They say the best way to fight is to help someone walk into a trap you set for them.\u00a0 Then you can defeat them on your own timetable.\u00a0 Me, I\u2019ve never liked other people\u2019s timetables.\u00a0 I plan to live forever, so I make it my business to mess with any plans that might go against it.\u00a0 I guess you could say that I\u2019m just not a very obliging trapee.\u00a0 I will always fight to break out of your trap.\u00a0 That is my promise.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The sky was afire with the blaze of dying missiles.\u00a0 They died in their hundreds, exploding as they reached the line of death drawn by the point defense networks of the Western Alliance\u2019s Third Fleet.\u00a0 Missiles, lasers, and gravitic cannons reached out, blotting the Shang attack from the stars with merciless abandon.\u00a0 Anything less than Third Fleet would be taking damage already, and maybe worse.\u00a0 He frowned at the thought.\u00a0 There really were<\/em> a lot of missiles here.\u00a0 Too many missiles for this to be some random attack.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know what comes to mind when I look at all that?\u201d Jack asked.<\/p>\n Betty sighed and raised one eyebrow at him.\u00a0 She knew him too well.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t say it.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack aimed an impish smile at her.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a trap.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou said it,\u201d she returned with an exasperated sigh.<\/p>\n Jack shrugged at her.\u00a0 \u201cI couldn\u2019t resist.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you should have.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack chuckled at her and looked back to the wall of death.\u00a0 If there was one thing that spectacular waste of missiles was good for, it was making a real eye-catching example of modern art.<\/p>\n \u201cAt least we\u2019re good enough to take it,\u201d Betty continued, dismissing the threat with all the contempt a computer could bring for someone who started a battle they could not win.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Jack said, his tone doubtful.\u00a0 Eye-catching.\u00a0 Something about that had his subconscious in a whirl.\u00a0 He just didn\u2019t know what.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d Betty asked in a worried town.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 Jack frowned and tried to nail down the odd feeling.\u00a0 It\u2019s not like they were in danger.\u00a0 With the fleet arrayed for battle, no conceivable missile barrage could possibly break through.\u00a0 Even after he broadened his horizons to the idea of conceivable after seeing the current attack.\u00a0 Third Fleet was the largest collection of warships ever assembled.\u00a0 There was just no way to break them.<\/p>\n From that flank.<\/p>\n The thought came fully formed in Jack\u2019s mind and he returned Betty\u2019s gaze.\u00a0 She cocked her head to the side, aware of the change in his demeanor.\u00a0 Jack considered the idea for a second, and then nodded.\u00a0 \u201cIt comes to mind that if I wanted to sucker punch someone, I\u2019d show them a very powerful and slow punch,\u201d he explained, pausing long enough for her to nod in understanding.\u00a0 \u201cThen I\u2019d wait for them to block it and stab them in the back,\u201d Jack finished.<\/p>\n Betty raised an eyebrow at him.\u00a0 \u201cYou know you\u2019re mixing metaphors, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, but it still tracks, right?\u201d<\/p>\n She sighed.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, it does.\u00a0 What are you thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t their only play.\u201d\u00a0 Jack looked at the displays for several seconds, trying to figure out what his subconscious was telling him.\u00a0 He had a feeling that he needed to be elsewhere, but he didn\u2019t know where.<\/p>\n It was one of the many things that gave him an advantage over every normal human born on Earth since the dawn of time.\u00a0 The Peloran Treatments, given free of charge to every child, improved the power and intelligence of the body\u2019s immune system, effectively making sickness a literal thing of the past.\u00a0 The later treatments also slowed the aging process through some process Jack didn\u2019t understand.\u00a0 The closest explanation he\u2019d ever figured out was that they somehow maintained a backup set of directions on how each cell in the human body was supposed to look.\u00a0 It kept the cells from degrading over time, and expanded the standard human lifespan into the centuries.