Rumors of Honor (System States Rebellion Book 2) by Dietmar Wehr Page A
Authors: Dietmar Wehr
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when the ship was
in orbit around a Union planet or docked with a Union station, but Drake
considered that a small price to pay for all those AMMs. The other drawback was
the fact that they still had to make do with the first generation of AMMs. That
was a worry, but Drake also knew that the second generation of AMM was in the
testing phase. A ground-based version was the first priority, but the ship
launched version would be next.
“Lee
to Strike Force. Congratulations on a well-executed attack. Jutland, you were a
little slow in firing. I hope that won’t happen again next time. Strike Leader
out.”
Drake
made sure his mic was turned off before calling Commodore Lee an asshole.
Jutland had fired its missiles less than one second after the other three
ships. All his missiles had been on target, so the delay hadn’t affected target
accuracy at all. It was obvious to Drake that the Commodore had it in for him,
but he was at a loss as to what he should or could do about it.
Makassar
Defense Force:
Lt.
Commander Remington noticed that her duty shift conning the Normandy was only
half over when the tactical display started pinging madly for attention. Four
red icons had appeared at the extreme edge of the radar satellites’ detection
range. The lack of transponder ID and the alarmingly high speed made it obvious
that they were hostile ships. Remington heard Commodore Stevens clear his
throat over the squadron com channel. She hit the Battle Stations button without
waiting to hear what the Commodore was about to say.
“Stevens
to squadron! We have four bogeys approaching at high speed! Normandy! You’re in
the best position to fire at them! Execute plan Alpha3 immediately! Stevens
out!”
Remington
smiled. The Commodore’s order meant that she could initiate missile fire
herself without having to wait until her CO made it to the Bridge and relieved
her.
“Confirm
Alpha3, Weps,” said Remington. The Weapons Officer replied immediately.
“Alpha3
is ready to fire, Commander!”
Remington
looked down at her number two screen which showed the status of Normandy’s
missile tubes and the Enable Launch virtual button. She touched the button.
“All
missiles have fired!” yelled the Weapons Officer. He’s too excited, thought
Remington, but she understood why. It was his first time in an actual combat
situation. With one combat engagement under her belt, she was practically
considered a veteran. Even her CO didn’t have that to brag about. She checked
the tactical display. Alpha3 was the plan to fire two missiles at each bogey.
One would be slightly ahead of the other. The one in front would be armed with
the standard high explosive warhead. The missile lagging behind would be armed
with the new Mark 1 fission warhead. The idea behind the plan was that if the
bogeys had any kind of missile defense, the lead missile would be the focus of
that defense, with the hope that the following missile might be more likely to
get through and hit the ship. Remington didn’t think these bogeys would use
active defenses. She was willing to bet that they had neutron armor and would
let the FED missiles hit that armor, just as the single Union ship had done
eight months ago in Earth orbit. She checked the estimated time to intercept
and was surprised to see that it was almost 21 minutes. Those bogeys were
coming in slow. Arrogant bastards. Before she could think of anything
else, she heard her CO’s voice as he entered the Bridge.
“Okay,
Commander, I have the Con!”
Remington
acknowledged the change of command and got up from the Command Chair. “We’ve
fired eight birds under Alpha3 as per the SL’s order, Commander,” she said in a
calm voice.
“Understood.
What’s our reload status, Weps?” asked the CO.
“We’re
reloading with the same combination, Skipper!”
Remington
nodded. The Weapons Officer had taken it upon himself to make that call
in orbit around a Union planet or docked with a Union station, but Drake
considered that a small price to pay for all those AMMs. The other drawback was
the fact that they still had to make do with the first generation of AMMs. That
was a worry, but Drake also knew that the second generation of AMM was in the
testing phase. A ground-based version was the first priority, but the ship
launched version would be next.
“Lee
to Strike Force. Congratulations on a well-executed attack. Jutland, you were a
little slow in firing. I hope that won’t happen again next time. Strike Leader
out.”
Drake
made sure his mic was turned off before calling Commodore Lee an asshole.
Jutland had fired its missiles less than one second after the other three
ships. All his missiles had been on target, so the delay hadn’t affected target
accuracy at all. It was obvious to Drake that the Commodore had it in for him,
but he was at a loss as to what he should or could do about it.
Makassar
Defense Force:
Lt.
Commander Remington noticed that her duty shift conning the Normandy was only
half over when the tactical display started pinging madly for attention. Four
red icons had appeared at the extreme edge of the radar satellites’ detection
range. The lack of transponder ID and the alarmingly high speed made it obvious
that they were hostile ships. Remington heard Commodore Stevens clear his
throat over the squadron com channel. She hit the Battle Stations button without
waiting to hear what the Commodore was about to say.
“Stevens
to squadron! We have four bogeys approaching at high speed! Normandy! You’re in
the best position to fire at them! Execute plan Alpha3 immediately! Stevens
out!”
Remington
smiled. The Commodore’s order meant that she could initiate missile fire
herself without having to wait until her CO made it to the Bridge and relieved
her.
“Confirm
Alpha3, Weps,” said Remington. The Weapons Officer replied immediately.
“Alpha3
is ready to fire, Commander!”
Remington
looked down at her number two screen which showed the status of Normandy’s
missile tubes and the Enable Launch virtual button. She touched the button.
“All
missiles have fired!” yelled the Weapons Officer. He’s too excited, thought
Remington, but she understood why. It was his first time in an actual combat
situation. With one combat engagement under her belt, she was practically
considered a veteran. Even her CO didn’t have that to brag about. She checked
the tactical display. Alpha3 was the plan to fire two missiles at each bogey.
One would be slightly ahead of the other. The one in front would be armed with
the standard high explosive warhead. The missile lagging behind would be armed
with the new Mark 1 fission warhead. The idea behind the plan was that if the
bogeys had any kind of missile defense, the lead missile would be the focus of
that defense, with the hope that the following missile might be more likely to
get through and hit the ship. Remington didn’t think these bogeys would use
active defenses. She was willing to bet that they had neutron armor and would
let the FED missiles hit that armor, just as the single Union ship had done
eight months ago in Earth orbit. She checked the estimated time to intercept
and was surprised to see that it was almost 21 minutes. Those bogeys were
coming in slow. Arrogant bastards. Before she could think of anything
else, she heard her CO’s voice as he entered the Bridge.
“Okay,
Commander, I have the Con!”
Remington
acknowledged the change of command and got up from the Command Chair. “We’ve
fired eight birds under Alpha3 as per the SL’s order, Commander,” she said in a
calm voice.
“Understood.
What’s our reload status, Weps?” asked the CO.
“We’re
reloading with the same combination, Skipper!”
Remington
nodded. The Weapons Officer had taken it upon himself to make that call
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