The battle destroyer was as large as a Confederation heavy cruiser or battle cruiser in another words it was bigger than the Wolf. The furthest ship away was a brand spanking new super destroyer almost twice the size of a standard cruiser.
The Karduans hadn't had such large ships in all their years of warfare amongst themselves. They had only started to construct such immense ships as an answer to the Confederation's battle carriers and battleships. Even then a super destroyer would be hard pressed to go against a battle carrier one on one.
The Wolf wouldn't have had much luck if she had entered the system with those two ships sitting by the gravity well. As it was Hope watched impassively as the DE and DD closed on his position. Across the system the battle destroyer and super destroyer broke orbit from the hydrogen star where they had been refueling and were now heading at their best speeds towards the gravity well. It would still take them almost an hour to reach them.
"Commander Richards?" Hope said his eyes riveted to the screen.
The first-officer looked up from his panel to the captain and then to the view screen. His eyes narrowed as he surmised the old hawk's plan.
"Padre, can we fire the spinal cannon and still make a bend within a minute of each other?" he asked, calling down to the engineering section.
The channel was open, but it took a minute for a response to be heard.
"Sure," Chief Zimmerman said and then added, "God willing!"
Richard nodded to the Hawk even though the old man had heard the Padre's answer. His nod was his approval of their unspoken plan.
It didn't take a first year cadet to figure out that the Karduans had themselves spread thinly across the system. They were probably all heading for the hydrogen star to refuel and were going either by order of importance or by the speeds of their ships. Probably it was by the rank of their ships and their captain's station or seniority.
"Helm, full impulse ahead, plot an intercept course with the approaching Karduan ships," Hope said to the astonishment of the bridge crew. "Mister Daley, be prepared to bend us out of here in a moments notice. Engineering, make ready to fire the spinal cannon. Fire control, target the destroyer escort with all particle turrets and commence firing as soon as they are within our range. Helm, align the spinal cannon to hit the approaching destroyer, but I want the shot to clip the DE as well."
His orders were quickly repeated and carried out. Helm adjusted course and within a minute the Karduan destroyer escort that had been rushing to catch them was engulfed in a barrage of fire as the Wolf's sudden advance brought her long-range particle turrets within range.
In reply it had managed to fire several salvos of missiles, but the cruiser's gauss cannons were making short work of them.
Surprise was on the Wolf's side; the last thing the Karduans thought was that the outnumbered and outgunned cruiser would do was attack.
The destroyer continued at full speed to the aid of her sister ship unaware of its own impending fate. In another minute the cruiser’s main gun fired and a wave of particle energy erupted from its bow. The shot held true to course and just raked the side of the destroyer escort as it proceeded to smash into and engulf the destroyer. The DE was out of the fight taking so much damage that it was dead in space and unable to return fire.
The destroyer was badly damaged, but was still advancing. It had been lucky in that the DE had taken some of the force from the energy wave and that the shot was fired at a longer range than the Wolf would have liked.
Still, it wasn't firing back and its frontal armor and hull plating had more ruptures and missing sections then could be counted. It also looked as if her bridge had been vaporized from the ship and only a huge gapping hole was left in its place.
A spinal mounted particle weapon was definitely an advantage that the Karduans hadn't realize the Wolf had. Cruisers of her class and smaller weren't able to produce the energy requirements or lacked the size structure to bear and fire such powerful weapons.
The ISS Star Wolf and her sister ships were some of the smallest ships, if you could call an attack cruiser small, to have such new advances and she was going to make the most of them.
"Sir, the remaining enemy ships are retreating back towards the approaching battle destroyer and super destroyer," the maser station reported.
"It make sense, the three DE and their two sloops aren't going to be able to stop us without sacrificing most of their ships," Richards commented.
Hope nodded looking at the long-range sensor readings of the two larger ships.
"The battle destroyer and the super destroyer both have spinal mounts. If their other ships get back to them they'll be safe. They should have come at us collectively and tried to cut us off from the gravity well or even damage our engines," the old captain remarked, airing what he would have done if their roles were reversed.
"Whoever is the Fleet Mistress, she is playing it safe in order to save her ships," Martin commented from his station.
Hope made a snort and chuckled, "Well, she made an even bigger mistake. Increase speed and set a pursuit course after them. I estimate that we have eighteen minutes of pursuit time before we'll have to head back to the gravity well due to the approach of their capital ships."
"I believe we can catch at least one or two of those fleeing destroyer escorts before we have to turn tail and run," Richards agreed with an evil grin.
Lewis highlighted in red his readings on the two running freighters and placed it on the main view screen.
"Sir, what about the freighters? They are pretty slow and are heading in a 180 degree course away from their fleet."
Hope had also noted their escape route and speed, but it was gratifying to the old headmaster that a sophomore midshipman had also made such an observation.
"Very good Mister Lewis," he said with a smile and then looked to his first officer. "Commander Richards, launch fighters and tell them to disable those freighters without getting themselves shot to pieces."
"Aye, aye sir!" he answered as he passed on the order to their waiting fighters.