<\/p>\n But Jack was another cut above most humans.\u00a0 Like ten, maybe twenty thousand humans on the entire Earth, his body had reacted far outside the norm.\u00a0 He was twenty-five when he took the final treatments, and a decade later he was still exactly twenty-five years old.\u00a0 A century from now, he would be twenty-five, and in a thousand years if nothing got around to killing him, his body would still be twenty-five years old.\u00a0 He would never age another day as long as he lived.\u00a0 He was, quite literally, Ageless.<\/p>\n And that wasn\u2019t the only advantage he\u2019d gained.\u00a0 He was stronger and faster than he\u2019d ever been before the final treatments, and he\u2019d been a very fit man in his youth.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t jump tall buildings in a single bound, bullets hurt real bad, and a train would run him right over, but no natural-born human could ever match him in any athletic contest.\u00a0 He could beat Olympic champions without breaking a sweat, which was why he and every other Ageless were banned from any and all gentlemanly sports.<\/p>\n He could see farther, smell more, and hear sounds no normal human could.\u00a0 And finally, he\u2019d picked up a sixth sense, one that was hard to explain to people who didn\u2019t share it.\u00a0 It was like he could feel danger before it arrived, if he listened for it.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t even explain it to himself because no word he\u2019d grown up with covered the idea.\u00a0 But he\u2019d learned to trust that feeling, and right now he felt it real strong.\u00a0 He shouldn\u2019t be where he was.\u00a0 Something was coming, and something was going to hurt him.\u00a0 Maybe all of them.<\/p>\n \u201cGuys?\u201d he asked, looking towards where the other Avengers flew, spitting lasers and missiles at the incoming Shang wave.<\/p>\n \u201cYou feeling it too, boss?\u201d Ken asked in a strained voice.<\/p>\n \u201cSame here,\u201d Jesse added, trying hard to maintain his cool outward demeanor.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone\u2019s got us in their crosshairs,\u201d Cat snarled.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not like this,\u201d Swan said in a very calm voice that showed just how hard she was trying to keep from lashing out at something.\u00a0 Anything.<\/p>\n \u201cMight I suggest a change in plans?\u201d Snake noted, every bit the lawyer looking for a way out of a bad situation.<\/p>\n \u201cOn it,\u201d Jack said and began studying the plots around him.\u00a0 And then he saw it.\u00a0 \u201cThere,\u201d he said, pointing at a display.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you guys see?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNothing,\u201d Betty answered, her tone mystified.<\/p>\n The other Cowboys swore in a variety of very creative ways as they caught it too.<\/p>\n \u201cExactly.\u201d\u00a0 Jack turned to Christine.\u00a0 \u201cAnd what do you<\/em> see?\u201d<\/p>\n Enterprise\u2019s<\/em> cyber glanced at the display, and then frowned.\u00a0 \u201cOh, slag,\u201d she swore as she got it too.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re not imagining things,\u201d Jack whispered, and then grabbed the stick and throttle. \u00a0\u201cAll Cowboys, maintain delta formation on my lead,\u201d Jack ordered before spinning the stick left.\u00a0 The universe spun around them, stars turning into line for an instant.\u00a0 And then the Shang missiles were behind him, Enterprise<\/em> filled his vision, and he slammed the throttle forward.\u00a0 Engines burned to full power, and seventy-two Avengers left the wall of fighters supporting the fleet defense grid.<\/p>\n Santa Isabel\u2019s<\/em> cyber appeared on his console, looking angry.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are you abandoning your post?\u201d she growled.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Shang are about to stab us in the back,\u201d Jack answered and pushed forward on the stick, sending the Cowboys under their carrier\u2019s kilometer-long bulk.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 How?\u201d the fleet flagship\u2019s cyber asked in confusion, obviously having trouble coming up with any more coherent questions.\u00a0 Or maybe she just wanted it to look that way.\u00a0 Or maybe she just wanted him to answer without waiting for all the pointless long form American language to get out of the way.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing,\u201d He answered with a grim look.\u00a0 \u201cJust my gut,\u201d he added, pulling the throttle back.