AMP Blitzkrieg (23 page)

The comm was silent for over a minute as the Milgari ships joined our formation.

I again hailed the Durians, "Last chance Commander. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, your choice!"

In an instant the Durians revealed their answer, an additional 4,216 Durian warships uncloaked just behind the original 42.

I hit the comm button, "Crap Colonel. I think we need to get to that nebula if we plan to stay alive. Frig! How committed are those Milgari?"

Frig responded, "They will do as I ask of them Sir, the Torrian drug has been completely purged from their systems. As their liberator they have pledged their loyalty to me. What shall we do Sir? Even with this mammoth fleet our odds against the Durians are poor."

I replied with an order for the Colonel, "Colonel! We are going to bunch up close and punch a hole through that Durian fleet. Fire up every web generator we have, but do not deploy until we are upon them. And with our cannons, target engines only. We will take a beating, but maybe, just maybe, some of us can make it through to that nebula!"

Just as I was about to give the attack order the Colonel's staffer again came on the comm, "We have more incoming! It's the Prassi and the Dakar! They will be on us in four minutes!"

I gave the order, "Push forward! Let the targeting computer pic your targets and make every shot count. And Frig, see if you can open wormholes, target their bridges and fire a blaster through there or something. Do anything that can be disruptive!"

Frig replied, "I have weapons Sir, they will be set to auto-fire. I will attempt to keep near your position and draw fire if I can. I have a lot of hits to give with this cruiser Sir. Move in close and we will see if we can get through this."

I changed positions and flew in a sandwich between the Slaughter and the Injector. Sixteen of the Hawk pilots took positions above and below me, "We have your six and 12 Sir. We'll do our best to provide cover!"

I replied, "Knock it off! You all need protection as much as I! We are all in this fight together and I expect no special treatment!"

The Hawks remained in position as we approached the 42 Durian ships. The 42 in turn, fled back to the 4,000 plus fleet of ships behind them.

Frig came on the comm, "Sir. I am detecting a strange signature coming from those additional ships. It's as if... they are projections Sir! Fakes! Target those original 42 as they are projecting images of the other 4,000!"

I replied, "What about the 70 behind us?" Frig responded, "Fakes also Sir! We are up against 42 Durian ships. That is all!"

I flipped on the comm to all ships, "Switch targeting to the original 42 ships only! The rest aren’t real!"

With the Durian masquerade revealed, we drove hard at the 42. In an instant the Durians again disappeared from our screens.

I called out a command, "Fire everything you have at where they were! We might just get lucky and bag a few!"

As we passed through the space the Durians had previously occupied, thousands of ion cannon blasts blanketed the area. There was no indication of any cloaked ships taking fire. The Durians had slipped away.

I let out a sigh of relief. Within minutes we had passed beyond their prior location and were again moving away from the Dakar and Prassi fleets. Their fleets, had stopped the pursuit. With the Durians out of the fight the aggressors were less eager to take on the large Milgari fleet that remained.

With a half hour remaining to the nebula I gave the Frig a new order, "Take the Milgari ships to Barithia, we will meet back with you there. And we are eternally grateful for your assistance!"

I raised the Colonel on the comm, "Colonel. I'm shaking in my combat suit right about now. The adrenaline is going to take a while to exit my system. I was sure we had just seen the end our infant nation. Four thousand Durians... that is not a site I will easily forget!"

The Colonel replied, "Grange! You are the luckiest man alive. I'm beginning to think being with you makes me invincible. And that's a dangerous thought to have Grange... a dangerous thought. If you land back in our dock, I'll be happy to get you another drink from those cooks. I'm sure they keep a stockpile of that hooch around for special occasions. I would say this is one of those."

I pulled into the landing bay of the Slaughter and thanked Piston for his assistance.

He replied, "Sir, the honor was mine. I can now say I was there, riding with you, when the Durians backed down. That was one gutsy thing to do back there with the charge ahead Sir. Next time, I want to be sitting in that same seat Sir, if it's OK with you. Anytime you need an engineer, just give me a call."

As we entered the nebula I turned up a cup of the cook’s hooch along with the Colonel and the Admiral.

I spoke, "I don't think any of us will soon forget this day. If there was ever a time to test what you were made of, that time just passed. And the thing that astounds me is that every pilot out there followed our orders without blinking! No complaints. Not even a grumble. If we can maintain that level of courage, the coming war with our new foes might be a bit harder for them than they think."

The Colonel took a big swig and then winced, "I think those pilots would follow you into a supernova Grange. Let's just be happy that the supernova we just charged into was a mirage."

The Colonel and the Admiral both held up their cups, "Here is to Don Grange the invincible! May we be by his side in every encounter until there are no more wars!"

The Colonel took another swig and then spat a chaw of Omega root onto my pant leg. I wasn't sure how he was able to drink and chew at the same time, but at that moment I frankly did not care.

~~~

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