"I think I do, sir." Russo was intrigued by the comment. Apparently, there was more dissention in the ranks among the leadership than he'd caught during his limited interactions. He's mistaken Kohl's timidity for fear of Wolfe, but perhaps he was afraid of taking too many losses and being an easy target for the other fleet units on their way to Xinjia.

"Perhaps if we—"

"The Minsk is hit!"

"So, is the—"

"Red Bear is off the board!"

"Silence!" Kohl shouted at his operators. "What is happening?"

"Captain Kedrov's formation is taking heavy losses," one of the intel analysts said. "We're not sure from where. Six ships have been destroyed, three are disabled, and— Make that seven ships destroyed, sir."

"What?! How?"

"We're analyzing the—"

"I need answers not talk!" Kohl was furious. "Where are Wolfe's ships?"

"They haven't moved, sir."

"I want to know how this happened!"

As Kohl spluttered and raged, Russo looked at the data as it trickled in over their network and thought he saw what might have happened. Two of the formations had passed each other from opposite directions, and the lead group of one must have lobbed missiles into the path of the ships pursuing the other group. What he couldn't figure out was why they hadn't both fired when crossing each other unless one group was doing something to actively interfere with the sensors of the pursuing ships. A moment later, the intel analysts came to the same conclusion.

"Captain Kedrov's flight ran into missiles fired from the closing Xinjian formation, sir," the lead analyst said. "They didn't detect them until they were past the ships they were pursuing, and then it was too late."

"Wolfe has often favored fast tactics like this, sir," Russo said, feeling he should offer up some sort of input.

"Of course he has," Kohl said, struggling to regain his composure. Russo wondered if the man was finally cracking under the pressure. He'd faced Wolfe before, and the entire time never lost his confidence or poise. Now, he seemed genuinely rattled and unsure of himself. "How many ships are out of the fight now?"

"We've lost eleven in total, Admiral," the intel analyst said. "Nine destroyed, two damaged too badly to continue on." Russo's eyes widened slightly at that. Eleven ships taken out to zero enemy ships even damaged was bad. Doubly so when you realized how out-classed the Xinjian force was compared to Kohl's newer ships.

"Order our forces to move in and engage," Kohl said finally. "We must secure this system, and there is no choice. Make sure our reserve forces are ready to move down if needed."

"Transmitting new orders, sir," the XO said.

* * *

"Why didn't Charlie Squadron fire?" Jackson demanded. "We could have taken out both formations in a single pass."

"Captain Chang isn't saying, sir," the com operator said. "We've asked for an update twice."

"They're still Alliance. Maybe they knew each other," Hawkins said.

"Not implausible," Jackson said. "Not a bad idea to remember not to trust them too much in this case. Unfortunately, it gave away the game. Kohl is arrogant, but he's not an idiot. He won't fall for this again. Order all three squadrons to accelerate at full burn and start gaining some separation. The last thing we want is for the same tactic to be used against us on the next pass."