Free Federation Reborn 2: Pirate Rage by Chris Hechtl Page A

encrypted, but they could do something about it later. If there was a later.
    “Ma'am, CIC here. Tangos 1 through 3 are moving out from the planet.”
    “Planning to pin us between them and the enemy behind,” Renee observed.
    “Exactly,” Firefly stated.
    The tin cans would normally not be much of a road block, barely a speed bump to Firefly unimpeded. But she was being chased by four mastiffs that massed nearly as much as her. She was outnumbered and outgunned. Things were going to get ugly.
    “Helm, break course 260 by twenty. Up and over the moon, let's not slingshot around when we don't know if they left anything nasty behind for us to run into,” Renee ordered. She would kick herself for not checking the damn moon with a recon drone later. If there was a later.
    "They are firing destroyer class missiles. The four tin cans ahead of us are moving in as a blocking force, ma’am," the JTO stated.
    "We need a way out of this. Fast," Renee stated, looking at her tactical officer expectantly.
    “Mines,” Purple Thorn murmured thoughtfully. The XO looked sharply at her, then the plot, but when he didn't see anything, he settled back down into his normal duties.
    ---<>))))
    Admiral Von Berk smiled wolfishly as the enemy's stern mounts fired desperately back at him. Her chase missile tubes were firing at a fast rate, far faster than his were capable of, but not enough. They were giving back less than a quarter of his fire, though it seemed more accurate. He swore when he saw the numbers, yes, far more accurate and faster to boot. Did they get the full Federation download?
    His ships were coming in at a slight angle, so they had a brief opportunity to fire their starboard missile tubes before they'd settled on a stern chase. That brief fire was moving in fast, not as fast as the enemy's counter fire, but it was coming in as a surprise so many of the missiles were getting through the outer layers.
    His follow-on shots had to come from his bow tubes since he couldn't turn to cross the enemy's T without losing the range. But as he watched the first missile wave got a few leakers through to hammer into her shields as she desperately rolled her already damaged starboard flank away. One, then two rounds of nukes kissed the edge of that weakened flank shield, and it buckled, then compressed inward.
    Grav emitters popped like a string of fire crackers as they overloaded. Their breakers did their best to contain the damage, but for some it was too much. He grinned in delight as a portion of the nuclear fire licked at her ventral nacelle on that side, tearing at the armored hull and exposed engine thruster. The thruster flickered and died as did the weapon mounts on the nacelle as they were washed away.
    “They know they've been kissed,” the TACO crowed.
    ---<>))))
    Purple Thorn was firing more than missiles out the chase tubes, however. Her missiles were intercepted by the quartet of prepared enemy ships easily despite every ECM trick they had in their canned memory.
    But gently drifting along were dodecahedron shapes, just small enough to have been kicked out the tubes. They had been programmed to drift with their OMS out of the line of fire, but only just.
    As Firefly's starboard shields went down, the string of presents the elf had laid down took on their final orders from their mother ship, then waited for the rapidly approaching foes. They had only twenty seconds before the first of them would be in engagement range.
    ---<>))))
    Sensor Tech Averies grinned as another missile lashed at the Fed ship. It didn't get in, but it had been picked off in the inner layer of defenses. He looked over his shoulder briefly. The skipper was working with the TACO to program the next bit. They were trying to get the missiles to spiral out over the ship to hammer at the ship's flank. Or were they trying to make the Fed ship think that so she'd turn it back to them? He wasn't sure.
    “Averies, watch your scope!” the bosun barked.
    He