Hello, my name is Jack.\u00a0 If there is one thing I have learned while fighting with the Peloran, it is that they are utterly ruthless in battle.\u00a0 They may seem like kind old men and women, the kind of people you would trust your babies with, but once they get into battle, they are relentless.\u00a0 They will never strike where expected, and they will never hold ground that must be held.\u00a0 They practice deception like an art.\u00a0 Sometimes I wonder if Sun Tzu asked them for tips.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
New Washington filled the Avenger\u2019s displays, a bright, cold world shining in the starry darkness of normalspace.\u00a0 It was a beautiful, cloud-shrouded world Jack would love to visit if he could, brought to him now by Aurora\u2019s Nemesis drone in normalspace.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t understand the science of how the Peloran transmitted messages into hyperspace, but it was a truly impressive advantage to be able to send a single scout through and get real time data on enemy movements.<\/p>\n
Jack scanned the displays that showed the Chinese holding position outside the gravity well with awe.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t thought the Chinese had that many ships left<\/em>, let alone that they could assemble them all in one place.\u00a0 Over four hundred Chinese ships held position nearly two light-seconds away, far enough out that they didn\u2019t risk hitting the planet with a stray hammer.\u00a0 They were still following the treaties.\u00a0 That was interesting.<\/p>\n Other displays showed fifty Shang warships in orbit over the planetary capital.\u00a0 Missiles and lasers fired into the atmosphere, boiling down to the capital itself.\u00a0 Live news feeds showed some of the missiles exploding to point defense, but not nearly enough.\u00a0 The capital was losing, and the news feeds showed another Skywatch defense base exploding as orbital fire smashed into it.\u00a0 In the distance behind the base, civilian buildings collapsed beneath the fire of more orbital bombardment with Shang fighters giving point blank support.\u00a0 Other reports showed the capitol in flames, surrounded by the rubble of tall buildings spilling into the streets. \u00a0It was Yosemite all over again.<\/p>\n Jack clenched his jaw and checked the displays showing the Cowboys spread out around him in hyperspace.\u00a0 The Peloran had been busy rebuilding their own warships, and refitting the warships that would fly with them, over the last month.\u00a0 But they\u2019d also been busy building new drones to fly with the manned fighters of every fighter squadron with them.\u00a0 A dark smile covered Jack\u2019s face at the thought of that.<\/p>\n Sixteen fighters made up the official manned Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112.\u00a0 Eight of the Avengers were original Cowboys.\u00a0 Of the other two, Tom could fly anything, and John was an older veteran from Black Sheep Squadron, the first \u201creal\u201d attack squadron to use the Avengers.\u00a0 The other six new Cowboys flew the Hellcats they were trained to operate.\u00a0 Jack doubted that would be permanent.\u00a0 Mixed-fighter squadrons simply didn\u2019t work as well, but being in a craft you didn\u2019t know worked less<\/em> well, and there weren\u2019t enough qualified Avenger pilots to pick just them yet.<\/p>\n Eleven nearly identical drones accompanied every manned fighter, giving the Cowboys an effective strength of one hundred ninety two fighters.\u00a0 That was equivalent to the firepower of an entire Marine Spacecraft Wing<\/em>, and far more firepower than the entire 4th<\/sup> MSW that the Cowboys belonged to had projected when The War began.\u00a0 Jack idly wondered if they could even properly be called<\/em> a squadron anymore.\u00a0 He frowned as the idea stopped being idle at all.\u00a0 They were going to have to talk about this.<\/p>\n \u201cCowboy One to all Cowboys,\u201d Charles began transmitting, interrupting his train of thought.\u00a0 \u201cThere appear to be a few more attackers than we expected.\u201d<\/p>\n A dark laughed escaped Jack\u2019s throat at the understatement, and he heard it echoed back through the comms from the other Cowboys.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand,\u201d Charles said in an answering growl.\u00a0 \u201cNow Aneerin needs a diversion to get their attention.\u00a0 I told him that we could do that.\u00a0 Are you ready to go in first like proper marines<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOorah!\u201d the Cowboys shouted in unison.<\/p>\n The entire Shang fleet blinked on the displays.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s<\/em> our target,\u201d Charles said in a commanding tone.\u00a0 \u201cIf you have any questions, ask them now<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n Jack swallowed and gave Betty a worried look.\u00a0 She shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cHey Chief,\u201d he began.