Free The Tactics of Revenge by T. R. Harris Page A

carried this extra firepower, Lee’s orders were not to use them unless necessary. The brass wanted to first see how the KFV’s handled themselves against the Juirean energy weapons before revealing anything ‘special’ to both the enemy and the Klin. In a few short breaths from now, they were about to find out.
    The bridge was quiet as the ship approached the Juirean lines head-on, their position represented on the tac screen, and flanked to the right by Sammy Burton’s mirror forces. At the right moment, both squadrons peeled away from each other and Lee accelerated.
    Within moments they were near the edge of the first Juirean battle line, and to his relief, the Juireans did not attempt to change course to form a broader profile to his attack. Just then he felt the first jolts as his ship opened up on the target ships. The Juireans were still too distant to be visual, but he knew the maximum range of the bolts was somewhere around thirty-seven hundred miles, with the maximum strength rated at around twenty-five hundred. The bolts left his ship traveling at around three-hundred thousand miles per hour, so even though they consisted of a single intense concentration of electricity, they appeared as streaks shooting out from his ship, like beams from a laser. The bolts were also strictly ballistic, with no guidance once released. At the speed they traveled, impact would be only seconds away.
    Off in the distance, Lee could see circles of light bursting forth as the bolts struck the diffusion shields of the Juirean ships. The area around his own ship suddenly flashed bright as well, as bolts from the Juirean ships impacted Lee’s own shields. The screens held, and he swept past the line and out of range, heading for the next row of Juirean battleships. Behind him, the string of KFV’s continued to pour a constant torrent of electric bolts at the lead Juirean ships until Lee noticed two of the red circles disappear from his screen.
    The Humans had their first victories.
    On the screen, Lee saw the long Juirean lines begin to break at their centers, with each half swinging around to face the string of Human ships speeding past them. The enemy began to move forward as a unit, forcing Lee to steer more to his left, maintaining the safest distance from the massive Juirean ships. As the Juireans reformed to face the Humans they unleashed such a barrage of fire that it looked like a solid wall of light coming his way.
    The bolts hit, knocking his ship even further to the left. Nine of his ships disappeared from his active list, while twelve others reported damage sufficient to cause them to fall out of line and back to the main fleet.
    Two more Juireans disappeared from his screen.
    Sammy was having similar success on the opposite side of the lines, and with similar casualties. The plan was working; the Juireans had separated their lines of defense, opening up a channel in the center of their forces. Soon, a force of two hundred Human ships would penetrate the center and form two more attack lines, one to the left and one to the right. The Juireans would be split into two clusters, with Humans surrounding them both. Then depending on the attrition of the Human forces, Admiral Levin would either let the existing forces squeeze the Juireans into submission, or he’d bring up additional forces to overwhelm the aliens.
    Everyone in the fleet knew the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion. The only question came from not knowing how many of the Human forces would be lost. They had been told that the Juireans did not retreat, so it was working out be a bloody battle – for both sides. But Lee and his crews would learn a lot. They would come out of this engagement battle-hardened and experienced. The next battles wouldn’t be any easier, just the expectations would be more realistic.
    Lee’s ship continued to unleash barrage after barrage of bolts at the wall of aliens slowing moving his way. On the tac screen, he saw the