Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [93]
Finally, things were changing for the better. "Admiral, the uprising is widespread. Before the compies could steal the Grid 0 battle group, we paralyzed their engines and are now in the process of retaking the ships." Lanyan looked at his bridge crew and smiled. "With your help, we might finish this cleanup sooner than I'd hoped. We would welcome your assistance."
On screen, the image of Wu-Lin did not change. The communications officer said, "General, I'm receiving no response from him."
Lanyan scratched his head. The Juggernaut drifted silently closer. "If he had as much of a firefight as we did, maybe his bridge is damaged. Can he even receive transmissions?"
"That's not it, sir. Admiral Wu-Lin, please acknowledge."
The Grid 3 ships closed in. Lanyan frowned. "Put everyone on increased alert status!"
"Sir, I think--"
Wu-Lin's Juggernaut opened fire on three of the cavalry gunships from the Mars base. The Grid 3 battleship vaporized the smaller vessels in a single shot.
"Full defenses, dammit!" Lanyan slammed his fist down on the command chair, dislodging one of the precariously rewired control panels. Next, the Grid 3 Mantas began shooting at the mostly empty cavalry vessels. "Send a message back to Earth right away: Soldier compies now control the Grid 3 battle group. Admiral Wu-Lin is presumed dead. Damned simulation!"
He spun to the weapons station, yelling at the frantic-looking techs. "You better not be bullshitting about my weapons! Power up jazers and explosive projectile cannons. Load the railgun launchers!" Among the stalled Grid 0 vessels, the Goliath had the advantage of surprise, but only for a moment. "Unload everything we've got into those oncoming ships."
The guillotine code specific to the Grid 3 battle group was locked away in high security back at the Mars base. Wu-Lin would have had it, but Lanyan could not access the command string swiftly enough. The Goliath was his only immediate recourse. He felt a thrum as the Juggernaut's weapons fired; each beam and each hardened projectile flew in a fan-shaped pattern toward the approaching traitor vessels.
Two jazer beams ripped open the belly of Wu-Lin's Juggernaut, like gutting a big fish. The battleship's atmosphere vented. A debris of compies as well as human bodies spilled out. Still the marauding Juggernaut came on, followed by a group of Mantas and Thunderheads. All of them opened fire, specifically picking off Lanyan's cavalry ships.
The General swore, but maintained his focus, his perspective. He knew what he had to do. "Commence the exit strategy now. Cripple as many of these Grid 0 ships as possible and blow up everything else. If we let them get away, the compies will use those assets against us."
A flurry of weapons sparked a cascade of explosions on the frozen Grid 0 ships. "Sound the evacuation order! Any teams that can get back aboard in ten minutes are going home with us." Most of Lanyan's greenhorn sweeper teams were stuck aboard the compy-infested Mantas and Thunderheads, and they would never make it to their pursuit vessels in time.
"General, we can't just leave them--"
"In case you haven't noticed, Wu-Lin's ships outgun our little rescue party by ten to one! Take your best shots, then turn tail and get us out of here."
With an admirably swift response, the trainee pilots hit their preselected targets, destroying the engines of the paralyzed Grid 0 vessels. Several smaller cavalry craft turned about, taking potshots at the compy-controlled vessels. Lanyan had never thought he'd want to see damage inflicted upon EDF vessels.
The robot-commandeered battleships swept in, no longer bothering to broadcast Wu-Lin's image. The Grid 3 Juggernaut now concentrated its barrage against the Goliath. The understaffed battleship shuddered under the blows, but the hull armor held. For now.
"We can't stand against these enemies with just one Juggernaut and a few second-rate ships." In fact, there was little enough chance he would escape at all. He needed to get the