanks Bobcat. We owe you one," said Lancer, sounding ecstatic.
"Live through this and help me find Fireball and we'll call it even."
"Fair enough, boss."
Tegan punched the thrusters one more time hoping to catching up with her squad. While she'd done it on more than one occasion in her short life, she hated flying alone. The added set of eyes, not to mention guns, was enough to turn the tide of any encounter. Flying alone took a heavy toll on your instincts and use of the tactical display for critical information. While good, neither of those are great about noticing the actual battle going on around the fighter.
Lancer and Switch followed the bogeys into the thick of battle, putting themselves in the crossfire between the three capital ships. The sight was incredible to see. The Russian battlecruiser was still holding on, firing that armaments it had left back at the Endeavor. Small balls of lights lit up the side of the Endeavor by the dozen where the battlecruiser's slugs found a mark.
The odd thing, she noted, was the Russian cruiser. Other than unleashing its full contingent of fighters for her squads to deal with, it hadn't so much as made a move. By rights it could've jumped into the fray and helped demolish the Endeavor in the matter of minutes, yet instead it spent the battle hiding behind the smaller ship.
Then out of nowhere the battlecruser's hull ruptured, sending flames and debris spiraling away as the ship split in two. The comm channel erupted in cheers as the fighter squadrons celebrated the success.
"Clear the channel boys. This is far from over."
The two halves of the battlecruiser split apart, proving the CAG right. An intense green light erupted from the hull before coalescing into a beam that lanced through the Endeavor's hull as if the armor wasn't there.
Chapter Eight
New Earth Station
Bridge, NECS Endeavor
"Commander Thompson, tell me your fighters are heading towards that weapon."
"Affirmative, Commander. I've ordered all wings to abandon their current targets and focus on the enemy carrier."
"Good. Take out that super laser then continue with the enemy fighters. We can't let them fly unabated for too long. Bremerton, out."
Bremerton scanned the damage reports as they appeared onscreen. The enemy laser pierced through most of the living quarters of the Endeavor, but missed any other critical systems. As lucky as they'd been, it was a matter of time until they did.
"I thought the Russians abandoned laser technology," Wilson said, jaw agape.
"Apparently not," Bremerton quipped. "Not only that, it's better than anything we have. Wilson, find out why the damned thing pierced our armor like it wasn't even there and do what you can to keep it from happening again." He knew the task was folly, but he had to stop the damage otherwise he'd lose his first encounter since graduation, simulation or not.
"Commander, if I may," Midshipman Ritter said, turning her head from her screen.
"Go ahead, Midshipman."
"I've been probing the Russian carrier. Two minutes ago, they broadcast a signal across the sector, perhaps something in the signal disrupted the modulation systems in our armor allowing the beam to rip through the ship."
"Two minutes?" Bremerton asked. "That would mean the signal also disrupted the battlecruiser's shields. You mean to tell me they sacrificed their own ship to get one good hit on us?"
"It's a hunch, Commander. But it fits."
Bremerton nodded. "It does. Keep scanning all frequencies. I want to know the moment they send another signal."
"Yes, sir."
Bremerton realized the simulator algorithms changed. The sims he ran back at NEC HQ were grounded in the reality of the current situation, meaning the Russians never developed laser technology further once they split off from the rest of humanity. Not only that, ship based systems had safeguards in place to keep a shield disabling signal from doing significant damage. This was onboard every ship since the first commercial vessels left Earth to keep smugglers and pirates from doing the same maneuver.
But regardless of how the simulation changed, he couldn't let it bother him. If the captain wanted to test him with an unusual scenario, then he meant to do his best. His only regret is that he hadn't been the one to take down the battlecruiser, but the would make up for it by handling the carrier.
"Commander Thompson reports her ships have had no success penetrating the armor around that laser. She suggests we focus our efforts on them so his pilots can focus on the fighters."
Bremerton admired that about the CAG. Her willingness to speak up when something was wrong was a trait more people could use in the military. Most CAG's worked under the pretense that their pilots were invincible and allowed them to stay in situations they weren't capable of handling.
