The view before Apex might have been overwhelming for a lesser pilot. His scanner showed up contacts as squares. Contacts with hard points deployed, ready to fire, were triangles. Hostile contacts were red. His three wing-men were blue triangles, but they trailed behind, towards the bottom edge of the scanner. The top half showed too many contacts to count, all red, all triangles, all on a collision course with his Fer de Lance.
It occurred to Apex that this was tactically reckless, but at these speeds he'd be in the thick of it before he could withdraw. It certainly wasn't just two Anacondas and their pair of escorts that he'd just shot up.
"StarWolf, Apex. I'm going to need help over here, so don't play around with your prey."
Another Adder shot over head, peppering the FdL's shields with multi-cannons. A pointless endeavour that may prove expensive if he survives long enough to run out of ammo. 'Doubtful,' thought Apex.
"I have multiple wings, repeat multiple wings of intruders."
He had a reputation for fearless fighting, up and at 'em, just the way Cochrane encouraged his boys to fight. Recklessness was not part of it though. Wolf Pack was an experienced wing, they knew their limits, and a single Fer de Lance facing multiple wings of combat blooded pirates was not wise.
Comms buzzed: "Apex, Wherewolf; this Eagle is as good as dead, moving to your target now."
"Wolf Pack, this is Wolf leader, converge on number 2's target, consolidate fire," Cochrane's voice came over the air waves. "Apex, light one up."
He was already locked-in on the first Anaconda. Cochrane's protocol was always big ships first; it's what they trained for. Apex knew the other three would turn on the same Anaconda, unleash maximum fire power on each target for the quickest kill. He was the front man, first strike, it was up to him to pave the way.
He got stuck in.
Predictably, every contact on his scanner began flashing red. The scanner analysed every inbound shot and associated it with a contact, flashing contacts were actively attacking.
'That'll be all of them then,' Apex realised.
The pirate wings attacked as soon as they made range.
Apex's huge pulse lasers were tearing the Anaconda's shields to shreds, but its rapidly arriving reinforcements were doing the same to Apex. He clung to its six, blasting away at the reinforced power-plant while taking advantage of the Anaconda's blind spot; not even point defence could hit him there.
Its thrusters suddenly glowed blue, Apex knew what would happen next. His foe's boost-turn flipped the big 'conda around its short axis; nose down, fiery end up. Apex's more agile ship had already countered that move. The 'conda pilot expected that too, and quickly reversed the process. Apex would not be shaken free. His killer pulse lasers remained locked on throughout each manoeuvre.
Try as he might, Apex could not drop that big ship's shields. They glowed blue with every pulse on target, but just as they were weakening it would burst back into life with a fresh explosion of energy.
Energy cells, he realised. The crew of the Anaconda were spamming stored energy into the shield banks with abandon, like a child popping smarties. Its entire hold was probably full of them. At 40T each energy cells weren't small, but if expecting combat they'd be able to squeeze ten or so in a 'conda cargo bay.
"Wolf Pack, Apex, he's spamming energy cells. Keep your weapons on hold until he's about to shoot up again, then everyone blast him with all you've got."
"Roger that Apex, I've a couple of rail guns waiting to serve up a nasty surprise," Cochrane agreed with the plan.
Energy cells were all about timing. Trigger them too late and the ship's shields would already collapse, no infusion of energy could resurrect them quickly. But hit them too early and it would waste the advantage. The Anaconda's crew were well drilled, their timing was exquisite, but they weren't expecting another three combat ships to unleash a volley just before their next cell kicked in.
"Now!" screamed Apex over the wire.
Cochrane's Python let loose two medium rail guns, its three large pulse lasers joined in soon after. The Chieftains of Wherewolf and Coyote opened up with a barrage of lasers too. All on target, and all timed to perfection.
"Target shields offline," the ship's computer notified Apex, it hadn't really stood a chance. That was quickly followed by a warning of his own: "Shields offline."
The smaller pirate ships had slowly stripped his own shields during the attack. He had a choice to make: heroism or pragmatism. The Fer de Lance had a strong hull, but this looked set to be a long fight. Heroics got you killed, he knew that lesson well, learnt it from comrades who could no longer learn.
"Wolf Pack, Apex. Shields are down," he announced, "bugging out for regen."
"Good call, Apex," came Cochrane's voice. "Go check on Jugs."
They practiced for this event over and over again. The three remaining in the conflict closed ranks to cover his withdrawal. The pirates failed to get another shot at his exposed hull as he ran, diverting energy from his power plant to recharge the shields quickly.
It was hard to find Jugs on the scanner, debris littered the space around him. Apex plotted a course back to the fleet carrier, she had to be close to that path, he wasn't far from her original position after all.
War zones were confusing places and situational awareness only stretched so far. He glanced at the scanner, a couple of contacts flickered ahead of him, not close enough to be resolved. It might be Jugs, it might just be abandoned hull plating or a cargo canister ejected in the mayhem. His eyes scoured the star field ahead of him as he went in search of the battered Gremlin.
Next: Sneak Kills