\u00a0 The Cowboys came to a stop, their wedge now protecting Enterprise\u2019s<\/em> rear quarter from an enemy none of them could see but knew had to be out there.<\/p>\n The cyber cocked her head to the side and just looked at him.\u00a0 She obviously wasn\u2019t accustomed to that answer.\u00a0 Then she shared a look with Enterprise\u2019s<\/em> cyber, followed by another glance towards Betty and Jasmine.\u00a0 The cybers were communicating far faster than any words he could follow, and he was pleased when the flagship nodded at him.<\/p>\n \u201cVery well.\u00a0 Proceed as you will,\u201d Santa Isabel\u2019s<\/em> cyber said in a firm tone.\u00a0 \u201cI will inform the grand admiral.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack winced.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to redeploy the entire fleet you know.\u201d<\/p>\n She shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s taking every ship we have to stop those missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s the point,\u201d Jack said with one eyebrow raised at the cyber.<\/p>\n She blinked.\u00a0 \u201cI see.\u00a0 Yes.\u201d\u00a0 The cyber shifted back and forth on her feet, looking momentarily taken aback.\u00a0 But she was a quick girl.\u00a0 \u201cI will do what I can,\u201d she promised.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all I ask,\u201d Jack said with a shrug.<\/p>\n \u201cGood luck,\u201d she ordered and faded away.<\/p>\n Christine frowned and looked around.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t take this the wrong way, but I hope you\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cTrust me, so do I.\u201d\u00a0 Then he shrugged and Enterprise\u2019s<\/em> cyber shared a glance with Betty.<\/p>\n Her lips pursed in distaste.\u00a0 \u201cYou just usually aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, we might want to think about leaving,\u201d Jack said with a raised eyebrow.<\/p>\n She snorted.\u00a0 \u201cHave you tried yet?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack frowned at the mere idea of running out on warships that needed his protection.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d was all he said though.<\/p>\n Christine folded her arms under her impressive breasts and shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cWell, several of our ships have.\u00a0 They report a stellar mass blocking the translation to hyperspace.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack looked around them, at all the displays, and frowned.\u00a0 They were lightminutes from the local star, far outside any interference it could give.\u00a0 \u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is a very good question.\u201d\u00a0 Christine drummed her fingers on her forearms.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re trying to ascertain that, literally as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n And then the feeling finally hit him where it counted.\u00a0 \u201cOh, frak me.\u201d<\/p>\n Christine raised an eyebrow at him.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s an appropriate request.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack snorted.\u00a0 \u201cSorry.\u00a0 I mean\u2026this really is<\/em> a trap.\u00a0 They\u2019re holding<\/em> us here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow?\u201d Christine asked, her tone serious now.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Jack said with a helpless shrug.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t understand gravitic science, but if I wanted to kill an enemy, I\u2019d make sure they couldn\u2019t run and then shoot them to death from a safe range.\u201d<\/p>\n Christine made a show of examining the displays showing the continuing missile salvo dying short of their wall of battle.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re logic makes distressing sense.\u00a0 Even if your language skills need help.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey now.\u00a0 I work real hard to sound this smart,\u201d Jack said with a smirk.<\/p>\n \u201cI know,\u201d she returned with a hopeless sigh.<\/p>\n A display blinked and he saw Durango<\/em> and Arizona<\/em> turning away from the wall of battle.\u00a0 The American battleships moved towards his position, smaller cruisers, destroyers, and frigates turning to follow them.\u00a0 For a moment, it looked like the wall was coming apart, but the Spanish Armada quickly spread to fill in the holes.<\/p>\n Durango\u2019s<\/em> cyber appeared on his console, a smile on her lips.\u00a0 She looked similar to Santa Isabel\u2019s<\/em> cyber in many ways, easily as Hispanic as the Spanish cyber.\u00a0 But there was something indefinably American about her.