Countdown by John Walker (most life changing books TXT) 📕

enemy fighters. You are free to engage at will.” The biggest mission he’d ever been on had a similar tactic. Worked alright then.

God knows I’m playing this by the seat of my pants regardless.

Scans indicated the enemy ships deployed their own fighters. The briefing suggested a second wave would likely come from the planet’s surface. Nina made it clear they needed to take care of the satellites before reinforcements came. Disrupting their coordination might be enough to win the battle.

And by extension, the war.

The fighter squadrons broke formation, cutting at an angle to get around the enemy capital ships. Those vessels needed to remain focused, meaning the smaller units had a good advantage. The defenders had their work cut out for them even if they had a larger force considering all they had to protect.

When those war dogs get to the surface, they’ll have their work cut out for them. Justin had no idea what the ervas were accustomed to fighting. He doubted they had a plan for contending with strange mechanized AI units bristling with weapons. All on the verge of going insane since being shut down.

Getting them to stop seemed like a big problem. That was beyond his pay grade, something he chose to ignore.

Enemy scout vessels broke from the larger contingency, moving to intercept the fighters. Justin marked two of them, running a risk analysis. Their database gave them enough information to provide reasonable suggestions as far as firepower went. Lyson and Harcourt’s studies paid off big.

Whenever they fought the Gold Empire, they knew how many fighters were required to do any serious damage to a target. This provided the same thing. Twelve ships would be more than enough to tear through the shields as long as everyone remained focused. That meant decent coordination.

Nina basically showed me how to do this. Justin set up attack runs on the first target, assigning them to the ships all around him. He intended to overwhelm the destroyers, go after them with twice the number required. We can finish these bastards fast. Keeping his attention on flying and assigning attackers made his head throb.

How the hell did she multitask so well? He began to understand why she’d been selected for her current assignment. Okay, so yeah. Good on her.

“Hey,” Katya said, “you double assigned people.”

Shit!

Justin glanced at the scanner. They’d be in range to fight in less than three minutes. He quickly busted through the ships he’d sent information to, finding the duplicates. Switching them to the other vessel happened fast enough but by the time he finished, beams were flying past his vessel from one of the destroyer’s turrets.

“We should be good,” Justin called, “sweep in and focus on the side I’ve assigned. You’ll end these pricks fast if you do!” He engaged his afterburners, taking the lead on the first run.

Turrets opened fire as dozens of blasts flew past him and into the crowd of vessels making their charge. Justin put all of his defensive power into his forward shields, buying himself a good three to five hits before he’d have to break off his charge. The first two hits made the ship shake, his flight stick vibrating violently.

His HUD showed the shields remained at sixty percent. The generator labored to counteract the side effects of the ervas weaponry. Behind him, near the reactor, something began to whine. Some metal parts complained from the strain while working hard to respond to computer’s demands.

A ship to his left exploded… a green dot indicating an ally winked off his screen followed by a second and a third. Those weren’t from the destroyer. Fighters! The red dots flickered into existence after a fourth ship went up. They laid into them suddenly and from the flank, strafing the whole unit before climbing.

“Where the hell did they come from?” Katya called.

“Doesn’t matter,” Justin replied, “come on, guys! You’re on fighter duty! Get those pieces of shit!”  He opened fire on the destroyer, bringing the shields to life along with half a dozen of his allies. The ship loomed ahead, defensive shots coming too close for comfort. He pulled up with only a hundred feet between him and a collision.

As he skimmed the enemy shields, he grunted from the pressure… the g-force crammed him into the seat until his jaw ached and his muscles felt like lead. A good ten seconds of flight time kept him close enough to the enemy ship that it seemed to stretch out before him forever, like skimming the surface of a planet.

If the enemy had decided to move, to bolt upward while he was there, it would’ve been over. He passed by so close the turrets couldn’t even get a lock on him. None of his companions seemed to be close to him. I can’t take chances like this when I’m in command. That was… irresponsible.

He pulled up as he reached the opposite side of the destroyer, flipping his shields to the rear. The few moments between leaving it behind and looping around might’ve been the most dangerous of their operation. Turrets reacquired him, chasing his ship despite the afterburners and pushing the ship to the absolute limit.

“We’re going in for our second run,” Katya called. “Opening fire.”

Justin craned his neck to watch the assault. Another dozen fighters went after it, maintaining the constant state of fire his group began. Emitters on the ervas hull glowed green, likely burning up as they pumped energy into keeping the defenses live. He wheeled around behind the others, preparing his own run.

A fighter whizzed by his nose possibly no more than a hundred yards off. Justin remained focused, he didn’t twitch or pull away. One of his allies chased the bastard, firing as he did. That represented another near collision, one so close his heart pounded in his chest. At those speeds, contact would be instantly fatal.