Free The Fall: Crimson Worlds IX by Jay Allan Page A

time to extreme combat range, 23 minutes.”
    Unidentified my ass, Campbell thought.  Those are Gavin Stark’s ships.  Vance had warned him they might be coming, a sudden and urgent communique that was short on details.  He’d managed to concentrate the fleet just in time. 
    He’d been surprised at first, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.  Admiral Garret was at Columbia with his combined fleet, supporting the Marine invasion of the planet.  It was a perfect time for Stark to make a move against Mars, and there he was, right on schedule.
    “Bring the fleet to red alert, Commander.”  Campbell took a deep breath.  Stark’s fleet outnumbered his by a considerable margin, but Campbell had faith in his people.  They were free Martians, defending their planet against a tyrant who would make them into slaves.  They would do whatever had to be done.
    “Yes, Admiral.”  She paused a few seconds before continuing.  “All ships report red alert status.”
    He stared at the screen watching the enemy ships approach.  The formation was standard, unimaginative, but it was also solid, right out of the textbook.  John Carter and its twin, Sword of Ares, were bigger and stronger than anything the enemy fleet had, but Campbell only had another 4 battleships.  The incoming armada had 12, and enough punch to take out every ship in Campbell’s fleet.
    “I want every weapons crew on the fleet to conduct full diagnostics on their targeting systems.”
    “Yes, sir.”  Christensen relayed the command.
    Campbell could practically hear the groans on the other ships.  Naval crews hated routine tasks, especially right before entering battle.  But Campbell didn’t give a shit.  A minor recalibration of a targeting system could be the difference between a miss and a critical hit, and if the Martian Fleet was going to survive the next few hours, it was going to need every pinpoint shot it could manage.  Besides, he’d rather have them scrambling to run superfluous tests than sitting in their seats for 20 minutes staring at the massive enemy fleet bearing down on them.
    He looked down at his workstation, punching the keys to bring up a tactical map.  He knew he was facing a hell of an introduction to fleet command, and if he was going to win, he had to think outside the box.  His two massive battlewagons had the heaviest laser armaments of any ships in space.  If he could get them close enough, their x-ray lasers would cut Stark’s older capital ships into scrap.  But the enemy knew that too.  The Carter and the Sword of Ares would attract missile fire from every ship in the enemy fleet.  They’d be gutted before they entered laser range.
    His eyes moved to the large circle on the edge of the battle map.  Saturn.  Maybe, he thought…just maybe.  He punched in some calculations, programming a simulation.  It was close, but if he timed it just right, and if the enemy didn’t alter their trajectory, it just might work.
    “Commander Linken, plot a course for John Carter and Sword of Ares directly toward Saturn.”
    Linken was another refugee from Campbell’s old bridge crew who’d followed his commander to his new post.  He turned and glanced back at the admiral with a quizzical look on his face.  “Yes, sir,” he stammered.
    “Transmit your course calculation to the helm and to Sword of Ares when you are ready.”  He turned his head and looked over toward Christensen.  “Commander, get me Captain Oswald on Sword of Ares.”
    Maybe, he thought.  Just maybe this will work.
     
    Liang Chang stared at the main display.  The enemy fleet was dividing into two sections.  Its two biggest battleships were detaching from the main force, heading for the protection of Saturn.  Their battleline was already outnumbered; without the superbattleships they didn’t have a chance.
    “All ships, increase thrust to 4g.”  Chang wanted to close and finish off the Martian fleet before their