"All fighters break and withdraw to the secondary zone. Clear the flak corridor, now!"
It was not what Nate had expected, but he didn't need to be told again. As he reached for the burners, he called out to the rest of Crusader Squadron.
"Break formation!"
All of the Lightning fighters broke from their position between the Alliance ship and those vessels blocking its path, leaving just Nate and Rex in the line of fire between the two forces. Nate cursed to himself and then moved even closer so that their wings were just a metre apart. It was dangerous flying, and Nate's heart pounded as he tried to maintain a safe distance from Rex, as well as to avoid striking any of the tiny fragments of debris.
"Move, now!"
More warnings activated, and then dozens of guided missiles blasted away from three of the larger Byotai ships. These were not the small weapons carried aboard fighters, but the much larger pieces of ordnance designed to damage capital ships. As they moved closer, they increased speed until they were almost impossible to track.
"All fighters, move now or die in the corridor," said Lieutenant Higgins.
The officer's tone was bitter but resolved. Nate tapped his lateral thrusters, striking the side of Rex's fighter. The two made only the gentlest of contact, but it was still enough to throw them into a violent spin. As they broke apart, Nate activated his burners and accelerated off to the right. Rex either intentionally or by accident boosted his own engines and both accelerated away. That was the moment every single defensive turret on board Relentless opened fired. Each of the guns unleashed a stream of explosive flak that created a corridor of razor sharp debris out to ten kilometres away from the ship.
"Move to point nine-three. Crusader Three, take over command of Crusader Squadron. You've got incoming bomber squadrons. Do what you can," Lieutenant Higgins ordered.
Nate sipped at the water tube to the side of his mouth as he moved his fighter without even having to think about it. Thousands of hours of videogame simulation had left him with muscle memory and reaction only dreamed of by most pilots. As he rejoined his comrades, he relaxed for a second; glad to see Rex had come with him and joined the squadron. It took him that long to realise what had just been said.
Take command? The squadron is mine?
In reality, it meant relatively little right now. There were only five of them, and Rex was supposed to leave them. His unreliability on this sortie had clearly made him unsuitable. Nate checked his comrades were nearby and then sent commands to each of them.
"Crusader Squadron, form up with me. Watch for incoming ordnance and fighters. We've got a new target."
Each reported in, confirming their status and position, while Nate checked the approach of the enemy fighters. Lieutenant Higgins, performing the role of CAG, continued to send then data on the approaching targets.
"Okay, Crusaders. You've got three formations of fighters and bombers, and they are heading towards Relentless. We can handle the fighters, but you need to disperse the bombers. Do not let them get inside our defence perimeter!"
"Understood, Sir. We've going in," said Nate.
With little more than the movement of his retina, he selected the other fighters in his squadron and allocated them their own targets. More impressive was that he was able to tag specific parts of the approaching spacecraft. He made sure that only two of the bombers were to be hit first.
A damaged bomber is an operational bomber.
They were words straight out of Lieutenant Higgins’ own mouth, and after multiple simulated missions, Nate knew he was right. It would be better to destroy only one of them than allow the entire group free rein against the carrier.
"The second formation includes six light fighters escorting a trio of Komodo heavy bombers. Activate your ECM equipment and follow me."
Each of the five Lightning fighter-bombers boosted their engines and lifted up to move towards the deadly Byotai spacecraft. The computer calculated the time and speeds of both forces, taking the guess work out of what was to come next. With the few seconds before they came into range, he glanced to his right, and at the opening stages of the battle between both sides.
Look at it. Incredible.
Nate shook his head in amazement, and for the time being completely forgot about the hopelessness of their situation. Even one capital ship with a full deck of fighters could take on their single warship. But this formation was significantly more than they could handle. ANS Relentless had moved her bow towards the enemy, and her pair of forward heavy railgun batteries had just fired. These ancient weapons dated back to the Great War, and though simple in design, they could hurl hardened slugs at hypersonic speeds.
