Just waiting, I answered with demonstrative calmness, If we turn the engines on, well almost certainly be spotted. We wait for the torpedoes to strike. Maybe in the mess we can slip away.
Detected by the enemy! The report came from one of the command machines. Not far from the planet, by cosmic standards, there was a short fight. Our pursuit plane has taken counter-courses with the enemys corvette. There was no comparison between the ship weights, but the pursuit plane, quick-moving and very well-protected by electronic warfare means, slipped away from the rockets and anti-aircraft shells, and fired two light missiles at the enemy. The only way they could do serious damage to a spaceship was with good luck, but the pilot of the discovered pursuit plane was not actually going to do it. He sought to complete his task.
The torpedoes, abandoned by the pilot during the battle, again sensed the steel strings of the control signals and they rushed after the command machine to the autonomous space quarg dock, doing desperate chaotic jerks and evasive maneuvers. The anti-aircraft systems of the dock and the guarding ships were hitting the dangerous enemy with shells and missiles. Torpedoes were destroyed one by one.
The command machine pilot led his wards to the line from which they could attack the dock autonomously, and by a sharp maneuver he broke the distance with the dock full of anti-aircraft cannons. None of the ten torpedoes made it to the target.
The quarg gunners could only be applauded, but the destroyed torpedoes have done their dark work by diverting the attention of the enemys defense systems and ships. When forty more torpedoes came out of the void, the shipyards anti-aircraft systems were no longer able to cope with this deadly threat.
All four autonomous space docks were attacked almost simultaneously, as planned. The early discovery of one of the command machines had only facilitated this task. Titanic shipbuilding structures were covered by explosions of binary warheads of torpedoes. The shaped charge penetrated the hull and burned a path in front of it in order for the blast part of the torpedo to enter into the unfinished ship. The impact of several dozen of the most powerful munitions caused disastrous damage to the autonomous space docks along with the unfinished ships. One of the ships split into three pieces, which began to slowly spin into the gravity well of the gas giant together with the encircling structures of the destroyed dock. The nearest ship exploded without a sound. Only the quargs could be asked, what could possibly have exploded that way, but the spectacle turned out to be fascinating. The two remaining unfinished battleships were destroyed less spectacularly, but equally inexorably.
I didnt need to give any commands. According to the operation plan, once the torpedoes were pulled out to the autonomous assault line, the pilots of the command machines were to return immediately to the transports, that, as we saw, they did.
The quargs were confused. Some of the enemys big commanders must have lost their temper, and for a while could not adequately lead their subordinates. In any case, the movements of enemy ships were haphazard, at least in our view. But it didnt make it any easier, because there were too many quargs at the party we were having.
We picked up the returned command machines and, in principle, the plan was to start acceleration for the jump. We did our job, but not without loss. Except turning the transports engines on was tantamount to suicide. Of course, the camouflage wouldnt completely come off, but it would be 40% down, and the space around us was crawling with enemy ships, and their numbers were growing by the minute.
The odds of our detection in the next 30 minutes are estimated by the computer at 60%, told me the commander of the transport, Its time to make a decision, Commander, Sir.
How many people do we have on board all three ships? I asked a question that was unexpected to everyone.
42 people, answered Matveyev with a note of surprise in his voice.
Commander Yoon Gao, I called our scout on the laser-optical link, How many people can you put on your ship if you dont give a damn about all the rules and regulations and instructions? I have 42 people here who want to keep your crew company.
Captain, Sir, are you serious? You flew with me. We have a crew of five.
What if otherwise these 42 people just die?
WellTheres nothing to think about, lets have your passengers. Just how?
Pull up close and open the outer hatch of the small cargo hold. Transports have a universal docking unit. Were lucky we didnt dismantle it. The rest is about the skills of the pilots.
The modernized medium-size recon ship had an incomparably better camouflage than the transport, thats what Yoon Gao and I have seen more than once during the previous raid, so without fear, he made a careful maneuver, approached three of our ships and joined the docking unit of the nearest transport.
The pilot of Yoon Gaos ship clearly knew his business, or maybe Yoon himself was driving the ship now, who knows, but the docking was done with maximum accuracy.
Pilots of the command machines, take positions in the pursuit planes and get ready to receive a combat mission.
Commander, Sir, asked me Commander Matveyev, Maybe my pilots should prepare for takeoff, too?
No way. Unless, of course, you want to ruin us all. From this distance, your machines will be like Christmas trees with garlands and balloons for the enemy. Only our command machines have a chance, so prepare your men for an emergency evacuation. Transport crews, leave the ships and prepare them for self-destruction.
Ready to take off, our pilots commander reported.
Pursuit planes, simulate an attack in the direction of the sixth planet with the task of diverting enemy forces from our ships. Do not engage in close combat, but keep the enemy as far away from here as possible. You need to hold on for 20 minutes. Youll get further orders from the recon ship. Mission clear?
Thats right.
Do it!
I have met the expression to pack like sardines before, but until now, I didnt give it much attention, and it turned out I should. For the next 15 minutes, I had to feel the depth and lexical precision of this idiom the hard way. It was really cramped.
Three simultaneous flashes behind the stern of Yoon Gaos ship marked the end of the active phase of our operation and the beginning of a painful journey home. It was especially distressing to us when the ship, already overcrowded, was filled with eight pilots of the surviving command machines, that caught up to us in 40 minutes. By the way, their passage to the ship has become a distinct headache, as the pursuit planes had no fixed docking units, but we managed somehow. The command machines had to be destroyed as well as the transports, because there was not the slightest possibility of getting them into space under human control.
When we arrived a week later at the rendezvous point with Admiral Nelsons destroyers, half the passengers on our ship were unconscious. The life-support system for a maximum of 10 persons could not sustain five times as many people for an extended period. But as it turned out, we got off easy.
There were five scouts and only two transports at the rendezvous point, the ones that attacked the single-dock systems. Of the remaining teams, apart from the scouts who were not directly involved in the battle, only a few of the command machines pilots survived. Command pursuit planes have proved to be very survivable in combat conditions due to high speed, good maneuverability and excellent EW systems, which allowed them to evade missiles and deceive enemy scanners.