"Aye, sir," Ellsworth said. "OPS! Configure the ship for intra-system warp hop. Nav! Plot a course that puts us half a million kilometers away from Exeter Base along our current track."

"Aye, sir. Plotting course now."

"Coms, inform Captain Risher the Broadsword is now the lead ship until the Saber rejoins the formation. He's to deploy the taskforce at his discretion," Jackson said.

"Aye, Admiral."

Senior Captain Parker Risher was the CO of the TFS Broadsword, the former lead ship of Taskforce Wolfpack. When the taskforce had been under the command of Admiral Celesta Wright, the Broadsword had flown the flag and, by all accounts, she and Risher worked quite well together. During the brief familiarization and training period, however, it was clear the dynamic between Captain Risher and Admiral Wolfe was going to be a problem.

There were no overt signs of disrespect, nor were there any territorial pissing matches, but the two just couldn't settle into a rhythm on the bridge together. When Jackson had pulled Risher aside and told him that he intended to move his staff over to the Saber, he could almost see the captain sigh in relief. Jackson was convinced it wasn't personal and, despite their failure to work together, Risher was probably still the best tactical mind among the captains in his command.

"Broadsword confirms they're taking the lead. Captain Risher is already redeploying the ships into a column," the com officer reported. Since the Saber would be breaking away, there was little point in trying to maintain the ruse of a single large ship to fool any potential Alliance lurkers.

"Ship is configured for short-range warp hop and our course is laid in, Admiral," Ellsworth said.

"Very well. Move the ship at your convenience, Captain."

"OPS, clear the ship if you please."

"Saber is clear for warp hop, Captain," the OPS officer called out.

"Helm?"

"Helm ready, sir."

"Execute!"

Short, intra-system warp hops were a bit more dramatic than the more mundane transitions for deep-space warp flights. The ships usually weren't carrying much relative velocity, and the drive had to stabilize the fields almost immediately because it could sometimes only be a matter of minutes before it would need to transition back to real-space.

When the helmsman hit the control to execute the programmed course, there was a sharp whine and some alarming bangs that could be felt through the deck. The Saber groaned and popped as the forward and aft distortion rings formed and power was fed to the field emitters much more quickly than during a normal transition.

Shields slammed closed over the forward windows on the bridge, and there was a sharp lurch as the gravimetrics from the warp drive interfered with the artificial gravity for a moment. The entire flight, at just over the speed of light, and including the transition periods, would last only ten minutes. Using the subluminal drives the same trip would take over a day.

"Secure ship from warp flight!" Ellsworth ordered. "OPS, report."