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s fifty war<\/em>ships, and we don\u2019t know how<\/em> many fighters.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have the firepower<\/em> to kill them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have<\/em> to kill them, Jester,\u201d Charles answered with what sounded like a shrug.\u00a0 \u201cWe just need to get their attention.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight,\u201d Jack said in a doubtful tone.\u00a0 \u201cAnd while we do that, what about the Chinese?\u201d<\/p>\n He heard a dark chuckle over the comm. system.\u00a0 \u201cWell, Aneerin will grab their<\/em> attention.\u201d Charles answered.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s only got fifty ships,\u201d Jesse interjected.\u00a0 \u201cAnd most of them aren\u2019t Peloran.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe has a plan for that,\u201d Charles said.\u00a0 \u201cOur job is to keep the Shang from spoiling his plan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the plan is?\u201d Jack asked.<\/p>\n Charles chuckled again.\u00a0 \u201cNeed to know.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack scowled in annoyance.\u00a0 \u201cYou know<\/em> I hate that phrase?\u201d<\/p>\n Charles continued to chuckle and eight Shang ships glowed on the displays.\u00a0 Then one began to flash.\u00a0 \u201cYou each have your targets,\u201d Charles said in his commander\u2019s voice.\u00a0 \u201cMove into position.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoger that,\u201d Jack answered without hesitation and nodded at Betty.\u00a0 They began accelerating forward, skimming the upper edge of hyperspace.\u00a0 \u201cDisplay our course,\u201d he said and Betty nodded, adding a highlighted beam over the displays.\u00a0 \u201cMischief, stay on my beam,\u201d Jack ordered.<\/p>\n \u201cOn your beam,\u201d Katty returned and he smiled as the displays showed her and her drones following behind his formation.<\/p>\n They Cowboys split up into individual flights, each making their way towards the Shang on different courses.\u00a0 They moved around the main Chinese formation, just close enough to examine the fleet while staying far enough away that they would not be detected.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m painted,\u201d Aurora reported from normalspace as her face flickered into existence on one of the displays.<\/p>\n Jack scowled.\u00a0 So much for not being detected.\u00a0 \u201cGet out!\u201d he shouted as weapons fire from a squadron of Chinese fighters and a scout craft bracketed her drone.<\/p>\n \u201cToo late,\u201d she returned, returning fire with her gravity cannons.\u00a0 The Chinese scout craft belched wreckage-filled atmosphere, even as Aurora\u2019s Nemesis maneuvered to avoid the twenty fighters.\u00a0 They were simply too many though, and she was flying alone.\u00a0 Enough of the missiles tracked her and the Nemesis came apart as Jack watched.<\/p>\n Then the displays showing normalspace winked out and Jack sighed.\u00a0 The displays came back up after a second, showing information coming in from the other scouts the Cowboys had sent through.\u00a0 A quick look showed that two more were gone, but the other thirteen were still moving and seemingly undetected.<\/p>\n \u201cShould I send another fighter?\u201d Betty asked.<\/p>\n Jack licked his lips, but shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 But\u2026\u201d he trailed off.\u00a0 If they sent someone to investigate in hyperspace, it would be bad.\u00a0 \u201cMischief, move to screening positions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn it, Boss,\u201d Katty returned and her Hellcat and Wildcats peeled off to surround the Avengers.<\/p>\n If anybody came through, the \u2019cats could destroy them with missiles before they knew what happened.\u00a0 The Avengers just weren\u2019t designed for fighting in hyperspace, a fact Drew\u2019s death had brought into sharp focus.\u00a0 Jack glanced at the displays to see Jasmine and the cybernetic Drew\u2019s fighters in close formation around him.\u00a0 He nodded in approval.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t exactly certain what was going on there and he wanted to keep them close until he knew.\u00a0 And maybe closer once he did<\/em> know.<\/p>\n They detected no one following them and Jack smiled.\u00a0 The displays in fact showed the Chinese turtling up to make themselves harder to attack.\u00a0 They flew deeper into New Washington\u2019s gravity well, with no Chinese resistance, the multicolored hues of hyperspace darkening as gravity strengthened.\u00a0 On the displays, the Chinese held space behind them, while the Shang held the gravity well below them.\u00a0 They were well and truly surrounded, even if the rock behind them wasn\u2019t moving.\u00a0 Still, rocks had been used as anvils in the past, and a Shang fleet was a real good hammer.<\/p>\n Jack licked his lips.\u00a0 \u201cYea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,\u201d he quoted.<\/p>\n \u201cFor we are the United States Marine Corps!