“Get back in formation.” The command voice would have put most captains back on the straight and narrow, but Ringo had the scent of blood and she never passed up that opportunity.
“We can get this one for Dan! Maybe both of them!” Ringo’s voice had a tinge of desperation. Or madness. Raferty couldn’t decide which but someone else came to a quick conclusion.
“Ringo, get back here.” The voice was soft and deliberately avoided a hard edge. It was more of a gentle chide for a wayward child. Killian O’Hare didn’t talk that way very often so it got everyone’s attention.
Ringo’s image on the command net looked uncertain. “We can get them.” The words sounded more certain than the tone. Ringo didn’t worship anyone, but O’Hare came closest and Ringo did not want to disappoint her.
O’Hare responded calmly. “We probably can, but that would bring back the two destroyers on the other side of us plus the three rear destroyers. They will try to defend her and they might get lucky. We have more important duties elsewhere, and you can’t be the lone wolf here. We are here to get two battlecruisers and you risk that mission with your maneuver here. Come on back.” Very low key but, somehow, not open to debate.
Ringo didn’t respond as Renegade continued to pump out rounds at the two destroyers. Then the corvette abruptly reversed course while still firing at her target. Predator’s interceptors took out many of the incoming missiles aimed at Renegade but three got through the defenses and exploded on her shields. She seemed to be unharmed and sped to rejoin the formation. The damaged OrCon destroyer was now more damaged. She began belching smoke and pieces of hull as her speed fell off even further. Ringo’s assault would be the death knell for that ship.
“She won’t make it home,” Baby Doll observed as she scanned the enemy destroyer with her now damaged mate hovering nearby.
Rafe agreed with the assessment. “They’ll get the crew off and blow her up.” As he talked, the destroyer began dispensing escape pods. He amended his comment. “I guess the crew will get themselves off without waiting to be ordered.”
Renegade set up an intercept course to rejoin the formation as Flot 1 continued toward Aegis. Fire between the two sides dwindled as the distance grew and it became clear nobody would penetrate the other’s defenses. The three remaining destroyers from the front escort group fell back to the carriers and joined the three destroyers from the rear escort. All six ships had damage. It was reasonable to assume the escort commander had been on the light cruiser that had just been crushed by the pirates and now the OrCons were sorting out their next course of action. Flot 1 was headed toward Aegis and its planet of Lilitu, but beyond that was the main Orion battle fleet engaged with the Royal Navy, so the pirates were also headed toward Admiral Kupin. The remainder of their mission lay in that direction. The OrCon destroyers began to pick up escape pods. They would keep track of the pirates and were providing continuous updates to the main force. That main Orion force would return this way on the trip home and, if the pirates were still in the area, they would be dealt with at that time.
Chapter 31
Admiral Levant’s flotilla had taken serious hits. Two battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, and two light cruisers were out of action with severe damage. Four of those ships were in the process of being abandoned. His destroyers had been decimated. Eight of the small ships had been hammered. Three had been lost with all hands. All his other ships had sustained damage. The flagship had been hit fifteen times.
But they had given as good as they got. The Orion battle line was short an equal number of ships. Admiral Levant was smart in deploying his firepower. He wanted to disable ships, not destroy them. Once enemy ships withdrew from their battle line or ceased firing after taking damage, the Admiral shifted his fires to other targets. These wounded ships would be a burden on Admiral Kupin regardless of the outcome of this fight. No matter how many Royal Navy ships were left, Kupin would have some serious decisions regarding the disposition of her wounded vessels.
The three freighters were running for Buckler as they loaded their fourth salvo. Riki waited impatiently. She knew the process, and it could not be speeded up. Her board went green. She was on her comm net in an instant. “Shoot when you can,” she ordered her two companions. Dragon turned to port as her cargo bay hatches rose. Seventy-three interceptors went down range. There were two misfires. Riki talked to her ordnance crews that were waiting outside the cargo bays. “Get in there and clear those two misfires. If you can’t free the two quickly, we will work around it. We got to get the next rounds loaded and shot.” The leader of the crew acknowledged the call as the ship turned back on course and the cargo bay hatches closed. It would take time to clear or bypass the misfires. Time that really wasn’t available.
The two other freighters fired their volleys and returned to a course bound for Buckler. Over two hundred interceptors flew over the Royal Navy battle line and impacted an incoming wave of Orion missiles. The resulting gap gave Admiral Levant the cover he needed. “Turn away. We will go all defensive as we move out.”
The Aegis Squadron turned away and chased after the freighters. The Orion ships continued to pursue. The freighters had built a lead as the two battle lines had fought. Now the Royal Navy ships were closing on them again. The freighters would fire offensive missiles in their last salvo. Riki knew she had only one option for that offensive employment. She would aim all her ship’s missiles at the battlecruiser Republic. After all, that was why they were here. The salvo may not get to Republic, nothing was guaranteed in battle, but Riki had to try.
Once the final salvo was ready, she spoke to Admiral Levant. “Admiral, we got the final broadside standing by. We got to shoot at Republic.”
