Alpha One - Chris Burton [18]
Hoskins briefed Lieutenant Collins and ordered that the jump ships in question be made ready for standby status. He left the hangar deck and headed straight for the bridge.
The ship was in relative calm. The crew was not naïve; they all knew that they were being pursued, rather than being the pursuer, but they also knew that if the ships commanders were relaxed then the situation must be under control. Hoskins learned not to over-hype these situations and he deliberately tried to air a feeling of calmness as he walked towards the front of the ship. He knew the time for calmness neared its end and battle was imminent.
He entered the bridge and took a seat at his station.
“Comm Status?”
“We are just entering range for the comm’s booster and we are sending repeated relay messages to all the Alpha vessels within short range,” advised the Communications officer.
“Good, carry on.”
“Number One. How is General Yoshi this morning?”
“Almost upon us. The good news is that we have partial shielding,” came the reply from his First Officer.
“Excellent.”
“She is within range, sir. We can deploy blaster cannons on your command. Shall I make us weapons ready?”
“Hold off for one moment Number One. I want to see them before we fire.”
“Three Alpha vessels have responded and on route. ETA twenty minutes sir” said the Comm Officer.
“Excellent, Mr. Peterson. We wait.”
* * * *
The Earth ship was within weapons range, but Yoshi was not ready to attack yet.
He was aware they knew where his ship was. They could not see his vessel—not with the naked eye, but their heat filters could trace the outline of his ship thermically. Surprise was therefore no longer a tactical advantage.
Other Alpha vessels were also on route to intercept. This was a positive step from Yoshi’s perspective as the wider the audience the better. He wanted Alpha to recognize the superior capability of his vessel and his fleet.
Some members of his senior crew expressed surprise when Yoshi ordered the ship to cross into Alpha space. They hadn’t challenged him but would eventually, and he would listen, albeit as a pretence. He would pursue his attack plan anyway. Tactical standoffs were Yoshi’s specialty. He knew his tactics were right and his ship had the stature and strength to vaporize the Earth vessel.
He also knew that as Fleet Commander he had the authority and moral high ground to pursue the Earth ship and he would not rest until this was achieved.
* * * *
The first missile struck the Aurora 5 on deck six and penetrated the blast shields defenses. The second and third disabled the stellar drive and the fourth penetrated the real of the hull and embedded itself beneath the rear hangar deck. The force of the explosions sent the Alpha ship into a half spin, before the ships stabilizers compensated and adjusted the balance polarity.
Hoskins immediately took the ship to battle stations and allowed the ships NAVCOM to bring her around so that the Sentinel vessel faced them. The Aurora weapons were deployed immediately and Blast Cannons peppered the surface of the Sentinel vessel, but without making any significant impact.
“Deploy PBA and load five teutonic torpedoes.”
“Launch jump ships for close range attack, I want those fucking Sentinel shields down. Get the Sabres to concentrate on the Sentinels Hyper drive.”
“Comm status. Where are those Alpha ships?”
“ETA, two minutes for the first ship sir, the others should be within five.”
Another huge explosion, this time on the fore deck, rocked the bridge, temporarily making the Commander lose his footing. He recovered and watched as two missiles launched and headed straight towards their target. Both reached their intended destination but neither breached the Sentinels ships shields.
“PBA on line.”
“Fire at will.”
The PBA was the Aurora 5’s most devastating weapon, a multi warhead laser that together formed an immensely powerful plasma weapon. The weapon could only be used in short bursts and with extreme caution, but would guarantee the temporary failure of the enemy vessels shields.