Forged by Battle (WarVerse Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

had to restrain his mounting annoyance. The squadron was the closest and most appropriate deterrent, Belford should know that. Johnston had an entire battle group to manage, he didn't have time to coordinate the fighter squadrons because his CAG's personal feelings got in the way.
    Chimera squadron... Lieutenant Vincent Barkhorn, son of the legendary Chase Barkhorn. Kid's face was posted on every recruiting station the colonies had. Old animosity between Belford and Barkhorn, and Johnston had the worse of that pairing. What he wouldn't give for Chase to still be alive, now there was a fighter pilot.
    "Multiple hostiles approaching carrier group," Chase's son said over the intercom. "Heading fower, tree, six, niner, by eight, niner, five, tree. Reapers set to intercept. Permission to engage?"
    Johnston turned his head so Belford would miss the smile. "Acknowledged. Divert the Independence to support them. CAG ensure the civilians are protected. They are our priority here." The kid was rubbing it in Belford's face. He would have to deal with the two of them before long.
    Belford scowled, but he had no leg to stand on. The Reapers were in a prime position to intercept and protect the civilians.
    Johnston turned his attention back to the battle. His fleet was closing the distance, and the real battle would commence. The plasma blasts they traded were powerful, but easily negated at range. The computers could anticipate point of impact and engage defensive split-second singularities. When they closed the distance, and could bring their mass drivers to bear, then the real slug match would begin. Even the most sophisticated AIs couldn't predict and defend against every projectile in a point-blank broadside. At those ranges, raw fire power and hull strength were the deciding factors.
    Even with all the technology the gnomes had given them, and all subsequent advances since then, it was still human minds that brought the fight. AIs were powerful and necessary tools, but they were predictable. Humanity lacked technology, but on a galactic scale, they made up for it with ingenuity and adaptability.
    "Shields singularities are at seventy percent and holding."
    "Failure in gun battery eighteen, two casualties taken to medical."
    "Engineering reports reactor core stable."
    Johnston couldn't help but feel pride in his crew—well, most of them—as they worked seamlessly together. The Warstar Class ship wasn't just the newest in the fleet, it was the first to incorporate all the races that comprised the Joint Fleet. Giants, gnomes, nymphs, and even shogoths were aboard, and Johnston was the one they’d chosen to lead them.
    Up until that point in the war, the races had been segregated. He still had race specific crafts in his battle group, but for all humanity brought to the table, the technology that had been thrust into their laps was barely two decades old, and they needed to work together to keep up in their war against what lurked on the far side of the portals.
    With his officers working to compile and sort all relevant information from their respective ship systems, Johnston was able to see the battle as a whole. Until they closed, he had little that required his full attention, so he planned ahead. He called up a hologram from his command dais and reached out to manipulate the field. His own ship was armed to the teeth, and had enough singularity generators to hold its own against anything the Separatists fielded. He would lead the charge. His escort ships, however, were far smaller, though what they lacked in firepower and defenses, they made up for with maneuverability. He used the hologram to plan out their attack routes, allowing the computer to power through the precise calculations while he worked out the general idea.
    He had four ships go “up” in relation to him, and another four “down.” They would accelerate away from the carrier, and once far enough away, turn to catch the enemy between them. With the Inferno