\u201d Jay shouted, and only then did Jack realize they\u2019d been transmitting.<\/p>\n \u201cOorah!\u201d the other Cowboys shouted as Jack stared at Betty in surprise.<\/p>\n She smiled back.\u00a0 \u201cI thought he\u2019d do something like that,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n Jack shook his head and smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cSurfacing in three\u2026two\u2026one\u2026\u201d Charles transmitted and Jack closed his eyes.<\/p>\n A bright light flashed through his eyelids, he opened them, and he saw their target in the distance.\u00a0 A large Shang cruiser, he could see it firing on New Washington with missiles and lasers.<\/p>\n And then gravity fell on its side as the gravitic cannons on either side of him came to life, twisting space between his fighter and the Shang cruiser.\u00a0 The ten remaining Nemesis drones joined in, and the concentrated gravity distortions ripped through the Shang shields, digging into the ship itself.\u00a0 Laser turrets sent laser pulses into the unshielded flank, vaporizing armor and weapons alike, as the grav cannons ripped more off.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Mischief!\u201d Jack shouted and her Hellcat and Wildcats opened up with lasers and missiles.\u00a0 Hundreds of small missiles billowed out of the fighters, spread out, and closed in on the Shang warship.\u00a0 They passed through the smashed deflection grids and exploded against the tortured skin of the cruiser in wave after wave.\u00a0 The cruiser shuddered as the explosions worked inward, flash-frying deck after deck until they reached the core.\u00a0 And then the cruiser evaporated.<\/p>\n \u201cGood shot!\u201d Jack shouted and scanned the displays.\u00a0 Of the fifty Shang warships, five of them no longer existed.\u00a0 Three more staggered out of formation, their flanks ripped wide open from stem to stern.\u00a0 The other warships stopped firing on New Washington and began towards the Cowboys.\u00a0 \u201cOh frak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSecondary targets, now!\u201d Charles ordered and a new target flashed on the displays.<\/p>\n \u201cShoot it, shoot it, shoot it!\u201d Jack shouted as Betty brought them around for another attack.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m on it,\u201d Betty answered, her mouth grim, and the gravitic cannons opened up again.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re targeting us!\u201d<\/p>\n Jack swallowed, watched the gravitic cannons rip through the deflection grids again, flexed his fingers, and let out a long breath.\u00a0 Then he pulled them to port and rammed the throttle forward.\u00a0 The engines flared behind him and the Avenger began to maneuver for all their lives as Shang missile and laser batteries began returning fire.\u00a0 Around them, the Nemesis drones spun around them, making a joint defensive flight plan designed to confuse anything trying to shoot them.<\/p>\n \u201cStay with me, Mischief!\u201d Jack ordered and pulled the throttle back, feeling the engines flare again, hard enough that he actually felt the pull of gravity.<\/p>\n \u201cLike you could get away!\u201d she returned as her Hellcat and Wildcats began to fly through his formation on random maneuvers of their own, spitting out more missiles at their target.<\/p>\n \u201cThat sounds like a challenge,\u201d Jack aid, then swallowed as the displays began tracking more and more missiles flying towards the Cowboys.\u00a0 He pulled the throttle back to the firewall where it rang against the metal frame.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, Betty, get us out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m charging, I\u2019m charging<\/em>,\u201d she returned as the missiles approached.\u00a0 The laser turrets picked them off one by one, but the Shang were focusing more and more fire on them, and that was beginning to overload their point defense grids.<\/p>\n Jack licked his lips, betraying her nerves.\u00a0 \u201cBetty?\u00a0 Any time now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost\u2026there!\u201d she shouted.<\/p>\n He shut his eyes as the worlds flashed around them, etching the sight of incoming missiles on the inside of his eyelids.\u00a0 He blinked and saw hyperspace around them.\u00a0 He glanced at the displays to see the other Cowboys blinking into existence in the area as well and sighed.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Chief,\u201d he transmitted after finding Charles\u2019 fighter.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, Jester?\u201d\u00a0 Charles sounded almost as breathless as Jack felt.<\/p>\n Jack shrugged and looked at Betty.\u00a0 \u201cI do<\/em> think we got their attention.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat we did,\u201d Charles answered in an impressed tone as Betty nodded.<\/p>\n Jack shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cSo what do we do with it now<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d Charles began with what sounded like a smile.\u00a0 \u201cNow we keep<\/em> it.