Levant acknowledged the call with a nod of his head He had been briefed on the pirate intentions by Hawkins and had his ship sensors find Citizen for the first volley. “We think we got her picked out from the other Congress class ships. We’ll send you the data. We’ll go offensive in one minute. We’ll take some hits, but we got to get some hits on them or we’ll never make Buckler with enough ships to matter.” He looked at Riki intently. “I understand. Take Republic out. We will target the ships around her and see if we can blow a hole in their line.”
“Will do, Admiral. Give me thirty seconds for targeting and then on your call.”
Levant glanced away from the screen and then back. He spoke over his command net. “We go offensive in thirty seconds from the hack. Ready… hack. Offensive will be for twenty seconds only.”
Thirty seconds later the Royal ships put out continuous volleys of offensive missiles for twenty seconds and then returned to the defensive. The freighters joined in with one massive broadside from the three ships. The switch to the offensive would go unnoticed by the OrCons, as both sides were continuously trading volleys in a steady stream of projectiles. They would only figure it out when the missiles moved past the midpoint between the two fleets without impacting any Orion incoming missiles. The OrCons would have to go defensive then but the surprise and added weight of the pirate missiles might score many hits.
The pirate salvo had misfires on all three ships and these would have to be cleared by hand. Riki hoped it would not delay reloading by too much time. After that final shot, the firing racks and overhead magazines would be empty and require reloading by hand. Riki knew there were crewmembers on all ships ready to do that. She had ordered only two salvos to be loaded, one in the firing racks and one in the overhead magazines. This would reduce the time for reload but it would still take at least fifteen minutes.
The missiles sped downrange. There was an occasional chance collision with incoming Orion missiles, but that just added to the illusion that all the Royal and pirate missiles were interceptors. Then it became clear what was happening. The Orion ships switched to the defensive.
Chapter 32
The pirate formation was on the edge of the Aegis base seaport. The floating structures, docks, and support stations were mostly space
debris now. Nothing looked to be in operating order.
“The OrCons did a helluva job,” Baby Doll commented as everyone looked at the hull cameras or through the large bridge portholes that had just been uncovered.
All the pirate observers had to admit the Orion attack had been systematic and thorough in its destruction. Every piece of equipment and every structure was worked over. The base would need numerous months and much effort to be put back into working condition. Just as they reached the debris, Maddie spoke from her sensor station. “The supply ships are coming back to the carrier site.”
Everyone switched screens to long-range sensors. Baby Doll talked first. “The seven supply ships are moving well. We got hits on two at the start of the fight but looks like no real damage. They will recover escape pods and pilots from stranded attack craft that have no place to land.”
Hawkins nodded and spoke over the command net. “We’ll get well inside this field of debris and as close to the planet as we can. There we will hide behind any wreckage that will provide cover. Make repairs and get your magazines reloaded. We got a few minutes while I sort out the situation with Shield Command.” Hawkins leaned back from his command screen and switched his attention to a hull camera view of the floating junkyard. “Tactical, pick us out something as we get closer to the surface and direct helm there. Blend us in. I don’t want to stand out on anyone’s sensors right now.” He paused and then added. “Since we got a minute, how is Doc Windsor?” In the midst of the battle, Rafe couldn’t devote time to worrying about his crew but he did have a minute now.
“On both of them,” Tactical replied.
Baby Doll immediately jumped in. “I got the Doc Windsor answer. He took shrapnel in the left leg and left arm while taking care of wounded outside of sickbay. He is back in sickbay now. Pumped himself full of drugs. Still working away and non-stop bitching. His two corpsmen say he’ll be fine.”
Hawkins nodded. It was good to know. He then scanned the base infrastructure on the planet’s surface. The base was not directly below the floating carnage as the planet was rotating and the wreckage was no longer in synchronized orbit over the surface base. The attack had not been that long ago and the surface base was not that far out of line with the wreckage.
Rafe went back to his discreet frequency on his command net and spoke. “Shield Command, still with me?”
The reply was voice instantaneous. “Predator, Shield Command is here. Major Owen Cabot of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines. Say position.”
“We’re in the wreckage of the repair space docks. I have ten ships in my force. There are six destroyers left from the escort force. Say status.”
“Roger your position. We are voice only due to damage received in the attack. We still have three twin missile batteries and two twin 125-millimeter guns turrets online. Still no sensors.”
“A quick update then. We got the four carriers. They are hard down. We also put two light cruisers and two destroyers from the escorts out of the fight while losing two ships. The main engagement between the two fleets is now doing a running fight toward Buckler. Have no information on it, but they are pounding on each other. There are many damaged and destroyed ships starting on the other side of this planet and extending toward Buckler. A large debris field there.” Hawkins paused and then added. “Major Cabot, I know your base took a beating. It must have been tough to hold some of the defense back. Thanks for that. I do have a question. How did your emplacements not get hit in the general pounding the surface base took?”