"Contact in ten seconds," said Matilda.
Though the oldest of the group, she had the keenest and most analytical mind of them all. By moving far ahead of Relentless, they were close enough to the bombers that they were still too far away to launch their missiles, at least not without giving Relentless more than enough time to shoot them down.
"Get ready. Delta manoeuvre on my mark," said Nate.
His voice was calm as he waited for the tell tale flashes. The wait seemed to go on for so long that his eyes strained at the effort of keeping them open. One poorly timed blink could be enough to get them all killed. And in this fight, there was no respawning or ways to retry it. This was the real world, and if you were killed, that was it.
Come on...when will it start?
Then it happened as if in slow motion. One by one, the three bombers opened fire with their batteries of eight 12.7mm pulse cannons. At this range, it took less than two seconds for the shells to reach the Lightning fighters. The escorting fighters moved ahead of the bombers, clearly intending to engage the Alliance craft. Nate checked their approach vector one last time and then moved his finger to the boost button. His battle had just begun.
CHAPTER TWO
Theta Spacebridge, Arnos Cluster
The trio of Komodo bombers continued forward, each separated by two hundred metres of open space. They were big spacecraft, and the multiple engine outlets left a bright glow behind each of them. Their small, bulbous gun turrets normally moved about continually, tracking for signs of danger. Now all of them were pointing directly ahead, ready to add fire to the primary weapons of the bombers. At the same time, the small formation of Alliance fighters rushed at them with their guns primed and ready. It was a game of chicken, and right now it looked as though neither side would blink.
The forward guns of the Komodo bombers were not designed for the high-speed dogfights of smaller fighters. It would come down to the additional turrets to make up for the primary weapons. The role of fight combat was not something generally undertaken by these spacecraft, and though capable of looking after themselves, it was actually the job of the smaller and more agile fighters. These power craft made use of high-velocity, rapid-fire guns; these cannons were there to punch through the heavy armour of landing craft, shuttles, and small escort ships. In sufficient numbers, they could even cause major damage to larger vessels. The bombers were ideally suited to their role, and if they were able to get close enough, they would devastate entire sections of Relentless.
We can do this, Nate thought.
They'd practiced it so many times he could see the action unfolding before it happened. But this was for real, and though he’d pulled it off many times in the simulator, this would be a first in real life where it actually counted for something. He kept his dry eyes on the target and did his best to try and ignore the cloud of fire that now surrounded Relentless. Her turrets were firing non-stop, doing their best to keep the fighters, missiles, and incoming shells to a minimum. Although the defensive cordon appeared highly effective, he could see the flashes on the hull every few seconds. Projectiles were making it through the defences, no matter how strong they were.
Hold on, wait for the guns.
The lower velocity guns gave Nate and his four comrades just enough time to evade, providing they were re
ady. As he spotted the flashes of light, he reached for the burner controls. To his surprise a small burst of shot from the turrets hit his craft before he even had time to move.
Damn, we didn't account for those!
"Now!"
There was no time to check on the progress of the other four fighters. Nate had given the order, and it was down to them to follow both him and the training. The burners could increase the thrust of his engines by almost a hundred percent, at the cost of substantially more fuel, and possible heating damage to the outlets and turbines. The gravitational forces almost knocked him out cold as the blood drained from his head. The pressure suit pushed back, doing its job of keeping Nate conscious and in the fight.
Keep going!
It was one of dozens of manoeuvres the group had been practicing. Many of these were variants of techniques learned in the Star Crusader simulation, and each had a useful role to play in a combat scenario. By drilling constantly, each pilot knew their start and end position, as well as the settings required all the way through. It was complex and required careful coordination, but when it worked the result was devastating.
Thirty degrees port thrust. Increase burners. Roll now!
