I commed the Admiral again, “Sir, recommend that the Grant and Lee fire off our capital missiles when the approaching destroyers get to within six million kilometers, and at two million, fire our Dash 15’s, targeting on the fighters. We should hold the Kestrel’s missiles until the last moment.” The admiral was pretty busy, and said only, “Concur.”
The bug missiles also cut the corner and were now within five hundred thousand kilometers of us with a high overtake velocity. They were approaching the outer limit of their range, according to my estimates, but they might just be able to catch us now.
As I debated turning back to position myself between the bug missiles and the carrier, Elian said, “Robert, those missiles are beginning to go ballistic. I believe that we can ignore them and concentrate on the second group. The mother ship’s fighters have turned back as well. As a guess, they now know that the real threat is to their rear.”
The plot was becoming confused. First, there was the main bug flotilla, which had been turning away from our attack, and which was now presumably under attack from Alpha, Beta and Gamma’s capital missiles. Our initial attack had served its purpose and pulled much of the mother ships defenses out of position. Its destroyers had reversed course and were racing back to position themselves between the new threat sources and the mother ship. Meanwhile, our fighters were starting to launch from the carrier for the third time and were accelerating back towards the second bug group’s incoming enemy fighters.
The approaching destroyers were now beginning to launch missiles, although thankfully far fewer than the battle cruisers. They were launching at long range, and I thought it was a mistake, as they were still over eight million kilometers from us. I liked it when the enemy made mistakes. It occurred to me that this was the first time this particular bug formation had come under attack, and it was responding in much the same way as the other flotillas in our first encounters. I passed that along to the admiral.
The second contingent of bug fighters was accelerating very hard and a gap was opening up between them and their destroyers, whose missiles were flying right through the dense fighter formations. If I had been a bug fighter pilot I would have been terrified of getting blown up by my own missiles.
Admiral Lee came on screen and asked, “What is your assessment?” I said, “Sir, our present situation is precarious, but as long as there are no additional setbacks to our plans, we should come out relatively unscathed. We don’t know how they will respond when they lose their mother ship, but I believe that we have the firepower to destroy this new attack before the mother ship defenders can intercede. Our timing has so far been excellent.”
Admiral Lee chewed on that for a moment and said, “I agree. I want us to target their destroyers with your capital missiles. Your decision as to when to launch. Our fighters are going to get an opportunity to see how well they fare against their opposite number, but I don’t want a fight to the death – we don’t have the time or the muscle for that. Um, can our pilots get in close enough to fire their missiles without having to get within energy range?”
I looked at the plot and said, “Sir, that will be difficult, but doable. If they accelerate at max for, say, fifteen minutes they can get far enough out to safeguard the carrier. Have them launch at medium range and immediately accelerate back toward the carrier, which should continue to distance itself from both groups. Alpha and Beta will have enough missiles to finish off the survivors. I suggest that we ignore any seriously damaged destroyers and concentrate our follow up missiles on any healthy ships. We can rearm and return at our leisure to finish off any disabled ships.”
Admiral Lee said, after a brief pause, “Let’s go with your suggestions, save for one change. My people say that the two remaining battle cruisers could possibly get into missile range of us if they move decisively. We can see heavy energy weapons fire coming from the mother ship and her destroyers, and if your estimates are correct, they have only a few more minutes left. I want you to position yourselves between the Brezhnev and the mother ship, and report any moves in our direction. Lee out.”
I didn’t like not being in the center of action, but I agreed with his assessment. Besides, there were two focal points of attack, we were merely being ordered from one to the other. Admiral Lee was very cool under fire, and his tactics were far better than his lack of experience under fire would indicate. I told Elian, “Admiral Lee can fight his ship at least as well as his desk.” Elian nodded with a patented grin.
The Dash 4’s were forming up into squadrons and moving out to intercept the incoming bug fighters. They had enough missiles to seriously deplete the enemy, and our two Dresdens would target the follow-on destroyers.
We began launching our capital missiles a little early, but the destroyers were accelerating towards us, so our missiles should still have some time left on their drives for the final run ins. We fired one hundred each, saving twenty for, well, demon Murphy.
We watched our plot with something akin to awe. We had ships going everywhere, missiles launching in both directions and at last, the mother ship began taking hits.
Elian said, “Robert, they targeted the battle cruisers. We may not have to worry about those two bastards.”
I watched the plot and initiated a running commentary for my crew. Missile after missile hit the mother ship, and her two huge defenders. I lost count after forty or so, and moments later a savage torrent of missiles tore the mother ship apart in a vast series of explosions. One of the battle cruisers was hit several times, but the other one managed to destroy the few missiles targeted on it. I counted twelve destroyers and an unknown but large number of fighters, who were now bereft of a home.