Not Thompson. If she didn't think a maneuver or tactic was possible, she'd call you on it. And if her fighter's weaponry couldn't penetrate a target, she'd be the first to let you know.
"Tell the CAG I agree," Bremerton said. "Wilson, focus our laser batteries and half our cannons on that weapon."
"But, Commander. The enemy ship is moving too fast for us to get a good lock with the lasers."
"I agree, but we aren't trying to get them to penetrate the armor." Bremerton shot a grin at Wilson who stared back at him with a look of confusion on his young face. "Our best shot at taking out that weapon is to hit it with torpedoes, but to do significant damage we need to crack the shell. By overloading their dampeners near the weapon we should be able to sneak a pair of torpedoes through before they can reinforce that part of the ship."
Wilson glanced at him thoughtfully. "You think it will work?"
"It has to Commander, otherwise we're dead."
A few seconds later his young XO spoke up. "Laser crews report their weapons are locked and waiting for your mark."
"Do it," Bremerton said with a sheepish grin on his face. He'd mastered every simulator he'd faced to this point and this one would be no different. He didn't care the captain modified it to make it much more difficult. In the field he'd have to adapt to the situation on the fly. After all, if he discovered a new alien species he wouldn't know what to expect.
The screen lit up with the sight of two dozen independent laser batteries striking the enemy carrier, all focused on the enemy super-weapon that had done so much damage to them already. Bremerton watched with glee as the beams shredded the armor on the surface, sending bits of rubble into space.
"Fire all torpedoes now," Bremerton ordered.
"Torpedoes launched."
Onscreen twenty torpedoes sped off toward the target, each approaching the area the lasers roasted. They closed in fast, covering the gap in a matter of moments.
"Five kilometers. Four. Three."
Suddenly the lead torpedo veered from the target, only to be followed by another. Before long, each projectile changed course and headed toward the Endeavor.
"Midshipman, I hope you found the signal."
"I have Commander, but it's a mess. They've encrypted the signal deep within their transmissions. With enough time I could isolate the signal..."
"You have ten seconds before those torpedoes hit us. I don't know about you, but I'd like to win this encounter."
"Understood."
Midshipman Nelson tapped on her screen, trying her damnedest to isolate that signal before the torpedoes struck. She was good, one of the best in the field, but it wouldn't help. It would take more than a handful of seconds to send their own signals back to the torpedoes to get them to veer away, let alone find and block the enemy signal.
Klaxons blared throughout the bridge, putting the crew on edge.
"Commander, the carrier just broadcast the other signal. Our modulators are down."
Bremerton sighed. This was it. In mere moments the battle had swung back out of his favo
r. Not only that, it was clear he'd lost this one. As magnificent as she was, there was no way the Endeavor would survive twenty torpedo hits without the modulators active. Then, any chance of salvaging a draw eliminated when the sickening green light lanced out from the carrier, taking down the Endeavor for good.
Chapter Nine
New Earth Station
Bridge, NECS Endeavor
Captain Wellard paced the hall outside the bridge for twenty minutes planning what to say. He'd been told his crew was the best fleet had to offer. They'd culled the best of the best and put them on a single ship for him to command.
Sure, he knew his time on the Endeavor was fleeting. His job was to whip this new batch of recruits into shape so they didn't make a boneheaded decision that could not only cost them their lives, but the lives of people on the vast solar systems and planets controlled by the NEC. The same mistakes countless others made before them.
In his heart he knew the simulation he ran them through wasn't fair. He'd been back in the comm room with Admiral Flannigan manipulating the simulator until he was sure he'd devised a strategy the new hotshot commander couldn't beat. But given how he'd tilted the odds out of the commander's favor, he fared remarkably well. If it weren't for a handful of quick keystrokes as the torpedoes were set to strike the Russian cruiser, the commander may have won.
In truth, he was proud of fleet for once. If this was the new standard they hoped to set then by god humanity just may get its home back from the Mythrar.
He held his position for a moment longer before entering his access codes on the keypad, allowing the mechanical double doors to open with little more than a whir.
Endeavor (The Mythrar War Book 1) Page 3
