The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict (27 page)

Paul wanted to participate in the looming fighter battle, but wasn’t allowed.  Third Squadron’s sole role in this battle was to keep the cruiser safe from enemy missiles.  If they were to abandon it, the
Sunflower
could be destroyed by enemy fire. 

Besides, the other two squadrons had roared ahead to intercept the enemy fighters.  At this point they were approximately 2.4 million kilometers from the other two squadrons.  At full blast of .18 light it would take 40 seconds to reach them.  The fighter battle would more than likely be over by then.

Paul positioned the squadron 400,000 kilometers (242,000 miles) in front of their cruiser.  This would give the
Sunflower’s
defensive lasers 7 seconds to target and hopefully kill any missiles that Paul’s squadron missed. 

They were in luck; one of the two destroyers had panicked and fired 8 defensive missiles.  Therefore, they were only being targeted by 24 in-coming missiles.  Easy peasy, Paul thought. That is less than two apiece.

Paul said, “Third Squadron, advance target the missiles.  I want to make sure that every missile is targeted at least once.  Fire when ready.  Good luck everyone.”

Each fighter fired a quick directional laser at the two missiles they were planning on shooting.  Paul noted that every missile was targeted by someone.  Time seemed to slow down as the few remaining seconds ticked down.  Finally, it was time.  Paul targeted the first missile and fired.  He hit it.  He targeted the second, fired, and registered a second hit. 

Paul scanned the area for remaining missiles.  Not that it mattered, though.  If there were any left his squadron could not catch them.  He smiled as he received the final count.  His squadron had fired 24 times and scored 24 hits.

Paul did a quick calculation.  Those missiles had been fired 53 seconds ago.  There was another 117 seconds until the enemy destroyers could fire again.  The
Sunflower
would reach the enemy ships in another 162 seconds. 

Paul opened a channel to his squadron and said, “Nice work men.  Get back in formation and stay alert.  The enemy may be able to fire another time before we reach them.

…………………….

Russ said, “We are now close enough to get a very accurate scan of the enemy destroyers.  He continued, “Computer, analyze the two destroyers.”

…The enemy destroyers are both newer model D161’s.  It is assumed that they have 8 missile launchers per side, 24 fighters each, and have smaller sized ion cannons...

The
Sunflower
was now moving at .07 light.  After an intentional delay of two minutes to let the two fighter wings regroup, Russ matched the acceleration of the enemy ships.  The enemy couldn’t get away unless they got free of the gravity field and jumped to hyperspace.

And according to Kolvak’s updated calculations, the additional time would not be an issue – the enemy would still be stuck in the gravity field.  So, the only change was that the time to impact had increased from 5 minutes to 7 minutes; or 3 minutes from now.

However, the delay meant that Jim had to recalculate the vector for the ion cannon shot. It was a relatively simple math problem for anyone that enjoyed solving complex math problems.  Jim double checked his calculations, but he knew they were right.  He had solved this particular equation many, many times in simulations and the answer just felt right.

Russ said, “Two trains leave the station heading toward each other different speeds.  How long does it take until they smash into each other?”

Jim laughed.  However, Russ had a point.  Calculating the distance for firing an ion cannon between two moving space ships was essentially the same as calculating the distance to impact for two trains.  Jim had to factor in the relative speed of the two ships and compute an intercept vector.

Therefore, they had to be close enough to ensure that the beam would strike the enemy ship before it could take evasive action.  Obviously, point blank was preferred.  An enemy ship moving at a steady pace and on a steady course was also helpful. 

However, the confusing part about the entire calculation was light itself.  Light travels at the speed of light, or roughly 300,000 kilometers per second.  An ion cannon beam travels at the speed of light.  Lasers, or active scanners, also travel at the speed of light. 

An active scanner functions by sending a laser beam of light toward an object.  The scan rate is typically every 0.1second, but is generally can be increased to 0.01 second during combat.  The beam of light hits an object and bounces back. 

The system works wonderfully for detecting an object moving slower than the speed of light.  It doesn’t work very well for something traveling at the speed of light.  Therefore, one could theoretically fire an ion cannon across an entire solar system and the intended target would not be able to detect it using active scanners.

So, the most reliable way that ships had to detect whether someone fired an ion cannon at them was to wait and see if the blast hits them.  Slightly less reliable, but certainly preferable, was to detect a fluctuation in an enemy ship’s power signature before it fired.

Just before an ion cannon fires, stored electricity flows into a reaction chamber where the atoms are superheated and bombarded with radioactive polonium to strip the positive electrons from the atoms and create negatively charged, or ionized, atoms.  This process takes at least 20 seconds to complete and the time is dependent on the size of the ion cannon.

Therefore, the only way to hit a moving enemy ship with an ion cannon was to accurately anticipate exactly where it would be 20 seconds from the time one prepared to fire.  Alternatively, one could arm the ion cannon and then get so close to the enemy that they didn’t have time to dodge. 

Jim’s initial ion cannon firing pattern was now incorrect.  He sent an updated one to Russ so that he could update the cruiser’s course to accommodate.  Russ responded, “Course correction has been inputted.  Time to target is now mark 157 seconds.”

That completed, Jim checked the status of the
Sunflower’s
offensive missiles.  Their ship had maintained a steady rate of fire during the headlong chase.  The first 4 volleys had been aimed at the enemy cruisers and were fired at time 0 mark 38, 63, 88, and 113 seconds respectively. 

Over the course of the next two minutes, the
Sunflower
fired another 5 times – at 138, 163, 188, 213, and 238 seconds.  These volleys were directed at the enemy destroyer designated EnDes80.  The first missiles fired at the destroyer had a flight time of 53 seconds and each successive shot was taking less time to reach the target.