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack chuckled.\u00a0 For a man that didn\u2019t like to gamble, Charles sure knew how to push the cards when he felt the need.\u00a0 \u201cRight.\u00a0 New attack vector?\u201d<\/p>\n A new set of targets and movement orders showed up on the displays.<\/p>\n \u201cExactly,\u201d Charles answered, his tone suggesting he was still smiling.<\/p>\n Jack sighed at Betty with a smile of his own.\u00a0 \u201cYou heard<\/em> the man.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty nodded with a wink and they accelerated towards where their new target waited in normalspace.<\/p>\n \u201cKeep on my six, Mischief,\u201d Jack ordered.<\/p>\n \u201cOn it like glue,\u201d she answered and slipped in behind him.<\/p>\n \u201cPromises, promises,\u201d he returned with a smirk and flexed his fingers, preparing for the next stage.<\/p>\n \u201cSurfacing,\u201d Betty reported in a grim tone.<\/p>\n Jack shut his eyes as they rose back up into normalspace and opened his eyes to see an unravaged flank of the Shang fleet before them.\u00a0 Gravity turned on its side and gravity tore at one of the Shang ships.\u00a0 Betty\u2019s drones joined opened up as well and the deflection grid covering the Shang\u2019s starboard flank opened wide.\u00a0 Focused gravity ripped deep into the armor, and tore the atmosphere out of the warship.\u00a0 Behind him, Katty\u2019s Hellcat and Wildcats flashed into existence, rising up out of hyperspace.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Mischief!\u201d Jack ordered.<\/p>\n The fighter and drones fired another salvo of missiles that spread out and attacked the Shang cruiser from multiple vectors as it desperately tried to avoid the gravitic cannons tracking it.\u00a0 Ready for the second assault, Shang point defense lasers brought the missiles down by the scores.\u00a0 Shang counter missiles fired, rippling out to wipe Jack\u2019s flight out of existence, even as the Shang cruiser writhed under their assault.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Lord, for what we are about to receive,\u201d Jack whispered and held on to the controls with a tight grip.\u00a0 And then it was time to just go anywhere that wasn\u2019t where he was.\u00a0 Betty\u2019s drones moved ahead, lasers firing in full point defense pattern, as he moved them from side to side and up and down without thinking, whenever he felt the urge to be somewhere else.<\/p>\n Missiles cartwheeled in, some ripped apart when they hit gravity beams, others burned away by lasers, and some broke through everything to charge in at Jack\u2019s flight.\u00a0 The fighters and drones maneuvered wildly, a mix of cybernetic and genetic reflexes guiding the random movements that tried desperately to avoid any place a missile was about to be. \u00a0A drone lost a nose to a grazing hit, another lost a wing.\u00a0 Two exploded nearby.\u00a0 Another almost directly in front of him took another missile and Jack closed his eyes to protect them from the flash.<\/p>\n \u201cNext target!\u201d Charles shouted and the displays flashed, shifting to an undamaged Shang heavy cruiser.<\/p>\n Jack swallowed and nodded at Betty.<\/p>\n She smiled back and their remaining drones turned away from their tumbling target to the new one.\u00a0 Gravitic cannons lanced out and smashed into another set of deflection grids.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t go completely down this time.\u00a0 The ship had better grids than her smaller cousins, and Betty didn\u2019t have enough drones left to rip them open.<\/p>\n \u201cMischief,\u201d Jack ordered with a grunt.\u00a0 Her missiles boiled in from behind, some exploding just short of the remaining deflection grid, shredding it with gravitic interference.\u00a0 The rest tore deep into armor and weapons systems, ruining the heavy cruiser\u2019s flank.<\/p>\n The displays flashed in warning and he flicked his eyes over to see hundreds of Shang fighters pulling up and away from New Washington, their engines burning long trails in the atmosphere below them.\u00a0 They shot up out of the atmosphere, closing in on the Cowboys, and Jack swallowed.\u00a0 This was going to hurt.<\/p>\n A flick of his eyes to other displays showed the Chinese turning towards the gravity well, looking like they were about to accelerate in.\u00a0 Jack swallowed again, wondering if they were going to break the treaties.\u00a0 If so, this battle was about to get ugly.<\/p>\n Then new arrivals flashed into existence on the displays and Jack recognized the icons of the Peloran task force, finally revealing its existence, firing into the Chinese fleet\u2019s collective ass.\u00a0 He shook his head with a smile.\u00a0 The old man was doing it again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello, my name is Jack.\u00a0 If there is one thing I have learned while fighting with the Peloran, it is that they are utterly ruthless in battle.\u00a0 They may seem like kind old men and women, the kind of people[…]↓ Read the rest of this 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