"This is going to be a fast engagement, everyone. Look sharp," Ellsworth said as the missiles closed within ten thousand kilometers and fired their second stages. The enemy ships were reacting to the diving destroyers but still hadn't made any move to intercept the missiles.

"Trailing ship is opening fire! It's point defense fire," OPS reported. "Missiles closing within a thousand klicks, impact imminent."

The high-power optics zoomed in on the fleeing ships as the twenty Shrikes slammed into them. Four targets disintegrated as the missiles took them amidships and detonated beneath the hull plating. The remaining ten targets all took hits, seven critically, and the remaining three were damaged but still flying under their own power.

"Target the remaining three," Ellsworth said. "We'll take the furthest two, the Broadsword will take the trailer. Put a single Shrike in each."

"Targeting package confirmed, sir. Optimum firing position in…seven minutes."

"You are free to fire when ready, Tactical," Ellsworth said. "Helm, once munitions are away, come about to starboard and clear the area for our other ships."

"Aye-aye, sir," the helmsman said.

The Saber angled away from the Broadsword, chasing the front of the enemy formation before firing two more missiles and turning away sharply. They were overflying the ships damage from the initial volley, all of them thought to be disabled, at a range of only a couple thousand kilometers, which turned out to be a grave mistake.

Just as the helmsman veered to starboard, emergency impact warning alarms blared, letting them know they had incoming fire at close range. Ellsworth barely had time to register that one of the ships they'd thought had been too damaged to fight managed to launch a full broadside…ten missiles coming at the Saber at close range.

The destroyer was out of position and wrapped into a high-G maneuver, unable to protect her ventral hull when the missiles found home. Even though the ventral armor on starships was heavy, it wasn't designed to stand up to ten tactical nukes hitting it in quick succession. By the fourth missile, the Saber broke apart. The destruction was so thorough the last two missiles passed through unimpeded.

The rest of the taskforce went evasive, but they'd been stacked together too closely on the run and the Gladius couldn't avoid the debris field. The chunks of hardened alloy tore into the prow and detonated an armed missile still in the launcher. The resulting chain reaction blew the ship into three large pieces, the prow separating intact and spinning away wildly as the drive still had a few seconds of power left.

The enemy formation had been wiped out, but at the price of two irreplaceable Super Valkyrie-class ships. The three remaining destroyers separated and pushed hard for the safety of the middle system.

* * *

"Both ships destroyed, sir," Hawkins said quietly.

CIC was silent as they watched two of their ships drop off the Link. They'd gone from jubilation at how easily the advanced destroyers overtook Kohl's cruisers and hammered into them with Shrikes to utter devastation at the damnable luck that took out the Saber and Gladius.