[Black Fleet Crisis(4)

Red Two broke left and up, its cannon tracking the shield tower and firing nonstop.

“Come on, come on, come on, ” Tuketu said under his breath. “Make a hole for us. “

The leading edge of Red Two’s salvo reached the shield boundary as the gun was still firing. Most shattered without exploding, crushed like insects hurled against

a cockpit canopy.

A few exploded

against nothingness, their triggers overwhelmed by a surging induction current as the particle shield cycled on and off.

But two flechette missiles slipped through. The hemispheric dome of the shield tower disappeared in a small but brilliant explosion that left the metal remnants burning.

“How did you know? ” Skids said wonderingly.

Tuketu shook his head. “I didn’t, ” he said, pushing the throttles forward. Ahead lay the aperture of the big gun.

Like a frantic animal fighting for its life, the hypergun fired on theResolve without pause from the moment the particle shield vanished.

The big cruiser wasn’t nimble enough to evade the barrage pattern thrown at it from the alpha moon, and Commander Syub Snunb wondered if it was tough enough to withstand the hits it was taking. Shells crashed against its invisible shields with such force that the ship itself shuddered and shook.

“Red Flight is inside the perimeter, ” a lieutenant sang out.

Steadying himself against a bulkhead, Snunb acknowled ged the report with a nod. “Then we’ve done our job. Keep tracking the incoming fire, ” he said.

“Navigator, turn and show them our heels. Keep us on an escape heading. If they give us any kind of break at all, drop the auxiliary shields and jump us out of here. “

“Yes, Commander. “

Just then the outermost shield buckled under a salvo of shells, the impacts sucking the field strength from the protective bubble faster than the shield generators could restore it. An alarm sounded on the bridge as the shaking abruptly got worse.

“The D shield is down. The generators are slagged! “

Snunb shook his head. “I must remember to tell General A’baht that I do not much like being the bait tied outside the predator’s lair. How much longer? “

His first officer pointed to the tactical display.

“Tuketu should be over the target in another few seconds. “

Another alarm sounded on the bridge of theResolve . “I hope we have another few seconds to give him. “

The aperture of the hypergun was glowing brilliantly in the infrared on Tuketu’s targeting computer.

“Let’s finish this on the first pass. “

“Arming Number One, ” Skids sang out. “Arming Number Two. Taking attitude control, now. “

Tuketu lifted his hands from the stick and throttle.

“All yours. “

The nose of the K-wing lifted skyward, and the bomber began to climb.

“Range-mark. Number One away. Number Two away. Let’s not hang around, Tuke. “

As the lob bombs began to trace a clean, elegant ballistic arc, up and over the top of a gravitational hill, Tuketu hauled the nose of the bomber back and around to the left so sharply that he felt momentarily dizzy. While the broad bottom of the ship was facing the target, there was a dull roaring sound, a brilliant flash that cast long shadows on the surface, and a neck-snapping vertical translation, as though some mighty hand had shoved the K-wing from below.

“Too soon, too soon! ” Skids cried in alarm. “Not ours. “

At that moment Black One flashed by overhead, and the comm speaker crackled to life with gleeful exultations.

“Scratch one big gun, ” drawled Black Leader. “My stars, that was a big splash. She was still firing when we bracketed her-we must have jammed up a couple of shells in the barrel. Did you see it, Red Leader? “

“Negative, Black Leader. ” The landscape lit up again with a double flash that was a pale echo of the first. “Sounds like you didn’t leave much for us, Hodo, ” Tuketu said with a grin.

“That’ll teach you not to dawdle-sir. “

“This is Green Leader, ” said a new voice. “I’ve made a verification pass and I confirm target destroyed, “

“This is theResolve . We concur with Green Leader, target destroyed. Thank you, boys. “

“Copy, Green Leader. Copy, Resolve , ” said Tuketu, turning his ship skyward, toward where the cruisers waited for them. “All ships, form up with me. We have a rendezvous to keep. “

Standing at a podium and wearing the uniform of the Joint Defense Operations Staff rather than the Mon Calamari battle dress in which he had earned his fame, Admiral Ackbar gestured with a large hand toward the display screen on his right.

“With the Fleet firmly in control of local space, it is now relatively safe for the gunships to begin opening a corridor to the surface, ” Ackbar said, looking out at the small, select audience. “The tactics echo those used against the hypergun-to expose well-armored vessels to enemy fire in order to locate and destroy the defensive emplacements in the target sector. In this case, as you can see, the counterfire is coming from the heavy batteries of the vessels in orbit. “