Free Warfare: Rise Of Mankind Book 2 by John Walker

a special mission. Stay linked up with the other Behemoth wings and give these guys hell. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
                  “Should be like shooting fish in a barrel,” Mick said. “Piece of cake.”
                  “That saying sucks,” Meagan replied, dodging an attack and moving up to her wingman’s left. “Poor fish.”
                  “Yeah, I…honestly never thought much about it before…”
                  “Tai’Li wing, this is Panther One. What is your position?”
                  “Panther One, this is Tai’Li Command. My second and I are moving into the theater of operations now. Estimated Time to Engagement, twenty seconds.”
                  Meagan brought her scans up and zeroed in on the coordinates. “If we push it, we can meet you there about the same time. Gun it, Mick.”
                  “On it, ma’am.”
                  Meagan hit her afterburners. Even the dampeners couldn’t totally compensate and she was pressed hard into her chair. Ships flew by them, explosions and pulse blasts they narrowly missed. Twenty seconds seemed like such a short time but hip deep in conflict, it felt like an eternity. As the planet loomed ahead, she and Mick felt the beginning turbulence of atmosphere.
                  Noise suddenly surrounded them. Sound was possible in gravity, causing every rattle and windy rush to compete with their coms.
                  “Keep your wings in until we’ve got good air to glide on,” Meagan said.
                  “Not my first time to dance, ma’am.”
                  “Sorry, Mick. Old habits and all that.” The shields on her nose lit up, glowing from the heat. The whole ship began bucking from entering the upper atmosphere, the wind pockets buffeting her on all sides. Up ahead, she saw the thrust tails of their targets, drop ships five times the size of her fighter. “Those are freakin’ huge!”
                  “Scanning for weak points now,” Mick said. “Tai’Li, I’m sharing…do you have this?”
                  “Affirmative, Panther Two.” The calm voice spoke over their speakers. “We must first take out the rear and forward shields located on their bellies. Then, we can trash the engines and send them into a free fall.”
                  “They’re going to hit the ground hard,” Meagan said. “I’m talking crater the size of South Carolina big.”
                  “That’s probably hyperbole,” Mick said. “I hope.”
                  “Let’s just try to get them to fall on their buddies.”
                  The two alliance ships joined them, triangles of smooth metal with extended poles for their weapons. The cockpits were invisible outwardly, making it hard to target their pilots directly. They glowed yellow from their shields and their weapons crackled with purple energy like tiny lightning bolts dancing along the extended barrels.
                  “Can you pierce shields with those?” Meagan asked. Their own weapons tended toward brute force. They pounded the enemy so hard it didn’t matter that they were defended. Like a broadsword in the medieval times, the armor may remain intact but the bones beneath were shattered and broken.
                  “We will hit the shields first then switch to hull piercing shots.”
                  “Okay, Mick and I will take the one on the left…er…marking him now on your scanners.” She extended her wings and her ship leveled off, granting her better control in the new environment. Mick did the same and took up position beside her. “I’ve got the targets locked.” A blue beam flew past her on the port side. “Whoa, they’re shooting back.”
                  “Kinda thought they would,”