Into the Fire (Rise of the Republic Book 5) by James Rosone & TC Manning

Author:James Rosone & TC Manning [Rosone, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Front Line Publishing Inc.
Published: 2021-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

RNS Freedom

Bridge

Viceroy Hunt watched in awe as his ship and fleet fought on. It was almost too much to comprehend. The battle taking place around the planet and closest to the Freedom was still going strong, but it was clear they were going to win it. The battle further away, near one of its moons, however, was not so clear. Once the Zodark star carriers were fully engaged, the Orbots jumped in several of their own on the back side of the allied fleet. More than two thousand fighters and bombers had been launched and thrown into the melee.

In a battle involving so many fighters and bombers, one of the most valuable ships to the fleet at this precise moment was proving to be a ship that didn’t always see a lot of love or action—the flak cruisers.

These were modified Rook-class battlecruisers that had been repurposed to defend the capital ships against swarms of Zodark and Orbot starfighters. These ships had had their main railguns removed and in their place were sixty quad-barreled 40mm flak guns. What made these 40mm flak guns so dangerous was the integration of an improved proximity fuze.

This piece of new tech was akin to the proximity shells first introduced by the British during the 1940 Blitz over London and then further refined by the Americans in the Pacific during World War II. This new fuze meant the shells didn’t need to score a direct hit on an enemy fighter—they just had to pass close enough to be triggered and explode. The flak cruisers were also equipped with the newest in long-range missile interceptors. The missiles were packed in reloadable pods of fifty, with ten of these pods scattered across the ship.

Hunt watched as the flak cruisers steered themselves into the incoming waves of enemy fighters. The ship captains were constantly moving and shifting their ships to position them in the best possible path of the incoming fighters, forcing the enemy spacecraft to fly through the ensuing hornet’s nest they were unleashing. The cruisers, of course, took a lot of hits themselves. Despite the best efforts of their gunners to intercept the waves of incoming missiles and torpedoes, some invariably made it through.

Turning to look at Wiyrkomi, Hunt said, “We need to finish the battle here and get over to the main battle now. Those flak cruisers won’t be able to keep the enemy fighters off the fleet for long.”

“I agree, Viceroy. I recommend we dispatch another wing of our own fighters to assist them,” Wiyrkomi offered.

“Very well. Make it so. In the meantime, let’s try to finish these ships off with our own guns. Move us into firing range,” Hunt ordered. It was time to bring to bear the full power of this awesome ship.

As the ship’s main thrusters kicked in, they approached a large group of Zodark warships. As they drew closer, the enemy’s fire shifted away from the Primord ships they had been battling to focus exclusively on this massive unknown warship headed right for them.

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