Alpha One - Chris Burton [150]
“PBA online sir, range calibrated.”
“Raise the accelerator to two three five mark seven,” came the reply from the PBA weapons chief. This was his baby. The huge Particle Beam Accelerator was the single largest piece of equipment on the entire ship. When raised, its dimensions were greater than the average Alpha battleship.
The twelve interconnecting beams were already in place, held back only by control rods which when removed would send each beam into the huge central cylinder forcing the particles along it and squeezing them into a second much smaller chamber. The collective point was where all the laser particles hit their maximum intensity. It was here where the beam accelerated to its intended target.
Many Alpha ships carried PBAs but the star ship PBA was the full-size model. At full strength, it could decimate a planet the size of Earth in minutes. It was a formidable weapon, but had its drawbacks. Range was always an issue. Too close and the explosion would take out the firing ship as well as its target; too far and the beam would break up before it reached the target. Calculation and calibration were critical, and the PBA weapons chief was charged with getting the calculation right.
“Have we verified our calculations and carried out full diagnostics?” asked Shenke.
“Yes sir. The calibrations have been verified and all systems double-checked. ”
Shenke waited for the signal from the battle group commander who led the attack on the mother ship. He had pulled all ships back and waited. Timing was critical.
“Engage the PBA.”
The weapon fired microseconds later and the full force of the PBA penetrated the mother ship. Her shields were weakened sufficiently and the timing was right. She was immediately engulfed in a fireball. Seconds later she exploded, sending parts of the huge ship ricocheting through the fleet, the jump ship fracas and beyond. The Mother Ship was destroyed.
Immediately, Shenke and his team moved to target the smaller cruisers. They were suddenly on their own, their infrastructure was ripped apart. The Kryl fighters were quickly in trouble. Their enhanced capability was, in part, powered remotely by the mother ship. This was lost instantly and, one by one, the Alpha fleet and their Sect counterparts took out their targets. Resistance continued but this battle was won and would soon be over.
Shenke turned his attention to his next problem and left his senior commanders to continue to execute the battle. Dr. Cameron answered Shenke’s comm link immediately.
“It was a fire show, Admiral. Can I assume we are in the ascendency?”
“Yes, Doctor, which means I need you to get the subspace weapons set up. How many charges do we have?”
“We have made up thirty charges, although half would probably be sufficient. We need the majority to fall on or within the mouth of the blue wormhole. It is imperative that one penetrates the center of the wormhole itself. This will then implode the center of the wormhole, with the other charges sealing off this end. I presume we will be deploying the charges imminently?”
“Yes, as soon as the jump ship battle is won. I estimate completion within the next three to four hours. I understand that we are using Rapier 7’s?”
“Yes, my understanding is that there will be two squadrons one coming in from the left and one from the right. They will need to get as close as possible to the wormholes without being pulled in. I am leaving the technicalities of deployment to the CAG. This is going to be dangerous for the pilots though. I presume volunteers will be used?”
“To a certain extent, but we need the best pilots. Most of those are exhausted, so we do have certain limitations. How long after the charges are deployed before we can expect the hole to close?”
Cameron smiled. “It will take about ten minutes for the center charge explosion to reach the center of the wormhole. It will be dragged along by inertia, to an extent,