A smile could be heard in Cabot’s reply. “Simple enough. The emplacements are not on the base. Since the beginning of hostilities, we have been moving our defensive weapons outside the base parameters. We dug them in out in the desert three kilometers from the base. They were wired into the base’s power grid but once the OrCons neared sensor range, we turned off that power and they have been sitting in camouflaged bunkers under the sand with batteries for back-up power. This has been an ongoing project and we would have moved more, but our manpower and materials have been limited. The OrCons didn’t know the positions were there so never hit them.” Cabot added with quiet determination. “It was tempting to launch a few, but we had our orders. We could have swatted several of their attack jets. They were getting quite bold at the end after they thought they had taken out all the defenses. Then they got lucky and hit our sensors in the last moments of their attack.”
Raferty replied, “Glad you held off. As far as the attack jets go, they are all gone now. Most were on the carriers when we hit them, and the few still out in space have no place to land. We will let their supply ships and destroyers get deep into their recovery ops, and then we will move out to the other side of the planet toward the main battle. If Admiral Kupin sees an attack coming on her cripples, she will have a tough decision to make.”
Tactical moved up to stand beside Hawkins in his chair. “Think the escorts will follow us around the planet to support their cripples?”
Rafe shook his head. “They might, but with only a few ships. They won’t leave their supply ships unprotected. We popped out of subspace and surprised the carriers and so now the OrCons are not sure of their intel regarding Zeke ship numbers. They’re afraid someone will jump the supply ships if left unguarded.” He now paused and looked at Tactical. “Problem is we can’t really threaten the supply ships at the carrier wrecks. The escorts can hide in the wreckage and hold us off. Besides, we have more important things to do.”
Tactical nodded grimly. “We didn’t come all this way for supply ships. Time is a wasting.”
Hawkins nodded. He returned his gaze to his tac screens to monitor the carrier position. All looked normal as the recovery operation continued. The six destroyers and seven supply ships would make for a quick pick up for the pods. The fact there were not as many pods as there could be would also make for a quick conclusion for the recovery operation.
Tactical shook her head. “The OrCon escorts put up a good fight. We surprised them from subspace. We surprised them with missiles from Aegis. No reinforcements for them. After all that, we get two light cruisers and two destroyers, and damaged the other six. None of them abandoned ship until they absolutely had to. Tough group.”
It was a sad but true statement. All those destroyers were damaged and a couple were air-leaking wrecks that seemed to defy the laws of physics by merely being able to move. Despite the heavy pounding and resultant damage, the Orion ships fought a tough battle. Those were disciplined crews.
Rafe watched the recovery operation at the carriers with grudging respect. He thought that if this had been a Goth squadron, there would be several dead ships surrounded by a field of drifting escape pods by now. Not that the Goths were cowards or incompetent, they just had not been hardened by war. Great leadership, realistic training, and good equipment are all desirable and very important, but can only go so far. Actual combat teaches lessons that can only be learned in that particular arena. You can no more teach combat experience than you can teach pain. Both have to be encountered firsthand to get a true grasp of the experience.
“Ships with veteran crews and captains,” Hawkins thought. “Makes the difference every time.”
He knew that had always been his big advantage over the Goths in recent years. He and his pirate companions were all tough, experienced veterans and the Goths were not. Combat experience does make a difference, and here the OrCons’ combat experience worked against the pirates.
Hawkins knew his ships couldn’t penetrate the Orion defenses at the recovery site. He had more ships now, but the OrCons would hide amid their debris and he would have to fight from open space. This battle was over. At least, this stage was over. Any resumption would depend on the main fleet action. The action there would influence the course of events here.
Hawkins was content to hold in the debris field for a short time as the pirates reloaded and performed damage control. Well, almost all the pirates. Rafe turned to his command net. “Killian, is Outla
w good to go?”
“Of course.” O’Hare’s tone implied the question was superfluous.
Hawkins smiled. Neither she nor any of her captains would ever admit to being less than ready for any task. “Excellent. Take Outlaw, Corsair, and Renegade and find out what is going on. We’ll follow when we can. Gunfighter stays with me.”
Without acknowledging the order, Nemesis rose and departed from the pirate defense line. Outlaw, Renegade, and Corsair quickly followed. The three ships formed on Nemesis, flew around the planet, and disappeared from sight and sensors.
Killian O’Hare spoke over her squadron net. “Stay tight on me. We will go all offensive so have ship killers in your tubes. We will go Nova rounds in all guns.”
Hawkins watched them depart on his tactical screen. He had to maintain his current position to keep the destroyers at the carrier salvage sight from chasing after O’Hare. If Hawkins had taken all of Flot 1 on the mission, the enemy destroyers could have followed with two or three ships from the escorts. Even if the enemy only sent a couple of destroyers, they could have created problems in the pirate hunt for the battlecruisers. He was giving O’Hare a head start and would follow shortly. Sitting here and simply standing guard was easy enough for right now, but that would change in a few hours when the OrCons retraced their route back to this base and planet. He had to plan for that. No matter how fierce the battle raged around Buckler, the Zeke fleet could not destroy the Orion attackers and the attackers could not stay in this region forever. Their direct route home would take the departing enemy ships right by Aegis base. The ships conducting carrier salvage would tell Admiral Kupin of the survival of some Aegis defense elements on the planet’s surface. Kupin would shoot the hell out of the small base as she passed by.
Echoes from Yesterday: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 4 Page 20
