Wing Commander #07 False Color by William Forstchen (best books to read in life .txt) 📕

on Hellhole and smashed through their feeble attempts at resistance. Several pirate ships had broken orbit and scattered, and in the absence of orders from Camparelli, who was in his bed today as he had been for the past week, Galbraith had ordered the rest of the battle group to split up and pursue the various fleeing vessels. Now the pirate base was under aerial bombardment and their largest surviving ship, the so-called carrier that had attacked the Goliath Project at Vaku and then escaped from Richards and his men, was running once again. Galbraith would make sure it didn't get away. That would be quite a feather in his cap when Independence returned to Landreich.

His father's political faction would gain considerable influence as a result, perhaps even enough to finally topple Max Kruger.

Galbraith wasn't sure where his father had obtained his intelligence information, but it had checked out one hundred percent so far. News that the pirates were operating out of a base on Hellhole had brought loud demands for naval action in the Landreich Council Hall, and the orders for Independence and her brand-new battle group to spearhead the attack had come down almost immediately. With the fighter wing brought back up to full strength, a new Marine contingent on board, and a battle group that now consisted of two cruisers, three destroyers, and a pair of stealth scouts, Independence had come roaring into the Hellhole system ready for action. The pirates had barely registered them on sensors before Tolwyn's fighters were in among their orbiting ships. The rest of the battle group had split up to pursue the smaller pirate ships attempting to reach several different jump points that lay fairly close to the planet.

Yes, it was a textbook operation, and it could only help bolster his naval career. Perhaps when Kruger lost a vote of confidence in council some changes would be made, the outsiders relegated to their proper place and a proven commander promoted to command the supercarrier when it was finally ready to leave the Vaku system and go into action.

Galbraith smiled, thinking of the possibilities.

Raptor 600, VF-84 "Liberators" Near Jump Point Six, Hellhole System 0752 hours (CST)

"All right, boys and girls, let's give these bastards an idea of what it is to tangle with the Liberators!" Kevin Tolwyn matched actions to words and broke formation, rolling his heavy fighter sideways and accelerating toward the limping ship that looked even less like a carrier than it had before it had taken a string of hits in the opening round of the fighting planetside.

The converted transport swelled as he plunged closer, a single turret offering Double-A-S fire that went wide of the mark. Tolwyn targeted the engineering section and opened fire with neutron guns and mass drivers, unleashing the full power of the heavy fighter's arsenal in a single consolidated burst. It drained his power supply quickly, but with no sign of enemy fighters around and such a poor showing from the carrier's own gunnery it was a safe enough maneuver.

Energy sparkled and flared as the weapons met the carrier's shielding. At the last possible moment, Tolwyn pulled up to whip past the stern section at full military acceleration. The shields were still holding, so he didn't waste either of his two remaining missiles yet, but he had softened the enemy up for the next fighter, his wingman for the day's ops, Lieutenant Carlos "Venture" Ventura. The second Raptor mimicked Tolwyn's attack, but as Venture skimmed over the engineering section he released two Gladius heat-seeking missiles. The first hit the ship's shielding, but the energy released by its detonation brought the carrier's rear shields down and the second hit armor.

"Now that's the way to let 'em know we're out here!" Ventura whooped.

"Good shooting, Venture," Tolwyn said. "Stormy, Jazzman, you take the next run. Let 'em have it!"

"Skipper?" That was Commander William "Willie Pete" Peterson, the CO of the Hornet squadron, the Stingers of VF-16, which had just joined the wing to replace Babcock's Flying Eyes. "I'm getting a disturbance at the jump point, but no visual. Could be something cloaked coming through . . ." He trailed off. "Holy shit! Multiple disturbances now . . . we've got company coming, skipper, and a hell of a lot of it!"

"Camelot, Camelot, this is Lancelot," Tolwyn said, switching to the carrier's frequency. "Camelot, did you copy that? We've got ships incoming through the jump point . . ." He stopped as the first targets began registering on his screens. "My God, they're Cats. I'm reading a Cat task force, one carrier . . . no, two carriers now, plus cruisers and destroyers. Repeat, Cat task force with two carriers and supporting combat ships. What are your instructions, Camelot?"

But there was no response from the Independence.

Flag Bridge, KIS Klarran Jump Point Six, Hellhole System 0755 hours (CST)

Jumpshock blurred his vision and made it hard for him to concentrate, but Admiral julgar nar Ta'hal forced himself to focus on the flag bridge's tactical monitors.

What he saw caused him to bare his fangs in an instinctive desire to rend and tear.

His task force had pursued the Terran scout for nearly six-eights standard Kilrah hours, but the cloaked ship had led them a merry chase. At times it had been almost exhilarating, like a primal hunt for a cunning and well-camouflaged prey animal, but Julgar had been uncomfortably aware of the serious nature of his orders from Ragark. The initial instructions had been blunt: catch the Terran ship, whatever the cost, and smash it and any other apes it came into contact with. But before jumping from the Baka Kar system more detailed orders had come from Ragark in person. The Governor had been adamant about stopping the human vessel, yet he had also been determined that the Kilrathi ships should not get drawn into a major battle. Until the Vorghath was refitted Ragark needed all his combat ships intact, ready to block