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what it was, but it was there.\u00a0 And he liked it.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Amparo,\u201d he welcomed her with an open smile.\u00a0 \u201cWelcome aboard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you come this way often?\u201d Jack asked.<\/p>\n Amparo shook her head with an exasperated smile.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve been considering your thoughts.\u00a0 They make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo you pulled an entire task force out of the wall?\u201d Jack asked.<\/p>\n Amparo paused to look at him carefully.\u00a0 \u201cYou did say we needed to redeploy, didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI did.\u201d\u00a0 Jack shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I\u2019m happy to have you.\u00a0 I\u2019m just\u2026surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n Amparo raised one eyebrow at him.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t be.\u00a0 I never much liked the wall of battle.\u00a0 I\u2019m built to face my enemies head on and these British walls hampers my mobility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are<\/em> a graceful and elegant instrument of war compared to those wallers back there,\u201d Jack noted with a wink.<\/p>\n Amparo cocked her head to the side with a knowing look in her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cFlattery, Captain Jack?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTruth,\u201d Jack corrected.<\/p>\n \u201cContact!\u201d Betty shouted and he turned to see more missiles boiling out of what looked like a big empty hole in space.\u00a0 Nothing special at all was there moments ago.\u00a0 Now it was a bristling cauldron of spewing death headed in their general direction.<\/p>\n \u201cWow,\u201d Jack whispered as the numbers began to register.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0 Betty scowled at the displays.\u00a0 \u201cI hate it when you\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMe too.\u201d\u00a0 Jack paused for a moment, and then let loose with something he\u2019d learned since joining the Marines.\u00a0 \u201cOh Lord, for what we are about to receive, may we be truly thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAmen,\u201d Betty and Jasmine chorused.<\/p>\n Jack interlaced his fingers, cracked his knuckles, and placed his hands back on the controls.\u00a0 Things were about to get busy.\u00a0 He scanned the displays, calculating speed, distance, and time for the missiles to reach his fleet.\u00a0 Unlike the bombardment coming from the other side, this was a single large volley, with no follow up missiles.\u00a0 The Shang had obviously been hoping to hit them by surprise.\u00a0 Well, that wasn\u2019t going according to their plans.\u00a0 Still, it was thousands of missiles, and they were going to hurt no matter what he did.\u00a0 He shook his head, not liking what he needed to do.<\/p>\n \u201cOpen fire at two lightseconds, spread across the entire front.\u201d<\/p>\n Amparo frowned.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not going to get many hits like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack nodded.\u00a0 It would take the sunlight reflected from the surface of the missiles two seconds to arrive at his fighters, and his laser attacks would take another two seconds to return.\u00a0 His cybers needed to guess where the missiles would be four seconds in the future, over one hundred thousand kilometers from where they looked like they were, to have a hope of hitting them.\u00a0 It was, in a nutshell, impossible to expect any reliable hits at that range.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not looking for hits,\u201d Jack replied with a smile.<\/p>\n Amparo raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cOh, I wouldn\u2019t mind some, but I won\u2019t demand the impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen why are you wasting the ammo?\u201d Amaro asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNot wasting.\u00a0 Playing for time.\u00a0 The more time we buy, the more time the wall\u2019s point defenses have to shoot them,\u201d he explained with a wave of his hand behind them.<\/p>\n Amparo frowned at him.\u00a0 \u201cSo how do we buy time?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m hoping that when the AIs on those missiles detect our incoming fire, they\u2019ll start up some serious evasion routines.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhich will slow down their forward progress and buy us time,\u201d Amparo finished for him with a nod.