TFS Navajo: The Terran Fleet Command Saga – Book 3 by Tori Harris Page B
Authors: Tori Harris
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out.”
Without any sort of intervention required of its crew, the BD cruiser Keturah had made the determination that the most effective method of either destroying the Human vessel outright, or at least temporarily removing the threat to its own vulnerable stern, was ensuring that the Baldev’s salvo of anti-ship missiles successfully reached its target. Accordingly, all of the warship’s aft beam emitters shifted their fire in a last ditch attempt to destroy the Human missiles during their final seconds of flight before they in turn intercepted the Baldev’s missiles. Performing precisely the task for which she had been designed, the cruiser’s fire control AI advanced rapidly through the enormously complicated calculations required to identify, target, and destroy one hundred and twenty-eight unimaginably fast targets — continually refining its firing solution even as the first bolts fired from its aft energy weapons banks were already streaming downrange at the speed of light. At such short range, the Keturah’s beam emitters had little difficulty slicing through the Human HB-7c missiles — the destruction of each making it ever more likely that at least some of the Baldev’s missiles would reach the Theseus. In the very short amount of time she had been provided, the BD cruiser managed to significantly improve her own situation by significantly complicating that of her enemy. Out of the one hundred and twenty-eight missiles fired by Badger 1 Flight, only forty-two survived the Keturah’s energy weapons barrage. Unfortunately for the Theseus , a significant percentage of the remaining friendly missiles scored double and triple hits against inbound anti-ship missiles — ultimately allowing twelve of them to continue on course.
“Multiple successful intercepts, sir, stand by … one two anti-ship missiles still inbound. One eight seconds to —”
“Point location target acquired and locked,” Schmidt interrupted hurriedly. “Firing!”
Just as it had during the previous attack on the Baldev’s drive section, Theseus’ AI selected a single location on Charlie 4’s stern where a lack of uniformity in field strength at the junction between emitter streams offered a slight advantage. Once again, the AI timed the impact of a full spread of five plasma torpedoes to precisely correspond with a maximum power discharge from all beam weapons currently bearing on the target. This time, however, the AI also sent a combination of kinetic energy penetrator and fragmentation rounds streaming from nine of the destroyer’s railgun turrets to precisely the same location on the enemy ship’s stern — directly over the Keturah’s huge number four engine nozzle.
Cascading waves of energy coursed outward from the BD cruiser’s drive section, traveling along the entire length of the hull as her shield systems struggled to cope with the massive quantities of energy being concentrated against one small area of her stern. The Keturah’s entire shield flickered momentarily — just long enough to allow the relentless streams of railgun and energy weapons fire to inflict significant damage to the targeted area — then appeared to recover to some extent. At the site of the number four engine nozzle, however, even this brief interruption in shield continuity resulted in the immediate destruction of four shield emitters, causing what amounted to a catastrophic, albeit localized, shield failure.
This was precisely the opportunity for which Theseus’ ever-watchful AI had been waiting.
Shifting her fire slightly to exploit the new vulnerability, Theseus’ energy weapons and railguns slammed directly into the unshielded sublight engine nozzle, instantly tearing the relatively delicate structure to pieces. Just as Lieutenant Lau had hoped, the addition of fragmentation rounds from the railgun turrets had the added effect of dispersing the damage across an even larger area of the cruiser’s stern. Ultimately, however, it was
Without any sort of intervention required of its crew, the BD cruiser Keturah had made the determination that the most effective method of either destroying the Human vessel outright, or at least temporarily removing the threat to its own vulnerable stern, was ensuring that the Baldev’s salvo of anti-ship missiles successfully reached its target. Accordingly, all of the warship’s aft beam emitters shifted their fire in a last ditch attempt to destroy the Human missiles during their final seconds of flight before they in turn intercepted the Baldev’s missiles. Performing precisely the task for which she had been designed, the cruiser’s fire control AI advanced rapidly through the enormously complicated calculations required to identify, target, and destroy one hundred and twenty-eight unimaginably fast targets — continually refining its firing solution even as the first bolts fired from its aft energy weapons banks were already streaming downrange at the speed of light. At such short range, the Keturah’s beam emitters had little difficulty slicing through the Human HB-7c missiles — the destruction of each making it ever more likely that at least some of the Baldev’s missiles would reach the Theseus. In the very short amount of time she had been provided, the BD cruiser managed to significantly improve her own situation by significantly complicating that of her enemy. Out of the one hundred and twenty-eight missiles fired by Badger 1 Flight, only forty-two survived the Keturah’s energy weapons barrage. Unfortunately for the Theseus , a significant percentage of the remaining friendly missiles scored double and triple hits against inbound anti-ship missiles — ultimately allowing twelve of them to continue on course.
“Multiple successful intercepts, sir, stand by … one two anti-ship missiles still inbound. One eight seconds to —”
“Point location target acquired and locked,” Schmidt interrupted hurriedly. “Firing!”
Just as it had during the previous attack on the Baldev’s drive section, Theseus’ AI selected a single location on Charlie 4’s stern where a lack of uniformity in field strength at the junction between emitter streams offered a slight advantage. Once again, the AI timed the impact of a full spread of five plasma torpedoes to precisely correspond with a maximum power discharge from all beam weapons currently bearing on the target. This time, however, the AI also sent a combination of kinetic energy penetrator and fragmentation rounds streaming from nine of the destroyer’s railgun turrets to precisely the same location on the enemy ship’s stern — directly over the Keturah’s huge number four engine nozzle.
Cascading waves of energy coursed outward from the BD cruiser’s drive section, traveling along the entire length of the hull as her shield systems struggled to cope with the massive quantities of energy being concentrated against one small area of her stern. The Keturah’s entire shield flickered momentarily — just long enough to allow the relentless streams of railgun and energy weapons fire to inflict significant damage to the targeted area — then appeared to recover to some extent. At the site of the number four engine nozzle, however, even this brief interruption in shield continuity resulted in the immediate destruction of four shield emitters, causing what amounted to a catastrophic, albeit localized, shield failure.
This was precisely the opportunity for which Theseus’ ever-watchful AI had been waiting.
Shifting her fire slightly to exploit the new vulnerability, Theseus’ energy weapons and railguns slammed directly into the unshielded sublight engine nozzle, instantly tearing the relatively delicate structure to pieces. Just as Lieutenant Lau had hoped, the addition of fragmentation rounds from the railgun turrets had the added effect of dispersing the damage across an even larger area of the cruiser’s stern. Ultimately, however, it was
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