I reported to the Brezhnev, “Sir, the mother ship is gone, one battle cruiser sustained some damage, but still retains her drive and presumably, her offensive systems. As yet we see no sign of any attempt to launch an attack against us from those remnants.
Admiral Lee acknowledged my report, but his attention was on the attack now unfolding against his own ship.
Bug fighters were within seven million kilometers of the Constitution and our own fighters were nearly within range of the approaching enemy fighters to fire their missiles. Alpha and Beta were now approaching the Brezhnev and both were already decelerating hard so as to come to rest, relative to each other and to us.
Our fighters timed their launch almost perfectly. One hundred sixty missiles streaked off their racks. Our capital missiles were coming in from a slight angle and were targeted on only fifteen destroyers, so we should have very few left to worry about. Their fighters were another question. We counted over one hundred of them, and the odds were that as many as forty would survive the Dash 4 missiles. What wasn’t known was how they would react when they realized that their only remaining home was an expanding cloud of gas and debris.
Finally, the bug fighters began launching. It was a ragged display, but they got off two hundred missiles, which was serious, but not enough to worry me greatly. For the first time, I was pleased that this enemy had only one missile in its inventory, albeit a very big one. They had never displayed a small, fast anti fighter missile. The logic of their decision was obvious – the mother ship was not merely a large target, it was the only target.
Elian and I continued to watch the main bug formation, looking for any sign of renewed hostility, as well as the missile duel unfolding in front of us.
The second group of fighters were in between them and our missiles, and were partially masking them from the destroyer’s sensors. Our fighter missiles were on course to intercept the bug fighters, who were beginning to spread out, again somewhat raggedly. Their maneuvers were also serving to better mask the approach of our capital missiles. Within the next five minutes the smaller anti missiles would begin their final targeting maneuvers, but we could already see a breakdown of the tight bug formations. They’d already fired their main offensive weapons and were now facing a very large and extremely fast missile attack.
&nbs
p; Elian said, “Robert, I’m beginning to see some main group movement our way. I can’t tell yet what is going on, but some of their fighters are beginning to regroup around the two battle cruisers. I suggest that we drift back towards the protection of Alpha and Beta. Perhaps we could ask Gamma to intervene on our part. We’ve got possibly enough missiles to take out one of them, but not both. At this time, I don’t see any movement from their destroyers.”
I radioed the admiral and informed him that we might be seeing some movement towards the carrier, which was now decelerating to match up with the two incoming groups.
I looked at my plot and shook my head. I radioed back, “Sir, I estimate that if the two BC’s attack with their approximately fifty fighters, we could come under attack from them in about forty minutes. We’ll still be dealing with the remaining destroyers in group two at that time. I suggest that we plan now to either attack them or leave the area, and if the latter, we should plan on doing it within the next few minutes.”
The admiral commed back, “Robert, how many missiles do you two have left?” I told him, “Sir, a total of forty -67’s, enough to possibly take out one or the other of the two. If we can be assured of some backup, we can launch at any time. I think we would probably try to take out the un-wounded one.”
Admiral Lee commed back, “Launch now, we can’t afford to get boxed in by the two groups.” I acknowledged his order and two minutes later our two Dresdens began launching the last of our capital missiles. We targeted the second battle cruiser with all forty, sending them off at their maximum possible sustained acceleration.
The second group’s fighter formation broke up into a chaotic mess as fighters made last-second maneuvers in an effort to break missile lock. The missiles were moving so fast that very few fighters were successful. Space lit up as they began dying in ugly splotches of light. An amazing eighty-seven fighters ceased to exist.
Seconds later our capital missiles flashed through the huge debris field and the remaining fighters and closed in on the fifteen destroyers. They had just a few seconds to react before our missiles hit. Eleven destroyers were blotted from space within less than ten seconds.
Sometimes chance worked in one’s favor.
The second group now consisted of just four destroyers and nineteen fighters. The destroyers continued to bore in, and the few remaining fighters tucked in on their flanks. If I had been in their place I think I would have done the same thing: they had nowhere to go, no support left.
Our fighters were now streaming back towards their carrier. They had only their energy weapons and I assumed that the admiral would keep them out and relatively close to fend off the few fighters left. Those destroyers, however, were another matter entirely. They probably did have missiles and in any event I wouldn’t want to take a fighter in against one of their destroyers with all those energy weapons. However, we didn’t have any capital missiles left, save for those aboard the fast-approaching Alpha and Beta groups.
Admiral Lee commed us and said, “I’m in contact with Gamma, and they report that they can be within missile range of the two battle cruisers and their fighters within fifteen minutes. They have enough capital missiles left to take out the two BC’s and a few of the fighters. You may get some leakers, so be sharp.” I passed to the admiral the position of the one BC we had targeted so that Gamma would focus on the other.
