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.The only alternative to an engagement was to run – and that would mean leaving Garston undefended, ready for the Funks to move back in and launch reprisals against the non-Funk population.Humanity’s ECM drones spread out ahead of the fleet.Each one was capable of creating a dozen sensor ghosts, a variant on the tactic that had made the missile cloud so effective.The Funks would be unable to tell the difference between real or ghost ships at long range, but they presumably had locked their sensors on the real ships.Using countermeasures, the locks broke, rendering it far harder for them to work out which ships were real.It still wouldn't be enough, if only because the ghost ships couldn't engage the enemy.The Funks would just fire on any ship that fired on their formation.The distance between the two forces closed rapidly.Behind the Federation Navy, Force One abandoned its casual approach to Garston and brought its drives to full power, intent on helping Force Two to crush the human fleet.Once they combined their ships, they would presumably advance on Garston and force Tobias to engage them or surrender the planet.The gunboats twisted around, ready to slash down into Force Two.There would be so many targets that the point defences would have problems tracking the gunboats.But there were still only twelve of them.“Force Two entering phase cannon range,” Lucas reported.Humanity’s slight range advantage might just even the odds.“All ships report ready to engage the enemy.”“Fire at will,” Tobias ordered.Nimitz opened fire, brilliant beams of energy lancing out towards the enemy ships and striking their shields, just before the rotating modulation hit on the right frequency and slashed directly into the target’s hull.The enemy ship twisted at once, rotating its own shield frequency in hopes of avoiding serious damage, but it was too late to stop the phase cannon from digging deep into her hull.She rolled out of the enemy formation, trailing plasma as her crew fought to save their ship.An antimatter torpedo from one of Nimitz’s consorts finished her off before her crew could escape.The enemy fleet opened fire seconds later, bombarding the entire human fleet with phase cannon fire.They seemed to be scattering their fire, something that made no sense until Tobias realised that it was a way to separate the sensor ghosts out from the real ships.Nimitz rocked as a phase cannon burst stuck her hull, just before she unleashed a spread of torpedoes towards an enemy battlecruiser.Compressed antimatter flared out in the darkness of space and the enemy ship lost her shields.A moment later, she vaporised as a torpedo exploded against her unprotected hull.Tobias smiled darkly as the range continued to narrow.The Funks had largely separated out the sensor ghosts now, but they were still drawing fire as skilled ECM crews projected the ghosts forward, ahead of the advancing ships.Several human ships had taken damage, yet they were all still moving, their weapons digging into enemy hulls.The Funks opened fire with antimatter torpedoes of their own, only to discover that humanity had learned how to deploy their phase cannon as point defence weapons.Only a handful of torpedoes survived to strike home.“John Paul Jones is taking heavy fire,” Lucas reported.“Her captain is requesting permission to disengage…”“Granted,” Tobias snapped.It was too late.The cruiser had been broadsided by a pair of enemy battlecruisers, her shields failing before she could escape.A brace of antimatter torpedoes finished her off and she vanished in a ball of fire.“Order Farragut and Cochrane to watch for survivors as they blaze through that part of the enemy formation.”Nimitz rotated in space, spinning alongside the hull of one of the enemy battlecruisers.They were far too close to risk unleashing antimatter torpedoes, but her phase cannon dug deeply into the enemy hull.A direct hit blew through one of the battlecruiser’s fusion plants and a chain reaction of explosions tore her apart.Two of her consorts attempted to use her death agonies as cover to bring their own weapons to bear on the imprudent human ship, but Nimitz turned and showed them her heels, launching a spread of torpedoes to cover her retreat.Open space beckoned in front of the human ships and they raced for it, two cruisers trailing plasma as they escaped Force Two’s wrath.“Order the 3rd Cruiser Squadron to leave orbit and reinforce us,” Tobias ordered.Between reinforcements and the damage they’d inflicted on Force Two, the odds would be a great deal more even.If he’d been in the enemy’s shoes, he would have seriously considered taking advantage of the brief pause to open a quantum gate and escape, knowing that he’d already dented the myth of human invincibility.“Togo and Surcouf are to break contact and jump out to Point Shiloh [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]