The first four volleys should already have hit the destroyer; at time 191, 209, 229, and 248 seconds respectively.  The fifth volley was scheduled to impact the destroyer at 269 seconds – or 7 seconds from now.

Jim said, “Shole, were you able to monitor the missile strikes?”

Shole reported, “The first 10 missiles were stopped by the enemy’s defensive missiles.  The second volley scored 4 hits.  The other six were destroyed by defensive laser fire.  The third volley scored 6 hits.  The fourth volley only scored 2 hits.”

She continued, “The destroyer’s shields are fluctuating rapidly, but are still covering the ship and appear to be slowly regenerating.  There is no hull damage.” 

…………………….

Kip checked his chronometer.  They had now been in the system exactly 5 minutes.  After demolishing the two cruisers, Kip ordered Alpha squadron to regroup so that they could attack the destroyer as a full squadron.  The computer had designated their target as EnDes100.

The enemy destroyer launched 24 fighters.  Normally, in the simulations 4 fighters would remain next to the destroyer to help protect it.  That also occurred during the battle of Hepitila.  This time though, all 24 fighters streaked away from the destroyer in unison. 

The enemy squadron changed into a hybrid box formation.  There were 2 leading rows of 6 fighters each – one on top of the other.  There was a second line of two rows of 6 fighters directly behind it.  The formation looked like a 6 X 2 X 2 rectangle.

Kip contacted his squadron and said, “Intercept in 14 seconds.  Switch from the box (4 X 5) formation to the line (10 X 2) formation and prepare for the over-under. 

The enemy fighters were in their typical over-under pre-maneuver formation.  In another few seconds the two trailing sub-squadrons would accelerate.  One group would try to loop up and then back down and the other would try to loop down and then back up.  The goal of this particular maneuver was to catch the Alliance fighters in a pincer move and easily kill them by hitting them from the top, bottom, and center.

Kip continued watching the enemy fighters.  Something didn’t seem right to him.  The enemy just didn’t seem to be acting the way that they normally do.  They were flying at the correct speed and formation, but something still seemed different. 

Kip and his entire squadron were still in ghost mode – flying their fighters manually.  As a result they were calm beyond belief.  Their senses were heightened and they received information the instant it was available.  Manual mode allowed them to fly quicker than anyone else in the galaxy.

At 7 seconds to intercept, the enemy fighters changed their formation.  The wing of six fighters in the top-front position spun up and to the right at a 45 degree angle.  The fighter on the far right stayed almost in the same position while the one on the far left flew in a huge arc.  The effect looked similar to holding one’s right arm straight out and then swinging it forward and raising it at the same time.

The top-back wing of 6 fighters spun slightly up and in the same arc.  This looked similar to holding one’s right arm straight out and swinging it forward and just a touch up.  The fighters near the shoulder barely moved while the fighters near the hand had to swing a long distance.

The bottom-front group swung slightly down at the exact opposite angle.  This looked similar to holding one’s left arm straight out and swinging it forward and just a touch down.

Finally, the bottom-back swung down a 45 degree angle.  The effect looked similar to holding one’s left arm straight out and then swinging it forward and lowering it at the same time.

The net effect looked like a pirouette with the center body remaining roughly stationary and the arms and legs swinging out in every direction.

Kip sensed the enemy’s formation change was different the instant it occurred.  Kip immediately detected their formation was at risk of getting caught in a cross-fire.  He reacted by sending a single click to the squadron to indicate a formation change.

The squadron bunched up together.  They were far closer together than possible when flying in automatic mode.  Kip rolled his fighter down and to the right.  The entire squadron copied his maneuver.  They moved cleanly and precisely and completed the barrel roll with ease.

Because the Alliance fighters had responded so quickly, the enemy was now caught in an unenviable situation.  The twelve fighters that swung up (right hand) were completely out of position.  The 12 fighters that swung down (left hand) were directly in the flight path of Alpha Squadron.

Kip targeted the nearest enemy fighter and fired a single missile on a direct line toward it.  The range was so close that he didn’t bother to launch a second one or to use electronic guidance.  The missile hit and destroyed the target.  Kip’s fighter was pelted by debris.

They were now past the enemy wing.  Kip quickly tallied the damage.  They had destroyed 10 enemy fighters.  All 20 fighters in Alpha Squadron reported green boards.  No one had suffered any damage.

Rubie, Kip’s wingman, contacted him and said, “We’re free.”

Kip checked his sensors.  The enemy destroyer was directly in front of them.  The remaining 14 fighters of the enemy wing were now directly behind them.  Rubie was correct.  They were free of the enemy fighter wing for the moment.

Kip made a quick decision.  He contacted the rest of the squadron and told them of the change to the battle plan.  Kip then contacted both Paul in Third Squadron and Jim on the bridge of the
Sunflower
and told them.

Kip switched back to squadron only and said, “Increase speed to .16 light for 20 seconds.  Get into double line formation.  We are going to make a pass at the destroyer.”

Normally, the fighter squadron would slow down and turn around or make a wide arc and turn back toward the enemy fighters.  Otherwise, the enemy squadron would be free to attack the
Sunflower
.  The result would be mutually assured destruction for both capital ships.

However, this case was unique because Third Squadron was behind them guarding the
Sunflower
.  They could continue going forward and attack the enemy destroyer without fear of reprisal.

Alpha Squadron raced across the intervening space toward the enemy destroyer.  Kip checked his sensors.  The enemy fighters were starting to turn and chase.  He verified the distance.  The enemy squadron could not catch them before they reached the destroyer.

The squadron slowly got in formation.  There was no real rush – it took only a few seconds and they had several to spare.  Kip was in front one line of 10 fighters and Rubie was leading the other line.  They were rapidly gaining on the destroyer despite the fact it was accelerating.  They would be there in another 10 seconds.