Onslaught: The Globur Incursion Book 3 by Rebbitt D

Author:Rebbitt, D. [Rebbitt, D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Rear Admiral Shin sat on the flag bridge of Siegreich as TF3 waited to transition out of quantum drive. TF3 was almost home. What was left of it. Globur attacks in the Harlow system had ravaged the task force.

Just a few months ago, TF3 had been a powerful formation, anchored by a Fleet carrier with two battleships, two cruisers, two frigates, and four destroyers. Four ships, Gneisenau, Houyi, Narvik , and Wind , had been lost in the initial contact with the Globur in the X5682 system. The loss of a cruiser, frigate, and two destroyers had weakened TF3. The battleship Ambush , the destroyer Folkstone and the Imperial Survey vessel Profectus all perished in the Harlow system. Only by running had they saved any ships in the Venerius system.

Four ships were all that now remained of TF3.

The battleship Ozu and the cruiser Ajax were heavily damaged. The frigate Castle had taken little damage early in the battle, but once it became clear just what she was, the Globur had targeted her. More than half of her missile launchers were destroyed. That did not matter at the moment, since she had no missiles to launch.

The most powerful ship at the heart of TF3 was the carrier Siegreich . Now she was the most damaged.

Shin was keenly aware of the red-shaded areas on the damage control panel. The ship was still in bad shape, even after all the repairs completed during transit to Gateway. Almost all offensive weapon systems were either down or simply gone, slagged by missile detonations or alien beam strikes.

The fighter wing display told an even darker tale. Siegreich had left Gateway with 72 fighters. Fleet standards required 95% of fighters, or 68 of the 72, to be operational or available for use in a wartime scenario. Now, Siegreich did not have anything close to 68 fighters. A total of 29 operational fighters remained, with a mere 16 of those fit for service with no defects. Some fighters had made it back only to be declared a total loss.

It was a miracle they had been able to recover any of the pilots due to the frantic nature of the battle. The only silver lining in this whole debacle was that fighter losses were not necessarily pilot losses. Unfortunately, some of the rescue shuttles had not made it back.

Shin glanced around his flag bridge and stewed as he waited for transition. My task force has ceased to exist as a fighting formation. All these ships will be in the yard for weeks, or even months, being repaired. What is to become of me? Will they build a new task force around me? The Fleet has very few ships in reserve. We have never needed any. Damn the luck. That antimatter detonation aboard Ambush sealed our fates. Before that, we had a chance.

Shin was brought out of his thoughts by the familiar routine of the navigation officer finishing the countdown to transition. Suddenly they were in space near Gateway on an approach course.

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