thirty-two inbound missiles appeared to be ignoring the decoys and heading directly for the Theseus . As she watched, the display updated to display the rapidly closing missiles in an ominous pulsating red that sent a chill of déjà vu coursing down the length of her spine.
“Time to impact, two niner seconds,” Lee updated.
***
At a point roughly halfway between the Theseus and Bravo 1, all thirty-six fighters assigned to Badger 1 Flight transitioned into normal space. Just as before, every spacecraft was positioned so that it was afforded a clear line of fire — this time at the anti-ship missiles fired by the Baldev . Realizing the destroyer’s tenuous position, Captain Zhukov allocated a total of four HB-7c missiles for each enemy missile targeting the Theseus . Just three hundred milliseconds after the Reapers transitioned, one hundred and twenty-eight of the multimission-capable missiles leapt from their underwing pylons and accelerated rapidly away from the fighters.”
“Badger 1 Flight - Fox Alpha!” Captain Zhukov announced over the tactical comm channel. By convention, the “Alpha” designation was an indication that the versatile missiles were being launched in what would have once been considered “air-to-air” mode. At such close range, the missiles’ onboard C-Drives were unnecessary. Instead, each weapon received initial targeting instructions from its fighter before launch, then relied on a sophisticated suite of internal sensors to ensure a successful intercept of its target.
A reactionless Cannae drive, without the blazing engine nozzle still used in similar Wek-designed weapons, propelled each Terran weapon along a short, predetermined course towards the location where its flight path would intercept one of Bravo 1’s missiles. Accordingly — in the visible spectrum at least — the Human missiles were all but invisible as their onboard processors made final, minute course corrections in an effort to achieve clean, “skin-to-skin” hits on their targets.
Perhaps even more difficult to detect, however, were two cylindrical pods deployed by two of the Baldev’s original nine fighters shortly before they had been destroyed by Badger 22 Flight. Designed originally to operate autonomously, each Carrada Area Denial Weapons pod was capable of positioning itself within a designated anti-access zone in the hopes of complicating the efforts of enemy forces attempting to achieve tactical superiority — particularly with small, fighter-class spacecraft. In this case, the Baldev’s fighters had simply released the pods at a location roughly half the distance to the Keturah in anticipation of precisely this sort of opportunity.
Using data provided by the battlespace defense system to calculate the closest approach of Badger 1 Flight, each pod now pivoted in the direction of the oncoming fighters and fired three kinetic energy interceptors. Rather than relying on their own source of propulsion — which would have dramatically increased the size and complexity of the system — each interceptor was fired from a rail launcher not unlike those used by railgun and plasma torpedo mounts aboard TFC vessels. While somewhat limited in power due to their size, each pod was equipped with a gravitic generator capable of counteracting the inertia of its projectiles during launch. This allowed each interceptor to cover the relatively small distance to their targets at a speed of over seven thousand kilometers per second.
At a distance projected to disperse a precise quantity of fragments across the volume of space occupied by the oncoming fighters, each interceptor detonated a small set of charges along its length. Milliseconds later, six rapidly expanding cones of submunitions merged with Badger 1’s flight path at a combined speed of nearly five percent the speed of light.
Like the Theseus, each F-373 fighter was equipped with a gravitic shield capable of simultaneously deflecting a significant
“Time to impact, two niner seconds,” Lee updated.
***
At a point roughly halfway between the Theseus and Bravo 1, all thirty-six fighters assigned to Badger 1 Flight transitioned into normal space. Just as before, every spacecraft was positioned so that it was afforded a clear line of fire — this time at the anti-ship missiles fired by the Baldev . Realizing the destroyer’s tenuous position, Captain Zhukov allocated a total of four HB-7c missiles for each enemy missile targeting the Theseus . Just three hundred milliseconds after the Reapers transitioned, one hundred and twenty-eight of the multimission-capable missiles leapt from their underwing pylons and accelerated rapidly away from the fighters.”
“Badger 1 Flight - Fox Alpha!” Captain Zhukov announced over the tactical comm channel. By convention, the “Alpha” designation was an indication that the versatile missiles were being launched in what would have once been considered “air-to-air” mode. At such close range, the missiles’ onboard C-Drives were unnecessary. Instead, each weapon received initial targeting instructions from its fighter before launch, then relied on a sophisticated suite of internal sensors to ensure a successful intercept of its target.
A reactionless Cannae drive, without the blazing engine nozzle still used in similar Wek-designed weapons, propelled each Terran weapon along a short, predetermined course towards the location where its flight path would intercept one of Bravo 1’s missiles. Accordingly — in the visible spectrum at least — the Human missiles were all but invisible as their onboard processors made final, minute course corrections in an effort to achieve clean, “skin-to-skin” hits on their targets.
Perhaps even more difficult to detect, however, were two cylindrical pods deployed by two of the Baldev’s original nine fighters shortly before they had been destroyed by Badger 22 Flight. Designed originally to operate autonomously, each Carrada Area Denial Weapons pod was capable of positioning itself within a designated anti-access zone in the hopes of complicating the efforts of enemy forces attempting to achieve tactical superiority — particularly with small, fighter-class spacecraft. In this case, the Baldev’s fighters had simply released the pods at a location roughly half the distance to the Keturah in anticipation of precisely this sort of opportunity.
Using data provided by the battlespace defense system to calculate the closest approach of Badger 1 Flight, each pod now pivoted in the direction of the oncoming fighters and fired three kinetic energy interceptors. Rather than relying on their own source of propulsion — which would have dramatically increased the size and complexity of the system — each interceptor was fired from a rail launcher not unlike those used by railgun and plasma torpedo mounts aboard TFC vessels. While somewhat limited in power due to their size, each pod was equipped with a gravitic generator capable of counteracting the inertia of its projectiles during launch. This allowed each interceptor to cover the relatively small distance to their targets at a speed of over seven thousand kilometers per second.
At a distance projected to disperse a precise quantity of fragments across the volume of space occupied by the oncoming fighters, each interceptor detonated a small set of charges along its length. Milliseconds later, six rapidly expanding cones of submunitions merged with Badger 1’s flight path at a combined speed of nearly five percent the speed of light.
Like the Theseus, each F-373 fighter was equipped with a gravitic shield capable of simultaneously deflecting a significant
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