Bandits Engaged (Battlegroup Z Book 4) by Daniel Gibbs (novels in english txt) 📕

in alarm as she grabbed the sides of her chair to steady herself. “Damage report, XO.”

“Another power coupling amidships, ma’am. We’re still taking hull damage.” He pulled up a screen showing several areas blinking red and touched them. “These guys are good. They’re focusing on our weakest links.”

Tehrani set her jaw. “I’m not running from a pack of pirates.”

Wright smirked. “Won’t even bother to argue.”

“Good. You can learn new things.”

“I’ve got Hodges trying to reroute power into the port deflector generator. Even if he can do it, we’re running out of options.”

Her XO’s words registered, and he was right. She stared at the tactical plot. Two of the megacorp security vessels had been destroyed by the pirate corvettes and another disabled. The Marcus Luttrell was leaking atmosphere in a dozen places but living up to its motto—Never out of the fight. She was still flinging defiance into the void in the form of neutron beams and magnetic-cannon shells. The carrier is the key.

“TAO, what’s the location of the Astute?”

“Not sure, ma’am,” Bryan replied. “She’s engaged maximum stealth and EMCON.”

“Whatcha thinking?” Wright asked.

Tehrani smoothed her uniform, an unconscious tic she had when unsettled. “We need a knock-out blow on Master One. If it's off the board, the small craft and corvettes are suddenly outnumbered. They’d surrender or jump out. Either way, we win.”

“I’m not sure what we have left that can engage in a straight-up slugging match with the carrier and its remaining escorts,” Wright observed quietly. “Unless there’s something I’m not seeing, ma’am.”

“If the Astute could take out their shields, we might have a chance to send the remaining bombers at Master One.” Tehrani left off how it would likely be a one-way trip for many of the pilots.

Wright pursed his lips. “Worth a shot.”

“TAO, designate Master One as the battlegroup’s primary target. Tag that specifically for the Astute.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

Before Tehrani could open her mouth to give further orders, Singh spoke. “Conn, Communications. Captain Spencer has jumped in, ma’am.”

“Well, perhaps he can put the fancy stealth fighter he’s flying to good use,” Tehrani said to Wright.

“Hey, it’s nice when things start coming together.” Wright gave a toothy grin. “I’ll let the CAG know what we’ve got in mind.”

The corvettes had apparently had enough punishment at the hands of Battlegroup Z. They’d retreated to the carrier and taken up flanking positions around the converted bulk hauler. As she studied the plot, Tehrani cursed whoever was in charge of the enemy. It would’ve been far simpler if the smaller ships had kept up their attacks.

Without warning, all hell broke loose. The Astute fired eight Starbolt missiles from its tubes at point-blank range. Plasma and muonic weapons crisscrossed the void as the stealth raider’s engine signature became visible. As it rocketed away from the carrier, the eight anti-ship warheads homed in on the massive vessel.

While the escorting corvettes were in position to intercept the inbound missiles, at the crucial moment, they split their attention between trying to destroy the Astute and shooting down the Starbolts. That critical error led to neither objective being accomplished. Two inbound missiles were shot down as the stealth raider limped away in the hail of energy-weapons fire. Another slammed into the damaged side of a corvette, causing more destruction. The rest found their target: the pirate carrier.

Bright-white flashes of light bathed the battlespace as five fusion warheads spent themselves against the enemy vessel's energy shields.

When the glow faded, Tehrani noted with satisfaction that the bulk hauler's port, ventral, and aft shielding had collapsed. “It’ll have to be enough,” she mused.

“Ma’am?”

“Task every remaining bomber to attack the port side of Master One, XO. The lives of everyone in this solar system depend on their success.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Wright replied.

Tehrani hoped they had a little more magic left in the tank between Whatley and Spencer. Barring that, she started plotting a retreat strategy to save what was left of their battlegroup. May Allah have mercy on us all. As if everything else weren’t enough, a group of bombers broke off from the main pirate attack force and barreled toward the Greengold’s damaged sections. “Navigation, rotate the ship. Do not let the incoming fast movers get hits on the unshielded sections.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Mitzner replied.

Please, let it be enough. Tehrani stared at the plot and prayed.

22

With no afterburner, Justin was at a disadvantage in his Ghost fighter. The stealth coating helped, but with the damage sustained from the nebula battle, he was sure to be visible to most modern sensor systems, which the pirates clearly had. As he fought with the rest of Alpha, they’d remained in a desperate furball. Dozens of craft from both sides continued to engage with energy weapons and missiles. No quarter was asked or given. They were all fighting a battle to the death. Each side had momentarily disengaged, seeking to consolidate their formations for another attack.

“Spencer, I’ve got orders from the quarterdeck,” Whatley said on a private commlink channel.

“We’re pulling out?”

Whatley snickered. “No, son. We’re attacking the enemy freighter. Trying to decapitate them.”

The strategy wasn’t a bad one. “Most of our bombers are out. I’d be remiss if I didn’t point that out.”

“There’s that, but if you take a look at your scanner, you’ll notice its shields are down.”

Justin rolled his eyes, even though no one could see him. “Yes, I get that, Major. It’s still a tough order.”

“Yeah, well, ours isn’t to question why. It’s to do or die. So let’s get on with it.”

“Yes, sir,” Justin replied with finality. He toggled his commlink to all fighters. “Alpha One to all pilots. We’re going in on Master One. Red Tails and Black Hogs will see the Maulers in. I sure hope you guys have a few Javelins left to shove up these pirates’ exhaust pipes.”

“Let me get this straight. You want to fly straight into the teeth of an enemy that’s holding its own? CAG, are you on board with this?” Green asked.

“Lieutenant, we get paid, so the carrier doesn’t go down.