\u00a0 \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t fall for it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a shot in the dark,\u201d Jack said with a wink.<\/p>\n Amparo groaned.\u00a0 \u201cYou have a horrible sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know.\u201d\u00a0 Jack opened his hands, palms up, and gave her an urchin\u2019s grin.\u00a0 \u201cBut it was funny.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 Amparo let the word drag out, crossing her arms.\u00a0 He was getting used to that response.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I thought it was,\u201d Betty interrupted.<\/p>\n \u201cSee?\u201d Jack smiled at Amparo.\u00a0 \u201cShe<\/em> thinks I\u2019m funny.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot really,\u201d Betty corrected with a smirk.\u00a0 \u201cBut a broken clock is right at least once<\/em> a day.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack winced and opened his mouth to say something pithy when he felt the fighter shudder.\u00a0 All three gravitic cannons opened up, shooting a twisting cone of gravity towards the incoming salvo.\u00a0 Both missile banks began firing continuously, and their laser arrays pulsed at maximum rate.\u00a0 A glance at one display showed their capacitors actually dipping down from the energy drain, and he held on tight.<\/p>\n Around him, the other Avengers and the entire American task force opened fire as well.\u00a0 Jack aimed a raised eyebrow at Amparo.<\/p>\n \u201cSo?\u00a0 Just because I mock you doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t have good ideas,\u201d Amparo answered his silent question.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was that?\u201d\u00a0 Jack waggled his eyebrows at her.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t quite hear that.\u201d<\/p>\n Amparo cleared he throat and gave him The Look that meant he was treading on thing ice.\u00a0 And if anybody knew the dangers of thin ice, it was a native born son of northern Minnesota.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t be fishing for compliments in waters deep enough to drown you when you find out you\u2019ve hooked a whale.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack chuckled and waved a hand towards the wall.\u00a0 \u201cThey<\/em> are whales.\u00a0 You<\/em> on the other hand are a graceful and deadly shark.\u201d<\/p>\n Amparo looked at him, her expression measuring.\u00a0 \u201cDoesn\u2019t that make me more<\/em> dangerous?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI laugh<\/em> at danger,\u201d Jack answered, and punctuated it with a laugh.<\/p>\n Amparo just rolled her eyes and looked at Betty.\u00a0 \u201cTell me you didn\u2019t pick him for his sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d Jack protested.<\/p>\n \u201cI would never be that stupid,\u201d Betty answered, ignoring him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou wound me,\u201d he said with an indignant sniff, but relaxed back in his seat to watch the engagement.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll heal,\u201d Betty whispered as their missiles disengaged engines within seconds of launching.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t have the fuel to maintain a burn over two lightseconds of space, but if they drifted that way on momentum, they could wait until they reached attack range to light their drives up again.\u00a0 It was a cheater\u2019s way of getting more range out of the missiles.\u00a0 And as Jack had always maintained, if you weren\u2019t cheating, you weren\u2019t trying to win.<\/p>\n He saw the slight puff that accompanied a handful of Shang missiles dying and smiled.\u00a0 The race was on.\u00a0 Then the displays began to flash, and he saw thousands of incoming Shang missiles begin to swerve.\u00a0 \u201cYippie ki-yay!\u201d Jack crowed, and didn\u2019t care one bit that every direct-fire weapon they had was now missing by tens of thousands of kilometers, if not more.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really worked,\u201d Amparo said in a shocked tone.<\/p>\n \u201cHey,\u201d Jack protested.\u00a0 \u201cI thought you said it was a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI most certainly did not<\/em> say that,\u201d Amparo returned, both eyebrows raised this time.\u00a0 \u201cI just implied that sometimes you might have them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d Jack answered and chewed his lip for a bit.\u00a0 \u201cSo.\u00a0 Is this one of them?\u201d<\/p>\n Amparo gave him a measuring look before answering.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe,\u201d she finally whispered.