The Starwolves Read Online Free PDF

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battery of a destroyer. Most of his pilots were impressed with the larger
targets, and were busy ripping up the big cannons on the battleships and
destroyers. Baressa had sent her more experienced pilots after the fighters,
even shooting into the bays to prevent the rest from launching. Keth and Treg
had gone after the smaller gunships.
    Velmeran had cut in at the rear of the fleet and was making his way up its
scattered length, seeking out and removing the more subtle threats. Wolf ships
were moving in and out too fast for him to identify most by the pitch of their
engines, although he did see that Tregloran had disabled a destroyer and was
following it to its end. Velmeran would have liked to have seen what the
younger pilot did with his target, but in the next instant he had to jump to
avoid flying headlong into the forward battery of a battleship. He barely had
time to fire twice into her bridge before he shot past, well aware that bolts
from her cannons were passing him within meters. That served as a quick lesson
in failing to pay attention; he could end up the first casualty for worrying
about his students.
    By the time that he had turned back, he saw that he had done better with the
battleship than he anticipated. While his bolts had missed her main computers,
they had still destroyed the bridge. The immense ship was flying blind, her
engines flaring and completely out of control. Her automatic systems continued
to fight, but slower than normal, and she was firing at anything that moved.
Tenders that had been moving to assist her were forced to retreat quickly when
her cannons destroyed two of them.
    Velmeran fell in with two others who were going after her drives. They took
out four of her six main drives and were setting up for another run only to
shear away suddenly. The ship's damaged computers had kept her generators
running at full, still trying to feed engines that were no longer in operation.
Major circuits overloaded and burned out and a series of explosions began to
rip apart the aft of the giant warship. A moment later her generators exploded
with force enough to vaporize the entire ship, as well as the tenders and
escorts still trying to get clear. Only the wolf ships had been quick enough to
escape.
    The remainder of the fleet was quick to react. All of the larger ships
suddenly paused, their engines stilled, as they pivoted thirty-five degrees
from their previous course. Then they refired their engines and shot off in
this new direction. That move caught more than half of the Starwolves by
surprise and they suddenly found themselves left behind, separated from the
fleet but surrounded by Union fighters and stingships.
    But it came too late. Only the stingships had the power and speed to be
effective, but just two of those ships remained. The Union fighters were too
slow and too lightly shielded, their guns too weak. The Starwolves turned to
pursue the fleeing warships, destroying everything in their path. The fighters
were left behind instantly but the stingships accelerated quickly, hoping
to keep the wolf ships in range long enough for a few shots. But two of the
black fighters had held back, and now fell in behind the stingships. The
hunters became the hunted, and the chase did not last long.
    Free of its own fighters, the Union fleet now ran at several times its
former speed, its ships spacing out to twist and evade. Time was beginning to
work to the Starwolves' advantage. All of the Union ships had suffered some damage,
their stingships were gone, and their fighters were left behind. But the
Starwolves' numbers were still intact, their ships were undamaged, and their
pilots were still fairly fresh. Moreover, they were expecting the support of
eight more packs at any moment.
    One of the two remaining battleships suddenly faltered and began to
fall behind, having lost its main computer control. Velmeran held back to
watch, for the ship was not heavily damaged and could have been restarted. But
her