Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (whitelam books txt) 📗

The devastation wrought bythis alien race was horrific, and every one of them wanted somepayback for what had been done.

“Launch!” said the voice in his ear.

The fighters pushedahead without any input from him as hewas thrown out of the ship. By the time he was granted manualcontrol, there were two other squadrons in space.

“Fireflies, form on me,” saidCaptain O’Hara, “We’ve got work todo.”

Jack pulled on the main stick andadjusted the thruster power to move intoformation with the other seven fighters. They were all relativelynew, fresh from Terra Nova, and only recently attached to thereactivated Starcarrier. The fighters’ dull colour was offset bythe vibrant yellows along their short wings, reflecting theirsquadron name.

“Keep your eyes open. We’ve got adebris field directly ahead. We’re to conduct a sweep and clear ofthe area and clear space for the heavies.”

Jack glanced back over hisshoulder. He could make out at least adozen cruisers, plus numerous escort ships, light carriers, and atleast two battlecruisers. On top of that were supply ships,transports for the ground forces, and the separate squadron of theIAB that kept a distance from the other ships.

“This ain’t no survey mission,” he muttered to himself, “We’re outhere looking for trouble.”

His finger ran along the safety releasefor the main trigger.

And I’m ready for that!

He could see the other fightersformed up to his right, with the squadron leader taking the lead position for them to follow. A secondgroup of fighters moved off to the left and followed a wider orbitaround the planet. It would take them longer, but they would bewell placed to provide backup for the Fireflies, ifneeded.

“Debris field ahead, switch to active sensors, and watched your quarters.I don’t want to see anybody smoked by rock ice!” said FireflyLeader.

The fighters split apart into awider formation, giving them plenty of space between each craft.Jack’s active scanners could pick outobjects the size of a small stone in space, but at the price ofletting anybody in the area know he was there. With each passingsecond, the fighters picked up more and more data, and thenetworked computers pooled that information to create a clearerview of the field of broken metalwork. It took almost a minutebefore Jack spotted something that sent a chill through hisbody.

“I’ve got something!”

He rolled to theright, using his front thrusters to slowhis craft down. He was so close to the cloud of broken matter hecould make out the shapes of various objects, including a singlethruster from a significant ship.

“Yeah, that’s a main drive unit from a Dragoon Class frigate. It’s tooseverely burnt to get ident codes from. This must be what’s left ofthe patrol ships. They must have all been destroyed.”

His eyes opened wide as he said that, the loss of theships.

“More material over here,”said Lieutenant Levstrom, “Looks likepart of a weapon’s battery. And a distress buoy! I’ve found abuoy!”

Hesounded much too excited as the two circled near to the object. Thebuoy was armoured and fitted with a flashing beacon that must haveactivated moments after being dumped by a crippled ship.

They nearly reachedthe Rift. Just another fewminutes!

The fighters continued to circle, and as they did so, Jackspotted something glint off into the distance. His eyes narrowed ashe looked to the haze around the planet. It might be a grim, coldplace on the surface, but from space it was a glistening andwelcoming jewel.

“Wait. I just saw something.”

“What is it?” Firefly Leader asked.

Jack squinted, but all he could see was the fuzzy border between theplanet’s atmosphere and space. It played tricks on the mind, andeven as he watched, he could make out bizarre streaks of light andcolour. Only then did he shake his head.

“Forget it. It’s gone.”

He looked away and rolled thefighter to the right. At the same time, apair of Liberty Class destroyers and a single Dragoon Class frigatepassed their position. They moved slowly as fighters circled aroundthem, providing support for those trawling through thedebris.

“Wait, I see it again!” Jack said.

He pulled up the nose of hisfighter just as something flickered in the blackness of space. Itwas subtle, but the stars shifted as ifbeing reflected back at the wrong angle.

“Target, bearingseventy-five, and moving fast. No waythat thing is natural.”

He pointed his fighter towards the shape, and in a few secondsthe entire squadron had reformed.

“Well spotted,” saidFirefly Leader, “Hit your burners. We’regoing in for a closer look.”

Jack hit the engine controls andactivated the burners. The fighter shook violently as itaccelerated away from the debris field and directly towards theunidentified object. The rest of thesquadron did the same, as did the gunships from Firebrand Squadron.The three warships continued on their existing course, but the longstreak of light from their sterns showed they were alsoaccelerating. Jack looked carefully at the shape and tried to gaugeits size as it flickered in the starlight. Then something nearbystruck it, perhaps a weapon, or more likely a piece of junkfloating around the planet. It caused a disruption in the surfacethat revealed nearly a third of the object.

“Oh, mygod!” Jack yelled, “It’s a camouflaged ship!”

The outer sections of itshull started to move, and then it became almostcompletely visible. The onboard computer let out a shrill tone asit tagged the overall shape, finally revealing the massive size andshape. Outer hatches were opening, and a series of massive energysignatures showed quite how much power it contained.

“It’s huge,” said Jack,“And it’s opening gun ports!”

Hundreds of flashes engulfed thevessel, and for a moment Jack thought it had been hitby gunfire. But then streaks of lights whooshedpast him. Some of the nearby debris tore apart, and a Fireflyexploded as it was bombarded by fire. One Alliance frigate caughtthe worst of it, and its hull opened like a tin can. Incredibly, itremained operational and rotated about to bring its weapons tobear. The three capital ships opened fire immediately with theirarray of kinetic weapons as they lashed back at their tormentor.Moments later, dozens of missiles streaked away towards thebehemoth.

“All fighters break and attack. Irepeat, break and attack,” said Firefly Leader, “Let’s get thatsonofabitch.”

Jack held his breath as he hithis burners and accelerated towards the ship. He looked over hisshoulder as more Alliance ships