\u00a0 \u201cBut we\u2019re burning through a lot of ammo.\u201d<\/p>\n Another missile puffed out of life as they passed under one lightsecond away, but the vast majority of their weapons were still going wild.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does no good in the bins,\u201d Jack answered the battleship.<\/p>\n Amparo just snorted and shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cTrue.\u00a0 Sometimes I wonder if you\u2019re truly as stupid as you act.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as they underestimate me, I\u2019m happy,\u201d Jack said with a wink.<\/p>\n Then the first of his missiles came to life, spewing blue fusion flames into space.\u00a0 All around them, across the front, hundreds of missiles rocketed into action and streaked into the teeth of the nearest enemy missiles.\u00a0 Jack winced as a timer counted down the very few seconds left, but he watched the Shang missiles die by the hundreds to his counter-fire.\u00a0 They were moving slower now, arcing through grander and more evasive maneuvers impossible for the cybers to project with their lasers, but more and more missiles managed to track them.<\/p>\n Balls of light signaled the end of gravitic power plants torn apart, a roiling wave that rushed towards them like surf against the beach.\u00a0 Jack winced again at the thought.\u00a0 Sand after all tended to do rather badly on an individual basis when it came to ocean waves.\u00a0 And one Captain Jack Hart did not intend to be washed away like one of them.<\/p>\n He watched the wavefront bare down on the far too thin line of fighters and warships guarding the larger ship\u2019s flanks.\u00a0 At least his tactic had slowed the missiles\u2019 approach, and given them some time to adjust.\u00a0 And the Cowboys were beginning to put an appreciable dent into the number of missiles, but there were simply too many of them.\u00a0 He began to feel more like that grain of sand than he wanted to as he watched more and more missiles get within half a lightsecond of their formation.<\/p>\n Then the wall of British dreadnoughts and Spanish battleships opened up with the point defense on their near flanks, and it felt like the end of the world.\u00a0 Lasers and beams of twisted gravity passed by, and sometimes through, the American formation.\u00a0 Missiles streaked by, filling space with a thin mist of dissipating exhaust gases.<\/p>\n \u201cGive me countdown on those missiles,\u201d Jack ordered and flexed his fingers.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us or the fleet?\u201d Betty asked.<\/p>\n \u201cUs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGot it,\u201d Betty answered and one of the displays filled with a number.\u00a0 Five.\u00a0 Well, that was just lovely.\u00a0 He\u2019d really been hoping for more time.\u00a0 Not expecting, but hoping.<\/p>\n \u201cCowboys, break on my signal.\u201d\u00a0 Jack glanced at Betty, and she nodded in understanding.\u00a0 This was going to get hairy, and not in the good way.<\/p>\n Four.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re gettin\u2019 awful close, boss,\u201d Cat transmitted, her voice filled with concern.\u00a0 Explosions filled the space before them, and hundreds more Shang missiles died.\u00a0 But the firestorm continued to move closer, and Jack knew that no amount of point defense was going to get them all.<\/p>\n Three.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re gonna get closer,\u201d Jack returned as the gravitic cannons thrummed again, stabbing into the missile swarm.\u00a0 He thought he saw them rip apart dozens of missiles, but there were still thousands of them.\u00a0 He felt like he was trying to a plug a leak in the Hoover Dam with a tube of superglue, and it just wasn\u2019t going well.<\/p>\n Two.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like<\/em> them getting closer,\u201d Cat announced, and Jack chuckled.\u00a0 He placed his fingers back on the stick and throttle as their missiles and lasers went to continuous fire, laying down a stream of death that sent scores of missiles into oblivion.\u00a0 It was nowhere near enough.<\/p>\n One.<\/p>\n \u201cBreak,\u201d Jack ordered and pulled the controls to the left.\u00a0 Thrusters flared and the formation of Avengers exploded into a chaotic mess of individually maneuvering fighters.\u00a0 Or so the complicated maneuver was designed to look to outside eyes.\u00a0 In reality, it was a complex plan designed by the collective intellect of seven cybernetic intelligences, randomized by six Marine fighter pilots, and thrown into the teeth of the enemy missiles by seventy-two Avenger-class starfighters.\u00a0 The Shang AIs never saw it coming.