Nate remembered the individual settings as though he were reading them from a checklist. The five Alliance fighters pulled apart at the last moment, narrowly avoiding being struck by the powerful gunfire that rushed by, giving them just metres to spare. Even a handful of those heavy slugs could tear a wing or engine apart, and if it struck the fuselage, it would kill whoever was inside. Then, and only then, could he check on the progress of the others; to his surprise all showed as active on his IFF indicator and continued to follow his projected course.
"Good work, Crusaders. See you on the top side."
Each of the Lightnings continued a wild series of rolls that made them look as though they were intertwined and spinning out of control. At the exact same time, they dumped a variety of electronic countermeasures before blasting away in different directions. It had a lot in common with the formation stunt flying, except in this particular scenario one side was shooting at you. As they spun around, Nate checked on the rest of the battle. Several enemy ships had changed location and were moving in to strike Relentless on her weaker flanks.
"Reform and attack."
The five fighters performed a final rotation and then fanned out behind the bombers, but separated enough that none of the enemy could target more than one fighter at a time. Off in the distance, the cloud of small flashes almost completed blotted out the Alliance assault ship from view.
"Okay, we've only a few seconds. Light them up."
More Byotai fighters moved in from a position forty kilometres back, but with both sides so close, it was too perilous to launch missiles and risk hitting their own bombers. Nate was just below the rear of his target and opened up with his wing-mounted cannons. The rotating Gatling guns were perfectly suited for this role and bit deeply into the rear sections of the nearest bomber.
"One down!" Cassandra yelled excitedly.
Nate kept his attention on his own target as he and Billy continued to pour shots into its fuselage. In theory, all it would take was a single well-placed bullet into the bomber, but it was equally possible to put a hundred rounds into the hull and cause no significant damage.
"Recommend switch to HE," said Matilda.
While the other pilots were busy shooting, Matilda had already performed a full structural analysis of the Komodo bombers. From this angle, they were having little trouble breaching the thinner armour. By changing to the hollowed out high-explosive shells, they were trading penetration for damage.
"Change to a mixed feed," said Nate.
All it took was a flick of a toggle, and the feed input path altered to allow a fifty-fifty split between the two sources of ammunition. He knew the high explosive was what was needed, but also that it was incredibly risky relying on just the one type of ammunition.
As they opened fire again, they were rewarded by a triple flash along the flank of the nearest bomber. One engine segment broke off as another explosion rocked the bomber. Nate had to react quickly, only just avoiding an impact before settling back behind the bomber. It was not enough to destroy it, but it was one step closer.
We can do this. Just keep shooting.
He moved his focus to the same area now breached and heavily damaged. With sections of plate missing, it was the perfect opportunity to use the high explosive rounds. The mixed ammunition punched deep inside, causing damage amongst the inner compartments.
Yeah, that's more like it.
Due to their confusing manoeuvre as they zoomed about the bombers, the flank and rear turrets were still pointing in the wrong directions, and it gave Crusader Squadron just a few seconds of safety to inflict as much damage as possible. Two of the turrets failed to move, but it was impossible to tell if this was down to crew or mechanical reasons. Another flash ripped through the rear of the bomber, and it began to spin out of control.
What's that?
A glance to the right, and Nate could see the rear view from the cockpit. It was blurred, but already he knew what it was and almost panicked. Thirty metres back and right on his tail, was a pair of light Byotai fighters. They were of a similar size to his craft, and their guns were firing continually.
"Break!"
The small formation of Alliance fighters broke off their attack, leaving one bomber out of the three still operational. Two of them continued firing as they moved away, but by luck or judgement, the enemy pilot managed to extricate himself from the situation in one piece.
In a simulation Nate would have been excited at this close escape, but in a real dogfight, where his life was on the line, it was nothing of the sort. A pair of bullets ripped through the left lower wing, and as the alarms sounded, his pulse rocketed. One lone bullet could cripple the fighter. Worse still, a single bullet could incapacitate or kill him. Another burst from his left narrowly missed the cockpit, and a single round even scraped along the nose.
