Omega Force: Rebellion (OF11), стр. 72
Two fighters were destroyed, a third hit hard enough that it was forced to make an emergency landing in the forest. The fourth had only taken superficial damage, but the pilot apparently didn't like one-on-one odds with the heavily armored gunship and streaked away from the engagement, popping up and climbing for orbit well out of weapons range.
"You blew out the drive…again," Twingo said over the intercom. "Repulsors have kicked into take up the slack, Engines One, Two, and Four are still in the green."
"I really wish you'd find some other way to bail your ass out of these situations than destroying the ship with that little stunt," Kage said, rubbing his shoulders.
"Yeah…me too," Jason said, leaning back for a second and letting out a long, shuddering sigh. That had been too close for comfort. The Phoenix was badly damaged, and it was only his desperate maneuver that saved their lives. He had honestly thought the ConFed fighters were just going to be pushovers that would do what he'd always seen them do: fly simple attack patterns that were ineffective against his shields and let themselves be torn to shreds by his guns. The ships he just faced, however, made him realize that not all ConFed fleet units were as inept as those he'd faced in the past. He just got a free pass out of a situation he had no right to walk away from. He'd best learn his lessons from this engagement before it happened again.
Shake it off, Jason. Cas's voice was back in his head. You got a little sloppy from being too easily victorious too many times. This is just a bloody nose. The Phoenix can be repaired and you can adjust your tactics from what you learned here…assuming it's possible that you can learn from you mistakes. I'm actually still on the fence about that.
"Let's get back upstairs and see what's happening before Miressa's security forces show up and finish us off," Jason said. "Kage, get me an orbital vector using three main engines and repulsors. Twingo! Are we slip-space capable?"
"Negative."
"Fantastic," Jason griped. "Doc, try to make contact with the Sarafin once we're up there."
With her three remaining engines roaring at full power, the Phoenix lumbered into the sky along a shallow vector that would put her in orbit so they could break away and escape. Jason just hoped they escaped notice from the rest of the ConFed fleet once they got up there.
25
"The Imperial ships seemed to have lost the initiative, Admiral," Captain Essel said. "Taskforce Starfire is now in formation and fully accounted for, and I have to ask…what are your intentions here?" Kellea didn't answer at first. She knew what she wanted to do, but she also realized she was a commander put in place by her government, not a dictator and not the owner of the ships within her taskforce.
"Please put me on an open channel to all bridges within the taskforce," Kellea said, holding up a hand to put off Essel's next protest.
"Channel open, Admiral."
"This is Admiral Colleran. I will make this necessarily brief," she began, scrambling to organize her thoughts. "I have been made aware of a situation that threatens us all, every living being in this quadrant. I also have strong evidence that indicates our own government within the Cooperative has not been honest with us about its intentions.
"The Eshquarians below doing battle with the ConFed fleet are fighting for their lives right now. We could turn the tide of this battle, but I can't order you to do so. If we engage, we will be going rogue. We will not be able to return to Cridal space without facing prosecution nor will the ConFed simply let us leave without wanting some sort of retribution afterwards. I wish I could fully explain it all to you, but there's no time. Any ship commander that wishes to not get involved, you are hereby authorized to break formation and return to Cridal space at once. I will give you a few moments, and then whoever is left must act."
"Admiral, what about all the crewmembers that might not agree with this course of action?" Essel asked once the channel had been closed.
"They will be returned to Cridal space once we leave this system," Kellea said. "As they are not command personnel, they will face no consequences from our government. For now, however, they will perform their jobs as ordered, as is their duty." She could tell that Essel didn't like her answer, but he kept his mouth shut in front of the crew.
"Two ships breaking formation, Admiral," her sensor operator called. Kellea looked at the display and saw she was losing a support frigate and a fast-attack corvette. All of her Fend-class destroyers and her human Victory-class cruisers had all closed ranks, however, and had signaled they were awaiting further orders. In the relatively short time that Taskforce Starfire had existed in its current iteration, she had apparently earned her commanders' loyalty to the point that they chose to follow her, willing to risk the ire of the Cridal government. Her human commanders especially had a lot to lose…the Victory-class ships were on remote detachment to her taskforce and were not owned by the Cooperative at all. They risked much, so she decided to hold them back unless absolutely necessary.
"Very well," she said, striding forward. "Taskforce Starfire, attack pattern Fireball-Six. Begin working around their edges and allow the Imperial Navy units to disengage."
At her order, the Fend-class destroyers surged out of formation and right into the heart of the conflict, opening fire on a stunned group of 405th ships that had been just about ready to try and take down one of the Luex-class battleships. Instead, they had to come about and face a pack of hungry destroyers ripping into its flank. Seeing an opportunity, the Luex turned and moved away from the engagement as Kellea hoped it would.
"Are we still not able to talk to the