Heliosphere 2265 - Volume 9: Decision at Nova (Science Fiction) by Andreas Suchanek

Author:Andreas Suchanek [Suchanek, Andreas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Star Trek, Honor Harrington, The Lost Fleet, Spaceship, Heliosphäre, Solare Union, Solare Republik, Interlink Cruiser
Publisher: Greenlight Press (Andreas Suchanek)
Published: 2016-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

*

Dreadnought TORCH, Command bridge, 6 August 2266, 17:31 hours

“Fourth salvo successfully repelled”, reported Kirby. “The SIRIUS, the PYXIS and the CONTROL deployed defensive countermeasures to protect us. All three ships have sustained major damage and are retreating from the engagement.”

“What about the missile installations?”, Santana asked. The events of the last few minutes had stunned her. The PEGASUS had fired no less than seven salvos at the TORCH. Each salvo consisted of 1,200 torpedoes. In other words, the TORCH had had to deal with 8,400 incoming warheads. Pendergast’s ship had taken several hits and they had survived only thanks to the efforts of nearby vessels to protect them. But now they were on their own.

Luckily, the missile installations had fired on the fleet as a whole rather than concentrating their fire on the TORCH. But the ship’s systems were at breaking point and if the installations began to focus their fire it would all be over.

“NOVA is working on it”, reported Tasha Yost.

What the devil has gone wrong? thought Santana.

At this rate the attack would end in disaster. The home fleet didn’t pose a serious threat. Some of the ships had changed their vectors and were heading rimwards, others were on course to NOVA Station. A number of ships were drifting out of control through space after their respective EC’s had activated the Incept protocols. Others had been crippled in battle.

But, together with the missile installations, Guevara’s ships were a very real danger. If enough torpedoes got through, they could easily destroy the TORCH or one of its escorts. It was a situation that Santana had desperately hoped to avoid.

“Some of Guevara’s vessels have turned against him”, reported Bai Yun. “His fleet is losing formation. Their rate of fire is dropping.”

“And the installations?”

“They’ve boosted their rate of fire”, reported Kirby with a groan. “A number of installations have moved to within range and are now actively targeting the TORCH.”

Santana closed her eyes. They couldn’t stave off another salvo. Not even with the assistance of their escorts. Inside the holosphere’s projection field yet another salvo sped relentlessly toward the TORCH like a swarm of demonic fireflies sent straight from hell to extinguish the rebel fleet.

Even Kirby, she could tell, was at breaking point. “Launching our last battery of interceptor missiles.” She looked up from her console. “That’s it. The depot is empty. We’re out of ammunition. It’s over.”

Santana knew that they would fight to the bitter end. The ship’s lasers and interceptor missiles whittled away at the approaching swarm, supported by an arsenal of decoys and flechette cannons. What wouldn’t I give for a handful of Kensington Pods, she thought with a smile. But the aging TORCH had not yet been refitted to conform with the new battle doctrine and all she could do was to close her eyes and pray.

Then, with only a few kilometers separating the torpedoes from the TORCH, the cloud vanished.

The bridge fell silent.

“Somebody tell me what just happened!”, thundered Santana.

“Captain Coen reports that he was able to reprogram the missile installations.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.