Operation Hellfire Read Online Free Page A

back," said Travis.
    "Yeah," added Jaren, his brother, "Now they're in real trouble."
    Moving in a dispersed V formation, the three fighters moved away from the three ships and into their allocated position to protect the fleet. Meanwhile, the two new arrivals moved through the dust ring and directly towards them.
    "Targets spotted," said Jaren.
    Red icons flashed up on the tactical orb as the fighters coordinated their scans with the new data coming in from the computers aboard the Liberty Class Destroyer.
    "Yeah," agreed Nate, "Looks like two of their scouts managed to get away in time. And now look what's coming for us."
    More icons lit up until three separate formations of fighters appeared.
    "Uh, that's not ideal," said Travis.
    He might have been trying to be entertaining, but sarcasm was no defence against the fighters now moving ahead of the two ships. ANS Blackfish had already performed a full tactical analysis of the craft, confirming they were the dreaded Mahingan Class medium fighters
    "Knighthawks," said Commander Higgins, "Two more minutes and we're out of here. Protect Cardigan Bay, whatever it takes."
    Nate looked back at the display. It was already obvious that each group was heading towards one of the Alliance ships, and he had seen what the powerful mass drivers could do.
    "Right. Knighthawks, it's time to hit them, and hit them hard."
    "Hell, yeah!" agreed the brothers in perfect synchronisation.
    The three fighters moved around in a wide arc and positioned themselves so that they were running forty-five degrees from the enemy ships and heading back towards Cardigan Bay. The Star Empire fighters had already launched a volley of missiles, and the guns of ANS Blackfish were doing their job of protecting all three ships. Tracer fire showed where each turret was shooting, and every few seconds a missile exploded.
    "Coming into range," said Nate, "Launch!"
    The brothers launched their entire arsenal of missiles, but this time the enemy was ready. ECM jamming, and a whole volley of countermeasures, meant only one fighter was hit, leaving the rest of the formation unscathed and still heading towards the transport.
    "Those mass drivers are deadly, and Cardigan Bay is already in trouble. One good hit and she's trapped out here."
    As if to emphasise the point, the Achilles Class heavy cruiser turned flank on and opened fire with a barrage of railguns. These were antiquated weapons from an earlier age, yet for their lack of sophistication, they were easily capable of shredding armour and bulkheads with ease. The gunfire raced towards the damaged ship, but Relentless had already changed course and positioned herself sideways on, next to the landing ship. They could have been little more than two hundred metres apart, but it was enough to force the gunfire to hit the armoured assault ship instead.
    Flashes of light marked the impact points from scores of the hardened slugs punching through the outer layers of plating. Unlike most modern Alliance ships, Relentless had been built to the old standards, when thick armour was considered the best protection in fleet battles. Today it was more about layered armour and interceptor weapons. Against an aged and powerful ship like Jaeger, it was the perfect defence. As the first volley finished, Relentless activated her own turrets, each lifting up out of their armoured housing fitted to the hull of the ship. These heavy railguns swivelled about and pointed straight at the hull of the enemy ship.
    "Look at her go!" said Jaren.
    Five turrets fitted along the starboard bow now pointed to the flank of the ship, glowing bright blue, and then launched hardened slugs. The weapons were from the same era and pounded each other like only ships of their age and power could manage.
    "Alert! Alert!"
    Nate instinctively looked to the tactical orb and found the problem. A single missile had managed to get close enough before activating its active radar scanners. It was five seconds away and