"It is about bloody time!" Dover exclaimed as the catapult launcher shot his Wasp LN-28 fighter out into space.
Along side him, a second Wasp was also launched. "Stop you're whining, after all you could be manning the helm on the bridge," Mister Cappilo commented, from off his portside.
Ahead of them the two other Wasp fighters and the two larger SF-86 Saber fighters were already streaking their way towards the escaping freighters. Commander Hutton and Lt. Usheiba where in the Sabers and two backup pilots, Ensign Adams and Ensign Henry were in the other two Wasps.
They were also seniors as well as civilian rated pilots and had gone through training sessions along with two other seniors. They were replacing Mister Daley and Mister Collins who were missing from this mission.
As luck would have it Martin had drawn the bridge duty for the computer and navigation station. Lt. Collins had been sitting in his Wasp up until a few minutes before they had gotten the call to launch. Gunny Master had run over to his fighter and told him he was being pulled for a more important mission. Reluctantly, a highly disappointed Mister Collins gave up his fighter to Ensign Adams and followed the Gunny to the waiting nearby armed-shuttle.
It made Alister wonder what could be more important during a battle than being on the bridge or in the seat of a fighter? His scope detected the Carronade's launch a few minutes behind him and the other fighters. He was about to ask what was going on when he remembered that they were to employ radio security at all times.
Beings he didn't hear them ask for permission to launch or even an ok signal after they had left, he had to assume that they didn't want to be noticed. He watched as the shuttle headed back towards the last damaged destroyer. He then decided that whatever they were up to it was definitely dangerous.
The four tiny Wasps quickly caught up to the Sabers as they closed the distance on the two escaping freighters.
"Listen up," Hutton's voice said o
ver the fighter's comm. channel. "Wolf Pup One and Two will lead the strike on the portside freighter's engines. Wolf Pup Three and Four will follow us in and then Wolf Pup Five and Six. Use only half your missiles and then pull out fast." That put the order of attack as Hutton and Usheiba followed by Dover and Cappilo and ending with Adams and Henry.
A chorus of "Rogers" answered his instructions before he continued, "We will then move on and hit the second freighter's engines, just stay on my tail and if I buy the farm, Wolf Pup Two is in charge. No heroics, we can't afford to lose a fighter or a pilot."
A second round of "Rogers" and "Aye, Ayes" answered his call as the commander started his attack run.
The freighters were human mid-size cargo carriers and had only rudimentary defense systems. They each fired a salvo of missiles, which the lead Sabers' counter missile program easily dodged. The following Wasp fighter had to use a little more finesse, but strangely the enemy missiles didn't seem to be able to get a positive lock on the old fighters.
All six fighters sent their missiles home slamming them into the lightly armored hull and severely damaging the ship's engines.
"Bonzai!" Usheiba screamed and then add in a normal voice, "I always wanted to say that."
Dover chuckled to himself and almost yelled, "Baby Trees!" as he started his run, but refrained from doing so.
Pulling out of the attack the six Confederation fighter pilots were extremely happy as they raced towards their second target.
"Wolf Pup Leader, this is Momma Wolf," The Star Wolf called.
"Roger Momma," Hutton answered.
"Be advised that two Karduan Vanguard sloops are heading your way, estimated time of intercept five minutes."
"Roger that, we'll be on our way home by then," Hutton replied as he started his second attack run on the next freighter.
The second strike ended about the same as the first. The freighter's engines were badly damaged and the six fighters had escaped without loss of life. Mister Adam's Wasp fighter had taken slight damage to his port wing, but he was in no danger of losing control.
The two enemy fast attack ships were indeed closing on them, but the fighters had kicked in their thrusters and easily pulled away from them. Mister Dover had noted that the two sloop-sized ships looked as if they had taken some minor missile damage.
He’d later found out that Captain Hope had ordered the Wolf to fire a barrage of missiles after the pursuing ships to slow them down from catching up to their fighters.
While the fighters had been taking out the freighters' engines the Wolf had continued her own pursuit. She chased down and destroyed two more of the Karduan destroyer escorts while only taking light damage in return. Unfortunately, they had to break off their attack as the approaching battle destroyer and super destroyer closed on the Wolf's position. The two ships may have been larger than the attack cruiser, but they were nowhere near as fast.
Even so, it was still a race back to the gravity well with the sole remaining enemy destroyer escort, the battle destroyer and the immense super destroyer on the attack cruiser's tail. The fighters plotted an intercept course with the Wolf as the two Karduan fast attack ships stayed after them.
The fighters had just managed to catch up with their mother ship as they approached the gravity well. Their two pursuing ships broke off their chase just as they reached the cruiser's firing range. One of the Karduan vanguard ships came a little too close and was greeted with a broadside salute of nine particle cannons fired from forward turrets one and two as well as aft turret three.
The small ship looked as if it had been struck by a hailstorm as nine holes burst into her armored side and she floundered as she tried to pull herself out of range. Only aft turret three was able to fire a second time and again scored a round of hits.
Passing the first destroyer they had hit when they had first arrived, the Wolf finished her off with a parting salvo of fusion and particle fire. Some people might have said this was overkill, but the old Hawk had a plan and he wanted it to be carried out.
