"Sending new orders, sir," Hawkins said, entering in the new commands to transmit to Captain Chang.

Kohl's strategy so far had been completely defensive. He'd even sent a reserve force up into the outer system, a force with enough ships to overwhelm Chang's ships and take the planet in a decisive victory. He had to know Jackson wouldn't risk his own taskforce trying to fight impossible odds, so he couldn't be worried about the five Fed destroyers sitting by themselves. In fact, the Wolfpack ships had been largely ignored other than a few targeting scans by passing ships that weren't even in missile range.

"Kohl's waiting on something, but I'm not sure what," Jackson said to Hawkins. "Whatever it is, it's causing him to hold half his force in reserve."

"That makes me think whatever is coming isn't necessarily an ally," Hawkins said. "Doesn't mean it's a friend of ours, either."

"No, it doesn't." Jackson leaned forward, watching the Link data for a moment. "We need to draw Kohl out. We don't have the numbers for a battle of attrition, so we need to hit the Implacable, and then get the hell out of here in the ensuing chaos."

"How do we do that, sir?" Hawkins asked.

"It's time to let Captain Ellsworth off his leash," Jackson said with a grim smile. "Message the taskforce and tell them as Bravo Squadron comes towards them, move on their pursuers. Tell him I want them all destroyed."

"Transmitting orders."

36

"It's about damn time. Tactical! Start plotting firing solutions for our Shrikes. Make sure we're coordinating with the other ships to maximize our overlap."

"Aye, sir!"

The Saber rumbled with life as power coursed through her systems and her weapons all came online. While the formation had been sitting idle, Ellsworth had ordered them to maintain low-observability protocols, which meant the powerplants were all throttled back to minimize their thermal signatures. He'd been trying to blend in and stay ignored while the Alliance ships chased each other around, but now, he'd been given a go-order, and it was time to make some noise.

"There are fourteen ships approaching in pursuit of Bravo Squadron, sir," the tactical officer reported. "We'll be expending four Shrikes each in our initial volley to take out the entire flight. Follow up action will be us and the Broadsword, and then Katana and Gladius if a second pass is required."

As Bravo Squadron swung around again on their course, they were carrying an incredible amount of velocity so a head-on pass was out of the question. Instead, Ellsworth ordered his ships on a parallel course, setting them off well ahead of Captain Chang's ships and letting them catch up to them before coming in on an oblique course. The enemy was so focused on trying to catch the Xinjian ships they didn't see the Fed ships coming at them laterally until it was too late.

"Fire!" Ellsworth barked.

All five ships spit out four Shrikes each, their first stage boosters glowing as they raced away. As soon as the missiles cleared the immediate area, the Saber and Broadsword moved out front and poured on the acceleration, diving at the enemy and jamming their sensors to help their missiles slip through. The Katana and Gladius tucked in behind while the Cutlass provided rearguard.