<\/p>\n The Avengers scattered, spinning to sweep over two hundred gravitic cannons across the missile swarm.\u00a0 Over a hundred missile batteries spat their vengeance as fast as they could reload, and over five hundred lasers sent coherent beams of deadly light through the exhaust gases filling space.\u00a0 Missiles died by the scores, by the hundreds, but nothing could stop the missile swarm from engulfing them.<\/p>\n Everywhere Jack looked, he saw and felt missiles, exhaust, explosions, and death.\u00a0 There was no safe place to be, but he let his mind go blank and just moved whenever he got the urge to move.\u00a0 He had a lot of urges to move, and his hands twitched on the stick and throttle.\u00a0 Missiles exploded all around them, and a warning light told him their deflection grid was failing.\u00a0 Another display came up, showing armor damage on the port wing.\u00a0 An Avenger ahead of him exploded, and another missile flew by close enough he could have stepped onto it if he\u2019d wanted to.<\/p>\n And then they were through the storm, scattered Avengers spinning to keep firing on the missiles.\u00a0 Jack let out a shaky breath, glancing at the displays to see several Avenger drones missing.\u00a0 All piloted Avengers still lived though, and he licked his lips.<\/p>\n \u201cBad touch!\u201d Cat shouted.\u00a0 \u201cThat was a bad touch<\/em>!\u201d she repeated, and Jack examined her fighter on one of the displays.\u00a0 Her armor was riddled with holes, and it looked like her main laser turret had been completely ripped off.\u00a0 The displays showed very few of his Cowboys had avoided damage, and nearly all of their deflection grids were fluctuating or completely gone.<\/p>\n If the Shang missiles had been focused on killing his fighters, they would have been in some serious trouble.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 They probably would have been dead.\u00a0 Jack was honest enough with himself to recognize that fact.\u00a0 Then he put the thought aside and turned to examine the results of the rest of the Shang barrage.<\/p>\n Atmosphere and wreckage wreathed the American task force, radiating from almost every ship.\u00a0 The displays showed that every ship had taken at least one major hit, and some appeared heavily damaged.\u00a0 Flames spewed from Durango\u2019s<\/em> flank, the very oxygen in her air burning from the assault.\u00a0 As he watched, the air ran out, the supply either cut off or exhausted, and the flames sputtered away so he could continue looking at the task force.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t lost any ships.\u00a0 He frowned at the realization.\u00a0 That many missiles should have killed ships.<\/p>\n And then his mind caught up to his eyes.\u00a0 The wave of missiles still lived, whittled down to a quarter of its original size.\u00a0 But the thousand remaining missiles bore down on the four British dreadnoughts anchoring Third Fleet\u2019s center.<\/p>\n \u201cAh, hell,\u201d Jack muttered as the British point defenses laid down a final wall of death that swept missiles away as if slapped by the hand of God.<\/p>\n But there were too many missiles, too few point defense batteries even on those behemoths, and too little time for them to kill more than a few hundred.\u00a0 The remaining Shang missiles entered attack range, the first hundred or so rending deflection grids in their last act of existence.\u00a0 Another hundred poured in through the open grids, ripping armor apart.\u00a0 The final hundred or so missiles smashed into the heavy warships one last time, seeking any weakness their brothers or sisters had generated.<\/p>\n Flames wreathed the wall of battle, and Jack held his breath, hoping he\u2019d done enough.\u00a0 He almost prayed, but doubted the man his parents believed in would have much time for someone suddenly asking for favors out of the blue after ignoring him for so long.\u00a0 He knew he wouldn\u2019t, so settled for licking his lips and watching the dreadnoughts writhe in the grip of the Shang assault.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" They say the best way to fight is to help someone walk into a trap you set for them.\u00a0 Then you can defeat them on your own timetable.\u00a0 Me, I\u2019ve never liked other people\u2019s timetables.\u00a0 I plan to live forever,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2307-angel-flight-earc","uentry","postonpage-1","odd","post-author-jack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2938"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2957,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2938\/revisions\/2957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}