Hostile Spike (Battlegroup Z Book 2) Daniel Gibbs (classic book list txt) 📖

by pirates on runs to the Jewel Box nebula. They all have enhanced shielding and weapons. I’m pretty sure one of them even has a neutron beam.”

“Civilian ships can’t obtain those legally,” Tehrani murmured. She grinned. “But good for us.” She traced a series of lines on her screen. “Get with the convoy liaison officer. The moment the Leaguers jump in, I want the damaged ships to come about hard to port and dive under the Greengold. These vessels”—she touched the cluster of more heavily armed freighters—“should fill the gap. And politely let the master of the one you think has a neutron beam know that would we be grateful if they used it on the enemy.”

“I’m on it,” Wright replied with a twinkle in his eye. “I like your tactics. These guys won’t expect a freighter to open up on them.”

“I hope it’ll be the last mistake they make.”

Time continued to crawl by. Each tick of the digital clock above Tehrani’s head felt like an eternity. As it counted down the minutes until the convoy could safely jump, she felt hope that they might make it out of the system without a fight. Their next jump would take them to a CDF forward operating base, which would offer safe harbor and possibly reinforcements.

“Conn, TAO,” Bryan announced. “Aspect change, multiple inbound wormholes.”

So much for us getting out of here without combat. Tehrani set her jaw. “Identity and range, Lieutenant?”

A pregnant pause followed as Bryan tapped his console and sucked in a breath. “League signature confirmed, ma’am. Three Lancer-class frigates bearing two-seven-six, mark positive fifteen. Contacts designated Master One through Three.” Then he said, “Another wormhole. Rand-class heavy cruiser, designated Master Four. All vessels are launching small craft. Range is roughly two thousand kilometers.”

“TAO, best guess—ETA to enemy intercept?” Tehrani figured they’d meant to jump in the middle of the formation, but Lawrence drive jumps were an inexact science. Our gain.

“Frigates are five to eight minutes from firing range on the closest freighters, ma’am. The Rand is slower. Call it fifteen, tops.”

When she glanced at the digital clock, Tehrani’s heart sank. Forty-five minutes of fighting with that cruiser? Allah help us. They could do nothing except engage and hope for the best. “Navigation, bring us about to heading two-seven-zero, mark negative ten. All ahead flank.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Mitzner replied.

“TAO, firing point procedures,” Tehrani said as she double-checked the tactical plot. “Forward neutron beams, Master Two.” She paused. “Designate Master Two as the primary target.” As the closest ship, it would feel their wrath first. “XO, get everything we’ve got on deck into space.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

Fighters and bombers streaked out of the Zvika Greengold’s launch bays, appearing on the tactical plot as blue icon groups that sped toward the enemy. Tehrani whispered a prayer in Arabic for her pilots and the allied fleet. May they return safely home. She knew many would not.

After the hurry-up-and-get-ready part of the scramble drill, Justin and his fellows stared at the clock during the hurry-up-and-wait portion. Some of the pilots had engaged in spirited banter, but Justin kept quiet, for the most part, lost in his thoughts. He replayed some of the latest simulator runs he’d engaged in through his mind, always seeking to hone his tactics.

“This is Whatley,” he announced on the all-pilot-wide commlink. “We’ll be launching shortly. As usual, it will be a high-risk, target-rich environment. Fight the good fight, no matter the odds!”

“No matter the odds!” Justin yelled back, as did every other pilot active on the channel.

The launch indicator for Alpha element turned green on Justin’s HUD. He clicked the commlink to the channel for the entire Red Tails squadron. “Alpha and Beta elements, launch by predesignated groupings.”

As the squadron commander, he went first. His Sabre shot off the flight deck like a bat out of hell. In seconds, the carrier had disappeared from his canopy, and the vastness of the void replaced his view. Except a dozen other vessels were in range. Justin could make out the running lights of several, while a couple of the freighters had unique lighting patterns that lit up the night.

“Bandits. Bandits bearing two-seven-five and closing fast,” Feldstein called.

“Alpha, break and attack,” Justin replied. “Beta, provide close escort for the bomber element the moment it launches.”

“Wilco,” Adeoye said in his rich baritone. “I count four bandits.”

A glance at the HUD confirmed his observation. Four League fighters were headed straight for them, with another four right behind. If that weren’t enough, a formation of bombers was moving toward a freighter. The missile alarm sounded, indicating an inbound warhead. Justin pulled back on his flight stick violently, sending his Sabre up. Simultaneously, he dropped several packs of jammers in hopes of spoofing the threat.

Justin felt the vibration a split second after his HUD registered the explosion from the enemy missile that mistook a jammer for his fighter. He looped around, searching for the craft that had fired on his Sabre, only to find it flying directly toward him. Red balls of plasma flashed by his cockpit canopy, and in return, he sent bolts of blue neutron-cannon energy back. At the last possible second, the missile tone sounded, and Justin triggered a Vulture LIDAR tracker’s launch. It flew straight and true, impacting the enemy craft on its weakened fore shields and blowing it apart. “Alpha One, splash one.”

While the single-seat fighters bobbed and weaved amongst one another, angling for any advantage, the Marcus Luttrell opened up with every weapon in its arsenal on the nearest League frigate—Master Three. Magnetic-cannon rounds flashed in the void along with a full brace of anti-ship missiles and blue neutron beams. The colors lit up the blackness around Justin’s Sabre and bathed the cockpit in an eerie hue.

“Our mates over there are going to take out those buggers before we can get to them.” Martin said with faux annoyance. “And to think I got out of bed early for this.”

“I think we’ll have plenty of targets,” Mateus replied.

Justin couldn’t help but join