She stared down at the screen, at the scanning data coming in. The enemy had fired six triple turrets and two doubles. That was twenty-two laser blasts. And seventeen of them had hit. That was outstanding shooting by any measure, a performance that would make any Alliance commander proud. But she’d never seen such efficiency in an enemy before now.

This enemy battleship was battling her tooth and nail, despite the fact that she had gained the early advantage. The enemy vessel could have run right back through the transwarp link, abandoning their tiny colony and its handful of ground troops. But instead, she’d watched as the Confederation fighter pilots fought her own veteran pilots to a bloody stalemate with nearly suicidal bravery.

Her stomach was crunched into a knot, and she could feel the tension in every muscle of her body. She didn’t know what the enemy’s courage and skills were like overall, but she’d made her decision about this captain and this ship. Her counterpart was dangerous, far more so than any opponent she’d yet faced in her unblemished career, and she suspected his crew was no less capable. They were not to be trifled with. She had to destroy them, before they did the same to her.

“Increase power flow to batteries, Commander. Twenty percent above maximum. And have damage control on standby to replace burnouts.”

“Yes, Commander. Immediately.”

“Secondary batteries are to open fire as soon as we enter range. Advise engineering we’re going to need extra power from the reactor. I want all weapons firing full, and I hold engineering responsible for making sure there is enough power flow.”

“Yes, Commander Rigellus.”

Kat could hear the high-pitched whine in the background, Invictus’s main lasers firing again. There was a variation in the sound, one few people would have noticed. But Kat was well aware what it was. One of her batteries was out, damaged by the enemy barrage.

She listened yet again as Invictus fired another broadside, the sounds changing once more, higher-pitched this time as her crews overloaded their lasers, pumping extra power into their ravening beams. It was a dangerous tactic, but Invictus was only going to be in firing range for less than six minutes…and she wanted to cripple the enemy in that time. She’d have to decelerate hard before she could bring her ship about for another attack, and that would give the enemy time to react. Unless she hurt them enough now.

“Commander, gunnery reports the batteries are heating up past regulation firing levels. They request permission to…”

“Maintain firing at one twenty on the power, Optiomagis. All batteries continue at maximum rate of fire.

“Yes, sir,” Wentus replied, a hint of concern in his voice.

There would be plenty of time to repair burnouts when Invictus was decelerating, but now she intended to pour every watt of power she could into her enemy.

While she had the chance……

*   *   *