Reaching the gravity well five minutes ahead of the enemy battle destroyer, the Star Wolf initiated her bender drives and slipped away to safety.
Dover leaped out of his fighter and tore off his helmet as the sound of cheering filled the fighter's bay.
"Holy Shit, we did it!" Rufo yelled, grabbing the startled Englishman in a great big Italian hug and spinning him around in joy.
Alister actually thought his passionate friend was going to kiss him on both of his cheeks.
"Steady on old man," he said with a smile as Cappilo put him back on the ground.
The whole bay was like that with people hugging, shaking hands and slapping each other on the back. It was a great victory; two destroyers and three destroyer escorts were completely wrecked. The two freighters were not going anywhere without engine repairs and one of the vanguard ships was without a doubt totally screwed.
Across the bay, Dover noticed with great relief that the Carronade had also returned home safely. Mike was sitting on the rear ramp of the shuttle looking a little worn out. Walking briskly over to him, he could see that his friend's face looked stressed.
"What the bloody hell happened to you?" Alister inquired, sounding as concerned as he felt.
"Don't ask," Mike said as he let his friend reach down and help pull him to his feet. "I think I need a drink. Correction I need several drinks!"
"I think we can arrange that, but where did you go after you left the ship?"
Mike shook his head and signed, "We left a little surprise attached to that damaged destroyer's engine section.
Dover face wrinkled in confusion. "The one without a bridge or a bow?"
"Yep, right above her main fusion reactor. Its aft section was relatively intact and I guess it will be the first ship to receive help as the others were pretty much totaled."
Before they could continue an officer's call was sounded over the ship's intercom. It summoned all command officers to report to the bridge. The call included Hutton, Collins and Dover.
Entering the captain's day cabin, the officers from the fighter bay scrambled for seats. They were the last to arrive having Padre beat them to the door by less than a few seconds.
"Congratulations on a well fought if impromptu battle," Captain Hope said, standing behind his desk with his great bear like hands grasped behind his back. "But it's not over!"
An announcement like this would have normally made a room of men start to whisper and murmur among themselves but the command staff just sat there in silence, all eyes riveted on the ancient warrior.
Nodding his satisfaction at their response or lack of response he continued. Looking to his chief engineer he asked, "Can we make a bend in the next twenty minutes, enter a system, fire the spinal cannon and then immediately bend out?"
Chief Warrant Zimmerman rubbed his still dirty hand across his upper lip as he considered the question.
They had already made two bends and had fought a battle without refueling. The Star Wolf was designed to do just that of course, but that was when she was new and before her extensive repairs.
In fact, they had already started using the ram scoops to gather fuel, though in the limited time they would be there it would be an insignificant amount.
"Yes sir, we should be able to," he said doing the math in his head and allowing for a safety margin.
"Excellent!" Hope replied and turned to Collins and Gunny Masters, "Lieutenant, did you manage to leave our farewell gift?"
"Yes sir, we attached the mine to the destroyer's fusion reactor with magnetic clamps and set the proximity detonator for anything bigger than a destroyer escort."
Doc Beilor gasped in surprise and with a newfound understanding.
"That's why you crushed that last destroyer as we were leaving. You wanted to make sure they'd head for the other one that might still have some of its crew left!"
Her voice almost sounded accusatory and even Hope had to admit he killed a lot of Kard
uans to make this next stage of his plan work.
"That's right, we planted one of our nuclear mines on the broken destroyer in the hope that either the battle destroyer or the super destroyer would come to her aid." Richards explained as the computer on the captain's desk emitted a 3-D holo projection of the system and the positions of the enemy ships.
"We predict that the remaining DE and vanguard sloop will move off to help the freighters and the damaged vanguard. That will leave the battle destroyer or the super destroyer to help the other injured ships. Of those ships only the second destroyer still had signs of life."
"What makes you think that the DE and the sloop won't help the destroyer instead of the capital ships?" Padre asked, voicing what a few others were thinking.
Richards nodded understanding the engineer's confusion. "The capital ships are slower and closer to the destroyers. They would be the natural choice to aid them. Also, the DE and vanguard are faster so they could reach the ships further out first."
"So ladies and gentlemen, we will be bending back into the system in fifteen minutes," Hope announced and then continued. "By that time with any luck, one of the enemy ships will have tripped our nuke. If they haven't we will set it off ourselves as a diversion. We will then fire on the closest enemy ship, determine the situation and if need be, perform an emergency bend to escape."
The Hawk paused and smiled as he surveyed the nodding heads and thoughtful expressions of his officers and senior NCOs.
"Once more we have the element of surprise on our side and after all, only an insane captain and a crazy crew would return to face those immense ships."
The men looked at him like he was right, they'd have to be crazy to go toe to toe with a super destroyer.
"Of course that’s what the enemy will be thinking as well," Commander Hutton said, breaking his silence. It was the kind of insane ambush that would make a commando proud.
The Log of the Gray Wolf (Star Wolf Squadron Book 1) Page 25
