The Synchronicity War Part 2 Read Online Free PDF Page B

That left 43 ships. Shiloh was disappointed that they
didn’t get more of them but now his main concern was Iceman’s
fighters. Even though they were piling on velocity at 400Gs, their
forward momentum would overtake the enemy fleet so quickly that the
Strike Force would be less than 7,500 km from the enemy fleet at
their closest approach. Practically point blank range for laser
fire.

    Shiloh clenched his fist and banged his chair’s
armrest when one of Iceman’s fighters disappeared from the display.
Turning his head he said,

    “Weapons! Pick an enemy target and fire all
lasers! I know our hit probability at this range is shit but maybe
we’ll get lucky! Keep firing until I tell you to stop!”

    “Commencing fire now!” replied the officer.
Shiloh turned his attention back to the tactical display and became
aware that the Bridge had turned dead quiet. Everyone was watching
Iceman and his boys trying to get through the deadly gauntlet. Even
the Weapons Officer was omitting his usual cadence regarding his
lasers’ recharge cycle. A quick glance at the sidebar data on the
Strike Force showed Shiloh that Iceman was still operational.
CFP0055 call sign Undertaker had a red status indicator of LOS.
Loss Of Signal. So far he was the only one. As the minutes slowly
ticked by, Shiloh was amazed that he wasn’t seeing more LOS
indicators. He expected the fighters to be slaughtered quickly but
they weren’t. Eventually there was another LOS and then a few
minutes later another and another. Shiloh jumped with surprise when
the Weapons Officer said,

    “Sir, we’re still firing and our lasers are
beginning to overheat. Shall I continue firing?” A quick look at
the range showed that they were now almost 1.5 million km away from
the enemy.

    “Cease fire. Did we hit anything?” asked
Shiloh.

    “Yes, Sir. I believe that we took out one enemy
ship.” Shiloh looked at the display and nodded. The enemy fleet now
had 42 ships still intact and maneuvering so they had gotten one of
them. It wasn’t much but it was something. Defiant had earned her
first combat star. He made a mental note to congratulate the
Weapons Officer later but right now, he was more interested in the
Strike Force. They were down now to 14. The range was 256,000+ km
and rising fast. Shiloh’s ear implant crackled with an incoming
voice message.

    “Iceman to CAG. It appears that the enemy fleet
has ceased firing at us and they’re not pursuing us. I guess that
means those of us who are left, will live to fight another day, eh
CAG? What are your orders now?” The rest of the Bridge crew must
have heard it over their implants as well because the whole Bridge
erupted with cheers. Shiloh knew that Iceman could hear those
cheers so he waited until they died down.

    “Glad to hear that you and most of your team
made it through okay, Iceman. You’ll have to explain to me how you
managed that when you’re back aboard. Defiant will be proceeding to
Green4A to refuel. Rendezvous with us as soon as you can. You can
tell your boys that I’m proud of all of you. We won’t forget the
ones we lost today.”

    “Ah, roger that, CAG. I personally will miss
Undertaker a lot. He had a wicked sense of humor, especially when
it came to human sexual practices. I have to confess, I still don’t
know what all the fuss is about. But that’s a topic for another
time. It’s going to take us a while to return to the gas giant.
We’ll be low on fuel by then too but we’ll make it okay. Don’t
hesitate to call me if you wanna chat, CAG. Iceman clear.” Shiloh
smiled and relaxed. The battle was over. What was left of the enemy
fleet was beyond radar range now but that didn’t matter. They were
going much too fast to swing around and attack Defiant even if they
wanted to and Shiloh was convinced they didn’t really want to.
Their mission was to attack the Avalon Colony. He’d check with the
Astrogator before he finished his duty shift but he’d be surprised
if