[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.If he was concerned, he did not show it.“How long before we are under cover of the Queen’s shield?”“About forty-five minutes, my Kronan.The jumps ships will be in attack range within a couple of minutes.”“Then we will have to keep them at bay, until the sanctity of the shields affords us protection or a Kryl security battery arrives.Increase to maximum velocity and divert all non-essential power to security controls and weaponry.”The ship went into stealth mode.This was an advancement Winterburn insisted upon when defensive upgrades were fitted, prior to their departure from Earth.It was costly, but well worth it, affording protection equivalent to Alpha’s ships of the line.The jump ships circled the area several times before they located and locked on the stealthy ship via infrared-enhanced viewing capability.They needed to keep in close, to ensure they could keep the AUSWAS ship in view and sustain weaponry lock, and this presented the AUSWAS ship with the opportunity to deploy its own laser cannons.The jump ships started their attack, and the AUSWAS ship’s shields did provide resistance briefly, but Alpha’s close-proximity flying allowed their weapons to break through the AUSWAS ships shield capability.It was only a matter of time before they broke through and took the ship.“How long before we reach the Queen’s shields?” Winterburn repeated his earlier question“Imminently, but our shields won’t last, my Kronan.”“The security battery?”“There are two on their way.It will be too late for us by the time they get here.”Winterburn disliked the negativity.“We will hold them off long enough to deploy aboard a rescue vessel.Keep targeting the jump ship.”* * * *The requisitioned freighter kept back some distance.Its shields were not up to battle strength.Commander Jacques launched three more Rapiers and the Eagle troop carrier, which carried the mobile infantry and whose job it was to board and take the AUSWAS ship.He received the signal from his lead jump ship to advise shield penetration was sufficient to deploy boarding forces.It is going well, he thought.With a bit of luck we can grab Winterburn and head back towards the blue wormhole before we encounter Kryl fighters.Just as the new Rapiers deployed, the Kryl Security Battery appeared from nowhere at high velocity and their five ships attacked the freighter.Their weapons immediately penetrated the freighter’s limited shielding.Jacques acted quickly and redeployed the three Rapiers.The plan was going well, but unless the jump ships quickly turned it around, all was lost.Almost as if fate played a watching brief, the Halo 7 arrived.Hoskins immediately sensed the freighter was in trouble.He ordered the Battle Cruiser to arc and pull into a steep descent, heading directly towards the Kryl battery.At high velocity, the Kryl ships were forced to move aside as the Halo 7 plowed through the middle of them.Hoskins quickly ordered the deployment of five more Rapiers.They launched and immediately joined the fray.He then ordered two further Sabres to head to the AUSWAS ship and join in the battle to assume control.* * * *Jake wasn’t expecting to be involved, but Lieutenant Temsouri had no hesitation in deploying the Sabre 4 into a battle of this type.She knew he was a rookie but hardly a novice.She needed the swift and subtle Sabre derivative to get close to the AUSWAS ship and really ‘batter’ them with her laser cannons.Jake obliged and launched quickly, immediately setting course for the AUSWAS ship.* * * *Carla watched the battle from within the storage accommodation, which conveniently afforded them a good view of the entire show.She saw the jump ship, the Kryl fighters and the freighter.She realized that as long as the Kryl didn’t deploy any further ships, some kind of rescue looked likely.She watched as the Alpha jump ships continued to pepper the AUSWAS ships shields, and then a massive explosion somewhere at the rear of the ship proved the shields were disabled [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]