I looked once again at my plot. We would be in relatively good shape as long as nothing else went wrong. Gamma would be able to take the two battle cruisers under fire before they reached missile range of the Constitution, and Alpha and Beta groups should be within range in sufficient time to take on the remnants of either group, as well as protect the carrier from a missile attack.
At approximately fourteen minutes Gamma reported that it had launched one hundred capital missiles against the two remaining battle cruisers, which were now sandwiched between their group and Alpha, Beta and our group. They had the ability to retarget them if our own launch took one out. They had been informed that our latest tactic with the -67 had increased the effectiveness of our missiles, and had programmed their own missiles accordingly. I started to relax a little.
I shouldn’t have. At about the time that the two BC’s should have noticed all those missiles coming in from their six as well as our own, they began launching missiles. Their target was most probably the Constitution, although our two Dresdens were close enough to their flight path as to make me uncertain.
Every sixty-five seconds another sixteen missiles appeared. Elian commed me, “Robert, my guess is that they know their ass is grass – they’re doing the only thing they could do under the circumstances, they’re firing as many missiles as they possibly can while they still can.”
I looked at the plot and realized that the carrier wasn’t in range of their missiles, but we two were. I radioed back, “Elian, I don’t think the Constitution is the target, we are. We’re the only ships within range. I recommend that we go to maximum acceleration to stretch out the amount of time we have to pick them off.” Elian responded by upping his acceleration just a tick before I did mine.
After a few minutes of silence he commed me again, “We’ve got a problem here. My targeting radar is down. I don’t have an estimate of how long it will take to get it back up.” I radioed back, “Pull ahead of me while you sort out your problem. If it will help, I can put Chief Kana on the line to assist.”
I reported the problem to the admiral who immediately suggested the same maneuver I’d asked Elian to perform. I slowed my acceleration a little and the Lee began to creep ahead of me. We had another ten minutes before their first missiles would be in range of our energy weapons. I had a problem however: in order to unmask my own energy weapons, I would have to make a turn large enough to nearly eliminate my acceleration advantage over the two BC’s, meaning in turn that they would be able to launch still more missiles at us in the time remaining to them.
Sometimes chance can be a real bastard.
We had previously estimated that the bug missiles were large enough to at least incapacitate a Dresden at anything closer than five kilometers. We were armored only in the sense that we could shrug off most energy weapons but a nuclear missile was another matter entirely. If they could get a missile to within even ten kilometers of our ship, it would probably take out our sensors and possibly energy weapon systems long enough for the other missiles to finish us off. I was reasonably certain that we would not survive. Therefore, we had to hit everything they threw at us.
I ordered my weapons officer to begin lazing at one hundred fifty thousand kilometers. If we targeted five energy weapons on the same target we might hit a missile with enough energy to destroy it. We would maintain our current heading until the last moment.
Elian commed me, “Robert, I’m sorry, but it looks as if the Grant is going to have to defend us both. We’ve identified the problem and it’s a bad one. We’ve lost power to our targeting system and it’s going to take as much as twenty minutes to repair. That system wasn’t properly modified for the additional power in our system and we’ve got a lot of fused cubes. I estimate that within ten minutes we are going to have to turn to unmask our energy weapons, so you are going to have your hands full. They have about two hundred missiles in flight now, and the -67’s from Gamma are still about five minutes behind ours, which should be arriving any moment now. In the interim they could launch another eighty. We should begin to see their own energy weapons light up pretty soon, however, so they might get distracted enough to stop launching, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
I commed the chief and told him what Elian reported, and asked him to look at our own targeting system. We had the same tarted up systems as the Lee, and might suffer the same problem.
The remaining bug fighters came within range of the Brezhnev fighters, and for the first time in the entire war, we found ourselves with a decided numerical advantage. I commed the admiral, “Sir, be aware that they may kamikaze you.” He said, “Note
d. We’ve got about a three to one advantage, so I’m keeping a third of the fighters back from the fray just in case any of them leak through.”
I watched intently as our Dash 4’s began firing at the oncoming bugs. The bugs were maneuvering but only enough to get them past our own fighters. These pilots had never fought against the bugs, but they had been well trained and I began to see the results of that as first one, then another bug fighter exploded. Unfortunately, some of our fighters were getting hit as well. They couldn’t spend the time dodging and weaving as they normally would, because they had to prevent the bug fighters from ramming the carrier, which was now only one million kilometers distant.
Six bugs were hit within the first few moments but the remaining thirteen were able to blow by the first group of fighters and for a short time they were safely between the two groups.
Even though our pilots knew the bugs were going to try to do just what they did, they were still less than successful at stopping the enemy fighters from getting through their first line of defense. Although our fighters were quicker than theirs, it would take more time than the Brezhnev had for the first element to overhaul them from behind. I hoped that the pilots in the second and final group took note of that.
Hawk Seven (Flight of the Hawk) Page 69
