Sol Strike (Battlegroup Z Book 3) by Daniel Gibbs (red novels .txt) 📗

“Zvika Greengold actual to Alpha One.” Tehrani cut through the comms chatter.

“Go ahead, Colonel. I read you loud and clear,” Justin replied.

“We’re taking hits on the outer armor, Captain. It’s past time to get your squadrons on board.”

“Agree, ma’am, but there’s too much flak coming in for us to land.”

After a pause, she asked, “Do you have any anti-ship missiles left?”

Justin took a moment to check the squadron-level stores tracker. “I don’t, ma’am. Between all remaining fighters, we have seven, spread across four Ghosts.”

“Set your primary target as Master Four, Captain. We’ve got Master Eight. Tehrani out.”

Her orders made sense because they’d already knocked Master Four’s shields down a bit before the Greengold arrived. But how is our carrier going to handle Master Eight by itself? After a moment, he realized it wasn’t his problem. Tehrani had never let them down. He keyed his commlink for a private channel to Martin. “I’ve got a job for you, Lieutenant.”

“At your service, mate. What needs blowing up?”

“Master Four. I show four of your fighters with Javelins. Alpha will escort you in, and we’ll take out the frigate then go home. Sound good?”

“Yeah, mate, sounds really good.” Martin’s voice had a hard edge to it. “Let’s do it.”

“Stay close. That’s an order.” Justin flipped the commlink back to the Alpha element channel. “Alpha, we’re going to provide cover for an attack on Master Four. Form up on my wing. Lieutenant Martin and his pilots get through, no matter what. Are we clear?”

“Loud and clear, sir,” Adeoye replied.

“Time to kill some Leaguers,” Mateus said as she rolled into the last position of the finger-four formation.

With adrenaline coursing through his veins, Justin lined up on an intercept vector with Echo One, Martin’s fighter. The battlespace was mercifully light on League fighters and interceptors, as most of the resistance came from the deadly frigates and their enhanced point defense. With the rest of the Ghosts loitering outside of weapons range, the four craft with Javelins and Alpha element pawed the vacuum.

Red dots appeared on the HUD as a flight of four Shrike fighters launched from Master Four. They accelerated quickly and seemed to target Echo element over Alpha.

Justin keyed his commlink. “Alpha One, break and attack inbound bandits. Weapons free, but watch your stores. Make every shot count.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” Feldstein replied.

Coming in at an angle, Justin lined the lead fighter up in his HUD. The missile-lock-on tone buzzed, and he squeezed the launch button. “Alpha One, fox three.” His last active LIDAR-tracking Vulture dropped out of the internal weapons bay and raced away. A moment later, the targeting reticle lit up, showing the enemy in range of his miniature neutron cannon. He pulled the trigger and sent a barrage of blue energy bolts into the void.

The League pilot seemed to have a single-minded focus on another friendly fighter and didn’t maneuver in the face of Justin’s fusillade. The Vulture slammed into its shields, followed by a few dozen neutron-cannon bolts. The fighter exploded then disintegrated in the space of a few seconds with no trace it had ever existed.

Justin didn’t bother to call out the kill—he was too busy tracking the next enemy. Two more red dots disappeared from the LIDAR, victims of Feldstein and Adeoye. Their destruction opened a hole for the Javelin-bearing Ghosts to press the attack on the League frigate. “Echo flight, you’re clear. We’ll cover your six.”

The four craft of Echo element zoomed ahead on attack runs against Master Four. They launched four Javelin missiles toward the target then slid onto a new vector, sending streams of neutron-cannon bolts into the capital ship’s shields. Matched by Justin and the rest of Alpha, the light show was impressive but resulted in little damage to the energy barriers.

Come on. Come on. Justin wished the anti-ship warheads on their way as they dodged point-defense fire from the frigate. The closer they got to the ship, the more accurate the incoming shots became. One Javelin disappeared, followed by another, and finally the last two. The vessel shifted its focus to the Ghosts and shredded Echo Four.

“Pull out! Pull out!” Justin barked. “We’ll take another pass.”

As the fighters tried to juke and evade the frigate’s bombardment, another Echo wingman exploded.

“We’ll never get through this,” Martin replied. “Spencer, get my mates home.”

Justin felt as if someone had stabbed his heart. He immediately knew what Martin had planned, which was doubly confirmed as the Aussie’s Ghost rolled back toward the League vessel. “Lieutenant, break off. That’s a direct order from your commanding officer.”

The Ghost pressed onward stubbornly, juking on random headings but closing the distance steadily. “I’ve got two Javelins left, mate. If I can send everything up, including my reactor, at the right time, I might be able to even the odds.”

“Not at the cost of your life,” Justin replied. He could do nothing to help his friend or stop him. It felt as if the universe were coming apart in front of Justin’s eyes. “We’ll find another way.”

“I should’ve died back at Canaan, mate. One of my boys gave his life for me. I’m doing the same for you. Get our pilots home, Spencer.”

A tear fell from Justin’s right eye. He had no time for emotion or grieving. Who am I kidding? I probably won’t survive the next five minutes. None of us will. Determined to take as many Leaguers with him as possible, he said, “If we make it out of here, I’ll never forget you, Francis.”

“It’s been an honor to fly with all of you,” Martin replied. “Give these buggers hell.” His fighter entered terminal approach, coming in from behind the engines and avoiding most of the bow-mounted point-defense weapons. He popped up above the superstructure and dove toward the shuttle bay. At the last moment, four Starbolt missiles appeared on the sensor screen, presumably fired by a stealth raider.

The resulting explosion was colossal, and the glare of it blinded Justin for a few seconds. When he