"Nate, your left. Give me room," said Billy.
Nate spun around just in time to see a streak of explosive slugs rush past that narrowly missed his flank. He tugged on the controls and rolled his fighter out of danger. The Byotai pilot remained there, though, using a mix of skill and fighter performance to stay right on Nate's tail. It was a terrifying moment, as he rolled and spun, using every technique he knew to throw off his attacker. As he completed the last roll, Billy zoomed in to the other side of the Byotai fighter. It was a high-speed suicide run, and his guns were firing non-stop as he slammed into the side of the fighter.
"Billy!"
To Nate's stunned surprise, Billy emerged from the bright explosion with little damage to show for it, other than an array of black scorch marks along his fighter's nose.
"Good work, Crusader Four. I owe you for that."
Nate knew there was a pilot inside that Byotai fighter, and for all his elation at having survived; he still hated to think what had happened to the valiant pilot. In a simulation it was nothing more than a kill, but this was real, and Nate knew it.
It's not like Star Crusader, nothing like it.
They may have been pushed hard these last few weeks, but nothing could change the fact that Nate and his friends were civilians, cadets from the Alliance Academy system, and a long way from the hardened pilots of the military. None of them had gone through the conditioning and vetting used in the military schools, and now they had to deal with the psychological problems alone. There were no counsellors aboard ANS Relentless, and Lieutenant Higgins seemed equally incapable of helping them. For now, they were machines and would simply have to cope.
"Where's Rex?" Matilda asked.
The convention was to use their official call signs, but in times of stress, they occasionally reverted to their names. It was not ideal, but they were cadets, videogame pilots, and the occasional lapse was hardly surprising. Nate checked his navigation orb, but more alerts
flashed as additional enemy fighters swarmed around them. He spotted the stray fighter more than a hundred kilometres away, and on the tail of the remaining bomber as it tried to get past the defensive fire of Relentless.
"I'm on him. You watch the others," said Rex.
His tone was stern, almost angry. Nate had heard that tone before, and he knew from experience that it was almost impossible to get any sense out of him in this position. He had neither the time nor the patience to push the issue further. Gunfire continued to rage all around them, and he was still stunned that the group of pilots had made it so far.
"No time for Rex. Leave him to handle the bomber. It's too far away from us to deal with in any case. Stay in your pairs and knock down those fighters."
There was no time for subtlety now. Nine enemies surrounded the two pairs of fighters, and more were on the way. These fighters were a match for the Lightning fighters in terms of speed and protection, but the Alliance fighters had two trump cards. The first was their manoeuvrability, something unique to this Kerberos variant. Secondly, the powerful wing-mounted guns, each more than able to shred a fighter in a single burst.
"Crusader Four, stay with me."
Nate performed a half-circle rotation at such speed the pursuing pair of fighters rushed past and exposed their rears. The six small winglets pivoted and diverted additional thrust from their micro-outlets. It was an impressive piece of flying, and even Nate found a grin forming across his face as he spun around. He lifted up and performed a complete barrel roll, while keeping Billy right on his starboard wingtip. It was a precision manoeuvre and brought them out right behind the Byotai. Unlike the bombers, these smaller craft were equipped with forward firing guns only, and the two Alliance fighters had managed to get into the perfect position.
"Take 'em!"
The Lightning fighter-bombers activated their wing-mounted cannons and pummelled the engines and fuselages of both fighters. One by one, the hardened slugs smashed through the thin armour. Small yellow, red, and white flashes marked the entry points for the rounds. With the guns still operating on mixed ammunition, a number of the rounds bounced from the curved engine plates. The odd projectile still managed to pierce inside, and they were rewarded after the third long burst. Nate held down his trigger so long that the port-wing gun actually froze due to overheating. Luckily, the fighter in front of Billy broke apart just a moment before the second fighter exploded in a powerful flash.
Star Crusader: Knighthawk Squadron Page 4
